FOOD.

Lettuce Wraps and Cold Sesame Egg Noodles

"Sup."

This one was a team effort.  We used this recipe for the wraps and this recipe for the noodles, with some minor modifications.  For the wraps we used tofu instead of chicken, and used a bit more of the chili sauce stuff (it comes in a jar... you can find it in the Asian food section at the store... you know, right by the Mexican and other peoples' food).  Pretty tasty, had a nice little kick, and the ginger and garlic smelled great while cooking.  I used peanut butter for the pasta and it made for a nice peanut sauce.  Umm... yeah.  Not much else to say.  Just had a few minor mishaps, like accidentally boiling the honey in the microwave and having to go get new honey and then accidentally tossing out the sauce for the tofu mix because we thought it was the remnants of the boiled honey and not being able to figure out what the hell scallions are (We ultimately decided whatever, we'll just use green onions.  Guess what scallions are.  Yay!).  Oh yeah, and drinking.  That was a minor mishap, but perhaps a worthy one nonetheless.  Might make something that soaks up the booze a bit better for the next girls' night.

Bon appetit.

Pinspiration.

This series of beautiful-pics-to-remind-you-that-life-is-incredible via Pinterest.

FOOD.

Strawberry Focaccia with Maple-Balsamic Onions

Made this last night.  I used this recipe.  The onions pretty much turn black because they soak up the balsamic vinegar, and the recipe itself says to bake the bread until its golden, so I'm not sure why the picture in the link looks the way it does, but whatever.  Mom got to try the first piece and approved.  This was the first time I've actually made bread from scratch, and it's not the easiest thing to do... a little messy, and the things that active dry yeast does scares the crap out of me... not a fan of the smell, either.  But once the bread's baking it smells great.  So... yeah... bon appetit.

FOOD.

Gazpacho y Berenjenas con Miel

I've been craving tapas lately, especially gazpacho, so I decided to make some.  I also got some sausages that I intended on making, but the problem is that I didn't make them.  So whatever.

For the gazpacho I used this recipe.  It turned out great!  I was worried because I'd seen a lot of pictures of gazpacho where it looked too watery or had weird chunks, but the consistency on this one came out perfectly.  I just loaded up the blender to maximum capacity and used the food processor mode until it seemed ready.  The recipe had the perfect amount of spice (the crushed red pepper was nice), I used balsamic vinegar in it, and I served it with a loaf of jalapeno cheese bread I got at Vons and sliced up.

For the eggplant fritters I used this recipe.  Apparently they're a specialty of Cordoba and they're called "berenjenas con miel," which sounds a whole lot sexier than "fritters."  I want to end arguments by shouting "BERENJENAS CON MIEL," pointing at something (I'm thinking either down or maybe the upper right corner of the room... just feel like one should be pointing at something very heatedly when uttering such statements), maybe taking a shot (it'll be sitting on the table... like, a messy cluttered table where you'd look and go, "oh, wait, is that a shot there? sweet, I'll take it"), and storming out.  I might even throw a "bombero!" or "basura!" in there if I'm feeling really feisty.  Anyway, these were also fairly delicious.  They need to be served right away otherwise they'll get a bit soggy.  And I had to switch to a new pot and use fresh oil after doing about 10 slices.  And one thing I'd recommend for both of these recipes is to slowly drink half a bottle of Malbec while you're making them.  That's about it.

Bon appetit.

Pinspiration.

This series of beautiful-pics-to-remind-you-that-life-is-incredible, as always, via Pinterest.

FOOD.

Flag Cake

 For all you who, like me, love America so much that you literally want to ingest it, I used this recipe.  I had to modify a little because I made a smaller cake, and I used less butter than the recipe calls for because I'm not completely insane.  I'm taking it to a party so I haven't tasted it yet, but the cake came out nice and spongy and smelled amazing, and the frosting tastes great, so... so far so good!

Happy 4th of July, and bon appetit.

Hay, eye reed, two!

Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Alright, new segment (not promising it'll be a frequent one): quotes I like from books I read.  I need to go through and find the stuff I highlighted on my Nook from the last book I read (a Paulo Coelho one), but I just finished this one last night so I guess I'll start here.  Why this book?  Um... not quite sure... to be honest, I don't like it.  It's a bit boring, weird, and (in case you can't tell) depressing.  I got it at a second hand bookshop and I've loved Gabriel Garcia Marquez ever since I had to read Chronicle of a Death Foretold in undergrad (which I also bought a cool old hardcover copy of at a second hand bookshop... the translation in the paperback version I had in undergrad was better though).  I think my next book may be One Hundred Years of Solitude, which I had actually started and really liked but got stuck somewhere around what must have been year fifty.  Anyway, quotes... here they are in the order the appear in the book.  They're not all necessary deep or meaningful.  Just beautiful.

"Morality, too, is a question of time, she would say with a malevolent smile, you'll see."

"I never had intimate friends, and the few who came close are in New York.  By which I mean they're dead, because that's where I suppose condemned souls go in order not to endure the the truth of their past lives."

"The adolescents of my generation, greedy for life, forgot in body and soul about their hopes for the future until reality taught them that tomorrow was not what they had dreamed, and they discovered nostalgia."

"When the cathedral bells struck seven, there was a single, limpid star in the rose-colored sky, a ship called out a disconsolate farewell, and in my throat I felt the Gordian knot of all the loves that might have been and weren't."

"Blood circulated through her veins with the fluidity of a song that branched off into the most hidden areas of her body and returned to her heart, purified by love."

"...I would not have traded the delights of my suffering for anything in the world.  I had spent more than fifteen years trying to translate the poems of Leopardi, and only on that afternoon did I have a profound sense of them: Ah, me, if this is love, then how it torments."

"It took me half an hour to get in and another half hour to get out of a courtyard fragrant with fruit trees where a woman in distress blocked my way, looked into my eyes, and exclaimed:

   'I'm the one you're not looking for.'"

"'In the end, it is impossible not to become what others believe you are.'"

"Ah, my sad scholar, and she sighed with her invincible spirit, you disappear for two months and only come back to ask for illusions."

"At the end, with the Allegretto poco mosso, I was shaken by the stunning revelation that I was listening to the last concert fate would afford me before I died.  I did not feel sorrow or fear but an overwhelming emotion at having lied long enough to experience it."

"She smiled like a queen and grasped my hand.  Then I realized that this too was one of fate's vindications, and I did not lose the opportunity to pull out a thorn that had bothered me for so long.  I've dreamed of this moment for years, I said.  She did not seem to understand.  You don't say! she said.  And who are you?  I never knew if in fact she had forgotten or if it was the final revenge of her life."

"She pulled away in fright: What's the matter? Nothing, I said, trying to control my heart:

  'I'm trembling because of you.'"