7 posts tagged “food”

...time for PEEPS!!

I don't even care to eat peeps, but the sugary enthusiasm that so many people gain from eating (or mutilating) them is just infectious.  For example, did you know about Peep Jousting?

The messy and largely self-entertaining game, "Peep Jousting" is played with a microwave oven.

This is a game played With A Microwave Oven.  How can it not be a winner?

Anyway, in case you want to partake:

One takes two Peeps, and licks the right-hand side of each until sticky. A toothpick is thereby adhered to each Peep, pointing forward like a jousting lance. The Peeps are then set in a microwave, squared off against one another, and heated up. As they expand, the toothpick lances thrust toward each opponent, and the winner is the one that does not pop and deflate (or fizzle and die). Both usually are eaten after the competition, however, regardless who the victor was, calling into question the nature of "winning" in such a circumstance.[1] This folkloric tradition has been noted by the Washington Post. Peeps jousting has also been called such names as "mortal peep fight."[2]
--courtesy of wikipedia, of course.

I was reminded of peeps and various other treats by stumbling around on Vox, running into Serendipity's blog again.  I didn't realize it was hers until I saw the post about the hot cocoa again.  She's also got a fabulous post about Cheese Etiquette, which I encourage all of you to read and remember.

Speaking of cheese (one of the motives behind this post), I got to hang out with Rupert last night.  Our original destination was Dairy Queen, but there is only one within a 20-mile radius, and it closes at 7.  Something I found out when getting there at 715.  So we found the Golden Spoon (that replaced Ben & Jerry's in Hillcrest)... it was okay, but no Dairy Queen.

Then we decided to wander across the street to Wine Steals, which was a brilliant choice.  We got a flight each (the first glass was high-fivable, the other two were decent but not my favorite), and split a half-board (cheese, olives, meats, bread, olive oil mixed with balsamic, fruits).  It was very VERY good times, and I'm going to recommend it to everyone.  He was also nice enough to treat me, which made it taste even better. ;) 

That joint was so good, by the way, that it makes me want to host bi-monthly wine-and-cheese parties.  You wouldn't think it would be so difficult.  Why not have a group that hosts it at different locations every few weeks?  It's probably cheaper than going to that place (although we could meet up there if no one wants to have it at their home)... and you could be in your house clothes. 

Sounds like a good idea, that means its' flake factor is in the high percentiles.  Let's hope not.  My collaboration of friends has gotten smaller, but more consistent.  We shall see.

Anyway, I'm off to finish doing laundry and installing the Sims [complete collection!!!11!].  Yes, it was already installed, but these are the trials we must face when we lose a hard drive.   Bastards.  Just like the washers & dryers outside... why must they forsake me?  Why must they shut off two minutes into their cycle, forcing me to wait and reselect?  Why must one of the two dryers smell like mildew, hence making my clothes smell the same?  WHY MUST THEY BE A MAGNET FOR TRANSIENT URINE?!?!?!

...from what, I don't know.  Winter?  It's no surprise that winter doesn't really show up here in San Diego*, but there is a definite period of less-than-summer.  The weather is cool, the days are a little more grey and rainy than normal, and people seem to be glum.  I enjoy it, as it's a nice break from the constant sunshine.  Plus I can wear my scarf!  And comfy clothes!

I'm also taking a break from a three-day break, most of which has been spent leveling my BE 'lock and feeling weak.  The two are not related, despite what some stupid articles might give the impression of.  Whatever bug has gone around seems to be tougher this year than last, although I hear the same thing every year about how someone got hit harder than ever before. 

My goal lately, both aiding in a speedy recovery as well as my general health, is to fix my diet.  Things like trying vegetarianism for a couple weeks and adding a multivitamin to my daily diet probably can't hurt me. Daisy took me to Jyoti-Bihanga last week and I had the most awesome stir-fry of all time.  It was one of those meals you want to just keep eating until you can't move.  In fact, it was so incredible that it prompted me to almost go completely vegetarian and buy tofu.

Did you hear me?

There is tofu in my refrigerator.  On purpose. 

I have plans for it that don't involve throwing the brick at someone's head. 

This must be a sign of that whole 'responsible adult' phase that's been cropping up lately.  Oh, before I launch into that (and speaking of veggies), I'd also like to say that a trip to 99 Ranch almost made me go completely vegan.  Not the whole store (or the stench of fish), just the meat/deli section.  You know what?  Just do a Google image search for "chicken paw".  There was also a large array of "pig's feet" and "shoulder of lamb".  I was alright until I - for some unknown reason - decided that all this meat needed a closer inspection.  There it was... tendon, bone and all.  Chicken Paw of Doom.

