Wednesday, December 31, 2008

You Get Sadder The Smarter You Get And It's A Bore

The night before I left for Cheyenne, I had dinner with Baby S.
We went to Thai Basil, but I really want to go here sometime.
Anyone interested?

Sweet thing got a hair cut...I think he looks fantastic!
He accompanied me as I delivered goody bags to all my faves...thank heavens he was there too. I had a small, but seriously obsessive compulsive freak out about cookies while at Doug and Steph's.

The next day I met up with my mom at our house in Cheyenne...

Mom and I purposely found several things to keep us busy.
I decided to FINALLY sit down and make a ridiculous knitted mohawk hat that I've been meaning to complete for 2 years. Evidence below.
Also cranked out a pair of earrings...and I've never made jewelry before! I'm kind of a natural at it...just sayin'.

Yeah, I learned this pose off America's Next Top Model.
I'm smiling with my eyes!

One of our family traditions is to eat potato soup on Christmas Eve. This is pretty much one of the most comforting things in the world to me.
Mom makes it best.



Another family tradition is to try to put away as many mimosas as two ladies can on Christmas Day. We knocked out two bottles of champagne!
In our defense, we were celebrating! Mom FINALLY sold that blasted house in Cheyenne. Those of you that are tight with our fam know what a relief this is!



Mom had hung our stockings that she made way back when I was a munchkin.



While I was crafting my ass off...Mom was puzzling...
This particular puzzle was maddening and I sat down to help for a moment and then lost my patience and bailed on her.


This was precisely the kind of leisure that I had been needing...
Home cooked meals, hang outs with my mom, and connecting to my familial base.

I meant to take more pictures of Cheyenne...my home town. I intend to go back to Cheyenne again before Mom closes on the house to get some good ones, but in the meantime...here's some good examples of how weird a place it is.


Saddles!




Sheesh.

I know. I should have bought this.
I'm still kicking myself in the ass.

I did manage to pick up a handful of great books and super awesome $4.00 vintage mirror.


Scary.

It's a mixed bag, friends...and I realize this is sort of a half-assed entry, but I'm going to take a nap before the any NYE stupidity starts.

Crappy New Year, Jerks!

No, seriously...
Happy New Year!

What am I looking forward to, you may ask?

Um, here's a list:

-London, England - I'm going the first week of March!
If you live there, hit me up for authentic hangs! (Sheesh, "authentic" - I feel like Carles from Hipster Runoff!)

-Laughter

-More adventures and capers

Be safe out there, you wild monkeys, mammals, and creatures!

Becky
xox

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

May Your Days Be Merry And Bright

I'm headed to Wyoming to hang heavy with my mom and to seek out some holiday cheer!

Happy Holidays, my babies!
xox

Sunday, December 21, 2008

I'm The Lonely One




Christopher Weed's "Serenity" 2008
S. Colorado Blvd. and Buchtel Blvd.

You're Too Much Sugar For My Sweet Tooth

I would like to preface this entry by saying the following:

If you ever get the wise idea to simply bake all of your gifts for Christmas...make sure you're mentally prepared for the ensuing nightmare you are about to embark on.

I have been seriously baking since after work on Friday night and I finally STOPPED baking today (Sunday) at 5:30 pm when Maura B heroically showed up and purposefully made me put away my mixer, made me wash my hands of cookie dough, and sweet talked me into watching some 'Twin Peaks' episodes.

My back hurts. My hands are burnt, scalded, and dried out.
My kitchen is a disaster of powder sugar, rogue dough bits, and the detritus of a weekend of extreme baking.

I also want to mention that my kitchen is the size of a cubicle...No, my cubicle at work is bigger than my kitchen...
At any rate, it's sort of a weird juggling act, but I recently read an amazing article by Mark Bittman (the famous chef and cook book writer) who said that having a small kitchen shouldn't be an excuse to not cook.
Here's the article if you're interested: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/weekinreview/14bittman.html?_r=1&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

So, here it is...a blog of my journey and a reminder (to those of you lucky enough to receive my yearly Christmas goody bag) that everything was handmade and created with love, but if saying the F word over and over again changes the flavor of any of the items you see below...then we'll just call that the special ingredient.

So, the 4 lbs of bacon was for this...
I charged head on into the world of Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies!
I mentioned these little culinary novelties way back in the summer on this blog because the very concept of a Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookie is outrageous and challenging to one's palate.

You can find the recipe here:
http://neverbashfulwithbutter.com/food/2008/03/01/experiments-in-deliciousness-bacon-chocolate-chip-cookies-with-maple-cinnamon-glaze/

I made a few alterations to the recipe, but on the whole...kept them "as is".

And can I just say, I make the best damn Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies you will ever eat.

The maple glaze on top...that does something special to the overall flavor of the cookie.
I ate one of these this morning with a cup of coffee and felt like I had met at least 3 of the food groups required for health and vitality.

Next was the Lemon Butter Cookies...

Man, is rolling dough and cutting cookies a delight! Particularly when you are working in a space about a foot wide by two feet deep.
I'm pretty sure that I cursed more while working on this recipe than on any other.

Still, the cookies turned out delicious!
I made a lemon glaze for these little babies too...rather than just the sprinkle of granulated sugar that the recipe called for.
That is how I roll, my friends - Unpredictable!

Next...because I still had a bag of "Craisins" left from Thanksgiving, I decided to bust out a batch of these insane Cranberry, White Chocolate, Macadamia Nut Cookies.
These suckers are like cookie narcotics.
You eat it...and you can taste how bad they are for you...as you walk away from the bowl they reside in, you remind yourself that you don't need them...they need you.
An hour later, you find yourself shamefully reaching in for another - your glance darting to all the faces of the people around you who you fear are judging you. Alas, the taste of these cookies wipe away that shame and paranoia.
See, it's like drugs.

