AliThinks

You Know The Drill

Some of my blog friends have posted a list of resolutions or intentions for 2007.

I don't think I can do that, make a long list.

Allan and I talked about the coming year at lunch today. We are both on the same wavelength about 2007. It's good to have a soul mate!

I guess my main goal for next year is to get a little more self-discipline. I'm a notorious procrastinator. I start things but don't finish them (case in point: scrapbooks). I know. I suck.

A few weeks ago I was invited to be part of a Flickr group called My 2007 Daily Photo Diary. I accepted the invitation (along with 1300 of my closest friends), and starting tomorrow, I will take a self-portrait every day and post it to my discussion topic in the group's forum. It ought to be interesting. Sure, it's a self-centered exercise, but I'm still figuring a few things out about myself. And it will require some creativity. I'm sure not going to stand in front of the mirror and snap a photo every damn day.

This project seems feasible. It's also an easy "intention" to have for the New Year, and will force me to have a modicum of self-discipline.

If you have a Flickr account, and would like to participate in the Daily Photo Diary, I can invite you. If you don't have a Flickr account, what are you waiting for?

Do you have any goals/resolutions/intentions for 2007? 

A Little New Year's Cheer

My friend Anne had a great idea for a New Year's Eve party. However, our recent travels have left me a little tired, so I am late in posting this recipe. I wish I could say that I invented it, or even tested it, but I'm not a good liar so damn honest. The recipe comes from the Food & Wine website, and here it is:

Pancetta-Wrapped Scallops with Lemon

SERVES: 2 DOZEN
Ingredients:

    * 6 large sea scallops (about 1/2 pound), membrane removed, scallops quartered
    * 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    * Four 3-inch-long strips of lemon zest plus 1 teaspoon finely grated zest for garnish
    * 2 fresh rosemary sprigs plus 2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary for garnish
    * Freshly ground pepper
    * 12 thin slices of pancetta (about 4 ounces), halved

Directions:

   1. In a bowl, toss the scallops with the olive oil, lemon zest strips, rosemary sprigs and pepper and let marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours. In another bowl, soak 24 wooden toothpicks in water for 2 hours.
   2. Preheat the broiler. Remove the scallops from the marinade and lightly pat them dry. Drain the toothpicks. Wrap each piece of scallop in a slice of pancetta, secure with a toothpick and transfer to a broiler pan. Broil the scallops for about 1 minute per side, turning once, until the pancetta sizzles and the scallops are firm but not rubbery.
   3. In a small bowl, combine the grated lemon zest and chopped rosemary. Dip one end of each wrapped scallop in the lemon-herb mixture, transfer to a platter and serve.
   4. I'm just leaving this here because it was this way on the web page, and I thought it was cute.

I'm sure that the recipe could be adapted to the type of scallops that are available to you. For example, in France, most fresh scallops you can buy still have the coral attached.

Tomorrow I won't be cooking this; we decided to eat out, last minute. But I will be sure to try this recipe at some point. It seems champagne-worthy. And we have a few celebratory events coming up...

Somewhere Out There, I Have A Kindred Spirit.

Seen in the women's bathroom of a rest area on I-71 near Delaware, Ohio.

Late Late Babble

Mmm, yeah. So my brother, who's sitting across the room, encouraged me to write a blog entry. We're the only souls awake right now, and we're each typing on a keyboard. Let's hear it for family interaction! Yeah!

Seriously, though, we had a great evening with our other brother and our respective spouses (spice?)-slash-significant others. The neighbor came over, and let me tell you, once she was here, hilarity ensued. We all played a variation of this dice game (chosen over Trivial Pursuit; the beer might have had something to do with the decision), and for most of us, it was a new experience. It's a fun game. I got over not being able to play Trivial pretty quickly, despite my desire to show off all the useless knowledge I carry around in my brain.

The cursor is blinking at me, but I can't think of anything to say. See? I'm boring right now. Maybe the new year will bring fresh inspiration?

It's Been A Day

Everything was fine until we got to the Cincinnati airport. Our flight to Lexington was delayed. We figured it was normal, because there had been delays at other airports. So we sat and watched the flight bored board. Every so often the flight time would be moved back by ten minutes. We started grumbling a bit, as did the other passengers around us.

There were announcements from all different gates, and they all said the same thing: "We're missing crew members; as soon as they arrive, we'll board you on the plane."

We joked about where all the crew members must be. I guessed they were all in the lounge, bitching about us passengers. Ha ha.

Our flight got its pilots, so we expected to board. And it didn't happen, and didn't happen, and yep, it didn't happen. Then we heard that the flight attendant hadn't shown up. The woman sitting across from us raised her hand and said "I'll do it!" and we all laughed, because, yeah, it's a 20-minute flight. I mean, really.

