Quarantine: Day 8

Scratch that title… today was day 10 of quarantine (for me… I’m sure some of you have been home longer or shorter, depending on your situation).  I started this blog two or three nights ago, but I’ve been working 12 hour days without leaving my apartment or getting any fresh air or mental breaks.  No physical activity apart from manic dance sessions, a few push-ups and some floor ab work.  Which doesn’t do shit to negate all of the food I’ve been consuming – not only out of absolute and total boredom, but also the stress of working 12 hour days.  It’s a vicious cycle… it really is.  I have to stop eating tomorrow (at least, stop eating in the manner I have been, which is probably similar to what a body-builder might be consuming calorie-wise), otherwise, if and when summer finally rolls around and we are allowed to be social again, I won’t be able to be social at all since I will be so unhappy with my physical appearance.  Not going out and getting fresh air is killing me.  I know I’m not alone in this… but fuck it is draining on my mental state and emotional well-being.

Being stuck inside has really made me value my mobility and my freedom.  I feel so much worse now for all of the elderly people and disabled individuals who cannot up and leave their house when they want, or depend on someone to accompany them so that they can leave their house.  I feel terrible for all of the elderly people who are home alone 24/7 without even the company of internet friends or family to chat with on the phone. I always had empathy for this group of people, especially because one of my grandmothers rarely got out of her house in the last years of her life, but now I just feel terrible.  No one should be so alone and cut off. I’m one of the lucky ones, since I am at least stranded with my boyfriend.  At least I have someone to argue with…. JK.

I suppose the most important thing is that we’re all healthy in my family and among my group of friends/co-workers.   I am also still employed, which is a relief and puts me in a better position financially than many others who suffered lay-offs as a result of this virus.  But HOLY FUCKING SHIT.  I am going crazy trying to stay sane and stay inside without my daily 5-6 miles of walking and these 12-hour work days glued to my laptop.  I have been dancing like an asshole to 80’s bands (Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, etc.), MC Hammer, classics like “The Humpty Dance,” Michael Jackson, etc.  It’s the only way I can burn some energy:

All of the food supplies I bought two weeks ago were used up last week… shows you how good I am at planning for a pandemic.  I mean, I didn’t stock up on TP or anything really, because stocking up is impossible when you live in an NYC apartment (Brooklyn, if you’re looking to get specific)… there is just not enough space to store anything in bulk.  Grocery stores, delis, and pharmacies are still open for now… so until fresh produce runs out in a few months, I’ll be OK.  I still keep thinking this isn’t real… maybe it’s all in my head.  Every morning that I wake up, I think I am dreaming and it takes a few minutes to come to terms with reality: no, I don’t have to get up and commute into my Manhattan office; yes, we are quarantined; yes, the world is in-fact FUCKED.  Even as I write this, part of me feels like I’m in a dream and this cannot be real life – quarantined in a Brooklyn apartment.

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I tried dressing in next to nothing for the first few days of quarantine, hoping it would prevent me from binge eating since I can see my body better and therefore be more “aware” of what I’m putting into it…. didn’t work.  Especially after consuming a couple of glasses of vino at night…. I fucking raid the fridge like I haven’t seen food in days.

Since working from home has been so stressful thus far, and each day is so long (8am – 7:30pm or later….), I have been treating myself with copious amounts of wine as compensation.  NOT GOOD.  I can’t stop though… like, I’m not getting exercise and I can’t leave the house.  I’m scared to spend money on anything that isn’t a necessity…. what else do I have to cope??? This week I’m going cold turkey.  After the last of the Malbec is gone, I’m done.

Even though work has been off the hook, I’m still scared that I will get laid off in the coming months.  Who knows.  I guess none of us can possibly know.

I started writing this blog on Tuesday or Wednesday night and it is now Friday.  Even though I am trapped inside, I’m thankful I can sleep in tomorrow and not have to concern myself with being glued to my laptop or phone, checking work emails. My big plans are finishing a painting that I started months ago, and taking a walk to the pet store for cat litter.  Isn’t that exciting???

Hope you’re all staying healthy and as sane as can be expected.

 

 

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

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I can finally wear what I want “to work,” but I never realized how fucking bored I’d be working from home.  Holy shit.  I guess I am a type A in a lot of ways (***mostly not… honestly, I hate type A people… they’re boring and annoying). But, I guess I thrive on routine (at least during week days).  I am only on day two (2) of working from home/”quarantine” and I am already going crazy from not leaving my apartment.  If I can’t take my daily walks, I don’t know how I will survive.  I am trying to do floor exercises and refrain from eating, if not hungry, but I’m ALWAYS hungry, since I’m fucking bored. I always imagined it would be awesome working from home, but I guess not under these circumstances.

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This was me on day one of quarantine (aka, yesterday).  I woke up and had time to ACTUALLY take care of myself.  For once in my life, I had time to do a face mask… in the MORNING.  I was still so full of hope…. I had the whole world ahead of me.  I woke up at a decent hour and did a face mask and some push ups.  And now?  I’ve realized we are fucked.  We’re not going back to what we had.

I’m scared of job security.  I’m scared of my parents or my boyfriend’s parent’s getting sick… I’m not scared for myself.  I can take anything.  I probably actually honestly already had the virus.  I just don’t want my family to be sick, and I don’t want to lose my job as a result of the market crashing.  My boyfriend works in hospitality, so sadly, he is currently unemployed since all restaurants, clubs and bars were mandated to close. I just don’t want it to get worse…. how much worse can it actually get though?  I just imagine food shortages, riots in the street, and people being turned away from already-full hospitals would be worst-case scenario.

I mean, I survived the great recession… I feel pretty confident I can live on a bag of rice or some lentils for 4 months and be fine.  I just worry about our future.  The future of us.  My generation has been so so so fucked over, and the generations below me, even more so.  Humanity made this mess though – between over-population, mass agriculture, factory farming, all of the shit we have done that contributed to global warming, and now eating endangered, wild animals which has led to this pandemic (“allegedly”… I believe this virus was manufactured in and released from a lab)… we brought this on ourselves.

I don’t know – I guess be careful what you wish for. I’ve been wishing for more time off with my boyfriend since we have one day a week (at best) and totally opposite sleep and work schedules.  Well kids, we finally have some time off together – locked inside our one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment with no where to go, nothing to do, and even if we could go out, nothing is open.  It fucking sucks.  But I am thankful that we’re healthy, our families are healthy, are friends are healthy, and I still have a job (for now).

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Switching over to food (I’m sure we’ve all been bombarded with enough news about corona to last three lifetimes now…), I made this delicious eggplant parm on Sunday.  The key to good eggplant parm is breading with flour instead of breadcrumbs.  I don’t have the ambition to write Any recipes right now, since I don’t really care about food right now.  Just kidding – I always care about food.  It is the only thing that drives me and inspires me in these dark times.  And also tortures me when I am trying not to eat to much of it as I am trapped inside and sedentary….

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I also made this focaccia the other day (Saturday, when I still felt sick). Food is the only thing that is constant. Food is important regardless of what is happening.  It is what unites us, feeds us, comforts us, or, in my case, makes us suicidal when we’re trapped inside and can’t stop eating it.  And soon, we may not have enough of it to go ’round.  #cheers

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Here – my cats.  They’re cute, right?  I know.  It’s the only thing cute and welcoming I have going for me. Hopefully they can add some joy to your day as well.  Shameless shout out if you need some cute cats in your life:  instagram.com/peepsandtuna.

Well kids – I have nothing else to say.  I’m just hanging on here… taking shit day-by-day. I hope everyone reading is doing the same – staying safe and healthy, and trying their best to also stay mentally and emotionally healthy in these trying times.

 

Catching Up – This Used to be a Food Blog…It still *Kind of* is

Annndddd … I just spilled hot coffee on this keyboard…. #WINNING!!!! <— This actually just about sums up my last two months, if not my entire life…

Despite the title of this blog, there isn’t really much to catch up on to be honest… the last two months have flown by at lightning speed, as all months tend to do once you’re over a certain age. I never believed my parents or grandparents regarding ‘how fast time goes the older you grow.’ It wasn’t until I hit about 25 that I began to experience this strange phenomenon first-hand.  The last seven years are a blur, punctuated only by precious moments and mental stills – both good and bad – nights, sunrises, people, lessons learned, the highs and the lows; experiences and memories that I wouldn’t trade-in for anything else.  I feel like the last seven years basically happened in the span of one or two.

I think we finally become our “true self” around the age of 25-26.  Before this age, you’re still a kid and don’t really know what’s up, because you just haven’t lived long enough or experienced enough or even met enough people to shape you yet.  I think our personality kind of solidifies by the time we hit 26 or so…. I still feel like the same person inside at the age of 32 that I did when I was 26.  I guess this is also the sad reason that elderly people look in the mirror and are shocked by the reflection they see once they hit a certain age – because even though their body is betraying them by aging physically, they still feel not a day over 26 on the inside.  Such is life.  My mom always says that ‘youth is wasted on the young’, and she’s not wrong.

