Tally and I went on a trip.
We've been friends since 6th grade, but the only time we traveled together was for swim meets, 7th grade swim camp and 8th grade horse camp, so it was time to test our adult friendship.
Lessons learned:
Boston is super cold.
Don't take the Megabus during rush hour on a three day weekend Friday.
Just don't take the Megabus.
The "T" is super confusing.
When flying with Tally, get to the airport at least 3 hours before boarding, or she will freak out.
The second half of the Freedom Trail? Not really worth it.
Tally is a sport when I drag her to experimental theatre pieces that are naked.
Things we did:
Tally's first gay club
The outside at least.
Hungover trips to the science museum.
Lots of brewery tours.
Did you know that beer is super cheap in MA?
Being super historical.
Tall people are not made for Mega Buses.
Things we ate:
Free Cheese!
Super fancy cocktails
Tally's first pizza in the subway
Tally's reaction when I tried to teach her the art of folding pizza.
Tally and Carly made cupcakes!
I made a mess.
Add caption
Eating a Boston Cream doughnut in Boston at the start of the Freedom Trail. It doesn't get more American than that.
Isn't that @awpz from twitter?
Pho + Sriracha = true love
Last night on the East Coast Indian food.
And then I went to Juneau and Tally went to the Bahamas.
There will be a semi-Juneau post soon.
Apparently I'm seeing into the end of the world and it's name is Hurricane Sandy.
Who knows if I'll actually make it to the real event, the wind from the 7th floor is very dramatic and the cabin fever is starting to get to me. I've watched all the Netflix, all the Hulu and done all of the cooking and cleaning that I can stand.
Some people buy canned soup in preparation.
And some people make:
polenta,
Brussel Sprouts,
fried rice,
banana bread,
and beets
If the world does in fact end tonight. I'm going out in culinary style.
Cheesy Polenta
8 c water
2 c polenta
salt and pepper to taste
4 oz cheddar cheese- grated
1/2 stick butter
-bring the water and salt to a boil.
-Pour in the polenta, stir with a wooden spoon until thick and gloppy (about 5 minutes).
-Remove from heat, stir in the cheese, pepper and butter.
-eat hot, then chill in the fridge and cut into rounds when cold.
Currently rocking out to (until the internet fails):
Andy Scott's "Luxury Problems" on NPR First Listen
This is a pretty ominous with this storm raging outside. I live on the top floor of a 7 story building, so things sound awful out there. This album could the be the soundtrack to a dystopian movie... and I'm not entirely convinced that this hurricane isn't either the start of the end of the world, or we're going to be thrown in 2084 or something.
Onto the music. For electronic, it's pretty low key, pretty laid back. The album feels deliberate, very complex and well thought out. This is described as "ocean floor dub" (rather than dub to dance to) and that fits it perfectly. The high voice wraps around the bass like a glove. It's pretty spectacular, but if you are expecting a more main stream sounded dub-step or electronica, this album isn't the way to go. It's a new take on the genre.
Dear KDP fans (Mom),
How has it been so long? Where did this year go?
Seriously, many apologies.
I think I blinked for too long in May and it turned into October.
Lots of work has been happening, meaning not much cooking or sleeping or laundry. It's been awesome, but in the month of October, the only meals I've made are: oatmeal, hummus sandwiches, rice, omelette's and polenta.
This is going to change soon. I'm taking 2 weeks off in November for a Northeast roadtrip and spending a week in Alaska. Expect meals from the road (Tally's also very good at oatmeal) and Juneau cooking (MOOSE!)
In the mean time, here is something that kind of looks like cat vomit. But it tastes good, I promise.
xo
Hannah
Panzella (or Tomato and Bread salad- from Bon Appetit)
2 lbs tomatoes
1/2 c olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 garlic cloves- minced
salt and pepper
1 loaf stale bread- cut into 1" slices
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
2 jalapenos
1/2 c black olives
1 large bunch of basil- leaves trimmed
-Peel the tomatoes- bring a pot of water to boil, use a pairing knife to cut X's in the bottom of the tomatoes. Put the tomatoes in the water and cook until the skin peels back, about 30 seconds. Pull them out, put them in a bowl of ice water. Peel, core and crush in a bowl.
-Put the olive oil, vinegar, garlic and salt and pepper in with the tomatoes. Mix.
-Add the bread and let it get all mushy and soak up the liquid. Let sit for 30 minutes.
- char the peppers and jalapenos- put under the broiler until black. Transfer to a ziplock bag and let sit for 15 mins. Peel, core and mince (don't touch your eyes).
-Add the peppers to the bread mix, massage with your hands until everything is incorporated and you are thoroughly grossed out (bread should be broken down). Add in the basil. Let sit at room temp for an hour and drizzle with olive oil before serving.
Music-
I've been really rocking out to Kings Of Convenience.
But by rocking out, I mean swaying back and forth slowly.
They're from Norway and their listening palette is: delicate, subtle, sorrowful and calming (I've been spending too much time around beer).
Low key, nice rainy day Saturday music. Another solid Spotify find (I promised Spotify my first born for good music, and for more songs available off-line).
But once again, I look up their music videos and am derailed by this gem:
Guess who has two thumbs and some sweet new dance moves.
Hey, KDP-ers! Long time no updates. Sorry, but it’s been an
eventful summer up here in the Last Frontier. We’ve been super busy conquering
mountains, catching giant fish, picking massive amounts of berries, and
generally complaining about the weather.
Dorks on a mountain.
Internet, meet Tina the halibut. She was delicious.
My view for 90% of this summer.
Around the beginning of July, Val and I decided we were
going to need a respite from the Southeast Alaska rain and get at least a few
days of real summer. Fueled by the shitty-weather-sads and, as usual, some
generously portioned whiskey cocktails, we purchased our tickets to Portland in
September for four nights of live music and, fingers-crossed, sun.
(This is going to be a massive post. Sorry, scrollers.)
And then we drank too many whiskeys and I elbowed a drunk
chick in the head.
9/7/12
The next day, we woke up late and headed downtown for the
ubiquitous out-of-town shopping day.We
headed over to Mother’s for lunch as the temperature outside slowly crept
towards 90°.
We ate salads, each with their own respective fresh Oregon fruit, and drank
nearly a gallon of water before heading back out into our tiny slice of 2013
summer. This also marks the day that we tried chocolate macadamia nut frozen
yogurt and will be remembered forever.
For dinner we shared some appetizers at Paragon, one of
which was pretty much just a plate of heirloom tomatoes (heaven).
The other plates were pulled pork sliders and some awesome calamari.
Full and happy, we set off to see Beirut.
People who don't like crappy concert picture may want to skip this whole post.
They were wonderful. (Disclaimer: the author of
this post may have been so starved for live music that
every show was the best show ever.) The main concerts were held in Pioneer
Square and being outside in the nice weather in the middle of downtown Portland
was amazing. We stood in the pit for Beirut, since we got there a little late,
but it turned out for the best because we had a great view of Zach Condon’s
dreamy hair. After that concert, we headed back over to the Crystal
Ballroom to see Helio Sequence. My head cold was starting to kick my ass, so we
got some cocktails and scouted out a seat in the balcony. The band playing when
we first got there was Portland-based Unknown Mortal Orchestra and were a pleasant
surprise. Helio Sequence was still definitely
the main attraction. Their live music comes across much differently than their
produced stuff (more fun?) and the drummer, Benjamin Weikel, is a
kick-in-the-pants to watch play.
9/8/12
On Saturday, we went to brunch at Meriwether’s and enjoyed
some pretty fabulous mimosas (Irish coffee for Val) and phenomenal farm-fresh
veggies.
One half of the unfairly good-looking couple that hosted us.
After a bit of time for digestion, we met up with an old
friend at a Rogue Taproom where we sat in the sun and drank too many Hazelnut
Brown ales (beer flight for Val). After that it was time to get ready for the next big show:
GirlTalk!
In this picture, you can just barely make out all the half-naked ladies.
Which of course provided the best part of the evening:
Bota bota bota box! Like they knew we were coming!
Opening band Starfucker was awesome. GirlTalk definitely
puts on a show, but before too long I was jonesing for something a little more
rock and roll. So, we packed up and headed over to Ted’s Berbati to catch a
band I had been listening to recently, Brooklyn-based DIIV. (It’s pronounced
“dive”, by the way. Guess how long it took us to figure that out.) The smaller
venue and awesome performance made for one of the best shows we saw the whole
trip.
After that, we booked it up to the Roseland Theatre to catch
the last bit of Sebadoh’s set and wait patiently for Dinosaur Jr.!
I want to be this cool when I grow up.
The energy of that show! We almost got bowled over by a mosh
pit consisting mostly of 30+ year olds. Unfortunately, my head cold started to
take its toll and we checked out a little early to catch the bus home.
Inked.
9/9/12
It’s good we headed home when we did, because we were texted
a wake-up call early-ish the next morning that we were late to meet more
of Val’s family for breakfast. In a record 20 minutes, we were on the road to
the Tin Shed. After grapefruit mimosas and delicious breakfast (I had a
scramble with chicken apple sausage and brie, yum!) we headed out on our next
adventure: wine tasting.
Neither Val nor I had ever been wine tasting before. (I
guess that’s what happens when your favorite wine comes from a box.) Drinking
12+ different wines in the course of an afternoon, plus eating our weight in
cheese? New favorite vacation activity.
Best cheese ever invented?
When I got home, my dad asked me if we figured out how to
taste wine without getting shit-faced. He should really know better.
In this picture, we see drunk Mags trying to remember which vineyard she's currently visiting.
After a refreshing nap in the car, we made our way back
downtown for the (arguably) main attraction.
Val: "Bass player's got a bad case of the babies." (Twins! Girlfriend had to play her axe all the way to one side.)
We somehow managed to keep our pants on through an entire
Silversun Pickups show. It was a little
touch and go for me when they started playing “Catch and Release”, but I am a
lady and kept it together.
