musings on supper

I have:

1 eggplant
a handful of tomatoes
1 head of cauliflower (I think)
1 bunch of beets
1/2 bunch of collard greens
onions
apples
tofu
black beans
walnuts and almonds
whole wheat bread

Now how in the name of bleeding Jesus am I supposed to make all of this work together exactly?!? I should eat the eggplant and the tomatoes which leads me to the October cover of Gourmet magazine (in which Journeyman had a blurb!!!!) but I'm missing basil which is kinda key for a tomato sauce plus I'm not convinced I have enough tomatoes to make enough sauce.
But I'm also sort of craving beets which I could so easily roast and toss with some oil and some walnuts and I could hit up Pereddies for some goat cheese which would be delicious. Or I could snag a pizza crust and roast my eggplant with some onion and garlic and make a sauce sans basil. Or I could make roasted beet, walnut, goat cheese pizza which sounds so amazing I might just not have a choice but to go that route...

The Potato Leek Soup turned out exceptionally well if I do say so myself. I didn't get to eat it until about 8pm but it was worth the wait. I made a Grassfield farms cheddar sammidge with thinly sliced ida red apples and spicy brown mustard. Yummy! Today I get leftover soup for lunch with a pb&j sammidge.

It's not lunchtime yet, but I can't wait!

covered in book dust and book sticker sticky stuff

Tonight I make Potato Leek Soup. Molly and I are having a Potato Leek Soup Off tomorrow which isn't entirely true as she's adding bacon so I can't taste it and it will undoubtedly taste better than mine because of the bacon.

That wretch.

I'm convinced I have the superior potato, however, as I went with beautiful little German Butterballs that haven't let me down be them mashed, fried, or in a salad. Plus my recipe is insanely healthy using zero cream or milk and only 1 TBSP of butter. I'm psyched. Washing the leeks is going to be the worse part of the whole thing and after that I'm golden.

Life moves. Family Ties is a great show. 24 is pretty good though I'm starting to lose interest. What I have caught of The War has been outstanding but no way am I going to rearrange my life for something I can watch at my own leisure on DVD. Raleigh should have some illustrations for me soon which is good.

The only bad news? The State of Michigan looks like it's going to shut down on the 1st of October. The Democrats want to raise taxes and the Republicans want to cut social programs. In the meantime, I will be stocking up on wine and beer and liquor as distribution will be coming to halt.

Oh and some schools are going to have to shut down and some state funded health programs will not exist nor will some state funded food distribution programs. Jennifer's talking tonight at 6:05pm.

This poor poor state.

low expectations rule or why i like devendra banhart

It was a mostly typical drive across the state though the traffic was more manageable and Peter was a little more anxious than usual. At the last minute he agreed to pick up the infamous Joe-who-has-been-in-the-Ukraine-and-is-most-recently-a-resident-of-Boston-where-he-works-part-time-as-a-flight-attendant which put our already cutting it close plan into high gear. The doors opened at 8pm. We waltzed in at 9:15. Devendra didn't hit the stage until about 10:30pm.

I was expecting a train wreck of a show. A big mess of a thing orchestrated by a drunken lunatic who may or may not pull off some bizarre character he feels like creating at that instant.

He sat down on a library chair up on platform center stage (surrounded by 3 other guitarists, behind him a drummer and next to the drummer a keyboard player?), announced they would be playing new stuff, and launched into some really lovely quiet songs (see Peter's flickr account for a blurry shot of the playlist someone ripped off the stage). Sentimental and romantic-y and beautiful lyrics.

This was not the feather Vegas-clad Devendra I was expecting.

After a bit he did his schtick where he goes into how he knows there are artists in the audience: culinary, visual, people who make their own clothes and how every one of these acts is subversive and political (which I'm not gonna lie, I totally dug on) but all he's got is a guitar and is there someone in the audience who wants to play a couple of tunes. Some girl was plucked out of the front. He handed her his guitar and walked off stage. This was actually the only trainwrecking I saw. She was nervous, of course, and the concept really is cool, but I didn't really need to hear her wail away about something for 2 songs.

