Boots in the Oven

GO WHITE SOX GO WHITE SOX GO!

As you may remember from this post, I have really fond memories of growing up with the White Sox.  South Side!  I remember them losing more often then not when we'd go to games, though - but what a year this year was!

Anyway, congrats and all to them!  I can hardly believe it... 88 years? 

Looking around online, I found this fight song... bless me if I have any idea how it goes, but maybe some of the old-time Sox fans can help me out!

WHITE SOX WHITE SOX GO-GO WHITE SOX
LET'S GO GO-GO WHITE SOX
WE'RE WITH YOU ALL THE WAY
THEY'RE ALWAYS IN THERE FIGHTING
AND YOU DO YOUR BEST
WE'RE GLAD TO HAVE YOU OUT HERE
IN THE MIDDLE WEST
WE'RE GONNA ROOT ROOT ROOT ROOT WHITE SOX
AND CHEER YOU OUT TO VICTORY
WHEN WE'RE IN THE STANDS
WE'LL MAKE THOSE RAFTERS RING
ALL THROUGH THE SEASON
YOU WILL HEAR US SING
LET'S GO GO-GO WHITE SOX
CHICAGO'S PROUD OF YOU
WHITE SOX WHITE SOX GO-GO WHITE SOX
ROOT ROOT ROOT FOR THE WHITE SOX
WE'LL CHEER YOU OUT TO VICTORY
WHEN WE'RE IN THE STANDS
WE'LL MAKE THOSE RAFTERS RING
ALL THROUGH THE SEASON
YOU WILL HEAR US SING
LET'S GO GO-GO WHITE SOX
CHICAGO'S PROUD OF YOU
PLAY BALL!!!
WHITE SOX WHITE SOX GO-GO WHITE SOX
LET'S GO GO-GO WHITE SOX
CHICAGO IS PROUD OF YOU

WOOOOO!

(ahem... this song sounds like it's not very good.  But, anyway, WOOOOO!)

-girlie

Honeymoon 3: Entering the Wilds of Positano

Well, it's been a while... but I finally got some Positano pictures uploaded!

My apologies to those of you with dialups - I've tried to "smallify" these pictures so they'll load quicker.

So, there we are on the ferry to Positano... and all of a sudden, the prettiest town I've ever seen slides in to view.

The town just keeps going up and up and up....

We arrive on the rocky beach and take stock of our surroundings.

It becomes clear that we're going to have to head right up the side of the cliff to get to where we'll be staying.  In order to show everyone just how hardcore we really are, we elect to WALK (?) up to the place carrying our backpacks.  Ahem.

A friendly Italian man tells us it's about 700 steps straight up, but do we let that deter us?  NO!  We're newlyweds!  We're young, spry, wiry, and we will show this little hill who it's boss really is!

Well, not so much...  we start our walk, go up one seemingly endless staircase, and count 92 steps.  This may take longer than we thought.  We turn the corner...

Yeah.  We're less than a seventh of the way there.  Well, it's really pretty, and it really can't be too much longer, can it?  (ah, to be so young and naive once more.)

Luckily, there were some beautiful views along the way, so we were able to stop and rest and take pictures and yell "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!"  (In all fairness, that last bit may have been exclusively me.  Newly-husbear was being very supportive, but dang, was that a lot of stairs!)

Everything was so photogenic.  (If our honeymoon had a theme, it would be "everything was so photogenic.")  It seemed we couldn't turn a corner without seeing the most picturesque thing ever.

I mean, come on.  Who actually lives in a place like this?

We finally made it to the top (click on this link to see a picture of how high we were!)

I had a serious sense of accomplishment from making it up all those stairs, though.  We conquered those stairs many more times before leaving Positano, too... our calves grew three sizes that week.

After a little rest and bearing-catching and apologizing (again, mostly me...) we headed up just a little further to a small grocery to stock up on the essentials.  We got the components of a nice snack - lots of protein! - and went back down to our place to have a little bite to eat.

This is our porch, and that's Husbear with our wine, mozzarella, tomatoes, mortadella, and crazy good bread.

See?  The walk was totally worth it - our view was awesome!  The rocks over Husbear's shoulder are supposedly the home of the Sirens.  Homer was apparently familiar with this area, and we heard a lot of local stories about how landmarks match up with the story of Odysseus' travels.  Interesting.

It was a lucky thing that snack was so good, because dinner was decidedly odd.  Pretty good and everything, but definitely odd.

Before you ask, yes, those are beets on that pizza.  But that's also a jug of housemade wine, which came out of a big barrel in the depths of the restaurant, so we could forgive a little strangeness.  And, the crust was completely awesome - still a better pizza by far than any we could get around here.

Plus, the place had this for a view, so we could have forgiven it an awful lot.

Whew - I think I've foisted enough pictures on you for today, thanks!

-girlie

Is My Blog Burning XX: Touché Soufflé (Parsnip and Cheddar)

Oooh. Don’t mess with me chumps, I’m Mister Fancy-schamncy soufflé. I gots a hardcore reputation for not playin’ real nice-like and I’ll make ya all look like a bunch of assolopes if you try to bake me up. You gotta mix me just right. Don’t breathe too hard. Don’t be jigglin’ me around. Best to not open that oven once you puts me in. But are you sure that it’s at the exak right temperature? Will I be too dry? Whoops, don’t walk too hard in the kitchen. That’s right, one wrong look from you and I’ll fall faster than a CIA operative’s name from Karl Rove’s mouth. It’s just how I roll.

Why you gotta front soufflé? As far as I can tell you just got served. Served up all crispy, fluffy, golden brown, moist and delicious. That’s right. Who’s the bitch now?

For too long soufflés have been vilified and posted with double black diamonds, when in reality, they’re more like neighborly blue squares. What? You don’t ski? Anyway, point being, soufflés get a bad rap, but they’re easy, tasty and fun and people should make them more.

For this edition of Is My Blog Burning, Mme. Pants and I decided to go savory and whip up a parsnip and cheddar soufflé. We figured it was a good idea because you can never find enough excuses to eat more parsnips.

So, start by peeling a pound of that pigmentally challenged cousin of the carrot, give it a half inch dice and simmer it off for about fifteen minutes in 2-3 cups of stoutly salted water with a bay leaf floating around. When everything’s nice and soft, toss the leaf, keep a cup of the liquid and then puree the drained parsnip chunks until smooth.

Wait. Actually, start by getting out six eggs and letting them come to room temperature and then the parsnip stuff. No, wait. Start by getting a big drink and then the eggs and then all that parsnip crap. Yeah. (Be sure to get your wife a drink too or she’ll just stare at you with those big, sad doe eyes.)

Meanwhile (back at the Batcave), make a roux with about four tablespoons of butter and flour. Cook it ‘til it’s golden then whisk in the tasty reserved parsnip juice. Stir that until it’s thick and looks a little like gluey cream gravy.

Now stir in 1½ or 2 cups of grated cheddar, the parsnip puree, and a tablespoon of chopped sage. Separate your eggs. Stir in the six yolks. Good. You’re almost there.

If there is a trick to soufflés and I’m not saying there is, it’s all in the whites. Much like with laundry, you don’t really have to worry about the colored stuff. If something gets screwed, it’s probably the whites.

Here’re three quick tips to beating egg whites:

1) Make sure you don’t get any yolk mixed in

2) Start with them at room temperature

3) Add a little acid. This helps with volume, stabilization and moisture retention.  Cream of tartar is best, lemon juice or vinegar work in a pinch; avoid hydrochloric and lysergic acid diethylamide unless you’re going for a whole different thing.

4) So I said three. So what? You want a piece? DON’T over beat them! Then they’re just gross. Feeling now fully empowered, whip your whites to frothy, creamy, peaks of excitement.

See, easy. Take half and fold it into the parsnipy, cheesy, pasty stuff, then fold in the other half.

Grease and flour an appropriate receptacle (don’t be nasty) and fill it about 2/3 full. Oh, your oven should be pre-heated to 400ºF. Pop that baby in and check on it in about half and hour. Contrary to popular belief, it is not certain soufflé death if you crack the oven to look at it. Just do it fast and sparingly. You’re not twelve and it’s not the girls’ locker room, so easy tiger.

