my blog is now a photodump. I swear.

I was up today at five for inexplicable reasons, so I decided to go out and watch the sunrise. Unforunately I realized that I live in a state with hills and I was on the wrong side of one to see the crack of dawn, but I saw some neat stuff anyway. The two photos above were supposed to be really sweet landscape shots but they turned out blurry, so I sized them down to use here. The only problem with the digital camera is that it's pretty much all automatic, and although you can look at your pictures after you've taken them, they look a lot sharper on that tiny screen than they do full-size. It's possible I just need to hold my damn camera still too.

:(

...but why is the rum gone?

tomato sauce w/ banana pepper, apple, shallot, smoked ancho and pinot grigio

My new apartment building in Shadyside.

Schenley Plaza. Not sure why there's a giant squirrel.

Tonight, I finished a sauce with basil that I grew with my own hands--I picked leaves off and put them right into the sauce. It was a different experience. I'm anxious to see what my habaneros will look like, and my tomatoes as well (if they enjoy the windowsill).

worst. day. ever. kthx.

Ever have one of those days that starts out with you splitting your thumbnail down the center with a boning knife? I did not think so.

Shortly after the aforementioned trauma this morning, which didn't so much bother me at the moment as it made me unhappy about having to go to work Sunday with more injuries than I already have, I walked out of class and discovered that I'd left my wallet on a 500 to Bellevue. As of yet the Port Authority hasn't found it, and I've little optimism for such a miracle.

While I was busy getting a new student ID, freezing my debit card, getting cash to pay bus fare home, etc, I was called by my new renter telling me that the apartment I was renting is now unavailable--turns out it wasn't vacant, but rather mysteriously uninhabited by a soldier on a tour of duty in Iraq. It's cool, because I'll be renting a place with the same floorplan in the same building. But now I've got to move in July 1st rather than August, which puts a little pressure on my financial situation. My roommate that I'm living with now happens to be awesome, and I agreed to pay the rent for the month of July when I'm able to because I originally intended to stay until August. I've just got to figure out how to get my stuff to Shadyside, and how to pay a 600 dollar security deposit and a 300 dollar loan payment fairly soon. It'll all work out, as things like this usually do, but I won't be roasting any pork loins or buying any new olive oil anytime soon. I did, however, buy a new plant today (Marglobe tomato) to cheer myself up. It was a buck fifty.

Otherwise, I've made a goal to get a bike and my PA motorcycle license within a year. I've always had notions of trekking across the U.S. with only what I can fit in my saddlebags, so I figure I'm going to go ahead and do that--now's as good a time as any, when I'm young (I don't want to be a middle-aged familyman that buys a Harley during his mid-life crisis and rides it around the suburbs). Once I'm established in my new place I'll be saving some money, so I'm looking at used mid-80s and early 90s Honda cruisers right now like the one shown above.

Remember what I said about the gelatin content in stocks? This is what I mean. This chicken stock has been strained and slowly cooled off like a batch of jello overnight.

Rainy day in the strip. I was caught in a thunderstorm walking towards downtown with many many pounds of produce, chicken bones, etc.

Contemplating the stock.

With nearly nine pounds of bones, I used mine and my roommate's stockpots and made two batches of chicken stock. It was a massive undertaking, especially the straining, which involved a plastic dresser drawer taken from my cheap dorm furniture. Someday I will own a giant All-Clad stockpot and a chinois, but it's not going to happen on eight dollars an hour.

This was dinner while the stocks simmered--a curried red lentil ragout with banana peppers, onions, celery, garlic, and apples. It's simmered with bruised stalks of lemongrass and cinnamon sticks. I had a sauteèd chicken breast to go with--at 2.19 a pound, I bought a giant sack of them today at Wholey's, so there's enough for Mulligatawny tomorrow at work, and enough to subsist on for awhile.

I work at a restaurant that plays Dzihan and Kamien in the dining room.

The habanero is blooming. Imagine such a cute little flower turning into such a potent pepper...

The one on the far right is basil. The plant has grown amazingly fast-- nearly quadrupling its size in the past week, providing me with more fresh herbs than I can use. I'm going to have to collect more herbs soon. Maybe some chives, thyme, rosemary, oregano, savory, etc.

So I got paid (for 89 hours of work) just in time to pay first month's rent on my new place. I'm really excited about the apartment, even though I won't be moving in until the beginning of August.

On the agenda for this weekend:

Figure out dinner tonight. Going to the grocery store with the girlfriend shortly to see what looks good--really don't know what I'll be doing yet. I've got plenty of onions, shallots, garlic, the basics, but no stock left.

Do a whole bunch of laundry. Ugh.

Get five pounds of chicken bones, make chicken stock. Work on mise en place for mulligatawny soup to be made Sunday at work for staff meal. It's an Indian soup with chicken, curry, lentils, and tart apples and I've really been wanting to do it at home for awhile.

~rex tremendae majestatis
qui salvandos salvas gratis