BONUS Foodie Friday: I did it! Now I’m an Italian Grandmother!

Last year, Jason made me pesetas for my birthday. Since he is globetrotting, I have only myself to rely on to make me cookies. They are essentially biscotti. And they’re awesome. He found the recipe on Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs, which sounds like something he would make up but is in fact a real website. His site has step by step photos and detailed instructions, but I will show you MY photos, how I cut corners and will summarize the recipe, which I halved.

Final Foodie Friday in February: Maple-Mustard-Glazed Potatoes & String Beans

For my final Foodie Friday, Vegan with a Vengeance strikes again! I made all sorts of missteps* with this recipe, but it ended up okay anyway. There will be a bonus cookie recipe before the end of the month, to make up for my cop out free food post I made last week.

This side dish is extraordinarily easy to prepare but a little time consuming. I almost never eat mustard, but it was interesting with the maple syrup. The sauce has a unique tang to it.

• 2 lbs small Yukon gold potatoes, halved (about 1-inch pieces)
• ½ lb string beans, halved, ends cut off and discarded
• 1 yellow onion, thickly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the vegetables in a 9×13-inch casserole dish. In a mixing bowl stir together all the other ingredients until the mustard is dissolved. Pour over the vegetables and mix well until everything is coated.

Cover with foil and place in oven. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and toss everything; use a spoon to drip the sauce over the veggies. Turn oven down to 350 degrees, and cook for 25 minutes uncovered. Remove from oven, toss again, cook for 25 more minutes uncovered. These are especially yummy served at room temperature, with some of the remaining sauce poured over them.

I don’t have a picture of the final product right now, but I will post one of the leftovers later. It doesn’t look very appetizing, but Pete had some and very seriously said, “I. Love. This.” I still have a lot of potatoes left over, so I might try to do this recipe again, properly. I cannot attest to the room temperature advice, nor did I have enough sauce left to spoon over them.

*I bought frozen string beans because at Shur Save, you can’t always be Shur if something is fresh, especially when the expiration date is not listed. I didn’t have foil or a 9×13-inch pan, which is kind of surprising on both counts, so I baked it everything uncovered in two smaller pans. My garlic sprouted and frightened me, so I stole a teaspoon of my roommate’s minced garlic from the fridge (shhh!). I don’t think it was as saucy as it should have been, probably because of my lack of foil in the first round in the oven and me splitting it between pans and then mixing it back together in the end. But like I said, if at first you only partially succeed, maybe try again.

Tapes ‘n Tapes @ the Brillobox: [I wanted to] Kill Them All

I thought seeing Tapes ‘n Tapes at the Brillobox would be a pleasant experience. Boy, was I wrong! I thought I would enjoy seeing them in a small venue, but it turns out a sold out small room just puts you in closer contact with a bunch of a-holes. Turning this over in my head over the past few days, I tried to imagine that maybe I am being tough on the crowd. It was Sunday night. Maybe I was cranky. Perhaps I was still recovering from the Gulf of Mexico(s) at Qdobar on Friday night (which caused me to lose my mind at the Rock Room). Every way I thought about it though, I kept coming to the same conclusion that Tapes ‘n Tapes has an extremely annoying fan base in Pittsburgh, at least.

I stood in the back for Br’er Fox. I am indifferent towards them. Totally listenable and non-offensive, at least. Andu did a write up on them in last week’s City Paper, which I just read. My roommate also pointed out the similarity with the White Stripes.

Wild Light. How can I put this delicately…made me…want to die. I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but goddamn, they were not my cup of tea. Even worse, if possible, was some jerk behind me criticizing them with comments like, “Does he think he’s playing chords?” (What does that even mean?!) and, “Oh good, another rotating band,” referring to how Br’er Fox also shifted singing/instruments. Guh. I think this text message exchange sums up Wild Light pretty well:

Derek: Omg an indie boy band!

Me: (referring to the blonde who just took his turn singing lead) He’s Lance Bassist

Derek: The Backstreet Fallout Boys

Me: Wild Light…more like Mild Light

Derek: It’s as if The Killers were just acquitted on all counts of being compelling

They’re on tour with Tapes ‘n Tapes, but sheesh.

