Hey Friends and Neighbors.
It’s been a while, eh? I’ve been super swamped with work (and also I was on vacation on London for 2 weeks, during which, I made a conscious effort not to do any work, including writing this.)
So, listen. Did you know that I’ve been writing this blog for almost a year now?
Well, it’s been like 8 months. But that’s longer than I’ve ever committed to anything!
Many things have changed since the beginning. I’ve changed. Hopefully, I’ve helped you change a little too.
Not big changes, mind you. Change doesn’t have to be monumental and accompanied by trumpets and a choir of angels. Last year, I didn’t know how to grocery shop. I mean, I knew how to spend a boatload of money, waste food and cook stuff that wasn’t necessarily very healthy. I knew how to do that stuff. Since I’ve been writing this, my life has sort of modified itself bit by bit. I’m more active, I learned pages and pages of new recipes and I picked up some crafty skills. It wasn’t hard. I just made small bits of effort over a long period of time. And then, Magic!
For example:
My dad and I were talking about how unhealthy red meat can be if you overeat it. I realized that I haven’t had a steak in about… well….
a year?
more?
I made beef stew about 6 months ago for a dinner party.
When I thought about it, I haven’t eaten much meat since I started paying attention to how much things cost and how healthy they are. I don’t really bother with chicken very often and when I do, I tend to roast the whole chicken and use all the bits. I had a turkey at Christmas. Fish? Never.
I just don’t bother.
And why should I? I know how to cook so many things with Tofu.
Don’t get me started on beans.
So, I was craving indian food last week. Rather than blow $12 on lamb saag from the restaurant across the street, I got a mega-sized tin of chickpeas, some frozen spinach and a little yogurt.
Then I added the magic fairy dust of… cooking …magic.
Are you intrigued yet?
So, collect these items: a big tin or 2 15 oz tins of chickpeas, a couple of medium potatoes, a rectangle of frozen spinach, an onion, 2 C water, 3 Tablespoons of ketchup, curry powder, oil, a lemon, plain greek yogurt and some fresh cilantro. Trust. It’s going to be awesome.
Step 1: Chop the onion and potato into little cubes. Then into the pan with some oil and crank the heat to medium. Let that cook for about 10 minutes, stirring, until the vegetables start to soften up. Throw in the frozen spinach and let it
Dear Diary: Jackpot.
cook until you can break it up.
Step 2: Add the chickpeas, a couple tablespoons of curry powder, the water and ketchup. Stir until it’s all combined. Put the heat up to high until the pan boils, then put the lid on the pan and simmer at medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. Cook at medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for another 5 minutes.
By now, your house is going to smell pretty divine and it’s not even on your plate yet.
To serve this to yourself, cook up a little quinoa or jasmine rice or something. Cut a lemon into wedges. Stir the yogurt. Chop the cilantro. You’ll wind up with something a little like this:
So listen, give this a shot. It’s delicious, affordable and pretty on a plate, like all the food I cook. Also, eating more vegetables and legumes is good for you. And Quinoa? Google it. It’s kind of the best food ever.
Cheers, y’all.
Hi Friends and Neighbors.
My tour in France went by so quickly and I was working so much the whole time that I forgot whole things that happened.
Like this:
Oh right. That arch thing.
II did see L’arc de Triomphe. I had about 5 minutes to walk this close to it, take a few pictures and then get a coffee and some lunch before my work call.
So, I saw that.
I also saw this, because our hotel was close to it (and so my running route was, too)
So, what? Pipes? Huh?
This is a contemporary art museum in Paris, called Centre Pompidou. Apparently, it was designed with all the pipes, elevators, fans and stuff that usually takes up space inside a building, on the outside, so as to make more room for the art on the inside. Also, as seems to be the case with most new things in Paris, a lot of people hated the idea of this building because it was so different from everything around it.
Just like this:
Spooky, no? There's something to be said for a full moon.
RIIIIIGHHT, I also saw the Louvre. From the outside. At night. Apparently, a lot of Parisians hated this pyramid, too.
Me, I liked it. I mean, I’d like to see the inside of an extremely large and famous museum every now and then, but if I can only get the outside, I’ll settle for the outside.
For now.
Hi Friends and Neighbors!
I’m in London now! I arrived last night!! Yay traveling.
I haven’t taken pictures of anything yet. Indeed, I haven’t even put on pants yet today.
I’ll tell you what though, I kind of miss Paris. In fact, I feel almost melancholy about having to leave, even though I was really really excited about London. So, today, I’ll leave you with some photos of Paris and Lyon just to pep myself up.
Ok ok I admit it. I used the soft-focus filter. But only a little!!
I always take pictures of really delicious food. You know me. This is the chocolate cake from a cafe in Lyon. Apparently, there’s no flour, so it’s super rich but not heavy. So delicious, I had to put my spoon down for a second just to absorb what was happening.
Padlocks are so romantic in Paris.
We found the padlocks on the bridge to the Orsay. You know, the one where the gypsy tried to sell me a golden rabbit’s foot or
Because why not?
something. The whole length of the bridge was covered in padlocks. No explanation, nothing. Just padlocks, with names, dates… Wacky.