After the show, we headed over to Nostrana for a
farewell dinner with Val’s incredible, accommodating cousins. (Seriously, Aaron
& Stephanie, if you ever read this, you guys are amazing.) We split some
pizza, drank some more wine (gin for me!) and told embarrassing stories until
it was time to head home to pack and get ready for our morning flight.
9/10/12
After a mix-up at the airport (a story I will only tell you
if you buy me a drink), our 8:30 a.m. flight ended up being a 6:00 p.m. flight.
Val and I suddenly had time for more shopping and at least one more meal in
Portland!
At Aaron’s recommendation, we found ourselves in the garden
of Veritable Quandary, sipping cocktails and pretending to be important amongst
the besuited professionals around us. We also had some of the best pasta salad
I’ve ever had, which we will hopefully be recreating here soon.
Properly boozed and broke, we got on the plane to return home, already plotting our next adventure.
Dudes, one of us is GETTING MARRIED. (I'll give you a hint: it's not me, or Val, or Hannah.)
It's an indescribable place. The purveyor of everything delicious and funky, the keeper of generous scones, beautiful quiches and a home town feel that you can't really get in New York. I've had friends wake up at ungodly hours to be taught how to make pastry dough, just for fun. I've spent hours hanging out, not on the Internet (last time I checked, they don't have wi-fi) and it's the location of the infamous Alaska Folk Fest Bourbon Brunch.
When I found out that they published a cook book, I mass texted everyone in Juneau, begging them to get the secrets for me.
My mother loves me the most.
Side note- never before has a cook book made me homesick.
Savory Scones ON A GRILL! (adapted from Paradise Cafe and Bakery)
5 c of flour
2/3 c white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 lb butter, cold and cut into 1" cubes
2 c whole milk
fillings-
1 c fresh basil- chopped
1 c sundried tomatoes- chopped
1 c Cheddar cheese- grated
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp dried italian herbs
dash of cinnamon
more cheese- sliced
-Put everything but the milk in a mixer and blend slowly until the butter is incorporated. (note- I used to do this with 2 butter knives. Get yourself a mixer ASAP). This is the basic recipe, you can use this to make savory or sweet ones.
- If you are using the whole mix, gently mix in 2 c of milk. Cover your work space with plastic wrap, dump the dough on the plastic wrap and wrap it with more plastic wrap. Pat out to 3/4" thickness.
-Cut in circles, triangles, ninja's etc... Place on a tray and bake for 12-14 mins.
Note- This recipe is working with the goal of selling scones to the masses. You'll end up with about 20 scones. That is a first world problem.
For scone sandwiches or SCONES ON THE GRILL!
put scone and sliced cheese on the grill. Be patient.
eat it when it's good and melty.
It tastes kind of like this.
Notes for next time:
I'll make the scones thicker so I can make scone sandwiches (ON THE GRILL!) and perhaps put mozzarella, basil and a tomato in it.
My new back up plan is to open a cafe called "Put A Grill On It"
Basic premise- grilling things that aren't meant to be grilled- i.e. baked goods, breakfast things, fruit, bread, tofu, tempeh, eggs, vegetables, desserts... Really anything. It's going to be awesome.
I spent a Sunday afternoon contemplating time at the remount of EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH, the Robert Wilson and Philip Glass non-linear, 4 1/2 hour opera about Einstein.
Basically I got my avant garde artist vegetables.
Sometimes I hear and see things and wish that I did more drugs.
Einstein falls into that category.
I'm still a little dazed by it.
But I've been singing the numbers 1-8 for the past 2 days, so something stuck.
Repetition, time, stark visual imagery, physically and emotionally disorienting... it's a feat for performers and audience alike.
It was amazing and terrible at the same time. I cried at one point and I have no idea if it was from an emotional place, or if my eyes were revolting. It was exhausting and awe inspiring. I doubt I'll ever see anything like it again.
It's only staged once every few decades. Maybe I'll be ready to see it again in 20 years.
I'm cooking things in parchment paper.
It's the classier version of hobo packets, which can be found here. Tomato Basil Sauce with Polenta (from Bon Appetit)
-Preheat oven to 425. Brush a baking sheet with oil and put polenta rounds on it.
- Chop half of the tomatoes in a food processor. Cut the remaining tomatoes in half. Combine all the tomatoes in a bowl with 4 tbsp oil, garlic, shallot, salt, pepper and basil. Toss.
- Use 3 big sheets of parchment paper (don't use foil, it doesn't like tomatoes). Spoon the tomato mix onto the parchment paper (all 3 should be layered) and fold the parchment over the mix, crimp the edges to form a sealed packet.
- Throw the packets in the oven on a baking sheet. Throw the polenta in too, turn the rounds once until they are lightly brown and the tomatoes are saucy, 25-30 mins. (It's possible to cook both of these on a grill too). Spoon the tomato sauce over the polenta.
Gourmet hobo packs are well accompanied with the new Avett Brothers album, "The Carpenter", which officially drops on September 11th (it's on NPR first listen).
If you ever feel the urge the ditch everything and ride the rails (moving up by bucket list), you'll be eating a lot of hobo packets and singing the blues that are on this album.
This one isn't really a "sit in a hammock, drink pbr and cry" CD. Avett Bros are breaking out of their genre!
