Mad City Weekend

Friday afternoon, I rushed around like mad to get ready for our trip to Madison (aka Mad City). Porkchop picked me up after her work ended, and off we went.

The trip would have gone more smoothly if the following hadn't happened:

• Rain.


• Fog.


• Anxiety attacks caused by phlegm in my throat that made me feel like I was choking and unable to breathe. Porkchop was a good sport and drove 5 hours after I panicked 15 minutes into my shift.

We pulled into our friend Vivian's house around 12:30. We stayed up for a bit to chat and eat pizza.

Saturday
Our day didn't get started until after noon, when we tried to go to Café Soleil. After seeing the long wait for tables, we went next door to the Old Fashioned.

Here's Vivian with her liquid diet breakfast:



Coffee, bloody mary, PBR chaser, and water.

After eating, we hurried to Lakeside Fibers, my favorite yarn store ever. On the way, we saw lots of ice fishing.



See the dots on the lake in the photo? Those are ice fisher-people.

Lakeside has a mind-boggling selection, and they display their yarn in wood cabinets or glass cubbies...none of those horrible plastic or wire rack displays that lots of stores use. In one room, Lakeside even has an old water wheel with yarn displayed in it. I don't have a picture of that, but I do have one of Lakeside's wall o'Cascade. If you're into Cascade, you'll probably find just the right color here:



After I moved from Madison, Lakeside added a coffee bar to their store. Look at these people drinking coffee and eating and knitting and looking out over the lake towards Madison!



I am so envious!

But back to yarn. I picked up two skeins each of these:



The top one is Ruby River by Mountain Colors. I intend to make some Jaywalkers with this yarn. Yes! Socks!

The bottom one is Lipstick Lava by Dream in Color Yarn. I don't know what it will become just yet.

I am happy with this yarn and excited to finally try socks.

Okay, after the yarn shop, we stopped at a fun pet store down the block. After that, we went to Gail Ambrosius's chocolate shop. Yum! I enjoyed an espresso truffle and wished I could buy the whole shop.



Alas, we had to push on to another Chocolate Shoppe, where I picked up a scoop of Zanzibar Chocolate. Yum again!



You might think we concluded our day there, but no. That night, we went to one of the longest women's ice hockey games EVER! It went into the 7th period!!!

For those of you who don't know, ice hockey games have 3 periods. So, we saw 2+ hockey games, with full intermissions! Gah! The agony!



I was so glad to go home to Vivian's. Although, it was impressive to see the Harvard goalie stop 67 shots before letting one through.

Sunday
Sunday was supposed to start with breakfast somewhere, but we couldn't get up after our late night. We barely had enough time to grab a bagel on our way to Dodgeville, where Porkchop was playing with Vivian's team, the Wisconsin B club team (Porkchop used to play on the C team).

Technically, Porkchop shouldn't be playing hockey since she only has one kidney now. But, she rationalizes it away.

After 8 months of not playing, this is where Porkchop ended up:



The penalty box!

But, all in all, it was a good game, and the B team won 2-1.

After the game, we sped back to Missouri. Well, I sped as much as I could between having to make several pit stops for Porkchop, who had an icky stomach after the game.

Anyway, that's it!

Now I'm just sitting around and fondling my new yarn! Yay! Someday soon there will be knitting content here again!

Yikes!
Hello if you're here from the Isthmus Daily Page!

While I'm honored to have a link on such a fine website, I am also redfaced knowing that more than my usual dozen readers now know about my phlegm-induced anxiety attacks.

Cheers!

Maybe it was the Raccoons?

After hopping off the bus yesterday evening, I noticed something amiss in the corridor between our house and the one next to it. I thought I saw a box or something that didn't belong. Upon closer inspection, this is what I found:




Yep, some bastards destroyed our air conditioning unit for a few dollars' worth of copper.

Bastards!

Our landlord had quite a few more expletives to say about this matter after rushing over from his house a half block away. Later that night, he called to apologize for being so unprofessional.

I understand, though, since a new unit will be around $1200, and the crime wasn't even worth it. Maybe if they had taken the whole danged unit. But just snipping out the copper and taking the housing? WTF?

This is one of those times when I hate people so much.

In another news, Porkchop caught our rascal raccoon in action last night skulking around our deck. Instead of shooing the raccoon away, Porkchop tried to get the raccoon to stay around for a photo. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. In addition to our little birdseed lover, Porkchop spotted another raccoon climbing up the gutter of a neighbor's garage. Raccoons everywhere!

Wednesday's Lunch
The project coordinator who did a huge chunk of conference planning is leaving St. Louis. Sad for us, good for her. To say goodbye, our center went to Maya Café in Maplewood.

The restaurant and staff are quite pleasant, and I attribute any shortcomings to the sous chef's absence. Apparently, the sous chef just didn't show up. That's no good...especially when there's a lunch party of 20-plus.

Like many restaurants, you receive complimentary chips and salsa. The chips were so-so, but the salsa was fantastic. Thick and chunky and not very saucy, which is exactly how I like my salsa. One of my co-workers was so taken with the salsa, she started eating it with her fork; no chips necessary.

For my dish, I ordered the huitlacoche quesadilla because I've always wanted to try huitlacoche after hearing so much about it in Madison. Yeah, it tastes like portabella mushrooms...I was a bit disappointed. But maybe my disappoint stemmed from my quesadilla being a bit burnt on the bottom. And a bit greasy. Also, the saffron rice tasted like rice from a box.

After hearing such good things about the fish tacos, I wish I had gone that route. Or maybe I should have ordered the vegan stuffed chile.

In conclusion, I wasn't impressed with the food beyond the salsa. But maybe it's usually better.

Meals This Weekend
We're making a last-minute trip to Madison tonight. The original intention was to visit friends and see the UW women's ice hockey team play Harvard as part of the NCAA Frozen Four tournament. Now, Porkchop has been invited to play ice hockey on Saturday and Sunday, so she's quite happy and looking forward to the trip.

I've been thinking about where we'll eat, of course, and I'm having a hard time. I don't want to abandon my favorites. Lao Laan-Xang has the best crab rangoons and mangoes with sticky rice ever, and their peanut sauce kicks ass. Himal Chuli has the best dal and samosas ever. We love Café Continental for brunch, as well as Café Soleil and Lazy Jane's. However, I hear there are some good newcomers (new to me, anyway), like Cocoliquot.

Lucky for me, I'm leaving work early, so I'll have some time to think this through.

Those Rascally Raccoons

This is what we awoke to this morning:



The dove on the railing might seem a likely suspect, but it was actually raccoons! Last week, they threw off the top of the birdfeeder AND knocked out one of the plexiglass panels. But this time....well, you see what they did.

Squirrels are nothing compared to the raccoons.

You might remember how, during the summer, we cooed over the baby raccoons living in the sewer gutter in front of our apartment. Hmph. Now they're causing trouble.

Here's another picture....chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, some of which also contain cranberries. Yum! I'll post the recipe tomorrow.



The Conference
Last week was a killer with all of the conference activities. It was go go go from 7:30 am to 10:00 pm for four freakin' days.

I wish I could have actually listened to the research panels and other presentations, but I was constantly checking on things like catering or handouts. It was utterly exhausting.

Fortunately, the research fellows were a great group. We had people from Belgium, Germany, France, the UK, Turkey, South Africa, Nigeria, Turkey, Nepal, Australia, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica, and the US.

