(no subject)

Look out kids. I got the digital camera I asked for, so more user icons shall be on their way shortly, not to mention, a mass ebaying frenzy. And for those of you in town, I'm sure I'll be turning into a cooking madwoman shortly, with the new fancy pots and pans! Yay.

Christmas with the 'rents was really uneventful. My sister was supposed to get there between noon and 1, and I knew she wouldn't be early, so I was shooting for 1, but ended up getting there about 12:30. About 10 minutes after I got there and settled, she called to say she'd just gotten up and hadn't left yet. (She has a 3 hour drive, and still had to quickly stop in to work.) So, ok, we went ahead and ate and then lazed about. She called again at nearly 2 with "Oops. Fell back asleep." I think my mother was truly stunned.

So mom and dad and I sat around playing poker with a bowl of loose change until she got there. She couldn't figure out why we were a bit miffed when she got there. I can't figure out why she thought it would be just fine to show up 5 hours late. Oh well, it all worked out OK, it was just that we were only there together for a span of about 4 hours. She seemed happy with her toaster, and mom and dad were happy with their gifts too (though everyone was justifiably afraid of the free bonus nose hair clipper that came with the razor I got my dad--I now understand the horrified looks of men on Queer Eye). A. got mom and dad a DVD player, with a built in VCR, so she and dad hooked it up, and now my parents are in the proper century. :-) I may do Netflix for them next year, because they live about 15 feet from a post office, and watch *tons* of movies. They may be the only people I know who would get their money's worth from it.

And as usual, my giftiness gets spread out again. Some of the stuff mom ordered me from Amazon was backordered until December 2004, so she felt she "owed" me some gifts. So she is ordering stuff to make up the $ difference - mom is very concerned with making stuff fair with us - and it will be here shortly. I emailed her this morning, and said, "Hey, how about the steamer for my new pans?" which will mean more cabinet space for me. She feels horrid about having stuff late, but I kind of like the stretching out of gifts. :-)

And today is very quiet here at work. I'm working on movies for another project, so I'm cutting myself off from the world even more with headphones.

Recipes for posterity

I should probably postdate this, but...

Grandma & Grandpa got me the aforementioned stainless steel Cusinart cookware set that I've coveting for so long. (Yes, I am 27 years old, and my grandparents still spoil me as if I were 6.) This inspired a night of experimental cooking for me Monday night. Here's what I made:

Salmon (fresh, from Wild Oats, and yes, I cooked fish in my house, so the world must be ending) grilled in olive oil and soy sauce. I mixed plain yogurt, soy milk and dill mustard for a sauce for this.

Green beans & carrots, sauteed in orange juice, and tomato paste, with a tiny bit of marinara thrown in at the last minute, along with spices.

Oven-roasted yukon gold potatoes, sprinkled with curry powder.

I didn't come close to eating the entire salmon steak, so Tuesday, I threw together a pasta dish with what I had on hand. This included:

1/4 of the salmon steak, all smushed up.
2 chopped roma tomatoes
1/2 can black beans
1/2 jar artichoke hearts, plus some of the oil they came in
a few tablespoons of the hot coriander chutney that I got this summer at India fest
soba noodles from Trader Joe's

That sounds bizarre, but it was excellent.

I still have a small piece of salmon, and some potatoes left in the fridge, so tonight may be another creative "toss it together" night.