Videos!

Today I would like to share two things!

First, a video from three or four days ago when hail bombarded my windows. These window/doors lead to my balcony, which is covered. The hail flew up under the awning part and slammed into my windows, making me believe that the hail might crack the glass. You can tell from my narration.

The other thing I want to share is a movie trailer. My favorite book series (heck, mine and everyone else's!) is reaching the end of the movie series. Indeed, I speak of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 2. It's going to be epic. I know I will be joined by the faithful J*Rock for this moving showing. I only wish I would be in Washington to see it as well. Oh, didn't I mention? Yeah, going to Seattle for my cousin's graduation! Tominda and I shall be reunited again! Huzzah!

But anyway, Harry Potter. *SQUEAL.*

I'm incredibly excited by the entire thing. 

And another thing! I've rediscovered a stand-up comedian that I used to watch. Tominda and I would spend Friday evenings watching Friday Night Stand-Up on Comedy Central. We were cool.
Here is Jeremy Hotz! He did this one portion that was about coffee grounds and the feminine product, Always. I will find it again someday. This one is particularly pertinent, as I yearn for a dog.

Laugh, my pretties, laugh!

There will be a post tomorrow! I promise!

LET THERE BE CAKE!!!

I made a cake today! I love to bake but I don't very often, because I love to eat what I bake. This is counterproductive. What I need to do, is adopt several fully grown men and bake for them. They can come over on Sundays and I'll have baked goods for them to take home. Although they are adopted, remember, they are full grown and already take care of themselves. I just supply the baked goods and tell them to get a haircut. Then they go away. This seems like the perfect set-up to me.

CAKE!

Lemon-Poppy Seed Cakefrom Cooking Light Complete Cookbook pg. 164

Cooking Spray
1 tsp. all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 large egg white
1 large egg
1 tbl. grated lemon rind
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbl. poppy seeds
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 cup low fat buttermilk
2/3 cup powdered sugar
4 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Coat an 8x4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray; dust with 1 teaspoon flour.
3. Beat granulated sugar and butter with a miser at medium speed until well blended (about 4 minutes). Add egg whites and egg, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon rind and vanilla. Lightly spoon 1 2/3 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, begninning and ending with flour mixture.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a wooden pick insterted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Poke holes in the top of cake using a wooden skewer. Combine powerdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl; brush over warm cake. Cool completely.
Yield: 12 pieces
Calories: 226
NOM rating: 4 out of 5

This is what I was doing when I should've been finishing some homework for Monday. Or even writing that ten page paper that is due on Tuesday that I haven't started yet. Procrastination, thy name is Lindsey. What can I say? The lure of cake was mightier than the lure of knowledge. I am destined to be a happy, fat, old lady who eats cheese and cake at every meal. I will have many dogs. And a pony, for they please me.

I think it's important for me to note that when I cook, I try my hardest to use every single kitchen utensil I own in the process. Somehow, I am sure this makes the cake/food that much more delicious. But here, I took a picture of the destruction. Actually, two pictures, because the mess takes up both of my kitchen counters. I'm not sure where I got this particular talent, I've never seen either of my grandmothers or my mother create such destruction. I must get it from my Dad. (Haha, I have never seen my dad bake.) Perhaps from my Aunt Lorna

DEATH AND DESTRUCTION!!!

BUT THERE WILL BE CAKE!

.

 I will be in late to work tomorrow, I have a doctor appointment, so I left this note for those of my co-workers who must know where I am and don't think to check my public calendar. 

Exercise Fairy Tale

Once upon a time in a make-believe place called Filmland, a young woman decided to help people. She did not invent a cure for cancer, as cool as that would have been, but instead turned her considerable talents to exercise and diet.

Her name was Jillian Michaels.

Jillian had a talent for handing people their own asses on a plate and making them like it. She was able to encourage and bully many into exercising, all for their own health. Her ability to prepare the most fascinating of challenges infected another young woman.

Her name was Lindsey.

Lindsey, wanting to get in shape, bought one of Jillian's videos, never intending to fall under the exercise spell. First, it was the 30-Day Shred.

 Then, like a whirlwind, Lindsey lost her mind and bought two more dvd's, both from Jillian Michaels!

And then, things went horribly awry. 

What is the world if you can't laugh at yourself?

Name that Flower

 Obviously a dogwood tree. I feel like I once knew a story about how the dogwood tree symbolized Christ, and that's why they bloom around Easter. Two marks at the ends of the flowers for the nails in his hands, one at the bottom for the nails in his feet, and one at the top for the crown of thorns he wore. Something to that effect.

 More dogwood!

 I have no idea what this is. It's on a pretty large bush and it looks a bit like a rose. Then you get close, and you can see it's not a rose at all. Maybe it is a type of rose? I need someone to find out. Get on it.

