My goodness! Week 4, day 3, and the rest of week 3 and 4

Woah, almost a whole week?!  What the hell happened??

So, Where did I leave off (sorry, Jacob, but this is going to have to be a bit of a catch up post!)?

Wednesday ended after picking up the BBB, went home, ate a tad, and went to Band Practice.

Have you not listened to Burnt Fur yet????   GO NOW!!!!!!!

Oh, wait, I already did Wednesday.  Whoops.

Thursday is not memorable in any way.  I'm sure I watched some television and ate some food, but I can't remember anything significant.  I may have vacuumed, but I don't think so.  Dishes, probably.  Oh well.

Friday the BBB worked from home, so I slept in until like noon.  Did some house cleaning I guess.  Oooh, and I think I did some Laundry.  

And then, of course, Ten Tables.  Had a lovely meal.  Calamari over lemon salad.  Portuguese Fish Stew.  Pasta with Lamb Ragout.  Stinky cheese.  YUM.  

THEN, I came home, and realized that we were going to my mothers the next day and hadn't cooked a damn thing!  We were going to make that Fritatta, but it wasn't very good.  Mom had already had the Sausage Potato thing, and we wanted to continue showcasing new Vegan foods that are good, so not that again.  It's supposed to be just lunch, and I knew Mom was making 2 soups, so............A-Ha!!!  CHICKPEA SALAD!!!!    

This is a great and easy thing to make.  It was passed on to us as Mock Tuna Salad (seaweed gives it that fishy taste), but I prefer it just as chickpea salad.  YUMMSY on sammiches.

Just 2 cans of chickpeas, pickles, celery, onions, lemon juice, and Mayo (veggenaise, cuz its just as good and way less nasty when you think about it).  Recipe is posted and linked above.  I recommend giving it a whirl!  

Made 2 batches of it at like midnight, cuz, well, why not!

Saturday is easy.  Woke up, picked up flowers for Mom and her cousin Bonnie who came to visit my mom for the weekend.  New Leaf Flores is the best florist, if I haven't mentioned them already.  Gotta plug my friends.

Then we stopped by Flour in the South End to pick up these yummy chocolate cherry sourdough loaves as Hallmark Day gifts (VDay is a myth.  its all Hallmark!!!) and some vegan chocolate cupcakes, which are YUM.  got 2 loaves of regular bread for the chickpea salad, and some dirty heart cookies for the band.

Drove down to Plymouth to the Mom's house.  Nice day.  Niece chloe (age 5) was there.  Sister came too.  Had some cheese, chickpea salad on bread, Split Pea Soup, and coincidentally, Portuguese Kale soup with Linguica.  All Yummers.  

Went for a drive with the sister for a bit, Mom's cousin showed up, BroInLaw came over, and we had a nice afternoon.  Wine, talking, eating, fun.  Sister n BroInLaw n Niece left, had Pizza with the ladies.  Drove home at like 1030 (crap), watched something, went to bed.

Sunday was a nice calm day.  Slept in.  Laundry.  Had a fire all day.  Did some computer stuff.  I figured out how to put a password on my wireless router all by myself, with the internet to help.  I'm impressed.  And posted another recipe to the Vegan blog.  Other than that, relaxed, watched TV.  Nice calm day.

Monday was the same.  BBB had a holiday.  Fire all day.  More Laundry.  Made smoothies (chocolate soy milk, peanut butter, bananas, vanilla protein powder, ice - YUM).

Then met up with my oldest friend in the world, Todd, who I met just after I was born (he's about 3 weeks older, our Moms are friends), and his wife.  The 4 of us went to Oleana, one of my favorite restaurants.  Its an Arabic Turkish restaurant, very much bent on the spices they use.  Fantastic very high end yummy food.  I had:

• 3C's Ale, a beer made special for them by Cisco brewery on Nantucket (containes cumin, coriander, and cardomom).  So yummy, and Cisco is one of my favorite brewers.
• appetizer of Seared Pork Belly (confit style), Prosciutto, Fried dates stuffed with cheese, and frizee.  YUM
• Entree was  Venison Shish Kebob with Carrot Kibbeh, Escarole, Dates, and Haloumi
• Dessert was Muscat!

