Chicks and Bikes

I just found this blog. I find it cool and fetishistic. It reminds me of girls at car shows.

Chicks and Bikes

Bar Soap

Apartment Therapy's Sexiest Bar Soaps

There is something so personal in a bar of soap. The way it makes you happy, the way other people react to the way you smell. I recently made the switch to bar soap from liquid soap, and love it. I never want to go back. It's cheaper, it lasts longer, it's better for the environment because you're not shipping the water that comes in liquid soap, and there's something so much more tactile and satisfying about it.

i think you just modified my sense of inner peace

I have had yoga instructors that are completely uninvolved, listlessly telling you to breath in breath out, and go back to downward dog.

Then there are the big personalities. These are usually the people who single you out in class, noting that you need to squeeze your elbows together and using your name so the entire class gets to think about your elbows. Yoga is not a competition. I don't appreciate anyone get rewarded or reprimanded during class. It's odd. It's such a personal exercise, why announce other people's achievements/problems to others?

I do enjoy having modifications done. I don't mind the hand pressing my shoulders back or the pull of my hips back in downward dog. This kind of contact makes me feel like the yoga instructor is my yoga buddy, just helping my stretching along. Only a few times have the modifications felt vaguely sexual.

I like the chanting and I want my instructor to help bring me to a spiritual place. A few lines of poetry or a short discussion about energy is wonderful (and I admit to tearing up in class prompted by the spiritual talk), but I did have an instructor once get out a tambourine and sing acapela to us. That felt like a bit much.

Also, my other big debate when it comes to yoga is the music played while you are in class. Personally, I am anti modern music. I don't want to know that you like Moby, Elliot Smith or Damien Rice while we are in class. I come to class to leave things like taste in music behind. It distracts me to have lyrics and modern music while I do yoga. I want to be displaced and for that reason, I favor chanting, music in languages I don't know, or classical music. I'm also down with no music at all.

Karaoke

Things to consider when selecting a karaoke song:

1. How long do I actually want to be on stage?
2. How much will this make my friends laugh?
3. Do I know the words well enough that I will be able to dance or embellish? Conversely, do I know so little of this song that it will be funny for my friends?
4. Do i not care what my friends think? Do I want to indulge some long held fantasy that I can be Patsy Cline or Whitney Houston or Robert Plant or Bob Dylan?
5. Will I ever get on stage? I've already had 4 drinks.

I've often wondered what the WORST karaoke songs to sing are. I nominate slow ballads that not many people know. These are the least interactive songs to select. Things like "Desperado" don't count because everyone knows the words.

Karaoke is a community activity. You go out with your friends and sing for a big group of people who are usually out in packs of friends. They are all just like you and they are not there to pay $6 for a gin and tonic to watch you fuck up some long slow ballad that they don't know the words to. On the other hand, they are there to watch you fuck up songs that they know and love.

Which brings me to the karaoke cliches/standbys. We all know and love them a lot and if you've been to karaoke, you've also seen lots of people try to sing them. Pretty much everytime that I go out for karaoke I hear at least one of these five songs:

1. Don't Stop Believing by Journey (undoubtedly the most popular in my opinion. I hear it without fail)
2. Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns and Roses
3. Me and Bobby McGee by Janice Joplin
4. Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
5. Living On a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Not a bad way to spend a saturday night and $30 . . .

Monochromacy

Basically every item of clothing that I have purchased in the recent past has been a varying shade of navy blue. I find myself stepping out the door in entirely blue-fits. While it is a little funny, I enjoy indulging in the lack of variance.

Now we all know that monochromacy is completely illegal when it comes to sweatshirt and sweatpants combos. It is completely unacceptable to be seen in public this way, unless you are a)elderly or b)Rocky Balboa.



I asked my roommate her opinion of monochromacy in fashion, and she was totally pro. I think it's really in right now especially if it's an all white outfit, which reminds remind me of the temple garments I recently read about that some Mormons wear while they are at church. The garments were referenced recently in an episode of Big Love that upset the Church of Latter Day Saints.

I also often think of sartorial monochromacy as something that boys and certain types of hipsters do. You know what I'm talking about, that dude who always wore brown hoodies with brown dickies, or hipsters/emo kids/goths/punk rockers/hessians etc. in all black with eyeliner. I use a photo of AFI for reference. I would have picked a better band for reference, but this is all I could come up with in my google image search for "all black clothing hipster."

Incredibly Malleable Horoscope for the week of March 16th

Gemini - You -- or your partner -- could come up with all kinds of good reasons why you can't be successful doing what you really want to do. This is especially true in the first half of the week, when the Moon in your 7th House of relationships squares Saturn in your 4th House of home, family and emotions and Uranus in your 10th House of career. You might not be able to avoid hearing those voices (inner or outer), but you don't have to take them to heart. In fact, I wonder what would happen if, instead of trying to block them from your awareness or buying into their bad wisdom, you started asking them devious questions. Like "Where'd you get that belief?" Or "What makes you think that today's conditions are going to last forever?" You've had at least one stroke of insight about your life's work in the last week and you've got a couple more coming in the next week or two. Nurture those seedlings and shoo away the boo bugs who'd bite them down before they have a chance to grow.

http://wordsforthepeople.com/

sale / coffee / lost

there was a giant sale in front of the Hundreds today. Twenty to thirty street-weared out kids were sitting in front of the store. It was odd to see them out so early in the morning with their baseball caps and oversized shirts.

coffee. had to use a credit card. I know it's no skin off specialty's back to run a card for a $1, but there was that minor pang of guilt.

i watched lost in full, and in review, unlike what i thought previously, it was one of the best episodes EVER. not filling us in through explanation, but using the time travel plot to actually put us in the middle of it. a true example of creatively showing and not telling.

Vegas

Going to Vegas in t-minus 8 days. Any suggestions for what i should do? I googled the wall of chocolate from the Bellagio and it looks lame. Just a fountain behind glass. I heard the buffet at Paris is great.

I'm excited to see the insanity. To me Vegas is the culmination of man's id--it shouldn't exist--they pumped a ton of water into some place in the middle of the desert. It is an ecological abomination and the paramount of everything Americans imagine that they want in the most indulgent corners of their brains. Drinking outdoors, air conditioners that magically make cigarette smoke disappear, tons of tans and breast implants, Paris in the middle of Nevada, a pyramid (wtf?), and the promise of unabated wealth as a reward for not working very hard at all.

I will probably just be imbibing quite a bit, lounging around by the pool, and being wayyy too excited that the hotel room has cable.

Liberia’s Blackboard Blogger

"Alfred Sirleaf is an analog blogger. He take runs the “Daily News”, a news hut by the side of a major road in the middle of Monrovia. He started it a number of years ago, stating that he wanted to get news into the hands of those who couldn’t afford newspapers, in the language that they could understand.

Alfred serves as a reminder to the rest of us, that simple is often better, just because it works. The lack of electricity never throws him off. The lack of funding means he’s creative in ways that he recruits people from around the city and country to report news to him. He uses his cell phone as the major point of connection between him and the 10,000 (he says) that read his blackboard daily."

Cut Worms

Yesterday, while chopping up some cauliflower to eat with x-mas dinner, I encountered a hitchhiker like the one pictured above. I could not contain the chills and wretches. It was like a green shrimp, bigger than a quarter and still alive. It had been living in the head of cauliflower that had been picked, wrapped, shipped and displayed in the whole foods produce section. I'm sure he/she had plenty to eat on this journey like James and the Giant Peach. Living in the home that you eat your way out of.

My Omnivore's 100 List

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses ???? (I might have eaten this. I don't remember all the cheese I ate in France)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (I would try it, but I fear I would light on fire)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (I considered crossing this out, the fact that people still die from this scares me a little)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (sadly, I have not eaten poutine yet)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

The Tomato Report

From little babies . . .




To bright green bulbs . . .


To sun-warmed salad-ready cherry tomatoes.

My Top 6 of the Moment

6. Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello: Mustached, Slavic, Schizophrenic, Sexy.


5. Will Ferrell: Can you even imagine how much fun it would be to wake up in bed with this man?



4. Jason Schwatzman of Coconut Records: This fellow needs to switch careers because Coconut Records is so unbelievably good. He would be the 'twee-ist boyfriend ever.



3. Either one of the Hot Knives: Hot vegan cooks/bloggers/beer-lovers. They've got cajones doing two things that the fellas don't typically do. Having an avid interest in the beloved domestic art of cooking (although as a Jezebel article I read the other day points out, it's totaly okay and curently hip for guys to be into cooking but not cool for them to be into any other domestic art, can anyone think of a heterosexual equivalent of Martha Stewart?), and having the balls to be manly men who don't eat meat. It ain't easy being that adorable, and I'd walk over hot coals to have an artisan crafted brew with either of these menfolks.



2. Adrian Brody: Just cause.



1. Sam Mason: New York City Chef and Host of online webcast, Dinner With the Band. Rock 'n Roll, daring flavor combinations, copious tattoos. Yum.

Dynamo Donuts

Lemon Thyme Donuts from the newly opened Dynamo Donuts in the Mission. I can't wait to try one.

Canned Sardines

I had my second sardine sandwich this week. Yum. I think I found a new canned protein friend.

I really liked canned fish when I was little, my sister reminded me the other day. I used to eat kippers straight from the can with a fork.

My first sardine sandwich was the result of a google search for sardine sandwich, and it came from this blog. It was one side sardines mixed with sauted mushrooms, onions, and garlic, and then a little olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. On the other side of the bread was melted cheese. I heated both sides in the oven.

