people say she’s crazy…

Quelle week-end! The front pocket of my hoodie is soggy from dishes, my hands are dry (also from dishes), my head is throbbing, a serial drama is playing in the background (Brothers & Sisters on ABC… have you seen this? All of the brothers and husbands look the same (but not the sisters, thank goodness), so I find it very hard to follow, and I don’t need any more serial dramas to watch, anyway), so I guess all of that adds up to this being time for a weekend recap. I’m gonna have to type fast before my head explodes, but this was a good one, so I’ll do what I can. I just dimmed my computer screen, so maybe that will help.

Friday night, Dan and I had a lovely date. I was kind of in a rush to get a prescription filled after work (Elbows, back, meet an unidentified irritant and sudden-onset winter. Now meet the dermatologist. Now meet Mr. Greasy Cream. Now pretend you never met that irritant and winter.) and lugging home leftover cookies and things from the office, so it was a delightful surprise to find Dan there standing on my block with a bottle of wine and a great, crazy fall bouquet. Apparently we had been on the same bus (they grow ‘em big up here), and apparently I was the envy of many little old ladies both at the florist and on the bus. It was a wonderful surprise. Anyway, I changed from my work clothes and put on some makeup–if I’m gonna go on a date, I might as well look the part–and we went to Rick’s Cafe, a small, romantic hideaway of a restaurant, complete with a giant Bogey mural painted on one of the back walls. I think there was one four-top table in the whole place, and it filled up as we sat there. The kitchen is run by one chef, one sous chef and a dishwasher (you learn this when you go to the bathroom, which involves walking through the middle of the kitchen), so the food take a little time. But we were there a little before the rush, so it wasn’t too bad. Dan had some delicious salmon, and I had a little spicy shrimp with linguine. We shared a chocolate mousse dessert. Frankly, it was all completely ridiculous, with Edith Piaf playing in the background and candlelight and the ensuing giddiness, but it was wonderful. It was a date. And then, it was Saturday.

On Saturday morning, I rolled out of bed around 8:30 to feed the screaming kitties. I dusted, I vacuumed, I sorted, I put away, I folded, I hung, I wired, I scrubbed. I cleaned out the fridge and went to the store to stock up. Then I called Dan, and we drove up to this delightful little organic grocery on Loyola called Newleaf Natural. I ordered a $15 fruit-and-veggie box (one-person appropriate) during the week, and Saturday was my designated pickup. The shop is like a little bitty Whole Foods with a hint of those old school health food stores that Mom would drag me to before health food was commonplace or even cool. However, thankfully, it doesn’t have that smell. If you know what I’m talking about, you know. Anyway, a few minutes later, after dragging Dan away from the chocolate display and resisting a scone, I was happily on the way back to Lakeview with some Bartlett pears, globe grapes, apples, bananas, carrots, kale, beets, an avocado, cilantro and one giant YAM. Luckily, they also give you a newsletter with some recipes, because uh, some of us don’t know what kale IS, much less what to do with it (boil, then sautee). I came home and had a pear immediately–and it was perfect. I am pleased and greatly looking forward to next week’s box!

Dan dropped me off at home, and I went back to cleaning. I decided I wanted to shake out the rainbow rag rug in the bedroom, so I pulled my shoes on and went out to the fire escape. I do this every now and then, no big deal, but the fire escape in my building is not one that is used for… anything. It isn’t a socializing opportunity. Members of conflicting clans don’t sing to one another on it. I don’t even know if I’m supposed to be out there at all, but it’s great for shaking out rugs and blankets, old lady style, so I do. And as I was shaking out my sizeable, heavy rag rug on the windy, windy fire escape in the chilly, chilly late afternoon, the door slammed shut behind me and I was stuck. I could see my bedroom from up there, and I could see Bear sitting in the window, staring at me. Some help she is. I didn’t have my phone, so I couldn’t page the building managers. There are no knobs or locks on the outside of the fire escape doors, so my keys (had I brought them) wouldn’t have done me any good, either. And I had left the deadbolt thrown on my apartment so I could get back in without them, anyway.