There. It’s done when it’s big and poofy and beautifully brown. Serve it quick and be generous with the portions because everyone needs more soufflé.

We had ours with a nice salad dressed with a warm sherry and shallot vinaigrette and a lovely Cotes-du-Rhone. Insert lip smacking here.

Stay fluffy people and don’t let the soufflés grind you down.

(And thanks to Kitchen Chick for choosing a great theme and hosting a great Is My Blog Burning!   Part One of the roundup is savory, and posted - yay!  there we are!  And here's a link to part two - sweet soufflees!  (My fault - it's been up for several days.))

Tagged with: IMBB # 20 + Souffle

L. Pants

Mommy, I can feed myself!

Unfortunately, I've never really felt comfortable in the kitchen, for a variety of reasons.  When I was in high school, I was responsible for a few dinners every week, so I did learn my way around a kitchen, becoming at the very least passable at making such things as meatloaf, chicken breasts, and boxes and boxes of hamburger helper.  (boy, did my brother DJ and I think that was tasty at the time -- mmmm, cheeseburger macaroni!)

And, of course, after I met the Husbear I spent even less time in the kitchen.  Most of the recipes I could make were rather meaty (see above) and he's a vegetarian.  Plus, he really enjoys cooking, where I really don't, so much, so I had no problem backing almost entirely out of the kitchen and letting him do his thing.  This isn't to say I don't like helping, but I get really stressed if the meal-planning falls to me.  Oy.

So, now he has this job at Enoteca, which is taking him out of the house for the majority of the week, so I'm once again responsible for feeding myself.  I've learned that it's really no fun cooking for one! 

Here's one thing I came up with:

Though it does look pretty good (braised pork chop with gravy and lightly sauteed spinach with garlic) it was unfortunately gross.  The pork chop itself was ok, juicy but not particularly flavorful, but the gravy taught me a lesson - don't make gravy by reducing veggie bouillon cubes with water.  guh.  It was way, way too salty.  I might try the recipe again with actual broth, but not any time soon.

The spinach was all right, if a little slimy in texture.  Maybe I needed to cook it a little longer, to get all the water out?  Good garlicky flavor, though.

I'm not discouraged, though - I'm going to keep at it.  A year from now, maybe you'll be reading about how I put together a caviar and fois gras based dinner party for 12 with my hands tied behind my back.  Yeah, unlikely, but a girl can dream, right?

girlie(pants)

Cutey-pie

Well, home alone today... Husbear's poaching eggs and shredding potatoes, doing prep work for Enoteca's brunch.  The brunch seems to have been well received, so that's good.

I'm thinking I'll do some shopping today for the trip to Florence - five weeks from today, baybee!  Still waiting to get my passport back, but I don't think I'm at the point yet where I should start getting worried; I only sent it off three and a half weeks ago.  (Not that I'm counting.)

Last year for Chrismukkah, Husbear made these and gave them to me:

He told me to take them shoe-shopping.  I've been holding on to them (yes, I KNOW it's been like 10 months), because I wasn't sure what to get, plus something in my heart quakes at spending that much on a pair of shoes... but I think they'll outfit me nicely with maybe a new outfit AND a pair of shoes.  (don't tell him I probably won't spend the whole amount on shoes!)

If you want to make your own moneyboots, here are some instructions.

Have a good weekend!

girliepants

Start Seein’ Korean

         Being very white and quite round-eyed myself (so tasteless), I am hesitant to pass judgment on the authenticity of various Asian cuisines. However, I have it on good word that the eats over at Korea House in the Village Shopping Center are about as real as you’re going to get these days in the American south.

Traditional or not though, it doesn’t much matter because the food is real, real good. As you can tell from the picture, our favorite way to start a dining experience here is with a big goofy-ass mug of Sapporo (look, I know it’s from Japan – get off my case). The best quality about this particular beer being that, like the English will tell you, it is served in a proper 16oz. portion.

