lotusbiosm | Entries tagged with food

So, there is a misapprehension out there that I can't cook. This is false. I frequently don't cook, and certainly not exciting things, but I can, and I'm actually pretty decent at it. I often don't cook because I'm lazy and I hate having to do dishes, but I'm getting much better at one-pot meals. The kitchen in Evieland (my first apartment) was tiny and cramped. The kitchen at Nerds R Us (where I lived with Dex and Tim) was basically Dex's domain, and I always felt vaguely intimidated under Dex's watchful eye (which isn't her fault).

Anyway, I've been spending more money than I ought to on food, and so today I went to the grocery store and bought lots of yummy things. And then I packed tomorrow's food:

Breakfast: banana, yogurt

Lunch: spinach, tomato and cucumber salad with oil and vinegar dressing (still in bottle b/c I don't have a smaller container for it)
The nummy rice dish I made tonight¹
one Ghiradelli dark chocolate and mint square

Snack: string cheese, cherries

And now I'm almost excited to go to work tomorrow because I have good food to eat.

1. Here's the main course of lunch: Royal Blend Rice, cooked according to package instructions, only replacing half the water with chicken broth (adds more flavor). I added sliced mixed peppers (from frozen) to the rice.
While the rice was cooking, I sautéed frozen shrimp with butter, garlic and olive oil, then added a can of clams (including the juice) and some lemon juice and let it all heat through (there were some timing issues b/c the can opener wasn't where I thought it was). When the rice was done, I added the shrimp and clams and the liquid, stirred it all up to let the rice soak up the liquid, and tasted some. And I am very very pleased with the results.

So, because it is summer, I have been wanting more fruits and vegetables and light yummy things. And earlier, in quest of cheap lunch options at the store, I had acquired some pita bread. So I thought I would make some yogurt sauce. Last night, I went out to buy cucumbers and yogurt to make said sauce. The Giant was out of plain yogurt, because they were getting ready to move. To the new, beautiful Giant. Which opened today. I stopped there on the way home. It was glorious. Nothing compared to the DeWitt Wegmans or anything, but compared to the local small grocery stores, it was huge. And nice and big. They had organic produce, and gormet cheeses, wine, beer, cider, and, much to my delight, Pierogies! So I bought some yogurt (I have made aforementioned yogurt sauce, and it was very yummy!), and some pierogie (which will be tonight's dinner), and some hard cider (to be enjoyed with the pierogie), some goat cheese, some strawberries (to go with the whipped cream I have left over from when I took strawberries and cream to the PBK picnic), some plums. I have cucumbers and carrots, and baby spinach. No meat. I'm looking forward to getting back to the other house and my grill, so I can grill up some chicken with my Symeon's sauces and make gyros. Or makeshift gyros, with only ingredients I want. Anyway, the point is, it was a glorious shopping experience. And it's close enough to the good house that I can walk, and still go to Safeway for everyday things. I am happy. I am also nice, because I watched a woman's cart while she went and fetched her car (my idea), because the carts won't go beyond a yellow line that's laid out around the store. It's to prevent loss of carts, but it's not all that great. Safeway does the same thing, but they have a better parking lot, and the carts just have to stay in the parking lot. She was going to offer me a ride (she asked if I had far to go), but it's such a glorious day today that I walked.
Anyway, off to see if the water for the pierogie is boiling!

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: the local news

Obscure reference, but lets see what happens.
Reading The Nuer by EE Evans-Pritchard, a British Social Anthropologist. The Nuer are cattle-herders, hence the title. At first Mr. Evans-Pritchard annoyed me, but it's getting better. Though he does say very 1930's British Academic things. And there's a little bit of untranslated French. I hate that. It's due tomorrow, and I'm mostly done with it. I wrote the paper on it already. This is probably not brilliant, but we'll see. I only have about one chapter left, so I should have covered the bases fairly well.
It occured to me a minute ago that it's a good thing that I don't always do my reading. I have an unfortunate tendancy to dominate discussions, which I think owes to the fact that I am only shy in interpersonal relationships. Classrooms don't scare me in the least. I think this has to do with levels of positive feedback. But, my point is, that if I don't do the reading, I don't have anything to say, at least till the conversation veers off to a tangentally related topic that one doesn't have to have actually read the book to weigh in on. I always thought that this was a dead giveaway, that my silence was a sign that I hadn't done the reading. But maybe my professors just thought that I was letting someone else have a turn. Of course, this is Grad School, and I don't want to risk not having done the reading and then having to catch up. Plus, I have the time.

In other news: I got my first voicemail at work today, which was of the good as it was related to us getting things we need.
I knew that today was Monday, but I seemed to forget. I was preparing for Tuesday's season premieres, and then realized that since I have Anthro tomorrow, tomorrow is Tuesday. No need to bow in awe of my brilliance.
Italy is still very far away. However, the boy has much better internet access than I did, and is usually online while I am at work, where I am also online. (I can stuff envelopes and update databases while IMing. It's called multitasking) This means that I can talk to him. And there was much rejoicing.
Portable CD players are brilliant. I like having music with me on the train/bus/walk to work/class. I also love public transit- my commute is at least 30 minutes I'd say. I get work done. It is of the good.
I am very hungry lately. But I figured out today that it is because I am not feeding myself enough at meals. If I only have breakfast and dinner, and I only have a "serving" of each thing for dinner, no wonder I'm hungry after. And I figure more pasta and/or meat is better than junk food. I don't think Cheetos have nutritional value. Also, cheaper.
Which reminds me, I got my checks today. From Bank of America, they are blue and pretty. I am happy. And I get to write checks to join things now. All I need are evelopes...

