Media Recs

As the census has ended I have more time to devote to listening to things, reading things and (let's be honest, mostly) watching things.

Books
Dead Until Dark, The First Sookie Stackhouse Novel, by Charlaine Harris. This is the novel that the TV show True Blood is based on and lord it is terrible (and enjoyable.) I believe that Charlaine Harris could best Stephenie Meyer in a writing contest, but it would be a close call. However, unlike Twilight, a lot of shit happens in this book including a healthy dose of sex and violence. In one scene Sookie discovers her Grandmother brutally murdered in their kitchen and a couple of pages later she loses her virginity to her new vampire boyfriend (as you do). Basically, I highly recommend it.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. Prep is difficult to describe because the story is so seemingly simple. A girl from a middle class family in the Midwest gets a scholarship to go to a fancy prep school on the East coast. It is a brilliantly written book and one of the most realistic books I've read about being a teenager. The main character's angst is believable and never overdone. Her behavior is so realistically teenagery that I actually cringed and at one point had to put the book down. Anyway, the story is much more complex than I am able to describe (incorporating class, race and gender issues) but it is a great book and you should read it (although it doesn't contain any vampire sex).

TV Shows
True Blood. This show is total crack. I have watched two seasons of it and I have no idea if I think it is a good show. Is it well written or well acted? I don't know and I don't care. It is incredibly addictive for much the same reasons the book is. However, it works even better in the tv show because the insane levels of sex and violence (and the tv show adds much more of these, especially the sex) are so much more visceral. Ula and I would get this on netflix, one disc at a time and proceed to watch every episode on the disk the day we got it. Then we'd wait desperately for the next and do it all again. If you like to be entertained and you like naked people, this is the show for you.

Friday Night Lights. This show is about high school football in a small town in Texas and it rocks. The 4th season is currently on demand and it is so fucking good. Unlike True Blood, I can confidently say that this is one of the best written and best acted shows on television. The relationship between Coach Taylor and Tammy Taylor is bar none the best relationship on TV. I do not know anyone who likes football less than I do (maybe Ula?) but that doesn't stop me from being obsessed with a show about high school football. I have probably watched 10 times as many football games played by the fictional Dillon Panthers than I did of my own high school's team when I was a student (sorry SLO Tigers!). I believe this show appeals to everyone (I was initially convinced to watch it after reading a review in Bitch magazine) - men, women, gay, straight, black, white and Tim Riggins' fans.

That is Tim Riggins, and I love him.

I was going to write about music and movies, but I'm exhausted.

Grill

That's my grill. It was put together by the lovely Ben and Kaori. It only took them 3 hours. While they didn't specifically say so, I bet they were really appreciative that I provided them with such an entertaining activity. Otherwise they probably would have been pretty bored. I not only generously gave them a fun project to do, but also cooked them brunch.



I made biscuits and fruit salad. I have never made biscuits from scratch before and I found them both easy and delicious. I also made a leek/mushroom frittata and turkey bacon (which was not crispy enough for Kaori's taste and I was unjustly accused of feeding her raw bacon).

In other news I have my first outdoor 5k next week. Which is exciting, but I've basically stopped "training" and now I only jog about once a week. I think it will most likely end up being terrible but I do think our team t-shirts are adorable!



Wish me luck. I really fucking need it.

I have not been blogging much recently due to working more and cooking less, and the fact that I am having problemsgetting photos from my iphone.

I managed to do a wee bit of cooking and such yesterday and thought I'd share. Last night I decided to make the delicious grilled fish salad again. But I used a different type of fish this time (the ling cod) and it tasted gross, and too fishy. Then I realized it was full of bones but already broken up on my salad. I am scared of choking on fish bones (I even dreamed last night that I choked on a fish bone - my dreams are very interesting and mysterious).

I had very little other food in the house but managed to make myself a sharp cheddar apple toasted sandwich of deliciousness.

I just sauteed some apple slices and threw them on a mini baguette with a bit of sharp cheddar (and salt and pepper on top). It was awesome and I plan to make more fruit and cheese sandwich combos.


What else did I make?

Delicious cucumber infused vodka! I haven't actually tasted it yet, but I believe it will be delicious. To me summer means sweet fruit infused booze, am I right?

And in animal news, as Ula is in the motherland I am taking over Maude duties for a week and a half. Last night, all the pets were very sweet and charming.


