bad dream

While napping on the couch this afternoon, I had a horrible dream. Josh was planning our wedding. I let him take care of everything. 

He hired our friend Adam's band do play at our wedding. All they played was "Rocky Horror Picture Show" songs. Their whole schtick took two hours. Oh - and it was in the desert. Josh was nowhere to be found at the rehearsal dinner (where I found out about the whole theme of the wedding). His mom didn't have an opinion. My Indian guests were so confused. I was livid. Adam was coming in the next day. His band was mad at me for being upset about their musical tastes.

Then I woke up. I was still livid. I still kind of am. 

blood and guts

the last time i roasted red peppers, i was a stressed bunny who put the grilled peppers in a brown paper bag (to sweat the skins of), picked up the bag to carry the peppers to the bowl and screamed in frustration as the wet bottom of the bag gave out and the peppers went splat on the floor. (we ate them anyway - shhhh).

i didn't take the time to see how awesomely awesome it felt to peel the skins off the peppers after they have slow roasted for more than an hour. after months of dough-less cooking, it felt good to get my hands in my food again. 

it also looked really cool. 

i made smitten kitchen's chickpea salad. i wanted to add feta (it had gone bad) and some halved grape tomatoes (they were fine). i didn't have any lemons, but needed some acid, so i added balsamic vinegar, which may have changed the taste a little.  i took her suggestion and boxed the salad up for lunches this week. in the morning, i'll add some spinach to the top and voila! i should sell them in back bay for $7.

before the surgery
they came apart "like buttah!"
i love this picture. 

flash unhappy

So you may have noticed that I don't really use the flash when I take pictures, but I am still trying to figure out how to get the no-flash setting to focus on the new camera. Many pictures have fallen victim to the fuzziness. Anyway, here are some pictures from dinners this week . some with the flash and some without. Thoughts? 

Ok, sure this doesn't LOOK that appetizing, but it tasted good, trust me. Thai butternut squash curry with spinach a la Josh. Not so great half warmed up for a 2pm lunch at your desk three days laster... FYI.

Last night, I WAS going to make lentil soup. Then I read the reviews and everyone was like, you MUST use stock. which I thought we had. I was wrong. i also WAS going to saute some chicken to serve alongside it, but no stock meant no soup, so I made this chicken hash instead. Potatoes, Onions, garlic, thyme, oregano, rosemary and some fresh parsley did wonders for the store-bought rotisserie chicken. I had also picked up a half a wheat baguette at ABP on the way home. Some olive oil, fresh parmesan and a few minutes under the toaster oven's broiler and we had a nice fall-y meal. There was also salad, but it was boring Deepa salad - lettuce,  halved grape tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. I could eat that combination forever, but I think Josh is going to rebel soon. 
THESE are the best dumplings ever. I won't even begin to pretend that I made them. I picked them up from Wang's (heh) on the way home from work today. I don't know how they do it. These dumplings are perfect. Plump, moist, pan fried to the perfect amount of crispy on one side. No grease, no oil. Amazing amazing dumplings. We have a bag full of frozen ones in the fridge, but I didn't feel like thawing and boiling, so they remain there, waiting for another lazy day.
(No flash here)
Flash in use.

photos!

So my .mac page (with all the pictures) is proving to be quite the problem child. Luckily, I found a way to get those huge files from the new camera onto blogger. Instead of reloading all of them on here, I'll just add one of my favorites. I love this nested bowl picture.
Waffles with Sara!

So we didn't have any syrup - ice cream for breakfast it is!
SO classy. 
I have been trying to cook MUCH lighter recently. A lot of weeknight recipes which I have been gravitating towards involve yogurt sauces. This cucumber/coriander yogurt went quite well with a simple grilled chicken and vibrant Greek salad.
These were a HUGE hit, both at work and the election party I went to. 
A cross section.
Josh made this great green minestrone last week, with (turkey) bacon, green beans, celery, spinach and white beans. And lots of cheese, of course. 

awww yeah....

first peppermint mocha of the season, bitches!

i can feel the cloying sweetness and caffeine working its way into my brain. loves it.

sad

michael crichton passed away.

in middle school, i read all his books. i loved them. sphere, jurassic park, andromeda strain, he took something amazing and made it tangible.

his work inspired movies, some very good, some very very bad. the ideas were original.

i don't even know how to end his post. i can't say he will be missed - his involvement in my life has come and gone. i can say he did make an impact on my 13-year-old mind, and fanned my love of books. i can't wait to discuss his stories with my kids, just like i used to do with my mom and dad.