Lazybones

I've been so lazy recently. This morning I just couldn't seem to drag my ass out of bed when Mr Wonderful got up; I vaguely remember him kissing me goodbye before he left, and then I conked out again until 8 am.

Last weekend was even worse - I didn't do much of anything besides eat, read (I'm re-reading the Harry Potter books in anticipation of book 7, which comes out in a little more than a week), and sleep. I napped three times on Sunday, I swear to God.

And blogging? Hah. I haven't updated the food blog in weeks - I still have to post the chicken chili recipe that I made when we went camping. All I want to do is just curl up and sleep the day away...but I have too much to do. Obviously there's work; I've got to do that. And then I have to pick up Rugrat a couple of times a week, meaning that I'm dealing with the awful Hwy 4 traffic. Tonight the Harry Potter 5 movie comes out, and we're going to see that before we head back out here (hoping to miss the traffic). On Friday I have to go back in to the dentist to have a tiny cavity filled. This weekend I've promised to set up a CMS shell for my project manager's new pet project, and I want to get through the last of the HP books (or come really close). I'm about a third of the way through book 5 now, so I shouldn't have any problems polishing them off before next Friday.

So I have things that I need (or want) to get done, plus of course the nagging crap that I really SHOULD do, like clean up the backyard again and reseed the patches on the front lawn. But....I'm just so sleeeeeeeepy. Maybe I'm iron-deficient. Or pregnant. Oh God, that would SUCK. I so do not want to be pregnant. Mom, don't get your hopes up, I'm on the pill.

It burns!

My eyes are burning. I need to blink more often, I think. I've been installing software & copying stuff over to the "new" laptop all week (in between taking care of the occasional minor issues that co-workers request). It's not difficult, but it is time-consuming and irritating, especially when I import like 100 sites on Dreamweaver and when I reopen the program they are ALL FUCKING GONE. God. Because you can't just click a button and import them all quickly and automatically. No. You have to specify the local directory that DW should use to store site files. What a pain in the ass.

Speaking of pain in the ass, that would be me this week. I'm PMSing pretty hard for the first time in several months (I get my PMS the week AFTER my period, which is completely bass-ackwards and weird, but I haven't had it in quite a while) and Mr Wonderful is having his "time of the month" too, when he's a little less patient. Plus he's a little under the weather. So what did I do? Oh, what did I do? Yes, I picked this time to have a fight with Mr Wonderful - our first fight, actually. And...it really wasn't bad, as far as fights go. It was more like a conversation where we both discussed our differing points of view, with a little side order of me being edgy and feeling like I'm about to cry (thank you, PMS). And basically, it all boiled down to a little breakdown in communication (plus, yanno, the PMS). It was the most adult "fight" I've ever had, I think. In fact, the worst part about the whole thing is that I haven't seen him yet since we had this conversation, so there's been no hot make-up sex yet. I plan to remedy THAT situation tonight. ;-)

And speaking of drama, I have a dentist appointment tomorrow. I tend to put this off for about five years, and then finally I'll break down and go see a dentist for a cleaning & checkup (thank goodness I have nice, strong teeth). I just get more and more phobic about the dentist each time I go to one. It's been like this ever since the time I had two fully impacted wisdom teeth taken out with nothing but novocaine. Horrible. Awful. Traumatic. And so this time, I found a dentist who would prescribe me Valium for the initial exam & cleaning. My preference would be to sleep through the whole damn thing, but if I can't have that, at least I'll be so drugged up that I won't care. Right? Right??? God, I hope this works.

Camping at Lakes Basin

Mr Wonderful and I just had an idyllic weekend camping up in Lakes Basin, north of Lake Tahoe. I took Friday off and drove up to meet him at our campsite, which turned out to be the most awesome campsite ever. It was right on the Yuba River, but far enough removed from Hwy 49 to make it feel pretty secluded. Our particular campsite was the best, with space for two cars, lots of trees around us to make it feel semi-private, and only a matter of seconds to walk down to the river to cool off.

When I arrived (around lunchtime) on Friday, he was sitting there at the picnic table, reading his book. I was SO happy to see him, and he had been anxiously awaiting me...he even put a little welcome message on his car bumper ("Hi Baby!"). So sweet. We unpacked, set up the tent and the air mattress/sleeping bags/etc., and had a little lunch. I changed into my bathing suit and we walked over to the river and got in (slowly...and carefully...it's FREAKING FREEZING water, since it's all melted snow). We went for a hike up into the woods and had sexy time out there in the wilderness, because we couldn't wait for nighttime and the campground was a little too populated for privacy. ;-) Then we drove over to Gold Lake so he could show me that area (where we originally intended to camp) and we both agreed that our campground was much, much nicer.

The next day we woke up bright and early, and after a big breakfast, we went back to bed. Heh. Then we got up a little later, and drove out to Upper Salmon Lake, where we hiked for a few hours. It was a heck of a trek...we hiked up to about 7000 feet, and my lungs were feeling every single one of the fifteen years that I smoked. But the view from the top was fantastic; I got some lovely photos of Upper Salmon Lake (photo left), little Horse Lake, and the tiny Deer Lake, which was rather dried up due to the lack of snowfall this past winter. I also got a couple of shots of the Sierra Buttes (photo below).

We got back to camp, had a little lunch and then hopped into the river for an icy cold bath. Yes, a bath. In the cold river water. Which I took voluntarily. And it was AMAZING. The water was cold, but not painfully so - you couldn't stay submerged for long, definitely, but it was absolutely invigorating. Mr Wonderful found a great spot that was just deep enough to allow a person to float underwater, with your hands on rocks on either side of you to keep you from floating downstream, and we washed off with some castile soap he'd brought. It was such a rush - and for some reason nobody from the campsite ever seemed to come down to that spot in the river, even though it was only a few steps away from the campground. So it was as if we had that spot all to ourselves during our stay, and we spent a lot of time down there, just chilling out and dipping our feet in the water occasionally.

After the river bath, we came back to the campsite and air-dried in the tent. I'd brought a towel, but it was so lovely and warm inside the tent, with the sun shining in...and later on, I went into the tent to read for a little while, but it was so warm and relaxing that I ended up falling asleep. Mr Wonderful snuck up on me and took this picture while I was crashed out. ;-)

That evening, we had the chicken chili I'd prepared & frozen at home, along with some (rather squashed) cornbread muffins. Mr Wonderful had been chatting with the campsite manager and got quite friendly with him, and the guy told Mr Wonderful about a concert that was being held out at an amphitheater in the woods, so we decided to check it out. And...it was like the worst bar band you've ever heard, doing covers of some great songs, but doing them very, very badly. We tried not to giggle too much, and snuck away when the band took their break. We headed back to the campsite and I built an awesome campfire (almost too awesome, it was HUGE and we had to let it die down quite a bit). We had some s'mores and half a bottle of wine, and then snuck off to bed.

On Sunday we stayed in bed a little later, but eventually we had to rise & shine. We went into the little town of Sierra City for breakfast, and then hiked the PCT to Love's Falls, and joined back up with the Wild Plum loop. The Wild Plum loop is the trail we followed on Friday afternoon, so we knew our way around fairly well, and we went off the trail to the river, where there's a lovely little waterfall and a great place to hang out for a bit. Since it was our last hike before packing up and leaving, we weren't too anxious to get back to camp quickly. Even after seeing two rattlesnakes on the trail (I know!!), we still wanted to stay there and hang out for as long as we could. But eventually we had to get back to camp and dismantle everything, pack it away, and head home. Both of us wished we could have stayed longer, and we'll definitely be going back there again.

Missing him like crazy

It's been like fifty different kinds of horrible, not being able to talk to Mr Wonderful since yesterday morning, but he just called me! God, I love that man. And I am heading up to the mountains to see him first thing tomorrow morning. Babydaddy picked up Rugrat from daycare today and decided to take him back to his house, so I'm going to get an early start. It can't be TOO early, because I have to swing by the dentist's office tomorrow morning at 8 AM to register & pick up my prescription for anti-anxiety pills (before my "real" appointment - exam & cleaning - next Friday). But I am going to be on the road immediately after that, and I am totally going nuts, missing him sooooo much. It's like a pit in my stomach. But at least now I know he's safe, out of the woods and around other people. He cut his backpacking trip short because he wanted to make sure & get a campsite for us, and he called because the place where we're camping is different than where we'd originally agreed to meet, so he had to let me know where it was. And I am just so excited because I got to hear his voice for the first time in over 24 hours and it feels like it's been FOREVER.

I am so completely hooked on this man. What a girly girl I've turned out to be, all squee-ing over a frickin' phone call.

