Bolognese Meat Sauce

Ragù alla Bolognese

It wasn't long ago that I showed you guys a Cathy comic of the title character gorging on all sorts of comfort food during the holiday season-- and that started with Thanksgiving. President's Day (my first ever, not that anything really happened today) is nearly over, and yet as Phil the groundhog said that there'd be six more weeks of winter, the waist on my pajamas is threatening a coup. Well, not really, and though I feel a little, er, cuddlier than normal, this very kind scale next to me says I'm fine. The problem is every time I fix a meal for myself, it turns out to be a million calories, because at freezing temperatures you feel like rewarding yourself with really tasty food.

Thank goodness that I'm not licensed to drive in this country and I love walking (even if it is at dermis-fracturing temperatures). So to get to the local Path-Mark, I have to walk 1.9 miles at least. That's most of the afternoon getting there and back (don't worry, there's a produce market 6 minutes away by foot). Part of me is thinking that as long as the produce market is there, I should really stay away from meat and dairy if I'm not going to go to the gym like I did back at home. The part of me controlling my hands made deelicious burgers and spag bol.

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Raspberry Macarons

Macaron Framboise

This is my entry to the 29th Edition of The Blog Rounds, hosted by Dr. Em Dy of Pulse. The theme is LOOOOVE! Ack.
When I was standing in line at 4 in the morning on New Year's Day at the check-in counter of the airport, there were two American women behind me who made Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie seem like the kindest, most intelligent creatures ever. In whiny voices, they'd think (using the term loosely) out loud, "Why are we the only ones in New Year wear?" (uh because only people who absolutely HAVE to leave for their jobs leave on New Year's Day instead of spending it happily with their families?) "What airport doesn't have a McDonald's? I'm not going to be eating in no fucking Jollibee," and other such gems. I thought to myself, Lord, if ever I get married, let it not be for this.

I keep chuckling every time I remember the travesty that was Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson's marriage. Each time Nick would finally get a brief respite from inane questions about what's inside a can of tuna and gets to party with his male friends, Jessica calls him up to ask him whether bratwurst is made of beef or pork. How unfortunate that his severe loneliness was documented, but at least now he's out of it. Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt of The Hills seem to be heading for the same trainwreck, and I'm beginning to wonder if Heidi deserves Spencer (he who would name his adopted African baby "Dunk" (skip to 6:27 in the clip)) if she doesn't get out now, blinded by the promise of multimillion-dollar deals if they tie the knot. That's two less idiots to infect the pool of single people.

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Akronicity

Hi everyone and welcome (again)! Today's weather in beautiful Noo Joisey is probably a snowstorm. I'm not too sure because when you say storm/typhoon in the Philippines, it usually means extremely heavy rain and strong winds that sometimes howl. Snow is deceptively light and benign-looking, though I'm aware there's a lot of danger in it. And since it's not falling straight down, I guess that means it's a snowstorm. I took the opportunity of being stuck indoors to clean the bathroom, throw a robe over my pajamas so as not to titillate my neighbors too much, and struggle with the garden hose outside in the snow to blast the patina of germs on the trash can into oblivion. And now the time has come to post again, yay! And I begin with a tour of the first non-Joisey city I visited in the East coast: Akron, Ohio.

First thought: wow, it's kind of a winter wonderland. Only lake Erie is separating it from Canada. So cold that the skin of my legs threatened to progress into an ichthyosis-like state. My heels progressed as much, and I got two cracks on each foot, minute but enough to cause sharp pain with each step. I didn't let that deter me from getting my "tour" in, though. By now they are completely healed (and lint-from-socks-free, ugh) thanks to CVS Pharmacy's Heel Balm (for general and diabetic foot care) and a pumice stone (healed amazingly quickly-- 3 days). Rest of my skin managed with advanced therapy moisturizing lotion.

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