Living the good life

Dinner last night was grilled trout stuffed with lemon and herbs (basil, sage, thyme and chives). This is our first successful grilling of a whole fish (minus head).

Thanks to N for the turnips recipe, which you can also see turned out caramelized and wonderful.

Speaking of yummo, if you've ever spent the hours of 6-7 watching Food Network, you have seen Rachael Ray. Also, you'd have to be culturally disastrous to have missed her somewhere. Every day when I lived in Silva Springs I would come home from work and go right out again running through the quaint neighborhoods off of 410. They were so shaded from the old tall trees, and one summer I had the joy of running on top of cicada death every step. The smell was unmistakeable. Pat & I also talked about how after they were gone we missed them so much, smell and all. After these runs, I would return to the air conditioned apartment on the 2nd floor and pass out in a pool of sweat in front of the T.V. just in time to catch an episode of Rachael Ray. Some of you may balk in disgust, but back then she was a little less publicized and more dorky wonderful. I don't think I've watched an episode since I left the SS, but this game still makes me laugh every time:

Here are some rules to use when you're up for getting sloshed in 30 Minutes or less.

Sayings: "EVOO" 1 drink

"Sammie" 1 drink

"Healthful" 1 drink

"Stoup" 2 drinks

"GB" 2 drinks

"Spoonula" 2 drinks

"Fry-o-lator" 3 drinks

any of the above followed by an explanation of what it stands for +1 drink

"Yummo" 1 drink

"Delish!" 1 drink

"Awesome" 1 drink

"How _____ is that?" 1 drink

creates an all-new and completely unnecessary abbreviation whole drink

Presentation:

repeats herself 1 drink

talks for so long without taking a breath that she nearly runs out of air 2 drinks

makes an awkward, spastic gesture with her arm 2 drinks

voice cracks 2 drinks

forces a laugh at something not funny 2 drinks

mispronounces "foreign" words such as "paprika" or "tapas" 2 drinks

is visibly flustered 3 drinks

Cooking:

comes back from refrigerator carrying too many ingredients 2 drinks

drops something on her way back whole drink

fails to provide a measurement and tells you to "eyeball it" 1 drink

provides an obviously wrong measurement, e.g. "about a tablespoon" while she dumps in a half-cup of something 2 drinks

uses a "secret ingredient" 2 drinks

the "secret ingredient" is nutmeg 3 drinks

mentions "the thing that makes you go Hmmm" 1 drink

"the thing that makes you go Hmmm" is nutmeg 3 drinks

creates a "healthful" meal that clearly contains over 50g of fat 2 drinks

makes a "gourmet" dish out of cheap ingredients (e.g. Tiramisu with nilla wafers and whipped cream) 3 drinks

expresses how good something tastes while she's still lifting fork to her mouth 2 drinks

takes such a big mouthful of something it takes several seconds before she can talk again 2 drinks

ruins something and tries to play it off as no big deal 3 drinks