someone from wasila, AK checked out the blog day before yesterday. how funny. usually i get my friends, whom i mostly can identify, an odd number of people from poland, to which i ascribe their visitations to this post, the occaisional interloper from ohio and people searching out eight bells.

in any event, i am off today, work tomorrow and then off for the holiday and the week end. i’ve got to wrap presents, make a corn timbale, find my fake white and pink christmas tree, clean, exercise, podcast, not eat everything not nailed down, play with the magpie, mail the 10 christmas cards i actually wrote that are sitting on the table next to my giant chair, and otherwise navel gaze vis a vis my wedding.

moments ago i saw my friends’ sparkly fingernails and know that i must have them for my nuptuals. bridezilla, party of one??

but i digress.

it’s cold out, but my sweetie is coming and i get to spend a christmas with my beloved. yay me! yay us! i am cooking my families traditional christmas eve dinner on christmas day:

• prime rib
• yorkshire pudding (officially known simply as “yorkie” to us)
• corn timbale (like a pudding/bread)
• STOUFFERS creamed spinach (yours won’t taste better then theirs anyway, nor will it have a slightly way-too-green color that is both vaguely scary and totally festive)
• mystery dessert to be named later (i know what i am making, but just in case trace reads this, its a surprise)

what is funny to me as an adult is realizing how much time and money went into these dinners my mom used to do. because on christmas day, she always made a pork tenderloin (not my most favorite) but thats like, 200 dollars of MEAT in 48 hours, not to mention gifts, wine, etc etc etc..

our prime rib was on special.

Seeing my recent contribution to cakewrecks made the cut…

 Yup, those are real cakes so artfully arranged at the local FarmFresh. Yum!

A few other random things:

• Smodcast- I have written about this before. I just can never get over how such a scatological, pot fueled, dick-centric podcast can make me laugh so hard. I mean, I have never watched a Judd Apatow movie precisely because I think it would be described by the aforementioned descriptors. And yet….
• Scurvy Monkey Podcast - somewhat as above. I mean, it’s more “guy”-centric and if they are smoking, well, I have no knowledge of that. But they too are cracking me up, between the random discussions about death and dying, 5 things that remind me of my BFF (the porkchop incident?) and occasional Disney references.  Apparently, they share a listenership with the podcast I do. That I can’t quite figure out, but then again… random + co-hosts you can’t tell apart (I know one is a “monkey” thats it).. OK! similarities!

Here is how my vast extravaganza of tomato plants are going:

Witness: these two plants have actually produced fruit!

Strangely, though, this one just keeps growing upward and more spindly by the day 

But this one really really sad one, it has looked like it was dead since about a week after I bought it. Can you see

how it’s spitting up two sad sad little tomato-ettes? I will let you know if they actually turn red. Or grow. Or shrivel up like little raisins.

I rarely go to the movies, though I feel like I see a fair share of movies. I just never see things right away, and then, whoops!, seems like it’s out of the theater and then I’ve missed it. Part of my problem, really, is that I listen to several movie review podcasts, love gossip and Hollywood news, so, though I miss things in the theater, I often feel that I know allllll about them, as good as seeing them, really (and quite easier on the pocketbook, right?).

However, a mere two days after it has opened in wide release, I hauled it out to see this:

You must know by now that I love all things Julia. I knew about the Julie/Julia project blog/book when the book first came out and started reading that and Julia Child’s autobiography. I always visit her kitchen at the Smithsonian when in DC. I won’t go into the whole mother/daughter/family thing now.

So. What did I think? I for one really reallly loved it! Meryl Streep is surprisingly wonderful – not surprisingly as a reflection on her actor cred obviously, it’s just that Julia IS such a character on her own – it would be so very easy to become some kind of epic, drag queen like spoof (yes, the Dan Akroyd “Save the Liver” SNL sketch does make an appearance). And yet, it is so lovely – her life, her love, Paul, the bits of her story leave you wanting more….

Julie Powell, on the other hand, well, I suppose I agree with critics that this is a less successful part of the movie, but I still really liked it. First off, Amy Adams – love. I realized about 2/3 of the way through that she is doing a spot on “Meg Ryan circa the Nora Ephron years” (aka Sleepless in Seattle(meh), You’ve got mail (ick) ), but she’s so damn good. And pleasant and perky probably the bane of an actor’s characters but still, for this, it works. And she has the prettiest, whitest, tiny little perfect white teeth.  Anyway, having read the book/blog, I liked that part of it as well. Alot.

I am left wanting to see more more MORE Julia – though her life story deserves to be its own movie (can’t wait for the extended director’s cut which I pray is forthcoming), I am not entirely sure an entire bio-pic of Julia’s life with big screen production values would a) ever get made and b) ever be seen by more than a handful of us. I left the movie with a tear or two drying on my cheek and wanting more. Like a wonderful meal. Except the tear part. Unless it was after seeing the bill at Masa’s or Victoria and Albert’s. Or the French Laundry.