Withdrawal

OK, I'm just ever-so-slightly freaked out. Mr Wonderful is now officially off the radar, hiking around in the wilderness by himself with nothing but a backpack full of freeze-dried food and some very basic gear between him and the elements. I get that it's important to him to be able to do this - to get out of his head and into a very primal way of living, all man-vs-nature, yaaar, but it still kind of freaks me out. Because I love him like crazy and I would really, really hate it if something happened to him. And I would totally be the first one to figure out that something had happened to him, because nobody else is expecting to hear from him until Sunday, and I am driving up day after tomorrow to meet him at Gold Lake. But until that happens - until I see him at the campground, he's totally off the grid. As in, no cell phone access. And here I am, all hooked on him like fucking crack, what with the half-dozen or so daily phone calls we usually have. Including the one right before we go to bed, which is almost as good as actually being next to him in bed (or at least it's the closest facsimile we have, and we make the best of it). And now I am supposed to be completely out of contact with him for over 48 hours?

Friday can't come soon enough.

Meeting the family

Looks like Mr Wonderful will be meeting even more of my family in July. As I mentioned previously, we are headed up to Portland for the Oregon Brewers Fest (yay!) at the end of July, and also visiting my sister & her family at that time (especially since we'll be staying with them). Now it seems that Mr Wonderful will be meeting my dad & stepmom next month as well. I got an email from dad yesterday saying that they are planning on coming out for a visit next month, near the 20th. So poor Mr Wonderful will be put under scrutiny by about half the family within the span of about a week. Hey mom, do you & F want to come up for a visit next month too? We'll just get it all out of the way at once, shall we? ;-)

So now he's talking about having me meet his family...I will be driving *right by* his sister's house to get up to the campsite this weekend, and he mentioned that I could meet her & her family on the way back home, if I wanted. I kind of didn't respond to that, because I'm not sure if I want the first contact I have with his family to be while I'm grungy and greasy from camping for a couple of days with no shower. Talk about feeling at a disadvantage. And his sister is the one that I'm most intimidated about meeting, actually. I'm not sure why, but that's how I feel. Anyway...when I mentioned that my dad was coming to visit next month, Mr Wonderful started talking about taking me down to P--- S------ to meet his mom & stepdad. Which is a lovely idea, really it is. But I'm not sure if I'm ready to go to the desert again so soon. I just don't want to get sick again, dammit; I'm pretty gun-shy about the desert after my last trip out there.

Playing Catch Up

Chicken Caesar Salad
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister

God, I know. It's been a while, right?

I made this yummy Chicken Caesar Salad for dinner last Thursday. Pretty standard - romaine, roasted chicken breast (boneless/skinless, roasted at 400 with olive oil, salt & pepper), cherry tomatoes, homemade croutons, and caesar dressing from scratch. Yes, with the anchovies. Mr Wonderful was hesitant about eating the anchovies, but he ultimately enjoyed it and said it was "right on the edge," meaning that the fishy taste was there, but not TOO strong. So that passed muster (or mustard, heh). I got the recipe from foodtv.com, from Barefoot Contessa's caesar salad with pancetta recipe.

I've made some other yummy stuff in the interim, but haven't taken pictures: a chicken wrap made with feta cheese, lettuce and cucumber strips, dressed with a mustard vinaigrette (we ate this on the way to Monterey), and an easier wrap with deli-sliced turkey, baby spinach, olives and Alouette garlic-herb cheese spread. Rugrat actually enjoyed this one, and it will probably go into the lunchbox rotation. I made some more fresh corn, since Raleys has the good local stuff at 4 ears for a dollar. And of course I've made tons of caprese salad, my summertime go-to meal.

I promise to get the camera out a little more often and document the meals better in the future. :-) This weekend I'm heading up to the mountains to go camping with Mr Wonderful, and I promise to take loads of pictures. I'm planning a white chicken chili for one night, and a campfire Bananas Foster dessert, so stay tuned!

Owwww!

On Saturday, Rugrat and I went out on the Delta with my cousin K, my uncle J, and his friend M on J's speedboat. At the last minute I decided that I should've worn shorts instead of jeans, and I borrowed a pair from my aunt. But we left right after I changed into them, and I neglected to put sunscreen on my legs until we stopped to gas up the boat about an hour later...and by then the damage was done. My legs are FRIED, y'all. Absolutely lobster-red. I think I've just upped my skin cancer risk by about 1000 percent. Wow, is it painful. Yesterday I spent most of the day whimpering and moving as little as possible. Every time I stood up it felt like knives in my legs. Ouch.

On the plus side, we had a blast on the boat - Rugrat had a great time (and of course didn't get even remotely pink, because he's got quite a bit of Native American in him, or Spanish or Italian or whatever - he just browns easily - from both my side and his dad's side), and I had a wonderful time until I got off the boat and my sunburn started to really develop.

Mr Wonderful came over and spent the night last night; he's on vacation for the next week, that lucky dog. He's going up north of Tahoe, to go backpacking and get away from civilization for a while. I'm joining him up there on Friday, so we'll have a nice weekend up in the mountains together.

Three things

Here's a meme I found on a random blog...

Three people/things that make me laugh: Mr Wonderful, Ren (from Ren & Stimpy), the episode of Coupling (BBCA) where Jeff shows up at the bar in the leather mask

Three things that scare me: heights, Rugrat's tendency to leap before he looks, random violence (because you just can't prepare for it)

Three things I love: family, friends, books

Three things I hate: cockroaches, scallops, traffic

Three things I don’t understand: why the country voted Bush into office for a second term, why anyone would want to keep homosexuals from having the legal right to get married, why so many people are ignorant and mean

Three things on my desk: computer, blood pressure machine, stack o' papers

Three things I want to do before I die: take a cooking class in Tuscany, skydive (must conquer that fear of heights), write a bestselling novel

Three things I can do: cook, create a website content management system (CMS) from scratch, hula hoop with two hoops at the same time (for quite a while)

Three things I would like to learn: fluent Italian, string theory, how to design my own sweater knitting patterns

Three favorite foods: filet mignon (preferably swimming in butter, at Ruth's Chris Steak House), spicy hamachi roll, CHEEEEEEEESE

Three beverages I drink regularly: Dr Pepper, coffee, water

Three TV shows/Books I watched/read as a kid: Dukes of Hazzard, A Little Princess, the Nancy Drew series

In general...

Thought I'd catch y'all up on some general stuff:

• The Goddamn Rooster™ is gone! I noticed a conspicuous absence of crowing about two weeks ago, but I didn't want to jump the gun. The neighbors could have just taken him on vacation or something. But I'm pretty sure he's really most sincerely gone now.
• Rugrat is student of the month for June! He won this award for his "sense of humor and initiative." Whatever that means. Basically, I think he won for being the class clown.
  
• Rugrat also got an award for perfect attendance during the entire school year. Pretty incredible. I don't think I've ever had perfect attendance for a year, either in school or at work.
  
• Still not smoking! It's been two and a half months now, and I haven't had a single slip. I don't think about it much anymore, but occasionally I have a brief craving. It goes away in a minute if I ignore it.
• I have the world's biggest freaking zit on my chin.
  

Weekend in Monterey

Summed up in one word? Bliss.

Friday night immediately after work I threw together some food, finished packing, and headed out to Livermore. I managed to catch the last 45 minutes of Mr Wonderful's Aikido class, and it was rather impressive. Four guys throwing each other on the ground, over and over and over. The sensei absolutely blew my mind - he's a geek! A glasses-wearing Star Trek nerd. And yet he seemed to throw these huge guys around with no more effort than it would take me to lift a paperback book. Amazing.

After Mr Wonderful's class, we swung by his place so he could take a quick shower and grab his bag. And then we were on the road, shortly after 9 PM. I'd packed a couple of chicken wraps for dinner (sorry no photos for the blog, guys), some caprese salad and a bunch of bottles of water. We made excellent time and got to our hotel by 11 PM. We checked in and collapsed on the ROCK HARD bed. It was awful. We spent the night tossing and turning, and finally just gave up around 6:30 AM and got up.

We had a nice hot breakfast at the Old Monterey Cafe and drove down to Point Lobos. We were nearly there when I realized I'd forgotten my camera! So, we turned around and headed back to the hotel (thankfully everything is so close together that it was only about 10 minutes away), grabbed the camera, and headed back out. We made it to Pt Lobos around 10:30 or so, and hiked around the place for three hours. It was gorgeous - overcast and cool, which was a very nice change from the 100+ weather we'd been getting at home. And we saw baby seals cavorting in the coves, otter playing in the ocean, and deer...up close and personal! I was taking pictures of some deer who were eating nearby, when another doe walked up from a different direction and came within maybe a dozen feet of me. It was pretty amazing. And I was so glad we'd gone back for the camera. ;-)

We headed back to Monterey, and had lunch at a little place on fisherman's wharf. The food was just OK, but the view of the marina was lovely, and Mr Wonderful taught me quite a bit about sailboats. We snuck back to our hotel room for a nap (and...stuff) afterwards, first re-making the bed with the blanket and comforter UNDER the bottom sheet so that there was a little bit more padding for our tired bodies.

After a brief nap and shower, we were ready to hit Carmel. We strolled along Ocean Ave, with its pricey shops and fancy restaurants, and made our way down to the beach. On the way there, we saw a fantastic house. It's my dream house, seriously. One block from the beach, 3000 square feet, gorgeous Spanish villa style, with *two* wrought-iron verandas and a library with a fireplace. And did I mention it was for sale? Yeah, only 6 million dollars. Heh.

