Vibrant.(Still) Unrepentant. Badass. Old. Queer

Good Morning, Kittens! Here is a photo of the broth I made last night for the Mexican Corn Chowder I'm going to make this evening: Why is this Poor Man's Broth? And why should BOSSY's Poverty Party minions pay careful attention? Because this broth is made (almost) entirely of vegetable scraps! I must credit SCGB for the idea. We were talking about making broth one day, and he said, "I've started throwing all my veggie scraps into a container in the freezer to make broth." If you've read Mark Bittman's cookbooks, he's all about throwing the entire plant into the pot for broth. But, why buy and then boil perfectly good veggies (that could be used for other things ... like eating), when you can use the scraps you would normally throw away (or, hopefully, compost) for "free"? So that's what I've done for this broth. There are some zucchini bits and mushroom stems. Onion peelings. And Bok Choy ends. I had been saving them in a containe...

Although, I suppose it was more of a soup than a bisque . Good Morning, Kittens! Yesterday, I slept in (hurrah!) and, then, worked on a government essay question (ugh). Oh, and I took a nap. Naps Rock! Later, I managed to pull myself up off the sofa and walk to the bank (to deposit the money from the antiques show job) and the Whole Foods. I decided to make this: Curried Pumpkin Bisque with Cheddar Cheese ... with a few modifications: Ingredients: 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 cups finely chopped onions 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper (I used an entire bell pepper and didn't bother seeing how many cups that was) 1 teaspoon curry powder (i just shook a whole bunch into the pot) 5 cups (or more) canned low-salt chicken broth vegetable broth 1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin 1 cup frozen corn kernels 1/2 cup one can crushed tomatoes with added purée 1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage one sprig fresh rosemary 1 cup (packed) grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese Preparation Heat oil in heavy large...

Good (Almost) Afternoon, Kittens! How's work? Making the most of your Tuesday? Pounding out those ever-so important technical reports full of fun charts and graphs that no one ever really reads? Don't worry, though. I appreciate your effort, so it's not completely wasted. Really. Last night, I made a delicious pasta salad, which was a riff on a recipe idea my SuperFantastic Cousin told me once. I took the basic ingredients of a Caprese salad and tossed them all with macaroni (I wanted to use orzo, but the store didn't have any). I used: 1/2 pint of golden pear tomatoes 1/2 pint of grape tomatoes Container of marinated mini-mozzarella balls 1/2 pkg of macaroni (cooked, drained, rinsed in cool water) Olive oil Red wine vinegar (just a splash) Lemon juice (just a splash) Basil from the garden Salt/pepper to taste. And that's pretty much it. Super fast and easy. And YUMMY. Not much on my agenda for today. I've applied for one job. I need to spend some time looking ...

Good Evening, Kittens! Tonight for dinner, I decided to make Thai Basil pesto. A few weeks ago, one of my neighbors emailed me a "recipe" which listed ingredients, but no measurements. Unfortunately, that email was sent to my no-longer-accessible work account. So I had to reconstruct it from memory. Just for you, I actually measured the ingredients this time ... So, here we go. In a food processor: 1 cup loosely packed Thai Basil 1 shallot 1 clove garlic 2 thai chili peppers 1 tiny bit of ginger 1 tbsp peanuts 1/4 cup olive oil 1 tbsp sesame oil Like this: Process until you get this: Toss with noodle of your choice. I think I would have preferred cellophane noodles, but all I had was angel hair pasta: Delicious! *spicy pesto smooches* PS. Can you spot (and guess) Chef's Little Helper?

This food? I cooked it last night. This picture? I took it myself. This blog? I write it myself. These are my words, my thoughts, my ideas, my hopes and dreams, my tears, my own private drama*. I wanted to clear that up. I am me . The words are my own. Because I am honest about my life (or, at least, as honest as I can be), I tend to believe what other people write is an honest representation as well**. It's a little shocking and a lot hurtful when I find out I've been misled. ( See Dykewife's post here - You'll need to scroll down to the entry titled "Cry, Thief"- and the victim's original post here .) But, I move on ... to write about my food, my booze, and my dreams. Last night, I made, what I like to call, Refrigerator Pasta, which consists of whatever food I can find in my fridge that I think will be yummy tossed with pasta. So, I diced a bunch of grape tomatoes, some black olives, scallions, and Bulgarian Feta and mixed it with olive oil, red wine...