Next, it is customary in Korean meals to have soup, known as Gook. It’s usually a clear broth with assorted vegetables and meat bits included. This is called vegetable soup on the menu, but tastes distinctly like a piping hot cup of ham. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. We also augmented our soup selection and continued to mix cultures with a bowl of miso soup. Even though it’s not Korean, they do it very well and it makes for a great aperitif.

Possibly my favorite thing about Korean restaurants is the slue of tiny dishes that they call panchan. With every meal they wheel out this cart, absolutely swarming with multiple, delicious, often-times unrecognizable, food stuffs. A server then proceeds to cover your table with 8 to 12 of them. If it were Italian, I guess these would be like a mother-lode of antipasti. But since it’s Korean, it’s called panchan and it’s mandatory.

The dishes vary every time we go, but on this particular occasion we were presented with mung bean sprout salad, marinated potatoes, spinach sautéed in sesame oil, pickled cucumber and crab, spicy tofu, soy-glazed fish cake strips, three types of kim-che, and green beans fried in a sweetened egg batter. Yum. And not that most normal people could, but if you find yourself so inclined, Koreans have an unwritten all-you-can-eat philosophy on panchan and will gladly bring you more of anything you polish off.

Now on to the main dishes. Feeling adventurous (and really, when is she not?) Mme. Pants ordered the Yuk-hoe bi bim bop. The dish is rice and vegetables topped with raw marinated beef and a raw egg yolk. If this doesn’t sound up your alley, then you’re s.o.l. because it’s crazy delicious. Spicy, crunchy, rich and creamy, a blend of hot and cold – it’s really quite an interesting culinary experience. Oh, and I don’t know what kind of crack they put in their rice, but it’s soooo tasty. I would literally come here just to eat the rice.

Slightly tamer, but just as scrumptious was a new tofu dish that they have recently added to the menu. It’s a compilation of super crispy tofu strips topped with a pepper mixture, all resting on lettuce, various pickled things and lots of crack rice. I hope it stays on the line-up, because it freaking rules.

Finally, we finished the whole thing off with absolutely no dessert. That’s right, nothing. Come on, the two of us just ate fifteen bowls of food. Yes, FIFTEEN! Koreans are obviously more American than they realize.

So listen up people, if you’re sitting around hungry and have a hankering for some Asian, cast off the Chinese-Japanese manacles. Get out there and rub some of that beautiful Korean fare all over yourself and revel in a modicum of worldliness. Or some such. Unless of course you’re already going out for Vietnamese, Cambodian, Indonesian, Thai, Malaysian…

Annyeonghi kaseyo and thanks for stopping by.

L. Pants

Brilliance in Action

Seen this morning on IH-35 southbound, 7:25 AM:

GMC Yukon towing Jeep towing Toyota pickup.

Does the fact that the pickup had "In Tow" written in scotch tape on the back window make that any more legal?

Please discuss.

-girlie

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Finally, it's a great day outside.

I took advantage of our 70 degree weather to walk down Congress avenue for lunch at Silhouette.  One of these days, I'll take the little camera down there so everyone can see pictures of my lunch, which is totally fascinating.  I'm kind of a regular there; their lunch specials are really well priced.

The Husbear's working late tonight (what else is new) so I'm considering going for a long walk while it's still light outside.  I'd love to get two of these for the kitties, because they could use the excercise as much as me, but I don't know if they'd submit to the indignity. 

Who am I kidding.

As long as there's food at the end, I think they'd be cool with it.

We went to see Serenity on Saturday.  I know it's sacreligious to go, since I haven't seen a single episode of Firefly, but we went anyway. 

It's rated PG-13, so I was totally taken off guard by the level of violence... it was good, but the violence wasn't cartoony at all, it was pretty explicit, which isn't really what I expect in a PG-13 movie.  Great story, though!  I think it did make me want to rent the firefly series.

It for now... I think Husbear's planning to put up a post about Korea House in the next couple of days, so look out for that.

girlie

L'Shanah Tovah Tikatevu!

Happy 5766, everyone!

It's that time of year when we get to eat apples and honey and honeycake and all sorts of good stuff... but also time to start reflecting on the many ways we screwed up in the last year.

I hope everyone has a very happy Rosh HaShanah!