Ring of Fire

I haven't had a true "Monday" in a while, so I guess I was due...

Yesterday morning I was trying to boil some water to make oatmeal, but I turned on the wrong burner. Normally there's nothing else on the stove, so while it would still be bad, it wouldn't actually cause a problem. But since it was a Monday, there was a cast-iron pan with bacon grease on the other burner, which after a few minutes on high heat, caught on fire. Yes, that's right--I started a grease fire in the kitchen a mere 15 minutes after waking up. (And what did YOU do this morning?)

I was checking my trashy gossip websites when I realized that I hadn't heard the teakettle whistle yet, so I went into the kitchen. There was this acrid black smoke filling up the whole kitchen and flames leaping from the bacon greas-y pan. It was at this point that the smoke alarms started going off--a little late in my opinion. Like a complete idiot I started screaming for Larry, who fortunately had the good sense to get the fire extinguisher and put it out. He was also VERY gracious about the whole thing, more so than I think I would have been in the same situation; I mean, really, what a stupid thing to do. But on with the fun!

You may be asking, how long does it take to clean up a small kitchen grease fire? I now know the answer, and it is 2 days and counting. I can't imagine what people do when their whole house catches fire, or even one room. In addition to the pan catching fire, 2 spatulas and a non-stick pan were also ruined, sending little bits of melted plastic into the air along with the smoke, ash, and fire extinguisher powder. This awesome mixture is now on approximately every surface in the entire house. To make it even better, a couple of cupboard doors were open at the time of the fire, so we have had to wash every dish in the kitchen--and by wash I mean scrub, then wash, then scrub again--and wipe out the cupboards. By the time we're done, I think the kitchen will be cleaner than it was when we moved in. (And in a really sick way, I'm kind of excited about it.)

One bonus of setting your kitchen on fire? You get to eat out a lot! But seriously, I have definitely learned my lesson. And we're turning in that renters' insurance application ASAP.

Arr, matey

My pirate name is:

Dirty Grace Cash

You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

We're going to a pirate birthday party tonight, so I had to get the right name for the occasion. This sounds about right, although I didn't realize I was this dirty...

Thanks to Anne for pointing out the website!

Dining Out for Life

Last night was Dining Out for Life, an annual fundraiser for Lifelong AIDS Alliance and a great excuse to go out for dinner. We went to Cafe Campagne, my favorite Seattle restaurant for many reasons, but mostly because of their calamari. It's one of the only places that doesn't serve breaded, fried calamari; theirs is sauteed with olive oil, garlic, parsley, capers and lemon. YUM! I could just have 2 plates of it for dinner and be happy...but sadly that was not to be last night. I had a late meeting so our reservation was for 9, and by the time we got there they had sold out. I seriously thought I was going to cry--so pathetic, but if you've had their calamari you will understand. Luckily, the waitress steered us toward another fabulous dish and the crisis was averted. But more about the menu later. First, the couple next to us...

Imagine you are on vacation in a foreign country. You don't speak much of the language, but your guidebook mentions a great little cafe and you decide to try it for dinner. You get there and the place is jam-packed; you're greeted by both the hostess and a man in a red apron talking about donations and a trip to Puerto Vallarta. You finally sit down and the red apron man comes over, talks to you some more but you're not sure what about, and hands you an envelope to put money in. You might be a little weirded out, right? I think that's how this couple was feeling...they clearly didn't know it was Dining Out for Life night, which I imagine is why most of us were there. They were speaking in what sounded like a cross between German and French (Dutch?) and looked pretty confused for most of their meal. I felt a little bad for them, but they looked like they had a decent time by the end. Good wine has a way of doing that!

So...the meal! Last night I was saying how great it would be if we were rich enough to be regulars at Cafe Campagne, and Larry made the point that we could be regulars if we didn't have four courses everytime we eat there. That wouldn't be nearly as fun, however, so I guess it will always be our "splurge" restaurant. Here are the four (amazingly delicious) courses...

Haricots verts marinated with lemon vinaigrette and shallots, topped with grilled bacon
The bacon definitely made up for the lack of calamari.

Salade verte
Mixed spring greens with a sherry vinaigrette

Steak frites with Roquefort butter and sauteed greens
I had this with a 2001Côtes du Rhône Domaine Vieille Julienne; Larry had a glass of 2002 Cahors Prieuré de Cenac. Both were excellent, and the staff is super knowledgeable about their wine. (Which is good, because Larry is a total wine aficionado (wino?) and I know next to nothing...)

Gateau foret noir with cherry sorbet
BY FAR the best Black Forest cake I've ever had--the cherry sorbet was to die for!

Hazelnut creme brulee
We shared desserts so I still got to have some of this too. No matter how stuffed we get, there's always room for creme brulee...

I have to mention one last perk...if you go on Thursday nights, they have live music (usually French accordion or cabaret). Truly, the best restaurant ever!

Zach-ula

Zach


Nigel


So tonight I wanted to mop the kitchen floor, but to do that the boys have to be put away until the floor dries. Needless to say, they grew wise to this plan long ago and usually give me the runaround trying to avoid confinement. But the beauty of living together is that now there is one human for each cat. I enlisted Larry's help and we made a plan: he would pick up Zach, I would pick up Nigel, and we'd deposit them in the office before they knew what had happened.