Good Morning, Kittens! This is a picture of my dinner. I -sort of- followed this recipe from Epicurious: Sweet Potato Salad with Chili-Lime Dressing . Most of the modifications I made were with the dressing. I used my own Thai Basil instead of cilantro and replaced the chili powder with 3 of my dried Thai chilies. The dressing was still a bit ... not zingy. I think it needed something else, but I'm not sure what. Maybe a smidge of red curry paste? I tossed the salad with about a cup of red quinoa to give it a bit more nutritional value. The result: Surprisingly Delicious, even though I cooked the potatoes for a smidge too long. I give this recipe Two Thumbs Up ! Way up! Chef's Little Helper last night was gin with lemon italian soda over ice cubes with blueberries frozen in them. Yumminess! Meanwhile, I'm still pounding away on the stupid KSAs. I think I am stuck and need to have a brainstorming session with some friends. Because there are a couple of questions which I hav...

Wow. That's a long-ass title... Anyway, good Wednesday morning, Kittens! I hope everyone is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning. Yesterday evening was absolutely gorgeous, even though I had to suffer through a Co-op Board Meeting. Fortunately, the meeting started and ended with cocktails. That's how all board meetings should work. Srsly. I discovered that if I opened up my bedroom window I could get a nice cool cross-breeze going. Plus, with the fan running, the traffic noise was mostly bearable ... until the buses started roaring by at a little before 5. Prior to the Board Meeting (and after my martini), I decided to make a recipe I found on epicurious, Quinoa and Bulgur Salad with Feta . If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you probably have already realized that I made a few modifications in the recipe ... 1/3 cup 1/2 cup quinoa 4 cups 1 cup water [I cooked the quinoa in my rice cooker, so there would be no need to cook it in all that extra w...

Good evening, kittens. Thought I'd blog about my day of foodie goodness, esp. since I'm unable to do Meat-Free Monday posts while pottery class is in session. Yesterday, using the chocolate mint I am growing on our porch, I started a vodka infusion. Mint infuses QUICKLY. It was ready to strain this afternoon. It's a lovely yellowy-green with a nice minty smell. I'll be giving it to a friend for his birthday this weekend. After straining the vodka, I went out and thinned the Thai Basil. Rather than trash the seedling, I washed them and boiled them in several quarts of filtered water. After letting them steep for a few hours, I strained and put in the fridge. Hopefully, I will have made a refreshing beverage for the week :-) I decided to make a pasta salad for dinner. I'm still not quite up to meeting the One Local Summer Challenge, but I'm getting there ... I had several locally grown ingredients and one or two "almost local" ingredients. Ingredients fo...

Good morning, kittens! As you know, I decided to participate in the One Local Summer challenge, in which I must make one meal a week using all locally grown ingredients. My plan was to combine the OLS challenge with my weekly Meat-Free Monday post. Well, OLS started this week. Since I was in New York, I was unable to go to the Farmer's Markets in Silver Spring and Takoma Park on Saturday. Thus, last night's Meat-Free Monday meal was a non-local pasta extravaganza. Alas ... I will need to do some research to see if I can buy local food somewhere near here (other than the over-priced locally grown veggies sold at Whole Foods). Meanwhile, last night I made Spaghetti with Asparagus, Shiitake, Lemon and Chives from Epicurious.com. Except I used linguini. And regular mushrooms (shiitake are expensive). And I forgot to buy chives. And I cut the recipe in half-ish. Even without the shiitake and chives, it was still delicious. Some people in the reviews claimed it was too lemon...

