charlotteann

Exposing your life to the internet is commonplace these days. I barely remember the years before my mom brought home our first dial-up modem, which I used to play some online game for the movie Casper starring Bill Pullman (<3) and Christina Ricci in 1995. I remember watching the images load line by line, the "secret" buttons revealed by their alt tags. A few years later I gave up on HyperCard in favor of HTML and well, here I am. And here’s my cat!

Her name is Ellie, short for Eleanor, and I got her almost exactly two years ago. It’s very possible it was this very Caturday in 2008 that I brought home that soft, cuddly 5 month-old kitten. I knew she was mine when she fell asleep in my arms at the shelter. Well, this place wasn’t exactly a shelter. It was kind of like a pet supply store that had rescue animals running amok and barking and defecating all over the place and all over each other. Luckily they closed after I found Ellie. Who, as you may have noticed, has unusual coloring. She is a dilute tortoiseshell, which means she is a softer version of the real thing. Not just in terms of coloring apparently, because this cat is softer than a chinchilla.

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So I went through a lot this afternoon to make a pizza. After waiting next to a marijuana dispensary for 20 minutes for some French dude to answer his phone to show me a kitchen table I might be interested in purchasing, I grew a bit fatiguée and hopped on a bus to go to Trader Joe’s and Bed Bath and Beyond. The two stores are somewhat conveniently located on 9th and Bryant and accessible to me via the 27 or 19 bus. I took the 19 today because the 27 was on vacation. And then I missed my stop on the way home because I was jammin’ to some Mirah. Sigh.

Anyway, I had a mind to make a prosciutto and arugula pizza, but I needed most of the ingredients. Trader Joe’s helped me out there, and after hearing a friend rave about his pizza stone I decided to get one, too, from Bed Bath and Beyond. But I didn’t get that giant wood pizza spatula, which was a decision that ruined my pizza.

As you can see, everything started out just fine. I put my new pizza stone in the oven and let them heat up to 450 degrees together while the dough relaxed on a lightly floured surface. (more…)

School is, anyway. I still have one semester and one summer class before I am officially degree’d and rather poorer than I was 3 years ago. Oh well. I’m very happy here and glad to have my own place since February. It’s super sunny and just the right size for me and the cat.

See?

Classes kept me rather busy this spring, but I am happy to report that summer is here and I am moderately committed to eating healthier and taking more pictures. I could have been taking pictures of my meals these past few weeks, but I didn’t want anyone to know how much instant ramen and pizza I was eating.

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I was supposed to take the party cat to the vet this morning but had to cancel when I awoke at 7:00 AM and realized my driver’s license is still missing. Dilemma: risk it and go back to sleep or wake up, cancel your ZipCar reservation, call the vet’s office, and have to deal with breakfast. I imagined myself getting pulled over on the highway, sobbing as the officer asks for my license and registration while I blurt out some story that my poor kitten ingested a cup of rat poison and needed immediate medical attention. Of course that wouldn’t work because people without driver’s licenses get around just fine in such situations in taxis, a fact I’m sure this potential highway patrol man would have pointed out before cuffing me and ruining my impeccable driving record. Ok, I admit, this is a little dramatic. And I think I have a speeding ticket on my record anyway. Point is, my imagination runs wild in the morning and I decided to cancel the appointment.

After getting off the phone with the vet’s office, I felt hungry. I also felt relieved because the assistant told me Ellie doesn’t need her shots until August, something we both appreciate I’m sure. A few days ago I bought two baguettes from Lee’s Sandwiches on Larkin and Eddy. I wanted just one, but it was two for $1.50! What a steal. So, there I was, hungry and stuck with one and half very dry baguettes. The obvious solution: French toast! The French call it pain perdu which literally means “lost bread.” To be perfectly honest, those baguettes were pretty lost to begin with. I love Vietnamese sandwiches, but the bread on its own doesn’t really hold up. At least not the Lee’s baguettes. A quick trip to the corner store for some milk and about 30 minutes later I had my breakfast.

I made this according to a loose interpretation of how my mother and her mother have made French toast for me in the past. Being young, lazy, and not much of a sugar fiend I didn’t include any of the powdered stuff that makes a nice addition. You might also look into adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I totally did after taking the picture.

French Toast
• some kind of aging bread
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 egg
• cinnamon (to taste)
• 1 peach
• maple syrup
• real butter (unsalted and lots of it)

First, cut the bread into slices if someone has not already done so for you. Then whisk together the milk, egg, and cinnamon in a bowl. I usually whisk until it’s a little frothy (no reason). Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat and add one to two tablespoons of butter. While it melts, soak the pieces of bread - about 10 seconds each side depending on thickness - in the batter. Make sure they pick up some of the cinnamon because it will be delicious later on. After the butter has melted, lower the heat slightly and add the pieces of bread to the pan. Cook until the first side is browned and then turn over. I, after forgetting to do this earlier and now forgot to mention it earlier in the post, will now suggest you preheat your oven or toaster oven to 200 degrees. When the pieces are browned on both sides, transfer them to the oven to keep warm. This will also ensure you get the inside of your toast cooked if you happen to slice the bread thick and then cook it too fast. Slice your peach and get out the maple syrup and butter. Remove the pieces from the oven, smother them in butter and syrup, and enjoy!