I am about to become a person of class, a person of taste, a tamale chef!
I've been cooking asian food for long enough now I need a new focus in the kitchen. So Tamales it is. I figure why not, I live in a country where it's too bloody easy to get corn husks... it would be a sin not to use this opportunity!
Food on the brain here. Mrs Doc made these traditional Sinterklaas almond cookies for our big Sinterklaas party on sunday night and they are like MAGNETS to my MOUTH. Not really beeing much of a sweets person, this is really saying something.
And watching "Julie & Julia" a couple weeks back makes me interestedin taking on a real committed cooking project sometime soon. I am starting to see these things in years now - just like the pushups & situps regime from 2010... something you have to commit to doing every single day of the year in order for it to really transform your lifestyle. Like this idea of "half marathon" that I'm toying with for 2011. But I'm not sure a cooking project lends itself to someone who travels a lot and has to go away for work almost weekly, etc etc. So I'll have to see if I can find a way to adapt this idea. But I'm still going to master tamales.
This weekend was TOO MUCH!!! I had a stellar mccartney time but it was way too much! Gourmet Gals at my house on Friday was fantastical - all the instructions I gave them were spot on and the chicks (none of whom had ever cooked Chinese food before) got everything pretty well right. So we enjoyed a fabulous feast of Hot & Sour Soup, Dongpo Pork, Asparagus salad, and Caramel dumplings. And wine. Lots of it. Luckily they all helped clean up too after it was over. :) The only down side, well 2 actually, was that Mrs Doc was on call the whole time and of COURSE there were about 30 brain-emergencies (she's a neurologist) during the night so not only could she only drink 1 glass of wine, but she was also on the cell phone nearly the whole time and of course had to leave at midnight to go into the hospital and solve problems etc etc. Problem 2 was that The Mr. was in a right FOUL mood over his stressful week and was really put out that he had to abscond with The LJJ for the duration of the evening (he took her to poker night with the boys down at Doc's house) as well as help me setting up tables before the chicas arrived and all sorts of supporting acts, but yet didn't get to reap any of the benefits of the cooking being done! I said them's the breaks pal, welcome to husbandry! My mom used to kick my dad out of the house for her bridge clubs and bible studies and all sorts of what-the-what all the time. I only have ever had to do this once! And hostessing is STRESSFUL! I need HELP! Seriously, it took me all day to get ready for this - I didnt even eat anything all day (nor did I even REALIZE this fact until 8:30 at night when I tasted some snacks and was like "hmmm, that's an odd sensation in my belly...?")
Anyhoo, I didn't even get to sleep it off (so to speak) the next day because 1) I didn't drink enough water during the evening so I was feeling seedy at 7am and couldn't sleep anymore, and 2) I kept having these SUPER vivid half-dreams about people calling me the next day to say they were puking and foodpoisoned etc., and then another one where there were ants all over my kitchen and crawling around in the food.... hmmm, post-hosting stress maybe? And then 3) we had to get up and lay out the Hash for that evening's Christmas run. Plus I had all sorts of Grand Mattress responsibilities I had to see to before the big par-tay. So The Mr. and I and LJJ loaded up the trail-laying crap and went out to the ghetto to set it out. Then went and had a spur-of-the-moment lunch at Dros which was relaxing and well-deserved, and back home to get ready for a 5pm E.T.A. at the bar where the Hash was starting.
After a really good run, there was a really good xmas party, which saw me and Sting respectively in our posts as Mrs & Santa Claus. Turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes and yadda yadda yadda for all! I had whipped up a few clever hash-themed christmas carols and Sting & I led one and all in a good-time sing-along. It was ace.
Then sunday it was a weeeee bit of a sleep-in, followed by a run to the shops by myself and Mrs Doc, to get fixens for the big Dutchy night. Out of the G-village 6, only 2 are Dutch (The MR. & Mar) but dammit the rest of us played ball, and good too. Everyone had drawn a name about a week ago, and presents were bought for that person.... which were then wrapped in mystery packaging, and poems were written for that person, and so on. Since I was hostessing (AGAIN!) I made fondue in 3 courses... a 4-cheese course for veggies & sausage, a peanut oil course for chicken and beef, and a chocolate course for fruit and cake for dessert. This time though, it was REALLY important to the Mr. to spend the whole day baking these little cinnamon/ginger cookies that are like THE THING you have to eat on Sinterklaas. The sweet thing, he was so cute baking all day. And they were pretty good I have to say! So when the gang came over in the evening, we ate the cookies, some hoursdovures by Mrs Doc, and then sat down for fonduage. We did presents staggered throughout the dinner, and it was really fun. I have this sneaky suspicion that Mar was insulted by the poem I wrote (I drew her name) but that's how the REAL sinterklaas poems are supposed to go. You're supposed to take the piss out of the person you draw. And of COURSE I draw the one member of the gang with no sense of humor. whatever! I thought it was a masterpiece because I mixed both dutch & english on an alternating-line basis.
The Mr. drew Jac's name and it was priceless because in HIS poem he referenced many different elements of Mar's stick-up-the-ass. Like how J. has a 3-beer limit allowance, and how he's not allowed to cook with chillies or leave the door open so bugs can get in the house, etc etc. We all laughed.
Anyhoo, we sat outside drinking and then did dishes and finally Doc & Mrs Doc went home around 1am and I had to be up the next morning to go to work and that was NOT fun. I honestly dont remember having been that tired at work for years. I literally kept falling asleep at my desk and then on the couch when I got home. Thank God we went to bed at 10pm last night so I could get the first decent night's sleep in days.
All in all, fun weekends are fun, but I sure am glad I have 2 weeks off coming up here in the next half of the month because dammit I need to lay around and do NOTHIN for awhile.
