The night I conquered burger making

I was on a no-red-meat and no-ground-meat kick for a while.  I just couldn't get past the idea of chewing on a steak or a burger (be it ground beef, turkey, or chicken).  Last week, that passed and I bought a steak and it was good. (*enter holy music*)

As I wrote yesterday, I've been reading This Week's Menu and recently printed out a whole bunch of recipes I want to try.  When the hubby asked if we had a plan for dinner, I realized - yes, we did!  This Week's Menu to the rescue!

So after work, I stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up ground beef, whole wheat buns, bacon, and potatoes.  I already had at home everything else necessary for Cheeseburgers with Oven Fries and Corn with Bacon and Shallots.  Just typing that out has made me start to drool, it sounds so damn good (probably also because I woke up late this morning and did not have time to pack lunch so I just have fruit for lunch today).

Confession: making burgers makes me nervous. If I bite into a burger that is more than the palest pink or, god forbid, actually red (*shudder*), I will gag and will not be able to continue eating dinner.  So I fear under-cooking burgers but, of course, I also fear OVER-cooking them since a dry, hockey puck of a burger is just as gross as a bloody one (to me). However, I will now admit - dinner turned out GREAT!  I have never made a better burger and even the fries turned out good (I kind of suck at making potatoes, too, which is shameful in my family).  Even the hubby commented on how juicy and tasty the burgers were.  Score! The secret to my success (i.e. the recipes I borrowed):

For the burgers: I took 1 lb of ground beef (I used 80/20 because it was the cheapest) and mixed it with about 1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce, 1t of onion powder, and one egg.  I formed it into four patties and cooked them for five minutes on each side and then one minute more as I added American cheese and let it melt.  (Note: I cooked them in a skillet and DID NOT touch them the whole time they cooked, except to flip them.  DO NOT touch burgers and definitely NEVER press them down, okay?  Okay.  Burgers may intimidate me, but I know that much.  No pressing.)

For the fries: I took 4 russet potatoes (four because that's what came in the bag - I probably would have just used two if I could have bought them individually - hubby will eat the leftovers anyway).  I sliced them into steak fry shape, poured some olive oil (regular) in a lidded bowl, sprinkled some salt and pepper in it, added the fries to the bowl, drizzled more olive oil and salt and pepper on top, put the lid on, and shook gently to coat all the fries.  I then laid them out, single file, on a baking sheet and baked them for 20 minutes, flipped them, and then 20 minutes more.

For the corn: I doubled Andrea's recipe for this since it was all the corn we had left and I knew hubby would (once again) enjoy the leftovers.  So, I took 8 slices of bacon (they were very thin), chopped them up, and cooked them until they were crispy, then laid the bacon out on a paper-towel-covered plate to drain.  I wiped out the pan, leaving some bacon fat, and then added the shallots, cooking them until they were soft.  Add the corn, cook until starting to brown.  Then add the bacon, mix it all up, remove to bowl, add salt and pepper to taste.

Ta-da (and, yes, I swirl my ketchup).  But, seriously, MAKE this dinner if this is your kind of food.  It wasn't difficult and it was super yummy.  I would love to try to make the burgers on a grill sometime (um, when we get one). Tonight the hubby and I are going out to dinner and then to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!  (Have I mentioned my Harry Potter fixation?  Have I?  I have?  Okay, good, just want to make sure.)  So we're off the hook for home cooking tonight, but I think some more TWM meals might be in store for future evenings... stay tuned!

7 Quick Tuesday Takes - links edition

For this week's 7 Quick Tuesday Takes, I want to highlight some sites that I have recently stumbled across in my web browsings and am now totally in love with and addicted to.

1. Tumblr
What is Tumblr?  It's another social networking site, sort of.  It's kind of like a mix between Wordpress and Twitter.  It functions like Twitter in that you post a list of things which can be random and only related by the fact that you posted them.  You can have your blog feed in; you can link to Twitter, post pictures, links, anything.  How it functions for me is that it lets me post nifty or interesting things I find that I don't want to clog up Wordpress or Twitter with (even though I'm having Tumblr feed to Twitter, hm).  So far I'm enjoying it; we'll see where it goes.

2. The Sartorialist
Simply stunning fashion photography.  It's inspirational to me that there are people out there really trying to, as I see it, make themselves into art.  If we were food, they'd be five star cuisine and I'd be Wendy's.  Must work on this.

3. The Daily Puppy
Every day brings a new photo of an utterly adorable puppy that I want to take home and just hug until I fall asleep.  Seriously cute stuff (way cuter than Cute Overload, even).

