Coat of Many Colors

Corn Chip Coated Baked Chicken

Did you know there are a ton of coating ideas for chicken?  I didn't.  I found out by necessity and cravings. Baked chicken first dipped in egg and then seasoned flour can then be doused in even more flavor by adding another level of crunch.  Crushed up salty corn chips are an excellent use of the bottom of your chip bag.  Bake on 425 for 30 to 40 minutes.  Another quick tip for tender chicken is to soak in heavily salted water for 15 minutes before rinsing and drying completely for seasoning. 

Sauteed cabbage was happy to get a bit of that crunchy love topping as well. As a matter of fact, NYTimes Cooking ran a story in the next months about the loveliness of crunchy toppings to vegetables in the form of toasted bread crumbs, nuts, etc.  And its true, many of us are looking for more umami, heat and texture in our dishes, while also trying to eat healthier and clean.   

 

Bittersweet Memories, That is All I'm Taking with Me

Creamless Pasta Primavera

Carla Lalli Music (my new fav chef)  asked on her post yesterday a question that I too have wondered about many times. If you haven't seen the thing, and you come up with it, but it already existed, did you invent it? I kept seeing a vibrant pasta primavera in my head but not using heavy cream.  That girl gives me a bad gut and I don't need her in my life at this point anyway.  I've never had a cream sauce that didn't end poorly. But could it taste as satisfying without all her life giving fat?  

Yes, it can.  Substituting a flour roux for the cream, you can control the thickness of the sauce.  I also added some yogurt for extra creaminess and didn't skimp on the Parmesan.  A cheesy tortellini helped bring the party and adding fresh cherry tomatoes at the end just to heat through kept the whole dish fresh and vibrant.  

This was decadent without being too heavy, unless you ate this much of it, which I did.

I sauteed the onions and garlic first in olive oil and then added the flour to toast before adding chicken stock, and a dollop of yogurt.  The blanched vegetables went in followed by the pasta, tomatoes and parmesan.  

The Brooklyn promenade 

*editors note: upon inspection, of course it existed, many times over and basically using a similar method

Time Washes Clean, Love's Wounds Unseen

Tater Tot Nachos

I added cheddar, taco meat, sour cream and green onions to baked tots for a quick tater nacho for my after work impromptu party on New Year's Eve.  We settled in to watch Miley and Dolly's TV Special and it was a mixed bag of delights, some bizarre, some surprises.  All completely worth it!

For Dolly's outfit alone on I Love Rock and Roll. I hope Joan Jett got a chance to see that. 

 
David Byrne was mesmorizing and his voice was dynamic as ever.  The band Liily caught me off guard and took my breathe away.  What a pop of brilliance in an otherwise musical circus (i.e., Paris Hilton, SIA in a box).  Dolly can do no wrong and has earned her place and right to do whatever she pleases.  She is an icon and we're so lucky to have her. Miley is intoxicating and I couldn't take my eyes off of her as a performer.  She knows how to wow and then that voice and those legs!

The crowd was interesting but the best part was seeing the young girls cry when she sang Party in the USA!  

Lots of gays, as expected with those two at the helm.  A formidable welcoming of the New Year. All fabulous!

I'm a little foggy right now though on the gayification of EVERYthing!  Why does every single movie and TV Series have to include mandatory LGBT+ characters and love scenes?  I'm someone who could do without love scenes across the board, especially in thrillers and all other genres except romance.  Some of us are not lovers of lovers.   I'm not going to get pissed off if you make a legitamate romance movie, like 2017's Disobedience. That movie took my breath away.  So well done and beautifully written.  I think we should show diversity in characters across all genres, as it is in life. But can't it be more natural, as it is in reality?   

It's embarrassing how Hollywood is so easily manipulated and how quickly they abandoned protecting the art over fear of losing money.  Or maybe it's just how powerful the woke has become over industry.  Doesn't anyone come forward to stand up for artistic integrity anymore?  

(Spoiler Alert) We are watching the series The Last of Us and one whole episode took a giant turn to the entire plot to feature an unnecessary, poorly written, male love story that ended in layered grossness, selfishly taking their own lives and cloaking it in heroic romance.  I may be in the minority here and I love Nick Offerman but to me this was an overly sweet, sugar laden dessert that was tough to get down.  Not only that but all the group-think publications fell in line to call it brilliant and best ever.   It turns out the director, used his power to trick his audience into witnessing what he feels is controversial, two males falling in real love.  Um, unless you live under a rock, dude, everyone has gay friends, family, recording artists, actors, coworkers, and down the line.  We have seen real love, nothing brand new here.  When can we move on from this topic?!  Show us something real.  How is this even being funded?  Again, it had nothing to do with the plot and took me out of the series flow like a psychotic daydream.  I'm happily in bed with my nuclear fall-out zombies trying to forget my own damn troubles.