To your right, you’ll see a really great thing. It’s a small guy sticking out of the wall. I almost walked right past it. See those shutters? The little guy in the wall is like a clip to hold the shutters open. Amazing, right? Shutter-holding things can’t just be hooks or something boring. They have to be little people sticking out of the wall. Of course they are. It’s Paris.
Cheers til tomorrow.
Hello again Friends and Neighbors.
I’m killing some time right now before my trip to London.
To keep us both busy, Friend (or Neighbor) let’s look at some pictures from my other sight-see yesterday.
I climbed all those stairs. I climbed all the way up.
It’s called La Basilique du Sacré Coeur de Monmartre. It’s another extraordinarily beautiful church at the top of a hill, which seems to be the way they prefer their churches in France. They’re all on top of hills. There are always 7,000 steps to get up to them. So I climbed the stairs to the basilica. From that high up, you can see the whole of Paris, which is quite stunning. I always think of european cities being compact ancient little places but Paris is huge and sprawling. The weather was shit though, so my phone couldn’t take a nice picture of the view. However, here is a green Knight on top of the church.
Sweet.
Then, on the way back down the hill, I as propositioned by an old man, a man in a vest did tricks with a soccer ball while hanging from a street lamp, and I confirmed a long-standing stereotype: French people wear berets and not in an ironic way.
If they'd been carrying baguettes, my head would have exploded.
And it didn’t end there. It actually never ends in Europe. There’s always another weird thing happening right next to you and you’re always a bit surprised, even though you’ve seen things just as weird in New York City.
Like the dancing sombrero parade following Jesus I saw in brooklyn once.
I mean, there are legit GYPSIES here. In France! One of my coworkers and I walked over to Musee D’Orsay on Saturday and on our way over a the river, a lady called out to me as I walked past her. I turned around and Jim said “no, don’t. keep walking.” Then he explained it’s an old “gypsy” trick. They call out to you, say “you dropped this” and you say “I did? Gosh, didn’t even notice and totally forgot I owned a gold plated pimp chalice.” To which they reply “if you want it back, give me €10.”
So… Weird.
Yes! We found the Sexodrome!!
Ah!
My day wasn’t over yet. On my way to the metro station, I found this.
Ahhh… things aren’t really that different here after all, are they?
Well, Friends and Neighbors, all my colleagues have gone. I’m leaving Paris at 1pm Monday. I’m actually a bit sad. It’s so unbelievably beautiful here. I could spend a very respectable amount of time here.
Luckily, I had the day off today, so I went out sight-seeing, along with the rest of Paris, it seemed.
Seriously. Paris was crammed full of… Well, Parisiens and tourists today.
But I went to see one of the things I’ve always wanted to see.
Where? Oh, Hello. I see it now.
I I didn’t go up. It as 25 degrees out and the line…
Yep. That was ONE of the lines.
I know the Eiffel Tower has been photographed, painted, drawn… a thousand times. It’s one of the most recognizable structures in the world. People have written about it and talked about it and taken bad family photos in front of it for 120 years.
And it deserves every bit of it.
It’s an 80-storey art piece. It’s a sculpture. It’s beautiful. Before you see it up close, you might guess it’s all steel and rivets.
How wrong you are. It’s so much more than that. It’s balanced. It’s graceful. The beautiful art nouveau decoration is built into the arches.
-
I held my breath a lot today.
I don’t mean to get all mushy on you here, but seeing the Eiffel Tower was the fulfillment of one of my fondest childhood dreams.
Drop by tomorrow to see some pictures of another cathedral.
Hi Friends and Neighbors.
We finished off our tour today. I have some time right now @ 3am to post some pictures.
Enjoy.
Here's a corner of the Palais du Justice.
AAAAAAAnd Notre Dame Cathedral. GO.
Here's a stripped bicycle, just to round out the majestic triptych.
Listen, Friends and Neighbors, I’m real tired.
Also drunk.
But really, I’m on tour, working, always. and I’ve very little time to cook anything of any real interest. Sandwiches, tea, toast, a fried egg if I’m feeling ambitious… you get the idea. I don’t have anything good to write about for you, so I’m just going to post a picture for you every day.
This is the first photo I took on my first night out in Lyon, France.
Pretty epic, eh?
That really exists. Those are real icicles. I took it with my phone, so no griping about how grainy it is.
It’s a pretty awesome statue. In the daytime, when it’s 10 degrees warmer, it’s a fountain. At night, when It’s cold enough to freeze your face straight off your body, the water freezes into these awesome icicles, dripping from these fearsome galloping horses.
Wacky, eh?
They don’t fuck around with statues here in France.
Salud.
Haha Friends and Neighbors. I bet you thought this would be a post about one of two things: how beautiful Paris is or cooking.
HAHAHAH WRONG.
After our load-in day at the theatre today, I got the evening off. I took the metro to the hotel, cooked up some pasta, ate the pasta, and now I’m doing something truly extraordinary.
I’m dyeing socks blue, In Paris, IN MY EVENING OFF.
