lexophile v. pro tem (in the meantime...)

2010-03-03T18:35:00.002-05:00

been a long time. basically, since i got the gig. coincidentally, ever since i got the gig i have been sick. sick and tired. i'm feeling particularly exhausted lately as i'm just finally getting over a solid month of being ill. i'm sick of being sick. things are on the upswing though and i'm feeling optimistic. looking forward to a relaxing and reinvigorating spring break.

it is the little things in life that give us pleasure. i've been reconnecting with some old favourite albums and i've been forcing myself to make time to actually sit and read. imagine that. reading used to be my primary occupation. sometimes i miss those days. most of the time i don't. i do still love to learn and share ideas, but i love what i do and am enjoying where i am at in life.

current mood: sleepy

2009-10-05T20:02:00.001-04:00

health watch 2009: feeling much better today. still fairly exhausted but generally much better.

eating habits: oh baby. we had early thanksgiving yesterday. everything turned out spectacular except desserts. the pear tarte tatin was soggy because i had to make it earlier in the day. then, i accidentally put the lemon meringue pie on a hot element on the stove and it turned into soup. bravo me. both desserts were surprisingly delicious today though.

reading habits: joe sacco's graphic novel palestine. so far it is quite interesting. looking forward to the follow up stories. in fact, i was so looking forward to them that i stopped by the library only to be disappointed that none of my 12 "in transit" books had arrived.

current mood: annoyed

2009-10-03T15:23:00.005-04:00

health watch 2009: this cold has really taken its toll. the ever-changing weather has meant that every time i feel like i've taken one step towards getting better, a rainy chilly day takes me two steps back. i've been working steadily and have had yard duties once or twice a day. even a short 15 to 30 minutes in this damp cold air can really give you a chill. needless to say, today i am completely bereft of energy both mentally and physically (as can be witnessed by my accidentally locking the keys in the car this morning when out on an errand).

eating habits: just having a nice time of it. we've had some lovely home-cooked meals. nothing too out of the ordinary. you need comfort food with this chill in the air and gray pallor to the skies. we've also enjoyed meals out with good food and good company. no complaints. we'll be celebrating thanksgiving a week early (tomorrow). hopefully i've got more energy then since it will be a heavy hitting cooking day. some of the highlights will include a nice glazed ham, scalloped potatoes, a pear tatin, and a lemon/lime meringue.

reading habits: i've spent the better part of two weeks struggling through david b's graphic novel epileptic. i enjoyed the story but found i often avoided reading it. his unique artistic style makes predominant use of black space rather than white and i found this (in combination with the small text) to be a deterrent. the overwhelming visual darkness of the pages was distracting.

current mood: see above

2009-09-22T22:02:00.003-04:00

health watch 2009: ironic how quickly the germs spread. just barely around a few coughers and sneezers and wham! sick! sure takes its toll here.

eating habits: most notably, k and i made pita bread and falafel from scratch for husband and wife cooking. the pita refused to pocket-ize but the falafel were great. we also made chipotle pork cheeseburgers with avocado and mayo that were insanely good. in fact they were so nice, we made them twice.

reading habits: got a whole bunch of autobiographical graphic novels from the library. currently reading one about modern day tel aviv. so far, so good.

current mood: brevity is the soul of wit, not just a side-effect of illness

2009-09-14T19:35:00.004-04:00

health watch 2009: mental health, that is. just been feeling really stressed out lately. i hate beginnings. i hate ends too, but that is a different story. (or i could go on a tangent like my brain just did and contemplate my love of six feet under despite my serious fear of death).

eating habits: really? you expect me to go into this in detail? didn't i just mention that i've been stressed. seriously though, it has been a week of minor and major indulgences. that's what stress'll do to you. a bag of nachos with guacamole here and a bag of gummy candies there.

k and i did cook risotto twice and it turned out wonderful both times. just a nice simple parmesan and chive risotto the first time, spinach and pancetta the second.

reading habits: i'm floundering. i re-read toast. then i tried to read the julia child bio (appetite for life) but it is just so unbelievably badly written. how is that person published and i'm not? granted i've never tried to get anything published... i digress. i need something unstressful to read. usually i turn to my food books for that, but i re-read pretty much all of them over the summer. i thought about re-reading the hannibal lecter books but thought maybe that'd be too... intense.

current mood: duh! see above.

2009-09-13T18:53:00.001-04:00

on stress sabbatical. back soon.

current mood: meh

2009-09-06T14:45:00.003-04:00

eating habits: friday we were invited by zane to participate in friends and family night. we were useless menu tasters because were totally enamoured with everything. we ate, ate, ate and ate some more. we were stuffed to the gills and deliriously happy to be tasting our beloved smoked meat once more. what an honour to have been asked to participate.

reading habits: the lovely bones by alice sebold. whoa. wrong book for this time of year. an interesting read but generally i get stressed out with new beginnings and try to read light books to ease my mind. needless to say, though i am enjoying the book i am looking foward to reading toast by nigel slater and appetite for life (julia child bio) to get out of this grief-stricken mindset.

current mood: sigh

2009-09-02T19:08:00.002-04:00

eating habits: i made panna cotta. i was tired and totally screwed up the recipe but it still turned out right and it was delicious. got the recipe from martha stewart living original classics. plus i cracked a glass bowl and melted a plastic one. i've been on a roll lately. yeesh.

reading habits: finished reading michael ruhlman's making of a chef. really enjoyed it for the most part. a few bits were less interesting than others but by and large it was quite good. i got the lovely bones from the library and am curious to read it.

current mood: under some weather

2009-08-31T10:36:00.002-04:00

reading habits: went to a rodeo this weekend so we didn't do much eating that is noteworthy. you'd think they'd think rodeo food through a little better. greasy food plus inebriated hillbillies plus port-o-potties equals disaster. i did get a lot of reading done though. almost got all the way through michael ruhlman's making of a chef. it is funny telling k stories about the book because i always call the people "characters" but they are actual people. i think i'm not used to reading paperback biographies. something about the physical format of the book says "fiction" to me.

rodeo stuff: it was so muddy our car got stuck in the field. this meant we couldn't go to the hotel to sleep. also, it was so muddy we could not set up our tent. this meant that we slept in our little honda fit. yep. good times. surprisingly less uncomfortable than i expected. also, we cracked the windows just in case. i worry about suffocation due to watching too many crime shows.

on the way to the rodeo a horse who had broken out of it's paddock was running up and down the windy barely-two-lanes road. i had to stop the car in the middle of a particularly windy and long hill. the horse came up and sniffed the car, stood there staring at us, then eventually ran away. we didn't know what to do.

current mood: completely exhausted

2009-08-24T09:01:00.003-04:00

eating habits: this could be 10 posts. so much cooking. so much eating. i was responsible to do the lion's share of the cooking for my aunt's surprise 70th. i made martha stewart's all american potato salad (delicious!), k's mom's pasta salad, ina garten's old fashioned carrot salad, a sort of greek salad, caesar salad, mushroom quiche, focaccia and puff pastry bites with carmelized onion, zucchini and goat cheese. everything turned out really well. ended up being way too much food though. oops.

had a baking day with ellen. we made lemon thins which were sort of like lemon tuile, pecan tassies which were sort of mini pecan pies, and loukoumades which were a total failure (like chewing rubber).

restaurant wise we also had some adventures. we tried out big fat burrito for the first time. good but not great. we also tried out king david falafel for the first time. neither of us had had falafel and were pleasantly surprised. the falafel were so healthy we decided we needed to follow it all up with some ice cream. ugh. lactose intolerance ensued.

reading habits: finished reading the watchmen. it is more or less the same as the movie with the exception of some oddities. not bad. started re-reading julie/julia. looking forward to re-reading nigel slater's toast next.

health watch 2009: finally heard back on friday. superficial swelling of the vein. as far as i can tell this is code for a non-lethal baby clot in a dead end vein. need to take an aspirin a day for 2 - 3 weeks until the pain goes away.

current mood: exhausted

2009-08-20T13:50:00.002-04:00

eating habits: living in leftover city. boring. i have just discovered that there is a restaurant supply store not too far from home that is open to the public. can't wait to go there. tomorrow? maybe? they aren't open weekends. might have to wait til monday.

reading habits: reading the watchmen by alan moore. so far, so good. it is interesting because i think that depending on your perspective or personality you can see a different character as the "hero" of the story - inasmuch as there is a hero. personally, i like Rorschach. i also read the dark knight returns by frank miller. still not a big fan of superhero comics but i could see how people would think it was innovative. definitely more a story to it than i'd expect from a typical hero comic but that could also be my own bias.

health watch 2009: got the doppler first thing yesterday to see if the clot is back. the mannerisms of the technician led me to suspect it might be. obviously if it is the goal is to get on meds to resolve it a.s.a.p. only, that isn't how it works. they have to send the results to their doctor who reviews them, then sends them to my doctor who reviews them, then they call me. yeah right. total breakdown of communications. long story short, i have now been waiting 27 hours for the results. normally, that isn't long to wait at all... except when your condition is potentially life threatening.

current mood: anxious

2009-08-18T08:30:00.002-04:00

eating habits: the last three or four days have passed by in a dessert induced haze. macarons, cupcakes, gateau basque, more macarons, gelato and lemon meringue pie have all played their part. a visit to smoke's poutinerie to check out their wares was also nestled in there somewhere. none of which leaves much time for cooking, though that was pretty intentional considering that it has been above 30C for days. today is looking to be cooler though. thank goodness. i've got two days of cooking ahead of me at the end of the week.

reading habits: i've been ruined by graphic novels. i pick up a novel now and i cringe at the sight of so many words on the page. where have all the pictures gone? plus, a novel requires so much more of a time investment. sad. haha. i read tom horacek's collection of comic strips (all we ever do is talk about wood) and graham roumieu's a really super book about squirrels. super indeed.

health watch 2009: paranoid. calf that had the clot last year is swollen and tight. a bit sore. could be the heat and the exercise. could be something else. trying to get an ultrasound to check it out.

current mood: worried

2009-08-13T19:50:00.005-04:00

eating habits: attempted to make pear pates de fruits today. failure. utter and complete failure. they just would not set. however, it ended up being the most deliciously, perfect pair sauce/runny jam. i ate a few spoonfuls and practically went into diabetic shock from the sugar though.

reading habits: since yesterday i have read the following...

all three translated collections by yoshihiro tatsumi. gah. interesting work but totally dark and disturbing. maybe a little too dark and disturbing for my taste. i think i read all three of them because i had read his auto-bio so i had a lot more appreciation for the fact that he was an innovator.

piece de resistance. i really liked the paul comics by michel rabagliati that i was able to get in translation. not all have been translated from the french though. so, in an act of potential foolishness i ordered one of the french ones from the library. turns out i understand more french than i realized. a lot of the colloquialisms in the speech segments were difficult, and it took a lot longer to read than an english graphic novel would, but i actually totally understood it!

current mood: proud

2009-08-12T11:23:00.003-04:00

eating habits: experimented yesterday with quinoa. k is trying to reduce carbs but is missing cereal. i made a sort of mock-rice pudding with coconut milk, artificial sweetener, raisins and quinoa. there is a bit of characteristic bitterness that you come to expect with quinoa but it is surprisingly nice overall. i warmed it up for breakfast with a bit of extra milk, blueberries, and raspberries.

dinner was also quinoa related. i sauteed half a red onion in plenty of olive oil and butter until nicely softened, then added two diced zucchini and one diced baby eggplant (how adorable are baby eggplants?!) cranked the heat and sauteed it all until it was browned and smelled unbelievable. seasoned them with some taco seasoning which went so well with veggies it was unreal. then put a layer of quinoa, a layer of crumbled goat cheese, and a layer of veggies into a bowl. yum!

quinoa rice pudding
1 can coconut milk
2 tbsp splenda (or real sugar)
2 long strips lemon zest (optional)
1/3 cup quinoa
1/3 cup raisins
1 tsp pure vanilla

warm milk is sauce pan with sweetener and lemon zest. add quinoa, simmer until quinoa is softened - about 25 mins. in the last 5 mins of cooking add raisins. when done, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. let sit 5 - 10 mins to thicken. enjoy.

reading habits: tried reading theodore roosevelt's adventure diaries. boring. so scientific and not nearly as exciting as they could be. also tried to read the final book in the ring trilogy. if possible, even more boring and scientific than the previous book. went to return both to the library, and forgot to actually return them. got out (and already read) two graphic novels: goodbye chunky rice and french milk. both were significant improvements on the aforementioned books!

current mood: hungry

2009-08-11T14:27:00.002-04:00

eating habits: holy moly. so much to say. friday was julie/julia day with family. totally coincidentally i decided it was go crazy baking day. i used my martha stewart classics cookbook to make pate brisee (which i turned into quiche lorraine) and pate sucree (which i turned into killer lemon meringue pie).

when we went to montreal i got one of those mini ice cream scoopers that people like to use for dough. i decided i had to test it out, so i made a batch of oatmeal peanut butter cookies. they came out so perfect. i also made focaccia but i didn't use the scooper for that.

saturday we had leftover pie for breakfast, then went to taste of the danforth. we ate astronomical amounts of food and then were barely hungry for dinner. so we went the lazy route and had microwave dinners. i had PC three cheese mac n cheese which i spilled frank's red hot all over and ate anyway.

sunday i made hushpuppies and the best vegetable tart ever. grilled eggplant, zucchini, carmelized onions and goat cheese on puff pastry. oh man. it was unreal. so delicious.

monday i made country fried pork cutlets for dinner because k has mentioned his love for them on numerous occasions but i've never made them. i also made a killer cucumber and green bean salad with sesame seeds. the dressing is so easy: 1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp mayo, 1 pinch salt. mmmm. i love sesame seeds.

reading habits: i have forgone reading books because i was reading the i am boey comic web diary from start to finish. i finally got through the first two years and am all caught up. now i will read part three of the ring trilogy (loop).

current mood: hungry

2009-08-04T22:18:00.002-04:00

eating habits: oh boy. it has been an adventurous time for me in terms of cooking and in terms of eating at restaurants. i've been sick and tired of eating the same veg over and over, so i've been trying out new veg sides for dinner. the highlights?

cooking
- an antipasto salad of grilled zucchini, roasted red pepper, avocado and goat cheese
- a delicious and simple little japanese cucumber salad
- beet salad with feta and candied toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds

restaurant eating
- pudding chomeur from au pied de cochon
- blood sausage from PDC
- pecan bouchon from premiere moisson

reading habits: nigel slater's eating for england. funny in parts, awfully repetitive though. nigel slater's real fast food. definitely gave me some menu ideas. also, a children's book called the game which ended very abruptly but was otherwise interesting. currently reading the sequel to the mysterious benedict society.

current mood: content

2009-07-27T15:56:00.004-04:00

eating habits: k had a family reunion sunday morning (which meant no husband-wife cooking this week and none next since we are going to montreal! boo!) so saturday morning we headed stateside. we hit up suzy q's bbq in the buffalo area for lunch, then hit hi-ho for slushies as a snack before heading over to texas hots for dinner. the pulled pork was great but the sweet-tater fries were only so-so. the texas hots were good and their sweet-tater fries were unreal. alas, it was too much greasy food. my poor tummy.

also! we happened upon ellicottville by accident and low-and-behold there was a fudge shop!

reading habits: finally finished all 900 pages of a drifting life. it was very interesting. i'm torn between reading the next of the graphic novels or a foodie book.

current mood: hungry!

2009-07-24T14:36:00.002-04:00

eating habits: had a lunch date with k today. last time ever eating caplansky's smoked meat at the monarch. soon enough they will be closing down to move into the new venue. it didn't really feel like a monumental, end-of-an-era experience. sure, it's only been a year of bi-weekly visits but it sort of is the end of an era.

reading habits: a while ago, time magazine listed the top ten graphic novels of all time. i've decided to work my way through them. so far i've read blankets and am working on jimmy corrigan. i've decided to add a drifting life to the list because from what i've heard it'd be on the list if it hadn't been published after the list came out. so far, i'm one for two. i thought blankets was great, but i'm not thrilled with jimmy corrigan.

still ahead on the list are: the watchmen, palomar, berlin: city of stones, bone, boulevard of broken dreams, the dark knight returns, david boring, and ed the happy clown.

current mood: exhausted and full

2009-07-21T18:59:00.002-04:00

eating habits: dinner last night, strip loin steaks with PDC sauce. also, a nice mixed green salad with feta, sesame and pumpkin seeds. the only problems were that i didn't have low sodium beef broth so the PDC sauce was a bit salty. then, the feta for the salad was crazy salty. it was a high sodium dinner. tonight, we made up for the sodium fiasco yesterday with roasted chicken and creamed spinach.

reading habits: finished the photo essay about afghanistan. personally, i thought they really skimmed over the most interesting part. these people were performing top notch surgery on a dusty dirt porch with no electricity or running water. why would you skim over that part?!?! yeesh. i've moved on to the mysterious benedict society. reminds me a lot of the series of unfortunate events books.

oot and aboot: roller derby was very interesting. we picked a team to root for because it is always more fun when you have an allegiance. luckily, our team won! we also picked favourite players. plus, i sure laughed a lot at all the funny crashes.

current mood: hungry

2009-07-19T13:17:00.003-04:00

husband/wife cooking: honestly, k is going to complain because i couldn't help myself from butting in to do minor things (because i find the multi-tasking involved in breakfast for dinner to be overwhelming at times). that said, the raspberry vanilla pancakes (with blueberries as well for the others) were amazing! so light and delicious.

oot and aboot: going to the roller derby today. no lie. f wants to sit in the suicide section. i dunno about that. wish us luck.

reading habits: finished reading blankets. it was lovely. now i've started an interesting (but a bit dry) photo essay about doctors without borders.

current mood: sleepy

2009-07-18T17:30:00.004-04:00

excuses, excuses: busy week. out about town on wednesday with mom. spent much of the day running errands. then thursday, k and i went to have poutine and see harry potter with my cousin. friday i went out for lunch with e, then k and i went to pick up our wedding photo books from costco.

eating habits: who knows?! i honestly can't even remember dinner wednesday though it might've been a roast chicken. dinner thursday was poutine and bulk candy. haha. real healthy. yesterday we had homefries and chipotle cheeseburgers with carmelized onions.

husband/wife cooking: going to the roller derby tomorrow so we are doing husband and wife dinner today. it's going to be a breakfast for dinner extravaganza with berry pancakes, sausage, and bacon.

reading habits: finished the believers. ended up liking it after all, a bit to my surprise. then in quick succession, i read the tales of beedle the bard as well as nick hornby's slam. am very excited to be currently reading craig thompson's illustrated novel blankets. so far it is quite good. lastly, i picked up nigel slater's memoirs for $4 today! the shelf of foodie books continues to grow.

current mood: chilly and hungry

2009-07-14T18:58:00.004-04:00

eating habits: pretty much the entire weekend was spent eating leftover carnitas. the only change was sunday dinner.

monday morning i tinkered with the recipe for cinnamon buns/marmalade rolls. i like the way the experimenting turned out, they are miraculously even tastier than before. basically, i took the pioneer woman recipe and omitted the baking powder and soda. i also always use skim instead of whole milk and drastically reduce her recommended sugar content. now, they are much more to my liking.

speaking of experimenting, i made pork tenderloin for dinner last night and at the last minute added some fresh ginger to the apple sauce i'd made to go with the pork. oh. my. goodness. it was unreal.

3 apples, peeled cored and diced
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp fresh grated ginger

heat water and apples in saucepan on medium heat for 10 mins. add sugar and cook 5 more mins. grate in ginger, stir and let sit off heat 5 mins. mash with a fork, or for smoother texture puree with immersion blender. eat.

husband/wife cooking: our second bout of husband and wife cooking took place sunday. it was a little more haphazard because we'd been out much of the day on various chores and adventures. for dinner, the husband made a variation on a ten minute main from gourmet magazine combining whole grain pasta with pancetta, baby spinach and parmesan. perfectly cooked but the recipe itself was a little on the bland side.

reading habits: part of why i haven't blogged for a few days is that i got two best bet books out of the library. these books must be consumed, err i mean read, within 7 days. i've been on a mad dash to read 'em since. the first was the flying troutmans which was greedily devoured. i think naomi said it best, this is a bittersweet book. a fantastic read. currently, i'm nibbling away at zoe heller's believers. i may find i have trouble with this one. it is interesting but so far i'm not that enamoured with any of the characters.

current mood: tired

2009-07-10T19:04:00.003-04:00

eating habits: made amazing brown sugar marmalade rolls yesterday, alongside slightly less amazing cinnamon buns. still working on eating those. also, made carnitas for dinner today. used three seeded chipotles to give the sour cream a smokey flavour. almost died from the spice. mine could've used some cilantro but the selection at the grocer's was abysmal.

which-craft: in his old age, mayte has developed the wonderful habit of licking his upper-right rear hip raw. i spent several hours (read: 3) making him an adorable (read: ridiculous) pair of puppy chaps to stop his licking. i finally got them just right and he has already figured out how to take them off!

reading habits: in quick succession, i have read autobiography of my dead brother by walter myers and summer blonde by adrian tomine. both books were pretty mediocre. i picked up the myers because it had won awards, not sure why. it was the sort of book that if it had been written differently would have had me in tears, but as it stood i was relatively indifferent to the characters. the tomine was typical tomine - seriously dysfunctional people who consistently fail in their attempts to redeem themselves through engaging in positive human interaction. i have just started reading the outlander by gil adamson. so far, at least, it is an interesting read.

current mood: full!

2009-07-08T09:47:00.003-04:00

the requisite mj post: well, it finally hit me yesterday that it was for real. i only caught a few bits and pieces of the memorial - mostly on the cnn website - but it definitely made it hit home. michael is really gone. i think up until now i was just still too happy and giddy from the wedding to really wrap my head around it. i am sad that he is gone and that even in death he can't escape so much of this ridiculous media fiasco. i am angry that people who were under no circumstances fans have jumped on the bandwagon and begun professing their sorrow and grief at having lost a musician they loved. i know that there were fans who just liked his music and weren't fans the way sara and i were (i also know that there were fans who were way more hardcore than we were) but these people kicked him when he was down and now sing his praises when he is in the media's good graces. finally, speaking of the media, i am frustrated and confused by so much of what is being said in the press. all of the ambiguity and contradiction, that's why i've been avoiding it.

it's no wonder this is stuck in my head:

Everyone's taking control of me,
Seems that the world's got a role for me,
I'm so confused will you show to me,
You'll be there for me,
And care enough to bear me.

current mood: see above

2009-07-06T19:35:00.002-04:00

husband/wife cooking: i should have taken photos! i could get used to this. the first dinner went really well. all i had to do was stand by and watch. k made such a delicious meal. can't wait to see what we (royal we) cook up next weekend. i'm thinking pasta with pancetta, baby spinach, and pine nuts.

current mood: hungry