We walked along the beach in Carmel at sunset, feeling absolutely relaxed and blissed-out and totally cheesy-cliche romantic. It was awesome. I didn't take any pictures of Carmel, but I've got my memories, and they are absolutely golden.

We ended the day with dinner at Bahama Billy's in Carmel (on the east side of Hwy 1), and it was really fantastic. We weren't super-hungry, but the food was SO good. I had a mango crab bisque and some coconut shrimp, and Mr Wonderful had a kalua pork rice bowl. Thanks to my cousin K for recommending this place - it was definitely a treat!

The next morning we woke early again and headed for Pebble Beach. We did the 17 Mile Drive tour, with Mr Wonderful driving while I tried my best to beat back an allergy attack. I drugged the hell out of myself with Benadryl, but only ended up sleepy and still sneezing. Dammit. We drove back to Monterey for lunch, and had another wonderful meal, this time at the Fish Hopper. The great food made me momentarily feel normal, but then the allergies kicked back in, and the double dose of Benadryl knocked me on my ass (almost literally). We had planned to hit the aquarium but ended up just heading home thanks to my sneeze-fest. Ah well, no vacation is perfect, right? And it gives us a good excuse to go back again soon.

Overall, though, I'd have to say it was a lovely weekend.

Epiphany

Mr Wonderful and I are closer than ever, and I had an epiphany on Sunday night as I was falling asleep: I am going to spend the rest of my life with this man. It's not like "I hope I'll spend the rest of my life with him" or "I really, really want to spend the rest of my life with him." No. It was like a premonition, a statement of fact. There is no doubt in my mind, he's the one. This is it, y'all.

Just not feelin' it

Sorry I've been slacking on the posts recently. I've just been busy at work, or busy with Rugrat, or busy with Mr Wonderful, or just busy sweating. The temperature rose about twenty degrees in two days here, and now we're suddenly battling 100 degree heat. Not that I really mind - I've got air conditioning, and I like hot weather anyway.

Plus I'll be cooling off this weekend...Mr Wonderful and I are taking off tomorrow night for Monterey, to spend our long-anticipated childless weekend on the coast! Wooohooo! Big Sur, here I come. I really can't wait; I've been feeling seriously stressed out the last few days, and I desperately need this little getaway. No kids, no work, no worries. Bliss.

Blue belt!

Blue belt!
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

Rugrat got his blue belt in karate class yesterday. This is kind of a big deal; it's the last of the "beginner" belts. It's probably also the last belt he'll get for a while, as we haven't figured out if we're going to enroll him in karate out in WC yet or not, and if we are, where we'll take him.

Tequila-Lime Chicken

Tequila-lime chicken
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister

Tequila-lime chicken topped with salsa fresca, and accompanied by fresh chili-lime corn (cut from the cob) and a tossed green salad with avocado vinaigrette. I used my brand-new George Foreman grill, and I have to say, I was pretty disappointed. The chicken was cooked perfectly, but there were NO grill marks. What the heck?

Tequila-Lime Chicken with Salsa Fresca
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c freshly squeezed lime juice, or limeade (I used a combination of both)
1 shot tequila
1 c chopped tomatoes
1/4 c diced onion
1/2 to 1 diced jalepeno (depending on how spicy you like it)
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper

Put the lime juice and tequila in a resealable bag. Season well with salt & pepper. Add the two chicken breasts and marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge (the longer, the better). Throw all the other ingredients together in a bowl, and season to taste with salt & pepper. Let it sit in the fridge while your chicken breasts marinate, so the flavors can blend.

Preheat your grill of choice to super-screaming-hot. Remove the breasts from marinade & discard the marinade. Grill just until the chicken is no longer pink in the center (time will depend on your grill - my new GF grill took about 10 minutes to grill three breasts; I had one plain one for Rugrat).


Fresh Chili-Lime Corn
2-3 ears of fresh sweet corn (depending on how big they are)
2 Tbsp butter
Juice of one lime
1/4-1/2 tsp chili powder

With a sharp knife, cut the kernels from the corn cob, and use the back of the knife to rub the milky juice from the cob (you'll see, there's a little bit of the kernels that gets left behind, and you can get some sweet yummy juice by scraping them). Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and throw all the corn in. Heat the corn through, maybe a couple of minutes. Just before serving, sprinkle with the chili powder and pour the lime juice over the corn. Just stir it up and enjoy! Best corn EVER.

This is MADE of awesome

Paris goes back to jail

Judge Sauer is a hero. A true bastion of logic and reason in the sea of insanity that is LA. Thank GOD someone is standing up to these stupid rich, spoiled brats who think they can get away with anything, any time it suits them.

Today's ringtones

"You sick little monkey!" and The Happy Happy Joy Joy Song, both from Ren & Stimpy (episode: Stimpy's Invention).

I am obviously having way too much fun with this.

Oops! My geek is showing.

This completely blows my mind. Awesome.

Even more awesome? The fact that Rugrat asked me this morning to explain the fourth dimension to him, and I showed him this website. (Yes, I already had it bookmarked. Because I am a total geek and this is the kind of shit that makes my cold little heart go pitter-pat.) WTF is an eight year old doing asking questions about the fourth dimension? Damn, my kid is smart.

Let me count the ways

Sometimes it's hard to think of what to post. Not because I have nothing to say, but because I keep wanting to say the same things over and over. I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love. I'm sure it gets tedious to read after a while.

But the little things are what get me. Those little things Mr Wonderful (D) does that make me swoon, that make my heart beat just a little faster. Like when he asked me to leave my shampoo at his house last night, so I don't have to bring it next time. Or the way he sprays my pillow with his cologne before he leaves for work, so that it will smell like him when I snuggle up to it on those nights when we can't be together. The way he calls me five minutes after we leave each other, just to tell me he loves me. Or the text message he sent me the other day, when I was meeting with a prospective client, to give me a boost of confidence: "Hey u smile they cant say no 2 u." The way he's always fully present, not thinking of something else when we're together. The way he holds me, the strength and passion and caring that somehow gets transmitted from his arms straight to my heart. When he brings me flowers for no reason. The way he raves about my cooking. The way he tells me how hot I look in my glasses, or when I'm geeking out on the computer. The way we divvy up the chores we'll each do when we end up living together. (Him: "I'll be in charge of the yard." Me: "I'll take care of the cooking.") The way he tells me that he doesn't ever want anyone else; this is it for him. OK, I guess that's not a little thing. That's a big thing, a HUGE thing, actually.

I don't think I've ever had a relationship that felt so effortless before. It just feels like we are on the same path, in the same place, going in the same direction. I have no anxiety about how he feels about me: I know how he feels. He is so open and direct; there's no walls there. It's incredible, really. And I can't seem to stop talking about it, like I'm the first person in the world to ever fall in love.

Expand your horizons

Yesterday I discovered that there is something called a Foodie Blogroll, started by the lovely and talented Leftover Queen. The Foodie Blogroll is an ever-expanding list of food blogs: a great resource for new recipe ideas, and a nice way to drive a little more traffic to your own food blog. The blogroll is now on my site (see it in the lower-right). If you want to add your food blog to the list, pop on over to the LQ's Foodie Blogroll post and get the details.

Simple pleasures, geek style

I'm not a very complicated person. I generally like things simple and straightforward. But the last cell phone I got was the Razr, which at the time was pretty much top of the line. Generally I am of the opinion that, if it will make telephone calls, it's good enough for me. But in this case I made an exception. Why? Because I am smitten with the personalized ringtones. You know, where you set a different ringtone for each person in your address book so that you know the moment it rings who's calling.

But I wasn't content with the ringtones you can buy online. I absolutely had to have a ringtone with the Kim Possible theme song. Do you know how hard it is to find a Kim Possible ringtone? They don't exist. So I had to make one. I got an audio file - off a Disney soundtrack CD or something - and I downloaded some free software (Audacity) and cut the file down to the size I wanted, with the exact audio clip I wanted.

And then I went nuts. I was making ringtones for every person and occasion. And today, I made ringtones from the soundtrack of a DVD. Not the soundtrack like the music from the movie, the soundtrack meaning the actual WORDS SPOKEN during the film. I found this awesome software called DVD Audio Ripper, and after very little futzing around, I figured out how to get the audio track I wanted, and then I used Audacity to crop it. So now I have a couple of ringtones made from the Jimmy Neutron movie. (What? I LOVE cartoons. The best part about having a kid is that you get a fabulous excuse to watch cartoons.)

Technology is freaking awesome.

Maroon 5

On Sunday I bought the latest Maroon 5 CD, and I've got it on heavy rotation. I really like it, but it seems like most of the songs are heavily influenced by 80's pop. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I really like 80's pop. But some of the songs are SO obviously inspired by another song or just a very distinctive sound. One song sounds like Prince, one sounds like the Police, another one like John Waite, and a fourth one sounds like Jellyfish. Just about every song on the album gives me that niggling feeling like I've heard it before, or at least something really, really similar. The Police one has a certain spot in the song that sounds so much like Message in a Bottle that I swear it's practically plagiarism. It's so blatant (to me anyway) that I wonder if maybe they did it on purpose. Like they specifically made songs that sounded like various 80's pop groups so that they could tap into the nostalgia factor for people in my age range. Or maybe it just sounds like 80's pop because it's all so very slick; the whole album is produced within an inch of its life.

