sweets from the swedes

walking home the other day i realized as delightful as the french pop music can be, it is quite possible that the swedes have them beat and i was ready to cash in my passport already. then today, joy of all joys, i get an email about this.

this is better than yesterday's fabulous news, that a certain notorious bachelor might just be single again. scratch what i said about being over him, but my number one crush is my new puppy. chicks before d*cks yo!

p.s. who wants to go to sweden??????????????

don't pinch this penny

...though you may be tempted to do so.

puppy chubs!

recipe ruiner

i forgot to say that after my breakfast bonanza on thursday i managed to botch not one, but two veganomicon recipes, mexican millet and jelly donut cupcakes. i think i didn't toast the millet enough and maybe should have used a smaller pan? it never fully absorbed the liquid. not sure how i screwed it up but it smelled like it was going to be really good. cupcakes i didn't mess up on as bad, i just need to learn how to read again. i put a tablespoon of jelly on each instead of a teaspoon. they still tasted really good, just not as pretty to look at, unless you like your cupcakes to have huge gashes in them, some just might.

i made "guilt free chocolate brownie cake" today when i got home from work. i had too much soy yogurt dated for june second and i was afraid of wasting it. also, i wanted to bake something while we're still in oven-friendly weather. i did not screw it up, i might put a bit more yogurt next time since i had a 6 oz. and it asked for a cup but it was still yummy. i had all my math/reading skills intact this time. i thought it would cease to be guilt free if i ate half the pan, but i don't think i even cleared 15%.

read-tarded

i read three books this weekend. i would be really proud of myself except i think i was supposed to be hooking up cable, throwing out old stuff, cooking or making a project. oops.

i guess it's still better than if i had watched a ton of tv?

i did go through a bag of really cute stuff that i have worn only once or not at all, likely never will wear (again). so that all went in a "to donate" bag. it's all still really cute but we just aren't compatible anymore, time to move on and find new matches for all of us.

breakfast bonanza

i made breakfast for my sister, my niece and i this morning. we had egg mc vegans and organic tater tots washed down with chocolate silk. yum.

it is my first day off for the long weekend so i thought i would try to start off by not being lazy. i will save that for sunday, which is my usual slacker day, until 5 or so then i jump to it.

i don't have much planned other than really and truly getting my room in order and maybe trying a few recipes. i am glad the weather is cooler so i might even bake something.

i don't know if it was a good idea to eat a saturday type breakfast during the week though. i feel a nap coming on, time to make tea!

tri-umph

 

have i said how much i love nava atlas' vegetarian famly cookbook? one more time won't hurt.

i made this a week or two ago with udon but didn't take a photo. today i made it with soba since they didn't have udon at the store, well they did but it had an egg warning. i am sold on soba. we ate nearly all of it, but i made a second round of tofu triangles for the remaining noodles. then i did the dishes and enjoyed the good times megathon on tv one.

fry-day

it's supposed to be super hot today, 99 to low 100's. the "break" we can expect is 80 on wednesday. the temps aren't really anything we haven't seen, just not this soon. i haven't made my seasonal adjustments yet, definitely need to start getting some lighter clothes. i also need to get my fan up and running pronto. there may be some octopus sprinkler action over the weekend.

my mom was looking at a beach resort yesterday and there was a deal for 7 days free if you stayed 31 days. she asked why anyone would want to stay for 31 days? why not (if you had it like that).

do the dewey

i am officially a public library nerdario. i left my card at home on the computer table so i didn't have it to renew my books online today. having worked in the system before i know that your books are renewed from the date you renew them, not from the due date, so of course i wait until the due date for maximum lending period. i nearly freaked about not having my card but since i have been putting so many holds, i was sure i had memorized it by now. today was the first test of said memorization and i passed. i belong.

i almost had a major freak out a few minutes ago. my ipod wouldn't turn on and since it's barely 8, i knew i would have a long day ahead of me. luckily i was able to reset it and we're back on track.

did i mention it's wednesday? guess what? next week i only work monday through wednesday. workshare kick off party/my dad is out of town, come on down!

