Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
another tomato-y recipe
so, i really don't like pasta with sauce.
*gasps*
i know. i know. i live in RI, everybody here is italian (i'm not, but that's neither here nor there), i'm supposed to be a total snob about what KIND of red/marinara/tomato sauce i like--but i just don't. i never have and i probably never will.
that said, i did find a recipe for something sauce-like that i actually quite enjoy. i promptly lost it--but i've tried making it over again a few times and it's worked out from memory, so i'll jot it down here:
ingredients
again, stuff i usually have around the kitchen--some olive oil, one onion, some oregano, thyme, a bay leave (if you have it--not necessary), some tomato paste, and i usually use a can of chopped tomatoes--this makes entirely too much for me and the fianz to finish in one sitting, although he always tries, and then his stomach wreaks havoc on him for the rest of the night. you'd think he'd learn. anyway. all that, plus a bag of frozen peas. i mean, you could use fresh peas--i just never have.
recipe
chop up the onion and saute it in the olive oil--not too too much oil, now, but eyeball it and i have faith that you'll use exactly enough. once the onions are pretty translucent, toss in the entire can of tomatoes--to answer the inevitably question, i don't drain them, although as i recall the recipe says you ought to, but then adds that you should throw in a cup of water. which i think is just weird.
add in about a tablespoon full of tomato paste, and add the spices to taste. i generally try to go light on the thyme since it's so flavorful and i think can kind of take over a dish, but then, i like to go totally wild with the oregano, so, whatever. do what you like. also, some people add sugar to their sauce--i do and i don't, i guess it depends on my mood, but i've never really noticed a huge difference. if you have fresh parsley, toss it in, although it's not necessary and i'm guessing most people don't have it on hand all the time. now would also be a good time to toss those peas in the microwave to reheat them (according to the directions on the package, of course).
let the sauce sizzle on the stove for a good 10 minutes or so, stirring when the feeling strikes you, and add the peas at the last minute. i usually like to let them cook with the rest of the sauce for a few more minutes, against the recommendation of the recipe that i used. add salt and pepper if you want to--again, not required, but i usually do.
this is a "sauce" that i like to serve with ravioli since it's so chunky and "ravs" (as we called them in my house growing up) are usually cut up when you're eating them and have enough flavor to stand up to the flavors in the sauce.
enjoy! it's super easy to make and tastes great. at least, i think so.
:::edit::: i've discovered something that i think adds a certain depth to this sauce--it's kind of weird, but adding a splash of vanilla extract really deepens the flavor in an interesting way. i tried making it this way last week and the fianz really liked it, but couldn't figure out why (i kept the new discovery a secret!). also, tried making the sauce with pureed canned tomatoes...i liked it better, he did not. he likes the sauce way more than i do, so i'll probably go back to making it the way he likes. aww =)
*gasps*
i know. i know. i live in RI, everybody here is italian (i'm not, but that's neither here nor there), i'm supposed to be a total snob about what KIND of red/marinara/tomato sauce i like--but i just don't. i never have and i probably never will.
that said, i did find a recipe for something sauce-like that i actually quite enjoy. i promptly lost it--but i've tried making it over again a few times and it's worked out from memory, so i'll jot it down here:
ingredients
again, stuff i usually have around the kitchen--some olive oil, one onion, some oregano, thyme, a bay leave (if you have it--not necessary), some tomato paste, and i usually use a can of chopped tomatoes--this makes entirely too much for me and the fianz to finish in one sitting, although he always tries, and then his stomach wreaks havoc on him for the rest of the night. you'd think he'd learn. anyway. all that, plus a bag of frozen peas. i mean, you could use fresh peas--i just never have.
recipe
chop up the onion and saute it in the olive oil--not too too much oil, now, but eyeball it and i have faith that you'll use exactly enough. once the onions are pretty translucent, toss in the entire can of tomatoes--to answer the inevitably question, i don't drain them, although as i recall the recipe says you ought to, but then adds that you should throw in a cup of water. which i think is just weird.
add in about a tablespoon full of tomato paste, and add the spices to taste. i generally try to go light on the thyme since it's so flavorful and i think can kind of take over a dish, but then, i like to go totally wild with the oregano, so, whatever. do what you like. also, some people add sugar to their sauce--i do and i don't, i guess it depends on my mood, but i've never really noticed a huge difference. if you have fresh parsley, toss it in, although it's not necessary and i'm guessing most people don't have it on hand all the time. now would also be a good time to toss those peas in the microwave to reheat them (according to the directions on the package, of course).
let the sauce sizzle on the stove for a good 10 minutes or so, stirring when the feeling strikes you, and add the peas at the last minute. i usually like to let them cook with the rest of the sauce for a few more minutes, against the recommendation of the recipe that i used. add salt and pepper if you want to--again, not required, but i usually do.
this is a "sauce" that i like to serve with ravioli since it's so chunky and "ravs" (as we called them in my house growing up) are usually cut up when you're eating them and have enough flavor to stand up to the flavors in the sauce.
enjoy! it's super easy to make and tastes great. at least, i think so.
:::edit::: i've discovered something that i think adds a certain depth to this sauce--it's kind of weird, but adding a splash of vanilla extract really deepens the flavor in an interesting way. i tried making it this way last week and the fianz really liked it, but couldn't figure out why (i kept the new discovery a secret!). also, tried making the sauce with pureed canned tomatoes...i liked it better, he did not. he likes the sauce way more than i do, so i'll probably go back to making it the way he likes. aww =)
delicious, easy, and delicious (and easy!) tomato soup--which is delicious and easy.
i was thinking i might also start posting recipes in here--since cooking is something i'm starting to really get into. i made tomato soup a week or so ago that was a pretty epic procedure, and while i think i could improve upon the recipe i used, if you dig the spicy taste of the homemade stuff, this is pretty much where it's at.
the best thing about this soup is that you really don't need to go on a big grocery store adventure to make it--most of this stuff i just had in the kitchen already, and i'm guessing that means most other people would, too, as my kitchen is anything but "well stocked."
i got this recipe from my new favorite blog, the kitchn, which i found while perusing google reader, which my friend aaron got me into a few weeks ago. i'm still fine-tuning my reader and working on adding things i'll actually read while eliminating those i won't--this blog, though, will stay on for sure.
ingredients
all you need is a half a stick of butter, an onion, a carrot, one stalk of celery, 2 (28 oz) cans of tomatoes (the recipe recommended crushed, but being that you end up blending the whole thing anyway, i'd argue that you can really use any old canned tomatoes and be just fine), some fresh parsley, 4 cups of either vegetable or chicken stock (i used veggie., but if i tried this recipe again, i might go with chicken to see if it's any different), and some milk (although the recipe recommended heavy cream--which i did use--i think any old dairy, again, would do just fine).
recipe
chop up all of the veggies and toss them into a big (and i mean biiiiig) soup pot with about 3 tablespoons of butter. i, personally, always use more butter than the recipe calls for--which might, now that i think about it, be why i'm getting a little fat. oh well, at least my food tastes good, right? anyway, sauté those veggies until they're tender (not browned). if i had to do it again, i think i'd try browning the onions first--and maybe even adding a few more than the recommended "one small;" i like the sweetness of cooked onions and i find them hard to regulate when there are other vegetables in the mix. anyway, once you've gotten everything softened up--which should only take a few minutes, probably 8 tops--add everything else (minus the dairy) and simmer. keep the parsley as (about 6) full sprigs and, once the carrots are tender (i'd give it about a half an hour, maybe a little less), take the parsley out and toss it. blend everything in a blender and add whatever liquid dairy you've selected--and i'd say, here, just use your judgment and pour until you think you have enough. some people like their tomato soup straight up, some (like me) like it creamy, so it really is all about personal preference. i'd save the salt and pepper for the individual bowls and let everyone put in as much as they'd individually like.
now, if you're into this sort of thing (and i am), when you've got the soup simmering, take a sourdough baguette and slice it up into bite-sized pieces--as many as you think you would like to top your soup. put them in a bowl and toss with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and about 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese. put them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 400º for about 10 minutes--they were, for me, the best part of the entire meal; i actually just made them again for lunch with canned tomato soup and they were delicious.
anyway, there you have it!
:::edit:::
i forgot to mention--my favorite way to eat tomato soup is with grilled cheese, which just about everybody knows how to make, but still, i'm adding a recipe here:
for each G.C., take two slices of white bread (i'm sorry, healthy people--there is no other way), and one slice of american cheese. i've tried good, expensive and cheap kraft american cheese and actually really prefer the kraft, but that, again, is up to the individual. take a medium frying pan and brown a small pat of butter in a bread-slice-sized square, then place one piece of bread over it. put a slice of cheese on there and then--here's the key--take some worchestire sauce and dribble a little of that on there. trust me, it's amazing and, in this case, the brand-name expensive stuff really makes a difference. top off with the second slice and take another pat of butter; lift the whole sandwich with a spatula, artfully balance it while you smear the butter into another bread-slice-shaped square, and flip it over (carefully) to brown the other side. and, and i'm sure this goes without saying, cut on the diagonal, people. for christ's sake. it's tradition.
the best thing about this soup is that you really don't need to go on a big grocery store adventure to make it--most of this stuff i just had in the kitchen already, and i'm guessing that means most other people would, too, as my kitchen is anything but "well stocked."
i got this recipe from my new favorite blog, the kitchn, which i found while perusing google reader, which my friend aaron got me into a few weeks ago. i'm still fine-tuning my reader and working on adding things i'll actually read while eliminating those i won't--this blog, though, will stay on for sure.
ingredients
all you need is a half a stick of butter, an onion, a carrot, one stalk of celery, 2 (28 oz) cans of tomatoes (the recipe recommended crushed, but being that you end up blending the whole thing anyway, i'd argue that you can really use any old canned tomatoes and be just fine), some fresh parsley, 4 cups of either vegetable or chicken stock (i used veggie., but if i tried this recipe again, i might go with chicken to see if it's any different), and some milk (although the recipe recommended heavy cream--which i did use--i think any old dairy, again, would do just fine).
recipe
chop up all of the veggies and toss them into a big (and i mean biiiiig) soup pot with about 3 tablespoons of butter. i, personally, always use more butter than the recipe calls for--which might, now that i think about it, be why i'm getting a little fat. oh well, at least my food tastes good, right? anyway, sauté those veggies until they're tender (not browned). if i had to do it again, i think i'd try browning the onions first--and maybe even adding a few more than the recommended "one small;" i like the sweetness of cooked onions and i find them hard to regulate when there are other vegetables in the mix. anyway, once you've gotten everything softened up--which should only take a few minutes, probably 8 tops--add everything else (minus the dairy) and simmer. keep the parsley as (about 6) full sprigs and, once the carrots are tender (i'd give it about a half an hour, maybe a little less), take the parsley out and toss it. blend everything in a blender and add whatever liquid dairy you've selected--and i'd say, here, just use your judgment and pour until you think you have enough. some people like their tomato soup straight up, some (like me) like it creamy, so it really is all about personal preference. i'd save the salt and pepper for the individual bowls and let everyone put in as much as they'd individually like.
now, if you're into this sort of thing (and i am), when you've got the soup simmering, take a sourdough baguette and slice it up into bite-sized pieces--as many as you think you would like to top your soup. put them in a bowl and toss with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and about 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese. put them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 400º for about 10 minutes--they were, for me, the best part of the entire meal; i actually just made them again for lunch with canned tomato soup and they were delicious.
anyway, there you have it!
:::edit:::
i forgot to mention--my favorite way to eat tomato soup is with grilled cheese, which just about everybody knows how to make, but still, i'm adding a recipe here:
for each G.C., take two slices of white bread (i'm sorry, healthy people--there is no other way), and one slice of american cheese. i've tried good, expensive and cheap kraft american cheese and actually really prefer the kraft, but that, again, is up to the individual. take a medium frying pan and brown a small pat of butter in a bread-slice-sized square, then place one piece of bread over it. put a slice of cheese on there and then--here's the key--take some worchestire sauce and dribble a little of that on there. trust me, it's amazing and, in this case, the brand-name expensive stuff really makes a difference. top off with the second slice and take another pat of butter; lift the whole sandwich with a spatula, artfully balance it while you smear the butter into another bread-slice-shaped square, and flip it over (carefully) to brown the other side. and, and i'm sure this goes without saying, cut on the diagonal, people. for christ's sake. it's tradition.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
i thought, for a special treat, i'd recommend a blog to my readers (all, um, two of you. *waves*). it's called Gary's Real Life, and i don't know if i can sum it up better than the "about" section featured on gary's tumblr:
gary posts once, maybe twice a day, a photograph of himself and a little explanation of what he's up to. here is one of my favorites of gary's posts:
(i totally do the same thing sometimes!)
anyway, check gary out. he's totally endearing and fun to keep tabs on.
gary posts once, maybe twice a day, a photograph of himself and a little explanation of what he's up to. here is one of my favorites of gary's posts:
(i totally do the same thing sometimes!)
anyway, check gary out. he's totally endearing and fun to keep tabs on.
happy friday!
we celebrate with wednesday's xkcd (because since aaron introduced me to google reader, i can't seem to keep up with the blogs i usually read religiously--this includes the one and only web comic i subscribe to). enjoy!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
just a typical sarah & sean conversation...
Me: i had the weirdest dream ever the other morning, it was kind of fucked up
Me: i went into the bathroom to turn the shower on
Me: and then i went back into my room and like, got my towel and my bathrobe and whatever, turned the heat up, what i do every morning
Me: and i went back into the bathroom to see if the water was hot enough
Me: and i looked and there were like a thousand caterpillars in the bathtub
Me: and i realized they were coming out of the shower head
Me: and i started screaming, like, i'm seriously surprised i wasn't ACTUALLY screaming in my sleep
Me: and the worst thing was, then i woke up and had to go do all of that
Me: i was so freaked out
Me: i mean, i'm 25. which is about 23 years too old to think that could possibly happen.
Me: but i seriously had my eyes closed when i turned the shower on becuase i was so freaked out that there were going to be bugs coming out if the faucet
Sean: caterpillars?
Sean: really
Me: yeah
Sean: hahaha
Me: i have no idea where my brain came up with that
Me: but it was so creepy
Sean: they aren't even scary
Me: if they were coming out of your shower head, they'd be scary
Me: i don't care who you are
Me: you wouldn't be like "sweet! catepillers!"
Me: "yo, aaron! fitz! check it out!"
Me: they come running in, start shouting about how excited they are
Me: "this is better than christmas!"
Me: you're all "ok, come on, now. which one of you did this? no, i swear it wasn't me! come on, who do i owe a hug?"
Me: FUCK that. you'd be like "HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH MY SHOWER?!?!”
Me: they'd come wandering in and be like "what the hell is wrong with you--" and see the caterpillars and start freaking out, too
Me: you'd all scream like little girls
Me: and i'd be somewhere, laughing
Me: maniacally
Me:...that was the most sean thompson story i've ever made up/told
Sean: hahahahaha
Me: i went into the bathroom to turn the shower on
Me: and then i went back into my room and like, got my towel and my bathrobe and whatever, turned the heat up, what i do every morning
Me: and i went back into the bathroom to see if the water was hot enough
Me: and i looked and there were like a thousand caterpillars in the bathtub
Me: and i realized they were coming out of the shower head
Me: and i started screaming, like, i'm seriously surprised i wasn't ACTUALLY screaming in my sleep
Me: and the worst thing was, then i woke up and had to go do all of that
Me: i was so freaked out
Me: i mean, i'm 25. which is about 23 years too old to think that could possibly happen.
Me: but i seriously had my eyes closed when i turned the shower on becuase i was so freaked out that there were going to be bugs coming out if the faucet
Sean: caterpillars?
Sean: really
Me: yeah
Sean: hahaha
Me: i have no idea where my brain came up with that
Me: but it was so creepy
Sean: they aren't even scary
Me: if they were coming out of your shower head, they'd be scary
Me: i don't care who you are
Me: you wouldn't be like "sweet! catepillers!"
Me: "yo, aaron! fitz! check it out!"
Me: they come running in, start shouting about how excited they are
Me: "this is better than christmas!"
Me: you're all "ok, come on, now. which one of you did this? no, i swear it wasn't me! come on, who do i owe a hug?"
Me: FUCK that. you'd be like "HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH MY SHOWER?!?!”
Me: they'd come wandering in and be like "what the hell is wrong with you--" and see the caterpillars and start freaking out, too
Me: you'd all scream like little girls
Me: and i'd be somewhere, laughing
Me: maniacally
Me:...that was the most sean thompson story i've ever made up/told
Sean: hahahahaha
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
the other day my friend dillon came over--it was the first time we saw each other since august, which is strange, being that we saw each other pretty much every day for three years of college, and at least once a week (but usually more) for the first 10 months or so when i graduated. also we live in the same state and his parents live one town over from me. also that state is rhode island.
anyway.
up until about two days before he came to visit (and then took me out for coffee--as a "thank you" for giving him three super awesome magnets from my cross-country travels [he gave me a super awesome los angeles magnet which earns extra points for being the same kind of magnet that i got for him about two years ago when i was in california]), dillon hadn't shaved or cut his hair in quite some time. his hair was pretty long and a little unruly, and his facial hair made him look a bit homeless (in my opinion), and so i immediately complimented him on the new haircut/shave.
"thanks," he said, "i kind of miss it, though. i got mistaken for jesus the other day." i laughed. "no, seriously!" he insisted, and told me the story:
apparently he took some out-of-town friends to the la salette shrine in attleboro recently; they'd never been, and he went even though we were both totally unimpressed when we got dragged at christmas last year. anyway, while he was there, standing by himself, a little girl came over to him. "will you watch over me?" she asked. "what?" he replied.
"will you watch over me?"
he paused. "of--of course," he replied finally, figuring she wanted him to keep an eye on her or watch her do something. but all she did was say "thank you!" and walk away.
"huh?" he asked as his friends, who had been watching, started laughing.
"she thought you were jesus," they explained.
which is pretty much the coolest mistaken identity story i've ever heard. although, if you've heard a better one, i'd love to hear it.
...then he pointed out to me that when the upstairs apartments' heat goes on, the clanging noises that the heaters make sound like someone having sex on the creakiest bed ever made in the history of creaky beds.
the end.
anyway.
up until about two days before he came to visit (and then took me out for coffee--as a "thank you" for giving him three super awesome magnets from my cross-country travels [he gave me a super awesome los angeles magnet which earns extra points for being the same kind of magnet that i got for him about two years ago when i was in california]), dillon hadn't shaved or cut his hair in quite some time. his hair was pretty long and a little unruly, and his facial hair made him look a bit homeless (in my opinion), and so i immediately complimented him on the new haircut/shave.
"thanks," he said, "i kind of miss it, though. i got mistaken for jesus the other day." i laughed. "no, seriously!" he insisted, and told me the story:
apparently he took some out-of-town friends to the la salette shrine in attleboro recently; they'd never been, and he went even though we were both totally unimpressed when we got dragged at christmas last year. anyway, while he was there, standing by himself, a little girl came over to him. "will you watch over me?" she asked. "what?" he replied.
"will you watch over me?"
he paused. "of--of course," he replied finally, figuring she wanted him to keep an eye on her or watch her do something. but all she did was say "thank you!" and walk away.
"huh?" he asked as his friends, who had been watching, started laughing.
"she thought you were jesus," they explained.
which is pretty much the coolest mistaken identity story i've ever heard. although, if you've heard a better one, i'd love to hear it.
...then he pointed out to me that when the upstairs apartments' heat goes on, the clanging noises that the heaters make sound like someone having sex on the creakiest bed ever made in the history of creaky beds.
the end.
Friday, February 6, 2009
i have got, literally, the weirdest best friend ever. EVER.
me: yo
sean: SARAH!
sean: holy shit
me: haha
sean: do you see what is going on?
me: um
me: no?
sean: MADNESS pure MADNESS
me: madness? in what form?
sean: run, run before the madness gets you too!!!
me: this is the most emphatic i've seen you in a long time
sean: to the woods
sean: go to the woods
me: ok?
sean: build a house out of trees
sean: eat squirrels
me: ew.
sean: change your clothes to animal skins, there you might be safe from teh madnees
sean: but don't be fooled
sean: the madness will find you in one form or another
sean: and hten you must run again... to the mountains
sean: climb as high as you can
me: i don't know, sean. there aren't a lot of mountains around here.
sean: eat eagle eggs and light fires with two rocks
sean: that is why you must RUN
me: what would you do if i did this?
sean: there aren't much places left without the madness
me: now i'm trying to decide how i would determine whether you were being serious
me: if this was a movie or something
me: and i didn't know you were totally full of shit
sean: FORGET EVERY THING YOU KNOW AND RUN
me: sean.
sean: the madness begins by twisting your own mind and memories into falsehoods
me: such as?
sean: such as, right now i think i am talking to sarah stowell but i really might not even be on the earth...
...
me: your roommate is having a weirder than normal day
aaron: probably
sean: SARAH!
sean: holy shit
me: haha
sean: do you see what is going on?
me: um
me: no?
sean: MADNESS pure MADNESS
me: madness? in what form?
sean: run, run before the madness gets you too!!!
me: this is the most emphatic i've seen you in a long time
sean: to the woods
sean: go to the woods
me: ok?
sean: build a house out of trees
sean: eat squirrels
me: ew.
sean: change your clothes to animal skins, there you might be safe from teh madnees
sean: but don't be fooled
sean: the madness will find you in one form or another
sean: and hten you must run again... to the mountains
sean: climb as high as you can
me: i don't know, sean. there aren't a lot of mountains around here.
sean: eat eagle eggs and light fires with two rocks
sean: that is why you must RUN
me: what would you do if i did this?
sean: there aren't much places left without the madness
me: now i'm trying to decide how i would determine whether you were being serious
me: if this was a movie or something
me: and i didn't know you were totally full of shit
sean: FORGET EVERY THING YOU KNOW AND RUN
me: sean.
sean: the madness begins by twisting your own mind and memories into falsehoods
me: such as?
sean: such as, right now i think i am talking to sarah stowell but i really might not even be on the earth...
...
me: your roommate is having a weirder than normal day
aaron: probably
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
so, so awesome
there was this kid in my high school who had one very long front tooth and as such it looked like he had only one tooth, total, so my friends and i called him unitooth (uni for short) and this totally made me think of him.
the end.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
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