Northern Exposure

So, I've been having a fit of nostalgia for some of my favorite TV shows lately, and I picked up the first two seasons of Northern Exposure not that long ago and I've been catching up on the series at the office while I've been there by myself. To be honest, I have forgotten how much I enjoyed the series; it's quirkiness, it's bizarreness, it's humaneness. If you've never had a chance to watch the show before, give it a chance. It's a lot of fun.

Episode tracking: Season 1, Episodes 1-2, check!

Busy, busy, busy!

Life has been a whirlwind of adventures lately: Chicago over Labor Day weekend with C and B; back to Chicago the next weekend to take C home; several really good movies (The Wizard of Oz, 9, Toy Story Double Feature); I participated in a Banned Books Read-a-Thon at Schuler Books; ad finally spent a week in Florida for both vacation and for my dad's retirement party. So, busy busy busy! but all for good reasons. I'll be sitting down this weekend getting everything down and posting some pictures up, so stay tuned!

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Read my review of James Dashner's The Maze Runner over at From My Bookshelf.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Read my review of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins over at From my Bookshelf.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking - An Adventure in the Kitchen

OK, so I went to see Julie and Julia a couple of weeks back, and now all I want to do is cook French food! I'm a freak. I'm well aware of it. You do NOT need to bring it further to my attention.

So, I picked up Mastering the Art of French Cooking the other day, and it is a daunting volume. I am determined to at least make a couple of the recipes out of the book (Julie Powell, I am not). I decided to start it extraordinarily easy, and made one of the pork marinades the other for a loin that I picked up. All I have to say is if the rest of the more complex recipes turn out as good as this rub did, then I'll be eating some damned good food in the coming months/years.

The recipe I used was the Marinade Sêche, or Salt Marinade with Herbs and Spices. It is a dry rub, applied to the meat before cooking. I included the optional fresh, chopped garlic and the only variation I made in the recipe was replacing the ground bay leaf with thyme. I applied the rub the night before and let it sit overnight in the fridge. I ended up slightly overcooking the loin (or so I thought!) but when I removed the roast, it was juicy, tender and delicious!

Hi Aunt Bunnie!!

It was great talking to you! I miss you!!! Lots of love!

Me and my harem - The kind of night you never want to end

It is a rare occasion for all of us to be able to get together. In fact, this was a first for the five us, to be able to sit down together, as one, and enjoy each others company. It is almost always three, frequently four, never five. And it finally happened. And it was magic. And I want it to happen again and again.

A view from my drive home

Chicago: my continuing love affair with a city 8/15-8/16/09

I took a very quick trip to Chicago August 15 and 16. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra was performing Beethoven's 9th at Millennium Park, and it was the final outdoor performance of the season and I wanted to see it. I took the afternoon train into Chicago, and instead of taking the time to drop my one bag off at C's, I decided to spend the afternoon at Millennium Park until he was done with the Air and Water Show. I had started reading Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain on the train, and wanted to finish it, so found a nice shady bench right in front of the bean. While I was sitting there, 2 female police officers came and joined me on the bench, one on each side of me, to catch a slight respite from the sun. I couldn't pass up the opportunity, and told them both that I was feeling very protected at that particular moment, to which one replied, "It's our job, to protect and serve." I told them they were doing an admirable job and thanked them very much.

I out aside my book for awhile to people watch, and observed the gays being restless as they were staging a "kiss in" so that everyone could see that we can be normal in public. Of course, carrying around Pride flags and making sure that everyone in shouting distance is watching them kiss isn't exactly normal behavior on a day to day basis, but us gays do like to be flamboyant! After they left, I got to watch a group of ladies doing a choreographed dance with brooms to someone playing the saxophone, and as soon as they finished their one dance, they left. These are the moments that make me love Chicago even more.

The Air and Water Show was also going on, so we got to see some of the jets flying over the city. You could always hear the jets before you could see them, and since no one ever knew which direction they were coming from, everyone would just stop and look up in whatever direction they were walking. I wished that I had gotten a picture of the people, looking up in every which direction, hoping to catch a fleeting glimpse of the jets as they soared passed.

I wandered up Michigan to the Magdalene sculpture, which never ceases to take my breath away. I took a few pictures of her in her summer finery and turned back around as it was coming up on time to meet C and his friend J at Bella Bacino's for dinner. We had a delightful meal (as always) and C recommended that we make our way to Millennium Park so that we could make sure that we could secure a viewing area. I'm glad we followed his lead, as the lawn area was already beginning to fill up, and there was still almost 2 hours until the concert starting.

The concert was sublime. Even though we couldn't see the orchestra, to be able to lay there on the grass, watching the sky darken as night covered us, the stars just beginning to twinkle, the city as a glowing, magical backdrop... I couldn't ask for a better evening. These are the nights that make me want to live there that much more.

Sophie

Sophie taking advantage of the one last little bit of shelf space on my bookshelf.