Chicago: Totally hands-free!!!

I found a reasonably-priced guitar I like at Chicago Music Exchange that I might buy, if I can sell my current guitar for a decent amount.

That is not as exciting to me, but I won't lie to you people, I would probably eat mustard-crusted styrofoam.

Tonight I'm going to chill and do a homemade pizza, I only wish I hadn't finished all my netflix stuff yesterday.

So you didn't end up trading guitars with that dude?

I'm getting a zit.

I am wary of trading guitars after the discussion on the IMM board. I'm worried I'm going to get dicked over. Plus he was really uncommunicative about meeting up.

It's on my left cheek, right below my eye, so I can constantly see it.

This is *the zittiest summer ever*.

Nick,
* I like tofu when it's dry, so I'd just press it between plates or s.t.
* What did you think of the other recipe?

The potato cakes sound v. interesting and I would like to try, but I bet I would love the tofu.

For the office potluck today, I made "tofu ranchero," which is basically just ratatouille but with salsa instead of marinara sauce and with added tofu. Ingredients: extra-firm tofu (seasoned with a little cumin and cayenne), carrots, zucchini, red onions, bell peppers (I used red, yellow, orange, and green), and Trader Joe's Fresh Mild Salsa.

Not super-creative or anything, but it turned out pretty well and people seemed to like it.

i like potatos and peanuts

* I like tofu when it's dry, so I'd just press it between plates or s.t.

I never knew how to prepare tofu until Kr showed me how to drain it by cutting it into three long slices and then stacking them on top of each other, with paper towels in between and something heavy on top. Sautees much better that way.

I never cook with tofu. That is Nick's department. I need to learn. I'll try that.

nick, are you trading in the fender? the cyclone or tornado or waterspout or chinook or whatever it is?

You know how else you can dry tofu? By freezing it and then weighing it down. VERY firm tofu results. The only kind I can stomach.

weighing it down as it thaws.

Ok, so do you just stick the whole tofu block in its packaging in the freezer? Because I only like it really firm as well.

i like tofu. always mash it under a heavy book. usually i slice and bake or cut up into very small squares and sautee in sesame-chili oil + ginger + garlic til it's browned then splash with soy sauce at the end. makes any stir fry extra yumz.

usually i cut into at least 8 slices (horizontally) when i press it because otherwise the paper towel gets soaked and it's not sufficiently dry.

i would drain the water out before freezing, but i have never frozen it before. it just seems like freezing the tofu water would cause problems.

I stick the whole package in the freezer and leave it there until I'm ready to use it.

Never tried it, but I bet you could drain it first, then freeze it for a day or so for even FIRMER results.

I learned this at a restaurant I used to work at.

my only experiment with tofu that went badly was the tofu-based peanut sauce that used silken tofu and was just really kind of gross and gloppy.

Wow. The folks at Apartment Therapy sometimes sound completely batshit insane. I found a woman's regularly updated blog that seems pretty much devoted to AT, Cures, and housework, but in a really personal, reflective way. She logs all of her chores and what she felt while doing them.

good luck with the tofuz, i'm outtie.

WHOA. How'd it get to be 4:30??

Okay, I had this zit on my cheek, and then my OCD kicked in and I couldn't stop messing with it. Now I have more of a wound. I've been rolling with a Nelly-style band aid the last couple days and telling people I got in a knife fight.

I think I'm going to put a peroxide compress on it for a LONG time tonight. That always works.

Hmm.

you could do an aspirin mask as well, the salicylic acid in it is apparently really good. and you could make it with icy cold water just as a way to cool it down.

i also had ice cream today. well, i let mint choc chip ice cream melt a bit until it was soupy, and mixed it with some leftover (homemade vanilla) whipped cream. YUM.

15 min

k, are you trading in the fender? the cyclone or tornado or waterspout or chinook or whatever it is?

-- chicago kevin, Monday, September 24, 2007 9:14 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

Yeah, it's a decent guitar and it looks awesome but I'm just really missing playing a semihollowbody. I thought I might like playing with a thinner tone for awhile but I just find myself trying to make the Fender sound like my old guitar.

for what it's worth, lisa and jered from the ponys both have epiphone dots and they love them. lisle switched to the tele to cut through the muddy sound they have but she recorded the album with it and it sounds fantastic. don't know if it's comparable in price to what you were looking at.

i made pizza burritos out of odds and ends from my fridge tonight, a couple of tortillas, some left over tomato sauce, the remnants of some mozz and romano cheese, a couple of slices of pepperoni and some red and green bell pepper wrapped in a tortilla and stuck in the toaster oven for 15 minutes. pretty fucking good if i do say so myself. i think i'll try this with like some bird and bbq sauce and sweet onion next time.

That sounds awesome. My grandpa used to make pizza omlettes the morning after we got delivery, incorporating chopped-up leftover pizza in with the eggs. It was fucking magic.

That sounds fucking bizarre.

Hey, I decided to take that job.

Pizza omelet sounds bizarre, I mean. Pizza burrito sounds right on time.

You decided to take the job where they wouldn't tell you how much you would get paid?!?!?

Freezing tofu gives it a different texture - it's kind of spongy but more cohesive. I prefer the pressing method as described by Amanda. That has more of a tofu texture as I have come to expect it.

Oh they told me how much I would get paid. It's decent and I'll get a raise from decent to good in January. Also as a state employee, I will be a member of union which means I can sleep on my desk and come to work drunk and pull my pants down in response to a perceived insult from a coworker and my GD union will make sure I keep my job.

Also it's a good job for starting out as a lawyer and the collective bargaining agreement limits the number of hours I can work a week so I can still be a radical activist in my off time, while spending no more than 38 hours a week ensuring that workers injured on the job get their just deserts. And then in five years I can open my own workers' comp practice and slick my hair back and have TV commercials.

Is anybody having a Halloween party this year? Nick, is your dad coming to party with us again?

I can sleep on my desk and come to work drunk and pull my pants down in response to a perceived insult from a coworker and my GD union will make sure I keep my job.

this begs the question, do you need an assistant?

why should i go to the bottle tonight? why shouldn't I?

Jenny, spend your off hours planning my paralegal career. I aspire not to be a professional, but a PARAprofessional.

I will pay you in cat hair and Old Style Light.

who's playing rw?

why you should- it's free. pbr is $1.25 while it lasts.

some metal bands??? mostly i am bored.

Oh and I will work in the Thompson Center, which is even cooler than that time I worked in the Ogilve Transportation Center. Also now maybe I can find the wherewithal to change the address on my f'n driver's license.

Evan are you back in Chicago forever or what? I'm sorry if you've been over all this before.

y, sort of

Baroness is playing tonight, all the indie kids who kind of like metal are creaming themselves over Baroness. Except for me. I think their album is pretty boring. I don't know, it's free and they might be fun live.