I also got the older Shins CD, the one with New Slang on it. This is totally my new favorite band.

Roasted Cherry Chicken

Cherry Roasted Chicken
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister

Wow. This one was a winner - savory and sweet, all at the same time. I served it up with some blanched green beans (yay, farmer's market!) and panzanella, which D totally went nuts over. The unusual addition of cherries makes this a good choice for Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup this week!

Roasted Cherry Chicken
2 chicken breasts, bone in & skin on
1/2 c pitted fresh cherries
1 Tbsp rosemary
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
EVOO
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400°.

Chop up the cherries, rosemary, and garlic all together, kind of milling it with your knife until the cherry bits are pretty darn small (but still a wee bit chunky) and the garlic & rosemary goes all through it. Throw it in a small bowl, add a small amount of EVOO (maybe a teaspoon or so), the parsley and some kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper; mix well. Loosen the skin on the chicken and stuff the cherry mixture underneath the skin. Coat the skin with EVOO and sprinkle with more salt & pepper. Roast for about 40 minutes or until done. (I always use a thermometer that goes off when it reaches the desired temperature; this guarantees moist, juicy meat that is perfectly cooked. Every. Single. Time.)

Goat Cheese Toasts with Savory Cherry Jam

Goat Cheese Toasts with Savory Cherry Jam
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister

I got a bunch of cherries at the farmer's market ('tis the season), and I wanted to try something savory with them. Obviously there's loads of recipes for dessert with cherries, but I was looking for something a little different. So this is my first attempt at using the cherries in a savory dish, and it was OK, but a little heavy for the season. It needed something to lift it up a bit; when I made the chicken I threw some parsley in with the cherry mixture, and that brightened it up just enough. Although I just had an idea - orange juice! I'll bet that would be fabulous - next time I'll add a splash of OJ to the sauce during the cooking process. (I think the cherry jam/sauce would be fantastic over pork tenderloin as-is, especially in the fall -- but when are you going to find fresh cherries in the fall? Never, that's when.)

Goat Cheese Toasts with Savory Cherry Jam
Sourdough bread, sliced 1/2" thick
Chevre (fresh goat cheese)
1/2 c cherries, pitted & roughly chopped
1 tsp chopped rosemary
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Pinch of salt & pepper

Toast the bread slices in the oven or toaster oven until golden brown. While the bread is toasting up, throw the cherries, rosemary, vinegar and salt & pepper into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the cherries are soft. At this point I used a stick blender to smooth it out a little, but I wouldn't advise doing this unless you are cooking at lot more of it at one time; I wound up with cherry splattered all over my kitchen. Instead, you could either chop up the cherries very finely at the beginning of the process, or you could use an actual blender to get the consistency you want. I wanted mine a bit chunky.

Spread the toasts with the chevre, then top with the cherry mixture.

"Greek" Chicken Salad

"Greek" chicken salad
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister

Light, healthy and very tasty. I'm not doing amounts for this one because you'll want to just adjust the amounts to your taste anyway.

"Greek" Chicken Salad
Romaine lettuce, torn or cut into bite-size pieces
Cherry tomatoes, quartered
Seedless (AKA European) cucumber, diced
Red onion, sliced or diced
Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
Feta cheese, crumbled or diced
Roasted skinless, boneless chicken breast, sliced into bite-size pieces (I used olive oil, salt & pepper, but you can use any herbs or seasonings you want on it - throw it in the oven at 400 until done, about 30 minutes)
Lemon vinaigrette (see below)

Toss it all together & eat! The chicken soaks up some of the vinaigrette if you throw it on the salad while it's still a little warm. That makes the chicken extra moist and tasty.

Lemon Vinaigrette
Juice of one lemon
EVOO
Salt & pepper

Put the lemon juice in a small bowl, and add salt & pepper. Use more than you think you need; the vinaigrette will be used to season the entire salad. Slowly stream in EVOO while whisking fast; when you've got about a quarter cup of vinaigrette, you should be done.

Commitment

D and I had a funny conversation the other day - he was telling me about his birthday, and how his family always celebrates it on Thanksgiving (his b'day is Nov 24th), whether it falls on Thanksgiving or not. He said it always pissed him off, and he'd ask them to celebrate it separately, but they always refused. I said, "Awww. Well, I promise to always celebrate your birthday ON your birthday." And he said something like, "Wow, that's quite a commitment. Are you sure you want to say that?" So I backtracked a little and said that I'd do it for "as long as we're together." He laughed, and was all, "Ohhhh...as long as we're together. I see." And then I had to amend my statement again, and assure him that I am planning to be around for a long, long time: "Or, you know, until we're both shriveled and senile, sitting on the porch in our rocking chairs." So he said, "You want to be shriveled with me?" and of course I said yes.

I mean, what kind of conversation is this? I thought we were totally past this; I know he is thinking long-term and I know he knows I am thinking long-term, so...why the surprise? Was he just joking around, trying to get a rise out of me? Or is he trying to get reassurance that I am thinking of this as a long-term thing? Could he be in any doubt over my feelings and intentions here? Because I think I've been pretty clear: I don't want to rush things, but I am committed to this. I love him, and I want to be with him. Maybe forever. But at least for a really, really long time. And I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Dinner out

D and I decided to try a new restaurant the other night: Lone Tree Thai Cuisine. Not a very exciting name, considering the street it's on is (you guessed it) Lone Tree. But I was hoping it would end up being a great hole-in-the-wall Thai place less than five minutes from my house. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly measure up.

We ordered a TON of food. Pad thai (the standard by which every Thai restaurant must be judged), mixed seafood green curry, laarb (a "salad" with beef in it) and, as an appetizer, "fish cake." Which was actually fish cakes, plural: there were five of them. The texture of the fish cakes was odd - kind of rubbery and flabby, but the flavor was decent, especially when you put the cucumber-relish stuff on top of it. Next the laarb arrived, and it was....kind of frightening, actually. A huge mound of ground beef with a little lettuce thrown in, a dab of mint, and (supposedly) some cilantro. But the oddest thing about it was the sauce or grease that they cooked it in; at one point, D said "Movie popcorn!" and then that was all we could think of. It was pretty awful. The pad thai was ok, except that they overcooked the prawns - WAY overcooked them. And the green curry was mild (we specified extra-spicy everything, because that's just how we roll) with - again - seriously overcooked seafood. The salmon was cooked well, but all of the shellfish was horribly overcooked.

D and I agreed that we would not be returning.

Coming up soon: Greek(ish) salad. Gotta use up that seedless cucumber and the feta!

Lone Tree Thai

D and I decided to try a new restaurant the other night: Lone Tree Thai Cuisine. Not a very exciting name, considering the street it's on is (you guessed it) Lone Tree. But I was hoping it would end up being a great hole-in-the-wall Thai place less than five minutes from my house. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly measure up.

We ordered a TON of food. Pad thai (the standard by which every Thai restaurant must be judged), mixed seafood green curry, laarb (a "salad" with beef in it) and, as an appetizer, "fish cake." Which was actually fish cakes, plural: there were five of them. The texture of the fish cakes was odd - kind of rubbery and flabby, but the flavor was decent, especially when you put the cucumber-relish stuff on top of it. Next the laarb arrived, and it was....kind of frightening, actually. A huge mound of ground beef with a little lettuce thrown in, a dab of mint, and (supposedly) some cilantro. But the oddest thing about it was the sauce or grease that they cooked it in; at one point, D said "Movie popcorn!" and then that was all we could think of. It was pretty awful. The pad thai was ok, except that they overcooked the prawns - WAY overcooked them. And the green curry was mild (we specified extra-spicy everything, because that's just how we roll) with - again - seriously overcooked seafood. The salmon was cooked well, but all of the shellfish was horribly overcooked.

D and I agreed that we would not be returning.

Coming up soon: Greek(ish) salad. Gotta use up that seedless cucumber and the feta!

Mmmm....beeeeer

Yesterday I decided it was time to get cracking and think about what the heck I was going to do for a vacation this summer. I need a vacation. Even if it's just a few days, I need to take some time off and go somewhere. D and I have been sort of dancing around about it, but dammit, I needed to get something nailed down.

I've been thinking about visiting my sister, S, so I thought I'd check and see what festivals are coming up in Portland this summer. I've driven through Portland a few times, but never actually stopped and spent time there (at least, not since I was a kid). Lo & behold, there is something called the Oregon Brewers Festival coming up at the end of July. And it's on a weekend when I don't have the Rugrat. Score! I talked to D about it last night and he was totally psyched for it (how's that for appropriate use of early '90's slang?). I called S this morning and she sounded pretty darn happy about having us come to stay for a few days. So I guess I've got my vacation planned out. I emailed the info to D, and once he gets his dates off approved through work, we'll hook up the plane tickets. It's not really cheaper for two people to fly than to drive, but you get the benefit of not wasting an entire day in the car, each way, if you fly. So I think it evens out.