He came back out (shirtless and a bit wild eyed) and rocked. out. Devendra Banhart rocked out. I can't believe after having listened to him halfheartedly for the past year or so that he was even capable of rocking out. He was. And in grand lunatic fashion he ended the show with "I feel just like a child" and invited everyone to come up on stage and dance about with him. I demurred, but Peter and Joe danced like the children they are.

All in all, I had a great time. I will be purchasing the new album on vinyl hopefully Tuesday (must remember to call Full Circle about that...) and would wholeheartedly recommend seeing him live. In fact, he's in Burlington, Vermont tonight at UVM and will be on Conan O'Brien Wednesday night so check that out if you can.

One small thing marred my experience. I seemed to be surrounded by groups of young male hipsters who insisted on deconstructing the show whilst it was going on. Boys? Please, I beg of you, shut up. Save it for the drive home. Save it for your blog. Save it for those social situations you will undoubtedly find yourself in where you're in a room full of even more hipsterish hipsters than yourself and are feeling a insecure. Strangers around you do not care what you think of every single song choice, of every single line, of every other show you've ever been to that was better than the one you're currently not enjoying.

This public service announcement was brought to you by people who are crazy enough to drive 4 hours one way to see a guy no one has ever heard of.

Thank you!

shhhhhh i've got a secret

I'm not really sure how this happened, but it seems I'm heading to Detroit tonight for another concert at the Majestic. Devendra Banhart is on the menu--a man I actually don't really like all that much, but it's who Peter wanted to see for his birthday so there it is. I like going into shows like this: zero to low expectations and a relatively open mind. Plus I get Jimmy Johns for supper so I'll be happy.

Market days are dwindling. I noticed today my egg/cheese people were not there which leads me to believe they're only coming on Saturdays for the rest of the season. It was a quick shopping trip so I'm not really sure what I ended up with: I think some kale, the last of the tomatoes, red, yellow, and orange peppers, bread, and some honeycrisps. I've been holding off on the squash as I suspect it will soon be featured prominently in my diet. Saturday I have to work all day so I'll hopefully make it down there during my morning break. I honestly can't tell you how sad it makes me that this summer is over and fall is beginning. I love fall (see previous post!) but eating this way has been a wonderful experience and I can't wait to start all over again in the spring. This winter I'm hoping to make some small changes: buying dried beans to cut down on packaging, making my own bread and pasta, making my own goat cheese (no, seriously, we found an organic co-op in Zeeland of all places that we can pay $50/year and get at least a gallon a week and we don't have to milk it ourselves!!), honestly thinking long and hard before buying some sort of fruit or vegetable that was obviously shipped thousands of miles...
But next year? Canning, preserving, and drying are all things I want to learn. Plus I'm hoping to have a small garden.

I have a new addiction: Good Reads!!! It's all folksonomied out. And like MySpace for literary geeks. I've noticed that alot of people go through and have catalogued past books but I'm really using it for current reads and as a place to find new books. It's easy to use-completely intuitive.

And because I like to save the best for last and this is buried here at the very end of a post you probably didn't even read because it's rather dull and repetitive: "Really, Erin? You liked shopping at the farmers market this summer? I had NO idea!" I thought I'd throw a little something out there to see if anyone's paying attention. We might be moving upstairs in the nearish future.

it's the most wonderful time of the year

The temperature has dropped about 20 degrees. And my house? Immediately freezing. In a good way. I've unearthed the old shawl (and taken out the one I started knitting this summer at the cottage), put extra blankets on the bed, started making homemade soups, and now have a constant bed companion in Grace. She's a bed hog. A big, huge, fat bed hog. If it wasn't so blatantly obvious she's cold I would think she actually liked me the way she insists on curling up right next to me or sometimes right on me. I find myself sleeping diagonally to ensure I don't accidentally suffocate her in my sleep as she ain't gonna wake up and neither am I. I love the beginning of fall. Layers of quilts and knitted things and tea and apples and crisp air and good sleeping and football and fires...I know I won't be so thrilled when I finally have to shut my windows and turn on my heat and the market dwindles to pumpkins and squash and the snow starts flying, but today I am blissfully happy.

