Hot tamales

So I made a batch of tamales today and thought I would share the recipe + px. It was nice to do some cooking, have a beer, some music. Plus hello I know of no one who does not like tamales and if you don't, do not tell me b/c we may have to step down our friendship. Serious.

The filling recipe will make enough for three dozen or so good-sized tamales. The masa recipe I'll give you here will make a dozen tamales. I decided to only make 12ish b/c I ran out of cheese (hello w/o cheese is there a point? answer = no) and the first batch of masa. I decided to not to make another batch of dough so I froze the leftover filling for another time. You can also freeze your tamales if you want to make a whole dang big batch, just undercook them a tad.

I went to the store to pick up the following ingredients:

1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 jalopeno peppers
1 white onion
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 bag of Maseca (easy to make masa)
1 box of chicken stock
1 package of corn husks
1 six pack of Blue Moon Honeymoon summer ale

See below:



First thing I did was separate and soak the dried corn husks in warm water so they'd be all soft and pliable (like I like 'em) when I was ready. About 30 mins or so. I then diced up the peppers and onions and two cloves of garlic and sauted them in oil until it was all tender. It smelled like a carnival where the street venders cook up the peppers and onions for sandwiches or whatever. I did this all in my beloved cast iron skillet (which I will marry in California now that it is legal). See below:



Then I added the corn and black beans and tomatoes and spiced it with cumin and cayenne and chili powder and black pepper. I let that all simmer until everything was soft and gooey and good. In the meantime, I made up a batch of masa according to these directions:

4 cups of Maseca flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup oil (olive or veg)
2 1/2 cups of chicken stock

Put all the dry ingredients in a big bowl and mix it up a bit. Then add the oil and mix with your hands. It will be still a bit dry and crumbly. Then add 1/2 cup of chicken stock at a time, mixing with your hands all the way. In the end, it will all be a solid mass sorta like cookie dough.

Now you're ready to assemble. Take a corn husk and pull strips of it length-wise so you'll have ties, keep all the husks soaking or covered with a wet paper towel to keep them moist. Heh. Moist. 12 years old. Carry on. Take a corn husk and unfold it and grab a mid-sized handful of masa. You'll just have to experiment with quantity. I used a spatula to spread it out in the corn husk, leaving the pointed bottom half uncovered so I could fold it up. Put the filling in, I added some chicken I had already cooked up and said cheese. See below:



FYI: during this entire process, you should be consuming beer. Now what you'll want to do is fold the husk over so that the edges of the masa come together and the filling stays inside. Trial and error here, you'll get it. Then you'll have a sorta roll of corn husk. Take a strip of the corn husk you pulled apart and, after folding up the bottom pointed edge of the husk, tie it to the roll. I'll trust you generally know what a tamale is supposed to look like rather than trying to get any more descriptive. Rinse and repeat. Soon you'll have a bunch like this:



You'll have to rig a steaming device or use one you already have. I ended up putting them all in a metal strainer I had and putting that inside a large double broiler type thing with a small amt of water at the bottom and the strainer resting on the lip of the pan (not touching the water). I covered it and am letting it steam cook for about an hour or so. This is kinda the tricky part b/c I have read different times. My friend J said she does it by touch or 30-45mins, some recipes I've seen say 1.5 hours. So who knows. I'm going to do the trial and error method again and check on them and the water every 15 mins after the first 30 mins. Go crazy and live dangerously! Follow no man's limits! Cook your tamales by your own rules, I say.

(ETA: 1 hour and 15 minutes is the right amt of time)

They're cooking now and I'll probably post a pix of the final product, but you know, it will generally look like this pix I took in Houston. Actually, I'll just take a pix if it doesn't look like what a tamale is supposed to look like. That might be more fun.

ETA: Nah, had to take a picture of perfection so here it is, they are yummy:




Anyway, there you go, your own private tamale. Kinda like your own private Idaho. But not. At all, actually.

that time of year again

Hey Ma..thinking about you today.