4. This Week's Menu
This blog features the details and photos of the writer's (Andrea) meal plan for the week.  The photos are always beautiful and the food sounds totally scrumptious.  I envy the people who make a serious, full-week meal plan on a regular basis.  Must adopt that life skill.  (The first post on the page as of this blog entry is for Shells and White Cheddar with Fresh Corn, Thyme and Burst Tomatoes.  Excuse me while I lick my monitor.)

5. Pajamas and Coffee
This writer and mother of four is totally hilarious - AND she named her blog after two of my very favorite things in life.  (One day when I am at a loss for blog topics, I will post about my obsession with pajamas.)  Just go to her About Me Page (amusingly titled, "Who are you? Who? Who?") and read the descriptions of the "players" in her blog (i.e. her family members) to get a glimpse into her humor.  I haven't gone back and read old posts yet, but I will be at some point soon.

6. Mighty Girl
Yes, another Mommy Blogger (found her through Momversation) - but she and her blog are so much more than that, actually.  The whole picture is that she's Mighty Maggie - and she has the Mighty Closet, a great number of things to say, and the Mighty Life List (kind of like a 101 in 1001/bucket list) - which has recently been picked up and sponsored by Intel, no kidding!  Lucky gal!  Her pictures are great; her clothes are great; her ideas are interesting - what more could you want from a blog?

7. Food & Fizz
People submit their food and beverage photos to this site, then the site owners choose the best and post them daily.  They have a really helpful food tag cloud that lets readers find the posts that interest them or you could just click "Randomize" and see what you get.  It's an adventure every time! So I hope this was helpful and interesting and that you find at least one new site to read, explore, and possibly follow.

Note: I view all of these blogs (and many, many more) by using Google Reader.  No, Google is not paying me or forcing me or even encouraging me to point you their way (but, boy, wouldn't that be great to be paid by Google?).  Still, I highly, highly suggest that you get yourself logged in to Google Reader and use it to manage all the blogs you read. The bonus is that every day when you wake up, you get to log in to your Google Reader and see who's posted new blog entries.  It's like a little list of presents waiting for you, every day!  (Seriously, that is how it feels.  It's wonderful.)

Happy reading!

The wonderful Friday that was

This Friday began my "summer hours" at work, meaning I have Fridays off (but work slightly longer hours during the week).  If this first Friday off was any indication of how great these days are going to be, it is going to be a great summer.

1. I actually slept in late; I didn't get out of bed until 9:30!  That's insane for me.  I'm up at 7am every day and usually can't sleep past 8am, maybe 8:30am on the weekends.

2. I lazed around, drank coffee, ate a yummy Hungry Girl* breakfast, sat around reading blogs and watching Food Network.

3. Rebecca Woolf posted not one but TWO blog posts today!  One on her site and one on her Babble blog.  A great day, indeed.

4. I cleaned the bathroom AND the kitchen.  Why is this great?  Because they were gross, that's why, and I can't think straight when my living space is messy.  I need to get my husband to feel the same way, somehow.

5. I got to babysit my nephew, TJ.  My sister had a doctor's appointment so I went over a bit early, spent an hour with the two of them, then watched him for an hour, and then spent another hour with them.  He is SO adorable and sweet and entertaining, but also SO Jekyll and Hyde: happy laughing one minute, and screaming tantrum the next.  He's almost 16 months old and already knows 40+ words, so perhaps the terrible twos are making their way early as well.  Regardless, I could still spend all day with him (although my sister and I had an interesting conversation about how neither of us could be stay-at-home moms and totally revere those who are, but those are thoughts for another time).

6. I took my previous "chicken and salsa" slow cooker recipe, substituted pork chops for chicken, and ended up with super yummy salsa pulled pork, which I then put on nacho chips and sprinkled with cheese.  Mmm.  I also made a tomato/avocado salsa that my husband and I are obsessed with lately (courtesy of Cooking Light).

7. I only needed half a lime for the salsa, so the other half got squeezed into a glass and I enjoyed a super refreshing homemade limeade.  Mmmm, so good.

I only hope next Friday can live up to this one.

*The Hungry Girl Easiest Egg Breakfast Ever

7 Quick Thursday Takes

So, okay, I usually do 7 Takes on Tuesday (because I'm an alliteration addict) but this has been an odd week, mainly due to events at work that are far too boring to even bother getting into. 

