you can guess what happens next
a. i watched truth or dare on the flight on the way out here, for at least the half-dozenth time since i became a regular customer of the jet blue cross-country flight. every single time, i realize all over again that madonna, before she became boring and serious and dried out, she used to be so much fun, you know?
b. on christmas eve, i made lasagna (long-running family tradition from when i was in junior high and i made christmas eve dinner because my mom had to work late at her job as a bank teller and lasagna was the most impressive thing i knew how to make), using a recipe i've been formulating over the last couple months. i call it antipasto lasagna because the primary ingredients are more antipasto plate ingredients than lasagna ingredients, but i think it's really good.
recipe:
filling #1:
- 1lb ground chicken (or ground turkey would also work fine. probably ground pork, too, although i haven't tried it. basically anything but beef, because it would be overpowering)
- 1 large jar roasted red peppers, finely minced
- ribboned fresh tarragon, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste
throw everything into a skillet and cook until the meat is lightly browned.
filling #2
- 16oz ricotta cheese
- 1 cup italian parsley, loosely packed
- 1 package frozen spinach, defrosted
- zest and juice of one lemon
let cheese soften and then blend in remaining ingredients.
filling #3:
- 2 cans artichoke hearts
- zest and juice of one lemon
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
- olive oil
blend all ingredients in food processor until pesto-like consistency.
i like to layer them like this:
filling #1
thin layer mozzarella cheese
noodles
filling #2
thin layer mozzarella cheese
noodles
filling #3
noodles
filling #1
thin layer mozzarella cheese
filling #2
noodles
filling #3
thick layer mozzarella cheese
bake at 375 for forty-five minutes covered + fifteen minutes uncovered. viola!
c. i saw juno, which was delightful, but had the greatest number of actor-who-can't-disassociate-from-previous-character performances i've ever seen in a single movie. i spent the whole time waiting for juno's dad to make someone his prison bitch, for juno to pull a home castration on mark and when mark was like, "oh yeah, vanessa's working late to save up vacation time for after the baby comes," i was like, "yeah, right, that's what the CIA wants you to think." so that was good times.
d. on christmas day, we fried a turkey, and it was fucking beautiful. slowly but surely, i am fully limping into the 21st century, and received a digital camera. expect many photographs of my bangs to follow shortly.
e. i also saw charlie wilson's war, which was weird. i'd seen previews for the movie for a couple months but only figured out that aaron sorkin wrote the movie, like, last week. i guess his stock is kind of low right now? anyway, if you, like me, were planning on skipping this movie because you find julia roberts and tom hanks to be as appealing as crisco smeared with margarine, their bland boringness makes them surprisingly appropriate for their roles, and hearing all that political cynicism framed in sorkinese is kind of hilarious, like bizarro!sorkin.
f. my parents are really into recording and watching syndicated re-runs of cold case, which, i guess everyone has to deal with the writer's strike somehow. anyway, last night we watched an episode from four years ago where the actress who plays rhonda on big love played a popular junior high school student who killed an unpopular classmate. it was awesome, because the whole time, i was like, "no, it was rhonda, she's evil!" and my parents were like "..." except i was RIGHT.
g. i hate new year's eve for a bunch of reasons, mostly because i dislike that failure to live up to contrived pressure to have a great time ends up creating a bad omen for the next twelve months. last year on new year's eve, i was sick, and it was awesome, because i had an excuse to stay home, watch star wars and drink rum + emergenC. so this week, whenever anyone asked me what i was doing for new year's, i would say, "ugh, i don't know yet, hopefully i'll get sick again." and, lo and behold, i am now sick. if i had known i had the power to induce illness, i would have been a little bit more careful, and not gotten sick until AFTER i took the red eye back to boston tonight.
h. oh yeah, you might have heard, the new england patriots are undefeated. aaaaaah bill belichick, i read your biography this week and i love you even more than i previously thought possible.
b. on christmas eve, i made lasagna (long-running family tradition from when i was in junior high and i made christmas eve dinner because my mom had to work late at her job as a bank teller and lasagna was the most impressive thing i knew how to make), using a recipe i've been formulating over the last couple months. i call it antipasto lasagna because the primary ingredients are more antipasto plate ingredients than lasagna ingredients, but i think it's really good.
recipe:
filling #1:
- 1lb ground chicken (or ground turkey would also work fine. probably ground pork, too, although i haven't tried it. basically anything but beef, because it would be overpowering)
- 1 large jar roasted red peppers, finely minced
- ribboned fresh tarragon, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste
throw everything into a skillet and cook until the meat is lightly browned.
filling #2
- 16oz ricotta cheese
- 1 cup italian parsley, loosely packed
- 1 package frozen spinach, defrosted
- zest and juice of one lemon
let cheese soften and then blend in remaining ingredients.
filling #3:
- 2 cans artichoke hearts
- zest and juice of one lemon
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
- olive oil
blend all ingredients in food processor until pesto-like consistency.
i like to layer them like this:
filling #1
thin layer mozzarella cheese
noodles
filling #2
thin layer mozzarella cheese
noodles
filling #3
noodles
filling #1
thin layer mozzarella cheese
filling #2
noodles
filling #3
thick layer mozzarella cheese
bake at 375 for forty-five minutes covered + fifteen minutes uncovered. viola!
c. i saw juno, which was delightful, but had the greatest number of actor-who-can't-disassociate-from-previous-character performances i've ever seen in a single movie. i spent the whole time waiting for juno's dad to make someone his prison bitch, for juno to pull a home castration on mark and when mark was like, "oh yeah, vanessa's working late to save up vacation time for after the baby comes," i was like, "yeah, right, that's what the CIA wants you to think." so that was good times.
d. on christmas day, we fried a turkey, and it was fucking beautiful. slowly but surely, i am fully limping into the 21st century, and received a digital camera. expect many photographs of my bangs to follow shortly.
e. i also saw charlie wilson's war, which was weird. i'd seen previews for the movie for a couple months but only figured out that aaron sorkin wrote the movie, like, last week. i guess his stock is kind of low right now? anyway, if you, like me, were planning on skipping this movie because you find julia roberts and tom hanks to be as appealing as crisco smeared with margarine, their bland boringness makes them surprisingly appropriate for their roles, and hearing all that political cynicism framed in sorkinese is kind of hilarious, like bizarro!sorkin.
f. my parents are really into recording and watching syndicated re-runs of cold case, which, i guess everyone has to deal with the writer's strike somehow. anyway, last night we watched an episode from four years ago where the actress who plays rhonda on big love played a popular junior high school student who killed an unpopular classmate. it was awesome, because the whole time, i was like, "no, it was rhonda, she's evil!" and my parents were like "..." except i was RIGHT.
g. i hate new year's eve for a bunch of reasons, mostly because i dislike that failure to live up to contrived pressure to have a great time ends up creating a bad omen for the next twelve months. last year on new year's eve, i was sick, and it was awesome, because i had an excuse to stay home, watch star wars and drink rum + emergenC. so this week, whenever anyone asked me what i was doing for new year's, i would say, "ugh, i don't know yet, hopefully i'll get sick again." and, lo and behold, i am now sick. if i had known i had the power to induce illness, i would have been a little bit more careful, and not gotten sick until AFTER i took the red eye back to boston tonight.
h. oh yeah, you might have heard, the new england patriots are undefeated. aaaaaah bill belichick, i read your biography this week and i love you even more than i previously thought possible.