On the Boulevard

So I managed to carve a little time out of my work in MO to go out to the country a bit to visit my friend's dad - he and I bond over playing good music really loudly and drinking beer. Both of which is what I did until 3am last night and therefore as a result, I was hung like a racehorse today. Really bad metaphor, sorry.

Anyway, point being, I have no one to blame but myself. But hello, we were in the country! It was so quiet and nice and relaxing - we checked out his wood shop which I covet like no one's business, we toured the garden, and then we looked at all the frogs in his frog pond (there were a million tadpoles and tiny frogs and big frogs all hanging out). It was glorious I must say, well worth the pain of feeling like shit today.

I captured some pictures for you of me saying one last Hi from the road.

Oh Boulevard, how I missed ye!




Where my mind will be when I am stuck in traffic tomorrow:




Cheers to you:



Now I am off to bed at 830 because of the above activities. Call me granny, but I'm feeling old and tired. Goodnight!

There's no basement in the Alamo, FYI

Yeah, so I'm off again tomorrow to Mizzurah < -- how some folks in said state pronounce it. This is the last of my 11 work trips in 3 months. I could never cut it as a traveling salesperson selling Fuller Brushes or vacuum cleaners. I could also never be in a band playing the triangle and touring. Nor could I be a waitress in the sky. Or a trucker like Large Marge. Frankly at the rate I am going, I am finding it hard to be someone who must leave the house. But soon it will be done, TFG.

(TFG in my world means Thank Fucking God, but could also mean Totally Fucking Gay, I suppose or Too Far Gone. I don't know, does TFG exist as an internet acronym already? If not, I'm claiming it, I use it enough I should get some credit for LOLing a blaspheme).

Where was I? Yes so travel this week, which in general is kind of a tough week for me in the grand scheme of weeks/days of the year and so I most definitely will be just trying to get by with sanity intact. What is scary is that goal (intact sanity) has been one I've had since I moved to this dang city - time for a new goal I say. I am taking suggestions, please submit yours today and I thank you kindly.

Maybe I shall liveblog from the middle of the country, sort of like a finale episode of my reality show so boring it must be shown on the local Fairfax County Community College cable channel (or some such). Who would not like a finale HI from Jefferson City, MO? The answer = everyone and/or 42. Yeah, it's been one of those months/weeks/days/lives, bear with me!

And with that, I leave you with this:

From Hair to Eternity

I kinda hate making fun of people's hair given that I generally have hairfuck three quarters of the time as it is, so do not consider this making fun of someone's hair. Instead, consider it a trip down memory lane. I have not seen this hair style outside of the state of Missouri or on anyone other than my sister...back in 1983.

The classic early/mid 80's "feather":



DC Metro: Bringing SexyBack

Chapter 1

Apparently, everyone is reading or trying to read books these days and blogging about it. To wit:

Mimi Smartypants is reading books about transgender and passing, China, and India.

Win is reading about LA, shame, and Latino-American characters named Papi.

and my literary girlfriend Vivian Darkbloomis not reading about post-World War II Italy.

What have I read lately, you ask? That question implies that I've unpacked a box containing these things called "books" and then opened one to process what are called "words" on paper. Yeah, hasn't happened. I have managed to make it through every subscription issue of Harpers magazine lately. That is all I I can say. Sad, but true.

I think I would be interested in and be able to read an engaging piece of fiction right now. But as I may have mentioned, I have this total aversion to reading bad fiction and as such, I am weirdly reluctant about just picking a book up and starting it. Which makes it hard to, you know, read. It's really gay, but it drives me crazy to begin a book and then have some quirky writing style thing ruin it for me. I never know what will do it either and that makes it hard for me to choose fiction.

I mean I'll wade through a non-fiction book about turnips, but Barbara Kingsolver? I'd rather rip my eyes out. I always pick on Kingsolver for some reason, but some friend loved her and recommended her so I picked up that book with pigs in the title and I could only read the first two chapters before I realized I hated how she wrote - I think it was that I thought she wrote present tense poorly and it totally threw me out of whatever was going on in the story.