So onto the seven:

1. I have to do some in-class presentations next week and absolutely LOVE that the presentations are now narrated wmv files instead of Powerpoint slides that I have to narrate.  Basically, I get to go into the class, hit play, and smile.  I don't mind giving presentations (I do it all the time, plus I teach) but these tend to be a bit dry and happen either first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening, so it's nice to have it be a passive activity.  (I'm lazy, whatever.)

2. Last night the hubby, his brother, and I had dinner at Bobby's Burger Palace, Bobby Flay's sort-of-fast-food restaurant.  It was super, super good.  The burger I had isn't on the menu because it's the monthly special: the Mulberry Street Burger, which will sound familiar to you if you watch The Next Food Network Star because it was the winning burger in a recent challenge.  It has mozzarella and basil on it (and other stuff I forget).  It was sooooo very yummy.

3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (the film) comes out next week but IMAX doesn't have it scheduled until July 29th.  WHAT???  I think I might actually go see it in the local (non-IMAX) theater this weekend and then go see it again when the IMAX one is out - because I am that obsessed.  (Did I mention my grad thesis was on Harry Potter?  Yeah.  It's a way of life.)

4. I have another internet idol (idol #1 being Rebecca Woolf of Girl's Gone Child, of course).  I love Slices of Life because it is exactly what it promises - a slice of this woman's life.  Every day she posts a picture of what she's wearing, where the pieces are from, what she has packed for lunch, and what the plan for dinner is.   For many of us, I believe that really is one of the largest "slices" of our life.  Sure, based on feelings, our spouses and children and families and friends are far more important, but life is just as much about the daily in-and-out details and sometimes making those wardrobe and food decisions are just as taxing and annoying as an overwrought conversation.  I love the idea and wish I thought of it first so I could make a "Slice of Life" page on this blog.  Darn.  I never have the good ideas first.

5. I hate when people thank me for speedy email replies when it took me more than an hour to respond.  Why are there still such low expectations for email?  Are you really amazed that you emailed me yesterday at 3pm and I responded at 10am today?  I actually felt bad about how long it took me to reply.

6. I never mentioned visiting my best friend's new daughter, Madison.

Her dad, Mike, has been one of my best friends since I was 20 (so almost 14 years now, crazy to think about) and was my "Man of Honor" at my wedding.  When I got to their house, he was out walking the dog so I hugged his wife (who is also my good friend, of course) and squee'd over Madison.  When he walked in the house, though, I burst into tears and said, "Damn.  I knew I was going to cry when I saw you."  It was just so emotionally moving to see this friend I grew up with (because, really, we grow up in our 20s) as a father now.  It was so wonderful and I can't wait to be a part of Madison's life as she grows up.

7. I want to write a book.  Is that crazy to think I can do that between my two jobs, grad school, housework, and future family raising responsibilities?  Probably - but I still want to do it.

I have off on Fridays for the summer, so today is my Thursday-pseudo-Friday.  Hurrah!  What's better than a few extra minutes of shut-eye on a Friday morning?

Is this really who we are?

1. Today, on the way to work, I passed a school bus that had a hanging tag in the back window saying that the bus had been checked for sleeping children. Seriously?  We need to proclaim that we did this?  Don't all bus drivers check their bus before getting off or driving somewhere?

2. At 2:26am I received a text message that my best friend's wife's water broke.  I've finally come to terms with the fact that most of my friends are/are getting married (including the fact that I'm married).  Now we're becoming parents?  I have plenty of acquaintances and pseudo-friends who are parents, but no one as close to me as this person - and now he's going to be a dad.  I cried on the way to work today, just thinking about it (tears of joy). They live out of state, but I'm going to be in their area tomorrow and Saturday so I'm hoping she has the baby before I head back home so I can meet the little gal.

3. My job allows no casual wear, ever.  No Casual Fridays, etc.  But today is a half-day and the last day before a full three-day weekend (a total rarity here), so I'm wearing jeans.  So there, take that. I'm a rebel, that's who I really am.  (Okay, really, I'm really not.  But sometimes I wear the pants.)

5 Day Pouch Test - completed!

I can't believe that I made it and don't feel remarkably deprived.  On top of that, I'm actually content.  It's not like I'm thinking, "Well, I'm going to go back to Combos and nachos on Saturday."  I don't want to, which feels almost miraculous.

