Happiness is....

The colors of split pea soup as it cooks.  Wet split peas is one of my favorite kinds of green (even if it turned out a bit yellow here).

Adventures in Sushi

Predictably, at the sushi buffet I tried everything with avocado.  They were delicious!

Not recommended: The banana surprise sushi roll

Better than expected: Squid tentacles and seaweed salad

Surprise find: Shrimp tempura!

Friday Hoorays: Sushi Edition

--The Pirate has recently become enthusiastic about sushi, so we have been seeking out Sushi Adventures. (We have the best Adventures.)
--Tonight we are celebrating an accomplishment of the Pirate. Hooray Pirate!
--Of course this means celebrating with an extravagent sushi bar restaurant tonight. The menu has flavors we didn't even know existed. (We are still somewhat limited in our sushi experience so this isn't hard, but exciting nonetheless!)
--We also spent an evening exploring our local stores and international markets for sushi ingedients and had a pretty good first run at a basic recipe.
--Since we can manufacture the sushi ourselves, this means I can make personal sushi that contains nothing but avocado!

Also

--I brought my colored pencils and sketchbook into work today for entertainment on my lunchbreak.  Hooray creativity!

For all the frazzled wedding peeps...

Today I made a hotel reservation for a friend's wedding.  I thought I should check on the hotel reservations for my own wedding since I was on a productivity roll and all.  My guest list had the potential for needing a wheelchair accessible room, so I had booked that one early in addition to my own just in case.  Thinking ahead and prepared for every guest, right?

Well, it turns out the wheelchair room is no longer needed and I couldn't remember if I had cancelled it. So I called to make sure because I didn't want my card charged.  Thinking ahead and prepared for every credit card bill, right? Only when I give my name and date range, there's nothing there....not even the reservation for myself and my groom.

So this means I have called the hotel five times.  Bless you, Best Western in Elyria, for being kind to a frazzled bride.  Because I'm pretty sure I have talked to the same person each time.

1.  To reserve special rates for the wedding guests.
2.  To book a wheelchair room in case there isn't one available later.
3.  To book my room.
4.  To cancel the wheelchair room (and they probably cancelled all reservations under my name)
5.  To cancel the wheelchair room, but instead find there are no reservations whatsoever to cancel and end up booking a room for myself.

And that, my friends, is the story of how I very nearly had to couch surf at my own destination wedding.

(Don't worry, I totes wrote down the confirmation number she gave me!!)

Monday Hoorays

--Salmon chowder soup for this week's lunches.
--A satifyingly whittled down to-do list and neatly wrapped personalized wedding favors.
--Friends!  And the technology that allows you to keep in touch over time and distance.
--The bike trail right next to my house and birke rides with the Pirate.
--Re-discovering old cross-stitch projects. Bonus: all thread present, accounted for, and sorted (thanks, Ondrea of the past!)
--That sweet spot between dreaming and waking when you snuggle down into your bedfellow
--That I have access to a private porch, chair, and sunshine since I spent a good majority of Sunday like this:

Avocado Shells

About once a year I become enchanted (read: obsessed) with a food/flavor, usually a fruit or vegetable.  Past contenders have been the cherry tomato and asparagus.  This year's food is the avocado.  Here is one of my favorite ways to eat it, inspired by an Oberlin favorite dish:

Avocado Shells

.5 or 1 avocado
.5 pepper (red, green, or yellow depending on your mood.  I like green.)
.5 onion (red or yellow.  I like red....which are technically purple)
Mozzerella cheese (or whatever cheese you have hanging around)
2 medium-sized tortilla shells (I prefer whole wheat)

1.  Slice the onion and pepper.  For minimum onion-crying, put the onion in the freezer for a few minutes before you slice it---keeps the scent of the onion depressed long enough for you to chop it up.  Or wear contacts, that helps too.

2.  Saute the onion and pepper in oil until slightly limp.  Use the time while they are cooking to do the dishes (why are there always dishes?) and prepare the rest of the ingredients.

3.  Lay out your tortilla shells and sprinkle cheese on one half. (shredded, chunked, sliced...whatever is available). Slice the avocado and place on top of cheese.  I use half an avocado per shell, but I like avocado.

4.  Spoon the onion/pepper mixture on top of the avocado. (good opportunity to sprinkle more cheese here)    Another delicious addition at this point is black pepper.  Fold tortilla in half.

5.  Place the halves of the tortilla shell with all the tastiness on the skillet.  Let cheese melt and tortilla crisp. Flip on to other side.  Crisp.

6.  Devour.

Gratitudes

Five things I am thanksul for, in no particular order:

- The Blogger app, which allows me to tap out blog entries on my work breaks.
- TAZO Zen tea
- The Pirate for a lovely evening of edamame bites, X-Files, and pet wrangling.
- Re-reading books from my high school days and realizing I like them just as much as I remember
- It is still cool enough in the South to open our windows and enjoy the weather (also, that I live in a quiet neighborhood)