Amazing meal, and got back early, cuz it was an early dinner.  Actually, we were there 4 hours!  Came home and watched the season finale of Dr. Who, which I've been getting in to lately.

Crap, I gotta go get the BBB in a minute!

Tuesday, which was yesterday.  What did I do.  Very little!  

Drove the BBB to work, visited the xoffice friends, and came home.  Cleaned a bit.  

Watched Heroes from last night while eating Ten Tables leftovers.  Then watched the newest Incredible Hulk with Ed Norton and Tim Roth.  WAAAAY Better than I expected.  Not amazing, but way better.  Applied for a job (not telling where), cleaned a bit, and picked up the BBB.

Acupuncture.  Then home.  Cooked Trader Joes frozen Arrabiata pasta with Vegan meatballs, made salad.  Watched House, America's Midol, the Negotiator.  BeD

OOh yeah, and i got my first unemployment check (why, since i signed up for Direct deposit, i don't know!)  YEAH!!!!

today.  drove BBB to work.  We've actually been ontime this week!  visited the friends.  came home.  dishes.  met the 3 xcolleagues for lunch at Fugakyu. Sushi Lunch.  Yumm. 

 Now this.  Now off to get the BBB, then band, then Lost.  then Bed.

Tomorrow I got visit my friend Stephen in Portsmouth NH and help him work on his boat.  then dinner with friends.

busy busy busy

Week 2, Day 4 "Dishes are Done, Man!"

For those of you not on Facebook, or missed that Status update, can you name the movie that quote is from?? (I thought it was Dishes are Done, Dude, but was corrected)

....another day older and deeper in debt.  HAH!

So, what have I been up to?

Finishing yesterday, I DID manage to unload and reload the dishwasher, but still had many pans that can't go in the dishwasher.  I DID manage to watch Fringe, which was pretty good.  I THEN went to pick up the BBB, and to Acupuncture at our crazy Asian doctor's new office.  Love the guy.  When we left, I said goodbye, he said "Hello!  Have a good week!"  Love him.

Then home - had to rush in and out because I had to go to Band Practice.  Of course, rushing doesn't happen when you have a BBB.  The poor thing.  Love her to death.  She hates this right now, cuz she can't do anything.  I mean, she just can't CARRY anything, because she has to walk with crutches and put NO weight on the broken foot.  So, she can't just go get a drink and bring it to the living room, unless she seals it in a travel mug and carries it in a plastic bag!  poor thing!  SO, I got her dinner, tea, PJ's, set her up on the couch, and out I went!

Practice was good.  First time we've played in a month!  Didn't get home until about 11pm.

Watched LOST, which was, well, good enough, but not a lot happened, really.  Just plodded along.  Started to watch Lie to Me, and passed the hell out in the chair.  

THURSDAY - 

slept in a LOT!  The BBB decided, due to a tad bit of oversleeping, to work from home today!  Which means I did not have to drive!  and it was FREAKING FREEZING, LIKE 12 DEGREES TODAY!!!  I did build her a fire in the morning (Barely, since i didn't get outta bed till 11am) and kept the fire going all day!  It's still burning now, at 2 am!

So, what the hell did I do today.  I'm actually struggling to remember.  OK

Made coffee in my french press.  I am trying out Trader Joe's Soy creamer, and I'll tell you, it works.  Unlike putting S0ymilk in your coffee, this ish is just like HalfnHalf.  Loves it!

at probably noon, I sat down with my coffee and watched Lie to Me.  It was pretty good.  I'm enjoying the show, and I think Tim Roth is spectacular in it.  

After that, well, I didn't want to waste the day watching TV, and the BBB was working, so that wouldn't work either.  

So, I cleaned all the dishes that needed cleaning.

Oh, and I made lunch, which was a smoothie of ice, banana, peanut butter, protein powder, and soy milk.  Really damn good!

Umm, what else did I do.  

continuous runs out to get firewood and take out the trash.

finally put the Tuscan White Bean soup through the Blender.  Nice.

Took all the root vegetables we had and..well....DIGRESSION!

If you live in Boston, and like organic produce, you must check out Boston Organics

Every other week (or every week if you want), Boston Organics delivers a bin of produce to my front step.  ANDDDDDD, its delivered by bicycle!  