I am so excited! July is going to be the best month ever: Harry Potter 5 movie will be released, Harry Potter 7 book will be released, and then I'm going on vacation with D, and get to drink lots of beer and hang out with my li'l sis. Perfect.

Balsamic Berries

Balsamic Berries
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister

This is fantastic on its own, or over ice cream. Yum!

You don't even really need a recipe for this. Just throw together a few pints of cleaned, fresh berries (with strawberries, you'll want to hull them & maybe slice them to a uniform size) in a bowl. I used strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, which I found at my local farmer's market this weekend. Sprinkle a spoonful of sugar over the berries, and then drizzle everything with maybe a 1/4 c good balsamic vinegar. Let it stand for half an hour or so to let the berries soak up some of the vinegar and release some of their juices. That's all there is to it!

Shrimp & Orzo

Shrimp & Orzo Pasta Salad
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister

Mmmm....summery and delicious! Quick to make and perfect for a BBQ or picnic, since it's at its best when it's room temperature. This is a variation on a Barefoot Contessa recipe, and it's my contribution to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup this week.

Shrimp & Orzo
1/2 lb uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined (tail off!)
1/2 lb orzo pasta
1 c chopped tomato (I used cherry tomatoes)
1 c diced seedless cucumber
1/4-1/2 c diced red onion (adjust amount depending on how much you like onion)
1/4 lb feta, diced
1/4 c basil, torn into small pieces or sliced into thin ribbons
2 lemons
EVOO, salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400°.

Cook pasta according to package directions. While it's cooking, toss the shrimp with olive oil, salt & pepper, and spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet. When the oven is preheated, cook the shrimp for about 3-4 minutes, just until they're pink and opaque. Time will vary depending on the size of shrimp you're using.

In a large bowl, put the tomato, cucumber and onion. Zest one of the lemons and add the zest to the veggies. In a smaller bowl, put the juice of both the lemons, and a liberal amount of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper (this is going to season the entire salad). Add olive oil, whisking constantly, until you have about 1/2-3/4 c of dressing. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain it and add it to the bowl with the veggies. Immediately pour the vinaigrette over the pasta and veggies. Throw in the shrimp, and finally add the feta and basil. Stir gently to combine, and check your seasonings. Let it sit at room temperature for about half an hour or so, to let the flavors meld. Then dig in, and just try to keep yourself to one or two servings. ;-)

Gettin' busy

Not like that!

Friday night, I went out to dinner with my friend K and some of her other friends. This was her "goodbye" dinner, before moving back to Las Vegas, where she was born & raised. I'm bummed that my friend isn't local anymore, but she'll be back to visit often, and we didn't see each other much more often than once a month anyhow. So it won't be a huge change. After dinner, I drove out to stay the night with D. He had to be at work at 6 AM the next morning, but even the threat of waking up at 4:30 am on a Saturday is not enough of a deterrent to keep me away from him. (I know!!)

Saturday, after watching the gorgeous sunrise on the drive home, I took a nap, then hit the Brentwood farmer's market. I bought zucchini and yellow squash, a gorgeous huge red onion, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, and tons of cherries. I also got a sourdough baguette, some asiago foccacia, a package of naan and a packet of vindaloo curry paste. Whew! With all these goodies in hand, I made a plan: vindaloo for dinner, followed by homemade cherry ice cream. Turns out, though, that homemade ice cream is a major process. You have to simmer and steep the milk (with vanilla bean, in this case), then make the custard and cook it (gently!!), cool it in an ice bath, chill it in the refrigerator, and THEN put it in the ice cream maker and freeze it up. It took HOURS. But OMG, so worth it. That fresh cherry ice cream was fall-on-the-floor good. Next time: more cherries, and maybe puree a few of them to add to the custard at the start of the freezing process.

I packed up half of the cherry ice cream, and all the fixings for the vindaloo (chicken, veggies, curry paste, TJ's frozen rice bags, and naan), and drove BACK out to Livermore to make dinner for D and his roommates. They were very appreciative, and after a minor mishap where the vindaloo would not thicken up (I made a quick roux to fix it), it turned out pretty well. Not my finest meal, but it was fairly good.

Anyhoo, I spent the night out there again (two nights in a row!) and for the first time ever, D and I spent the night together with no sexy-time. Just sleep. He was exhausted, what with the lack of sleep the night before, and of course we had to get up at 4:30 again so he could make it to work by 6 AM on Sunday morning. So I completely understand, but at the same time I really missed making love with him. I can't believe that after all these years, I am suddenly the one who wants sex all the time in the relationship.

On Sunday I drove straight to Walnut Creek and sat outside Babydaddy's house reading for an hour, until 7. I figured Rugrat would be up by then, so I knocked on the door -- but apparently Rugrat was still sleeping. Babydaddy answered the door all disheveled and half-asleep, and I went in and convinced Rugrat to get up and get ready. The two of us went out to breakfast (which was pretty horrible; note to self: do not return to Buttercup Cafe in WC) and then headed home. Where I promptly took a nap for two-three hours, while Rugrat watched TV. I finally got up and did something productive: cleaned out my dresser and my closet. One of the local charities was scheduled to come out this morning (Tuesday) so I wanted to be sure and get it done before then, and I was ruthless. I now have not one, not two, but THREE empty drawers in my dresser, and dozens of hangers. The underwear drawer is now so organized that I can also fit my sexythings and bras in there. Sunday afternoon ended up being lazy, with me reading a lot, and eventually running out to the grocery store to buy some fixings for Shrimp and Orzo Pasta Salad and then eating two huge servings of it. God, that stuff is SO good.

Yesterday I finally slept in. Rugrat called a friend and ended up going over to her grandmother's house for a few hours in the afternoon, to swim and play for a bit. I planned on getting a pedicure, but of course the nail shops were all closed for the holiday. So instead I went to Lowe's, got some paint for Rugrat's bathroom and the office/guest room (which I've been thinking about redoing for quite a while now), and got BUSY. I couldn't, in good conscience, do the "fun" painting (bathroom, office/guest room) until I did the painting that really desperately needed to be done first, so....I finally painted the trim in the half bath downstairs, the trim around the kitchen entryway, and the walls in the kitchen and living room, where Babydaddy retextured after putting in the new countertops over a year ago. Yes, I know. I am a lazy fucking slob. It took me OVER A YEAR to paint that. And why? Well, I think I was kind of depressed. I mean, I didn't feel sad or anything, but let's face it: I spent a year doing pretty much nothing but reading. I read an average of eleven books a month last year. I had no fucking life. I could not get energized. And now my life has totally changed: I've quit smoking (almost two months without a cigarette!), I am in a fabulous relationship with a man I adore, I'm food blogging and even exercising occasionally. I have a new car, a gardener, and a cleaning lady. And I am ridiculously happy.

Lucky

More flowers!
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

I just feel really lucky, y'all. Every day I wake up and feel blessed to have this great guy in my life, someone who treats me like a princess and loves me just as much as I love him. Someone who I just seem to mesh with, perfectly. I am so comfortable with him. And so hot for him, too. ;-)

D came over last night, and we had a quick dinner and vegged out for a while on the couch (Veronica Mars series finale! AI final sing-off!). I was a little bit nervous, but I did it anyway: I gave him a garage door opener and a key. I knew that he would be fine and wouldn't freak out about it, but again...it's just the stereotypical male response that I get stuck in my head, and I think to myself, "This is too much, he's going to run away." Of course he didn't. He even asked for a drawer. Kind of joking, but...maybe not.

We got to sleep in this morning since he had a late shift at the hospital today. I love this, because it means we get extra snuggle time in the morning, and get to be kind of lazy. In fact, he slept for a while after I got up. Wednesday is staff meeting day, so while I was on the call, he ran out to the grocery store to pick up eggs for the frittata I was making for brunch. And he came back with flowers. Because that is exactly the kind of guy he is. Beautiful pink and purple spring flowers (glads & iris). And I thought to myself, "What did I do to deserve this man?" I am just the luckiest girl in the world, I tell ya. And then he showed me again how he feels about me, this time in a more...um...hands-on way. ;-)

I think he may be the one I've been looking for, all this time. And wouldn't that be ironic, considering that we missed a chance to be together fifteen years ago? But maybe we needed that time, to grow up and make mistakes and find the WRONG people, before we could find our way back to each other and recognize that this is so right.

Spinach-Mushroom Frittata

Spinach-Mushroom Frittata
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

D had a late shift at the hospital today, so he didn't have to leave until lunchtime. To celebrate, I whipped up this simple frittata (while I was on my staff meeting phone call! It's THAT easy) for brunch.

Spinach-Mushroom Frittata

1 Tbsp EVOO
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 c diced onions
1/2 c sliced mushrooms
1 c loosely packed fresh spinach
4 eggs
splash of milk or half-n-half
Few shakes of Tabasco (optional)
2 Tbsp Boursin cheese, crumbled
1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese
salt & pepper, various dried herbs/spices (I used a prepackaged grilling rub that I got via my wine club a while back; it's got rosemary, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, and some other stuff)
1/4 c chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 350°.

