Foodmomiac

mmmmmm... pork.

  Roasted Pork Shank 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac.

Wow, what a week this has been. I forgot how tiring a full time job could be. Damn.

All I wanted to do today was curl up in my bed and nap, but that doesn't seem to be an option EVER now that we have two kids. Max has been on a tear lately. If he's not standing on my glass coffee table, he is standing on the open door of my dishwasher, or climbing into the dog's crate, or dragging the stool across the kitchen so that he can open the silverware drawer. It's hard to get mad, because he does ALL of this with a smile on his face, but it is just exhausting. I spend all of my time with him (which is now at a premium, mind you), chasing him around and saying, "No Max. Put that down, Max. Max, NO!! NO NO NO NO NO NO!"

Well, anyway, I really just wanted to sleep, but that wasn't an option, and the thought of just chasing children around an apartment all day was not appealing, so I decided that we needed an outing. The original plan was the Field Museum, but then Michael started talking about German food, so we ditched the culture and ended up at the Chicago Brauhaus, which was a total blast.

I ordered the day's special, a roasted pork shank, which as you can see was enormous. It came with those pretty spaetzle, and a delicious dish of sweet and sour red cabbage. It also came with a cup of yummy liver dumpling soup, but Max ate my whole dumpling, so all I got was some liver broth. The pork shank was outrageous. I can't figure out how they cooked this thing, but the skin on it had turned into just one giant pork rind. It was so good and crispy and delicious. Michael had some tasty wiener schnitzel and Dylan and Max shared a plate of wiener wurst and fries. And... Michael and I each had a giant mug of ice cold German beer.

Which brings me to my next point.

Did you all see Melissa on The Today Show yesterday? The video is here. I should state, first, that I am a staunch Good Morning America viewer. I have never liked the Today Show, and I never will. Matt Lauer was very cute back in his local NY days on Live at Five, but I don't care for him anymore, and Meredith Viera annoys me. This segment did not change my opinion. I can't believe the way they were trying to demonize Melissa and the rest of us moms who enjoy cocktails now and then.

As Michael and I were enjoying our beers at lunch, we started chatting about how annoying that segment was. And then we had this exchange:

Michael: So, if you aren't supposed to drink at playdates, does that mean that we shouldn't have these beers at lunch?

Danielle: Probably. Ridiculous.

Michael: Seriously.

Danielle: I know. I love drinking during the day.

Michael: Yeah, that's the best time to drink. Drinking at night just makes me fall asleep.

Oh, one more random thought. I had such a great night Thursday. Jess from Sassafrass came over for wine (more drinking!) and Thai food. It was the first time we met, but we talked for hours, and I had a fabulous time. She is awesome, and I am so glad that Stefania pointed me towards her blog. I love spending time with other bloggers!

If only I were in charge...

I mentioned this on my gift guide (YES! I have a gift guide! Click! Buy!), but in case you didn't see it, for my  birthday this year, Michael got me a gift card for six cooking classes at the local cooking school. It isn't a professional school. It's more like a kitchen store with classes. But, it's pretty high-end, and they have real live chefs doing the teaching, and I was very excited. So, I went to my first class on Sunday and I was very disappointed. This really bothers me, because this is probably one of the sweetest gifts that Michael has ever gotten for me. It wasn't anything I asked for. He came up with the idea and found the place all on his own, and I was truly excited to start taking the classes. So, what was wrong with the class?

Well, first of all, it was really low-level. The menu was pot roast, roasted root vegetables, buttermilk biscuits and German chocolate cake. There were 16 of us in the class, and we got split into groups of four. I knew more than everyone at my table. I even had to teach them how to slice an onion. Also, there was no instruction, beyond little tidbits that got shared as the teachers walked around. We just followed the recipes.

For example, a pot roast is a braised dish. So, when you prepare one in a cooking class, it is a prime opportunity to teach the students about braising. What is braising? Why does it work? Why do we use this cut of beef? What are other dishes that are braised? How can we use these techniques to make other dishes? None of this was covered. And, the pot roast we made was mediocre at best. The ones I make are much better.

The buttermilk biscuits also needed some more instruction. The recipe said to use 3/4 cup of buttermilk, adding up to a 1/4 more IF NEEDED. But, there was no indication as to how we make that determination. How should the batter feel? If it holds together, is that enough? 

There were a host of other problems as well, but I won't bore you with the details. I am signed up for a Tapas class next week, which sounds a bit more promising, but if that one is disappointing as well, I'm going to use the remainder of the gift card to just buy goodies for my kitchen. They do have a very nice shop, and there were plenty of things I wanted.

Ridiculous

Do you remember last week, when I was moblogging, and I said something about my body being too old to recover from overeating? Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that it's not my old age. The bad news? i likely need to have my gall bladder removed. I'm getting an ultrasound tomorrow and should know more by Thursday. What's truly bizarre about this is that I'm convinced I caught my gallstones from the Internet. Well, not really, but check this out:

Back in March, Max cut his first tooth the same weekend as Riley from All & Sundry and Noah, from Amalah. You could chalk that up to coincidence, right?

