Is ok, I make lamb (?)

I was going to make lamb. I was. But how can you pass up the ground turkey when it's probably a third of the price and less fat? So I used turkey to make these Moroccan Meatballs, which I served with Brown-Sugar Glazed Carrots and "Moroccan Couscous". I don't know how Moroccan either of these two dishes actually were, but if your eyes are sweatin' with all the spice in the air, you're probably getting close. I think it was a perfectly balanced meal, not just as far as nutrition goes, although I hit that point for sure, but flavorwise as well. The meatballs had a really complex flavor, which balanced really nicely with the subtle couscous which was mainly flavored with butter and onions (some might not call that subtle, but I love onions and da mo' butte' da mo' bette' dat's what I say). The carrot recipe called for rosemary, which I don't have (which is a shame, because you try and tell me an herb that smells better than rosemary, I dare ya) so I used coriander instead which tied the flavors of the meatballs and the carrots together. I had a sweet peach to go with it. It was a lovely meal. However, I've got to stop with the ground turkey. The meatballs tasted good, but they lacked the certain rich, bold flavor that one can only get from lamb, and they also lacked the moist, tender texture of a more marbled meat (although you'd be surprised at how much fat I rendered from the turkey, it was disgusting!). As a sad and final note, the molten chocolate cookies are only good when they're fresh, I'd sooner toss them than give them to company the 2nd day. You've got to eat them before they cool down completely after you've taken them out of the oven, but if you do, you're cares will melt away in chocolate bliss for the remainder of the cookie.

Should I stay or should I go?

Hello my friends! On our day to day adventures we cannot help but mentally think of a list of things that must go. These things could include living about 30 feet away from an outdoor theater which leaves your eardrums and your floors pulsing with the baseline of some rather poor music, or linolium with indentations for asthetic effect which consequently 1) aren't asthetically pleasing, and 2) make it impossible to effectively clean the floor. The list may also include football and the traffic that ensues therefrom, but there is one thing that most definitely must stay: Molten chocolate cookies. These cookies don't just have a melt in your mouth, not in your hand quality, but infact, when eaten warm, the centers are pure molten chocolate goodness. These kind of cookies ALMOST make up for any thunderous, poorly done music and hoards of people dressed in blue dispobeying traffic laws and common sense. These cookies are perfect chocolate bliss.

Guava Juice and Cous Cous OR Auditory Ossicles

So I should've been studying for what would almost serve the purpose of a clep test instead of making a fairly elaborate meal for a Tuesday, and I should be studying right now instead of bloging about it, but...it's good! It is Moroccan Chicken Stew with sweet potatoes on cous cous. Good stuff. Frying scares me a little bit though. Too loud. And hot oil isn't friendly--it spits, like camels. Last week I made Coconut and Beef Curry with noodles (sorry folks, I'm unable to hyperlink this one). It was delicious. It would have been more delicious had I used beef, but sometimes...you gotta eat cheap and healthful, so I went with the ground turkey. Ground turkey tastes a lot like ground carboard, so it works better in really spiced up dishes like spaghetti and tacos. I probably won't use it in curry again (this was a more mild, wimp-friendly curry), but it was a really good curry nevertheless. The great thing about dishes like this is that as the leftovers sit in the fridge, the flavors get more comfortable with each other and start to hang out and mingle, which makes the leftovers actually better than when it was totally fresh. This is also good for a college student, because when I cook...I eat the same thing everyday for a good few days.

Walking to School

Walking to school is an adventure, but actually, now that I think about it, so is walking home. On the way to school there is a row of sprinklers that never fails to be on. The heads rotate at different rates, so if you aren't watchful and quick at stopping and starting at the right times, you will inevitably get wet. I lost the first battle, but I'm getting much better. At school there are appropriate signs on some of the greens that read, "I'm trying really hard to grow, so please don't walk on me" or something to that effect. Do you ever feel the same way? I do sometimes. Walking home can be more sprinkler dodging, which probably ought to be an Olympic sport and would probably be something Tyler would enjoy. Sometimes walking home is grasshopper dodging. That only happened once, and there were only two...I think, but they sure can jump high and fast and two grasshoppers is probably an overload for one walk. Hopefully we wont need to hail in the seagulls to come and bail us out again.

Most Definitely Walking to School

My dear and trusty traveling companion isn't feeling well. I know he's not as shiny and red as this pic here, and he's got a good deal more parking stickers, but he is a good car. We've been through a lot together. Today we were going to the temple, my little red Acura and I, as well as a few friends. When we got there, we discovered one of the friends forgot her temple recommend, so we went to retrieve it and were on our way back, when something under Ackie's hood 'sploded in a much more horrifying way than I've ever seen a grilled grape do. It smelled sweet and odd in a sickening way and fluid was leaking and smoke issued from under the hood for quite some time. I was really blessed to be with people when it happened, and not alone...on the freeway. Good thing I decided not to drive home this weekend! The girl in the car had AAA, and they towed my car at no cost to me. Ackie's appointment isn't until Monday, and so we're wishing the best for him that he'll come out ok. The tow-guy said it looked like an overheating issue...but that's silly because we'd only been driving for five minutes. Poor Ackie's never come close to overheating on my watch. Strange. It's also possible that a hose of some sort became disconnected. Come on, Ackie, you and I need to go to grad school!

What if I got no eggs?

So basically I got no eggs cuz I don't want to go the grocery store. Not today. So instead of using eggs to make a boxed muffin mix, I used 1 tsp of baking powder mixed with 1 TBS of milk, and 1 TBS of vinegar (this substitutes one egg). It was nice to see the age old grade school science project at work with the baking powder poofing up all over the place and starting to overflow the cup I mixed it in (although in grade school I think it was baking soda...but it had a similar effect). I was surprised at how well it worked. The muffins had the correct consistency that any muffin would strive to achieve, however, since there weren't actually eggs, the muffin tops couldn't brown like you'd want them too. One note: If you're a chronic spoon-licker like myself, you're going to want to refrain when using this. I know, I know, I'm not supposed to lick the spoon anyway, salmonella yada yada...but vinegar does not make for tasty spoon licking...just throwin' that out there.

A Wednesday of Fortunes and Misfortunes

Yesterday was a combination of fortunes and misfortunes. I made callbacks for Women's Chorus, but there were so many scheduling conflicts that I would have had to completely miss Sun Valley--no exceptions. So I dropped out of the callbacks. I did not get called back for Concert Choir, and I cannot tell you how strange it was to call Dad as happy as can be to tell him that I didn't make it and that it appears that I will be coming to Sun Valley for the entirety of the
trip! I lost my keys...well, that's not true, I knew precisely where they were, however the keys were behind a locked door that I was in front of. Lame. You have no idea how many ditsy things I've done already this semester.... No one was home in my side of the building and I didn't have my phone with me. I finally found a passerby and asked to use her cell phone, but the Manager didn't answer the phone, and I don't know my roommates phone numbers yet. I was stuck. However! I did happen to bring a water bottle outside with me so I didn't die. Yay! Then after being stuck outside for I while, I started praying and guess what happened? A guy drove up and was delivering papers to a couple people that weren't home from my building. As he came out, and passed by me, sulking, I noticed he had a HUGE key ring...he was from the management office, and he was able to help me in! Yay!