Famous on Instagram

My friend took a couple pictures of my apartment and put them on instagram/facebook awhile ago, I thought I'd put one up here:

haha the best thing here I didn't notice before -- her foot!

Romantic Candlelight Dinner: the Aftermath

This is an old post but thought I'd put it up.

A good friend and old roommate is visiting, and on her first night here we had a romantic candlelit dinner. We made Mediterranean Fish Bake, from a recipe given to me by a friend who took a cooking class at Camaje, a restaurant in NYC, back in 2005. It was pretty delicious, and we had it with grits, which if that sounds weird to you, call it polenta, but we only cooked it for 5 minutes, and mixed in some feta and butter, I think.

Mediterranean Fish Bake
2 servings

1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 sprigs thyme, leaves only
10 leaves basil, sliced
2 Tbsp. capers
2 (6 oz.) fish fillets-- just about any fish works, except tuna, we used cod
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbed (ok we used a lot more)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (we just toasted the ends of a loaf of bread and tore them up)

Preheat oven to 375F. Combine onion, garlic, tomatoes, thyme, basil and capers in a small bowl and toss to combine. Lightly oil a small baking dish. Place fillets in dish and season with salt and pepper (do a little happy dance when you get to use your new mortar and pestle as you are out of ground pepper but have lots of whole peppercorns). Top with tomato mixture. Combine feta and breadcrumbs and sprinkle over fish. Bake for 20 minutes or until fish is just beginning to flake and a knife inserted into the fish is very hot to touch.

I baked it 20 minutes and hoped the fish was done, which it was, since I would have no idea when it was "just beginning to flake." This is the first animal protein I have ever successfully cooked "on my own," (my friend helped a lot, and her confidence helped even more, especially as I stood in front of the meat and fish case in the grocery store at a total loss). I am generally deeply afraid of cooking meat of any sort as I recall two failed attempts in college that practically burned down my apartment and were inedible, so I just stick to vegetables. This wasn't too hard though. I might try chicken next time.

We also mixed some feta and butter into the grits, and it was delicious.

You can see in our "aftermath" picture that we also had wine, whiskey (that was later), and Root, a Pennsylvania-made liquor based on old recipes for the pre-Prohibition root beer. It tastes like very-alcoholic root beer, and it has a charming label with drawings of all the ingredients.

Venice, Spritz: Drink Recipe!

So, my friend, we'll call her T, has a radio show. She plays classical music from 12-1:30 on Tuesday afternoons. You can tune in online! Anyway, I've been hanging out with her during the show, and kinda learning how it works and bumbling around giving announcements. It's great fun, but we only get like 5 listeners online, so you should listen! We play good stuff, and it's a very chill mid-day break. Especially for us.

Anyway where was I going with this? Oh yeah, T & I looked at the internet while our records played, and were looking at the Toast blog (again), and found these gorgeous pictures of travels in Venice. This picture made T swoon because she works as a barista in a bougey coffee shop and is really good at making excellent espresso and foam, and wishes she had such a beautiful machine with which to work.This last picture made us both swoon, probably because we're alcoholics. (Just kidding. Alcoholism is a real and serious disease, and we do not have it. We just like us some booze, preferably European booze in elegant glasses with atmospheric lighting. We will not say no if some sexy Italian bartender makes it for us, either.) So anyway, the next post had a recipe for Spritz, a common drink in Venice, so that night we went home and made it. It is very easy: one part Campari, one part white wine, and top it off with soda water. I had all these things at home, since I bought Campari this summer for aperitivo-making inspired by ReadyMade magazine's recipes for drinks like the Americano and Negroni. Anyway, the spritz was delicious, easy, cold, kinda bitter, and a great mix between T's-roommate's-grandmother's-favorite-drink and sophistication.

Coming soon: T & I swoon over all things Portuguese, and T & I have California Week in preparation for my first trip to the Pacific Ocean!

Thursday Night Fun

Slowly chipping away at a to-do list this morning: getting ready for classes and internship to start up, cooking projects so food doesn't go to waste, sending a wedding present, cleaning and so on.

