It could have been great

I got my upgrade confirmation a couple of days before my flight - 1st class all the way, woohoo! I though that my leisure travel was obviously more blessed by the whimsical travel gods than my business travel.

Except that I missed my international connection (stupid freezing rain!).

Was rerouted.

With an extra connection.

That I almost missed.

Because the weather that in no way hindered the departure of my original flight managed to significantly push back the arrival of the incoming plane for my new flight.

Managed to get seats in coach (which is fine, except when you've already committed in your mind to being comfy in 1st, wah!).

Arrived "only" 6 hours late.

Found a cab.

Got stuck in hideous, stop-and-go-jerky, massively polluting traffic.

With a driver that couldn't find my hotel.

Even with directions.

Sigh.

The travel gods are not completely cruel, however, and my return trip was a balm to my trepidatious soul. Quick, sunny cab ride to the airport, minimal queuing time, upgraded all the way, no delays, "no weather," priority luggage handling, a smooth flight, no hassles through customs, and perfect pickup. Good to be home didn't even begin to cover it...

Like an elephant

Turns out that people really do notice if you bring a different person to the company party each year...

*********************
The only things I have to say about the experience, other than whee! prizes! are:

a) more fun than expected

b) NO MORE COWBELL!!!

Perfect, just perfect

She gave the counter one last finishing swipe and stood back, admiring the newly gleaming kitchen surfaces. "Ahhh," she breathed, "clean again."  She grabbed the top of the bucket of grapes and whirled towards the living room...promptly emptying the loosely capped container all over the floor, under the stove, beneath the fridge...

"F*CK!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Grrrr. Angry!

Sometimes he speaks to me with such breathtaking disrespect that I want to PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE (the natural evolution, I believe, of "kick him in the knee.")

Nice girls (eh, girls in general) are taught to contain their anger, to play the part of the peacemaker, to not display unbecoming fits of rage. Most of the time, I exemplify these teachings. That is, I hold it in until I explode in a blast of righteous, shrewish wrath. He counters that he has no way of knowing how deeply he's pissed me off unless I speak up. At the time. Much like in training a puppy. Well, YOU ARE HEREBY PUT ON NOTICE.

Breakthrough

Dumplings for vegits, it can be done! More specifically, by me! To ring in the new year (a day late, I think, as "ringing in" generally accompanies the eve of the new year, but who cares?), there were dumplings, wontons, wine, and school. What's that? School. Yes, internet class, or, as I like to call them, the Best Lectures Ever, because you can participate while drinking wine and making dinner. OH. YEAH.

Anyhow, so the bemeated dumplings were great, per usual, and I found that making less can be more, because you can press the dumplings down into the pan to get Even More Crispy Bottoms (sounds like a band!), which is awesome. And crunchy. The vegits dumplings were made in exactly the same manner, except using the precious, precious veggieburger, and, according to the critics, tasted great. Personally, I liked the meat dumplings better, but that's not what's important here. What's important is that we can all now participate equally and without guilt or indigestion in the mass consumption of dumplings. How's that for a New Year's treat?

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!

Protein, starch, and a veg

Eating "like an American" cracks me up sometimes. Here is my piece of fish, there is your piece of fish. We each get a pile of starch, and another pile of something colorful. And then...hands off! Which is fine, because we have the exact same things in nearly the same portions anyway. It's rather cute, really, and I feel very 1950s and middle-class (both good things) when we do it. For example:

Still, I really do think there are two better ways to eat (at a table. All bets are off for finger and street food). To wit:

a) Family style. All food is our food, we have lots of different things on the table at once, and we fight over the rapidly decreasing favorite items. Diversity, drama, and fun, all wrapped into one! Plus, for those of us that like to eat out of bowls and mix all the food together, this method for serving draws far less attention to the unattractiveness of your personal serving.

b) Continental style. Yes, the Europeans really do some things right. Multiple courses of distinct foods, flavors, and textures, all made up into a harmoniously whole, eating experience. Though, the serving of courses still strikes me as "dining" rather than eating.

And now for a completely random and gratuitous fish-blackening shot:

Yum.

Dumpling night!

The other night, I was seized with a pre-Chinese New Year's desire to eat make and eat dumplings. Lots of them! Really, that's the only way to make them, because it's silly to set up and only make a few. I tried the yellow wrappers, which for years I'd thought were no different from the whiter dumpling skins I'd been using my whole life, except, you know, yellow. Turns out they are thinner, a lot thinner, but otherwise taste much the same. Probably best used for a more delicate vegetarian filling, though they held up pretty well. I think they would have fallen apart if I were trying to assemble them far in advance of the frying.

The first pan was chock-full!

Cooking the rest, extreme close-up (well, as extreme as my camera gets without sticking my face in the food!).

Pretty! And delicious. Turns out, (well, I already knew this) it's really easy to eat many, many dumplings...

Onesie factory

Christmas craftiness! Now that they've all been distributed, we can review the process in pictures. The execution of this project distinctly resembled an assembly line and was a lot of fun. It's pronounced, for those not in the know, "ON-zee." At least, it is after you've made a dozen of 'em.

Source materials. 5 colors is surprisingly not limiting. Too-fine stencils, however, are.

Technology-based drying.

The results! Eh, most of them.

Some favorites.