In October, I received an offer on my Toledo house the same day that Stefania from City Mama received an offer on her house in Portland. We closed on the same day as well (one month later).

Last month, Brenda from Secret Agent Josephine started feeling sick and then needed to have her gall bladder removed. And now I have the same problem.

Cue the theme from the Twilight Zone.

Any tips from the gall bladder-less out there?

Friday Update

Wow, almost forgot to post today. Darn NaBloPoMo!

Anyway, thought I'd post a quick update. Friday is doing well. She seems much improved, and is no longer crying all of the time. I thank all of you for your good thoughts! And, I appreciate all of the input regarding our next steps with the owners. We have decided to accept their help with medical costs and just move on. There are a lot of factors that went into this decision, and we thought about it long and hard, but it was the best decision for us.

It's official. I'm a lush.

Yesterday, I went to the doctor for my annual exam. Because we are new to town, I am new to this doctor, so I had to answer a barrage of questions. One of these questions was, How many drinks do you have in a week? I realized that the doctor probably didnt want to hear my real answer, so I lied and said, seven. The doctor proceeded to tell me that seven is at the top of the range for being healthy. I was glad I lied, but, seriously, seven??? Julia Child lived to her nineties and she had at least one drink a day. And that was gin! And what about Europeans who have wine with both lunch and dinner? I think this limit of seven is ridiculous. Am I crazy?

It's over.

It started here:

Apr. 13th, 2004

12:36 pm - The House Didn't Sell!

Damn eBay!! So, now we don't know what to do. What a bummer. I'm really annoyed. I am having a very hard time adjusting to this.

Current Mood: aggravated

Apr. 12th, 2004

08:28 am - Selling my House!

So, we put our 113 year old historical Queen Anne Victorian up on eBay a month ago. The auction ends tonight!! We have no bids yet. I expected it to come down to the wire, but it is more stressful than I thought it would be. I have no clue as to what the outcome will be. I definitely recommend this process to others, though. We've gotten a ton of publicity, and, if it works, it's a great, cheap and fun way to sell a house. And it's fast! All done in 30 days. Maybe if I just keep typing about it some of my stress will go away? Ha, yeah right. I've certainly learned a lot about real estate. Maybe I could ditch my writing career and just sell houses on eBay. I'll strike fear into the hearts of realtors everywhere. :-)

And then we did for sale by owner.

And then we tried the ritzy realtor.

And then we did for sale by owner.

And then we switched to a great realtor who specialized in our neighborhood.

But at that point, the market had COMPLETELY soured.

So, then we tried this.

Which resulted in this.

But, then this happened. Which sucked. (Oh, and now that I'm no longer in Toledo? I can share the evil auctioneer's name. Her name is Pamela Rose. And she is not ethical. And, if you found this by googling her name, I hope you choose another auctioneer, because she is a very bad person and does not deserve your money.)

So, then we went back to the neighborhood realtor.

And then Michael got a new job, and we moved to Chicago.

So, we said goodbye to Toledo, but not really. Because we still had that house.

But, now? As of an hour ago, it is no longer ours.

Yes, I am drinking a dirty martini. (Actually, it is all gone already. And we do have a bottle of champagne in the fridge, but Michael wanted me to wait for him to return from his trip, so I'm thinking another martini is in order.)

I've had it, but I'm still happy

Two things that are pissing me off today:

- Dealing with telephone customer service. We finally got Comcast to work after six weeks (though, our DVR apparently has some weird glitch. If you turn it off, when you turn it back on, the screen is black and there is no sound. To fix this, you need to go to a recorded program, play it for two seconds, and then hit exit twice. But, I'm not supposed to worry. Motorola knows ALL about this problem. They are working to fix it AS WE SPEAK.). So, where was I? Oh yes, Comcast is working-ish. And, I thought this would be the end to my endless phone calls with customer service. Ha. This morning, I tried to sign on to my Yahoo! email. It's been suspended. The story is totally boring, but I spent an hour on the phone with customer service this morning, and I still can't get in to my email. I can access my foodmomiac email on the server, but I can't access any of my folders. So, all of the Dear Foodmomiac questions I have in the queue? Can't get. All of my saved information on upcoming travels? Can't get. Saved emails with various account information? Inaccessible. ARGH!! (I still plan to do a Dear Foodmomiac this week. I remember a bunch of the questions, but I don't remember the senders of all of them, which kind of stinks. So, if you have a question, now would be a great time to send it. I will hopefully have access to the old questions by the end of the week.)

- Dealing with my Toledo house. We FINALLY accepted an offer. We were supposed to close last Friday. Apparently, though, the "buyer" is a freak. He doesn't understand any of the papers he signed. He thinks everyone is out to get him. He is no longer happy with the offer. He is no longer returning phone calls from our realtor. How does this happen?? We have a contract! I'm just totally baffled here. I can't say much more because I'm literally speechless.

