Entries in the Category "food"
30 Before 30 (Six Month Progress Update), Part 2
Yesterday's entry was about achievement and progress and today's entry is about goals which may or may not be attainable, but which, in my naivete, I set for myself last May.
Here are the list items that I am scared to do or confused about how to do (as well as some which, through no fault of my own, have been modified) which, as yet, I still fantasize that I someday check off on "30 Before 30."
Continue reading "30 Before 30 (Six Month Progress Update), Part 2"
This Week's Disappointments in Reality TV
If these seem like old news, forgive me. I’ve been writing papers all week and I’ve just now managed to catch stuff up. Who loves the DVR?
Jen picks out greens, intending to over-salt them
My girl Jennifer was eliminated from the first half of the Top Chef finale on Wednesday night. It seemed like one of those inevitable eliminations, having less to do with the food she produced for the two challenges and more to do with the fact that the judges felt it was her time to depart. During the quickfire, guest judge Michael Chiarello told her “I will be stealing that,” and then promptly awarded the prize to increasingly odious Voltaggio brother Michael. In the elimination challenge, she produced one good dish and one that was too salty. Chiarello explained that it was some Napa Valley-originated salt that she used, which soaks into food in an unusual way, or something, that every chef did that the first time they came across this salt. Totally understandable. And, ‘bye Jen.
I’m not saying that any of the three remaining guys deserved to go home more than Jen did—just about everybody heard about both negative and positive attributes of their dishes, even the winner of the elimination challenge, Big Brother Bryan Voltaggio (who was told that he was stingy with his seasonings, incidentally). I want to cry sexism, but actually I think it has more to do with favoritism.
The judges love those Voltaggios, especially Michael, who savors his own genius so intensely that I can’t believe he can taste anything he cooks. Eliminating Jen also ensures some good ol’ dude conflict. Michael, a typical younger brother, snipes at Bryan because no matter how well he does at anything, Michael can’t make up for those two years Bryan was in the world before he got there. He also snipes at Kevin for daring to cook comfort food instead of, like, inverting sauces and pumping helium into eggs and practicing other acts of technical trickery. Almost every week that Michael didn't win, Head Judge Tom! wrote on his blog to remind viewers that even though Michael did something Oh-So-Impressive, it didn’t necessarily taste better than everyone else’s food. Even though that’s something we at home can’t experience, I like that it continues to matter.
I think Kevin deserves the win more, but if Bryan were to win it would torture Michael, so I’m in favor of either of those two. Go team Anybody But Michael!
A stunning upset on The Amazing Race, ahead.
Continue reading "This Week's Disappointments in Reality TV"
Fast Food and Fashion...
...for a Friday night.
from Grub Street New York: Flowchart Helps You Determine What Crap to Eat
"Is your name Jared?" (if yes: Subway) if no: "Do you have more than $3?" (if no: Taco Bell) if yes: "Are you drunk?"
Thanks to the Fug Girls for the tip! (Speaking of the Fug Girls, read their take on the not-with-a-bang-but-with-a-whimper finale of Project Runway which aired last night.)
Another carb addict in the family
Probably my nephew was just sleepy. But I like to imagine that he's thinking, "Macaroni and cheese...is SO...GOOD." Ah, to be one year old and living on the good old orange stuff.
Even though nobody asked, my favorite mac and cheese recipe is a slow-cooker recipe by Paula Deen. So, so delicious. I look quite a bit like Brandon there when it's gone. Luckily, the recipe makes 12 servings, so it takes like, three days for the two people who live in my house to finish it. Don't do that math, please.
And so it ends...
It's over! The Summer Movie Watch has been completed!
The celebration was marked by cake. (Yes, it was store-bought.)
Here's the moment of triumph: the end credits on the last movie of the day, and the last movie of the list, which was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Squint really hard and you'll see Jack Nicholson's name in there.
I guess tomorrow I go back to books? Who knows? I'm not yet used to my freedom.
Like cereal?
As an avowed carb enthusiast, I'm taking a break this morning between drug deals (Tony Montana’s, not my own, I promise!) to let everybody know about the N Cereal AA going on over at Tomato Nation. It’s a bracket tournament in which cereals compete (by garnering reader votes) for supremacy. The author of the site, Sars, has already done similar tournaments with cheese (winner: English cheddar) and ice cream (winner, in a stunning upset: mint chocolate chip).
