A La-Di-Da weekend

I am really excited to go home today. Friday I was feeling sick, it was cold and rainy, and I decided to walk straight over to Eric's (35 minute walk) rather than walk home (20 minutes), get my cell phone charger, neti pot, drill I was going to let Eric borrow, etc., rest, then go over (20-30 minute subway ride + another 10 minute walk). As a result, I have been without a phone for going on three days. It's strange how if I had lost my phone, I would be freaking out over not having it for three days, but because it just died, it was fine, even strangely liberating. Plus, Eric got a new laptop with a camera in it, so I had my informally scheduled Sunday call with my parents over video chat. I really like video chats - my parents pop in and out, Eric & I pop in and out, we arrange the laptop to let them see the sunset. It's nice.

Because I was sick, I did pretty much nothing on Saturday, though I finally left the house so Eric could pick up some free meat that had been in Jeffrey's display case, some pork and ham wrapped up with cheese and vegetables. Of course I had to have a Tra La La cupcake. Mmmm. We watched "Curb Your Enthusiasm," PBS, etc., had dinner, and by the end of the day I was feeling much better.

Except that Eric woke up sick on Sunday, and he's staying home today. We had hung out Wednesday and he didn't get sick, but I guess that sustained contact made sickness inevitable. When you're sucking face with someone not sharing water glasses seems kind of pointless.

To break up the day, we left the house in search of a new cannoli place that had opened up on the Lower East Side. We forgot to write down the address before we left, so we ended up wandering around forever and getting weird directions from people that were totally incorrect. Finally, as we decided to head home, I glimpsed a bubbly pink sign out of the corner of my eye. Success!! We split a mini almond joy cannoli, which was my favorite, then had a regular (with chocolate shell), and pistachio after dinner. I want to go back and try their pumpkin pie cannoli. Mmm. For dinner, Eric made Ropa de Vieja (which was two days in the making), which translates to dirty clothes. It's a beef stew with really tender meat, and a hearty tomato sauce, and spiced mainly with cumin and oregano. In the morning, Eric came into the bathroom with this giant, white/yellow frisbee with some dark marks on it. He made me guess what it was. It was the fat from the beef broth, which had congealed at the top after a night in the fridge. It was at least half an inch think. He was like, "What should I do with it?" and was about to try to break it in half and flush it in the toilet before I intervened. I guess that's what he normally does with grease? Gross.

Eric & I are thinking of starting up a food blog together. I want it to be as much about cooking food as the evolution of our relationship. Kind of like Julie & Julia, where she would talk about her personal life. The only thing is, I am a pretty private person. I feel very ambivalent and reluctant about opening up my life to other people's criticism. Any ideas for names?

Current Food/Alcohol Obsessions

-I can live on nuts and fruits alone. My eating habits closely resemble that of a squirrel. I also love cracking nuts. I recently went to wine bar Gottino and spent the night splitting a bottle of wine and cracking walnuts and hazelnuts. It’s so much fun! And you can have contests, like who can crack a walnut in the largest pieces. While not a new obsession, Turkish Pistachios (smaller, more intensely flavored) are an old standby, though quality can vary from supplier to supplier (Manhattan Fruit Exchange > Economy Candy), so you have to be careful.

-Wine: Shiraz, Syrah, yum, yum, yum. I will never get tired of Shiraz, my first wine love. Full-bodied, meaty, fruity. It’s how I like it.

-Champagne: I love Chateau St. Michelle. Had it a couple times in the past month or so. I need to visit it when I come back to Seattle! I also recently bought some strip club champagne from a discount wine store (Scores lost their liquor license) so I will have some $7.99 champagne that retails for $250 in tittie land.

-Microwbrews/Craft Ales: I hate the term “microbrew” because it sounds so damn pretentious, but beers produced by small breweries have SO much flavor in them; they’re practically like wines. I especially like beers with high alcoholic content in them. I love carbonation, and thus champagne, and these have that whole “champagne of beers” thing going on (not that I’ve ever knowingly had a Miller High Life) while being able to utilize a greater variety of flavors. Troeg’s Mad Elf (which I’ve had at Pacific Standard a couple times) is a delicious, spicy, cherry-undertoned example.

-Tofu made by small, local places. It seriously tastes so much better. Laura, you totally turned me on to this! There is one brand at Whole Foods with a blue package that I really like, and The Bridge tofu (made in Middletown, CT, although I don’t know where) is absolutely fabulous, and retains more of that nutty soy flavor

-While I’m not that big of a fan of maple, and this vanilla soymilk has strong maple flavor to it, WestSoy Unsweetened Vanilla soymilk is great in chai tea, especially with a splenda or two thrown in. My weekend go-to.

-Cashews and Mixed Nuts from Costco. Such amazing quality. So good.

-Clementines. One of the few oranges I really like. I also like Blood Oranges, but I’ve been really disappointed with the quality lately—they’ve been less-than-sweet, and very pulpy.

-Brown Rice! I cooked it myself for the first time a month or so ago. I love that it’s chewy and has a slightly earthy flavor. I also just bought some Brown Basmati Rice at the health food store (Integral Yoga Foods, the one with the hot checkout guys) so I'll have that soon.

-The soup at Paradis-to-go: I am still dreaming of this amazing potato-leek-bacon soup I had there. It had pieces of cut-up potato, corn, and arugula in it. Amazing. That place knows their soups. And the checkout guys are hot. Too. (I think I am obsessed with the attractiveness of people providing food for me, plus they can't be mean to me because it's their job to smile and act nice, even if a gal like me is acting psycho. I also really need to see 9 1/2 weeks, isn't that some kind of food sex movie?)