This is a fantastic service, and another fine point of living in the city.  Don't waste gas and pollute going to the store, and they don't add pollution by delivering on a bike!

The boxes come in different sizes, and you choose a percentage of fruit versus veggies.  You also make lists of stuff you never want, and substitutions.  And you can order extra stuff to come with it whenever you want, like bread, coffee, chocolate, cookies, and tons more.

And, everything is ORGANIC!  They also try to keep it as local as possible, but that is difficult to do.  

The newest box is called the DOGMA box, and this box is entirely local.  The demand is exceeding the supply, so there are restrictions, like no NO lists.  So, its winter in New England, yr getting a lot of root vegetables and apples.  But hey, they're good too!   

Try it out!

END DIGRESSION

So, I had a bunch of carrots, parsnips, and sweet potatoes lying around, and I needed to use them.  MMMMM, roasted root veggies.  Chopped em all up, and mixed em together in 2 different bowls.

One bowl, I drizzled olive oil, and added Kosher salt, a bit of thyme, and a bunch of fresh rosemary.

The other bowl, I grated 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger (FRESH GINGER SUCKS TO GRATE!!!!!  HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT), added 1/4 cup Maple syrup, 1/3 cup olive oil, kosher salt, cinnamon, allspice, and mixed it all together.

Laid each one out in its own cookie sheet, and roasted at 350 for about 45 minutes, stirring half way through.  

And, I must say, they both came out pretty friggen good!  

I also sauteed some Kale in olive oil, lotsa garlic, and some lemon juice.  Also pretty good.

AND NOW,  A BUNCH MORE DISHES TO CLEAN!  Which I did, because i'm trying to be a good house husband so i don't have to go back to work!!!!  Hence, its 2 am!

didn't really watch anymore TV, but did turn on the computer and rip a bunch of CD's to iTunes.  I'm reburning my entire collection in the biggest file size possible.  This is taking time.  I have GOT to set up that new laptop to speed the process.

I also finally cleaned up the cat's waterfountain that has been sitting in the bathroom sink for a few days.  CAT OWNERS, YOU NEED THIS PRODUCT!!!!   Its a perpetual waterfall that circulates and filters the water for the cats, and they LOVE it.  Plus, you only need to refill it once a week or so, and it has a little water tank to keep it full longer.  It really kicks ass.

I WAS going to watch Hells Kitchen, but while I was busy cooking away, the BBB started it without me.  Sigh.  and now its 22o am, too late to watch it!  I guess there's always tomorrow!

Week 2, Day 3

So, Tuesday tuesday tuesday...

what the hell did I do on Tuesday?  

Well, I guess we have to start by finishing up Monday.  We went to that Veggie Planet special Monday night dinner in Cambridge (I guess the first Monday of the month is always a special prixe fix dinner there), and it was entirely Vegan.  The food was not bad.  I've had and made better, but overall I was happy.  Good soup, yummy aoli on the salad, entree was ok, desserts were phenom.  We got there just past 7 because we didn't leave early enough, I stupidly didn't use the GPS (I got us 9/10ths of the way there, but screwed up the last block, damn one ways!), and there was a problem with the gate at the parking lot.  But we got it.  This is the type of dinner that they seat you with other people you don't know.  Shudder.  BUT, it turned out we sat with an excellent couple, Lora and Eric.  We had a lot in common with them.....music.......good beer........bad eyesight, and we had a lot of fun.  Then we came home, had a fire, watched some TV.  The poor BBB accidentally knocked over a glass with some ginger ale in it, and wouldn't you know, right on the Modem.  NO INTERNET.  Oh well.  TV, Fire, Bed, Monday - Done.

So, Tuesday tuesday tuesday.....

What the hell did I do on Tuesday?

Ah yes, left a bit late as usual.  Had a rough commute, cuz we were both a bit grumpy.  Ladies, don't take offense to this, but you gotta understand something.  Men will always defend themselves.  It amazes me that when a woman is grumpy, and she snaps at the man, and he defends himself, HE is accused of being the grumpy one.  KILLS ME!

DIGRESSION!

