Have you ever made eggs and bacon? At 1am? After a night of disappointment and angst? (Did I really just use the word "angst"? Yes. Yes I did. To my shame.) Then you know how glorious it is. You start the bacon in the skillet, obviously heating it up well and good before putting it on, then turning it down to low. It sizzles and pops on the hot surface. You get ready for bed, carefully listening to it hiss its' last on your stove top. You thank the pig for its' brutal sacrifice. But at 1 am, you're just tipsy enough not to care enough to really dwell on the horror that is factory farming (no doubt where your food has come). As you wait and listen, you feel the bitter pang of disappointment - of the evening, of people, but mostly, of the non-openness of the Chinese restaurant upon which the hopes and dreams and full stomach-nessed of your evening rested. You head towards the bathroom to do your night's ablutions as the fat in the pan steams and wisps your way. Your keen sense of hearing can tell it's juuuuust time to turn the strips of pig-flesh over to ensure proper done-ness. Again, you try to ignore the factory farm horror-story. Instead, you play with your cat, who has missed your presence all day and can be no happier than to be in your arms, purring, and licking your face. Finally, oh, finally, you know it is time to add the golden egg. You walk to the stove and see the near doneness of your pig-fat and flesh. You take a cool, oblong shell out of the case, feeling its weight in your hand. Mercilessly, you bring it down on the edge of the pan, hearkening forth its golden glory. Cold, wet, it falls into the hot, sparking hell that is the skillet, doomed along-side the stripes of bacon. The pan is so hot, the golden-white nugget starts cooking before you can even grab your tool of ultimate destruction: the blue spatula of doom. You swiftly grab your weapon and set to work, decimating, seasoning, and stirring your foe and food. Before you quite realize what has happened, it is over. Your instrument of glory is covered in the golden gore that is your egg. The pig-fat oil has effectively sizzled your food to perfection, and you plop it delicately on a red plate - symbolic of your hard-won conquest, is it not? At last, you retire to your abode, to enjoy the ministrations of your attendant and enjoy the meat and egg of your labour. As you shovel it hastily, unashamedly, and perfectly into your mouth, you realize, everything is a little bit better...with bacon grease.
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I'm writing this from my bed, in my new bedroom, overlooking my new back garden. I wake up to birdsong every morning, and am using my hours before work to stretch and do yoga in our sun-soaked living room. I also drink a cup of tea to start my engine. All in all, it's bliss. Strider took the move pretty hard the first day. He'd never travelled on the subway before, and dumping him in a completely new environment was rough. But he is a trooper and bounced back by the second night. His new favorite place is on top of the refrigerator, beneath our cupboards :) My kitchen is divine! Truly beautiful. Large, open, plenty of light, and a DISHWASHER!!! I used it for the first time the second night I was there to clean a bunch of kitchen tools before I put them away, and it was glorious to hear it hum. And the entire apartment gets so much light that I am constantly popping into a room to turn the light off only to realize the light is completely natural! Heidi is a fantastic roommate. I'm currently living out of boxes, which I know is rough for Heidi's sense of cleanliness and order, but I'm slowly and surely making this place my home. Hearkening back to college days, my first meal at my new home was cup-o'-noodles, but I put it in a dish to be all fancy and adult :) I'll post pictures of our living room and studio space at another time. Probably do a "before and after" type post, as I have some grand plans for some of the rooms. I'm actually quite excited!
Cheers! A few months ago, I wanted spaghetti and realized I was out of sauce! Gasp! Horror! Instead of dashing out to spend money on a jar of delicious red gloop, I looked at the ingredients I had laying around and decided to try making my own sauce. Ambitious, right?
Turns out, it was super easy and completely delicious! Not to mention affordable and provides plenty of variations - you can add meat, mushrooms, onions, different spices, the list is practically endless! I'm still tweaking the recipe, and doubt I'll make it the same way every time, but for now this is a delicious, solid pasta sauce. You could add some citric acid to help it keep, but I find it lasts at least a week in the 'fridge just fine, and it rarely lasts that long anyway (have I mentioned how much I love pasta, esp. now that I can get it all GF?). Ever since getting my hand run over, I haven't been cooking or baking much of anything. In fact, I was physically unable to do a myriad of everyday tasks I've grown accustomed to over the past 23years. This was frustrating for many reasons, not the least of which is I'd just bought a bunch of new dishes and was super excited to use them!
A week and a half after my accident, I rolled out of bed and decided to make brownies to take to work. It was the first recipe I'd made since my hand got smushed, and I'd actually never before made brownies from scratch. I started with this "Fudgy Brownies" recipe from All Recipes (something I'd pinned ages ago on my pinterest). Based on reading the comments, I tweaked the recipe a bit. While the ensuing result wasn't particularly "fudgey" to me, it was incredibly delicious, and I think more of a fudge quality could easily be achieved with some added ingredients. It's come to my attention that some of you are actually interested in the simple recipes I've been making of late. I thought, oh dear readers, you only wanted my grand experiments, things from my Pinterest Food Challenge, recipes on a grand scale (I supposed, rather narcissistic-ally, since that's what interests ME). However, at the urging of the masses (and by masses, I do mean one or two good friends who aren't super into cooking :P), I'll share some very quick, simple, but incredibly delicious recipes that anyone can make - even if you had just a pot and a heating plate (though I prefer to use a skillet, pot, and a stove).
It's been devilishly beautiful the past few days - nearly fall-like, my absolute favorite time of year. The crisp bite to the air, the not-scalding sunshine, the trees turning vibrant hues, the chance to buy a new sweater and venture forth into the world snug in a favorite scarf.
Yesterday I was finally able to get out of bed and into ballet class - with no friend motivation! I got to see The Nance, starring Nathan Lane, for free since it was being filmed for PBS. After the show, I read in Bryant Park for a bit (though I couldn't help thinking the square lawn would be better used as a equestrian jumping field. Sigh.), then met up with another friend for the Kinky Boots lottery (which we didn't win, alas). To cheer ourselves up, we took dinner at Chez Josephine as part of Restaurant Week, something I'd never participated in before, but so glad I finally had the opportunity! It was absolutely scrumptious, and I felt very grown up, drinking my wine, eating my steak, being all awesome-like. This past month and a half has been a whirlwind journey of self-discovery. Some of it scary, some exciting, some unnerving, but on the whole it's been amazing to realize new things about myself and learning to find acceptance in that. I will not divulge all, but I wanted to share something I found fascinating.
I started writing this post a few days ago, and it's still a little jumbled. I don't know what's wrong w/ me lately, but the writing isn't coming as easily as normal. Apologies.
_____________________________________________________________________________________ So much of being able to stay in this crazy game of a theatre career is not dwelling on the bad/upsetting things.
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AuthorActress, Singer, Dancer, Food Enthusiast, Animal Lover, Writer. Archives
June 2017
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