mr. cuervo is mean

Well, in his defense, it wasn't actually Jose. And it wasn't single-handed. You see, I had a slumber party with my long-time friend, Rina, last night. Her husband was at a conference and her daughter was at her own slumber party, and Rina invited me over for dinner, margaritas, and Wii. Ted would be in bed before 8:00pm anyway, and with my plans in place, even he went out for early drinks with a friend before hitting the hay.

I re-discovered a couple of things in the process. [1] The reason I don't eat nachos any more (more than a few corn chips wreak havoc on my digestive system). [2] Rina makes crazily strong margaritas. The kind that make me breathe fire after each sip. [3] The combination of the above two items nearly incite me to a life-long diet of oatmeal and prune juice.

We had fun. Don't get me wrong. And playing 1981-style Galaga while slightly buzzed is far more exciting than it should be. We chatted lots and just hung out. It was great. But next time, I'm in charge of the food. And corn chips and tequila will not be included.

actual

Tonight, I had a 'to do' list that got done. Hot diggety dog, it's been a long time since I've actually finished one of those things. Admittedly, it was not complicated.

* Make dinner
* Eat dinner with Ted
* Do dishes
* Go grocery shopping
* Put away groceries
* Reorganize refrigerator
* Blog

Technically, the list won't be done until I publish this post. But I'm going to do that momentarily. Yay, me. Good night.

tonight's menu

* Roasted Root Vegetable Bisque with Apple Cider and Warm Spices
* Braised American Kobe Beef Cheeks
* Parsley Potato Rossiti
* Blood Orange, Kumquat and Marscapone Parfait

Lest you think I'm actually that ambitious, let me say that all this scrumptiousness was from the genius of Chef Ben Hasty by way of the Stonewall Kitchen Cooking School. And oh. my. heavens. was it delicious. We've had his food before, having brought a visiting friend to The Dunaway Restaurant a couple summers ago. Now that he's at Epoch, we'll definitely be planning a trip to Exeter sometime in the near future.

lasagna and the movies

On this chilly January day, the blast furnace whirred almost constantly, keeping The Warehouse toasty (if moreso in some spots than others). Family visited, and we watched movies on the 10' "screen," ate homemade lasagna, chatted, and played with the cats. Now, everyone has headed home, Ted is sleeping, the blast furnace is off (for now), and I still with chilly calves at the desk -- bemoaning the eventual loss of the Christmas tree which we have still not dismantled, and which occupies a fantastic gap in the room. Tomorrow, I go back to chores. I may wait until the last minute (Tuesday night) to pack up ornaments and twinkle lights, though.

day 4: fishes and birthday wishes

Ted and I went to Jumpin' Jay's for my birthday dinner tonight. This is our favorite restaurant in town. Would that we were more affluent that we could partake on occasions other than just special ones.

The food is so scrumptious! Although I missed the Wild Mushroom Risotto that's been off the menu for about a year now (we keep hoping it will come back), the roasted pear and radicchio salad did not disappoint. It never does. And pan-seared yellowfin tuna (rare) in Mandarin sesame glaze with wasabi aioli is divine with garlic mashed potatoes and shredded beets. A glass of amazingly smooth 2008 La Crema Pinot Noir was convincing enough to require a second.

Ted was very happy with both soup and entree of scallops. He wants to know if I'm willing to have multiple birthdays every year.

My broken camera made this shot challenging -- especially in the bitter breeze. But it was a must to get a picture of Jumpin' Jay's fish, complete with scarf and snow.

random list

Dinner tonight.

* Rosemary croccantini
* Cambozola blue cheese
* Stonewall Kitchen roasted garlic onion jam
* Clementines
* Israeli couscous in cranberry ginger glaze
* Organic 3-year old extra sharp Canadian cheddar
* Green grapes
* Sweet onion crackers
* Forest mushroom pesto
* Maplebrook cherrywood smoked mozzarella
* Thai beef salad with sesame dressing
* Organic raspberries

A single bag from the grocery store where I never shop (except the onion jam, which was already in my fridge). A week's worth of grocery budget (which is why I never shop there), though there will certainly be leftovers. Beverages to be determined. A nice pinot noir might be good. Now if only I had a corkscrew and wine glass. And a dining room table.

wingin' it

I fancy myself a decent cook. I can whip up my regular dishes effortlessly and with consistent success, and have even adopted my mother's habit of not using measuring utensils (which frustrated me to no end when I was a kid and learning how to cook). I also have a moderately high success rate when following new recipes. Sometimes, I just throw things together based on what's left in the fridge/freezer/cupboards before the next shopping trip. This tactic once resulted in the now-famous and incredibly delicious (if I do say so myself) Esparagas* Tzatziki Tshiken.

Last night's inspiration was a recent trip to Stonewall Kitchen, and the decision to revel in the joy that is salmon. This became a two-course fish delight, where our regular salad course was replaced with an appetizer. Very unusual, but it was all about the fish. Dinner for two, coming up!

Herb Salmon Pâté
(enough for at least four servings)

o 1 can Kirkland Signature salmon
o 2 tablespoons Market Basket cream cheese (pre-whipped)
o 3 generous pinches of Stonewall Kitchen Seafood & Veggie Spice Rub
o Nonni's Garlic Parmesan Panetini

Step 1: Mix salmon, cream cheese, and spices together with a fork until blended.

Step 2: Spread onto panetini, and eat! Easy and delicious!

Note 1: I suppose, if you want to complicate things, you could use a food processor. But why increase the number of dishes to wash?

Note 2: This would also be nice on pita corners or any number of crackers. My newest favorite is Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits. Yum!

Tangy Grape Salmon
(two servings)

o 2 Kirkland Signature IQF salmon fillets, thawed
o 1½ teaspoons Stonewall Kitchen Blue Cheese Herb Mustard (separated)
o 1 cup red grapes, sliced into halves
o 2 cups carrots, peeled and cubed**
o ½ cup Rice Select tri-color couscous

Step 1: Bring a couple quarts of water to a boil on the stovetop, drop carrots in, cover, and continue on low boil.

