June 07, 2004 - 10:34 a.m.

Let Me Entertain Me

I managed to keep myself pretty happily occupied all weekend without even spending too much money. Go me!

The weather turned out to be unexpectedly lovely on Saturday, so after sleeping 'til 11 (!), I went to a few yard sales then headed to the nearby lake to go kayaking. It was a perfect day to be out on, rather than in, the water - sunny and a little warm. I had a really nice time paddling, soaking up the sun, and watching the ducks. And it was nice to get an upper body workout for a change. In fact, my shoulders and forearms were pleasantly sore yesterday.

I came home and started cooking up a storm. I tried out three different Cooking Light recipes this weekend! For dinner on Saturday, I made Ginger-Curry Pork and Rice. It turned out well, but could use a little tweaking, perhaps more curry and onions. I also overcooked the pork a touch. It was still tasty, but not nearly as good as the Apricot-Cherry Upside Down Mini Cakes I made for dessert. They were so good that the ice cream I paired them with was overkill. :) Saturday night I also did the prep work for Pan Seared Oatmeal with Warm Fruit Compote and Cider Syrup, which I finished for breakfast Sunday AM. It was heavenly! You precook the oatmeal (the recipe calls for the Irish kind which adds a nice texture) and press it into a baking pan, allowing it to cool before cutting it into triangles. You brown the pieces in a little butter and top with the compote and syrup. Yum! It's pretty labor intensive for breakfast, but since you can make all the components in advance and heat them as needed, it isn't as impractical as it sounds. It was a nice change from ordinary oatmeal. I will certainly make it again (though I need to finish off the leftovers, which may last me through the week first), but I suspect it is the cider syrup that will become a mainstay in my cooking repetoire. You just reduce apple cider by about 3/4 (takes about 20-30 minutes) until it is syrupy and intensely flavored. I bet it would be great on pancakes or waffles, not to mention as a dessert sauce. Yum! On Sunday I also tried out my fancy mandoline that I got for Xmas. I used it to slice spuds for potatoes au gratin. I flavored the dish with garlic and rosemary and used lowfat cheddar cheese as well as parmesan. It turned out pretty tasty, and I am looking forward to having some leftovers for lunch. :)

After exercising my culinary mojo on Saturday, I settled in to watch Bruce Almighty on HBO. Turned out to be a bad idea. The movie was pretty funny, despite some serious smarminess, but the end totally touched a nerve. The whole Grace praying that she still loves Bruce but doesn't want to love him bit? Yeah, that sucked to watch. Of course, in the movie Bruce and Grace end up back together, which was also not pleasant to sit through. Ugh. I recovered, though, and headed to bed. Managed to sleep in until almost 11 again on Sunday.

All in all, it was a good weekend. Lots of cooking, a little exercize, a little sun. I didn't get around to cleaning my room despite loads of free time, but I did do laundry and dishes and cleaned Percy's cage. So, I wasn't entirely unproductive.

B was once again Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde this morning, so we'll see how the rest of today goes...

today's project: avoiding power struggles with B

Did you know? NCV has a bitg concert in a couple weeks!

consecutive workout days: one, since I didn't workout yesterday, but today I did some serious treadmill running.

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