Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Taming Chaos

We have the "cleanest home in America" according The Cleaning Authority. They must have a criteria that when it is time to tidy, one simply moves junk into another location, like a closet or a basket. This marketing ploy was sent by a DC cleaning company and upon opening the brochure, it teases, "Your home isn't the cleanest? It could be..." While making fun of me, they're also playing into a dream that I could actually be organized even though I'm not a label maker.

When I first got the flyer, it cracked me up. I thought, "Who wants that award?" But after perusing covers at the magazine stand, it is evident that neat-nicking is a big desire for people. Oprah's issue is all about de-cluttering. Real Simple gets ya organized, filed, and stashed. It really hit home when a friend said she did a lot of "straightening up" during the blizzard. All the while, I was hoarding recipes and trying them out for snow parties and video blogs (see entry titled MISO HAPPY for aphrodisiac cooking video).

There is truth to the phrase spring cleaning. The swelling of the buds signals change is in the air. Last weekend a frenzy of getting-it-together overtook me. I went through toys to give away to Goodwill. I'm in the process of converting our paper calendar to the computer. I even beautified my lingerie by getting see-through drawers so that I can admire my pretty panties. And for off-season stashing, the under-the-bed shoe organizer is sure to do the trick.

But the magazine tear sheets, school papers, work folders, and mail are entangling me in chaos. Gotta file because the tax deadline is looming. It stresses me out just typing this entry while I think about when I am going to pre-clean before the housekeeper comes tomorrow. Maritza, the sparkle fairy, is coming to spruce up the house with her magic vacuum before my parents arrive on Friday morning. Let's see how long the pine smell lasts but as Dan would say, "Cyndy, you like your piles." Maybe I should just hang an air freshener and have a dance party.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

MISO HAPPY - Love You Long Time

How was your Valentine's Day? Some people think it is a Hallmark holiday but I feel that any chance to get sexy & exchange presents is FAB U LOUS! We geared up a week before V Day by hosting our dinner club with an aphrodisiac meal. I was Chef Cupid in the kitchen serving up miso-glazed cod with wasabi mashed potatoes and bok choy with green onions/sesame oil/cashews. The goal was to get everyone flaming with love.

If you want a new recipe for fish, this is the one. We had it at Proof in DC and I felt I needed it in my life on a regular basis. Recipes are below and here's an attempt at Culinary Seduction (the show I always wanted to produce). Keep in mind I just recently learned how to edit and only started shooting with my new HD camera this January. Forgive me a bit and you'll have a great menu with booty facts about food you might never have heard before, i.e. Potatoes were called "testicles of the Earth" by Spanish explorers. I credit two books, Intercourses and Seduction and Spice. Hope you get lucky!

MISO HAPPY VIDEO
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
RECIPES:
cod
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/miso-glazed-cod-recipe/index.html

bok choy with cashews
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/baby_bok_choy_with_cashews/

wasabi mashed potatoes
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Wasabi-Mashed-Potatoes-101027

chocolate dessert of your choice - ya gotta see Gina B for her decadent chocolate souffles

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Kiaser Snowze

Our grocery store is completely empty with the exception of people blitzing for the last box of hot chocolate. No milk, no veggies, no bananas. I had to use several of my womanly charms to convince the butcher to grind for me (grind meat, you saucy monkey!). Today's storm is affecting 50 million people. Our lights are flickering. A power line is hanging in the middle of Prospect Street. The winds are expected to be 45 mph this afternoon. Thirty inches of snow hit us last week and another ten are coming down as I type this entry! We've already spent a week blowing snow, creating forts, and snowball fighting. What is one to do with all this snow?
MAKE ICE CREAM!

Snow Ice Cream recipe
1/2 c half & half or whole milk
1/4 c sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
4 c clean snow

stir, stir, stir

add choc sauce and/or choc chips if you want

eat, eat, eat

Monday, February 1, 2010

Recalculating

There's a video on YouTube about social economics that every person should see. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8 The staggering facts: "If Facebook was a country, it would be the world's 4th largest. 1 in 8 couples married last year met via social media. You Tube hosts a billion views a day." Digital media is mass media now. We are wi-fi, SMS, itext, and stay connected on a jet. However, the nagging need to update one's status makes me wonder if we are following technology like a bunch of lemmings.

A friend of mine said yesterday, "I'm a map person" and I completely understood. We have a GPS but mine is a techno-bitch. The robbers who broke into our car last summer must have know about her nasty disposition which explains why they left the system in my car. (See Dreamweaver entry.) The GPS lady screams at me when I don't get follow directions properly. She starts with a determined, "Turn in 53 feet." Why can't she provide directions in lingo that I understand? How about, "hang a ralph at the second right" or "turn in 2 blocks"? As I progressively get turned around on one-way DC streets, she yells "recalculating" over and over again until the urge to press on makes me want to jump off a cliff, like a lemming.

People are migrating to have the next, new, or best electronic game - iphone apps, Wii, DX, PSP, Xbox, PS3. "Deuce" (that's David Dean's game name) currently seems obsessed with Mario, Speed Racer and Lego Star Wars. "Can I play the Wii now?" "When can I play the Wii?" And to think that we bought it so that I could get fit? We decided to reset game time to be only on the weekends. After school plays is now old school play. Deuce is using his imagination, playing with actual Legos, dressing up, coloring, and light saber fighting with Gigi.

I feel pressure that we are being pushed into the sea as more and more gadgets arrive at the shore. The great digital divide is happening with the trendsetters and the trend followers. The best way to stay a "shiny happy person" is to set tech limits, according to New Scientist magazine, which I read at the gym while simulating a run on the treadmill with Black Eyed Peas Now Generation blasting in my ipod earbuds.

Logging out...