Days 4 and 5 went fine.  The only off-plan food that appeared regularly was cheese, but I limited myself to just one piece (slice or string cheese).  Oh, and I licked mashed potatoes off the mixing spoon on Day 4.  I'm not one of those people who's all, "Oh my god I ate one thing off my plan and now everything is going to go to hell because this is a sign that I have no self control, blargh bleh schmeh blech."  I just wanted the taste, had it, and was done with it.  Will I have mashed potatoes again in my life?  But of course.  Regularly?  No. What I've gained most is some understanding about what I can and cannot have around.  Carbs are my weakness.  I'm not a fan of the "cutting carbs is the best way to lose weight zomg!" way of thinking.  I need to cut carbs the way someone else needs to cut sweets or someone else needs to cut soda.  Whether crunchy like nacho chips or soft and mushy like potatoes, rice, and bread, I love my carbs, love love love.  But they don't love me.  I end up hungry quickly and then just head for more.  I know this. 

The key now is to live my life accordingly. I feel in control, but I know this control will ebb and flow throughout life.  However, I feel like I've stemmed the lack of self-control flood that's been going on for the past 3 1/2 years.  I really want to stick with this and get back to the healthy lifestyle I had in 2005 . . . and I think I'm on track. Today I had so much energy after work that I cleaned and rearranged our second bedroom (pseudo-office, future baby's room maybe) - a project I've been wanting to do for a couple of months now.  Welcome back energy!!  I can't wait to welcome back my old clothes, but that'll take a while.  I'll accept feeling better for now because it feels great.

The happy genius

My father is an amazing man and one day I will write something for him or about him that will do him justice.  For today, though, I will rely on one of my poet loves, William Carlos Williams, and a poem he wrote about himself.

Danse Russe
by William Carlos Williams

If when my wife is sleeping
and the baby and Kathleen
are sleeping
and the sun is a flame-white disc
in silken mists
above shining trees,-
if I in my north room
dance naked, grotesquely
before my mirror
waving my shirt round my head
and singing softly to myself:
"I am lonely, lonely,
I was born to be lonely,
I am best so!"
If I admire my arms, my face,
my shoulders, flanks, buttocks
against the yellow drawn shades,-

Who shall say I am not
the happy genius of my household?

My nerdiness goes viral

I am a total podcast addict.  One of the podcasts I listen to is "Stuff You Missed in History Class" from howstuffworks.com.  (Seriously, the title alone makes me "shiver with antici....pation.  I loooove history.  And cult movie quotes.) Well, recently they asked for audience/blog reader suggestions for great innovators for a future podcast so I couldn't resist plugging one of my very favorite historical figures: Alexander Hamilton.

I've been listening to some other podcasts recently so I didn't realize that the SYMIHC ladies had posted their Fan Pick podcast.  Anxious to see who they chose, I had to listen to a little of it.  They first listed who they did not choose. You can listen to the podcast here.  At one minute 39 seconds (1:39), you will hear the host Candace (with an "a") talk about the suggestion from Candice (with an "i").  That's me!  That's me!  But listen to how she describes me.  Hrm.  Yeah, I kind of went on and on about all the things Hamilton did.  I did not mention, though, how handsome he was; she added that on her own (although, I'll note, she's right - he was totally the hottest founding father).

I am way too excited that I was name-dropped on this podcast.  How freakin' cool.  I love modern life.

The other podcasts I am totally addicted to:

CUNY lecture series

The Dog Trainer's Quick and Dirty Tips for Teaching and Caring for Your Pet

Modern Manners Guy Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life

MSNBC Countdown with Keith Olbermann (in case I miss it the night before)

MSNBC Rachel Maddow (ditto)

New York City History: The Bowery Boys

The Nutrition Diva's Quick and Dirty Tips for Eating Well and Feeling Fabulous

Podictionary

President Obama's Weekly Radio Address

Savage Love Podcast*

Stuff from the B-Side

Stuff Mom Never Told You

Stuff You Missed in History Class

Stuff You Should Know

This American Life (probably one of the most famous podcasts/radio shows in existence)

What does this list tell you?  That I'm addicted to personal narratives, trivia, seemingly-useless information, anything on How Stuff Works and the Quick and Dirty Tips network.

*I am new to the Savage Love podcast.  I know of Dan Savage from seeing him on Bill Maher but hadn't ever read his column or listened to his radio show.  Boy, was I missing out!  I've been catching up on the past two to three years worth of weekly podcasts and loving every minute of it.  It's been really eye-opening and educational.  Note: his show is not for the faint of heart, err, ear.  He addresses his callers' sexual and relationship concerns very bluntly and colorfully  - and I lurve it.