Dropped off the BBB, El Starbucko's, stopped by the Xoffice again to visit friends, then called the evil Comcast to find out if their stupid South Boston location was open and what the address was.  Amazing, it was.  Got the address - NO PARKING - double parked - HATE DOING THAT - and a nice big sign on the door - ALL OUT OF MODEMS!!!!!

awesome.

Had to drive past my house to go to Roslindale, but luckily, NEW MODEM!

Went home (was going to run a few other errands, but F that), and installed Modem.  Took forever to work, and finally had to reinstall Comcast for whatever reason (didn't have to do that with the last new modem that wouldn't work because someone spilled someI MEAN just stopped working for some reason).  GREAT!

So, then, what else.  

AH YES - my first attempt at filing for UNEMPLOYMENT!!!!

The great beast!  The government teat that so many of us are currently forced to suckle.  

Well, I called about 9 times, waiting to use that secret prompt someone told me about (thanks Blev!) (shhh, i won't post it, but i'll tell you it works.  fb me if you wanna know).  But NOOOOOO!  After entering in my GPS tracking chip id government slave number - oop, i meant Social Security number - it told me to call back Wednesday.  That poor office must be flooded like a gravy boat explosion (IT'SA FLOODIN' LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE - Brak).  So, with that done, and I did not watch TV, what the hell else did I do? At a Trader Joes tomato pesto flatbread which was mediocre, and I guess that is pretty much it.  OH YEAH, IT WAS SNOWING, so I shoveled a lot.  This is the revenge you all wished upon me while i was in Mexico updating my facebook status!  

Anyways, picked up the BBB, waited.......and went home.  She called me earlier in the day and asked me to soak some dried cannellini beans so we could make Tuscan White Bean and Rosemary soup, a favorite of ours.  So, we spent the evening chopping onions, garlic (recipe calls for 3 cloves, we were doubling the recipe, so we put in 12!  THATS RIGHT, 12!), and cooking.  I'm gonna post the recipe to the O2 Vegan Exchange soon, but its pretty damn easy to make.  The only thing I haven't done is put it through the blender, cuz hot soup and a blender generally = BIG MESS!  The soup came out good, and I made salad dressing so we could have a salad with it.  Not bad, too salty, but good.  Sat in front of the fire, no TV, and ate some soup and salad.  That's that.

TODAY is Wednesday, and I don't have a ton to show for it!

Drove in the BBB, kept a smile on my face the whole time, cuz i don't wanna be a grump (hate mornings and other drivers, she hates that i beep at people, but i was only beeping cuz the light was green), El Starbucko's, Xoffice, then went to CVS - the BBB's shower seat needed to be returned cuz she found a much better one online which we bought last weekend at, coincidentally with the BBB, bed bath and beyond.  At least this one can be a table and is made of wood), returned the seat, went to the convenience store to get money and buy a $10 scratch ticket in hopes of grand winnings - WON $20! Not bad, now i get my money back and another chance at LOSING!  Came home, and now, its time for UNEMPLOYMENT, TAKE 2!!!!!!!

UNEMPLOYMENT, TAKE 2!!!!! 2!!!!!! 2!!!!!!!!!!!!! (i felt the need for a dramatic echo)

So, its the day they said to call, and let me tell you, THANK GOD FOR CORDLESS PHONES THAT HAVE SPEAKER PHONE CAPABILITY!!!  BEST THING EVER!

 Sat at this damn old machine waiting for it to work (I really need to set up that laptop!), and had speaker phone going and games on my iTouch.  

After entering in my number of the beast secret government way of tracking insurgents and revolutionaries I MEAN social security number (hey, if a joke works once, why not twice.  IT DID SO WORK!  SHUT UP!), I actually got to enter my date of birth!  OOH, GOOD SIGN.

AND THEN, NEW PROMPTS!!!!

I used the secret prompt - ok, its not a secret, its just a prompt for if you worked a certain type of job that I did not work, but it gets you to an agent faster and they don't know what prompts you pressed, so I tried it, AND GOT THROUGH IN UNDER 30 MINUTES!!!!   amazing!

