Headache? Try ginger tea.

Tonight we went and saw Where the Wild Things Are after work. It was, magically, only $5, even though it was at one of the fanciest theaters around. Zach and I got home and had approximately 10 minutes to stuff our faces. Salami and cheese? Check. Spinach and basil and mozzarella egg scramble? Check. Yummy chocolate for dessert? Check. It wasn't that bad. I even scarfed down some homemade applesauce from Rob. Great! I did feel a little ill in the car due to the speed of my eating endeavor.

Now I am back at home. I usually do work on the weekends, as mentioned yesterday, to avoid working at home. However, with this movie, and with our impending deadlines, I have been forced to work at home tonight, but only for an hour. It wasn't too bad, I promise. I even downloaded the WtWTA soundtrack, and enjoyed the sweet sounds of Karen O.

So, tomorrow, I will do my new weekly yoga routine, (hooray, TaraNa), come home, and make dinner. I will finally make the squash and corn pudding dish, which has been on my to-do list for a while now. I have all of the ingredients, and will just listen to music and have a night to myself in the kitchen. I'm pretty excited.

Oh, scholarships. Oh early action deadlines. Oh tax forms. Will it all get done? Probs not. But, at the end of the day, you just have to sigh, close your eyes, and know you are doing the best you can. In the end, it's really up to the kids. Oh! One of my students went on a campus visit to NYC for free! Can't wait to hear how that went. They texted me today and said, "I'm walking around in Harlem!" Cool!

Ah, and as the title of this post suggests, I have a headache. I've had it for about two days. Which is strange. I am drinking a lot of tea, and I will make sure I don't (gasp) have coffee tomorrow. I will, however, need some form of jolt in the morning, because I've been very sleepy sitting in our jungle/sauna of an office. It's literally 10,000 degrees. Maybe this is leading to the dehydration... hmm.....

Ok, off to bed, and a heat pack, and some How I Met Your Mother, my new favorite show (other than Mad Men, Top Chef, and Project Runway of course).

This is from Annie, and it looks amazing

http://lavalake.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/grilled-top-round-of-lamb/

I can't wait for Seattle... we can cook like this all the time! (If we have money. Which we probably won't. Great.)

Public transit, families, and coffee shops

I've fallen into a routine of spending a considerable amount of time at coffee shops on the weekends getting ahead on work. A friend told me, "don't work too hard", and I explained that this is my way of not working too hard. If I can get ahead on the weekends, then I can go home at the end of the day feeling not feeling obligated to work past 7 pm. Which I am never a fan of, let's be honest.

So, I've spent the last three Saturday afternoons at one of my favorite Twin Cities spots, the May Day Cafe. The May Day is a wonderful spot, and is hard to describe. It is 1 part house, 3 parts community hang out spot, 2 parts kids play zone, 2 parts art gallery, and 4 parts delicious. Unfortunately for me this week, they are always producing and displaying the most decadent and scrumptious looking desserts. The May Day, while very welcoming to all people of all backgrounds (they are really quite intentional about this, and it's fabulous), has not made the foray into GF baked goods, which is understandable, obviously, but too bad for me! So, I go, I drink my coffee, watch the treats, and wait for the day that they make a cheesecake and I leave the crust behind.

With the onslaught of the Hini (we call the swine flu hini at work, because it is funnier), I feel like everyone around me is questioning their health. I sadly fall into this category - I've not felt 100% for a couple of days. Slightly dehydrated, slightly scratchy throat. Sarah had a cold, so maybe that's part of it. I am just hoping I can avoid the bug, and not get a debilitating sickness (although how nice would it be to knit all day!)

We ate some really terrible Mexican food at my job's fall gathering, but the atmosphere was lovely, and there were corn tortillas, so I was content. Late that night, after much boozing on my friends' parts (I was DD, thank you very much), we made a stop to the Uptown Diner for some late night breakfast. This was fabulous: hash browns, bacon, and eggs. How can you go wrong? Saturday morning, after catching up on sleep (also after being woken up by students texting me at 7:30 AM the morning of the ACT...), I went to Victor's Cafe for brunch with Rob. Corn tortillas, fried plantains, eggs over easy, and homefried potatoes. Yum yum YUM. I always feel like a million bucks when I leave Victor's. And, there are so many GF options - you can swap out the toast for corn tortillas, but you still get the guava jam. Rob had the Cajun Scrambler: plantains, black beans, 3 eggs scrambled, and cheese. Also, he got a side of chorizo, and we were both very full and happy.