On Thursday night I went with some friends to the Chicago Chef Battle at Goose Island Brewery's actual brewery/warehouse. We got in for free (my friend is in a show at Second City and one of her fellow actors works for Chicago Public Radio, which sponsored the event). We showed up late (department beginning-of-term party) and missed the food, which was sad, but the winning chef, David Carrier, showed us a bit around the brewery and explained how beer gets changed by being put in old wine casks. He told us about Cru, a fortified wine made in Virginia that's aged in Jack Daniels barrels, which sounds so good. We actually didn't know at the time that he was the winning chef, just that he was a huge man in a white coat who knew a lot about alcohol. We learned later that he also just got fired from his restaurant on the previous Monday. I'm sure he'll find a new job fast! Good luck to you, David!

We also got to taste a bunch of beers. We saw Goose Island's new beer, Madame Rose in the barrels (I think so, because it said "cherries" on the side) and tried Harvest Ale, Sophie, and Matilda, my personal favorite ("spicy in character," yes please). Fret not, they were only in small samples!

While I was standing around there, some creepy old men came up to talk to us. At one point, one of them was like "Look at the moon? Can you see Jupiter? Have you ever seen it?" And I was like, "Yeah, I see it, I've seen it before," since know-it-all is usually my default when I'm uncomfortable and want to hurry someone along (and away). But I had no idea what they were talking about until today when I learned (from the lovely clothing company Toast's blog) that night there was a Super Harvest Moon, which NASA teaches us that this year was a rare occasion when Autumn Solstice falls on the same night as a full moon, causing a cool glow at sunset, and then, right at 11:09 pm when apparently fall officially begun, Jupiter was right up in the top of the sky next to the bright, full moon.

So where were you when this event of cosmic importance took place? I was standing happily in the quads eating and drinking free food at sunset, remarking happily about what a beautiful warm night it was, and then by 11:09 I was probably in bed! How funny to learn, later, that it was the last night of summer... I'm glad I went out and enjoyed it! Especially because the weather here has really behaved properly, and now we're all getting cozy in flannel and corduroy and sweatshirts.

Other things:

• Here's a funny (perhaps unintentionally) Egypt video.
• If you're in Chicago, check out the rooftop deck at Bottom Lounge (where I went last night) before it gets too cold! It has a really cool view of the city and reasonably priced drinks.
• Tomorrow's the last night for Redmoon Theater's The Astronaut's Birthday! See you there!
• Ooh, maybe I'll watch the marathon at Simone's, a cool bar in Pilsen I went to for the first time a couple weeks ago.
• I don't remember where the picture comes from, but it's a cozy fall-looking room!
  

OMG it's FALL!

I saw this post this morning, while I was having my coffee hot, and wearing jeans and a cardigan, and hearing the wind blowing the leaves outside, and I got really really excited. I love fall! Even though I pine for summer and love it so much, the return of cooler weather is just absolutely wonderful. I wonder how I would deal in a place that doesn't really have a change of seasons.

Unfortunately I am starting this fall off more broke than ever, so there won't be much or any back-to-school shopping for me, which is probably good. You don't care about that anyway, do you?

I made that key lime cheesecake and had it the last two nights while sitting on the front porch with friends. I got to see two of my best friends, one of whom was in town to visit before she leaves for Cameroon for two years! I'll miss you so much! The other is back in Chicago and we made plans for some sewing project together. We even got to Skype in with another one of my college apartment-mates, who is far away in Utah, which was lovely. Even the one who just started grad school in Massachusetts hasn't been a stranger, and I've gotten heartening text messages from her. I love you, friends. Oh also the cheesecake was not bad at all.

Tonight I decided to stay home, make curry lentils and chocolate-covered strawberries for myself, and read. So far, so AWESOME. Also, it was all stuff I had at home, so that's good too.

Hi, I'm random.

Here's how it's been in my life, recently: busy. So that's why no posts. Also, like I said earlier, I've kind of lost interest in looking at stuff I can't afford to have.

BUT there is some stuff I'd like to share! For example, this tumblr, 24 Free Dinners, by the blogger of Daddy Likey! Great pictures of sexy people, pretty stuff, and funny funny words. Seriously, and a small obsession with the cast of 10 Things I Hate About You. I love that movie. I also love Empire Records, which has a very young Liv Tyler in it, who is also on 24 Free Dinners looking incredible. Fun fact: one time I watched Empire Records with a boy I liked, and he didn't get why I liked it so much, and when it didn't work out with him, I didn't care for very long. Because he didn't like Empire Records. That's how much I like it.

I'm also a big fan of some stupid lyrics, for example:

"baby you the whole package, plus you pay your taxes" - B.o.B.

"toodles to you bitches" - Drake

"would I be violating if I grabbed me a handful?" - T.I.