And, yay, Isabella has just given forth the Vomit of Joy. Huzzah. I don't think it has anything to do with my dinner ... Which is: Asparagus and Tomato Pasta with Goat Cheese. Basically, I stir-fried some asparagus with garlic, oregano and basil. Added some goat cheese and a diced roma tomato and a little cream. Then I tossed it all with pasta. It's not half bad. It's also not something I will make again in the near future (mainly because I rarely buy asparagus). And goat cheese is expensive. Guess that's it. I'm working on a couple of memes and will try to post those tomorrow. I've heard a rumor that a certain Straight Guy is also working on the same memes. We'll see how that comes out. We all know how bad straight guys are at finishing what they started... 'Til tomorrow. *smooches*

Well, hello, Cook's Little Helper [and, hello, 5 GABILLION people clicking over from Project Rungay , here's a *smooch* just for you] ... And Orzo Salad. BOSSY comes to your house [months ago!], stays one night and then you are constantly overcome with the desire to eat entire bags of lettuce at one sitting. The salad is: Olives, feta, tomato, orzo and pine nuts. The dressing: Lemon juice, olive oil, parsley and oregano (from my herb garden!) The martini Cook's Little Helper: Delicious. Then, we moved on to the dessert course [Great guess, btw, Java !]: Whole Foods 365 French Vanilla Ice Cream with chocolate ganache. So easy to make! So delicious! YAYZ! That breeder straight guy will be updating this afternoon. He has some work to do this morning. Bleah.

I hath returned from my foraging trip to Whole Foods. Here's my shopping list: 3 roma tomatoes 1 can sliced black olives feta pine nuts 1 pint heavy cream Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Chips Can you guess what the Meat-Free Monday meal will be? P.S. At 4 PM, head over to If I Were a Straight Guy for an exciting announcement!

Good morning, Kittens! Unfortunately, there is no photo of my completed Meat-Free Monday meal. Here's a picture of the ingredients (and Chef's Little Helper) I borrowed from my 12 of 12 entry yesterday. It was delicious. Many thanks to Mush for some last minute cooking advice via txtmsg. Y came over around 8 for dinner and a movie ... and a martini. Mmm. I am loving the new martini: 3 parts Gordon's, 1 part vodka, and a half part of Lillet, shaken over ice and garnished with lemon peel. Yummy. Try it at home, whydoncha? If all goes according to my evil plan, Y will still be home during my lunch break. I can sneak home for a little late morning nookie. Yay. Nookie. I am using the nookie as motivation to at least update my resume for a non-profit job. Currently, I have a "government contractor" resume and a "federal employee" resume and a "chemical industry" resume. What I need is a "non-profit dogoodery" resume. It won't be that...

Step 1: Assemble ingredients. Step 2: Oh. * Those * ingredients. Step 3: Cook* Step 4: Enjoy! *Detailed Step 3 Instructions: VUBOQ's Curried Tofu, Broccoli and Peppers with Cashews Ingredients: Approx. 1/2 can of masaman curry paste Approx. 1/2 can of coconut milk (and I'm begging you, please don't use "lite") 1 head of broccoli 1 green bell pepper 1 pkg extra firm tofu 1 tbsp peanut butter 2 tbsp (or so) roasted, unsalted cashews Rice Directions: 1. Put rice in rice cooker. 2. Heat about 2 tbsp of coconut milk in non-stick skillet (or wok) 3. Fry about 1/4 can of masaman curry paste until fragrant 4. Add chunkily sliced green bell pepper. 5. Add broccoli pieces. 6. Add more curry paste/coconut milk until it looks like a nice tasty sauce. 7. Add about 1 tbsp of peanut butter. 8. Remember you should have lowered the heat from high to medium about 4 steps ago. 9. Blame Chef's Little Helper . 10. Add tofu chunks and cashews. [Note: Save the cashews 'til the v...

Ready for a fun guessing game, kittenes? Here's what I bought for dinner tonight: Can you guess what I'm making?

