more gym, short guinea pig episode, and socializing

Another good workout. But my arms were sore afterwards, because after I'd done everything else, one of the fine roving trainers came over and told me I needed to support my lower back for the biceps curls, and then showed me lateral raises--a shoulder exercise--and talked me through two sets of 15 of those. Tricky, as I had to pay attention to my butt, knees, abdomen, and elbows while I did them.

( details, and numbers )

After exercising, I went over to Amy's Bread for a light supper. I got their last brie-and-apple sandwich, which was on a wholegrain walnut bread this time, and had it, toasted, with a cup of tea, then filled in the cracks with a rosemary roll.

Then I went down to the Village for a quick stint as a psych guinea-pig. The whole thing took about 15 minutes, including reading and signing a standardized consent form. I was asked a few demographic questions, including when my family on each side came to the US and what languages I speak; then to think about my family and friends and what they expect of me without writing anything, followed by quickly putting down a bunch of self-descriptions. Then I got to answer questions in a scenario that felt very realistic: person needs directions to a store that is having a going-out-of-business sale, but the friend she asks says "later" because she's reading an exciting book. I could easily see myself as being said friend.

At the end, I had a choice of a $5 payment then, or a lottery for a 1-in-20 chance of $100 later. I took the lottery, and asked the experimenter how many people did each. About half.

By then it was sleeting, so I took a crosstown bus two blocks and the #1 train one stop, instead of walking to Rose's Turn.

Rose's was almost empty when I got there, so I sat down in about our usual spot, and wrote some diary-type stuff (not for this journal) and listened to the piano player until roadnotes arrived. We talked, sang, and listened, and gradually more friends showed up: eleanor, fangorn, lawnrrd, and the delightfully weird Chuck Hancock (on sax and flute). Much Beatles, much Chicago, random other music, and I sang along to what I knew, as did plenty of other people. Roadnotes and I got to talking a little with a woman behind us, who was sitting alone and waiting for a friend. She asked if we were together, and I explained that we're not together in that sense, but we've known each other since 1975. She said we looked like good friends--which we do and are, and I had been rubbing Roadnotes's hair and back on and off. I eventually left because I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, and the nice woman behind us (whose name I have lost--Roadnotes, if you remember, please tell me) asked if I was leaving, and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. I walked out smiling and took the train home.

By about 181st Street, I was cold and unhappy (the train is still underground at that point, so I think it was me more than the ambient temperature). I developed a headache and had some trouble falling asleep despite two aspirin: maybe I should't drink alcohol two nights in the same week? A nasty holding-still-in-the-dark-doesn't-help sort of pain. Fortunately, it was gone when I woke up this morning.

more gym, short guinea pig episode, and socializing

Another good workout. But my arms were sore afterwards, because after I'd done everything else, one of the fine roving trainers came over and told me I needed to support my lower back for the biceps curls, and then showed me lateral raises--a shoulder exercise--and talked me through two sets of 15 of those. Tricky, as I had to pay attention to my butt, knees, abdomen, and elbows while I did them.

( details, and numbers )

After exercising, I went over to Amy's Bread for a light supper. I got their last brie-and-apple sandwich, which was on a wholegrain walnut bread this time, and had it, toasted, with a cup of tea, then filled in the cracks with a rosemary roll.

Then I went down to the Village for a quick stint as a psych guinea-pig. The whole thing took about 15 minutes, including reading and signing a standardized consent form. I was asked a few demographic questions, including when my family on each side came to the US and what languages I speak; then to think about my family and friends and what they expect of me without writing anything, followed by quickly putting down a bunch of self-descriptions. Then I got to answer questions in a scenario that felt very realistic: person needs directions to a store that is having a going-out-of-business sale, but the friend she asks says "later" because she's reading an exciting book. I could easily see myself as being said friend.

At the end, I had a choice of a $5 payment then, or a lottery for a 1-in-20 chance of $100 later. I took the lottery, and asked the experimenter how many people did each. About half.

By then it was sleeting, so I took a crosstown bus two blocks and the #1 train one stop, instead of walking to Rose's Turn.

Rose's was almost empty when I got there, so I sat down in about our usual spot, and wrote some diary-type stuff (not for this journal) and listened to the piano player until roadnotes arrived. We talked, sang, and listened, and gradually more friends showed up: eleanor, fangorn, lawnrrd, and the delightfully weird Chuck Hancock (on sax and flute). Much Beatles, much Chicago, random other music, and I sang along to what I knew, as did plenty of other people. Roadnotes and I got to talking a little with a woman behind us, who was sitting alone and waiting for a friend. She asked if we were together, and I explained that we're not together in that sense, but we've known each other since 1975. She said we looked like good friends--which we do and are, and I had been rubbing Roadnotes's hair and back on and off. I eventually left because I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, and the nice woman behind us (whose name I have lost--Roadnotes, if you remember, please tell me) asked if I was leaving, and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. I walked out smiling and took the train home.

By about 181st Street, I was cold and unhappy (the train is still underground at that point, so I think it was me more than the ambient temperature). I developed a headache and had some trouble falling asleep despite two aspirin: maybe I should't drink alcohol two nights in the same week? A nasty holding-still-in-the-dark-doesn't-help sort of pain. Fortunately, it was gone when I woke up this morning.

Daffodils

I have a small pot of small daffodils sitting on my desk. I like the large ones better, but at the local florist, the large daffodils looked past their prime, and these looked like they'd last longer. And they were less than half the price of the others.

Even if it weren't too cold to plant them outside right now, I suspect they'd be too great a temptation to random wanderers, here in early Spring when most of the crocuses haven't opened yet. And this way I get to look at them most of the day.

