Happy New Year!

I’m trying not to get too bogged down by thinking about the past year and what I didn’t accomplish, what I wish I’d done, etc. For the most part I don’t like resolutions either, especially since I’m not good at following through. I do like the idea of the chance of a fresh, new start, full of hope, and leaving the things that weigh you down behind.

Anyway, one of the resolutions suggested in the January/February 2008 issue of Eating Well is to "make 10 new recipes a month." They suggest that "trying new recipes will help you become a better and healthier cook while keeping those at your dinner table happy."

We try to eat salad for dinner every other day, so my goal is to make 5 new recipes a month. I get so many magazines and dog ear pages of recipes I want to try but never get around to. I’m hoping to make more of an effort this year to try them.

This week the grocery ads here have black-eyed peas, collard greens, cabbage, and 10 pound buckets of chitlins on sale. I've never had chitlins (chitterlings) and it sounds gross (intestines with all the poop washed out - although since I eat hotdogs I can’t really say anything). I guess that's what they eat here for New Year's. My aunt & uncle used to have a Japanese New Year party with similar foods (oshoogatsu ryori). We used to have to get a taste of this & that for health, money, etc. for the coming year.

My favorite quote I’ve seen recently is from the same issue of "Eating Well."

"To change one’s life:
1. Start immediately.
2. Do it flamboyantly.
3. No exceptions."
--William James
(1842 - 1910)

Deep Fried Turkey

Look what I found at the store today! I was at the deli counter wanting to buy the "hot and spicy" fried chicken, but they were out. Then this other item caught my eye. My friend Debbie had mentioned deep fried turkey and that it seemed to be all the rage in all the Thanksgiving shows and recipes. Neither of us have ever eaten it. The meat in the counter looked just like all the other deli meats, it wasn’t obvious that it had been fried except for the name.

What did it taste like? It tastes like turkey. It has a lot of flavor, though. One of the reasons I stopped buying deli turkey is that it is so bland. The nutritional information pamphlet says it has no trans fats.

I’m still a wannabe vegetarian but so far it’s more that I’m trying to consciously eat less meat. One incentive to pursue vegetarianism is that it’s hunting season here. It completely grosses me out. You should see the look in people’s faces when they see deer tracks. It’s like in the cartoons when the person’s eyes are those spinning spirals, their eyes glaze over. Sometimes when I’m at the grocery store on the weekends, you see families all wearing camo clothes, even the toddlers. The local paper has a whole page dedicated to photos of people with the animals they’ve killed. Sometimes the hunters are children. It’s a whole culture that I don’t understand. I grew up in the days of alfalfa sprouts and granola. And when I was at school, we often had to lock down the department’s computers because the animals activists had warned they were coming and were going to destroy things. (Other parts of the campus were involved in animal testing.)

101 Things You Don't Know About Me - Part II

#51. I'm a notorious procrastinator.

101 Things You Don't Know About Me - Part I

1. I love fiction books, especially if it incorporates the essence of the location into the storyline (like living in L.A., the lifestyle and scenery and places there…or for example Peter Mayle’s Provence series).
2. I enjoy autobiographies and history told in the form of a story or narrative, not just the facts.
3. I didn’t get into Stanford but was accepted at Vassar and Bryn Mawr (ended up going to Berkeley).
4. I got an A+ in the first class I took there (Calculus).
5. Senior year, I almost flunked one of my classes (I think it was some kind of zoology).
6. I took Spanish for about 6 ½ years and used to speak almost fluently.
7. I can only barely speak rudimentary Japanese (my heritage).
8. Someday I want to learn French. I have a year under my belt but it was in first grade so all I remember is how to count to 10.
9. I wouldn’t mind learning Italian.
10. My favorite food is Italian.
11. I love Paris, France, and dream about going back someday.
12. I would love to live in England for a stint.
13. I don’t like living in Texas, at least this part of the state.
14. My first kiss was from Barry Manilow. Talk about memorable.
15. I ran a Barry Manilow fan club for almost 25 years.
16. I still keep in touch with friends I met from the fan club, some I’ve known for 25 years.
17. I’m a packrat.
18. I hate to give away outdated clothes because it is so frustratingly hard to find anything that fits.
19. I have over 50 cookbooks and subscribe to half a dozen food magazines.
20. I constantly cannot decide what to make for dinner.
21. I love baking and making desserts, much prefer it over cooking meals.
22. I hate making any decisions, especially important ones.
23. The most enchanting place I’ve ever been was Port-Bou, Spain.
24. The most unforgettable place I’ve ever been to was the Cook Islands, wading through the bluer than blue water in the rain, to get to a little island, in the middle of nowhere.
25. I run 3-4 miles every day.
26. I’m a wannabe vegetarian, I guess it’s called a flexitarian.
27. I’m a quiet person but I do yell at the TV during stupid movies, baseball and football.
28. Even more so if I’ve had wine or beer.
29. I’ve never been drunk.
30. I’ve never smoked. My parents were both chain smokers and I detest cigarettes.
31. On my iPod right now: Barry Manilow, James Blunt, John Denver, Eric Clapton, Corinne Bailey Rae, Tori Amos, Sarah MacLachlan, Norah Jones.
32. People have told me I’m a good photographer.
33. I hate having my picture taken, especially the interminable moment while you’re waiting for the shutter to go off.
34. I have a photographic memory.
35. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
36. I can type fast, really fast, over 100 wpm.
37. I can read fast too.
38. I’m blind without my glasses/contact lenses.
39. I rarely swear but I do say "stinkin’" all the time.
40. I don’t like it when other people swear, it’s taken a long time for me to not feel sick to my stomach when someone does.
41. I enjoy looking at beautiful gardens but I don’t like gardening.
42. If you want a plant to die, let me take care of it.
43. One of my pet peeves is misspelled words. It makes me angry when I see a headline on the news with spelling errors. I don’t understand how this can happen when there is SpellCheck.
44. I’m not a church-goer but I do believe in God.
45. One of my all-time favorite desserts is cheesecake.
46. I want to learn more about Journalism and European History. If I lived somewhere that had a decent university, I’d take classes.
47. My left thumb is double-jointed.
48. I’m notorious for buying self-help books and then not finish reading them. My latest solution to that is not to buy them at all.
49. I can’t stand the local radio stations here, especially the morning show stuff like the "John Boy and Billy Show" (I’m not kidding, that’s what we get). I listen to audiobooks when I’m driving.
50. I’m a PADI-certified scuba diver.

