GOOD

Spamalot=GOOD

Went and saw it last night. Almost bought Wheezy some souvenir coconuts so we could play "foley artist," but decided not to buy her more random useless crap.

The Inside Man=GOOD

Saw that tonight. Have to admit, I've never actually seen a spike lee movie...might have to have Wheezy curate a spike lee marathon for me.

Two nights out in a row. Even stayed out late enough to find almost nothing to eat. Thankfully Anna's was still open for fifteen minutes, just enough time to eat three tacos, even had time to chew thoroughly.

Blueprint

I'm such a sucker for pretty magazines. I signed up for the preview issue of Blueprint, the latest Martha Stewart publication. I was so excited, I almost forked over $18 for the entire year not having seen the magazine. From what I can glean from the advertising, it looks like a younger hipper version of Living. I wonder if I can trade in my Living subscription for Blueprint. I do love Living, but there are only so many gardening issues. I've only seen the cover of Blueprint, but I have a feeling it's cooler than Living.

Spring Cleaning at the Zakun's

MGDub would be so proud of us for thoroughly cleaning and methodically decluttering our apartment. I was in Seattle two weekends ago and when I got home, I was shocked and dismayed to see the contents of our entire office in our living room. The following is a reconstructed conversation:

plasticann: Hi Adam, I'm home...[looking around the living room]...wha' happened?
Adam: I decided to clean the office while you were away.
plasticann: Were you bored?
Adam: Yeah! I couldn't watch TV since I gave it up for lent. I thought about going out, but I didn't. I've been wanting to clean the office for a while, but you're always in there studying. [plasticann is very studious indeed]
plasticann: Wow, I can't believe you spent the whole weekend cleaning. Maybe next week I should clean the bedroom while you're away. Then I could get rid of all of your clothes.

Clean the bedroom I did this weekend and boy did I declutter Adam's wardrobe. Our closets have never looked this good. I even purchased closet organizational tools. That's borderline out of character.

Tofu Sandwich

One of my favorite cheap eats is the Vietnamese Sub Sandwich. Fresh crisp fresh bread, cold cuts, pickled radishes, onions, carrots, cucumber and cilantro. I always get the traditional cold cut sandwiches and I've learned never to ask or think about what exactly are in the cold cuts. However, the other day, I bought some Tofu sandwiches for the vegetarians in our Wednesday night bible study and I've discovered a new favorite. The tofu is truely delightful and much less dubious. Fried tofu marinated in a sauce with all the fixins. I'm going vegetarian next time I get a Vietnamese Sub.

Pooh Beer

My friends and I were working on a assignment on Coors beer this week when the following reconstructed conversation occured:

plasticann: [really striving to think of a beer she enjoyed] I'm not a huge beer drinker, but I did have this honey ale once at John Harvard's that I really enjoyed.
Zurt: [graciously] That's kind of a sophisticated beer.
Zeff: It's not exactly macho.
Zurt: Well, I didn't say honey ale was manly.
Zing Zing: It's like Pooh Beer!
plasticann: Pooh Beer?
Zing Zing: Honey ale, it's the kind of beer Pooh Bear would drink.

Zing Zing had a great point. I'll bet Pooh Bear, if he was of age and actually real, would enjoy the honey ale. It's less sticky than a honey pot, but a tasty treat.

PIE

We talk about PIE a lot in my strategy class. While PIE stands for "Potential Industry Earnings," everytime someone says PIE, I think of pie. When I'm hungry for something savory, it's pizza pie and when I have a sweet tooth, I'm thinking about dessert pie. Fortunately, the reverse association doesn't occur. I don't think of Potential Industry Earnings while I'm eating pie of any sort.

Commie Peasant Shoes

These shoes were featured in the nytimes and they just crack me up. I wouldn't be surprised if they became the new "Ugg." They're these wool/rubber peasant shoes. They're so utilitarian and low maintenance, there's no "right or left" shoe. All I can say to that is "chiral," a concept my buddy Corinna taught me. If you want a shorter boot, no problem, just cut it with an x-acto knife. It's extremely do it yourself, but oddly intriguing. Are the fashionistas going to soon be stomping around in peasant shoes? You never know!

Tiny Boxes

Adam and I were munching on som Girl Scout cookies last night when I was reminded of how plasticmom used to reconfigure cardboard cookie boxes into smaller reclosable boxes with a few snips of her scissors. She'd do the same with cereal boxes, but Girl Scout cookie boxes were special because they were more aesthetically pleasing and wicked cute. She used to pack my squishable lunch items in these little boxes to protect my lunch so Adam packed me some delicious grapes in my little box and I quite enjoyed them.

