Food Truck Friday

I’ve jumped on the Food Truck bandwagon, and I’m holding on for dear life.  I’m not quite sure what the appeal is.  Maybe it’s the limited menus, or the brightly colored trucks, or the idea that you can be driving somewhere and all of a sudden come across a gem of an eatery that wasn’t there yesterday and may not be there tomorrow.  I admit there’s a bit of an adrenaline rush, too … I desperately needed a cupcake yesterday, and Red Jett Sweets (www.redjettsweets.com) just happened to be close to the SO’s work and we needed to drop off the moving truck.  BUT – they were only going to be there for 30 more minutes and I needed it and where was it and Google the address and dodge the traffic and that damn stoplight and WHY ARE YOU DRIVING SO SLOWLY?? and WHEW!!!!!  Made it.  Oh, my God, I thought I was going to go down in flames in search of a cupcake.   

This particular food truck has celebrity status;  they were featured on Cupcake Wars and even though they didn’t make it to the end, they gave it the ol’ college try and did us Metroplexians proud.  I had the Glinda's Peppermint Cloud cupcake and obviously Florian and Sprinkles Lady don’t know what they’re talking about because mine was FABOO.  The peppermint buttercream frosting tasted just like the mints I used to make years ago for weddings; it was creamy and pepperminty and just perfectly sweet. I bought the SO the Red Velvet and it sounded like a pack of hyenas tearing into a zebra carcass.  Didn't dare get my hand too close. 


Last week the SO and I ventured out to the Fort Worth Food Park (www.fwfoodpark.com).  Apparently there are a lot of restrictions on "Mobile Food Vendors" in Fort Worth, but they've created this place where the food trucks can nest at night and ply their wares in a semi-organized fashion.  It's a weird location, I have to say - in the middle of an industrial complex just north of downtown - but it sure was hopping last Saturday night. There's a rotating selection of trucks and everything we had was very good.  I have to give special props to Good Karma Kitchen (www.thegoodkarmakitchen.com) for their vegetarian chili … it was insanely delicious and really hit the spot on a chilly night.  The SO had a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich from The Bacon Wagon. I had a bite of the bit without any bacon and I would go back and get that again whenever I was not caring about my calorie intake.  The goat cheese in it was a nice change of pace and melded well with the cheddar.  

We also sampled the tacos from So-Cal Tacos.  I had a fish taco, and it was fine, nothing special.  I think I should have tried the Chipotle Salmon one...that probably should have been the way to go.  However, the SO really enjoyed his Al Pastor, and, after living in Mexico City, this man knows his tacos.  We're on a perpetual hunt for the Best Taco.  It's hard work, but someone's gotta sacrifice.

Probably going to hunt down the food trucks again tonight.  I'll make sure I bring my camera this time!

Storage Unit Thursday

It was one of "those" days.  You know, one where you want to do nothing but stay in bed? I was suffering from interview hangover, so I let it go for a while, then the thought of coffee snuck into my brain.

Ah, coffee.  That magical elixir that makes even the dreariest day seem a little bit better.  The perfect pick-me-up.  Low calorie, high energy, oh, so warm and yummy.  I don't know what I would do without you.  Well, you and tea.  Coffee in the morning, tea in the evening, that's the rule.

The SO took the day off work and got a moving truck to try to clear some of the stuff out of the garage.  Instead of getting rid of it though, it just got moved to a storage unit, which is hardly an improvement.  This notion of storage units is ridiculous to me.  What it effectively says is, "I have SO MUCH STUFF, an entire house isn't big enough to contain it." I guess it's a little bit different in our case, as we had to combine three households worth of stuff and we did try very hard to sell all the surplus.  The good thing is that it frees up a lot of space in the garage, which was desperately needed.  It looked like we should have been on an episode of Tidy Hoarders.  Now we'll have room for activities.  Sooooo.........
________________________________________

Crumbles are easy to make and a great use for whatever leftover fruit you have lying around. Well, most fruits – I’m not sure how well a banana crumble would go over. With one of the jars of blackberries in the fridge, I made Blackberry Crumble for Two. I winged it, so I’m certainly not going to guarantee your results, but it’s hard to screw up.

Bung the berries in a bowl and dump in some sugar of your choice (I like Florida Crystals Organic Cane Sugar). Not too much, you don’t want to drown out the flavor of the berries. Add a splash of lemon juice, stir it all up and let it sit for a while, 30 minutes or so.