Still, the beauty part of this deal is that I got to use my new vintage flour sifter that my mom bought for me.
I love vintage cooking gadgets - a hereditary thing I picked up from my mom.
The other gadget up there is a "Nut Meat Grinder" - and although we all know what it's purpose is...I found myself silently saying those three words over and over again as I used it to grind the macadamia nuts.

Honestly, I started to feel like an emotionless cookie machine.
Mechanically forming and placing each ball of dough on the cookie sheet...putting them in the oven...removing them from the oven...letting them cool...packaging them in a plastic Ziploc...and then into a gift bag.

There was something soothing about it...and also terrifying.
I felt like a cog in a machine - Industrial Revolution style...still, I suppose it probably smelled better and I got to eat a good number of cookies while I was working.


I made some gingerbread loaves too. They make the house smell like Christmas - cloves, ginger, cinnamon, molasses!
But the thing about gingerbread loaves...they take FOREVER to bake.
Cookies take around 10 minutes to bake and you can crank them out and are thus more satisfying.
Actually, I intended to make more gingerbread loaves, but right now I've decided to call it good.

These are tasty little peanut butter cookies that you insert a Hershey's Kiss in the middle of. A Christmas staple in my yearly goody bag - they are so good and, my fave part? The sound the cookie makes when you stick the Kiss in it - it's something I look forward to every year.
I know that's weird, but if you heard it...you'd understand.
Don't judge.

I decided while I was making the peanut butter cookies that I would bust out some Puppy Chow.
One of my specialties! It's basically corn cereal coated in chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar...but weirdly, people always like it best.

I prepare it in a garbage bag.

Sadly, multi-tasking is sort of a bad idea while baking. I got flustered a lot while working on the garbage bag full of hot milk chocolate and peanut butter mixed with cereal - all the while, placing dough balls on the cookie sheet, shucking Hershey Kisses (I did a whole bag in less than 10 minutes), and making room for more cooling cookies.

This stuff, by the way, is wicked dangerous.
You eat a little...and then set it down...and find yourself unconsciously hitting it again and again until it's gone and you find you are licking your fingers and you don't know why.

It all worked out though.
I mean, I burned the shit out of my hand while pouring hot melted chocolate and peanut butter.
I spilled a ton of corn cereal on the floor...
But it all worked out.

Thankfully, good music and the million and a half decent conversations that I had with myself made the weekend go by fast.
Animal Collective is the WRONG thing to listen to whilst baking...but the new Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan record is perfect. So is Blonde Redhead and Missing Persons...

All in all, I'm proud of myself!

Ugh, fuck cookies. I want a sandwich.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Have you ever cooked 4 lbs of bacon before?

It's kind of a glorious thing.
I felt like the cook in a wagon train...
By the way, C Average is top notch bacon frying music.

I'll show you what I did with all this amazing bacon later.
And, seriously, I only ate 2 pieces of this bacon. That is the level of self control and commitment I have.
xox

Friday, December 19, 2008

Most Wonderful Time Of The Year




On Wednesday, Maura B sent me text about a strange creature with boobs inhabiting the area around 11th & Kalamath.

Being the covert investigator that she is...she snuck up on the creature and captured it with her camera phone.



I have a strange feeling...it's this guy...
But still, if you have a chance, drive by and have a look!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Hope Will Never Be Silent

I haven't been thinking a lot about hope lately. The lull between election and inauguration has left me a little empty. Not hopeless...just in limbo.

Everyone else in the world is getting ready for Christmas.
The Catholics across the street from my apartment were putting up a manger while a priest looked on...
My impression is that he would be a tough critic.

There are always hazy lights at the end of the tunnel.
Co-Worker Michelle had a birthday!

I bought her a birthday donut and perversely lit it with too many candles.
She still seemed impressed with the effort!

I stopped here tonight for another bright gleaming light at the end of my tunnel!


I met up with Mama Kel for a Thursday night cocktail!
Just FYI, The Bank has a super ladies' night special - dollar drinks, my friends!
So, let's just plan to meet each other down there next Thursday, okay?


Still, I had to hightail it out of there to see a movie with Baby S and his friend Sam.
I'd like to think that his friend Sam is now my friend Sam.

The Mayan Theater.
As I was driving there, I realized that I hadn't been to The Mayan since I saw Lost Highway there so, so, so many years ago.
It's kind of the perfect place to see a David Lynch movie...

Milk.

The Mayan is a lovely place.
Lots of secrets there, I can tell you.

Baby S and I split a popcorn (they use real butter, you guys!)...and he had a Cherry Coke and I had a Mint Melange hot tea.

It was approximately 500 degrees in the theater, but for some reason it didn't bother me.

It fit the ambiance of the room!

I have to say, this movie really effected me.
I didn't expect it to, but it did.
The opening scenes of gay men in an intolerant San Francisco being herded from safe haven bars for their "deviance" broke my heart. Shame and misery intermingled with exposure...those are the kinds of emotions no human should have to endure for the color of their skin, their sexual preference, or whatever other inherent qualities that are the very fabric of a person's being.

At the end, I found tears rolling down my cheeks as I tried to imagine a time when hope really meant something. It meant something to all those brave crusaders that were seeking equality with their peers in a city that embraced a willingness to change.

I think we're all hoping that same spirit of hope can be maintained with the election of our new President! I'm crossing my fingers - because believing in people, focusing your energy toward something promising isn't foolish...it's the most intuitive thing you can do.


Yes.
Keep your heart open.
Yes.