Ghost Haiku

You will not see me
unless you are cleverer.
Ah! You have found me.

OCT OMG

I'm all for the right to own a gun for protection, or hunting, or...whatever...

Rawhide Kid

Sean Connery in Zardoz

This guy

But do we really need to parade them around the suburbs like I saw today?  I mean, we also have the right to own a venomous snake or a flamethrower, but carrying those things around in public places is unnecessary and asking for trouble - either by inciting, escalating, or by accident.

Because apparently you need firepower when going to the Lush Nail Lounge

Or buying fried chicken

RuPaul And The Beauty Of Nature And Weight Loss

Steak Friday last night (New York strips), and after four glasses of wine I was three sheets to the wind.  Ended up watching the Kurt Russell corrupt cop movie "Dark Blue" in English on a Spanish language channel.

While the movie wasn't dubbed in Spanish, it was dubbed in English - apparently the movie had a lot of cursing in it and they were using the badly dubbed safe for TV version.  Every other sentence was out of sync with the actors' mouths, and I swear there were a couple of scenes where it wasn't even the same actors doing the over-dubbing.

Up at 3am this morning waiting for the sunrise.  Got out at 6am to go walking.  For the past 2 months I've been walking 3 to 4 times a week, doing 4 to 5 miles in an hour each walk.  I've also been walking 2 miles at lunch when I can, though it's getting too hot for that.

Buttermilk Chess Pie

Well, half of one would be more accurate I guess.

So good

I seem to be on a pie kick recently.  Partly because of the Nothing in the House pie blog, where some of the recipes I've tried have come from, and partly because pie shells are sold in twos and I always have one left over (as I mentioned in my last post, I don't make my own crusts, and I tend to shy away from pies with a top crust - too...well, crusty, I guess).

This pie came from Allrecipes and could not have been easier to make:

2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 unbaked pie crust

Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine the sugar and flour in a large bowl.  Beat in the eggs and buttermilk until blended (I didn't want to haul out the mixer so I just used a big spoon and went to town on it until the sugar dissolved a little and wasn't so grainy - about 2 minutes).  Stir in the melted butter and vanilla.  Pour into the pie crust and bake for 45 minutes, or until it's set.

So a couple of notes on the cooking part, for novices like me:

1. The filling came almost right up to the edge of the pie crust when I poured it in.  I had to be VERY careful when getting it into the oven that I didn't spill it - I had it sitting on a cookie sheet just in case.
2. I was worried that it was going to rise, which it did.  However, it only started to rise as it was setting, so instead of bubbling over, it looked a little like a soufflé.  It falls as it cools.
3. I jiggled the pie a little at 45 minutes (scientific, huh?) to see if it was set and it was too wobbly - sort of like a little waterbed.  So I added another 5 minutes and tried it again.  It was still just a little shy of the mark, so I added 5 more minutes then took it out after that and it was perfect.  This made the crust a little darker (not burnt though) which I actually love, so I was fine with it.
4. I let it sit on a wire cooling rack for an hour before cutting it.  It was still very warm and delicious!

Let The Weekend Begin

With steak, of course!  Seared in the grill pan on the stove then 6-10 minutes under the broiler - easy peasy.  I season mine with a little garlic, a little worcestershire pepper, salt and lots of fresh ground pepper.

Steak, baked potato, corn on the cob, asiago parmesan bread, and a nice Napa Valley Pinot Noir

Can't forget dessert.

Strawberry pie (homemade, except for the crust - I don't do crust).  Not as good as Mom's, but still pretty darn good!

Uh-Maize-Ing

Glass Gem Corn

Things I Learned Today

In a pinch you can use tortilla mix instead of flour in your cornbread and it will come out fine.

A little dry, but good

Cotton candy "fudge" isn't as fun as it sounds.

It's more fun to call it a pound of Sulley flesh

A Haiku For The Person Whose Shopping Cart Rammed My Car Today

Parking carts is hard
I completely sympathize
You lazy asshole

What I'm Listening To

Francesco Rossi - "Paper Aeroplane".

Guacamole Paradise

Anamia's for lunch.

Made to order

Pet Shop Boys - Electric Tour

I have some time now to write about the concert on Tuesday night.

