Ok, first of all, new podcast tomorrow. Enough said.
I haven’t felt that much like cooking lately. It’s one of those things – when I love it, I love it. When I don’t feel like it, it is torture. Sometimes planning a special even can snap me out of it. Enchilada Night seems to have done that.
Luckily my enthusiasm had held, because yesterday I had planned a pretty ambitions meal for a weeknight: spaghetti, with a killer sauce made by a local company called Schiavone’s Marinara Spaghetti Sauce. (OK that part is a no-brainer.) Paired with Caesar Salad made with homemade garlic croutons and homemade dressing. Yum! Also, I made some Parmesan Cheese Bread, pictured below during the first rise.
It seems my favorite time to cook is in the mornings. The house is quiet; my brain is relatively uncluttered and as fresh as it is ever going to be. Mornings are the most productive time for me, in general. That doesn’t mean I like getting out of bed, though. I HATE IT. Especially since we got our Sleep Number Bed. (Thank you, Lindsey Wagner and your most convincing commercial!)
But once I am up, I get lots done. There is something positively Zen about having the stand mixer going, kneading the bread and the food processor going, smushing up garlic, at the same time. If I were really good at multi-tasking, I could haven taken a sip of tea while all this was going on. I bet Martha could have done it.
Enchilada Night is just a memory now, but a fond one. My house is already dusty again. Bummer. But it was a fun time and a great way to unwind after the long week.
The evening began with a beverage (The Smiths were serving a nice Riesling) and appetizers complements of Bsherm.
He makes killer Deviled Eggs. The best! He even has the special traveling serving tray.
Next up, an amazing salad I coerced the Miracles into bringing. Delish. This is the point in the evening when I stopped taking photos. Too much yummy food and good conversation to distract me.
The enchiladas were a hit – all due to the secret ingredient: caramelized onions.
They just add a smoky-sweet flavor that goes well with all the cheese.
Finally, we finished up with a chocolate dip-fest. I have a little chocolate melting thingy and we popped in a container of the Baker’s brand “Dipping Chocolate” and it was the perfect consistency to dip marshmallows, pretzels and BBQ potato chips. No I am not kidding about the chips. Ask the Aztecs. It rocks.
Mari and her buddy played for hours, with a break for dinner – “What a pain!” – and the chocolate – “Mari, you’ve had enough!”
When the babies that were in attendance dozed off, we toddled off to bed; Neil and I were very thankful we didn’t have to get in the car first to get home…
Maybe it’s that full moon, but I am ultra productive this week. Enchilada night is partly to blame. I am nearly finished with a little spruce for the house. Here is the #1 priority for a spruce…
Update vintage DM and Over the Rhine posters in the living room. This is vital, I assure you. “Strangelove” is now safely stored in the basement for a time. Here are some equally important but somewhat odd things I also felt compelled to do before friends come for dinner:
Clean the oven – because they’ll all be looking in there; don’t think they won’t! The second my back is turned…
Wash slipcovers. This is especially considerate when one of the guests is allergic to our cat.
Dust, vacuum, blah, blah, blah.
Scrub around the outer edge of the kitchen sink with a toothbrush.
Clean the innerworkings of the electronic air cleaner. Not sure about my compulsion to get this done. No one is allowed in my basement, upon penalty of death! But I feel better now knowing it is sparkling inside there.
Sounds like someone is ready for a cocktail… I love to cook when the mood hits me. But I need a week to prepare because I do all these odd little things that I am not motivated to take care of if there is no pending event.
So the rest of the day will be spent putting together the enchiladas, getting out serving dishes, hunting down enough cloth napkins, all while listening to yet another kickin’ electronic music compilation that arrived yesterday from England, sent by the lovely Andrew.
Tomorrow is completion day for the Christmas knitting projects and podcast recording day. Get ready for a Thanksgiving feast for your ears.
So Neil and I are fascinated with the creative process. Whether it was back when I was in my senior year of college and discovered the joy of the art elective (you mean I get credit for taking photos and making jewelry?) or making an album, or writing a verse or arranging items on a shelf…
Creativity often happens unexpectedly – it’s a little pop in my brain. Like, “Where did that come from?” A creative accident. I have been on an accelerated journey of discovery ever since I quit working. And I have found my creative voice.
Someone who has been on the journey with Neil and I and has supported us in too many ways to begin to mention, is our friend Todd Henry. And he is having his own little creative explosion. We have all learned amazing things together and now he has actually created a whole community centered around the creative process.
His project, The Accidental Creative, is a safe haven and support system for creative-types. The world we live in is create-on-demand. But we aren’t necessarily made to create under those conditions. So what can we do?