I'm really tired and this is getting boring, so let me just say that they found a new flight attendant, we got on the plane, the cabin door was shut, and the safety procedures were explained. The flight attendant then said, "We're sorry for the delay; we just had word that we're waiting for a passenger from a connecting flight."

A pilot got on the plane and sat in the first row. THAT was the "passenger."
Can you see me rolling my eyes?

We got into Lexington two hours behind schedule. That's all I'm sayin'.

Tomorrow morning we're leaving for Pennsylvania, in the car this time. And before you ask why we didn't just go to Pittsburgh from New York, let me say that due to matters of timing, it just didn't work out that way.

Hope you all had a great holiday, and continue to have a great week. Stay tuned for the recap of Christmas dinner...

I Ought To Be In Bed, Asleep.

The alarm on my cell phone is set for 3:45 am. Yeah, I know. But we have a flight to catch at 6, and we have to pick up Allan's sister Jo Ann, and you do the math.

The three of us are flying to New York City for Christmas. We're meeting Allan and Jo Ann's brother Mike and his daughter Justine there; Mike's other daughter Briar is a pastry chef here, and couldn't get enough time off for a trip home, so we're all going there. On Saturday, Mike's son LittleMike and his wife will join us.

I've been to New York twice in my life, each time for just one day. The first time I was 13, the second, 19. I'm pretty excited about this trip!

Friday we're going to meet up with an old friend of Allan's, and on Sunday we'll spend part of the day with my aunt and uncle, my cousin, and her husband. And guess what else? We're taking the cameras, but not the laptops.

This is a pretty dry entry. Sorry about that. I'm wiped out, yet I'm wired, and I can't think of anything to say except the facts. But now you know why Allan and I exchanged gifts last night.

We'll be back on Tuesday evening, and because we're a little nuts, we're driving to Pennsylvania on Wednesday morning to spend some time with my family. The only missing elements right now are a lovely preteen and her handsome younger brother.

And with that, let me wish all of you a very happy Festivus! Whatever holiday you are celebrating right around now, may it be full of joy and light and warmth.

We Exchanged Christmas Gifts Last Night

pod! Pink, originally uploaded by Alison.

I'm now fully assimilated into The Borg.

Thanks, Allan.

It's Been A Long Time Coming

For weeks now I've been trying to wrap my brain around a way to keep my feed reader and my blogroll on the same wavelength. I'd subscribe to a feed, thinking I would add it to the blogroll, but then I'd forget because I never read from my blogroll anymore. There was a pretty big discrepancy between my roll and what I was actually reading.

Then Neil came to the rescue by eliminating his blogroll and making his Bloglines feed public. And that, my friends, is what I have just done. If you check the side bar, you'll see a section called "Things I Read Online." That's where my "blogroll" is now.

And here's the part where I announce the creation of a site called Indie Bloggers, which I have joined. I quote:

Indie Bloggers is about giving exposure to bloggers who need to be read. Indie Bloggers is a showcase of written talent - stories, almost - that you may not see otherwise. Anyone can submit. Everyone may not be published right away or at all, but there are few restrictions (i.e., I don’t want to hear about your sex life). Please don’t be intimidated. We want your best!

So far I have submitted one post, Ancient History. But I have read a number of other interesting posts from great bloggers whom I might not have discovered otherwise. The link to Indie Bloggers is also in the sidebar now. Consider it another link resource, a complement to my Bloglines subscriptions.

I Forgot To Charge My Battery

...but my camera held up during the UK Basketball game tonight.

Entire Flickr Photo Set here.

Edit: By the way, UK beat Santa Clara University, 74-60. I almost didn't get to take my camera into Rupp Arena with me; the security guard told me it was "borderline professional." Then she looked at my ticket and said "And you're pretty close to the floor, too."

She asked what kind of camera it was, and I told her, "It's a Nikon D50. No professional would use this," but the length of the stock lens bugged her. I showed her how far it stuck out. Finally she let me go through the turnstile.

Next time I'm going to hide the lens in my pocket and just show the camera body, dammit.

Casual Dinner, Saturday Night Version

Casual Dinner, originally uploaded by Alison.

If you click on the photo, you can see all the notes I added on the Flickr page.

Revealing My Blog Crush

Sandra and Sizzle deemed December 15th "Reveal Your Blog Crush" Day, and like an idiot, I signed up.

Just kidding, ladies!

It really made me use my noggin, because I read a lot of blogs that fit the criteria:

A) You can't wait to read what they post next.
B) You want to be friends with them.
C) You think they are the cat's meow. Meow!
D) You might find them attractive- physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, whatever floats your boat.
E) If you met them in person, blushing might occur.