In order to show how over saturated this is, I say replace all of these film scenarios with a put-upon Mexican immigrant story. After all, they are certainly repressed, experience violence and injustices.  What if you had to sit through the same cookie-cutter Maria and Juan love story and struggle in every movie and series?  Is this something anyone would tolerate?  In order to educate the cists and racists who clearly need the learnin'?  No way!  It is becoming my true belief that almost any group that gains a little power, will eventually missue and abuse it and then a horse trail miles long will follow of mindless trolls.  Maybe history has already proven this but nevertheless shocks me seeing it come to fruition from a group I once admired so dearly.  Or does it?

People are not groups, they are individuals as different as snowflakes.  And just how the BLM movement became infiltrated by shiesty charlatans under our noses, I have to wonder how the folks that I know and love think about all of this new gay strong arming in media?  We know now that many times the individuals behind all of these change movements, may not be who we think.  Who's behind all of this, really?

Are legitimate gays behind this or is it woke housewives or millennials that need to affect the universe in some profound way.  My generation saw the Aids epidemic and the end of the hippy free love movement so there is perspective and depth to our concern over treatment of many groups but certainly gay rights.  However, I came from an opening when lines were less sharp in regards to sexuality.  One could explore being with the any sex to decide if it was for them at any time.  You could go for years without picking a side and never had to label or put yourself in a specific box.  Who you were as a person had nothing to do with the exact way in which you chose to have sexual intercourse or love another individual for that matter.  Hell my long time, not so young, friend is having urges to live and be with a woman again, and I say, cool.  Its neither good nor bad. 

In fact I've lived so long to learn I'm not special at all, and you're not special and no one is an island. We're all more similar than we are different in ways that matter and that is a tough pill to swallow, especially when you're quite proud of your uniqueness.  True individuality and creativity is beautiful, and inclusiveness is already here.  People who have a hard time embracing that are not going to be taught by forcing a bear love scene on a popular TV series. 

Feature Mexicans, black lesbians, gay couples, transgender teens and all the flavors of the rainbow in movies and TV series, I'm all for that.  That's how it should be.  But damn it,  let them be realistic characters, as they truly are, not teaching stereotype robots to infiltrate and force-feed everyone your personal vendettas. 

Happy New Year Bitches😄!

Lord It's Like a Hard Candy Christmas

P was gone to visit his family.  I rode to work the morning after Christmas day in frigid weather, in fact the coldest I'd ever ridden in, except for Christmas Eve, which was even more brutal that night.  I wanted to hit my record on a holiday, it seemed almost like a bucket list item.  An introvert's fight club with one suffering member.  I wanted to feel something, even if it was painful.  A retail Christmas story.  One of the good things about working in retail during the holidays is there is a short-lived comradery with coworkers.  They may feel compelled to give you little gifts out of the blue, like this lady who brought this delicious spiced drink concoction, called Sorrel and boozy cake bite, in cute little containers.  Both were so sweet I wasn't able to finish but loved them just the same.  

My bud thinks Peanuts is life and had expressed her love on the 1/8 Weekly Playlist.  She would be Lucy, by the way.

I think that yes, we can all agree that the magic of Peanuts runs deep.  I stumbled across this article that revealed I am Snoopy in the Charlie Brown universe of zodiac signs the week before and had similar thoughts.  I mean, for one I was so caught up in my stupid pre-holiday angst, I never took the time to pick out small items that might make someone else's day.  These are people I care about.  That does come across as self-centered and I guess it is except it felt more like hell not to participate more.  I get joy in doing Christmas, I just couldn't be there this year, physically or mentally.  I consider sharing traits with man's best friend a high honor and even though I always figured myself more of a Woodstock, the stars don't lie. 

P would be Peppermind Patty!

Who are you?

You're Messin' Up My Mind and Fillin' Up My Senses

As I'm coming out the ass end of this pinche pendejo COVID virus for the 2nd time (!!), I want to learn to speak Spanish just so I can sufficiently curse it out like a scorned witch from an old Mexican village.   

