Tawdry Talk

I have a monthly newsletter sign-up sheet located here: - if you provide your mailing address, you’ll sign up for the monthly drawing for a free 120-minute massage coupon to use or give away as you choose.

My neighbor found out her dog could hardly hear so she took it to the veterinarian. He found the problem was hair in it’s ears and cleaned both ears and the dog could hear fine. The vet told the lady if she wanted to keep this from reoccurring she should go to the store and get some “Nair” hair remover and rub in it’s ears once a month.

The lady goes to the drug store and gets some “Nair” hair remover. At the register the druggist tells her “If you’re going to use this under your arms don’t use deodorant for a few days.”

The lady says “I’m not using it under my arms.”

The druggist says “If you’re using it on your legs don’t shave for a couple of days.”

The lady says “I’m not using it on my legs either, and if you must know I’m using it on my schnauzer.”

The druggist says “Stay off your bicycle for a week.”

So, I ended up making neitherof the recipes I thought originally, but instead prepared a Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash and Leeks, which was so warm and filling and yummy yummy good. I had albadger and hardybear bring a loaf of bread and salad ingredients, and we had a simple caesar salad with a fresh loaf of french bread, which went perfectly well with the risotto.

1 large butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil

8 cups (about) vegetable (or chicken) stock

3 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
3 cups arborio rice
3/4 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place squash on large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Roast until tender and beginning to brown, stirring occasionally, about 40 minutes.

Bring stock to simmer in heavy large saucepan. Reduce heat to very low; cover and keep stock warm.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in another heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add leeks and sauté until soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Add rice; stir 1 minute. Add wine and simmer until absorbed, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup hot stock; simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently. Add remaining stock 1/2 cup at a time, allowing stock to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently, until rice is tender and mixture is creamy, about 25 minutes longer. Add roasted squash, cream, Parmesan cheese and sage; stir until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

Makes 8 first-course or 6 main-course servings.

I got a fabulous NAGGH present from albadger: Half my airfare to Fiesta!!!

Wednesday, January 12 - Oakland(OAK) to Tucson(TUS)
Flight 2226
Depart Oakland(OAK) at 01:00 PM and
arrive in Tucson(TUS) at 05:00 PM

Tuesday, January 18 - Tucson(TUS) to Oakland(OAK)
Flight 995
Depart Tucson(TUS) at 04:05 PM and
arrive in Oakland(OAK) at 06:10 PM

So, I’m making dinner tonight for the gang, as we do our oft-delayed gift exchange tonight. I already finished my oatmeal-applesauce cookies, using applesauce and a really ripe banana instead of eggs - dhpbear is allergic to eggs. I’m about to head out to the market to pick up stuff to make either a curried squash soup, or a polenta and black bean casserole… I can’t decide. Maybe I’ll know once I get there.

What do you get when you mix seven gay men with one of their families for the first time? Does hilarity ensue?

Somehow, the Sunday Dinner™ gang ended up over at Tom’s (tardis) house last night to meet his family. Dad (Tom, Jr.) was a nice guy, for a Republican, and Mom (Debbie), just came into the kitchen and with hardybear, whipped up a yummy dinner. The brothers, Jim and Dave (I think those are their names), were much more reserved, and I think perhaps shocked, at finding the house full of bears, all engaged in that hypersonic, multithreaded free-ranging conversation that gay men are wont to do.

I told my story about life on a aircraft carrier and what an aircraft take-off is like, and how that trains one to sleep through anything. That story seemed to go over well. Others had interesting tidbits to share, too.

bigjohnsf had a dessert date for Alan W.’s birthday, and hardybear wanted to get home, so the three of us headed out early, back across the bay to Frank-baby.

Overall, it was a better evening than I had orignally anticipated.

So, I took three boneless skinless chicken breasts, and cut them into bite-sized cubes, grated about an inch of a ginger root I had laying around, heated my oil up to just starting to smoke. I put in a thawed package of pearl onions and started to cook them until they were just barely starting to turn, then added the cut up trio of bell peppers, red, yellow, and green. next, i added that grated ginger, and then the chicken cubes. When they were getting near done, I put a teaspoon of a thai spice blend into the pan, and a cup of mead, some soy sauce and let that all cook, then added some cornstarch.

The mead in the sauce was really wonderful, especially with the heat of the spices and the bite of the ginger. Served over rice cooked with chicken stock, it was a fun, quick meal for bigjohnsf and I.

Of course, eating it while watching CNN’s coverage of the Tsunami, made my appetite seems less important.

I have been listening to the radio and reading websites about the tsunami’s aftermath, but tonight during supper - a stirfry of chicken breasts, pearl onions, and red,green, and yellow peppers in a mead-soy-ginger sauce over rice - I watched footage of the waves devastating huge swaths of the world for the first time. My guts are all churned up about this, and I feel on the verge of tears.

Please donate to the Red Cross if you can.

So, I got to talk to my family on Christmas, calling my younger sister, Vel, and my older sister, Erica. Then I called Bob and Jeff, then my parents. After that, it was time to eat dinner. bigjohnsf had made a prime rib roast, and Herman and I made mashed potatoes, steamed asparagus and green beans, a green salad, and a spaghetti squash with a basil cream sauce. John made pop-overs.

urso, tardis, Herman, John and I feasted upon this supper with a bottle of cabernet sauvignon whose label I don’t recall, except that it was from California and 1999, but pretty tasty. I had two glasses.

The night before, after I had finished assembling and wrapping the gifts, I had a glass of Porter’s Incorrigible, the ginger liqueur I had made back in November. I think I found a good balance between the bite of the ginger and the simple syrup. It was sweet and warm going down, something I think ginger lovers will enjoy.

Yesterday ws spent in a cleaning frenzy. OK, not a frenzy, but a relaxed day of cleaning my room - putting it back into shape. These holidays, with travel, all the massages, and computer work have not exactly been the most tidy of times. But now it’s time to get back into ship-shape. A tidy room helps to order one’s thoughts, especially when one has to both work and relax in one’s room.

I joined Netflix yesterday, and queued up 17 movies.

I don’t have much laundry to do today before I’m done with my cleaning.

Bob made it back safe and sound to New Mexico, from his whirlwind visit back home with jeffbear63.

I get to buy my ticket to Fiesta tomorrow - hooray!

I got my Thank You notes mailed off with the wonderul note cards that urso got me for two years ago’s North American Gift-giving Holiday, and now I’m tackling my room - I’ve already completely dusted off and alphabetized my CDs and videos, now I’m going through the next piece of my room: the dresser and my storage shelves on the dresser.

( a reverie of tidiness )

I want to simplify my belongings even more, but right now, I think I have pared down as much as I can at the moment. Where UGH really needs help is with John - his disability has largely prevented him from going through a mountain of stuff he inherited from his grandmother (and others, I think). He just does not have the physical ability to do it, so Herman and I have come up with the crazy idea: a weekend of labor, where John helps us by offering guidance, and we do the actual work of sorting and discarding, then repacking the rest.

The idea is get rid of about three-quarters of the stuff, much of which is going to go to the local thrift stores, some will be discarded, and the kept things to be put in a more proper place.

We need your help! We would like someone with a pick-up truck to help take some of this stuff away to the various thrift stores on the Sunday of the weekend of labor. Possibly, another person or two to help carry stuff down the stairs to the truck, and unload the truck at the thrift stores and and/or drop-off points.

We are thinking about doing this at the end of January, like January 21-23 timeframe or the the 28-30. It’ll be fun, with m
usic and food, and laughter. Can you help?