Always, Patsy Cline

As a birthday present Greg got us tickets for Always, Patsy Cline (because he's so sweet) and we finally got to go last night. It was a good show but it really underlined just how flawless and inimitable Patsy's voice was.

I was such a huge fan growing up! Fun fact: When I was 6 or 7 I used to march around my aunt's big circle driveway in Beorne listening to my Walkman. Inside there was always a Patsy Cline tape. Partially because it was the only tape I had but also because I loved it so much.

I was a shy kid but sometimes my dad could coax me to sing "Crazy" or "Walkin' After Midnight" for his friends. This went on until I recorded myself once and discovered that, though I could hit the notes and I had some nice vibrato, I sounded like well, a kid. Ha! This really pissed me off because in my head I sounded just like her.

Anyway, moral of the story is that I love her and her music brings me a lot of fond memories. She has some fun, upbeat numbers and some songs that so perfectly capture the helplessness of heartbreak, a feeling I didn't understand then but of course I do by now. I don't know who wrote all of those songs but I do know that they wouldn't have been the same without that lovely, lovely voice.

2 updates in 1 day? Damn I'm prolific.

I recently realized that this blog consists of 4 main topics: travel, cooking, exercise and feminist issues. Those are basically my main interests right now, so that seems fitting. Soooo to keep on topic, here's a pic of some Indian food I made a couple of weeks ago. It was my first time trying my hand at Indian so I was half expecting it to be a disaster, but I was happy with how things came out and I know what to tweak for next time, specifically halving the chicken breasts before cooking and actually measuring the heavy cream instead of dumping it in.

You're looking at chicken tikka masala, a last minute chana masala for a vegetarian guest, and a homemade raita that is simply greek yogurt with minced carrot, cucumber and a dash of cumin. The chicken tikka was adapted from this recipe. I had done a bit of reading that indicated garam masala should be added at the end of the process to protect the flavor and prevent bitterness, so I recommend doing that.

To make things easier on myself, I made double the sauce and divided half to use for the chana masala.  The half I used for the chicken tikka got pureed in a food processor. The recipe didn't call for that, but the restaurant versions I've had are always smooth and creamy and I wanted to replicate that. The half of the sauce reserved for the chana masala was left chunky and added to some sauteed spinach,chickpeas, garlic and ginger. In place of the traditional amchoor powder I used some lemon juice and also added a dash of yellow curry powder. Had I planned ahead I would have loved to have made saag paneer. That'll be happening soon so stay tuned. Well, assuming I live to post about it as opposed to drowning face-first in a bowl of it. What a way to go!

Can I just name this "Update"?

I'm pleased to report that I am finally, FINALLY feeling like myself again. I'm not the bummed-out mess during the winter that this blog makes me out to be, it's more of just a mild case of the blahs. I'm not down so much as restless and a little, well, blah. I expected things to "click" in March, but Timehop was quick to point out that my Facebook posts from a year ago also consisted of a lot of talk about needing a vacation, specifically a roadtrip or weekend in Vegas. I think this can be partially attributed to the fact that all of the hotels/casinos email bomb me with deals this time of year. I never really noticed it until now. I'm so easily influenced and predictable, jeez!

Thankfully, Greg and I did get away for a daytrip to San Augustine last weekend. There are a lot of historic cemeteries there; it was hard to make a dent. Here's a photo of me looking super goth, except for my bright blue clown shoes.

It was overcast that day, but the weather has been sunny and warm for the most part so I'm back in sundresses and sandals - my favorite state. That alone helps my mood, I swear. I also have a lot of fun events coming up, including shaking my ass off with Jenna, a charity event I'm co-hosting, a friend's backyard crawfish boil wedding (is there another combination of words that could get me that excited? I think not), and a dance performance where I will get to see Travis Wall live and in person! Basically, Spring and Summer are looking fanfuckingtastic.