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This is 32.  I figure I’ve only got a few decent years left in me before I start resorting to fillers (**if I can ever even afford them) and healthy living (i.e. green juices, yoga, no more partying, actual work-outs…). I’ve been wearing SPF all these years and avoiding the sun, so at least I have that going for me. It’s definitely hard being a woman and getting older though.  I know we hear female celebrities saying this all the time… but it is SO SO true, and I’m not even technically “middle-aged” yet.  There is so much pressure to not only stay young (literally impossible to do), but also to stay looking young (which takes effort and possibly money, if you have enough to spend on treatments, the best skin care, etc.).

Despite society telling us that as women, we are only valuable when we’re still young and attractive (and given how shitty that can make you feel inside once you start getting white hairs and fine lines), getting older is a blessing.  I feel more confident and more grounded than ever.  I know who I am and who I want to be, and I am less selfish and foolish than I was in my twenties.  To grow older is a gift and an opportunity that many people will never have.  So remember that next time you bitch about turning 30, or whatever age.  Some of your peers didn’t get a chance to turn 30.

We all have this idea in our head when we’re younger, of where we will be at a certain age.  When I was 25, I definitely thought I’d be married by my current age, possibly a home owner, and definitely working at a more fulfilling and creative job. Even if I am not where I once thought I’d be, I am happy to be where I am.  Even with the outside pressure that is put upon me by others and by society, I am OK with where I am right now in this time and place.  I sometimes feel like it is easier to grow older in a major city like NYC (at least up until a certain point), especially when you have failed to meet the stereotypical “milestones”  set by society.  If I were this age and living upstate right now (or in any small, rural town in America), I think I would be bored out of my mind, since almost everyone I know or went to school with is married and has kids now.  I don’t think I’d have any friends to go out with or who share the same interests as me at this stage in life given the fact that I am unmarried and child free. I also feel like it would also be 10x harder to live in a small/rural town and be single at this age, since everyone is either married or divorced with three kids. Slim pickings for singletons for sure.  Not really sure where this train of thought was going….

I think that what I’m saying, is that even though I ‘hate’ this city and want to move out someday sooner than later, this city has allowed me a chance to flourish as an individual and come into myself fully.  This city does not put same pressures to marry and have kids on me that life in a small town might. I guess turning another year older has had me thinking of all of this recently….

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I had a relatively low-key birthday this year – stayed in our favorite Airbnb in Woodstock and a nice dinner with my sister on my actual birthday.  Tuna also celebrated his birthday (1st birthday, to be precise!) the day after mine.  Here we are, together, basking in that birthday glory and, in my case, basking in copious amounts of sugar.

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My friend made me this awesome funfetti cake… my favorite cake is, in fact, FUNFETTI :p Hell yeah boiiiiiii
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The view from the back-side of the Airbnb house… I would buy this property in a heartbeat, if only I had the $1.5 million it was just listed for LOL LOL LOL …. #FML 

I was also spoiled with sweets at work – cupcakes and macarons.  I am not being sarcastic when I say that I feel so loved when people go out of their way to get me food or presents for my birthday.  I never feel like I deserve these things or the effort or thought that goes into them … it literally made my entire day, even if my skin paid the price for a full two weeks (major acne flair-up thanks to my diet of Cadbury creme eggs for breakfast,  cupcakes and macarons for lunch, and funfetti cake for dinner for a whole week straight).

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My For Love and Lemons for Victoria’s Secret dress/robe – totally obsessed and need more opportunities to wear it….

It’s been so long since I posted that I haven’t even posted this amazing dress/robe I got on sale at Victoria’s Secret.  Who knew that one of my favorite brands, For Love and Lemons, did a special line of lingerie and clothing just for VS? I know VS is tres gauche these days, but fuck it.  I get a gift certificate for VS every Christmas and it’s just about the only time of year I treat myself to overpriced underwear, etc.

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Really feeling myself, as the kids today say….

As per usual, one of the only things that gets me through each work day or lonely weekend where my BF works a 12-hour shift on a Saturday, is planning what I will cook for dinner and then executing it.  I’ve cooked some really time-consuming things in the last couple of months, including, but not limited to:  homemade pasta, homemade gnocchi, Focaccia and French-style baguettes from scratch, and recreated the amazing shrimp etouffee dish that I had on my birthday at Maison Premiere.

I truly hope that Maison Premiere never closes their doors.  They’re a Williamsburg institution at this point, serving oysters, cocktails, and a variety of raw-bar foods and plates in a cozy and cool atmosphere.  If you live in the greater NYC area, I would highly recommend for a nice date or intimate dinner or drinks with a good friend/couple of friends.

Anyhow, I’m too fucking lazy to write out any recipes, but here is some food porn…. use your imagination and go wild:

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Homemade gnocchi with shrimp in a white-wine/butter sauce
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The homemade gnocchi in all its’ glory
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Homemade orecchiette – easiest dough ever… literally only flour and water (and a wee bit of salt)
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The hand-made orecchiette, in all its’ glory
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Orecchiette with pesto and baked zucchini chips
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Some of the most delicious focaccia I ever had (not to toot my own horn…)
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Mussels in white wine sauce, served with slices of the homemade baguette
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And finally, the pièce de résistance… my recreation of the shrimp etouffee from Maison Premiere.  Literally tasted identical – the only difference is that the shrimp they used had the heads on, and I wasn’t about to fuck with that on a Friday night when I made this

I’ve been so bad at finding/making time to write food posts here these past couple of months.  If you want to see the process and ingredients behind my recipes/meals, feel free to follow my Instagram (instagram.com/lilywhitedaydream). I usually post stories to my IG while I am cooking, as long as what I’m cooking seems note-worthy enough to warrant as such.  I mean, if you’re even reading this blog, you probably already follow me on Instagram… since that’s the only way I think anyone can find this blog ;p Anyhow, I digress…

[Insert long rant here about the current state of world affairs, animal liberation v animal subjugation, why humans need to go extinct, why I want to get the coronavirus, etc.]

[Delete long rant, after realizing I sound like one of the preachy types of A-holes that I hate and realizing no one gives a shit… ]

Side note:  I am a work in progress and actively working on my anger management skills.

The end.

 

 

Tips for Surviving A Recession

***DISCLAIMER***

I started writing this post like two or three months ago (I want to say right around Thanksgiving), before Australia had totally burned to the ground and before Trump decided to provoke Iran, thus destroying any chance we have at all for a future.  Let’s be honest here, I don’t think humanity is going to make it another five years.

Since this post was initially written, the holidays have come and gone, the New Year has arrived, and I have decided to stop buying fast fashion, or any new clothes at all… yes, I will continue wearing the same damn shoes until I receive warnings from HR about how my foot odor is offending people at work.

I have also decided to become a vegan (not sure how long I can last without cheese or eggs, but I will try), and give up alcohol and other illegal substances.  I am also going to try to be more consistent with this blog.  Cheers, kids.

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Daydreaming about Robbie Williams….

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TIPS FOR SURVIVING A RECESSION (Blog entry from November, 2019):

I wanted to write this blog a few months ago when I started reading about another oncoming recession all over the news.  I figured I have some viable tips for those of you who were too young to really experience the recession of 2008 firsthand, or those of you who weren’t affected the first time around (consider yourselves very lucky).  I survived the great recession of 2008 – just barely though:  I haven’t touched my student loan debt, I don’t own a house nor can I afford to, I work just to pay bills, I throw money to the wind each month, renting an apartment I will never own, and at this rate (and given a number of other extraneous factors such as global warming, imminent nuclear war / terrorist attacks at the hands of Iran, and societal collapse on the horizon…) I doubt I will ever have children.  C’est la vie…. at least I’ve got my cats.

Anyhow, I’m currently sitting here browsing slutty clothes and 7-inch platform boots on DollsKill.com.  Hey – life is short, and no matter what, I’m not going to be able to afford a house or kids, so I might as well purchase some cheap thrills while I’m still semi-young (not that I’m young) and decent looking (not that I am that either).  I can honestly say I never spend money on lunch or coffee… I don’t even eat lunch. I think I deserve some frivolous party shoes once or twice a year to compensate. The press is always bitching about Millennials wasting money on Starbucks and avocado toast, but when you’re $50K in the hole with no future in sight, you kind of have to live in the moment and treat yourself to the tiny luxuries that you CAN afford. If we never went out for a night of drinks once every month, or bought a new winter coat we desperately need, our quality of life would be even more miserable than it already is, just trying to save and pay our bills.

I digress though.  I graduated in 2011 when the recession was at its’ worst and the unemployment rate at its highest.  The times were basically rock bottom in terms of available jobs/work.  I have two worthless degrees in fashion merchandising and theatre.  I still sometimes hate myself for not swallowing my pride and my passions, and just going to school for engineering or to become a doctor.  At least then I would have a lucrative career.  JK…. I would never.  I’d rather continue to struggle and live paycheck to paycheck with enough time to still pursue some of my passions on the side (i.e. this blog,  a social life, cooking, my cats, etc.).

