Mullet City

Hands down, the highlight of my week was when this beauty popped up on my car after running home for lunch one day.

I mean can you believe it? He used to text me all the time during the campaign (you know, telling me where to register, volunteer, reminding me when Joey B was coming into town for a rally, etc.), he's even still in my phone as 'Barack'...... *sigh* it was lovely. In totally unrelated news, after discovering this note I spied Emily's car 10 feet away from mine in the parking Garage. Hmmmmmm.....

It was a pretty political week for the parking garage, what with O'Reilly, Bob Dole, Ann Coulter and even Bill Clinton stopping by (dear emily, you're the hottest thing since my wife in a pantsuit) to leave sweet nothings on Emily and I's cars.

(dramatization below)

Much further down on the excitement-o-meter for the week was food I'd assembled. I was particularly impressed with this combo... Even if i did steal it from graduate meghann.

WW toast with ricotta on top and grilled eggplant and yellow squash (marinated in balsamic) YUM.

And this salad was pretty so I took a picture.

You know what else was pretty? the shoes I was wearing while I ate. Hello lovelies!

John and I also went to a free Blues Traveler concert a few blocks away. Too bad word was out. It was the MOST packed I have ever seen that place.

This was us unhappy we could not move.

It's okay, we burned out a bit early and I came home and BAKED! Since I was going to be living on the interstate all weekend, I decided to make my friend Kelly cupcakes in honor of her Bday I would miss. I WANTED to make a super healthy kind... but I realized a) it's her birthday give the lady what she wants and b) there was a pretty good chance they might not turn out anyway, so let's opt for the best tasting kind possible.

The result? Barefoot Contessa to the rescue! Pounds of sugar and butter later (the cupcakes were made with sour cream and the frosting with cream cheese!) ................................ I over baked the cakes. Mo**er F*****************!! I was WATCHING them the whole time and they were just in the oven a minute too long. They weren't burnt exactly, but they weren't close to being moist and delicious. AW SNAP.

It's okay, Kelly said she liked them anyway (i told her just to eat the tops like they were muffins)

After work Friday Emily and I VAMOOSED to get to the center of the state (world) to the STATE FAIR! We had some sweet concert tickets.

Let me zoom in for you:

Come on now... everybody sing, "HOW DO I GET YOU ALONE....... ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!" you can bet your bottom dollar (the state fair always brings out the 'folksy' language a la Palin, no?) we were belting that out at the top of our lungs when it came on.... thank goodness for EVERYONE we were sitting near a loud speaker to drown ourselves out)

Emily and I went with John's sister, her fiance and his fam. We all had a little cowboy flair.

Including my SWEET Frye cowboy boots that I thrifted in San Francisco this Spring! (hello my lovelies)

We also saw my sister, made a visit to the beer garden, ran into college peeps (only at the fair, I tell you) and saw some pretty sweet tats and mullets.

Then it was once again time to hit the road!

We were en route to the STL to visit our friend Jessica for HER birthday celebration. Jessica, the lone adult-acting friend I have, had a baby in March and was SO ready for a rowdy night out (we were happy to oblige).

The road trip fun-level took a nose dive when we had to pull over (twice!) because there was a MONSOON on the interstate. BOO.In my still-in-PJs glory, sad face.

We got to the STL just in time to decorate the hotel room. Beauteous no?

We were staying in the Casino hotel, so OBVIOUSLY yummy restaurants, cheesy bars and losing money until the wee hours of the night were in order. How LUCKY were we when we found a funk band playing in one of the bars.... I'm not kidding you, not a single person there wasn't moving/grooving/being friendly and/or hilarious.

Look closely, you can see my third-favorite mullet from the weekend across the bar. My friend Amy got WAY better pictures once we were inside the casino itself (we're talking Kentucky waterfalls, folks)..... until she almost got kicked out for taking pictures there. What is this, Russia? Who knew you couldn't do that. Totally worth it though.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE being with my friends. Shenanigans ensued.

Five seconds before this picture, this guy was crouched on the floor sticking his head up this girl's skirt like he was going to put her on his shoulders (it's okay, they were together.... er.... we think) He did it like three times in a row. It was a sight to behold. We did a lot of clapping.