Take a handful of rolled oats. I actually used a rolled 6-grain cereal blend. Use as much as you think will take to make a nice blanket over your fruit. I like lots of crumble, so I’m a bit heavy on it. Add in some sugar (brown, white, beige, whatever you have), cinnamon and some flaked almonds if you have them. I had a bag of ground almonds in the freezer, so I used some of that. Plop in a wad of butter, or fat of your choice. I guess you could use a little oil if you didn’t have any buttery-type stuff. Don’t use too much, you don’t want it to be greasy. Rub it all in with your fingers until the mix is homogenous.
 

Somewhere in there you should have turned on your oven to 350°.

Dispatch your fruit to an oven-proof container. Stick it in and let it go by itself for about 10 or 15 minutes. Take it out and sprinkle your topping on – back into the oven for another 10-15-20 – keep checking to make sure it’s not getting too brown on top. When it’s to your liking, take it out and let it cool a little (or a lot). Serve with whatever accompaniment you have; cream, spray cream, ice cream, yogurt. Yum!

Interview Wednesday

Ugh.

I had my interview today, and for the most part it was great.  They asked good questions, and I gave good answers. Made 'em laugh, which I think is a plus.  I was charming and articulate and for once, I smelled good as I figured it would be a good occasion for a shower. I was punctual, insightful, enthusiastic.  A model employee, actually.

Then came The Test.

There was a 2-part practical exam to this interview; part one involved recreating a double sided flyer and part two, manipulating a Photoshop image, both of which I can do in my sleep.  However, I can't do it in 45 minutes, with no ruler, no scanner and having to recreate a logo from scratch.  I felt so stupid - here I am extolling my virtues and telling them how great and capable I am, AND I CAN'T EVEN COMPLETE THIS SIMPLE TEST. I felt like I was on Chopped for Graphic Artists.  "Go ahead and open your basket.  Inside you will find, a flyer, and …what's that in the corner of the basket?  Oh yeah … NOTHING."  My pantry was empty of scanner, ruler, loupe, time. "Five, four, three, two…one.  Time's up. Artist, step away."

I did the best I could - I wanted it to be perfect.  I can only hope the rest of the interview will carry me.  The final beating was when I checked my email in the car.  Yet another rejection letter.  I think I want to cry.

___________________________________

So, I finally finished a project I've been working on sporadically for the past few weeks. I decided, since it's hard for me to find pants and skirts to fit, that I would make my own.  I've sewn quite a bit in the past, but I've never made really tailored things and I've certainly never started out by making my own pattern.

The whole pattern-making process is very interesting to me.  It combines the precise, technical stuff I like with unlimited creativity.  I was very surprised it worked.  I can actually wear this!  It makes me want to branch out into other aspects of fashion design.  Like I need any more projects.

I used some wool purchased in Scotland in 1985.  I was going to make a kilt from it (it's our family's tartan), but it just got forgotten in the back of a closet.  I had to cut around some moth holes, but other than that, it's fine.  I made the initial pattern from taped-together graph paper, and made a proof from muslin.  The final item is lined in red, and is quite startling. I've got a couple of hand-finishing things to do, but other than that, it's done.  Now, if only I had a new job to which to wear it....

Clean-Closet Tuesday

Well, Mondays are always hard, no matter if you're gainfully employed or not.  So yesterday, I decided that I would get up at "normal" time (6:30-ish) and actually get something done.  I thought accomplishing a task might make me feel better, and it did - for a while.  My task of choice (insert ominous movie music here)?  The Closet.

The Closet had gradually morphed from an organized safe room to a pit of shoe-lined chaos. It was an embarrassment, not that anyone but me ever looked in it. Here's the Before:

 

After making coffee and pulling everything out, it looked like a bomb had gone off in Filene's Basement. It was so bad that the cats, who normally like to be in the middle of any unusual activity, gave it a w-i-d-e berth.

After an hour or so of concentrated activity (and unearthing my stripper shoes - from a costume, not actually ever used on stage), this is how I ended up:

 

Not bad.  I was able to find a few things to donate, which is always good.  I did feel pretty good for getting this done, and the rest of the day I kept going back there and staring at it.  One good task a day....

______________________________

I ordered my Bountiful Basket (www.bountifulbaskets.org) for pick up on Saturday. Can't wait to see what's in it!  Another week that I don't have to buy overpriced produce at the ShitMart, and another chance to be creative in the kitchen.  I said that I'd tell you what I did with all the stuff from last week's basket, so here's the run-down:

Somehow, I ended up with five English cucumbers.  Not a problem for me, as I love cukes, but five is a lot by anyone's standards.  The first thing I did with one of them was make quick pickles.  They're not anything, really... EXCEPT YUMMY.  Slice your cukes thinly (I also had beautiful fat radishes in my basket, so I added one of those), mix up some rice vinegar and sweetener of your choice - I used Splenda as I didn't want to waste time heating the vinegar to dissolve sugar - till it's the right balance for you.  Bung it in with the cukes and stir up.  That's it.  If I have a red onion, I'll slice some of that up really thinly and add it, or I'll add julienned carrots, or whatever crunchy veggie I have that I need to use.  It'll keep in the fridge for a while. On day two, I added it to soba noodles and sauteed tofu for lunch.  Gone.