On Saturday, the last day, we went on a bus tour of St. Louis. The tour guide was a staid woman, a humorless retired grade school teacher whose head nearly exploded at least three times during the tour because of the rowdiness of the research fellows. The tour actually became a parody. I mean, you can't make simplistic statements like, "the British didn't like the French," to a group of international scholars without receiving laughs. It was hilarious.

Other Things
Hmmm....I haven't really had a chance to do anything non-conference related. Yesterday, we went to the grocery store, did laundry, and made dinner and cookies. Today, I cleaned up the disaster zone that was my office. I can actually walk around in it now without running into a box of conference stuff!

Yay!

Blech

I wish Ann Coulter would go ahead and rot from all the vileness inside of her.

Really, I can never believe her repugnancy.

Ah well...I will hopefully update on more respectable and interesting items later.

Fortunate Fortunes

Porkchop and I dined at Mekong tonight, and these are the fortunes we received respectively.



This all makes sense.

We were at Mekong because Porkchop was waiting for me after my haircut finished at Salon St. Louis. She was waiting for me because she had opened a letter from the Tamarind Institute and left the apartment running. Luckily the salon is nearby.

Yay! Porkchop has been accepted to Tamarind's printer training program!!!

Of course, this leaves us with complicated decisions. I think I'll be staying in St. Louis. I mean, I really want to have 22 days of vacation, and I like where I work. The training program is just 9 months...2 years if one is accepted into the master printer program (which Porkchop surely will be if she applies).

We'll see about these things.

Oh, and my fortune...I think it means I should go back to vegetarianism, which I've been considering for the last couple of weeks.

We'll also see about that.

Have a good night!

Thank You!

For the past couple of weeks, I've been stuck on replying to compliments, complaints, and just plain old comments with a "Thank you!" like David Sedaris says in "SantaLand Diaries" after a guy tells him, "You look SO f***ing stupid."

Thank you!

There's something about how he says it that makes it get stuck in my head. And, I haven't listened to Holidays on Ice since December 22.

I did, however, listen to Naked while driving to my parents' this weekend, so maybe that stirred it up.

The trip also stirred up my sinus problems. Once I hit Cape Girardeau Friday night, I was sneezing up a storm and otherwise feeling like crap. Yesterday evening on my way back into St. Louis, I ended up stopping at a walk-in clinic, where I received a diagnosis of sinusitis and an antibiotic prescription.

I also received compliments on my blood pressure, which was 111/72. I DID NOT say, "Thank you!"

Okay, so maybe you've figured this out, but this post has nearly nothing to do with recipes or my cooking or knitting or other crafts. Why? Because I've been feeling crappy. Also, I've been reading.

My Current Book
I'm reading What to Eat. The cover of the book is, unfortunately, a bit misleading. The tag line might make you think it's another book touting the latest miracle foods or some fluffy thing about nutrition.

In reality, it's a smart, accessible analysis of the food industry and the politics behind what makes it into the grocery store. It's really, really good, and I highly recommend it. Unless you want to do your grocery shopping in an uninformed manner, read this book.

Of all the disturbing things I've learned about the influence of lobbyists and Big Food on the FDA and other regulatory agencies, I'm actually most distraught knowing that the whole "baby carrot" thing is a bunch of baloney. Actually, it's a bunch of carrots. Regular carrots. Cut up and shaped to look like miniature carrots. Porkchop keeps making me feel stupid for not thinking about this before, but I seriously believed that these were dwarf carrots! I've been duped!!

On Saturday night, I woke up 3 times with the same bad dream. Some asshole conservative food producers were trying to revise the USDA's organic standards to make them pretty much meaningless. This bad dream actually nearly happened a couple of years ago. Under pressure from lobbyists, the USDA nearly revised the standards to allow sewage sludge fertilizer, irradiation, and some other non-organic things.

I'm glad to be reading this book, but it also makes me nervous to eat anything from the grocery store.

Last Week
Thursday was the highlight of my week because the present Porkchop had meant to be delivered on Wednesday arrived at my office.

A box of 18 truffles from Bochner's chocolates in Iowa City (one of the few good things about Iowa City). I haven't found truffles in St. Louis that measure up to those from Bochner's, so it was an especially sweet (ha!) gift. Yay!

The pictures I took of my truffles are kind of bad, so look at the website. Actually, their website could use a few more pictures.

I also received flowers on Wednesday. Yay!

Work Busy-ness
We are hosting a seminar next week. The research panels on Friday are open to the public and are only one day of a four-day long stretch of craziness. Seriously. Who wants to begin a conference each day at 8:30 am and end after dinner around 10:00 pm. Also, I have to be at the school at 7:00 am. Crappers. I will be so tired. Also, probably not updating this here blog.

Random Things

Number One
Last Wednesday, in the middle of a day of super crazy busy work stuff and sinus congestion delirium, I took a walk to the library. On the way, a guy walked past me, and I noticed that slushy water was getting kicked up from his boots onto his lower pant legs as he walked.

And I thought, what about mud guards for boots? Kind of like guards on bicycle wheels, but on the backs of boots.

And then I thought about Oskar Shell and his "what abouts" and smiled.

Number Two
I was reading the Little Birds blog this morning and clicked a link to this blog. I scrolled threw it and noticed the post on February 17 (my dad's birthday, FYI, and the reason I went to see them) in which the blogger drew pictures of other people who share her name.

One of the other people is from my hometown, and I went to school with her.

How random is that?

On that note, good night!

Blue

Dear Gentle Readers,

I am still not feeling well - perhaps it was a dairy overload or perhaps it was overexposure to the cold air on Saturday. Since I am resting on the couch, my kind secretary Porkchop is taking dictation for this post.

Last night, Porkchop and I went to the Blues game against the Sharks. Here we are in our Plaza level seats. Note that, while I look happy, I am still not feeling well.



Even though Bill Guerin delivered a hat trick, it was not enough to overcome the Sharks. The Blues had plenty of opportunities to tie up the game during the last minute, and even though they did not succeed, we still enjoyed the game.

Porkchop especially enjoyed getting a free case of Wild Cherry Pepsi, even though she does not drink it. I think her recent Mountain Dew cessation program has driven her to desperate measures.



Responses to Comments

I have enjoyed reading your many recent comments and I have been wanting to respond to them. Unfortunately, my work has been quite busy and cutting into my blog time. So, I will address your comments briefly now.

• Robin: Thank you for your sock knitting encouragement. I also made a pair of fetching mitts, so I must also have the necessary sock knitting skills, right? I will look at patterns and yarn, so I'm sure it will take me another three months to make a final decision.


• djeh_b: Thai Pizza Company is on Eastgate off of Delmar. If you look through the Riverfront Times Restaurant Guide, you'll find a PDF of the Thai Pizza Company menu. One of my co-workers swears by it and supposedly goes there a couple of times a week.


• Val: I'm so glad you like my recipe posts. I hope you are using and enjoying the recipes!


• getinmymouthstuff: I'm glad you appreciate nattering.

My apologies for my absence and for my brevity. I must go now to finish the dairy products that I'm eating, and to rest.

I Should Say This First

No knitting was done this weekend.

While I thought about knitting a lot, I didn't pick up my needles at all. I looked at a lot of yarn - at Hearthstone Knits and Knitorious - and touched a lot of yarn and nattered on about sweater patterns and how maybe I should try sock knitting again, but I didn't actually do any knitting.

