Is anyone else disturbed by this?
I Love Egg song
So my big news is that I really really am going to Iceland. Woohoo! I don't have the whole itinerary planned yet, but it's only a week. I think it will include lots of Reykjavik, plus a little sightseeing in the West and South. Certainly not skipping Thingvellir, Geysir, the Blue Lagoon. I'm trying to learn Icelandic pronunciation so I don't sound like a buffoon.
Also, I cooked chicken hearts and was surprised that they taste like chicken.
I Love Egg song
So my big news is that I really really am going to Iceland. Woohoo! I don't have the whole itinerary planned yet, but it's only a week. I think it will include lots of Reykjavik, plus a little sightseeing in the West and South. Certainly not skipping Thingvellir, Geysir, the Blue Lagoon. I'm trying to learn Icelandic pronunciation so I don't sound like a buffoon.
Also, I cooked chicken hearts and was surprised that they taste like chicken.
I am alive, really.
The interim saw me through much spotty internet and a trip upstate. I thought things might slow down in July but maybe I need to learn to say no to work a little better. The fun thing is that now that I have some distance from college and I'm not writing letters that aren't really from me, writing doesn't feel like work.
Let me say this more bluntly: I'm getting paid to write something.
Nothing fancy, but getting paid to put my name in the byline is still pretty sweet. (It's a 300-word article for a newsletter. The hard part is going to be making something that's 300 words interesting.)
Other July news: I'll be hitting DC on the 20th for Busted Jesus Comix. The 27th (and cross your fingers that I'll get this sweet catsit) I'm planning on an East Village garden party, so come on by if you're in the neighborhood.
In food: kamut, purslane, and radish salad with sea salt and olive oil. Also, homemade lavender doughnuts.
The interim saw me through much spotty internet and a trip upstate. I thought things might slow down in July but maybe I need to learn to say no to work a little better. The fun thing is that now that I have some distance from college and I'm not writing letters that aren't really from me, writing doesn't feel like work.
Let me say this more bluntly: I'm getting paid to write something.
Nothing fancy, but getting paid to put my name in the byline is still pretty sweet. (It's a 300-word article for a newsletter. The hard part is going to be making something that's 300 words interesting.)
Other July news: I'll be hitting DC on the 20th for Busted Jesus Comix. The 27th (and cross your fingers that I'll get this sweet catsit) I'm planning on an East Village garden party, so come on by if you're in the neighborhood.
In food: kamut, purslane, and radish salad with sea salt and olive oil. Also, homemade lavender doughnuts.
This time I promise I won't make you look at pictures of what I'm eating.
I am getting ready to be ridiculously busy. Starting Thursday, I may not have any days off until April 20. (Wow. I should do laundry tomorrow because I might not get the chance otherwise.) But I love it. I'm already working on the show, reading sides in auditions and conducting a last-minute search for a stage manager.
I had a chill morning, though. If I can say that about a 90 minute span where I had three cups of strong coffee, which is a lot for someone who doesn't do that much caffeine. And a waffle with chocolate. And wonderful companionship. I ate breakfast with one of my friends from college. He was in the first play I directed and put up with me for a whole year. He's in a show; I'm working on a show. Luckily, the dates overlap in a way where I can go to his and maybe he can even go to mine. It was nice to hang out and talk theatre and life. I love those sorts of interactions.
I'm drinking vegetable juice right now: beet, carrot, spinach, garlic, ginger. Robust! (But no pictures, I promised.) My roommate has a juicer and we might devolve into a ridiculous veggie-juicing, kombucha-brewing, sarong-wearing, handicrafts-making, farmer's market-shopping den of hippies. Too late.
My life is full of cheese and plays and wool. Very, very good things.
I am getting ready to be ridiculously busy. Starting Thursday, I may not have any days off until April 20. (Wow. I should do laundry tomorrow because I might not get the chance otherwise.) But I love it. I'm already working on the show, reading sides in auditions and conducting a last-minute search for a stage manager.
I had a chill morning, though. If I can say that about a 90 minute span where I had three cups of strong coffee, which is a lot for someone who doesn't do that much caffeine. And a waffle with chocolate. And wonderful companionship. I ate breakfast with one of my friends from college. He was in the first play I directed and put up with me for a whole year. He's in a show; I'm working on a show. Luckily, the dates overlap in a way where I can go to his and maybe he can even go to mine. It was nice to hang out and talk theatre and life. I love those sorts of interactions.
I'm drinking vegetable juice right now: beet, carrot, spinach, garlic, ginger. Robust! (But no pictures, I promised.) My roommate has a juicer and we might devolve into a ridiculous veggie-juicing, kombucha-brewing, sarong-wearing, handicrafts-making, farmer's market-shopping den of hippies. Too late.
My life is full of cheese and plays and wool. Very, very good things.
Dinner!
Curried brown rice with raisins and a poached egg.
If you're wondering, these are dried sorghum stalks.
Curried brown rice with raisins and a poached egg.
If you're wondering, these are dried sorghum stalks.
My supercool hat. Made primarily of romney sheep's wool, with white angora dots, silk swirls, and mohair curls.
Got upstate for happy bunny time. Shoveled lots of snow and shit (but rabbit poo is basically processed grass). Felted a hat. Had a snow fight. Took the train.
And good news: I'm assistant directing a reading of a new play this spring, working with a director I respect and getting paid for it. This is why I hung around for so long, working for free, living in uncertainty, smelling like cheese. I'm excited. This tells me I've started to put down enough roots in New York to start working for real, that people think of me when there's a job to do. I've been appraised as artistically valid. I was just getting to this point when I left DC, and it's one of the reasons I had for not leaving (along with charming companionship, cakelove, Ethiopian food, Heller's bakery, etc) but passion and the desire to have a more regular love/sex life won that battle.
This doesn't mean I'm giving up the cheese.
I finally got my kombucha photo up, with the hat. Apologies if anyone's been hanging on for those SGDC game night photos (and I do think there were good ones of everybody there). I didn't realize the camera was set on superfine resolution, and they're too big to upload. So you can tell me what I need to do to resize them on my geriatric computer (it's eight now) or I can just email the photos to interested parties.
Edited to add: I really think there's a Great Horned Owl in my neighborhood. I hear it calling hoo hoo-oo hoo fairly frequently, so I looked up the call and I think that's what it is. This explains why there are not so many pigeons around here.
So it's been over a month and that's lame.
Unexpectedly good: liverwurst and ginger sandwiches, openfaced on rye.
Also try sweetbreads w/ bacon and granny smith apple a la The Oakroom's New Year's Eve menu. They paired this with a nonobjectionable Riesling, which I find to be a rare and lovely thing.
All I want to talk about is food. I'm so hungry, and my dinner won't be ready for an hour.
Edited to add:
Dinner! Sauteed kale topped with brown rice topped with half-mashed blackeyed peas topped with a poached egg. Decent. Kind of a southern girl bibimbop. (Ever vortex poached an egg? It marginally helps the egg hold together, but it makes the process much more enjoyable. The child in me is just more excited to eat a swirly egg.)
Why don't I ever take pictures of my food for you guys before I eat it? Because it tastes much better than it looks.
And I made a stellar lasagna last week. My boyfriend even ate leftovers, and in almost all situations the word leftovers makes him gag. I replaced half the ground beef in the recipe with hot Italian sausage and made the sauce from canned whole fire-roasted tomatoes instead of tomato sauce and tomato paste. Always use the best cheese possible in lasagna. I swear cheese was half the cost of this thing.
And I bought doughnuts on the way home! Cheers to the hole-in-the-wall Brooklyn luncheonette with the killer crullers.
I'm brewing kombucha. Pictures to come.
I'm so much more talkative after I've eaten, but it's still all about food.
Unexpectedly good: liverwurst and ginger sandwiches, openfaced on rye.
Also try sweetbreads w/ bacon and granny smith apple a la The Oakroom's New Year's Eve menu. They paired this with a nonobjectionable Riesling, which I find to be a rare and lovely thing.
All I want to talk about is food. I'm so hungry, and my dinner won't be ready for an hour.
Edited to add:
Dinner! Sauteed kale topped with brown rice topped with half-mashed blackeyed peas topped with a poached egg. Decent. Kind of a southern girl bibimbop. (Ever vortex poached an egg? It marginally helps the egg hold together, but it makes the process much more enjoyable. The child in me is just more excited to eat a swirly egg.)
Why don't I ever take pictures of my food for you guys before I eat it? Because it tastes much better than it looks.
And I made a stellar lasagna last week. My boyfriend even ate leftovers, and in almost all situations the word leftovers makes him gag. I replaced half the ground beef in the recipe with hot Italian sausage and made the sauce from canned whole fire-roasted tomatoes instead of tomato sauce and tomato paste. Always use the best cheese possible in lasagna. I swear cheese was half the cost of this thing.
And I bought doughnuts on the way home! Cheers to the hole-in-the-wall Brooklyn luncheonette with the killer crullers.
I'm brewing kombucha. Pictures to come.
I'm so much more talkative after I've eaten, but it's still all about food.
Hello.
I am procrastinating on my brother's Christmas present. Argh. It is literally exactly half-done. But I'm in a good mood and enjoying the day.
I've been busy, and not just in the "I got my hair done" kind of way. I officially have three jobs now, in addition to the important things I do for myself and don't get paid for. Working, crocheting, getting all wrapped up in my love life (in a good way). I need to spin more. I need to KEEP IN TOUCH, which I have not been doing. I don't even read the news. How I can expect myself to make theatre when I don't know where my time is? Argh.
But I'm going home for two and a half weeks at Christmas. That's exciting. I haven't seen my mom or brother since this past February or my dad since August. I have a brand new baby cousin who might make an appearance. Perhaps more travel in the winter, but my January and February are looking a lot fuller than I'd anticipated, now that I have three cash jobs instead of just one.
I've been playing a lot of solitaire recently--iPod, not cards--on the subway, and I think about how it's a good example of choices in life. I heartily encourage teaching it to children, and if I have quiet moments in all the holiday craziness with any of my elementary-age relations I might just do a little instructing. We so rarely have complete information. We trade freedom for advancement. We get stuck and have to start over. And it rings true with me now because I'm trading money for flexibility. I can't travel as much as I want because I have to make my rent. And two of these jobs are giving me good contacts--I don't want to miss out. I don't want them to decide someone else could do that, or they don't need me after all. I'm afraid of losing out on future benefits, not just the ones I know I'm trading but the ones like those I've already unexpectedly received. Oh life, oh cards.
How can I get upstate for bunny time in the middle of all this? Or to visit my amazing friends, too often on the periphery? What about that beach getaway?
Is it that I want money or time for Christmas? Is it the same thing? I need to improve the exchange rate on that.
I am procrastinating on my brother's Christmas present. Argh. It is literally exactly half-done. But I'm in a good mood and enjoying the day.
I've been busy, and not just in the "I got my hair done" kind of way. I officially have three jobs now, in addition to the important things I do for myself and don't get paid for. Working, crocheting, getting all wrapped up in my love life (in a good way). I need to spin more. I need to KEEP IN TOUCH, which I have not been doing. I don't even read the news. How I can expect myself to make theatre when I don't know where my time is? Argh.
But I'm going home for two and a half weeks at Christmas. That's exciting. I haven't seen my mom or brother since this past February or my dad since August. I have a brand new baby cousin who might make an appearance. Perhaps more travel in the winter, but my January and February are looking a lot fuller than I'd anticipated, now that I have three cash jobs instead of just one.
I've been playing a lot of solitaire recently--iPod, not cards--on the subway, and I think about how it's a good example of choices in life. I heartily encourage teaching it to children, and if I have quiet moments in all the holiday craziness with any of my elementary-age relations I might just do a little instructing. We so rarely have complete information. We trade freedom for advancement. We get stuck and have to start over. And it rings true with me now because I'm trading money for flexibility. I can't travel as much as I want because I have to make my rent. And two of these jobs are giving me good contacts--I don't want to miss out. I don't want them to decide someone else could do that, or they don't need me after all. I'm afraid of losing out on future benefits, not just the ones I know I'm trading but the ones like those I've already unexpectedly received. Oh life, oh cards.
How can I get upstate for bunny time in the middle of all this? Or to visit my amazing friends, too often on the periphery? What about that beach getaway?
Is it that I want money or time for Christmas? Is it the same thing? I need to improve the exchange rate on that.
I got really good news today. An old friend who was lost has been found! This makes me happy. I don't know much more than this myself, but it makes me happy.
There are no lost causes.
Miracles do happen.
People have a way of finding home.
Show mercy.
Be kind.
Take care of each other.
I wish everyone who reads this peace and warmth.
There are no lost causes.
Miracles do happen.
People have a way of finding home.
Show mercy.
Be kind.
Take care of each other.
I wish everyone who reads this peace and warmth.
Oh new post.
I went out to the farm this weekend. It was nice to hear what rain sounds like when there are no buildings to get in the way. Ate a lot. Made sausage.
I completed my first skein of yarn today. Handspun by me, 100% angora. I'm so excited. I'm going to put it in a scarf for myself. I never make things for myself, so this is quite a treat. A happy fluffy bunny treat.
I'm trying to plot out my Christmas gifting early. It feels late, though. Only two months! And I still have to pay for my Thanksgiving and Christmas tickets. I just had a realization yesterday that it's almost November, which is almost December, which is almost next year. At least my time feels full. I get cranky when it doesn't.
No notable recipes since the last post. I'm going to try my hand at making kombucha if I can get a glass jar big enough.
I went out to the farm this weekend. It was nice to hear what rain sounds like when there are no buildings to get in the way. Ate a lot. Made sausage.
I completed my first skein of yarn today. Handspun by me, 100% angora. I'm so excited. I'm going to put it in a scarf for myself. I never make things for myself, so this is quite a treat. A happy fluffy bunny treat.
I'm trying to plot out my Christmas gifting early. It feels late, though. Only two months! And I still have to pay for my Thanksgiving and Christmas tickets. I just had a realization yesterday that it's almost November, which is almost December, which is almost next year. At least my time feels full. I get cranky when it doesn't.
No notable recipes since the last post. I'm going to try my hand at making kombucha if I can get a glass jar big enough.
Been doing lots of cooking recently. Asterisked items available at farmer's market--what you buy at the store will taste stale compared with the stuff at the farmer's market. Buy local whenever possible!
Nicely spicy corn relish: an amazing condiment for almost anything
3 ears raw corn*
one handful raw jalapeños*
cilantro to taste*
coarse (sea or kosher) salt to taste
white wine vinegar
Cut kernels off corn. Dice jalapeños. Chop cilantro. Combine in a bowl and mix--if you do this with your hands, which I recommend, wash them thoroughly immediately. Load into a clean jar. Add vinegar to cover. Better with time. Makes an awesome omelet filling.
Black eyed peas with greens.
1 lb fresh black eyed peas in the shell*
1 lb fresh cooking greens* (steer toward kale and away from collards unless you want this to take a long time)
1 lb fresh tomatoes*, in chunks
1 medium yellow onion*, diced
water
olive oil
coarse salt (sea or kosher)
1/4 c tasty vinegar (I used vinegar drained out of my corn relish, but you can go for anything you like.)
Shell peas. Remove stems from greens: don't just cut it off at the bottom of the leaf; cut it out of the leaf. Boil peas and greens with enough water to cover. Drain peas and greens. Coat bottom of pot with olive oil. Saute onion. Salt. Add tomatoes. Return peas and greens to pot. Add vinegar. Cook until tomatoes begin to break down and resulting liquid comes to boil.
Lavender roast chicken
1 3 to 4 lb chicken*
4 shallots*, thinly sliced
4 pears*, in chunks
young red potatoes*
1 bunch fresh lavender* (looking for leaves, not flowers)
coarse salt (sea or kosher)
olive oil
Preheat oven to 375. Wash chicken in cold running water. Allow to dry. Season cavity with salt. Rub down skin with olive oil and salt. Stuff lavender sprigs between skin and meat where possible: on back from neck opening, between along breast. Stuffing for cavity: shallots, pears, 3 or 4 sprigs' worth of lavender leaves, with olive oil and salt. Stuff as much as possible in cavity. Blend rest with potatoes. Rest chicken breast side up in pan on pile of potato/pear mixture. Roast 30 min, basting occasionally with runoff oil. Add more if necessary. Adjust temp to 450. Roast 30 more min. Edible when juices run clear--don't overcook your bird. Rest 15 min before carving. Yum!
Otherwise, things are good. I'm actually getting paid by a theatre. Admin stuff, but that's just fine when I like the people I'm helping.
I'm learning how to spin. Meaning yarn. With a spinning wheel. I am so pricked by the spindle. And I'm crocheting in ASCII.
Life is looking sweet today.
Nicely spicy corn relish: an amazing condiment for almost anything
3 ears raw corn*
one handful raw jalapeños*
cilantro to taste*
coarse (sea or kosher) salt to taste
white wine vinegar
Cut kernels off corn. Dice jalapeños. Chop cilantro. Combine in a bowl and mix--if you do this with your hands, which I recommend, wash them thoroughly immediately. Load into a clean jar. Add vinegar to cover. Better with time. Makes an awesome omelet filling.
Black eyed peas with greens.
1 lb fresh black eyed peas in the shell*
1 lb fresh cooking greens* (steer toward kale and away from collards unless you want this to take a long time)
1 lb fresh tomatoes*, in chunks
1 medium yellow onion*, diced
water
olive oil
coarse salt (sea or kosher)
1/4 c tasty vinegar (I used vinegar drained out of my corn relish, but you can go for anything you like.)
Shell peas. Remove stems from greens: don't just cut it off at the bottom of the leaf; cut it out of the leaf. Boil peas and greens with enough water to cover. Drain peas and greens. Coat bottom of pot with olive oil. Saute onion. Salt. Add tomatoes. Return peas and greens to pot. Add vinegar. Cook until tomatoes begin to break down and resulting liquid comes to boil.
Lavender roast chicken
1 3 to 4 lb chicken*
4 shallots*, thinly sliced
4 pears*, in chunks
young red potatoes*
1 bunch fresh lavender* (looking for leaves, not flowers)
coarse salt (sea or kosher)
olive oil
Preheat oven to 375. Wash chicken in cold running water. Allow to dry. Season cavity with salt. Rub down skin with olive oil and salt. Stuff lavender sprigs between skin and meat where possible: on back from neck opening, between along breast. Stuffing for cavity: shallots, pears, 3 or 4 sprigs' worth of lavender leaves, with olive oil and salt. Stuff as much as possible in cavity. Blend rest with potatoes. Rest chicken breast side up in pan on pile of potato/pear mixture. Roast 30 min, basting occasionally with runoff oil. Add more if necessary. Adjust temp to 450. Roast 30 more min. Edible when juices run clear--don't overcook your bird. Rest 15 min before carving. Yum!
Otherwise, things are good. I'm actually getting paid by a theatre. Admin stuff, but that's just fine when I like the people I'm helping.
I'm learning how to spin. Meaning yarn. With a spinning wheel. I am so pricked by the spindle. And I'm crocheting in ASCII.
Life is looking sweet today.