Step 2: Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Place salmon in Pyrex dish. Evenly spread one half-teaspoon of the mustard on each fillet. Layer grape halves over top of both fillets. Cover and bake for 15 minutes.

Step 3: Meanwhile, prepare couscous per the instructions (I use EVOO instead of butter).

Step 4: Change oven settings to high broil, remove Pyrex cover, and move salmon to top rack, directly beneath heating coil. Broil for 3-4 minutes. Remove from oven, cover, and let stand for a couple minutes.

Step 5: Once carrots are tender, drain and add one half teaspoon of the mustard, stirring to coat evenly.

Note 1: This mustard is very tasty but quite strong, so be certain not to use too much of it or it may overpower the other flavors.

Ted is the in-house food critic, and he gave this dish a 7 on a scale of 1-10. I liked it, but am usually more critical than he is. Next time, I will use less mustard (which is how I came to offer the advice of Note 1), and I might squeeze some lime on the salmon. I also might be inclined to use the Seafood & Veggie rub on the carrots instead of the mustard.

Tonight, I'm going to experiment with chicken and Stonewall Kitchen's Maine Maple Champagne Mustard. Mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about that! I'm off to our store to do some work, and then to the grocery store to find a good veggie to go with dinner. Spinach? Broccoli?

* This is not a misspelling. It is the translation for "asparagus" from the Greek.

** Check out this website for t-shirts. Rock on.

new restaurant

The new Agave Mexican Bistro just opened in town last weekend, so Ted took me there for dinner tonight. It is safe to say that this was the highest end Mexican restaurant we've ever patronized. Maybe it's the introduction of the word "Bistro" as opposed to "Roadhouse," "Restaurante," (or just plain "Restaurant"), or "Bell."

Renovation of the classic building is stunning. Every detail is beautiful, and the layout covers numerous turns and nooks on two floors. There's a section with huge windows that open for a near-sidewalk cafe feel, though without the bugs (thanks to screens). There's a waterfall on the back wall of the upstairs bar. There's a fireplace in the back on the first floor. There's huge leather seats, wrought iron light fixtures, deep wooden window sills, and a universally friendly staff.

And then there's the food.

We started with the Queso Fundido, which is a fondue-like dish of cheese and ground chorizo sausage served in a hot stone bowl with flour tortillas. The concoction bubbled until we ate the last bit of it. Wow.

Then I had the Carne Asada Burrito. Though this is a fairly common dish available even at places that aren't called "Bistro," I'd never had one before. It was grilled steak in a flour tortilla with the usual burrito trappings (re-fried beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and onions), served with a drizzle of sour cream on top and delicious salsa verde. There was also rice with more beans on the side. Heavenly. And easily two meals. I was assured by our eager waiter, Josh, that it reheats well. It came home with us and will be my lunch tomorrow.

Ted enjoyed a combination called Tres Compadres, which was a mix of grilled steak, chicken, and shrimp with sauteed veggies, rice, and avocado. Although he's currently unavailable to tell me his assessment of the meal, I'll go out on a limb and say he enjoyed it. I base my assumption on two factors. First, he didn't offer me a single bite. Very unusual. And second, the only thing left of the plate when he was done was the avocado (he doesn't like it, but I do so it went into the doggie bag with my leftovers).

We each had margaritas -- he a traditional lime one, me a new-fangled orange one.

OK.

I had two.

But it was so good.

We also happened to notice some nearby patrons being served fresh guacamole. And I mean fresh. The waiter was combining the ingredients at the table and mixing them with a mortar and pestle!

All around, a rave review from us. A tad on the expensive side. About $100 for the two of us. But the three drinks alone were about $30, I'm getting a third meal out of it, and we left a 20%+ tip. (Do you think I've justified it enough to go again?)

Afterwards, we waddled walked around town a bit, past Strawbery Banke and into Prescott Park. Somehow, we found a garden we hadn't managed to walk through in previous jaunts. It was just wonderful. Three fountains, low craggy trees, a modest picket fence, benches, and flowers everywhere. The entrance was graced by one of the biggest Rhodies I've seen since Rhododendron Glen at the Arboretum in Seattle. We sat on the brick edge of the center fountain, and I dangled my feet in the cool water. We waddled wandered back to our car and headed home.

superheroes and caponiers

It has been a lovely weekend, though weekends are a construct for which I currently have no reference point (i.e. I'm unemployed). Interestingly, despite having worked a minimum of seven hours on each of the last two days, Ted still feels like he's had a "good weekend." That speaks to the quality of leisure activities, I guess, when they effectively make a full-time workday disappear.

Saturday, we went to the open house of a home for sale in Dover. We don't particularly want to live in Dover and we're not currently in a position to buy anything (see above mention of unemployment), but still, we look. This one in particular was interesting because it's listed at a price where smaller houses in Portsmouth are just starting to come down to. But because it's in Dover, it's a larger house with a number of desirable features that aren't typically found in Portsmouth for this price range.

That said, if we're going to consider Dover, I would far prefer this house for a mere $25,000 more because it's brand new, way prettier, with a 2-car garage, and geothermal heating/cooling. All moot points: we're not buying today.

So, we walked through the 60-year old house, and it was nice. It's easy to point out the things we liked (huge mudroom, first floor laundry room, great porch, quiet neighborhood), and the things we didn't like (weirdly sloped plot with driveway at bottom of hill and uneven granite steps up to house, narrow stairs both up to second floor and down to basement, original kitchen cabinets). Even though we're not seriously considering this house, this process helps us create the list of things we really want and -- as importantly -- don't want in our future home.

We then went to a movie. Desperately trying to make amends for my last movie choice (the only- marginally- funny- in- spots- and- disappointing- for- the- Judd- Apatow- machine "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which Ted now describes as two hours of his life he'll never get back), I picked "Iron Man," which I've been eager to see since first hearing about it a year ago. Luckily, I redeemed myself. We both loved it. I seriously super loved it. I'm already thinking about going back to the theater to see it again, which I do rarely (I'm more inclined to overwatch a movie once it's in my possession, rather than repeatedly going to the theater).

I would like to restate for the record that I think Robert Downey, Jr. is truly a great actor. And I'm thrilled to pieces that he's the lead in a blockbuster movie, which will not only give him the opportunity for at least one I.M. sequel, but also the opportunity for more of any movie he wants.