All in all, the weekend has been a food success and also let down. I still haven't really cooked... maybe that will start tomorrow. But I have been eating lots of good food. My dear friend Asa is having a Monochromatic Meal of the Month tonight (orange), and I might have time to prepare something, but I will definitely at least stop by. I'm also going to a pumpkin carving party in a minute, and perhaps will get to eat some orange pumpkin. Perhaps I'll bring some with me.

This post is rambly rambly, (apologies), but I have been scattered all day anyway (read: I watched top chef, our plumbing got backed up so we couldn't shower, I took a crazy bus ride to get to St. Paul, which was unnecessary but very nice, have worked on AP stuff and grad school stuff, and a seriously disturbed fellow sat down across from me as I was working, and that threw me for a loop.)

Upcoming things to cook this week, for real:

The acorn squash and corn pudding, referenced earlier.

Coconut chicken noodle soup (with rice noodles instead of egg).

Also, people to cook with *you know who you are*, clear you schedules, because I want to have you at our house for dinner!!

- ah, fall -

One Week Anniversary on the GF Train

Today marks the official one week anniversary of my gluten free diet.

How. Exciting.

Last evening was just delightful: Sarah's brother and girlfriend, Caitlin, made us all dinner. Stir fried veggies, bread, cheese, and fruit. So good. I replaced the bread with apple slices, and indulged much on the cheese.

Did I mention that they bought us a case of wine? Yes. 12 bottles. We plowed through at least 4. This morning was not the happiest, but last night was wonderful! We played speed scrabble, and had numerous dance parties in and around the kitchen area. I also, happily, introduced the bag game to everyone. I think I was the only taker, this time.

So, the theme of this week is apparently that I'm not actually cooking. At all. Sarah made food the other day, Sarah's bro made food last night, and tonight everyone at my job was invited to Augsburg College for a free dinner and presentation. Too bad it was all Jimmy John's subs. So, I ate the innards. And went home kind of hungry, and ate a ton of cheese and fruit, again.

Now I am watching Arrested Development Season 1, before heading out for a late night happy hour. I'm quite enjoying myself, with a big cup of tea, and my knitting. I think I might cook this weekend with my friend Jon, who is quite a chef extraordinaire, so he says. And, I will try a few new recipes.

As of yet, I am still doing fine, and not really missing the gluten/bread. Mostly just at events when things are presented with bread and then I have to miss out. I just have to compromise more and plan ahead, I think.

AH, Thursday night. At Admission Possible, Thursday means Friday, because we don't see our students again until Monday. Fantastic!! Although I like them, and they are fun, and quite delightful.

So. until tomorrow.

::oops::

Ok.

Confession.

Sarah made bread pudding, and I tried a bite. It was really good, but my conscience was mad at me. No more trying things.

(it was only a bite, I promise. then I nibbled on the apples on top. mmm apples).

Followed up by a . . . PASSION PIT DANCE PARTY! If you haven't heard them, do it. It is amazing. So good for dancing. Especially in our extra-large, extra danceable kitchen.

In other news, things I need to do or use:

sage and butter sauce for something

lamb (thanks Annie)

apples (Sarah's friend Gillian just dropped off an entire bag of homegrown delicious apples)

Also, today was my first time back in the yoga studio after the bike accident. It felt good, but my body is tired, and out of practice. But the woman there was very accommodating. I will try and go back every Tuesday.

Dinner tonight was:

Asparagus, onion, mushroom, and pepper stir fry with brown rice and quinoa. Also, wine. Enjoyed on the couch with Arrested Development, which is always a favorite.

