Hooray for dinner parties!

Last night was great fun! I had and over for dinner. Last minute plans are always the most fun! I have found that I love very much to cook, and have resolved to do it more often. In addition to the tasty curry-chicken-potato-rice-and-chickpea dish, we roasted marshmallows on my parents' new outdoor fireplace (better known as the large metal cage....OF FIRE!!!). It was an enjoyable experience.


Here is said recipe, it's from Food and Wine Magazine, originally.

(makes 4 servings)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 whole chicken legs, separated into drumsticks and thighs (we just used
chicken thighs)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
one 19-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 pound medium red potatoes (about 4) peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Steamed rice, for serving

1)In a large skillet, heat the oil. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Add half of the chicken to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Repeat with the remaining chicken

2) Add the onion to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat until just browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the crushed tomatoes, water, chickpeas and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the chicken pieces and any juices. Nestle in the potatoes andbring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat, turning the chicken and potatoes once, until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. Spoon the curry onto a platter and sprinkle with the cilantro. Serve at once with steamed rice.

Christmas-y Goodness, part III

I found out this morning what was in the big, mysterious box, and it wasn't a sweater.

It was a digital camera! Talk about unexpected ^_^ It was a great surprise. Also, as a Christmas gift to the world, I gave my site a major overhaul. I did it very late, though, and was quite exhausted when it was all uploaded, so I did not have the energy to double check for mishaps. Perhaps I'll have time for that tomorrow. Anyhow, here it is!

http://www.wertle.com

Christmas-y Goodness, Part II

I came home tonight in a great snow. Big, gigantor-flaked snow that makes you giddy and disoriented to walk through, I love it!

Anyway, I was finishing wrapping a few pieces of glass and putting them under the tree, when I noticed a rather large box with my name on it! This has me totally baffled, I have *no* idea what it could be. I didn't even really ask for anything this year, I was so busy this term that I couldn't think of anything I wanted...anything I *needed* even, just gift certificates when i was pressed to come up with something.

(I like gift certificates, because if I get money as a gift, it goes straight to the bank. It's a result of habit, and having too many options to buy something and not being able to settle. I suppose, in the long run, it's a good thing, hehe).

So this Christmas I am experiencing some of the excited curiosity that I held when I was younger. It's great, just the sensation. I mean, it could end up being a sweater in a big box, but I would still be greatful that it inspired such childlike giddiness in me for this next day, it's a feeling a really miss around the Christmas season.

Family celebrations start tonight, have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas-y goodness

Being home on break, I was afraid the lonely bug would get to me, but it has been sufficiently squashed this weekend. Some old high school friends came over for some catching up and fun and games, and tonight Dave and I kidnapped each other to go see Spirited Away.

I have many a piece of glass to wrap up tomorrow (it seems that 30-60% of fall term glass ends up as Christmas presents, of the rest, most is snatched up by my parents as soon as I unpack them, leaving 1-2% in my personal collection x_x).

Unfortunately, I found a set of pieces I intend to give away that I forgot to sign! Dooooh!!!!!! >_< If only I had an engraver. I'm trying to think of something else I can use to sign them, because I'd like to wrap tomorrow.

At any rate, the Christmas busy-week begins tomorrow, after that I'll find another lull in activity. If all goes well, I'll have my big site re-vamp finished and up after Christmas. We shall see. Have loverly holidays everyone!

Meow!

No Christmas tree is too tough for our little Choppi!



It's actually a vivid reminder of when we first found her, we had to brave the treacherous branches of a huge evergreen bush outside the dining hall to reach her.

Oh, bloody hell

By the end of finals week, I was fully rested and fully recovered, and a good thing too, for yesterday I got an email from an old high school aquaintance whom I hadn't heard from since graduation. It seems her aunt was having a difficult pregnancy; they needed O negative blood and she found out from another friend that was my blood type, and asked if I could donate.

That was no problem (although I must say, it did kinda creep me out that old highschool friends know my blood type), so I put aside my Saturday plans to go donate. Us O- kids have to stick together.