My enjoyment of Tapes ‘n Tapes was severely hampered by the people around me. I was fake moshed into, pushed out of the way by groupies and quizzed on my band knowledge to determine if I was worthy enough to be standing so close to the stage. Get off of my back; you’re drunk on the Lord’s day! The guys in front of me, who were big Tapes ‘n Tapes fans, were terrible hecklers. I believe one of them said something like, “YOU BETTER ROCK MY SHIT! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ALL WEEK!” to the drummer as they were setting up. He politely replied, “I’ll try.” One of the guys also asked Wild Light if they were Tapes n’ Tapes. They were then warned, “YOU BETTER ROCK.”

Tapes ‘n Tapes did rock that dude’s shit, and everybody else’s. I don’t regret seeing them (and skipping out on Harangue at Gooski’s), and I had several bursts of enjoyment among my many fits of rage. I think I heard that their new album was not as well received as the first, but it definitely has some jams on it. They put on a good show, though highly attended by jerks I have never seen and hope to never see again.

Foodie Fridays in February: Birthday Bargain Bonanza!!!

Today’s Foodie Friday contains some information that may be extremely useful to you if you were ever born. This was my birthday week, and every day I have eaten at least one free thing. This means I haven’t been doing a lot of cooking, but once my free things well is dry, I will post a new recipe here for your enjoyment.

[Sidenote - In Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy," he says: "Birthdays was the worst days/Now we sip champagne when we thirst-ay," but I used to think he said, "Now we drink champagne every Thursday." I just remembered this. I must have thought, wow, how conservative! A quick internet search proves that this is a somewhat commonly misheard lyric. Years and years ago, my one aunt said, "I love it when you call me Big Pocketbook." Okay, okay, back to the task at hand.]

Before I teach you all of the ways in which you can scheme for deals, look at this cake my roommate made me!

As you wish.

This was Derek’s first cake. He recently mastered brownies out of a box, and soon enough he might even bake something from scratch. Thanks Derek!

After we served a few pieces, it said “BLOG THIS CAK” which we thought was hilarious.

Anyway, I signed up for most of these things last year, so this year, they just flowed right into my inbox. I get occasional coupons for other things, but I use a different email address for newsletters and stuff so it’s not a big deal. Here’s my schedule of free food. I have linked to all of their signup things. This is my birthday present to you:

Monday Free burrito at Moe’s.  I got the Triple Lindy.

Tuesday I didn’t go out, but I went to a dinner party at my friends’ apartment. Chris made carrot fennel soup that was bonkers. I also ate a brussel sprout for the first time ever, I think.

Wednesday Free entrée at Qdoba.  Now, this deal is kind of bogus because they send you a buy one, get one free coupon. Why do I want two burritos for my birthday? Rob was kind enough to buy his burrito so I could absorb the free one. Yay!

Thursday Free entrée from Houlihan’s. I went here by myself for lunch and had the stuffed chicken breast. Their mashed potatoes are curiously incredible. I couldn’t understand why they tasted so good.

For dinner, Pete and I went to my favorite okay Italian restaurant, Del’s, where I had the chicken fettuccine alfredo, as always. I have at least two meals worth of leftovers from this meal.

Friday Now get this: This isn’t birthday related. On Monday, we saw that they were advertising that the first 20 people to each area Moe’s would win a free burrito a week for the next year. Say hello to #20.

I still have coupons for free ice cream at Cold Stone and a free burger at Red Robin that I have yet to redeem.  I never got anything from Big Burrito (Mad Mex, Casbah, etc.), but it may have gone to my old address. Bollocks. I’d estimate that this is a little over $50 worth of free food. I did it, and so can you! Haha, oh god.

“It looks as if a 10-yr-old baked it but the secret ingredient was LOVE.” – Derek

Pittsburgh-berry

Whoa: Pittsburgh’s getting their own Pinkberry knock off: Karmic Yogurt.

This guy is a genius. I can’t imagine this not doing well in Shadyside. He’s picked a perfect spot. Goddamnit. I’m so jealous of this guy. And I don’t even like Pinkberry that much. Ugh.

Foodie Fridays in February: Macaroni and Four “Cheeses”

For Christmas, my sister gave me Skinny Bitch in the Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. Now, someone with a more insensitive sister may have taken this as a backhanded gesture, but no, not I! If anything, I scoffed at their shtick which can easily be ignored if you’re only concerned with recipes. Harder to ignore are the illustrations that are like gag-inducing thinspiration. I do admire their mission to help people eat better, but hate their use of words like “bitchclaimer” and justifying their love for soup as, “More time for sex! Hah! Who’s a boring old fart now, bitch?” They’re healthy and have foul mouths, lol! They probably have hot pink sweatpants with “BITCH” emblazoned on the ass. It’s Chick-Lit for the Soul; it’s Kitsch in the Kitch. I applaud their genius marketing ploy. That said, this fake macaroni and cheese is incredible.

