So I've been doing all kinds of crazy stuff lately. Well, crazy in the kitchen... and garden.

My mom let me take over our three planting beds (made from salvaged shelves... really!) and I started vegetable gardens. I used starts for the tomatoes and bell peppers, and transplanted most of last year's herbs (three kinds of oregano, my cilantro, marjoram, and the sage). I left the mint in the planter, as it had kind of gone insane. It continues to go insane. It is prolific, especially the peppermint.

I started bush beans from seeds, as well as parsley, cucumbers, basil, and soybeans. I have also planted runner beans, zucchini, and artichokes, though they haven't started to come up yet. I have four little soybean sprouts. I also recently got a Japanese eggplant, habenero, and a peppercini (all starts). They've been planted.

The cilantro is going absolutely insane. It grew to be about three feet tall. The tomatoes are also having a field day. My bush beans are growing well and I can see little buds forming. The tomatoes are covered with flowers and I have a few green fruits growing. I also have a couple of bell peppers. They're only the size of golf balls, but still, yay!

Crazily, some of the roots left over from when I moved the lemon verbena actually turned into new plants. So now I have a few babies growing. :-) Awww so cute. I have another baby... I think it's one of the oreganos.

Oh, I seem to have successfully started a new thyme plant from a cutting. Yesss!

So, Crazy Bitch in the Kitch... I've been cooking a lot and being more creative. Nobody has ever minded my chocolate cake, but I wanted to try something new. Enter (you already know this if you've been reading my facebook) white chocolate lavender truffles. It's my own creation. I used familiar proportions for the ganache, but chose the flavorings all my own. Definite win there.

I also made my first baked seitan. It was good. I plan to do it again soon. I am having a bit of trouble on texture. The boiled seitan was spongy. It tasted okay but the texture was majorly icko. The baked loaf-roast was great, but the seasonings need some work (in short, the technique and general proportions are good, but it needs some tweaking). I also tried cutlets, and while they look cool and taste pretty good, I was again disappointed by the texture. It was too rubbery. The baked was good on texture, but still not quite as tender as I wanted. The cutlets MAJORLY failed on tenderness. They shall be fried into fajitas, I think. Or maybe made into a Faux Philly Francais. Here's hoping for a nummy. I read some suggestions about using a different kind of flour mixed in. I have some chickpea flour, so maybe I'll give that a whirl next time. Oh, yeah, and biggest winner? Coconut Banana Cream Pie Spiked with Rum. Majorly yum. So yum, in fact, that it took three people just two days to eat it. Honestly, I ate maybe a total of a fifth of it. Mom and Dan ate the rest. Wow.

Unfortunately, having family in town (and doing all of this baking) has inspired me to eat a lot more than usual. We go out, order in, and the food is never very healthy or sensible. Boo. So I've gained five pounds in the last month. I do not like these five pounds, so tomorrow I begin my pre-detox. Then I will do a detox. Hopefully, this helps me lose a little bit of the water weight I'm sure I gained from all of the salty foods and gets me back on track in terms of healthy eating. I haven't totally decided which system to follow. I'd like to do a seven-day, but it's hard. A one-day mono-diet detox could also be good. Maybe I should just do the seven-day (if it gets too tricky I can abbreviate it) and then do the one-days to maintain or something. I dunno.

Well, it's getting late and I have to send Uncle Sam money tomorrow (darn you 1099). So I bid you all adieu.

http://totallylookslike.com/2009/03/23/chris-brown-totally-looks-like-a-douche/#comments

Don't you hate it when you have the kids in your class who think they're better than the class and don't pay attention? Like, they talk and laugh and joke around and listen to headphones while you're trying to teach? And then they turn in their assignments and they failed to even read the assignment so they fail the assignment and then send you an email asking why?

Dude. If I ask for a paragraph, give me a paragraph. Do not give me a page-and-a-half-long block of text.

A meme! Aw, meme. It's been so long.

Anyway. Comment with up to five things/subjects that you associate with me, and I'll make a post elaborating on them.

Not especially.

I'm not so into haiku.

They kind of bore me.

Tags: haiku, poetry, solstice, writer's block

Happy Belated Thanksgiving.

Turkey must be a pretty crazy (in a bad way) time of the year for turkeys. I mean the birds, not the people. Can you imagine having your population systematically decimated over such a short period of time? Not cool.

Anyway, best wishes to everyone and lots of love to you and your families. This has been a tough year on a lot of people and I hope all of you had tons to be thankful for.

I found a website that tells me how to brew kombucha tea. Not only that, but I also found one that tells me how to make my own starter. Yay!

Ugh.

So, I'm having lots of trouble with Korea. Stupid Korea.

Like, I'm not sure that I want to go anymore. But I don't feel especially like staying here.

I'm still pissed off about the whole my "friend" in Korea isn't speaking to me and still has my stuff. I know I should let it go, but it's really difficult.

At this point, I can't even really think of the pros and cons. Even the application process is feeling kind of overwhelming. I mean, there's so much to do. I have to get another copy of my diploma (seriously... they want the original, but hell no I'm not going to send that... one gal at my school did send her diploma and when she got it back it was folded in half, ripped, and there was a lipstick print on it... fuck that), I have to get my own criminal background check done, I have to apply, I have to move there.

I don't know if it's worth it. Will my school be good? Will I make cool friends, or will everyone be stupid? Will the people that I knew when I was last there be cool, or will they be jackasses and I'll never find out what happened? Would it be better for me to have an incident that belongs on fail.com or would I rather wonder what if? Will people die when I'm over there? Will my cat be okay? Will I make enough money with all this crazy inflation?

If I don't go... Will I be able to find enough students that I can afford rent, gas, loan repayment, and credit card repayment? Will I be happy with my work and life here?

How much of my apprehension is based in genuine concern? How much of it is based in me just feeling crappy about a few current situations?

Should I just try to fly to Korea and see what happens? That's going into debt on an off-chance. Is that a good idea? No, but is going to Korea when I feel conflicted a good idea? What the hell.

Ugh, stupid life.

Current Mood: frustrated

I personally couldn't care less. I think the movie is designed for people who are more than ten years younger than me. Haven't read the books, won't see the movie.

Tags: twilight movie, writer's block

So, ESL and composition teachers!

I need some ideas. I have a group of students who are all ESL and not quite so good at understanding the assignments. If the topic is broad, they don't know where to begin. If it's narrow, they want to change it to be something else. I'm kind of stumped about what to do here. It's been a long time since I've taught composition and I had forgotten how maddening it is when students don't answer the assignment.

Any ideas for me?