Then I went to bed last night. Maude usually sleeps upstairs with Ula but sleeps in my room downstairs when Ula is gone (I have suggested that Maude sleep on the couch, but she seems uninterested). Because my room is downstairs, it is much closer to the street and the noises that brings. Last night that was a recipe for disaster. All f**king night long Maude whined, barked and growled. I have a memory of myself pleading with her at around 4 a.m. to please shut up. I put her out of my room but it only made her louder. Around 5 a.m. I fell asleep and at 6:45 she pounced on my chest to let me know she was ready for her morning walk. I don't remember the walk exactly except I was in my pajamas stumbling around the neighborhood (didn't even put on a bra or brush my hair). My plan was to take her on the world's shortest walk as I was going to take her home the second she peed. She of course didn't go to the bathroom and just walked around and snacked on grass. I was so tired and angry I started to lose it and screamed "just pee" at her, then she did.

The moral of the story is if you see a homeless looking zombie wandering around NE Killingsworth early in the morning simultaneously yelling and crying at a corgi, sadly it is me. Just avert your eyes.

Oh god, I'm so tired. Good night!

I don't know if I have time to work

I'm pretty busy taking pictures of my cat posing like Josh Lyman (former deputy chief of staff for President Bartlett and future chief of staff for President Santos) from The West Wing.



I'm not sure if I have the time for full time employment and to pursue my artistic endeavors. My life is hard.

Me and Fluffy Magee

OMG. I feel like I haven't blogged in forever. My phone has been having some technical issues which has made posting pictures difficult. However, today it only took me about 2 hours to email photos to myself...success! This post will be dedicated to animals, because animals are fucking cute. Ok?


Look at the way Torque's little paw is wrapped around Joe's little neck...cute, right?

Yesterday Ula and I volunteered with the Multnomah Bar at the Oregon Humane Society. Basically you play with dogs for a bit and then head to the cattery. We played with a couple of dogs, but they weren't interested in playing with balls or being pet as much as they were in smelling pee (not that i'm trying to judge anyone's hobby).

I personally preferred the cattery and will volunteer there again. Basically you sit in a room for a little bit and pet cats. My favorite one was Fluffy Magee a tiny long haired fellow, who was mostly shaven except his head, feet and the end of his tail.


If you or anyone you know is looking for a cat, let me highly recommend Mr. Fluffy Magee. He is made of love (although he was being a bit of a "see you next tuesday" to the other cats, so I might not recommend him if you have other animals).

At the Oregon Humane Society gift shop I purchased a cat toy which is a carrot filled with catnip. The cats love it.


In fact, Torque would like you to not fucking touch his carrot. Thank you very much.

Finally, I have a very important recommendation. If you like blogs, or culture, or movies, or hilarity you will love Kaori's new pop culture blog. Too many movie reviewers are obsessed with things like knowing the name of the film, or the actors in it, or something about the plot. Kaori is a real breath of fresh air. Please encourage her to keep on blogging.

Potato Leek Soup Recipe and a Movie Recommendation

For $1 I recently picked up 5 lbs of potatoes. I was speaking with brother who recommended that I use my excess potatoes to make some potato leek. So I did, and it was glorious.

Recipe:
2 leeks, the white parts thinly sliced
1/2 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
2 lbs (ish) potatoes
1.5 C Buttermilk
1.5 C vegetable stock
3 TBL butter
salt and pepper

I threw in the leeks, onion and garlic with the butter and salt and pepper in my dutch oven and sauteed for about 15 minutes. While that was sauteeing I boiled the potatoes. When the potatoes were finished I put them in the dutch oven and added the buttermilk and vegetable stock. I used my immersion blender (which is magical) and suddenly there was soup! And it was super tasty. It is hearty and tangy and filling but light at the same time.

I made a pretty thick soup and if you wanted it lighter you could definitely add more of the liquids. I think the flavor was perfect using a 1:1 ratio of buttermilk and stock, but the amount you add is all personal preference.

I also had a spinach, cherry, turkey bacon and hazelnut salad which also rocked. I can't stop eating turkey bacon.

