My good weekend

Hello LJ-land.  I've just been alternately busy, lazy, and dead-tired, that's what's been going on since... uh... September, effectively.  I had a good weekend, thought I'd jump back into my obsessive chronicling with that.

The weekend in question started on Thursday.  I had dress rehearsal that night, but more importantly Catie had mentioned a concert: Joanna Newsom.  I may be poor as shit right now, but I can definitely find thirteen dollars in my budget to see Joanna Newsom at Little Brothers, which is probably my favorite venue in Columbus.  She was delightful.  She opened with "Bridges and Balloons," right as Kevin and I finally got through standing in the long long line; beautiful timing.  I didn't even realize that she has a new album coming out, but apparently Ys drops on the 14th (i.e. today).  The CD apparently has heavy orchestration, but the touring group was this amazing folk instrument band.  Get this: in addition to her harp, two guitarists (who played guitars of various sizes), an accordionist, a banjoist, a non-trap-set percussionist, and a female backing vocal who also played handheld glockenspiel at times.  So.  Good.  I think she played the whole album straight through, from what I understand.  Only problem was that I wasn't entirely recovered from the venomous plague I had the past week, apparently, so I was very stiff in my back muscles (enough that the massive flow of endorphins was making me very dizzy), and toward the very end of the concert I was very nauseous.  Didn't ruin my enjoyment, though.  I <3 you, Joanna.

Friday the One Acts opened, and they went well, especially given that we were in the space for the first time ever 30 minutes before we opened.  Attendance was pretty decent, and Kevin brought me a rose :)  A cast party followed at my place afterward, about which the less said the better.  It wasn't bad, it's just that... arg.  Parties.  I enjoy them, but I'm getting too old for this sort of thing with people sitting in my living room drinking cheap beer and playing drinking games.  Why can't we just sit around and chat like civilized people?  Still, good times.  And remarkably untrashful.

Saturday and Sunday were mostly lazy days, which really wasn't entirely responsible but was most enjoyable.  The remaining two days of show went well, and though I did enjoy them, I'm also quite glad it's over.  It was a drain on my time, and the quarter's getting crazy.

I think that's about it from me now, kids.  I'll try to do better.  I know I've said that many times now, but I always really do mean it; it just doesn't seem to happen, is all.

[Mis-]Adventures in Cookery

Oh, what a day it's been, food-wise.  It all started with homemade chicken salad made with homemade tzatziki, which is scrumdiddliumptious.  Garlicky like all hell though; I thought it seemed like a tetch much of the stuff when I was making it, but hey, the recipe came from a reputable source!  Ignore your culinary instincts!  Oh well, just needed a little dilution.

Course, then as I was cleaning the massive pile-up of dishes in the kitchen (seriously.), I realized I may have inadvertently ruined my big non-stick skillet, which is annoying.  Last night I made some stir-fry, and after I was done I left the pan on the stove.  I, of course, turned the burner off... or did I???  It appears I had a brain fart and turned the knob the wrong way, which would be LOW, not OFF.  So from approximately 11pm last night until about 2pm this afternoon, my pan just sat there, slowly encrusting its spicy glaze onto itself.  I got the burnt-in sauce off with repeated soakings and the stiff [nylon] brush I usually use for the cast iron, but I really wonder how non-stick that thing will be now.  Teflon really isn't supposed to be dry-heated at all, certainly not for 15 hours.  At least I don't have any pet birds, they'd almost assuredly have died (Teflon emits fumes when heated improperly, and birds are extremely sensitive to them).

Redeemed myself, though.  I've tried twice before to make seitan here at home, once with the wrong flour (dense, slimy mess), and once with a slightly incorrect recipe (looked like it had Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy).  Today, I finally had the right ingredients and the right technique in the same room, and it came out the way it's supposed too.  I altered the spicing to make it more beef-like (emphasizing smoky flavors, basically), and since I am a Texan, and what's more Texan than beef, I decided to make the most classic of Texan dishes: Chicken Fried SteakSeitan.  I used an amalgam of AB's recipe here and David Bulla's recipe here over at the Texas Cooking website. 

Texas Cooking, by the way, is an amazing resource.  The recipes are always spot-on, and there are a number of articulate, well-written and -researched articles, obviously written by people who not only know their stuff, but have a passion for helping people enjoy the foods they love so well.  The range of recipes is also much broader than you might imagine; we have a lot of different people down in the Lone Star State, and they each have contributed to what we think of as Texas cookery.

Twice-dredged seitan, tangy mashed potatoes (you have to try yogurt in your mashed potatoes, by the way, it's life-altering.  That, and sour cream.), and that fabulous traditional chicken-fried-steak gravy over it all, a flour-thickened mix of chicken stock and milk, full up with coarse black pepper.  Mmmmm.

Went to class, too.  Gave a presentation.  Wandered around naked a lot at home, the roommate being out of town.  Discovered that though I last sang it, what, two years ago, I still know my part to "Fair Phyllis" quite well.  Also discovered that talyr makes delicious cookies and truffles.  Completely slacked on reading the Althusser and the Jameson for tomorrow; I'll remedy that in the morning.

Else the Puck a liar call.  And so good night unto you all.