Almost Vegetarian Delight

I made an awesome dinner tonight.  I mixed up some stuff I bought at the supermarket today with some stuff I had lying around: the recipe is simple, delicious, and healthy.

Kale and Goat Cheese Quinoa 

makes 4 huge servings

1 cup quinoa

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 slice bacon

1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms, any kind

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

big bunch of kale or swiss chard, leaves removed and coarsely chopped

1 can garbanzo beans, drained 

1 can cannalini beans, drained

4 oz. goat cheese, divided

Prepare quinoa as directed on the box.  Meanwhile, add bacon to a hot pan and cook until crispy.  Remove and set aside.  Add the mushrooms to the pan and saute in the bacon drippings, adding olive oil if necessary to coat.  Add garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, about a minute.  Chop up the bacon and add it back.  Add greens and about a tablespoon of water.  Stir, cover, and cook until the greens wilt and become soft.  Add both cans of beans.  To the quinoa, add the balsamic vinegar and stir.  Combine the quinoa and the kale mixture in the pan.  Serve with goat cheese crumbed over the top of each bowl.  YUM. 

Mike left for London last night and I have been finding notes from him all over the apartment  Like this one, which he left in my top drawer.  

When he's gone I am more grateful for him than ever.  Not just because he walks the dog in the mornings and takes our the garbage, but because he is just so much fun to be around and I have come to rely on his company.  Lola and I will both be happy to have him home in a week.  

The Anti-Bride

Mike tells people I've done most of the wedding planning stuff because he's no good at it.  I cringe.  Ali and I went to the Kleinfeld's accessory sale (and found nothing) earlier this month and they were filming Say Yes to the Dress in the next room.  She jokingly asked me if I would ever go on that show. (I think there's a pretty obvious answer to that question.)  I told her that if TLC ever made a show about future brides who procrastinate, cut corners, and don't give a crap about most of the details, then I'd be the perfect episode.  Props go to brides who care, and I'm trying but I'm generally useless.  I see all these cute things but I have zero motivation to actually use them or come up with my own ideas.  (Flowers?  Centerpieces?  Whatever, something with a lot of green.  Bridesmaid shoes?  Ali, go find some. Table linens?  Um....?)

I love the broad ideas surrounding weddings: getting everyone you love all in one place at one time, dressing up, eating and drinking, and making a public commitment to your person.  I love all that.  But there are several things about weddings that I don't understand one bit, and I will likely try to avoid in our own wedding.   Numbers two and three are still on the table to some degree, but probably won't make it to the final cut.

1. Garter toss.  I feel no desire to have Mike dig up my skirt to some strip-teasey song for a useless article of clothing that no one ever wears anymore.  I'm not wearing one, he's not tossing it.  
2. Wedding cake.  The whole thing about freezing the top layer and eating it on your first anniversary is nauseating.  Do people seriously do that?  Plus, I don't like cake unless my grandmother made it.  Cupcakes are cuter. 
3. Favors.  What in the world am I supposed to pick out to give to 100+ people of varying ages and interests?  Everything I've seen so far is maxed out on the cheese scale or just kitschy.  The only nice ones are always something made by the bride or the bridesmaids. We all know that's not happening.  
4. Religious undertones/overtones in the ceremony.  We're getting married outside for a reason.  Everyone knows we don't go to church.  Why would we pretend like we do? 
5. The tradition of not seeing each other before the ceremony.  I live with this man.  I see him all the time.  I want to see my friends during the reception and cocktail hour, and therefore will do the pictures beforehand so I don't have to sneak away and miss half the fun. 

All in all, aside from the whole getting everyone together, eating and drinking, making a commitment part, weddings are weird. :)

Power

An estimated 180 workers are currently working like dogs to prevent a nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, and risking their lives and their futures in the process.  Firefighters were reportedly called in yesterday to put out two separate fires in the containment unit of one of the reactors.  Trace amounts of radioactive materials have been detected in the area surrounding the plant.  News reports from all outlets assert that the situation is very serious.  An earthquake and a tsunami weren't enough to put these people through?