Give me all your free stuff

So every year Allure magazine does this big free stuff blowout in August. As many of you know, I'm a total product junkie, so I will not pass up the chance to try new products. Send something to me and I will slather myself in it without a second thought. I'm not as serious about sweepstakes as some people - there are whole forums devoted to this stuff - but I managed to get quite a few entries in this time and had my best year yet. All I really do is set Outlook reminders and enter at the top of the hour, every hour each workday. I mostly half-ass it and forget about 50% of them, so imagine my surprise when packages started showing up at my place almost daily. Time to brag, because I raked in the following:

Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream - $20
Garnier Fructis sleek and shine serum spray - $6
Nivea creme - $1
Color Club nail polish in In the Limelight - $8
Cerave lotion - $12
Big Sexy Hair Weatherproof spray (travel size) - $7
Clarin Shaping Facial Lift serum - $70
Zoya polish in Bevin - $8
iS Clinical Active serum - $78
Revlon lip butter in Candy Apple - $7
Sally Hansen polish in Pumice - $8
Maybelline eyeshadow in Turquoise Glass - $4
Wet n Wild Liquid Eyeliner in Turquoise - $3
Covergirl eyeshadows in Platina and Ice Princess - $8
Essie polish in Main Squeeze - $8
Olay Regenerist Advanced Anti-Aging treatment - $22
China Glaze polish in Pink Voltage - $5

That comes to a crazy value of about $275! All for taking the time to click a few buttons. I also won a few items that I thought were from this sweepstakes, but must be from other things so I left them out. Oh and I haven't gotten that Covergirl eyeshadow yet but I plan to nag them relentlessly until I do. Most lady magazines have giveaways going on all the time on their websites so if you have a few minutes, check them out (just make sure to uncheck any boxes for trial subscriptions or newsletters or any junk like that). And if you find out who wins the big stuff like $1000 purses tell them I'm jealous. I want to eBay that shit.

Rapunzel wanna be

This is probably only interesting to like, 3 of you but remember this post from awhile back? The first pic was taken about a year ago and my hair is continuing to grow nicely. It'd be even longer if I got regular trims and didn't wait until I have to chop off half an inch each time (sorry Sean!) I still wish it was fuller and thicker but I'm beginning to accept that I'll be a fine haired lady 'til I die. The biotin is definitely speeding the growth though and I'm pretty happy with how it's looking lately. I've been using a really lightweight shampoo and conditioner to give it body (Umberto Volume) and deep conditioning with argan oil overnight.

I actually took this photo to showoff my new lipcolor (Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti) but I thought my hair looked nice and decided it'd go well with this post. I wish I was smiling, but I just don't like you. Anyway, the moral of the story is take biotin!

A Facebook Tale in Two Parts

Minutes later...

Eastern Eating Excursions

After a mindblowing bowl of bibambap at Underbelly, I found myself a bit obsessed with expanding my experience with Asian food. I knew that I loved Thai food, liked Vietnamese, and disliked most Americanized Chinese, but had I ever even had Korean food? I realized that my foodie cred was about to suffer big time if I didn't start branching out. A tip from a friend sent me to H Mart, an awesome Asian market and a wonderful place to spend an hour on a Saturday. I wandered the aisles oohing and aaahing like a spaz, apologizing to Greg for my embarrassing enthusiasm. Not only did I pick up the pantry staples I need to make my favorite teriyaki salmon, I got a few odds and ends meant to broaden my cooking horizons, including a big tub of fermented black bean paste.

After researching recipes calling for said black bean paste, I settled on this one for Ma Po Tofu since I had most of the ingredients. Searching online has made it evident that everyone has their own spin on this dish, but there are a few common elements. A key ingredient is Sichuan peppercorns - an ingredient that the recipe I linked to is lacking actually - so I swung by Penzey's, picked some up and ground them as finely as I could. With that addition and a few substitutions, I ended up with a great meal that I was extremely proud of.

This dish is pretty flexible so play around with it using what you have in your pantry. Of the options the recipe provided I used ground beef instead of pork and sake instead of chicken stock. As far as the actual subsitutions, I used fish sauce in place of oyster sauce. While I did have tienmen jang (the fermented black bean paste) I didn't have tobanjan (the spicy chili bean paste) so I just added a hefty dose of sriracha to give it the necessary kick - no need to add any additional bean paste since it was plenty salty already. I suggest mixing the sauce ingredients in a bowl and giving it a taste. There's a lot of salt and umami going on so you're going to want to make sure things are balanced. It might call for a bit more sugar or another splash of sake. I highly recommend adding some ground Sichuan peppercorns since they are a key element in traditional Ma Po tofu and there's no real way to duplicate the numbing type of spiciness that they impart.

I really look forward to playing around some more with these new ingredients, and making it a point to use some already familiar ingredients more often. Did you know that you can peel and freeze fresh ginger, grate what you need then pop it back in the freezer? Lifechanging. I will definitely be making H Mart a semi-regular stop. I'm going to make some crazy seafood you guys. Hold on to your hats.