In an oven-proof 10" skillet, sautee the onions and mushrooms in the oil and butter over medium heat until the mushrooms are browned and the onions are soft & translucent. Add the spinach and let it wilt a bit. In the meantime, mix up the eggs with the milk (or half-n-half), Tabasco (if using), salt & pepper, and spices. Crumble in the Boursin cheese (a soft, spreadable garlic-herb cheese). Pour the egg mixture over the veggies, and top with the shredded cheddar cheese. Pop the whole thing in the oven for 10 minutes, then broil for another minute or two to puff it up and get the cheddar all golden brown and delicious. Cut into four wedges, garnish with chopped parsley, and serve immediately.

This was the perfect amount for two people, but if you're serving other stuff (like fruit, toast, etc.) you can probably stretch it to four people.

Caprese Pasta

Caprese Pasta
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

I picked up a couple of brown tomatoes (a new variety, not brown as in rotten) at the grocery store and wanted to try them in something simple that wouldn't overwhelm their flavor. So I just made a Caprese salad and threw in some cooked campanelle pasta. You don't even really need a recipe for this, people. Just chop up some tomatoes, some fresh mozzarella, and some basil. Toss with olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and some cooked pasta. Voila!

What is UP with the Season Finales this year?

They are all so damn depressing! First Ugly Betty: everyone was totally screwed at the end of that show. Betty & Henry torn apart by a scheming pregnant ex-girlfriend; Santos SHOT while Justin sang his heart out in the school musical; Daniel & Alexis in a car crash; Wili stuck with the world's UGLIEST engagement ring; Amanda learning that her whole life has been a lie and that her parents are really the late Fey Somers and (presumably) Bradford Meade! Jesus. Talk about soap opera.

Then Grey's Anatomy, where I just wanted to slap everyone silly. Y'all can read about my tirade on Grey's below.

Sunday, we got Desperate Housewives: Lynette not only has to deal with cancer, but also her husband's (righteous) anger over her near-infidelity and her raging bitch of a mother who's decided to insinuate herself into her estranged daughter's life at a time when the last thing Lynette needs is more stress. Gaby discovered that her fiance is a raging asshole who only married her for political reasons. Unfortunately, she didn't discover this until AFTER the wedding, and what does she do? She throws herself into a liplock with her drunk ex-husband, who just dumped Edie when he found out she was taking birth control pills while telling him she wanted to have his baby. Is it so horribly wrong of me to hope that Gaby and Carlos did more than kiss? I mean, yes, bad of her to cheat when she hasn't even gotten to the wedding night yet, but...she & Carlos are meant for each other. Bree comes back with a faux-pregnancy bump and a teenage daughter stashed in a convent awaiting the birth of her illegitimate child. How fucking 50's can you get? Snooze alert: Mike & Susan get married, finally. Yawn. But! At the very end...Edie hangs herself!! HOLY SHIT, y'all!

Brothers & Sisters: umm...pretty boring, actually. Senator McHottie's family comes for the engagement party, and they are all a bunch of white trash drunken freakjobs. Nothing much happens, except that the youngest boy gets shipped off to Iraq, and there is a tearful scene at the airport. Again, bringing the sad! What the HELL?

And last night: 24 season finale. It's been a pretty lame season. The beginning of the season rocked, with the nuclear bomb going off in LA, but the rest of it? Yawn. Total snooze-fest. So, at the end last night, we have Kiefer contemplating suicide. Jesus, what a downer.

AND! I just found out that Veronica Mars? It is no more. Tonight's season finale is the end for our plucky blonde mystery solver. Waaaaaah! Throw in last week's AI results, when Melinda got booted....and this is the suckiest spring finale season EVER.

Green light

Things went quite well this weekend, I think. Rugrat and I met Tomboy, D's daughter, and they got along pretty well. They kinda bonded over video games. ;-) By dinner, Rugrat was calling her his "best friend," so I guess she gets his big stamp of approval. And she didn't seem too put off by his hyperactive craziness. She's very smart, very precocious, and incredibly well behaved.

We had quite a long day together: Rugrat and I got there shortly before noon, and we all went to the Scottish Games together. Then we went back to D's house, played video games (Guitar Hero totally rocks), had cake and opened presents (it was Tomboy's ninth birthday - she's exactly eight months older than Rugrat), then went out to dinner and off to see Shrek 3. Like I said, quite a day.

So now we've been dating for about three months, and we've both met the kids, and the kids have met each other. Have I mentioned lately how really, really well things are going? Because they are. Really well. Last night D told me he wants to grow old with me. Awww...how sweet is that? Of course this is after I fed him risotto and homemade peach-blueberry crisp, and we rolled around in bed for a while. What man doesn't want that for the rest of his life? A woman who will cook for him, do the dishes afterwards, and then jump his bones? I am so in love with this man, y'all. I could happily do that every day for the rest of my life, I think. In fact, the only thing that really sucks is how little I get to see him. We get maybe two sleepovers a week, and it's really starting to not be enough for me. This summer things will be better though - if we can just get through the next six weeks, we'll be golden. Tomboy is going on a cruise for a few weeks, during which time we'll have two weekends together, sans kids, and Rugrat will be spending the majority of his time at his father's house beginning July 1, since he'll be going to daycare out there and, in the fall, school out there. So D and I will have a lot more opportunities to be together beginning in July.

Peach-Blueberry Crisp

Peach-Blueberry Crisp
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

I was having some serious fruit cravings when I visited the produce stands in nearby Brentwood yesterday. Both my dinner and dessert heavily featured fruit.

This is an adaptation of Barefoot Contessa's apple crisp recipe. I cut the recipe in half, and I substituted fresh peaches and frozen blueberries for the apples. I also didn't happen to have any lemons or oranges on hand, but I did have some organic strawberry lemonade, which is pretty tart, so I added a bit of that in place of the citrus juice and zest. It turned out beautifully, even if the peaches were a bit underripe (and boy, does that make it difficult to skin them!).

This is also my submission to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup this week.

Risotto with Apples and Manchego Cheese

Risotto with Apples and Manchego Cheese
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

I had a similar risotto once at an Italian restaurant - it had the sauteed apples, but instead of Manchego, they used Asiago cheese. This dish turned out well, but I think it could be improved with a squeeze of lemon juice at the end to brighten things up a bit.

Risotto with Apples and Manchego Cheese

4 c chicken stock
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 c diced onion
1 apple, peeled, cored & diced (I used Fuji, which was maybe a little too sweet)
1 c arborio rice
1 c white wine
1/4 c grated Manchego cheese
salt & pepper

Bring the stock to a simmer in a pot, and leave it on medium-low heat to keep it warm but not boiling.

Melt the butter with the olive oil in the pan over medium heat. Add the onions and apples, and season with salt & pepper. Sautee gently until the onions are translucent. Remove the apples with a slotted spoon (try to leave the onions in the pan). Add the rice to the pan, stirring to coat it evenly with the oil and butter. Let the rice toast for a minute, then add the wine. Let the alcohol cook off for a minute; when the rice has absorbed most of the liquid, add a couple of ladles of stock to the rice pan. Stirring often, allow the rice to almost completely absorb all the stock before adding more to the pan. Continue in this manner, adding stock gradually and stirring frequently, until the stock is gone and the rice is cooked al dente, about 20 minutes. Add the apples back in to the rice, and allow it to cook for a few minutes more, to reheat the apples and soften them a bit. Add the cheese at the last minute, and serve immediately.

Makes two big servings, or two regular servings and a small portion for tomorrow's lunch.

McAssholes

I am so disappointed in the Grey's Anatomy season finale. What the HELL? Nobody is happy, everyone is screwed, and McAsshole has made a raging comeback. I mean, damn, Shepherd. WTF? You can't give Mere even the littlest fucking bit of of a break when she has a breakdown after her mother dies? Oh no, because everything must be as YOU want it, on YOUR timetable. Fucker. You can go back to your estranged wife and leave Meredith hanging in the wings, and call her a whore when she gets laid, but God forbid she should start actually dating someone seriously, because then you dump your wife like a hot potato and expect Mere to immediately come running back into your arms. And when she finally decides to trust you and get back with you, her bitch of a mother dies. So do you support her when she freaks the fuck out and passively attempts suicide? No. You have your own crisis and can't fucking stand the fact that she doesn't have a permanent goddamn zest for life when she has YOU, because obviously that should be enough to fulfill her and sustain a permanent pollyanna 'tude. And then her stepmother dies and her recently-reunited father blames her for it, and do you come to comfort her and give her a shoulder to cry on? No. No, you do not. Because you are too busy pushing her away since you think your relationship with her will jeopardize your chances of becoming chief of surgery. For all these reasons, I dub thee McAsshole. There is not a goddamn thing about your personality and behavior that makes you "dreamy."

Not that I think Mere is such a great catch. She's a whiny, pouty, manipulative bitch. So they probably deserve each other.

