Marble[wo]man [Eat Ingredients]

Marble[wo]man Blog January 16 - 30, 2011

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Hunting for Groceries

Saturday afternoon was spent hunting for groceries. My plan was to come home with vegetables to make a soup (I did obtain a couple of acorn squash and spaghetti squash), but I came home with the essentials needed for the week.

I started with produce markets...

Then the grocery stores...

Roughly four hours within a ten mile radius, five stores in total. (I have one more this afternoon.) Living in a well diversified community (culturally socioeconomic), there are opportunities to discover and replenish supplies "authentically" (contextual experience and product packaging)--and to learn what is "quality" (dietary/taste/quantity/safety) in relation to competitive pricing.

Once home, I put away the groceries, washed the remaining dishes, then prepared my dinner: Blue Plate Special [revisited]:

"Blue Plate Special [revisited]"

Pork Chop (braised); Olive Oil, Jalapeno (wheels), Mushroom (button caps sliver-slices), Cilantro (minced); Cheddar Cheese (sticks); Green Beans (packaged); Dinner Roll (toasted, butter).

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Tweetledum and Tweetledee (Demo-satire)

As a fully-employed and involved parent, if I do not have enough time to watch primetime television, what makes me think that I have enough time to blog???

How many 'times'?!?!

ARGH!!!!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Brain Drain: Sombre Psyche Soup

I awoke early in the morning, before 6am with an appetite and stuffy nose. I had a cold (lingering at present). My breathing was more obstructed than usual. I knew that I should saline-wash my nasal passage to increase my ability to take in air more freely.

Predictably, I thought of a gastronomic solution: chicken soup. I had since grown tired of such a soup: more accurately, an awareness causing a sleepish attitude towards fowl and fish. I figured a substitute for the meat product.

Wrapped tighter than a pig in a blanket, I wandered into the kitchen cocooned in my feather comforter, grabbed some ground beef, coriander leafs (which I minced), and some frozen ginger root (which I grated). Shedding my cocoon blanket, I rolled some herbal meatballs, then pan-fried/sauteed them. I boiled some veggie noodles in sea-salted filtered water. The meatballs were added to the swimming noodles. The pan juices were sieved into the pot, turning the filtered water into a broth. A lid was placed on the pot, leaving the noodles and meatballs to soak, tepidly steep.

Uncooked Meatballs: ground beef, coriander, grated ginger

My nose was clogged (as is now), requiring a saline solution. From my experience recuperating from pituitary gland surgery, I knew that I had to irrigate my skull through the nose, melting viscous mucous, which retains potential bacteria pestilence. Cleaning the cranium, draining the brain, a gross-out from an unlikely spigot, I gathered my tools: a bulb syringe, boiled salt water (at room temperature).

Ed's stuffy nose

I tilted my head back and slowly squeezed the bulb, releasing the solution into my right nasal passage. I tiled my head to the right. The fluid entered the ear canal, softening the snot that began to trickle from my nose once I leaned forward and adjusted my face over the sink basin. I pressed down on the left nostril with my index finger, and gently blew air out of the right nostril. A clearing of the throat, a subtle hock of a loogie. The ptui process was repeated for the left nostril, then again in tandem--enough until fluid easily dripped from the nose when I stood and stared into the medicine cabinet mirror breathing easily.

By now, the soup needed to be reheated before serving. Piping delicious proved my palate: the ginger and coriander, the noodles, the broth, the mushy meatballs made me full-bodied. My belly, from the saline solution and from the soup, was ostensibly bloated.

Sombre Psyche Soup

Sunday, January 30, 2011

A Narcissist's Day: Lava Love

Saturday, I awoke, had breakfast (cereal, and a PBJ English muffin), watched the morning news television programs while replying to email and organizing my medical records. After which, I irrigated my nose, then had a bath. While soaking, I finished reading a "controversial" magazine article about carbohydrates, calories and fat.

Taking care of myself and the duties involved, I was having a narcissist's day. This meant attending to my flu by staying hydrated: water, coffee, tea--me!

Throughout the day, I did chores: laundry, dishes, shoveled the car out of the show. I contacted family: email by day; phone by night.

From lunch (a leftovers sampler) to dinner (a well-done turkey burger [jerk seasoning, raw egg, crushed pretzel sticks, and dried parsley] covered with jalapenos, mozzarella, and tomato), I finalized what I would do with the acorn squash purchased a week or so ago. I knew that I had to blog about something, to stop procrastinating, stop watching the on-demand videos that were distracting me from the riotous calls for radical change.

To escape the chaos a continent away, I thought I should stop thinking and start creating. I set the ingredients out the counter adjacent to the refrigerator. Later in the evening, I would make Lava Love.

Lava Love [ingredients]

Lava Love [ingredients]

Lava Love

Light Cream
Peeled Tomato (hastily mashed [with a fork])
Acorn Squash (quartered, boiled, fleshed-out)
Butter (stick)
Pecan (dry toasted, pestled into pieces)

Lava Love

Today (Sunday, 6:30 am), before I made this journal entry into the blog, I decided that I should grab my grocery list and go to the twenty-four hour supermarket--and fill-up the car's gas tank (more snow this week???). However, I decided that before leaving to run these errands, I should prep for breakfast.

Southwest Philly Steak & Eggs [ingredients]

Southwest Philly Steak and Eggs

Corn Tortillas (flash-fried after cut into eighth chips, seasoned with chili powder and lime juice)
Firm Tofu (cubed, pre-/post-marinated in cayenne sauce, flash-fried)
Beef Roast (cubed, pan-fried)
Egg (whisked)
Tomato (diced)
Cilantro (dried)
Tofu (added)
Cream Cheese (softened)
Jalapeno (chopped)

Southwest Philly Steak & Eggs

I noted to myself, "by Sunday's end, I must sweep and mop the kitchen floor!!!"