When I graduated, and I’m speaking generally here, one was lucky to even find a part-time RETAIL job.  I’m being serious.  This isn’t a lie or exaggeration, kids. Even jobs that required no degree and minimal experience were extremely scarce and hard to come by.  And finding a job in your own home town (if you came from a small, rural town)???? FORGET ABOUT IT.  I started working at the Shiseido makeup counter at Macy’s, which was a 30 minute drive from my parent’s house where I lived after graduating.  I got “lucky” (I use this term very loosely here… ) to have a friend who worked for Abercombie & Fitch as a manager and hooked me up with an interview there after I’d spent the summer of 2011 playing with makeup.  I thought I’d scored big-time, because at least the job with Abercrombie required a 4-year degree, had benefits like a 401K and insurance, and paid time off.  Little did I know, I was in for a real ride….

One day, when life affords me the luxury of no longer having to work a 9-5 day job, you can read all about my days with Abercrombie/Hollister on my old blog, which is currently incognito on the inter-webs.  I had to make the blog private for the purposes of my current, corporate job…. since I didn’t hold back in terms what I wrote about or discussed online back then. I could write a book about my time with A&F/HCo., and one day I truly hope to do so…

Enough about that though.  I eventually saved up a decent chunk of money and moved to NYC with no job lined up in the fall of 2012.  This is where the struggle truly began, and how I learned to thrive (or just barley scrape by, rather) in the midst of the economy’s worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1920’s.

It took me three whole months to find a “job,” and then, the job I had was working only part-time at a night club/concert venue as a cocktail waitress and weekend hostess.  I never knew if I’d be working 5 seated-shows a week (the most lucrative type since people would order food and drinks), or only 2 standing-room-only shows with an audience of underage kids (the least lucrative shows… obviously).  My paychecks ranged from $120 on a terrible week (i.e. 4 dark days and 2 nights of hostessing) to $480 on a decent week, working 4-5 seated shows.  Of course there were take-home cash tips, but those were usually spent going out for after-work drinks at the Irish dive bars on 14th street with my fellow co-workers, where we would commiserate over how little we’d made that night, how awful the crowd was, and how depressed and poor we were working at this shitty venue when the lot of us aspired to so much more in life (i.e. artistic endeavors, full-time employment… sugar daddies…).

My rent was only $650 when I first moved to NYC (don’t ask… I literally had the most baller apartment for what is the BEST DEAL ever heard of).  My rent quickly increased to $800 after a couple of months, and then to $1,000 after a year.  My fickle work as a server wasn’t allowing me to even make rent, so I swallowed my pride and went back to HCo. on fifth ave, working as a manager, where at least I had a consistent paycheck and health insurance.

Between 2012 and 2016 when I finally landed a decent job, were the toughest four years of my life, financially speaking.  This is when I really honed in on my skills as a chef, learning how to survive on one bag of frozen peas a week and a handful of uncooked rice.  I learned how to scrape together just enough money to pay rent doing whatever it took – whether it meant counting spare change, taking on babysitting jobs in the morning before working closing shifts at Hollister, or forgoing what most people consider household essentials, like coffee creamer, paper towels, and well…. food in general.

Given the current state of the economy, and the fact that things have been slow as hell for me at work in the last month or so, I’m growing nervous that it’s true that another recession is on the way.  This time, I’ll be prepared though…. bring it on baby.  Nothing can hurt me now. You know what actually makes me feel even more carefree these days?  The fact that we’re probably all going to die in a nuclear war or from complete global destruction due to climate change before I ever even begin to pay back my student debt….

MY TIPS FOR SURVIVING A RECESSION

  1. There is no such thing as job security.  Never get too comfortable – it can be taken away from you at any time through no fault of your own.  Never take your job for granted either, even though you hate it (we all do).  You need money to pay rent and bills and to purchase enough food to survive and/or enough alcohol and drugs to make you occasionally forget how fucking shitty and pointless your life is.  No job is permanent and any job can be taken away in the blink of an eye (usually when you least expect it to).  You could be laid off if the economy tanks and your company can no longer afford your position.  This happened in the last recession… workers who’d been with the same company for 25 years and were only 3 years away from retiring lost their jobs and their 401Ks.  Pretty shitty, right?  This is why I wake up each day with the fear of God in my heart.  It’s better to be scared about losing your job then it is to be too confident that it can’t happen to you.  It can happen to you, and living life with anxiety over job security simply prepares you for the worst. It happened to me once and it wasn’t even the recession.  The start up company I worked for in 2016 tanked after five months and couldn’t afford to pay me. No notice… no nothing.
  2.  Girl, you better WORK.  One does what one must to make rent and put food on the table.  Even if this means selling yourself short of your credentials/qualifications/education/desired salary, or, in some cases, literally selling yourself (I’ve never done it, but I know girls who basically have sex with someone they’re not really into, in return for having their rent paid or fancy dinners here and there or like, a Mysterland ticket and nice hotel).  I’m not saying this is noble or respectable, but sometimes desperate means call for desperate measures.  If you’re young and attractive and don’t have a family to hurt, stripping is always an option too.  In a major city it will definitely be much more lucrative than elsewhere, and people less likely to find out if you’re trying to keep it on the down-low.  If you’re attractive and young, in fact, I highly suggest capitalizing on it while it lasts – because it doesn’t last forever.  You might as well make a decent living off of what your mama (or your plastic surgeon) gave you.  There are always ads out for bottle servers, hostesses, bartenders, etc., and in this city at the right venue, you could make a SHIT TON of money doing any of those service jobs.  You don’t really need experience if you’re young and hot and/or know the right person.  It’s also good to be flexible in tough economic times, and willing to do shitty work.  I mean, if your standards are too high and the economy crashes, you’re not really going to survive if you’re not willing to do some less-than-savory jobs to make ends meet.  For example, I cleaned houses and a church on a weekly basis at one point in college, because it was impossible to even find a part-time retail job.  I’m not making this up.  In 2008-2009, I cleaned a church rectory on a weekly basis, and then a few older ladies at church inquired about me cleaning their personal residences, and I did.  It honestly wasn’t a bad job – kind of gross to clean someone else’s toilet and bathtub, but the money was decent and not taxed, and old people are generally very sweet and lovely to talk to.  I would do it again.  Hell, I would probably do it now, if someone asked me if I had availability to do so.  Could always use some extra spending money…
  3. Learning to live on a bare-bones diet.  Have you ever cried because you’re so hungry and all you have in your house is some white rice and mustard? I have.  Have you ever had to choose between buying paper towels to clean your counter tops, or some coffee creamer so you didn’t have to keep drinking your coffee black?  I have.  It’s all about priorities – and sometimes we think that we can forgo food, or at least eat minimally to save money, especially when we also prioritize thinness.  Well, when your parents already put some extra money in your bank account but you used it to pay rent and then foolishly bought a couple of $5 vodka sodas at McKenna’s (because you don’t know how to tell your friends that you’re broke), and now you don’t even have $6 to buy a box of pasta and some Prego at the local grocery store, shit really hits home.  You’re going to have to learn how to get creative with some frozen white bread and a couple of teaspoons of Parmesan or how to make a meal out of lentils, curry powder, and some frozen corn last you three days.  On the plus side, you won’t have to worry about the next time that you can afford to get drunk and order a pizza at 2am, since you’ll likely be malnourished as fuck.
  4. Interviewing: It’s not you, it’s THEM. Just because there isn’t a real availability of viable, living-wage paying jobs, doesn’t mean there won’t be hundreds of listed positions and interviews which you’ll desperately go, on trying to make something work.  You’ll probably apply for jobs you have no interest in whatsoever, just because you need a paycheck:  part-time retail positions at a shoe store that sells ugly clogs, a dog-walking position, a nannying position, even though you hate kids…. the list goes on. If you’re like I was (and still am), you’ll apply for and go on hundreds of interviews and you won’t get offered any of the positions, even though you are mostly likely A) qualified, B) experienced, or C) could easily do whatever is asked of you.  I started to think it was me and beat myself up.  I decided I wasn’t getting hired because I was too old, too ugly, too short, too fat, too nice, etc., etc..  I honestly probably wasn’t getting hired, because they were saving the position for the assistant manager’s brother-in-law who just graduated and wanted the job.  Jobs go to those with the personal/family connections when there aren’t many jobs to be had.  Don’t take it too personally or it will really wear away at your self-confidence.

Climate Change and Lentil Bolognese

90 degrees on the first day of Fall… global warming is a real bitch…. I finally bought some sweaters and tights and I’m still wearing sleeveless button-ups.  I remember when I was young, we were lucky if it was 65 degrees this time of year!

