Author: eaumaison (Page 201 of 210)

Mmm, after all that ethnic food, we were craving something comforting. This is my super duper chili. May be served with cheese and cilantro, but Fritos are a MUST.

Molly has been scratching her scab and created a new bald spot, so I decided I should invest in a visit to the vet. I hadn’t done so already because she didn’t seem bothered by the scabs and last year they just went away. But if she’s hurtin’ I want it checked out.

They did a thorough skin check and found another big scab under her chin that I didn’t know about. After discussing possibilities, we decided to have a skin scrape done. My vet’s office is awesome, friendly staff, very modern looking, and hosts their own surgery, pathology, and radiology clinics. After her scrape Molly was returned to our exam room looking quite grumpy, on top of her already severe nervousness. Within 10 minutes the vet came in saying “There’s a party on her back!” As she suspected, Molly had a secondary bacterial infection, which are quite itchy. The vet ruled out mites or other parasites and only saw 1 or 2 cells which would have indicated diet allergy.

So we don’t know what caused the initial scratching, just that now it’s infected. But at least we are able to treat her with antibiotics to get rid of the infection. “This isn’t going away on its own,” she said. Ben will have the pleasure of getting Molly to take two pills twice a day, starting on Tuesday after we get back from San Francisco.

Molly looks relieved, but I’m pretty sure it’s because she’s back at home, away from the lady who pokes her belly. I tried to tell Molly that at least they didn’t stick anything up her bum this time.

Sorry if you saw some duplicate posts, blogger was acting funny that day. I think it’s all cleaned up now.

I’ve had the privilege of co-choreographing some works for the Arvada Center’s spring dance recital. The director, Christina, will be out of commission for a few weeks post surgery, so she’s having me help set and rehearse the numbers. They are doing the Velveteen Rabbit, La Boutique Fantastique, and the 12 Princesses. I wasn’t familiar with any of these short ballets. This weekend I worked on Boutique, and later I may work on 12 Princesses.

It’s been a little nerve-wracking. I only had a couple hours to familiarize myself with the ballet they set in 1994. Then when I met with Christina, we completely changed it and I was choregraphing with her on the fly. I didn’t even have time to take notes, so last night I was working off memory while setting it on the dancers with her. Then, again, I only had this morning to finish the dance that we set this afternoon. It’s also the first time in 8 years I’ve choreographed a piece for actual dancers (vs. drama students). I forget that I can make it complicated, so that part is fun, but I’m also nervous because they have higher expectations.

But today went well overall. Christina was appreciative of my help and said she couldn’t have covered half the material we did without me. I think that’s an exaggeration, but I’m glad I can help. I brought my video camera and shot the parts finished today. Afterward Christina asked me to help her remember where we stopped working, and I said it would be easier if I just gave her a DVD to look at! Showbiz is a bare-bones editing suite. I don’t like it very much, but it got the job done. I wonder if I can learn to post video to this blog. . .

With this recital, I mostly want to get my foot in the door for future shows. I could see myself taking the reins for other projects, and maybe getting a tuition discount.

Foo foo: smashed plantains. These took time, but hardly any effort. These plantains had a natural lemony flavor to them.

Injera: flat bread for eating Ethiopian food. It didn’t taste at all like what they serve in restaurants. The bread was too stiff and the distinct sour taste was missing. I think I can attribute those to too thick of a batter and using whole wheat in place of t’ef. Still good though, like a wheat pancake.

Nketia Fla: peanut chicken stew. This was really good. I shredded the chicken and partially pureed it in addition to Bittman’s recipe. This dish is from Ghana.

Argh, I can’t cook dried legumes for the life of me! Here are my yellow split peas after an hour of soaking and THREE hours of simmering!!! The pea was so undercooked it still bounced when dropped on the counter. I heard that you can’t cook dried legumes with acidity (tomato) because their interaction prevents softening. But so many recipes include tomatoes, how can that be true? Nevertheless, these were left in the fridge overnight, slow cooked for 4 more hours the next day, and are now in my fridge waiting to be eaten.

Soup au Pistou: this was a special treat for Ben, since I hardly ever cook mushrooms. The soup had a really good flavour. Served with parmesan basil toasts.

