Amul India: The best in strip mall cuisine.

I forgot to defrost meat. As I type, I am realizing I forgot to do it again today. But my solution yesterday to this quandry was going out for Indian food. I haven't had Indian food in years and wanted to try it again. So I did some research, and found this small restaurant located in a Sawmill Road strip mall. The mall is a ghost town, as a new and improved Stip Mall has popped up across the street!

We arrived to the restaurant and there was one other couple dining. They looked like people who would know good Indian food. Young, hip, you know, people that would eat trendy food. After they left, we were the only ones there. This is sad, and I had a flash of Aboo and his Pakistani cuisine on Seinfeld. If you are familiar, have a small chuckle here in remembrance of his long finger shaking back and forth ("Very bad man. You are a very bad man.").

pause

And continuing on...


Chicken Tikka Masala.
This is a photo of the dish I ordered. It is a photo from the recipe on how to make it, in case you are curious. It looks good! And it was good! The restaurant serves the saucey chicken with rice. And we did ask for more rice, and it arrived with no charge.

You can dictate your spice, I went with 'medium', and it wasn't too spicy at all. The sauce is excellent for dipping the nan bread in. Nan is pita like, but softer and even better.

TJ had Chicken Makhani, which apparently is also known as "Indian Butter chicken". Yum! Looks similar. Tastes a little the same. But his was hotter. Our server, who I think was also the owner, told TJ to get this. TJ tried to order Tandoori Chicken, and the server said, "No. Number 8". We were like, okay, number 8 then, and that was Chicken Makhani. Then, when TJ said, "Medium Hot" for his spiciness, the server tried to say no again. But we pressed on and were permitted to get "medium hot" chicken. TJ's was spicy, but not too spicy for either of us. I think I actually liked his dish a little better because his chicken was more in white meat chunks, whereas mine was a little different. But both dishes were great!

I also had Mango Juice, which is great if you are eating spicy food because it takes the hot right away. So good!

Grand Total with Tip: $33. Nice! I wish we lived closer. I'd get take out!

Thespian Notes:AKA The day I get to talk about the origin of Lesbian

Quick Note: I have been accused of not blogging enough. Sadly, I was accused by a LURKER. What is a lurker, you ask? It is someone who reads without commenting. Every blogger has an issue with this. They actually commission "DeLurker Days", hoping for comments or even just a "hello!"

School started last week. Good times. I have six classes with a grand total of 118 students. They seem smiley and eager to participate. A couple seem like wastes of good desk space, but it is early. I am sure there are more :)

I have a fairly diverse group of students, at least diverse for the district I am in. In each class, there is at least ONE student who is either Asian, Black, or Multi. Literally, this is what my class lists state under "ethnicity" of the student. I have yet to determine what multi may mean. What would TJ be listed as? I'd like to see the multiple choice options on the "Student Information" sheet that they use for this.
a. White
b. Asian
c. Multi
d. Black
e. Bitter
f. Downtrodden
g. Able to Pass as White

Today we talked about the history and evolution of Theatre. In early Greek Theatre there was a competition and one of the plays IN the competition was a Satyr Play. Struggling to describe gently the idea that characters dressed as half goat/half man beasts with extra large male genitalia and then ran around poking each other with it, because how can you explain this to a group of 15 year olds without being BLUNT, I started with it being a shorter play that was just a "break from the sadness of the tragedies." One astute lad said, "It is like the halftime show!"

small pause

By Zeus, it is! And I was able to say, "Actually, you are absolutely right! And the halftime show with Justin Timberlake and seeing Janet Jackson's BOOB is the best comparison!" Did I fail at being gentle?

Thespis was an early playwright, and now we have Thespians, people who follow Thespis. Lesbos was an island; those who lived there were Lesbians. They also were mostly women poets following Sappho, also a woman poet. Many of the poems did not paint men in the nicest light. Lesbos housed Sappho and her quorom of angry female writers...now we have Lesbians. Why do I teach this? Because simply saying "Thespian" makes 15 year olds giggle. So I set them straight. I pretend I am not ashamed of teaching this and "sure go tell your parents. I don't care!" But then I hurridly erase the word "Lesbian" off the board. Scary word...lesbian. Actually, the word isn't scary. But the crazy ultra-religious fools are scary. And I like to eat.

Lindey's German Village

I love their patio! The food was, well, eh. The wine was decent and decently priced, and the company was awesome.

Salad was normal. Although the champagne vinagrette seemed overly vinegar-y.

I had the sole special with lemon caper sauce. Sauce was excellent, sole was not my type of fish. Thin, flakey, and I think mine was undercooked with some mush. The other dinners seemed to have decent luck. Although the yellow fin tuna was over cooked, but it was a Special also, so perhaps they weren't 'used to' it?? I don't know! I feel bad because DAMN I love the patio!

Tiramisu was not good. I love a good soaked tiramisu where you can get a coffee buzz from the soaked lady finger layer. No real coffee taste at all. And you know how has awesome tiramisu? Whole Foods!

