Summer Drink of 2011: Golden Pheasant

It's hot! Damn hot! Real hot!  It's summertime in Arkansas and when people say it's like breathing through a wet rag they mean breathing through a hot wet rag.  We've got the AC on, but it's still hot in our old house.  When rubbing ice cubes on your wrists isn't enough, try a golden pheasant.

I don't usually go for complicated drinks, but my boss is a font of knowledge about ancient cocktails and when I heard her tell me about being underage and drinking golden pheasants, I listened.  She said, "Got gin?" And I said, "I have too much gin."  Well, here's a way to remedy that problem.  The recipe I concocted from several websites is this:

3 shots gin
3 shots fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup powdered sugar (confectioner's)
1 beaten egg

Mix all that up in an blender!  Don't get grossed out about the egg. Ok, get grossed out, that's ok. Take a shot of gin and continue.  Mix one shot of that concoction with as much cream soda as you see fit. Put some ice cubes in it.  You really have to taste this to believe it isn't nasty, and unbelievably light for summer.

Best of Party Decorations - Part 4 - Maprilween 2011

Here are a few pictures from the party we had on Saturday.  We usually do Aprilween, but because April was so busy, we pushed it back to May. Thus, Maprilween.

Hand-made banners

It looks dreary in the morning-after light, but the photo corner has become the cornerstone of our parties.

Exhibit A. Photo by Chris Clanton

Exhibit B. Photo by Chris Clanton

 Some people really went all the way with their costumes this year.  If there had been a prize for most unwieldy, least-likely-to-get-in-the-door costume, it was this homage to the Wizard of Oz.  What you can't see are the black and white striped stocking, red sparkly shoes and beer-holder.

Photo by Chris Clanton

Lastly, make sure that you delegate tasks according to one's skills.  If someone is good at mowing the lawn and washing the dishes before the party, let them.  Don't force a square peg into a round hole by trying to make them purchase party snacks. All you'll have to show for it will be 8 mini Reese's cups and a miniature bag of Jelly Bellys.

Softie Bananas

Yesterday I went to make a smoothie...

but there was something different about one of the bananas.

It had gone soft!

Voila!  After months saying how I was going to fabricate a banana, I've done it.

This is just a prototype.

These are tracings of an actual banana.  Feel free to print it out and make your own banana.

Video time!*

J showed me some videos from Hennesy Youngman, a guy wearning Cosby sweaters and gold chains and explaining art better than any of my artsy friends (no offense artsy friends, but I didn't have a single art theory/history class in college).  I know this is tongue-in-cheek, but start off an art history class with this, and you'll have everyone listening to what comes next:

J's been making homemade yogurt lately, and it is the bomb.  I like yogurt on occasion, but I'm seldom tempted to buy fridge-fulls of little plastic yogurts and eat orgasmically while twirling in a field of flowers. That's how it's done, right? Here's Sarah Haskin's debut Target:Women video about yogurt.  It is so true:

 

Listening to Genghis Tron.  I'm not sure if it's to annoy my boss, or so I can concentrate. I like voices, but I don't like to listen to music with recognizable lyrics while I'm working.  I never listened to metal until I met J, but it's mostly for atmosphere than pure musical enjoyment.  My mind doesn't totally get it as music, but I respect the art form.

*Nothing to do with trailing/traveling spouses.  Feminist issues, though, abound. Talk amongst yourselves!

Homemade Cheez-its steal the show

Casey at Good Food Stories put together a FANTASTIC recipe for homemade Cheez-it crackers.  Not one to be left out of the action, I had to make them for the Food Feud last night.  They were a little bit of a scene-stealer:

Close-up on crunchety-flakety-cheesety wonderfulness

The recipe made about 5 little ramekins full of crackers to hand out.
We had to hide some for later.

Only because I grew up in Junk Food America, I would suggest a little more salt for this recipe, or just sprinkling some salt on top before baking.  They were delicious on their own, but to get closer to the original, definitely saltier.  On a positive note, these didn't feel like I was eating something totally horrible, but on a negative note (in terms of likeness) these didn't feel like I was eating something totally horrible for me.  Also, you may need to add 1-2 tablespoons more ice water to get the dough to start forming.  This may just depend how exact you are in measuring your other ingredients.

J's Glazed Carrot Soup and neighbor's Sweet Potato Bisque with yogurt sauce were beautiful and tasty. And pretty good mixed together.  The game was a tie.

Guest and dog chillin'

Food Feud! Homemade Cheez-its! Vintage socks!

Tonight is the 3rd "food feud" between J and our neighbor, and tonight's challenge is soup.  J is making a a glazed carrot soup from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (approximate recipe here) and I'm cheerleading with some crackers: Garlic Parmesan Flax and Homemade Cheez-its.  The flax crackers look about what you'd expect:

They taste healthy. I want that to be a good thing.