 

One of the best decisions I've ever made (seem to be few and far between) was to buy a vacuum sealer.  If you're intent on a frugal lifestyle, I can't recommend it enough.  Mine's a Black and Decker, it's a lot less expensive than the FoodSaver and seems to work fine.  However, DO NOT BUY THE CHEAP BAGS.  I can't stress that enough.  Spring for the FoodSaver bags - they're the only ones that work.  I wash and re-use mine, so I save money that way, and I also invested in a jar-sealer (bought online for cheap) which is a lifesaver.   Canning jars are pretty inexpensive and obviously can be re-used indefinitely.  If you're buying produce by the basket, I don't think I could do it without my sealer.  

Here's what I had in my basket, other than the aforementioned cukes and radishes:

Romaine Lettuce • Spinach • Tomatoes • Avocados • Asian Pears • Tangerines • Apples • Bananas • Blackberries • Grapes.

Some of the spinach, grapes, tangerines, apples, Asian pears, cuke, and some denizens of the crisper were immediately dispatched to the juicer. 

The problem with juicing is that you're supposed to drink it immediately before it oxidizes to get the most benefit from it. The other problem with juicing is that it makes a holy mess, so much so that you don't want to do it very often, which is a shame.  Enter the vacuum sealer.  We made two batches, one we immediately installed in our gullets (sooooo good) and one we decanted into mason jars and sealed.  If you take all the air out of it, and bung it in the fridge, it can't oxidize.  Well, too much, anyway.  It'll separate, but just shake it up and you're golden.  You can use it as a base for smoothies, too. 

On to the rest.  The spinach and broccoli was washed, blanched, cooled and frozen, then packed into bags, vacuumed and stored in the freezer.  The romaine was washed, rolled in a tea towel and refrigerated and used the next day for salads. Radishes were washed, topped and tailed and refrigerated in a bag. Blackberries were washed, dried, and vacuumed into mason jars, and put in the fridge.  Grapes?  Washed and used for snacking. Avocados and tomatoes are still ripening.  Apples, bananas and tangerines are awaiting noshing. 

The other thing I got in my basket was five loaves of multigrain bread.  Used one immediately, froze the others until hard and vacuum sealed them, stuck them back in the freezer.  Bread for five weeks, right there.  It's comforting to know I have a freezer full of good, natural, nutritious food for the taking. 

Haircut Monday

As much of a downer it is to be unemployed, there are some benefits.  I save a ton of money on personal hygiene products as most days I spend moping about the house wallowing in my own filth.  I have to take a shower occasionally to warm up, as I’m keeping the thermostat lower to save money.  If the SO has noticed my increasing grossness, he thankfully hasn’t said anything.  He did mention my disgusting face-breakout though, so I’ve made a point of trying to cover that up when he’s around.  That counts as effort, right?

So, the interesting news is that I have an interview on Wednesday.  True to my “hopeful pessimist” persona, I’m trying not to get my hopes up for fear they’ll be dashed.  At least I made it past the first cut.  It used to be that if I got an interview, I got the job.  Now, middle-aged and over-qualified, that’s not the case anymore.  I was even rejected by the Container Store for an hourly position.  Really?  The Container Store’s too good for me? Anyway, this interview has stirred up a whole new problem – do I get a hair cut?

My hair is really short, and naturally curly, so if it grows out a bit it starts to look really weird.  Do I embrace the weird look (I am an “artist”, after all) and try to tame it with lots of product, or do I bite the bullet and drop the $40 to get it cut by a real person?  The other option is to cut it myself, which I have done in the past, but I can’t get the back and the SO is decidedly unhelpful in this regard (which is probably best for him, actually). What to do, what to do…..

_________________________________________________________

It’s amazing what you can do when you have a lot of time and not much money, and need things.  I needed a bird feeder.  My back yard is like a wildlife preserve – tons of trees, a creek, and no fence. When my dad was alive, he was really into feeding and watching the birds, and so am I.  The bird feeders you buy are either so cheaply made, ugly, expensive or prone to be ruined by squirrels, so I decided to make my own.  Here’s what I used:

• Stoneware dinner plate, bowl and salad plate (bought at the after-Christmas sale for 75% off.  I reckoned the birds didn’t care one way or the other)
• ¼” eye bolt, 3 ½” long
• ¼” threaded rod – 3’ long
• ¼” nuts
• ¼” washers
• ¼” hex coupler
• Bird feeder hanger
• Electric drill with a ¼” carbide-tip masonry bit
•  Hacksaw

 Make sure that the nuts, coupler, rod and eye bolt all have the same number of threads per inch, to avoid irritation and multiple trips to the hardware store.  You can make two bird feeders from one length of rod, so whilst you've got all your tools out, why not?

