dahanese.com

PANCAKE

well, she's not allowed, or should be jumping up on the couch, but this is adorable.

foray into french onion soup!

i'm adding a new category to my blog. this food category will cover what i cook, the places i eat in and love, and perhaps the wine i covet.

i'll start with my french onion soup recipe:

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 cups thinly vertically sliced Walla Walla or other sweet onion
4 cups thinly vertically sliced red onion
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup dry white wine
8 cups less-sodium beef broth (NOTE: don't use lower sodium if you aren't watching your weight. you need salt in this recipe.)
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (NOTE: you can use dried thyme, it's okay.)
8 (1-ounce) slices French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
8 (1-ounce) slices reduced-fat, reduced-sodium Swiss cheese (such as Alpine Lace) (NOTE: if you aren't watching your figure, regular swiss will be fine. try guyere too, that's my next choice, and for added wow, sprinkle a little parmesan on top of your swiss before you stick it in the broiler)

Preparation
Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions to pan; sauté for 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in sugar, pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to medium; cook 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Increase heat to medium-high, and sauté for 5 minutes or until onion is golden brown. Stir in wine, and cook for 1 minute. Add broth and thyme; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours.

Preheat broiler.

Place bread in a single layer on a baking sheet; broil 2 minutes or until toasted, turning after 1 minute.

Place 8 ovenproof bowls on a jelly-roll pan. Ladle 1 cup soup into each bowl. Divide bread evenly among bowls; top each serving with 1 cheese slice. Broil 3 minutes or until cheese begins to brown.
Yield

8 servings

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 290(30% from fat); FAT 9.6g (sat 4.8g,mono 1.9g,poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 16.8g; CHOLESTEROL 20mg; CALCIUM 317mg; SODIUM 359mg; FIBER 3.1g; IRON 1.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 33.4g

(NOTE: if you change the recipe with higher sodium broth and better cheese, round up to about 400 calories for a cup of this bad boy. it's okay. eat a salad, it will still be good for you.)

thankfulness.

i have been told that i have been gloomy lately in my entries. and this is true. i have been pretty gloomy lately. some is irrational. some is not. some will mend. well, all will mend in time, right?

anyway. here's a list of things that are good, and that i am thankful for.

- cats that sleep on my feet
- miso who sits in my lap when i work on the computer
- pancake who has a cute face (we shall add to this later when she does not whine at 6 am, is potty trained, and i am over her chewing through my laptop cord which cost $86 to replace)
- an awesome fucking job
- an awesome fucking bunch of coworkers
- a car that i think is really awesome
- two sisters, a father, and a mother who are really supportive and fun and kind and wonderful
- a group of friends that now pull from real life means so that when i use internet forums, i can use them just to bullshit, and not feel the need to socialize with the people that annoy me there because i have no other friends and/or means to socialize, thusly i have to see them
- being debt free
- having lost some weight and enjoying thoroughly working out
- being an excellent cook and really enjoying it (and having a really awesome kitchen and easy access to barbecuing)
- lots of sunshine and good weather in california
- cheap, amazing wine
- accessible flowers so that i always have blooms on my kitchen table
- an apartment big enough to HAVE a kitchen table
- a farmer's market
- access to a city with all the food i like, and a town with all the takeout i could desire
- a beach within day's driving distance (albeit perhaps shark infested)
- knowledge that, no matter what the hurtles, i am successful, surrounded by loving and supportive people, and saving money, and that each passing day, these things grow stronger, and the goals that i am shaping for my future are becoming more and more real and incredible

pancake?

on december 15th, 2007, little mini dachshund girl puppies were born. one is possibly a cream, but also possibly a light red. the other is a red, possibly a light red.

what does this mean?

a cream is like a golden retriever. english cream is the true term. a light red is like a golden retriever with a tiny bit of red highlight. english cream doxies go for a lot of money. red doxies, less so.

if this girl is a cream, she will be about double her price if she is "red".

i will be getting one of these puppies, and picking her up on february 9th.

here's your job. 1. tell me why getting a puppy is a terrible idea and i'm not ready for the responsibility and i will kill it. financially, i already have set aside the money for her first year bills. i've been planning her coming since... about a year ago, now. february of 2007, i believe. 10 months. 2. tell me which you think is cuter. the first, which is the possible cream, or the red, which will lighten up. all doxies lighten as they grow up.

and yes. i realize they both look like worms. they were born 2 days ago, after all.

a really great haiku, courtesy of a shacker.