After the movie, we went across the parking lot to Longhorn for dinner. Despite the fact that we've lived here now for what is approaching one year, we had yet to try this restaurant. It was quite good. I had warm bread with a crisp crust, tangy Caesar salad, and the Big Sky Bleu Filet (steak with melted bleu cheese and red-wine glazed portabella mushrooms). Mmmmm, yummy.

After dinner, we returned home and caught up on a couple episodes of Eureka's second season -- in eager anticipation of Season 3 starting July 29th.

Sunday's docket was slightly different but equally fun and interesting. After his stint at the store, we went to our favorite cafe for brunch (brunch = an excuse to eat breakfast at 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon). I had their always reliable sweet pea omelet, and Ted had the French toast. Then we decided to chart a course to York, Maine. Now, we've been to York a number of times and can easily get there and back without benefit of any sort of map. The difference this time is that we wanted to write specific directions with landmarks that we can hand out to customers who ask how to get there. OK, it was an excuse to wander around a beautiful seacoast town in Maine on a Sunday afternoon. We squeezed through the streets of Short Sands before heading over to Long Sands, eventually wending our way back down Route 1A.

Once back into Kittery, on a whim, we went into to Fort McClary, which was incredible. Even without the fascinating military history, it's a huge spread of grassiness on a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean. On an incredible sunny day with that ocean breeze, it was easy to imagine setting up camp and hanging out for a whole day. In fact, we saw several families who appeared to have done just that with folding chairs, beach toys, and picnic baskets. One couple brought along their pet billy goat. I overheard them telling one group of curious onlookers that he's a great pet and has never chased the mailman. Later, we found the three of them resting on the grass -- the billy goat on his own blanket.

We stopped for dipped cones at Dairy Queen then headed back home, where we did a little more Eureka catch-up and had red grapes and rice crackers for dinner (hearty brunch, ice cream... we weren't in the mood for a full meal). We turned on the ceiling fan to create our own summer breeze, and watched the cats alternately chasing sleep and each other. All in all, a lovely weekend. Did I say that already? Bears repeating.

Before I sign off at this ridiculously late hour, I found these two funny YouTube videos while searching for "Iron Man" stuff online. Rated PG, but funny. Enjoy.

#1


#2

astonished

This morning, after Ted opened the store and I set up my Twitter account, we ran a couple errands and went to IHOP for breakfast. We hadn't been there in a while, and I woke up craving cheese blintzes.

Now, I have to go backwards.

I am fat; have been most of my life. I fought it for many years, but repeatedly dieting only ever made me temporarily smaller before making me permanently bigger. I made a conscious decision to stop all attempts at weight loss when I was 22 years old, and with the exception of one moment of weakness in 1991 (old habits die hard, especially in the face of constant bombardment), I haven't dieted since.

I believe that dieting is worse for my health than fatness ever was or will be. I eat intuitively. Such a concept flies in the face of an industry that creates unfathomable methods and imposes insane rules. Luckily, I love nutritious food, so it makes up the bulk of what I eat every day. The net result is that I am simultaneously fat and healthy. It has confused every marginal health care provider I've ever had, and pleased the good ones.

Don't get me wrong. I totally love sweets, too. I have them when I want them. As my mother (and her mother, and her mother's mother) said, "all things in moderation." Smart women (of which, I count myself). My old job had a company-subsidized cafeteria, which was extremely convenient. This resulted in a nearly daily routine of a fresh salad, a can of Fresca, and a chocolate chip cookie for lunch. The diet industry and all those who have been brainwashed by it would look at that lunch and say, "Oh, you were doing so well until you added the cookie!" My intuition (and previous experience) tells me that the one cookie after my salad was perfectly acceptable (not to mention enjoyable), and probably prevented me from stopping at the store and picking up a box of Hostess cupcakes to eat in its entirety within the next 24 hours (an old trick from before I was so smart).

It was not easy getting to this point. In addition to the food aspect of this change, I also had to learn to accept myself without reservation. Although this is a lifelong process that every intelligent human must endure, I have found it to be tricky at times because world is constantly telling me that my size makes me unacceptable. It forces me to be defensive, a posture I've never embraced (hence my claim of being a "passive size activist"). That said, I had a good foundation of parental esteem-building, and once I had my own personal epiphany in 1994, most of the external barbs went away. Once in a while, a complete stranger is compelled to say something brilliant to me, but it usually the exception now, not the rule.

So back to this morning. Ted and I are two of a hundred people at the very popular pancake restaurant. The place is bustling. There's a crowd waiting in the foyer, and people standing outside. We are seated, enjoy our breakfast, and head out. Ted opens the door for me (how chivalrous!), and I keep walking toward the car while he stands in place for an elderly woman who had just been dropped off at the front door.

She said something to him, I didn't hear what. When I turned around, he was just standing there confounded, with a look of utter disbelief on his face. This stance lasted a couple of long seconds, while the old lady stood in front of him and looked at him with what appeared to be eager, nay gleeful, anticipation of an answer. I headed back toward him, and he said "I left the table" while shaking his head. She turned and walked into the restaurant.

He turned to me and said something to the effect of, "What the hell was that?" I asked him what she'd said. She said to the kind man who was holding open the door for her...

wait for it...

"Did you leave anything for me?"

Not "Good morning."

Not "Nice day, isn't it?"

Not "Thank you for holding the door for me, young man."

No. Instead, she cracked herself up with a joke that the fat man must have eaten all the food in the restaurant before she got there. I might have been able to shake that off as the type of politically incorrect thing that the elderly sometimes say because their ability to filter such things has diminished with old age. But hers was not just a rhetorical question asked for the sake of comedy. She stood there and waited for him to answer her. Usually sharp-tongued, Ted stumbled because he didn't want to be rude to her -- leading to the long pause and his "I left the table" response.

Upon telling me this story, my first response to his query ("What the hell...?") was that she was rude, plain and simple. Then I said he totally should have looked her in the eye and as seriously as possible said, "No. I ate everything. Go somewhere else." No, I wouldn't have been able to do it, either.

