Typically, I can tell where I am in my (somewhat, but not strictly) quasi-monthly hormonal cycle. I can sometimes tell if I feel especially frisky, tense, or just plain blue when I'm about to go through emmenia (I just learned this word; apparently, it triggers the spell-check). I can usually ride this out, sometimes barely even noticing it, but this month, I'm feeling rather down, and it's not just the circumstances, though they definitely played a factor in my overall mood:
Last Friday evening, I hosted a Meetup at the Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery in La Jolla. It was a fun evening of hanging out with friends old and new. I am planning to start studying Mandarin again (we'll see how that goes) at the encouragement of Amy, one of the other dinner attendees, who told me that if I attend Jim's Thursday evening Meetups for the Chinese Language Meetup, that she will attend, also, to help me learn and develop my conversational skills, of which I currently have none. When I got home, and for the past few days, I've been watching Chinese lessons online. We'll see how it goes...
At dinner, I sat near the middle of the table, next to Amy (on my right). Peter sat across from me, Doug sat next to Peter, with Conway headed that end of the table. There was an empty seat between Conway and me, and we left our hats on that chair until it was later filled by Mustafa, who joined us after most had finished dinner and were just sitting and chatting over drinks.
Conway told us about a recent volunteer program in which he'd been participating but had recently left because there was some complaint (or something) that caused the director to ask him to leave. Strange. Conway theorized, though there was no clear indication, that a complaint had been lodged by a god-fearing receiver of services who somehow felt that Conway's atheism was a detriment to either the program or the persons he aided in his voluntary position. Conway was a bit disturbed by this, and we could really only give him sympathy, since none of us knew what was really going on.
That conversation led to a discussion of "law enforcement" action in general, and I voiced my distaste for border control agents who feel it necessary to harass drivers (and their passengers). Conway said that in the position of a border control agent, seeing an old(er) pickup truck, driving away from the Mexican border, with three passengers, was cause for suspicion, especially at around 2 am. I argued that it was not reasonable to assume that the truck was driven by a Mexican or a coyote transporting illegals into the US via California. We happened to have just attended a "star party" at an observatory that was hosted by Lloyd for his students. Mustafa joked that I could have looked like I was from Central America (to which I almost laughed), being on the darker side of the Asian population. I gestured toward Amy and asked, "Am I really that much darker?" and Mustafa said, "Yes!"
I guess that's what I get for enjoying the SoCal sunshine.
So, anyway, the next morning, Peter came back to bed after rising and reported that my car had been towed! I'd parked it against his garage, located at the end of a short driveway within his condo complex. He looked in the condo docs, to which he agreed to abide when he signed the lease, and found that cars are not allowed to be parked in front of garages... So it goes. Turns out it is the same towing company who tows cars from my condo complex. We surmised that the tow trucks troll at night at the various condo complexes they service, and just tow anybody who is in violation. During the day, there's legitimate business towing, but at night, when most people (especially in residential complexes) are asleep, the cars are just easily towed without argument from car owners. Well, that's a $352 lesson learned.
This morning, I started a batch of pastry:
about 3 1/2 cups of durum semolina (I used Bob's Red Mill)
a scant teaspoon of salt
one half cup of water
one quarter cup of EVOO
Into the KitchenAid with the dough hook, I let it stir and mix until the dough came together in a single cohesive mass. Then I took it out, kneaded it (flouring my hands and the countertop lightly), then oiled a bowl and dropped it in. It's now sitting, covered with plastic wrap (over the bowl, not directly on the dough itself). I will blanch some chard, chop it up, and mix it with some sautéed onion and garlic and feta cheese. I will need to run out and buy some parsley to go into the mixture, as well... Oh, well, I guess I'm not making the pastries too early this morning, after all, as I'll need to wait until the shop (the Poway location of North Park Produce) opens to go buy parsley, as well as some additional feta (I tend to use quite a bit of feta in pastries that call for it).
Oh, good. North Park opens at 8:30, so I just have an hour go to before going to buy those ingredients.
Oh, and I'll be picking up our CSA share this afternoon, as well. Oh, wait. Here's this week's list of stuff we will potentially receive:
Leeks
CarrotsCucumbers
Tomatoes
Blackberries or Strawberries
Lettuce or Spring Mix
Dino Kale
Cantaloupe Melon
Oranges or Grapefruits
Peaches
Flavor Grenade Green Pluots
American Parsley
Tomatoes, Heirlooms
Yellow Squash
Maybe I should wait to make the pastries until after picking up this week's share, since we might get parsley, as well as kale and leeks, which would go well into them.
Okay, I'll wait. The dough can wait in the fridge, after I wrap it tightly in plastic, until I'm ready to roll (some of) it out. I also have a recipe for another Greek pastry, a cheese, egg, and herb pie, that calls for several layers of phyllo. The dough I prepared is called a phyllo, so I might just use it instead of using store-bought sheets. It'll be fun.
Now that I have some durum semolina, I want to buy more (hopefully in bulk form, as Bob's Red Mill packages are not large but quite expensive) to try my hand at homemade pasta, for which I'll need plenty of eggs, as well.
On Saturday, I am attending a potluck picnic with one of my Meetup groups. I wrote that I'll bring curry cookies, the recipe for which I've only just written down the other evening. If they bake up well, I'll post the recipe here for others to try.
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