Mayor Tom

Mayor Tom Leppert...in my office...right now. lol

Maybe I'll get a pic to post later, they're holding a press conference in our multi-purpose room for Woodall Rodgers Park. It'll be on the news tonight, all networks are here.

Gawd, it's already MAY?

Before I flip my work calendar over at the end of today's work day, I took a hard look at it just now and contemplated..."Gawd, that's a lot of shit!"

If you know me, you KNOW I try to be super organized and I'm a 'list' person. If I don't write it down, there's a chance I'll forget about it, or forget to do it. So, I ordered this new At-A-Glance Outlink binder from Office Depot last month, b/c work was getting so hectic, I couldn't rely on all my Post-its stuck to my desk and monitor anymore.

I love it, and highly recommend it...unless it starts to look like mine above. lol What a mess.

Idol Top 5 & Lasagna

Sooo, last night was the top 5, and we saw Adam in the bottom 2 - *gasp*! Oh, whatever, he's such a showy queen, he'll do just fine. And here's a before pic of the lasagna...and sadly, I didn't remember to take an after when it came out of the oven, b/c we devoured it like pigs! :)

I made this with 93/7 lean ground beef, chicken/turkey/spinach sausage, ricotta w/ mozz and parm mixed in, and turkey peperoni (seen on top). I admit the red sauce was a few jars of what I had around, but I threw about a 1/3 bottle of cab-sav in it, and about a cup of milk to cut the acidity - make it more like a pomodoro sauce. It was a total experiement, and I think it was a success! :) Ben and David brought a nice big salad to go along w/ it, and I sliced up some potato-rosemary bread I grabbed at Albertson's, and topped with EVOO and grated parm, and broiled it in the oven. Rick and Steve brought a really yummy strawberry cake for dessert. We feasted like Kings (trust me, the pan weighed in at about 15lbs - I kid you not! Well, it is a Mario Batali enamel coated cast iron pan, but still!) lol

Steak Tacos

Monday night I was in the mood for MEAT...steak...flank steak to be exact. I had mini corn tortillas at home, so steak tacos came to mind. Now, I seasoned this flank steak with salt and curry before dropping into a searing hot skillet. Tasty? Yes. Does my house STILL smell like I live above an Indian take-out joint 3 days later? Unfortunately, YES! WHAT is THAT about? Now I see why people who eat curry all the time just ooze the "aroma". Jesus...not even my Cucina Coriander and Olive Tree kitchen spray could knock it out - WTF!?

At any rate, the tacos were delish, I finished them w/ shredded lettuce and an avocado pico I threw together of cubed tomato, avocado, diced onion, lime juice, cilantro, and garlic powder. I warmed the tortilla's thru in the same pan I cooked the steak. Simple and yummy peeps - make some.

Kitchen Re-org

(pic sux, sorry)
FINALLY, I reorganized my kitchen by taking all my pots and pans out of the cabinets and arranging them, SLT style, on my Metro shelves in my pantry off the kitchen. I don't know why I didn't think of this before! I mean, hello, it's how we have things arranged in the SLT store! I do it every Sunday during floorset! lol

So, I put all bakers on one shelf, all Le Creuset on another, all mixing bowls together, and then tri-ply pans (All-Clad and such) together, and serving trays on the bottom shelf, and serving bowls on the top. I LOVE IT. It makes so much sense to me now. Now I have all the 'uglies', like plastics and baking pans, etc., hidden away nicely in the pantry cabinets. And I left a lovely space in my long cabinet for my lovely Breville convection toaster oven I've been coveting. I've got a perfect shelf to put it on, and there's a plug-in inside my pantry - perfect! :)

Ensalada!

The lovely salad I whipped up for the boys at Idol night this past week - they said I should blog it. (Mixed greens w/ vine ripened tomatoes, avocado, honey-sesame coated almonds, and a zesty Italian dressing). :)

The New Toy

Well, down there at the Surly Table, we got this new lil' guy in - the Breville Healthsmart Steamer. And I had to have me one of them right thur. Tried it out last night, nifty lil' item. I did salmon in the first tray, followed by carrots, broc & cherry tomatoes, and tiny pearl pasta in the top. There are some awesome recipies in the book that came w/ it that I wanna' try (like vanilla risotto - yum!), so I will report back when I do. (PS - You can steam whole eggs, and poach egss in ramekins inside it - cool!)

Sha-neh-neh

My coworker, Shani, reinacting what she tells us is a scene from "Yes Man", where Jim Carrey wraps tape around his face. Yes, I work with her daily...we have access to alcohol, it's my only explanation. :)

Shoe-shi

Okay, on to a diff kind of sushi, SHOE-shi. OMG...I SO WANTED this pair of Coach platforms at the new Nordstrom Rack that opened at ParkLane this weekend. So much so that I toted them around the store for about 2 hours, trying to justify the purchase, at a whopping deal of $119 for the pair. So, I toted, and doted, and dillied and dallied, and ultimately decided I should put them back and save my money (besides, the too-cute lil' gold buckles on the straps totally hurt the tops of my toesies after I wore them around for a bit).

So, with a pout on my face, I put them back on the rack, and promptly went out to my car, drove across the street to NorthPark Center, and plopped down more money than the above on M.A.C. make-up! (Go see Joel - pronounced Joe-ehl - at the Nordstrom M.A.C. - love him!) Oh, the sacrifices we women make for the greater good...

Sushi

Okay kids, 2 descriptives adored by foodies the world over: good & cheap. And Sushi House is both of those. Now hear this...it's nothing fancy-schmancy or upscale, but that's part of the charm. It's a simple little squat-restaurant, in a strip mall (Lovers & Inwood area, in the older strip mall across from Inwood Theater), with less than a dozen 4-top/2-top tables, and a simple bar. You'll find all the requisite lucky bamboo displays, buddha's, and fat kitties w/ the one-paw up - so, it's totally kitsch. And I totally love it! :)