Daffodils

I have a small pot of small daffodils sitting on my desk. I like the large ones better, but at the local florist, the large daffodils looked past their prime, and these looked like they'd last longer. And they were less than half the price of the others.

Even if it weren't too cold to plant them outside right now, I suspect they'd be too great a temptation to random wanderers, here in early Spring when most of the crocuses haven't opened yet. And this way I get to look at them most of the day.

Chicken with orange sauce

I just made this up, and it can still use improvement, but it was tasty.

First, start some rice cooking. It should be ready before the chicken. I used basmati rice, but ordinary long-grained rice should be fine.

2 split skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 orange
1 shallot
about 1/4 red bell pepper
butter
orange juice
plum wine

This gets cooked in a large frying pan, with a cover.

Zest the orange. You want nice big strips, so the vegetable peeler works fine. Set aside zest. Peel remaining orange, and slice into rounds.
Dice shallot.
Dice red pepper.
Heat the pan, and melt butter (1 or 1.5 tablespoons) on a medium flame.
Saute shallot in butter for a minute or two. Add pepper. Saute another minute or two. Remove vegetables from pan and set aside (in a small covered bowl to keep warm).

Add more butter to the pan. When it melts, put the chicken in the pan. Brown, then turn to brown on the other side.

When the chicken has browned on both sides, put a splash of plum wine (probably about a tablespoon) in the pan. If there are any bits of the orange that don't look pretty, they go in too.

Cover. Cook for a few minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

When the chicken is basically cooked, add a bit of orange juice (a bit more than the plum wine), a tiny bit more plum wine because you're not sure, and the orange zest.

Cook another minute or two.

While it's finishing, spoon rice onto plates. Put each chicken breast on a plate with some rice. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Spoon the pepper-and-shallot mixture on top of the chicken.

Garnish with orange slices.

Eat, and discuss possible refinements.

cattitude suggested increasing the amount of liquid, so there will be sauce for the rice. One possibility would be to add a little bit of chicken broth, if convenient (we've taken to freezing it in ice cube trays, so we have one-ounce servings handy, but I didn't want to delay this by taking the time to defrost broth). A strong-flavored nut, like walnut or cashew, might work well. At this point you're close to an Afghani dish called shireen palow, which is basically a sweet rice pilaf, with orange peel and almonds. (I think it's almonds--it's been a while since we had Afghan food.)

A green vegetable would also go well with this, I think, both for added nutrition--there's not very much vegetable in it as it stands--and for flavor contrast. Maybe a salad with some Romaine or rocket or such; not just cucumber, much as I like it.

In practice, the orange-peeling was done in moments between everything else. The plum wine I used is (as the label says) white wine with plum flavor added--regular white wine should also work.

I may try this with lime next time.

I can't estimate the prep time well, because it included not only decision-making, but the discovery that our shallots are starting to sprout--in practice, this was done with the good parts of two shallots, but that's about equal to one shallot. I used a navel orange, not too big, because those are what we have; it has the advantage that I didn't have to worry about seeds in the garnish.

Chicken with orange sauce

I just made this up, and it can still use improvement, but it was tasty.

First, start some rice cooking. It should be ready before the chicken. I used basmati rice, but ordinary long-grained rice should be fine.

2 split skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 orange
1 shallot
about 1/4 red bell pepper
butter
orange juice
plum wine

This gets cooked in a large frying pan, with a cover.

Zest the orange. You want nice big strips, so the vegetable peeler works fine. Set aside zest. Peel remaining orange, and slice into rounds.
Dice shallot.
Dice red pepper.
Heat the pan, and melt butter (1 or 1.5 tablespoons) on a medium flame.
Saute shallot in butter for a minute or two. Add pepper. Saute another minute or two. Remove vegetables from pan and set aside (in a small covered bowl to keep warm).

Add more butter to the pan. When it melts, put the chicken in the pan. Brown, then turn to brown on the other side.

When the chicken has browned on both sides, put a splash of plum wine (probably about a tablespoon) in the pan. If there are any bits of the orange that don't look pretty, they go in too.

Cover. Cook for a few minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

When the chicken is basically cooked, add a bit of orange juice (a bit more than the plum wine), a tiny bit more plum wine because you're not sure, and the orange zest.

Cook another minute or two.

While it's finishing, spoon rice onto plates. Put each chicken breast on a plate with some rice. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Spoon the pepper-and-shallot mixture on top of the chicken.

Garnish with orange slices.

Eat, and discuss possible refinements.

cattitude suggested increasing the amount of liquid, so there will be sauce for the rice. One possibility would be to add a little bit of chicken broth, if convenient (we've taken to freezing it in ice cube trays, so we have one-ounce servings handy, but I didn't want to delay this by taking the time to defrost broth). A strong-flavored nut, like walnut or cashew, might work well. At this point you're close to an Afghani dish called shireen palow, which is basically a sweet rice pilaf, with orange peel and almonds. (I think it's almonds--it's been a while since we had Afghan food.)

A green vegetable would also go well with this, I think, both for added nutrition--there's not very much vegetable in it as it stands--and for flavor contrast. Maybe a salad with some Romaine or rocket or such; not just cucumber, much as I like it.

In practice, the orange-peeling was done in moments between everything else. The plum wine I used is (as the label says) white wine with plum flavor added--regular white wine should also work.

I may try this with lime next time.

I can't estimate the prep time well, because it included not only decision-making, but the discovery that our shallots are starting to sprout--in practice, this was done with the good parts of two shallots, but that's about equal to one shallot. I used a navel orange, not too big, because those are what we have; it has the advantage that I didn't have to worry about seeds in the garnish.