I truly don’t understand why I don’t go more often. I just love it! Needless to say I went country dancing over the weekend. I went on Saturday and it could not have been more fun. I two stepped, I chatted with friends, I cha chaed, more chatting, I line danced, chat chat chat. There are several things that made the night for me.
I got to hang out with BFFbears
I got to see my old roomies that I haven’t seen in about a year.
I got to dance with BFFDJ
The whole experience is just like walking into a great big hug. I feel so comfortable there. It is a combination of being around some of my favorite people in the whole world and the music and the activity. I was having such a good time that when it was time to leave I almost felt tears welling up. I know, kind of crazy, but I haven’t been going up there much, and it was just that incredible.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Drat
Formatting issues. I don’t seem to know how to add pictures so they look right. I will work on that. In the mean time, I have been improving my formatting since my blue food formatting fiasco (Say that 3 times fast. That that that). Hopefully my posts will look better from here on out.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Blue food
All right, some of these pictures may have gotten out a little earlier than this, their big debute.
Here's my news. I got to wear the blue hair!!! Actually I planned a dinner party around it. At the house we periodically have an in-house iron chef competition. In order to accommodate my lifelong desire, the theme for our latest iron chef was blue. Yes… Blue.
I know, I got that look a lot when I mentioned it. But, it turned out pretty darn good. We all got involved and got those creative food juices flowing. I am so lucky to have friends that love food as much as I do. We had a decent crowd there, the usual suspects if you will. Now, you will get a glimpse at some of the people I talk about regularly.
Here is our gormet line up...
I know, I got that look a lot when I mentioned it. But, it turned out pretty darn good. We all got involved and got those creative food juices flowing. I am so lucky to have friends that love food as much as I do. We had a decent crowd there, the usual suspects if you will. Now, you will get a glimpse at some of the people I talk about regularly.
Here is our gormet line up...
BFFH cornered the meal with savory delights featuring a blue potato salad and blue corn bread
BFFA made a stunning performance with her blueberry cheesecakes (I'm still eating these) and cabage dumplings. Leave it to BFFA to make a blue into an asian delicacy.
BFFhost - The host with the most; who also happens to be an incredible cook brought a libation that had me completely awe struck. It was blue and creamy and minty and sweet. Unfortunately, there is not picture representation of this creamy goodness. This in addition to a fig puree and blue cheese flat bread had our taste buds doing flip flops.
BFFMusic had an inspirational beverage, albeit a little potent (no photo available - it was all gone). He brought blueberry bread with a blueberry blue cheese spread that while it looked sweet, really had a bit of tangy kick to it. Very good.
Ok, I am going to combine RMB and RMD because RMB ended up finishing RMD's dish when he got called in to work. Bummer, but RMB did an awesome job with the Blue raviolli with some help from BFFmusic for the blueberry balsamic reduction sauce.
And RMB's creation was a blue talapia served on blue corn chips. This was like a tuna or crab salad only so good, so fresh and such a delicate flavor... Just look...
Cuz and CuzIL presented a blueberry delight... well, a blueberry crumble, but it's the same thing in my mind. Oh, yummy.
This brings us to our final contestants of the night... The rest of the fam. Sis and BIL and myself. Wow they sure did it up!! Steak and blue, blue eggs and bacon and a killer blueberry stuffed french toast that rocked the dinner. My contribution was the Chicken cordon blue.
And, the aftermath...
Monday, September 15, 2008
It's the look
So, I don’t know why, but I have wanted blue hair for a long time. I know, it’s crazy. I think it started when I was young and the thought just grew until I went to New York a few years ago. When I was there I saw people with all different crazy colors, and it seemed to almost blend in… like there was nothing strange about it. I chickened out. I was there visiting BFFoutlate and I was supposed to meet him for dinner after having the day on the town to myself. I wanted to show up wearing blue hair.
I was so close. I walked by the store where I could have picked up a blue wig about 4 times. I must have looked like I was stalking the store. Not only could I not bring myself to buy it, I couldn’t even get myself to go in the store. Anyway, ever since then I have wanted to wear blue hair.
This is not a random memory coming back to me. I have rhyme behind my reason… I will say this much, I have been satiated.
