Where I talk about things I like: Downton Abbey

Ah, the marriage of two of my favorite shows: Parks & Rec and Downton Abbey.

[Note this: As a new goal I am going to put up a new post every Wednesday. I am attempting this to give my life a bit more structure than before, to make me think about topics to write, and to give me something to do on Wednesday afternoons. I say this knowing that if my friends read it, there's a good chance they'll call me out on it if I start to slip. So, it should be interesting.]

I am not normally a huge fan of period pieces, especially British period dramas because the plots drag on, I can't understand anybody because of the accents, and it's just so hard to care about British aristocrats, but I friggin' love Downton Abbey. It's the only reason I look forward to Sunday nights.

If you haven't already started watching the show, here is why you should like Downton Abbey, too:

1. Saucy Brits. You may have heard that the writing is pretty darn good on the show--and it is! It's like Dynasty for the late Edwardian-era set. There's Thomas, the conniving footman who's secretly gay and tries to blackmail a duke after the duke comes to Downton to try and woo Mary. There's Edith, who just hates Mary and has it out for her (and does she ever in the first series). Also included the in the first series: Pre-marital sexy times with a Turkish ambassador! The characters seems so much more interesting and less staid than compared with other period dramas (like the updated version of Upstairs Downstairs. Feh.).

2. Maggie Smith. Speaking of saucy Brits, Maggie Smith's character on the show is hilariously snobbish without being too pretentious about it--like when Edith was complaining that she might die a spinster, the Dowager Countess responds with: "Don't be defeatist, dear, it's very middle class." Zing! Maggie Smith (I can't say her name without saying her whole name) can express just as much in a withering stare as in a well delivered line.

Dowager Countess' withering stare close up!

"I'm a woman Mary, I can be as contrary as I choose."

3. All the clothes look like they came from Anthropologie for the Edwardian era. That being said, I would totally wear the shit out of all those pretty dresses minus the corsets. I can barely go a full day wearing jeans, I think I'd pass out if forced into a corset.

4. Edith and Mary. Although their rivalry has been downplayed a bit in the second series, in the first series Edith goes after Mary at every chance she gets. There's this one scene where Edith is talking to Mary about her beau and Edith is like, "...So he slipped the hook." To which Mary replies, "At least I'm not fishing with no bait." Oh snap, girl just got told.

5. Response to early 20th century technology. It's interesting to see how the characters approach the new technology for that time, such as electricity and the phone. The Dowager Countess is afraid to sleep in a room with electric lighting because of the vapors; the downstairs help are similarly apprehensive of this new fangled contraption. When the house gets a phone, there's a few small, but funny, scenes with the house staff: Carson the butler practicing his telephone greeting and Daisy and Mrs. Patmore don't know how to act when the phone rings. The telephone is so ubiquitous now that it's interesting to see how people might have responded when it was first introduced to the upper class masses.

6. It's on PBS. This point has nothing to do with the quality of Downton Abbey, but it's scientifically proven that if you tell people you watch Masterpiece Classic on PBS, they'll think higher of you. In their eyes, you now belong in the higher intellectual echelons like the people who read The New Yorker (and not just for the comics) or those who watch the legitimate new programs like NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Or they'll think you're over 65 and retired.

Dear Derek

Dear Derek,


It's been a year since you've left us and I never know what to say at times like this, but I feel compelled to say something. I've spent some time reflecting on things to say that would help take the edge off, but it never does. So, in lieu of prosy reflection, which I am probably not capable of (without it having to reduce it to Hallmark sentiments), I am going to share a few fun memories of hanging with Derek (most of them involve food).

So, I really started getting to know Derek on various hikes that the (mostly) architecture group organized. On one particular hike (and I don't remember which one), we were heading back to the city after the hike when we decided that it would be a good idea to stop at Taco Bell for some "food". We all order and get back into the car with the food to head back to Seattle. Derek is driving and he starts to unwrap some taco or something, I think someone offers to help him while he is driving and Derek just says, "No, no I got this." And then he proceeds to polish off two more tacos (or a similar facsimile) without breaking a sweat, while driving. Strangely, at the time the thought that this was potentially hazardous driving, never occurred to me.

On another occasion, this time heading down to the coast for some razor clam digging, we stop at Jack in the Box for dinner (I swear, our group of friends normally eat better than this), and while I and the other two passengers (Jen and Emily) just settle for a regular combo meal, Derek gets a combo meal and an additional cheeseburger, which he proceeds to finish before any of us finish our meals. I could never get over how much and how fast Derek could eat foods--and still stay so skinny.

Finally, on one of our hikes to Snow Lake (which was a gorgeous hike), our group settles in for some lunch before hiking back to the car. While most of us has sandwiches, Derek actually packed a homemade chicken teriyaki lunch for himself (complete with chopsticks to eat with). Jen and I giggled a bit at the sight because, here were two Asian girls eating sandwiches (and one with candied bacon) probably slapped together the morning of, while Derek had chicken teriyaki and a side of rice. He won the most Asian award of the day.

Actually, I think Derek might have beat me at being Asian on most days.

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.