Salsa Verde

We recently received a bag of tomatillos in our CSA delivery. I didn't recognize them at first since I've never seen a tomatillo in person, but I soon figured it out. Green, size of a cherry tomato, covered by a weird papery husk. Interesting. I cut one in half and took a nibble. Very interesting. The texture is completely different from a regular tomato. Pretty firm and crisp, almost melon like. Taste is also very different. I'm sure no one eats these raw. But what to do with them...

Of course, make salsa verde!

This recipe is pretty easy and came out very tasty. I substituted purple onion since I didn't have yellow, and the recipe actually called for 1 1/2 tsp salt but I only used 1 tsp. I even think I would use less than that next time. I just wish we hadn't run out of chips. This salsa is quite addicting.


Tomatillo Salsa Verde
Courtesy of AllRecipes.com

1 pound tomatillos, husked
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 serrano chile peppers, minced
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 cups water

Place tomatillos, onion, garlic, and chile pepper into a saucepan. Season with cilantro, oregano, cumin, and salt; pour in water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the tomatillos are soft, 10 to 15 minutes.

Using a blender, carefully puree the tomatillos and water in batches until smooth.

Melting

Seriously, it's hot. Very hot. I know I can't regulate my body temperature well (Badge thinks I'm like a lizard), but this is bona fide HOT. To prove it, I looked up the weather today...101!! Um, we don't live that far from the coast. If it's 101 here, I can only imagine it being ten degrees hotter inland. Those poor souls.

As a consequence of the heat, many of my plants are showing signs of stress. Curled leaves here, crispy leaves there. In particular, all my mini calla lilies are contracting soft rot, weakened by the extreme heat I'm sure. Sigh. There's only so much you can do. I'm not sure when this heat wave will end since it's been over 90 degrees everyday this week, but Badge and I have come to one undeniable conclusion. We'd like to have a drought resistant garden. No we're not going to convert everything at once (we're not insane). Instead, as plants like the mini calla lily succumb and leave us for plant heaven, we will replace them with succulents and other low water usage plants.

To start, Badge and I went to Home Depot today where we picked up a bed of succulent covers and a bigger succulent plant. Tomorrow, I'll unearth one of the mini calla lilies (maybe the rhizome can be salvaged) and plant the new comers. Additionally, I picked up natural insecticide soap, made of soybean oil, and sprayed down the citrus trees. Hopefully that'll teach the aphids and ants to keep off. We also picked up a kit to convert a sprinkler head to drip irrigation. If it works out well, we'll replace all the heads since drip irrigation is more efficient and wastes less water.


In addition to all this, I made a discovery last night: I'm an idiot. So I was all excited last week that the zucchini plants were producing small green zucchinis. But this week, the zucchinis started turning yellow from the blossom end and then shriveling up and falling off. I thought it was the mold (which seems to be under control now) but after some research I realized that my zucchinis probably weren't pollinated. Maybe that's because I plucked the female flowers off once I saw the veggies (thinking they were already pollinated). DOH! So this morning I ran outside and found two zucchinis still with a female flower attached. I cut a couple male flowers and pollinated them like my life depended on it. Now, all I can do is sit back and cross my fingers.


On the final subject of melting, I went to see Wicked last Wed with Kimbo at the Civic Theatre downtown (she had tickets through work). So good! Granted we missed the first 15 minutes because we were running late and couldn't find parking, but once we got settled it, I was engaged the whole time. Amazing performers, great story. I had read the book a while ago which was also good but a tad long at times. It was nice to see it condensed and sung with catchy melodies.

Ugh

It's 2:17am and I'm sitting at my laptop working because I can't sleep. Was it too much coffee today? Or all the cookies I ate after dinner? Either way, I can't stop thinking about my enormous to-do list for work and at-home. I really need to take a step back and put things in perspective. Time to kiss a cat.

Weekend Happenings

Weekends are too short.

On Friday night, Badge and I ordered a pizza from Regent's Pizzeria (plus garlic bread and tiramisu mmmm) and watched Watchmen at home. Interesting movie. Can't say I loved it but it was entertaining.

On Saturday, I gardened and we hung up the rest of the kitchen cabinets. Thank god the painting project is OVER, although we still need to paint the baseboard and install hardware. Pics to come once that's all done. In the afternoon, we went to Goddess's housewarming/engagement party where we had delicious pulled chicken sandwiches and fajitas by the pool. Several beers and jello shots later, we returned home to hang out and then pass out.

On Sunday, we did many errands: more gardening, cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping. Scooby, Ireland's little brother, came over to play guitar with Badge on drums. The kid is only ten and he's already quite impressive on the guitar. Afterwards, we went to Spike and Frog's for an ice cream party, followed by a loooong game of Cranium. Good times.


This week I'm determined to hit the gym everyday since I haven't been exercising. My pulled muscle feels marginally better so I'm going to give it another week before I return to yoga. In the meantime, I ran yesterday and did elliptical today. That warrants a little treat right? Inspired by Goddess's pulled chicken, Badge and I made bbq pulled pork sandwiches tonight. It was baked in the oven for over an hour, finished on the grill, and then smothered in bbq sauce. Delicious. We also grilled some summer squash and corn that we got this week in our CSA delivery. As you can see, the corn was eaten so quickly it did not make it into the shot.


And sadly, Monkey will not be partaking in fig during her visit. I noticed this sucker getting very ripe over the weekend so I quickly brought it in and ate it like my life depended on it. You ants won't be getting this prize, no sirree.


Lastly, we've started watching the first season of Dexter, a TV show about a serial killer that kills serial killers. Pretty entertaining so far (although there are some gruesome scenes). Off I go to watch more episodes!

Garden Update

It's been a while since I posted a garden update so here it is. The above picture is of a siam tulip which finally bloomed! Interesting looking flower. I'm glad I didn't throw away the bulbs earlier this year when I accidentally unearthed them.

Here are our baby zucchinis. The first zucchini turned yellow and died before it matured so I'm crossing my fingers that these will be ok. I have a feeling we planted these too late in the year. Hopefully they'll make it through.



Unfortunately, several zucchini plants have powdery mildew which might be part of the reason they're aborting my little zucchinis. Apparently, zucchini and squash plants are very susceptible to this pest. I'm too lazy to go buy neem oil so I'm going to try a home remedy I read online: strongly brewed chamomile tea. Wish me luck.


Chili plants are coming along nicely.


Remember the cuttings I took of neighborhood geranium and lantana plants? Well they're both doing quite well. The geranium is even flowering. Soon I'll be able to plant these directly into the ground. Yay for propogation!


Also, one of the figs is starting to brown. If Monkey is lucky maybe it'll be ripe by the time she gets here. I'm willing to ration with her.

Movie Review: Julie & Julia

Last night, I went to see a movie with the girls (Spike, Kris, Geraldine, and Kim). We watched Julie & Julia, a movie based on two true stories, one about Julia Child and the other about Julie Powell.

Julia Child, as everyone knows, is the famously eccentric cook who shaped a generation of cooking in America. The movie followed her life in the 1940's and 1950's when she first discovered her love of cooking (she always had a love of eating). Eventually, she coauthors the cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking (many more later) and hosts a cooking show on television, though the movie ends at the publishing of her book. Interweaving Julia's story is the story of Julie Powell, a New Yorker with a dead end job and knacking for leaving tasks unfinished. Inspired by her love of cooking, she challenges herself to cook all 524 recipes in Julia's cookbook in 365 days. And of course BLOG about it.

As it turns out, I really enjoyed this movie. Everything was well done, from the acting to the screen play to the directing. All the food scenes were delectable (I was practically drooling) and all the characters lovable. Highly recommended!

Asian Fro

Ok seriously, what is up with my hair? In all my AFC race pictures, I look like an Asian Chia Pet. I've come to the conclusion that my hair is too wiry for short hair; it tends to have a mind of it's own. Oh well, I least I tried it out. Now I'll just have to wait for it to grow past the awkward mullet stage...

Greens

Last week, we harvested the first of our beautiful swiss chard. So leafy and green! Keeping it simple, I sauteed it with some olive oil and garlic. The flavor was great. I wish we could grow crops of this...

But unfortunately, we can't so we'll continue getting local produce through our CSA. Here was last Thursday's delivery. I was too lazy to take everything out of the bag for a photo op, but you get the jist.

AFC And Other Fun

Goodness, our weekends have been so busy lately...


On Friday, Badge and I went downtown to catch a movie before dinner plans. We decided to watch District 9, which we'd read great reviews about. It's a very interesting story about aliens living in Johannesburg as second class citizens. Of course there some apartheid parallels, but oh boy was there action. I knew it'd be fast paced, but it was non-stop kick ass scenes (I want to see it again!). The plot was really awesome too, although there was a good bit of violence so I wouldn't recommend the young'uns or the faint of heart. Badge and I left super amped up (almost twitchy), ready to blow some things up with alien weaponry. Luckily we had none available. From there we met up with our friends and Kev and Leslie at Jsix for a tasty high class dinner. I had a delicious organic salad with blue cheese and candied pecans, a trio of heiroom tomatoes and herbed french fries. And of course wine. Mmm wine. Aferwards, we went to Chocolat for some gelato. God I love to eat.

