Finally putting my high school film class skillz to good use

The soundtrack for this video might be a bit rough for sensitive ears. You have been forewarned.

When people ask me what it's like to live in Anacortes, I will say that it's nice and quiet and inevitably complain about the local deer gang that roams freely around the neighborhood. At first, they were cute and it was pretty novel to see wildlife hanging out in your backyard with complete disregard for private property rights. Soon, I started noticing the downsides--basically the animals were pooping in the yard, making it a veritable feces landmine and I didn't enjoy spending too much time in the grass, and eating the shrubs down to bare branches.

The romanticism of having wildlife so close to me wore off very quickly. I don't hate them outright, but it does get annoying when you're driving and there are deer in the road, but they don't bother to scuttle out of the way so you end up having to stop the car and wave wildly out of the window while honking your horn to get the deer's attention and, after all of that, they take their sweet ass time walking away.

First world problems, amirite?

'Tis the season!

Decorations up. Presents wrapped. Bring on the Christmas.

I like to think that my friends and I have built up our various little traditions. Traditions like making breakfast on the weekends before doing something as a group, Kate's on Tuesdays, celebrating New Year's at Jen's place (not because Jen is a willing host, but because we demand it of her), and, for a while at least, dinner and Settler's on Wednesdays. Usually doing anything at least twice will be considered in the running for a "tradition". Like the "tradition" where Christy and I (or anyone else) go to McMenamin's happy hour before a PNW Ballet show because it's so affordable to eat there and their cheeseburger goes really well with their Vanilla Nitro Stout.

So, it occurred to me the other day, when I dragged Jack out shopping for Christmas presents, that the girls and I did not get to do our usual holiday tradition--shopping at the outlet malls and making our way down to Alderwood Mall and finally to HoSoonYi (or any of that area's fine Korean dining establishments) for some soft tofu soup to warm us up.

I'm the type of person that easily gloms onto traditions (or, most like, repetitive habits), real or imagined, because of the sense of security they give me and it's a chance to find some meaning (however tiny) in our increasingly busy schedules. It's nice to know that if I was having a bad day, I could always look forward to having a drink with friends at Kate's. Similarly, the shopping trip to the outlets was just another way to spend some form of the holidays with friends before we all split up to celebrate Christmas with our respective families. Plus, there were always shopping deals to be had--hello, LeSportSac store and thank you for my $20 overnight bag!

It also occurs to me that perhaps I am only nostalgic for these traditions because Jack is such a terrible shopping partner in contrast with the girls. But those shopping trips were always a fun way to spend the day--especially since none of us had cars then and getting the Zipcar to get out of the city to go to the suburbs was a big friggin' deal.

Live(ish) blogging my first Halloween in Anacortes!

These things have happened:

-One of the kids came to our door dressed as a Wizard. Upon opening the door, I was greeted with: "You shall not pass!" That elicited a giggle.
-A bunch of high school kids were super enthusiastic about about Jen's Troll Face jack-o-lantern.

The pumpkin looked much better before it was left out on the porch...in the rain.

 -I successfully brokered a trade for a piece of candy from a kid's own candy bag in exchange for his choice from our candy bowl.

Exploration! Destination: Edison, WA

Probably about a month ago, I managed to convince Jack to drive out to Edison, WA for a day of exploration. Edison is a tiny little hamlet to the east of Anacortes and just south of Bellingham. Well, it would be directly east of Anacortes if not for Padilla Bay and that whole body of water.

Anyways, Edison is what I imagine a town (if you can call it that, the 2010 Census registered 133 residents) would look like if all the Capitol Hill hipsters decided to move out to the country. The town has 2 art galleries and a small handful of artsy boutiques cum antique shops. That's 2 more art galleries and a small handful of artsy boutiques cum antique shops than I'd expect in that area.

Fun fact! Edward R. Murrow graduated from Edison High School

Jack and I had lunch at Edison Inn, which reminded me of a much larger and slightly less greasy version of Kate's Pub. Apparently, you can't go wrong with food in Edison--all the restaurants and bakeries (Yes! There are even multiple restaurants and bakeries in this town of 133) came with rave reviews online, and even a mention in a recent Bon Appetit issue.

It was an entertaining afternoon, poking around all the closed shops (we went on a Thursday, I believe, and most of the stores/shops are, understandably, open only on the weekends) and pretending to be really interested in that $1,000 oil painting of Puget Sound. Also important to note before you go: Breadfarm, which apparently makes super delicious pies, cookies, and bread, are cash only. I did not know this and so when I went in looking for coffee and a cookie, I had to turn around because I did not have cash. This was most painful and heartbreaking.