We are about to welcome Sarah's brother and girlfriend to the house for a few days - this will be very fun!! More later. If I don't get attacked by my angry bread-laden conscience (I swear, conscience, it was ONLY a bite!)

Success!

The stew was a great success, although it wasn't done until 9:30 PM, and the roommates and I all gnoshed on other food before it was done.

The recipe does not call for sausage, but Italian sausage is always a welcome addition to the delicious stew. Also, I just transplanted the sage from my garden into an indoor pot, so when the recipe called for sage, I just ran into the other room and picked some leaves. How lovely!

So, I also forgot to take photos, because we divvied the delicious stew into tupperwares for lunch before I could whip out my ancient camera (side note: dilemma. do I invest in a new camera, or save my money for traveling this year / to go to Ireland / to live off in Seattle next year???)

Other news: my office at Roosevelt has recently acquired a couch *huzzah*, and so I reclined in style in our wonderful little wood-floored office, on the couch, and ate my stew. It was absolutely scrumptious. The last of the season's kale, indoor sage, delicious chicken stock and sausage, and butternut squash and white beans. I'll type up the recipe as soon as I get a chance. It's a real delight.

Tonight Sarah is having a college friend over to cook, and then her brother is coming into town, so there should be some good opportunities to create in the kitchen.

That's all for now. Time to get ready for my afternoon session. Let's hope those little stinkers actually show up....

On kale, students, and recipe planning.

Day 2 of my Blogging adventure... I think I already have one follower (thanks, Steve).

All day I was thinking about fun things that I could include here. I think it will be a really great way to document new cooking attempts, and also as a reminder of things I'd like to make. Otherwise, they will sit with a star in my google reader, just waiting to be made, but forgotten about.

In other news, today I read one of my students papers, from last year, as he described his family's struggles in life, and how it has inspired him. I read it to my new students, to try and inspire them and show them how good these essays can be. It was a really powerful moment, when my students heard his story, and that he is now successfully at Augsburg. I think it sunk in. If only they would stop chatting and actually work.

So, here are some recipes I'm looking foward to this week or next:

Chicken and Peanut Sauce

Acorn Squash and Corn Pudding

Couscous and Feta and Veggies

22 Pasta Dishes to Try and GF Pasta

Broccoli and Quinoa

In other news, the only times I am missing the glutey gluten have been:

- inhaling delicious aromas of baking pizzas -

- sitting in the May Day cafe where they are making yummy loaves of bread -

- waking up to the smells of my roommate baking daily bran muffins -

- seeing delicious muffins and treats, for free, at work/campus visits/wherever -

Otherwise, I'm feeling pretty great! I made a successful transition to the gf pasta (trader joe's, heck yes). Also, I have stocked my cupboards with snacks so that I never feel like I have nothing to eat. Dinners have been very easy: either don't use gluten products, or find a substitute. I think this month will be the month of gf pasta, potatoes, and polenta or cous cous. And, I must say, that is fine with me.

On the menu tonight:

Kale, Squash, and White Bean Stew

- this is a recipe from the Farmer John cookbook (he made a documentary a few years ago. There are many fabulous recipes in the corresponding cookbook).

Basically, you get chicken stock, lots of greens, onions, squash, and white beans and garlic, and stew them all together. It is a pretty fabulous recipe, that my friend Ben improved by adding sausage. Sausage makes everything better, let's be real.

Bon appetit! Photos coming, hopefully.

Up and Running

Hello readers!

Upon many suggestions from friends, I have decided to start a food blog. I am an avid reader of such blogs, and thought it would be fun to chronicle my adventures with cooking.

While many such blogs already exist, I hope to use mine as a way to stay more disciplined about cooking, too. If I have to write it down, hopefully I'll try more things, too. Also, I want to try a few new projects each week or month, and perhaps along a theme. (Themes seem to make sense if cooking on a tight budget: stock up on a few things, make them go a long way, and reuse leftovers!)

Also, this is inspired currently because I recently began a month-long experiment with gluten free. Gluten intolerance runs in my family, and, after 2 autumns with seasonal affective 'fog', I've decided to try something new and see if it makes a difference.

So, without further ado, I shall begin my culinary adventures!