Too good to pass up

Dogsitting

My parents are watching a friend's Akita. She is humongous.

To chicago

It's cold here.

British dinner

So I felt like making a roast beef with roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding for dinner. My recipe called for a 3-rib standing rib roast (about 6 pounds). Well, a 3-rib roast ended up being 4.5 pounds and a whole lot of money. Geez, it's no wonder I don't often cook any beef other than ground - it's expensive. But, I bit the bullet and made an awesomely delicious dinner. The whole house smelled of beef and the fat on the outside of the roast formed a crust almost as delicious as pork crackling. Also, I'd never had Yorkshire pudding before and it was quite tasty, perfect for mopping up the wine and beef reduction sauce. Yummy!

Worth the wait

Did I mention how much Seth loves his iphone?

The positive side of things

He's been wanting one ever since they came out, but we could never justify the cost when we already had working phones....we still can't really justify the cost, but he loves it.

Whoops!

It had already lost it's hinge mechanism, but this time it split right in half - unrepairable.

I love books and bookstores love me

Guilty purchasing

This has happened more than once. It's like all the people who secretly want to purchase sex books will only do so during holidays so they have the excuse of "buying a gift".

Painting

Seriously, textured walls makes everything worse.

Unlabeled disaster

Durian frozen yogurt didn't really calm my craving.

Twilight movie

I have to say....the book was better. I'm actually kind of surprised at how cheesy the movie was. Now, the book had some cheesy lines and a lot of lovey-dovey narration, but at least there was some depth to the characters. The movie version of Bella was not very likable (but her character in the books was). But, the thing that bothered me the most was the soundtrack and the filming style. Personally the whole movie felt low-budget (which it probably was) and very much like a poorly made B-movie. It's like the director tried to "camp-up" the vampire element to a humurous extreme (hence the baseball scene). I only hope that because of the vast amounts of money this movie is making, the sequel will have a bigger and better budget (though I also think it should have another director). Overall, read the books before (if ever) watching the movie.

Trying new foods

The Asia market here is mainly Vietnamese, and they have this great assortment of desserts/snacks on display right at the entrance. I always like to get a small assortment of new treats, along with old favorites. This time, there were quite a few that I hadn't seen before so I snatched them up. One was this delicious steamed banana cake (Banh Chuoi Hap) with a dipping sauce. The cake was gelatinous and sweet with good banana flavor while the dipping sauce was coconut based, salty, with tapioca pearls and sliced green onions. It was an interesting combination that wasn't unpleasant but also didin't leave me licking the last drops of dipping sauce out of the container. Another interesting dessert was a mochi-like item (Banh Xu Xe). It has a pandan leaf flavored tapioca "wrapper" surrounding a sweet mung bean filling (very much like red bean paste filling). The tapioca was very chewy while the mung bean paste was smooth and very sweet. Overall quite tasty. It's always an adventure with Asian desserts.

A messy situation

Since pomegranate juice stains so easily, I take extreme precautions to avoid ruining clothes, furniture, and carpet. So far, so good.

Fat pants

I'm at an annoying phase right now. I'm not pregnant enough to be obvious, but enough to need a larger waistband. Plus, I'm not yet big enough to wear maternity clothes. So I went and bought some elastic-waist pants that will allow me to get large enough until I need to really buy some maternity clothes. I basically just look like a have a potbelly now. Great for one's self-esteem.

Not so fun

Yes, I got a speeding ticket in September and finally got around to taking the defensive driving course online (so that I can avoid adding any penalties to my insurance). It was my first ticket ever. The course alone is enough to make you stop speeding, despite the ticket fee. I took the course online and it requires you to take a certain amount of time for each lesson - you are penalized for going fast, even if you get the right answers! It took up my whole Saturday, sniffle.

Avoid the chaos

Happy Thanksgiving!

I made two exquisite roast chickens (recipe from Thomas Keller's book Bouchon). They were brined for about 8 hours and roasted at a really high temperature for about 50 minutes. I have never had such a well-browned chicken, nor a chicken with such exquisitely moist breast meat. A definite winner! To go along with the birds, I also made Thomas Keller's potato gratin (excellent) and Cooks Illustrated version of a better green bean casserole (also excellent). Then, I made two pumpkin pies with homemade crust and a brandy whipped cream. Along with this, my friends brought an delicious butternut squash soup and tasty pasta salad. Overall, a good spread. No one missed the turkey.

Blasphemy

I just feel that chicken tastes better, will come out more moist, and requires less time to cook. Why not cook two perfect chickens instead of one dry, flavorless turkey?

Holidays come fast

Battle wounds

Seth went sailing with a co-worker and somehow managed to slip and fall in such a way as to give his shin the biggest welt I have ever seen - without breaking anything, thank goodness. It's been swollen for over three days, though not as large. Plus, it has a rather nasty shade of blue, purple, and red.

Little Big Planet

This is why you shouldn't play with a bunch of boys.

Wall-E

I've only watched it about 4 times now.

Just a small nap

Ever since I've become pregnant, this tends to happen more often then I'd like to admit.

It's true!

I am pregnant.

Pickles!

I got this great quick pickling book on Saturday and just couldn't wait to start pickling. The pickles in the strip are dill cucumber pickles and they pack a punch, but are extremely addictive. I have also made some "supercharged" black olives pickled in oil, and a red grape and jicama pickle. Yes, a fruit pickle. I've never had a fruit pickle before, so far they seem tasty, but I haven't really had a chance to taste them. The book is called "Quick Pickles" and it has some really intriguing pickles that I can't wait to try. Ones like pickled mango with scorched mustard, pineapple and cranberry pickle, and wine-barrel pickles. It also has some very convincing kimchee recipes that I look forward to making. I actually attempted a real kimchee recipe last year, but got so freaked out by it after the month it sat in the cupboard that I only tasted a bit and threw the rest out for fear of food poisoning. It had raw oysters in it! I think I had a right to be concerned. But the recipes in the book seem much less risky and I am excited. But first I have to finish the pickles I have ^_^.

No luck

So, I didn't get to make a reservation. But the lady on the phone was really nice and gave me hope that despite the restaurant being the best in America, little 'ole me could actually make a reservation. Next Chicage trip I plan is going to revolve around Alinea.

Final decision

Television is lame

Especially when you only have the free channels.

More Halloween pics!

Here's the whole group, ready to head downtown!

Here you can see The Monarch with his eyebrows and beard (both made of craft foam and adhered with boob tape).

Look, we actually found Molotov Cocktease downtown!

Honesty pays off

Yes, instead of just swiping the money I placed it in an envelope where it waited to be claimed for one month. And it paid off!

Halloween rewards

Apparently, making your friends some Halloween costumes can pay off in more ways than one. My friend Ryan loves to cook and has purchased a large selection of awesome cookbooks for me as a Thank You. I got the first two books this weekend, and have read through both already ^_^

The downside to Heelys

Is that when you do lose your balance, you tend to increase your chances of falling even more as you try to stabalize yourself. It took me about all of 30 seconds to make a complete fool of myself in the grocery parking lot, though I did manage to cover quite a bit of distance which I'm sure confused a few onlookers who probably didn't realize I had wheels on my shoes. Also, I bruised my one knee fairly bad and managed to rip one of my "green" bags. But, this is only fall two since I've had the Heelys, so I still think they are awesome!

Brussel sprouts, yum!

Risky purchase

The Monarch

Here is a picture of The Monarch's costume. When I get pictures of the rest, I will post them as well. But, since I felt particularly proud of the Monarch's costume, I actually took a photo before we were all assembled together. Obviously, he does not have his insane eyebrows or beard in this shot. You can see them later.


As for the construction: His costume is made mainly of fleece with quilt batting to give it form. The wings are a mixture of black fleece and orange broadcloth over quilt batting, the vest is just fleece over batting, and his boots are just fleece (they wrap over his sneakers). The wristbands are fleece over 1/2 inch upholstery foam, as are his shoulder pads. The skullcap was sewn of sporty/stretchy material and the ears were sewn on and stuffed with fluff. His crown is just craft foam that he wears like a party hat. I did not make the body suit, that was purchased in two pieces from the local Wal-Mart.

Edit (9/13/10):

I'm flattered by all the requests, but I don't own the costume anymore, I don't have the time to make another, and I don't have any patterns to offer. Although, if you'd like any tips or an explanation of the construction of any one piece I can answer those questions. Thanks for looking!

Happy Halloween!

For those of you who don't know, we went as The Monarch and his henchmen from the cartoon The Venture Brothers (photo). Seth was henchman number 21 (and we really did have a light saber that we bought downtown on Halloween night) and I was a random henchman. Our friend Chris was The Monarch (because he was the only one with the proper build, and he did an awesome job getting into character). Ryan was henchman number 24, and had his voice down perfectly. And Robert was another henchman, but due to time constraints, he didn't get any wings. The only costumes I didn't make were the women. Amanda (Chris's girlfriend) was Dr. Girlfriend. And Jennifer (Ryan's wife) was Triana. Needless to say we had a great time. And you may be able to find photos of us online because we had to pose about a thousand times on 6th street in Austin. All the hard work of sewing was well worth it!

Sew like the wind!

I managed to bang out 5 costumes in basically one week. Phew!

I am still here!

Sorry for such an incredible lack of posting (one whole month, I think). I actually had a bunch of posts done early in the month, but then my computer's power supply died. Then, I was incredibly busy for the next few weeks and just didn't put posting on the top of my priority list. But, I will get back into the swing of things. Plus, I had an awesome Halloween and am eager to post up some photos and strips soon (I have to wait on the photos from our friends). I promise, more posts to come tomorrow and I will be back to a more regular posting schedule from now on. (I am also running low on inking supplies and need to make a trip to the art store). If you managed to stick with me, thanks a bunch! I will continue the postings ^_^

Computer problems

I finally got a new power supply Friday night. So the lack of posts are directly related to my laziness (oh, I mean I've been too busy) for the past few weeks.

Too much of a good thing

Baking

Boredom leads to purchasing...

I did not buy the book. Yet.

Planning

Wrong choice

And yes, it is a chocolate chip cookie recipe from Claire Cook's book. Delicious.

A good read

Indulging myself

She is the head pastry chef at The French Laundry.

Dizzy

Loki could chase squirrels for hours. She ran around this tree enough to make me feel dizzy.