Aaaah...back, after dinner. Much better. :-) I made roast chicken with paprika & onions. Quick and tasty (if not exactly photo-worthy, hence, no shots here) and a recipe I'll keep on hand. My particular version tonight used 3 chicken thighs I had lying around the fridge, along with some red onions which were on the verge of mutating, so it had the virtue of also using up Stuff. Yay!
I am still beyond tickled by the recent news articles regarding the "radioprotective effects of moderate wine consumption in patients with breast carcinoma". It seems to imply that drinking one glass of wine (not half, not two, but ONE) on the day of radiation reduces the likelihood of skin toxicity by almost 25%!! And since I will be having radiation treatment days a week for 6 weeks, well, YOU do the math. Woohoo! (heh) And yes, that means I had a glass of riesling with dinner.
And now that it has safely passed (i.e., won't spoil the surprise) I can post a photo of my present for my friend Jackie's birthday on Thursday. The blue square is a pizza stone (hers broke) wrapped in Japanese cotton. There is a Japanese word (of course) for this fabric giftwrap: furoshiki. I think of it as origami with cloth instead of paper.
It's pretty cool, since it's green (reusable cotton instead of disposable paper) and pretty. Plus, if your friends sew, they can also use the fabric for quilting, etc. The Japanese Ministry of the Environment even introduced some beautifully printed fabrics -- made out of recycled PET bottles! -- for use in furoshiki. And if you want to create a wrapping that is also a basket or carryall, well, there are designs for that too. (The Japanese are masters in the art of presentation, neh?)
And in keeping with the spirit of slackertude that I have been indulging today, there is a guilty hankering to watch (online) this sitcom on the ABC Family Channel (yes, leisure to find mental junk like this dangerous) because it stars both David Cassidy (who looks like he's had more than a little work done) AND his half brother Patrick Cassidy (who is so ridiculously good looking I was shocked to read that he seems to be straight -- will wonders never cease?). By the way, Shaun Cassidy*is busy behind the camera as he is a successful TV producer [Cold Case, Invasion, Roar, American Gothic, etc.] ... wow: who knew my favorite teen idol would grow up to become a tycoon?) Executive produced (of course) by their brother Shaun, Ruby & The Rockits, there will also be a guest appearance by their real mom, Shirley Jones. (I always hoped I was named after her, but who knows what my sister was thinking when she picked my name?) --->*[Hey, Margaret, I know you will be thrilled (not) to know your due date is on Shaun Cassidy's birthday... hee hee hee!]
(Pause while I watch a snippit of the show online)... Okay, there are reasons I never watch sitcoms, canned laughter being the most obvious, and neverending moments of embarrassment being another, but if I can figure out which episode it will be, I will make an exception for the Shirley Jones episode. Hmmm... going to go put on my Partridge Family Greatest Hits CD while I type out the rest of this goofball post. (It just struck me -- yeah, I'm slow that way -- but although I mock people who have way too much time on their hands, um, how many hours have I spent blogging away here?!)
Speaking of ways to rot your brain while watching TV, have you SEEN the latest cast lineup for Dancing With the Stars?! Tom DeLay?! Say WHAT? I think I will flee to my TiVo and watch the premiere of the new season of Project Runway now... but before I do that, ladies and gentlemen, I bring you this evening's installment of food porn: Jackie's birthday dinner at Elettaria --
Appetizers included a detour from their Summer Restaurant Week Menu for the house specialty of crab resala - crab meat with "Parisienne gnocchi, turmeric-onion soubise, basil seeds, and fried herbs"... *drool* as I've said before, any time someone else will do the hard work for me re: crab meat, I am THERE!
Scallops with tripe, endive, and merguez -- yum! for this, I even tried the tripe (I am so American and have not had tripe before, despite it's frequent appearances at the dim sum buffet table) which was chewy and mostly tasted like the merguez and seasonings -- the photo of Jackie's lamb meatballs unfortunately turned out to be all blurry, so, no shot here
Entrees included cavatelli with lamb ragu and ricotta (me)...
...and pan-roasted skate with Israeli couscous and vegetables (Jackie & Marci both had this) which I have to admit looks more like squid or octopus in this particular photo
Desserts were all FABULOUS: Buttermilk Rice Pudding w/ Rhubarb Sorbet; Sour Cherry Clafoutis w/ Créme Chantilly; Milk Doughnuts w/ Rose Water, Ginger Custard, Chai Gelato -- the doughnuts may look weird, but they were absolutely delectable, deserving their stature as "THE" dessert to have there...
I am still beyond tickled by the recent news articles regarding the "radioprotective effects of moderate wine consumption in patients with breast carcinoma". It seems to imply that drinking one glass of wine (not half, not two, but ONE) on the day of radiation reduces the likelihood of skin toxicity by almost 25%!! And since I will be having radiation treatment days a week for 6 weeks, well, YOU do the math. Woohoo! (heh) And yes, that means I had a glass of riesling with dinner.
And now that it has safely passed (i.e., won't spoil the surprise) I can post a photo of my present for my friend Jackie's birthday on Thursday. The blue square is a pizza stone (hers broke) wrapped in Japanese cotton. There is a Japanese word (of course) for this fabric giftwrap: furoshiki. I think of it as origami with cloth instead of paper.It's pretty cool, since it's green (reusable cotton instead of disposable paper) and pretty. Plus, if your friends sew, they can also use the fabric for quilting, etc. The Japanese Ministry of the Environment even introduced some beautifully printed fabrics -- made out of recycled PET bottles! -- for use in furoshiki. And if you want to create a wrapping that is also a basket or carryall, well, there are designs for that too. (The Japanese are masters in the art of presentation, neh?)
And in keeping with the spirit of slackertude that I have been indulging today, there is a guilty hankering to watch (online) this sitcom on the ABC Family Channel (yes, leisure to find mental junk like this dangerous) because it stars both David Cassidy (who looks like he's had more than a little work done) AND his half brother Patrick Cassidy (who is so ridiculously good looking I was shocked to read that he seems to be straight -- will wonders never cease?). By the way, Shaun Cassidy*is busy behind the camera as he is a successful TV producer [Cold Case, Invasion, Roar, American Gothic, etc.] ... wow: who knew my favorite teen idol would grow up to become a tycoon?) Executive produced (of course) by their brother Shaun, Ruby & The Rockits, there will also be a guest appearance by their real mom, Shirley Jones. (I always hoped I was named after her, but who knows what my sister was thinking when she picked my name?) --->*[Hey, Margaret, I know you will be thrilled (not) to know your due date is on Shaun Cassidy's birthday... hee hee hee!]
(Pause while I watch a snippit of the show online)... Okay, there are reasons I never watch sitcoms, canned laughter being the most obvious, and neverending moments of embarrassment being another, but if I can figure out which episode it will be, I will make an exception for the Shirley Jones episode. Hmmm... going to go put on my Partridge Family Greatest Hits CD while I type out the rest of this goofball post. (It just struck me -- yeah, I'm slow that way -- but although I mock people who have way too much time on their hands, um, how many hours have I spent blogging away here?!)
Speaking of ways to rot your brain while watching TV, have you SEEN the latest cast lineup for Dancing With the Stars?! Tom DeLay?! Say WHAT? I think I will flee to my TiVo and watch the premiere of the new season of Project Runway now... but before I do that, ladies and gentlemen, I bring you this evening's installment of food porn: Jackie's birthday dinner at Elettaria --
Appetizers included a detour from their Summer Restaurant Week Menu for the house specialty of crab resala - crab meat with "Parisienne gnocchi, turmeric-onion soubise, basil seeds, and fried herbs"... *drool* as I've said before, any time someone else will do the hard work for me re: crab meat, I am THERE!
Scallops with tripe, endive, and merguez -- yum! for this, I even tried the tripe (I am so American and have not had tripe before, despite it's frequent appearances at the dim sum buffet table) which was chewy and mostly tasted like the merguez and seasonings -- the photo of Jackie's lamb meatballs unfortunately turned out to be all blurry, so, no shot here
Entrees included cavatelli with lamb ragu and ricotta (me)...
...and pan-roasted skate with Israeli couscous and vegetables (Jackie & Marci both had this) which I have to admit looks more like squid or octopus in this particular photo
Desserts were all FABULOUS: Buttermilk Rice Pudding w/ Rhubarb Sorbet; Sour Cherry Clafoutis w/ Créme Chantilly; Milk Doughnuts w/ Rose Water, Ginger Custard, Chai Gelato -- the doughnuts may look weird, but they were absolutely delectable, deserving their stature as "THE" dessert to have there...
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