Cristina deserves much better though. And whether she knows it or not, the fact that Burke just left her is going to be the best thing that ever happened to her, because he's another self-absorbed asshole who wants it all on his terms. She definitely did NOT want to get married, and he really just did her a favor. Even if it sucks in the short term.

George needs to stop letting other peoples' wants and needs control his life. He needs to take a break and decide what HE wants and needs, and then make some decisions. I can't tell if he's actually supposed to be in love with Izzy or not. Izzy is just one of those people who "falls in love" at the drop of a hat (or at the drop of the underwear).

In fact, probably the only sane character on the show is Bailey. I love Bailey. But I don't know if she's going to be enough to sustain my interest in the show for another season. Do I really want to spend my Thursday nights spewing hate and bile for an hour while I watch? Yeah, not so much.

Oh FUCK NO!

I cannot believe it. I can't believe Melinda got voted off AI. I mean, I know every year there's a huge shakeup at this point, but...seriously? Melinda isn't going to be in the final? I am so fucking done with this show.

Lost one

I'm missing a post. I could swear I posted something yesterday or Monday. But today it's gone.

So...quick weekend recap: Saturday was the day when all plans went awry. Rugrat and I planned to go to San Francisco for the KFOG Kaboom, and to visit the Steinhart Aquarium and the playground at Golden Gate Park, but when we got there: 1) the Steinhart was closed for remodeling, and then 2) the PLAYGROUND was also closed for remodeling. Double whammy of disappointment! So we bailed on the fireworks show because it was about seven hours away and all of our fabulous plans for wasting the day in the city were shot to hell. Instead, we toodled out to Livermore, and I was thinking that I could get some tickets in advance for the Scottish Games (coming up in just a few days now!). Buuuuut, when we got to D's house & looked on his computer, they'd taken down the advance ticket information and our only option was to buy at the gate. Jeeze. Talk about a day of bad luck. But then we went out to dinner together, the three of us, and the boys totally bonded over silly games and jokes. And when we got back to D's house, Rugrat snuggled up on the couch with him. Awww, so cute.

Last night, D came over as usual, and we had a lovely evening on the couch with American Idol and House, and various naughty activities. I am still totally insatiably horny around him. What is up with that?? Not that I'm complaining (nor is he). I told him about the whole sort-of-engaged-to-Bob period, and how I still have my wedding dress, and even the fact that I just tried it on again the other day...and he, amazingly, did not freak out and run for the hills. I mean, I didn't really think he would - I think I know him pretty well by now, and wouldn't have told him if I thought it would freak him out - but any other guy would have been long gone.

And now I am sitting on the couch wearing the t-shirt he had on yesterday, because it smells like him and I love it. It's huuuuuge, but it's kind of like being wrapped in his arms, so I had to poach it this morning while he was getting ready for work. ;-)

This weekend: Scottish Games! I will be meeting D's daughter, and since I'm bringing Rugrat, they will be meeting each other for the first time too. Whew. Talk about getting it all out of the way at once. Trial by fire, y'all!

In sync

Not to be confused with N*SYNC.

In some ways, D and I are perfectly in sync. Other times, not so much. For example - sleeping. I am most definitely a night owl, but D routinely has to get up for work around the time the sun is making its daily appearance on the eastern horizon. So that means he goes to bed a bit earlier than I normally would, and gets up a whole hell of a lot earlier than I normally would. When Rugrat has a school vacation, I'll sleep in until 8 AM on weekdays; even when he's in school I'm not up until 7 AM, which is still significantly later than when D needs to rise & shine in order to deal with the hellish two-hour commute from my house to his work. So...I get less sleep on the nights when D is here. But that's OK - I actually don't mind getting up early in the morning with him. I don't see him as often as I'd like, so having those few minutes together in the morning before he leaves is important to me.

And in other ways, we are completely synchronous. Like, the fact that we are both ridiculously happy with our relationship. We had an interesting conversation last night about all his prior "Jennifers" (he's dated like three or four other Jennifers over the years). And he said that he had decided to give up on the Jennifers, because it never worked out, and then I came back into his life. So I said, "Well, I'll be your last Jennifer." And he said, "Hopefully you'll be my last anything." We are both in this for the long haul, I think. And he makes me feel very secure in the relationship, because he doesn't hold back. Now that he's decided he loves me, he's in it all the way. It's very freeing.

Cranky

Stupid birth control pills. I was off them for about a year, so I totally forgot about this. I don't get pre-menstrual syndrome; I get post-menstrual syndrome. I become a bitch the week after my period. *sigh*

Yesterday Rugrat and I got. Into. It. And it was mostly because I was just being all on-edge and bitchy. He was pushing my buttons, sure. But that's par for the course. I was kind of overreacting, so then he started whining and bitching. And saying the same thing over and over and over in that freaking voice that drills into my brain and makes me insane. I kept telling him to stop it, and finally I just told him to shut up. And he HIT ME! (Not that hard, on the arm, but still.) Oh, hell no. That shit does NOT fly with me. So after I beat him to a pulp (just kidding. But I had very stern words with him) we came home and he pouted. And stomped around. And gave me stinkeye all evening, until I made him take a shower. As he was getting in, I was reminding him to clean all his "bits": "Don't forget to clean between your toes!" "I know." "Don't forget to clean your pits!" "I know, mom!" And then, in a burst of inspiration, I brought back the "No" game: "Doooooooon't smile at me." (Corners of his mouth twitch.) "Dooooooon't you do it! Don't you smile at me!" (He can't help himself now, the mouth is smiling all on its own, no matter how angry he still is at me.) "I don't want to see you smiling! No smiling, you hear me?" (Total full-on grin.)

Yeah, I still got it. ;-)

Sleeeeeepy

I am going through my days in a Benadryl haze. The allergy season has hit full force and I am down for the count. I try to hold off on taking the pills for as long as possible each day, because I know they're going to knock me on my ass, but it's hard to live with the constant itchy-painful feeling in my sinuses, the sneezing, the irritated, watery eyes, and the sinus pressure headaches. My skin itches all over, regardless of how much lotion I put on (because it's the histamines, y'all, not dry skin). All I want to do is go into a Benadryl coma for the next couple of weeks, with a cold wet washcloth over my face. Wake me up when the pollen count dies down, mmkay?

Guacamole

Guacamole
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

The quintessential Cinco de Mayo dish...just a couple days late.

Guacamole

4 ripe avocados
juice of 1 lime
1/4 c diced onion
1/4 c diced tomato
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 chopped fresh cilantro
salt & pepper

Remove the flesh from the avocado skins, discarding the pits and scraping off any brown spots. Mash it gently with a fork, and then pour the lime juice over it. Add the onion, tomato, garlic, cilantro and salt & pepper to taste. Mix well, and serve with your favorite corn chips.

Weekend roundup

I was quite productive this weekend! I seem to be unable to sleep in until 10 AM anymore, which sucks on the one hand, but on the other...well, I'm getting a lot done.

Friday night Babydaddy and Rugrat and I all went to see Spider-man 3. On opening night. Of course. It was pretty crowded but we got there early and waited in line, so we got fantastic seats. And the crowd was pretty rowdy - you should have heard them going totally batshit over the previews (for Harry Potter 5, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, etc.). And during the movie people kept laughing in strange and inappropriate places. Not that it much mattered, we loved the movie anyway. Venom was particularly creepy, with his Jaws-like teeth and the weird casting choice of Eric Foreman (from That 70's Show, AKA Topher Grace IRL). I mean, who could take him seriously as an evil villain? But he did a fantastic job and was insanely freaky.

Saturday I ran some errands and got a pedicure, and then in the evening I drove out to Livermore, where I met up with an old friend from high school who's visiting from Alaska. We went out and had a couple beers at some dive bar where people were singing karaoke - badly - and then I came home and stayed up late watching TV. (And how cute was D when he was acting all mildly jealous about my "date" with this guy? The answer: very, very cute indeed.)

Sunday I got up at about 8 and got busy. I went to Home Depot for car wash supplies, and came back and went totally Armageddon on the backyard. I busted out the weed whacker and chopped down the entire mess back there, the five-foot-tall weeds covering 95% of my back "yard" (lawn? not so much), and then pulled weeds in about half of the raised beds (damn, I am SORE today). Then I washed my car, and got all anal-retentive with the microfiber cloth, drying the whole thing off. And finally, I took my clean car to the grocery store, picking up ingredients for guacamole, pico de gallo, and chicken tacos. (I'll post my guacamole recipe over at Table For Two.)