Once upon a time…

My friends and I frequented the UCB Theatre on Monday nights. Aziz Ansari let me interview him for my Nonfiction 2 class. Now look at him:

How times have changed. Also, Demetri Martin’s show just started on Comedy Central. I’ll miss the days of free shows underground in the city.

Brightening up grey skies

You’ll go down in his-tor-y!

I was going to title this post “Reindeer Games, ” but was afraid that Google would turn up some hits for Ben Affleck fans. Sorry if you’ve been misled!

Check out this poor little googly eyed bench thing I saw last week over at City of Sad Toys:

I took a kind of sentimental photo of some balloons caught in a tree yesterday, but I’m not sure those count as “toys.” Maybe I’ll post it later. Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take it and all that.

Unblurred & undaunted

Kelly and I were cultured ladies this weekend. First, on Friday, we attended Unblurred on Penn Ave. I originally came out with the goal of only seeing Ben Hickling’s stuff and then going home, but we ended up stopping by just about every gallery. We ran into a bunch of people that I actually liked and very few people that I didn’t, so that was awesome. On Saturday, we went to the Warhol to see The End: Analyzing Art in Troubled Times. I’m never disappointed by any of their exhibits, but I was disappointed to be scolded for taking a picture in the Cloud Room, which led me on an obnoxious, “What, are they worried I’ll appropriate Warhol?” rant. I loved the room with “La Petit Morte” in it. There is no picture, because I was already under suspicion. The exhibit runs until May 3rd.

I had no idea Ben was an artist. It’s a lovely surprise to find out how creative your friends are. I look forward to soon having a print of this on my wall:

Here are some other things I liked and want to share from Friday night:

By Ben Hickling

Vulcan Sonnet

By Ben Hickling

By Ben Hickling

By Kate Harris

By Kate Harris

By Ed Steck

By Richard Schnap

Yesterday, Pete and I adventured to Irwin so I could get some supplies for a project I’ve been meaning to start for over half of a year. I have a backlog of ideas. The more art related events I attend, the more antsy I become to get into something again, so here goes.

Foodie Fridays in February: For when you want to go to Ritters but are pretending to be vegan

The True Spies are theme blogging this month, focusing on weekly recipes. Today is my day. As some of you may know, after about two weeks of not eating much of anything, I have made some strides in eating healthier. I have had a very minimal amount of dairy and meat and most importantly, I’ve gotten in control of my portions. A few days ago, I was in the mood for breakfast for lunch (and dinner), so I whipped out Vegan With a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Want to learn how to make Tempeh Sausage Crumbles and Blueberry Pancakes and see a ton of pictures? Well you can, after the jump!

LOST: Feelin’ Faraday

Last week’s episode restored my faith in this series. It suddenly felt worth it. If you somehow have managed to not know anything about it, LOST is  a high budget soap opera that meddles in time travel  and other berserk fantasies. I had been watching it out of compulsion, thinking I had already invested so much time into it that I had no other choice but to continue. I have been repaid because now it is awesome.  Well, we’ll see if it can keep it up tonight. Last week’s episode had a distinct lack of Jack and Kate, the show’s frustratingly stupid main characters.

Daniel Faraday has single-handedly made me like LOST again. He’s a nerd, he always looks like he’s thinking really hard, and he is sarcastic to people pointing guns at him. Before, Jeremy Davies was just “that guy from Solaris” to me, but never again. He is Daniel Faraday, the best character on LOST, who didn’t even appear until season four.

Oh, but I haven’t forgotten Sawyer, the conman, the nickname generator. Sometimes he can be too much, but last week had just the right amount of Sawyer charm. Here he is, pictured in a shirt, which is very rare:

I would originally have said my third favorite character is Hurley. He’s kind of making me sad now, so instead, I have chosen Ben Linus. He’s smart like Faraday, but is a genius when it comes to manipulation. Best questionably “bad guy” ever.

Is this picture real? Is Ben floating amongst the trees?

