Let the Games Begin

Week 2 of 2006 has officially begun and I'm sure we couldn't be more thrilled. Waking up this Monday morning brings us all one day closer to death. The subway was full of the usual shuffling commuters, all with that I-can't-believe-it's-Monday 10,000 yard stare. By the look on everyone's faces I could tell that I'm not the only one who had trouble sleeping last night. I know a few people who find it challenging to get a good night's sleep before the work week begins.

Saturday was truly a lazy day. I did go to the gym, I did play a few games of Scrabble Online. But other than that I chilled out, surfed the internet, napped and watched the movie Alexander and then watched Wedding Crashers later in the evening with Jon. I was going to cook but felt like dragging the lazy feeling into the evening. Jon indulged me and took me to my favorite Japanese place.

I went to the supermarket yesterday but didn't enjoy the shopping as much as I usually do. Usually I find the supermarket relaxing, walking rhythmically up and down the aisles looking at the familiar products reassuringly in same place as the last time I went and the time I went before that. But this time it was too crowded. It seemed like someone always wanted to be standing where I was standing. Either I was in their way or they were in mine.

I did make a couple of good meals. First, I made a vegetable soup with a giant potato, carrots, celery, and cherry tomatoes. I added bouillon cubes, cumin, ground red pepper, salt and pepper. In the blender I added 1/4 cup of butter and a tablespoon of heavy cream. The soup turned out better than I expected. I added the cumin because I saw a tip on a cooking show that said because cumin and carrots are in the same family they complement each other well. The soup was warming and comforting with a little spicy kick from the tobasco sauce I added when everything was boiling together.

Before I set up the soup to boil, I started preparing our evening meal by pureeing a red bell pepper together with a vinaigrette to use as a marinade on a London Broil. I left that covered in the fridge for three hours. I seared that on my handy dandy grill pan for 10 minutes and finished it off under the broiler for 5 minutes. The meat was just perfect, a little bit pink. That was served with a beautiful green salad that I had made with some great fresh romaine I found at our local green grocer.

I really do enjoy cooking.