The whole thing left me hacked off for a while afterwards. It's interesting timing for me (which is silly because it didn't happen to me, it happened to Ted) because I have been entangling myself in the Fat Rights movement more and more these days. I have dramatically expanded the "Blogs I Read" and "Size" lists on the right side of my blog, after having spent countless hours reading them. I joined the COFRA website, and have even committed to attending the next BFB Think Tank in Chicago (circumstances allowing). I've been building myself up to see if I can shake the "passive" off my size activist descriptor, and then something stupid like this happens.

I have no neat and tidy end to this anecdote. So with that, nearly four hours of writing, editing, and otherwise formatting this silly entry, I need to go to bed. I must be up at 5:30am.

fluff, fold, weapons, wildlife

Schedules be damned, I went to bed at 8:30pm last night. I fought off the forces of Milo (who usually spends a minimum of two hours knocking things over and walking across Ted to get my attention in the middle of the night), and I slept for eight straight hours. I don't know the last time I did that. In any case, I was up at 4:30am, and it was after sleeping instead of before. I will be seriously screwed up tomorrow. Oh well.

I took Ted to work at 5:00am. I came back home and tried to fix a stubbornly uncooperative application on my computer (still unsuccessful). I watched part of a cool Nova show about Alberto Santos-Dumont. I caught up on news of the presidential debate and other such events. At 7:00am, I went back to the store to pick Ted up. We went to breakfast before delving into chores.

We've discovered this wonderful cafe that makes great breakfasts and lunches. Everything is so fresh! Not to mention delicious! Since initially testing the waters, we've been back probably 8-9 times in the past few weeks. Today, I went mainstream and had French toast, sausage patties, scrambled eggs, and fresh squeezed orange juice (with a ton of pulp, as it should be). Their breakfast specialty seems to be variations of Eggs Benedicts. Thus far, I've tried Basil Feta Bene (tomato slices in lieu of Canadian bacon, and feta cheese and basil on top of the Hollandaise sauce) and Eggs Chartres (a spinach/artichoke heart spread in lieu of Canadian bacon). They occasionally have Salmon Bene on the special menu. I had that once in Chicago, and it was wonderful. I'll try it here eventually. With the exception of twice having the Basil Feta Bene ('cuz it's reeeaallally good), I've not yet duplicated a menu selection, and everything has been delicious and fresh. Did I use those adjectives before? Must mean it's true. Oh, and they have an in-house bakery that makes scrumptious blueberry muffins. Delicious and fresh. (Now, I'm just being silly.) And I haven't even mentioned their lunch menu. Another time, perhaps.

After breakfast, we headed to the laundromat. This is usually a one-person job (and that person is usually Ted). But because I was awake and functioning, I decided to pitch in. This also allowed us to catch up on washing some larger, bulkier things because there were two of us to haul stuff up and down the stairs. We used four regular washers and one big capacity front-loading washer. The best thing about laundromats (other than the warmth and singular aroma of fabric softener) is being able to wash and dry all the loads at once. Makes the process much faster. So, it was 22 minutes in the wash, and we transferred everything into two of the massive dryers. Given the volume of wet items in each, we pumped in 54 minutes worth of quarters, and decided to go on a short adventure.

Without reason or agenda, we ended up quite accidentally at the Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Now, I knew this place existed, but we didn't know anything about it and hadn't made our way there before now. Turns out it, too, was part of the old air force base. We wended our way around the far end of the incredibly long runway (11,321 feet or 2.14 miles if you're counting), we found the entrance to the park. The first thing we noticed was a large chain link fence with old, rusty barbed wire and a series of gates. The sign read "Former Weapons Storage Area." Nice! Then we found an information board with the title "Weapons to Wildlife." I didn't get a true idea of how big this former weapons storage area was until I came home and Google-mapped it. See above aerial photo. The end of the runway is on the right. The weapons storage area is at the bottom left (shaped kind of like a Christmas stocking!). We made it as far as the parking lot, which appears to be a small, white block at the top right edge of the stocking.

As interested as I might be to wander around a lush green wildlife refuge right on a big bay (a bit of which is seen in the upper left corner), it's difficult not to wonder if there might be any sort of contamination there. This is what happens when I hang out with conspiracy theorists. One of the people in my office thinks that the mysterious pipe tops in the field next to our building are caps to underground nuclear waste tanks. And Ted suspects that everything in the vicinity contains nerve gas.

Anyway, we zipped back to the laundromat to retrieve our stuff and headed back home. Some more chores ensued, a nap, a telephone conversation with a friend, and then we decided to go to a movie. But first, we headed to Kittery, where Ted exchanged a pair of jeans I gave him for three shirts and two belts. But the true purpose of the trip was to stop at Yummies to get some treats to sneak into the theater. Said surreptitious snacks were procured, but our master plan was foiled when we were unable to find a single parking space anywhere near the theater.

Subsequently, we abandoned "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" (or any of the movies that we might have seen today) and headed back home to view one of the DVDs we'd received for Christmas. After fiddling with the DVD player (it's been powered up but not connected to the TV since we moved in August), we settled in and watched "Meet the Robinsons." We hadn't seen it in the theater but had heard good things about it, so Santa was nice enough to provide us with a copy. I really enjoyed it, and look forward to future viewings, during which I'll undoubtedly pick up more of the details that zoomed by so quickly! I was proud of myself for correctly identifying Jamie Cullum as the voice of Frankie the Signing Frog. I haven't completely lost my music touch.

All in all, a productive-yet-simultaneously-fun day. How often does one get to say that in life? Tomorrow won't be as fun. I may blog the specifics on Tuesday. Or you may just never know.

Good night.

conflicted

Here are some things that I've thought about in the past few days, any of which I could write up in detail were I capable of allowing it to stand apart from the pack. Alas, they all mix together in a confusing and perplexing manner.

1. Virginia Tech massacre. There is nothing I can say about this without merely repeating all the sentiments of horror and disbelief being broadcast by every medium in America. The high school where two of my nephews and one of my nieces attend was locked down yesterday because of a bomb threat. Scary, scary. And so very sad.