I've been cooking asian food for long enough now I need a new focus in the kitchen. So Tamales it is. I figure why not, I live in a country where it's too bloody easy to get corn husks... it would be a sin not to use this opportunity!
Food on the brain here. Mrs Doc made these traditional Sinterklaas almond cookies for our big Sinterklaas party on sunday night and they are like MAGNETS to my MOUTH. Not really beeing much of a sweets person, this is really saying something.
And watching "Julie & Julia" a couple weeks back makes me interestedin taking on a real committed cooking project sometime soon. I am starting to see these things in years now - just like the pushups & situps regime from 2010... something you have to commit to doing every single day of the year in order for it to really transform your lifestyle. Like this idea of "half marathon" that I'm toying with for 2011. But I'm not sure a cooking project lends itself to someone who travels a lot and has to go away for work almost weekly, etc etc. So I'll have to see if I can find a way to adapt this idea. But I'm still going to master tamales.
This weekend was TOO MUCH!!! I had a stellar mccartney time but it was way too much! Gourmet Gals at my house on Friday was fantastical - all the instructions I gave them were spot on and the chicks (none of whom had ever cooked Chinese food before) got everything pretty well right. So we enjoyed a fabulous feast of Hot & Sour Soup, Dongpo Pork, Asparagus salad, and Caramel dumplings. And wine. Lots of it. Luckily they all helped clean up too after it was over. :) The only down side, well 2 actually, was that Mrs Doc was on call the whole time and of COURSE there were about 30 brain-emergencies (she's a neurologist) during the night so not only could she only drink 1 glass of wine, but she was also on the cell phone nearly the whole time and of course had to leave at midnight to go into the hospital and solve problems etc etc. Problem 2 was that The Mr. was in a right FOUL mood over his stressful week and was really put out that he had to abscond with The LJJ for the duration of the evening (he took her to poker night with the boys down at Doc's house) as well as help me setting up tables before the chicas arrived and all sorts of supporting acts, but yet didn't get to reap any of the benefits of the cooking being done! I said them's the breaks pal, welcome to husbandry! My mom used to kick my dad out of the house for her bridge clubs and bible studies and all sorts of what-the-what all the time. I only have ever had to do this once! And hostessing is STRESSFUL! I need HELP! Seriously, it took me all day to get ready for this - I didnt even eat anything all day (nor did I even REALIZE this fact until 8:30 at night when I tasted some snacks and was like "hmmm, that's an odd sensation in my belly...?")
Anyhoo, I didn't even get to sleep it off (so to speak) the next day because 1) I didn't drink enough water during the evening so I was feeling seedy at 7am and couldn't sleep anymore, and 2) I kept having these SUPER vivid half-dreams about people calling me the next day to say they were puking and foodpoisoned etc., and then another one where there were ants all over my kitchen and crawling around in the food.... hmmm, post-hosting stress maybe? And then 3) we had to get up and lay out the Hash for that evening's Christmas run. Plus I had all sorts of Grand Mattress responsibilities I had to see to before the big par-tay. So The Mr. and I and LJJ loaded up the trail-laying crap and went out to the ghetto to set it out. Then went and had a spur-of-the-moment lunch at Dros which was relaxing and well-deserved, and back home to get ready for a 5pm E.T.A. at the bar where the Hash was starting.
After a really good run, there was a really good xmas party, which saw me and Sting respectively in our posts as Mrs & Santa Claus. Turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes and yadda yadda yadda for all! I had whipped up a few clever hash-themed christmas carols and Sting & I led one and all in a good-time sing-along. It was ace.
Then sunday it was a weeeee bit of a sleep-in, followed by a run to the shops by myself and Mrs Doc, to get fixens for the big Dutchy night. Out of the G-village 6, only 2 are Dutch (The MR. & Mar) but dammit the rest of us played ball, and good too. Everyone had drawn a name about a week ago, and presents were bought for that person.... which were then wrapped in mystery packaging, and poems were written for that person, and so on. Since I was hostessing (AGAIN!) I made fondue in 3 courses... a 4-cheese course for veggies & sausage, a peanut oil course for chicken and beef, and a chocolate course for fruit and cake for dessert. This time though, it was REALLY important to the Mr. to spend the whole day baking these little cinnamon/ginger cookies that are like THE THING you have to eat on Sinterklaas. The sweet thing, he was so cute baking all day. And they were pretty good I have to say! So when the gang came over in the evening, we ate the cookies, some hoursdovures by Mrs Doc, and then sat down for fonduage. We did presents staggered throughout the dinner, and it was really fun. I have this sneaky suspicion that Mar was insulted by the poem I wrote (I drew her name) but that's how the REAL sinterklaas poems are supposed to go. You're supposed to take the piss out of the person you draw. And of COURSE I draw the one member of the gang with no sense of humor. whatever! I thought it was a masterpiece because I mixed both dutch & english on an alternating-line basis.
The Mr. drew Jac's name and it was priceless because in HIS poem he referenced many different elements of Mar's stick-up-the-ass. Like how J. has a 3-beer limit allowance, and how he's not allowed to cook with chillies or leave the door open so bugs can get in the house, etc etc. We all laughed.
Anyhoo, we sat outside drinking and then did dishes and finally Doc & Mrs Doc went home around 1am and I had to be up the next morning to go to work and that was NOT fun. I honestly dont remember having been that tired at work for years. I literally kept falling asleep at my desk and then on the couch when I got home. Thank God we went to bed at 10pm last night so I could get the first decent night's sleep in days.
All in all, fun weekends are fun, but I sure am glad I have 2 weeks off coming up here in the next half of the month because dammit I need to lay around and do NOTHIN for awhile.
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