The other night I had one of those bizarre, unsettling dream, and I feel the need to share.
At the outset I was at a work event, a picnic in the woods. I had gone for a hike when I started to hear water and noticed a gushing stream running along beside the path.
"How lovely, " I thought, "A waterfall!"
The stream got wider and there was more and more water until I had to cling to the tops of the trees to keep from being swept away.
Somehow I escaped the flood and headed towards the city, which was on higher ground. The first place I reached was Courtney's apartment. In my dream world Courtney's apartment was in an abandoned monastary, and the entire east end of London was a wide open field, but there were still crackheads. The Monastery had a barren courtyard in the center and most of the cells/units were boarded up. I vaguely recall a smattering of graffiti relating to the east end and crack, and most notably the words "maybe you should pay your rent, or just squat" scrawled in red paint across one of the boarded up doors. Eventually the flood reached the monastery and I fled to my house.
When I got to the house things went from bad to worse. The flood was on my heels and the sky, which had been blue at the picnic and overcast but bright at the Monastery, was a dark, ominous grey; making it seem like the world had been drained of colour. Matt and one of his friends were home. I grabbed the dog and we raced the quickly rising water to the roof.
There was a family and their children on the roof of the house next door, and it wasn't until we saw them that we noticed we had all changed. Our skin was pale and had an almost reptilian quality, like the family on the next roof. Everything was dark, windy, and raining, hard. We were scared, tense, and angry.
"What is happening to us?" I shouted.
"It's the water, " the man replied. "...a disease... " he turned to tend to his family. I could not tell if the children were dead or alive, and it occurred to me that I was holding my dog far too tightly.
"Is there a cure?" I shouted desperately.
The man ignored me. I heard his wife say something. I thought I heard the word "cure", but it was muffled by the sound of the water and wind. I could feel my temper grow hot. Matt and his friend were restless and agitated, nearly aggressive.
"You know what the cure is!" I shrieked. "Tell me!"
The man on the other roof turned to look at me.
"Human flesh"
Matt and his friend turned and began to attack each other, and just as I was about to stop them, wondering if we still counted as human, I thought:
"Wait a second, this is just a dream anyway"
and abruptly I was awake.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Vacation
Lake water ripples
with a whipser of wind
reflected reeds undulate
beneath the sky clothed in clouds
a gray ombre
softening the storm
to placid peals of thunder,
subtle and serene.
with a whipser of wind
reflected reeds undulate
beneath the sky clothed in clouds
a gray ombre
softening the storm
to placid peals of thunder,
subtle and serene.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sunrise
Slanting sunlight drips through leaves
past dust-motes dancing through the trees
and glitters glibly ‘cross the sea;
at purview, lays with languid ease.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs
Last night's Dinner was Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs from AllRecipes.com. They were a great way to use up some ground chicken that I had in the freezer. Tuesday night Matt seemed to be jonesin' for a taco, so I decided to keep tacos in the game for this week and shift the fish & pork chops to next week.
Back to the recipe: it was alright. I made it mostly as written, but ended up with a 280 ml can of broth and 680ish ml can of tomato sauce, so I left out the ketchup. I also used red peppers instead of green, left out the carrots, and chopped up the half-zucchini that wasn't grated into the meatballs to add to the sauce. I also added more vinegar and a touch of Tabasco sauce, because the sauce was tasting a little bland. I used breadcrumbs instead of a slice of milk-soaked bread, and the meatballs still seemed pretty wet. They cooked nicely in the sauce, though.
Moving on: there was a lot of sauce. Once Matt and I had dinner and I had packed up some for lunches, there was still half a big skillet of sauce & vegetables left. I froze them to use as the base for a pork stir fry another week. To be honest, if I do repeat this recipe, I will probably do it with pork instead of meatballs. Unless Matt requests it with meatballs, which would be a surprise, since he apparently hates chicken. The point I am trying to make is that the sauce was good, but I just don't think we're chicken meatball people. That said, I will be having leftovers for lunch and supper today.
Back to the recipe: it was alright. I made it mostly as written, but ended up with a 280 ml can of broth and 680ish ml can of tomato sauce, so I left out the ketchup. I also used red peppers instead of green, left out the carrots, and chopped up the half-zucchini that wasn't grated into the meatballs to add to the sauce. I also added more vinegar and a touch of Tabasco sauce, because the sauce was tasting a little bland. I used breadcrumbs instead of a slice of milk-soaked bread, and the meatballs still seemed pretty wet. They cooked nicely in the sauce, though.