2. Everest: Beyond the Limit. I just spent three days watching this series, which we TiVo'd last year, and have been dreaming about it every night. I came to two conclusions about these climbers: [1] They are all insane, and [2] If they survive any portion of the attempt, whether or not they summit, they are among the toughest people on earth. Still insane, but tough.

3. Planet Earth. Another riveting series (no, I don't just watch TV).

4. Hygiene, etc... . I no longer use any post-shampoo product (conditioner, mousse, hairspray) and do not blow dry my hair. I only apply make-up if I'm meeting someone I know. If I do not need to go out of the house for the day, I also save showering (but only for one day, never for two). I will not get my hair cut or colored until it's time to start interviewing. I am also only wearing my casual clothes (see next point), so as not to increase any wear and tear on my "professional" wardrobe. This may be mildly useless, as I hope to procure a new wardrobe before I re-enter the work force.

5. My recent housewife-ish day. I met a friend for lunch, then went to the grocery store, Costco, the post office, gas station, and Trader Joe's. I did household chores, cooked dinner, cleaned up afterwards, and spent a lovely evening with my husband. I was a marvel of domesticity. I went out in public wearing a sun dress and keds, but the chilly air required more so I threw on my suede jacket. I thought it was a weird combination, until I saw a woman at Stop & Shop wearing lounge pants and a fur coat.

6. Food fight. It's hard finding anything with less than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving. Go ahead, try it. Look at every box, bag, or can in your pantry, fridge, and freezer, and tell me how many you find. And I'm not even talking bout "bad" food. Try finding spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, deli meat, or soup. "Reduced sodium" in Campbell's world means 660 mg. per serving (because regular soup has 900 mg.).

7. Christmas gifts. I have procured my first eight Christmas gifts and approximately 20 stocking stuffers. Only 251 days 'til Christmas.

8. House dreams. There is a house for sale I can't stop thinking about, even though its asbestos roof needs to be replaced, along with every single drafty, 80-year old window (about 42 of them, if I'm counting correctly). I want to live in this house. Oh yeah, and we both need new jobs as this house is approximately 200 miles from our current location. Minor detail.

9. Sanjaya was finally voted off last night. It was just wrong that LaKisha and Blake were in the bottom three. Interestingly, they seemed to be very close -- first holding hands while center stage awaiting the ejection, which didn't seem out of the ordinary (other than the fact that LaKisha was not also holding Sanjaya's hand), until we saw Blake wiping away LaKisha's tears while Sanjaya sang his goodbye. Isn't it interesting how a quick camera shot here or there can create an impression all its own, even if it's not the right one?

10. Our cats are incredibly cute. Recent evidence includes Woodle's routine of snuggling up against my bed pillows mid-morning and staying there all day long, the tuxedos performing simultaneous head baths, and Sadie randomly waking from her naps to chirp a request to be petted.

11. It's way too late for me to be up and rambling about the juxtapositions in life. Good night.

Song: "Seven Days" by Sting
Reading Material: "The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama
Other: See above list

spoiled

My husband and I are sharing our 10th Valentine's Day together. He's been excited for a week, anticipating the dinner he's been planning to make for me, as well as the gift he was apparently quite proud of himself for sourcing. Mind you, he gave no hint of either; just reveled in it, trying to make me curious.

For dinner, he prepared filet mignon, seafood stuffed lobster, black truffle potato gratin, and green bean almondine. Seriously yummy and terribly decadent, especially considering we didn't go to a restaurant.

Dessert was two dark chocolate covered strawberries with lovely pink swirls. Do you think he got his inspiration from Google? The other way around? I suppose it's just a natural Valentine's Day treat.

His gift was twofold. On Monday, he arrived at my office with a dozen long-stemmed, red roses. That way, I could enjoy them all week long. Isn't that nice? Tonight's gift was a pair of tickets to see Wayne Brady at Mohegan Sun! This is very exciting because we've both been big fans of Whose Line Is It Anyway (both versions).

Now, I'm going to go spend the rest of my evening with my wonderful husband. Ain't love grand?

Here's some Wayne and Whose Line for ya'.

i can quit any time i want

Trying to prove to myself that I'm not actually addicted to uploading music, I made a radical change of plan this afternoon. Instead of coming home immediately after work (then uploading music, making and having dinner, and uploading more music), I called Ted moments before pulling into the garage and suggested we go out to dinner. He agreed, and so off we went to Amerigo. Our friends, Bob and Trish, are the owners. They have a very loyal clientele, as evidenced by the fact that they regularly take long weekends (closing down the restaurant all together). Today, they put a sign on the door saying they'd be open by 5:15pm. We got there a little past 5:00pm, and decided to wait. Trish showed up at 5:45pm. Too funny.

Anyway, we sat in the car and chatted about our day at work. We heard a fender bender occur just out of sight, and we chuckled as car after car drove up to the restaurant door, read the sign, and left. Once in, we chatted with Trish for a bit and settled in for a rare three course dinner. We both had New England clam chowder. Always a fine choice, although I had been hoping for Bob's amazing butternut squash and apple soup. Then for appetizers, I had a crab cake with grilled shrimp and ginger sauce, and Ted had unbreaded calamari sauteed in marinara sauce. For the entree, I had manicotti that really needs to have a more inventive name because it's the best manicotti I've ever had anywhere, hands down. The home made red sauce alone is worth writing home about. Ted went simpler and had a Caprese salad (mozzarella and tomato slices with balsamic vinegar and giant leaves of fresh basil). I even had a nice glass of Merlot, which complemented the dinner wonderfully.

See? I just spent an entire paragraph talking about a lovely evening out with my husband, where we chatted and enjoyed dinner. I'm not obsessed.

When we got home, we did a little TiVo catch-up, and now I'm back to the computer. OK, so I'm back to uploading, but I can multi-task. I've also been writing this blog entry and chatting with Caitlin online. Now that I've said all that, it is -- in fact -- time to go to bed. When this last disc of the evening is done, my current song count will be 7586.

Last one out, turn off the lights.

"Over the Moon" by Luka Bloom

exploring nutmeg

Too frequently, the one day a week we both have off is occupied with a variety of chores. It is rare that we spend that day without a list, a schedule, a project, a visit, or a plan. Yesterday -- although prompted by a chore -- we decided to have such a day.