hold yr horses

i'm still waiting to find out what's happening at work. first i was anxious about how i would manage and now i am waiting to find out when i can pare down and for how long. what will i do with all of my new free time?

i know i don't want to be home all day. most likely i will be off friday's, along with my brother and sister. i love them both, but all three of us at home is a bit much these days. that's why library volunteering is looking pretty good. i'm sure i will find lots of ways to pass the time regardless.

more time than money

i'm not sure when it is going to start but fairly soon i am only going to be working four days in the office. we have workshare so i will still get paid a percentage for the day i am not working. i forget how it is calculated but it's not going to hit me too hard. we have done this over the years when we hit a slow period, usually it is only for a month or less. i think this might be a bit longer but i can manage.

i have not been nearly as busy the past few days so it is actually somewhat of a relief. i knew this would happen sooner or later. the last few rounds i had a pass and still worked my full week. this time it's going to be 32 all around, which is totally fair. i know some people will complain, so they can choose between 0 hours or 32 + a fraction of the remaining 8.

i thought about part-timing but i will probably volunteer or start working on one of the many mini goals i haven't made time to work toward. it can't hurt to get in good with the local library community and get first word on any openings, which is why i need to also use the free time to work toward my license.

maybe i am losing a few dollars but i am going to gain some sense.

new recipe wednesday

score 1-1

i tried making the black bean brownies, but so far, it looks like that's going to be a loss. i should have cooked them longer. i know they are supposed to be mushy but not like these. i am going to leave them in the fridge and hope for the best. if not, i will try again with one of the variations.

i wanted to make a few more recipes from the vegetarian family cookbook before i have to give it back to the library. it was my second time checking it out since i realized there was a lot more goodness than i had originally noticed. i don't think anyone checked it out after me since there was still a picture of me in there, oops. or they didn't like my picture? who wouldn't! anyhow, i made "asian noodles with stir fried corn and cabbage". it turned out really good. i wish i had added tofu but i can always make some tomorrow and mix it in, or do that next time.

i marked up a bunch of recipes i want to copy but i think i will spare myself and just buy the book since it is all good. i am glad i didn't dismiss it right away since it said "vegetarian" and not "vegan". it's funny but i think i like this book way more than vegan express, so much for names, nava atlas is awesome any way you slice it.

anyhow, this was my first time using tongs to cook and it was so fun. i think next i am going to make kittee's collards from papa tofu and the crispy tofu sticks from table for two with christina pirello's mac n cheese. vegan soul food coma. maybe a pound cake for dessert too.

p.s. this post was almost called u-don't know nothing because i forgot to rinse the udon before adding it to the stir fry. i need to do arm exercise anyway, thank goodness.

super sopes

we had sopes for dinner tonight. i always want to order them when we're out but i'm never sure if they're "safe" since they might be fried in lard. we went to superior on saturday night and i went nuts going through the whole store to find the bargains. i may have set my hopes too high but i did find sopes, which i have never seen in the market before, maybe i am going to the wrong market! i also got some measuring cups since you can never have too many of those, an icing spatula and some kebab baskets since it's almost summer. oh and i got some sewing scissors too.

anyhow, i fried the sopes in canola oil and then we loaded them up with beans, tofu taco mix, fyh jack, sour supreme, guacamole, scallions, lettuce and tomatoes. it was a mouthful and nearly went up my nose on a few bites as well. yum!

follow up to the macaroons, after they marinated in the fridge, they were so awesome. there is one left, not sure how it has survived so long but i think it is going down tomorrow.

unleashed

all day at work i was running/dancing around and my music followed every ridiculous move. it was like back in the walk/discman days but without skips or the bulk. being unleashed is such a great feeling i can't wait to get used to. it used to be that i couldn't find headphones with a long enough cord and now i can finally use the retractable pair i bought a year or two ago.

i still don't know how i am going to wear or carry it around. i will probably make a little cozy or bag with a long strap to wear mini messenger style. i have an apple hello kitty coin purse that it fits in so i might trace off that and go from there.

it was so rad to bring my cd's home. i might keep some of the copies there just in case, but i am excited to slowly cut back on the amount of personal things i keep at work.