TACO TACO!!

four tacos.
that's me cutting back on the tacos, but still getting rad on a lot of tacos.
i mean, it used to be i'd take down six at a clip,
but my waist was anything but wasting away.
nobody likes a blarpity skinny guy.
oh, wait,
everybody is a beautiful miracle, or some sh!t like that these days, right?
uh-huh.
except that not everybody is beautiful to everybody.
that's a preposterous assertion.
and while 'beauty' is generally considered a subjective surface trait,
my surface was expanding in all the wrong places.
no bueno.
so,
i'll just be over here thinking that NOT everybody is a beauty,
and therefore being ugly on the inside, i guess...
and probably the outside too, honestly-
but,
if i'm just a little less sloppy around the middle,
i'll thank you in advance for noticing...
besides,
if i can cook up a set of four ferocious flour tacos
with enough serious succulence to satisfy my monstrous appetite,
and maybe still have room to beat up a side order of something special, too?
c'mon.
that's the right call,
and it's still a massive meal.
too much is the right amount,
even if waaaaaay too much is no longer an option.
ha.
so,
four tacos it is.
and i'll make sure they're expert as heck.
i mean it.
stay ugly, stay dope is the name of the game.
-
guys!
mexican monday hasn't been a thing for a few,
due mainly to the time constraints of a distracting day-after-daily grind.
but,
last night, with an hour's headstart towards supper,
after tattooing some awesome clients,
and spanning a relatively low-key day that the old studio,
i had a little bit of inspiration,
and i put it  to work on some rainbow magic.
YUP.
no salsa? no problem!
check the teleport:

OLÉ, duders!
*soft flour tortillas!(rules is rules)
lettuces and purple cabbage, too.
*some got orange sweet baby bell pepper,
others got minced onion and jalapeno.
*they ALL got a quick-pickled radish/carrot/ jalapeno blend-
(that's boiling apple cider vinegar with sugar and salt,
poured over the thinly sliced veg, and allowed to cool.
...perfecto!
*agave-black pepper fried pepitas? F* yes, neighbors.
that's olive oil and fresh cracked black peps, toasty and sharp,m
with the pumpkin seeds tossed into the mix, sizzled for a full minute,
removed from the heat, and stirred around with agave.
what're the proportions?
a glug, ten crax, a scoop, and a squizzle.
y'got that in there?
hooray!
*
smoky cayenne cauliflower?!?!?
HELL YES.
pan-seared florets,
sizzled alongside thin striplets of sweet onion, for extra-juicy pan infusions,
tossed with cayenne, smoked paprika, GPOP, salt, pepper,
cumin, and coriander...
then braised/steamed in a spoonful or two of broth, covered,
for about three minutes or so,
then allowed to sear up just a bit more once the liquid is gone-
^^^THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT, MAN.
-
yellow rice is twice as dope when there's black beans in it.
that's a thing.
jasmine rice, with a 1/2 tsp turmeric,
1/ tsp ea. Garlic Powder and Onion Powder,
a dash of salt, a spoonful of oil,
and a few tablespoons of chopped onion and red pepper-
guys-
once it's boiling, and turned down, you add the saoked and sexxxy black beans,
and jalapeno,
and when that's all cooked up, according to the rice's instructions,
you stir in cilantro and scallion, too!
BOO-YA!
good rice makes for good times.
plus, i had enough to heat up again later,
after an epic dog-walk through the town, in a futile effort to exhaust my dog.
luckily,
later-on rice is even BETTER!
yum.
***********
i had the craziest dreams,
right after discussing how infrequently i remember my dreams!
that's that vanilla sky like muh'fug.
and in-between elaborate unraveling ribbons of subconscious strain on my brain,
involving all of the suppressed stress of this sh!t-hot waking-world mess i'm in-
i kept coming back to hallowe'en.
what?!
well, i mean, it's never too early.
and i'm going to be making my costume at AMPERSAND TATTOO this year,
so we can all enjoy the obsessive intricacies of a dress-up aficionado.
ha.
that's gotta be a better way to spend the few hours i'm unconscious
than the intricately involved scenarios i'm apparently summoning up
while i sleep.
it's a small wonder i don't do it much, if that's what's waiting for me.
bummer.
at least the costumes were great, i guess;
never quiet, never soft.....