Our first stop was the Tanger Outlets in Westbrook to buy a couple new pairs of pants for Ted. That chore completed, we wandered around the Borders outlet, procuring four books between the two of us (that's 3 for Ted, 1 for me). From there, we hit the first matinee of Little Miss Sunshine. Were it not for us laughing and Typhoid Mary in the front row coughing violently, the theater would have been silent. Of course, there were only about 12 people there. Irrespective of the surroundings, I really enjoyed the movie. Along with the laugh-out-loud funny parts, there were at least three tears-streaming-down-my-face crying parts, too.

From the theater, we went on a search for a place to have lunch. After escaping Westbrook (where we'd been told there was a muster that day and parts of town were closed off), we headed for Clinton, but didn't stop until Madison where we found Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale. The place was hopping, the fried clams were good, and there was a small carousel. It was fun to watch the kids spinning around on giant frogs and cats while grabbing rings (although the rings were plentiful and not brass, so neither much of a challenge nor particularly special).

We decided to stay off the highway, wandering down Route 1. We made a spontaneous stop at Bishop's Orchards in Guilford, sniffing our way through the fresh produce. They had the biggest basil plants I've ever seen, and so aromatic! We bought apricots and limes, and wandered around looking for the animals. We found a few goats hanging out in a pen in the distance, but nothing else.

Even with the occasional rain shower, it was a nice day -- a cool and pleasant relief from the recent heat wave and perfect for driving with all the windows open. We stayed on Route 1 until we lost it somewhere in New Haven. Yes, we lost a road while we were driving on it. Go figure. Anyway, an opportunity to rejoin the highway presented itself, and so we abandoned the search for Route 1 and took the speedy way home. There, we caught up on some TiVo, napped, enjoyed a simple dinner of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and called it a day.

We've complained a lot about living in Connecticut. Too expensive. Too stressful. Too everything. But it was nice to roam through the towns along the shore and enjoy the scenery.

woeful

I just read an article on MSNBC that indicates WIC (Women, Infants, and Children program that provides a small stipend for food) will expand the list of foods it covers to include... fruits and vegetables.

Are you kidding me? This program -- which has existed since the 70s and now serves more than 8 million people -- has never allowed the recipients to purchase fruits and vegetables? Does it strike anyone else as INSANE that a program geared to improving the health of poor women and children doesn't provide for some of the most critical foods that would help to that end?

Since 1980, foods that were allowed included milk, eggs, and cheese. OK, I get the protein angle. It also allowed for juice, a natural for many kids. And carrots (hey, one vegetable!) and canned tuna for women (but not for kids?!?).

But heck, even I as a young lass in the 70s knew that vegetables and fruits are the most healthy foods to eat. I knew this because every year, my mother planted, tended, and harvested a vegetable garden nearly half the size of our considerable side yard. We lived on fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, corn, lettuce, zucchini, cauliflower, bok choi, chives, pumpkins, etc., etc., etc. We didn't grow fruit, but we were regular customers at the local farms and farm stands, where we could pick our own strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, and buy other fruit like melons and peaches and such.

OK, that was fun remembering all that fresh produce. I remember Dad renting the Roto-tiller to plow the garden in preparation for planting. I remember helping Mom weeding and picking (although she did the vast majority of the work). I remember picking tomatoes and eating them fresh off the vine like apples. Mmmmm. Thanks, Mom.

I'm just agape that WIC is just now getting around to adding these necessary ingredients to their program. At least they're doing it now. Wow.

juneau

At long last, I'm here to continue my vacation story. So, it's Friday, May 26th (pay no attention to the date on this post). We've just shoved off from Pier 66 in Seattle and are bound for Alaska.


It took approximately 40 hours of cruising to reach our first destination -- Juneau. As we approached the dock, we took quite a few pictures of the surrounding mountains. This was the beginning of the realization that no picture could ever do justice to this scenery. Here is one of the many waterfalls along the way.


For some reason, we were a couple hours late getting to port, and so the excursion we'd booked had been cancelled. Luckily, we were able to get onto another one, and as soon as we disembarked, we boarded a tour bus to head for the whale-watching boat. Even though there were cloudy skies and a bit of a Seattle-like mist, we were pleased with the weather. The temperature was in the mid-60s!

Riding through downtown, we learned that Juneau -- like most towns in the Southern part of the state -- is landlocked: you can't drive into (or out of) town. In fact, we saw directional signs along the lines of "End of Road 3 mi." We also learned that, because the town can only be accessed by air or sea, it has the busiest airport in the United States.

We went past Mendhenhall Glacier. A stop at its visitor center was part of our original plan, which I still would have liked to do, but there just wasn't enough time. I actually took this picture from the whale boat.

*** picture removed until Blogger cooperates ***

The bus driver was quite chatty, reveling in his role as tour guide by imparting trivia and corny jokes along the way. One interesting tale he told (which we heard from several other tour guides throughout the day) was about the airplane that had a mid-air collision with a fish. Apparently, as the plane was taking off, it crossed paths with a bald eagle with a salmon in its talons. The startled eagle released its prey, which then unceremoniously splattered onto the plane's windshield.

We arrived at the dock in Auke Bay to board a much smaller watercraft for whale watching. So certain are they that you'll see a whale, they offer a $100 money back guarantee. And they were right. There were dozens of opportunities to see whale backs, tails, and even a whole body over the course of a couple hours. Contrary to my dark, blurry, and uninspired pictures, it was an amazing ride.

*** picture removed until Blogger cooperates ***

My camera, resigned to its limitations, sat idle while we watched one whale breach the surface completely. It was breathtaking. We also saw a bald eagle being harassed by a huge crowd of seagulls flying erractically all around him, hoping to annoy him enough to drop his fish (which, thanks to the bus driver, we now know they are wont to do). There were a number of sea lions hanging out on bell buoys and a variety of other wildlife in, above, and at the edges of the water.

