The fight that never happened

First, apologies for the formatting... I am still tinkering with the layout and working the bugs out.  Thanks.

Now for the story.

Today was a very very stressful day for me.  I'm intensely sleep deprived, which makes small things seem challenging and challenging things seem unsurmountable.  I was so tired, in fact, that I went through the day with a queasy exhaustion that dragged at my eyelids, dropped a stone in the pit of my stomach, and pulled at my concentration naggingly. It was a bad day.  I'd had nightmares and repeated awakenings all night, and got up this morning to face a day of phone-watching.  I'm still waiting to hear about a job I really *really* want, and I heard they started making calls last week.  So... I probably didn't get it, but still could... limbo.  Do the limbo rock!  Also, my beloved kitty has been sick on and off for over a week, and the vet doesn't know what it is, and she's hovering on the line between probably-okay and needs-to-go-back-to-the-vet, so I've been cleaning up kitty barf and stressing about vet bills and hoping she's okay and generally worrying.

So, feeling nauseated, tired and worried, I decided not to go to the gym after work today, and to go to the grocery store instead.  We need food, and also, it requires less energy.  So, I text my husband to let him know where to pick me up, did my shopping, and waited for him to show up.  I waited.  And waited.  And I called him, but he didn't answer.  I called again.  No luck.  After fifteen minutes of calling and waiting past the time he normally gets me, I knew that he didn't have his phone.  I knew this because he is never fifteen minutes late without calling me.  Ever.  He is considerate and reliable, and so I knew he forgot his phone.  I also knew that he'd probably figured out by now that I wasn't at the gym, and would head to the other place I generally wait for him... the bookstore.  I hoped I could walk over to the gym with my groceries before he left the parking lot and made it to Borders, and so I set off at a purposeful trot across the parking lot, with the grocery-sack handles digging into the meat of my hands, and my gym bag slung off one shoulder.

We crossed paths halfway between the gym and safeway, as he was turning to go to Borders.  It had taken him exactly the same of amount of time it had taken me to figure out what I had figured out, and he did exactly what I thought he would.  So I hopped in the car, and said "you forgot your phone, huh?" right as he said "sorry, sweetie, I forgot my phone."  I also knew that he didn't realize he didn't have his phone until he got to the gym parking lot, because when he knows he's forgotten it, he e-mails me at work, to be sure things like this don't happen.

So, even though I am a professional worrier, and an exhausted emotional mess, I was very calm about being stranded at the grocery for half an hour with no way to get ahold of my husband, because he's so reliable and I know his patterns so well, that I knew where he was and what he was doing anyway.  It gave me a sort of zen-like calm to contemplate him, and rather than imagining a horrible car accident scenario that might have led him to be late, was able to see him in my mind's eye, in the gym parking lot, looking for his phone, as I carried my groceries.

Recipe: My husband's favorite Soup

This is a Thai Curry noodle soup based on a dish we have had many times at our local Thai place. I cobbled together this version from the regular grocery store, but if your regular super market isn't as thoroughly stocked as ours, then you might have to make a trip to an Asian market.

Ingredients:

1 quart chicken broth

4-6 ounces red curry paste

1 package (13 ounces) of rice noodles.  I use the 1/4 inch wide ones

2 bunches of scallions, finely chopped

1-3 tsp chili garlic sauce (to taste)

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1lb ground chicken

3 limes, sliced

1 bunch cilantro, stemmed and chopped

6-10 basil leaves, stemmed and ripped

Fish sauce- a splash

soy sauce- a splash

1 can coconut milk

sesame oil

Optional: bean sprouts

To prepare:
Brown the chicken in sesame oil with about half the ginger
Prepare the noodles according to package directions and drain
In a large pot, combine the broth, curry paste, and coconut milk
Add in the cooked chicken, the rest of the ginger, and the soy sauce, chili garlic sauce and fish sauce
Stir thoroughly be sure the curry paste is incorporated, and taste to adjust the soy, fish sauce and chili garlic.
Add half the basil and simmer 10 minutes.

Serve by pouring the broth mixture over the noodles, in a large bowl, and garnish with large amounts of chopped scallions, shredded basil leaves, cilantro, and lime wedges.  Squish the limes on in there for extra yumminess. If you are using the bean sprouts, those go on top.

Hilarious

THIS.  

Dinner

My acorn squash, curry quinoa, black bean and mango salsa burritos sounded brilliant and interesting, but were in fact kind of lame.  I have yet to perfect beans in the crockpot, and ended up with flavorless beans in three inches of standing bean water.  Yummm.  The quinoa, though, that stuff is awesome.  I"ve been seeing it everywhere, and so I thought... "hey, there goes a bandwagon!  Wait for me!"

But really, it's easy, tasty and interesting, and will sub in for rice and couscous in my cooking occasionally from now on.

First Post!

I'm starting a new blog, because my old LiveJournal is clunky and cumbersome, and because I'm looking for a different format and vibe.  Also, it's nice to start fresh sometimes!  I'm going to talk a food a lot, and probably about my cats, but not so much about work.  What I do for living is 1. boring to people who aren't law nerds, 2. almost entirely confidential until a few months after I've been working actively on a project and 3. pretty consistently stress-free, so there's not much to say.

Anyway, welcome!