During my isolation, I eat out of necessity although I am thrilled to be served hot food on trays each day.  As someone in a long term relationship, I really have to give it up to my partner for completely coming through for me.  He's never been one to dote, so making breakfast, lunch, snacks each day is a true feat not to mention fetching meds, endless hot and cold drinks, washing dishes and sleeping on a tiny loveseat.  Everything I put him through with the two ER scares was above and beyond for anyone, let alone, you know, a man.  He's a guy-guy, not one of these new millennial empaths.  That's a nice way of saying he's not naturally considerate, its work for him.  He's a loner that never grasped the concept of union completely.  Usually he needs very clear instructions if I want help and nothing can be left for interpretation.  He'll do anything I ask, I just couldn't imagine he'd be up for making every meal for 2 weeks straight. People are dying alone though, so I can't help but be flooded with deep gratitude.  I know his limitations so I'm sure he was about ready to stop being nice to me like 9 days ago.  Afterall, this is real life and we all just want to be left alone, no one more so than my husband,  so I recognize the scope of his generosity.  These are some of the meals he left at my door like a tired, angry prison guard.

Rigatoni and bok choi

Chili Relleno and Chips

Spaghetti and meat sauce with sauteed mushrooms and garlic

Red Velvet Cake with tea and shot of whiskey

pot pie and steamed broccoli with banana

Bunless cheeseburger with vegetable soup

chicken noodle soup with grilled cheese and sundried tomatoes

Pizza slices

Chicken wrap with vegetable soup

Pot pie with 1/2 a sandwich

Corn Chowder with 1/2 sandwich

Ravioli and lettuce wraps

A proper sandwich and chips

Scrambled ham and eggs with spinach tortilla

pizza slices

I'm not far enough away yet from this virus but I do have to say, it is intriguing.  If you haven't had the pleasure, it's not what you might think.  Yes, it is closest to the flu and the lists you see on MSN are all true. Of course it's different for everyone, but there are so many more not so small oddities that come and go like little gremlins.  Some so severe, they wreak psychological havoc on your already tired mental state. Dry, cracked lips, stabbing leg pain, blurry site, achy eyes, sudden rash.  Here's one for you acid droppers from the 70s.  Remember when your eerily warm skin felt super alive, as if time stopped existing and you could feel all the microbial cities making your body work with some inner eye??  You know the one, where you find yourself in the bathroom examining this incredible foreign creature two inches from the mirror. Well, That feeling!  Ringing in the ears, extreme charley horses in the extremities, sudden hoarseness. I mean the list goes on, nausea, scary chest pain, teeth chattering chills, sweats, back punching pain and zombie like tremors.  I write this list to share but also to remember.  You never feel 100% but weeks from now I'll need to remind myself of waking up on the floor from passing out, sweating and running to get Patrick but realizing I couldn't move half my body, my arms and hands locked up in a crippled position.  I'm super lucky and although I'm still sequestered, it seems for whatever reason I have been spared again.  But the virus got me close enough to that frightful edge again that I stay on high alert. 

It's a Rich Man's Game No Matter What They Call It

2nd day back to work and the ol' assembly line is picking up again, life is moving at a faster pace.  I, however, am not quite there yet.  On coming home exhausted P stepped up again and attempted an egg scramble that somehow tasted amazing.  This day marked New York City's first curfew in 75 years.  I was in bed by 8pm and had no issues with De Blasio's decision on this particular night.  This meant I would not be asked to work late, something I was super fearful of whilst the world was in turmoil.  But so many people would need to travel to work at night and let's face it, that would be people of color and that was a problem waiting to happen.  You only hoped it would be clear to law enforcement who was commuting to and from work and who was breaking curfew for other reasons. 

