From the trenches

[learnedax]

It's been a while since I posted, because recently I've been fighting for time to do things like eat. But, since I need a few minutes for my brain to unknot itself, I thought I'd give a scattershot update.

You might have gleaned from the above that I am busy, and you would be correct. On the one hand there's work, where I'd been scrambling to get my project finished (which it *mostly* is) before today's eight-hour design meeting, where we laid out plans for how to build and test revision 0 of Big New Project in the next eight business days. Most likely I'll be crunchy by the time I make it home every night...

... and on the other hand I have the better part of two LARPs to finish in the next two weeks (though one of them is rather small), so I've been stealing as much time back from other commitments as I can contrive to this month. It's not an impossible amount of work, but I'll need to be energetic and efficient every night, and it'd help if I could get home from the office at a decent hour. Or I could stay up later and get up earlier, which is looking like a more likely option.

Between those I have dancing, singing, and acting to practice (and a little bit choreograph) for the Elizabethan masque in March, some remaining work for Intercon (now three weeks away), and a pile of personal stuff that's been getting shoved back. Like bills; I should probably dig them up. And if I keep pushing stuff back, I'll run right into the tax deadline at this rate.

I'm thinking my relative estrangement with caffeine may need to come to a decisive end, if I'm going to make like Macbeth.

Anyway, other random stuff.

Fun fancy-dress and Super Bowl parties last weekend; I made eclairs for the former (would have been not too bad, lack of equipment, like pastry bags, presented interesting challenges), and saw expectedly little of the game at the latter (I think the Braves won). I still don't get sports, but I did wander in for a number of really good commercials, particularly the Coke GTA parody. Spot on.

Saw Pan's Labyrinth. Meh.

The All Star Sandwich Bar is really very good, even if their poutine is rather faux. They make a tasty beef on weck, although admittedly I don't have much to compare it with. I'll have to go a bunch more times to conduct an exhaustive study into their menu quality.

The City of Boston's paranoia is stupid, stupid, stupid. And apparently on the radio the Mad Lite Briter with the dreads ETA: without the dreads; I got them reversed (who used to live with chaiya, if I recall correctly, and is, appropriately, lightfixer) sounds surprisingly like me. But was his hairstyle popular in the 70s?

I had thought it was just ridiculously cold on Wednesday night, but it turns out my heat was just out. Also last night, but we seem to have it working alright again. For now.

Alright, time to get back to writing.

Comments

[tashabear.livejournal.com]

The guy with the dreads is the other guy, Peter something-that-begins-with-a-B, from Belarus.

Also, in a pinch, baggies with the corners nipped off will substitute for pastry bags if all you're doing is piping filling.

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

Snipped ziplocks is what Alton Brown recommended, and thus what I used, but I found that for getting something goopy into a fairly small hole is a job that really wants, if not the bag itself, an appropriate tip, which I also lacked. They were tasty, and also a learning experience; what more could I ask for?

[tashabear.livejournal.com]

You can also use parchment paper, and possibly in a pinch, a cone of waxed paper if you need more support. (My mom does wedding cakes.)

[goldenoak.livejournal.com]

They *were* tasty! Thank you for leaving some for us here - they all disappeared within 24 hours. ;) Also, thank you for lending your distinguished presence to the gala!

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

There is someplace this side of the Hudson river that has roast beef on weck? My boy, you must show me this place, and soon - you have just invoked the comfort food of my youth, which I have not seen hide nore hair of lo these thirty years since.

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

What are you doing for lunch tomorrow? I could take a break from writing and pop down to Inman Square.

(Their site (http://allstarsandwichbar.com/))

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

That would be fabbo. 12:30 suit you? Meredith would like to join us too.

And I think Alton Brown suggests using tips on the ziplock bag, claiming that some companies made them with that usage in mind.

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

Sounds good.

Thanks for the tip tip.

[matildalucet.livejournal.com]

You know I keep pastry bags and tips, right? And have a car most days? Assuming you don't need these things at 3am when I am not admitting to anything like consciousness or car possession or much of anything because I'm becoming a wuss.

[eclecticmagpie.livejournal.com]

I had a debriziner on weck last week. I think that I was technically on this side of the Hudson at the time, though not on this side of the Atlantic.

Fritz has a recipe for making weck from scratch. It seems to work.

[gyzki.livejournal.com]

Alrighty, I must ask: what is weck, with or without beef on it? I ask this as a person whose family nickname was Weck, and never knew what I was being called.

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

Kummelweck is a sort of kaiser roll thing with caraway seeds on it. I don't see a direct way the nickname might be related, though I suppose it could jsut be one of those weird things family does.

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

Not just caraway seeds, but salt. It's the finest hard roll in all of creation, at least if you come from Buffalo.

I don't know where this idea of "Buffalo" wings comes from. The two foods that really were the cat's meow when I was growing up were the Beef on Weck, and the Texas Red Hot - a chili dog with a very particular tangy, sweet, chili sauce.

Honorable mention goes to the fried baloney sandwich and perhaps to kieshka, though that was fairly limited to the Polish section of town, and the other delights transcended ethnic boundaries.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

I don't know where this idea of "Buffalo" wings comes from ... the Texas Red Hot

So, does the Texas Red Hot have anything to do with Texas?

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Sean, the short-haired one, is the one who is chiaya's ex-roommate. I've met him... at some point.

This one is actually not friends-locked ^^

[komos.livejournal.com]

http://chillguru.livejournal.com/144328.html

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

lightfixer is "the Beatle," not the one with the dreads. But he did live with chaiya and he apparently does sound remarkably like you. Mind you, I've never met him and didn't hear the interviews. But when the story was first breaking, ablock called me up and said, "Hey, I heard one of them, I think it was your friend... that tall blond guy from Arisia....!" :-)

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

That's a pretty ridiculous mistake for him to make. I'm so not blond.

But at least my reputation is out sowing confusion without any work on my part ;-)

[baronessv.livejournal.com]

Keep me posted on times you go to the All-Star. It's about 4 blocks from my house, but admittedly I haven't felt real compelled to go since a) I don't eat bread and b) their salads seem really pricey (for a salad).

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

They are rather pricey for a sandwich shop, and I haven't tried their salads to see whether they might be worth it.

But, of course, I am given to understand there are some other tolerable (and non-bread-focused) restaurants we could go to in the area...

[baronessv.livejournal.com]

Are you kidding? Inman Square is a Mecca of awesome food.
Spice n' Rice has very good and reasonably priced Thai. They also have a sushi bar, but it's fairly standard.
Punjabi Dhaba is my favorite place ever for Indian take-out, and is super cheap.
Bukowski's has excellent burgers and a great beer selection if you're in to that kind of thing. And their sweet potato fries are TO DIE FOR.
And there's the S&S, which is just so consistently good for any meal (although I really love brunch) it's no wonder they're such a local favorite.

On the higher end of things there's the East Coast Grill, the Midwest (All-you-can-eat Brazilian BBQ place) and down the street a little bit is Dali.

There's also two good Korean places a few blocks over in Union Sq and a Peruvian restaurant, which isn't exactly high-class but is great for when you're feeling adventurous.

Sadly the nearest Ethiopian place is a whole MILE away in Central Square, and some days I'm just too lazy to walk that far. :P

(Yeah, I totally have no desire to move any time soon. The only downside is that I don't cook nearly enough and blow a lot of money on eating out.)