The bottom line is this: my bottom line is painfully small and I don't want to go into debt just so I can make a sweater. That's it and that's that.

I'm stuck with smaller projects for now.

Saturday
Besides going to two yarn stores and grocery shopping, Porkchop and I met two of my co-workers and their partner-people for dinner at Thai Pizza, which totally exceeded my expectations. We didn't have the pizza, but their peanut sauce and Thai iced teas were darn good. Also in the party was a co-worker's 3-year-old (super-cute) and the person who used to have my job.

After stuffing myself on tofu and peanut sauce, we finished the evening at Ben & Jerry's...which made our insides match our outsides, as the person who used to have my job noted.

Sunday
Even though I woke up feeling lousy from sinus drainage, we arose bright and early (for a Sunday) and started the day by making cheddar scones. I highly recommend this recipe. It's very straightforward and the results are awesome.

Here are ours (minus a few already-eaten ones):



Porkchop had hers plain while I enjoyed the scrambled egg-cheddar scone breakfast that I had been thinking about since Friday.

After doing things like exercising and taking a walk in the park, we ran some errands. These included picking up coffee for my dad's birthday. We stopped by Kaldi's on DeMun, and it was CRAZY!!! But the smell was heavenly.

Another errand was picking up a couple of pots and potting soil so that our plants have room to breathe and grow. Since I was feeling yucky, I watched while Porkchop did the repotting.



Porkchop repotted five plants in addition to the two baby plants that we added to our plant family. One of these new plants is a little jade plant. Jade plants are my favorite, but the last one we had died a mysterious death. I hope we're better now and don't do this one in.

After the plant extravaganza, we made this soup.



So much yum! From me, anyway. Porkchop did a really good job eating it for dinner, but she's not too keen on taking it for lunch. But, soup and a scone was the perfect lunch for me, what with my sore throat and all.

Today
Busy. And tired and a bit sick feeling.

Blech.

Tomorrow
Blues game.

Plaza seat tickets courtesy of me....and Ticketmaster Tuesdays.

Bleary

I didn't want to go to sleep last night, and I didn't want to wake up this morning. Murrr!!!!

I just ate an asiago cheese bagel to stay awake...but that doesn't really work, now does it?

Earlier, I was cleaning up some files on our website server. After deleting a batch of really really old things that the public should no longer see, I tried accessing our announcements page (run off a database), and it wasn't working! Oh how my palms began to sweat thinking that I had broken the thing (I inadvertantly messed another webpage yesterday, but it totally wasn't my fault....how was I to know that someone had updated code on the remote file, but didn't do the same on the local?). Luckily, after waiting a few breathless moments, it started working again.

Anyway, that's how my day has been....moving through a sleepy fog and hoping that I don't mess up anything.

St. Raymond's
I'm glad to see others enjoy the Wednesday luncheon!

Also, if you must get your fix of raw kibbeh, I hear that they serve it around special occasions. My co-worker said that she had tried it there before.

I think my mom would enjoy the raw kibbeh...she grew up eating raw meat because her parents had their own livestock and could trust their butcher. I'm pretty sure I had raw beef as a kid after seeing my mom take a pinch or two of it.

Oh my.

This Weekend
I'd like to make some cheddar scones tonight and then have scrambled egg-cheddar scone sandwiches for breakfast tomorrow.

Yes, I think that's a good plan.

Also, I hope to start on Sheldon. I would link to the Knitty pattern, but I'm too tired for that.

Food Report

So...when I last wrote, I was preparing to go to the Lebanese lunch at St. Raymond's. As expected, it was quite good and a bargain. I had a spinach pie, a cabbage roll, rice and lentils, and flatbread for $6.80. For an extra $1.35, I had a piece of pistachio baklava. The 75-cent Lebanese coffee taunted me with its rich-looking color, but I had to pass of course.

Lest you think St. Raymond's doesn't offer the national dish of Lebanon, don't worry. Kibbeh is well represented in its fried, football-shaped form. I had a small bite of it, but that's waaaaayyyy too much meat for me.

The food is very tasty and all made from scratch by volunteers. The great-uncle of one of my co-workers told me that the taste of different dishes can vary from week-to-week, depending on who is in the kitchen. The great-uncle was fabulous - cute and little and funny. He encouraged us to come back, which I'm sure we will. Next time I will have some of the salads and the spinach with cracked wheat. Yum!

Also, I promised a picture and a recipe.

Here's the picture:



And here's the recipe:

Whole-Wheat Walnut-Cranberry Biscotti

vegetable oil, for baking sheet
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup walnut halves
1/4 cup cranberries (the recipe actually calls for golden raisins, but I prefer cranberries)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Brush a baking sheet with oil.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; stir in walnuts and cranberries.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Add to flour mixture; stir until just combined.

On a lightly floured surface, shape dough into a loaf (1" x 2.5" x 7"); transfer to baking sheet. Bake until risen and firm, about 20-25 minutes. Cool completely on sheet and reduce oven temperature to 300 F.

Transfer loaf to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/4" thick slices. Place slices on baking sheet in a single layer. Bake, turning once, until dried and golden, 20-30 minutes.

Yum!

Have a great Friday!

Preview

In about a half hour, I'm going to St. Raymond's with a few co-workers. No, we're not attending a mid-day mass! We're going to hit the Wednesday Lebanese lunch! I'm excited and will issue a full report later.

Also!

Last night, not only did I make our favorite tomato-basil bisque, I made whole wheat walnut-cranberry biscotti. They are good but almost too crisp. I will post a picture and the recipe later.

Have a wonderful Wednesday afternoon!

The Russian

Last night, Porkchop picked me up from work and we went to dinner and a movie...all spur-of-the-moment and against our new fiscal ethic, but we have had rough times lately and needed a distraction.

Dinner was pizza at Cicero's because we needed something fast. Not quite fast enough, but we made it to the cinema during the previews.

**EDIT** Let it be noted that Porkchop suggested that we order a pizza topped with green peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, AND portabella mushrooms! What does this mean?! And, what's next?! Universal healthcare??

Porkchop continues to impress me with her food selections as of late. Previously Porkchop abhorred all things on that pizza (green peppers not so badly, but mushrooms? that would have been considered disgusting not so long ago). I don't know what to make of this.

Movie was Volver. As with all of Almodóvar's films, I was entertained and deeply disturbed. I never know quite how to feel after seeing his work.

I thought Penelope Cruz did a pretty good job, but I don't know if she deserves any big awards for her performance. Maybe her breasts do, since they were featured just as much as Penelope's acting.

It was a good film, but I would have appreciated more social commentary on some of the themes raised in the film. But, of course, you don't see an Almodóvar film for explicit social commentary.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I am not a film critic of any sort. I barely managed a B+ in my Intro to Film class as an undergrad.

More About the Cold

When I'm feeling chilly, I check out the weather for Madison.

A high of 16 looks pretty good next to a high of 2. And last week, a high of 0 made me feel so much warmer.

Of course, as Porkchop pointed out, people in Wisconsin know how to heat things. And how to build foyers and entry-ways.

Our first apartment in Madison, all 600 square feet (or thereabouts) of it, had its own little entry-way with a heavy-ass door to keep out drafts.

And radiators, oh my, how I love radiators.

That's all...I'll say nary a word about the cold from here on out.

So This is How it Ends

Finito! And earlier than expected.

Here's Porkchop modeling the FO:



And, here's a close-up:



Again, you can find the pattern here. And the yarn, Malabrigo.

