Flexibity = Crucial

My dearest cousin, Susan, and I like to get together and do a little gourmet cooking together every once in a while. (And every time we do, we say, "we must do this more often!") She is a delight to hang out with and we always have fun cooking together. (I did, in fact, have fun cooking with my new sister, Jenn, on Friday too. Apparently I've been cooking for other people a lot. Not coincidentally, Jenn will be included on Susan and my next gourmet night.)

Then, an adorable wrench was thrown into our works:


My siblings wanted to go to a friend's BBQ and needed a babysitter (Alex's first babysitter!). Susan and I decided to combine the events and try to have some cooking fun and babysit at the same time.

[We will now pause while the parents in the audience laugh their butts off...


... feel better? OK, good. We're going to continue with the story now...]

Susan and I did try to take into account the split attention issue and planned some very simple recipes to try. Our menu looked a little like this:
Escargot in Garlic & Shallot Butter
Pan-seared Duck Breast
Lemony Fresh Linguine with Morels and Peas
Fava Bean and Fennel Salad (from A Platter of Figs, by David Tanis, coincidentally enough, the Fava Bean Salad is the recipe shown in the "Look Inside" feature)
Baked Pears with Butterscotch Sauce

All of these (with the exception of the fava beans, which turn out to be a lot of hulling) are super easy recipes. Yes, the pasta had an added element of making the pasta (which does take a bit of work, but not a lot). But, our dear little Alex decided to continue his routine of being fussy between the hours of 6:30 and 9:00. There were periods of quiet in between, but they usually coincided with times that one or the other of us was attending to him. So. I won't do a play by play, but we only got to have the escargot, fava bean salad, and pasta dish, and that last one was at about 10:30 when Alex's parents had gotten back. Fortunately, we don't mind eating on a Continental schedule.
Despite the challenges, Susan and I had a great time. The food was delicious. I brought my camera, but we kept forgetting to take photos. Here are a couple:

Fava Bean and Fennel Salad, pre-prosciutto garnish


Yummy yummy pasta (leftovers were eaten by my sister and BIL... he called from the second floor to remind her to bring up his portion)


Here's a hint: If I come over to make pasta, there will be leftovers and I will package it up to put into your freezer.

Fortunately, Susan was planning to stay the night. So, for breakfast, we had tea and toast (so Susan could have some of Janiece's famous apple-butter), then Baked Pears, homemade scrapple (made by Susan's dad, Mike, and brought for my dining pleasure), and pan-seared duck breast. Eclectic? Yes. Delicious? Absolutely.



And because we ate every dish as a separate course, I can say, "thank you, Susan for a gastronomic series." I look forward to the next time.

Cat Blogging Friday

In some parts of the world, it is Cat Blogging Friday. There are variants, like Boogie Blogging Friday, but I, myself, generally avoid doing what other people are already doing. I'm a bit of a contrarian, you see.
BUT, in order to be a true contrarian, you must occasionally be contrary to contrarianism. And so, with that double negative in mind (and a desire to post about the cats, as they have been pictorially absent from the blog lately), I bring you: The Boys Getting Some Yard Time.


Matti enjoys watching the birds, who stay damnably out of reach.


Martin doesn't like to lie or walk on crumbly, shifting things like leaves. He prefers more reliable surfaces, such as rocks, brick, and concrete.

Food Find

First, a little background: I was glancing over my Google Reader this morning, seeing who had posted and what they had posted. I like keeping up to date with some of my favorite people. Google Reader has a feature that allows you to "favorite" (or put a gold star by) posts. I use this typically, to identify stuff I want to be able to come back to - usually recipes.
For some reason, this post at HCDSM was starred. I don't recall why. In looking over the post, I saw something that hadn't been there when I had seen it before - Jim's comment. I clicked through on the link he'd provided and the heavens opened up and I heard angels singing. (Or was it Satan chuckling? Because *oooh* the gluttony and food lust that sprang up in me was like a tidal wave.)

Check it out (be sure to have a towel for all the drool): Foodgawker.com

So thank you, Jim, for pointing us to this site and thank you, Google Reader for inexplicably having a star next to Janiece's post prompting Jim's comment.

Insomnia Cure

A quote from my LEED certification studies. It's not really taken out of context, since the paragraph preceding and succeeding it do not enlighten the reader on any of the terms contained therein.

"Fan energy is separated from the cooling system in the Performance Rating Method. Thus, if the HVAC manufacturer provides an overall efficiency rating, such as an energy efficiency ratio (EER), it must be separated into the component energy using the coefficient of performance (COP) or other conversion (Equations G-A, G-B, G-C, Pages G-24 and G-26 of the ASHRAE 90.1, I-2004 User's Manual)."

[I yawn as I am poked awake]

Wha? Where am... Oh yeah... Anyway, I'm pretty sure this is a summary of a complex method to determine the relative efficiencies of two HVAC systems. However, it is meaningless without the actual method being described or shown in any way. Not to mention that it's buried in a pile of similar paragraphs trying to describe other complex methods for other components.

This particular section is NOT well written for the uninitiated.

If anyone is having trouble sleeping, give me a call. I'll read aloud from this book for a paragraph or two.

My Favorite Quote

I sometimes read this quote for a little perspective. It depicts the world as I see it: complicated, but ultimately balanced.

"For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace."
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Needless to say, one of my favorite songs is The Byrd's Turn Turn Turn. (Did you know they first came out with that song in 1965? Here's a clip from the Ed Sullivan Show. David Crosby was cute as a button!)

(No commentary on Christianity or the Bible intended here. I see this quote as being wonderful without any of the trappings of religion.)

Comedy Relief Time

Too much serious talk going on here... needs a little leavening:



Ah... much better... ;)

Walking It Off

I've been under a little stress lately: not having a job, working on my personal "issues", and other things (thank goodness the wedding/cake baking went well and is finished!). A few weeks ago I twittered about needing an outlet. Michelle's suggestion was best: exercise. Michelle knows about these things because her body's way of dealing with stress is "challenging" to say the least. She had to learn about alternative ways to process stress.

So, I've been trying to do that lately, mostly through walking (it's FREE!), but am sometimes reluctant, since a) I can always rationalize that I should be using that hour or so to be "accomplishing" something and b) I think too much when I walk, which contributes to my general thinking too much. Now that my computer is back in action (mental note: blog about computer's rejuvenation and praise BIL), I was able to get some books on CD ripped to MP3s so I could put them on my MP3 player and listen to something distracting as I walk. I first managed to do this yesterday. I didn't listen to the book yet (Anathem, by Neal Stephenson), instead I listened again to that D&D podcast I enjoyed so much (thinking I wanted comedy). Not a great idea, since it had lulls that gave me space to descend into too much cogitation. We'll see how the book goes today. I may need to do a little more thoughtful choosing of books (like maybe see if Bujold or Pratt are available on CD at my library).
Anyway, at the very least, I'm getting exercise.

Masochism?

What is it, exactly?
When I asked myself this question recently, it seemed to me that it was causing oneself pain or difficulty on purpose, ostensibly to achieve something desired.
Exercising at the gym
Watching the news on TV
Dieting
Etc.

However...the dictionary has several definitions, and three out of the four have one thing in common: *pleasure* is derived from pain, degradation, etc.
So, unless you're one of those crazy people who experience an endorphin high after exercising, that doesn't qualify, and honestly none of the other (admittedly humor-based) examples do either.
So though we joke that the friend who stays in the job with the craptastic boss is actually a masochist, that's not the description at all.

So what is? What makes us do things that are painful, tiring, saddening, frustrating, in order to reach a goal or obtain something that we think/hope will make our lives better?

(**Note: I am not a masochist myself, but there are times if I wonder if I am. ;)