Checking In

No. I didn't fall off the face of the earth. I just can't seem to leave the office early enough to cook or bake or do anything besides grab a cocktail and then go to bed. This has been my life for the past month or so; get up at 5:25, run for an hour, shower, get ready for work, go to work...work...work...work, come home, grab a cocktail, get in pajamas, go to bed.

Not very exciting...its been rather stressful. Yesterday I almost could have just put my head down on my desk and cried...I'm just so burned out with work and there really isn't an end to the onslaught of deadlines that face me. You know that reoccurring dream that everyone has where you're trying to run away from something, but you can't run fast enough, and then your feet become so heavy that you just seem to tread water in the same place never making any progress in getting away from whatever is chasing you...that's how I felt yesterday at work...it seemed a new deadline just attached itself to the one in front of it...again and again.

I shouldn't complain, I know. I should consider myself lucky that in this economy I'm faced with too much work, but it doesn't make the deadlines softer and it actually puts more pressure on me to "perform.' So just give me this little bitch session and I'll be on my way...back to work.

So, the long weekend...maybe I'll have time to bake. I don't know. I've got my fingers crossed.

Poached Egg on Sauteed Spinach

Ok. So part of the reason that my job blew chunks last week was due the fact that I needed to interview candidates to fill a position under me. I was looking for a coordinator; someone to coordinate all of the marketing and business development efforts that my company undertakes throughout the year, proposals, interviews, advertisements, award submissions, direct mailings, etc etc.

I hate interviewing people, hate it. I find it extremely nerve racking, time consuming and in general just a big pain in the ass. I know it’s a necessary evil, but I still don’t enjoy it.

I had a lot of candidates, and on the last day, I was really just tired of the whole process. I had one interview left, my last one of the day; I had high hopes for the person because she worked at a competitor of mine. I was eager to see what she could bring to the position because of her direct industry experience.

I must make a note here before I go on. If you don’t know about my obsession with clean and neat mouths, please see this post.

So, a few minutes into the interview I noticed that this girl had a really odd way of holding her mouth. Her lips formed what I can only call a snarl, and it was definitely more pronounced when she was talked. She seemed to favor the right hand side of her mouth as the side that curled up into the “snarl”. I thought to myself, she must know how distracting this is, why would anyone make that face when they are talking, or at all for that matter? I didn’t hear one word this girl said, I just stared at her mouth the whole time.

After she left I asked the president of my company (who was in the interview with me) if she noticed the snarl. “What was up with that girl’s mouth?” was her quick response. And my only reply was that she constantly held her mouth like she had just walked into someone else’s fart. That is the only way I can describe it. You’re walking down a hallway or wherever and you smell the distinct aroma of flatulent, and then you make “that face” her face was constantly “that face.”

Needless to say, she didn’t get the job. But we have nicknamed fart face.

Moving right along.

I made this for breakfast on Sunday and it was just great.

First, I sauted some baby spinach in a little olive oil and sea salt over low heat until it had wilted.

Second, I brought a pot of water to a rolling boil and then turned the water to simmer and gently placed two eggs into the hot water. I left the eggs in until all the white parts had turned from translucent to solid white. I'm not sure how long it took, sorry.

I placed the spinach on a nice piece of toasty Italian bread and then laid the egg on the spinach and topped with some freshly ground pepper. Mmm Mmm....

Rating = So Damn Good

Grilled Shrimp, Spinach and Fontina Pizza

So, we've met just about all of our neighbors, and all of them are super nice. The house directly behind us is a huge three story home that has been hacked into a three family, it's either condos or rental apartments, I'm not sure which. We've met one of the men who lives there on the first floor with his gorgeous golden retriever Max - he's a great guy and we like running into him because he's always friendly. We haven't met the man who lives on the second floor, he seems like a loner type; he doesn't say hello when he sees people, he always has his head down when he walks down the street...he just keeps to himself.

Now, the lady that lives on the third floor...boy oh boy does she think she's the cats meow. She's probably in her forties, blond, she's not fat, but I wouldn't categorize her as thin, she's really just thick in the middle, but man, does she have a huge rack.

Why do I know this?

Well, she wears the most inappropriately low cut tops everyday (to work)- and then at night she changes into impossibly short shorts and a tank top to weed the 4 square foot patch of earth in front of the house that has some flowers in it. She doesn't weed like a normal person though, she completely bends at the hips (as if her knees didn't bend) so that she's folded over, ass in air to weed the garden, and while she does this her breasts are nearly falling out of her tank top. Everyday.

Well, Saturday night we decided to try our hand at the grilled pizza, so CB was spending some time in the back yard getting the grill ready (and drinking beers) and I was inside preparing the dough and spinach and shrimp, etc. It took a while for the grill to get ready and then the dough to cook, so CB had been in the back yard alone for some time. When I came outside with the tray full of pizza toppings something caught my eye and for some reason I looked up into the third floor window, where, the neighbor was standing, with just her underwear on, no top, her humongous breasts clearly visible and nearly touching the window screen. It was at this moment that I realized, this show was not intended for me, it was probably for my husband. I was literally frozen in place, and like a ventriloquist talking out of one side of my mouth, I whispered to CB, "oh my God, did you just see that?"

He missed the whole thing, and was then pissed that I didn't alert him to the "tit show in the window." Typical.

From there we just went on and had a lovely night outside...snickering a little through dinner.

Getting Settled

So, I'm still getting settled. The only thing I've made, cooked, baked, since moving into the house two weeks ago is the potato salad I posted previously. Every night I come home from work and either strip wall paper, or prep walls, or paint. So, there has been no hot kitchen action in my house yet. I'm hoping that Saturday night I will have time to attempt grilled pizza. Has anyone done this before? I'm a little afraid of it, but I'm hoping to give it a try.

Sorry for the complete void in posts, but I can't seem to get into a rhythm beyond going home every night and working in the house. The kitchen...I'm not sure I've located it yet.

Stay tuned...I'll hopefully have before and afters of some of the rooms soon.

JB

Creamy Cucumber Rosemary Potato Salad

First, a few random things.
1. I had my teeth cleaned today by a woman who wore mint flavored latex gloves Refreshing at first, but after forty five minutes with her mint scented digits in my mouth the flavor became a bit overpowering...and my jaw hurt.

2. I love having my teeth cleaned. I am overly diligent with my oral health. And, when I meet someone new, the first thing I do is look at is their teeth. This was a big deal before I was married, when I was still part of the dating scene. If I met a man in a bar or wherever I was meeting men at the time, the first thing I did was look at his teeth, because, my theory at the time and still in effect today is, that if a person cannot make the time to take care of their mouth, they probably don't make the time to take care of their private parts...get my drift. I never tested this theory out because I never looked at the private parts of a man with bad teeth, or overall bad oral hygiene, but I'm going to stick with the theory that bad oral health means bad genital health. It may seem like a leap to some people, but my case stands as such.

3. Our door bell rang by itself yesterday, twice. No one was at the door, the door was open and the doorbell just rang...all by itself. Does this happen or should I maybe call a priest and have the house "cleansed"?

4. Running is coming along. I'm up to 5 miles every other day. And Saturday I was feeling all super badass and ran 5.75 miles. Watch me now!

5. Yesterday - hot as balls. Today - raining and cool. Whatever.

Ok, so this little side dish was excellent. I loved it. Here's what I did. I boiled a small bag of red skinned potatoes until the were fork tender, but still had a little snap at the very center of the potato. I put them in an ice bath to stop the cooking as soon as I thought they were perfect. While the potatoes were cooling I seeded and finely chopped a cucumber, and chopped a few springs of fresh rosemary. In a bowl I combined a spoonful of light mayonnaise and a few spoonfuls of greek style yogurt. to this I added a little sea salt, freshly grated pepper and the rosemary. Mix to combine, add the cucumber. When the potatoes are cool quarter them and add to the mixture.

This recipe was great after being chilled for about 30 minutes, but surprisingly the left overs the next day were just as good. Enjoy. Then brush your teeth.

Rating = Damn Good

Watermelon Mint Salad with Orange Blossom Honey

We are all moved and settling in very nicely. A lot of the neighbors have come over to welcome us to the neighborhood, and the 96 year old woman who lives in the house next door baked us a batch of blueberry muffins on Saturday morning.

I seem to have found my own way of introducing myself to the neighborhood...like not realizing how many damn windows we now have, and unlike a condo, they are on every side of the house, so when, the day we moved in and I couldn't find the box that housed my pajamas and I proceeded to walk from room to room, rummaging through umpteen million boxes without clothes on...only to then realize all the blinds were up and everyone could see inside. That was the first night.

The second night as I was watching an episode of Tell Me You Love Me on HBO, which contains thought provoking dialogue, but also a shit ton of naked sex scenes...I realized that the wall opposite the tv has two windows facing the house next door, and both windows have blinds, which were conveniently all the way UP...so not only do the neighbors think I'm an exhibitionist, they also probably think I'm a crazy porn watching sex fiend who stays home on Friday nights with no life, in order to get my porn fix.

I won't even mention the widow in the bathroom...must remember to put that shade down before I sit on the toilet, I think the neighborhood has seen enough ass this week.

In a moment of complete brain funk I bought a whole watermelon a couple days before we moved. Yeah, so I had to move a friggin watermelon along with all my other shit. But you know what...this watermelon salad went real well with the muffins that the neighbor brought over on Saturday.

Watermelon and Mint Salad with Orange Blossom Honey
3 cups cubed seedless watermelon
3-4 springs fresh mint, leaves torn
Combine together and top with a drizzle of orange blossom honey.

Yum

Rating = Damn Good