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3 january 2002

passing my favorite newspaper on I-95.

Info and a downloadable PDF for Girl Next Door Runs Amok

hey, the weather people got it right this time!

It is precisley 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday night. I am looking out of my den window, which overlooks the west side of town. In the streetlight beams is snow--big, whopping flakes of it. Wilma is on the windowsill, perplexed. I am prepared with books, movies, and leftover Indian food. Winter, come and get me!

Boy howdy, did I start this year off wrong. My first meal of the year was a resounding stinker. Bleck, ptooey, and down the disposal you go. (No, Phoebe, I'm not talking about your party favors. They were yummy.)

I'm a pretty decent cook, but certainly no gourmet diva. I am not interested in taking the time to experiment, concoct, and otherwise put together unusual combinations of food. You give me a recipe, and I'll follow it. Bonus points if I can throw enough for several meals into the crock pot. When it comes to home cooking, I'll take the time to do it, if only to avoid all that processed garbage in the supermarket freezer. One of these days, I'm just going to break down and hire myself a nanny. I need one.

This weekend, I pulled out one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks, and got all giddy over a curry stew. Sounds good, right? Throw a bunch of turnips, parsnips, carrots, tofu, and other vegetables into the crock pot with spices. See you in a few hours. Hooray!

Yuck!

Wow, did my memory fail me on this one. I hate root vegetables. The only time you'll catch me with a carrot is when I'm either shoving it through the juicer, or shredding one for salad. And until this slop in a pot, I hadn't had a turnip since I was about 11. I think Mom cooked some, got a resounding thumbs down from the anti-root contingent, and I never saw one again. As to the parsnips, I think this was my first time. Parsnippus grotesqui.

Oh, I cannot believe how gross this was. I followed the recipe exactly, too--not my usual double-the-garlic and random ingredient-tossing approach. I had to run a few errands after activating the crock pot, so when I returned home, everything smelled heavenly. I was on my way to one well-fed evening. Friends would clamor to taste curried rooty stuff stew.

The only clamoring I did was to the phone. Papa John's had a special this week, so I got the large thin-crust with extra onions. Oh, and a Sprite to rinse out the stew.

Tonight, dinner at the new Indian restaurant with friends. Perhaps I should resolve this year to stick with what I know.