I'm so glad to be finished with it. No more of this:



P.S. Isn't Porkchop a great little scarf model?

I'm Cold

That is the phrase I've heard about a billion times this weekend from Porkchop. "I'm cold....I'm cold....I'm cold....."

I'm cold, too. It's usually around 63 in our apartment.

We'll warm up some this evening when we go to Suzi's to watch the Super Bowl. Since I could take or leave football (actually preferring the leave part), I'm mainly in it for the food. Porkchop has been busy cooking since yesterday evening. We're taking turkey chili, pesto and curried deviled eggs, and a spicy spinach and artichoke dip. I'm stoked about eating tonight as everyone is bringing tasty dishes.

This weekend has been one good food fest, so I'm quite happy.

Friday night, Porkchop and I each ate half a block of tofu....in the form of baked tofu, of course. Is that bad? Half a block? It felt so right at the time.

Saturday morning, we got up and went to the TG farmer's market straight away so that Porkchop could get to work at 10:00. We arrived shortly after 9, which isn't difficult when you live right next to St. John's. The winter market is a bit painfully small...I only hope the market gets bigger each year.

We walked away with black tea, whole wheat flour, zucchini muffins (made with the whole wheat flour and other organic goodness from the vendor's farm), and artichoke pesto. The muffins rocked, and I adore the English Breakfast tea. I've decided that tea is my weekend tea until I can really load up next month.

You might recall that I was trying to decide on a restaurant for Saturday night. After getting a call back from Atlas stating that all of their early times were booked (Porkchop wanted to catch part of the Blues game), I was once again adrift in a sea of indecision.

After a while, I decided on Five. Good thing I called....they're actually closed for the week. Murrr!

I didn't know what to do next. Somehow, through a twisted trail of weblinks, I heard about dinner at La Dolce Via being one of the best things ever. Now, if you look at the website, you'll see that there is absolutely no mention of dinner being served. The only hint is that they're open until 11 pm on Friday and Saturday nights. So, FYI, they start serving dinner at 6:00 on those nights.

And dinner is so so so good!

The menu is really small - they seem to offer only two large plates. But tasty, so tasty!

We started with a small plate of French Bean Salad. Green beans, cannelini beans, yellow beets, potatoes, and grape tomatoes topped with a subtle vinaigrette and feta cheese. Yum!

For a large plate, I had the roasted monkfish, which was accompanied by the most amazing cream-wine-butter sauce, awesome garlic-mashed potatoes, and roasted Belgian endives. I didn't know what to expect with the monkfish - I'd only seen pictures of the fish before. But, I totally understand why it's called the poor person's lobster. Anyway, each part of the dish was delicious and right-on.

Porkchop chose the other large plate selection, penne with pork tenderloin, sun-dried tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and beet tops with a sprinkling of Parmesan and olive oil. It was also tasty, but I preferred my ugly monkfish.

Although we both cleaned our plates, we were still up for our own desserts. Porkchop went with the "Sexy MO," a mascarpone cheesecake (with a biscotti crust) topped with all sorts of berries. I wanted to ask who their berry source is - the blackberries and raspberries were soooo good - but I didn't want to be that person.

For my dessert, I ordered the zuccotto, their signature dessert. You can see a picture of it on the dessert webpage. I was totally blown away by it, that's all I can say. Amazing.

All in all, a fantastic meal. Porkchop thought the coffeeshop setting of mismatched tables and ramshackle chairs took away from the dinner, but that's one of things I liked. No pretense - heck, Porkchop wore her UPS Store work shirt and I wore my Sambas - just super-fantastic food.

We look forward to going there for brunch someday. And dessert, of course.

For my Next Post
I should have a picture of a finished scarf.

Finally.

Yogurt

I have a complicated relationship with yogurt.

I would rather eat earwax than choke down the yogurt found in most grocery stores. Dannon, Yoplait...yuck, yuck, yuck.

When I spent a summer in Europe (too long ago in 1998), the yogurt door was flung open. Yogurt drinks - yum! Crazy yogurt flavors like hazelnut - double yum!

Seeing yogurt's good side, I tried it again in the States and realized the problem is that the yogurt I enjoyed in Europe was thinner and much smoother than the thick nasty stuff passing as yogurt here.

So began my yogurt quest. Because I enjoy nothing more than a food quest, especially one that will go unfulfilled for years and provide much fodder for complaining.

On the yogurt drink side, my quest ended once Stonyfield Farms introduced their line. Stonyfield Farm's line of full-fat yogurt is pretty good too, but I find that only vanilla truffle is truly worth my time.

Trader Joe's yogurt, even the low-fat kind, is also quite superb. Yum yum yum!

This brings me to why I write today....

Oh, Greek yogurt, how much do I love you? So much! Especially with honey.

Even though Greek yogurt is a bit thick, it's thick in a good creamy way, not a fake yucky way. Yum!

I am, however, a bit puzzled by the "Suggestion" printed on the Fage (pronounced Fa-yeh! according to the label) package. It reads, "Please Do Not Stir."

Why?

I had already transferred the honey to the yogurt side and stirred it up vigorously.

Did I inadvertantly mess up the yogurt composition?

It was still tasty.

Other Things
Porkchop and I will be dining out Saturday night, and I'm trying to decide upon a restaurant.

I am full of indecision.

I want to try Stellina, but that would be more of a Saturday lunch place. Or dinner during the week.

I don't know if I want to try something different - like South American - or go somewhere like Atlas.

Luckily, we will have tonight and most of Saturday to decide.

Speaking of Saturday, I am for sure making the monthly winter Tower Grove farmer's market tomorrow. I missed it the past few months because I didn't realize it was only monthly.

That is all. Have a great weekend!

P.S. Porkchop made a potato and corn chowder with salmon last night. Quite tasty!

Keys

I just saw a maintenance person wearing a veritable scarf of keys. Hundreds of keys on multiple rings slung over his shoulder! It was beautiful, and I wish I had a picture of it.

It reminded me of This American Life's "The Super" episode, which I listened to last night. It was really good. I'll have to re-listen to it later because I was reading while listening, and that can be difficult for me. I end up only catching half of both things.

Porkchop and I have both finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I found it bitterly delightful. Oskar Shell is one of my favorite people ever. Also, I like how even Oskar is relevant to my "Keys" post.

Last night, while listening to TAL and multi-tasking, I tried leaving a comment on a certain blog. I failed the word verification security feature a total of 4 times! Is it just me? Is something wrong with my laptop's keyboard (to tie to this post)? I ended up having to use the accessibility option, and I somehow managed to listen and type in the recorded numbers correctly.

This is not the first time I've failed a word verification multiple times. Since this feature is used to screen out spam robots, I'm starting to think I am perhaps a robot. A robot who can't use a keyboard!

About those Brownies

Here's the brownie recipe that I mentioned yesterday. Although I was at first skeptical about these brownies - I mean, nothing can beat my mom's recipe - they turned out really well. You just have to wait for them to cool and firm up.

This morning, I bagged a nice little brownie for each of us (Porkchop and me) for a treat later. Porkchop was initially upset that I gave her such a small (regular) square, but then she couldn't eat the entire thing in one sitting. So it was a good thing. Of course, keep in mind that Porkchop is a chocolate wimp.

I'm not posting a picture of these brownies because they're plain old brownies. Nothing exciting to see here, folks.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE BROWNIES
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons water
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, broken into pieces
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Microwave sugar, butter, and water in large, microwave-safe bowl on high for 4-5 minutes or until mixture bubbles, stirring once (or heat the mixture in a medium saucepan). Add baking bars, stirring until melted.

