Fridge Fulla Food

One of CC’s coworkers is leaving, so they had a happy hour last night at the Green Mill. And I had a contemplative grocery shopping trip. I was shocked (happily so) to find that Rainbow carries Savoy Cabbage – and Kale! I was so happy I’d made the big list, and brought a red pen.

Thankfully everything fit in the fridge!

Happy Monday Greetings from the King of the Nerds!

Just back from my yearly appointment with the GI specialist to discuss my esophagus. Thrilling, I know.

This year's upper endoscopy (still) shows no pre-cancerous cells. But this year there was no inflammation - and no dysplasia! Truthfully, I still haven't bothered researching "dysplasia" - but last year's endoscopy showed mild dysplasia - and "none" is better than "mild".

More importantly it's just nice to see something improve. With the liver stupidity, arthritis, creeping high blood pressure (which, oddly, they didn't take today)(I was curious if Obama + no caffeine might have prompted a slight drop), etc. etc. etc. ... finally some good news! Plus I've been so much lately about not eating within a couple of hours before going to bed and it's made a huge difference in the frequency of acid reflux (except for election night).

Enough icky medical stuff.

Last night I finished the Thanksgiving shopping list/spreadsheet! And I was crowned King of the Nerds!
I didn't realize there was a contest going on - evidently my spreadsheet submitted itself and my name for consideration. It's quite a piece of work. Four days - each day a separate sheet - with fields for quantity - ingredient - recipe name - cookbook - and page number. I listed every ingredient - every 1/8 tsp of salt or pinch of cayenne. And there's a page where I sorted the ingredients and combined the quantities.
Thanks to my spreadsheet, I know, for instance, that I need to buy 48 oz of cream cheese, 18 serrano chilies, and 20 cloves of garlic.

I tried to post the spreadsheet here - but it turns out that only pictures and video can be posted. But if you're interested, post a comment and I'll email it to you!

King of the Nerds, signing out.

making it through the day

Annual Review. Done!

Dinner last night was pretty awesome. Friendly people, the food was fantabulous, the wine was good - a tasty reisling and a rose (my two faves!) but I didn't drink much. Wine, that is.

This morning wasn't as hot - five martinis don't go down like they used to.


No picture today - but here's a youtube clip of a cat riding a roomba.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ-jv8g1YVI

Fancy Pants – and a Hat to match!

Going to a fancy work thing tonight. At Vincent, a restaurant. I ironed a shirt this morning (well, ironed the front) and there’s a tie in my bag. Hopefully fun, although I usually get nervous and shy in groups if I don’t know anybody. Crossed fingers. Jeremy Iggers might be there – he was the Star Tribune’s food critic and has a Ph.D. in philosophy. I’m a fan.


Last night was Top Chef – I love Top Chef. I love Padma and Tom. I love the goofy challenges – and the bitchy comments (“corn soup?! I’d never try pass off something so easy…”). But this season I’ve got this little crush on Richard. He was all chatty last week about Tom’s beautiful eyes and tight butt. And I haven’t heard him say anything bitchy. Or at least nothing bitchy that wasn’t totally deserved. I think I’m going to refer to him as the Care Bear. Richard, the Care Bear.


Richard, the Care Bear’s gallery from home is a little dull (check our Fabio’s – crazy wonder woman drag!): http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/photos/gallery.php?e=photo_diary_richard

Oh well.

Turkey Rollups!

No words today. Too busy. Very busy.

Heat and Pressure

Last night I stopped by Target to get some decaf iced tea. This batch wasn't formulated for "cold brewing" so I dutifully boiled water in our little miracle kettle and then poured the water over the tea bags.

Part of me worried that the plastic jug wouldn't stand up to the heat, but I didn't want to dirty a pitcher just for the 3-5 minute steeping time. So perhaps tonight I'll be checking Target for a new jug - perhaps they make glass jugs??

CC was studying for one of his licensing exams last night, so he was late getting home. We have several lovely acorn (i.e., voter fraud propogating) squash that I'm worried will go bad soon. Per directions online, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and carefully split the squash in two. And then reread the recipe - roasting for 1 hour to 1.25 hours.

WHATEVs!

I got out my miracle pressure cooker instead. Steamer basket and one cup of water. Five minutes to come to high pressure. Seven minutes at high pressure. Then I sprinkled brown sugar and butter on the tops and broiled for five minutes.

Seventeen minutes - that's right! - just seventeen minutes for acorn squash!

You ask: What did I do with that extra 58 minutes?

Nothing! I lounged around on the bed and watched Rachel Maddow and QVC. Did you know that Chloe Dao from Project Runway Season 2 sells on QVC?

An aside - simultaneous events are planned across the country to protest Proposition 8 and the need for same-sex marriage. Minneaoplis's event is at 12:30pm at City Hall. Spread the word. For friends in other spots, here's the site http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/?t=anon

Soothing weekend

I quit caffeine last week. It wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated, although I've certainly been more tired. No headaches (crossed-fingers) so far - probably because I was never a coffee-drinker.

To celebrate the cold yesterday we cleaned the fridge. Deep cleaned - drawers pulled - shelves disassembled. Look!

Dinner last night was pad thai. Third time's the charm (the first time was too sweet - Martha's recipe called for much chili sauce - we've found Sriracha works much better, but is very spicy!). And then we watched many episodes of The Wire.

Recharging my Hope batteries

The day started so well ...

Devastated by the passage of Proposition 8 and even more mean-spirited/destructive measures in AK and FL - so I'm spending the day at home - watching tv and napping. Hoping for a better tomorrow.

it's almost here...

Can't get anything done today. Voted. Worked for maybe 15 minutes. Haven't even been able to finalize my November goals.

It's been two long years. I have been excited for Obama for so long. And while I'm confident that tonight will bring good news - the tiniest risk of disappointment is even more terrifying.

Reports also indicate that Proposition 8 in California will fail - despite the best efforts of the Mormon and Catholic churches.

Confident and scared. Excited and hopeful.

Finally, here are some (fitting) shots from Halloween!

Busy day

Entering October's billable time. Ugh. A good weekend. Here are some pictures.

Halloween night - wandered around downtown and took some pictures.

Saturday night - party at the Trio's.

Sunday - laying around doing nothing and trying to cope with daylight savings time.

Hope to finalize November goals tonight...