Blood donations are somewhat up in the air for me, they can either be problem-free or really really bad, so it always makes me slightly nervous. One thing that puzzles me is how much the finger prick bothers me. It shouldn't, logically, as I cut myself on a regular basis working with glass, it shouldn't be any big deal at all. Strange.

Anyway, this time the donation went well, but I am always flustered at how slow it takes me. Perhaps it's low blood pressure or low pulse, but two people sat down after me and finished several minutes before I was even close! Not fair!! Still, I was thankful that there were no problems this time.

And yet, a good donation does not get me off the hook, it still drains a lot out of me (ha ha!). Even after a good donation, I'm generally reduced to a shivering mass of protoplasm, unable to use the arm I gave out of for several hours. That doesn't matter, though, as I fell asleep for at least 6. This is also quite unfair, especially when there are people like Nate, who can hop in, donate a pint, then go out and play a game of Ultimate Frisbee right away.

My dad suggested I look into apherisis, since I have such a problem with the donation affecting me, because you don't lose any blood volume. He gives platelets quite regularly, so perhaps I'll check that out.

At any rate, I'm still a bit drained and woosy, so I think I'll go sleep for another day and a half. I am on break, afterall.

Sweet Irony

Finals week is *supposed* to be a time of stress and worry for the average college student, I suppose, but this year it's been quite the opposite for me. In fact, I've not been under less pressure the entire year than this week, how strange! I suppose it is because I get to sit still for once. No rush, no worries, no jam-packed schedules, just one spread out week to study quietly and take some tests.

I think I've spent more time in my own room these past few days than I have collectively over the entire term! At least, that's what it *feels* like. My final painting critique was Sunday, and we cleaned the studio, and the glass 1 kids cleaned the glass studio on Monday. So, no art responsibilities. The one act plays are over, so no drama responsibilities. No comp sci projects, no work in the slide library, no glass blowing slots, just all this blank, free time. I have never been so pleased to sit and study, with plenty of time to stretch and take little breaks.

It's somewhat creepy, in a way. I was terribly worried, because my illness and the general busy nature of life kept building and building and building...I thought this week would kill me! Yet, it's worked the other way around, how ironic.

Anyway, I know there are plenty of people in quite the opposite case who are full of stress and pressure for finals, so I wish you all the best of luck!

Christmas

Thank you all for the kind words about Max, it really did mean a lot to me. I think I'll be okay, though going home for Christmas will be a bit tough, I have to look after Vivi now (he loved Max so much, poor thing).

In the meantime, there is some good news. For Christmas, my group of friends did a Secret Santa gift exchange. Brendan drew my name, and look what he got me!!

http://www.wertle.com

Isn't that awesome?? Of course, it just points to my other website right now, but now that I have a domain name, it means I'm going to have to get on the ball and make a decent site. Maybe that can be my Christmas break project.

Anyway, finals week ahead, wish me luck! And thanks again for the kind thoughts.

...

Last Friday night, when I was at home for break, my old cat, Max, climbed up into my bed to sit with me for awhile. It was no unusual thing, but he hadn't done it all break until then, so I sat and enjoyed a quiet, intimate moment with my cat, whom I've had since the 4th grade or so.

It was the next morning when he started to get sick. It was sudden, unexpected, and very very bad. We tended to him all day, wondering if perhaps it was a day bug as he has had once before in the past, and on Sunday he's looking *slightly* better. However, it was still an unsetting goodbye for me when I went back to school, he barely responded to my hand.

Back at school and full of school worries, and it lifts me a bit when my dad calls to say he's taken Max to the vet, and that he seems to be doing much better. I smile, I suppose it was just a bug.

Until yesterday. I got the message on my phone to call my dad "if it wasn't too late" around midnight, but those deeper senses urged me to call anyway. Max didn't get better afterall.

Losing a pet is always a cold, wrenching experience for me, especially when I'm trapped far from home when it happens. I wish I could have been there to comfort him, or at least to say goodbye. But maybe it was Max that was saying goodbye to me last week.

I am cold now and lonely, and the tasks of the week seem to be breaking my body down again. I suppose I am sick or pushing myself too hard, but I think I just miss my friend.