Asian Smashed Potatoes

Yesterday morning was a stressful day. For those that know me, I have a pervert for a landlord and yesterday I knew I was going to have to see him, even if I managed to actually not speak to him.

I usually keep my breakfast at work and come in a few minutes early to wolf something down before I actually clock in (I also read the news and catch up on my Yahoo Groups at this time). But I wasn't at work yesterday morning (pervert appointment) I was scramblin to find something quick and yummy to eat and given I'm not picky, wound up microwaving a red bliss potato for breakfast.

When it popped out of the oven, I decided to do my usual thing, which is use toasted sesame oil and worstichiere sauce on top instead of butter. I was reaching into the cupboard for some salt and pepper when I had a flash of genius and spied my bottle of Ume Plum vinegar. Now the biggest problem with Ume Plum vinegar is it's salty, so I sprinkled some on instead of the pink Himilayan sea salt (that Sally bought for me over a year ago) with my pepper.

Wow. I'm talking toe curling wow. I obviously haven't worked out perportions or anything, but I can so see this being a smashed potato recipe with some 5 spice blend added. Now, I don't know a single person who would be willing to do an asian dish for Thanksgiving, but I'm going to try and spread the word.

Vampire Day

I have a secret. The reason I never went to medical school, or became a vet tech or worked in medicine is I hate blood and needles. I always have to the point I was terrified of my mother's sewing machine growing up.

Ever since 9/11 I've made it a point to donate blood on a regular basis to honor not only the victims, but also all those military personelle who risk their lives on a daily basis because of bad choices the rest of us keep making (about who should be president, etc.).

Anyway (and I'm about to start ranting in a moment) our job makes it easy. There about 4 blood drives a year, we get gifts, lots of free cookies, brownies, juice, fruit and a chance to win $100 gift certificates. And only about 50 people could be bothered to donate blood this time around. Okay, WTF. I know there are reasons not to donate. Hell, I had to take iron supplements for a year and couldn't donate, but out of over 1,000 people, more than 50 should be able to take the time to give a pint.

I am so freaking PO'd (not my first words of choice on the subject). Why is it I keep reminding people we are at war? Do you know what happens in a war? Bullets flying, blood splattering. Where are people's brains (our's not the soildiers who just got his splattered on the inside of a tank)? I'm so at a loss. I keep wondering if I set myself up to be disappointed in people. I might be a left wing liberal nut job, but at least I know the value of civic duty.

one thing my beautiful friend Filomena taught me (and yes, I spelled her name right) is that you need to lead your life as if the world is really the one you want to live in. That means you do the right thing, even though you know that it won't be reciprocated just because it's the right thing and you wish everybody else would join in. Then again, I also know why Filomena is depressed all the time.

Vote Early, Vote Often

I woke up 10 minutes to 6am in order to vote this morning. Never before have i waited on line, but this morning it took about 1.5 hours to cast my ballot. And my roommate and I were lucky we didn't have to wait longer. We arrived maybe 6:05 to find a line around the corner and nearly completely down the street. 1 hour on line listening to the stories of the neighborhood from those who grew up there (I might be a native Brooklynite, but I didn't grow up in Brooklyn). When we got through the front doors of the school, I grabbed my roommate and headed for our voting booth. Others had to spend at least .5 hours having their district looked up for them. We still had to wait at least .5 hours for the 5 people in front of us to vote. Again, lucky because some other districts had at least 25 -50 people on that line. We then headed for the coffee shop before going home.

My roommate showered for work and I designed and sewed up a tv remote pouch for us to hang off the coffee table. I'm still debating whether or not to staple this directly to the coffee table or use grommets and a grosgain ribbon. I think I'm gonna K-I-S-S this one and just staple it down.

I'm proud of my design. I used 2 $.50 napkins I purchased a few years ago during my first trip to a Target store (in Jersey with Filomena). I didn't want to rip the seams, so i used one for the back cut to the length of the table (1 raw edge) and the second napkin was cut the length of the pouch and then I cut off the side seams (3 raw edges). I then cut a fabric insert (so you wouldn't see the underside of the napkin and you'd have a little contrast in fabric) and straight stitched the top edge right under that top seam. I also sewed up the 2 bottom raw edges. Then I folded over the side edges for the back and top stitched those down creating one big pocket. I sized my remote pockets and sewed divisions leaving a large pocket for netflix DVDs and mailers (get them off the table please).

I did have to leave the thing on top of the table so that my roommate doesn't get home and go "what the hell happened to my DVDs and the remote controls". But tonight I guess I have a date with the staplegun (and Trader Joe's to pick up coffee).