Monday, April 30, 2012

a post that is primarily about the post

see these blooms?

hahah. it doesn't mean that it's spring here. i still have the fucking heat on.

i cannot WAIT until i'm out of there for a while in july. (i am fully expecting there to be no summer yet again in the shithole that is seattle.)

ANYWAY, let's look at my mail from this week. what? i get good mail! for example, here is a package from germany


which contained THREE KINDS OF SAMBA!!! OMFG!!


THANK YOU SOOO INCREDIBLY MUCH, JENS!! YOU'RE THE GREATEST!!!

more cryptically, this arrived from brooklyn.


i had to do some research about it and, yeah, things are not that much clearer. eh, i will have some things to show you that involve that marker in due time.

i got myself an early bday present in the form of a skeletal chart. here is a terrible picture of it.


and that's pretty much it for the post.

other things from last week: i finished two projects. hooray for not really being under a deadline! i celebrated by getting drunk and writing on my knuckles. like i do.


i think that's when i took this blurry picture of fujiko too.


ha! don't let the sun fool you, it was still fucking cold that day.

here's the weekly link for excheckered


and i'm out until next monday. although, fair warning, may starts tomorrow. and regular readers might remember how...cranky i get in may due to my looming bday. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Monday, April 23, 2012

another busy week

it's been another week where i've not done much more than work. i am SO THRILLING! i mean, really. one of the high points of my week was getting this peep stick.


and seeing the plum tree blossom. THAT was exciting. (although, man, it is so late this year.)


i've got spring fever so i watched a lot of fluff like teen girl movies


and the professor layton anime!


i can't really tell you whether or not it's as good as the games though 'cause i fell asleep in the middle of it. oops.


the sketchbook project is starting to wind down. i should be finished and have it in the mail by wednesday.


excheckered, however, still has a ways to go.


i should be finished with it in june? idk. i'm almost too tired to think about it.

Friday, April 20, 2012

puns from the sketchbook

here're two stencils that i made today for my sketchbook project special edition thing. oh man, the puns are painful.



if you want to see more of this ridiculousness, make sure to check out the entire flickr set!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

crazy thing that i didn't realize i ate: coronation chicken

here's the thing. if you think about it, there are a LOT of british dishes on the tables of u.s. southerners. one example is that whole big breakfast thing we do, right? kinda like a fry up? instead of just toast and coffee like up there above the mason dixon line, at my dad's house it's always a huge plate of food with meat(s), eggs, bread in the form of (american) biscuits, (red eye) gravy, fried potatoes, etc, etc, etc.

well, there are no baked beans, but whatever.

anyway, the last time we were in the uk, leff got a coronation chicken sandwich for lunch thinking he was trying something new. he took one bite, paused for a minute and said "omg! this is your curry chicken salad!"

WHO KNEW?!?

well, obviously not us. but i did some research and, yeah. this recipe would seem to fit my personal timeline. see, i learned how to make it from tennessee church ladies who would have been, oh, about 35 or 40 when ol' five pound lizzie was coronated, right?


and they were still making it for pot lucks and picnics in the '70s when i first ate it. i mean, it's popular and easy and american southerners seem to have an affinity for all things british (oh god, it is genetic!) so WHY WOULD YOU NOT make it?

true, it might seem a bit weird that i'm still eating it in 2012 but, ugh, i am SO homesick.

anyway! there are some really great versions of the recipe in the linked guardian article above (here is the link again) including the original recipe created by rosemary hume but i thought you might like to see how things get bastardized when they cross the pond. so here's how i make it.

FIRST! boil two chicken breasts. this makes it easier to shred? i don't know why the chicken is boiled! i am just following old lady orders from almost 40 years ago.

next gather your ingred.  i use one apple, one celery stalk (the second in the photo was for me to eat while i was cooking), 1/4 cup of walnuts, about 1/4 cup of mayo (ugh, you are not going to eat all of this yourself so kindly keep your mayo prejudice to yourself, thanks.), about 1 tbs of curry powder.



OH YEAH! and cider vinegar. glug in about a tbs.


HAHA! i told you this was bastardized, right? apple and celery and walnuts....you can also add raisins?  but they aren't in this photo.



but speaking of the walnuts. toast them if you want but i just put the shredded chicken on top to warm them up. it uses one less pan. * shoulder shrug *


mix!

and then try and get all snooty with your presentation.


when in reality you just eat it in a sandwich.



it keeps well. a week? it won't last that long though. make this for that freakin' jubilee thing that's happening this summer if you want. that won't be why i'm making it though. like all the brits i know, i don't give two figs about royalty. remember? (photo credit: shed)


coming soon, more british type cooking. if you're lucky, i will write about my adventures in british curry! but you will more than likely get recipes from harry potter.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

have i mentioned the sketchbook project?

'cause i've been working with it long enough to where things are starting to get a bit interesting. whole set is here. updated daily.


and, yeah. this will be available as a print soonish. give me time to find a reputable source.