Last night, for Meat-Free Monday , I made a recipe I found on epicurious, Japanese Noodles with Bok Choy and Tofu . The recipe itself was SuperEasy and FAST! Dinner was ready in under 30 minutes. I meant to put some dried chili peppers in the sauce, but I forgot. My only quibble is that it was a bit too oily. I think next time I might cut some of the oil. Other than that, it was delicious. In addition to the noodle dish, I roasted a bunch of asparagus which Y had found somewhere on sale. I brushed them with a mixture of basalmic vinegar and sesame oil (from the above recipe) and roasted at about 450F until they looked done (maybe 10 minutes?). YUM. See: Now, behold the Power of Meat-Free Monday ! The good food turned my normally not so photogenic BF* into a total HOTTIE-PATOTTIE. Mmm. Mmm. It also inspired him to take photos (with my camera!) of his late night coffee: [One guess who made the mug] Did you have a Meat-Free Meal on Monday? If so, tell us about it in the comments. *s...

Except it hasn't. It's still here. I can tell. Lurking behind that big bush over there. Sneaky rain. In other news, it's Meat-Free Monday ! You can help out the environment by enjoying a Meat-Free Meal today! Won't that be fun? This is what I'm going to attempt to make: Japanese Noodles with Bok Choy and Tofu . Like, OMG, I'm going to follow a recipe (mostly). What the fork up with that? Hmm... Also, PeskyMac is organizing a One Local Summer Challenge hosted by her Farm to Philly blog. I'm thinking a One Local Summer Meat-Free Monday Challenge might be fun! Are you with me? Or against me? [Hopefully, if you're a SuperHot guy, you're against me . *rowr*] Either way, I strongly encourage you to participate [it doesn't have to be Meat-Free, but it would make me happy if it were :-)]. La la la. Now, go look at my pottery again ( almost an entire year's worth !). Tell me. What's your favorite piece and why? *smooches*

Good morning, kittens. I hope the rain has stopped in your world and the sun is peeking through the clouds just. like. here. Last night, I gathered together my ingredients for what I hoped would be yet another brilliant experimental cooking success. It wasn't. Step One was to make pesto . Here are the ingredients: Don't they look pretty? I had grated fulvi romano with peppercorns, garlic, dried chili peppers, organic arugula, and olive oil (some of which had been used to store my already-been-done-eaten feta-stuffed olives). All of which was shoved into a blender and had the Hell pureed out of it. WHIRRRR! Then, I poured it into a bowl. See? Pretty: Of course, this is where things started to go horribly wrong. I tasted the pesto and decided it needed salt. I picked up the salt and started to sprinkle a little in. * WHOOPS * My hand slipped and, like, 8 TONS of salt poured into the pesto . I scooped out what I could. But, when I re-tasted it, all I could taste was salt. My pes...

My company was recently purchased by (or it merged with) another company. It's not supposed to affect us mindless minions in any way, but I'm sure the owner made a boatload of cash. Anyway, there is a company-wide meeting in downtown DC after work today to explain the merger/buyout/transition/whatever. I am not going, because: (a) my job ends at 5 (and that meeting goes on until 7), (b) I will more than likely no longer be working for this company after June (or sooner *crosses fingers*), and (c) I have pottery class. (c) is the "official" excuse I gave my boss. Of course, the interesting thing is that I'm not going to pottery class tonight . Yep. I'm going tomorrow because I don't think my final items will be out of the kiln tonight. *hehe* Since I will be home on a Monday night for the first time in ages , guess what? Experimental Meat-Free Monday Cooking will commence! YAY! Why don't you join me*? Enjoy a delicious meat-free meal tonight AND help ...

I watched Elizabeth last night. Let us have a moment of silence to ponder the glory that is Cate Blanchett. *moment of silence* Ah. That was nice. I made Carribean Black Bean Soup last night. OMForkinG, are you ready for the super-complicated recipe? Are you? Do you think you can handle it? OK. Here goes: In sauce pan, heat one can of coconut milk and one can of diced tomatoes with chilies . Once hot, slowly add one package of Fantastic Foods Instant Black Beans . Add water if it's too thick. You can also add some corn (my people call it maize ) and/or cooked rice if you want. Serve. Eat. Enjoy. *whew* I hate it when cooking is so difficult. OH. I also put together my frames for the two paintings I bought several years ago. I ordered the frames from americanframe.com . Cheap! And Easy to Assemble! I highly recommend it. The two paintings I framed are 7 1/2" x 10" and 8 1/16" x 10". Total cost (including metal frames, mounting board, UV and a...