The bread I was eating was too thick, the cheese wasn't strong enough, but the sardine mixture was delicious. I also tried to eat this sandwich with lettuce which was a big flop because the lettuce was wilting between the halves pathetically. I pulled out the lettuce and tried to eat as much sardine as possible.

My second sardine sandwich was much more of a success. I ate it on untoasted sourdough bread with lettuce and mustard. This can of sardines was packed in tomato sauce, which I've read is common for sardines that come from Mexico or if they are packed in Thailand. I still added some olive oil and lemon juice to the mix, which was a good call because the lemon seemed to balance the acid in the tomatoes to make a more mild flavor.

On the downside, these sardines were cheaper and more gritty than the previous can I purchased.

I was worried about the mercury content being high in sardines like tuna, but I read on the internet that the sardine's low status on the food chain makes it far less of a risky fish to eat. They contain less mercury because their lives are shorter, and they don't eat other fish who contain mercury like predatory fish such as tuna.

Also in terms of the food chain, sardines are incredibly sustainable. When you eat predators, you are eating a larger chunk out of the food chain, but since sardines are bottom feeders, they reproduce faster, and there are more of them to eat. Eating bottom feeders impacts bio-diversity less.

Cheap, low mercury levels, non-perishable, environmentally sustainble, high in omega-threes and delicious. Oh sardines, I think this the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Congee

Pork and preserved egg congee with green onions topped with Chinese Donut from the Ming Wun-Tun Noodle House on 32nd and Noriega.



Side Order of Chinese donut.

4th of July Eats

White wine sangria with peaches, pears and strawberries, recipe from Scott's Food Blog.



A perfectly peeled hard-boiled egg for potato salad. I was very proud of myself.



The most addictive salt n pepper pistachios ever. Thank you Cost-co.



Our strawberries were ripe, maybe a little too ripe, but still good. The downside of being in season.

Little Baby Cherry Tomatoes

Two Meals

Quesadilla with sauteed onion, olive, and corn with salsa. Nicely plated.


Breadcrumb battered chicken breast with sauteed onions and garlic alongside spinach spaghetti with feta.

Adventures in Yeast

My attempt to make french bread last night was a hideous disaster, and a marvelous learning experience, producing completely inedible bread. You could beat someone with the results this morning.

Part 1: Yeasty Beginnings

I dissolved the dry active yeast in warm water. The package said that the water should be between 110 and 115 degrees. I didn't have a thermometer, so I guessed that should be below boiling (130-140? deg F) but hotter than the hot springs I sat in a few weeks ago (102 deg), so I figured I shouldn't be able to keep my finger in it for very long.

The yeast package said you heat water, dissolve yeast, let sit, and in 5 minutes, watch the yeast get bubbly. I may have seen a few bubbles, but my pot looked like miso soup. I read in a book later that a pinch of sugar often helps this process. Not sure of how many bubbles I should see I decided to keep going.

Part 2: Doughing What You Knead

I mixed the yeast into some bread flour and salt, then slowly mixed in the rest of the bread flour. While I made something of a mess on the counter, this is in my hypotheses, the only part of the baking that I got right. I got my dough ball out of the bowl, and kneaded the bread for about 10 minutes on the counter. Using the Test Kitchen instructions of pressing down with the heels of my hands and then turning and folding the dough, I got quite a rhythm down. This was the fun part. My dough ball even looked like the picture.



Part 3: A-Rising Discontent

Then it was time to put my happy little dough ball in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise, preferably in a warm place. I put it in the oven, but I found out later you're supposed to heat the oven to 200 deg and then turn off the oven, and then place said happy little dough ball in conducive rising chamber. My dough was hanging out in a drafty garage.

Part 4: Shape n' Rise

After hanging out in the oven for an hour and a half, my dough ball was bigger but definitely not double in size. I read that you are supposed to poke it with your finger and the dough should refill the indent at a moderate pace. My dough filled in, but slowly. Hope did not seem lost. I shaped the bread into a loaf and let it sit to rise again. 40 minutes later, no change. This was evidence that the yeast definitely wasn't working. At this point, I was tired, and I knew my bread was fucked. I decided to cook it anyway.

Part 5: Heating

Yes folks, I broke the pan. How do you break a pan? I'm not sure, but it definitely happened. I didn't think my bread was that heavy, or my oven that hot, but the baking stone cracked in half after 15 minutes of cooking.



Finished Product:

While my bread resembled a loaf shape, and had some nice golden brown spots on it, the interior bread was so dense that butter slid right off when I had a sample piece. It was heavy, leaden, and completely unrisen. My yeast was oppressed, not given the right conditions to grow. Surprisingly, although the texture was all wrong, my hot sample was relatively good tasting. This morning, it wouldn't have even made good croûtons. It reminded me of when you bake flour and water to build a replica of the Alamo for a fourth grade history project.





Regardless, I was kind of proud of my bread bat.