On Saturday, Badge and I went to the Wave House at Mission Beach for the Annual Illumina Summer Party. We caught the shuttle from work and arrived in time to eat some dried up veggie burgers and drink some brewskis. We had a pretty good time chatting with people, playing mini golf and arcade games, and walking along the beach. Good times. For dinner, we met up with Frog and Spike at a Greek restaurant, where I had a falafel platter. I should try making falafels but it seems so daunting, and I am quite lazy.


On Sunday, we woke up at 5:30 to drive to Balboa Park for the AFC 5K (wearing our Frogger running shirts). I gave Badge the go ahead to run ahead and actually race. Amazingly, he ended up running a 7:24 min/mile! Where did that come from?? Sure he plays a lot of soccer but he never actually goes on runs. I'm very proud of him. I wonder how he would do if he just trained for a month? Me, on the other hand - I came in at a meager 9:40 min/mile, which I'm ok with considering I haven't run since Feb (except one run two weeks ago). Afterwards, we met up with Spike, Kris, and Adam to watch the rest of the clan finish the half marathon.

We saw Kev come in at a 6:32 min/mile pace (ridiculous):


Si, who sub'd for Kris because she got sick, came in at a 7:36 min/mile pace (also ridiculous):


And Frog came in strong, running like the seasoned runner that he is. Badge, Kev, and Adam jumped in to join him for the final stretch.


Afterwards, we tried to hit up The Original Pancake house but the wait was too long so we went next door to the Curry house for some Japanese curry. Once we got home, Badge and I took a monster nap. Hopefully I won't be too sore tomorrow.

Birthday Bonanza

Tuesday, August 11th 2009, marked the 65th birthday of Frog!

It was a momentous occasion. Frog chose to convene at The Olive Garden for nostalgic reasons. Back in their Tennessee days, it was a regular tradition for the Gordon clan to dine there. I must admit, I too had a slight obsession with The Olive Garden back in high school. I'd often sneak away with my then best friend Tiffany to dine on endless breadsticks and salad, thinking it was the most delicious thing in the world.

Surprisingly, I still think it's ridiculously tasty. Do they put crack in their food? I had 4 breadsticks (alternatively dipped in Marinara and Alfredo sauce), many slices of bruschetta, 4 heaping bowls of salad (this truly is addicting), and half an entree of manicotti. As always, the entree is never as satisfying as the breadsticks and salad but still, not bad. BLOATED, we waddled away to our cars to moan and groan about our exploding stomachs.


Back at home, we all met at Frog and Spike's for some ice cream cake. The cake was so cutely decorated, but then again, what else is expected from Spike. We surprised Frog with an awesome acoustic guitar and an equally awesome running shirt that Badge and I had custom made. Badge found a frogger graphic online that we personalized through Photoshop. We all ordered a shirt so we can wear it on Sunday at AFC.


It was a great night and I hope Frog had the best birthday ever. Happy bday Frog!

In closing, here's a funny picture of Badge on a tuppet looking very serious.


Many more pictures can be found here on picasa.

Updated

I updated the previous post with some pictures courtesy of Trish's camera. At home eating bread and cheese. Must get butt back to work...

Amok

Oh goodness. Where to begin....

On Friday, the girls met downtown to surprise Nevertap for her birthday bash. Her husband No Neck masterminded the entire event, coordinating a fun filled night of eating, drinking, and dancing. It was the perfect opportunity to let loose and run amok.

And ran amok we did.

Everything started normally. We all met at The Strip Club steakhouse just in time to surprise Nevertap as she walked in with her husband. She had no idea what was planned despite Goddess's suspicious interest in what she was planning to wear that night. We proceeded to grill, eat, and chat merrily. Of particular interest was the group of rambunctious tackily dressed older women sitting next to us. They were the epitome of cougars, putting our little den to shame. Very entertaining...until they started making out with each other. Wtf? None of us knew if we should have been laughing or crying. Luckily, they left shortly after, hopefully in shame...


At the end of the meal, I was happily full after two margheritas, steak kebobs, several creamy sides, and a decadent chocolate mousse. Next thing I knew, No Neck decided to lay down the gauntlet with the first round of patron shots. Crap. As I took the shot, I recognized one undeniable fact: this was going to be one of those nights. So be it.


We hit the streets on a mission to dance. Luckily Nevertap had a connect at 207, a bar at Hard Rock Hotel, and was able to get us in for free. Whoo hoo! I barely had my foot in the bar before someone was grabbing my hand and dragging me to the bar for...another Patron shot. What the? Didn't I just take one? And so this continued for the rest of the night. I counted at least 5 shots in addition to my dinner drinks (hopefully, for the sake of my liver it wasn't more). As you can imagine, everything was pretty hazy but here's what I do remember:

- Dancing dancing dancing, mostly to not so great music but occasionally getting winners like Vibrant Thang
- Throwing up professionally twice in the bathroom
- Crazy picture taking
- Drunk dialing Lorax and then screaming into the phone
- Standing barefoot outside the bar...ew
- Getting breakfast burritos


The next day, I was severely punished. I woke up at 11am with a throbbing headache, barely managing to eat my remaining breakfast burrito before passing out again for another three hours. Ugh, can't recover like I used to.