I was so close. I walked by the store where I could have picked up a blue wig about 4 times. I must have looked like I was stalking the store. Not only could I not bring myself to buy it, I couldn’t even get myself to go in the store. Anyway, ever since then I have wanted to wear blue hair.
This is not a random memory coming back to me. I have rhyme behind my reason… I will say this much, I have been satiated.
Congratulations BFFhost!!!
On Saturday night BFFA, BFFH and I had the pleasure of celebrating with BFFhost the passing of his boards. Congratulations!! We know how hard that is to do. 3+ years of studying consolidated into 4 tests that your future employment depends on. Not much pressure.
It was a special occasion so we went to Glenn’s Café on Montrose and Ravenswood. Wow. It is one of my favorite places, but every time I go there I am in awe all over again. This time I had the Sturgeon with a bacon sherry cream sauce. It was truly incredible.
Ok, someone needs to come up with a reason to go out to celebrate again.
It was a special occasion so we went to Glenn’s Café on Montrose and Ravenswood. Wow. It is one of my favorite places, but every time I go there I am in awe all over again. This time I had the Sturgeon with a bacon sherry cream sauce. It was truly incredible.
Ok, someone needs to come up with a reason to go out to celebrate again.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
A whole new meaning to talking to yourself
My computer project is coming along. My computer now tells me what I have going on for the day and the weather forecast for the day before I leave the house. I am having a little problem with the talking part. I can talk to it, and that is fine, but when it talks back to me it tries to pick up what it is saying and it gets itself all mixed up. It is kind of rediculous really, and I’m not exactly sure how to fix it.
I also need to figure out if I can somehow hook it up to my google calendar. There are so many things to teach it. It's like a pet.
I need to name it. I can't just keep calling it .. it. Any suggestions on what to name a computer? I was thinking something like Gunnar or Burford or Stanbeny or Claymore.
I also need to figure out if I can somehow hook it up to my google calendar. There are so many things to teach it. It's like a pet.
I need to name it. I can't just keep calling it .. it. Any suggestions on what to name a computer? I was thinking something like Gunnar or Burford or Stanbeny or Claymore.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
My world revolves around food
I am posting this a day late. Sorry…
Yesterday, Sunday, as RMDave and I were talking, we decided to make dinner. This was no small endeavor. RMB joined in the fun and we came up with… Spaghetti and bruchetta. We had 2 sauces for the pasta, mozzarella cheese on the side and bruchetta to munch on. This coupled with a few bottles of wine, and it was a dinner for the books. The only thing we didn't make this time around was the bread. If we had started a little earlier, we could have gotten that done too. Next time…
It was an angle hair pasta, aaahhh angel hair pasta. It was fresh. Meaning we made it. Well, RMB made it. It takes a little longer, but it was sooo worth the effort. And when there are 3 people cooking, the timing works out ok. It is simple really, it just takes time. We are going to work on freezing it to see how long we can keep the freshness but still be able to enjoy it on the run.
I made the mozzarella cheese. Yes, we gave it another go and this time it turned out much better. Ok, non chlorinated water and less pasteurized milk does the trick. This time the mozzarella turned out pretty good. It was a little tougher and chewier than I would have liked, but had a wonderfully milky aftertaste. I think I can fix the texture on the next go around. I also need to come up with a new way to kneed the cheese under 185 degree water. It was HOT! Even though we changed out rubber gloves twice I was concerned about severe scaring. Wow, that is a deterrent to making cheese. Good thing RMDave was a surgical nurse for a while. He had the glove changing down to a science. I am quite sure we looked ridiculous soaking the gloves in cold water before plunging them, my hands included, into the scalding water to play with cooked milk. Imagine the sceane: a comedy of errors with RMDave, Sis and I jumping around the kitchen; me because I thought the gloves would sheild the heat better and he and Sis trying to get the gloves off of me and replace them so we didn't loose the mostly finished product. This is the precise moment when the salt should be added. We were side tracked. No salt.
RMB's next project may very well be a you tube reality show about doing things for the first time. It should be interesting. I'll let you know when it hits the internet waves. Back to food...