I want to plan a world-wide work strike against climate change – I’m just not sure how to get started.  Imagine the reduction in carbon emissions even if only just for one day, if the majority of people (or ideally all people) took the day off of work and didn’t use their car, and if factories couldn’t operate because they had no workers?! I should take some tips from Greta Thunberg and just start solo-striking all alone… I’m pretty sure I’ll lose my job in the first week…

I was home this past weekend (well, Thursday-Saturday…) to get Tuna neutered.  The cost of the vet upstate is about 1/3 of what it is in the greater NYC area.  Totally work taking a couple of days off of work (I mean, what isn’t worth taking days off work???).  It was also nice to be home with just my parents and to enjoy some end-of-summer weather.

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Beautiful goldenrod everywhere… I love this time of year when everything turns shades of mustard and gold
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By my family’s woods in West Bainbridge
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My parents and Max walking out of our woods

I’m so happy I finally bit the bullet and took the days off to make the trip home and get Tuna neutered.  At least it’s done and over with now and he is pretty much back to normal.

 

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If you want to see more pics of the cats or of Tuna in his Handmaid’s Tale cone, here you go: instagram.com/peepsandtuna
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Because I can’t post a picture of one without posting the other (that would make me a bad mom…), here’s Mr. Peeper at his finest
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This probably won’t be here in the next 20 years if global warming continues unabated
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Sunset through the woods

Pictures never do real life or lighting justice sadly.  I cleaned out my closet a couple of weeks ago and found so many things that I bought with every intention of wearing in a specific outfit, and which have never seen the light of day.  The below tutu skirt is one of them…. I know tutu skirts are very SJP circa 2000’s Sex in the City, but It makes for some pretty fun outfits:

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Paired with my fave Hello Kitty Sweatshirt
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My favorite escape in Brooklyn – Greenwood Cemetery …

I made a really good vegetarian Bolognese with lentils last week, the recipe of which is based directly on my classic Bolognese recipe:

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Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 cups of cooked lentils (brown or French) (roughly 1 and 1/2 cups dry lentils cooked in 3-4 cups of veggie stock, for flavor)
  • 1 box pasta of your choice (rigatoni, spaghetti, penne, linguini all work great)
  • 1/3 cup olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a large sauce-pan)
  • 2 large carrots, finely chopped
  • 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
  • 1/2 of a white or yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 cup dry, white wine (Pinot Grigio works well!)
  • 1 cup freshly shaved Parmesan (plus more to sprinkle over finished pasta)
  • 1 large can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes
  • 1 small can of tomato paste
  • fresh parsley
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  •  1 Tbs. dried basil
  • 1 Tbs. dried oregano
  • 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp. granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp. granulated garlic
  • Salt and pepper (add to desired taste)

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DIRECTIONS:

  • Pre-cook your lentils, boiling in veggie stock until tender (but not over-cooked or mushy, since they will finish cooking in the sauce!)
  • Set aside the lentils once cooked, and heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan over a low-medium heat
  • Add in onions and cook until a yellow-y translucent color (about 6 minutes), stirring occasionally
  • Add in carrots and celery and continue to cook over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally for another 5 min.
  • Add in garlic and continue to cook and stir, being careful not to burn garlic
  • Add in the already cooked lentils and cook for a minute over low-medium heat.
  • Add in the white wine and simmer for about 3 minutes
  • Add in the can of crushed tomatoes along with the granulated garlic, sugar, salt, pepper, dried basil and oregano, and crushed red pepper; stir together and reduce to low heat
  • Add in the small can of tomato paste and stir in thoroughly; continue to stir and cook over a low heat.
  • After cooking over low heat for another 10 minutes or so, add in the heavy cream and stir
  • Add in the Parmesan cheese and continue to stir and cook, making sure cheese is incorporated into the sauce

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  • Add in the fresh chopped parsley and stir
  • I advise taste-testing as you go along to ensure the sauce has a good balance – feel free to add more salt, pepper, pepper flakes, oregano/basil, or sugar if needed
  • Let the sauce continue to simmer over minimum heat and boil a large pot of heavily salted water for the pasta
  • Cook pasta according to cook time advised on packaging; once pasta is cooked to al dente, drain and either add to sauce pan, if large enough, or back to pot and then add the Bolognese sauce into the pot of pasta – stir well
  • Serve in bowls with freshly grated Parmesan over-top and a garnish of fresh parsley or fresh basil!

This dish is perfect for fall… super hearty, tasty, comforting and high in fiber (if you know what I’m saying….)

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Mushroom “burger” (aka, mushroom patty?) I made last night

Too lazy to write another recipe. Cheers.

 

 

 

INDIGO WOKE UP IN MYKONOS

If you’ll recall from the last installment of Indigo Wren, Indigo landed in Ibiza, made the drug transaction, got his money, checked into a five-star hotel and lived his best live for a couple of days.  He ran into his arch-nemesis/love of his life, Lily Von Fustenburg at a club, and ended up on a yacht sailing for Mykonos.  They had another falling out after Indigo saved her from an attempted sexual-assault, after which he took a handful of Xanax he found in the bathroom to pass out for the remainder of the trip…

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Indigo woke up from his Xanax-induced slumber about 16 hours later… as usual, he was parched as fuck, didn’t remember where he was, or what had happened. He was still lying face-down, naked on the bedroom carpet, with a puddle of drool under his face.  Once again, he did not know whether or not he had been sexually assaulted.  He figured he was safe this time, since he had locked the bedroom door behind him.

Indigo dragged himself to a sitting position and tried to remember what had transposed between running into Lily at Amnesia two nights ago, and waking up on the floor of a moving yacht.  His head was pounding from being dehydrated, and he was finding it hard to piece together the events of the last 36 hours. He wanted to cry, but he was too fucking dehydrated to even produce tears. He would have killed for a cold Gatorade and a couple of lines of the good stuff at this moment, but he had neither.  FUCK. For the first time in a while, he was really lonely and he was really sad.  He wished he was back home with his parents right now, or hanging out with a friend on a sofa somewhere in Williamsburg.  Life was hard for a rolling stone.

What Indigo really need most right now, was a hug.  Sadly for him, there was no one available to give him one.  His parents were across an ocean, and they didn’t even know where he was.  He had basically pushed away every real friend he had with his behavior and drug use, and all of the “fake friends” (aka party friends) were only around when there was fun to be had – they didn’t actually care to check up on him and see how he was doing.  He felt so completely alone and wretched.  Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to live a life without drugs.  Maybe, he wouldn’t find himself in these predicaments quite so often.

Indigo realized the room he was in came fully-equipped with speakers and an Echo Dot.  He put some Incubus on to play, and he sat and listened to the lyrics of Brandon Boyd.  As he meditated on his life, listening to Brandon Boyd croon out “Wish You Were Here”, he realized that he didn’t need drugs to be complete.  He thought about Brandon Boyd, who seemed to have his shit together – he was fucking hot, thin and ripped, healthy, and didn’t seem to party or do hard drugs.  Dude looks like he smokes mad weed, but that’s about it.  Indigo considered all of these things.  Maybe he too could live a clean and sober life style; go on a Paleo diet, get ripped, make music… write poetry…. he too could be an honest, artistic, and emotionally-deep man.  “I don’t want to do drugs anymore.  I want to be sober and feel real feelings.  I want to experience emotions instead of suppressing them into nothingness – into blackness.  I want to feel a natural high where there is no comedown… I’m so done chasing temporary highs and pleasure, and feeling like shit about myself the next day.  I can’t live this way anymore.” He thought about all of it – about his life, sobriety, how fucked up his existence was…. how all of his friends were married and owned houses, and had kids… he thought about turning it all around and making an honest man out of himself.

But, honestly, what do you feel if you don’t feel high?  Think about it for me.  Think about it NOW.  Do you feel happy?  Do you feel fulfilled?  Do you feel relaxed and in control of your life? Maybe you actually do.  Indigo never felt these things when he was sober.  When Indigo wasn’t high, he felt a plethora of feelings and emotions, none of which were good.  He usually felt stressed and/or anxious, he always felt bored and restless, he usually felt sad and depressed and contemplated the meaning of his existence and of humanity.  He didn’t like to feel these feelings, and that’s why he continually sought out drugs.  Drugs were his only escape from reality and an escape from the prison that was his own mind. The only time he felt OK sober, was if and when he was in a relationship and had butterflies in his stomach because the relationship was new, or like, he was in the midst of an orgasm… those were the only natural highs he knew.  I digress though….

Indigo turned off the music, he got himself dressed and went out on deck to see what was up.  He would never be like Brandon Boyd.  He was honestly more like Jim Morrison – a total, drug-addicted mess of a person.  Except Indigo wasn’t 27 anymore, he wasn’t rich or hot, he wasn’t a rock star or a musical genius, and he didn’t have a following of millions of fans. Whatever – he was himself at least.  He wasn’t pretending to be anything he wasn’t, and that is honorable enough.

He could see land in the near distance…. he estimated that they would be docking within the next 40 minutes. Indigo needed to think of a game plan and he needed to think of one quickly! Despite the pleasant thoughts of sobriety he’d had only minutes prior, he decided his best course of action was to use his last few hundred drug dollars to grab a drink once he landed, and then check out Lindsay Lohan’s club and secure some blow.  He surmised he could just stay up and out all night, and then sleep on the beach to save money.  Who needs a hotel when you’re on an island where it’s warm and never rains?!

He ran back to his cabin and packed the few articles of clothing he had, then brought his satchel with him to the bar for a couple of stiff drinks before embarking onto land.  Naturally, he slammed back a couple of shots of Wild Turkey. He was ready to roll!

He stealthily bolted down the ramp and onto dry land as soon as the yacht docked in Mykonos.  Indigo decided since he didn’t have a phone, he should really catch up on current news since he’d been checked out of reality for several weeks now; he was starting to worry about his parents worrying about him. Indigo walked around until he spotted a couple of American frat-boy type tourists whom he then approached and asked if they knew of any local sports bars. They pointed him in the direction of Blu Blu, and so he trekked across the island in the ballz-hot 101 degree sun. He stopped at a bank along the way to exchange his currency.  When he finally reached Blu Blu, he was soaked in sweat and in need of water.  He sauntered into the dark bar and took a seat in one of the lounge chairs facing a large-screen TV. He ordered a water and a bellini and tipped the waiter generously.  He requested that they kindly switch the TV from the soccer match that was playing to BBC or any international news station… he also asked them if they had a contact to find blow, ever so nonchalantly, of course.  The waiter consented because he’d been tipped well and there were only a couple of other customers who didn’t seem to be watching the game.  He switched to CNN, and then looked through his phone and gave Indigo his coke contact.  “Tell him you’re a friend of Stamos, and  ask for the “special feta salad” *WINK*.

Indigo needed to sort out his priorities, so naturally he texted this Stamos fellow first.  Next, he slipped his bellini and watched CNN.  Ahhhh, how comforting it was to hear some American accents!  It was at at that moment, as Indigo read the current news banner on the bottom of the screen that he saw his own name:  “NEXT UP: THE SEARCH FOR INDIGO WREN CONTINUES….”  At first, he didn’t think this could possibly be him… after all, his given birth name was actually ‘Jonathan Arthur Willard II,’ then again, he had been going by Indigo Wren for the past 20 or so odd years….

Indigo snapped his fingers for the waiter, “Sir, please turn up the volume!” he yelled, as he stood up and inched closer to the TV.  A very HOMELY photo of him (pre-anorexia and really bad hair cut) took up the screen.  At that moment, the screen panned-in to a very somber-looking Anderson Cooper (whom Indigo had secretly lusted after for several years), who then introduced the parents of a missing American citizen, known by the name of ‘INDIGO WREN.’

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT BALLZ… FUCK ME IN THE GOAT ASS!!!,” Indio shouted for all to hear. Indigo was in shock… his jaw dropped open, as he realized he was THE missing American Citizen, and his elderly parents were live on CNN begging for information of his whereabouts and safe return.

Anderson Cooper then proceeded to interview his elderly, mid-western parents, Ingva and Jonathan Arthur Willard Sr..  His father was crying, and holding on tightly to Indigo’s white, Persian, one-eyed cat, Mr. Pickles (more on Mr. Pickles in just a moment…)

Anderson: “Mrs. Willard, when was the last time you heard from your son?”

Ingva: (strong Norwegian accent, sobbing) “The last I spoke to my boy, he had started a new job with the MTA, and he was so excited to finally be employed full time and have health insurance… I don’t know why he would leave a job he was so excited to start.  Our precious Jonathan Arthur has been such special, caring soul since the day I gave birth to him. He wouldn’t just leave without telling us where he was going; someone must have taken advantage of him.”

Anderson:  “Mr. Willard, do you suppose there are any plausible places he could have gone?”

Mr. Willard:  “Well given the time of year, I suppose he could have gone to Burning Man, and he did really liked this one bar in Chelsea called ‘Raw Hide’… he would talk about that place all the time.”

Anderson: “If your son, or anyone who knows where he is, is currently watching this, is there a message you have for them?”

Mr. Willard: “Son, just come home. We won’t be angry no matter where you are or what you’ve done.  Mr. Pickles needs his daddy”.

CAMERA PANS IN TO A ONE-EYED MR. PICKLES, WHO LOOKS PATHETICALLY AT THE CAMERA LENS, AS THE MUSIC CUTS TO “ANGEL” BY SARAH MCLAUGHIN

It is then that Indigo went into such shock that he fainted at the bar.

Indigo woke up to Stamos slapping his face with an ice-cold, wet towel.  Indigo opened his eyes, and his first words were, “Hey man, can I borrow your phone for a quick international call?”  Stamos said, “sure, but it’s gonna cost ya’.”  Stamos requested an additional 50 euros on top of the 80-euro gram of blow he’d secured from his dealer, Artemitis.  Indigo forked over the cash and dialed up his parents using Stamos’s phone.  The phone went straight to voicemail, since his parents were still at the CNN studio with Anderson Cooper.  Indigo left a distraught voicemail which simply said:  “Mommy, Daddy, I’m coming home to Mr. Pickles…. I love you all… kiss my baby for me.”

After that, Indigo made his way to the men’s room to do a couple of lines and set his head straight.  He looked in the mirror at his beautiful, emaciated, tanned frame and hysterically started to cry…. “who have I become?  My strangest friend? Everyone I know, goes away… in the ennndddd”

Indigo thought about poor, sweet, Mr. Pickles.  He had stolen Mr. Pickles on the last morning of a three-day drug binge, from another socialite friend he used to have, named Annabelle de Barcelona.  Mr. Pickles was already basically neglected, apart from the hired help that fed and groomed him.  He had never had real love though.  Indigo was high out of his fucking mind one morning, when he decided to change all of that.  He wanted to be Mr. Pickles Daddy, and give him unconditional love for the rest of his cat life.  Indigo didn’t even have to sneak Pickles out of his friend’s house, since she was knocked out, face-down on her own floor. He simply tucked Pickles under his arm, and made his way out the door that fateful morning, as the sun was rising over Manhattan, and made his way back to Williamsburg on the L train with Mr. Pickles in tow.  Once he arrived home again, he proceeded to do copious amounts of molly, and then passed out on his couch, with several lines of MDMA laying on his coffee table.

Unfortunately, as he slept, Mr. Pickles licked several two lines of molly, apparently having a grand-mal seizure, and going blind in one eye.  When Indigo woke from his slumber at 9pm that evening, he realized Mr. Pickles had a white, cloudy eye, and a hump in his back.  Indigo was inconsolable having realized it was his own gross negligence that had caused this sad state of affairs.  He couldn’t couldn’t forgive himself and punished himself by not eating and not drinking for a week straight.  He vowed to better Mr. Pickles life in whatever ways he could, and that is why, 2 years ago, he surrendered Pickles to his parents so that Pickles could live out the remainder of his days on a farm in Iowa.

Indigo did a couple more lines to try to forget all of these bad memories, and then decided it was time to leave this bar.  Indigo thought for a moment.  “I’ve got to get home to Mr. Pickles and my parents… they need me and they miss me.”  But then, he also thought, “holy shit, all of America has seen my face,” and so, in a moment of clarity, he thought “this is my only chance to get famous.”  Indigo walked back out to the bar, ordered a spicy margarita, and started chatting with the bartender.  The bartender mentioned that Lindsay Lohan had started filming a reality TV show with MTV involving her nightclub.  Indigo had a brilliant idea – he could get famous by showing up at LiLo’s club while they were filming as the “missing American man” and totally steal the show! He decided to take a couple of shots of Jameson for gumption, and then called a cab to bring him to LiLo’s club.

 

 

 

 

Korn and Corn

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I love rock concerts – they’re the perfect excuse to dress the way I wish I could dress all day, every day… what can I say? Old habits die hard.

Once again, I haven’t written in a while because I’ve been too caught-up in the daily grind of working to pay bills and maintaining my apartment and cats.  I try to go out and party when I have an opportunity to do so, taking advantage of the fact that it’s summer, but then I feel guilty when I spend precious hours of free time recovering from a night out on the town or I end up spending a Saturday doing a weeks-work of cleaning and errands.  The life of a working woman is not all it’s cracked up to be, friends.

I was in the midst of writing another installment of Indigo Wren, but I kept getting writer’s block, so I decided to throw in the towel for now.

I haven’t taken any vacation time this summer (not long weekends, not a trip to the beach, neinte, nada, NOTHING!), and therefore I am more excited than any person my age should be to have two days off of work mid-week so I can go to a Korn/Alice in Chains concert in Jones Beach… WTF.  That’s what my vacation is this year… a rock concert. SAD.

