09-20-2011-09-21-2011

In brief...

The Horrors played all of my favorite songs. They are adorable British boys, but Faris Badwan is a boring singer.

My camera was perched on a beer can, so with every kick drum beat...:

We got migas for breakfast @ Brazil Cafe.  Every time I reflect on those migas, I fill with rage at how bland and subpar they were.   I mean, they looked good, but were such a disappointment.  I had to really hot sauce them up beyond recognition.  And their coffee was bullshit, too.  It was all flavored and horrible.  It will be difficult for me to give them another shot:

On the way home from Dallax, KMHD & I craved cafeteria food (SHAME!), so we stopped at Bryce's in Texarkana.  Haaaaaaaaaaaaa.  In all honesty, this was our best meal in TX.  Is it any surprise that we were the youngest ones there?

Look at my white, brown & yellow meal!  It's the ideal "what not to eat" visual.

WORK WANTED

So, I'm actually going through a bit of a crisis right now.  I just learned that my salary will be deeply slashed.  The calm is wearing off and I'm feeling like a lunatic right now.  Have any of you felt the effects of the economy yet?  We've had some pains, but they were relatively minor.  I thought we were doing slightly better than o.k.  How are you dealing?

I know that I'm going to have to get a second job.  There's really no way around it.  I'll do it, of course, but it makes me weary just thinking about it.  It's time for me to get real about a lot of things, not just finances. 

Frankly, I thought my position was a little more secure than most, but the way our economy is now, I guess any job is at risk, even essential government ones.

I don't really know what else to say about it.  

O, Arkansas!

Went camping w/ ATM + Zach this past weekend.  Because of burn bans, we couldn't go to our usual haunts, but tried something new by heading north toward Heber Springs.  We ended up getting a spot by the Red River.  There were a lot of people, which is a little off putting because we are accustomed to having whole campgrounds to ourselves OR sparsely occupied, but it didn't spoil our trip.  Weather conditions ideal, got some walking in, saw wildlife, read, listened to the game on the radio, ate well -- it was a perfect 10.  I really needed that!

The view from our site:

ATM/Zach:

Fly fishing:

Red River:

Turkey buzzards circling:

 River grass:

 

Celebratory cigars:

For supper, I made chili + cornbread.  (So as to not mislead anyone, I made the chili + cornbread in advance for supreme ease.)

The very best part of the meal was dessert, of course.  Grilled peaches w/ cream.  Heavenly.  I now have a crippling addiction to them.  And right when peaches are about to be out of season!  So soft, warm, and sweet!  I wish I had a little cinnamon to sprinkle on it, but it was still pretty amazing w/o it.  Will certainly be adding cinnamon to the spice kit.

A little washing up:

We packed up for home right as the rain started coming down.  Crossing the Greers Ferry Dam:

Went into town for a sleepy, rainy breakfast.  Quite good:

Legalize it.

It was a perfect ceremony.

some words strung together

We've got our first camping trip of the season calendared!  



For those who do not believe the existence of the okra poboy from Oyster Bar, I offer my photographic proof.  Word is that they might put it on the menu: 



Wild Flag, do you want me to wear this?!!  It's pretty big.  I'll do it!

Dinner

Night before last, I made stuffed poblano peppers and the chile corn custard that KMHD brought to Tofu Happening .  I totally destroyed the kitchen doing it, but it was well worth it.  Custard recipe linked above, here's how I made the peppers:

Needs:  

2 c rice

1 c black beans

1 c corn

1 med onion (chopped)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

6 poblano peppers

1 c shredded cheese (I did a mix of white cheddar and Monterey, but it's a personal choice)

1 t chili powder

1 T cumin

S & P

lime

cilantro

oil

Make rice in advance.  Like the day before or in the morning to be ready by evening.  Roast your peppers on the stove, blackening all sides.  It takes a few mins. per side, so you can do some prep work.  After blackening, put peppers in a paper bag to cool.   Preheat oven to 350.

In the meantime, saute onions in oil, adding garlic towards the end there to avoid burning/bitter.  Add the chili powder & cumin, mix well.  Stir in black beans and corn.  Add rice, lime juice to taste (a lot is good!), salt, cilantro -- M.I.X.  Make any season adjustments.  Filling is done.

Remove peppers from paper bag and rub off as much black as possible.  Whatever I can't get, I rinse away.  Cut the tops off, make one slit, and either use the knife to scrape away the seeds and membranes or rinse away with water.  Paper towel dry.  Laid flat, spoon heaping spoonfuls of filling on to pepper.  Sprinkle cheese.  You can either toothpick them closed or roll the pepper.  Top with more cheese.  Bake in oven until cheese melts.

Mine came undone, but here it is, plated w/ the custard:

 

Chile corn custard:

Blathering Heights

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to set Tofu Happening on Labor Day weekend because there was low attendance this go around -- and only after I bragged about it's growth!  BUT, we did have newcomers, which is always a goal of mine, and the food + company were terrific.  I laaaughed...

By my own admission, having a grilled cheese bar is cheating.  It is.  It's not a singular dish made with care, but an over-the-top crowd pleaser, that undermines everything.  (There's a DJ + song request analogy in here somewhere, but I digress.)  I wanted to pair it with Brittany's vegetable soup and you just can't beat a grilled cheese sandwich and soup.  Too, Leigh made the whole get up very classy by caramelizing onions, roasting poblanos, setting out homemade pesto...the works!  I would say that the worst part of the whole deal was the abundance of choice -- what combination of cheese, toppings, butter + bread would make my grilled cheese sandwich dreams come true?  All of the food was tops, but KMHD's dish was my favorite.  