Wagon tipped over
You lost: food, clothes, ammo, Paul
Fuck him anyway

i am sickipoo.

so last night i had my housewarming shackmeet. pictures of the apartment will be up soon, i promise. the even was good. we had about 17 people here, including ourselves, and played games and chatted. and it was not too crowded!

it's weird to have to stop drinking and sit around and let everyone sober up, but honestly, i'm glad they do that.

by 2 am, everyone had left but chris remo and jake, who stayed talking business with me till... 4.30 am? yeah. when finally i looked at the clock and was like HOLY FUCK and they left.

woke up at 10 and felt like hell. sore throat, stuffy nose, headache, body ache. i'm like, fuckin great. but, we clean up and go to the MOST AWESOME farmer's market ever. like... jesus. 100 or more stalls? so we buy some yummy food, and then i come home and make homemade bacon and eggs and brusselsprouts, and then i passed out because i felt like hell.

i miss sarah, and i miss dad. but i have to say i don't miss my tiny apartment. i miss my old friends, i miss new york partying, but i really love my job and what i'm doing here. i don't relish paying for gas and my car, but i really do like it here.

When Manhattan becomes the Thunderdome

so last night i woke up around 4 am to torrential rain and terrified lightning. loving that sound, i snuggled down happy.

but today i wake up and check the shack before heading off to work and hear that the new york subways are flooded and i'm going to have to walk to work. OH SNAP.

so i got about halfway there and then a cab stops and lets people out. YOINK. i stole that badboy because there is nothing worse than arriving at work sweaty and disgusting.

but seriously. it's like Thunderdome. hordes of people angrily fighting for buses and cabs. apparently the working subways are hysterically dangerous. some dude was fighting and BARKING at another passenger trying to get on a pack train.

barking.

man, i'm going to miss new york.

fun with google.

It was understood, therefore someone of shacknews pointed out the translator of Japanese google from beta English. He passed through that Japanese which takes us, and that the post which was reset was nominated to English for the highest making merry noise. Rather than I try that, being able to imagine me it was the gold. So, the proper. I'm which does that for my blog. If you think that we would like to try that, as for link on the bottom, there is here. In addition, �??my original�?? post it is under queer word, before moving that through therefore whether me the translator, orginally it can look at those which are typed. So the pleasure. I before I send out those, think of that me we would like to move my E-mail entirely with this. My father putting me on the straight jacket, before being able, which rank you think? (You! The love which is sounded plunk)

Okay, so someone on shacknews pointed out the english to japanese google translator beta. he recommended we take a post, put it through japanese, then put it back into english for maximum hilarity. i tried it out, and it was more golden than i could ever imagine. so, of course. i'm doing it for my blog. if you want to try it out, here's a link, at the bottom. also, my "original" post is below the gibberish, so you can see what i orginally typed out before running it through the translator.

so much fun. i think i want to run all my emails through this before i send them out. how long do you think before my father got me put in a straight jacket?

(love you pops!)
http://translate.google.com/translate_t?langpair=ja|en

doing good things.

so my friend, felicia, doesn't� have a ton of spare change. a good person gave her a 360, but fedex lost her 20 gig hard drive last week. and she was very sad.

then i found out she didn't have xbox live, or a headset.

so, in secret, i shipped her one.

the happiness of someone getting an unexpected gift is always 1000 times better than receiving a gift of any sort.

i feel a million times better today.