Debbie was a lovely woman, and we bonded.  We actually had a good conversation, and she got me all set up.  THATS RIGHT, SUCCESS!!  I CAN NOW COLLECT as soon as it processes.   Heaven knows how long that will take!

And here I am!  Plans for the rest of the day:

1. empty dishwasher and reload, thus cleaning up after last nights cooking

2. maybe watch Fringe, since I didn't last night

3. possibly play FIELD RUNNER, a most addicting game for the iPod Touch that just got an update

4. Maybe clean some of the boxes of stuff from my office up, or at least move them

5. pick up the BBB and go to Acupuncture

6. Band Practice!  Its been like a month!  Can't wait!!!!

7. Come home, eat, and watch Lost, and maybe more, and then go to bed!  

Speaking of eating, I need some Lunch!

gotta go

bye

Day 2... and Day 3..... and the end of Day 1!

...I never claimed I'd actually post every single day, did I?

well, maybe I did.   One of these days I'm going to take time and design this blog all nice, and figure out if I can email in posts.  I feel like I remember that possibility....

Anyways!  

I must finish out Day 1, now musn't I!!!!

Post picking up the little wiff, we came home, and I made dinner.  Being that my kitchen is an absolute sty right now due to my own inefficiency of cleaning before I went on vacation because I'm taking care of a one legged woman and my own sheer laziness!  

So, dinner consisted (this was planned, but coincided with the suggestion of a slightly nauseous one legged woman) of Rising Moon organic Spinach Florentine Ravioli (Vegan, of course, thanks to the one legged slightly nauseous and now Vegan woman I'm taking care of) couple with their organic Roasted Garlic and Chanterelle spaghetti sauce, and some Cascadian Farms frozen organic french cut green beans with toasted almonds, which tasted much better than they smelled coming out of the microwave!   More dishes to clean, but that's what Day 3 is for!

I digress!  

Monday was so taxing (kidding), that television was in store for the rest of the evening!!!!!

First, last weeks episode of House, which was quite good, actually.  House is ridiculous, but he's such a dick that I can't help but love him!  This was followed by a bit of Antiques Roadshow, which gave me a chance to go outside and collect some firewood to keep up toasty warm, and then last weeks episode of Fringe, a show that should be better but I can't help but lov

e.  Giant single celled cold viruses killing people and coming out of their throat.  A crazy scientist dosing insects with his own special blend of LSD.  How could you not love this?

Why am I telling you about what I'm watching on television?

Well, just to show that everything has a purpose, post watching these shows (did I mention that I LOVE my DVR), the magical disaster that is the movie Roadhouse came on.  

 If you are unfamiliar with this movie, well, I pity you!  Granted, its terrible, but its one of those terrible movies that just works so well its fantastic.  Its Patrick Swayze slightly after Dirty Dancing, in that phase where the career is just slightly taking off, but not enough, so they do these terrible movies with their fingers crossed.  Anyways, he stars as Dalton, the brooding Cooler who cleans up bars that have way too much chaos.  He kicks peoples asses yet

 hates to fight (he's like a Buddhist hitman).  I could tell you more, but I don't want to spoil it, and I really don't need to, except to mention that John Doe from the band X has a small role, and Sam Elliott is also in this mo

vie, and how can you not love Sam Elliott?  

Nothing like sitting down, watching Roadhouse, and eating Chocolate and Cheese.  Aww yeah. 

So, of course I'm updating my facebook status with all this, and my sick little monkey friend Mike C (one of the most fantastic cooks at Ten Tables), who happens to have a bizarre love for Mr. Swayze, contacts me online to find out what channel, and joins me in watching.  Texting ensues, and in his brilliance, he comments on my status the following: "Half Man Half Amazing Patrick Swayze."

This reminds me of the most ridiculous tattoo I've ever seen, which I will now lovingly share with you:

The point of all this is that Mike put up some pictures of the creation of Ten Tables Cambridge.  Looks like the former residents (who will remain nameless as I do not want to give them any recognition or free advertising out of spite) left a disaster, and my poor friends are forced to clean it up.  

I thought to myself, well, I have nothing to do, why not lend a hand.  I suggested this to Mike, who told me to head to TenTablesJP the next day and talk to the illustrious Chef Dave Punch, as it is really up to him if he wants my help!  