Here’s how I did it:

(Probably best to use safety glasses, natch)

Start out by using the hacksaw to chop the threaded rod approximately in half.  I actually did this after I already threaded the top plate on, but obviously, it would have been easier to do it first. Duh.

Mark the center of the two plates and bowl with a permanent marker.

Get to drillin’.  This part was a bitch.  It takes a lot of patience and not a small amount of elbow grease.  The glaze on the stoneware is really difficult to penetrate; you just have to keep at it with lots of pressure until you breach the barrier.  Once you get a bite, keep a lot of pressure on the drill and move it around a bit. Eventually it will poke through on the other side.  When that happens, flip the piece over and drill at it from the other side.  It should, if you’re lucky, make a nice, clean hole. If you’re unlucky and it chips, not to worry - ain’t no thang. Drill all three pieces.  Take a break.

Thread the eyebolt and a washer through the upside-down plate, and thread the hex coupler on the other side of the plate onto the eye bolt stem. 

Thread the rod on to the hex coupler, and then put on a washer, the bowl, the salad plate, another washer and a nut. Tighten the bottom nut so it’s not at the very bottom of the rod, to make sure everything stays on.  I guess you could put on some Loc-tite or glue to ensure it doesn’t move.

Attach the hanger, fill with bird seed, and hang.  Your feathered friends will be dying to get in at the new restaurant!

You can make these with multiple feeding levels, too.  I also had an idea to make an indoor planter using a cup and saucer – I’ll try that out and post the how-to. 

Adventures in Unemployment

So, when I "left" my job last year, I had an abundance of thoughts, most of which turned out to be completely naive and totally unrealistic. Mostly things like this:

1. I'm supremely qualified; it won't take me long to find a new, better job.
2. This will be great; I'll be able to go to the gym every day, and pick back up on my running.
3. Even better, I'll be able to get all those nagging jobs done around the house.
4. EVEN even better, I'll finally get to work on all my sewing and art projects that have been waiting in the wings.
5. All those recipes I've been wanting to try - they're mine now.

And so on. So, this far in to my new, freeing life and I've accomplished approximately zero of the above. I wasn't prepared for the crushing depression that accompanies unemployment - the days where I can't seem to get out of bed, and when I do, the anxiety that goes along with knowing I have to be functional for the next several hours until I can return to the comfort of my squishy pillow. I can't leave the house - where would I go? My Kindle has removed the need to go to the library as I can check out books online. I can't go shopping - my budget won't allow it. I could go for a walk or a run...yes, that's a good idea. I'll just sit here on the floor and put on my running shoes....man, it's comfortable down here in the sun....I'll just close my eyes for a second....

Yes, I know all about self-defeating behaviors and negative spiral thinking. I've been to therapists. I've read the books and the blogs and watched the shows. But, unless you're in it, you don't know. Without somewhere to go every day and something useful to do, I feel worthless. I'm not contributing, and I was completely unprepared for how devastating that makes one feel. Sure, I have a couple of freelance design accounts, which is great, and I'm very thankful for that, but without the routine of getting up and going somewhere, I'm lost. I guess I just need to develop a new routine for this new, hopefully temporary life.

They say volunteering is good for you - so yesterday morning the SO and I showed up early for our first Bountiful Baskets pickup to volunteer. My new, frugal lifestyle lead me to Bountiful Baskets, a food co-op which I highly recommend. Their info is here: www.bountifulbaskets.org. I save a ton of money, get to try new produce I might not normally try, and it made me feel good for a little while to help out. It's a lot of goods for just the SO and I, so I'll show you what I did with all the fruits and veggies in a later post. The frugal part of unemployment I actually enjoy. It's challenging to make the most of what you have, especially in the food department. As a vegetarian, it's relatively easy for me to branch out and try new things, but it's a bit more challenging to feed the SO, a devoted meatatarian. I'm working on him, though....

As I got new, beautiful green bananas in my basket, I relegated some the old, crummy ones to banana bread, and the rest to the freezer for future smoothies. Here's my healthier version of banana bread. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/3 cup plain non-fat (preferably Greek) yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flours, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
3. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Spoon batter into a loaf pan ( mine was 9" x 5") coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.