More "Burritos"

Adam made these amazing quesadillas last weekend, sausage, sauteed onions and spinich. With that in mind, I was super excited to see we were having quesadillas for dinner tonight. The following is a reconstructed conversation:

plasticann: Yeah, I love those quesadilla!
Adam: Well, they're not the ones I made last weekend. Try it!
plasticann: [Takes a bite and starts cracking up.]
Adam: What? Do you like them?
plasticann: They taste like curry, I can't believe you put the leftover curried chicken and rice in a quesadilla.
Adam: Isn't it good? I put the curried rice in with a little bit of cheese.
plasticann: It is actually pretty good, but I'm starving.

There you have it, a new creation "Curry Quesadillas."

Tutus

The following reconstructed conversation occurred this morning when I ran into Steve at school:

plasticann: Hey, you're all dressed up today. Where are you going?
Steve: [dressed up] I'm going to the Boston Ballet, I have to leave soon.
plasticann: What are you doing there? Are you dancing?
Steve: Yeah, I'm wearing a tutu underneath.

Contrary Advice

MGDub says that she would have advised me otherwise in the whole "to preserve or not to preserve" wedding dress debacle. She also mentioned that GJDubya would be appalled.

Laundry

After eight months, I finally dropped off my wedding dress for cleaning. I was intent on just getting the dress cleaned and not "preserved," so our nonexistent future offspring could play dress up with it. Fortunately, Wheezy was kind enough to accompany me downtown. The following is a reconstructed conversation:

plasticann: Hi, I'd like to get my dress cleaned. I just want to keep the dress for my kids to play dress up in. Can you tell me the difference between cleaning and preserving?
Saleslady: Well, dresses that aren't preserved turn yellow. By the time you have kids and they're old enough to play dress up, your dress might turn yellow. If you want to keep the dress ivory or white, you'll want to preserve it.
plasticann: Hmmm. Wheezy, what do you think?
Wheezy: Umm
plasticann: I don't know, it's not that much more to preserve it.
Wheezy: [Whispering] I think you should just get it cleaned, I don't think it really matters, but it's not that much more.
plasticann: ...I'm going to stick with cleaning.
Saleslady: OK, where's the dress?
plasticann: [pulling out the dress from a totebag] It's right here.
Saleslady: Wow, I can't believe you were able to fit the dress in that totebag.
plasticann: Well, I had to stuff it in. I figured it was getting cleaned and pressed so it wouldn't matter if I stuffed the dress in a bag.
Wheezy: [laughing]I don't think you care enough about the dress for preservation. You did cram it in a bag.
plasticann: I guess your right, cleaning is good enough.

As we were leaving, I realized how stuffing a dress in a bag might seem like blasphemy for the folks at the bridal salon, the house of wedding gown worship. Wheezy and I decided that the only thing worse was if we had brought the dress stuffed in a black trash bag with a bucket of fried chicken and jelly doughnuts mixed in. If only we had planned ahead, we really could have milked the situation and really mortified the salesladies.

Just Like Kramer

In addition to singing a made up song about bedtime to the tune of "Springtime For Hitler," we've taken to heating our pajamas in our dryer before sleeping. While I really do enjoy being surrounded by the warmth of my warm jammies, the warm effect lasts all of five seconds. Like Kramer on Seinfeld, now I'm a bit obsessed with wearing clothes right out of the dryer, perhaps some warm jeans on a cold winter's morn'.

Five Under Five

I spotted this tidbit in the latest issue of the Improper Bostonian, five appetizers/entrees for under five bucks at the bar in Bambara weekdays from 4-6pm. Bambara is located in the Hotel Marlowe over by the Cambridgeside Galleria. Particularly intriguing is their "b" burger: fresh baked brioche bun with caramelized onion baked right into the bread and truffled goat cheese. One of these days, I'm heading over there after class.

The Menu
Half-pound "b" burger $4.99
Mini steak frites $4.99
Reuben bites $4.99
Short rib nachos $4.99
Truffle frites $3.00
Onion rings $3.00

"Wha' Happened?"

I've been delinquent and thought I've never figure out what the phrase means, Steve would say that my blog has "jumped the shark." Wha' happened? School, that's wha' happened. Here's the update.

1. Adam and I checked out The Federalist for dinner on Friday to celebrate v-day. We enjoyed fancy mac & cheese, lobster bisque, beef wellington and brown butter dover sole. My favorite was the sole with fingerling potatoes/spinich and mushrooms. YUM! The melty chocolate cake was a nice end.

