At Long Last
A few nights ago, I finally tried something I've been putting off for years: Lasagna. Partially, because of a sub-concious fear of stuck lasagne noodles, partially, because of my sorry memory. And the scent of success is strong with this first pass; I have not reached the promised land, but I know that greatness is within my grasp. Too much meat, too little cheese and sauce, but otherwise, an intact tray of wonderful, meaty, pasta goodness.

Since lasagna was made for reserving, I put an entire tray in the fridge, and have been gradually reducing that pan since. I cooked up a secondary sauce and grated some mozerella, for which to smother the reheated servings, Roommate, after a day's delay, partook of the lasagna; it was bad enough that he went back for seconds.

Next time, I'll use less meat (subtract the pork and veal parts), mince the olives, use more cheese, and add a basil layer.



posted at: 19:49 | path: | permanent link to this entry

Misto
A few weeks ago, I got a tip for a "new-italian" place called Misto; it's open, dimily lit, and sparsely furnished, for a "dark cosmo" feel. The mozzerella/tomato appetizer was adequate, but the pumpkin ravioli in butter sauce with cranberry was a real winner. I'll be returning in autumn, for that specific dish. Supposedly, they have great bread (a real plus), but were out by time I had arrived that night. So I think this place has upside potential.

posted at: 18:12 | path: | permanent link to this entry

Recipe: Italian Chicken and Rice
So, in celebration of the Great Cleansing, I threw together the following:

• 6 chicken thighs, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 vidalia onion, chopped
• 4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 6 roma tomatoes, diced
• 5 basil leaves, sliced
• 5 oregano leaves, sliced
• 2 sage leaves, sliced
• pinch salt
• 1 cup rice
• olive oil, thyme to taste

Clean Those Carpets!
So, I dropped a bottle of wine (red, of course) on my car's floorboard last week. And I ended up with a bottle's worth of wine soaking into the floormat and carpet. After bailing/sopping out the excess wine, I put down some baking soda to soak up some more wine (and odor), until I could rent a cleaner. Note to self: baking soda doesn't work all that well against red wine; car ended up smelling like the musty, gym sock portion of merlot, with all of the sweet, fruity bits removed (or absorbed by baking soda).

So, the cleaning took place over the weekend, between rainstorms. And although the stains might never disappear, the car is now drivable again, thanks to the cleaning unit, and some type of enzymatic odor remover. One more pass with the enzymes (i.e., empty the bottle and use a brush) should do the trick.

Once the rain started again, I parlayed my great automotive cleaning success into the apartment. Apparently, the carpet was never really cleaned, as the wastewater looked pitch-black, and the "apartment smell" I was accustomed to had completely vanished. Note to self: when moving into a new apartment, have the carpet replaced or steam-cleaned before moving in.

posted at: 03:08 | path: | permanent link to this entry

Whither yon ants?
The ants haven't bothered showing up in my apartment for quite a few months. This, primarilly due to the vast number of children (7) that moved into my building in the spring. A family of four or five holds more potential for food than two roommates. What few ants remain are kept busy with the porch garden. So, I'm enjoying the break.

posted at: 02:52 | path: | permanent link to this entry

Why August is My Favorite Month
August is my favorite month. Why? In general, the nights start to get a hint of autumn, especially toward the later part of the month. The days are still long enough to enjoy a good walk in the evening, and for all the Braves fans that can remember the pre-Realignment days, August hosts the annual Western Division homestand:

• August 9-11: Los Angeles Giants of San Francisco
• August 12-14: Los Angeles Diamondbacks of Arizona
• August 16-18: Los Angeles Dodgers
• August 19-21: Los Angeles Padres of San Diego

Illness sucks
One more thing that happened this summer was a bout with some form of pneumonia, for the better part of July. Whatever it was settled into my right lung and didn't move. So I couldn't really talk without coughing for about a week, and still have a slight, residual cough. Every day after the first week has shown slight improvement.

So, July was pretty much a complete writeoff. This includes scrapping a planned trip to Columbus, OH for Origins, (and requisite stop in Cincinnati for some Skyline :). At least the hotel refunded most of my charges after a month or two. And, I'm really glad to have some sort of remote access to the office, else I'd have soaked about 8 sick days.

Moral of the story: go to a doctor next time, dammit.

posted at: 01:12 | path: | permanent link to this entry

Time flies when...
It's been a damn long time since the last update, mainly due to chronic writer's block, and pre-writing venting. So what's been going on since last time....

• The weeks have been give and take, but "suck" wins out over "good" by a 2:1 margin.
• The Los Angeles Braves of Atlanta have turned it on, swinging 10 games in the standings against the Los Angeles Nationals of Washington, on the strength of a bunch of AA (That's double-A) call-ups. We have had seven or eight rookies in the lineup at any given time.
• This season will known to Braves Nation as the year the Braves became self-sufficient...all the years of regular- and post-season success have finally yielded a crop of local players who only know the Braves as contenders, and come pre-built with professionalism. Davies, McCann, Boyer, Francouer. And now Farnsworth, via trade. So, fuck you, carpetbagging Yankees and Mets fucks who don't have the decency to root for your new home team. Fuck you, we're taking over.
• Courtesy of Interleague Play, I saw the Los Angeles Athletics of Oakland, formerly known as the Oakland Athletics, formerly known as the Philadelphia Athletics. In the first game, we saw the debut of Brian McCann. In the second game, we saw the second coming of Andruw Jones. And in the third game, we saw the debut of Blaine Boyer. And one fan was the only thing separating myself and an Eric Chavez home run. I lost it in the clouds, rediscerned the flight by taking bearings from the converging Brian Jordan and Andruw Jones, drifted to my right, and ran into the fan boxing me out from the location. This would have been fine if the blocking fan had BROUGHT HIS DAMN GLOVE TO THE GAME!!! AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! He let the ball pass through his bare hands and ricochet to the front row. AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! DAMMIT! $*@*&!!!! The only good thing about this story is the ball passed right over the seat previously occupied by the guy's pregnant wife and kid, who were fetching concessions when Chavez hit the ball.
• I've measured my bad luck, courtesy the poker tables of Tunica and Biloxi. It seems my luck runs anywhere from 8:1 to 12:1 against. This translates into an even .500 record when I'm 3:1 favorite or better. And I'm not even drinking! (this may be the source of my problems; more field research is necessary.)
• And so it was, that Bobby Abreu aptly demonstrated the True Power of the Left Side of the Plate, smacking 41 home runs, at Comerica Park, in the glorified batting practice tournament known as Home Run Derby.
• I have test-drives on the Kia Amanti and Volvo S60 (2.5,FWD). More on those later. Sunroofs rock.
• About 8 or 10 kids worth of families have moved into my complex over the past few months, giving the Ants plenty to do. Actually, most of my building has turned over. I think the new leasing company has jacked up the rent, so I might be moving in a few months, myself.
• The very small, somewhat thirsty basil plants have turned into ravenously thirsty shrubs. My entire porch is ringed with basil, thyme, sage, and oregano. I believe spaghetti is in order this weekend. :-)
• And summer is the time of year for sitting out on the porch at night, which is exactly what I'm doing right now. Rock now, swim tonight, roll tomorrow.