Broccoli not included

Egbert: omg ghetto. there was nothing easy to make to eat so i put a slice of cheese on top of rice, microwaved it, and was like "lol cheesy rice"
Me: omggggggg
Me: that is. so sad.

Bruises, Pepper Mills, M-foods and FLC.

- Yesterday at the gym ( ironically after thoroughly stretching) my left knee popped out the socket or at the very least turned in a way that no knee should turn. After a split second of "Oh motherbitch, I can't believe this/Damn this hurts", it popped back in. False alarm. I can walk on it. It twinges a little bit. I did not gym it up today in fear of further injury.

- Today I dropped a pepper mill on my left foot. Yeah, it hurt. We now have a new member to the Left Leg Bruise Collective containing the now-fading mystery bruise on my shin. My left side is apparently very unlucky.

- I made madeleines, mashed potatoes and meatloaf today. Alliteration was not planned but a lovely bonus.

- My sister dropped one of the meatloaves. More on that tomorrow.

- DD asked me via gchat if I'd like to be a part of Floating Lab Collective. Uh, YEAH. There is a meeting tomorrow at "." I am now too excited to sleep.

- Last, but most definitely not least, TODAY IS MUSE'S BIRTHDAY!! Happy Birthday, Muse!

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Coming soon to a blog near you (ok ok, this one):

"Dancing at Danzón" or "Dancing, Donated Shoes and Empanadas" or "Falafels and the Unroofied Fries" or "Who Knew that Printmakers Would Have Such Fancy Footwork?"

and

"Madeleines, Mashed Potatoes and Meatloaf" or "Meatloaf, In All Forms, Is Not Photogenic" or "Remember That Time You Dropped the Meatloaf?" or "Good Thing I Made Two."

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Also, this song makes me happy.

My dad is just so cute.

because he just emailed me this video with a note saying "I think you like this kind of music".

Read this and make sure to have some french fries handy.

Greg Melville's Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, One Fry-Oil-Powered Car, and a Cross-Country Search for a Greener Future

I want a Madsen!

There's been a lot of cake/Taboo and Tenderloin

I went from never baking cakes to baking three in the span of two weeks. It's been interesting. I have a newfound respect for cake frosters. That shit is not easy. Crumbs are the enemy. Thank goodness for Alton Brown.

To recap:

1. The first banana L4yercake.

2. Butter cake, brandied strawberries and whipped chocolate frosting.

3. Banana cake remix- the addition of coconut milk, coconut flakes and more Kahlúa.

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Yesterday I trekked to Warrenton, aka the middle of nowhere, for a potluck at Bates's house. I arrived about an hour earlier than everyone else which gave us the opportunity to walk to a field and snap some photos. I discovered that tall grass can be on the invasive side when you're wearing a dress. Bates was an incredibly good sport while my drunk on power ass ordered her about on the field. Stand there! Walk over there! Lay down in the tall grass! It was a beautiful field, complete with blue skies, green grass and the not-so-common warbling of a nearby turkey farm.

When we walked back we noticed that there was a car behind mine that hadn't been there before. It was Arien's car and Arien was nowhere to be found. As Bates went up to her front door, I noticed an Arienesque figure talking to a neighbor a few houses down. Turns out that Arien had lost her cell phone a few days back and had borrowed a neighbor's phone to call Laura (the only number she remembered) to call Bates. Womp, womp. It worked out in the end.

Dinner consisted of: Bates's pork tenderloin, Christie's salad, Arien's chicken sausage noodle casserole (sorry, Bates), TJ's rugelach, Keith's chips/dip, Laura's spinach & artichoke dip, Sara's potato salad, Zack's pistachio/cream situation and my cake. We watched Yes Man and played some Taboo. Bates called out "Back to the Future" to the clue of "I'll be back." *snort. TJ made Bates's baby sister cry when he told her to put on pants. It's not as pedophilic as it sounds. Asia the dog makes for good cuddling. Flynn the dog reminds me of Garth's dog in Wayne's World. What's that, girl? Aliens have kidnapped Wayne?! Oh, Wayne's outside. Tall people make for good hugging. Jumping barefoot takes its toll after two minutes. My water was that evening's peace pipe. Yeah you like that mint and rosemary, don't you? Iron Shannon tagged it as Minty McWaterson on the face, haha.

I stayed behind after everyone left and helped Bates clean up the dinner party aftermath. It was about one in the morning at this point. Halfway home, right when I turned onto 66, I realized that I had forgotten my water bottle. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT I'VE LEFT IT ANYWHERE! The last forty minutes of the ride home was spent singing loudly/soulfully (and I'm sure tone-deaf) in an effort to forget how thirsty I was and how refreshing that mint & rosemary water would taste on my oh-so parched tongue.

Oh look, Mariam! It's the back of our heads!