ATM, Alan Disaster + Everett:

Photo by Brittany

Since our group was intimate, I'll name names.  From L to R:  Steven, KMHD, Brittany, ATM (bottom), Everett (top), Leigh, Ben, Amy (fore), Alan (back) & Robert.  Not shown: Clark



TC happened to be walking down the street, so there was no way he wasn't going to chow down with us:



You don't even need to be infected by toxoplasmosis to love Neighborhood Cat:

I am very grateful to Leigh + Robert for hosting.  They've got a rad house that is conducive to this kind of thing.  They've got THE best stoop.


So, I'm house sitting for my boss again.  He lives in a nice, but modest home in the Heights.  It's a different world, folks.  When I leave the confines of his home to take the dog on a walk or to run to the grocery store, I always have to answer the most asinine questions.  "What part of the Middle East are you from?" (That's a new one!)  "Are you the cook or the cleaner?"  "Are you for hire?"  In no way am I exaggerating.  It is impossible for me to conceal my annoyance and disdain.  In the Heights, I suppose it's fair to ask this kind of stupid shit?  In the mornings, you can see 'the help' getting off at the bus stop to work in these people's homes.  Anyway, yesterday I was at the grocer's digging through the bin of poblanos.  This woman taps me on the shoulder and says, "Ex-cuse me. How do you cook those?"  She said it really slow, first pointing to the pepper and then making hand gestures to imply cooking.  I told her that I was going to roast them, stuff them with rice, beans, other veg, cheese, and then bake them.  Did I actually detect disappointment from her?!!!  She simply replied "Oh" and eventually slithered away.  OR! People completely ignore me, which is fine.by.me.  So, that's that.  Another downside is that it's far from my own home and I actually get home sick.  BUT, it's not all bad.  I mean, Judge has a nice house.  There's a nice deck out back.  There's the big t.v. with a zillion channels, I'm welcome to everything and anything, I can have company over, and I get paid. 

An addendum: 

This video is so great and a perfect tie-in to the observations I've made about certain people in the Heights who choose to make comments at me.  KMHD and I have been talked to like this our whole lives.  It is tiresome and offensive, but no one seems to understand why that would be.  We chuckled at the video because everything in it has been said to us in real life.  Strangers, co-workers, acquaintances -- they don't see the harm.  In fact, if you rebuff any of their comments, you are a "bitch".  

Veggie laden pho from Pho Thahn My.  So colorful!



So, there's quite a few of us that own homes now.  And we all have projects that we'd like to undertake, with either time or money (or both) prohibiting progress.  Well, what if we did some sort of Amish barn raising system where we all go to each other's home and complete a project.  Is this even possible?  Obviously, you will have to pay for your own supplies and the project cannot be too ambitious.  For instance, we need help pulling some deep roots of these bushes that I'm certain are connected to the very depths of hell.  Or have a compost box built.  Or have our house and sidewalks power washed.  This sounds great in theory.  Yes?  


Need to sit down w a calendar and plan a camping trip.  It is officially time.

September 2011 Top Ten

1.  Yeah!  Labor Day weekend is here!  It's my favorite U.S. holiday.  Overworked + underpaid --  that's each and every one of us, innit?  I suppose I prefer to commemorate like anyone else -- by gathering with friends, drink union-made beer, and eat awesome food.  Also, Link Wray is the best music to listen to on Labuh Day.


Press 'play', listen while you read.  Keep up!






2.  Wild Flag is releasing their new album this month!  Stream here.  Pre-order here.  It's unstoppable!





3.  A quick jaunt to Dallax with ATM, KMHD & Everett is going to happen.  It will have been amazing.  We're going to see The Horrors!


4.  Here's a temporary I'm trying on for size.  I quite like it.  I think I'm getting a tiny one closer to the wrist.  (ATM, anybody, hand me a comb!)





5.  Speaking of tattoos, they say that imitation is a form of flattery -OR!- I've got the trendiest tattoo this side of the Mississippi.  KMHD & Brittany have teamed up to sell some temporary tattoos of our beloved state.  I've already ordered some for Saturday's game.  They're great to customize or decorate for whatever occasion!  2/$1  Contact FLEETING INK to order.  I'll be giving away a few on Saturday if you see me.








 
Model: Nicole Photos: Heather Canterbury


6.  The gift of time.  I'll have a little extra this month.  I really hope that I don't squander it, although doing nothing has it's merits, too.


7.  Okra poboys.   It's not on the menu @ Oyster Bar, but they will make it if you ask for it.  Heavens.


8.  New camera.   I needed to get one before our vacation and, well, I just needed one.  I am your friend that takes pictures of everything.  After Victor died, I remember thinking that I didn't have enough photos of our time together.  It won't happen again.


9.  TOFU HAPPENING.  I am the current curator of this event of yore.  It's not quite the same, but still maintains the basic tenets of eating well (maybe not healthy, but you do get stuffed) and communion.  This is the third one since it's been rebooted and it has grown a little every time.  People are awesome!  Am looking to start other projects, too.  Maybe an art night?  Where we paint and sip wine out of mugs?  An event where we publish a zine in one evening?  I am open to ideas.


10.  Revisiting Nouvelle Vague