Stir in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla extract. Gradually stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Pour into greased 13x9-inch baking pan.

Bake in preheated 350 F oven for 15-20 minutes or until wooden pick comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Makes around 2 dozen...depending on how you cut the brownie.

Enjoy!

Celebrity Sighting

This afternoon, Porkchop and I made a trip to Trader Joe's. While I braved a busy aisle to pick up pizza sauce, Porkchop waited by a beer display.

Fighting a crowd, I emerged from the aisle to see Porkchop speaking to a stranger, saying, "Yup, I'm the kidney donor."

Turns out, the stranger was a regular reader of Porkchop's kidney blog and recognized Porkchop from her pictures. Crazy!

That wasn't the only exciting thing that happened this weekend...

Ice Festival
On Saturday, we headed out to St. Charles to see the ice carving going on at the ice festival.

We saw a lot of standard nature scenes....like...

...bird, fish, and bear...



...and, horse versus bear...



We also saw some different things...like...

....a dog on skis...



...and a surf scene...



All in all, it was a nice outing. We especially enjoyed the little wood fire stoves stationed on each block. Also, we had lunch at a place serving chicken and dumplings as a special...I had been craving just that a few days ago.

Most of all, we just enjoyed being out of the apartment.

After the ice festival, we went to a mall, where I made a huge buy-nothing month transgression at the Limited. I couldn't resist pants and a nice green cardigan for 40% off!

Today
We started our day with yoga. Yay!

After that and a bit of lunch, we did our grocery shopping rounds. At home, we made chocolate fudge brownies. Since I'm too lazy to take a picture or retrieve the recipe right now, I'll post those later.

We also made a pizza. Yum yum yum! We made our own pizza crust and topped it with fresh mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, and pesto. It was one of the best pizzas I've ever had.



My mom gave us the baking stone a few years ago, and this was our first time to use it. I want pizza every weekend now! So good.

Knitting
I had to call another knitting break this weekend. The nerves in my right index finger are going crazy...I just have random pain in it. Since I'm constantly touching my needle tips with my right index finger, knitting really really hurts.

So I'm taking another break.

Blech.

On that note, must go since typing is also painful.

Have a great week!

Obviously, This is What I do at Work

Obviously.

So....the upcoming Interweave Knits has a whopping 3 patterns piquing my interest.

1. Entrelac socks. Remember how I'm not a sock knitter and never learned entrelac? For this pattern, I would knit socks and learn entrelac. I *heart* knee-high socks, and the socks in the picture are really freakin' cute. Cute! Five skeins of yarn for two socks? Sign me up!


2. Green tea raglan. I've seen a lot of ugly, offensive-looking sweater patterns out on the Internet today, folks. This raglan is neither ugly nor offensive. This is a possibility for a first sweater, I think.


3. Slanted neck pullover. I also *heart* asymmetrical clothing items! I'm wearing one right now! Also a first sweater (or pullover) possibility. Just not in that blue (the color isn't ugly, just not for me).

Do I have to wait until February 20 for the new issue? That sucks.

Anyone else cringe upon viewing the knitted thong on the IK website? Seems like that would be a tad uncomfortable. But maybe it's not for wearing.

Copacetic

That's how things have been.

The work at work has been busy, my scarf has been growing, we've been cooking most nights, and the sun is shining through my office window. For a garden level office, I receive a good amount of sun.

After knitting a few rows at lunch today, I walked to the campus library to pick up a book (Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close...yeah, we're probably among the few who haven't read it yet). While walking, I took long draws of the sunshiny air and kept a leisurely pace. On the way back, I tried to devise a longer-than-necessary route, but it wasn't long enough.

The sun also shone on Tuesday. It was warmer, and I didn't need a jacket when walking to a meeting next door. For the first time in a few months, my fingers felt alive and part of my body. They usually feel like bendable icicles connected via wire and about to shatter at any second.

I wish I could be outside. Walking with a warm beverage.

Overall, I am glad to be in Missouri, where snow melts the very next day. That was my problem with Wisconsin (and Iowa, but who cares about Iowa?). I couldn't take the snowy expanse of January through March. I have to see the ground, even if the grass is brown and sad. I have to know that the earth is still there.

Oh, Iowa, I am slowly erasing it from my memory. After I receive my Iowa W-2 and send my taxes off, I can forget it completely.

Some day, Porkchop and I will be reminiscing (what we call "relationship reconstruction") and one of us will say, "And then after Madison, we moved to St. Louis." And then the other will say, "Wasn't there somewhere between Madison and St. Louis? Somewhere desolate and that made us sad? Where maybe we cried explosively every couple of weeks? And maybe hated every single God forsaken day?" And the other will shake her head, take the other's hand, and say, "....No, no, I think that must have been a bad dream."

Speaking of memory, the last few books I've read have concerned memory in some form. It's strange...how one will unknowingly start a reading trend. The Memory of Running: reliving forgotten memories and finding one's self again. The Uses of Enchantment: making up memories. Man Walks into a Room: losing 24 years of memories and, for the most part, not wanting them back.

Here is some of what I remember of this past week....

Knitting
As stated, the scarf is growing. I'm well into the second skein. It's still a leisurely pace, made even more leisurely when my left hand starting spasming like you wouldn't believe. I could barely type! That necessitated a 2-day break.

I am bored with my current knitting state. I'm finally ready to broach a sweater, which scares the heck out of me. Gauge-checking, seaming, the possibility of me screwing up big time...yikes! Under consideration are the hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts and a build-your-own from a website that I can't recall at the moment.

I want something simple that won't give me a headache or make me cry. And I want yarn that's a silk/cashmere blend. And green...a nice vibrant spring green.

Baking
Yeah....no baking post this week. I wanted so badly to make brownies Sunday night, so imagine my sorrow when I realized we didn't have enough cocoa.

Porkchop offered to go get some, but I couldn't send her out into the dreariness. So, we made M&M cookies instead. Good, but not brownies.

Maybe I'll be adventurous this weekend and make fancy brownies.

Cooking
Porkchop made yummy chicken with plum chutney Monday night. Her roommate from college, who works and lives at the World Bird Sanctuary, joined us for dinner. We heard a lot of bird stories.

Last night I made a yummy bean and pasta soup using sundried tomatoes, regular tomatoes, navy beans, and pasta. Always satisfying.

We haven't gone to a real restaurant in quite some time. I've been fine, but I can't wait to go somewhere that's super fantastic.

Our Gas Bill
This was $300 last month. Yeah, WTF??

Thanks to Porkchop's alertness, we realized the bill had been estimated. Oh, but not just that bill, all of our readings since we've moved in have been estimates! Who knows if these were close to reality, as we have no idea what the baseline was.

We're starting to read our own as of now. Our next bill should only be $100-$150.

This Weekend
No solid plans as of yet.

Maybe we'll go see Volver, breaking our buy-nothing rule a bit. Last weekend we caved in and rented a movie, Everything is Illuminated. Neither of us have read the book, so I have since requested it. This also explains my trip to the campus library today.

Elijah Wood creeps me out ever since I saw Sin City. Let me note that I didn't realize that the movie I was going to see was that movie; otherwise, I would not have gone. More like Crap City. Yuck.

Photos
Hopefully some will be posted tonight. We'll see.