If you think you can choose between Cheerios and Golden Grahams, visit the site and vote today--and keep visiting. These things move quickly. In between votes, there’s lots of play-by-play write-ups, and as an added treat, Sars is being joined in this tournament by her friend Tara, arguably the funniest woman on the Internet. If you don’t believe me, just head over to Sling.com and read her recaps of the first season of Beverly Hills 90210 (the original, with the sideburns and the Shannen Doherty and whatnot).
The Food-Mood Connection
This may sound a bit flaky of me, but I have better days when I begin them with better breakfasts.
A good breakfast can get me out of bed earlier. An "everything" bagel and a container of cream cheese will prompt me awake maybe two hours earlier than margarine on bread. A bowl of Cheerios with skim milk falls somewhere in the middle.
Also, after having a filling breakfast, I wait patiently for lunch, and then have a proper meal, such as a sandwich. When I have to cobble a breakfast together out of odds and ends, I don't satiate my hunger and then I snack all day, which is not particularly nutritious. Regular meals also ground me in a routine, keep me from letting time slip away (which can happen so easily on vacation).
This seemingly insignificant commentary is all for the purposes of communicating that I am home from my weekend out of town, my cupboards are still mostly bare from the move, and I fear that a lack of appropriately tempting breakfast foods will translate into a lack of motivation for the duration of the day.
Speaking of flaky, this is what I wish was in my cupboards this morning...
Birthday weekend
Saturday: My birthday
Jeremy decided to gift me with two experiences checked off my 30 by 30 list! So thoughtful, that guy. In the afternoon, I went to a massage, which was wonderful, and afterward, we had dinner at Melt Bar and Grilled. I had the Godfather, basically ricotta, tomato sauce and spices between two huge pieces of garlic bread.
Yes, it is literally a lasagna sandwich. A carb, re-carbed.
We came home and, after some debate, chose Spider-Man 2 (a list movie) for the evening’s viewing. I’d seen parts of that movie, on TNT or whatever, always when Jeremy turned it on and I was reading or otherwise engaged in the same room. I’ve never sat down to watch it for its own merits, and now I can for sure state that I will never do so again. What a crap bag of a movie that is!
Sunday
A lazy day. We did some packing, I watched another House marathon, and spent most of the evening letting the precious hours of my life slip away while I surfed the Internet.
On the plus side, I visited SimpsonizeMe.com and Simpsonized Jeremy and myself.
Hee! Jeremy is blond Milhouse! I couldn’t get mine to look like me no matter what I did to it, but I’m posting it anyway because it’s a flattering non-resemblance.
Monday: Memorial Day
More packing! Jeremy went to see the new Terminator movie, and I watched two list movies: All Quiet on the Western Front and Bonnie and Clyde.
Jeremy made burgers and hot dogs on the grill and homemade fries, and we had s’mores for dessert; classic Memorial Day fare.
In other news, we have our new address now and I’ll be e-mailing it around to friends and family this week. Moving day is set for Sunday, May 31! It will be a relief.
Tally of accomplishments, vol. 1
The responsibilities and demands of my school year are slowly but surely dissipating into the air. Today I turned the last page of Richard III, the culmination of required reading for my Shakespeare seminar.
My final paper for that course is still in progress. Still, I believe in giving small rewards for small accomplishments. My reward:
New blog!
I have embraced the inevitable. I’ve started a blog.
I figured as along as I have free space through school, I would use it. It’ll give me a chance to keep up my recreational writing (i.e. the writing that’s not getting graded, which is the overwhelming majority of what I write at the moment) and it’ll be fun to establish a presence on the web.
So, what can you expect of the blog? Mostly book reviews, probably, but also some blathering about movies and TV, teaching, chocolate, lake-effect snow, and even an occasional Skylar story.
I spent a long time thinking about my blog title--probably that's not something I want to admit--but in case you're curious, it's (obviously) a pun on "serial monogamist". It came to me first thing this morning when I tried to convince Jeremy that there was a goddess of cereal and he tried to convince me that I was completely wrong. [Cue Googling sounds]
Thus, I present the overseer of the blog: Ceres, Roman goddess of grain.
Anyway, hope everyone out in Internetland enjoys it!