2. Last month, Wheezy was battling a bad cold and couldn't come out to Cambridge 1 for pizza with Jess and me when Jess was in town so Wheezy missed out on her fill off flatbread pizza. We enjoyed a tasty lunch on Saturday where we each had our usual...we're not big on "change." After lunch we meandered through Harvard Square on our usual "route." Black Ink, Urban Outfitters (where we simultaneously mock and covet the merchandise), Cross, Adidas, Bob Slate and Staples. We never miss Black Ink, Urban Outfitters, Cross and Bob Slate, but we did need binder clips (Staples) and Wheezy kindly educated me on sneakers (Adidas). She was wearing these cool old school sneakers, but of course I had no clue about the significance of her shoes.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

I made the Four Seasons Hotel lemon ricotta pancakes from this month's Boston magazine for breakfast this morning. The recipe called for one stick of butter, which didn't phase me since it served four. Halfway through cooking and after Adam had asked for seconds, I realized that Adam and I would be eating the entire batch which amounted to half a stick of butter each for breakfast and that was before we added in the ricotta cheese and eggs. I'm not usually shy about butter, but I had to stop eating the pancakes and instead, packed them up for Adam to take to work. They were delicious, but I don't think I'll be making those again. For a stick of butter, I might as well eat 40 Adam's favorite cookies for breakfast.

MGDub Especial - MGDub's Special Day

As she's in NYC, Adam and I were not able to celebrate MGDub's birthday with her yesterday. We did send her some cheerful flowers and I baked up a new and improved "MGDub's Special" cookie. Last summer, when we bid farewell to MGDub, I brough some oatmeal scotchies, a cookie MGDub enjoys, to her going away BBQ. Since Adam had a cookie named after him, "Adam's Favorite," MGDub expressed her desire to also be immortalized in a cookie. Adam suggested "In memory of MGDub," but MGDub wisely rejected that idea. Instead, she declared the oatmeal scotchies to be "MGDub's Special" cookie. While I did not account for MGDub's love of shrimp, I did incorporate her love of coconut into the new and improved "MGDub's Special," a coconut Butterscotch cookie right out of the Williams-Sonoma cookie cookbook. Early reviews from MGDub herself suggest that this one may be "MGDub's Favorite."

The Mystery of the Lemon Bread...SOLVED!

Last summer when Adam and I were helping MGDub pack up her apartment to move down to NYC, we discovered many curiosities including packets of old gravy mix and random boxes of opened pasta. While MGDub graciously offered us her perishable foods [which we appreciated], she was bent on packing up all of her nonperishables which included all of the aforementioned items. She even had two opened canisters of corn meal, but she couldn't remember why she had them or if she'd ever used corn meal. Even though she admitted that GJDubya had given her some of the pantry items in 1999, she argued that she might one day decide to make gravy on a whim and it would be great to have the gravy mix. I digress!

One nugget I discovered was this recipe binder MGDub had. I think her friend Caitlin was trying to encourage her to take up the culinary arts. As to be expected, MGDub had not tried any of the recipes, but the lemon bread recipe caught my attention because the recipe notes said the bread was really more like a cake so I promptly e-mailed it to myself. I've made this lemon bread or lemon pound cake recipe multiple times and everyone loves it, but the true origins of the recipe have always been a mystery until today. I was browsing through my new Williams-Sonoma Baking Cookbook from my Aunt Pat when I came across the exact same lemon bread recipe. I offer you the "e-mailed" version of this recipe.

Lemon Bread

1/2 c butter (1 stick)
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c milk
1/2 c finely chopped nuts (optional)
grated lemon peel

topping: 1/4 cup sugar + lemon juice [1 lemon]

1. Cream butter & sugar, add eggs
2. Mix flour, baking powder & salt together
3. Alternately add some flour mix, then some milk to the butter/eggs batter.
4. Stir in nuts & peel
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour in a loaf pan
6. Mix 1/4 c sugar and juice of 1 lemon and pour this over the bread when it comes out of the oven.

Yah!

I was helping Adam stuff envelopes at church last night when Esther walked in carrying Tiny Tim. I refer to him as Tiny Tim because his name is Tim [sort of] and Tiny because he's a little baby.

Esther: Tiny Tim, do you like kisses from Auntie Esther?
Tiny Tim: ......Yah!
plasticann: [under her breath] Are you a communist?
Esther: ...Tiny Tim, are you a communist?
Tiny Tim: .........Yah!
Tiny Tim's DaDee: What did he say? Did he say yes?
Esther: Yes.

