Sunday, September 09, 2007

What I've Been Doing

Hello!

I'm currently sitting at La Dolce Via and enjoying a decaf latte and a nectarine scone. I'm wishing I wasn't being so budget conscious this week and felt fine splurging on one of their scrambles (salmon/spinach/mozzarella or beet/lump crab/parmegiano) or their omelette (asparagus/roasted portabello/gruyere). Next Sunday, I will suggest (nay, insist!), that Porkchop and I come here for brunch.

YES! You read that correctly!

Porkchop will be here next weekend for a 42-hour visit (arriving Saturday afternoon and leaving early Monday morning).

Porkchop decided to come next weekend - even though I will be there the first weekend in October - because she doesn't know when else she'll be able to make it. Even though she is busy printing now, she will be even busier later in the fall. Additionally, her printing partner is coming to St. Louis next weekend to visit a friend. Since Porkchop can't print without her partner, she might as well come here too!

Last Week
Work is busy busy busy. We have a big meeting in October and a conference in November. I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed.

However, I'm learning new things. Like how to use one of our school's .asp scripts to create an on-line conference registration database for participants.

In addition to the meeting and conference, our school is also rolling out a new CRM system and a new publications database. This will mean a lot of data scrubbing, training, dealing with bugginess, and getting people used to the new systems.

Blah, blah, blah.

In conclusion, I find myself rarely checking my personal email at work, looking at other people's blogs, or doing other web trolling. I realize this is probably a good thing, but I usually don't feel like getting on the computer when I'm at home....so I find myself dreadfully behind on things. Anyway, it's my same old song.

Some Good Things
After work on Friday, I stopped at Wei Hong for take-out. I left with a huge serving of ma-po tofu (spicy!), a BBQ pork bun, a red bean cake, and a lotus cake. While waiting for my tofu, I studied the roasted ducks hanging in the meat case.

The tofu was yummy - very fresh and not heavy at all. I've had it twice so far, and there's enough left for two more servings. The red bean and lotus cakes were also tasty - I definitely prefer the red bean, but that is no surprise. The cakes are a bargain for less than a dollar each. Wei Hong also has home made moon cakes, but I'm not a big fan of moon cakes. I didn't enjoy the pork bun so much, but I'd never had one before so I have nothing for comparison.

Saturday morning, I went to the Tower Grove farmers market. There were fewer booths than usual; I don't know if fewer vendors show up once September hits, or if it was the drizzly weather. There was still a decent selection available. Here's what I bought:



Mocha macaroon, tomato-basil quiche, apples, a red pepper, tomatoes, a butternut squash.

The tomatoes were quite tasty. However, I have to accept that the end of good tomatoes is drawing near. Murrrr!!!

But, the quiche.....the quiche is out of this world! Definitely the best quiche I've ever had, and one of the best things I've eaten in a while. The quiche is by the same people who make the mocha macaroons. AND, I finally looked up who these people are.... 4 Seasons Baked Goods and Catering! Yum!

Eating the quiche and a tomato was the highlight of my Saturday. I pretty much worked, worked, worked the rest of the time. I did things like clear out my dead tomato and basil plants, laundry, roach eradication (every so often, I find a gigantic roach in the kitchen....I can no longer tolerate this, so I'm taking action to prevent this), cleaning a mini-blind (the dirtiest mini-blind in the apartment - I didn't clean it with the others over the summer because I wasn't up to the challenge - it took my around 45 minutes! gross!), grocery shopping, and exercise.

I also read a book, What You Have Left. It was a good book, but not one I wanted to read over multiple days. So, I plowed through it in a few hours.

Friday night, I finished reading Nights in the Asylum by Carol Lefevre. I thought this book was so much better than what many of the reviewers think. I loved reading it and was sad to come to the end.

Speaking of reading, on the way to Chicago, I finished Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood by Jennifer Traig. The whole time I read the book, I kept wishing it was better. I guess I had higher hopes for a book dealing with adolescent OCD and anorexia.

But, the suckiest book I've read recently is Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff. The author takes a cheap, easy way out at the end, which made me want to throw the book across the room.

A Food Meme
Before going to Chicago, I was tagged for a food meme by Deborah of Ephemeral Chaos. I drafted mine earlier in the week, but never posted it...so here it is! Finally!

Favorite Gourmet Item: Triple cream cheese

Favorite Snack at Home: Morningstar Breakfast Strips

Favorite Fastfood item: Sonic's cheddar peppers with buttermilk ranch dressing. Can you beat peppers stuffed with cheddar cheese that are then fried and dipped in dressing? I think not.

Favorite Food When Driving: Jerquee

Favorite Food With a Beer (or other libation - please specify): Brownies with a stout beer

Favorite Food for Invoking Romantic Intentions: For me, dark chocolate truffles (of the artisan variety, not something from a grocery store). For someone else, perhaps chewy Sprees.

Least Favorite Food: Beef...anything with beef.

Food that Conjures a Childhood Memory: Spaghetti. My mom used to work magic with tomato sauce. Everyone was happy on spaghetti nights.

Food that Conjures a Sad Memory: Sweet potatoes and honey-nut Cheerios. In high school, I once became terribly sick and discovered that my breakfast (honey-nut Cheerios) and lunch (baked sweet potatoes) were a disgusting combination when going in reverse. It took me a good 5 years to eat another sweet potato.

Food that Conjures a Happy Memory: This could be an impossibly long list! I'm going to perhaps shock some people and say Velveeta shells and cheese because we usually make that when we go camping, and I love camping (even if we haven't gone out in ages).

Who am I tagging?? You! If you are reading this and want to do a food meme, do it! Let this blogger know if you do.

In closing, I'll leave you with this picture of my favorite candy from Mitsuwa:

4 comments:

7-letter Deborah, never a Deb said...

I love Wei Hong! I found a recipe for BBQ duck w/ soba noodles I wanted to try this week & was wondering if they were still in business. I recommend the salt & pepper shrimp, although eating the shells takes some getting used to.

Unknown said...

Hi Carrie,

I'm so pleased you read my book, Nights In The Asylum, and even more pleased that you enjoyed it enough to mention on your blog. It hasn't been published in the US so I wondered how you came across it?
Fugitive Pieces is also near the top of my all time favourite books.

Best,
Carol Lefevre

Carrie said...

Hi Carol!

Wow, I never imagined an author would actually post a comment on my blog!

I work at a university and found Nights in the Asylum in our library's 'new books' section. I read the first few pages and immediatley checked it out!

Every night, I looked forward to reading your novel. But, I had to pace myself because I didn't want to finish it *too* quickly.

I actually thought about Fugitive Pieces as I read your novel - both drew me in and profoundly affected me.

Thanks for writing a most lovely book!

Unknown said...

Thanks Carrie.
I love university libraries, and am thrilled to know my book is tucked up in stacks so far away.
Happy reading, and all the best!