*** picture removed until Blogger cooperates ***

We stopped at Orca Point Lodge for a salmon bake. My Costco radar was in the red, as nearly everything that was served was Kirkland Signature. The grillmaster even had KS vegetable oil, plastic wrap, and foil at his station.

I made it a point to have salmon nearly every day during the trip (c'mon, it's Alaska!), but I must say this was probably the least inspiring version of it I encountered. Teriyaki. Still good, but it couldn't hold a candle to some of the amazing salmon appetizers, entrees, sushi, and even lox aboard the Mercury.

Anyway, it was an interesting place. A day lodge (no overnight accommodations) run by a couple who were two of only eight people who live on this island. Their house is on a ledge near the shore, and they have to climb a 30-foot ladder to get to it.


After dinner and shell-gathering, we headed back to Juneau. With about 90 minutes remaining before we set sail again, I did a burst of shopping while Ted, Sam, Donna, and just about everyone else went back to the ship. I found the Wal*Mart of Alaskan tourist giftware, where I immediately procured t-shirts for every family member (including myself, which is rare). There was a great store that only carried pieces handmade by Alaskan artists, a trinket store that was a mess of high quality and low quality items, and a jewelry store from which I procured a free watercolor painting of the town (part of a shopping guide deal I joined onboard). I also found the first couple items for the kids' Christmas stockings.

There was no time for anything else. I made it back to the gangway at precisely the moment we were told to be back (9:45pm). A few minutes later, I returned to our cabin where Ted had just gotten off the phone with ship security -- they called wondering where I was! At 10:00pm, we were sailing again.

All in all, we spent about seven hours in Juneau -- two fewer than planned and not nearly enough. Although I was very much enjoying my vacation to that point, I decided the future trips to Alaska would not be by cruise.

