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Well, it's been mostly a good two days. Yesterday, my actual birthday, Elisa and Francis took me out to lunch at Spagio, where I had never been for brunch. I decided to try their omelet of the day, which was salmon and mixed veggies, with a greens salad and some really fine fried potatoes. I greatly enjoyed it, but was even more impressed with Fran's brunch calzone, a behemoth with Black Forest ham, eggs, gruyère (I think it was gruyère), and probably some other stuff as well, all in a beautifully puffed dough shell. And even if she wasn't a huge fan, Elisa's crab and avocado salad looked lovely, and tasted fine to me!
The rest of the day I mostly sat around and sorted papers, some of which dated back to 2002 (most of those got chunked). I was amazed to find that I two novels in the paper box, texts from a Women's Francophone Lit class I had taken where the texts were out-of-print or hard to find, so the prof just xeroxed the ENTIRE NOVEL. I'm kind of excited, because -- I'll admit -- I don't think I ever read them, so it was like "oh! books!" And then I took a quick walk with Ali, and hung out with the family when they both wandered by errantly :)
Today, you'd THINK would have been a downhill move, since the A/C in Denney was dead and it was a Sauna Party in the DMP. But when I got home, such lovely surprises! There was a package from Kevin, returning the rice cooker and sending me some gifties. In addition, there was a letter from my auto loan company. Now, this was a little worrying, since last I checked I had paid that loan in full last month. But I opened it up, and there was the title to my Jetta! So only 2.25 years after my parents paid off the loan on my Corolla and I subsequently totaled it, I own my car outright again! And although a little part of me was just worried that I might be tempting fate to say that, I don't think it's too dangerous: I drive but rarely, and I have a not-entirely-irrational dislike of left turns now. So yes, I'm totally an adult or something, with my paid-off car and my rice cooker :)
And I made tasty tasty dinner tonight. Curried mushrooms and eggplant -- it's so rich and thick and almost meaty. Really more of a wintry dish, though; I'll have to remember it for when it gets colder. Ooh, and then later Meg, Amanda, and I had ice cream, and A gave me a probe thermometer -- she knows me too well :)
Oh, and I made 7 quarts of vegetable stock today. Like you do. And watermelon sorbet. And watermelon agua fresca, because JESUS CHRIST WATERMELONS ARE HUGE.
Also, last thing: Giant Eagle, my lucky grocery, is a den of fail. I went to buy more corn syrup (I realized halfway through the sorbet that I didn't have enough, and didn't want the flavor distraction a honey sub would add), and well -- it was bad. First off, I can't find anything, because the thing's been under renovation for months, and it's entirely possible it will be until well past the end of the year. Second, even after I found the appropriate sections, they've mysteriously stopped carrying the things I like. I'm REALLY brand-loyal with my hot sauces, and they didn't have them. Now, not having Valencia hot sauce is... understandable, albeit sad, since it's really delicious. But to not have Louisiana brand hot sauce, that's just annoying. I wanted to buy the big-ass bottle, which shplorts out perfectly when you shake it. And yes, there is Tabasco, but I really prefer La. brand; Tabasco tastes unbalanced to me (too much vinegar, not enough pepper). AND -- and and and -- they only had the stupid small bottles of Tabasco. Not to mention that the Hispanic section, usually my source for non-kidney red beans, had only pintos, blacks, and garbanzos. All fine legumes, but what about my red beans?
Suffice it to say, I'll be making sure to make room in my suitcase for bags and bags of Camellia red beans, boxes and boxes of Luzianne family size ice tea bags, and maybe a couple bottles of hot sauce.
(Oh yeah, I'm headed down to La/Tx on Monday. Did I mention?)
The rest of the day I mostly sat around and sorted papers, some of which dated back to 2002 (most of those got chunked). I was amazed to find that I two novels in the paper box, texts from a Women's Francophone Lit class I had taken where the texts were out-of-print or hard to find, so the prof just xeroxed the ENTIRE NOVEL. I'm kind of excited, because -- I'll admit -- I don't think I ever read them, so it was like "oh! books!" And then I took a quick walk with Ali, and hung out with the family when they both wandered by errantly :)
Today, you'd THINK would have been a downhill move, since the A/C in Denney was dead and it was a Sauna Party in the DMP. But when I got home, such lovely surprises! There was a package from Kevin, returning the rice cooker and sending me some gifties. In addition, there was a letter from my auto loan company. Now, this was a little worrying, since last I checked I had paid that loan in full last month. But I opened it up, and there was the title to my Jetta! So only 2.25 years after my parents paid off the loan on my Corolla and I subsequently totaled it, I own my car outright again! And although a little part of me was just worried that I might be tempting fate to say that, I don't think it's too dangerous: I drive but rarely, and I have a not-entirely-irrational dislike of left turns now. So yes, I'm totally an adult or something, with my paid-off car and my rice cooker :)
And I made tasty tasty dinner tonight. Curried mushrooms and eggplant -- it's so rich and thick and almost meaty. Really more of a wintry dish, though; I'll have to remember it for when it gets colder. Ooh, and then later Meg, Amanda, and I had ice cream, and A gave me a probe thermometer -- she knows me too well :)
Oh, and I made 7 quarts of vegetable stock today. Like you do. And watermelon sorbet. And watermelon agua fresca, because JESUS CHRIST WATERMELONS ARE HUGE.
Also, last thing: Giant Eagle, my lucky grocery, is a den of fail. I went to buy more corn syrup (I realized halfway through the sorbet that I didn't have enough, and didn't want the flavor distraction a honey sub would add), and well -- it was bad. First off, I can't find anything, because the thing's been under renovation for months, and it's entirely possible it will be until well past the end of the year. Second, even after I found the appropriate sections, they've mysteriously stopped carrying the things I like. I'm REALLY brand-loyal with my hot sauces, and they didn't have them. Now, not having Valencia hot sauce is... understandable, albeit sad, since it's really delicious. But to not have Louisiana brand hot sauce, that's just annoying. I wanted to buy the big-ass bottle, which shplorts out perfectly when you shake it. And yes, there is Tabasco, but I really prefer La. brand; Tabasco tastes unbalanced to me (too much vinegar, not enough pepper). AND -- and and and -- they only had the stupid small bottles of Tabasco. Not to mention that the Hispanic section, usually my source for non-kidney red beans, had only pintos, blacks, and garbanzos. All fine legumes, but what about my red beans?
Suffice it to say, I'll be making sure to make room in my suitcase for bags and bags of Camellia red beans, boxes and boxes of Luzianne family size ice tea bags, and maybe a couple bottles of hot sauce.
(Oh yeah, I'm headed down to La/Tx on Monday. Did I mention?)