The Cheez-it imitators are not done yet, but I am supposed to post every day and I know I won't have a chance once all the guests get here.  The night's movie is Wizard People, Dear Reader, an alternate audiotrack of Harry Potter, set over the movie.  It is pretty awesome and we've seen it 20 times.  Brad Neely, the creator, is from Arkansas, and we never miss a chance to point that out.  Here's the greatest cartoon every made:

Other good things from this week:

J makin' soup

Goat cheese truffles (made for a friend's bday)

Unplanned matching socks for a soccer game. They are both pairs we've had since we were in high school.

J. finds an outlet!

Cardamom-apple pancakes with rosewater syrup

Last month, J. and our good neighbor Tuna (also a grad student) decided to have food and movie nights with friends, where they competed with their culinary skills on a specific theme or food.   They want to do a blog, too, where they post pictures of the food and review the movies.  Last week (the second event) was a bread contest, and we watched The Holy Mountain (1973).  The bread (a simple whole wheat boule from J. and a rococo pesto loaf from Tuna) was absolutely delicious.  And the movie didn't make anyone run screaming from the room.  Though it's really just a snacks sort of event, everyone who has come has brought a dish, so it turns into a stone soup/Jesus and the loaves kind of thing.  So nice!

Pesto bread in foreground, J's boule to the left, gulab at the top, and a green bean dish by a Turkish friend that tastes very much like you'd get it in the South!

Other than futzing with his bike, this is J's only organized activity.  And as much as I complain about having to forcibly eject him from the house to go work sometimes, he really needs something that has nothing to do with work.  Both he and Tuna are haggard grad students, so they have that bond as well as friendship.  Though they call it a competition, there's nothing like that going on.  No stress, no winners, no rules.  Just food and good times.

Gulab jamun- fried dough in syrup, from India

I made a batch of galub jamun from a packet, and made the syrup myself.  The dough was not the tastiest part about the dish, but I think the syrup turned out well.  So well, we used the leftovers the next day to pour on our pancakes (highly recommended recipe).

On a whim Monday, I checked the academic and public libraries for the towns J's applied in, and actually found some openings.  They weren't ideal, but I am confident that I can eventually turn a part time job into full-time once I prove myself. Economy be damned!*  To show I was being super positive (I'm still making up for my attitude from the past) I sent J an email with the links.  His response was that he wasn't feeling very positive about his current applications because no one was responding to his last email.  It's the beginning of the semester, so I think it's just people being busy.  I hated to hear him sounding sad, and I really didn't mean to exacerbate that with my email.  He's one of the most responsible, level-headed people I know, so sometimes it's hard to remember that he's feeling uncertain and scared, too.

*Please don't ruin my delusions.

Snow day state of mind

No, we don't really get "real" snow in Arkansas, but when it's in the forecast we all do happy snow dances and hope our childlike glee doesn't provoke an ice storm. Because we get ice. Plenty of it.

From the ice storm last year.  

J. and I spent last evening with friends for the first-ever "food feud" between him and our neighbor.  They're thinking about starting a blog about food and movies, which I think is an good distraction for two grad students. It had started dusting outside,but by the time we'd eaten all the competitive snacks and watched the movie, the weather was looking like we'd get to sleep in.  Everyone was excited, except for our Wisconsinite friend.  She was not impressed.

So, I was pretty sad I didn't receive an automated call this morning, informing me to stay in bed and think about a hot breakfast.  Instead I got up, put on two pairs of socks and shuffled the dog around the backyard.  It was actually a nice walk to work, and it seems that my boss was not, in fact, snowed in to her home.  Just a regular old workday.

J. says he's going to contact the Ohio person today.  I've been doing my research (which is not very scientific) and she seems to have a very cohesive group of people, doing lots of different things. They even have pictures of the group doing things together. In their spare time. Having  fun.  Naturally, I want J. to get to work with nice people who enjoy what they're doing.  But I don't need to get my hopes up.  My mom suggested I send off to their Chamber of Commerce for a relocation packet in the mail.  Mail. Oh, mom.

Since he wasn't sending an application to a job posting, but expressing interest in working as part of the team, we may hear something sooner than we think.  If there wasn't a chance of working there, I'm sure she'd have just sent a reply that they didn't have funding or something.  Yes, I'm getting too excited.

Rec letter sent!

