This is more of a reminder to myself than anything. Maybe a bit of a declaration of intent so that, you know, I already said I was going to do it so I better at least give it a shot.
I'm going to attempt to make clothes.
Yeah.
Gettin crafty.
There's this awesome mint green Hello Kitty sewing machine, a bit smaller than a standard sewing machine, nicely portable, good to store and fucking adorable. It also got really good performance reviews, so this only justifies my desire to purchase a mint green sewing machine with a cartoon cat emblazoned on its casing.
Plus, I've been finding all these sweet websites on how to make things, providing patterns for cute clothes and such. I've been thinking about the sewing machine aspect of this for a while merely for use during DK Sweatshop work. I think that trying to make my own clothes would be bad-ass and empowering and thrifty and artistic and, quite possibly, a total train wreck which ends in me only using the sewing machine to make pirate sashes and genie belts. Even still, not a total loss.
I'm going to make clothes.
It's not going to be Project Runway up in my apartment...
(More like Project Run Away! Hey-Oh!)
... but I think I'll give it a shot.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
I don't get it!!!!!
I never really wanted a Facebook page to begin with.
You see, I'm a staunch fan of the MySpace. I got into that about a year before the damn thing blew up and everybody and their moms got profiles, so I was really happy when it got more popular and I began connecting with people I hadn't heard from forever.
Apparently this wasn't enough for some people.
So I was bullied into getting a Facebook account.
*sigh*
I just. Don't. Get it.
Now with MySpace, sure, there's a fair amount of vapid spamming and people trying to collect friends like the Hungry Hungry Hippos, but you can typically avoid that. People send you messages, comments and event invitations. Cool. Fine, I can handle that. The bulletin system is good because if you want to ignore the damn things, you can. If someone sends too many stupid ones, you have the option to delete them from you friend list on the spot! Instant retribution! You can also personalize your page with a little creative HTML code and don't have to rely on a bunch of applications to fill up your space.
Fucking Facebook? I get hardly any ACTUAL messages or comments from my Facebook connections, who are a group that varies from old college professors to good buddies from school in Hong Kong to a guy I've known since I was about 4 but haven't seen in the last 8 years. I just got a friend-request today from a guy that I know went to my high-school, I was never really buddies with and of whom my strongest memory is him squirting Elmer's glue up his nose in 2nd grade. I added him anyway though. Why? Because I know he will never ACTUALLY attempt to contact me. I never hear from ANY of these people! I'm sure this is partly because I log on about once a month, but this doesn't stop them from "poking" me, sending me "drinks" and "plants" and any number of invitiations to take a quiz or join a group. Allegedly, I'm a Zombie, a Vampire AND a Slayer. I don't think I should be able to be any of these things.
Now one might read this and just feel that I'm being an anti-social Facebook user. This is probably true but in all fairness, Facebook pushed me away. If it wasn't cluttered up with so much stupid, I might give it the time of day.
If you want me, I'll be on MySpace changing my song, updating my preferences and sending personalized messages. And feeling very smug about it.
You see, I'm a staunch fan of the MySpace. I got into that about a year before the damn thing blew up and everybody and their moms got profiles, so I was really happy when it got more popular and I began connecting with people I hadn't heard from forever.
Apparently this wasn't enough for some people.
So I was bullied into getting a Facebook account.
*sigh*
I just. Don't. Get it.
Now with MySpace, sure, there's a fair amount of vapid spamming and people trying to collect friends like the Hungry Hungry Hippos, but you can typically avoid that. People send you messages, comments and event invitations. Cool. Fine, I can handle that. The bulletin system is good because if you want to ignore the damn things, you can. If someone sends too many stupid ones, you have the option to delete them from you friend list on the spot! Instant retribution! You can also personalize your page with a little creative HTML code and don't have to rely on a bunch of applications to fill up your space.
Fucking Facebook? I get hardly any ACTUAL messages or comments from my Facebook connections, who are a group that varies from old college professors to good buddies from school in Hong Kong to a guy I've known since I was about 4 but haven't seen in the last 8 years. I just got a friend-request today from a guy that I know went to my high-school, I was never really buddies with and of whom my strongest memory is him squirting Elmer's glue up his nose in 2nd grade. I added him anyway though. Why? Because I know he will never ACTUALLY attempt to contact me. I never hear from ANY of these people! I'm sure this is partly because I log on about once a month, but this doesn't stop them from "poking" me, sending me "drinks" and "plants" and any number of invitiations to take a quiz or join a group. Allegedly, I'm a Zombie, a Vampire AND a Slayer. I don't think I should be able to be any of these things.
Now one might read this and just feel that I'm being an anti-social Facebook user. This is probably true but in all fairness, Facebook pushed me away. If it wasn't cluttered up with so much stupid, I might give it the time of day.
If you want me, I'll be on MySpace changing my song, updating my preferences and sending personalized messages. And feeling very smug about it.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Things I've missed out on
All these years.
*sigh*
In the 22 years since its release, I had never seen "Pretty in Pink".
Turns out I really like it. The only thing I didn't like about "Pretty in Pink" is Andie's shoddy treatment of Duckie. I gotta say, I have a bit of a retroactive crush on Jon Cryer circa 1986. This is not much unlike when I was 5 and, thanks to re-runs, had a thing for Davy Jones of The Monkees. But come on! How can you not love a man who appreciates Otis Redding?
Even Annie Potts looks a little turned on.
I've also been watching The Mary Tyler Moore show (thanks Hulu!) and appreciating the genius that is Valerie Harper.
*sigh*
In the 22 years since its release, I had never seen "Pretty in Pink".
Turns out I really like it. The only thing I didn't like about "Pretty in Pink" is Andie's shoddy treatment of Duckie. I gotta say, I have a bit of a retroactive crush on Jon Cryer circa 1986. This is not much unlike when I was 5 and, thanks to re-runs, had a thing for Davy Jones of The Monkees. But come on! How can you not love a man who appreciates Otis Redding?
Even Annie Potts looks a little turned on.
I've also been watching The Mary Tyler Moore show (thanks Hulu!) and appreciating the genius that is Valerie Harper.
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
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