Something horrible happened in my stomach, and I almost made the solid decision to never bring an animal product into my life again. 

I love a good steak, juicy piece of chicken, or even a nice tuna sandwich.  Scrambled eggs?  Milk and cookies?  Bring it on!  But man oh man, something about that chicken paw made me recoil in horror.  I've never even been able to use that phrase properly and know what it felt like. 

Anyway, I'm going to make my diet predominately vegetarian until I start feeling less of these flu/cold symptoms.  It usually helps. 

Today's goal was just to buy some cat litter.  Really.  I cannot, however, be trusted to grocery shop alone, especially half-dazed and wanting to detox.  So a full cart of groceries later, I came home and started cleaning.  Oh, before the store there was a stop to the library, which ended in a three-foot high stack of books, mostly about home decor, decorating small spaces, and keeping yo' sh/t organized.

It all started with the cat litter... then I found some weird mold on the windows (oh the joys of waterfront living)... then of course there was a need to vacuum.  This then led to needing to air the place out, which led to cleaning up and attempting to cat-proof the patio.

I think for now I'll just finish clearing the giant mess that came out of 2 plastic bins, and get the laundry started.  The actual throwing out/sorting of the items in the bin is something that can wait for another day, when I'm not exhausted.  Then I need to start on a purse for my friend as well as this deck idea that's been nagging at me for about a year. 

The drunkbunny stuff, since you all care, has been blossoming nicely.  I finished up a tattoo sketch for someone that actually looks like a tattoo sketch, and less like a chunk of random art.  Also, cleaning the apartment makes me feel A) like the mold/dander isn't making me as sick, and B) productive, since things are easier to get to and put away.

I have a lot to blog about, but there are other things that need to be taken care of.  So instead of an epic entry trying to play catch-up, I'm going to leave you with this list that got sent to me. Some of which I added to and edited.

Ways To Tell You're Growing Up

1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.

2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.

3. You actually keep healthy food in the fridge - and the beer takes up less space.

4. 6:00AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.

5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.

6. You watch the weather channel.

7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of 'hook up' and 'break up'.

8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.

9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as 'dressed up'.

10. You're the one calling the police because those f&*#ing kids next door won't turn down the stereo.

11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.

12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.

13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.

14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.

15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.

16. You take naps.

17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.

18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3am would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.

19. You go to the drugstor for Ibuprofen and antacids, not for condoms and pregnancy tests.

20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer 'pretty good shit'.

21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.

22. 'I just can't drink the way I used to' replaces 'I'm never going to drink that much again'.

23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.

24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.

25. When you find out your friend is pregnant, you congratulate them instead of asking 'Oh shit, what the hell happened?'

26. Taping up a poster of a 90's boy band or a Bud Light girl no longer seems like quality interior design. Besides, the tape will pull the paint off the wall.

27. Paying bills is no longer something that just happens to other people.

28. A dishwasher is a luxury, not just another name for your mother.

Bonus - You read this entire list looking desperately for a sign that doesn't apply to you and can't find one to save your sorry old ass.

*The history of Saint San Diego, also known as Saint Didacus of Alcalá, may be of some interest to you.  There's grave-robbin' involved!

It feels like this past week has taken much longer to get through than preceding weeks.  For those of you who've been paying attention, my Mondays are like your Sundays, so I usually spend them just chillin' here in front of the PC.  After this entry it will be oatmeal time, and then probably work-on-the-apartment time.  Things are going well with that and it's starting to look decent.

So.... a week ago.  Monday.  I went to visit Ivonne and saw her beautiful bebe, Miss Princess Reza.  That kid is just too much, goodness gracious.  Then it was time to meet with Teresa to play catch-up over food.  Ivonne convinced me to go to Tajima but between my car acting up and Teresa not wanting to go, we went somewhere much closer: Rancho's.  So a trip to Tajima is in the works, and whoever wants to go, hit me up.

After Rancho's my car was dropped off at the shop to the tune of a new light panel/headlight, 2 new tires and some front-end alignment.  Scratch that, I didn't have a ride home so I came back on Tuesday to drop it off in the morning.  Around 430 my coworker helped me out and gave me a ride over - however they didn't have the paperwork done so they let me just take the car, and said I could do the paperwork and pay when the light panel came in.  SWEET!  Free stuff is nice.  It came in sometime on Friday, so I swung by on my lunch to have them install it.

They then discovered that one of the gasket valves was leaking some uber-flammable sh*t all over my exhaust, which apparently meant they were surprised my car hadn't caught on fire like... last week.  Not sweet.  They were going to have to order a valve and steam-clean my engine, which brought my total up from 250 to 370, and you know.... that sucks but I don't want to get blown up.  Anyway, 90 minutes later they gave me a ride back to work and I stayed until 6 to make up the time.  