And for some balance, two things that are great:

- Friday is doing pretty well. Her tests last week came back with great results, and the bump on her head that I thought was a tumor was just a pimple (I know - I need to stop jumping to horrendous conclusions). Our biggest issue right now is her anxiety. We are trying to handle that with some alternative treatments that our vet recommended. One is Bach's Rescue Remedy. The other is a D.A.P. collar. The collar hasn't arrived yet, but it sounds so cool! It has the scent of a mommy dog's pheromones on it, and that scent has a calming effect on anxious dogs. Can't wait to try it out. I'm so relieved that Friday is OK.

- I joined our local Y.M.C.A. today, and we know have access to a bunch of great classes. I signed Maxy up for Musical Munchkins, and Dylie starts Floor Hockey next week. Floor Hockey! I'm so excited. This will be her first team sport experience.

Time Management

  halloween 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac.

I started off this week wondering what I'd cook, and how I'd accomplish everything I needed to get done. I'm ending this week with basically the same level of frustration, but at least some understanding as to why I feel like I'm constantly swimming upstream.

Where the time has gone....

2 hours: On the phone with Comcast and DirecTV, trying to get someone, anyone, to give us television that actually works. Outcome: Failure.

1 hour: Online, looking at sites that tell me how badly Comcast sucks.

1 hour: Brainstorming with Michael on ways to further spread the word about how badly Comcast sucks.

2 hours: Online, trying to find the perfect Elina Fairytopia Mermaidia costume for Dylan. NOT EASY. I think I might have found one, though there is a deluxe version and the regular version. Other than red flowers instead of pink, and a price tag that is $4 higher, I can not understand what makes deluxe so special. Outcome: Moderate Success. I think I'm close.

2 hours: Online, trying to figure out where to have Dylan's birthday party. Outcome: We have a place, I just need to confirm availability.

30 hours: work.

2 hours: Eating cookies and walking around my house in circles thinking about everything I need to do. Outcome: 1 pound heavier (I love me some Mallomars)

1/2 hour: Getting urine sample from my female dog (have you ever tried to do this?) Outcome: Success! Turns out this can be achieved by taping a small tupperware to a ruler and sticking it under her butt as she pees. Fun times, and I feel a bit like MacGuyver.

1 hour: To the vet twice. Once to bring in tupperware of piss. Once to pick up special food to help Friday eliminate the crystals in her urine.

6 hours: Working on new Chicago food blog.

3 hours: Reading other Chicago food blogs and wondering to self why I am starting a new one, since this area seems to be covered pretty damn well.

2 hours: At dentist for family appointments.

1 hour: Playing UNO with Michael and Dylan.

2 hours: On phone with sister-in-law about 20 times, planning out our weekend. She arrives tomorrow morning. Wheee!

Miscellaneous: Chasing kids, doing laundry, making dinner, food shopping, sleeping, taking dog to park, showering.

I'm exhausted.

Multitasking in the 21st Century

Dylan had her ballet class today from 3:30 to 4:30. And I had a conference call with a very important client from 3:30 to 4:30.

I left her at class at 3:29, left the building and dialed the conference call access number. I then realized that I was incredibly thirsty. I did what any busy mom would do. I headed to the closest Starbucks and handed the barista the following:

Mission accomplished.

It's hard to cook without a knife...

I'm almost done getting my kitchen set up. And, this state of almost-doneness (never mind the armageddon that is my bedroom), led me to realize, yesterday, that my knives were missing. My wood knife block filled with two sets of gorgeous, sharpened, luscious Sabatier knives. I love my knives. And they were gone.

I opened every box labeled kitchen. I also opened every box labeled family room, dining room, and living room. I figured the movers might have put the knives in a box from an adjoining room. No dice. I did, however, manage to make my hernia pop out about an inch further.

We went out to dinner AGAIN (fun place called Kitsch'n - mediocre food, wonderfully kid friendly. Dylie got her dinner in little bowls served in an old metal lunch box. How cool is that?) last night, and I decided that today I would find my knives.

After I fed us all breakfast, I took the kids over to my storage unit. OMFG. The movers must have been REALLY hating me and my walk-up Chicago apartment when they filled that thing. To get to the boxes, I had to lift an overturned wheelbarrow (helloooo hernia), move three bikes, balance the bottom half of my patio hearth on a dining room chair, and dive in. Dylan, in the meantime, stood outside the unit with Max in his stroller, and narrated the whole thing for me. "Why is all this stuff piled like this? Why did you pick these movers? Those guys were NOT very good. Why did you pick them Mommy? Why are those boxes all in there? Why can't you find our knives?" As I cursed and sweated and moved EVERY GODDAMN BOX BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T EVEN FUCKING PUT THEM FACING FORWARD SO I COULD SEE THE GODDAMN LABELS, she kept on and on with her commentary. Finally, I found the knives. In a box labeled books. Of course.

P.S. Tonight I'm cooking. Yay! Simple, though. Maybe pasta with Italian sausage and zucchini. And wine. Lots and lots of wine.