Here And There - eat_n

The One Where I Discover The Root of My Disfunction

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lisa) — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 15:15:23 -0700

I can't possibly say how happy I am that it is Friday and that in a few hours I will be done with work for four. whole. days!

Those days will be almost entirely filled with stressing about the piece I am making for the upcoming art show. Ha! Hopefully a little work will be done on it too. I really am a diseased person. Why do I hate doing the only thing that gives my life purpose? Why can't I just make something instead of making such a huge deal out of everything.

There are also BBQs this weekend. And I am maybe making my berry pie and also maybe ribs! Cooking is easy for me because most of the time everybody loves it and I am sustained therefore.

Hmmm, maybe my problem is that I exptect everyone to react the same way to my art that they do with my cooking. But no one makes orgasmic "mmm, mmm"ing noises over most people's art right? And why do I even need that in the first place? I am missing something of my own that I require people to validate me like that.

Man, Cyrus picked a good one. he he.

Anyway, there was enough crazy in the last post, I don't need to bore my poor diary with more.

I've been going to the gym this week! And it feels so good! I really don't like being out of shape.. I hate it worse than I hate lifting weights in that sweaty man world so I guess that is the choice I have to make. Also, C and I have been eating really healthy so maybe I can get rid of the muffin top that I thought would be fun to have. (Yeah I thought that, as a bellydancer, it might be cute if I had a little pudge. Guess what, when you have a small frame and you are no taller than 5'....it's not cute. It just looks unhealthy. I'm just not volumptious and this has helped me accept that).

Plus squats are great for bellydance stamina!

I Was Going to Post This Yesterday But I Got Distracted.

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lisa) — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:59:29 -0700

It just rained for a few minutes and now the smell of wet dry ground is wafting in my windows. I love that smell. It's so sweet and muggy, I could hyperventilate inhaling it so deeply.

Right now I can't decide whether to write about why I'm trying to lose weight. Or why I started birth controll again. Or about my new art piece and the fact that it will be on a wall with other art in two weeks. That I'm leaving for Oregon next weekend for my cousin's shower and I need to do the decorations for that. That my new dance choreography is exciting, dynamic and challenging but that I'm behind because I haven't been able to practice outside of class. That I've been taking a painting workshop and a Goddess workshop and they were both really inspiring and neat. Or that I have tons of ideas for sewing projects and have knitting that is itching to be done. Are you confused, bored and slightly frustrated yet dear Diary? Because I am.

I'm all over the place right now. Spinning mental circles. For some reason, lately, my attention span is that of a tiny flying insect. Maybe I'm overwhelmed. I get this way when I'm either depressed or overwhelmed, and of course those two things go hand in hand too.

But, most of the things that are overwhelming me are so positive and interesting that I'm feeling REALLY frustrated I can't put my finger on one thing and do it start to finish.

What an obnoxious post! I think though, that great diary posts are ones that a person is able to sit back and reflect on an experience and then write about that reflection. And honey, I'm not reflect on anything right now. I'm doing only reactionary, slightly confused thinking and oh god! I feel like such a baby, my life is not that hard! Why can't I handle daily issues like everyone else in this world?

In more fun and saner news, we threw away our old beat up hibachi grill and bought a grown up BBQ last weekend. And so far we've used it twice with fantastic results!

We also had a really nice time in Napa last weekend.

Heaven in a pie dish

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lisa) — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 10:48:43 -0800

I made a birthday berry pie for my good friend/boyfriend's band's drummer Mouse. And I'm posting it because it was the best pie I've ever made in my limited experience. Perfect crust via the food processor with this super easy crust recipe. I didn't use a recipe for the inside though, just used two packages of Whole Foods frozen mixed organic berries and coated them with 3/4c of flour and 1 cup of sugar.

I served it simply with some ice cream and people at the party were making food orgasm noises which if you baked, my dear blog, you would know that these noises are the reason people like me bake. Success indeed. Of course, some of these people may have been under the influence of a certain appetite inducing substance but it's all hearsay.

Things get finished. Things get put off till later.

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lisa) — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 15:10:25 -0800

This weekend was nicely stormy.

I didn't get everything done that I needed to. So I'm cutting my losses. Which are - the fuzzy feet for christa. I gave her a necklace from the craft fair that she loved and my homemade perfume and will finish the fuzzies while sitting on my a** in Alaska drinking cocoa. Also the necklace I was making for a certain someone. I will give her perfume and then the necklace on her birthday.

I'm also skipping bellydance again this wed. Which really sucks. But has to happen.

I worked Saturday and came home about 2pm. I cleaned the house and carved my lino bookplate for Sally. Made meatloaf and opened presents from my Mom and Dad. They gave us one of those high density foam mattress covers. They are really expensive and really comfortable but we are afraid of the fumes. I'm not sure what to do.

But we got lots of fun nice stuff. My mom is so sweet. She gave the kitties this "Kitty Body Pillow" with catnip that the went crazy over for about 15 minutes.

Also I got a "Knitting Pattern a Day" Calendar. There looks like some pretty good patterns in there.

On sunday I took a bath and watched the rain and really awesome lightning. Some friends came over and I made my ham from my parents. It was soooo good. I'm sold on buying meat from them from now on.

This week is going to be insane. 3 more days till we leave!!!!

Stress, it is Holiday

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lisa) — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 14:10:00 -0800

I'm alive. But crampy and stressed. My mom actually made me chant "I am not Martha, I am not Martha" yesterday.

I have to work tomorrow (Saturday, the last weekend before I leave for 10 days) and had to skip Bellydance Wed. because I had to work late. But I was only slightly pissed about that because I had to have a 2 min choreography ready to show the class and I was totally not ready.

But I've been doing stuff. So much stuff my wrist and my brain hurt. Photo proof.

One fuzzy foot. I'll just revel in this misshapen and slightly hole-y accomplishment before thinking about the fact I've only knitted an inch on the cuff of the other one and need to have them finished and felted by 7 pm on Sunday when Christa comes over for dinner. Its apparent that I'm incapable of kitchener stitch. It's all grafted fine but it looks so wonky! I swear these weren't so hard the first time I made them. Have I regressed in my knitting skillz? Thank Goddess I'll be felting it.

Also Baking.

Gingerbread from Eating Well Magazine. I'm not posting a link because I don't recommend them. And, you guessed it. Those whitish spots are clumps of butter I failed to let soften enough so I could properly incorporate them into the dough. Que serah.

(Also, that mug of suspect-looking liquid is ginger lemon tea if you were wondering)

So they weren't that great. But I had to post a picture because I'm obsessed with trays of cookie shapes. It all dates back to one Raggedy Anne book from the seventies that I used to read at my Grandma's house (down the street!) about the dog that stole all the nice shaped cookies that Raggedy Anne made for Raggedy Andy. The book isn't that great or special but it's just one of those visual memories that stick in my head. I think there is a picture of poorly rendered beige cookie shapes raining down from the sky after being spilled. I kind of wonder if some of the things I remember most about my childhood were not things I especially liked but ones I didn't. I mean, thinking back, they were horrible illustrations, and the dog stealing the cookies that Raggedy Anne worked so hard to make kind of upset me (control issue?). Who knows.

Thankfully I know my jam thumbprint cookies from epicurious.com will turn out great because that is the best cookie recipe in the world. At least when you use my Mamma's homemade jam it is..

You know you wanna see it....

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lisa) — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 00:50:00 -0800

My freezer.

We brought back our half of the half of pig we bought . It cost 60$ total. It is way less than I thought it would be. Thats not a bad thing, I was afraid it wouldn't all fit in my freezer, but this was not the case. And the price is pretty good too. I ended up with half a ham, 4-5 pound of bacon, about 6 pkgs of 2 pork chops, some steak, 4 pkgs of sausage, a roast, short ribs, and my brother spared some venison steaks and a venison tenderloin. A lot of meat, but it will last us until next time. The price is good and I can feel good about it. Yay.

1. My meat, baby
2. Homemade raw cat food in yogurt containers ready to be defrosted and devoured by carnivorous felines.
3. Christmas cookie dough to be defrosted and baked this weekend. (gingerbread, and lemon shortbread if you were wondering)
4. Left over curry lentils (and I think some homemade watermelon yogurt sorbet underneath).