Todd gathers resources from some of the most creative minds of our day and distills their wisdom into bite size nuggets. He has a free podcast called The Accidental Creative. Check it out if you would like an inspiring tidbit to get your creative juices flowing. And you know how I love my tidbits!
You can also visit his site at Accidentalcreative.com and learn about his virtual community.
Quick entry before my hot date with the vacuum cleaner. Our friends Mike and Donna played this video for us Friday night and I am still giggling. This is the best vampire disco Switzerland has to offer. It’s like the Star Wars theme meets a Goth “Thriller,” if you will. Oh, yes, please! I certainly will!
Martin Gore, sick with the flu, with hearing loss in both ears, and a hand cramp couldn’t write lyrics this bad.
There is also the original music video for this song on Youtube. I posted the live version as I wasn’t satisfied with the video quality on the video. But it is worth taking a look.
I don’t usually blog at 1:30 AM, because I am usually asleep. I get up at 6 to get Mari ready for school, so I a conk out around 10 or 11. But Neil and I had a night out tonight. We had dinner with the Goths and then headed out for 80’s night at a local club. But once again, The Curse of The Smiths hit. No 80’s night. The DJ recently quit doing it. This is our track record in this city. Usually the club closes the week before we want to go there. At least this time we didn’t put them out of business.
But all is not lost. We ended up listening to a live band called Polly Panic. It is like Zeppelin meets Tori Amos meets Courtney Love. But Courtney Love is like Zeppelin meets Tori Amos, so it was more like Courtney Love if she played the cello. A singing cellist and a drummer. Interesting, huh? We thought so.
Neil is on a bit of a high about his music stuff, and I have to say I am too, as I have been invited to participate. I am honored that some of the other musicians that are involved would like me to work on the project. Neil might feel obligated to ask me, but they don’t have that baggage. I am in a bit in shock about it, but honestly I can’t wait to get started on some vocal parts.
While I am waiting for DM’s Remastered Exciter CD to rip to my iTunes so I can listen on my walk, I thought I would organize my thoughts on my holiday knitting projects. Let’s see what we’ve got:
1 shawl – finished
3 scarves – finished
1 scarf – ends to weave in
2 backpacks – need straps sewn on and polymer clay bead made for closures
2 furry pillows sewn together (these are technically for a January birthday gift)
Note: buy one more pillow form
One project I don’t want to mention – 2-4 more items knitted to complete the set (I’m not sure yet how many I want to do) and then felted
Not bad for someone who started knitting after Christmas last year.
I will do a knitting blog once these are done. Which will be soon because I am a completer. And I want to start my first pair of socks!
But I need the double pointed needles being used for the unnamed project above. I am very excited to do socks. I picked some “Slouch Socks” from Ready, Set, Knit by Sasha Kagan. I chose these because I already had the pattern; it is made with only one yarn and I am tired of color changes at the moment; it is straight knitting, no pattern or cables (except the band at the top); and they should be pretty forgiving if the size isn’t quite right because they are loose, lounging socks and not fitted. I hope I am not sorry about using the chenille yarn it called for. It is very soft, but I am fearful of how hard it will be to rip it out when I make an error. I already checked my gauge, so I am ready to roll! I haven’t knitted anything for myself since my first project, the knitting bag – from the same book. I feel positively indulgent!
So this is a busy day. Mari is off school, but we are going to the salon this afternoon for haircuts, then she has jazz dance class, then she is going to a sleepover. And Neil and I will be enjoying an evening with the Goths and, if we don’t wimp out when it starts getting late, 80’s Night for dancing at a local club. They advertise that they play DM on their MySpace page, so here’s hoping!
Oh, my, I haven’t even selected an outfit yet. Gotta go!
So this week, I’m taking my last five days of vacation time in order to work on a new record. I know, they’re not called records anymore, but I don’t care. Also, I probably will make it a digital-only release – so I can’t really call it a CD either.
Anyway, I spent the last four days just playing around… experimenting with sounds that interest me… writing little bits of music here and there. I then arranged all those bits and pieces into songs and parts of songs.
As I mentioned on the podcast, I will be joined by my friend Dave (from BSG video contest fame) who will be adding his glorious guitar-ness to everything. The sound for this new album is very dark (duh) and gothy (double duh). It will have layers and layers of atmosphere and ethereal, industrial goodness. I’m very excited about it!
So now it’s Thursday, and I have about 10 or 11 solid tracks; and as I write this, I’m copying all of them onto a hard drive to give to Dave so he can start adding his parts.
So that’s it for now. I have no idea as to a timeframe for the record – I don’t want to rush myself – but as new things develop, I will keep you all updated as best I can.
Posted by smithsoccasional 
Posted by smithsoccasional 
Posted by smithsoccasional 
