Monthly Archives: December 2010

All I want for Christmas . . .

No, it’s not “you” or “my two front teeth,” though if you promise to scrub and wax my kitchen floor until it’s shining I may reconsider. It’s this lens. This triumph of photographic technology.

The 50mm f/1.8 lens. Yes, I’d like the 1.4 lens, but since it’s about 4 gazillion times as expensive, I’ll make do with this lovely object. I was about to commend my own frugality, but then I remembered that I already have two lenses . . . and so even purchasing a third lens might not put me in the category of a Scrimpin’ Sally.

So why do I want this lens? Well, its aperture potential is much wider than my current lenses, and a lens with a wider opening means more light comes in, which means I can capture better pictures in low-light situations and get better bokeh . . . and I’ve heard it’s great for portraits and food photography, which are my favorite things to do.

Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaassseeeeeeeee????? Saaaaantaaaa? Let me tell you how good I’ve been this year:

-I didn’t hit Scrimpin’ Sally

-I didn’t make fun of Picky Polly

-I may have taken out the trash once . . . oh wait, that was last year

Arncha proud of me??

(I know neither a Sally nor a Polly, but I’m banking on the fact that Santa has poor eyesight, a bad memory, is generally behind the times, and enjoys it when I use words like “arncha” since it makes me sound like an annoying little girl from a ’50s sitcom, when Santa was in his prime)

That Santa–it’s like he’s not even grounded in reality anymore.

Of course, some more Burts Bees products, bottles of Lestoil, tubs of Noxzema, or buckets of Vick’s VapoRub could all help me with my sniffing problems. Help feed them, I mean. Have you ever stuck your nose in a tub of Vick’s? Oh, how I pity those of you who haven’t. I bet Santa is a huuuuge Vicks addict, what with living in the North Pole and all. He probably has a constant runny nose and rubs Vicks all over his hairy, wrinkled chest every night.

Ew. Let’s keep Santa fully clothed for the remainder of this post.

And now that I’m thinking about presents, a couple more Jeffery Farnol novels couldn’t hurt, just so I don’t wear the cover off of Winds of Chance. Nope, they couldn’t hurt one bit.

Until we move to a different apartment and that last box of Farnol novels going up the steps herniates something or someone.

I’m also very bad to my skin and regularly fail to use make-up remover before going to bed . . . or moisturizer for that matter . . . so I could use some Clinique “Take the Day Off” remover and some of that yellow moisturizer my sister Erica swears by (and I steal every time we’re together) . . .

Oh yeah, there’s always the fabled microplane zester that everyone has been extoling on their blogs for about 10 years. I’m so behind the times, man . . .

. . . or a bunch of great clothes that make me look a) more curvaceous on top, b) less curvaceous on the bottom, and c) make my eyes look bigger and my skin look smoother. In general, I’m going for a combination of Kate Moss and Marilyn Monroe. Both skinny, and also curvaceous; there’s got to be a way to have it all. Santa? Hello? Santa?

Hmmm, we seem to have lost the big red-suited fat man. Maybe he doesn’t know who Kate Moss is–too modern. He’s stuck in the past, the old geezer.

What’s on your Christmas list this year?

Sweet and Sour Mushrooms

This recipe is designed to help tide me over until I have time to blog about our Thanksgiving capers in Kentucky . . . a gorgeous photo shoot with my pregnant sister . . . my fabulous weekend trip to the Pioneer Woman’s ranch . . . and that gig Sunday night with my friend Carrie. So much to say! So many pictures to process! Soon Christmas adventures will be added to the list and my head just might explode. With joy. Good, old fashioned, blogging overload joy.

In the meantime, I thought I’d share this versatile little number with you. To the mushroom haters in the crowd: have you considered mushroom rehab? Where you work towards liking this fungus in a 30-day program? I hear there’s a similar program for blue cheese haters.

It’s just something to think about, you know. No need to get all defensive there. The little fungus guys and the moldy cheese should be welcomed into your home this Christmas season, not rejected and left out to freeze in a snow bank.

Anyway, enough proselitizing. This is super quick to toss together. It can be a delightful side dish, or it can be a main dish, piled on some rice with two fried eggs on top. I found the original recipe via TastyKitchen from food blogger Fuji Mama, but I couldn’t resist adding a little garlic. Just make sure to eat it with piles upon piles of white rice–that alone will make your life complete.

Ingredients

(Serves 3 as a side dish)

8 oz mushrooms, chopped (any kind works–I used Portobellini)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 TBS sesame oil

1 TBS soy sauce (to taste)

2 green onions, for garnish (optional)

2 TBS rice wine vinegar

1 TBS sugar

pinch salt

2 eggs (optional)

First, wipe the mushrooms clean. Would you look at this beauty? Oh my.

I love mushrooms.

Oh wait, have I already said that? Like, a million times? Sorry.

I’ll try to be more interesting. And say things that are more unexpected.

As the punches swung right and left and the plate of stuffed mushrooms went flying across the reception hall, Marissa used her volleyball skills from 20 years prior to make a body dive across the slippery floor–not a single mushroom could go to waste! Leroy knew it was true love when he saw the concentration in her beautiful face, and the athletic arm-reach that enabled the platter of delicious little appetizers to land safely on her upturned palm. Then in a fit of love he cried “Marry me Marissa! We shall serve stuffed mushrooms at our wedding, and make them a cornerstone of our hearth and home!”

See? ‘Surprise’ is my middle name.

Slice them up.

This would also be a good time to mince the garlic.

Heat the sesame oil in a skillet over medium-high heat for a couple minutes. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and garlic.

Fry for 5 minutes. Don’t be like me and overcrowd the pot/pan . . . it will slow the process down significantly. In these pictures you can see that I had doubled the recipe, but I should have spread the mushrooms out into two skillets. If not, you can get in the way of the browning.

Add the soy sauce and continue to fry until golden and delicious, about 5-8 more minutes.

While the mushrooms are cooking, heat the rice vinegar, sugar, and pinch of salt in a little bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Stir to dissolve.

Bam! You just made something called ‘amazu’ (the sweet and sour sauce). Don’t you feel international?

Toss the cooked mushrooms in the amazu (the vinegar mixture) and serve!

Yum!

If you want to top the mushrooms with eggs to make it into a meal, fry the eggs in a tablespoon of oil and drizzle some seasoning on top: hot sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, or dark sweet soy sauce (kecap manis, which is what I used below) and a minced green onion.

About a week prior, I made this dish with a mixture of white beech, shiitake, and enoki mushrooms.

It was delicious, but the texture of cooked enoki gave me the eebly jeeblies.

Doesn’t it look like . . . alien innards?

I loved it the first day . . .

. . . but after a night in the refrigerator, I couldn’t bring myself to revisit it. The words ‘cold’ and ‘slimy’ did it to me.

So let’s go back to our friendly Portobellini–a little less photogenic, but so much friendlier after refrigeration!

I also want to make this with crimini mushrooms. And shiitake mushrooms. And oyster mushrooms. It’s so basic, and quick, and easy, and tasty–all mushrooms must be allowed to participate.

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