Unfortunately, like with art or music, I only know what I like when I see/hear/read it and that makes it a challenge to just randomly try fiction. I am not adventurous when it comes to reading b/c I don't want to get irritated if I pick a shitty book so I avoid reading any book b/c I don't want to get irritated. It's a vicious and silly/stupid cycle that I am having a hard time breaking the last several years.

So...maybe I will take a baby step on my road to recovery and ask for suggestions? I'd love something that is quirky, funny, not-plodding, not-SF, not too heavy/not too light, engaging/escapey, and has a female protagonist if possible. I ask for the world, I admit.

why i love this city

30 minutes to go 4 blocks = the best thing ever.

ain't too early/ain't too late

Hi from glorious Oklahoma, where it's actually not as hot as DC. A first, perhaps.

So yes, I am in the City of Oklahoma which is kinda spread out and which I have only passed through once. Seems nice enough, I certainly am not going to malign the state that bottoms my favorite one. Many years ago, my Cleveland friend and I drove down to her hometown of Tulsa for Halloween. Let us just say it was a night of mezcal and a next morning of having to pull over on the drive back so my friend could relive the worm over and over again. Not a pretty sight. So that is Oklahoma for me. This time, of course, was like 100X more business-like and stern negotiation and bad cop/good cop. (I am always the good cop in these scenarios somehow - which is weird b/c if you know me, you know what a bitch I can be when given the right circumstances/incentives).

Anyway, it's been ok, but the overriding theme has been knowing that this is the last one of these trips I need to make for this project and one more on another and then done. I really hate to keep talking about work on this thing, it seems to be the same thing over and over again like when I was Metro bitching. Bear with me, I may actually get a life when things slow down so I can start talking about things like whatever it was I used to do and enjoy. Vice? Corruption? Sex? The City? Scratch that last one, please. All skate - now reverse!

And with that, I bid you goodnight from the middle of the country where I am tantalizingly close to where I want to be. I even felt a twinge of homesickness when I had a few beers in the hotel bar and it was karaoke night and a bunch of locals in cowboy hats were singing Willy Nelson. It's come to that, yes.

Instead, I have this to look forward to when I return - the bane of my current existence!

Go honey go

So, more than three years ago, I started this blog with a post about Aimee Mann so I think it's fitting to belatedly celebrate (?) that occasion with another post about her new album, Smilers which just came out and which I am absorbing. Going to have to go out and buy a new ipod connecter so I can listen to this on the go a bit more. I think I like it..

Maybe I should simply start marking time in Aimee Mann units? Oh, those were the Forgotten Arm years, it was all a blur. Ah, Lost in Space were good times, good times. So I'm going to slip into the Smilers era and see what comes of it...


Go, honey go -
Into the ocean
Go, honey go -
Into the great beyond
Til you're good and gone
And you can hide away for
When everything goes wrong
Honey - go

Go, honey go -
If I were you I would
Leave this neighborhood
Away from people who never
Treat you like they should
Honey - go
Go

In the woods or in the ice and snow
Where there is
No one else you know
You've really nowhere
Else to go
So honey go

Go, honey go
Cause it's a dead end street
And it's a street in a town
Where winning isn't sweet
And every win
Is the beginning of defeat
So honey - go
Go

36 25.07.58W, 121 54 54.26W

Well hello to you too. So I am back in DC after a short (but painfully long) trip up to NYC. I am happy to report that I have returned with some of my sanity intact after dealing with a nightmare of a travel situation on Wed. I will not dwell on it further or bore you with details, suffice to say there is a very good reason I am living on the edge these days.

BUT! However and such as, it is Friday night which means two days to recover before I fly out again. Baby steps and small blessings, I cling to thee. Despite all of the above and other such nonsense, I am surprisingly in slightly slightly better spirits than last weekend at this time. Again, baby steps. That sad sac of wine is still in my frig waiting to be finished, and I will do so this weekend, but I do so not out of a need to dull every sense possible and blot out all coherent thought, but out of the simple joy of knowing that I only have two more trips to make and then I am DUN for awhile. I have carved out a week in July in which I will leave this city and all cities and go back to the Midwest to see only my people and grass and space and open roads and such. TFG is what I say to that.