"brain so good, good, school you went to college... baby you can do whatever you like" - T.I.

"I could teach you to speak my language, Rosetta Stone" - Drake

Anyway, I went to Kimbark on my birthday, to get ready for my party, and my roommate was buying a nice bottle of Scotch and the girl working there was like, "aw yeah, he knows how to treat momma right on her birthday! You can do whatever you like!" Yesss.

At a party on Saturday night this guy was talking about James Murphy, the lead guy of LCD Soundsystem, who apparently has done a lot of coke: "He took care of all the bullshit for us. He's like the hipster Jesus."

I've been eating the leftovers of my birthday cake, which is the best carrot cake ever even though I forgot the oil, and I've made it for my boyfriend's last two birthdays, and I'm not sure if I'll ever bother making another cake again. I've also been eating some Christmas curry, which is green peas and red pepper and white tofu and green curry paste and coconut milk.

It was too hot last night so I had bad dreams and stayed up all night thinking disturbing things about fate and how bad the world can be, which is what I always do when I can't sleep, and then I found out that my boyfriend's personal genie is a lady genie "from the ocean" who gets really jealous because she really digs him, so it was probably her just trying to mess with me. I swear I am not making this up.

Picture from 24 Free Dinners. I love Harrison Ford.

No Closet Problem = Solved!

After a long Craigslist search filled with many failures and missed-boats, I finally secured a solution to my no-closet woes. I bought the above Ikea wardrobe from a nice family in a not-too-far-but-still-far suburb. This is the picture they provided on Craigslist. It does it justice, somehow, as it is kindof a piece of crap BUT it is nevertheless functional.

More importantly, it fits in my bathroom! I have a giant bathroom, and there's this huge space between the toilet and the wall where this dresser fits perfectly. It's like Ikea somehow knew the dimensions of my crazy-sized bathroom. I must admit I had my doubts, as I measured the wardrobe in the Craigslist-lady's house and it was 36" and I knew from multiple measurings back home that I only have exactly 35", but then, once we got it home, it was freakishly 35". "What changed?" we asked. "Embrace the mystery," the wardrobe said.

So we also moved it in a Prius, which was epic to begin with, since Priuses are a) tiny and b) lacking a hook in the trunk latch to affix a bungee cord. But because of my vast knowledge of how to attach strange objects to cars, I knew of hooks underneath the bumper and also had the foresight to bring twine (which is quite frankly all I had that was even remotely cord-like). Another fun fact about Priuses is that they like to beep at you a lot to remind you to do things like buckle up, not stand too close, and also, to close the door. So serenaded by a steady beep beep beep, and cushioned by some old blankets, we cruised to a really good cheap Indian place, called Ghareeb Nawaz, and hovered around the car (which also couldn't LOCK, you see) and ate some fine food while standing in an alley. Finally we figured out that Jay Z beats are at the same frequency of the beeps so we managed to get it home, sanity AND wardrobe intact, up the stairs, into my room, only to discover, of course, that it doesn't fit through the bathroom door.

So we took it apart, obviously, and then put it back together inside the bathroom which was quite an undertaking and to be frank I would have given up without my wonderful friend Brandon helping me this whole time like the total champ that he is. But, tomorrow I'm gonna go buy some L-brackets at the hardware store just to make everything a little bit more sturdy and then! finally! I'll have a closet!

Total cost: $15 for wardrobe, $7 for Indian food, about $10 for the beer I'll buy the roommate whose car I borrowed.

Summertime

A few evenings ago we went to the lake to swim. It was such a relief after a hot day, even after some people in speedboats almost killed our friends (a big almost, but still scary!)
I took some photos of my friends but I like these of strangers too. I can't figure out how to not make the camera auto-adjust to the sun. I should go back to my disposable so I can take pictures straight into the sun. The couple below looks funny, like some kind of two-headed sea creature.

Jess's Sour Cherry Pie

Today I'm at work munching down the last of Jess's delicious sour cherry pie. I'd actually never heard of sour cherries. I love cherries and can eat them exclusively for days, but sour sounded less than ideal. But I was obviously missing out my entire life, because this was great! I had to take a picture before it all disappeared, so sorry about the camera-phone quality and the unattractive desk background.

I can only assume that she used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, as we love Smitten in our house, and click on all the links to look at pictures of her uncommonly adorable baby, and make one of her recipes at least once a week.

Claire & Mark, Happy Wedding!

Right now I am getting ready to attend the wedding of the two lovely people in this picture, my friends Claire and Mark. I went to hang out with Claire a few evenings ago, and they were making a wedding playlist, which explains the Apple-product-strewn living room (it was also crazy-hot, so Mark positioned himself directly in front of the window a/c unit). While we pronounced suggestions and opinions to Mark, Claire and I also made 250 place cards for the reception. They have a lot of friends!

I really like their approach to this big undertaking, the wedding. It's important to them to have lots of friends and family around, as a wedding is usually the one chance you have to see everyone you love all at once. But, they're also keeping things relatively simple and low-stress. They've done a lot of work themselves (making jam, making invitations, making all the paper products) and they have good friends at the farmer's markets where they both sell cheese, so they got a lot of free fruit and cheap or free flowers. Claire is also a seamstress with a love of vintage, and is wearing her grandmother's dress, which was her mother's wedding dress too, and a veil she made herself. I'm pretty excited, it's going to be beautiful and fun (and I got some of my favorites on the dance playlist.) Hooray, Mark & Claire, for avoiding the wedding-industry machine and being awesome! May God grant you many years!

Fourth of July!

A bit belated, but these are some pictures my friend took with her phone while we watched the fireworks over the lake. I like how they came out in red, white, and blue! The last one is especially nice, that blue lake glow is in several photographs I have from summer in the city.

It was really nice to sit on the rocks by the lakeshore with our entire neighborhood enjoying the cool breeze and general patriotism, and then go back to the sweltering apartment and watch The Patriot and eat sherbet. Heath Ledger, what a babe! I met some cool kids, too.

Sneak Peak: My New Etsy Page!

Trying to downsize a bit before I move, I started an etsy page! Here it is: http://www.etsy.com/shop/amydix. My wonderful roommate J helped me take pictures tonight. They would be better had we taken them outside but it was so hard to find the time when neither of us is working. Plus, all those costume changes in the heat would be a drag anywhere but my cool basement. So, I thought I'd post a particularly blurry picture from our photo session. I have three items up already, but this dress is not up yet. J is modeling for one of them! It was fun taking the pictures but it sure is time-consuming to measure and label and upload everything! Here's hoping it pays off!

A goat?

My friends from high school and I have a running email chain, usually several emails a day from those of us with jobs where we sit at the internet all day. This picture got sent out a few days ago, with the tag "I can totally see Amy doing this." Several people agreed. Are they just trying to get my goat?

Ah, I crack myself up.

Not that they're wrong, I would do that if I could. But isn't it weird to find out what other people think of you?

Hi!

This is for you, roommate for whom I just broke my long silence of being secretive and embarrassed about having a blog. You're not old, or anything, it's just funny.

Hedgehog in the Fog

My friend Claire is doing a project on Soviet children's books, and she sent me this incredible animation by 1970s Soviet illustrator Yuri Norstein. It's so good!
Also, Claire is super-smart. I hadn't looked at her blog in awhile, and wow, she is so cool. I think you forget, when you are having dinner with your cute friend and talking about boyfriends, that she speaks like 4 languages and is probably going to be a professor.

Balloon Art by Willy

Maker Profile - Steampunk on MAKE: television from make magazine on Vimeo.

I got this link from my friend and former roommate Willy. It's from a cool DIY website that I am excited to further explore. Willy embodies all the cool parts of Steampunk with a lot of circus-y fun. He builds fabulous balloon sculptures and is starting a balloon business, Cheers 2 Balloons (his last name is Chyr. Do check out the website, the pictures are dope.) For the comb jelly photo above, he worked for a week to build it with LED lighting in the biology building, with my current roommate and some friends for labor and tech support. (My friends are so awesome. I can't get over it.) Hopefully, I will be helping with building huge balloon jellyfish for a children's science fair in Millennium Park in August! He made the balloon dresses above for a UChicago art week fashion show in the spring, and Zeb & I went to go see. A bunch of our friends were in the show, either designing or modelling, and while there were a few awesome dresses by other designers that I wanted to buy, Willy's dresses proved that he is the coolest kid in school.

Emily & SPG

This weekend I got to see my good friend Emily, so I thought I would pimp her photography. Buy some, she's great! And while you're at it, buy or commission posters from her man, Travis Bone (aka T. Bone, aka SPG, or Sketchy Poster Guy.) He hand-prints posters, mostly for music shows, from his home in Salt Lake City. And for BIG DEAL musicians, too! Talk about a power couple. Here's one poster: