Welcome to my house. I was going to take Marta to work this morning. I then changed my mind and decided that I was going to drive to work this morning. And then finally I decided that I wasn’t going to work this morning. The only downside of my decision is that it is cold in here. As I sit here drinking black coffee in bed I am singing Squeeze’s song of the same name in my head.
There is so much that I want to do today. Unfortunately I know that I will be unable to accomplish it all.
Have My Rats Grown Furry Tails?
When I got home from work yesterday it sounded like there was a party going on in my attic. Given the time of day and the amount of noise I think that I have misdiagnosed my rodent issue. I now think that I have squirrels instead of rats, but let’s be honest, squirrels are nothing more than rats with a furry tail and a better agent.
I Want To See Gumby Dammit!
And I may today. A few weeks ago I found out that the Center for Puppetry Arts has a Gumby exhibit through March. I want to see it. I want to photograph it.
ITP Flickr Pic
It’s 7:00am (well, it was when I started writing this) and I am hungry. So why am I taunting myself with a photo of food?
Because I can…
Top Cheffing
Last night I watched part one of the two-part Top Chef finale. Unfortunately I sort of knew some of what was going to happen.
I went out to lunch yesterday and couldn’t believe my ears when I heard a table of guys next to me discussing the show. WTF! I seriously couldn’t believe what I was hearing and actually plugged my ears in case they revealed the winner (I thought Wednesday’s show was the finale).
For those in the know the show was down to four — Marcel, Elia, Elan, and Sam. Thankfully (for anal people like myself) in this episode they said that there was a two-month hiatus between the last episode in California and their trip to Hawaii. The four had to prepare Hawaiian dishes that infused their own personalities for some big-name Hawaiian chef’s birthday party. From the reviews you knew that Marcel was in, and Elia was out. However, as Elia, Elan, and Sam sat around after the competition there was hinting that Marcel cheated. Huh, this was never brought up before, wtf? At the judges’ table this cheating was insinuated and dismissed (correctly in my opinion). Marcel received the great news that he would remain, and Elia (who I swore was French, but then there was all this talk about her being a near-Olympic swimmer for Mexico) was asked to pack her knives. The tension was down to Sam and Elan at which point Sam received the heave-ho, much to his surprise.
The final finale could be fantastic because Marcel and Elan really seem to get on each others’ nerves. I hope that the last show will be one big knock-down, drag-out affair.
Oops, I Did It Again
What to do when you have almost all of the components for a lasagne but don’t feel like running out to the store? Concoct a strange, baked ziti style dish of course.
ingredients
1 box penne pasta
1 26oz jar pasta sauce (of course I had one available, mine was Prego w/sausage)
half of a container of ricotta cheese
1 egg
half a package of sliced ham
sundried tomatoes
parmesan cheese
2 cups other cheese (all I had was a package of “casserole mix” cheese)
method
preheat oven to 375F
prepare pasta according to box directions, however cook for two fewer minutes than specified
beat eggs, incorporate sundried tomatoes, ricotta and half of the parmesan and “casserole mix”
layer tomato sauce, ham, prepared egg/cheese mixture as if you were making lasagne
top casserole dish with remaining cheeses
bake covered for 50 minutes
bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes or until browned
remove from oven, let sit for a few minutes to cool
Eat to your heart’s delight
I ate mine with a Sam Adams Light, but a bottle of red wine would have worked as well.
I would have taken pictures of this, but I kinda expected it to be a trainwreck so I wasn’t prepared.
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – getting better by the minute
Current Music – listening to Adam Curry’s “Daily Source Code” podcast
Website Of The Day – Remember the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game? Mr Bacon has now associated himself with a community collecting monies for charities over at Six Degrees.
Exercise (b)Log – none
January Goals
1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
2) Run no fewer than fifty miles.
3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. [failed]
5) Read two books. [one down, one to go]
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I must be really really slow this morning: I typically understand your subject lines.
don’t tell anyone, but I am not sick 😉
I feel your pain with the rodent problem!
We had a rat expire last weekend on the top of the heater which STUNK! I don’t know what’s worse — having a dead one you have to find or hearing them up in the attic. We also have a cat that likes to bring them INTO the house — nothing is more fun that finding a dead rodent on the bathroom floor … or a live one that the cat has chased into your bed. Luckily the hubby takes care of most of the rodent disposal but I swear we have 1/2 the rodent population in Atlanta living in the Kudzu behind us.
I know this is slightly off-topic, but did you know that they have no-boil lasagna pasta now? I LOVE lasagna and the girlie made some for me. Normally she avoids the kitchen like the plague, so I was skeptical. Then I asked how long she boiled the noodles for. She said she didn’t and I got really worried. (jaw dropping to the floor) Then I tried it, and it was pretty good. Gotta make sure the whole thing is submerged in sauce, though. Not trying to hijack the thread, but thought this was really neat (also cuts about 20 minutes of prep time).
Oliver, I actually have some of those lasagna noodles in my pantry. However, since I didn’t have all the “proper” lasagna ingredients I attempted to make something with the penne noodles instead.
btw- the first time I used the no-boil lasagna noodle I was skeptical too.
I’ve been hungry for some lasagna for weeks (and this isn’t helping) but a huge pan of cheese and pasta sitting in my fridge is just too tempting for me right now.
Here is my plan I will make lasagna, save one serving for myself and bring the rest for Sunday. It will save us the trouble of ordering a pizza around 3.
Chris Difford of Squeeze is going to be at Smith’s Feb 26 😉
and here I thought I was the only one who knew that.