Moving on: there was a lot of sauce. Once Matt and I had dinner and I had packed up some for lunches, there was still half a big skillet of sauce & vegetables left. I froze them to use as the base for a pork stir fry another week. To be honest, if I do repeat this recipe, I will probably do it with pork instead of meatballs. Unless Matt requests it with meatballs, which would be a surprise, since he apparently hates chicken. The point I am trying to make is that the sauce was good, but I just don't think we're chicken meatball people. That said, I will be having leftovers for lunch and supper today.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Regular Posting Schedule Fail
It's only a week in, and I've already failed miserably at keeping to a posting schedule. I'll get better, I promise!
The story so far...
Once again, this week is not shaping up according to plan. Yesterday a trip to Costco meant dinner at Costco (A hotdog and a drink for $2... how could you not?) Thursday Matt will be at a bachelor party and I will be climbing 25 flights of stairs. As a result, tacos and honey butter pork chops will be postponed to next week, and I may cook something on Friday. We'll see. In any case, this past weekend was full of culinary fun!
Eyeball Cookies
I made Eyeball cookies for the Halloween party Matt and I attended on Saturday. Matt called them creepy. I got the idea from Annie's Eats, who got it from Confections of a Foodie Bride, who got it from Epicurious. My only real deviation was to make them cookies instead of cupcakes, since Courtney made cupcakes for the last party.
The recipe I used was "The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies" from allrecipes.com. The recipe makes 60 cookies, so I halved it. I then added 50% more sugar as per reviewers' notes. I chose to roll the dough into balls and flatten them, instead of rolling the dough and cutting out shapes, since the cookies were going to be circles anyway. The cookies baked for exactly 6 minutes at 400 degrees. Next time I will probably add some lemon zest or cinnamon or something, but they had a nice taste and texture.
The best part of the cookies was the decorations! For the icing, I mixed some confectioners sugar with milk, vanilla, and a little bit of margarine until I achieved an icing-ish texture. The irises are gummy savers, the pupils are brown m&ms, and the veins I drew on with purchased gel icing.
Dijon Crusted Rib Roast
Sunday night I made Dijon Crusted Rib Roast, as printed in Canadian House and Home, originally from "A Year in Lucy's Kitchen" by Lucy Waverman. The roast was delicious, which is good, because it's supposed to be pretty hard to mess up a nice cut of meat.
That said, I did have a couple of issues. For starters, the roast I had was about half the size that the recipe was written for. I bought myself a meat thermometer. Problem solved, right? Next up, I apparently don't know where to stick a thermometer in a roast. (Advice Appreciated!) After about an hour and a half in the oven, one thermometer location was reading "Well Done" and another spot was reading nothing. Since that was about half the time that the recipe called for, and we tend to like our beef medium , I pulled the delicious-semlling chunk of cow out of the oven.
The roast was on the rare side of medium-rare in the center, but nice everywhere else. The flavour was excellent. I served it with steamed carrots, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Dinner was an hour sooner than anticipated, but hey, live and learn. An extra half hour next time will do it. And there will be a next time...
Droolingly yours, until (likely) tomorrow,
Emily
The story so far...
Once again, this week is not shaping up according to plan. Yesterday a trip to Costco meant dinner at Costco (A hotdog and a drink for $2... how could you not?) Thursday Matt will be at a bachelor party and I will be climbing 25 flights of stairs. As a result, tacos and honey butter pork chops will be postponed to next week, and I may cook something on Friday. We'll see. In any case, this past weekend was full of culinary fun!
Eyeball Cookies
I made Eyeball cookies for the Halloween party Matt and I attended on Saturday. Matt called them creepy. I got the idea from Annie's Eats, who got it from Confections of a Foodie Bride, who got it from Epicurious. My only real deviation was to make them cookies instead of cupcakes, since Courtney made cupcakes for the last party.
The recipe I used was "The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies" from allrecipes.com. The recipe makes 60 cookies, so I halved it. I then added 50% more sugar as per reviewers' notes. I chose to roll the dough into balls and flatten them, instead of rolling the dough and cutting out shapes, since the cookies were going to be circles anyway. The cookies baked for exactly 6 minutes at 400 degrees. Next time I will probably add some lemon zest or cinnamon or something, but they had a nice taste and texture.