A while ago, realizing I hadn’t eaten much yet and planning a trial run of the South Beach diet ala Sizzle’s recommendation, and after spying a recommended spinach and poached egg recipe in a South Beach diet book I recently purchased and having just seen the aforementioned cooking movie in which the first blog/Julia recipe attempted was the self same poached ouef, I decided to poach a couple up myself. Mind you, I have seen every Julia show there is. I have been to an extended cooking class and know, nay, aver, that cooking eggs is THE pinnacle of chefdom judgement. Hell, I have seen and read damned Martha write about poaching eggs (I know she swears by a combination of swirling water with a splash of vinegar). Let us say that, though I indeed consumed the poached yolks with a wisp of egg white still adherent to them and they tasted fine and didn’t actually look heinously different than any poached eggs if I had added a cup of hollandaise over the top, well, it resembled Julie’s first attempt as well. Egg white spewage throughout the pot. Perhaps I have a blog project or two in my future as well.

Bon Appetit!

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS!!

some pics from last weeks all too quick trip -

trace keeps his eyes on the road

in't he cute??!?

yes, we did eat it all

UPDATE: My man would like this pic added as he thinks it is a better one. Perhaps it IS better of him, but I look weird and kind of like my mother. Not that there’s anything wrong with the mom, but…. you know…. 

just off the plane and delirious

i may be a blogger and a podcaster now (with tens and tens of fans!!! you know who you are! ), but i STILL get really excited to see or hear a contribution mentioned on another site or podcast – especially those with actual big time readerships (you know who you are)!!! so imagine my excitement today when i saw a pic i submitted @ cakewreck a week or so ago –  got posted!!

backstory:

been reading cakewrecks for several months now (does for cakes what i has a hot dog does for goggies) thanks to meghan. i was shocked when i spotted a couple of real wrecks at the local supermarket bakery – one got posted on the site, the other is here:

this is supposed to be a purse

what was really funny to me was that when i spotted the cakes, i immediately thought of submitting a pic to the site. so i was loitering about the cake counter with my cell, trying to snap a picture without anyone noticing me do so, as i was SURE i would be offending the decorators who would immediately know that i was dissing their cake. i had to leave the grocery immediately after! i wasn’t able to get a very good pic of the one above (not meaning the grainy quality of my crappy cell phone camera, i mean that i kept taking pics that cut off the top of the cake itself).

sadly, and yet not unsuprisingly, i was at the grocery 2 days ago…. both cakes are still on display. yummy!

• just got back from a kickin’ vacation
• now it’s time to prepare for a friends visit! i can’t wait – just over a week to shower, shampoo and shine this place up! woot!
• the bunny project? all the peeps wuz gone this morning…. sigh
• maggie went to the doctor this morning for her annual physical and immunizations…. clean bill of health, more clomicalm and a bill more than me and the guy spent at a fancy dinner the other night. with me drinking wine!!!
• back on weight watchers as of yesterday. i felt like a huge, funky cow all during my trip… sigh. though that is kind of an insult to cows! haha! seriously, i was uncomfortable and all my summer clothes were tight. arg! so here’s to making changes and gettin’ back to my fightin’ weight!

 my sweetie came out to visit for a nice long weekend, of course, pre-visit, i did my usual twisting in the wind and generalized fretting about the aforementioned dust bunnies and how maggie would behave (which was great! except for a minor vomiting episode ON THE BED and the “let me gently lift you off of lisa” incident in which said sweetie saw the lightening quick change from cuddlebug to devil dog), but all went so well!

 day one was a welcome to my town, a drive around, a tour of the neigboorhood, bonding time with the magpie. next, my very own metrosexual whips out this awsome ensemble (no capes) that put me to shame with its casual unstudied funky elegance with an edge (we call CUFEWAE for short). we went and had a great dinner at a cool place called the boot in norfolk. for reasons unknown to either of us, we had no cheeseplate – though it was there….. instead we did split a fantastic goat cheese bruchette – which i feared as it was described to include a pine nut-cumin… vinaigrette i think? i am not a cumin fan. we got it on the side and gobbled it up in 8 seconds..    the rest of the dinner was wonderful – wish only that we had gotten more adventurous early with the cocktail choices

as i had told trace that one of the things i love about this place is their signature cocktails - and i am NOT talking apple martinis. they had something called a “super collins” (i don’t even know what a tom collins is and i am a wine girl, so i usually shy away from these types of things) but it was homemade grapefruit simple syrup, soda water and vodka. adult lemonade. YUM! oh yes, and we highly recommend hub’s peanuts on your coffee gelato brownie sundae (we did split one in my own defense).