Rebecca Woolf is my Oprah (but like new and improved)

16. Read 30 books I haven’t read before and blog about them. (9/30)

Rockabye
by Rebecca Woolf

I promise to make a concerted effort not to squee all over this post.  As stated in my previous post, I have a massive girl-crush on Rebecca Woolf.

Rebecca, long story short:
*Living the cool life in L.A., party girl, scenester
*Pregnant at 23 by guy she'd been dating for a few months
*Kept the baby, got married at 5 months pregnant
*Named son Archer (such a cool name and such a cute kid)
*Writes an awesome blog, Girl's Gone Child, and writes/participates in other sites (Babble, Momversation, HuffPo)
*Now married around five years and has a second child, an overwhelmingly cute daughter named Fable

I said to a friend the other day that Rebecca Woolf is about five years younger than me but I want to be her when I grow up.  Unfortunately, some of it is too late.  It's too late to have a wild time that I won't regret later.  It's too late to pursue everything I want, throwing caution to the wind - and I'm cautious by nature, so that would have never worked.  But I envy that ability of hers. She's naturally beautiful, but also impeccably stylish.  She even posted a makeup tutorial on YouTube (confession: I've been trying her eyeshadow technique over the past two days and love it so far; I even bought new mascara and am going to try some MAC stuff when I have a bit of cash to spare).  It's unfair how pretty she still is when she doesn't yet have any makeup on.  I always feel beautiful when my husband says the same thing about me, but I think he just hasn't seen her without her makeup on (and I'm not sharing).

I found Rebecca through Momversation, which I found through Dooce (whose book, It Sucked And Then I Cried,  I will begin reading tonight).  Rebecca so intrigued me that I went back in her blog archives and read through her whole blog, starting at the first post.  This took a few days and when it was over, I was sad that I couldn't get a new Rebecca fix anytime I wanted. 

So, I read her book. The book reads just like the blog.  If you don't like blogs or Rebecca's in particular, you will not like this book.  She's the type of writer who is totally relatable and who you don't feel bad about agreeing or disagreeing with.  For example, I have always hated the idea of L.A.  I've never been there - drove by it once, but that's it.  As a die-hard NYC fan, I do not have a pleasant opinion of L.A.  Rebecca changed that, though.  I have a respect for the city and those who live there that I didn't before.  I still don't love it, but can really understand why some do.

Rebecca's struggle is the balance of motherhood and individuality and independence - a struggle I have always anticipated myself having.  Her words have quieted many of my fears about wanting to have it all, although I take issue with her claim at the end of the book that one can have it all.  I think that it's been a bit easy for her (though she would laugh heartily at that claim) because she's driven, resourceful, and mainly a really talented writer who's had professional experience writing since she was a teenager.  Not everyone is lucky enough to have their one great talent be one that allows them to work from home - AND not everyone who has a talent like that has the luck or opportunity to make it work out that way.  It helps when you're beautiful and young, too.

But it all only makes me love her more.  She doesn't take anything for granted and feels very lucky to have what she does.  (Did I mention yet that her husband is hot, too?  Yeah, the luck.)  I even envy the names she chose for her children: Archer and Fable.  I'm seriously considering stealing the name Fable because it is the best female name I have heard in a long time.  I worry, though, that I'm just not cool enough to have a daughter named Fable... or that one day, should I be so lucky as to meet Rebecca, I'd have to fess up to stealing the name.  That would suck and ruin any chance at friendship, I'm sure.  (But in this instance, I swear to all that exists, imitation really would be the sincerest form of flattery.)

The thing about Rebecca is that she's truly inspirational.  This is going to sound crazy and beyond cheesetastic, but I feel like I've become a better person just in time since I read her blog and her book.  I feel funnier and kinder and happier.  I feel like she has so much gratitude for everything that it can't help but seep out and that some of it landed on me.  And what, for a writer, could be better than to be able to create change and affect a person?  Not much (other than maybe massive book sales).  And it's not that type of icky, annoying "I keep a gratitude journal" gratitude.  It's naked and honest and sometimes raw, but always beautiful.

So, you know, I know she and I aren't ever going to become BFF or something, but she's changed my outlook in a way that only those types of people can, which is incredible.  And she friended me on Facebook, so yeah, we're like already on the road to being BFF anyway.

One last thing... The last line of Rockabye: I twist my ring and it sparkles in the light of Archer's bedroom and everywhere I look there are rainbows. I don't know if she did this on purpose - she is a writer, so I do suspect she knows this poem - but, for me, this totally chimed of the last lines of Elizabeth Bishop's poem, "The Fish": everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! (Full text of the poem here.  Do yourself a favor and read it; it's incredible.) Rebecca Woolf creates rainbows.