 This is a flowering tree of some sort. Those are crazy bunches of flowers, and I don't believe I've ever seen them before. At least not that I remember, and that's seriously not saying much.

Savory Saturday!

Today I made a pot roast for the first time ever! It was so cool! Just because I've never done it and I find that special. I took some photos and the like. I'll even share the recipe, since it comes from my beloved Cooking Light Crockpot Book.

Company Pot Roast
...as found in the Essential Slow Cooker from Cooking Light, pg. 20
1(2 lb) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut in half
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup beef broth
1 (.35 oz.) package dried morels or dried shiitake mushrooms (I did not use this ingredient.)
1 tbl. cracked black pepper
3 tbl. sun dried tomato paste or regular tomato paste
2 medium onions (about 3/4 lb.), quartered
1 (16 oz) package carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
16 small red potatoes (about 2 lbs.) halved
1 tbl. canola oil
1 1/2 tbl. all-purpose flour
3 tbl. water
(We added celery to our recipe.)

1. Combine roast, soy cause, and garlic in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal bag, and marinate in refrigerator at least 8 hours , turning bag occasionally.
2. Bring broth to a boil in a small saucepan; add mushrooms. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 20 minutes. Drain mushrooms through a cheesecloth -lined colander over a bowl, reserving broth mixture.
3. Remove roast from gab, reserving marinade. Sprinkle roast with pepper, gently pressing pepper into roast. Combine reserved marinade, mushroom broth mixture, and tomato paste; stir well, and set aside.
4. Place mushrooms, onion, carrot, and potato in a 6-quart electric slow cooker; toss gently.
5. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat, and add roast, browning well on all sides. Place roast over vegetables in cooker. Pour tomato paste mixture into pan, scraping to loosen browned bits. Pour tomato paste mixture over roast and vegetables. Cover and cook on LOW 10 hours or until roast is tender. Place roast and vegetables on a serving platter; keep warm. Reserve cooking liquid in cooker; increase heat to HIGH.
6. Place flour in a bowl. Gradually add water, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add flour mixture to cooking liquid in cooker. Cook, uncovered, 15 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring frequently. Serve gravy with roast and vegetables.

Has eight servings and has 358 calories in one serving.
NOM Rating: 4 noms!




In other news; the backyard is flooding. I need an ark.

100th Post!

This is the 100th post I've done on this blog. *Confetti!*

So, I have a funny story. Went to a happy hour today. It was at an Asian place called Momiji. What you see there in that picture is chicken teriyaki. It was super good. But look, if you will, behind the chicken. See that strange purple wrinkly thing? I cropped it out in another photo, so you can get a gander at it. It's right under the other picture.

Imagine the scene. Surrounded by friends, HH on one side. A nice cool drink of something beside you. And they give you this pretty plate with food on it. And you think, oh that looks nice whattheHELListhat. So you poke at it with your chopstick, ask the person beside you, "What do you think that is?" Part of the issue is, you super hate mushrooms. The texture is slimy and gross and they always taste faintly of SUPER YUCK.

So, you chopstick it up, holding it near your mouth, most likely with a faint sneer as you try to figure out if you want to chance it. Finally, you screw up your foodie courage and take a nibble off the top. You taste something familiar. And why the hell does it taste a bit like lemon? That makes no sense. You take another small bite, at the urging of HH (who most likely just wants to see you gag in public). "Go ahead, eat it!" he says, urging you to your doom.

Eventually, you pop the entire thing in your mouth, so far unable to discern what you are ingesting. Suddenly, it comes to you. It's eggplant. Then you feel dumb, because you love eggplant. You've just never seen it so shriveled before. You then spend the rest of your night giggling with your British friend who has an iPhone and is showing you videos of stop-motion Legos set to the stand up genius of Eddie Izzard.

Eddie Izzard

THE END.

Bedazzled with RHINESTONES!

So, today on the metro, I saw this:

Indeed, that woman is wearing a bedazzled jacket of the nation's president. I find that incredibly epic. I'm almost jealous. I saw another woman several months ago that had Obama shoes. That was almost, but not quite, as cool as this. I'm glad my flash caught the sparkles. I mean, seriously. EPIC.

And, on a sign outside today, I saw this:

I sorta love little art things that some people would consider vandalism. See that little picture near limit? It's a man in a bowler hat, looking rather smart. I have no idea why it is there or if it has any meaning. There is another picture underneath the yellow sign, but I have no idea what that is at all.

Dermatologist appointment tomorrow and a happy hour after work, so there will be food pictures and it will be late by the time I get them up. Most likely. I ran today, started week 8 of the Couch to 5K program. I have two more days in this week, then I start the last week. Then I run the 5K....CRAZY.

More later! If you have any "make a blog awesome" ideas, do email me or leave me a comment here. Appreciate it, ducks!

Lists

Forgive my absence again. I have quite a few things on my mind, it's bogging me down a little. I will make you a list of things that I have been thinking about:

1. Blog needs to be more awesome. How can this be accomplished?
2. HH and I have a strange rash/itchiness on our bodies. First, I feared bed bugs and went on a rampage looking for bed-bug evidence. There is no evidence of bed-bugs. But, I continue to itch. Talked HH into going to his general practitioner, who has him on an array of medications. I am still stalling. I don't want an array of medicines.
3. School is winding down so of course I have a ton of things to do. Papers and the like. As you can see, I'm hard at work at them now.
4. Running on a treadmill has reached the boring stage. I think that's why its getting harder as I progress. I'm just bored.
5. Oh man, work sucks.
6. Looking at new jobs, trying to see if I can get in somewhere else, just for a change of pace and possible usage of my bachelor's degree.
7. BOOOO WORK.
8. I miss my Tominda (today is her birthday!) and my Mom and my Grandma Betty. (Kohouts too, I just am used to not seeing them as much.)

That sounds whiney. I apologize. I am happy with my life and I'm glad I have the friends I have here and the technology that allows me to reach out to people that are far away from me. But even I can lose that bit of sunshine every once in a while.
On a brighter note! Pictures!

 I love spring. I believe this is a dogwood tree blooming. I love the flowers in spring and how the leaves come back and how everything smells different. It's a rebirth, forgive me if that sounds corny. SPRING. ILOVEYOU. The picture below is in DC, next to the Dupont Circle Metro. I just liked how you can see the trees in between the buildings and the hint of blue sky. (It rained most of the day.) I just liked it.
I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with something interesting. Later!

Rain

Pretty much rained all day. That's all there is to say about it. No pictures because it was a boring day. I'm going to go destroy the rest of a paper now.

Cheers.

The Cereal Saga

I came back from running (Week 7, Day 2 - 25 minutes non-stop) today and decided that I would like some cereal with sliced strawberries on top. I didn't eat a whole lot for dinner and then ran. I had a mother of a cramp in my stomach. So, I headed to the kitchen, with the thought that I would have some of the Smacks. However, this is what I found:

 To the pantry we go, to get the Honey Smacks! Oh boy! 

 Do de do, honey smacks, just singing about Honey Smacks and looking forward to my cereal and strawberries.....

 What. What is this. 

 Look at this shit. There are only crumbs in this bag of Honey Smacks! What the crap?! Where have all the Honey Smacks gone?! Oh that's just disappointing. 

 Who do I know that lives in this house that leaves not enough for a bowl of cereal in the bag and then never eats it? Who here, in this apartment, of the two people living here one of which is me, would do this? Who has ruined my healthy midnight snack? 

 Into the trash with ye, nearly empty bag of Honey Smacks. I refuse to eat your crumbs. 

I substituted with Honeycomb cereal. For the record, that bag was almost empty too. WHO WOULD DO SUCH A THING? I REALLY CAN'T IMAGINE (since I never eat cereal here in the mornings unless it is weekend).

Gandhi

 I seriously need some Gandhi in my life right now. I find work to be more and more frustrating as I lose patience with those that are considered my superiors. Gandhi had some patience, didn't he? And he had to deal with the British. And that is highly simplified, as I am learning while I write my paper. He also had to deal with the Muslims that wanted to create their own country. (PAKISTAN.) I need some Gandhi patience. I'll work on it.

 All the pictures you see here are actually taken by Work Friend Josh (WFJ). He had to run an errand today outside of the office and I shoved my camera at him. I knew I was going to be stuck there all day with no cool pictures. I needed some pictures for today.

The inscription you see on the stone up there reads: "GANDHI LED INDIA TO FREEDOM FROM BRITISH RULE IN 1947. HE IS HAILED AS THE FATHER OF THE NATION. CRUSADER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND LIBERTY, THINKER, WRITER REFORMER, APOSTLE OF TRUTH AND NON-VIOLENCE (AHIMSA), GANDHI SUCCEEDED IN UNITING MILLIONS OF PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS ACROSS INDIA IN A MASS MOVEMENT OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.
ON GANDHI'S SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY, ALBERT EINSTEIN WROTE, "GENERATIONS TO COME, IT MAY BE, WILL SCARCE BELIEVE THAT SUCH A ONE AS THIS EVER IN FLESH AND BLOOD WALKED UPON THIS EARTH". "

The statue is located on Massachusetts Ave. and 21st St. in Dupont Circle. It was put there as a gift from the people of India and the Indian-American community. The sculptor's name is Gautum Pal and the statue is made from granite and bronze.

More cool things you may not know about Gandhi and should: " After assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women's rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end untouchability, and increase economic self-reliance. Above all, he aimed to achieve Swaraj or the independence of India from foreign domination. Gandhi famously led his followers in the Non-cooperation movement that protested the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (240 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930. He launched the Quit India Movement in 1942, demanding immediate independence for India. Gandhi spent a number of years in jail in both South Africa and India."
He was assassinated on January 30, 1948 by an extremist Hindu.

Beauty

I just wanted to share that it was a gorgeous day today. People were outside. Birds were singing. Trees are starting to get their leaves back. I sat out on my balcony and ate dinner and read a fun book until it was too dark to see. A very lovely evening to a Monday. I'll be having a day off from the blog tomorrow, then back on Wednesday, hopefully with some new improvements. I'll keep you posted. (OH, the pun!)

Savory Sunday!

Alright ducks, break out your crock pots. This recipe comes to you straight from the Crock Pot Recipe Collection book and can be found on page 228. This is an all day recipe, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time before you're doing dinner!

Asian Ginger Beef over Bok Choy
2 tbls. peanut oil
1 1/2 lbs. boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 green onion (sliced)
6 cloves garlic (I minced mine, recipe is not specific.)
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used the less sodium kind)
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. Asian chili paste
9 oz. fresh udon noodles, COOKED AND DRAINED
3 cups bok choy, trimmed and washed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Sear beef on all sides in batches to prevent crowding, turning each piece as it browns. Sear last batch of beef with onions and garlic.
2. Transfer to 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add broth, water, soy sauce, ginger, and chili paste. Stir well to combine. Cover; cook on LOW 7 - 8 hours or on HIGH 3 - 4 hours or until beef is very tender (I went with the low setting.)
3. Just before serving, turn slow cooker to high. Add noodles and stir well. Add bok choy and stir again. Heat on high until bok choy is tender-crisp, about 15 minutes.
4. Garnish with cilantro and serve.
Makes 6-8 portions.
Calories (I think): 292 per serving, give or take a few calories
NOM rating: 5 stars! Super good!

I really love bok choy and I've had udon before. Together, with some beef that has been cooked to "falling apart"...mmmmm. I inhaled mine.

Well, I'm heading back to continue working on my paper. Below are a few more things that I wished to share!

 

I bought this bracelet from Lady Gaga. The proceeds from these go directly to Japanese aid. I also added on some extra monies to go towards the donation. That side says, "We pray for Japan" in English. On the other side, (see below) it says the same thing in Japanese. I recognize some of the characters, but not the kanji. Kanji is hard! 

Back to work. I might get to post tomorrow! There is no class, so I should have a picture and more ideas to make the blog more awesome! Stay classy, San Fran.

I saw Jane Eyre (a remake of the older movie and based on the book) today. I remain unconvinced that anybody who wrote at that particular time had happy things to say or do. In fact, I am convinced it rained non-stop and people fell in love in the blink of an eye, only to be ripped away due to some farce of a situation. But that's just my thoughts on the matter. The movie was good though.

I'm still working on ways to make the blog more awesome. I need serious suggestions, although the last suggestion I got does seem to have some merit to it. Porn does draw many a viewer. It's just...I'm pretty sure my grandma(s) read this and that seems like a really bad idea.

My picture for today is the awesome new coat I got from Ann Taylor Loft. It was on sale online. I think it was originally 98 dollars. I got it for 44. BAM. Please don't look at my face. Just marvel at how awesome the coat is. It has ruffles and cinches and all sorts of fun things. HH just has a talent for taking picture of me in which I resemble a troll.

There will be a recipe tomorrow! Huzzah!

Deep Thoughts

I got HH some get well soon flowers. They worked really quickly. He went back to work today. I continue to use the "Gurgle Pot" my mother got me as a vase. It's really great how the fish looks like its spitting (spouting, sprouting) flowers out of its mouth.

"It's just a tickle in my throat...WAFRAGLABLE!!!" 

I am going to do a full on post for the National Cathedral, which was another destination I discovered when my friends were here. If you would like to see the pictures ahead of time, you can look at my facebook picture album. Right HERE it is. Just click the link. I've been doing some thinking about making my blog more awesome. So that I can get more readers and gain a following for when I take over the world. I'm trying to decide what kinds of things I can do to set myself up for that. I tend to be really random with this blog and I just have word vomit all over the place. I really like doing my pictures and I'm not going to stop that. But I would like to do something else to make the blog more readable to people who don't know me.
Does anyone have any ideas? Comment! I need your help, Obi-Wans of the interneting world!