So I have my dogs back and I am going to do what I assume normal people do on the weekend which will be to chill the fuck out. I hope yours is a good one too, don't hit that wine sac too hard = pay for it later. Goodday!

ETA: It's good to know that should I find myself floating dead in the Potomac right by where I work, Wonder Woman will find me.

Bluffton Rd/469

Lately, and maybe it's the booze or the ennui or the existential crisis I'm currently in the middle of, but I've been thinking a lot about Indiana.

Maybe it's been awhile since I was back there? Maybe it's the tornado dreams or the dreams of my mom or peonies or the honeysuckle or the need to be in the middle of nowhere. I don't know. This speaks to me:



I love these photographs and this talented guy captures the rural Indiana that I grew up with in the same stark black and white that I remember.

You know how you sometimes get disconnected from stuff, like you're floating from this to that with no real anchor and you're drawn to things that remind you of home and something solid that you actually remember?

It might just be me and that black box talking but I'm feeling that right now - the longing for something stark with sharp lines, something earthy, something familiar. Something that feels real because it sunk in so deep back then and it's been inside for so long, it's like a second skin. That small town or those houses or that field. Now I'm here in this city, moves in between, feeling like I'd rather be anywhere else.

So it goes, yeah? Soon enough I'm back into the grind and I'm headed out again for one more round of travel meetings - up to
NYC for too short/too long and then here and there and wherever. Definitely feeling ungrounded by all this travel.

If you knew me, you'd know I put on a very nice front. Hey it's good, no worries, do what you must. You'd also know that I'm pretending, getting on/off the Metro, walking into that shiny curved high rise, conference calling and doing whatever else it is I do, all the while I'd much rather be here:



Thank you, Christopher Crawford, wherever you are.

box of liquor

So I'm kind of having a lost weekend, taking tomorrow off in an attempt to regain a bit of composure. Which is handy b/c this weekend I have done little but drink = ok and necessary sometimes I have found. I also think I'm a little giddy with excess re this:



As you know, I have been known on occasion to buy a box of wine purely based on the quantity contained therein. This weekend became one such occasion and continues to be so. Plus also the neighbors are playing a ridiculous song over and over again that I can hear thumping through the walls and that is potentially driving me mad moreso than already.

So, in honor of the above + so much more, here is a song about booze (click the link to download, yo) that I would like to share with you and here are the lyrics so that you may sing them aloud con la cancion. No one can hear you, trust me..


Box of liquor by my side and I’ll be alright
It’s cheaper by the shot and by the hour
Box of liquor big enough to put my arms around
Got to find your comfort where your comfort can be found

Take a box of liquor with me on the road
To fill the empty seat beside me
And when the car is out of gas I’ll pour some liquor in
As long as there’s a bottle left so I can drink again

Box of liquor take it where I go
Last me through the desert well into mexico
Where I’ll find cliff to drive off or somebody to hold
A canyon to fall into or somebody to hold

Box of liquor helped me get up off the ground
Where my heart was firmly planted
When I tilt an empty bottle up the moon comes shining through
A bottle full of moonlight needs a bottle full of booze

Box of Liquor - Big Fish Ensemble


ETA3: This is how sad (and strangely pornographic and empty) a sac of wine looks after a weekend + 1 of hitting of said bag by me. I am alternately proud/ashamed of my skills at the spout, but nonetheless, can I get a witness:

tis the season

Rather be here:



ETA: Our turn now, perfect storm..



A little blurry, but the baby dog does not appreciate storms and is hiding here:



I'm enjoying the rain:

Memorial day

So, briefly, I have an invite to the WH tomorrow to attend the goings on with my stepmom. She's in town from Indiana for the whole wreath laying thing and I will be going with her if for no other reason than to see the inside of the WH (and of course, honor those who died). I personally sacrificed my mental health braving the monuments and the crowds with her today so in some small way, I feel like I've paid a price too.

He Who Must Not Be Named will be there since I guess technically he's still semi-relevant for such things. I trust that he will not actually talk to me given that any response I would have would get me tossed out. I'll certainly report back on the details if they prove interesting enough. I'm not going to pass up this kind of opportunity just b/c I'm not happy (understatement) with the current tenant. I mean hello, I gotta scout out my office for when Hills makes her improbable comeback.

I can feel your jealousy from here. Do not deny such things.

ETA: So here are a few pix I took with my phone from this morning. Frankly, I was kind of suspicious that the invite was even legit when my stepmom told me about it so once we made it past the east gate on to the grounds of the WH, I was like ok, roll with it, you know? And then there was this huge spread for breakfast in the dining room, it was quite surreal. I had some fresh berries and cream under that pix of Abe. Crazy. Like who does that except the visiting head of state of Whereverland.

(Aside: All the rooms were decorated in a style I like to call Tacky Old Splendor. In the dining room, there were crushed gold velvet curtains that, in a pinch, one could fashion into Scarlet O'Hara/Carol Burnett. Lots of old pictures and knick knacks, none of which were small enough to fit in my pocket, not that I would ever consider pilfering of course hello)

And then, we all stood in line (there were about 100 or so various/sundry guests) and each had our picture taken with GWB. I know, I know, but it was hard to turn down the chance. Dance with the devil, I say. My stepmom asked if he was going to have a long day (b/c you know, he barely runs the country anymore so what does he do) and he jokingly said to ask him that at 9pm tonight and I said 'yeah, I read that was your bedtime' and he laughed. If he weren't a potential war criminal, he'd be a kinda fun guy maybe.

We all then got escorted out to Arlington Cem and sat in the sun for the ceremony to honor those who have died fighting. It was hard to be there listening to him talk while feeling that he is responsible for 4000+ of them in Iraq. Lots of ambivalence this morning to be sure.

Anyway, here are a few pix:

This one is looking out the window of the WH towards Constitution Ave, where if you were a tourist, you'd look through the gates up at the house. You can see the curve and columns of the front:



Bill was hanging out in an entry way near the orange juice and coffee:



Hill, on the other hand, was downstairs in a hallway right near the women's restroom, hmmm:



Laura was at the ceremony, sitting on the far right. Her face never moved, I kept checking:



He Who Shall Not Be Named:



We got an official proclamation souvenir and I got an unofficial souvenir - a White House restroom paper hand drying towel. Yes, it came to that, I have no shame:



When we are mailed our copies of photos with GWB, I shall share that with you - that's really the money shot, is it not?

So there you go, a run down of my morning. I didn't take as many pix as I could have but you know, gotta live in the moment. Hopefully next time I'm in the WH, we'll all be more excited about the occupant, yes?

Hi from Hotel California

Hi.I have checked in/do not anticipate checking out.

A view from the convertible:



The drive north. Lonely as a cloud in the golden state:



Lots more pictures and stories to come on this trip fo sho. Look for cameos by the Canadian's arm and possibly the ocean.

ETA: Enjoying a lovely Japanese garden..



And now it is time to put the top down and drive along the coast and unplug the phone and computer..no more work, lots more play.

ETA2: We decided we liked this beach the best, I'm going to pretend we're still there..



2.5 more days on the left coast and 2.5 more days with my Canadian = ready to be done with the former, way not enough time left on the latter.

ETA3: So obviously, I am back. Two weeks away is a long time and I'm pretty sure I'm going to feel it for awhile too. I have three more travel trips between now and the end of June and honestly, all I want to do is hole up somewhere quiet and away from people. I'm getting that familiar not-liking-people feeling again and mostly that is from being forced to interact and be mentally engaged without the requisite downtime. It most definitely affects my mood and behavior, as evidenced by the fact that it took forever for me to relax even a tiny bit when I was on the most perfect beach or among big huge old redwoods with someone I love spending time with. I couldn't turn it off even for her. Which sucks. And I'm sorry.