7 Quick Things... or Takes... or the Tuesday Seven, whatev.

I'm taking this idea from These Little Moments who, in turn, took it from Not That You Asked (which I think is one of the best blog titles I've ever heard - it's so simple yet SO perfect for nearly any blog - because, really, who's asking?).

7 Quick Things (it's more things than takes today) is perfect for me today because my head is utterly swimming with issues and concerns and preoccupations.  (And now I'm really interested in unpacking the word "preoccupation" - it's a job before a job or something that prevents a job... and my preoccupations prevent my work for sure.  Hm.  But I digress.)

One

My sister's dog died yesterday.  He was a stray that my brother-in-law rescued.  When he found the dog abandoned in a warehouse, he was all dusty so they named him Dusty.  The vet told them he was pretty sure Dusty had been significantly abused as a puppy and his jaw had definitely been broken, so for years they cooked soft foods for him like scrambled eggs and boiled chicken.  With time, he grew stronger and grew to love his daily cookies, even asking for them by saying, "I want one."  I swear, the dog talked.  "I want one" sounded like, "Ah wahn wun."  Honest.  He was sweet and loving, letting all the family kids flop all over him and play with his toys. TJ won't remember him but definitely missed him this morning.  He walked around the house with Dusty's regular morning cooking with his hand on his head, which is his sign for, "Where is it (he)?" We'll miss you Dusty.

Two

I feel unqualified to understand what is going on in Iran.  Yes, there was an election.  Yes, the results seem questionable.  Yes, people are rioting and protesting and lives are being lost.  But I feel like the lies told to the American people over the past decade have made us incapable of addressing this intelligently.  Lumping someone into an Axis of Evil doesn't really lead one to understanding.  All I know is that what is going on there both worries and frightens me and I can only hope that the Obama administration is being seemingly quiet on the issue for a good reason.

Three

Candidate Obama stated he was a "fierce advocate" of gay rights.  Soooo... whattup with that?  Yesterday his administration defended the Defense of Marriage Act.  I do not understand what's going on here and really hope they step up on this very soon, like... oh, well, like immediately.  This action and their general inaction is unacceptable.

Four

I nearly devoured a book last night: Rockabye by Rebecca Woolf of Girls Gone Child.  After one evening of reading, I am on page 177 of 283. (I will be done tonight; I'd be done now if I wouldn't get in trouble for reading at work.)  There will be a longer post about her forthcoming, but long story short: she is my current girl-crush.  Like, if she was in BOP magazine, I'd have her picture all over my wall.  I think she is smart, gutsy, beautiful, stylish, funny, and truly inspirational - but really, more on her to follow.  (I am obsessed!) Have I mentioned that her kids' names are Archer and Fable?  Couldn't you just fall over?  I want to name my daughter Fable.

(BTW - check out her current blog post about gun control and the ensuing comments.  Good for her for standing up for gun control and the idea of keeping violent entertainment out of one's children's lives.  It's a shame that she had to close comments.  She even had to take down her Google ads because the posts caused them to switch to ads about guns and gun lessons.)

Five

I wish the ASPCA and State Farm weren't so adept at creating commercials that make me cry.  The woman who lost her home to a storm?  Crying.  The disheveled shih-tzu?  Crying.  They get me every time.

Six

Stuff about my job is going to change and I'm looking forward to it.  That's all I can say about that, though.  I'm not changing jobs, really - just the focus will be shifting and it's a positive move.  That's always a good thing.

Seven

I have a pear and a banana to eat as snacks today.  This makes me happy. Over and out.

Slow cooker salsa chicken

I love doing anything with the slow cooker because it's like magic.  You throw stuff in your cauldron pot and in a matter of hours (hopefully) have something really tasty.  Being all things salsa obsessed, I was intrigued when I read a post from someone who threw chicken and salsa in a crock pot and used that as a base for a meal.  Sign me up!

So, into the slow cooker went: 3 chicken breasts (halved), one jar of salsa (organic), and a whole bunch of spices, whatever smelled like it would go well with the salsa flavor (approximately: 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp chipotle chili pepper, 1/4 regular chili pepper ... um... maybe one other spice).  I cooked it on high for four hours and then low for two.  Next time I'd probably just put it on low for the whole time because the chicken came out a little dryer than I'd like.

When that was almost ready, I set out a table of fixings: flour tortillas, white rice, lettuce, tomato, corn, and cheddar/jack cheese.  The chicken was super easy to shred and worked really well that way.  I think it would also work really well in tortillas or a casserole in that shredded form (I had never shredded chicken before - I know, I know).  Sometimes I'll also serve black beans, but wasn't in the mood this time, and I forgot the sour cream because I hate the stuff and never think to get any at the store.  I put salsa on my tacos/burritos. It was so tasty that there are no pictures, alas.  We all just ate up and I had the leftovers for lunch today (BEST part of Mexican dinner: anticipating the leftovers the next day).  I have to go grocery shopping this evening and will most definitely be picking up supplies to make this all over again, maybe even tomorrow.  Yum, yum, gimme some... more.

Macarons, BBQ, and Hare Krishnas, oh my!

Delightfully Sweet* has been on a hunt for authentic macarons (the French kind, not the coconut macaroon kind) so yesterday we headed into NYC to the Madeleine Patisserie**.  The window display was totally mouth-watering:

I opted for a lemon one, an orange one, a pistachio one, a pear tart, a mini lemon tart, and an iced coffee:

Well, let me correct that.  I had half of the macarons, some of Delightfully Sweet's and a bite of her chocolate croissant... and that was enough sugar for me so I got the pear tart wrapped up for home.  I'm still looking forward to eating it (hm, dessert tonight?).

After the patisserie, we decided to walk around and ran into 101.9 and Snapple's Big Apple BBQ.  Free Snapple, Snapple Sno-Cones, and lots of cheap beer, apple cider, and BBQ.  We just partook of the Snapple ice and went along our way - right into a Hare Krishna parade!  (What?)

And, of course, we had the chance to walk past and take some time to admire my absolutely two favorite buildings in all of NYC:

We stumbled upon a little historic church, a three-level store of Japanese items (manga, dolls, etc), and took some time to admire Bryant Park before hiking it back to Port Authority and onto the bus. I love NYC and could spend every day there.   I can't wait to go back to Madeleine's and can't wait for my next city adventure.  For now, I'm going to have my little pear tart and enjoy the little French piece of NYC I brought home.

*See Delightfully Sweet's page for better photos and more description.

**Madeleine Patisserie
128 W. 23rd Street
New York City

Nanananana... bread.

My nephew (age 15 months) says "nana" for banana... of course, he also calls one of his grandmothers "Nana"... so is he calling her bananas (i.e. crazy)?  I guess only time will tell.

I love bananas; I could eat one every day.  However, the hubby doesn't eat them so when I buy a bunch, I always end up with one or two bananas going brown.  This, however, isn't terrible because then I can make - dun dun da dun! - banana bread! 

So last night I set out to make (who else's?) Smitten Kitchen's Jacked-Up Banana Bread.  Except mine turned out to be more like low-jack banana bread - but still yummy. So I got all my stuff ready (note: those are not something gross - they're just REALLY brown bananas):

This was the first time I was going to use my mini-loaf pan so I was super excited about that.  (Those of you who know me IRL can expect a mini-loaf of something yummers for the holidays.  I have two of these so I can get EIGHT mini-loaves going at a time - rock on.)  And, yes, that is the cheap vanilla I'm using.  I'm trying to use it up in recipes where the vanilla isn't the star so its quality isn't of utmost importance (I bought it in a crunch one day for emergency vanilla use). So I got to mashing and mixing and just loved how the scoops of brown sugar kept a sand-castle-like appearance as I added them to the mix:

I also love that the recipe insists that you use a wooden spoon.  I don't know enough about the science of baking to know why you should use a wooden spoon for this, but it makes it feel extra special that it's required (although I would have used one anyway just because I love them and they mix really well).

However, here is where the banana bread went from jacked-up to low-jack.  I was opting out of the bourbon (I'm not a fan of alcohol in baked goods most of the time - I just don't enjoy the taste) and then also realized that I did not have nutmeg OR clove on hand!  What?  Ugh!  What happened to all of my baking supplies??  I could have sworn I had both spices on hand.  I swear, I am usually ready for any baking situation.  So, alas, my banana bread was going to be single spice instead of triple spice.  I figured it would still be good, though, so I soldiered on.

Aren't they cute?  So teeny!  I forced myself to let them cool before I sliced into one.  The hubby hates both bananas AND cinnamon (*gasp* - I know, right?) so these are aaaaaall mine.  Yum yum.  Except that my sister-in-law's eyes lit up when I mentioned this the other day, so I'm giving one mini-loaf to her.  The other one will be fully devoured by the end of today and I really don't need to be eating two whole mini-loaves myself in the span of two days (which is exactly what would happen).