That night, Badge and I met Spike and Frog to eat Indian and watch Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (in early celebration of Frog's 65th birthday). The show was performed up in Escondido and turned out to be a lot of fun. I'd only ever seen the musical on tv in bits and pieces so it was great to see it live. I actually remembered most of the songs (we've been singing them non stop, although often replacing "Joseph" with "Henry"). On Sunday, I gardened and went to yoga. My pulled butt muscle still hurts but might be slightly better than before. We'll see. That afternoon, we proceeded to paint the kitchen cabinets but then ran out of paint so we'll have to make another trip to Home Depot.

Whew what a weekend.

What A Week

This week has been super stressful. Not just at work (although I had a couple deadlines this week) but also at home. My mom, who has been in Taiwan the last couple of months, recently got pretty sick. She's been having severe stomach pains, throwing up, and has even passed out. My aunt took her to the hospital where she had a blood test and she tested really high for something (mom didn't know english equivalent) correlated with stomach cancer. So she called my sister and me to give us the news.

Neither of us even knew she was sick so it was pretty shocking. Considering my mom's brother recently died of stomach cancer and her sister was recently diagnosed with some kind of blood cancer (again mom doesn't know english equivalent but I'm guessing Leukemia), we were pretty worried. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to do except wait for her scheduled endoscopy...and wait and wait. I tried not to think about it much but as the days passed I got progressively more paranoid and stressed. Last night, I couldn't take it anymore and gave into my worst fears, resulting in much crying and ballyhoo. Luckily Badge was there to calm me down but not before I talked to my sister and caused her to have a mini meltdown as well. Sorry Monkey!

This morning I woke up and received an email from my mom saying she just got back from the doctors and they think it's a stomach ulcer. It's not 100% confirmed yet but that's most likely the diagnosis. THANK GOD. I feel a little silly for freaking out last night but at least I can rest easy now. I know one day I'll have to actually deal with terrible issues like this, but until that day I'll just keep reminding myself to appreciate the people I love most in this world.

Where's My Chicken Dinner?

This weekend, Badge and I drove to Vegas. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures but here's the quick breakdown.

Thurs - Left in the afternoon and arrived at 7pm at the Mandalay Bay (Aunt Kaye had a free room she gave us). Immediately rushed down to dinner at Fleur de Lys, Hubert Keller's famous French restaurant (original location in SF). Note: Keller is currently competing on Top Chef Masters. Ate a fix prixe meal of tuna tartare, monkfish, prime fillet mignon, and an enormous chocolate souffle. Everything was delicious, but souffle was really out of this world. Painfully bloated, proceeded to play penny slots and video poker. No luck. Tried our hand at some craps. No luck. Drowned our sorrows in free drinks. Retired to room.

Fri - Woke up and ate chocolate croissants. Went to famous "beach" pool while Badge went on errands. Baked in 105 degree heat. Cooled off in wave pool. Continued to bake and sweat my ass off. Escaped back indoors after two hours. When Badge returned, went to Noodle Shop. Pleasantly surprised to see they had Niu Rou Mein (Beef Noodle Soup), even more pleasantly surprised that it actually tasted like Niu Rou Mein (although nothing beats NRM in Taiwan mmmm). Hung around hotel room. Badge napped, while I read The $64 Tomato. At 6pm, drove to Mirage to meet Aunt Kaye and Uncle Chuck for dinner at BLT burger. Ate a tasty cheeseburger, sweet potato fries, and drank the world's largest, richest, most chocolaty-est mocha milkshake. Painfully bloated, wandered over to MGM to meet Badge's friend McClain who was also in town. Played some roulette. No luck. Played some video poker. Little luck. Continued to drown sorrows in free drinks. Retired to room.

Sat - Woke up and packed. Drove to Caesar's for brunch at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay's restaurant (original in NY). Had a very spicy bloody mary, shared a tomato tortilla soup with Badge, ate scrambled eggs chilaquile on blue corn tortilla with side of grits. Out of this world. Painfully bloated, got back in car and drove home.

That's the vaca. You will notice a LOT of eating, a bit of gambling, a fair amount of alcohol consumption, and all around good times. Once home, I spent Sunday puttering around the garden. I pulled the cilantro which had bolted several weeks ago and harvested the seeds. Once they're dry, I'll grind some into coriander and save some to replant.


Also I found this little friend. Hello Mr. Zucchini.


Lastly I finished reading The $64 Tomato yesterday. It was such a fun read. Made me want to start my own urban farm. Brandywine tomatoes here I come!