Todd has always been a fan of Pet Shop Boys.  We had been to their concerts before at the Bronco Bowl (remember the Bronco Bowl?) and the Nokia venue, now the Verizon Theatre.  He has a signed LP of their album Actually from a Sound Warehouse (remember Sound Warehouse?) appearance in Dallas in '88 or '89, and has all of their albums and almost all of the singles.

So, early in February when I saw they were touring for the Electric album, I ordered VIP tickets for the concert which included good seats and a meet and greet with PSB before the show.  The tickets would arrive in the mail, and about a week before the show I would receive an email with additional details and instructions for the meet and greet.

PSB 2

Autographs:  check.

They were both very nice and personable.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe

Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant

PSB

In line for the meet and greet before the Pet Shop Boys concert.

The Majestic - downtown Dallas

The Fortune Cookie Was...Part 2

So, was my lucky star shining today?  Here's how the day went:

I did my taxes (hello, small refund), did the laundry, made chicken enchiladas for lunch with Todd's homemade tortillas, made chocolate chip cookies for dessert, did the dishes, was jonesing for a soda so bad - went to the store, bought sodas and filled the car up with gas, watched a PBS show about Selfridges department store, watched part of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, had another chicken enchilada for dinner, trimmed my fingernails, watched The Walking Dead, and now I'm going to bed.

So......

Yes, my lucky star was shining today - it was a good day.  Not good enough to need to be warned about three months in advance by a dessert, but the normal, everyday sort of good that I'm most thankful for.

Tortillas and enchiladas

The bedroom is calling (really just including this because we spent a crapload of time cleaning it and going through all the drawers a couple of weekends ago (where does all that junk come from and why is it so easy to stuff it away in a drawer and so hard to chunk it later?) and I forgot to upload the photo then)

The Fortune Cookie Was...

This reminder popped up on my calendar this morning:

"My 12/30/13 fortune cookie said to remember this day 3 months in the future - my lucky star is shining."

Here's to hoping that my lucky star is Sadalmelik and not Wormwood.  I'll let you know at the end of the day.

Sunday Night At Home

40-clove garlic chicken (thank you crock-pot) for dinner and Jet-Puffed toasted coconut marshmallows for dessert.  Now, do we watch Walking Dead or Cosmos first?

18 Years

Eighteen years ago today we were introduced by friends at Riscky Rita's restaurant in the Stockyards.  So far we've outlasted the friends and the restaurant.

Happy Anniversary Todd.  You are my love.

New York, April 2011

What Happened?

It was 80 degrees yesterday, and now this:

Bad Dream

Woken up early by a bad dream. Made me think of the countless times as a child when I would do the same and start to call (quietly at first so as not to attract the monsters), then yell across the house for Mama who would come to comfort me.

Which also reminds me of the countless times I would wake up and call ( quietly at first so as not to attract the monsters), then yell across the house for Mama, and when she came to my bedside I would say "I'm thirsty." and she would bring me a glass of water (instead of slapping the shit out of me and saying what the fuck is wrong with you?!).

I love you Mom.

Videos From The Ross Perot Museum

I forgot to upload these the other day.

The Infinite And Unfathomable Wonder Of The Universe

"There are more things in heaven and in earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Hamlet (1.5.167-8)

The Ross Perot Museum Of Nature And Science

Yesterday Todd and I took Mom to the Ross Perot Museum of Nature and Science in downtown Dallas.  It was the first time any of us had been there, and we had a great time.  I highly encourage you to plan a visit if you're in the area.

What I learned that will stay with me the longest was this fact that was written on one of the benches:
"The average person accidentally eats 430 bugs each year of his or her life."

A unique exterior, and the inside is a lot of fun too

The Future Is Now

I attended a conference for work a couple of weeks ago.  It was hard to concentrate when all I could think about was how much the giant lights in the hotel's meeting rooms reminded me of Logan's Run.

"Lastday, Capricorn 29's.  Year of the City:  2274.  Carousel begins."

Looks Amazing - The Grand Budapest Hotel

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/thegrandbudapesthotel/

A Wes Anderson film with Ralph Fiennes, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Jason Schwartzman, Saoirse Ronan, Harvey Keitel, Edward Norton, Jude Law, Tilda Swinton (hooray!), Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody.

Disney Trip 2013 - Epilogue Part 3: Orlando Air Quality

Nah, I'm just kidding.  That last one was my last post about the trip - hope you enjoyed it.

I'm ready to write about something else now.  Who wants to finance the next vacation?   :)