happy birthday nathan

Ooh, I had such a good time last night. We had a bunch of people over for Nathan's birthday (and also the New Year, I guess?), and it was probably the best party I've ever thrown. I made hummus, pita bread, crackers, guacamole, and refritos for a taco dip thing that Nathan made. All from scratch! None of it turned out quite as good as I'd hoped, but everyone ate it real fast, so it must have been okay. Oh, and we had some awesome mulled cider (with whole cloves, whole allspice, and cinnamon sticks, and also a lot of rum). Oh! We had a cheese plate to go with the crackers, and I assembled some lumpia with potato filling, but I ended up not baking them because there was already so much damn food. So yeah, I am a crazy person, is the moral of this story. A crazy person who throws sweet parties.

Oh, and also there were people there! It was really pretty great being surrounded by awesome people at the beginning of 2010, and I think Nathan had a good time, which is probably the most important thing. He's at band practice [BZYBODIES, they don't have any music up apparently, but trust me, they're kind of amazing] right now, and he has a show tonight, but we'll probably hang out a bit this afternoon sometime. I gave him an eBay gift certificate so he can buy records. He also asked for a peach pie with cobbler topping, which will probably wait until Monday or Tuesday after we go grocery shopping. Oh, and this is just ridiculous, but he told me he wants me to sew for at least three hours today, because I haven't had time to sew in weeks, and he knows it'll make me happy. Yeah, I know, you kind of want to vomit from the adorableness. It is that kind of nonsense that reminds me how lucky I am.

So yes, hopefully last night and today will set the tone for the rest of the year. Last year was not so bad but not so great, and I would very much like to make 2010 awesome. I like that idea--I will choose to make 2010 a good year, regardless of what happens.

And on that note, I'm going to go watch Jersey Shore

thunderstorm!

Above is my breakfast--scrambled eggs with sriracha hot sauce, jalapenos, and red bell peppers. Yes, you're right, that does sound spicy. Spicy food cures colds, haven't you heard? I don't think I made it spicy enough though; my eyes aren't tearing up, and my sinuses certainly aren't clearing up.

Notice how dark the photos is? It is hella dark outside, for 10am on a Saturday at least, because there is a massive thunderstorm moving through Milwaukee. I bet Nathan is having fun playing frisbee right now!

hey guess who's still alive

It's me!



I've been busy, making homemade pizza and doing the school thing and doing the job & also volunteer thing (neither of which I should probably talk about online, boo, but oh, the stories I have). The apartment is almost pretty much totally done, which is exciting. I'm writing this at my sewing table, which is the only place in the apartment where I can borrow internet. Our internet machine arrived from AT&T on Thursday, but we can't actually activate anything until Monday for reasons too boring to explain. Suffice to say AT&T is a shady company, but not quite as shady as Time Warner. Anyway, I'll have real Internet by Monday night or Tuesday, so probably I'll start posting more regularly. Until then, doesn't that pizza look delicious?

more food porn

This is the first batch of guacamole I've made since moving to Milwaukee. There are many things that are better in Wisconsin than in New York (cheese, beer, etc); avocados are not one of those things. I used two and ended up not using bits from both of them because they were bruised or brownish. Still, it ended up being okay. I made bean dip and salsa last night; that went much better. I did not take any pictures, though, so you'll just have to trust me.

I went to Planet Bead with Mary today and bought pretty beads and some fancy sterling silver findings. I can finally make necklaces out of the pearls I bought in November, and I bought some blue beads to use as accent (probably not the right word) beads for a rosary that I've been planning. I also bought materials to make myself a watch! It is going to be yellow and black, and I will call it my bumblebee watch.

Um, yeah. I need to finish reading this , which I am so very close to doing. That grammar is probably wrong, but I don't really care that much.

homemade

I am now the secretary of the UWM student chapter of the Society of American Archivists. Exciting!

I also made some peanut butter with my food processor. Double exciting!!



Click the photo for more pictures of peanut butter (you know you want to see more pictures of peanut butter). I reused a peanut butter jar, so it feels so much more official than the first time I made it (I used Tupperware). Next time, I want to try adding things. Definitely honey, possibly chocolate? Or cinnamon? Or maybe cayenne? Probably I would use the cayenne mix to make peanut sauce.

Next on my list of things to make myself instead of buying premade--salsa!

dinner

heavenly
Originally uploaded by marinatina

I am a culinary genius. This is easily the best sandwich I have made all month. Multi-grain bread, sharp aged cheddar cheese, organic apples (Ambrosia, I think). You know you're jealous.

foodies

I made salsa a few days ago.



We also made baked macaroni and cheese, with cheese sauce we froze after the first time we made baked mac and cheese. That was before Kira left, so the cheese sauce has been in the freezer for at least three months. I wouldn't recommend freezing cheese sauce, especially for three months.

Things That I am Going to Make With My Food Processor

[edit: even more words about food processors here]

Natural Peanut Butter. You know how you make peanut butter? You grind up peanuts. That's it! Apparently, it takes 1-3 minutes with a food processor. And I can add honey! And make it exactly as chunky as I want!

Salsa. Oh man, so many different kinds of salsa. I made salsa two nights ago, with roasted tomatoes and onions and red pepper, and I bought more tomatoes and peppers today at Fairway, and it will be even easier to make my own salsa when I have my own food processor. I'm still working on perfecting basic salsa, but I really want to try tomatillo salsa. Also, mango and pear and possibly apple. You can add so many things to salsa!

Pasta sauce! I can make it in bulk and add garlic and basil and whatever else I want! And then I can put it in jars and save it and I'll never have to buy pre-made pasta sauce!

Chutney! Why the fuck not?!

Cream Cheese [or more likely Neufchatel cheese] Mixes - green onions, jalapeño peppers, garlic, who knows!


I am so very excited about my soon-to-be-purchased food processor. I have a Target gift card that I saved from Christmas, so I'll actually be able to buy a pretty decent one. I haven't made a final decision yet, but I might buy it online now and have it sent to my new apartment so it'll be waiting for me when I arrive. They probably have free shipping on Target.com, right? I'm also going to buy a new rice cooker; my current one isn't nice enough to warrant packing and shipping it to Milwaukee, and Kira will be able to use it.

If anyone has product recommendations for food processors or rice cookers, please please please leave a comment. They will have to stand up to heavy use, as I am going to cook all the time in an effort to save money.

Cooking everything yourself instead of buying premade things is cheaper, right? Because I'm pretty sure it will be healthier, especially for me and my weird digestive system, but I'm sort of counting on it being cheaper as well. Kira and I have been talking about this a lot, and I think if I buy produce on sale and in season, and buy everything else on sale as well, I should be okay. Also, apparently a Costco is being built near Milwaukee, so I can take advantage of my parents' membership when they visit me.

Uhh sorry, this has veered into me worrying about money and moving. I'm not that surprised, since "holy shit, I can't afford to move, what if I don't find a job right away" is one of only three or four things that I think about anymore. [Others--"I'm moving from New York City to Milwaukee? What?!" and "Maybe I should just throw away everything I own and start fresh in Milwaukee because packing sucks ass."] Still, that doesn't mean it's interesting.

extreme close-up

Last night, I stayed up until 2am cleaning my room.