wow.
good guess.
it IS me.
that's right.
i've sort of become less excited about those exxxplosions over time.
likely,
it's the prospect of going alone to oooh and ahhhhh over all of that,
in the middle of an unholy horde of jean shorts wearing dads,
sticky-fingered cotton-candy-A* kids,
glow-necklace-reppin' facebook-updating moms,
and people.
tons and tons of people,
in groups and crowds and cliques,
all taking up so much space together,
exhaling lipids and steamy lung atmosphere at each other from just inches away.
i'm not hatin' on any of them.
they're there to have a good time, and they should...
but feeling alone in a mob of ordinary average everyday americans sharing experiences
is about a billion times suckier than actually being alone at home,
where that kind of solitary confinement is the industry-standard order of operations
on the fourth of every month, and every fifth, and sixth, and so on...
awwwww.
haha.
it's cool-
i have the dog, and he has me, and i'm sure we can find something to keep us busy.
in fact,
i'm willing to bet the day speeds off into the smoke and sulphur of a post-'works party,
before i get half of what i'd like to accomplished.
no?
well,
that's a thing.
-
***********
i AM making cupcakes, however.
i mean, it's a special day, kinda,
and rules is rules, after all.
the studio is closed today.
i have the whole afternoon to do things i wouldn't have been able to-
like,
light fires,
and draw things i want to draw,
and have a fancy dinner, even.
lucky me.
heck,
last night i even got busy with some dinnerly doings
despite feeling nearly NO initial enthusiasm...
i mean it, neighbors.
my default mood is dread.
but, that doesn't change what needs to be done,
and being dreadful doesn't make anything any easier-
so, i got to choppin',
and spicin',
and stirrin',
and before too long,
my exxxtra day OFF celebration was underway a little bit early.
YEAH!!!!!!
SHOUTOUTS TO CURRY, KIDS!!!
that's some fuego for your face right there!
lime juice and chili and red bell pepper, plus sweet onion, bubbled up all together
make that basmati rice some sort of wonderful.
mmmhmmm.
like, the usual prep, but with two kinds of red peps, and lime, and that's all.
expert.
and when you've got fragrant and elite rice as your base,
y'can't just chump up and wimp out on the goods afterwards.
no way.
...which is where that cauliflower comes into it's own.
DUDES,
there's firm tofu, sauteed with red onion, and earth balance butterish.
-
as in: 1/3 block cubed tofu;
1/2 cup red onion, chopped;
2 T vegan butts;
-the 'fu gets firm as the onions get soft,
and after a few minutes on high heat,
you just gotta add half a head of cauliflower.
yup.
chopped into reasonable mouth-sized pieces.
and that's when you add:
a T each of GPOP and black pepper;
1/2 tsp of cayenne;
a few big ol' shakes of coriander, mustard, and ginger;
1 T paprika (1 ea. hot and sweet, actually), red pepper flakes, and sumac;
1 1/2 tsp cumin;
toss that all around to heat up and aromatically enhance those herbs in the butterish.
then add 1/4 cup broth, and cover it to steambath blanch-blast the whole thing!!!
yeah!!!!
friends,
uncover that after three or four minutes,
let the liquid disappear completely,
turn off the heat,
and toss the tofu and cauli' with a splash of lime,
a big punch of baby kale,
cilantro, and green onion.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
it'll be hot enough to wilt the kale,
and that's what you want!
did i add fire-roasted red chili flake sprankles,
in addition to MORE cilantro and green onion?
you bet your spicy butthole i did.
that cauliflower has fresh tight florets, all braised and soft,
while the tofu is firm to the tooth, but gentle on the tongue-
the spices are subtle, but that heat game is a sleeper.
it gets you, but only after a few bites.
my solution?
eat faster.
what did you think would happen?
i'd take it easy?
c'mon now-
you know what's up:
too much is the right amount.
everything else is lazy.
and laziness is NOT sexxxy.
not even one little teentsy tiny little bit.
real talk- if you're taking it easy, take it somewhere else.
there's taking it off the charts and past the borders of the ordinary,
or as it is more commonly known in these parts-
taking it to eleven;
and then there's taking it too far.
the thing of it is, too far is a limit imposed by cowards and sluggards,
and as such, it's not invited to my party of one in the woods.
ha.
oh. wait.
awwwwwwwwwww.
*
i wonder how mobbed all the stores in town will be.
y'ever been on vacation in a vacation town?
holy crap.
it sure gets pressed and pressured with the swell of sweltering shelter-seekers-
there's a twentyfold ballooning of the population in the summer in the white mountains,
and today is the worst of it,
because they're all in one specific spot.
i need groceries.
i do.
i've got a couple of pretty cool teenagers coming to stay for a spell,
and those little jerks have gotta eat.
that's my job, bro.
feeding your kids is your job.
and i do all my jobs to eleven.
it's implicit in all that i do, as i do what i do.
i've got my own special events underway,
in an ongoing campaign to improve my station in life.
i guess there doesn't have to be sky-sprankles for it to be enjoyable.
it's ALL really happening,
and i s'pose the day will unfold the way it's s'posed to-
this is What Is, and there's an awful lot of it,
awful and otherwise;
never quiet, never soft.....
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