D came over around 8, and we had a lovely evening together, snuggling on the couch and...stuff. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks. :) He told his daughter about me this weekend, while they were driving up to his sister's house. She heard about Rugrat and immediately had the same reaction he did when he heard about her: "So I kind of have a brother then?" Damn, kids, slow down a bit, wouldja? You don't have to marry us off just yet. But...I totally want to spend the rest of my life waking up next to this man. It just feels so right with him. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely planning on taking my time with this. We will not be rushing into anything permanent. I haven't even met his daughter yet! (Although that will be remedied in about two weeks, when we go to the Scottish Games.) And the kids haven't met each other. And we've only been dating for a couple of months. So, no, I'm not ready to walk down the aisle or anything. But I sure do like spending time with him, and waking up in his arms, and talking to him on the phone three or four or five times a day. I like cooking for him. I like making him smile. I like snuggling with him, curling up against him in the middle of the night and feeling him wrap his strong arms around me. I even like getting up early with him (I know!!) to send him off to work with a kiss and a tupperware container full of leftovers. And I really like the person I am becoming, because I am happy and relaxed and healthy. I've waited a long time for this, to feel this way again. And boy, it was worth the wait.

Unexpected bonus

Babydaddy called me this morning and told me that he wants to keep Rugrat overnight tonight, as they are planning on having a Spider-man movie marathon in anticipation of the third movie. Since I have dinner plans tonight with S, my boss/project manager, at Ruth's Chris, I'll take Rugrat out to Babydaddy's house and drop him off. And after dinner...I have the whole night free. So of course, I called D and asked if I could come out and have "sexy time" with him after dinner. Hee.

Three guesses what his answer was. (And the first two don't count.)

Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Dinner 05/01/07
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

I made the fabulous Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada Casserole again on Tuesday, and got a picture this time. It may not look like much, but let me tell you....D ate half the pan in one sitting (and this amount could easily serve 4-6 people), and polished off the leftovers the next day for lunch. This is GOOD STUFF, y'all.

But definitely not safe for dieters. ;-)

Lost: Mindfuck

What. The. Hell?!?!?

LOST is totally fucking with my head every week. This week was kind of the "calm before the storm"...sort of. I mean, there was the whole mindfuckery of Locke's dad being maybe actually dead, but somehow on the island and of course, because everyone's lives totally intersect, he's also Sawyer 1.0. Meaning, he's the con man who ruined Sawyer's childhood, because Sawyer 1.0 was fucking Sawyer 2.0's mom, and convinced her to give the family's life savings to him. So when dad found out he shot the mom, and then himself, leaving the orphan son to grow up and become ultrahot sweaty yummy Sawyer 2.0. Is this all clear yet? Anyway, supposedly Sawyer 1.0 (AKA Locke's Dad) got in a nasty car accident and the last thing he remembers is getting an IV in the ambulance...and then he woke up bound and gagged on the island.

And WTF with Benry trying to get Locke to kill his own father? Oh no, The Others aren't bad people. They don't kill people. They just try to get other people to become homicidal maniacs. And Locke, in his ultimate wisdom, decides to get Sawyer to do his dirty work (so he DOES fit in with The Others, I guess). First he lies to Sawyer, then he manipulates him, then he fucking locks him in a room with Sawyer 1.0 until Sawyer 2.0 discovers the connection and ends up killing the guy because he is a fucking evil unfeeling bastard who TAUNTS poor Sawyer (2.0) until he totally snaps.

So a big FUCK YOU to Locke this week. If you don't have the balls to kill someone off, don't go torture your friends until they do it for you.

And a slightly smaller FUCK YOU to Jack this week, for being a sanctimonious ass. Because that is just Jack. Because he and Juliet are keeping some secret which they reference in front of Kate and then he REFUSES to tell her about it. Ass. He's still being pissy because she shared the glittery hoo-ha with Sawyer when she thought he was about to die. Fucking get over it, you tool. You're getting your rocks off with the resident Other mole, and it's not like you ever staked your claim on Mt. Kate anyway.

But the big mindfuck? The really big whopper? Was how they're trying to tell us now that really everyone is dead. Because the plane was found -- FULL OF BODIES -- off the coast of Bali! WHAT THE FUCK????

Asparagus Risotto with Lemon and Basil

Dinner 4/30/07
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

A nice, fresh risotto for spring, and my first submission to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-Day roundup!

Asparagus Risotto with Lemon and Basil

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup diced onion
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
4 cups chicken stock (approx) - you can use vegetable stock for a vegetarian meal, but I like it with chicken stock
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and chopped into 1-inch pieces and steamed (I steamed it over the chicken stock while I was making the rice)
Zest from half a lemon
1 tsp fresh chopped basil (or one cube of TJ's frozen basil, which is what I used)
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat butter & oil together over medium heat. Saute onion until translucent and soft. Add some salt & pepper. At the same time, heat the chicken stock until simmering, and then keep it simmering during the rest of the process.

Add the rice to the onions, and saute for a minute or two until coated with oil & butter and slightly toasted. Add the white wine and let the alcohol cook off, about 1-2 minutes. Add a big ladle or two of simmering chicken stock, and stir. Let the rice absorb most of the chicken stock (it will take a few minutes), stirring frequently, until you see the bottom of the pan for a moment when you stir, and then add another ladle or two. Continue this process for about 20-25 minutes, until the rice is creamy and tender but with a little bit of bite (al dente), and you've used up all (or most) of the chicken stock. Add the basil and lemon zest. At the last minute, throw in the asparagus and stir it all together. Check the seasoning, and add more salt & pepper if needed.

Serves two generously (or two modestly, plus enough leftovers for one lunch the next day). Enjoy!

Addendum

One thing I forgot about when doing my good news/bad news roundup yesterday: ultimate temptation.

Sunday, when I was digging around for the end cap for my little iPod shuffle in my gym bag, I came across a fresh, unopened pack of cigarettes. Instead of swooning lustfully over them and driving myself crazy, I immediately turned to Rugrat and told him to take the pack to the next door neighbor (who smokes, and used to bum cigarettes off me on a semi-regular basis) and ask if he wanted it. There was a split-second of temptation, but I immediately dismissed it.

This is good, right? Because I didn't even entertain the thought of actually smoking one. I can't remember feeling this way after quitting since...well, since I quit when I was pregnant with Ryan. I don't feel deprived or resentful when I see other people smoking, either. I just feel like it is not an option for me anymore; I don't want it. And the fact that I actually forgot to mention it yesterday? Shows what a non-issue smoking is for me now.

So, in short: bad news - I found some cigarettes and was momentarily tempted. Good news - I totally didn't smoke!

Good news/bad news

Good news: I called AAA today and my car insurance is only going up $30 a year!

Bad news: I am still a snot factory and I'm getting really freaking tired of being sick.

Good news: I'm not pregnant! (Unless of course you are my mother, in which case this falls under the "bad news" category, because lord knows, she'd love to see me get knocked up again. Which I honestly cannot understand, considering the fact that I had an awful pregnancy & delivery, and am not exactly "earth mother" with the one child I do have. His ADD drives me completely fucking insane at times, and I frequently lose my patience and my temper with him.)

Bad news: I've got cramps.

Good news: D met Rugrat yesterday! We surprised D with some homemade chocolate chip cookies (his favorite) as a "sorry you broke your toe" present. I was a little worried about just springing it on him like that, but I figured we'd just stay for a few minutes and keep it really casual, because I knew D had things to do. However, D's plans sort of fell through, so we ended up spending a while at the park together. Anyway, they got along well despite the fact that Rugrat was in rare form, hollering at the top of his lungs and just generally completely on edge. He claimed to like D very much though, so I'm not sure what all that was about. But it has been like 5 or 6 years since I last introduced Rugrat to a boyfriend; maybe it was just strange for him.

Bad news: The "get it all over with at once" party isn't happening this weekend. D's friend Dave, who is one of my Myspace buddies now, is having a birthday party this weekend. D & I and D's daughter were all going to go together, which would have tackled a couple of issues at once: 1) I'd meet D's daughter and 2) D & I would "come out" to his extended group of friends. Well, the extended group of friends consists mainly of a whole lot of people I haven't seen for 10 or 15 years, including my ex-husband and my ex-best friend. The ex-best friend was once D's girlfriend, and is now married to MY ex-husband, and they have two kids together. So I was fully expecting this to be much like a Jerry Springer episode (but hopefully with less cursing and fewer flying chairs). Except that now, it turns out that D has a prior engagement at his sister's house this coming weekend, and will not be attending the birthday party. Which means that 1) I'm not meeting his daughter this weekend and 2) I'm not getting this incredibly uncomfortable meeting-with-the-exes over with any time soon.

Good news: I see D tomorrow night!

Bad news: I miss him so much and wish I could see him RIGHT NOW.

Good news: D's schedule is fantastic for us this week. He has an early schedule tomorrow, so he'll be off early and at my house around the time that I am finishing work. On Wednesday, he doesn't have to be to work until 2:45 PM, so we can sleep in together and have a lazy morning.

And that seems like a really good note to finish up on. :)

New Car!

20070427_newCar
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

Guess what I did yesterday?

After five years of lusting heavily after the Toyota Highlander, I finally bought one. It has LEATHER SEATS and a premium sound system and a moon roof and a roof rack and it fucking kicks ASS. Remote keyless entry with some fancy-shmancy ignition disabling security system. V6, so my baby's got some getup and go. Power every-fucking-thing. And I got a fantastic price, it's only a year old, and it has less than 20K miles on it.

Sweeeeeeet!