Why?
I can never stop working. That’s why.
I may walk down to the river in a bit. I may take pictures of the Pont-Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris. Hooray.)
But for now, I’m dyeing socks blue. There was never any other time to do this bit of my job. No one ever did it for me when I asked for it, so now I have to do it myself, in what should be a totally enjoyable, drunk-on-cotes-du-rhone evening.
So, I’ll make myself feel better by teaching you a valuable life skill: Dyeing shit blue.
Or any color, I guess.
mmmmmm blue soup.
Start with an item to dye. Cotton, linen and silk are good, they’re natural fibers. Blends like cotton and lycra are also good. Polyester is bad, it doesn’t really take color.
Then, buy dye. A lot of grocery stores and drugstores (like Duane Reade, a place that I actually MISS since I’ve been in France) carry RIT dye. That’s pretty good for everyday basic dyeing.
Get a pot of water and put it on the stove. Turn on the heat and bring the water to almost a
It's like skinned smurfs. In your sink.
boil. Add a few tablespoons of salt and stir til it dissolves. Pick up the item you want to dye and guess how much it weighs. A pair of socks… maybe 4 oz? Soak the item in cold water. Dissolve a few teaspoons of dye in the barely boiling salt water. Now, you can do a test on the edge of an old towel or something. That’s always a good idea, but I’ve had a few so I just started off with a weak dyebath and worked up.
Dunk the soaked item into the weak bath and cook it for 5-10 minutes. Stir it constantly to get an even color.
Well, that happened.
Use a spoon to transfer the dyed item to the sink and give it a good rinse. A lot of dye might run out. The color that’s left is about 2 shades darker than the item will be when it’s dry. So If you feel it’s too pale, plop some more teaspoons of dye and salt into the pot, add a little water, let it boil and put the wet clothing item back in. Let it cook some more. Repeat the rinsing and cold -hand -washing thing until you’ve got the color you want. If you’ve never done this before, I recommend drinking heavily, consulting a guide other than this, and not using a clothing item you really care about on your first time out.
Hooray, you’re dyeing your own clothes.
Hey! It’s a lot more fun than it sounds and also it’s more fun if you watch this at the same time:
When you get to 6:30-7:05, you’ll know how I feel in Paris.
Also, this happened. Enjoy dyeing everything you own blue.
And maybe you’ll have some blue socks.
Cheers.
Hi everybody. I forgot to tell you something very important.
I’m going to Europe for all of February.
Now this doesn’t mean I won’t try to post. It just means that the frequency of the posts will be a bit sporadic.
Also, they will all be in French.
Ha, just kidding.
They’ll only be a little in French.
Just kidding again.
I’m going to England too.
Cheers!
See you (regularly) in March!
Listen up Friends and Neighbors. I’ve posted about burritos before. This is just going to be a quick update because I was craving Chipotle this evening and I almost spent $7 on a burrito before I remembered that I had some in the freezer at home!
YAY.
This time, I cooked up a big pile o’ spinach and onions, white and black beans, olive oil, garlic and taco seasoning. I know that probably sounds boring but it’s actually really nice. They’re substantial without being too heavy. I skipped the rice or quinoa in the filling, so they won’t put me to sleep if I have one midday.
Also, they’re really fucking delicious.
Suck it, Chipotle.
I came home tonight and threw a burrito in the oven.
Hooray it only costs a dollar!
Then, I upped the ante by cooking up a very small pot of velveeta and ro-tel queso dip. So, I’m having a tasty, sort of healthy burrito and queso dip and chips for like $5. It’s better because I made it myself and I know all the ingredients that are in it. Plus, I’ve got like 10 more burritos in the freezer. I love my life.
This is a fast post, but it’s important and here’s why: You and I have to learn to fend for ourselves. We have to exercise a little bit of control over our daily lives, where many things are laid out for you, whether it’s the daily shenanigans of the MTA or the homeless guy you can’t shake in the garment center. There’s a lot of stuff that happens every day that you can’t do anything about. What you eat (and how much of your hard-earned cash you spend on it) is entirely up to you.
Speaking of things you can and can’t control, there is a big internet black-out tomorrow to protest the SOPA and PIPA bills, currently being considered by Congress and the Senate, respectively. Word is that SOPA has been shelved temporarily but it still sucks, so let’s protest that bitch anyway. These bills are broad and sweeping, lots of room for abuse and misinterpretation. Internet piracy is bad, for sure, but these bills aren’t the way to stop it, at least not in their current form. Please read up on them here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16596577.
As a peer group, we have a lot of responsibilities. Money doesn’t mean anything, the planet’s going to burst into flames any day now… everything sucks. But we can at least make our arguments heard.
So, tomorrow, to protest these bills, a bunch of sites, like wikipedia and reddit, are participating in a blackout tomorrow. When you try to visit Cheapitarian.com tomorrow, it will be inaccessible. I’m protesting. I think internet censorship is a slippery slope and we should tread much more carefully than these bills allow.
OK. Just let me climb down off my soapbox.
Cheers everyone, make yourself a burrito and read about politics.