The best part of the cookies was the decorations! For the icing, I mixed some confectioners sugar with milk, vanilla, and a little bit of margarine until I achieved an icing-ish texture. The irises are gummy savers, the pupils are brown m&ms, and the veins I drew on with purchased gel icing.
Dijon Crusted Rib Roast
Sunday night I made Dijon Crusted Rib Roast, as printed in Canadian House and Home, originally from "A Year in Lucy's Kitchen" by Lucy Waverman. The roast was delicious, which is good, because it's supposed to be pretty hard to mess up a nice cut of meat.
That said, I did have a couple of issues. For starters, the roast I had was about half the size that the recipe was written for. I bought myself a meat thermometer. Problem solved, right? Next up, I apparently don't know where to stick a thermometer in a roast. (Advice Appreciated!) After about an hour and a half in the oven, one thermometer location was reading "Well Done" and another spot was reading nothing. Since that was about half the time that the recipe called for, and we tend to like our beef medium , I pulled the delicious-semlling chunk of cow out of the oven.
The roast was on the rare side of medium-rare in the center, but nice everywhere else. The flavour was excellent. I served it with steamed carrots, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Dinner was an hour sooner than anticipated, but hey, live and learn. An extra half hour next time will do it. And there will be a next time...
Droolingly yours, until (likely) tomorrow,
Emily
Friday, October 30, 2009
The Plan: Nov. 1 - Nov 6
Matt Makes Dinner
Well, it seems I know my Matt. He was not home until 8:30 on Wednesday night, so dinner Wednesday was both late and unremarkable. He was also not home until nearly 8:00 yesterday, but hey, the pike was thawed and had to be cooked! Matt seasoned the fillet with pepper, onion powder and garlic powder and then fried it in margarine. We served it with leftover roasted potatoes and green beans from his parents' garden that had been blanched and frozen.
Dinner and Dollhouse
Dollhouse is taking a break until December, so it will be Dinner and Episodes of True Blood that I have already seen but nobody else has. It doesn't have quite the same ring, does it? Tonight's dinner is Hunter Style Chicken from allrecipes.com, which Matt and I have made before and really enjoyed. I will be serving it over rice. It's pretty much Chicken Cacciatore with bacon, and I don't see how it can possibly go wrong. I will be following the directions to the letter with the exception of using 3 bone-in chicken breasts (purchased on sale last week) instead of a whole chicken, adding zucchini because it's awesome, and not bothering to measure out the spices. I also meant to cook the chicken during the day in the slow cooker, but slept in (again) and forgot. The reason for the slow cooking was not only to have that step completed when I got home, but also to make some chicken broth to cook the rice in. To that end, I will be poaching the chicken in water with a little wine, spices, and some celery, and then adding some chicken oxo to the leftover liquid. Photos to come.
The Plan
Saturday - Halloween Par-tay. Probably fast food.
Sunday - Dijon Crusted Rib Roast with Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables.
I acquired a Rib Roast for half price last week, and then serendipitously found a fancy-sounding recipe for it in a home decor magazine. It will likely take forever and be mediocre, but I know I'll have fun trying it out.
Monday - Tacos!
(Note to self, taco seasoning...)
Tuesday - Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs with Rice and Zucchini.
I have wanted to try this recipe for a while, it looks like the best use of the last of the ground chicken I have in the freezer. I have already done chickenburgers and the now-infamous, ever unpleasant chickenburger helper.
Wednesday - Honey Butter Pork Chops with Baked Potatoes and Vegetables. This is a Matt Favourite.
Thursday - Halibut with Cream Sauce, Wild Rice, and Vegetables.
I have never made this recipe, but it is a "Put fish in foil, cover with stuff, and bake" sort of recipe. It will be my weekly attempt at fish. The added bonus is using the leftover sour cream from tacos, which often ends up going bad and being thrown out.
Friday - Pizza... the fattening, greasy delivered kind.
The weekend will be busy (we are attending a wedding Saturday and my brother's birthday is Sunday) and I don't want to get home from work Monday to a pile of dishes I didn't have time to wash. In addition, I love pizza.