Strange days at work. I've been busy with planning for next year and there is some big adjustments in how my compadre and I are doing things mainly that we'll no longer be planning programs for "families" (read "kids and teens"). I'm excited about everything we're hoping to pull off--some tasting programs, gardening, cooking, documentaries and lectures--but it's just different. We're used to BIG success and now we'll be in uncharted territory. Plus-drumroll, please-we don't have to do our own PR!!!! Today we met with the new person and I'm optimistic things are going to be vastly different. It's exciting but a little scary and overwhelming. Before we even get to all of that new stuff, however, we have a Day of the Dead program to pull together which is shaping up to be really cool. And the DVD Release Parties. Sigh. I can't wait for them to be over. We've scaled back quite a bit and I really can't wait to show The Simpsons and hand out doughnuts instead of popcorn, but man that program just wipes me out. And leaves me working 2 nights a week. Which I really, really hate.

I'm not certain what's going on but I can't seem to muster any enthusiasm for the upcoming political season. Maybe it's because everyone started campaigning a grazillion years ago. Remember when McCain was king? Remember when Romney was king? Remember when Obama had a shot? Remember when Guilliani was a joke? Remember when Thompson was gonna run and then he wasn't and then he was? Plus Iraq has got me down. In a big way. I foolishly thought the Democrats were actually going to do something about it when they took over the House and Senate in 2006. It's politics as usual: people too busy trying to keep their jobs instead of taking the time to do their jobs. And Bush? Who cares what Petraeus says because he's going to say exactly what Cheney and the neo cons want him to say. Does Bush actually expect the country to be happy with his 30,000 troop withdrawl next summer announcement?!? That's just below pre-surge levels so excuse me for not being thrilled. I don't know what to do over there. I don't know if we should pull out or stay or what we should do. But I can't get over that we shouldn't be there in the first place. And I can't get over if we leave we're leaving a bigger mess than we found it. Bush doesn't care about what's right for Iraq or what's right for America. Bush wants to keep everything exactly the way it is now so he can sneak out of the White House in 2008 and leave this international disaster in someone elses lap. I've thought seriously about voting Republican. Or voting third party should a viable candidate pop up. I absolutely dislike Hillary and I'm only slightly more excited about Obama because despite his youth and enthusiasm I cannot help but feel a lack of depth. And, dare I say, experience? It doesn't help living in a state that is trying to force the party's hand by moving up it's primary thereby ensuring no Democratic candidates visit here. Guess who needs the Democrats right now? This state with it's 7.2% unemployment rate--that's almost DOUBLE the national rate. I'm going to steal Peter's idea and propose we change the primary season thusly: economics. Poorest states get to vote first. Let's get every single candidate to hit Michigan and then Mississippi and then Alaska. We've got the most people out of work, we should get their attention.

Nice to see I haven't lost my idealistic side.

happy birthday to peter!

It was a very productive and restful weekend. Friday night I went to bed early. Saturday morning I was up early and at the market where I saw just about every single person I have ever met. Saturday afternoon I cleaned the gosh darn heck outta my apartment. For those of you familiar with the size, it took me 2 1/2 hours. 2 1/2 HOURS! To clean less than 500 square feet of living space! My superduper vacuum got all up in the nooks and took down some serious web action. Saturday night we went to the Sandbar where we unexpectedly ran into my neighbor and expectedly ran into Raleigh and Nicole. Chicago dogs were eaten, Jameson was drunk, and we didn't use the power of being regulars to throw a very intoxicated but ultimately harmless man out of the bar. Back at the compound I'm happy to report a ton of work was done on the 3 poems to be published this winter. I now anxiously await some illustrations from Raleigh so we can keep moving forward. I felt kinda bad for Nicole as the three of us were all pressed out, but she seemed to thoroughly enjoy reading a book on pornography while we finished up. Sunday I slept. Like a champ. All day long. We hit up the Elbo Room for lunch in Saugatuck and then headed back to watch the Lions win the opening game of the season! Actually, now that I think about it, I watched me some football this weekend. U of M got stomped by Oregon which everyone already knows about unless you're one of the unfortunate people who don't enjoy football. And I got to watch Notre Dame get beat by Penn State at the bar. Plus I watched the first half of the Cowboys/Giants game last night which was pretty much all I needed to see. I love football. I just love it. I don't even really care who's playing (though it was nice to see Denver and New England and Green Bay all win yesterday). I love jumping up and down and screaming at the tv and the simplicity of it all: Ten yards in four tries. I don't have a firm confirmation on this, but I think I've gotten Peter to commit to "following" the Lions this season. It's only 16 games which is way less overwhelming than, say, baseball.