J. hid in our room after work yesterday while I had some friends over for craft night.  It's something I used to do years ago, and I've restarted it.  Weekly on Wednesdays, people come over with whatever they're working on and sit around and talk.  I've met some new friends this way, and it gives me an excuse to sit down and wheedle on something (because it's written down! That makes it more important).  There was one odd bird who came with one of my friends, who was very smart and funny, but kept making negative blanket statements about Southerners and the South in general.  Yeah, we've got some fucked-up stuff going on down here, but we're not all shitty politicians.  She also made mean-spirited comments about Southerner's pride in their hospitality*, and that people are just as hospitable in the North (she's from a New England state).  I don't think I've ever heard anyone say Northerner's aren't hospitable, we just put a focus on hospitality (I do) and that helps us keep our mind on it.  I mean, I had just told her I'm from a very southern state, and she says, "I just hate the South".  Well, um, ok.  Do you want another drink?

It was so blatant that I didn't get mad about it, just really confused at why someone I didn't know would come into my home and say mean things about our colleges and entire citizenry.  Maybe I was rubbed the wrong way when she dissed a college I would have gone to had I been able to afford it (arguably the best liberal arts school in this part of the country).  I caught myself thinking, "So, this is the exact person people are referring to when they say Northerners are rude!  Maybe they meant, 'There's one particular Northerner that's gonna rub you the wrong way, watch out!'"  Yeah, just that one person. Other than her inexplicable outbursts about how awful we all were for living in this part of the country, she was a fun person.  And yet, I'm not looking forward to being insulted again while serving wine and opening my home to someone. The Southern Hospitality stops right there, darlin'.

RIP Rue

Really, a pride in hospitality is about the only thing that ties me to my Southern heritage.  I don't go for "southern pride" or whatever, or feel an urge to go back to where I came from, but I guess it's like when someone says something bad about your sister, and maybe it's true, but only you get to diss your sister. She's yours!  Yeah, there are lots of bigots in the South, and they're less shy about being loud about it.  But when you're sitting in a room with a bunch of nice people in Arkansas, don't say everyone from Arkansas is bad.  Really, manners, people.

Anyway, REC LETTERS!!  Once I got everyone out of the house, J. crept out from his hidey-hole and said his advisor sent him and email, and the letters were sent.  The explanation for the "emergencies" that may have messed up my husband's job prospects did not seem to equal a month of flakiness.  Hopefully he's back in the running for a few things and this doesn't count against him.  That was a good end to the day.

I've been sleeping very badly for the past four days.  It's probably the crazy sleeping schedule I've had during the winter holiday, but that still doesn't make sense. When I get into bed and decide to sleep, I always go to sleep-- so that's not the problem.  I've just been waking up in the middle of the night for no good reason, then not fully sleeping til I have to wake up.  J. even went to sleep the same time as me (it's been hard for him lately to turn his mind off for a decent bedtime).  However, when I did my middle-of-the-night sudden wake-up, he wasn't in bed and I found him fallen asleep in front of his computer on the couch.  The look on his face when I found him was so sad-- he just couldn't sleep at normal times anymore.

I'm going to try taking melatonin for a few days until I start sleeping normally** and suggest he try it too.  He's resistant, and that's fine, but the stress of writing and jobs and flaky advisors is having a bad effect on his body.  I only wish taking a hippie sleeping pill for a few days would actually fix the problem.

Speaking of my body being crazy, I finally figured out why I got so sick after New Year's: alcohol isn't a raw food, thus it doesn't react well with raw foods. In other words, there was nothing to soak up the little alcohol I had to drink.  Healthy + Unhealthy did not cancel each other out.  Beware!

*Just because we're proud of our hospitality doesn't mean we've got a monopoly on it. Geez, people.
**I've been eating well, exercising, not eating chocolate after dinner.

Party time!

It must seem like I've been having a birthday for a week, because I have.  I cannot let a year pass without a big party (heck, not a few months can pass) and my birthday never gets left out, even if I have to wait a week afterwards.  Finals will be over (a LOT of my friends are still in grad school) so everyone can come.  My sister-in-law arrives today, and we'll have the party on Friday.  I've been into color themed parties lately, so this one will be pink and aqua.  I purchased a Betsey Johnson dress in Portland (lapse of sanity and finances) and need more chances to wear it:

Mine's a little lighter, but pretty much the same. Is it cold right now? Of course! But fancy dress and costumes wait for no weather.  I'm going shopping for decorations soon, and I think I'll just do lots of streamers in my theme colors and some little white lights going around the perimeter of the room.  

There'll be champagne punch, framboise floats, and lots of snacks.  A friend is lending his projector and screen so we can do big karaoke in the living room.  

Pic from last birthday-- for some reason, this really brought the house down.

Some snacks from last year.  My of my friends are excellent cooks, so they bring great things.

The husband, who I will refer to as J. from now on because "the husband" sounds kind of mocking, got me a pair of super super super warm cycling gloves, but even better, he's really going at it with applications and letters, and that makes me happier than anything.  It's really starting to come true.  Will I actually need to rock this birthday party like it's my last one in town?  I avoided a mention of that in the invitations, because I'm pretty sure I said that last year.  Don't want to jinx it.