Things I am in love with (right now)

Pie for breakfast from Dangerously Delicious Pies (3 berry). Kola Champagne "Ginseng UP" carbonated beverage. XM Radio. Marla, who put the entirety of the X-Files on my external hard drive (yes, Kate M., you can get in on that action). My new cordless mouse care of the ex, who got it for half retail at his place of employment. And it's orange. These new artists that I am going to get more of as soon as I figure what is taking up so much darn space on my computers' hard drive. I'm sure there's an application that has some sort of beautiful graphs and things but I'm too lazy to go looking right now.

Domestic drudgery? I think not.

Photos of yesterday's domestic deliciousness with Sima, and photos of my lovely curtains in a bargain-bin cotton-lycra uhpolstery fabric my mom found at JoAnn's. If you know me, you know that this moddish floral print is myself in textile form. And the Pink Lady organic apples at Whole Foods were on sale and are AMAZING (fresh from Washington). Enjoy!

Happy new year!

Rachel was my wing-girl at the House That Greed Bought down in Reseda. There was a fire pit. Costume party--the host of the party wore his Tick costume, I wore my camp counselor gear. Serenity late at night on huge bean bag chairs. Dude, who bogarted our Love Sac, Rachel? As guests left or laid themselves to rest, there was a naked man asleep on the kitchen floor. Later I saw him sleeping on the dog bed, and then at the foot of the bed in the host's bedroom. Witness to lots and lots of debauchery, with really very little involvement therein. I mean, I do love to be a fly on the wall. Always surreal in the Mad Scientist House. Sushi on a unique platter. When we woke up the hot-tub was about 1 1/2 feet short of where it was supposed to be. Fat Tire! Huzzah for Ft. Collins beer! Very very surreal. Rachel & I tag-teamed to make sure everyone got new year's kisses. Yesterday my new nunchuck arrived and I'm gonna spend all morning playing a few levels of LEGO Star Wars. There are few things that could not be improved by being played by animated LEGO guys, who explode comically in a set of painful-to-step-on bright-colored plastic pieces. I have no new year's resolutions of my own, though I do have a counter-resolution, that I not at any point let my twin sister become lighter in weight than myself (her resolution is to keep getting more fit, which is awesome, but seriously? Now I will actually have to work to stay ahead. Darn it.) By the way, making pita pizzas with baba ghanoush in place of pizza sauce and a little kefir and mint on top after baking is super duper delicious.

Nose to the grindstone.

Picked up lots of work hours at the desks at the dorms at the beginning of the semester, but it seems to me that my work hours, instead of lining up somewhat with J's Geek Squad schedule, are the opposite, meaning time with one another is limited. Which is of course something I knew would likely happen, it's just frustrating in actuality. That being said, hopefully I'll get to go to the Maryland State Fair this weekend before classes kick off, look at cows and things with Amanda. And all I really feel like doing is not unpacking or working on thesis or planning the high holidays for Oy!, but rock climbing and hanging out with the honey. Last night I made spinach quiche and gulab jamun with my friend Kate, which was adventuresome, as per usual. The roommate is supposed to be here this weekend, tomorrow or Sunday, I think, and that's pretty exciting, just because it will be one more person to chill out with. I'm also looking forward to choosing my studio in the Station building and getting that set up, simply because it will be an antidote to this restlessness that I'm feeling. Classes, assignments, and thesis promise to fill my time, distract me from all the thoughts of the tenuous future.

Delicious

Okay, I'm a little addicted. I generally hate energy drinks, I used to drink Vault during electronic media and culture all-nighters freshman year. I've taken to blending half a can of green tea Enviga with a few ice cubes and some frozen berries to get in a couple more hours of work at the end of the day. My only wish is that I could get a flat at Costco instead of $1.49 each at Rite Aid.