Is that sad?! I think it might be, but I don’t care.  The only other thing I have lined up to look forward to is a week in Maine – the last week of August.  I cannot wait to spend a week on the coast, sea kayaking, biking, and drinking cocktails and eating seafood.  Based on how fast the rest of this year, and especially this summer, has flown by so far, I know it will be here in the blink of an eye.  Even more thrilling than being “on vacation” though, is honestly just being off of work for a whole week.  Hell, I’d even take a stay-cation at this point, just to spend time away from work and out of the office.  Brutal.  Also, getting out of this putrid, summer-stench, dirty, ugly city will also be amazing.  The entire city currently smells like expired yogurt, dehydrated, homeless person piss, dog diarrhea and rotting fruit.  Fucking foul. I almost threw up one day walking up the subway stairs because I was mildly hungover and a dog (or human… who knows in this neighborhood) had diarrhe-ed ALL OVER the subway stairs.

Sorry… I know that’s gross, but alas, that’s the reality of life in this shitty city.  I am SO looking forward to sleeping-in this weekend.  I never thought I’d consider sleeping until 8:30am “sleeping in.”  LOL.  Who have I become?! Sometimes I don’t know or like this person.  Then again, sometimes I DO like this person, because at least she is less prone to blacking out and losing her debit card or starting fights.

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Sloppy presentation, delicious food… I made lentil “meatballs” Swedish style!
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Lentil Swedish “meat” balls

So, every time I made my lentil balls, I usually make them in tomato sauce, like I would traditional, Italian meatballs.  I had a brilliant idea a few nights ago, to switch it up and prepare them like Swedish meatballs.  I went out and bought all of the accoutrements of a typical Scandinavian meal – potatoes, beets, dill, creme fraiche, etc..  When I got home, I had to run the dishwasher because literally every piece of silverware was dirty and every single plate too.  I never realized how fucking long the dishwasher takes to do it’s thing!  I boiled the lentils, and then thought I could do more prep work and peel the beets, etc., until I realized even my veggie peeler and my cutting board were in the dishwasher.  I tried to wait it out, but I was starving to death, especially after a glass of wine, and ended up ordering Thai food.  I’ve realized I don’t like Thai food as much as I used to…. the red curry was too coconut milk-y and made me feel hella sick.

I also made some crab cakes this week, which are always a hit in this house, since my boyfriend, myself, and the cats love crab meat.  Anything for my cats….

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(^^^ Alexa kept playing emo songs when I was cooking).  The secret to moist and delectable crab cakes, is adding a couple of tablespoons of mayo to the mix.

The real showstopper this week though, or technically last weekend now, was the sweet corn risotto and sea scallop situation I made:

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I made the risotto first (you can modify this recipe by using chicken stock in place of seafood stock, and obviously subbing in sweet corn kernels in place of the shrimp).  Yeah… I’m too damn tired to write out a recipe tonight.

I walked 3 miles to Whole Foods and back again in the 93 degree heat to get sea scallops. Despite the fact that there are a couple of closer fish stores, Whole Foods still has the best seafood in the area.  I pan seared the scallops in butter (recipe for scallops can be found HERE).

There was a ton of risotto left-over since the scallops were the main feature of this meal.  I love to cook enough food that I have leftovers for a couple of days…. even though cooking brings me a lot of joy and it’s something I enjoy doing every day, it’s comforting to know there is prepared food in the fridge in case I get stuck working late.

What else have I been up to lately?  Not much…. klutz-ing around as usual.  I decided to do a fake tan (St. Tropez), as I was sick of seeing how lovely everyone else looked all bronzed and golden and sunkissed.  Needless to say, the same thing that happens every time I fake tan happened again – I looked like I was radioactive and/or sprayed with agent orange.  I don’t know why I always convince myself that maybe ‘this time will be different than the last’ when I decide I don’t want to be pale anymore.

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Agent orange color – bruises from dancing on tiled flooring.
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Allergic reaction to some mosquito bites I got at Knockdown Center basement…. looks like cigarette burns
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And finally, back to my natural skin color, after the tan wore off… but the two week old bruises still persist.

I live such a charmed life.

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Tuna and me, sporting devil horns… just two peas in a pod!
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When your kitten has been watching Fox News again

 

 

Homemade Pasta

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This is the second dish I used the homemade pasta in… the first night I made an artichoke pesto 😉
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The night we made the pasta – with an artichoke pesto and generous (clearly…) amount of Pecorino

Once again, I’ve been negligent about writing out blogs with recipes. I find that writing out the ingredients and process is not nearly as exciting as the actual preparation and cooking of the dishes.  I have, however, been invested in writing the tales of Indigo Wren.  I’m sick, I know. I invented this character and I’m basically living vicariously through him, or him through me. Whichever it is.

Anyhow, I made a collaborative dish with my boyfriend this past Friday.  I do the cooking 98% of the time, but I must admit, he has the golden touch when it comes to homemade pasta. If you have time to kill, and a pasta machine (*** trust me, you will need a pasta machine… I’ve tried to hand-roll and it does NOT work out), this is the perfect dish to make.  It’s going to take you about 3 hours start to finish… possibly more if you’re drinking and getting distracted dancing to 90s dance music.

I’m going to post the recipe for the shrimp dish… honestly it was better. If you want to make the artichoke pesto though: 1 can of artichoke hearts (don’t fuck with raw for this pesto), juice from 1 lemon, 1/3 cup olive oil, a handful of pine nuts OR walnuts (like 1/4 a cup), 2 TBS. chopped parsley, 1 clove of finely minced garlic, some salt and pepper to taste – throw it all in a food processor or blender and blend until pureed. Voila!

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This pasta is so delicate and light I honestly think it goes better with butter and olive oil or a light dusting of cheese, as opposed to this sauce, which was rather heavy and weighed it down.  This pesto would pair much better with boxed rigatoni or bucatini in retrospect… 

INGREDIENTS FOR THE PASTA:

  • 4 eggs, room temperature and slightly beaten
  • 3 cups flour (preferably 1 and 1/2 cup all-purpose, and 1 and 1/2 cup Semolina… but 3 cups of all-purpose does the job)
  • 1 Tbs. salt
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2-3 Tbs. ICE COLD water
  • More flour to knead the dough and dust the surface you roll on, as well as to dust the noodles so they don’t stick to each other!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE:

  • 1 lb. fresh shrimp, peeled, shelled, and de-veined
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 4 Tbs. butter
  • 1/2 cup white wine (dry works better)
  • Juice from 1/2 a lemon
  • 1 tsp. dried basil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 2 Tbs. freshly chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS:

  • Make sure you wear an apron and/or something light colored – you will end up with flour all over everything.  If you’re OCD about the cleanliness of your kitchen/counter tops and stove, you’ve been warned.
  • In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt
  • Slightly beat the room temperature eggs in a smaller bowl and dump into the flour
  • Add in the olive oil and water
  • Knead the dough with your hands until the mixture is consistent… add more flour or water as necessary, but you’ll want the dough to be more dry than sticky.  IF ITS STICKING TO YOUR FINGERS AND PALMS, IT NEEDS MORE FLOUR!
  • After kneading the dough for about 3 minutes, dust with more flour and divide into four parts.  Wrap in plastic wrap or a damp cloth and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

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Don’t be stingy with the flour!  Drier dough is better than sticky in this case… as long as it’s not so dry it’s crumbling 
  • You’re going to want to make sure whatever surface the dough touches is dusted in flour, be it the counter top, the plate you put the finished pasta on, or the machine you use to press it and cut it!
  • I have made pasta by hand before with a rolling pin – it’s doable, but so much more time consuming, messier, and the pasta is obviously much thicker than it is when you roll it through a pasta machine… cutting the strips also takes longer and they won’t be uniform in size
  • I got my pasta machine from TJ Maxx for like $15 a couple of years ago.  I think we only use it twice a year so I’m happy I didn’t spend a lot of money – Amazon probably has really affordable ones too!
  • Once the pasta has been refrigerated, you’ll want to use a rolling pin to do the preliminary roll (again, make sure the surface you’re rolling on as well as the rolling pin are lightly floured)
  • Next, run the flattened slab of dough through the pasta machine several times (usually 3 times) until it reaches the desired thickness

If you’re like me, you’ll want your pasta Mary-Kate Olsen thin, so it may need to rolled through the machine upwards of 5 times