Oh the Pain of Loving You

We once lived in a bi-level apartment in Boerum Hill here in Brooklyn, a neighborhood I'm sure we'd never be able to afford again even though it's still exactly the same. Nothing has changed except the value of rental apartments in the area.  It was too big for us but it was quirky and one of those places I'll always remember fondly because so many things happened there.  The landlords lived in the large house downstairs, an older, hippie couple.  They were cool when I lost my job and couldn't pay the rent and we had to get a boarder for a year.  Brit or Bret I think was his name. A perfectly nice man, not young, a bit of a loner. He had long toenails and played extreme Frisbee, whatever that is.  We basically gave him the entire downstairs, which meant I barely cooked for a whole year.  He had to come upstairs to take showers but had a 1/2 bathroom downstairs to himself.  My landlord being a nervous sort, probably stressed quite a bit about this, came one day complaining about the length of showers being taken.  I told him P and I sometimes took one together or overlapped each other, so maybe it seemed like we took a longer one but instead it was two in one.  He said, no that he had timed it and it was definitely our tenant.  He said sometimes it would be almost 15 minutes and how we didn't realize it because we would be gone.  How our landlord knew all that was a little creepy but clearly he had studied this.  He and his wife were cool but they did some odd things like held some type of spiritual meetings in their bedroom on the bed, and with the most annoying people.  I say that because they would wait outside like scared children looking as though they were beamed in from another planet.  That bed which was custom built and giant sized housed he and his Vietnamese wife along with their 11 year old daughter.  This was none of my business but unfortunately the skylights in my room looked directly onto that bed so it became a curiosity.  So even though they were very nice, I always had that doubt that something weird was up in that house.  Plus they were wound a little tight for hippies. He seemed too angry at Brit, and that made me unclear on what this was all about.  When I assured him we'd talk to Brit about it, he backed down.  He stated maybe Brit was so unhappy and the only allowance for luxury he would give himself each day was a 15 minute shower.  I thought that was equally bizarre and incredibly compassionate logic.  It's always stuck with me.  I never fully understood where my landlord was coming from and we never talked to Brit.  But the premise of considering some far off notion on why someone is acting a certain way is something I've adopted. 

Sometimes people upset the hell out of me and I don't even understand the reasoning why or if it's warranted.  I give them the benefit of the doubt and just try to concentrate on other things like this cheap steak that was great fried up fast and high along with this tangy beet and tomato salad over dressed baby spinach. 

Those Memories of You Still Haunt Me

A million years ago I worked at Leopold Records in Berkeley, California in what my mate calls my college education years because of all the amazing teachers I met in that store.  So many to write about but on this day, some 30 plus odd years later I find myself remembering Albert Ramirez, the Jazz buyer.  Listening to a lecture by Sadhguru last night he said nothing is negative, experiences are only pleasant or an adventure. Negativity is something created by us in our own minds.  If you're a woman you've most likely listened to hundreds of lectures on how to look at things more positively. His outlook brings me back to Albert, at the store years ago when I was in my early 20's and he a Sufi in his mid-40's taking on the mutual challenges of life in the ever changing world of music retail from two different vantage points.   He used to correct my ways of saying almost everything as I constantly spit out words without forethought.  He would say 'you get to go to work', not you have to work as in the negative way I would say it.  Hate was coincidentally a word that came out of my mouth quite often.  He would again correct me, you don't hate that, it's a challenge or an opportunity for you.  You're looking at it all wrong he'd say with a big, beautiful smile.  Each time, I felt he was right and then again, I knew I was not in a position to really grasp these concepts yet.  Similar to when someone mentioned that the sun does not rise in the morning, the earth turns to give the illusion.  I know this is true but in my mind's eye I've seen it opposite all my life.  Changing would take time and effort.  Life comes at you fast in your twenties and you don't like to second guess your reality.

Again, you hear and read these things throughout your life and they stick about as well as an old band-aid but maybe a little longer each time.  This year I really do feel it like a great fitting pair of shoes.  And even though the words were always important, it was really that light in Albert's eyes that sold me.  He had such a joy of living that shone through.  That calm lightness of a child but with the wisdom of all the old souls.

Veggie patty with a potato cake and green beans from the staff cafeteria

A young girl came to the store yesterday with her elderly father.  She was very curt and unpleasant, even told her father to shut up in no uncertain terms to which he put his hands up and backed away.  She was around the same age as I was back then, in a totally different life.  But the similar piece is that she felt she knew what was up but was miles away from it, just like me.  At one point she tried to scold me and take something out of my hands, like physically grab it.  My first reaction was to slap that bitch up but I stopped myself.  Now, I'll admit I am no Albert Ramirez but I tried to smile on her and let her know first of all that her negativity was not shared, nor did I need to hold any of it for her.  It was all hers to carry, like a big bag of smelly dog poop.  Instead, I looked at her father and sincerely laughed, 'Oh my, it's going to be one of those Sundays'.  And I wished him a great day and smiled at the girl.   

They were celebrating health this week for our insurance sign up and even put out a spread of healthy snacks including smoothies and nuts, broccoli and carrots.

Wild Flowers Don't Care Where They Grow

Even though I've really tried to shed the ego and become a person who comes through more from the inside then the visual, I struggle to accept that in our world retail workers can basically become non-existent.  We may as well be robots, mere receptacles.  This isn't true on many occasions but it only has to occur once to feel intolerable.
A good easy recipe I found.

I love my Jewish customers and get a secret thrill waiting on them because it feels so satisfying in a way that I can't explain but if you allow me one stereotype, I'll say they usually need lots of assistance.  That's really only because they take the time to understand all the many choices and cost differentiation. I was a little over the moon to learn that my next customers were a Sephardic couple.  Listening to them speak the most beautiful Spanish with their unique tones and intonations was slightly cathartic for a moment.  I was lost in this tango like dance they were having, as if I was chewing the most delicious piece of chocolate.  Our initial encounter was shaky because the wife was very upset with the level of customer service she was given from my coworkers and wanted to complain to management.  I tried to turn it around.  But when I began asking them questions I realized they were not together on their choices at all.  She wanted better quality with style and he wanted cheaper, lackluster kitchen door fronts.  I agreed with them both on different points and offered an in between solution.   But this made me aware that this couple was so unaffected by my presence, or lack of.  They didn't even hear my very sound advice, over their own loud opinions. I mean if nothing else, I know my shit.  I tried to state it twice but it was as if I had become invisible in my own world.  And this is becoming more common place.  I just stopped talking and walked away the second I saw they were not hearing me.  When they finally came to some common ground, they looked around as though they just noticed I was missing and it had been about 15 minutes.

It's probably not wise to take it too personally, as people are more self absorbed and are losing their engagement capabilities with the real world.  As if we are less and less connected to physical.  Even in my own home at times I feel I am not an engaging enough presence for my husband to listen to me or look up from his computer screen when I begin a conversation.  I feel like I'm interrupting his real life with my annoying interaction.  At night in order to get his attention, I sit up in bed facing him waving my arms as if I'm a ship off in the distance flashing my lights. Mayday! Mayday! He looks out onto the darkness as if I'm completely invisible.  I want to throw those headphones and his laptop out the window.  He'd say the same about me though but I have made it a point to put down what I'm doing (unless I'm writing), to stop and not only listen but look at him as he speaks, which is so important.  It's crucial to be acknowledged.  We need this, like we need food to eat.  Managers too are trying to multitask so that they also can't be bothered to look at you when you're talking or give you even 30% of their attention.  They feel it's acceptable to continue their project as they listen, halfheartedly, with no eye contact.

Class and economy can affect how much respect someone feels you are entitled, or even worse is when they are void of any consideration of your existence.  I sometimes wonder if the power in your presence fades as you age as well, so that it becomes easier to be ignored. This could be real from evolution.  You don't need to really bother with old in nature.  Older means, non-child bearing capable, not mate worthy, not edible, could be diseased or damaged, certainly less dangerous.  But now here we are in the modern world still in our skinny jeans, still craving acknowledgement, love, affection, interaction and at the very teenie, tiny least, eye contact.  But my efforts these days revolve around just being good for the sake of goodness and trying to shut up about the rest.  Who would listen anyway?

All Decked Out Like A Cowgirl's Dream

Pork Butt Burger with accordion potatoes

A happy meal.  This dish is a giver.  Great to look at.  Plus, I only used what I had. Bonus!  The garlicky potatoes give it UP to their maker!  Then the lemon dressed cool romaine slows you down when you're getting all wolfy eating the guacamole cheese topped burger.  I hadn't had pork for awhile.  Does it show?

This is a picture of my sister's homemade pizza that same night.  Love when I get pics of OPP, other people's pizza.

Pizza twinsies!  Had to join her so's she wouldn't get pizza-lonely.  Hey, that's a real condition!

One of those days when you eat 3 full meals, no dickin' around, no dainty flower.

Yogurt with fresh berries and cereal provided a creamy start to this beautiful day.

Coat of Many Colors

Everything just keeps growing and moving and getting bigger, changing and morphing and rebuilt and painted over and paved and spackled.   You wonder how anything could ever possibly work with all these with layers upon layers. Nothing ever truly cleared and leveled, cleaned and properly prepared for the new. Just another tier added. Subways and underground rivers and endless pipes, miles of wires in apartments that go nowhere.  A street has a sink hole and they just pour another slab over the void. A quick fix. The cars will pound it down. New York is a long running permanent chaos filled with band aid repairs to it's main structure. But it somehow works the majority of the time. I'm inspired by the way, like nature it just continues to continue.  Imperfect yet still majestic.  It is never as it was yet pieces may be hundreds of years old just coexisting with the new.  Like little ants we've created more space just by building up higher.  It is everyone and no one in particular.

Seeking ideas for yet another burger dinner, I created a layered turkey patty with a roasted cauliflower steak as the foundation, a nice avocado relish, a thick grilled red onion and tomato slice on top.  A tall meal but surprisingly light and perfect.