Monday, April 16, 2012

back to normal monday posting

since i last wrote, spring tried to happen.



the key word in that sentence was tried. it's still been really cold, foggy and blah most of the time.


the few minutes of sun that we get per day are greatly appreciated, however.


what else is new? i've been keeping myself busy with work.( i suppose that is not new...) anyway, this week i made an orange chocolate anonymousse.


i also tried to recreate food from the trip. here's a decent chicken bhuna (it needed cardamom. we didn't have any.)


and a really good (if i say so myself) roasty puff pastry thing a la ottolenghi.


i would eat both of those dishes again. AND this welsh cheese!


they have all been consumed. of course.

i've also been consuming books.


ok, trying to. my attention span is shit these days.

and i've been working my way through the sketchbook project, special edition book that needs to be postmarked by the 30th. my topic is "distance and time". here are a few of my favorite pages to date. (full set can be seen on flickr.)



lastly, of course, collages for excheckered.



blargh. i SWEAR next week i will try not to sound like someone stole my pickup, shot my wife and then exported my dog to canada (or however it is that old school country songs go).

leff has started recapping

just thought i'd let you know that leff has started recapping our 2012 uk trip. HE HAS A PICTURE OF THE RED TROUSERED MAN! also, audio, better photos and a different take on things than me. click through!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

rhys in seattle 2012, post trip

after two super grueling days of existing outside of time (first two days are always the worst), leff and i started to reacclimate to pacific daylight time. poor rhys who had to witness "the rakka and leff show, jet lag edition"! we are NOT a pretty sight. (me: *cooking at 3am*, rhys: *stretching, slightly waking up* watcha' making? me: curry. it's 3am cu-uuuur-uh-ah-er-aheeeeeeeeeeee!! *dancing around to the klf song that i had stuck in my head*)

anyway, on friday of last week, we took a short trip to port orchard on the foot ferry. this, uh, this is not the foot ferry.


it is, however, the dock where you wait for it.



i saw my favorite boat.


to be honest, we didn't really do a LOT while we were in port orchard as there's not a lot to do. i made everyone go to the library (OF COURSE). we detoured through a candy shop where i tried to buy a cadbury creme egg but was offered some fudge instead. (i know you have to push the samples, kid, but I DON'T EAT RANDOM FUDGE! BACK OFF, INSISTENT PANTS!) then we got drunk at amy's. well, ok, I got drunk at amy's but that is because the bartender made my g&ts really strong. like, it was just gin on the rocks with a twist of lime. I AM FINE WITH THIS! esp since it was pissing down rain.

ugh. any carrot in a storm, i guess.


back on the btwon side of things, rhys posed with a chipmunk while leff bought a black and mild at the 7-11. (they are a hold over from our days in memphis. please don't ask.)


i think that i might have slept for the rest of that day. like, i said, poor rhys. jet lagged hosts are the worst.

HOWEVER! the next day we MADE AN 8 COURSE MEAL!! the courses were...

1) booze course with mango mimosas


2) appetizery fiddly foods course (artichoke hearts, pepperoncinis, kalamata olives and roasted red pepper hummus with carrots and cukes)


3) SALAD!!! course (i could have stopped here, tbh. BUT I DIDN'T!)


4) gross prepackaged butternut squash soup that i tried to doctor to turn into the curried butternut squash soup that i make every fall course. i failed miserably in this endeavor. OH WELL! IT'S NOT LIKE THERE WEREN'T MORE COURSES!


5) salmon course.


6) sunday roast course! with roast chicken, roast potatoes, roast carrots and boiled, vinegary cabbage. mmmm! also some sort of gravy that i threw together but, whatever. it was not so good.

7) key lime pie course!

8) milky coffee course


ugh, i did not think that i could ever eat again. but the next day (WAS it the next day?? i don't care, let's just say it was for narrative funness.) leff made english breakfast.


blurgh.

oh, it was good but, ugh. so much food.

the monday before rhys headed back to atlanta, we rented a zipcar. I KNOW! A CAR!!! we went LOTS of places! first stop? cap hill for volunteer park where we climbed up the water tower and then looked at the koi.




i am kinda' stupid because i forgot that it was monday. monday is closed day for museums and, APPARENTLY, the conservatory at volunteer park. sorry, rhys.



near the park is the cemetery where both bruce and brandon lee are buried.



and in wallingford, there is a squirrel wearing underpants.


at archie mcphee, of course.


here i am with a deer head mask.



rhys had never seen the troll before. this would be because i avoid fremont like the plague. still, we headed to troll ave north


so rhys could try and out troll the troll. (he does the best rage faces, i swear.)


um...LENIN!

then a short jag to gasworks park.



here is rhys being the statue of liberty on top of the hill.


i modeled my new ring from mcphee while he was up there. like i am going to climb a hill on my day off.


in freeball, ballford, whatever the fuck people call that shit area between neighborhoods, we rocked out to the musical stylings of herb alpert. because we are ridiculous.



also we were on the way to the locks on a sunny day. herb alpert is perfect for days like this.


we took fish and chips to the locks to sort of make fun of the fish climbing the fish ladder. (ok, i lie. i just had chips. and only part of these because OMG I HAD EATEN SO MUCH FOOD. X_x)


our fish taunting was in vain, however, as this was the only little guy who showed up.





after the locks, it was on to golden gardens! TOLD YOU WE DID A LOT!







i had TWO rocks!


we stayed at the beach for a long while. look, we were giddy. THERE WAS SUNLIGHT! also, we had finished doing everything in seattle.


after this, things were just sad because rhys had to head back south. and even though he had a day more than he thought, it was still awful because OMG, I MISS MY RHYSLING!! *sads* *icepo* *etc*

really, i am just going to stop writing now because everything is just so depressing. i miss everyone and everything and i really do not want to be in washington state.

BUT, no. one last bit of goodness. leff has started his new job! (HOORAY, LEFFIE!! AND CONGRATS!!) and i have a lot of work to do so that should keep me occupied. i guess. ugh, i wish that i had been able to get a script for antidepressants before we left. 


anyway, this should wrap up all of the abnormal posting for a while. i do have a nutella comparison post to do but jens is sending another kind of hazelnut spread from germany (I CANNOT WAIT!! THANK YOU, JENS!!) so i'll probably wait on that for a bit.

 so yeah, back to regular monday only posting unless i make something that i'm happy about. I AM SURE THAT YOU ARE RELIEVED!