resolve

ok, so I don't do the resolutions, per se. Well, as discussed elsewhere, I do them all the time as part of my ongoing self sabotage, so not usually dedicated to the beginning of a new year. Ah, well.

Because of things like this:

I woke up this morning thinking about breakfast, like I do every morning, coffee and breakfast, and thinking, "oh! I will hard-boil those eggs and have a hard boiled egg and a tsatsuma!" that will be delicious and nutritious and not contribute to the belly...

alas. I found a leftover fried meat pie in the fridge. Left there by my sister who came to visit with her man friend. Special man friend. I apologize.

So while the water is boiling, I eat the meat pie. Not all of it.

But now I feel kind of gross.

HI. Welcome to my world of poor decisions and unending recriminations.

Would you like to hear what I've had to eat while my sis has been in town? I will tell you. Actually, I will go back to oh, Christmas. ok? OK!

Christmas was cheese in everything. Cheesy lasagne with cheesy salad and cheesy mashed potatoes and a cheese plate, of course, followed by insanely rich pot de creme.

A word about the lasagne - which was a little heavy on the cheese and a little light on the veggies for my taste - but Larry used beer instead of veg stock which worked really well with the butternut squash and portobellos and added an interesting bittersweetness...became more prominent in the left overs.

And many christmas cookies - tk's were light and buttery and super crisp, while Carol's were more like a pastry dough. Interesting, doughs, and cookies. And all the odd baking things. Very interesting. tk used a Real Simple recipe, I believe, and Carol used Martha.

Maybe I will bust out a joy recipe, but not just yet. Cookies and chips are things that I cannot have in the house because I am a constant nibbler. It they are there, I will eat them.

So, that was Christmas. The next day, work and leftovers, and then Megs came and Francis made delicious calzones and pizzas. MMMMMM. Oh, wait, prior to the calzones we went to one of the restaurants associated with the one where I work, hereafter referred to as "mine," even though clearly it is not.

I digress. We ate yummy breakfast. I don't understand why everything tastes better at the other restaurants. Well, I do. It's because I'm not working!

Duh. so, yah, delicious with the breakfast meats and grits and oh, yes, the fried meat pie.

Then the Golden Compass. Oh so sad in its hollywood gloss. Oh, Philip Pullman, you have made me so very sad by giving your blessing. Alas.

Such is the way of books to movies. See do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Ok, I digress.

Francis makes delicious calzones and pizzas. We tore that shit up.

The next night I made greens and beans the Girasole way, with red sauce, but with the addition of potatoes, and also Girasole Salad, because it is the best salad ever, and I miss it.

Girasole Salad

Mixed baby field greens
garbanzo beans
shredded carrots
sunflower seeds, roasted and salted
red onion
gorgonzola
cherry berry tomatoes

and the Dressing. Which is really the crowning glory. Although my mom dresses it with lemon, and agrumato. lemon infused olive oil. Because she is "allergic" to vinegar.

The dressing I cannot remember, despite the fact that I spent two months making gallons and gallons of it. A variety of vinegars.

A word about salad dressing. I hate to make salad dressing. But I hate bottled salad dressing more than I hate to make it. Usually I just use lemon juice and olive oil. See above parental vinegar aversion.

Liss makes a wicked good honey mustard that has a gazillion ingredients, and that she should post in the comments...LISS.

What else? Fran made curry and stir fry last night that was divine and a nice counterpoint to the NYE dinner - mac cheese - delicious, but lordy. He was going for a one to one ratio with the pasta and the cheeses. He succeeded. NYE also included some delicious apps by Sam - stuffed mushrooms and onion dip, of the hot and cheesy variety, more Girasole salad, and Eric (or was it Paul?) made pecan pie, as good as my mom's. My mom makes some good pie. And custard pie which is usually not something I like, but it was super good. The custard had nice flavor, not overwhelmingly eggy and wasn't all hard and curdled.

Earlier NYE day Dan and I went to Vashon for a look around and to see if we could see any orcas from the ferry. No orcas. But the car ferry is fun! One of my favorite things about Seattle is the ferries crossing back and forth all the time - there is something so civilized and connected about them. Plus they're pretty, especially at night. They make it seem like a very water based part of the world. Which it is. Seattle is stuck between Lake Washington and the Sound, and the islands are all out there in the sound, and there's what narrows and other little bays and it's all a part of the Salish Sea? I think?

It seems more watery that the Bay Area. Probably because there are islands and shit. No, Alcatraz does not count. Nor does Treasure Island. People have farms on these islands. With llamas, and ponies, and sheeps and goats - oh yes, there are a lot of farm animals out there on Vashon. And one that was selling kiwis, squash and chestnuts.

But! the coolest thing! Were the abandoned green houses. The company moved operations to Colombia some time in the seventies or so, but the green houses are still standing. Or the frames are. Most of the glass has been broken out, what with the trees growing through the roof panels and ferns and of course, the infernal blackberry everywhere. We found a hole in the fence and went poking about. I didn't have my camera, but if he floats some pics my way I'll post them. It was amazingly cool.

We had lunch at the Homegrown Cafe. It was, eh. Well, it was good. The tomatoes on the salad tasted like they'd been chopped several days before. But I am a sucker for lemon-tahini dressing. And the tofu on my tofu reuben hadn't been marinated and smoked as promised on the menu, but rather was a slab of tofu that had been griddled and just stuck on the sandwich. I've come to believe that all you really need for a reuben is the saurkraut, 1000 Island and swiss and rye.

And so that is my story.

It's all going to be about brown rice and dark leafy greens from here on out.