I leeeeaned out and tapped on the window of the apartment closest to the fire escape. No luck. I looked up to see if any higher doors looked cracked. No luck. I started walking down. On the 2nd floor landing, the lowest the escape goes before the retractable stairs start (which I wasn’t about to try), I could see into the building managers’ office, where the building managers were not. So I started yelling to people walking down Cornelia. I realize I might have looked a little strange, a girl on the fire escape with a giant rainbow rug waving her arms and yelling at you, but a good 10 people, after hearing me yell, “SIR!” or “MA’AM!” at them and looking at me, kept right on walking. Finally a girl stopped. “DO YOU LIVE IN THIS BUILDING?!” I yelled.

“Yes…?” She hesitantly yelled back.

“CAN YOU COME LET ME IN? I LOCKED MYSELF OUT! HA HA HA.”

Luckily, she did. She was not interested in how, or where, or why I was on the fire escape with a giant rainbow rug, but at least figured out that I was on the 2nd floor, and saved me from certain death/cold extremities. It was a little mortifying, but certainly motivated me right into a very warm shower. After the shower, I made about 9 zillion piggies in a blanket, threw on my pretty new green dress, and hosted a delightful party. I wore my new boots, which I regretted heartily at 7 AM this morning when I woke up to volunteer at the breast cancer walk and couldn’t. Walk. Anyway, about 35 people were here at one time or another, and the evening ended with an M&M tossing fiasco. Also, when I say BYOB, my friends listen. So um, if you need any beer… you know where to find me.

After brunch and finishing party cleanup (I firmly believe in night-of trash and food clearance. Dishes and crumbs can be dealt with the next day), I decided to make use of last week’s bananas and to tackle my kale. I dorked around at Treasure Island (yarrrr) and picked up some ingredients I needed to make Mom’s banana bread. Miss J came by to pick up the leftover grits from the party (she made them… delicious!) and whatever else I could get her to take home to her roommates (cookies, M&Ms, beer), so around 7:30 tonight, I got rolling on the b-bread. Once I had it in the oven, I got started on the kale. FYI, here is what you do to kale:

1. Cut or tear it away from the hard stems.
2. Trim to bite-sized pieces.
3. Boil it till it’s soft (10 minutes).
4. Sautee it till it tastes like something (10 more).

Anyway, kale has a sweet, delicious smell. I sauteed it with some tomatoes and onions and then tossed in some red wine vinegar, as suggested by the ol’ Newleaf newsletter. It was pretty good warm, and tomorrow… we’ll find out how good it is re-heated at work. Basically, kale seems like a scarier, but more flavorful spinach alternative. Raise your hand if you don’t want e. coli! Tomorrow, I’ll roast my beets and throw them into a salad with goat cheese and arugula. We shall see.

The banana bread came out of the oven and looks (and tastes!) delicious. Obviously there is chocolate involved. This photo was taken in the spirit of Miss Kate C., who is a real cook with a great blog and some wonderful adventure:

And that’s where it is now. I’m about to wrap it up for the night, now that it’s cool, and head to bed. This weekend has meant a lot of dirty dishes, but I kept pace with them. The only thing in the sink is the pan I baked the bread in. The kale pot, the party dishes, everything’s clean and put away. Dan’s gorgeous bouquet is safely on the kitchen counter, where no curious cats will decide to taste it, and my apartment, overall, is clean and homey and ready for winter. Yay.

Oh, Jo, these pictures are for you. Please compare to your “tiny” Montana kitchen and let me know if that descriptor still applies:

This is the door to the kitchen. And basically the kitchen as a whole. Sink, stove. Fridge on the left, cabinets above.
On the right, the “pantry.” A Pier-1 bookshelf. Also, that little thing in front of the toaster oven is my counter space. All of it.On the left, my fridge. Some counter space to dry dishes on. Some counter space behind the fridge… for… tchotchke storage. Mini cuisinart. Air popper. More empty wine bottles.

That is all! Welcome to late October :) Fall is my favorite!