Then we got back to the hotel room and we learned that when you have a friend with a baby, they carry around Breathalyzers when they breastfeed. ......... = hilarious = a confusing phone call with John where he was NOT amused to be thinking I'd been arrested. Simmer donna.

Once the weekend came to a close (tear!) I decided to use my once again available weeknights (no grad school remember, how great is that?) to use a cookbook that had been neglecting. I made this recipe:

From this cookbook (Eating Well In Season w/ Kaiser Permanente) :

It was called Caramelized Onion Bean Dip Flat bread Pizza. (or something to that effect). Which was basically all of those ingredients. I got to use my rolling pin from outer space (Thanks Anne!!!!!)

Unfortunately the water I used for my dough was apparently WAY too hot and killed the yeast, which means the bread didn't rise. F*****. However mom said I could use it as a flat bread or something instead (BINGO!) which was actually what I WAS going to use it for. Whew, nice recovery.

Instead of sauce, there was a hummus-like paste (that I added WAY too much Oregano to, I might add) that was originally supposed to be brown but I think the red onions turned it a dirt-esque brown.... making it slightly less photogenic.

Jerry's thoughts (things I learned this week):

• The first time you bake your pizza dough (prior to baking with toppings), check the middle of the crust to make sure it's not too doughy..... so it won't be total mush when it comes out the second time ready to eat.


• Dough hot water isn't supposed to be hot, it's supposed to be sort of luke warm. Note to self.


• Under cook cakes/cupcakes. Everybody likes that dough anyway, who are we fooling.


• I'm not going to be able to wait until I get married in the year 2333 to get a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I'm going to put myself on a payment plan to get it long before then. And maybe a Juicer too, and an emulsion blender...... yeah, that too.


• The state fair has more ankle tattoos than the wal-mart by where I work. .... and that's saying something.


• If you 'love' push the person next to you at a bar in a casino (for making faces at her... yes Amy), and you don't know your own strength and push them out of the booth. Both by that act and the laughing about it *might* get you kicked out.... good thing we're such smooth talkers.

Anything I'm leaving out?...... All in all a productive week, I'd say. Happy Hump day friends :)

Surprise... I'm in San Francisco

Because the college roomie was SO FABULOUS in making my chi town bday bonanza all that it could be, I decided at the last minute to jump on a plane and head out there to surprise her for her very own bday weekend celebration. mwahaha (evil/mischievous cackle with hands writhing like mr. burns). She was WAY surprised (yesss!)

I got in Friday afternoon and as I waited in her hood for her to get off work, I walked to nearby Golden Gate Park, where I finished reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou on an overlook at the botanical gardens inside the park. Heaven. On a stick. Saturday we traipsed around the city, and saw some of the touristy sights!

Then we headed to her 'come as your hometown' themed party. Hilarious. Don't you just love theme parties? We were representing Missouri (check out my thrifted Frye boots!)Regional Party Snacks.... MO cake! While I wish I could have stayed in SF for the lovely company I'd have, and plethora of activities, but definitely one of the things I would've loved to experience more was the FOOD. As I was walking around friday, I stopped in some little hippy joints to get tofu wraps, check the selection, and in general resolve that I'd be a vegan if I could live in such a veg friendly place. But THEN I'd pass by some amazing sushi place and that idea would get thrown out the window (oh fish, how i've missed you... 3 more days until Easter!) Not to leave you all food neglected, I thought I'd share my recent adventure in produce. I've never had a JICAMA before. Okay, correction, I've had it before in salads in San Antonio (and undoubtedly other places/times along the way where I wasn't paying attention). However I've never purchased a Jicama before. Pronounced hick-a-ma, it's basically a mexican potato? It's in all sorts of mexican dishes (and apparently asian ones too). I feel there probably isn't too much nutritional value..... concentrated iceberg lettuce comes to mind (crunchy water).... but boy do i love a good veggie crunch to anything and everything i can eat. Therefore after much debate and little creativity, I decided to make another DIY pizza.