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This is the sheet of dough after it has been through the machine several times, but not cut yet! It’s very thin… but be careful because if you make it too thin, it will get holes or break
  • Next, you’ll run the pasta through the cutting side.  Most pasta presses have a setting so you’ll be able to choose desired noodle thickness.  I’d recommend fettuccine or tagliatelle thickness.
  • Keep repeating the process with the other slabs of dough, or you can put the dough in the fridge for another day.  I like to just roll and cut it all so I don’t have to fuck with the pasta machine again… because honestly, this is a messy process and you WILL have flour all over your kitchen.
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The beautiful fettuccine, lightly dusted with flour and ready to cook
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Make sure the plates/trays you place your noodles on are dusted in flour and so are the noodles themselves, or they will stick to each other and any surface they touch!  You can refrigerate this pasta for days at a time, or dry it (though I’ve never tried to dry it myself… so you may want to research that shit)
  • Next, put a LARGE pot of boiling water on to boil.  Make sure it is heavily salted.
  • You’ll definitely end up refrigerating at least half of this pasta…. the ingredients listed above produce enough for like 8 servings AT LEAST.
  • As the water is boiling, heat up 1/4 cup olive oil and 4 Tbs. butter in a large sauce pan
  • Add in the finely minced garlic and cook over low heat for 1-2 minutes (being careful not to burn)
  • Add in the shrimp (granted they have been peeled and cleaned at this point)
  • Raise the heat to medium, and add in the wine and squeeze in the juice from 1/2 lemon
  • Add in the dried basil
  • Stir occasionally until shrimp turn pink; season with salt and pepper to taste
  • Once the water is at a full boil, add in the fresh pasta.  It will take only 2 minutes or so to fully cook since it is fresh.  You’ll want to taste test to make sure it’s cooked, but generally speaking, once it floats to the surface, it’s done cooking!
  • Drain the pasta, and add back into the pot along with a drizzle of olive oil
  • Toss in the shrimp/sauce mixture and mix/stir lightly (you don’t want to damage the noodles)
  • Serve hot and top with some freshly chopped parsley
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Delightful salad I made to accompany the pasta tonight… I was joking that if I served this salad in NYC, I’d be able to charge $18 for what is essentially a plate of basic veggies as long as I gave it a fancy name like “Radish Carpaccio”… welcome to New York 

The above salad was awesome because of the dressing.  This dressing would also pair well with tofu or even a stir-fry:

SESAME DRESSING:

  • 1 Tbs. toasted black sesame seeds
  • 1 clove very finely minced garlic
  • 3 Tbs. sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 Tbs. white sugar
  • Add all ingredients to bowl and whisk well

FOR THE SALAD:

  • lightly sauteed snow peas
  • shaved carrots
  • thinly sliced radishes
  • lightly sauteed yellow zucchini
  • Avocado

In other news, I finally finished a painting I was working on, had way too much to drink on Saturday night at some random Bushwick dance bar called Jupiter Disco where I saw a clone of my brother and McLovin’, was too hungover to go hiking on Sunday like I wanted to as a result of Saturday night’s gin and tonic consumption, binge ate empanadas in my vulnerable and hungover state, and am now only living for the Korn concert and mini family vacation in Maine I’ll be taking this August. Cheers.

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Finally finished

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Easter Dinner – A Meal to Impress

IMG_7560I am really happy right now because I found a pair of my favorite Hollister boyfriend-style, super-low rise jeans, in mint condition for only $10.   This is the only thing “giving me life” (as the kids nowadays like to say…) on a Monday evening.  What a fucking steal!

My favorite light-wash, destroyed boyfriend jeans from Hollister (*which I have had for the past 5 years), I have literally worn to pieces. They were already “destroyed” when I bought them, but now the holes that they came with are basically the entire length of the jeans, and I’ve worn them so much that they are loose around the waist because every thread of elastic has been worn out. It’s a miracle I was able to find the same pair again since they’re no longer carried in stores. Thank God for second-hand, online retailers! It’s the small things in life….

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Baggin’ Saggin’ Barry right here – I’ve had these babies since 2014 and now, even with a replacement, I still can’t bear to throw them out.  They’re like my second skin – I’ve worn them to so many concerts, bars, parties, and just have so many good memories in them. I think I’ll keep them forever…. they’re like my security blanket.

I didn’t go home for Easter this year.  I hate missing family holidays… especially now that my parents are getting older, I’m getting older, and I’ve realized I am not and they’re not as immortal as I once upon a time thought when I was in my early twenties. It’s hard to go home for a “weekend” when you’re not off on Friday or Monday however, and therefore would either have to request off one of the aforementioned days, or take public transit and then come home same day.  Easter is a holiday that falls on a Sunday every year – it doesn’t make sense to not be granted the following Monday after off, even if it’s a religious holiday – travel time people!

I made do given the circumstances and prepared a delicious meal for two.  I know most people have an Easter ham or some sort of roast, but since It was only the two of us, and I’m still trying to refrain from eating land animals (***there have been a few slip ups when intoxicated) I decided to make seafood instead.  I’ve realized that everything looks fancier when it’s served over a puree or sauce, so in order to make this meal special for the holiday, I decided to make a split-pea puree to accompany the scallops.  I also made mussels in a white wine sauce, and a salad for some greens/fiber.

This is a meal to cook if you want to impress someone – whether it’s a significant other, your mother, your father, a good friend, or someone you really care about and generally just want to treat well.  It not only tastes fucking amazing, but it’s also a filling meal, which I find important, and the presentation is what makes it especially impressive when served in the comforts of your own home.

FOR THE SPLIT-PEA PUREE

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup of dried split-peas
  • 1 stalk of celery, finely diced
  • 1 small Idaho or white potato (peeled and cut into cubes)
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 3 Tbs olive oil
  • 1/2 cup frozen, green peas
  • sprinkle of cayenne pepper
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 Tbs. heavy cream

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DIRECTIONS:

  • Heat the olive oil over low-heat in a saucepan/small pot
  • Add in the minced garlic and cook over low heat for about a minute and a half
  • add in the celery, split peas, cubed potato, and the stock and raise the heat to medium-high
  • bring to a boil and cook until the peas and the potato are tender (you’ll need to taste test)
  • Add in the frozen peas and cook for another minute
  • at this point, most of the liquid should be absorbed, but not all of it! Some liquid is important for the process of blending… but you’ll be able to add more as necessaryIMG_7507
  • Once the peas are soft and the potato is cooked through, turn off the heat and let cool for a few minutes
  • Place contents of the pot into a blender, along with a dash of cayenne pepper and some salt and pepper
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Cooked mixture in the blender (pre-blending)
  • Blend on low-medium setting, until the consistency becomes thick and uniform
  • Add some heavy cream and/or more chicken stock as necessary (you’ll probably need a bit more liquid)
  • Make sure to taste-test to determine whether more salt, pepper, or cayenne pepper is needed
  • Puree should end up being a smooth, thick consistency
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Perfect consistency here… add more liquid as necessary
  • Set aside while you prepare the scallops and mussels
  • Please note:  I suggest doing the mussels and salad next and saving the scallops for last, since you’ll want to serve them hot.

FOR THE SALAD

  • I went basic AF for the salad here, so it’s pretty much just pure roughage
  • I used: Arugula, alfalfa sprouts, and grape tomatoes
  • For the dressing: 1/3 cup mayo, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, juice from one lemon, 1 Tbs. olive oil, 3 tsp. white vinegar, freshly ground black pepper – whisk together in small bowl and voila!
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Homemade salad dressing makes all the difference – if you have an aversion to mayo or want to be healthier, I’d suggest just using olive oil, a spritz of fresh lemon juice, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper, and/or some balsamic vinegar

FOR THE MUSSELS

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 finely minced shallot
  • 2 dried or fresh bay leaves
  • 2 Tbs. olive oil
  • 3 Tbs. butter
  • 3 cloves of finely minced garlic
  • 1 lb. (1 bag) of fresh mussels
  • 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp. thyme (dried or freshly chopped)
  • juice from one lemon
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • salt/pepper to taste
  • 1 Tbs. freshly chopped parsley
  • Toast to serve (tastes like heaven dipped in the mussel sauce!)

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DIRECTIONS:

  • In a wok or large sauce pan, heat the olive oil over low heat
  • Add in the minced shallots and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally
  • Add in the minced garlic and cook for another minute
  • Add in the bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and butter and cook for another minute
  • Add in the mussels and increase the heat to low-medium
  • As soon as you’ve added the mussels and turned up the heat, add in the wine!
  • Add in the fresh lemon juice
  • Cover with a lid and wait about 2 minutes or so, until you see the mussel shells opening
  • Add in the cream and fresh parsley and give a good stir
  • Add in some pepper and salt and give another good stir
  • Once mussels seem pretty opened, turn off burner and remove from heat – set aside

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Hell yeah – the toast dipped in that sauce is heaven on Earth

FOR THE SCALLOPS

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lb. fresh sea scallops (patted dry with paper towels… they MUST BE DRY to cook, excess moisture means they won’t brown at all)
  • 3 cloves finely minced garlic
  • 2 Tbs. butter
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 Tbs. white wine
  • Split-pea puree
  • sprinkling of alfalfa sprouts

DIRECTIONS:

  • Pat the scallops dry with paper towels
  • Salt and pepper the scallops on both sides
  • Heat butter in a shallow, saucepan over low heat
  • Add in the garlic and cook over low heat for about 1 minute
  • Add in the scallops and increase the heat to low-medium
  • Cook for 2 minutes on each side (approximately 4 minutes in total)
  • sprinkle with lemon juice and white wine, lower heat and cook for another 30 seconds
  • remove from heat
  • re-heat the split pea puree (microwave or stove top)
  • Plate the split pea puree, and plate the scallops with sauce
  • Garnish with alfalfa sprouts and serve hot
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Perfection

And now I am hungry again sitting here writing about this meal… that’s how good it was!