If you're paying attention, this should hit very close to home, especially for New Yorkers.  An estimated 30% of all of our state's power comes from nuclear plants.  In the Hudson Valley, that number is far higher.  When the planes hit the twin towers people suddenly realized that Indian Point was in their backyard.  What if terrorists target the reactors?  (We learned that Indian Point was designed withstand massive impacts like from that of an airplane without risking damage to the reactors.)  Though there isn't a history of natural disasters happening near us, people are now asking, what about an earthquake?  Could we become the sequel to Fukushima?  

In fact, one of the reactors at the plant does sit on a fault line.  Did anyone know that?  That is probably the weirdest thing I've learned in weeks.  I've never even heard of earthquakes in New York, but apparently, Indian Point is considered the highest risk nuclear plant in the country in terms of earthquake potential.  It's at higher risk for earthquakes than plants near the San Andreas in California.  Just this afternoon our Governor ordered a full safety inspection and review of the plant because of this very unnerving information.  

Nuclear power is almost completely emission-less.  The tiny carbon footprint it leaves helps to mitigate the effects of global warming.  It's also cheap, and it employs a fair amount of people.  These are the arguments to keep pushing nuclear power forward in our country.  

Not so fast: let's go over a few facts.  Japan is not Haiti.  It will recover from the earthquake part within a reasonable timeframe because it has money, influence. and infrastructure.  It's not Ukraine circa 1986.  The regulations for nuclear power in Japan are not substandard or inconsistently followed.  Japan is not Haiti or Ukraine, and this is still happening.  Japan is a rich, developed country with a fully functioning democratic government.  Sound familiar?  Maybe we should try to find a way to keep the lights on that doesn't risk the spillage of toxic materials that potentially stick around for millennia (plutonium's half life can be up to 80 million years, with plenty of other isotopes taking upwards of a half-century to decay).  I'm no expert, but maybe that should be something to seriously look into.  

Your Sunday Clothes

Here are a few things that I don't care about at all: award shows,  American Idol, and Charlie Sheen.  I care so little and am so annoyed with the outpouring of "news" regarding this man that I am reluctant even to write his name here, but whatever, he's everywhere.

Some things I do currently care about: workers' rights in Wisconsin, the new season of Radiolab (coming a week from today), and old school musicals with songs that get stuck in your head.  In particular, I'm on a Hello, Dolly kick at the moment.  If your only exposure to to this great romantic comedy/musical extravaganza is that stupid Wall-e movie, then you're really missing out.   It is an over-the-top two and a half hours of dramatic song and dance, cheesy yet melt-your-heart romantic moments, and some of the prettiest costumes ever.  To top that, part of it was filmed in Garrison, my beloved home town.  

Many Garrisonites our age don't even know about it because they don't have parents who were around when it was shot, and they didn't have a grandmother who had Gene Kelly staying in her house during the summer of 1960-something.  I, however, do have those parents - my father is supposedly in a shot riding a bike or something - and that grandmother, who still plays the soundtrack at least once a day on her surround sound system.  She also frequently asks anyone who'll listen why the movie producers bothered to bring Barbara Streisand up from New York when "they could have had the original Dolly right here!"  

Watch the video below to be enthralled by one of my favorite songs from the film.  I also love "Before the Parade Passes By" because it's so over-the-top dramatic, but there's no Garrison in that scene.  The beginning of Sunday Clothes is boring and Michael Crawford is a little creepy, but just watch it (I fast-forward to Barbara's part, around 1:30).  If you're from Garrison, are fond of Garrison, or just love cheesy and overblown musicals, you won't feel your time wasted as you watch the train pull up to "Yonkers" and head towards the city along the glorious Hudson River.  So very nostalgic.

PS - I do a great Barbara impersonation, in case you were wondering.