I really love to bake - and I'm really beginning to love cooking now, too - I just wish I had more occasion to do so.  Money is always an issue, but I'm contemplating making a significant change in my diet in order to eat less meat.  I don't think I could ever be a vegan because the idea of giving up cheese makes me want to just quit life, but I have a lot of issues with the contemporary diet, its affect on human health, and how the industrial farming complex in this country works, so it's something I'm pondering.  I would love to get the hubby on board, but that won't happen so this is going to take a lot of resolve, something I've never exactly been full of when it comes to food.  More thoughts on this to come, I'm sure. But for now, back to nibbling on the banana bread.

They're not haters, actually - you might just not be all that.

Source: flickr.com/photos/lunchbreath

Every morning, I check the same websites: my email, LiveJournal, Wordpress, Google Reader, The Daily Beast, and Huffington Post.  I skim through, reading bits here and there, and often full articles if I have the time and inclination (I would love to read more full articles, but it's just not always possible).

Well, there was a really interesting piece posted on The Daily Beast on Sunday titled "Do Narcissists Have Better Sex?"  The thrust of the article is that we have created a generation of narcissists (we're looking at you Gen Y/Millenials) thanks to all the "Don't let anyone tell you you're wrong" "You can do anything you want" parenting and pop culture incentives that have happened over the past two decades or so.  This has lead to a whole generation of people who feel entitled to feel good about themselves at all times and who believe that anyone who tries to intimate that they might, just might, have things they might want to work on is a hater and the sort of person who likes to make other people feel terrible, just for sport.

I often read articles that I semi-agree or semi-disagree with, but every now and again I go, "Yes!  This!  Exactly this!"  This is one of those times.  I think the article's author, Hanna Seligson, has hit a very big nail right on its shiny, glaring head.  There might be a sentence or two that I take issue with, but I agree with her overall idea and postulations. I have been frustrated by this phenomenon but her article was able to put it into words in a way that I have found myself unable to do. 

It started back in 2003 when I was planning my sister's bridal shower and had an unpleasant run-in with one of the bridesmaids, a particularly bitchy and narcissistic blonde who accused me of overcharging them for the room rental so that I could make a profit on the shower (meanwhile, I had easily covered $1000 worth of expenses that they didn't contribute to).  What proceeded was a particularly nasty back-and-forth over email, during which I wrote things that I never believed I could actually say, especially to someone directly, and have since promised myself I would never say/write to someone again.  I insulted her commitment to her friendship with my sister and her overall intelligence... a few times over.  I don't remember most of what she said, but I clearly remember that she gave me the "People like you just like to take people like me down" line.

That line stands out in my memory because it was one of my first encounters with this sort of thinking.  First, I was put off by the binary.  People like me = older, fat, (then) dateless, loser.  People like her = naturally thin, blonde, super pretty, popular, mean because she can be.  It was simply crazy to me that someone "like me" was trying to take down someone "like her".  It was a total reverse of the standard power structure and so crazy that I couldn't understand where it was coming from. Now I know, though.  It was all that namby-pamby, give everyone a trophy for showing up stuff that's been going on for a while now and is a huge support system to the current reality show production system.  I watch some reality television, but I have very little patience for and tend not to watch the shows where when someone gets voted off, they go into the standard, "They made a mistake/they just don't 'get' me/you haven't seen the last of me/everyone will know my name/I'll be famous anyway" rant.  I'm sorry, snowflake, but odds are you won't be famous anyway unless you sell out that attitude and become a ridiculous farce of yourself. I'm so glad someone was able to put this into words. 

I hope more people take notice and there is an effort to work at reversing this trend.  Let's get back to trying to raise citizens that feel a responsibility to their communities and fellow people.

Grounds for Sculpture

92. Visit 5 places in New Jersey Day Trips. (1/5)

If you're a Bank of America customer, you get free admission to certain museums the first weekend of every month.  As stated previously, the hubby recently bought himself a Nikon D40 so I figured this was a perfect time to visit the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ.  As a bonus, it's one of the trips in my New Jersey Day Trips book so it contributes to my 101 in 1001 list.

If you live in the area, I highly recommend going.  It makes for a wonderful few hours (and you could spend even more time if it's not too hot and you have some snacks to hold you over until your next meal).  Here are a few photo highlights: