I want to be interviewed by Jon Stewart.
Someday.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Don't blog your eggs before they hatch...
... That's how the saying goes, right?
Anyhow, I know I shouldn't get excited and talk about things before they happen. That's why pregnant women don't go around saying they're pregnant until they're 3 months in. No one wants to have to tell the world about their miscarriage.
However, I'm so excited right now I could bust. I've got a career opportunity on the horizon that I'm only hoping isn't too good to be true (and that I also hope doesn't reject me for being an actress). I also may have a free fancy dress on the way to my abode. Plus, I just wrote my first sketch for my kick-ass comedy group Dynamite Kablammo, and it was pretty well recieved. Maybe it'll even make it into the show! Crazy.
I'm going to stop there because I feel like going into more detail on anything will surely jinx me. I don't want to have to blog about my career miscarriage.
But just know... I'm having an incredible day.
Anyhow, I know I shouldn't get excited and talk about things before they happen. That's why pregnant women don't go around saying they're pregnant until they're 3 months in. No one wants to have to tell the world about their miscarriage.
However, I'm so excited right now I could bust. I've got a career opportunity on the horizon that I'm only hoping isn't too good to be true (and that I also hope doesn't reject me for being an actress). I also may have a free fancy dress on the way to my abode. Plus, I just wrote my first sketch for my kick-ass comedy group Dynamite Kablammo, and it was pretty well recieved. Maybe it'll even make it into the show! Crazy.
I'm going to stop there because I feel like going into more detail on anything will surely jinx me. I don't want to have to blog about my career miscarriage.
But just know... I'm having an incredible day.
Monday, June 23, 2008
If blogging paid, I'd do it all the time.
But for now, it doesn't. So I will continue to defend my sporadic posting by saying,
"Get off my case!"
*ahem*
Anyhow! What I REALLY want to document at this point in time is the well-thought-out and delicious birthday foods I made for Matt. His birthday was, well, 2 weeks ago. I'm nothing if not not prompt.
Good, I'm glad you're going with me on this one.
Anyhow, I planned to start out with a lovely romesco sauce/paste/dip along with a par-cooked filone from Trader Joe's, baked to crispy completion. However, though I made the romesco, I forgot to serve it. It was going to be a leisurely appetizer as I finished my cooking, however since I got caught up in my runnings-around and Matt was accepting his birthday wishes from his legions offans followers friends and family, it fell by the wayside and was instead served with chips at the party later.
Official Recipe: Roasted red pepper-Cascabel romesco sauce
May 28, 2008, LA Times
Total time: 45 minutes
Servings: Makes about 2 cups
2 dried Cascabel peppers
1 large red bell pepper
1/4 cup hazelnuts
1/4 cup almonds, blanched and peeled
4 Roma tomatoes
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 ounce good-quality country white bread, sliced, crusts removed
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sweet paprika (preferably Spanish)
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (preferably Jerez)
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Stick a fork through the Cascabels and place tines-down in a bowl (to keep the peppers submerged). Cover with boiling water for at least 30 minutes to soften, then stem, seed and set aside.
2. While the Cascabels are softening, roast the red pepper on a gas stove or under a broiler. Place the peppers in a plastic bag or in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and cool. Peel, stem and seed the peppers (don't rinse); set aside.
3. Toast the nuts separately in the 375-degree oven until golden and aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes. If the hazelnuts have skins, cool them and remove their skins by rolling them in a kitchen towel. Set aside the nuts and increase the oven temperature to broil.
4. Halve the tomatoes lengthwise and place them, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Coat the tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then broil the tomatoes until the skins begin to darken and crack, about 5 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet, then peel, core and set aside.
5. In a skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and fry the bread until golden brown. Cool and set aside.
6. In a food processor, coarsely chop the garlic, salt, fried bread and nuts. Add the peppers, tomatoes, paprika, vinegar and parsley and process to a rough paste. Slowly pour the remaining olive oil in a steady stream and process until combined.
Changes I made:
- I couldn't find cascabels, so I just used hot red pepper flakes.
- My almonds were not blanched, had skins and they turned out fine.
- I left the crust on my bread.
- I mistakenly bought cooking sherry and not sherry vinegar, so I used 1T of sherry and 1T of rice vinegar.
It was still delicious.
Next! For the main course, I made Top Chef winner (YAY!) Stephanie Izard's beer-challenge winner mussel dish, grilled corn on the cob with chile-lime compound butter and the aforementioned bread.
(photo to come!)
Official Recipe: Steamed Mussels with Cilantro Vinaigrette & Grilled Bread
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-5
Cilantro Vinaigrette:
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1t Dijon
1 1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed
1t honey
Salt and pepper
Changes: I used olive oil and only 1 cup. It was plenty.
Steamed Mussels:
2T butter
1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb PEI mussels, cleaned, debearded
4 oranges (juice 3, segment one)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 bottles, hoegaarden
Changes: I added an extra 2 T of butter when I put in the orange juice. Also, I only used 1 bottle of Hoegaarden, but it could have used 1.5. Three is just too much damn liquid.
Directions:
Cilantro Vinaigrette:
In blender, blend yolk, vinegar and Dijon. Slowly drizzle in canola and season with remaining ingredients.
Steamed Mussels:
In saucepot, melt butter. Add in fennel, onion andgarlic and sweat for a few minutes. Turn up heat and add in mussels and orange juice; season with salt and pepper. Cover and steam untilmussels open then add in hoegaarden.
To Serve:
In bowl, add mussels and broth. Drizzle with vinaigrette and garnish with orange segments and some chopped cilantro and scallions. Serve with warm grilled bread.
Changes: I didn't grill the bread but rather gave each person a big chunk from which to tear off pieces to dip into the abundant broth.
Very, VERY tasty. This, folks, is why she won this season. Because she's awesome. You'll end up with extra vinaigrette, but I've found it goes nicely on chicken and on swiss chard. And the Hoegaarden goes SO nicely with the citrus/herbal flavors of the dish.
I pretty much winged it on the compound butter. I started with half a stick of room-temperature unsalted butter, added some pimenton and a healthy sprinkle of cayenne, the juice of a lime and some sea salt to taste. Roll it into a little log with plastic wrap and throw it in the fridge to firm up. I'm looking forward to using this on fish and chicken too.
The corn... follow any online grilling instructions. I'm getting lazy right now. I think I cooked them for about 25 minutes. I was peeved that I couldn't find corn on the cob with the whole husk intact at any stores, They were all trimmed and with one side exposed to show off their kernels. Hussy corn! Haven't you ever heard of an air of mystery? Anyhow, I had to wrap it in tin foil because my hussy corn had lost its clothes.
So there was much beer and bread and corn and tastyness. And then there was the cake.
TO BE CONTINUED
"Get off my case!"
*ahem*
Anyhow! What I REALLY want to document at this point in time is the well-thought-out and delicious birthday foods I made for Matt. His birthday was, well, 2 weeks ago. I'm nothing if not not prompt.
Good, I'm glad you're going with me on this one.
Anyhow, I planned to start out with a lovely romesco sauce/paste/dip along with a par-cooked filone from Trader Joe's, baked to crispy completion. However, though I made the romesco, I forgot to serve it. It was going to be a leisurely appetizer as I finished my cooking, however since I got caught up in my runnings-around and Matt was accepting his birthday wishes from his legions of
Official Recipe: Roasted red pepper-Cascabel romesco sauce
May 28, 2008, LA Times
Total time: 45 minutes
Servings: Makes about 2 cups
2 dried Cascabel peppers
1 large red bell pepper
1/4 cup hazelnuts
1/4 cup almonds, blanched and peeled
4 Roma tomatoes
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 ounce good-quality country white bread, sliced, crusts removed
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sweet paprika (preferably Spanish)
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (preferably Jerez)
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Stick a fork through the Cascabels and place tines-down in a bowl (to keep the peppers submerged). Cover with boiling water for at least 30 minutes to soften, then stem, seed and set aside.
2. While the Cascabels are softening, roast the red pepper on a gas stove or under a broiler. Place the peppers in a plastic bag or in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and cool. Peel, stem and seed the peppers (don't rinse); set aside.
3. Toast the nuts separately in the 375-degree oven until golden and aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes. If the hazelnuts have skins, cool them and remove their skins by rolling them in a kitchen towel. Set aside the nuts and increase the oven temperature to broil.
4. Halve the tomatoes lengthwise and place them, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Coat the tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then broil the tomatoes until the skins begin to darken and crack, about 5 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet, then peel, core and set aside.
5. In a skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and fry the bread until golden brown. Cool and set aside.
6. In a food processor, coarsely chop the garlic, salt, fried bread and nuts. Add the peppers, tomatoes, paprika, vinegar and parsley and process to a rough paste. Slowly pour the remaining olive oil in a steady stream and process until combined.
Changes I made:
- I couldn't find cascabels, so I just used hot red pepper flakes.
- My almonds were not blanched, had skins and they turned out fine.
- I left the crust on my bread.
- I mistakenly bought cooking sherry and not sherry vinegar, so I used 1T of sherry and 1T of rice vinegar.
It was still delicious.
Next! For the main course, I made Top Chef winner (YAY!) Stephanie Izard's beer-challenge winner mussel dish, grilled corn on the cob with chile-lime compound butter and the aforementioned bread.
(photo to come!)
Official Recipe: Steamed Mussels with Cilantro Vinaigrette & Grilled Bread
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-5
Cilantro Vinaigrette:
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1t Dijon
1 1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed
1t honey
Salt and pepper
Changes: I used olive oil and only 1 cup. It was plenty.
Steamed Mussels:
2T butter
1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb PEI mussels, cleaned, debearded
4 oranges (juice 3, segment one)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 bottles, hoegaarden
Changes: I added an extra 2 T of butter when I put in the orange juice. Also, I only used 1 bottle of Hoegaarden, but it could have used 1.5. Three is just too much damn liquid.
Directions:
Cilantro Vinaigrette:
In blender, blend yolk, vinegar and Dijon. Slowly drizzle in canola and season with remaining ingredients.
Steamed Mussels:
In saucepot, melt butter. Add in fennel, onion andgarlic and sweat for a few minutes. Turn up heat and add in mussels and orange juice; season with salt and pepper. Cover and steam untilmussels open then add in hoegaarden.
To Serve:
In bowl, add mussels and broth. Drizzle with vinaigrette and garnish with orange segments and some chopped cilantro and scallions. Serve with warm grilled bread.
Changes: I didn't grill the bread but rather gave each person a big chunk from which to tear off pieces to dip into the abundant broth.
Very, VERY tasty. This, folks, is why she won this season. Because she's awesome. You'll end up with extra vinaigrette, but I've found it goes nicely on chicken and on swiss chard. And the Hoegaarden goes SO nicely with the citrus/herbal flavors of the dish.
I pretty much winged it on the compound butter. I started with half a stick of room-temperature unsalted butter, added some pimenton and a healthy sprinkle of cayenne, the juice of a lime and some sea salt to taste. Roll it into a little log with plastic wrap and throw it in the fridge to firm up. I'm looking forward to using this on fish and chicken too.
The corn... follow any online grilling instructions. I'm getting lazy right now. I think I cooked them for about 25 minutes. I was peeved that I couldn't find corn on the cob with the whole husk intact at any stores, They were all trimmed and with one side exposed to show off their kernels. Hussy corn! Haven't you ever heard of an air of mystery? Anyhow, I had to wrap it in tin foil because my hussy corn had lost its clothes.
So there was much beer and bread and corn and tastyness. And then there was the cake.
TO BE CONTINUED
Friday, June 6, 2008
Somebody get me a toothbrush STAT!
I am a huge proponent of online TV, especially since I moved away from the comfort of cable and Tivo. This is my new security blanket because I can't remember when anything is on to save my life. My favorite TV show always starts at least 15 minutes after I think to turn it on. Plus, with my boring, do-nothing job, it's good to be able to re-allocate my TV watching to a time when I am forcedly immobile.
I nearly lost it today.
Now I understand that they sell ad space during the online streaming so that they can make money to spread around (whooo WGA!). HOWEVER, they show the same exact commercial each "break" for the entire show. I can usually cope with this. But when you're airing the same commercial, twice back-to-back per break, for a 2 hour program that occasionally glitches so that you have to go back and watch the commercial break AGAIN, you'll see that ad a good 40 times.
I just got done watching a program sponsored by Crest Pro Care, whose mission in life seems to be to make me terrified that I have gingivitis. To be fair, they had 2 ads they rotated but they were so similar that they were damn near identical to my simple mind. They had 2 good looking (but not so good looking that you question their intelligence) people playing dentists, warning that your toothpaste doesn't guard you against gingivitis, listing off a few vague symptoms which are enough to make me question my mouth after a couple airings. By 3/4 of the way through the show, my stomach acid was churning in fear that my teeth were silently rotting out of my head as my gums bled and receded until they no long support my teeth which just flop out of my festering mouth.
I think about how disgusting people are in this world and I figure that surely I, who try to keep my teeth clean, am not on the low end of the mouth-hygiene continuum. And even if it turns out that I DO have gingivitis, how bad can it be? Can't I mouthwash it away? Or floss it off or... something... OH MY GOD, I'm going to need dentures! They're all coming out, I know it! It's gingivitis, the silent killer. That's what they call it, right?
When I see certain commercials too many times, I start to worry that the universe is trying to tell me something. Like if I see too many pregnancy test commercials, I become verrrrry concerned. A whole lot of Jenny Craig ads make me second-guess the In-N-Out burger I was planning to ingest. Multiple viewings of girls riding bicycles and hawking Valtrex leaves me staring at everybody I know with nothing but suspicion. So maybe someone out there is dropping me hints, like "I know that you've been saying that your gums bleed when you brush because of your new toothbrush, but really. You've had the thing for 3 months now. Pick up some floss. Throw in a bottle of Listerine, just for me."
Is this some new paranoia-marketing technique?
If so, it's fucking working, because I'm getting my ass over to Rite-Aid toute suite after work.
*rocks back and forth in chair*
Prevention is the best medicine. Prevention is the best medicine.
NOTE:
It's good to see that I'm not the only one who puts myself through this shit.
nataliedee.com
Update 6/18!
Today's episode of Hell's Kitchen is brought to you by Monistat.
*sigh*
I nearly lost it today.
Now I understand that they sell ad space during the online streaming so that they can make money to spread around (whooo WGA!). HOWEVER, they show the same exact commercial each "break" for the entire show. I can usually cope with this. But when you're airing the same commercial, twice back-to-back per break, for a 2 hour program that occasionally glitches so that you have to go back and watch the commercial break AGAIN, you'll see that ad a good 40 times.
I just got done watching a program sponsored by Crest Pro Care, whose mission in life seems to be to make me terrified that I have gingivitis. To be fair, they had 2 ads they rotated but they were so similar that they were damn near identical to my simple mind. They had 2 good looking (but not so good looking that you question their intelligence) people playing dentists, warning that your toothpaste doesn't guard you against gingivitis, listing off a few vague symptoms which are enough to make me question my mouth after a couple airings. By 3/4 of the way through the show, my stomach acid was churning in fear that my teeth were silently rotting out of my head as my gums bled and receded until they no long support my teeth which just flop out of my festering mouth.
I think about how disgusting people are in this world and I figure that surely I, who try to keep my teeth clean, am not on the low end of the mouth-hygiene continuum. And even if it turns out that I DO have gingivitis, how bad can it be? Can't I mouthwash it away? Or floss it off or... something... OH MY GOD, I'm going to need dentures! They're all coming out, I know it! It's gingivitis, the silent killer. That's what they call it, right?
When I see certain commercials too many times, I start to worry that the universe is trying to tell me something. Like if I see too many pregnancy test commercials, I become verrrrry concerned. A whole lot of Jenny Craig ads make me second-guess the In-N-Out burger I was planning to ingest. Multiple viewings of girls riding bicycles and hawking Valtrex leaves me staring at everybody I know with nothing but suspicion. So maybe someone out there is dropping me hints, like "I know that you've been saying that your gums bleed when you brush because of your new toothbrush, but really. You've had the thing for 3 months now. Pick up some floss. Throw in a bottle of Listerine, just for me."
Is this some new paranoia-marketing technique?
If so, it's fucking working, because I'm getting my ass over to Rite-Aid toute suite after work.
*rocks back and forth in chair*
Prevention is the best medicine. Prevention is the best medicine.
NOTE:
It's good to see that I'm not the only one who puts myself through this shit.
nataliedee.com
Update 6/18!
Today's episode of Hell's Kitchen is brought to you by Monistat.
*sigh*
Monday, June 2, 2008
I'm intimidated by winos.
Not those kind of winos.
The fancy kind.
Like in Sideways.
While wasting time at work, I stumbled upon a comic that reminded me of this dream I had last night. I was at some kind of friggin wine tasting with a bunch of snooty types. Some upscale-boho looking broad (who looks, now that I think about it, a lot like Charlotte Gainsbourgh) starts offering me cheeses, which of course I like, and then she's all, "That goes so well with this wine here blah blah", to which I say, "Awesome" because wine's right up there with cheese.
Then she starts in on, "This Loigdfsigfdkmkf offering is from the Mngkliuykxz region. Do you know where that is?"
Slightly-buzzed Dream Dana mumbles, through a mouthful of cheese, "Erm... no."
CG's snooty wine-enthusiast doppelganger then fruitlessly tries to prod me into coming up with the answer. "Its from the Kuhloduy by the Ljhlfsduyojmjg Mountain range... in Australia... do you know what state?... New South Wales...?"
"Ohhh. Okay."
The dialogue wasn't important, but it continued with her describing the wines and asking me what I tasted and me feeling very uncomfortable and making shit up.
Despite all this, I still really want to head home and have some friggin wine and cheese.
Thanks for reminding me about my lame dream, Toothpaste For Dinner.
The fancy kind.
Like in Sideways.
While wasting time at work, I stumbled upon a comic that reminded me of this dream I had last night. I was at some kind of friggin wine tasting with a bunch of snooty types. Some upscale-boho looking broad (who looks, now that I think about it, a lot like Charlotte Gainsbourgh) starts offering me cheeses, which of course I like, and then she's all, "That goes so well with this wine here blah blah", to which I say, "Awesome" because wine's right up there with cheese.
Then she starts in on, "This Loigdfsigfdkmkf offering is from the Mngkliuykxz region. Do you know where that is?"
Slightly-buzzed Dream Dana mumbles, through a mouthful of cheese, "Erm... no."
CG's snooty wine-enthusiast doppelganger then fruitlessly tries to prod me into coming up with the answer. "Its from the Kuhloduy by the Ljhlfsduyojmjg Mountain range... in Australia... do you know what state?... New South Wales...?"
"Ohhh. Okay."
The dialogue wasn't important, but it continued with her describing the wines and asking me what I tasted and me feeling very uncomfortable and making shit up.
Despite all this, I still really want to head home and have some friggin wine and cheese.
Thanks for reminding me about my lame dream, Toothpaste For Dinner.
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