I guess Tiny Tim likes to say "DaDee" and "Yah!" One day, maybe he'll progress to the very confusing "No...Yah!" like Zess. Fortunately for me, Tiny Tim's DaDee was good humored about the whole thing, but I really shouldn't go around corrupting babies and mocking Communism.

Shoe Ejumacation

The following reconstructed conversation relates to a previous post regarding my new maryjanes.

Wayne: Are thoes your mary janes?
plasticann: Yeah! Were you here last week when I talked about my new shoes?
Wayne: Yes I was, but I didn't get a good look at them. They're very nice.
plasticann: Thank you....um...Wayne...do you know what are mary janes?
Wayne: Yeah, you're wearing them.
plasticann: Yes, but do you know what makes a shoe a mary jane?
Wayne: Um, no!
plasticann: ...because I don't want you to walk away thinking brown leather shoes with flowers are mary janes. It's the strap, it's the cutout in the front, it's a style of shoe, kinda like a little kid's shoe.
Wayne: Hmm, I did not know that.

When I relayed this story to Adam later that night, I discovered that Adam didn't know what a mary jane was either.

Reeking Of Cookie

You'd think this would be nirvana for someone like me, but the verdict is still out. I started working on a project at Dancing Deer Baking Company this week. No, I'm not baking cookies, I'm working on a strategy and data project, but I do get to work in a building where the intoxicating scents of freshly baked goodies waft up to the office. The pattern for the last two days have been chocolate in the morn' and lemon in the afternoon. I was commuting home last night and I kept smelling cookies when I, unfortunately, realized that my person was emitting lemon cookie scents stored up from a day spent at the cookie factory. After my initial enchantment with smelling like cookie, I'm now entering a phase where the smell is slightly maddening. Hopefully, I'll soon enter a new phase where I get used to the smell. On the brighter side, cookie smell is vastly superior to smoke.

Monk-ish

Adam and I got hooked on Monk while we were on vacation and decided to make it one of our shows. We've been watching TIVOed episodes of the Monk marathon and we've even taken the Monk quiz. Apparently, I'm utterly un-Monk-ish and I could learn a think or two from Monk and Adam is just little bit Monk-ish and Monk just might be envious of him. Harumph!

Shrimp + Coconut

The following is a reconstructed conversation about a conversation MGDub had with someone else.

MGDub: Shrimp just might be my favorite food.
Someone Else: Really!
MGDub: That and I also really like coconut.
Someone Else: So, you must enjoy coconut shrimp.
MGDub: ...I do...I do like coconut shrimp.

When I relayed details of MGDub's "shrimp/coconut" conversation to Adam's mom (AM) and dad (AD), the following conversation ensured.

AD: Wait, MGDub should make her next film on shrimp and coconut.
plasticann: Huh!
AD: Picture this, animated coconut meets animated shrimp, coconut falls from the tree in the ocean where shrimp is swimming. They meet and there you have it, coconut shrimp.
Adam: Interesting.
[conversation turns to a different topic for a few minutes]
AD: ....[picks up again with his directorial vision] and then, the animated sequence can dissolve and there's MGDub eating coconut shrimp and it was all a dream.
plasticann: I'll have to pass that along to MGDub, she is looking for a new film topic.
AD: Yeah, you do that.

Charmin

We got back last night and this morning, the boxes plasticmom UPSed to us arrived safely as well. I've been hoarding dishes in my closet back in LA over the years and now that Adam and I have set up house, I decided to ship my precious belongings to Boston. When plasticmom shipped some X-mas gifts to us, I suggested she use rolls of toilet paper as padding in the box. Just like last time, the boxes and the toilet paper came just as we were running out. plasticmom really came through this time, Adam unpacked not one, but four rolls of Charmin.

Style Cues

While I was in San Francisco on Wednesday, I went out to lunch with Zreg for lunch at this tasty Vietnamese restaurant. The menus featured pictures of all the various meats so the menu was very helpful visually, but I'm not sure whether I want to see a photo of the raw beef that's going into my pho. After lunch, I walked around a bit and ended up purchasing a cute pair of brown maryjanes with flowers from Camper. Later that afternoon, I was wearing my new shoes over at Zara and Zryce's house when Zess woke up from her nap. I ran over to her and said, "Do you like my shoes Zess?" Without a word, Zess, unusually sweaty and still groggy from her nap, silently pulled out a basket from under a bench, rummaged through a pile of Stride Rite shoes and fished out a wee little pair of brown maryjanes with flowers. It dawned on me that I was taking style cues from a two year old. A very fashionable and cute two year old, but a two year old nonetheless. I guess the situation could be worse. I'll take dressing like Zess anyday over dressing like Paris Hilton or Britney.