I CANNOT BLOG

oh my gosh I am so bad at blogging. I skipped the whole summer!

it has been a good, slow summer and I am happy for that. i have done more swimming this summer than I have in a long time, mostly at my town pool and at the pool where the kids I babysit go.

babysitting has been mostly boring but I will admit I have grown attached to the kids, and everyday I come home and think a lot about things I learn from them. I am becoming so much more carefree, thinking about playing instead of "the future" or "drama"

it has been a pretty solo summer, save for some serious fun with Bianca who has made my move back home so much better. she took me to this amazing party across the river from her where we met a beautiful elf hippie named Michael who shared so much wisdom with us! also we danced all night long on the dock and camped out after. it was so magical i can't even believe it.

i am really starting to miss so many people in my life and while people sometimes knock social media, i have to thank it because i am finally getting better at staying connected with all of the people i love so much that are scattered across the country. i think about all of my friends everyday and cannot wait to share laughs with everyone soon.

i want to get better at writing in this, mostly for myself because i probably have some things i want to say but i always forget to say them!

farm fresh eggs

so I admit it, I have jumped on the farm fresh, local food, organic bandwagon (except I adore potato chips with gloppy onion dip and other wonderous fatty processes foods) but let's be serious, the farm fresh, slow food movement has merit and isn't merely a trend. also it is delicious.

anyway, it occurred to me that upstate new York is full of farms and I adore visiting farms! I did some research today and learned that I can get fresh milk and cottage cheese, pasture raised chicken and lamb, organic veggies, pick your own berries and eggs all within 15 miles of my house! I am desperately excited to eat all of this and check out all these spots. if apple picking is so amazing in the fall I can only imagine how great visiting these other farms aml summer will be.

I'm also really craving a juicy grass fed steak.

ps I made some amazing asparagus dill soup the other day. my pee still stinks

heater isn't hot

UPDATES UPDATES UPDATES 

i live with my mom and dad in Slingerlands, NY and my routine is as follows:

1) wake up to my pointless alarm, turn it off and lay in bed awhile longer until finally grabbing a book or a computer.

2) showers! i shower every single day now, and it's very refreshing. I hate blow-drying my hair

3) listen to my dad tell me i sleep too late and then I eat breakfast (lunch) and then go to the library and study my lsats and look at books that I want to read but my queue is so long I probably never will and then check out a dvd and some cds I want to burn onto my computer

4) go home and watch the dvd I rented, or another dvd or maybe read a magazine

5) cook dinner! i make dinner for my parents to earn my keep. It is wonderful to cook for people, even if they are my parents and will tell me it is good even if it really isn't.

6) one night time activity is bowling adventures with Bianca. We have tried out 3 Capital District bowling alley's so far and I LOVE bowling. Weirdly my skills aren't improving but it is really fun.

7) other night time activities that haven't really been figured out yet but hopefully involve figuring out how to get drunk in a city that lacks public transportation. Drunk driving is a major NO WAY!

see you sooooon.

porrkk!!!!!

I forgot to write bout the pork dish I made on Tuesday night!!!

sometimes it does stink to cook just for myself but when I work on creating a recipe and it comes out great I sort of forget that I ate it alone in my attic.

I bought a pork tenderloin that I thought was on sale but it turnedbout not to be. so I over spent but I still wanted to enjoy it.

after researching some ideas I was inspired by the idea of a braise and also using a mustard marinade. mark bittman's recipe used Dijon and curry powder on the pork.

I did that but used champagne shallot Dijon. I seared it and then put it in a pan with chicken broth, more mustard, garlic cloves and cherry tomatos. I wish I had put even more mustard and more curry for a stronger flavor but in the end the juice was soooo good and the pork was soft and delicious.

I roasted some winter squash and that was great with the juice as well. so yummmmm right!

Memories

I'm watching lydia's Italy right now and her grandmother is on. Lydia made gnocci with cinnamon sugar and smoked ricotta and the grandmother was so excited. she said seeing that dish brought her back 60 years to a similar dish she had.

I think food is all about memories like that. foods and smells always bring bAck memories, science proves it!! I live for the smell of a roast chicken because it always brings me back to my moms kitchen when I was little. I think I started to love cooking because I want to recreate those food memories.

I am trying to think of meals or dishes that I might remember in 60 years. I will always remember my first raw oysters and I will never be able to eat oysters without thinking of my former main man.

I will always remember the experience of eating borscht and blinis and smoked fishes in Russia. it was so comfortig to be in a foreign country and eat those foods that I had grown up with. it made me feel so Russian.

fried chicken, no burns

I have been craving fried chicken foe pretty much my entire life.

today I made some!!!!!!!!! it was my first time frying anything and I would say it was a success. my first batch burned even though I followed mark bittman's temperature directions exactly.

it stilltasted lovely and my next two batches were PERFECT. I first marinated the chicken in buttermilk, cayenne, thyme, salt and pepper. then just flour to coat.

the crunch was magnificent and the taste was pretty good but I wished I'd used more spice.

I feel pretty icky now. tooooooooo fatty fat.

while I love fried chicken I think I will only eat salad.

here is a poem about the experience.

the crispy chicken
bubbles and spats
crunches. spices.
fat
grease
fat
crispy greens will follow

gadgets

I am currently writing this on my iPhone.

I love but also hate this thing.

also I lost my camera and it has many photos of important memories on it.


HELP. any information on its location would be hugely appreciated. I may even make you dinner as a reward.