Lips like pillows

Eight days ago, all I had to eat before my paschal seder was a mango. A sweet, juicy, delicious mango. As per usual, I peel the mango very carefully before I eat it. You see, gentle readers, I am allergic to the enzymes in the skin (we think). Thus, a complex and exhaustive carving process is utilized before I can actually consume the object of my desire. Unfortunately, I was multi-tasking, putting together a supplement for our haggadah, and couldn't wash my hands, the knife, the mango, nearly as often as is optimal. So, even eight days later, I am suffering from the symptoms of my bizzarely-specific allergy. The first couple days my lips were slightly tingly. As the week wore on, they became itchier. Now they are dry, swollen, cracked, numb, pale, flaky, and bee-stung. Last night I carved a fresh pineapple, and ate despite the acidic burn the tropical fruit affected on my lips. I never was particularly great at self-denial; I should probably lay off the fresh mango from now on. But what fun would that be?

Cranberry apple cook-down.

I saw Tyler Florence on Food 911 (on Food Network) make this lovely Apple-Cranberry Kissel with Sweet Sour Cream, which looked so good that I modified it to make the following. If you like warm, cooked rhubarb, then you'll love the following: 5-6 cheap little apples (I used golden delicious; tarter choice would be granny smith) 2 c of a nice tart cranberry juice cocktail 1/3 c white sugar (if you haven't tried organic, give it a go: so worth it) 1/3 c dark brown or turbinado sugar 2 t ground cinnamon 3 T corn starch with 1/2c cold water 1 pinkie-tip-sized piece of fresh ginger, microplaned Cut the apples into quarter-sized pieces, leaving skin on for nutritional content. Add to large pot on medium-high heat, and mix in cranberry juice, sugars, cinnamon, and ginger. Cook down for circa 20 minutes till it starts to look like a thin, chunky applesauce. Your apartment will smell like Christmas at this point. Add slurry, a little at a time, allowing the mixture to cook clear and thicken. Add more slurry till you get a nice thin cobblery sort of filling. Chill at will. Feeds you and five hungry roommates.

I will eat this sushi, then eat all of Tokyo.

I spent most of the weekend, sans formal, in bed, continuing to recover from whatever virus G-d has see fit to give me. After a morning talking about art brut in Alison Smith's class and showing off my ex-boyfriend's massive boy scout patch collection, I got the go-ahead to go back to bed, which is where I am now. Above is evidence of my weekend, where I managed to stay awake long enough to make a plate-full of sushi. Big adventure of my sushi-making? I made tamago, or egg-cake sushi (tamago is where Tamagotchi comes from, btw.) It turned out great! I just need to figure out how to get my sushi rice a little bit more moist, and then I am never paying $1.50 for a piece of tamago sushi again. Hope everyone's enjoying the sunshine in Baltimore today! I'm going to drink lots of fluids. -L!

Sometimes...

You just gotta eat creay cheezy gritz, watch Titanic, and lie in bed by yourself to remember how to be happy with yourself and the little things. Time to go celebrate the opening of Ally's play

Something about Wegman's

Here in PA and northern MD, we have this chain of high-end supermarkets called Wegman's. Wegman's has a huge eat-in section for the yuppies to take lunch breaks in, a large organics section, and, most importantly, a choo-choo train that circulates around the store and entertains the yuppies Montessori-educated children. Where a typical ghetto grocery store trip to Sav-A-Lot will run me about $20, Wegman's is a guaranteed $50. But it's soooooooo good.

"I don't know where it comes from, but I just have the feeding gene." -Nigela Lawson I feel the very same way. I went to the doctor today and they think I have a virus, so I've got a note to stay out of classes and away from people. I'm eating egg drop soup, sitting in bed watching Foodography on Nigela Lawson, who's certainly my favourite food personality. The show's just goregous, so casual yet fabulous, the real richness of home cooking comes through so beautifully. Whilst at the doc, I snatched a bunch of latex gloves. Yes, I have a ton of rubber pink and orange kitchen gloves I got in Reading, PA. But, there's something about medical gloves that reminds me so much of my parents, who are veterinarians. They were something always around, I love their sort of velvety, thin texture on my hands when working on fibers. I looked up the RA who replaced me, and it's funny what a small world we live in. The same fantasy series I loved as an adolescent, and the same hometown. As much as I'd love to hate her, it just doesn't make sense. If anything, there's a lot in common, and we both probably want what's best for the residents. But I'll give myself some more time. There's no hurry, it's something I have to be certain of. Has anyone got an amazing biscotti recipe?