Film Recommendation: Angels in America

I came home the other day and Ula was watching the HBO miniseries based on Tony Kushner's Angels in America. I first saw the play when I was 16 in San Francisco. I saw both parts in the same day, which was about 7 hours of theater. It was absolutely amazing and remains the best play I have ever seen. It might actually be my favorite piece of writing. It is beyond brilliant and worth re-watching just to hear what Tony Kushner can do with words. It is fascinating, funny, sad, crazy and exuberant. Watch it now.

Easter Brunch

As an atheist, I can't really get behind the idea of the whole Jesus rising after being dead for 3 days. But I can get behind the idea of tasty breakfast foods, therefore I do like to celebrate Easter Brunch.

Easter morning I woke up around 9:30, had some coffee and stared at my cat for awhile.

After several hours of that, I got up, showered and got my brunch on.

The day before I made this strawberry tart.

I definitely prefer cooking to baking, as baking is a little exact and time consuming to me. That being said this was super tasty. The sweet, lemony crust is awesome. The only changes I made were using some heated jam instead of a port sauce (cause i'm lazy and poor) and throwing on some toasted slivered almonds for extra crunch on top (which works really well and I highly recommend it). If I make this again I think I would change the mascarpone filling as well. It is tasty but a little heavy. Next time I might use half mascarpone and half creme fraiche, which I think would make it lighter and tangy-er.

I also made some home fries with onion and peppers.

I also made some leftover veggie fritatta. I had some sweet leftover veggies, so my fritatta was asparagus, mushroom, green onion and sharp cheddar. I love fritattas because it is easy to cook the eggs perfectly and they look really nice. I also served some turkey bacon because I don't believe in a meal without meat products.

Kaori (pictured below) brought some delicious orange muffins. Ben (not pictured) brought smoked steelhead trout (but he was forgiven for bringing smoked fish when he did all of the brunch dishes...thanks Ben!).

Suji (pictured below with Ula and modeling my new colorful spring plates) brought some lovely pineapple.

And to solemnize the occasion Lifetime showed two cinematic masterpieces - Cyber Seduction and Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?

Good times.

Weekend Recipes

1. Trent's World Famous Old Fashioned Grilled Fish Salad

The following recipe was provided by my favorite brother and tried by me for the first time this weekend:

Salad:
Lettuce
Herbage (a little arugula, or parsley)
Grilled Onions and Grilled Peppers (in the spice mixture)
Tomatoes (I used cherry)
Homemade croutons (also in the spice mixture)
Cucumber

Fish:
White Fish (Brother used red snapper, I used the more modest tilapia)

Spice Mix: Paprika, chili, sea salt, pepper, cumin

Coat the fish and the croutons in the spice mix.
Bake the croutons in a toaster oven.
Grill the peppes/onions, put them in a bowl.
Finish the fish in the same pan.
Throw it all together with a vinagrette.

Lovely! (ok, so mine didn't look lovely, but it was so tasty, extremely flavorful and healthy and i'll be making it again this week).

2. Everything bagel with tofu cream cheese, onions, tomatoes, cucumber and mixed greens (with a little salt and pepper on top).

This less of a recipe and more an excuse to show a photo of my lovely lunch.

3. Spaghetti with a spicy italian sausage sauce

This was easy and used a lot of leftovers I already had.

The sauce:

2 vine ripened tomatoes
fresh rosemary (a teaspoon)
one clove diced garlic
tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
(cook down about 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes are totally broken up)

when the sauce is done throw in:
1 spicy grilled italian chicken sausage, a little pasta water and a little pasta, mix it about and throw on some parm.

My pasta is basically hiding underneath a delicious wall of parm.

4. Adorable cat


You just need one Joe.

Marital Problems

Sure they're staying together for the sake of the kids, but the passion is gone.

Also, how big is Torque? Christ, he looks bigger than Maude in this photo.

Bedazzling Station

That is correct. Your eyes are not deceiving you. The good lord has blessed me with not one, but two bedazzlers. Now all I need to do is hire a small cadre of child laborers (the bedazzler is not easy to use, it calls for a delicate touch) and the millions from Etsy will be flowing in. If you want to get in on the ground floor of this operation, I'd invest now. It's going to be huge.

Pork loin dreams

I have been obsessed recently with making roast pork loin. I'm not sure why. Anyway last night I had a few friends over and lived the pork loin dream. I couldn't find a recipe which matched what I wanted so I made my own - I call it rosemary garlic crusted pork loin. Sadly I did not take great pictures because I had people over and didn't want to wait to eat in order to hold a food photo shoot.