Have a good afternoon and night! Enjoy the sun!

You Always Know What to Say

A coworker just asked if I have a bruise under my eye.

Uh, no....those are just my tired bags. Thanks!

Actually...not bags...more like caves.

On Being a Sloth

Hi!

I don't have much to report because, as of late, Porkchop and I have been slothlike in the evenings. This is due to our drafty apartment and the pain involved in removing one's self out from under a blanket and away from the spaceheater. Also, we have watched American Idol auditions the past two nights.

After the auditions last night, I pinned the spots where I wanted slots on the knitting needle case that Porkchop made last month. Then, she even sewed it up last night.

Pretty! See:




It is the best.

Porkchop is also the best for getting up early on her day off yesterday and taking me to work and then picking me up. Yay!

I have a staff retreat all day tomorrow and I so DO NOT want to go. You might recall that this retreat was cancelled the last time because of the big ice/snow storm. I would wish for another cancellation, but that would be mean, what with everyone just getting powered back up and all...

P.S. I will post bigger pictures tonight. It looks like I only have the thumbnails with me.

This is also Here!

When I composed this morning's post about the sun finally shining, I meant to make another "it's here!" declaration. Yeah, time for Edy's Girl Scout cookie ice cream!! I purchased our first carton of thin mint yesterday.

Also, if you know a Girl Scout in the area, count on me for at least a couple of boxes. I spent a good 10 years in the cookie-selling trenches, so I love to help a scout out, especially one who always just barely earns the smallest badge available by selling 25 boxes, primarily to her family. Yeah, that was me. While my fellow troop members were related to half the town and easily sold 250 boxes (no joke) and came away with the huge-ass badge and extra prizes, I only made it to the second tier badge once. And, really, I think my dad bought half of those.

Whatever, I earned my Gold Award anyway. BTW, now scouts have to earn "charms" as part of the Gold Award?! WTF! Actually, there's a pretty good article in the recent Bitch about the new face of Girl Scouts. Also in that Bitch, a good article about tying activism into knitting.

Finally, on another note, here are those deviled egg recipes. While I don't condone eating only the yolk filling, Porkchop and I do enjoy little sandwiches made with the extra filling. Yum! Enjoy!

Deviled Pesto Eggs
6 hardboiled eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon pesto
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley and capers for garnish

Do the usual egg prep: peel, slice, remove yolks. In a bowl, mash yolks; add mayonnaise and mustard, blending until smooth. Stir in pesto, Parmesan, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon filling into egg whites. Garnish and refrigerate until serving time.

Curried Stuffed Eggs
6 hardboiled eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/4 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet relish
1 green onion, chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
Salt and pepper to taste
Thinly sliced green onion for garnish

Do the usual egg prep: peel, slice, remove yolks. In a bowl, mash yolks; stir in remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon filling into egg whites. Garnish with sliced green onion and refrigerate until serving time.

Tomorrow
I'm back to riding the bus tomorrow morning because Porkchop has the day off. I do not look forward to waiting for the bus or the walk from the train station.

However....I must say it is not that cold. A news guy tonight kept on talking about the "St. Louis winter." Yeah....remember when it was in the 50s maybe a week and a half ago? Buddy, this is not cold. Until my snot freezes in my nose, it is not so cold.

It's Here

The sun is shining! So excited! Wish I could be outside instead of in my office, but at least I have a window.

The last few days have been nothing but dreariness. Blech blech blech.

Porkchop and I were stuck on Grand for more than 20 minutes this morning - and that was just between Arsenal and I-44, which normally takes maybe 2 or 3 minutes to cover. So....that put us off on the wrong foot. The traffic signals at I-44 seriously need to be replaced; they go out during even the smallest thunderstorm. Grrrr.

It is hard to be back at work after training last week and my 3-day weekend.

P.S. While I'm disappointed that Little Miss Sunshine didn't take best movie at the Golden Globes, I'm thankful that it didn't lose out to that stupid Borat movie. Enduring Baron Cohen's acceptance speech for his individual award was torture enough.

Go Go Go!

Hi!

This weekend was full of activity. Busy! Fortunately, we received hardly any ice and our power never wavered. (Knock on wood.)

Saturday
Before the day really got started, Porkchop took a fall down our front steps because the bottom two were a bit iced over. See her livejournal or kidney blog for a gruesome photo. Ow! It seems that we have a hard time staying upright around here.

Anyway, the other big event was going to the Blues game. The owners wanted a super-good turnout because the game was broadcast nationally, so they decided to give away hot dogs, chicken tenders, popcorn, peanuts, soda, and bottled water. You see, the Blues have sucked for the past year and a half. Even with the recent turnaround with the new coach, people still aren't flocking to see them. So, free food! Again, see Porkchop's lj for more details and a photo.

After we returned home Saturday evening, I started to feel a bit icky. My cheeks flared up and I was a tired-head. Instead of going to Suzi's with Porkchop, I stayed home and didn't do much at all. I didn't feel like knitting, reading, or watching TV. What I really wanted was a picture book. Seriously! Something to occupy the no-thought part of my brain yet provide some stimulus. Instead, I fiddled around online and looked at blogs from bed.

Sunday
With nearly 12 hours of sleep, I woke up with a major sleep hangover. Murrr!

But, I quickly recovered and started to make up for lost time. First up was straightening the apartment and starting laundry. I've done at least 6 loads this weekend. Clothes, towels, sheets....it never ends.

Next, I started making lunch. This was no small task, as we were having a chicken and edamame stirfry. Yum! We were both pleased with the results. If you look at the recipe, you can see that it would work equally well with tofu instead of chicken. Maybe next time!

After lunch, I knitted a bit. The cabled scarf is slow going....it's a nice leisurely pace. Here is the scarf status as of this morning (note Keetah and her special princess pillow in the background):




Here's a pic of me knitting. Keetah always likes to be close to the knitting action...even if the quarters are a bit crowded. (P.S. When I got up to do something, Keetah immediately stole my spot in the chair.)



After knitting and more laundry, we made deviled pesto eggs. Super-yum! We love deviled eggs!



These eggs are one of our favorites because you use pesto, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese (in addition to the mayonnaise and dijon mustard). We also make a curried deviled egg recipe that is kick-ass.

Of course, some people can't take these fancy deviled eggs. Last year, Porkchop took the pesto ones to a work potluck and one of her co-workers said that they tasted like turpentine. That was before he realized that she brought them (actually, I think she told him that she brought them and he thought she was joking). Anyway, be careful about who you share your eggs with, I guess.

If you love deviled eggs as much as we do, I'll give you the recipes.

After eggs, I made cornmeal-cranberry cookies. I give these a so-so rating. They're okay, but not wow! yum! Also, I burnt the bottoms of nearly half the batch. Chalk that up to a thin baking sheet, uneven oven heat distribution, or my failure to use parchment paper. Does parchment paper have an effect on crispness? Since I didn't have the paper, I just lightly greased the pans.

Anyway, here's the picture:



And, if you must make these, here's the recipe:

CORNMEAL-CRANBERRY COOKIES

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup dried cranberries (or cherries), finely chopped

In a medium bowl, whisk together first four ingredients. In another bowl, use a mixer to beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in vanilla, egg, and orange zest. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients; beat until just combined. Fold in cranberries.

Transfer dough to a piece of waxed paper. Use the paper to pat the dough into a loaf, 8 inches long by 2 inches wide. Wrap in paper and refrigerate until firm (at least 1 hour).

