| Gravitas

I am happy to report that the tv series, 24 is OVER. That was new and fun in the beginning and then it slowly got more and more ridiculous. We went from creating a sacred episode viewing set up in our home for Monday nights, to watching it with dinner, lights and pleasant conversation. I suppose I could have just stopped watching, but by then i felt like I had simply invested too many hours to just quit so close to the end.

There's a lot of shows ending right now. This is how I know that summer is almost here. I am happy about that.


| Eat my Quiche

I made my first quiche last weekend and brought it to a friend's place for Sunday brunch. It was spinach, onion and bacon. I've always wanted to make one and I will definitely do it again. Sorry that I didn't grab a photo of it.


| Step Number Two

I completely ruined some cookies for the first time ever. I mean, i'm great at methodically following directions/rules which is why i think i've never had much fun in life, but i'm a decent baker. But this was the first time that something had ever TRULY NOT come out.

Here's how it went down: I was in the kitchen saturday night preparing the quiche ingredients (frying bacon and squeezing spinach dry) and figured I may as well make these cookies that Snail won't leave me alone about. Its a recipe I came across in a cookbook for chewy chocolate cookies. I'm certain they are the same cookies that he LOVES that we buy at the grocery store bakery. Anyway, i'm almost done and about to mix in the black walnuts.

"Snail, read that recipe to me again?"

"Preheat the oven -snip- Beat the egg whites...."

I didn't beat the egg whites and I didn't even SEE that part of the recipe because the #2 step was seperated from the other steps as it was ABOVE a photo. Sigh.

My keen baking instincts told me something was strange but the smell of bacon distracted me. What can I say?

I cooked some of them anyway, and they were awful. The end.

Friday 6:30 | MAY 20

Its a good thing we bought a coffee table. It's our first coffee table purchase as a couple. A couple of 10 years.

Its good that we bought a coffee table because the books that used to be on the couch, preventing me from sitting down, are now on the coffee table.

I have to hand it to Snail. Not only does he have a bunch of books, but he ACTUALLY looks at them. Daily. I continue to be amazed by this. I'm rather proud to be with someone that enjoys books.

Thursday 9:54PM | MAY 19

The Swiss Muesli verdict: tasty. I ate a cup of it last night and a cup of it this morning. The yogurt was lowfat brown cow vanilla and the muesli had been purchased in bulk and it included some date-like dried fruits.
Next time i do it, i will have it all dialed in, now that I know what i'm dealing with. I will use straight oats (like that recipe called for), some honey, the yogurt and some fresh sliced berries to take it over the top from hum to yum.

Speaking of breakfast, I know exactly what i'll be having tomorrow morning. Tomorrow, I have to make a special stop on the way to work and that special stop takes me right by a nice little dirty taco dive. There, after my allergy shots, i'll enjoy the taco with eggs, onions, tomatoes and jalapenos on a corn tortilla. Then i will travel onward to drop off my paintings at a photo place which will shoot my work and then i'll be ready to hit galleries for real.

Wednesday 9:53PM | MAY 18

Remember that chicken that I baked the other night? It came out ok but i remembered that I don't really like chicken that much but now I can cross it off my list. "Bake a whole chicken." DONE.

Monday night I made this for some friends that came over to watch 24. The salmon wasn't cooked in the middle. This is funny because if there's one thing that we cook more than any other in this house, it would be salmon. Except that normally i'm not the one cooking it and normally its not being cooked in the oven. Oh well, these things happen.

I have two cups of Swiss Muesli in the fridge ready. One for thursday morning and one for friday morning. One for thursday morning and one for dessert right now. I mean, how can I skip dessert tonight when i know that cute little first cup of Swiss Muesli is waiting in the fridge? I want to try it so that I can say that I hate it. Cause i think its going to taste like raw oats in a granola way. And if i never ate another granola (bar), I would be very happy. But i like saying Swiss Muesli and I'll give it a try. Swiss Muesli.

Sunday MAY 15

Still doing some spring cleaning over here: the fish tank, the garage, the closet. These are the times when i'm thankful for a moderately sized house; a little bit less to clean.

I finally tried steel-cut outs yesterday morning and didn't realize initially how long they took to cook. Beyond the extra time, i would say that are deliciuos; a lot like brown rice in their chewy/crunchiness. They will be my weekend oatmeal of choice. Maybe soon we will try Swiss Muesli, which a friend was telling me about. This is made from raw oats, yogurt, nuts, fruits and some honey. I like the idea of making up a batch in advance and having it all ready for the weekday mornings. But then, there's lots of ideas that I like....

Tonight, we are baking a whole chicken. It will be my first such experience. I expect good results. Plus, we bought some carrots, onions, celery and potatoes to go with it. We aren't following a recipe. Snail has it in his mind how to do it and he hasn't been wrong yet.

Wednesday MAY 11

Readers, I would like to introduce you to the new CinnaPretzel by Cinnabon! WOW, dude! Awesome! We saw it at our Target Greatland the other night. They had some display ones in the case, but i didn't get to see a real one in action. This is America. USA! #1!!

Seriously, though, isn't it hilarious?

Friday Evening MAY 6

We went to dinner and home depot and I thought I would give my dad and stepmother a call when we got home to share our evening's adventures.

I dialed their number and as soon as it rang at their house once, the beep started--too late for me to hang up. The beep means that the phone is dying cause it hasn't been hung up in a while. Its embarrassing.

Here you may be thinking, "Just call them on a different phone." Well, not so fast. You see, we live in a cell phone dead zone. You can't get reception in our house, or outside of it, or even down the street.

And here you could be saying, "Don't you have another phone in the house?" and I would say, "Yeah, there's a $10 phone in the back room but its not always plugged in and even when it is, the line sounds like you're riding in a biplane."

This whole situation about trying to call my dad is made even funnier because I had already been laughing earilier in the evening about our 'barely-getting-by' phone situation.

On our way out the door to dinner, I saw the answering machine flashing and played the message. Someone from work had called, looking for a file. When you're home sick from work, you WANT to take any calls that come from work.

D'oh!!

I probably hadn't heard the phone ring because 1} I had turned off the ringer on the cordless phone so that I could nap and 2} I turned off the ringer on the cheap phone so I could nap and I didn't get the message because even though i turn off the ringer occasionally, I don't ever think to check for messages because 1} who would be calling me? and 2} I don't feel like talking to anyone.

Most of the time this system works ok, because 1} hardly anyone's ever calling us and 2} if I DO want to talk to you, i'll just call you later.

I like that Snail and I care equally little about phones in general.

Wednesday MAY 4

Somebody used my checkcard to make an unlawful purchase off ebay. Now, I get to be that person in front of you, in line, writing a check like I'm living in 1993. (for 7-10 business days)

I'm home sick again. I've been sick since friday night. What gives? First it was stomach related, and once I got rid of that, I developed a head cold thing. I love cleaning the kitchen when i don't feel good. The rotten chicken smell should be gone soon. I took the trash out 10 minutes ago. I'm waiting for the smell to dissipate before I attempt to make breakfast and hot tea. Should I have oatmeal or eggs? Sweet or savory?

I don't want to be sick on a cloudy day.

MONDAY MAY 2

Snail and I ate at Fuddruckers on saturday.

I still think that its the best burger, but no one wants to agree with me. I guess its not cool to like Fuddruckers. I understand that its completely crappy in there.....dark with weird decorations. And with kids running around, combined with darkness, I always look twice before I sit. How can they keep a place like that clean? Kids and food equals well lit conditions for thorough cleaning.

But anyway, despite all that, the burgers come on a buttered flaky bun. They have a huge bar of topppings. You can choose between shredded or whole leaves of lettuce. You can place as much or as little of whatever on your burger. How can that be a bad thing?

What I would love to see one day, in the adult fuddruckers, is a gourmet topping bar with special cheeses, dressing and whatnot. Snail could put blue cheese on his and bacon or horseradish and there would be avocados for my burger.

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I like these Calypso dishes by Crate and Barrel: sky blue and vibrant spring green.

Checkout these wooden paper plates at Plum Party.

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Where's April ?