Larry had already picked up Zach, and I was about to pick up Nigel when he freaked out and ran away. Then Zach freaked out too, but Larry was still holding him. I can't even remember the last time little Zachary scratched anyone, but he really did a number on Larry. Two on his chest and one under his chin. It looks SO painful. I feel really bad for him, and a little guilty because I was on the phone and trying to pick up Nigel with only one hand. I think this is a lesson for me to stop trying to clean the kitchen...at least while I'm on the phone!

Larry keeps saying, "Zach has a taste for blood now..." I guess if we see him forgoing the kitty condo for the kitty coffin we'll know for sure.

Fever Pitch

Work craziness and Mariners games have kept me away from the blog for a while, but I'm getting back on track now. Opening day was last Monday, and I've already been to 2 games. Now that it's my third baseball season, I'm finally starting to understand the subtle details of the game--the strategy, what the different calls mean, and what all those abbreviations like RBI and ERA stand for. For someone who's never really been a sports fan, I'm pretty into it now--but the highlight of the season is still when I get to see the grounds crew dance. Some things never change.

The only downside this year is what to eat... in the off-season I've come to terms with my wheat allergy, which means I can't have any of the good stuff. No cheeseburgers, no pulled pork sandwich, no major league dog. And worst of all, no 2 for $5 sausages after the game.
Nevertheless, here's my Mariners top 10 for the first 2 weeks of the season:

1. Yuniesky Betancourt--great shortstop, even greater name, my favorite player
2. Kenji Johjima--new catcher, awesome hitter
3. The old man who sells peanuts and kettle corn outside the stadium
4. Souvenir size Sierra Mist
5. Heat lamps in the ladies room--baseball in April is COLD
6. The Hat Trick game--I'm 2 for 2 so far...
7. Meeting up with our friend Dan and his 4 year old Noah--the cutest fan ever!
8. Mariners win at my first game of the season (game 2 against Anaheim)
9. Finding free parking downtown
10. The awesome organ music

Stand and sway

Just got back from the Feist show at Neumo's...BRILLIANT!!!!! That girl knows how to rock it! I guess I should backtrack a bit--today around 5 one of our favorite customers came into the shop and Feist was playing on the store mix. Erin asked if I knew that she was playing tonight, which I did not. I immediately called my pal Kristine, who is also a huge Feist fan, and we decided to go. I love the fact that if Erin had come in 5 minutes earlier or later, we may never have known about the show. Yay for coincidences!

We got to Neumo's before the opening act and decided that we must have missed the memo on PDA for the evening. Seriously, in every direction there was a couple who really should have stayed home on the couch for that kind of action. Except by the bar, where Kristine witnessed this encounter between two hipsters:

Male 1: "So, how's your girlfriend? What's she up to tonight?"
Male 2: "Actually, we're not together anymore."
Males 1 & 2: stand in awkward silence

Maybe it was funnier because we had Mandarin & tonics in hand, but really, it was pretty awesome.

On with the show: the opening act was a charming singer/songwriter from Manchester named Stephen Fretwell, if I remember correctly. He did seem to be good at fretting, as most of his songs were pretty depressing. Couple really good songs, though, especially one about a girl named Emily who must really be a piece of work. But FEIST! She came out and had 2 mikes set up, with the second one attached to a multi-track/layering/looping device so she could harmonize with herself. She kept adding layers until there was this amazingly lush harmony going on, and then she would sing the melody over it all. Just fabulous; she has such a beautiful, unique voice. She's also one of the least self-conscious performers I've ever seen, which made her so fun to watch, and she's a smokin' guitarist to boot. She played a bunch of new songs that were all great, although I'm sad that we'll have to wait until January for the next album. By the end when she invited the crowd to slow-dance, even Kristine and I were ready to stand and sway with all the happy couples. AAWWW.

Something must be done...

So I like to do the NYT crossword puzzle sometimes before I go to bed. It relaxes me. Don't judge, people! But can I relax tonight? NOOOO...because there it is, in #18 across, mocking me: five-letter word, clue is "Breezy 'Of course!'" The first three letters are "n...a...t..." and cut to visual of me shrieking in abject horror. That's right, "natch" has now made it into the freaking New York Times crossword puzzle. It's like they heard my complaint and WANT to keep using it. Next thing you know William Safire's going to be profiling it in the Sunday magazine's "On Language" column. My only consolation is that if it's become this mainstream, it has to die soon...right? I'm going to try to go to sleep now, but first I'll have to read something else to erase this memory from my brain and calm my frayed nerves. NATCH.

Another Sunny Day

I am not a blogging type of gal, but when I wanted to comment on my pal Christine's blog, I was forced to sign up for one of my own. So here goes...my very first post. Mom would be proud.

We saw Belle and Sebastian last night at the Paramount, with The New Pornographers. It was their last show on their North American tour, and it was fabulous. I even scored this snazzy tee (see profile photo) to proclaim my love for B & S. I also have to mention how brilliant TNP are! They have so many great songs that I love, but don't always remember as being from them. Their two most recent albums are now getting heavy rotation in the mix, along with The Life Pursuit and Books.

Tangent...why are so many writers using the word "natch" lately? I even read it in a NYT article yesterday! Unless you are Ted Casablanca, you really don't need to use that word. Anyone with me on this one?