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or grease them with butter). Cut dough crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place on baking sheets, 1/2 inch apart. Bake until cookies are firm to touch, 10-12 minutes (rotate sheets halfway through). Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

Other Things
As requested, here's the link to the recipe for porkchops with sage-cider cream sauce. The recipe is for 1 chop; when we make the recipe for 2 chops, we do not double the sauce part because it makes quite a bit. However, if we make 3 chops, we do double the sauce part.

Also, I have tomorrow off. Yay! I already have my day planned out...exercise, Hartford Coffee for knitting, lunch, grocery store, dinner. Awesome.

Have a great week!

Inspiration

I'm totally excited about the recipes on this website. It makes me look forward to cooking again (it has started to feel like a chore lately). I can't wait to make the Ethiopian Spicy Lentil Soup, which I'm sure would be terrific with injera, but injera seems hard. Maybe brown rice.

On a non-inspirational note, I brought in some of my chocolate-coconut macaroons to share with my office-mates. All except for one were excited about the treats. Can you guess who the downer was?

Yep, our socially awkward admin assistant who takes joy in turning down the treats that I bring in. Seriously, the AA couldn't hide her huge grin when refusing my offer. I wouldn't even extend an offer, but that would be so rude. And I have a hard time being intentionally rude.

On a totally different note, I decided to use my blue Malabrigo to make a cabled scarf (with the pattern used previously for the gift-scarf). I'm happy with this decision.

I Love Espresso Beans

Hi!

Today I started a 4-day session of GIS (geographic information systems, if you must ask) training. Maps are fun. I'm not exactly sure how this will play into my job, but I hope it does. In the meantime, I'm enjoying time out of the office and free lunches.

Here's my usual weekend recap...

Saturday
Even though there were a million other things (or at least three) that I wanted to do Saturday morning, I accompanied Porkchop during her 4-hour stint at the UPS Store. Because these are the things that we do. Also, guilt-inducement might have played a role!

Here's Porkchop hard at work:




It was thrilling. I don't know how that store operates without me reading for 4 hours.

The reading material in question was The Uses of Enchantment, which I thoroughly did not enjoy yet continued to read, hoping for some sort of redeeming quality. While I appreciate the interesting look at how truth can be constructed, I didn't like the following:

• The slamming of feminist psychoanalysis. The main character is critical of psychoanalysis in general, but particularly feminist psychoanalysis. Maybe the author agrees with the viewpoints expressed by the main character, maybe she doesn't...I don't know. I do know that such seemingly uninformed patriarchalist criticism is still damaging to feminism at this point in time (and maybe forever).


• The book reinforces the idea that girls' lives don't have points, that's why they do things like plan their own abductions. In a time when girls are abducted and sexually assaulted every day, I don't see the point in adding to the cultural imagination that girls make up this shit because they're bored.


• The only character given the "I" narrator is the male psychoanalyst who "stole" the main character's story (abduction) and wrote a book about how girls make up extreme lies. Literary device? maybe. Annoying? sure as hell.

Finally, none of the characters went through any sort of extreme transformation to warrant the pain of reading the book. So, don't do it.

After the UPS Store, I did fun things such as dish washing, sweeping, and mopping. Fun times! However, real fun was had by going to eat at Everest Café, the owner of which has a master's and doctorate in public health. I enjoyed nearly everything, including my huge vegetarian platter, the daal, Nepali tea, and kheer. The only not-so-good thing was the samosa, which tasted like it could have been frozen.

Me and my platter:



All of the reviews I read about Everest Café made a point to state that one might want to visit in the daytime due to the sketchy environs. Maybe I'm inured to such things, but come on people! There were neither run down buildings nearby nor gunshots to be heard. So, suck it up.

Upon returning from dinner, I practiced crocheting for a couple of hours. I brushed up on single and double crochet and learned half double crochet. Next up is triple crochet, and then I start more fun things.

Sunday
Sunday was sleep-in day and grocery-shopping day.

I accidentally bought $12.50 worth of dark chocolate-covered espresso beans. That is all I have to say about that.

Porkchop and I had a bake-off Sunday evening. She made M&M cookies while I made chocolate-coconut macaroons. Both are delicious.

See...



After dinner, I partook of our sweets and enjoyed a coffee stout. I'm in trouble with this coffee stout. You see, we bought a 12-pack in late December, thinking we might take it along during our January travels. With no travels, I'm stuck drinking most of it. Not a bad fate, but I usually don't average 12 beers in 1 year. It is my goal to drink one per week.

Another goal is to bake something once a week (or thereabouts), post a picture, and share the recipe.

Let's start with this week.

CHOCOLATE-COCONUT MACAROONS

2 large egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
7 oz sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat a 12-cup nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray. [Recipe makes 12, feel free to use a 6-cup pan twice.]

Whisk together egg whites, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt until frothy. With a fork, stir in coconut until coated. Spoon mixture into tin and press in gently with a fork (or your floured hand). Sprinkle with almonds, pressing gently to adhere.

Bake 20-30 minutes or until almonds are golden. Let cool in muffin pan for 10 minutes. Run a fork or metal spatula around macaroons to loosen. Turn out onto wire rack for cooling.

Yum!

What?! It's only 2:00?

I can't believe how this afternoon is moving along like sludge.

Gah!

I haven't posted in the past few days because of the following reasons:

• I've actually been working at work. This is part of my new year "turn over a new leaf" thing. I'm also avoiding certain gossip-y websites because I don't give a damn about celebrities, so why do I want to waste my internet time reading about them? I'm currently trying to find good blogs with a purpose and a can-do attitude to add to my daily read. Know of any? Tell me, then.



• I haven't been knitting or crocheting, so no news to report on that front.



• I've been reading The Memory of Running. The description makes it sound a bit hokey, but it's really good. I was sucked in and had to spend every possible free moment in 34 hours reading it.



• I fell. And I hurt a bit. Less now.

I received a few comments this week that I want to respond to...

Breast Cancer and Cleaning Products
Val is right, this linkage is not discussed enough. For obvious reasons.

Val, please forward information regarding the natural products company that you mentioned.

Also, I am appalled that I did not realize how often cats are harmed by cleaning products!

On a side note, Porkchop and I once applied some Hartz flea repellent on Keetah because it was summer and she was going outside. Once we realized her discomfort, we washed and washed that stuff off. But not before it burned a hole through her fur. Poor thing!

Speaking of Keetah, she has recently commandeered the Ikea chair that we moved into the living room during Porkchop's kidney donation recovery. This frustrates me because that chair was previously the one fur-free spot in the entire apartment! Although she's super cute in the chair, this has to stop. The other night, I got out of the chair for a reading-break and Keetah totally stole it from me! Ridiculous.

Log Cabin Acrylic Afghans and My Scarf
CJ, Savers stocks yarn regularly?

I can't wait to see your completed afghan...even if it is petroleum-based! I can see how a log cabin afghan would be satisfying.

I did not impale myself during the I-cord cast-on, but a vein might have popped in my forehead.

I thought about using my 2 skeins of blue Malabrigo to make a cabled scarf, but then I thought I should save the blue for a 2-color brioche. Unfortunately, that leaves me with the 1 purple skein. What do I do with it? I am still sorting this out. Maybe I will go with a blue cabled scarf. We'll see.

Other Knitting Things
Tuesday night, Porkchop and I went to Suzi's to watch the Blues game. Later in the evening Suzi's neighbors came over. The son is in his early 20s and is the most amazing knitting EVER.