I made a paste of minced garlic (5 cloves), 2 tablespoons of finely cut rosemary, salt, pepper and olive oil. I coated the loin in the tasty paste and refrigerated it for about 3 hours. I put it on a roasting pan and browned it on 450 degrees for about 15 minutes before turning it down to 350 and roasting it for another hour and 15 minutes.

Delicious!!!

I also made a side pasta dish which I saw the delightful Ina Garten make while I was at the gym. It was a simple sauce made with whole sauteed cherry tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and a little reserved pasta water. It turned out well and was nicely balanced with the pork.

The entire meal turned out really well. Kathryn made a lovely salad, Kaori a fabulous toffee chip cheesecake and Ula and Suji provided the wine. The only downside to the evening was the strange bespectacled fellow in a dark hoodie who kept popping up outside the window and scaring people.

Un Poco de Mexico

I just returned from a lovely and relaxing 5 day trip in Mexico. I am going to wait until I get some photos until I blog about it (I left my camera at home because I am stupid). In the meantime, I will just share a couple of photos I took on my iphone.

This is TJ (aka "Gay Sugar Butter") who was the generous sponsor of my trip. He is seen breakfasting at the delightful hotel buffet we went to every morning.

This is the welcome home party that the animals threw for me when I arrived back in Portland last night. As you can see they were pretty excited.


On a sad note, I just went to the gym and not one person there complimented my tan. Bitches.

More Deliciousness!!!

I cannot stop eating spinach salad. I've had it 3 times this week (including a steak strawberry reprise salad on Friday) and yesterday's warm mushroom, spinach and egg salad.

This recipe consisted of warm mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with a little oregano, rosemary, salt and pepper poured on top of some spinach. I also threw on some crumbled turkey bacon, feta, thinly sliced red onion, hard boiled egg and a few croutons. I drizzled a little balsamic vinegar on top. It was satisfying, well-balanced and tasty.

Another delicious morsel is this video I saw on the internets today of American Idol runner up Adam Lambert performing at Mardi Gras in Australia. I am not sure of the demographic breakdown of the American Idol audience but it always seemed fairly mainstream consisting probably of teens and families. The fact that the American Idol tv show led directly to this performance is awesome. While I enjoyed the scantily clad male dancers simulating sexual acts with one another and the multiple drag queens, it is really his outfit that brings it home. He is wearing a leather studded jacket, leather studded boots, a harness, rubber (I think) pants and of course a large bejeweled codpiece. Yup, a codpiece. This guy came from American Idol. I love it.


The most delicious piece of news today is that I completed the journey I started on January 8th and ran 3 miles, in a row, without stopping. That is right, I have graduated from couch to 5K. I feel inordinately proud of myself.

Steak, strawberry and spinach salad

Last night I was in the mood for a hearty salad. During the summer I experimented with a variety of different fruit and protein salads. Last night I made a steak, strawberry, toasted almond, feta and spinach salad.

I just put some kosher salt and pepper on the steak (I used flat iron steak) and put it in a grill pan for about 10 minutes, toasted some almond slices and tossed it all together with some nice balsamic vinegar.

It was sweet, salty, crunchy and meaty and healthy. It was awesome and I am craving it again. Even if the combo sounds weird to you, you should try it. You'll love it.

Pretty Things

This is what I made for dinner last night and while it was tasty, I was more excited about how lovely it was. Two layers of alternating tomato sauce, baked and breaded eggplant slices and sauteed spinach with a poached egg on top and a liberal sprinkling of parm. Perfection!


One of my favorite things about living in Portland is the beginning of Spring when all of the pink trees start blooming.


Finally Joe, in repose.

Pork-Eggplant-Tangerine Stir Fry

Last night, I felt in the mood for some asian flavors. I made a slight adaptation of this recipe and it turned out perfectly. Seriously, the flavors were so good, the pork was insanely tender and tasty, I will definitely be making it again.

One difficulty for beginning cooks is not having a stocked pantry. While I do not possess that many asian ingredients, at this point I have most of the basics.

