Current Obsession: Special Food Edition

Today, we're going to talk about savory pies, my friends - otherwise known as A) teddy oggins! or B) pasties(not the things you stick to your nipples) - pronounced "pasty" as in, not the future but the "past...y".

You see, I really dig those tasty freezer-aisle treats called 'hot pockets' and have been trying for a while now to make them from scratch. I was then informed by a friend that I was not recreating hot pockets, but these "pasty" things that miners used to eat in Cornwall. It was like stew, and the bread/crust kept the dirt and coal dust out of the good stuff. There is a whole category on Wikipedia entitled "Savory Pies" and it lists all of the ethnic variations, with teddy oggins at the top.


A Little Recipe [from a website that I cannot recall, oops]:

1 c warm water
1 T sugar
packet of yeast
3 c flour
pinch of salt
.25 c oil

Combine water, sugar and yeast; let set for ten minutes. Add oil, then slowly, flour and salt. Knead and let rise for 45 mintutes. Cut into six sections, roll out, and fold around filling(I used cooked chicken and carrots and mushrooms and cheese - be careful and don't overcook the meat like I did, bleh). Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F.

[This is the part of the post where I present a photograph of my beautiful pasties, oven fresh and golden brown. Alas, mine turned out quite ugly, so you'll just have to trust me that they are easy and delicious and taste much better than they may look.]

A Little Lit

So yesterday, I went to buy textbooks for my roommate, who is out of town, and I ended up buying textbooks for myself, too. Hrm, funny how that happens. Anywho, I got "Averno" by Louise Gluck, which is inspired by this old crater outside of Naples that the Romans thought was the entrance to the underworld. Louise is a former poet-laureate from Long Island and her dad helped invent the x-acto knife. Awesome.

Then I bought the complete set of Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, which is my most favoritest graphic novel. I love Iranian artists. Ala Ebtekar is very cool, too. Go read his interview on Fecal Face. Please.

Lincoln Inkin

Maybe that will be a segment on my Ghetto Home Fabulous TV show - where I go around the city and ask people about their neat tattoos. I need to track down that guy I saw at Walmart with an entire sleeve of tractors and big rigs.

Here is a new design I did for Wiki, my greatest patron.

She grew up in Idaho and liked it very much, I think. So now, she has this little[big] postcard on her arm. You can check out the other tattoo I designed for her here.

Do the Dancey Dance!

So, Wiki is gone, off to Montana to get her Master's degree in creative writing and become a famous poet. Sniff. But just before that, we had our prom party.I can't help but throw in a food picture every time. I made the cupcakes(the frosting was an unintentionally disgusting shade of pink), but the tiny, adorable sprinkled cookies were from Target. Hurray Target. Because Wiki has mad-good connections and very nice friends, we got to have the party in the fancy downtown theater. They were currently putting on The Pirates of Penzance or something like that, so we had some giggles messing around on the pirate ship set.One of these pretty ladies is going to teach in Tokyo(tear*), but the other is moving to Lincoln to be with me(hurrah!). My Starkey wins best dress of the evening. She is stunning, no?Daawuud got cool points for the smokin' tie.Meet the band: guitar, kazoo, trombone, vocals.

Ring around the rosie, I don't know how this happened.Grag was looking pretty fly. For a white guy.Matt wins best dressed male, I think. I was blinded by the light reflecting off of his plethora of sequins.

Oh man.

Good times.

Whoa

Today is my birthday! I am 23 and I do not feel 23.

My mum and pop got me a new Schwinn, and my brozos bought me a copy of Coraline. So nice.

I stayed up til midnight last night cleaning for when everyone comes over to my new(ish) apartment today. Now no one can be judgin' my toothpaste-stained bathroom or sink full of dirty dishes. But OH! I forgot to plug in the air freshener before I left for work. My apartment still smells a little wrong because of that couch.

Tomorrow is Wiki's and my "Awesomely Bad Prom" birthday party (we had to abandon the Lady Gaga idea when we realized that no one would be willing to dress up in leotards and crazy hairpieces). So I bought a neon orange satin minidress-thing from Forever 21, and I'm going to give myself a faux perm. There will be photos. Oh yes.

Ooooooooh yes.

The Marble City

Last week, I felt very grown up. I took a plane across the country all by myself. I navigated the subway. I attended a conference. I ate in fancy restaurants. I canoodled with librarians. I saw the most beautiful city(minus the reflecting pools that smelt like Port-a-Johns).

Thanks, Universitay, for payin' my way-way! Woot!