So flying back, we had to divert around these huge columns off anvil-shaped clouds and I could see them boiling up as we flew by. I later learned that those were the tornadoes over Kansas yesterday and that made me miss home. Like pack up the dogs and drive out west and stay there out on those prairies kinda missing. The time change has me all screwed up and I can't seem to let go of all the shit I have waiting for me back at the office to do and getting my ducks all in that pretty row without a chance to say how nice before I have to prepare for the next thing and the next trip and whatever. Clearly, I'm burning things from both ends a bit too much right now and I'm not particularly appreciating it nor am I able to figure out how to balance. This will be on my list of things to do..in July.

Things I lost (in the fire): The power adapter for my iBook, a firewire, my ipod connector, my chance

Things I found: Two cool rocks and a painfully white shell, the temperature in CA changes from HOT to chilly to HOT to windy to cool to dirty to windy to HOT to perfect in one car ride, the blackberry off button is just an illusion

Things I miss: That beach with you.

faith

Holy frak. I have about 1.8 million things on my mind (which is the price tag of a proposal I have been putting together) and am trying to pack for a two week trip (which is stress/salvation rolled into one) when I simply had to take a time out and let my head go somewhere else. I just finished watching the latest Battlestar Galactica episode Faith and hot holy hell. This show is killing me...man. My love for tortured prophet-heroes knows no bounds. It's also a testament to the level of stress I'm under that it also managed to wrest a moist eye from me as well. Man.

Anyway, I need to get my shit together tonight and finish some of those 1.8 million things and attempt to remember everything I need and somehow make my way to the airport tomorrow morning and land in SF and then drive up north of there and presumably be in a hotel room in California tomorrow night with enough time to re-read a 100pg proposal and prepare for a 1.5 day meeting where I negotiate the impossible and then pick up my Canadian and forget about everything else for awhile.

The question is: Can this be done without completely losing my mind? The answer = Try Again Later. Thank you Magic 8 Ball, may I have another?

there's no place like home

I'm only happy when it rains.



Reminds me of storms in my favorite state..

Greasy spoon

One of many reasons I enjoyed my latest work trip, old skool diner for bfast this morning:



More pix later from a city who shows some serious lilac love and has a whole festival celebrating them. You know what a girl I am about lilacs hello.

Communism and TAINTED MILK!

I kinda have to share this letter with you that I got from my Dad this week. I love that man, but I have to say he gets a little unhinged about the topic of smokers rights. Yes you heard me. The right to smoke. It's like his Roe v Wade.

See, I'm all for prohibiting smoking in restaurants and bars because I don't smoke and like not having to be around it to have a meal or drink. He of course is a lifelong smoker. Two worlds colliding so we go round and round about it. He clipped something out of his local newspaper this week and sent it in the mail along with a letter. I'm transcribing the letter for you word for word. Don't judge him, he just wants us to live free or die.

Hey Peanut,

April 26th - 2008 - Remember this date 28 years from now - I think by then you will look back and say what happened? We let a few city councils, county, state & government agencies make all the decisions that affect our lives. What next?

Well you can't eat this or drink that or drive that car or truck and on and on - I'm sure the word is "communism" I'm sure you have read about Japan - Germany - North Korea & Russia and others that had to live by it. Not a pretty picture but it happened.

So with all that said, I shall say no more "well maybe" on the subject. However I have decided to stay around for another 30 years to see how your generation is going to survive and handle the problems the government has decided for you.

Love ya, Dad

what are you doing?

I joined Twitter, I don't know why. It's Friday night!

Not sure how it works completely but expect constant short text updates saying Arrested from an Egyptian prison or Drunk again from the gutter or Lost in space from Starbuck's bed. Anyway, I guess you can "follow me" somehow by clicking on the Twitter thing to the right. This technology thing, how you say? It puzzles me.

Bottom line: I promise to make them entertaining, succinct, and if at all possible, gay. Holla.

ps. I saw the cape lady today after work for the first time in a long time. Naturally, she was wearing her flowing cape (hence how I spotted her) and naturally, it was like the hottest day of the year so far at 80+ degrees. Perfect cape weather! I didn't know it was Renfaire season already. I've not received the memo.

pps. I am off this weekend to upstate NY for work so expect a hearty HIGH from there-ville.