Yeah. I don't really want to talk about baseball.

on "the historical conquests of josh ritter"

Last night found us perusing the bins at Vertigo. In a surprise move, I walked out with Tom Waits "Real Gone"--heavenly on vinyl, I might add-- and though he had been on a quest for what seems like years for this (it's all about the cover) Peter bought the new Josh Ritter on cd. Normally I would give an album a few listens before tossing my two cents in the ring, but I was struck by my one and only go through so I'm gonna go for it. T'won't be comprehensive and track by track, but more of a general overall review.

I loved it. Absolutely loved it. This album is by no means perfect, but the tradeoff is getting to hear a great singer-songwriter stretch himself. And at times he IS near perfect:

If this was the Cold War we could keep each other warm I said on the first occasion that I met Marie We were crawling through the hatch that was the missile silo door And I don’t think that she really thought that much of me

I never had to learn to love her like I learned to love the Bomb She just came along and started to ignore me But as we waited for the Big One I started singing her my songs And I think she started feeling something for me

From "The Temptation of Adam"

I understand why those who have been fans since "The Golden Age of Radio" or even "Hello Starling" might be disappointed. This is more produced (a criticism I had of "The Animal Years") and slick and he sometimes relies on vocal production trickery which is unnecessary. But much like Dylan going electric, this album is a turning point in a positive way. This is Josh Ritter trying something new and in my opinion succeeding.

He's playing at the Blind Pig in October, but I hesitate to go. I got to see him last spring in one of my most favorite venues with one of my most favorite people. The Blind Pig is NOT one of my favorite venues and I think I'd like to have that memory of Josh Ritter more than I'd like to see him in a way too small venue.

But if he is coming to a venue near you I highly recommend the show. He made me love songs I originally disliked on The Animal Years when I heard him play them live. I can only guess the same will be true for The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter.

laborious labor day

I had to work. Not on Monday--thank-you-god-I-don't-work-retail--but on Saturday. I think we all foolishly thought since the weather was near perfect in Western Michigan and it was a holiday weekend the library would be slow.

It was not.

And we were short-staffed.

I spent my weekend with some old friends drinking martinis and talking about West Wing and spiders and bats and books and dealing with drunk caretakers and carpenter ants and cesspools. I also spent my weekend watching parts of Black Snake Moan which I initially wrote off given the mixed reviews but I'm now going to check out because it's the kinda movie I can rip apart and put back together. Plus Christina Ricci does get chained up. I also saw "The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico" which is an absolute must see if you're a Bob Dylan fan. Or a Jeff Tweedy fan. Or just a music fan. I'm still wondering how this movie ever got made in the first place, but it's a gem of thing. And rounding out my weekend of movies was "Little Children." Though those at rotten tomatoes loved it, I give it a thumbs down. Mostly because I really liked the first half. The second half fell apart into a big old nasty smelly mess. Which makes the fact that it was nominated for best adapted screenplay last year mindblowing. I'm sure it was a delightful novel and the cinematography was lovely, but I need a little more to sustain my interest.

I just finished the most wonderful book: "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing." It's a young adult novel that is better than most fiction coming out today. Truly outstanding. Inventive and challenging and well written. I initially had a big stack of young adult novels I was planning on reading, but they are all falling flat after Octavian. So the ya books are coming back to the library and up next (after I work my way through Anne Fadiman's new book of familiar essays) is "No Country for Old Men" by McCarthy in anticipation of the Coen brothers' movie.

I was a slacker this weekend where cooking is concerned. I just get sick and tired of doing dishes constantly. Aside from breakfast Sunday morning (tortillas stuffed with eggs and beans and cheese and potatoes and fresh salsa!) I've been subsisting on processed "foods" I'd prefer to forget. Tonight I'm making BIG stir fry: kale and carrots and broccoli and 3 different kinds of peppers and either tempeh or tofu or something. I cannot justify going to market tomorrow unless I eat up what's left of Saturday's haul. And I need to go to market as it's days are numbered.

Sigh.