He flew threw 12 rounds of a 2-color stranded sweater with a design he made based on Turkish patterns. And, of course, he did this all while talking, watching the TV, and not consulting a pattern.

I hid my 2-color brioche attempt under the coffee table.

Falling
For most of this week, my abdomen felt like I had done 10,000 crunches. I blamed this on falling, but maybe it was from the new power yoga programs that I did over the weekend. Hard to tell.

I think the deep bruise on my right leg and the sores in my mouth are from falling. Also, back and neck pain.

This Weekend
Porkchop works for 4 hours on Saturday. I don't know what else this weekend will hold. Maybe we'll go out for an inexpensive meal. Maybe Everest Café. It would be a dream to have dal like Himal Chuli's here in St. Louis.

Have a nice weekend!

This is what Happens when I go to the LYS without a Plan, or What the Hell is Wrong with Me?

So....as posted previously, I picked up 3 skeins of Malabrigo on Friday. Two "azul profundo" and one "violetas."

Originally, I thought I might buy a couple skeins of Noro for an entrelac scarf, but I worried that it might be too overdone. I mean, isn't Noro an obvious choice for a first-timer's entrelac scarf?

So, I decided on Malabrigo. But I couldn't settle on the colors for the longest time. After thinking that I should take a break from green for a while, I picked blue and purple. That would look nice, right?

After falling yesterday, I set out to learn entrelac. Only, I found that I didn't want an entrelac scarf. A bag maybe, someday, but not a scarf.

What to do with the yarn?

Ah, the two-color brioche scarf in Weekend Knitting, the scarf that I've always wanted to make. So, I struggled through the I-cord cast-on, messed up a few rows, but kept going until I got it right.

It's pretty.

But I don't like it.

The blue and purple don't contrast enough. I NEED GREEN! Or orange or a light brown. Anything but blue and purple.

So, I'm going to rip it tonight and start on Sheldon. Then, once January is over, I'll buy a couple more skeins of Malabrigo in a proper color and start over with the scarf.

Blech.

The problem is that I went to Knitorious on a lark, without an exact project in mind (besides Sheldon), overwhelmed by the yarn, and pressured by the 20% off.

So This is the New Year, eh?

Based on the perfect nature of this past weekend, I was convinced that 2007 would be terrific. Unfortunately, my hopes came crashing down today.

Friday Afternoon and Night
My center's director dismissed us early, so Suzi picked me up for some yarn shopping at Knitorious. I walked away with 3 skeins of Malabrigo and 2 of Cascade Sierra (for Sheldon, the knitted turtle in Knitty). Yay!

Friday night, Porkchop and I went to Cats at the Fox. Cats! I had never seen it before, and I enjoyed it well enough, especially when the kid behind us kept on singing.

Oh, also, Porkchop picked up a new digital camera, something we've been wanting for a while now. Sony Cybershot something (6 megapixels). Fun!

Saturday
Yay! Rooster! Porkchop and I enjoyed crêpes for brunch. Mine was egg, roasted garlic, and gruyere. Very tasty, although a bit heavy on the roasted garlic. The crêpes themselves were quite perfect. While we enjoyed our food, I have a few tips for the owners: use real silverware (nothing detracts from a good meal like plastic ware), use real cups when coffee/chai orders are to-sit, hire a proofreader (besides the website spelling errors, there's a sign labeled "recyclebles" in the restaurant), and iron out the kinks in the order-up system (quickly!).

Here's the outside of Rooster:



Here's me waiting for food and drinking a chai:



Here's me about to eat:



After eating, we went to the budget cinema to see Stranger than Fiction. Very enjoyable movie.

Next up, we stopped by a wine shop to pick up a riesling and my most favorite, Saracco Moscato d'Asti. The rest of Saturday was dedicated to cleaning and straightening our apartment.

Sunday
Porkchop did some yoga with me! I hope she wasn't too discouraged her first time.

After more apartment cleaning (we've removed all holiday vestiges now), we made up a grocery list. Since January is officially Buy Nothing But Essentials month, we decided to treat ourselves to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods (since we will need quality food to stop us from eating at restaurants), but we changed our plans to Trader Joe's and Dierberg's (so Porkchop could pick up a sugar-cereal and Jell-O).

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I'm frustrated and agitated by the grocery store situation in St. Louis.

Well, after we found Blue Sky orange creme soda at Dierberg's, I said to Porkchop, I like Dierberg's, and then I started to cry a little. In the Dierberg's natural foods aisle.

It is such a relief to be able to purchase all items at one store. I guess I should try to be more European and purchase food items several times a week at multiple stores, but I can't! Not when I have to drive so far in between places. Dierberg's is a little bit more expensive, but I think it might be worth it. I mean, we don't have to go there all the time, maybe just every few weeks.

Suzi came over for dinner Sunday night. We had Parrano cheese (yum!) and grapes for before dinner snacking. Dinner itself was porkchops with sage-cider-cream sauce and roasted potatoes. After eating, we played a few hands of rummy, and then Suzi left for other New Year's Eve destinations.

Porkchop and I continued to play cards for the night, taking breaks for ice cream and drinks. Unfortunately, I was too sugared out from my fudge brownie sundae to thoroughly enjoy the moscato d'asti. Maybe I will drink more of it tonight. It's too lovely for it to go to waste (and it cost $20).

Porkchop and I were both secretly freaked out last night from the celebratory gunshots. I think we've read too much about stray bullets killing people sitting in their houses.

Today
New Year's Day started out well with us purchasing plane tickets for April and going on a walk in Tower Grove Park. It was there that the new year went downhill.

But here are I am early in our walk:



So, Tower Grove has some work out stations scattered throughout the park. The wooden ones are in a bit of disrepair, but the metal ones are still just fine. In the fall, we played some on the rings. This time, we saw the parallel bars and stopped by for funsies.

After Porkchop did her bit, I stepped up and swung back and forth a couple of times. I was going to try to walk the length of the bars - you know how you can swing your body side-to-side and travel the length of the bars? - but I decided against it once I started trying. The handwarmers I was wearing were messing me up, and things weren't quite right.

I don't know what happened next. My theory is that my handwarmers caused my hands and arms to stay too far behind my torso, which then caused my torso to tip forward, my legs to swing up, and me to face-plant in the ground below.

Yes, I fell while playing on parallel bars at the park. I remember my chest hitting the ground, hearing Porkchop yell Shit!, and then my face smashing into the dirt (thankfully dirt). But, I don't remember why this happened. Crazy.

Porkchop helped me up and brushed the clumps of dirt off my face while I spit dirt out of my mouth and cried. After the numbness wore off my nose, I realized it didn't hurt so much. I managed to walk away with a few little cuts on my chin and nose (inside and outside my nose) and damaged dignity.

Murrrr.

Here I am when we arrived back at the apartment:



Porkchop said she wished she could have taken a picture earlier, when I still had dirt clumps on my face and was crying.

When we got back to the apartment, Porkchop washed the dirt off my face and cleaned my cuts with alcohol (ow!). After I took a long shower, Porkchop gave me a little massage. I'm a bit sore from the impact, and I think I'll have a headache for a while.

And did I mention the damaged dignity?

Here is Porkchop's depiction of what she saw happen:



Stupid 2007.

I am staying inside for the rest of the day. I might knit, but I'm worried that I will impale myself on my needles.

Happy New Year!