Next time, Skagway. I wonder if it'll be August by the time I get around to that entry.

~~~
An aside. I regularly break out into this song whenever I prepare broccoli for dinner. Been doing it for years since seeing the skit on SNL, I think when I was in college or shortly thereafter. Now, our friends at Cute Overload have nicked it to go with this incredibly cute picture. How funny.

seattle, part i

Evidence of my post-travel vacation is indicated by a tendency toward general lollygagging. The most constructive tasks I've accomplished since returning on Sunday are as follows:

• Writing a to-do list (such ambition and optimism!)
• Talking with my husband (a lot; not on the to-do list at all)
• Making dinner (twice; also not on the list)
• Showering (more than twice; nope, not listed either)
• Emailing my siblings
• Catching up with a friend on the phone (200 minutes)
• Hanging up coats (it took three days before I moved them from the railing to the coat rack)
• Folding laundry (Ted did the hard part of actually washing and drying it)
• Uploading pictures from digital camera to computer (wouldn't have taken long except for my looking at every one of the 300+ photos I took on vacation)
• Uploading pictures from computer to Costco (each picture 2MB... took a long time)
• Sending online order for prints to Costco (at 1:30am... because it took so long to upload the pictures in the first place)
• Shopping at Costco (to pick up prints... and groceries)
• Filling the car with gas ($3.149 per gallon)
• Putting away groceries
• Starting to organize vacation gifts (on the list!)
• Watching a movie about quantum physics (this required more work than anticipated)
• Actually doing laundry (it's been so long since I started this entry that more laundry accumulated)

One may question how constructive some of these tasks really were. That same person might also wonder why more pressing tasks (especially those on the aforementioned to-do list) have not been completed.

What can I say? I'm on vacation.

So, to get started on the travel recap, this entry is about our brief first stop in Seattle, from whence the cruise originated. This is the first time I've been back since my friend, Anna's wedding in September 2002. Ted has not been there since moving away in January 2000.

We arrived in Seattle on Wednesday, May 24th around 12:00 noon. We procured a stretch limo to get us to the hotel because it was less expensive than getting all four of us and our eleven bags onto a shuttle. We walked to the Steel Pig for lunch, wandered around the Seattle Center vicinity, relaxed a bit, and headed over to Lake Union for dinner at Chandler's Crabhouse (where, although the whole dinner was amazing, the Northwest Seafood Chowder -- with crab, shrimp, clams, and smoked salmon -- was amazingly amazing).

Thursday morning, we enjoyed the complimentary hotel breakfast (which was actually quite good), and headed off to Pike Place Market. We walked a bit through the park by Cutter's, showing to our friends, Sam & Donna, points of interest in Elliott Bay and taking a few pictures like this one of a ferry (that's West Seattle in the background).

* * * IMPORTANT NOTE * * *

You may notice that I nonchalantly referenced a photograph in the previous sentence, but oddly there doesn't appear to be a picture. Blogger continues to disallow me the ability to upload pictures, and frankly I don't want to wait to post all this fascinating vacation information. You'll just have to come back for the slide show later. Future photo references will merely contain an unobtrusive placemarker, instead of a Blogger rant such as this.

Thank you for your time and attention.
* * *

We wandered over to the Market and proceeded to spend approximately six hours there. A very easy thing to do, considering the vast number of merchants there. I've been to the Market more times than I can count. In the nine years I lived in Seattle, I not only took every visitor there (great souvenirs, views, and touristy experiences), I regularly went on my own (great veggies, fruit, and flowers, all fresh and at amazing prices). It felt very much like home to me, but it was fun to see Sam and Donna taking it all in for the first time.

*** PHOTO PLACEHOLDER #2 - Sam & Donna at Pike Place Market piggy bank ***


*** PHOTO PLACEHOLDER #3 - Pike Place Fish Co., a.k.a. "Flying Fish" ***


We each found a different place to get lunch and rejoined in a central location to partake of it. We wandered Post Alley for a while. After spending ample money and wearing out ample shoe leather (who are we kidding, they were all rubber soles), we made our way back to the hotel to tally the goods and find room in the suitcases. We walked to the closest Pagliacci's to pick up pizza for dinner that we brought back to the hotel and ate in the common area, before retiring for the evening.

That's one of the nice things about vacation: you can do things like retire for the evening.

Friday morning, we were hoping to walk to Seattle Center, hop the Monorail to Westlake Center for a tad more shopping, and then take the Monorail back to go through Experience Music Project before boarding the shuttle van to head for Pier 66. However, our plans were modified by two factors. First, the Monorail is currently not running. Oops! Second, the plan was pretty ambitious considering the time contraints.

So instead, we cabbed to Westlake Center. While chatting with the nice folks at Made in Washington, we learned that there were two stores a couple blocks away that carry a good deal of Seahawks merchandise. Sam headed in that direction while I introduced Donna to one of my favorite stores of all times, Fireworks. I exercised extreme restraint and only spent $90. I have said for years that this will be the first store I visit when I win the lottery. I could easily have spent $10,000 there (and that's no exaggeration).

I also stopped at Rochester to pick up three ties for Ted who, despite months of preparation for the cruise's formal nights, neglected to actually pack his ties (he did pack his new suit). And we went to Bartell's to get motion sickness wristbands and Bonine. I didn't believe that Ted or I would need them, but better to have them and not need them than to need them and pay cruise ship gift shop prices to get them.

Sam came back to Westlake a happy camper with bags full of Seahawks booty. We made our way back to the hotel, quickly reorganized, and hopped the shuttle to get to the ship. It was relatively painless to get through baggage, security, check-in, etc., and before we knew it, the ship was "setting sail."

*** PHOTO PLACEHOLDER #4 - Seattle skyline from deck 14 of the M/V Mercury ***


And thus ends the first Seattle leg of the trip. Will I have time to recap all the Alaska stops and the second Seattle stop over the weekend? I don't know. But eventually, I'll get it all here. I was bad about posting information on my other big trips (Brisbane in late 2004, Honolulu in early 2005). I must get better about such things.

Plans for the weekend (which Ted reminds me is now just an ordinary weekend, not part of vacation) include going to see a movie. Our current options are A Prairie Home Companion, An Inconvenient Truth, Cars, or Mission Impossible 3. I think if we see all four of them, we'll be fairly well-rounded. Other plans for the weekend? Organizing the stuff we bought on vacation (the Christmas storage boxes are ready!). I actually started that today. And relaxing. OK, maybe I can blog the rest this weekend. Depends on how cooperative Blogger is.

For the first time in two weeks, I'm going to bed before 2:00am Eastern time. That gives me three nights to get into the habit of waking up in time to actually, you know, get to work on time. 'night.

the perfect food

Consumed with a docket full of projects this morning, I did not eat breakfast. No big deal, although I do try to eat breakfast every day (fuel!). Lunch time rolled around, and I decided to save my money and simply partake of my breakfast. Although I always enjoy this combination, it seems especially marvelous today. Perhaps because it's out of context.

"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion." - Francis Bacon

Clementines are just the best. They're perfect. Aromatic, easy to peel, seedless (well, mostly), juicy without being messy, and delicious, delicious, delicious. Maple and brown sugar oatmeal complements this fruit in a way that I can't even describe. A cup of skim milk to round it out, and the scene is set for a wonderful afternoon. Maybe I should have breakfast for lunch more often.

Mmmm. Yum.

chicken mushroom magic

I love traditions. Big ceremonious ones are very satisfying, like graduations, weddings, and school plays. But I relish little ones, like setting up Christmas lights on Thanksgiving evening every year. My family was chock full of traditions. The great thing was that we had a combination of the ones we carried forward from old family ways and new ones we made up as we went along. I wasn't around for the inception of our Saturday night supper, so I can't speak to its origins (I should ask my Mom).

Sitting down for dinner was the norm in our house. The dining room was used as a dining room, with its large oval table and seven chairs commandeering the space. No television or radio played. We talked with each other while we ate (although never with our mouths full). If the phone rang, one of us answered it to take a message, hung up, and went back to the table. What a radical concept.

My mother was incredibly adept at providing a tremendous variety of meals for us. Pot roasts, turkey dinners, stuffed pork chops, baked chicken, tacos, chow mein, veal parmesan, spinach omelette (one of my favorites), liver kapama (another favorite, and yes, it was liver!), spaghetti and meatballs (with a small portion of rigatoni made especially for me because I didn't like eating spaghetti), the list went on and on. She must have tried hundreds of new recipes over the years. There was one night every week, though, where there was no variety. On Saturday, supper was always the same -- baked beans, sauerkraut, and hot dogs.

Although this may seem like it was an "easy" meal compared with some of the others, the truth is, she started preparation for this meal on Friday. Picking through the beans to remove stones, rinsing the beans, and soaking them overnight. First thing Saturday morning, she started preparing a brew of wonderous ingredients into which the freshly softened beans would go. I remember that the recipe included molasses. Mmmmm. Boiled and simmered on the stove before being plunged into the oven for hours and hours of slow baking.

Mom even added her own flair to the sauerkraut by cooking it with sour cream. Until I went to college, I never knew that people ate it without sour cream. The house always smelled delicious on Saturdays. I loved that meal. Strangely, I never asked her for the recipe. Perhaps because making baked beans for one person would seem so strange. I might have asked for it when Ted came into my life and I could cook for two. But he doesn't like beans. He has happily learned to love the sauer/sour combination, though.

Anyway, we decided earlier this year that it was time to have our own supper tradition. We decided on a dish that is super easy to make, that gloats in its comfort-foody-ness, and has precious little nutritional value. That dish is Chicken Mushroom Magic.

This is not Julia Child. This is not even Rachael Ray. This is two boneless, skinless chicken breasts (we do take them out of the freezer the day before and thaw them in the fridge) and canned Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup together in a Pyrex baking dish in the oven at 325F for 40 minutes. That's it. Nothing else. No oil. No spices. No milk.

About 10 minutes before the Magic is done, we whip up some Idahoan instant mashed potatoes (water, milk, margarine in the microwave for five minutes then potato flakes blended in and fluffed with a fork). Sometimes, I'll have peas (LaSeur canned sweet baby peas, to be exact). Ted doesn't like peas, so sometimes, he'll have corn. To drink, it's skim milk for me and diet cola for Ted. Other than that, there's no variation. It doesn't get much easier. It's very indulgent and yummy. It's our Friday supper tradition. Tonight was no exception.

Funny how embracing a new tradition can make a person long for an old one. Maybe I'll ask my Mom for that baked bean recipe this weekend.