Sweet on digestion, not so sweet for the earth.

For a mere $3 you can have twenty individually-wrapped prunes.
Wrapped in plastic. In a plastic container. Double-U-tee-eff!

"Kids will think they're candy!" says the Sunsweet Ones advertisement. Oh yeah? Those kids are going to toss those wrappers on the ground, probably on the way to the toilet.

Boo on you, prune people. Boo. on. you.

Vina's perfect alcoholic beverage.

Vodka Rosemary Lemonade Fizz

found on L.A. In Bloom,
who found it in the current Gourmet,
but you can have the recipe from Epicurious.

Considering the fact that I always carry this around, you KNOW this drink screams my name.

Banana L4yerCake

Ingredients

Cake:
1 box of yellow cake mix (I cheated this time, sorry. If you'd like to scratch it up, go here)
lime zest
milk
eggs
vegetable oil
nutmeg

Filling/Topping:
1 pint heavy whipping cream
Kalua
4-5 ripe bananas
caramel fruit dip
walnuts or pecans
honey

-Preheat oven to 350. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with a nonstick spray and flour lightly. Set aside.

- Make cake batter. I deviated a bit from the package and used milk instead of water as well as adding freshly-grated lime zest and nutmeg. Buttermilk works too.

- Pour cake batter into cake pans and bake for about half an hour or until inserted toothpick emerges clean. Cool in pans on wire rack.

- Toast nuts under broiler for a minute or so until browned. Add a tsp. of honey and toss to coat.

- Whip cream until soft peaks form. Fold in caramel to taste until thoroughly incorporated.


- Cut both layers of cake horizontally. Put first layer down, cut side up onto cake plate. Lightly drizzle with Kalua. Add a dollop of the cream, spread to cover. Layer with banana slices. Repeat until you've run out of cake. On the last layer put the cut side down. Cover with remaining whipped cream. Sprinkle with nuts or toasted coconut flakes.

Happy Mother's Day!

What I've been up to

Matty and Callum | Easter 2009

Here are some quick updates of the happenings in my life:

- Eating delicious coconut pancakes at Lao New Year in Catlett, VA. Pa fainted a little bit. It's a long story.
- Joining honors and being a part of an awesome gallery, Point in Space "."
- Joining the GMU Printmakers Guild and having a print exchange with American University.
- Looking foward to the season's yard sales and farmers markets.
- Losing weight with the help of bananas, breakfast, elliptical machines and lots of water.
- Saying hello to sunlight after a week of Seattlesque weather.
- Saying farewell to the FAB and getting ready to say hello to the brand spankin' new SOA.
- Seeing TGK/SA @ DC9 for the fourth time and convincing more people to go with me. Parked all the way at the Black Cat. Stupid HH traffic. Computer Jay is oh so fun to watch.
- Silkscreening tshirts with photos of my friends and skirts with coffee stain patterns.
- Spending more time with the AVT crew. We watched Twilight (ew) and Jem (yay!).
- Spent a lot of time with the Brit Family. Yes, they look nothing like us.
- Twittering like I mean it.

We need sunlight and we need it now.

Steph: We had a free movie rental from our cable company so last night raquel was like "oh let's use it up" and I'm like sure

Steph: and she's like what movie do you want to see and I was kind of in a blah mood because of the rain so I was like "pick something happy"and she said "how about marley and me?" and I said "that's sad" and she's like "only at the very end"

Steph: and so we did and so now i'm in an even WORSE mood!!

me: I told you not to watch marley and me!!

Steph: this morning when i was going to work i was like "I should go into work tomorrow super early so i can leave early and just watch the soloist by myself at the mall".

Penne Salad

Ingredients
pesto: fresh oregano thyme, garlic, toasted pine nuts, s&p, o.o. Instead of the traditional raw garlic, I sautéed the garlic along with the tomatoes.
lemon zest
cherry tomatoes. you could try plum or sun-dried as well.
spring greens (arugula, baby spinach, etc)
fresh herbs.
1 box of dried semolina penne
* grated parmesan, feta or bocconcini would be good too.

1. Cook pasta al dente. Rinse in cold water. Toss with some olive oil. Set aside.
2. Make pesto. I went with pestle and mortar style but that's only because it was midnight and I didn't feel like hearing any loud whirring noises.
3. Over medium-low heat sauté the tomatoes with a drizzle of olive oil and 2 smashed cloves of garlic. Add more garlic if you want people to avoid you. I say go for it.
4. Toss penne with pesto, grated lemon zest and the leftover herbs. Season to taste. Add the tomatoes and greens just before serving to prevent wilting.

Final week hijinks from your friends in B200

Flickr Set "Final Week Hijinks"

Como Hacer un Bebe

Wish I was still there.

Sohe: whose bed is that?
Me: Mine. What kind of whore do you think I am?