I also have some thoughts about yesterday’s episode of Heroes, but that show is so dumb I can’t even talk about it.

EDIT – Desmond is also pretty rad. Here, he’s probably screaming “PENNAY!”

Local art stuff: Make Your Own Truth & Variety³

I wanted to take it easy this weekend, and Saturday was a success because I worked all day and accomplished everything I had planned to and made it home just after 11 p.m.

First, I went to Encyclopedia Destructica’s release for their new book, “Make Your Own Truth” at CMU. My friend and I got there right on time to see Jonathan Brodsky, their resident artist, receive his Flying Destructicate award/rubber stamp. Can we just take a second to look at this book? Even the outside of it looks amazing!

Gorgeous.

This was a really cool event. Earlier in the year, ED had a few events called “Bring Your Own PowerPoint” but I was never able to attend one.  Some of the presentations are included with the book. At the release, T. Foley opened with a thought-provoking presentation about how men in Chicago presented themselves photographically in men seeking women postings on Craigslist. She encouraged crowd participation by having the audience read aloud excerpts from the men’s posts along with her illustrations of their photos.  Second, Laura Miller gave a hilariously awesome presentation on Joseph Barker, a former mayor of Pittsburgh who had a pretty crazy run at it until he was decapitated by a train. You can see a video of the original presentation here. Greg Siegel’s presentation had a bit of whimsy. Let me see if I can explain this in a way that makes sense: for his work, people are hooked up to a computer that traces where their pupils look at an image in front of them, creating a pattern of crazy lines of eye movement, which he then took and colored in to show the beautiful spaces where people do not look. Finally, I can’t really even try to describe what Brodsky presented, but it was definitely the most skillfully put together PPT I had ever seen. I have never really seen a presentation that incorporated great artwork though. Seriously mind blowing.

EDIT – A fellow True Spy reminded me that I neglected to mention that there was music by Rick Gribenas.  His performance served as an intermission, but it kind of put me into a trance in the spot where I was sitting on the floor, staring at my foot that had fallen asleep. However, I did notice there was a young boy also sitting on the floor several feet away from me who seemed to know Gribenas. During his set, the boy was mimicking playing a keyboard, the way people pretend to type when they reference “talking” online. He then began to move his fingers across the floor. I thought it was really cool for a kid to be into this kind of music. I wish I had been exposed to more awesome things at an earlier age.

Afterwords, I went to the Brillobox for Variety Variety Variety, a fundraiser for Open Thread. I was interested in checking out Hustlebot, a local improv comedy group. They were decent. I walked in a little late, so I’m guessing I didn’t “get” some of the callbacks during the show. I just really miss the UCBT. The event was hosted by The TypeWriter Girls, some more locals I didn’t know much about. They host poetry readings, and despite my slight aversion for such things, I dug their stage presence. Mariage Blanc performed for about an hour and were totally great. I saw their first show about a year ago and have been to several since then, and this was the best I’ve heard them sound. Someone asked me what they were called and said they were really good, like she was surprised. It was cool to see a room of people who weren’t necessarily there to see them get into their set. My favorite bit of stage banter was when someone asked how much their EP was, and Josh replied, “Five. Five dollar. Five dollar EP…” All in all, a nice night to support Pittsburgh’s art scene.

Obligatory Sixburgh Acknowledgment

Well, first things first: Step away from the guacamole dip and put down those chicken fingers! Is there any controversy over how Bruce totally raped the Super Bowl yet??

Derek and I watched the beginning of the game at Brillo and had their vegetarian dinner, where I forced myself to eat some carrots and he drank a million dollar beer. I then went to Pete’s house even though he wasn’t home and watched some of the game by myself until I fell asleep after halftime. But believe me, I saw what happened over and over again in the post-game shows while waiting for a strange episode of The Office to come on. I also caught a little bit of the Puppy Bowl. Madeline was my favorite, pictured here.

Even though I feel like I’m a Pittsburgh resident against my own will, I can’t help but for be happy for the city I’ve lived in for the better (or worse) part of almost six (!) years.

EDIT – I was just looking in my notebook and realized I forgot to acknowledge the completely abhorrent commercials. The best thing about them was at one point, some guy at the bar enthusiastically yelled, “IT’S FUCKING G.I. JOE!” Also, after Jennifer Hudson’s amazing performance, Derek said, “No more white national anthem singers ever.”