The pesto – it all started because our patio has been growing basil bushes. We have basil everywhere. It’s a good thing. We have to be careful where we mow, but we were able to get 2 batches of pesto made from the basil growing in the yard. Yippee!! BFFH got me started on the fresh pesto kick. It is incredible!!! Oh, by the way, fresh garlic is the only way to go in the pesto. I tried the stuff out of the jar in one of the batches and it just wasn’t working. Added the fresh, and it was an immediate improvement.
RMDave was our tomato guy. He made everything with tomatoes. I believe I mentioned that our neighbor gave us some fresh tomatoes so we used those for the sauce along with a bit of a spicy pepper from his garden. Truth be told, at this point I had dunked my bread in the sauce so many times I wasn’t really hungry any more.
RMDave also made bruchetta. It's one of those foods that if I were on a deserted island and I could choose one food, that would be it. It was that good. No, that incred…stupend…amaz…these words just don’t do it justice. Obviously I am at a loss as to how to describe this particular gustatory incarnation of heaven. You will just have to take my word for it.
All in all the dinner was very fresh. We made everything from scratch, and tried to use as much from the garden as possible. I couldn’t find my camera or there would be pictures. I love nights like this. Actually… after dinner it got even better.
Yesterday, Sunday, as RMDave and I were talking, we decided to make dinner. This was no small endeavor. RMB joined in the fun and we came up with… Spaghetti and bruchetta. We had 2 sauces for the pasta, mozzarella cheese on the side and bruchetta to munch on. This coupled with a few bottles of wine, and it was a dinner for the books. The only thing we didn't make this time around was the bread. If we had started a little earlier, we could have gotten that done too. Next time…
It was an angle hair pasta, aaahhh angel hair pasta. It was fresh. Meaning we made it. Well, RMB made it. It takes a little longer, but it was sooo worth the effort. And when there are 3 people cooking, the timing works out ok. It is simple really, it just takes time. We are going to work on freezing it to see how long we can keep the freshness but still be able to enjoy it on the run.
I made the mozzarella cheese. Yes, we gave it another go and this time it turned out much better. Ok, non chlorinated water and less pasteurized milk does the trick. This time the mozzarella turned out pretty good. It was a little tougher and chewier than I would have liked, but had a wonderfully milky aftertaste. I think I can fix the texture on the next go around. I also need to come up with a new way to kneed the cheese under 185 degree water. It was HOT! Even though we changed out rubber gloves twice I was concerned about severe scaring. Wow, that is a deterrent to making cheese. Good thing RMDave was a surgical nurse for a while. He had the glove changing down to a science. I am quite sure we looked ridiculous soaking the gloves in cold water before plunging them, my hands included, into the scalding water to play with cooked milk. Imagine the sceane: a comedy of errors with RMDave, Sis and I jumping around the kitchen; me because I thought the gloves would sheild the heat better and he and Sis trying to get the gloves off of me and replace them so we didn't loose the mostly finished product. This is the precise moment when the salt should be added. We were side tracked. No salt.
RMB's next project may very well be a you tube reality show about doing things for the first time. It should be interesting. I'll let you know when it hits the internet waves. Back to food...
The pesto – it all started because our patio has been growing basil bushes. We have basil everywhere. It’s a good thing. We have to be careful where we mow, but we were able to get 2 batches of pesto made from the basil growing in the yard. Yippee!! BFFH got me started on the fresh pesto kick. It is incredible!!! Oh, by the way, fresh garlic is the only way to go in the pesto. I tried the stuff out of the jar in one of the batches and it just wasn’t working. Added the fresh, and it was an immediate improvement.
RMDave was our tomato guy. He made everything with tomatoes. I believe I mentioned that our neighbor gave us some fresh tomatoes so we used those for the sauce along with a bit of a spicy pepper from his garden. Truth be told, at this point I had dunked my bread in the sauce so many times I wasn’t really hungry any more.
RMDave also made bruchetta. It's one of those foods that if I were on a deserted island and I could choose one food, that would be it. It was that good. No, that incred…stupend…amaz…these words just don’t do it justice. Obviously I am at a loss as to how to describe this particular gustatory incarnation of heaven. You will just have to take my word for it.
All in all the dinner was very fresh. We made everything from scratch, and tried to use as much from the garden as possible. I couldn’t find my camera or there would be pictures. I love nights like this. Actually… after dinner it got even better.
Going green
It may not be what you think but some of you will know what I’m talking about. I don’t know if it’s because my sign is Cancer or I am obsessive compulsive or I have control issues or what, but I like when people are green. I feel like I know what is going on and I can be in touch any time. Sometimes it’s the little things that make me happy. (HINT: Gmail)
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Ironic
I have been reading a book called Getting Things Done. I have been reading it for 6 months now, and I'm still not half way through. I don't think it's working.
Long weekends
Ever notice that long weekends are never long enough? But, they are pretty good for having people over to grill out and just chill.
We had a great labor day just hangin’ out around the tiki bar and playing with my new toy (computer). The weather was perfect, and the food was great. Brats, burgers, ribs, chicken wings, watermelon, potato salad…
Some of our potatoes came out of BFFmusic’s sister's garden. He took me over there a few weeks ago and I got to see their elaborate garden layout. Have you ever picked potatoes? It is really interesting. The plants have to be covered with hay or mulch and when they are done it is like an Easter egg hunt. They are just lying on top of the soil and under the hay. The other thing that is really cool is the purple/green beans. I couldn't stop eating them. They tasted great right off the vine! I think I want to plant those next year.
Anyway, the tomatoes are getting ripe, our neighbor donated some to our cause just the other day, so now I need to get back to my cheese making. There is nothing better than tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and some olive oil.
I have pictures of food dancing in my head.
We had a great labor day just hangin’ out around the tiki bar and playing with my new toy (computer). The weather was perfect, and the food was great. Brats, burgers, ribs, chicken wings, watermelon, potato salad…
Some of our potatoes came out of BFFmusic’s sister's garden. He took me over there a few weeks ago and I got to see their elaborate garden layout. Have you ever picked potatoes? It is really interesting. The plants have to be covered with hay or mulch and when they are done it is like an Easter egg hunt. They are just lying on top of the soil and under the hay. The other thing that is really cool is the purple/green beans. I couldn't stop eating them. They tasted great right off the vine! I think I want to plant those next year.
Anyway, the tomatoes are getting ripe, our neighbor donated some to our cause just the other day, so now I need to get back to my cheese making. There is nothing better than tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and some olive oil.
I have pictures of food dancing in my head.
One project started, another project started
Saturday morning I had breakfast with a friend and headed over to home depot for some supplies. Saturday was project day. I bought a saw and some wood and got to work putting up trim in the bathroom. I had tiled my tub surround several months ago, and project finisher that I am not, I didn’t do the detail work. So, I trimmed the rough areas around the tub and also put up new trim around the whole ceiling. It took me a majority of the day, and I got to saw something for the very first time!!! With my new saw! It was fun! The trim looks ok – not spectacular. I still have to finish caulking and then paint it. When I pulled down the old trim I didn’t realize that it would be so different from this trim, so there is some touch up work and now I have to repaint the ceiling. One of these days it will be done. Either that, or BFFH will get irritated looking at it and come over and finish it.
Sunday my Mom came to visit and we had a very pleasant day bummin’ around. Toward the end of the day I decided that I had a little more time to squeeze in another project. I’ve been talking about it, and I finally did it… I got the computer for the kitchen. We ran up to Sam’s Club and now I am getting started with my voice activated computer! It will take a lot of work, no doubt, but it will be really cool when I get it working. I know there are programs out there that are like personal assistants. I just need to do some research.
So, yes, now I have 2 more projects started, and now neither these nor the projects that I have previously initiated are finished. It is kind of like juggling, just keep adding balls to the air… If only I could juggle. Maybe I will work on that next weekend.
Sunday my Mom came to visit and we had a very pleasant day bummin’ around. Toward the end of the day I decided that I had a little more time to squeeze in another project. I’ve been talking about it, and I finally did it… I got the computer for the kitchen. We ran up to Sam’s Club and now I am getting started with my voice activated computer! It will take a lot of work, no doubt, but it will be really cool when I get it working. I know there are programs out there that are like personal assistants. I just need to do some research.
So, yes, now I have 2 more projects started, and now neither these nor the projects that I have previously initiated are finished. It is kind of like juggling, just keep adding balls to the air… If only I could juggle. Maybe I will work on that next weekend.
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