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: the air conditioner; "No Good Deed" in my head

Ok, on the roommate front, it seems I was wrong.

I have a job. Very happy about this. 20 hours a week, working here.
I start next week. Yay.

I have successfully spoken with the boy both via AIM and the telephone. However, I believe I have used an excessive number of daytime minutes for this early in the month. Anyone wishing to converse with me, please call on the weekend or after nine PM, when I can chat w/ you for as long as we both can manage.

My parents are coming this weekend. With them, they are bringing all the stuff that didn't fit last time. This is of the good.

Cooking is still an adventure. This is because my schedule is weird- I only have class during the day one day a week. Which means I sleep in, b/c that's the kind of lazy person I am. And then I don't have lunch, b/c I had breakfast late. And there's not time to cook a real dinner before my 6 PM class, b/c I have to leave at like 5:15 (I could probably leave a bit later, but not a fan of cutting it close) to make sure that I catch all the right trains and such. So I don't eat as well as I should. I am making real dinner tonight, b/c the parents won't be here till late.

I think there were all kinds of deep thoughts I was going to record, inspired by my readings and discussions, like how "evolution" means "change" not "progress" and we do ourselves a real diservice by assuming that evolution is a forward/upward moving process. Lots of readings to do here in grad school, some of them remarkably dense. But some of them not. Museum Theory was fun last night, but the prof. uses very big words. It makes you feel inadaquate, b/c you don't know what the heck she's talking about. However, as most of my classmates agree, I feel better. It's not my fault I've never read Kant. So there. I know some stuff though. And I can fake what I don't know. Let's hope this grad school thing isn't as scary as they want you to think.

Ok, I'm done. I have to clean so that my parents will believe I'm fit to live alone.

Current Mood: hungry
Current Music: Harry Potter 2 on HBO

OK, I cook for myself. I need recipes. Things to cook that are tasty and good and not too hard. Anybody got any suggestions (I don't have a George Forman Grill, alas, as that would make things easier). Also, keep in mind I am not a vegetarian. I don't even particularly like a lot of vegetables (except Larry and Bob and Junior Asparagus and the crew). So recipes that involve meat are welcome. Ok, I think that's all.

So, we had two rather boring orientation seminars today of two different libraries. The high points were that I got to sleep in, and I learned why the Library of Congress system is as counter-intuitive as it is. LC is what most college and university libraries use, as well as specialized research libraries for the most part. Public libraries don't always, as it is not browser friendly- it's good if you know where to look, and you are looking for several books on the same topic. But if you just want a book to read on the beach, it's not so helpful.

But, I had a nice leisurely walk from campus to the Museum of Natural History, and then after our tour of the museum studies library I wandered around the museum for a bit, and then came home, did some grocery shopping and hung out. I bought real groceries this time. And then I cooked!! Really cooked, not just made mac&cheese. I made pasta and chicken and it was yummy. I am very proud of myself. And all the dishes are washed, and now I have nothing to do. Well, I have to prep for my interviews next week, but other than that...

I wish the boy were here, but he is off at a baseball game w/ his dad and uncle. So I am home alone on a Friday night w/ nothing to do and no one to do it with.

If you wish to know about the reason for the LoC wackiness, you can call or e-mail.

If you can guess the source of this entry's lyric, you get bonus points.

Current Mood: accomplished

So, if I'm going to post the results I get taking quizzes I found in the LJs of the friends of my friends, I think I should post a real post.
I am looking for a place to live. And a job to pay the rent for the place to live. I *may* have found a roommate, but she seems to have a bigger budget than I. I should keep looking for myself, but I feel like if I find another place it will be akin to stringing her along. But, I can't go even more into debt just to be nice to someone. So we'll see. I got Chinese food the other day, b/c the power was out (again) and so I couldn't cook. They gave me 3 cookies, so I had one yesterday for dessert, and it said "your path is arduous but will be rewarded" or something like that. I am hoping this is true. And I am trying to maintain my faith in the fundamental goodness of the universe and that things always work out and that God will provide, and consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air and all that, but I can't help also considering that I'd like to pay the rent without having to resort to exotic dancing as a way of raising that rent.

My Dad has now turned the tv to some random PBS show, where they are discussing gay marriage and stuff. Now here's my issue: who's business is it who anyone marries? HMM? If I went down to city hall tomorrow, I could get a marriage liscense to marry any man who was of age and willing to sign that paper. He could be a drug addict, an alcoholic, abusive, any number of bad things. And I could know that, and the guy giving me the marriage license could know that, but as far as I know, he couldn't do a damn thing about it, b/c I'm a sovereign adult and may marry any person of the opposite sex I so choose. But yet, I could not go to that same city hall and get a license to marry a woman who loved me, and would take care of me, and provide for me emotionally and financially and whatever, simply b/c we would be the same gender. That's dumb. What right does anyone have to tell me whom I may or may not marry. And what difference does it make in your life who I marry, as long as we don't mistreat each other or create some kind of difficulties for other people? And, if God made the world and everything in it (which I think He did), didn't he make Homosexuals too?
Which brings me to two other things: A) God doesn't write books, so the Bible is not the ultimate guide to God's thoughts (he made sunsets, he could write better than that)
B) Marriage is a social construct. It was created for a bunch of different reasons, but its connection with love is relatively recent historically speaking, and is not a universal cultural construct. Different societies have different rules about who may marry whom based on social needs. So marriage between one man and one woman is not some fundamental, natural thing, ordained by God from the beginning of time like the tides and the laws of physics and other things that are what they are no matter who or where you are.
The End