Saturday I biked to work at 1130, and discovered that it was pretty freaking dark out an hour or so before I had to go home.  J gave me a ride home, and managed to walk in during the middle of a screaming match in my office... between an autistic security guard and one of our event coordinators.  SWEEEEEEEEEET.  Got home right around 8 and prepared to go see Flight of the Navigator (DER FLUG DES NAVIGATORRRRS) with Mel.  The original plan was to go to LA with her and Teresa on Sunday for a day of girly tourism, but my car being out of commission sort of stopped that.  Since she lives Way The Hell Up In Carlsbad, and Teresa didn't really feel like going out much, the plan was for her to roll to the movies with me, crash overnight at my place, and then just hang out Sunday (yesterday).

Things worked out very well.  The movie was great, we passed out immediately after getting home, and woke up somewhere around 11 before heading out to breakfast.  Then it was a quick trip by my work to walk around before heading to my favorite beach.  We hung out for a good while there, marveling over how we can never see the forest for the trees and watching a cute little family enjoy the day.  We made a quick stop at my other favorite mediation spot, and although they've fenced in the houses and planted more shrubbery (NO HERRINGS THOUGH), the bench is still there and the view is still spectacular.

On the way back we picked up A Steak and some salad-makin' ingredients, then went to hang out on my roof with the food, seriously enjoying the remainder of the day.  There were no neighbors out, the weather was gorgeous, and it was just like a little tiny bit of heaven.

In summary, I love George's (and totally have that same umbrella), but...

Salad of Justice, including leftover ingredients which will last me several days: under $20
Steak of Doom for Two: $6.50
Recreating a George's experience in the comfort of my own home basically for free:  PRICELESS

In summary, yesterday was a very very fantastic day, and it made me really appreciate living here.

This whole entry could have been avoided if I wasn't lazy or hungry, as you may have suspected.

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My weapon tonight in the fight against hunger* was to call up the wrath of Pita Pit.  Mmm, tasty epic goodness... all wrapped up in a wheat pita!  Normally this "white versus wheat" choice isn't even a discussion I'd enter into, it's "Wheat, please" without a second thought.  Wheat has been my grain of choice for quite awhile now, this decision was further fueled somewhere years ago when I read that white bread has generally more evil qualities.  Something about adding to the bloated feeling you get after eating; who can really be sure?

Anyway, three or four bites into my chicken-swiss-romaine-black olive-avocado Feast of Justice, I realized a potential disaster may occur.  The pita... was crumbling!  It didn't arrive quite as it should, soft and slightly yielding to my teeth with chewy wheat goodness.  Wheat pitas should be fluffy, like this, and less like something involved in carnitas.  (Not that I've got anything against carnitas, but now was not the time!)  

The pita itself wasn't hard with staleness, but more on the frail side of things.  As if whoever pounded the dough decided that this particular pita needed to be a little thinner, and perhaps baked a little longer.  I don't know.

I do know that the first thing one does after unwrapping a Pita Pit Pita is to survey their prize, and figure out which end to start eating first, much like a giant burrito.  You can sort of guess which end has the most lettuce and begin at the opposite end, so that it doesn't implode into a salad on your lap.  There is greater danger of this if you're eating with just the large wax paper wrap as a napkin/plate, say, if you wanted to be online or watch TV and eat at the same time.  Which I often do, thanks.

Another bite or two proved my fears correct, the pita was now turning into more of a hand-held salad, with large sections of wheat shell holding it together as an afterthought.  What to do?!?  I was caught in the crossfire of that common dilemma - stuffing my face, avocado be damned, or trying to eat in a somewhat contained manner.  

Normally, when less than half a pita remains and it shows signs of not being able to hold together, a fork and plate will suffice.  A trip to the kitchen just seemed so... far, so after surveying the damage I decided to throw all caution to the wind and dig in like a frat boy at Free Wing Night.  It was on!  Like Voltron, maybe!

There was no turning back.  The mess was epic.  Romaine lettuce and black olives were everywhere.  Those fancy face masks are made out of avocado anyway, right?  Man.  With the end of that feast finally in sight I realized I was essentially holding two handfuls of lettuce, and opted to forgo that last bit in favor of trying to clean up with the single napkin they included.  Shortly after I realized the remainder of my meal was still left: a bag of Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar chips, a raspberry iced tea and a chocolate chip cookie.  Pita Pit's cookies are nothing short of glorious and I will freely admit that both of us in the house will order half a dozen to save for later.

In short, it was a very tasty meal, so congrats to me.  For those of you who don't have a local Pita Pit, I am sorry for your loss.  The great news is that you can own your own store!  This should solve all your Christmas shopping problems, clearly.

*Wow, I really did go there.

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Reading through the Penny Arcade blog, I came across this article regarding Heavenly Sword.  For some reason it reminds me of Myst, which is confusing, considering I have never actually seen any screenshots of HS, along with the fact that this article was the first time I had ever heard the title mentioned.  

I also have no idea what Lair is, and this is the point where you should reference my subject line.  Is it a console?  Is it a PS3 addition, like the Game Genie was?  Oh yes, 1995, I'm here with your plastic goodness.  My stern resolve to not Google right now can be further proved by the fact that I can't recall when the Game Genie actually came out, despite the fact that I did own one (along with numerous strategy guides and cheat codes).

My lack of current events in the gaming world would be shocking to some of you, but I'm okay with that.  My lack of Google Searching is because I'm trying to cut back on my online usage, and there's nothing that will up the factor more than trying to reference thirty things while typing a blog post.  The internet is ridiculous in its' draw to mere mortals, and I must fight.

+ + +

In other news, my weakness for all things Martha Stewart has resurfaced.  This happens almost every year near the close of summer.  Our four seasons are as follows:  Nice, Really Nice, Nice But A Little Chilly, and finally cycling back to Nice again.  This doesn't dissuade my inner clock from putting on an apron and pointing out that it's almost time for mugs of cocoa and little placemats with die-cut leaf patterns.  

There's a small part of my soul that is coated in all things Disgruntled Housewife, and it's been perking its' ears recently.  I want to make napkin holders, embroider table skirts, perhaps find cute little seashell holders for our toothbrushes.  Watching the Martha Stewart show on Monday pushed me into making the Ikea trip for random storage containers and wicker baskets, however what really put me into overdrive was, I believe, the visit from J's parents.  

I haven't updated many of you online since early in the last week of August, because my mind is just getting out of vacation mode.  This winter I want to focus more on my surroundings instead of my body, and hope that the change in atmosphere will make me feel better about myself without worrying how fast some stupid grapefruit diet will work.  I can guarantee that a happy, giggly, curvy 140lb Me is better than a cranky, bitter, bony 110lb Me.  There's my motto for life, it only took the better part of three decades to figure out.  

Stepping out of that tangent, when J's parents came to visit they decided to surprise us with a TV.  They, primarily his mom, decided that we needed to clean the place up a bit - not just washing the dishes either.  We spent almost a full five hours scrubbing, dusting, washing and throwing out a lot of crap, which seems to have pushed some hidden button inside me.  I've found that things are easier to keep clean when there aren't a lot of things... to keep clean.  

Yesterday Ikea called me to the dark side.  A desk organizer, neat cloth wall baskets in the Kroken style, a black steel rail to hang cookware over the sink, and a bunch of baskets for our bathroom stuff.  After putting most of it in (the sink rail went in today), I decided to reorganize the entire bathroom.  Two hours and five bags of trash later, the bathroom was cool enough for Brak to hang out in - with extra storage space, who would have thought?

Today's goal is to clean out the closet, but my back is saying to give it a rest.  We shall see.  The apartment will never look like this but I'm trying.  Martha Stewart may not be everyone's favorite, but you have to admit she does have some great ideas.

http://disgruntledhousewife.com/ has been one of my favorite sites since ....who knows.  98 or 99.  I have no idea why I love Nikol's site/blog so much, but I do.

So... partake!

See also:  http://disgruntledhousewife.com/wordpress/ for further reference to proof of her ....zing.  I believe she is still selling random yarn-and-knitting-related things, which I keep wanting to buy but do not.  Much like reading her blog always makes me want to knit, but the embroidery is failing and spending $80 on knitting supplies that will go unused is just not smart right now.  Or maybe ever.

For those of you following along and deciding to cook your own appetizers to munch while you watch the show: if you ever decide to bake a veggie mix*, take it easy on the olive oil or be prepared to spend some time with a nice big bottle of Pepto Bismol.  Yergh, I have no idea what happened, exactly, but Jason is making me some tea and these crunchy SunChips (mm!) seem to be soaking up the evil in my bowels.

Actually the evil is more of a lurching in my stomach, I just like to type the word bowels.

Today the Amazing Rent-A-Psychic stopped by our work to give us free five-minute readings.  More on all this later, when the beast in my stomach has hushed up a bit.  My mind needs to not focus on anything, so that means it's time to go play some GOLF!

*chopped mexican squash, green beans and bella mushrooms. just raw veggies chopped up and baked for 15 minutes in olive oil at about 375.  it was a great idea in theory, i suppose.