I also did some painting this weekend:

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This one took a surprisingly happy turn, what with the yellow flowers and bright background… still not finished though

Tuna (the new kitten) is coming home this next weekend, and I think Mr. Peeper can sense that he’s about to no longer be the only child because he has been extra lovely:

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Took Peeps for a nice, long stroller on Easter morning.

Cheers.

 

 

Kitchen Accidents and Wasted Cake

I’m a clumsy person by nature, I always have been and I always will be – drunk, sober, in-between… it doesn’t matter.  At any given time, I have at least three (usually more) bruises on my body from running into shit or hitting myself on some object.  My hands are usually covered in a splendid assortment of cat scratches, or burns from cooking.  Spending so much time cooking, I’ve had several incidents involving knives to fingers, burns from the oven and boiling water, etc., but this week’s accident really took the cake.  I was making an artichoke pasta using fresh artichokes, which are evidently hard AF, when I attempted to quarter them with a large knife.  The knife slipped off the artichoke and came down on my fingernail – one of the worst pains I have ever felt.  I was honestly scared to look as I thought I’d cut through to the bone.  This is the second time I’ve ever had an injury involving a nail/toenail, and let me tell you – I totally know why they torture Prisoners of War by ripping their nails off now….

The pain doesn’t go away – my finger was THROBBING all night to the point that the pain kept waking me up out of my sleep, and the next day at work, it hurt to type at the keyboard.  Naturally I was slammed with work that day and therefore wanted to die. My finger still hurts, although it isn’t pulsating now.  The nail is basically cracked 3/4 of the way through from a horizontal angle starting at the cuticle… sexy, I know.  What can I say? I’m not a kept woman or lady who lunches, and therefore I will never have the unblemished, manicured hands of my dreams. Unless someone wants to make me a kept woman or afford me the life of a lady who lunches… but even then, I am so clumsy and like cooking/doing crafts etc., so my hands would never actually be nice.

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Fresh artichokes, although delicious, are such a pain in the ass to prepare – almost not worth it.  Also, as I found out this week, dangerous as hell given their tough exterior… use caution.

My clumsy streak continued when I stubbed my toes so hard a couple of nights later, that I thought I broke a toe.  Luckily nothing was broken, I just chipped the nail polish and now have a bruise covering the top half of my foot  #blessed

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This week’s injuries – check that bruise out! I haven’t bothered repainting my toenails, what’s the point?  I’ll just run into more shit and chip them again.

In my last blog post, I was ranting about Dolly Parton not calling herself a feminist and how much it disappointed me – looks like I’m not the only one she disappointed: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/mar/03/dolly-parton-sister-ashamed-stars-silence-metoo-protest  Dolly’s own sister is pretty peeved at her as well.  Just thought I’d share – this is always a topic near and dear to my heart as a woman.

Anyhow, I feel like I’ve cooked such a random assortment of things over the last couple of weeks that I’ve neglected to share.  Work was insane this past week, and I worked late three out of five nights, so my cooking was kept to a minimum until this weekend.  I made these really awesome shrimp tostadas the week before last:

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I cooked the shrimp in some minced garlic, smoked paprika, onion powder, cumin, salt, pepper, splash of hot sauce, and a splash of freshly squeezed lime juice. I also used purple (red) cabbage, which I now have a weird obsession with for some reason – it’s so much heartier and tastier than lettuce in salads, and so good for you vitamin wise.  I made a sauce that I both tossed the chopped cabbage in and then put a dollop of over the shrimp once plated.

For the sauce, I used a dollop of sour cream, about 2 Tbs. of mayonnaise, fresh lime juice, smoked paprika, and a generous squirt of sriracha sauce (hey – I never said these were authentic Mexican tostadas…).

I made fresh guacamole to top it off (smashed avocados, diced cherry tomatoes, granulated garlic, cayenne pepper, fresh lime juice, and chopped cilantro), and then fried the corn tortillas in hot vegetable oil.  Voila!  A relatively fast meal to prepare, yet very impressive when plated, semi-healthy, and insanely delicious.

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Sometimes I just want to bake – I don’t even like baked goods or sweets that much, but I think of baking as an artistic endeavor.  I think I just like frosting things for the aesthetics of it.

I had some free time on my hands the week before last, and got the urge to bake a cake on a random week night.  Since I am avoiding do my taxes for now, among some other things I should really sit down and make myself do, I decided it seemed like a great idea to follow through with my desire to bake a cake.  Big mistake – it took so long start to finish (this is why I hate baking).

I usually only bake when I have to (Christmas, special occasions, etc.), but I really don’t like the process of baking.  Not only is it time consuming (batch in – batch out of cookies over the course of hours, waiting for shit to cool before frosting it, etc.), but the precision required is painful for me.  I guess I don’t really like to follow instructions or something, but in baking you HAVE to follow directions to a fault, otherwise it goes horribly awry.  Cooking is great, because as long as you know the basics (how to make a sauce, how long to cook things, what combinations of food and seasonings go together), you can improvise.  There really isn’t much improvisation to be had in baking.  Anyhow, I think I enjoy the decorative part of baking.  Sometimes I just want to see pretty, pink-frosted cupcakes, or in this case, frost and decorate a cake.  I decided to make a red velvet cake, and it turned out alright – nothing to write home about.  The recipe I used called for buttermilk and red food dye.  I have heard the best recipes call for mayonnaise (sounds gross, but keeps cake moist) and beet juice to dye the cake (but ain’t nobody got time for that on a Wednesday night). Next time, I guess I’ll go all out with the beet juice dye.

Enough about my failed cake though, onto the pasta recipe that was out-of-this world delicious and nearly cost me a finger:

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The finished pasta – rigatoni with artichokes, white wine, lemon, and Pecorino Romano – a really impressive pasta for the artichoke junkie in your life.

I’m a real junkie for artichokes – fried artichokes, artichoke dip, artichokes on salad, pizza – anything artichoke. *** A WORD OF ADVICE*** fresh artichokes are a real bitch to clean, whittle down to the edible parts, and also take FOREVER to cook.  You’ve been warned.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 large, fresh artichoke heads
  • 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 3 lemons
  • 4 cloves of finely minced garlic
  • 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
  • 4 Tbs. olive oil
  • 3 Tbs. butter
  • Box of pasta – rigatoni or penne
  • Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

  • Peel the tough, outer leaves off of the artichokes and then trim the ends. You’ll basically end up with an artichoke that is 1/3 of the size of what you initially started with.
  • Using a small knife, shave/whittle the base of the artichoke (the point where the leaves were attached), so you see the white, tender part of the base.
  • Cut the artichokes into quarters – be careful… they’re hard to cut! :p
  • Place the artichokes in a pot of enough water that they are fully submerged, salt the water, and squeeze in the juice from a whole lemon
  • Bring the water to a low boil.

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  • While the artichokes are boiling, put on a pot of heavily salted water for the pasta and bring to a high boil.
  • While you wait for the pasta water to come to a boil, heat the oil in a large saucepan over low-medium heat.
  • Add in the minced onion and cook about 6 minutes or until tender and translucent.
  • Add in the minced garlic and cook for another 3 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic.
  • Once the artichokes have been cooking for about 15 minutes in the hot water, drain them and add them into the saucepan with the garlic and onion.
  • Add in about half of the butter (1 and 1/2 Tbs) to the saucepan and increase the heat to medium, stirring the artichokes so they’re coated with the butter/oil and cooking evenly.
  • Salt and pepper the artichokes, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, and then add the white wine – the heat should be high enough at this point that the wine makes a sizzling sound and steam comes off the pan when you add it in. Stir the artichokes frequently.

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  • Add the pasta to the boiling water, and cook according to time listed on pasta box.
  • You’ll want to occasional taste-test the artichokes, to make sure they’ve become tender, and also see that you’ve seasoned appropriately (add more salt, pepper, or lemon as necessary – do keep in mind that Pecorino is a very salty cheese though, and will add a substantial amount of salty once added to the pasta).

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  • Remove the artichoke saucepan from heat once they’re cooked through and tender.
  • Grate about 1 cup of the Pecorino Romano into a separate bowl
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Don’t make the mistake I always make when grating cheese and accidentally grate your finger – it hurts like hell
  • Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water and add the pasta into the artichoke saucepan, or add the contents of the artichoke saucepan into the pasta pot with the pasta (whichever pan/pot is more accommodating)
  • Add in the rest of the butter (another 1-2 Tbs.), the Pecorino cheese, and juice from another lemon
  • Stir everything together until the pasta is coated and all ingredients are evenly dispersed.
  • Serve hot and accompany with a glass of white wine… or two 😉

I’m so happy it is Sunday – I just wish every day was Sunday.  The only day of the week geared specifically towards taking it easy, lounging around and consuming food in excess.  Maybe I’ll get around to filing my taxes tonight – I know the outcome is going to be depressing, which is why I’ve been putting it off as long as possible.  I wanted to attempt a food vlog this weekend, or at least set up a Twitch account – I’ll look into that later. I’m not the best at technology and have no video editing skills of which to speak, so I’ll see what I can do.