I didn't have to pay for the dinner because it was actually part of a research study. So I can't complain too much. My four friends and I met with three people from Proctor and Gamble to speak of hair products. It was hilarious, as we talked about everything, with a little hair thrown in. Thankfully none in the food.

I am whipped after a whole DAY of school. I don't feel like my blog is humorous today, so I am stopping.

Breakfast Recipe: Goddess Omelette

Let's talk about my breakfast today. Probably one of my last opportunities to cook for myself before going back to school.

I had the Goddess of all Omelettes. I believe omelettes are feminine..eggs and whatnot. It contained: red peppers, cherry tomato, red onion, and Feta Cheese. All cheeses should be capitalized. They are just important that way. Oh, and then I brushed some pesto on top.

Drool? Good.

Haikus for Yous

smooshed frog on the ground

baked crunchy and black, made me

drop the nail polish

Well we are trying to sell our house. One smartass realtor, after bringing a client through the house, recommended we put some "color" in the front yard. Now there is OPI "Its My Party Purple" on the driveway. There's your color, bitches!

There are no pictures for this post. But there is a review of a fun evening that we had last night. We attended the Wine Festival at Bon Vie. It was $30 a person, included 5 tastings (good sized pours by the way) and a smattering of passed horse ovaries. I do not wish to spell or look up the spelling of that word that begins: hors. There was a cheese tray with brie, bleu cheese, white american ( I remarked it tasted like a Kraft Single), and another with a red vein running through it. There was smoked salmon on a slice of cucumber, which I have never liked cucumbers and after attemting a bite, I can safely say I still do not. The slice of bread with fresh mozz on a tomato was much more my style. These little pizzas that tasted like quiche, which prompted TJ to ask, "Do you want a little quiche?" and then giggle.

Next was something that I would not recommend to be passed without a fork or plate. A mussel, still attached to the shell, with a crab breading baked on top. It did not slide into your mouth. You can't bite it off the shell, because, well, who would want to? You have to pull it off, and even then, it doesn't come in one piece. You get this circular rubbery piece, that I can only equate to a flat bicycle tire. And then you are supposed to put it in your mouth. But really, do you WANT to put something that looks like THIS in your mouth?

Sadly, I don't want to mention this next part. There were little legs of lamb. They looked delightful. We saw them come out once, and Mary didn't bring it over to us. And then they never appeared again. TJ was distraught about the lamb. Didn't stop pining over the lamb. Even told the waitress we named Mary that he would love it the next time they came out. Instead, she brought us the last chocolate mousse on her tray. Mousse and Lamb...not even close. Perhaps there should be a haiku for this too:

Mary had a tray of lamb

You went right past us

You are now a lambless Ho.

Even the small creme brulees that were passed next couldn't silence TJ. They couldn't silence his inner need for the lamb. Silence the Lamb.

Ready for this Jelly

For a good laugh, please check this out. It is a compilation of old Weight Watchers Recipe Cards. Here is a sample:








The author of the webpage, dare it be a BLOG, comments with great cleverness about the props in the photos, as well as the easy jokes about the names and/or ingredients included. For this photo, I draw your attention to the scary Mushroom People, gazing eeirily at the plate.













This next photo is what I call, "TJ's Food Nightmare". He has an inexplainable disgust for green food items. Parsley pisses him off. Unnecesary garnish has been known to cause a whole appetizer of Steamed Mussels back, because "This was not listed on the menu as part of the dish."

Shenanigans!

Dublin OHio is the location of the largest Irish Festival in the WORLD! Okay, I made that up. It may be true. I haven't seen it on the Food Channel yet, and if it were true, you'd think it would be featured on the bible of all food and festivals. (Sidenote: bible tv, all bible, all the time. Only programs are ACTING OUT the bible...interesting)

We attended the Irish Festival last night. Holy Hugeness Batman! I had no idea it was so large! And there is a food called "Bangers". What?! We did not try the banger. We had the old stand by Fish and Chips. While standing in line, I took these pictures:

This is Lisa and Jim. Lisa is the commentor that posted about people chasing her with peaches. Perhaps they want to shove those peaches in her pie hole. Is it shameless that I just laughed at that.














Then this is TJ; I clearly have drank/drunk/been drinking some Killians, but really, that face I am making just hides-no distracts from- the enormous pimple--singular? no pimples-- under my lip. As well as reminds me that I could never make someone kiss me by making that ridiculous lip pout.















Yes we had a grand old time. I will say that the "Token System" for buying beers is a SCAM! It bets on the fact that people will get just too sleepy to drink as many tokens as you buy and then you are left with useless tokens and no cash. I call "Shenanigans!"

And I will leave you with a tune..."Oh Danny boy. The pipes the pipes are calling. From glen to glen, and down the mountainside..." Who are the pipes? What do you put into these pipes so that you can shut them up? Because if they keep calling, Danny is going to leave, and he is just a boy, afterall!

Oh No She Didn't

(Insert obnoxious head swerving and finger snapping)

I threatened to post pictures of my arms. Okay, here are pictures of one arm at a time. Don't pull punches...tell me the truth. But you may want to take into consideration my arm size before deciding if you want to punch. I mean, I'm freakishly strong, yo.

Before: At Texas vs. Ohio State game last September. The lovely hair twin is my sister in law.













After: This is a picture from the Reunion.












Now, they don't look bigger, right? They don't look much smaller, but I'll take that over BIGGER!

And finally, they aren't manly, right? Here is an androginous picture in a wife beater. Can you tell it is a girl arm and not a scary man one? It isn't a girl arm ONLY because of a lack of arm hair, right? Because honestly, in person, my arms are quite hairy. But that is another set of pictures all together. Oh, and I am SOOO flexing. Here is a free ticket to the GUN SHOW.

Adventures in Baby Pictures

This, my friends, is a summary of my childhood. The baby is my sister Cori. Bawling. And my mom is glowing. And I am the large head in the foreground. Shut up. I think the bangs look cute and cut down on the largeness of my noggin'.

My grandmother says that I was so easily amused and it was a blessing because my sister was such an attention whore. Oh yes. Babies can be whores. She cried a lot. As she grew up, she still loved the attention and is a talker now as proof. She will talk for hours. TJ jokes that she would keep talking even if you left the room. As Cori and I have gotten closer, this is really an endearing trait and not an annoying one. I swear.

Here is where I look inward on all of this. I have been told in the last couple months that I LOVE attention. That I need attention. Is it possible that I gave up all of the attention in childhood for my sister and now it is time to make up for it?

I became a teacher and have a captive audience. Literally Captive! They are, by law, required to be in my room for 45 minutes a day, where I can tap dance and teach and they must LOOK AT ME! I love my job. The time I get with these teenagers is really quite enjoyable and I do not use it to teach my own personal agenda. Contrary to a certain frustrating member of the School Board's belief that we English teachers have a MOTIVE, I just want kids to love to read and learn about things that they may have never seen in Powell f-ing Ohio.

Aside from the goals to keep them in line and ready for the next year's classes and college,
I want my students to:
1. leave knowing they saw something new in themselves and the world
2. leave wanting to learn more about at least ONE topic
3. leave looking fondly back and not thinking I am psycho, although crazy is not that necessarily bad.
hmmm, I'll add more as I think of them.

Enough Pedagogical blabbering...now some FOOD!!

I ate leftover potstickers today because I didn't want TJ to get sick if he ate them. Leftovers sometimes harm his delicate system! I was so selfless and ate those pesky potstickers. This is what I tell myself so I do not feel guilty for eating them at 11am. At least my lunch was a nice whole wheat tortilla with turkey, tomato, onion, red pepper, and low fat cheddar cheese!

But I am going to meet my friend Shanna at Applebees for happy hour. Half Price Appetizers! Sidenote: Many bloggers throw in "bitches" after statements that are fun or jealousy invoking. Was that an appropriate place?? Let's try it. Half Price Appetizers, Bitches!! Hmm...not sure.

There is a storm a comin'. I need to post before it all goes terribly wrong.

Blogging Take 2

I have done this before. It was fairly therapeutic but turned into me bitching and wasn't that great for those I loved. I am trying again.

This summer I took a break from my marriage. There were many things good and bad about it, but the BEST thing about it was it showed me how much I love my husband. The method to discover this was not ideal. My motto now is From This Moment On. And we are working on becoming stronger. Learning from our mistakes. And of course we are in therapy! As my good friend Jess says, "Everyone should go to therapy." So all of you...GO!

I am afraid I missed the best reason to have a blog...to chronicle my 10 Year High School reunion. Poop. I am going to backtrack a wee in order to get some of that leftover angst out that remains after this event. It was so overwhelming. I talked to people I really should've just waved at. I waved at people that I probably should've spoken to. And I drank too fast, making me oh so sleepy with time to spare. There were requisite bald guys, fat guys, but really no chicks that got huge. Bummer. There was the one girl who came back looking AMAZING, and of course the guys that drooled shamelessly over her. But when she opened her mouth to speak, with my eyes closed, I would've still been able to pick out who it was. I think everyone, in true High School fashion, were all just a bit too self-conscious to actually enjoy ourselves. After 30 does that get better? I hope so!

Ah self esteem. It is not a young adult/teenager problem. I need me some attention, and hence the title of El Bloggo. My chef skeels gives me attention. And I can show love by making the kitchen a disaster area with the grease splatters on the backsplash, (a word whose meaning is RIGHT there staring you in the face!) chicken guts stuck to the sink, and flour in crevices that will never be dislodged. But damn it's good! So with this blog, I hope to share my food excursions, look into marriage, and hopefully, in a year or so, my attempts at trying to conceive. I will, however, never say, "We are trying tonight." Or "I am ovulating and my temps are..." I am putting it in writing so people may hold me to that. Or call me a hypocrite at some point in the future. But whatever.

So what is for dinner you ask? Ha! We are going to get sub sandwhiches at a little sub/pizza place and we are going to eat outside by a man-made body of water that occasionally has coffins float to the surface in it. Yum!