Good call, finish movie, go to bed!

DAY 2:  OK, with that out of the way, here we are at day 2.  Will be shorted, I hope, cuz I have work to do!  

Drove the wife to work again, and stopped by the old office to say hello to someone!  I can't go a day without seeing my work heterolifemate, now can I?  

Driving home, get the text that my 3 fellow layoffs from my department, my good friends and lunch buddies Jacob, Becky, and Alex, want to have lunch (I was hoping for Thursday so I could start cleaning, but hey, I"VE GOT TIME!!!).  So, I get on the horn to figure it out.  Alex lives in JP, Becky in Brookline, Jacob far far away in Somerville, so that bitch must come to us!  Becky introduces us to the magic of the iPhone's 3 way calling (Jacob doesn't need to be in on this one, he just needs to get his butt to Brookline) and we end up deciding on the Sunset Grill in Allston, a place which I've never been.  

Went home, took a long shower, got dressed, loaded the dishwasher and ran it so I could say I got something accomplished, and then went to pick up Alex.  Off to the Sunset!

What an amazing beer selection.  I got a flight of 4, and I can't remember them all, but one was Allagash black, which I hadn't tried (but I have a big bottle of, thanks to my trip on day 1).  2 other very dark beers, all local to New England I believe, and we threw in a white beer since they were out of something.  

I decided to have meat today (I'm seriously cutting back on meat, by the way), and got a Cobbburger off the lunch menu - 8 bucks, burger with avocado, bacon, onions, blue cheeze, greens with vinagrette, and a side.  I did red beans n rice, and we all shared a basket of Cajun fries.

My assessment - great waiter.  burger was overcooked.  They forgot my red beans and rice, which were really yummy once I got them.  They forgot my Avocado, but I got that and it was good.  The Burger had tons of bacon and cheeze, and was yummy, though overcooked.   The fries were not very spicy, but still yummy.

Did I mention the amazing beer selection?  I had a hefeweizen after the flight!  Yes, I was a tad tipsy, but not too bad!

So, we 4 had a lovely time catching up and exchanging stories of each of our experiences with getting the boot!  Twas nice!

I drove Alex home, and then decided to go stop by Ten Tables to see Mr. Punch! (Punch-ey, in French).  Perfect timing, as a very adorable wine rep was there bringing them wine and letting them try some new ones.  Of course they gave me a glass and I tried 2, one white Reisling which was really fantastic, and a pretty good red.  Dave gave me a few sliced of Chorizo and some blue cheeze too.  Nice.  

He also accepted my help at TTCambridge, so I said I'd stop by at some point next week.  I think I'll show up with a sign pinned to my chest reading 'Will Work for Food' cuz really, why not!

Finally, stopped by New Leaf flores next door, the most amazing flower shop run by 2 fantastic gentlemen that I've become friends with.  Just wanted to say hello since I hadn't seen them in a while.  This is literally the most amazing flower shop, and I'm not huge on Flowers, but they get the weirdest coolest stuff and do amazing things with it!  Check them out, and if you need flowers, give them your bizness!!!!

after that, back home for a bit, then off to pick up the wife again!

Then, Acupuncture in Needham.

Then home.  I ate a bit of the wife's lame leftover sandwich from lunch, but was still pretty full from that burger.  Stop eating meat, and you'll notice when you have some, it just sits in your belly!  I did finish the chocolate and cheese, too!

And an uneventful night.

Watched an ep of America's Midol, an episode of The F Word, a new favorite show of our angry chef Gordon Ramsey that's on BBC America, and then last nights episode of Fringe, which was only ok.  I can't remember what I put on after that, but it was midnight, the wife was passed out on the couch, and I had a kitty all cuddled in my lap.  We woke up at 6 am in the same spot!!!

Not the best nights sleep, but its now day 3 - Cleaning day!!!!!  Drove the wife to work (its snowing so had to shovel first), visited my worklifepartner, came home, shoveled, and here I am.  Time to clean the kitchen at least, while listening too the Brazilian Girls - New York City, and Portishead - Third, 2 of my favorite records from 2008.

Litter boxes must be done as well.  And as much other stuff as I can cram in to the next 4 hours!

So, I'm off!