Standing outside in cold weather + hot soup = best idea ever

Stuff I was aware of, but I didn't really believe would make a huge difference:

• A homemade broth for your soup base is amazing. I knew that homemade broths were always superior to the canned stuff at the store, but, in the past, I was always too lazy/busy/impatient to actually try it. Thanks to my longer-than-I-previously-anticipated unemployment status, I had all the time in the world to make the chicken stock and I think it made the soup from "meh, dinner" to Jack yelling at me one afternoon before I dared to reheat a bowl of the leftover soup without his knowing.
• The key to making a delicious broth is simmering it for hours on end and the best part is when you finally get to the OMGWTFBBQthisshitistotallyfallingoffthebone stage, because that means you have arrived in flavor country (to steal a phrase from a friend).   

Thanks to a handy blog post from the Chasing Delicious lady, Ten Reasons to Make Broth from Scratch with Recipes & Tips, it finally motivated me enough to try making a homemade broth and I haven't ever felt the same way since. I think I'm a changed person. ...Well, not too changed, since a week later I went a stocked up on canned stock because it was on sale at the store and I had coupons. It was a steal and I don't regret buying canned stock at all.


Anyways, I made soup a few weeks ago for dinner when it first started feeling vaguely fall-like. It started out as a "posole" as per the directions from the Real Simple recipe, but I decided that I didn't like hominy and I just said "Fuck it, we'll do it live" and doctored and adapted the recipe from there. So now it's more of like a chicken vegetable soup. Also, I can't guarantee that I would be able to replicate the same dish again, so don't ask me to make this for you.


So this is what you need: (taken from the original Real Simple recipe here)
According to the original recipe, this should serve 4, but I would hoard it to myself.
-Some olive oil, about a tablespoon
-1 onion, sliced thinly
-At least 4 cups (32oz) of chicken broth, I think I ended up using about 6 cups.
-1 28oz can of diced tomatoes, drained of the water
-some dried red pepper flakes or a sliced jalapeno pepper (or use whatever suits your fancy)
-2 cups shredded chicken, cooked (I used the chicken from the broth, but whatever, do what you want)
-1 15oz can of corn, drained
-1 lime cut into wedges
-Cilantro, chopped, and green onions, diced, for garnish
*Since I used my homemade broth, I also kept the carrots, celery, and onions in the broth to have more vegetables in the soup.

This is what you need to do:
-Heat the oil in a dutch oven or a sauce pan over medium heat.
-Add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook it, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown and caramelize, about 10 to 12 minutes.
-Add the broth and tomatoes and bring it to a boil.
-Add the jalapenos and/or red pepper flakes
-Add in the chicken and corn, simmer until all the things are heated through
-Garnish with cilantro and the green onions and serve it with a lime.
-Enjoy your trip in flavor country. Send me a postcard.

Television is not the only thing that's rotting my brain.

It's official. Someone please hire me now because the longer I remain unemployed, spending way too much with trashy reality television shows, my brain is quickly atrophying to the point where I have forgotten basic baking principles:

Last week, I wanted to make some blueberry cheesecake bars for the upcoming camping trip so I set to baking. I made the crust without any major problems, but then came the cheesecake filling. Normally, like any sane person with half a gram of baking skillz, you would normally cream your fats (butter and/or cream cheese) with the sugar, add in the eggs, and finally the vanilla extract with some zest. But not me! I, with the atrophied brain mass, proceeded to dump EVERYTHING (ALL TOGETHER, AT ONCE) into the mixing bowl and set to mixing. It took about five minutes (5!!), when the eggs started to foam, that I realized my mistake.

After a quick round of cursing, I plow ahead, thinking maybe the heat from the baking would melt the cream cheese and it would all come together in the end. NOPE. After about 20 minutes of baking, the center was still liquid and chunky. There was no way it was going to set. Finally, that's when I decided that maybe it was a better idea to just throw it away.

I'm so cool. Look at all the awesome things I've done.

It's been a month since I last worked and I am both enjoying this time off and achingly desperately to get another job. Perhaps its the American mentality that you live to work (or maybe that's a child of an immigrant's mentality), but some days I feel like my identity is closely tied to what I do. Without a job, I just feel lost, without something to anchor me down and give me a day to day purpose.

It also occurs to me that I don't necessarily need a job to to define myself. I can find things that I'm passionate about and, if I'm supremely lucky, I can find a job that meets my expectations for myself. But then again--have you not seen our economy? I am seriously wondering how much longer until I go back to retail.

In the meantime, I've been keeping busy. I finally have the chance to cook through all cookbooks and magazines that I've collected all these years. I've been able to take a run during the day. I'm now caught up on every single trashy reality show on air currently (so happy that Jersey Shore is back). I have managed to kill all my useful brain cells by watching said reality shows. I have watched a group of deer come into our back lawn nearly everyday to defecate and eat the bushes. I'm very nearly halfway through Dance of Dragons. I've also caught up with the TV series. I finished my quilt. And I also had time to fix it once it began to fall apart. I've watered the lawn and taken out the trash (to various levels of success since I haven't done that in years). I have also explored a bit of Friday Harbor with Jack. And, I've finally had time to enjoy being sick since I'm home all the time anyway.

Up next: Car camping!