Which is good, because this recipe used most of them. I started out by slicing 1/2 lb. of pork tenderloin into strips. I also cut up approximately 1/2 of an eggplant into similar sized stripes. I coated all of these in salt, pepper and cornstarch. In the meantime I threw in about a tablespoon of ginger into one tablespoon of sesame oil and one tablespoon of peanut oil which were heating on the stove. I cooked the pork and eggplant for about 5 minutes until the pork was brown on both sides and the eggplant was soft. I then tossed in slices from one tangerine.

The only real issue I had with this recipe was the tangerines. The recipe instructs to leave the skin on and that because it is thinner than an orange peel it will cook nicely and taste delicious. It did not. It tasted kind of bitter and rind-y, as expected. When I make this recipe again (and I definitely will), I will just squeeze fresh tangerine juice into the sauce. After you add the tangerines, cook for about a minute and then add the sauce. I used about 2 tablespoons soy, 1 tablespoon hoisin, and 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce. However, I believe this is all according to your tastes - go crazy. Get the whole dish nice and hot and then throw in some baby bok choy and green onions.

Cook for another couple of minutes until the bok choy is wilted and then you have some delicious stir fry. Put on some rice and enjoy.

I know I did.

While eating this Ula and I watched Pedro Almodovar's "Laws of Desire" which I had not seen in about 12 years.

It was the first movie I'd seen in awhile that had an NC-17 rating and it was well earned. The first scene shows a very attractive guy being instructed by a male voice off camera to strip to his underwear, make out with himself in the mirror while rubbing his cock against it. Then the underwear comes off and the fingering begins! This is before we see a young Antonio Banderas naked on his back with his legs up around his head. Hello! While this film is a delightfully enjoyable Almodovarian fucked up love/death/sex/obsession story, it is definitely for the kids.

Fear of the Feminine

As you may be aware I have recently developed an obsession with all things Men's Figure Skating related. This includes Plushenko's hilarious "dramatic" faces and mullet. I also love the way gold-medal winner Evan Lysacek fist pumps at the end of each routine resembling DJ Paulie D's long-lost cousin. Obviously my favorite thing about ice skating is American treasure Johnny Weir. Due to my new obsession I watched all of the olympic coverage of this event as well as reading several articles, watching some youtube videos, etc.

One thing I have learned from all of this is that figure skating is as homophobic as any other sport. Below is a video of Johnny's famous Poker Face routine. Of note is the giggling by the announcers at the end and comments about how outrageous he is (or you know, gay). He clearly makes them so uncomfortable.


I honestly do not understand. Why are people so scared of effeminate men? I find the coverage of Johnny Weir offensive on a number of levels. As a woman, what am I to take from the fact that somehow being feminine is the worst possible thing in the world? Why is it awesome if a woman is into drinking whiskey and watching football but a man who watches figure skating and enjoys an appletini is the object of ridicule? I don't understand why in 2010 we are still so reverent about all things masculine. Below is a video which does a much better job than I could do explaining the offensive and ridiculous way that Johnny Weir has been covered by the press.



Anyway, now I'm off to watch some movies on Lifetime, drink pink cocktails and paint my nails.

Triumph!

It is no secret that recently our trivia team has been torn apart by lies, betrayals, sexual tension, backstabbing and the fact that Suji likes to do trivia at 6 and I like to do it at 8. However we reunited last night at the Thirsty Lion after a YLS event, and glory was (almost) ours. It is no surprise that the local press followed our inspirational reunion. We basically dominated the entire night, however the trivia there is a little wonky and ends with a jeopardy style final question. We got the question correct, but were a little over-cautious with our betting.

Here is Suji counting our second place winnings in the glow of the bottle of champagne we won in a bonus round.

And in a personal triumph I just came back from the gym where I ran 2 1/4 miles and walked 3/4 of a mile. That's right, an entire 5k bitches. Now I just need to be able to run the entire way without passing out on the treadmill.

Shit that bugs me

So I am feeling generally annoyed and bitchy today. In that spirit, here is a list of things that I hate: The use of the word "cougar" (and this extends to any animal word to explain female sexuality), bi-partisanship, vegans, Taylor Swift, Republicans (yes, all of them), the acceptability of misogyny in pop music, romantic comedies, action movies, commercials which imply women have romantic relationships with their mops and brooms, Democrats who act like pussies, The Black Eyed Peas (the group, not the food) the argument that winter means that global warming doesn't exist and Mitch McCnonell's face.

In order to balance this out, here are photographs of things that please me: