Appetizers

Okay, so I haven't technically tried a new recipe so far this month (#73).  However, I have been playing around with some appetizer-type foods and calling them dinner.  When I was at Trader Joe's the other day (definitely one of my top five favorite stores of all time!  one of my friends accused me of being obsessed with them), I decided that I should try prosciutto.  I may have had it in something at some point, but I have never specifically eaten it on its own.  I also had an odd craving for bruschetta.  So, I picked up some ciabatta bread, goat cheese (I love, love, love their goat cheese!), two different types of prosciutto (because why not do a little taste test while I'm at it?), and a jar of bruschetta (because while I wanted to eat it, I did not want to have to make it).  Also, the other day at The Fresh Market, I had bought some triple milk cheese (a mixture of cow's, goat's, and sheep's milk) after overhearing the employees talking about it.  The woman working the cheese counter gave me a sample of one brand that was very mild and creamy -- the cow's milk was definitely the predominant flavor.  But I decided to bring home a different variety that she said was a little sharper tasting, leaning more toward the goat and sheep's milk flavors, because I was in the mood for something a little tangier.  Can you tell that I love cheese?

Last night I used a panini bread round as a base.  I cut into two pieces and spread goat cheese on one half and the triple milk cheese on the other.  The two prosciuttos turned out to be very different.  One was German and a little drier with a very heavy smoked flavor.  I put a slice of this on top of the goat cheese, since the Trader Joe's brand is quite mild as goat cheeses go.  The other prosciutto was Italian, moister, and much milder in flavor.  I put this over the triple milk cheese.  Both were nice, but something was missing.  I think next time I would get some field greens or arugula to add in to the mix.  I think it would add good texture and a little bitterness.  A little fig jam might be nice, too.  I would probably not get the German prosciutto again, because it was too smoky tasting for me.  Things that are heavily smoked tend to make me a little nauseous.  Don't ask me why... I have no idea.  The Italian prosciutto was very nice, though, and I have already looked at some other recipes to see what else I can do with it.  You often see it wrapped around melon (which I hate) or asparagus (which I don't love, but would be willing to try in this case), so I might look for other things that it could go with.

Tonight I cut and toasted slices of the ciabatta bread.  Two got spread with goat cheese, two got the bruschetta, and one got goat cheese and bruschetta!  I should have brushed a little olive oil over the bread slices when I toasted them, and some garlic rubbed over them would definitely have been nice with the bruschetta slices.  But beyond that... yum!  Well, I have already gone on about the goat cheese, so I won't drool over it any further.  The bruschetta was good, but obviously not as good as fresh.  It was room temperature, so my instince says it might be a little better chilled.  Will likely be testing that theory in a couple of days!  I think the bruschetta would be nice with some fresh mozzarella on a pizza.  Might have to check that out, too.

The best thing about both these "meals" is that neither took long to prepare and require no actual cooking!  It was fun playing around with some ingredients that I don't typically use, and it was different from anything I normally ever have for dinner.  A nice change.  And yummy, too!!

Banks and Bulldogs

Today I opened savings accounts for my godchildren (#44).  I meant to and should have done this a long time ago since they're already six and eight years old, but better late than never.  I finally found out what information I needed and got their social security numbers a couple of weeks ago, and just happened to be at the bank today to deposit a couple of checks and they were still open.  I actually went in because I didn't have a pen with me to endorse the checks, and then remembered that I had all the information with me for the accounts!  Most convenient!  Of course I realized I didn't have any information for either of their parents, so I'll have to add them on later.  oops.  Right now I won't be able to put much aside for them, but every little bit counts, and hopefully I can add more to it later.  Five tasks completed, 96 to go.

On another totally separate and completely unrelated-to-the-list note, Congratulations to my Butler Bulldogs to winning their game tonight and making it to a second consecutive Final Four!!  They have worked so hard and have managed to exceed everyone's expectations except their own.  I am proud to be a Bulldog!

Vitamins

I did it!  Two solid months of daily multivitamins!!  Okay, so there was one missed day when I was sick and went to bed at 6:00.  And two or three times I forgot at bedtime (which is when I was taking it), but each time I remembered and took it first thing the next morning.  So that is all perfectly acceptable, and I am chalking this up as a success!  I was dreading this so much that what I had built up in my mind was infinitely worse than the reality.  Of course part of that was due to finding a mid-sized, well-coated tablet, but the lesson remains the same.

One interesting/funny thing... even after two months of taking that vitamin every night, I still probably would have forgotten to take it most nights if it weren't for the post-it note on my bathroom mirror.  Isn't there supposed to be some magic number like if you do something 20 or 30 times then it becomes a habit?  Obviously that research is flawed.  *LOL*

Northside Kitchenette

Today was the opening day of the Indianapolis Flower & Patio Show, which Trinity and I usually try to attend.  Amazingly, we were both off on the same day, so we were there right when it opened!  We had a lot of fun walking around and seeing all the beautiful flower and garden displays.  It's incredible what they can build inside over a few short days.  We planned on going to lunch afterward, and after offering several suggestions, I talked her into helping me get started on another list item by trying a new restaurant (#98).  We went to the Northside Kitchenette which is a small place in Broad Ripple that is open Monday - Saturday for lunch only.  It's tucked into the corner of a small strip mall, and had maybe 15-20 tables plus counter seating.  The menu includes "gourmet" soups, sandwiches, and salads.  Soups today were shrimp chowder and asparagus in a cream base.  Trinity opted for the four-cheese grilled cheese (no surprise, since it was the mention of grilled cheese that convinced her to try this place!) which looked amazing and was pronounced "very cheesy".  Her plate also included what I think was a homemade dill pickle wedge (still had bits of dill clinging to it) that I claimed and thoroughly enjoyed.  My sandwich was a Cuban that was quite tasty, although the bits of pork that fell out seemed to have little flavor or seasoning on their own.  Both sandwiches came with homemade potato chips that were nice, but that I thought were a little greasy.  The prices were about what you would expect for that type of place.  Decor was minimal, but kind of cafe chic.  I liked it, although the chairs were not particularly comfortable.  All in all, I definitely expect to be visiting this place again.  There were lots of menu options that caught my attention, and the food and atmosphere were fun and enjoyable.  One down, four to go!

http://northsidekitchenette.com/

Book and Facebook

I don't know why I've had such a hard time making myself sit down and write this post.  It's not as if there isn't anything to say!

First of all, I completed my task of not logging in to Facebook for two weeks!  (#13)  I had the little glitch at the beginning of having to do some messaging via Facebook, but then I truly did stay off for two weeks.  I even kept going a few extra days -- partially so that I would have actually been off for two whole weeks even after the initial messaging, but also because once I got over those first really rough days, I lost most of my desire to be on there at all.  I was afraid that once I logged back in I would get totally consumed and be right back where I was.  I really do have a decision to make about whether I want to go back to playing Castle Age and Sorority Life which are my two biggest time wasters on Facebook.  I really am tempted to make a clean sweep, delete the games, and unfriend all the people I added solely for the purpose of game playing.  I'm still thinking about it.  One thing I did realize during this Facebook moratorium is, in addition to time spent on there, just exactly how much mental energy I waste thinking about what I'm going to post and who's going to respond and which posts are going to garner the most responses.  When I wasn't logging on, I found a mental quietness that I haven't experienced in a long time.

I should explain here that whenever I think about writing letters or e-mails, I start writing them in my mind before I ever put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.  I think through different versions of what I might want to say, not to try to find the best version, but more so I don't forget things.  I like for my letters (and blog posts!) to read pretty much just as if they are a transcript of what I might say if I were speaking.  Well, Facebook became a part of that mental dialogue.  And because you can post on Facebook anytime, as opposed to letters or e-mails which are written only occasionally, that mental dialogue became almost constant.  I didn't realize how loud it was until it was suddenly gone!  Now I am not going to completely shun Facebook, but I do want to make a conscious decision to back off.  Who knew this would turn into such a profound revelation!

The other thing that I accomplished was finishing the first of my fifteen pre-determined books (#66), Empire Falls.  Now I started this one almost two months ago.  It does not normally take me this long to finish a book.  Not by a long shot.  For some reason, though, I was having a hard time pushing through on this one for a long time.  I didn't dislike it necessarily.  I think I was just sort of ambivalent.  But suddenly this weekend during my vacation out in Arizona I got caught up in it and the pages started flying by.  In fact, I read probably the last third of it during my flight back home and was disappointed when it ended.  The bulk of the action did seem weighted toward the end of the book, but I think that's because it was a study in small town life and not a lot happens in small towns.  Overall, I did enjoy the book, and I am definitely looking forward to hearing the author speak next month over at Butler.  Since I got in such a flurry of reading, I decided to move on to another book from the list and settled on The Fountainhead.  I made the mistake of reading a foreword that Ayn Rand wrote for the 25th anniversary of the book's publication before starting the actual story.  I say mistake because I think it set me up to dislike the book.  She came across as very self-satisfied and arrogant, and I didn't like the style of her writing.  But, and I say this being maybe 20 pages into it, I am happy to say that so far the book is nothing like what I expected after reading the intro.  In fact, I am most interested to see how things develop.  I was at the library today and did pick up The Alchemyst based on a friend's review, but I may end up putting that off for now.  Unless I decide to take it to work and read it on my lunches!  I almost always have several books going at the same time.  It's good to have options!

So after two months (and almost another half), things are still going well.  I feel good about the progress I have made on the list, but I need to keep reading through the list so I don't accidentally end up putting things off until the end.  Sometimes I read through them all and wonder what I was thinking when I put certain things on there!

Spring Awakening

I went down to Bloomington last night to see Spring Awakening, which won the Tony for best musical in 2007.  I always watch the Tony awards show, so I remember seeing the performance for that, but I have to admit it came back onto my radar because two of the actors on Glee were in the original Broadway production.  The music was all written by Duncan Sheik, whose songs I liked back in the day.  And after happening across the soundtrack at the library one day, I fell in love with some of the songs.  Interestingly, the show did not come to Indianapolis during its tour, but it was down in Bloomington at the IU Auditorium for several nights.  I managed to shift my day off this week, so it worked out to go down and spend the night afterward.

The show is interesting, because it really contains almost every taboo topic you could think of, all wrapped up into one show.  This is the short blurb from Wikipedia...

Spring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 1891 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind. It features music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Set in late-19th century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of sexuality. The original play was banned in Germany for a while due to its portrayal of abortion, homosexuality, rape, child abuse and suicide. In the musical, alternative rock is employed as part of the folk-infused rock score. Spring Awakening received eleven 2007 Tony Award nominations, winning eight, including Tonys for best musical, direction, book, score and featured actor. The show also won four Drama Desk Awards, while its London production won four Olivier Awards.

There was also masturbation and sex, including some partial nudity.  Being on a college campus, there were a lot of students there.  (One girl in the row in front of me was texting throughout the entire show, which annoyed me greatly and served to remind me that I am now old enough that this person truly was from another generation.  Personally, I think that generation should still be able to figure out how to sit through a performance without using their cell phone, but that's just me.)  It also bothered me that there seemed to be a lot of inappropriate laughter during the show.  I admit that there were a lot of exaggerated scenes that were meant to be comedic, but they often fell during scenes dealing with very serious topics, so I didn't feel they were necessarily meant to be funny.  Rather, they were meant to balance the scene and keep it from being so dark.

Overall, I'd say it's not my favorite show, but it was good, and I do like a lot of the music.  And this was the first of my new shows (#95)!

On a lighter note, it's been a week since I last logged on to Facebook (with the exception of the two e-mail messages I received/sent) (#13).  I feel like I'm over the stage where I was feeling like I'd lost some sort of lifeline and was craving it.  Now I can see a little more objectively how much it is a habit to log-in.  A couple of times I accidentally clicked on the link to open it and had to close out before the window opened.  And last night while I was in my motel room in Bloomington, I had to consciously remind myself not to log-in from my phone when there wasn't anything to watch on TV.  I still find myself thinking of things I would post, but where last week I would be frustrated with not being able to post, now I just let it go.  I kind of wonder what I've missed... what's going on with the people I usually pay attention to on there, but I'm not dying to find out.  Of course, now I'm on the downside, and I know I'll be back on it next week!

Oh, and I spent an hour this afternoon working on a new PSAP chapter (#68).  The topic is heart failure, which I'm much more familiar with than the other topics I've worked on recently, so it's going much faster and easier.  I am debating over whether to skip the chapters on pediatrics, since that's a population that I never deal with.  Somthing to think about.  I wrote a letter to my grandparents this week (#43).  I have gotten so out of the habit of letter writing, that I forgot how much I enjoy it.  It really forces you to slow down and really think about what you want to say.  I've also been in much more regular contact with my father (#61) via both e-mails and phone calls.  Much more, even than the two weeks that I specified.  Like I mentioned before, it's not that I don't like talking to him... it's just that it's so easy for too much time to go by between talks.  And he will let quite a bit of time go by sometimes before contacting me if I haven't called or written him.  I think it probably bothers him that I seem so much closer to my mom than to him, but it has to be said that it's partially due to the fact that my mom calls if she hasn't heard from me in more than about three days.  So I think it is fair to say, that some of the blame for our distance lands squarely on his shoulders.

Little Steps

I don't think I ever mentioned the outcome on my shelves that were all lopsided...  I ended up calling customer service at The Container Store and after a much shorter conversation than I expected, the rep agreed to have them send me two replacement bracket pieces.  My hope was that a new pair would match one of the two sets that I already had, and thank heavens they did!  I really don't know what I would have done if they hadn't.  Pitch the whole thing in the trash would have been right up there on the list.  At any rate, I finally replaced the wrong-sized brackets tonight (took nearly as long as putting both sets of shelves together did, and with nearly as many expletives), which then inspired me to unpack four whole boxes from the apartment #80).  They were mostly knick-knacks and pictures, so now I will have something besides books to put on the shelves from Hades.

I also rearranged the kitchen counters again today.  It was out of necessity for workflow, and it feels much better now.  I'm happy with my kitchen... it makes me smile!

I finished another little section in my PSAP chapters (#68).  It's just a drop in the bucket, really.  I need to get a move on with those.  I stayed off of Facebook today (#13).  And with getting the shelves up, I was able to move some of the books off the dining room table.  My goal is to get at least a small space cleared off so I can finally start eating there sometime sooner rather than later (#15).  I'm actually really tired of eating all my meals on the sofa at the coffee table.  Oh!  My passport arrived today (#12)!  I am highly impressed, as it has only been three weeks since I mailed it off.  Now my friend and I have one less excuse for not getting our trip to Italy planned for next year!  (Under the Tuscan Sun is on the TV right now, so I'm ready to start practicing my Italian and hop on the next plane!)