Cooking up trouble

You know how when you know you're going out of town soon, you kind of stop buying groceries a little too early and justify eating a burrito on campus for lunch and make grilled cheese for dinner every night? And then after you get back to town, you come home to a house with hardly any food, but you're pretty broke from vacation and conferencing and don't want to go to the store until you can really make a plan and a list and do it right? Just me?

So I've been putting together meals out of whatever I have lying around. Just when I think there aren't any ingredients left that go together, I come up with something pretty decent. Last night's dinner was better than decent, actually. Inspiration struck when I saw the tub of couscous in the back of my cupboard. Now that I'm back, I'm able to actually use the CSA share I'm splitting with Rick. Last week's bin included a couple of zucchini, which I love. Inspiration part two. Recipe below.

Desperation Couscous (10-15 minutes)

• Heat cast iron skillet to medium heat and add some olive oil. Put kettle on to boil.
• Throw 1 c. couscous in a bowl with about 1/3 c. slivered almonds.
• To the now-hot skillet, add around 1 c. zucchini chunks and 1/2 a red onion, chopped. Add some course sea salt and some herbs de provence. Stir regularly to evenly carmelize the veggies. Add in some jarred roasted red pepper when you realize you have it.
  
• When water boils, pour 1 c. into the bowl of couscous. Cover with an inverted plate and let sit until the veggies are cooked to your liking.
• Chop up a few (I used three) slices of cooked bacon*. Take the veggies off the heat.
• Uncover the couscous and fluff with a fork. Throw the veggies in and mix. Add the bacon and mix again.
  
• Serve and eat. There should be enough for lunch tomorrow.
  

As I sit eating leftovers in my office today, I realize I should have thrown in some raisins or dried cranberries. If I'd had more patience, I would have sauteed some chicken and thrown it in, too. Normally I would have added some kind of cheese (most likely feta, chevre, or parmesan), but I didn't have anything but chedder.

*When I cook bacon, I always bake up the whole pound and then freeze what I don't need in little packets of 2-4 slices each. This way I buy the cheaper, larger package and only make my house smell like bacon a few times a year.

"When Blogs Collide" or "There's a Whole Lotta Fishnet Up in This Bitch"

I was in Seattle for two weeks! And while I was there, I met up with Jess and we schemed up an interblogsection that I'm only just now getting around to posting. Hers is up and it's here. As she mentioned, the title of the posts comes from Ryan's observation of the bar. He said it so seriously, too.

Jess captured the night pretty well, truth be told. We met up at King's Hardware, which I keep reading about on the Slog. I expected it to be all hipster and annoying, but we were there early enough on a weeknight that we might have missed that crowd. My billy burger was devine. Can you beat grass-fed beef with goat cheese, roasted garlic, and onions? No, I don't think you can.



It is always fun to hang out with Jess and reminisce about our days in the 'Ville. One part of the customer shitting story she left out was that we had called the police on that gal because she'd forged/altered a prescription for vicodin. Oh, yes. The shoplifting was merely an added bonus. When the MPD arrived to nab her, she ran into the bathroom claiming her period had started (wtf?). But really, she shit herself in fear. I recall there being two women involved, but only the younger one lost control of her bowels. Good times.



I seriously covet Jess's t-shirt here, by the way. It seems like we took tons of pictures that night, but I really only have a few. Damn it! After much hemming and hawing, we left for the belgian pub, but the highlight was the Baranof. In addition to the peek-a-boo toilet stalls, the 'Nof has Poseidon to watch over you while you pee.



Never fear, the god of the sea is here! But of course, the best part of the whole experience was the karaoke. I conducted a video interview of Jess, for your enjoyment.