One nice thing about Ben being home is that the dishes are always done when I back from work. And as a bonus, he lets me play Vanna White! 😉 Six, count ’em, six cabinents for me to close.

mis en place 🙂

Measily pictures from my phone camera, but for low resolution in a dark dark place, what do you expect? These are from the dance club I’m always talking about, Lipgloss. I’ve wrangled more friends into going with me, and I think they’re hooked. I look forward to more weekends of feverish shaking to music.

Also went to the Pacific Ocean Market and Viet Hoa again. I bought a few things that weren’t on my list because I couldn’t pass them up. A bunch of basil for $1, in the middle of winter?!! Crazy good deal. This week we’ll be enjoying more international cuisine, from Africa, India, Thailand, China, Italy, and France. What I love about Bittman’s book is how accessible he makes the exotic dishes. Now I’ve picked up my older foreign cookbooks, and the task seems easier. Bittman breaks the ice. It’s exciting to understand the ingrediants better and realize how common cooking techniques are worldwide. Nothing is difficult, just different. (Lets see if my tune changes when I tackle foo foo this week.)

Started the weekend with a Mexican style soup: tomatos, onions, anaheim pepper, bell pepper, hominy, and corn. Served with guacamole and ovenbaked tortilla chips.

Ben has been into coconts lately. Pictured here is a “young coconut.” He prefers to the young to the old ones – more milk and easier to eat. I don’t like any coconut. 😛

How does my cat do this? She gets these gaping scabs on her shoulderblades, where I’m pretty sure she can’t reach. Whole sections of hair go missing and it bleeds. I’ve never seen her scratch herself. Last year, when she last had one, our vet thought it was diet-related. But we haven’t changed her eating habits in the past year. Why all of the sudden did she get a large one?

The aforementioned scarf. The colors here are not quite accurate, but close. I love this cable design. It looks complicated but it was super easy.

Ta da!

I’ve worn it almost everyday since I made it. Also note, I’m getting a little better at taming the perm. We’ll have to wait and see what humidity horrors await in SF later this month.

But it’s what I do everyday, and it’s fun to take pictures of!

Slow Cooker Pork with steamed broccoli and homemade chedder garlic biscuits.

Stuffed Peppers. Yum! Used the leftover tomoto sauce from the pork.

Pot Stickers, Basmati Rice, and Napa Cabbage salad with almonds. Various dipping sauces.

Peanut butter Chocolate Chip cookies and milk, and 10 Days in Africa game. I almost won this time! Foiled by Brian again . I just needed to switch Angola for Mali, and he covered up Mali on the discard pile right before my turn! Blast!

In other arenas, I just finished my first cable knitting experience. I love this new scarf, and I’ll put up a picture when it’s done.

Going dancing with friends again tonight. I started a cutting a dress last night and I hope to get it put together in time to wear it tonight. I’ll blish pics of that too, once it’s done. First Ben and I are going back to the Pacific Ocean Market for more ingredients.

This one was delicious: Thai peanut chicken, ginger snap peas, and sticky rice. The peas were so easy and good! Saute the peas in a little oil with 1 tsp minced ginger. When they are bright green, add a Tbs soy sauce and a Tbs of sesame oil. Salt and pepper and serve.

Chicken Biryani and Coconut Dal. Both of these turned out pretty good, though it took much longer to cook the grains at high altitude and I think the chicken was overspiced (I followed the recipe exactly). Also pictured is homemade ginger ale: ginger steeps in the sugar syrup and then combine with sparkling lime water (La Croix).

Simple Italian: Turkey meatball spaghetti, steamed green beans, and parmesan fennel. Gotta go! Family Guy is on.

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I gave my old airbrush a whirl with henna this weekend.

In my quest for a decent hair-do, I got a perm. It’s . . . eh. I don’t love it or hate it. It looks scruffy, which is how I used to scrunch my hair beforehand. Not the head of curls I was hoping for, but not bad either.

Lots of good new recipes lately!

Spicy black bean croquettes with sauteed vegetables.

Caramel Apple Bars (Mmmm, although I thought they would make a sturdier bar cookie)

Cabbage Soup. Kind of boring, but a good old fashioned budget soup.

Lemon poundcake with cherries and orange glaze.

Trying out my new Mark Bittman International cookbook. For my lemon grass chicken I pureed ginger, garlic, sugar, tumeric, lemon grass, fish sauce (can you believe it?), coconut milk, and cilantro.

Panfried potatoes and eggplant with Indian spices.

The finished meal. Yum!