saturday was another fun one – it was beautiful out, but cold as sh…. – is shit cold? i think not. why do i even think that? am i in 7th grade? sheesh. we walked the magpie, we laid around, i had to wash the aforementioned barf extravaganza off the duvet that i just washed the day before! then – and this is the part that makes me go “awwwww!!!”, trace and i went to donate blood!

a dear friend, tairy over at the little red’s writing hood podcast (poetry) and of disney tidbits: did you know? has developed a charity effort that is so wonderful – we’ve mentioned it on those darn cats and i hope to talk about it more there and here. she has been a long time blood and platelet donor. she is asking folks to sponsor her this year, one measly dollar every time she makes a donation. i believe the monetary donations will be going to a diabetes charity – she has just finalized some of the red tape around getting this project up and running, so more details are to be found at the website. i know of several pals who donate blood regularly – perhaps you would consider linking your donation with tairy’s AND making a small monetary donation? we are talking less than $30 for the entire year? please consider?

 anywho, the cool thing for me was, i haven’t donated blood in like 10 years. if you’ve attended college or grad school, i’m sure you are aware there are blood drives on campus about every 82 seconds. i’ve donated blood before, but, i went through a period (no pun intended) where my hemoglobin was always too low to be a donor. like 4 or 5 times of trying to donate and then not. i gave up. talking with my pal tairy as she was sharing her inspiration and idea for this blood drive, motivated me to give it a try. and tairy did all the hard work!!!! i just sent her my zip code and she emailed me back a place to donate! and guess what? it was RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!!! so, in a gesture of solidarity, trace and i did this…

 the rest of the weekend i can happily report was not quite so bloody…. we visited the atlantic ocean – which trace had not been to before (and which he keeps calling “the arctic ocean” given the lovely temps of the day… then we enjoyed a seafood tower of terror and a wonderful long evening of talking and noshing at catch 31 on the ocean front! yummmmmm!!!

sunday turned into the fun lazy day i was

hoping it would be…. a yummy breakfast at the silver diner (crabcake omelettes YUM!), moving of my bedroom furniture to restore proper fung shui (me thinks it worked), a visit to the local disneystore (just to check it out), an ill motivated visit to uno’s (i should have gone for the pho that drove me there, but the smell of cheeses!!! DAMN YOU CHEESY GODS!!!) then some disney movie marathons and the oscars!!

of course there was plenty of cuddling, and fun times as well. sigh. long distance relationships…. not my fave, but hey, you can’t always pick how things turn out…. and let me just say – WOW! from a year ago??? no, from like all my life ago till now?? definitely worth the wait and the drama… even if it isn’t a forever thing (i’m very superstitious) what a joy to be with an open, intelligent, funny, cute, adult, together, responsible, did i mention super cute?, dude who has their shit together???? holy mackerel!!!! we’ll probably break up tomorrow….. cause i’m positive like that!

i am at home, puttering. folding some laundry, making noises about changing the closets over from summer to winter and making piles of stuff to pack for my upcoming cruise. of course, things are about to get BUSY – and not just because of the time of year. holidays are always a rush – doesn’t it seem like it would be great if spring started up about, oh, mid january? i mean, there’s like NOTHING going on after the holidays and its just cold and draggy – and i have a trip to the homeland next weekend, work of course, podcast prep and plans for a big trip intermingled with all the holiday stuff.

but i am so looking forward to visiting the grands! i haven’t seen them in a while. we shall do thanksgiving that weekend too, so i need to get on a grocery list for a menu. between you and me, my mamie – a great cook – well, lets just say that i think it is a universal fact that, at a certain age, one starts buying meats and canned items based on the sales at krogers and god only knows how old certain ingredients might be as well as the fact that they have like 82 cats living there. 82 cats that they seem to be under some spell in thinking the cats are NEVER on the counters or, i don’t know, licking the butter on the butter dish left uncovered on the table all the time. the cats i mean, not my grandparents.

’nuff said.

lookie what i just got!!!!!!

graeters black raspberry chocolate chip!!!! delivered to me by an exceedingly kind individual returning from cinicinatti! at least i know what i am having for dinner now.

have you had this ice cream? click on the site, they do overnight deliveries. all their ice creams are wonderful and the chocolate chips? well, they are more like chocolate hunks as they are made by drizzling the chocolate into the ice cream… wow! this flavor is the signature graeters flavor – and it is a wild purple color too! glad i do NOT have to share this one!

UPDATE: it is less than 24 hours since i recieved this gift. do NOT ask me how much ice cream is left…

UPDATE: so its gone, OK? do you have a problem with that???? i mean really….