Anchorwoman Cancelled

"Anchorwoman" was cancelled after airing only one episode. Here's a link to one article online (click here), from E! Online. In part, it says, "Despite a massive publicity push from Fox, which tried to position the show as a "comedy/reality hybrid," about the only ones who seemed to care about the debut were real journalists, who groused about how Anchorwoman made a mockery of their profession. It also didn't help that critics almost universally panned the show. Anchorwoman's action took place at KYTX-TV Channel 19 in the town of Tyler, deep in the heart of south Texas. The station manager shamelessly hires Jones to goose ratings by titillating viewers (who can only hope for a news flash). Jones is game and tries her hardest to get acclimated in the newsroom, but the results aren't pretty."

Anchorwoman

The new reality show, "Anchorwoman," debuts on Wednesday. It takes place in Tyler, Texas, which is the biggest city near where I live. I'm anxious to see how they portray the city. There's been a lot of controversy from when things even started. There were racy billboards in town with the Anchorwoman on it, quite shocking to see in the conservative community.

The station manager is trying to increase viewers, it's a new CBS affiliate, only a few years old. Our ABC station has been in town forever and have things "together." I keep meaning to watch the 5PM news when the Anchorwoman is on but always forget. I'm always yelling at the TV whenever I watch the station, since there are constant misspelled words on the headlines and scrolling announcements. Their last gimmick was "Stormy the Weather Dog," a stray adopted by the station. The weather segment includes a "dogwalking forecast." It was cute for awhile but got old quickly, especially when they started advertising Stormy dogbiscuits and other items available at area minimarts. I just had to roll my eyes when I saw that.

I also don't like how the press is making a big "rivalry" between the regular anchorwoman (Annalisa Petralia) and the model/actress. I think Ms. Petralia does a great job, the fact that she's female is irrelevant, and those around her who are making a big deal out of it have lost their credibility in my book.

Mississippi Mud Pie

I’m trying to use up old or leftover ingredients in the refrigerator, freezer and pantry. In the process I end up buying other stuff, so I don’t know that the project really does any good! This was my attempt to get rid of some whipping cream, eggs and milk. The recipe came from the August 2007 issue of "Everyday Food." The photo looked scrumptious in the magazine. I ended up using chocolate graham crackers for the crust instead of chocolate wafers, and I put some espresso powder and rum in the filling. When I tasted the filling I was kind of disappointed, but it hadn’t cooled yet and I hoped the flavors would develop. This was one of those dishes where the sum of the parts added up to a hit. Each item on its own wasn’t anything outstanding, but as a whole, it was good.

I got my hair cut this week. Big Hair is still alive and well in Texas. I brought in a picture of Tea Leoni, with a sort of pixie cropped style. The stylist put so much product in my hair I felt like I was wearing a wig. I’ve been going to a salon in the next little town over. It’s really small town, and it’s like going back in time 25 years. Most of the women at the salon have been there a long time, as opposed to the Supercuts type places in town where there’s always someone new, and the lady that’s been doing my hair at least gives me a cut that I can live with, even if it doesn't turn out exactly how I had in mind. Here’s the Peanut Butter Emporium, that’s just down the street from the hair salon, if you walk in the same direction as looking at the picture, it’s on the other corner of the block. I haven’t tried their peanut butter yet, I’ve heard they make all kinds of concoctions. Since it’s a small town, the hours are limited and it always seems I’m never there when it’s open. It takes a lot of patience adjusting to "this is the way we do things in Texas."