Crank it baby

Mike posted about our weekend and so I will limit this to the food. I was inspired by the amazing manicotti we had at Angela's (my PI) over Easter to make my own pasta. [I also wanted to learn so I can finally make my own ravioli.] So from this taste bud enlightenment, the manual pasta maker was purchased (thank you Bed Bath and Beyond). But I couldn't just make pasta. No. I decided to try making crab cakes as well (not following a particular recipe -as usual). All this new food making was so exciting that I was crushed, CRUSHED, when Frank's ran out of ricotta salata (for my eggplant and ricotta pasta dish) I was forced to make red sauce with red wine, sausage, eggplant and roasted red peppers.

But back to the pasta-
Mike came home early enough to be my assistant and I put him to cranking duty. We made the dough out of semolina durham wheat and eggs. The process was a lot of fun- especially bringing out the drying rack for our pasta sheets. The crab cakes turned out great. The chipolte peppers made it a bit spicy and robust. And I made so much that I froze some away, which I think I will use as my stuffing for ravioli. For dessert, I made dark chocolate and peanut dipped Granny Smith apples.

Pics are up- there are no pics of Mike rolling out the pasta because he had no shirt on while doing this and it made all the pics look...wrong. [Not that I look any better.]

Wake up

What great weather. It's been a busy week so I haven't been as good about hitting the gym as I usually am. So I decided to meet with Katie this morning for a run. It felt great to run 3 miles and since it put me in a good mood, I took my time getting ready for work. When I finally left, I turned up my iPod and walk to the Starbucks on the corner. They were making a fresh brew so a bunch of us were waiting for our orders. I'm standing there, singing to myself and kind of bopping my head. There are these two guys (one Asian, one Caucasian) standing next to me and looking over at me. Finally the Asian guy asks me a question, but because my iPod was turned up (and I was not paying attention) I don't hear and so he taps my shoulder. As I take out my ear buds, I hear him say, "Do you know what time it is?" I look and he has a cell phone and a watch as does his friend. I take this as a sign that he just wanted to start a conversation. But we are interrupted by the look of disgust on his face when he realizes that Hilary Duff is blasting out of my ear buds. He says "nevermind" very quickly and turns to his friend.

I got dissed for listening to a Hilary Duff song. In that split second, part of me wanted to shout, "I have lots of indie rock too...jazz, classical, I love Stan Getz! Don't judge me! I like this song when I am at the gym! And yes, I know it's a bad song." A little girl, about 9, also hears the music and says, "Lizzie McGuire!" Oh man....Instead of trying to redeem myself, I put in my headphones and continue to sing.

I grab my coffee and walk out. The guys walk out behind me and while going down Fort Washington, I start thinking:

Whatever. That's mean of him to judge me and my personality based on this song. It's on SHUFFLE. [At this point, George Michael 'Freedom' comes on.] Whatever. I love this song.

Then I walk right into the elevator station for the A train at 175th. RIGHT INTO IT. Coffee all over my hand. The guys behind me laugh. Hmph. I shake the coffee off and continue to walk, swaying and singing to George Michael. (Blonde Redhead came on next.)

Hey, everyone has guilty pleasures. Mine just happens to be bad songs I can dance to and watching Dawson's Creek occasionally in the morning before work. Don't judge them.

Pork and beans

Last night I made beer braised BBQ pork butt (pulled pork) and chipolte black bean soup. Of course I deviated from the recipes, but man oh man, did they come out fabulous. (Yes, yes, I am patting myself on the back.) I used Mc Sorely's Ale for the pork (a very nice pork picnic with bone) and added more garlic and some Spanish onions to the mix. I also used some lemon juice for the marinade. I made the "BBQ" sauce as suggested, but also added some honey and reduced the brown sugar. I used both Dijon mustard and my favorite Honeycup mustard. The black bean soup was done using canned beans instead of dry and I added more chipolte peppers and some chili powder. I then took a potato smasher and smashed a bit of the soup to make it a bit thicker. All this brewed while Mike and I watched Labyrinth. (David Bowie's super tight riding breeches are just too much.)

It was so good that I brought some for lunch today with an extra special mallomar dessert.

I will definitely be making this again and hope to do so for a larger event...maybe for a summer solstice party....hmmmmm...

Totally amazing

This article in the NY Times blew me away and inspired me at the same time. I have to get back to the wall and practice. Ice is the next step from rock.

Tonight, Mike is king of his domain

Because I have to go to do a sleep study tonight. No, not like the one I did last time (I don't get paid for this one.) but for...health reasons. I am a terrible sleeper. I have stints of insomnia and am an incredibly light sleeper. I also grind my teeth and usually have terrible dreams. In summary, I do not sleep well. As a result, I am tired most of the time and as my doctor said, "are most probably functioning in a constant impaired state." That's really sad because I think I am pretty quick on my feet, but imagine the possibilities if I were not impaired. I could probably solve all the world's major issues. (But really, I think my head would explode and I would die.)

So in an effort to solve my personal sleep and health problems, (This recent interest in my mental health was spurred by Mike and perhaps his dislike for my regular migraines and subsequent poor social morale. And I think he was worried I might have a tumor.) I went to see someone at the Headache Center. Such a thing does exist. I was given some advice (apparently, it helps an individual to sometimes photosynthesize....) and preliminary diagnosed with several...conditions. One was sleep apnia and this is why I have to go to the sleep lab. Sleep Apnia?! So tonight I get my head probed with electrodes and am observed while sleeping. I hope I don't pick my nose or something while sleeping. That would be embarrassing.

Off I go to the sleep lab. To keep myself entertained until I actually fall asleep, my plan is to finish sewing water holders on Mike's hiking pack.

My second favorite day of the year

This weekend was Daylight Savings which marks my second favorite day of the year. (The first being Thanksgiving.) Seeing daylight past 6pm always puts me in a good mood and strangely enough, I am more likely to work late and feel ok about it. Plus I love leaving lab to run in Central Park, then go back to work and have it only be 8pm. Phototherapy does wonderful things.
The main reason for DST? Energy conservation.