I feel so exposed.

We ate. We Argued. We were thankful.

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lisa) — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 12:50:52 -0800

Thanksgiving. C and I drove the 10 or so hours through the night to Aurora, Oregon from Oakland, California. We listened to The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman on tape. I tried not to, but slept most of the way.

Thanksgiving with the parents was pretty good. The rest of our family went to Three Sisters for thanksgiving which we all opted out of so I didnt see any of them. My youngest brother was on leave from the Navy. He is really loving the Navy and is learning a lot and is in no imminent danger of going to Iraq that I know of so maybe my initial freak out at his joining wasn't totally necessary. He loves being in uniform, and a part of something, and getting respect from our extended military family and I can't begrude him that. We don't have that in common but what does that matter.

Naturally my father drove me nuts. But there were no major arguments mostly because at a certain point its useless to argue with him so I didn't and let it go. Now that we are both adults someone has to act like one.

I had a great time with my mom and my neice. I used to think I was just biased but there can be no denying that my neice is just a really cool person. She is so sweet and thoughtful (at 6!) and is really never misbehaves. I'm sure that means when she becomes a teenager she will be a nighmare. But more power to her. She's really great, and so funny.. she rocks.

My mom is making Lemon Curd for gifts this year and has been collecting jars to put it in all year. Kyleigh and I painted them with dorky glass paint as a collaborative effort. It was fun and she impresses me with her drawing skills. She started school kind of late but she is making up for it with her enthusiasm for drawing and writing. She spent hours with Cyrus filling in this huge writing and learning workbook. She finished the entire thing.

We had a good dinner. The usual stuff. But this year we had three of my brother's chickens instead of a turkey. We also got a couple half gallon jars of beer from McMenniman's (local brewers in Oregon/Washington) You can bring your own jars, or they will give you one and you can take home beer, its cool.

I got to go to Fabric Depot which is the best fabric store ever. And they were having a 30% off everything sale. I got a big bag of stuff. It sucks there is not one like it in the Bay Area. Also went to Fred Meyer, another Northwest store I wish we had here.

They cats yelled at us for hours once we got back. They've learned a new trick while we were gone. They can now climb up on the counter and pry open the cupboard to get at their treats. I've since moved them to a new location, but in retalliation camille pulled down my bag of dried currants, chewed holes in the bag, presumably ate some, and left them on the kitchen floor for me to find. Lovely.

While we were gone my Elann order came. I got a bunch of Peruvian Highland Wool to make C a hat. It's suprisingly soft. I should be able to come up with a color combo with what I got. I'm thinking brown with a blue, green, or orange stripe. We'll see. I also got some Quecha and I will be getting more. It's nice stuff.

The Citrus Paradisi or Giant Grapefruit Provides Much Entertainment

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lisa) — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:30:00 -0800

I ate a really big grapefruit from Whole Foods. (brewsky for scale:)

Unfortunately, besides being the biggest grapefruit I've ever eaten it was also the most tasteless. PLUS it didn't go so well with Pumpkin Ale. Go figure.

Nothing but a little TART!

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lisa) — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 00:20:00 -0800

I made a tart.

A pear tart. And it is my new favorite dessert. This particular recipe embodies all my favorite things about food. Simple. Delicious. Easy. And is especially cool because you don't need any fancy pants tart dish or anything. And of course, the best part is all the HO jokes ya' get to make.

Recipe: Rustic Pear Tart.

Beware. The total amount of flour is separated in the ingredient list. You will have 2/3 c of flour total. I may actually use my own whole wheat pastry recipe next time. The walnut oil is a healthy substitute for tons of butter, but naturally, that makes it less flaky.

Itty Bitey food

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lisa) — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 00:55:00 -0800

Tiny food. I. can't. get. over. it.

This is not new. Notmartha has apparently had this on her blog since Feb. but I never actually clicked on the links. Oh my god the mini hamburgers!! And salad!

I fear a mini cocktail party in my future.

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