Until I get off my butt and upload Dinner & Dollhouse pictures, or Monday (whichever comes first)
Emily
Well, it seems I know my Matt. He was not home until 8:30 on Wednesday night, so dinner Wednesday was both late and unremarkable. He was also not home until nearly 8:00 yesterday, but hey, the pike was thawed and had to be cooked! Matt seasoned the fillet with pepper, onion powder and garlic powder and then fried it in margarine. We served it with leftover roasted potatoes and green beans from his parents' garden that had been blanched and frozen.
Dinner and Dollhouse
Dollhouse is taking a break until December, so it will be Dinner and Episodes of True Blood that I have already seen but nobody else has. It doesn't have quite the same ring, does it? Tonight's dinner is Hunter Style Chicken from allrecipes.com, which Matt and I have made before and really enjoyed. I will be serving it over rice. It's pretty much Chicken Cacciatore with bacon, and I don't see how it can possibly go wrong. I will be following the directions to the letter with the exception of using 3 bone-in chicken breasts (purchased on sale last week) instead of a whole chicken, adding zucchini because it's awesome, and not bothering to measure out the spices. I also meant to cook the chicken during the day in the slow cooker, but slept in (again) and forgot. The reason for the slow cooking was not only to have that step completed when I got home, but also to make some chicken broth to cook the rice in. To that end, I will be poaching the chicken in water with a little wine, spices, and some celery, and then adding some chicken oxo to the leftover liquid. Photos to come.
The Plan
Saturday - Halloween Par-tay. Probably fast food.
Sunday - Dijon Crusted Rib Roast with Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables.
I acquired a Rib Roast for half price last week, and then serendipitously found a fancy-sounding recipe for it in a home decor magazine. It will likely take forever and be mediocre, but I know I'll have fun trying it out.
Monday - Tacos!
(Note to self, taco seasoning...)
Tuesday - Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs with Rice and Zucchini.
I have wanted to try this recipe for a while, it looks like the best use of the last of the ground chicken I have in the freezer. I have already done chickenburgers and the now-infamous, ever unpleasant chickenburger helper.
Wednesday - Honey Butter Pork Chops with Baked Potatoes and Vegetables. This is a Matt Favourite.
Thursday - Halibut with Cream Sauce, Wild Rice, and Vegetables.
I have never made this recipe, but it is a "Put fish in foil, cover with stuff, and bake" sort of recipe. It will be my weekly attempt at fish. The added bonus is using the leftover sour cream from tacos, which often ends up going bad and being thrown out.
Friday - Pizza... the fattening, greasy delivered kind.
The weekend will be busy (we are attending a wedding Saturday and my brother's birthday is Sunday) and I don't want to get home from work Monday to a pile of dishes I didn't have time to wash. In addition, I love pizza.
Until I get off my butt and upload Dinner & Dollhouse pictures, or Monday (whichever comes first)
Emily
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Breakfast for Dinner (and why I call it Not As Planned)
So here it is: I forgot to buy taco seasoning. It sounds like a minor thing, but it really is the difference between tacos and boring ol' meat in tortilla shells. Thankfully, I had bacon and eggs on hand, and Matt's parents sent us home with a big bag of potatoes on the weekend, so last night we had scrambled eggs, bacon, and roasted potatoes for dinner. (Note: I found the photo above on the interweb, it is not an actual photo of the meal that was served) The bag of tortillas has not been opened and the beef is safely in the freezer, so I will be able to recycle that meal next week. Tonight is Matt's night to cook, so he will be making the pike his Dad caught in the summer that has been sitting in our freezer. I made lots of roasted potatoes, so the half that didn't get eaten last night will be re-baked for supper tonight.
Roasted Potatoes
4 Large potatoes, chopped into home-fry sized pieces
A glug of vegetable oil (enough to lightly coat the potatoes)
Paprika, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder
This is not much of a recipe. Put the potatoes in a dish lined with parchment, throw some oil on those potatoes, season them to taste, and bake for 45 minutes, giving the pan a good shake about half way through. These are never the same any time I make them, because I always wing the spices depending on what they are going to be served with. Sometimes I use oregano, basil, rosemary, and/or celery salt. Every so often I throw in some white wine vinegar and finely chopped onion & red pepper. In any case, the chopped up potatoes + oil + seasonings + bake ~45 minutes formula usually results in deliciousness.
Until Friday,
Emily
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