• flat out multi grain wrap (a darling in the health food blog world, and seemingly only recently available in my neck of the woods.. hooray)
• crushed tomatoes (a little too watery, i think i'd opt for tomato sauce or something a little more together next time)
• broccoli
• sprouts
• red peppers
• jicama
• string cheese, strung out as mozz topping :)

baked for 20 minutes at 450 and VWALLA.... a perfect meal.

(we had sweet potato wedges with our pizzas... two shown, one for John

I had a trip to the grocery store last night (finally... it had been nearly two weeks!) and it was pure heaven. I'm all traveled out at the moment and SO READY to be in veggie bliss in my kitchen this week. Happy Thursday!

Bun-anas

My bffs at work (can I keep calling the gofugyourself girls that? I laugh with/at them all day at work, therefore they are my work friends).. made yet another Harry Potter reference today. LOVE them. Except in the very same post, they dissed a hair pulled back scenario that is very reminiscent of the look I was going for with my bun today. Yes a bun, which is making an appearance on my scalp for the first time since I wore srunchies around it and wanted to be a ballerina. I am thinking they would have a carefrontation with me (kind of like in college when my friends had an sat me down and talked to me about how I needed to NOT wear my red leather coat with everything every time we went out) anyway the fug girls would tell me about my face being all stretched and marmish and how my widows peak canNOT handle it.



Or just try to pull the bun out like John did when I saw him this evening. Actions speak so loud sometimes.

The above picture is the HEAVEN i experienced once I was home from class: huge sweatpants, stripey slippers, a little light reading, gorgonzola pizza, an AWESOME $1 place mat from walmart which is quickly helping me learn the order of the presidents (I'm so challenging my dad the next time I am home, a previous nerdy record holder in this category), and a lovely birthday painted wineglass from my birthday twin/aunt/godmother/the family's next bride!

The pizza was from an instant pizza mix (no wheat... boo) with sliced portabella mushrooms, red onions, roasted red peppers and crumbled gorgonzola pieces. I didn't use a rolling pin, which showed.... considering the shape of the pizza was inadvertently resembling the continental United States. (i sampled Maine while it was still warm, and it was delicious). I forgot how blah I am about pizzas without any sauce. Note to self for next time. However.... look how steady my hands were to take the close up picture. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Procrastination, Anticipation, and Gyration

Okay so no body's gyrating, and certainly these hips are firmly planted in my desk swivel chair, but it really spices up the header, don't you think? Like some buttoned-up preacher from footloose should talk about how scandalous and unholy it makes this post. And how Kevin Bacon's gonna have sexy food blog and dancing anyway! Well the other two are true because i have been procrastinating at work all day (*cough* week) and now there's only an hour left a work and I am feeling guilty for delaying said project and still dragging my feet (hence me posting now). However the anticipation is for my lovely college roomie and bff to arrive at my apartment from st louis JUST as I am getting home so we can hit up no less than 4 parties this evening. Yes four. Tomorrow's a big day too. Does this weekend have fun written all over it or what? Speaking of fun, Jaclyn came over last night and I made her the above food (recreated the shot for when i had more after she left, it was still that good!) The pizza was modeled after the veggie pizza served at the flying saucer. Emily made a version of it for me one time too (shout out, oh haaay). I used WW pita rounds, covered with low fat cream cheese. I sprinkled it with diced poblano peppers and put kalamato olives, artichoke hearts, red onion slices, and spinach on top. MAGNIFICO. I put it in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 (although you could totally eat it cold just as deliciously).

Then I made an instant frozen yogurt. I used a recipe from eating well with had frozen peaches, peach schnapps, yogurt, vanilla, and a lot of sugar. super delicious. except now i have an enormous thing of peach schnapps that i'm trying to figure out what i'm going to do with... anyone have any good cocktail recipes for this? note to self: branch out from beer more often than to make frozen yogurt.

And finally for your viewing pleasure is a magnet on my fridge (i heart art, i heart magnets, i heart shoes... be still my heart for a combo of the three of them) There is a super cute saying about shoes on the magnet, but you'll have to use your imagination since I can't read it at the moment nor can I remember what it says. I think it says Lauren: stop being a moron and procrastinating so you can get home and wear fun shoes for the evening.