She has no idea I am going to do this: Joolie, I heart you.

I love how you spell your name. I love your blog's name. Your draw-rings make me laugh. I like how you like cats too, and how you make sock puppets at work.

In short, Joolie, your blog is a little bright spot in my day. Thanks.

In Case You Missed It

I talked to Stephanie of Back in Skinny Jeans about my impressions of Curves. Check it out!

And thanks, Stephanie!

Some Things I Have Seen Recently

• A young man with a killer mohawk. Driving a minivan.
• A young woman driving while talking on her cell phone. I laughed because her front left bumper was smashed. I wonder how that happened?
• An old man (again, driving), carrying on a conversation with...himself.
• While we're on the subject of driving, I saw this bumper sticker: Does my fat ass make my ass look fat?
• It wasn't on a car, though. It was in a shop.
• Where they also had a magnet that said I haven't had my coffee yet. Don't make me kill you.
• Seymour Heere.
• Then when I walked past the liquor store, I saw the guy who works there doing a crossword puzzle.
• He is doing one every time I walk by.
• I walk by a lot.
• Nice work if you can get it.
• Frango mints
• And during my workout today I saw a beautiful cardinal.

What have you seen lately?

Holy Crap, I Love Cooking

It's easy to forget what a pleasure cooking can be. When you are working, raising children, and busy busy busy, cooking can be a chore. I recently outlined why I never made this a food blog. The main reason is that I never follow recipes, and I never write anything down.

Yesterday I read through the January 2007 issue of Food & Wine, which arrived at our house last week. Besides a whole page dedicated to Clotilde*, number 61 [for Cookbooks From Bloggers] in the "100 Tastes To Try in 2007", there was a pasta recipe that called my name.

Aaaaaliiiiisonnnnn, it said.

Well, not really, but boy, it sounded good. For some reason I wanted to follow the recipe closely. Created by chef Yves Camdeborde for the brasserie/room service at his hotel, Le Relais St. Germain, this pasta recipe is fairly simple, but its flavors defy its ease. Luckily for me, Food & Wine posted the recipe on its website. I do love you readers, but you know how, um, casual I can be about recipes.

The recipe can be found here. (Please click that link) I used a can of Reese artichoke bottoms, drained, rinsed, and drained again. I also used Dreamfields penne rigate. The next time I make this (because the recipe is a keeper), I'll try light cream and/or half-and-half. Oh, and I found some frozen smoked chicken breast strips from the company that starts with Ty and ends with Son. You could probably leave out the chicken, but some tasty lardons would be delish. The original recipe calls for pasta shells, and having prepared it, I can see why. Penne is a good pasta, but shells would capture the sauce so much better.

I didn't take any photos, so you're just going to have to make this yourself. It's pretty quick, easy, and damn, it's tasty, too.

*whom we had the pleasure of meeting at her 2nd blogiversary party in October 2005...which led to my interviewing her for The Parisian.

Go Ahead, Make Me Laugh

Rachael Ray is on a television commercial, touting her mushroom dip and how good it tastes on a certain—

Allan [interrupting the ad and addressing Rachael Ray]: Oh, I hope you choke on your Triscuits!

Ancient History

Sometime last week I started craving mulled wine. I can't remember what triggered it; it sure wasn't the weather, which was quite mild. The other day I bought some mulling spices and some cheap Merlot and got busy. The recipe on the spice package called for vermouth, which made me say "wtf?" I went to visit my friend The Google, who found me a recipe that called for an ounce of cognac. Cognac we had. Vermouth (two cups of it!) we did not.

I halved the recipe because I got the feeling that Allan wasn't too into the idea. Good thing, too. It turns out I'm not too into the whole mulled wine thing, either. But that's neither here nor there, for the purposes of my story.

O Dark Thirty

Here's a link to the meme I stole from Vivi at Dispatches from France.

Stating The Obvious

It's cold out there. As in, many degrees below zero.

I mailed the gifts to my kids today (see the post just below this one if you don't know what I am talking about. I'm too cold to link to it).

What's new with you?

Edit: Upon rereading, I realize I was thinking in Celsius when I wrote this post. Sure, it was way below zero, Celsius. I think it might have been between 15 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Man, I love the metric system.

Momma Claus

While Allan and I were out and about this afternoon, he noticed some white markings on the pavement. He commented to me that it was a solution designed to melt snow and ice without having to use the salt trucks.

"They must be expecting snow here," he said. "That explains my sinus headache." My head was aching, too. When we were home again, he checked the weather: it's going to get wicked cold tomorrow, with scattered snow showers. Allan used the words "arctic" and "lake effect snow," and that was all I needed to hear.

Une P'tite Blague Pour Les Francophones

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