B.A.L.T

broderic on April 26, 2012

B.A.L.T.

Bacon. Avocado. Lettuce. Tomato.

Awesome.

After doing the tomato mango salsa salad, it’s time to use the lettuce for sandwiches. Today was the B.L.T. with the avocado twist.

I used the old baked bacon trick. This time baked for only 12 minutes on a foil covered cookie sheet. I took four of those slices for the sandwich, ate one hot out of the oven, and still have two more for tomorrow’s tuna salad sandwich.

On toasted whole grain bread, I spread a smidge of mayonnaise. Then I put a couple of slices of tomatoes. I don’t usually put tomatoes on a sandwich because they are notorious at causing the dreaded spill of fillings. You bite into a sandwich with a tomato and most times the sandwich fillings with the tomato get squeezed out the backside. So, I place the tomatoes onto the bread to keep them in place. The lettuce goes next, and I probably put too many leaves. The four slices of bacon, and finally the avocado.

Now, it tasted pretty good at work, but probably tasted so much better freshly made this morning. It also could’ve used more slices of bacon, but really anything tastes so much better with more bacon.

Link of the Day [4.25.12]

broderic on April 25, 2012

We need more Orioles fans.

Camden Yards celebrating its 20th anniversary, and on most nights, she's only a third full. Come on, Baltimore, show you're support!

Today's link takes you to a crazy Orioles fanatic who wants every Wednesday to be Orange Wednesday. I'll join her, you should, too. That's a lot of Wednesdays. Maybe she should've tried every other Wednesday of the season whenever the Orioles are home.

http://dundalk.patch.com/d/articles/dundalk-native-wants-town-to-see-orange

Homerun-chan

broderic on April 25, 2012

Ungh!

HomuHomu swing and a miss! Baseball girl is also so very moe. Also, she’s swinging a golf club.

Lunches

broderic on April 24, 2012

I feel like making some lunch before I go to work, so this past Sunday I craft a menu in my head. A feel like salad so how about one with a tomato mango salsa. Then to get rid of the bacon in my icebox, how about a BLT. Finally, let’s just make some tuna salad.

First up is the tomato mango salsa. I get a mango and dice it up. The tried chose one of the more fibrous variety of mango not the silky kind. I also tried to chose a less ripe one, but my fingers are always selecting one that is ripe. Having a less ripe on makes the mango pieces slightly hard so that it adds a crunch. I also dice up two tomatoes, then add half a red onion also diced. I mix all this up in a bowl with a squeeze of lemon, a dash of fish sauce, and a pinch of salt. When it came time for the salad, I used plain iceberg lettuce freshly cut from the head and add the tomato mango salsa on top.

You might not need any salad dressing, but I threw some on just for more flavor. A regular vinaigrette except I grated some fresh ginger into EVOO/red wine vinegar plus another squeeze of lemon and fish sauce. I like how that turned out.

Tomorrow is the BLT. I think I’m gonna add a couple of slices of avocado to it.

Does anyone have a nice tuna salad recipe?

Link of the Day [4.22.12]

broderic on April 22, 2012

Watching Ozu on a rainy Sunday evening, and I end up looking up the wikipedia entry for Late Spring which leads me to today’s link.

It’s a link to a compilation of lists that add up to the 1000 best pictures of all time.

There’s a lot to digest in a list like this. Did they leave any out? Are there any out of order? Are there any out of place? I’m sure we all have our own biases. Does this list exhibit any?

What’s your take?

Also, Ozu’s Late Spring comes in at 207, but his Tokyo Story is high up there at 11.

http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000.htm

Public Transit Twist

broderic on April 22, 2012

Crazy movie-like dream involving I. It must be written down or else lose it to the haze of memory as I wake. This dream had a great story line with a beginning middle and an end. Yet, it is already going.

I calls me out of the blue, and invites me over to her parents house on Saturday. They live right down the road from me. Really, they did in real life. I’m ecstatic and can’t wait for the weekend to come.

On the day, I take public transportation or maybe walk over. When I get there, she invites me in. Her parents are not there, but she’s not alone in the house. She’s with a blonde haired young dude who she introduces me to. The guy can’t stay and leaves us to ourselves. I at first think the guy is a neighbor; he’s young and as he leaves, he walks down the street. Later, dude! I get to spend a Saturday with I!

This part of the dream is leaving me now.

We drink coffee. We hang out. We talk about our lives that has passed. We clean up her parents house. I am having a good time. It feels like I may have a chance with her again. At one point she goes to throw some things out, and I give her a hand. As she walks out the door with the garbage bag, she mentions that she never was married. She never had kids. I get the shakes hearing this. The window of opportunity just opened, right?

I start turning on the charm and try to be less subtle in my passes. I put the moves on her getting close to her, and she begins to feel uncomfortable. I back off slightly not wanting to ruin things. Then it is evening, and I had to go.

I’m taking the bus back home. She’s steps out for a minute as I get my things together. I’m giddy trying to figure out how to restart our friendship and turn it into a relationship. Can I finally go out with I? Is she home to stay? She did say she liked me and missed me right before I got all forward, right? Yes, maybe, hopefully.

But she returns with the young blonde boy who I thought was her neighbor.

We get on the bus. Me and I on one side; the blonde boy on the other. I’m very happy thinking how to end this right. I think that I should ask her out to dinner or drinks or get her phone number. I can envision establishing a relationship wherein we end up married. It just may happen. She is my über-girl, and it would mean a lot to have her as a girlfriend.

As we are jostled around, I make a pass on her. I attempt footsies. I tickle her toe with mine except that it didn’t really tickle. It seemed I scratched her with my toenails. She cries out, and I know that I’ve just killed any chance with her. She rubs her toe, and then the twist of this dream happens. The blonde boy immediately jumps to her side and embraces her! Comforts her. He rubs her feet and relaxes her. She gives him a peck on the forehead, but it is a signal to me that she is spoken for. She had brought him along as a hint that she had a boyfriend! My hopes are shot, and I can’t of think of anything to salvage the situation. Maybe I can get in the friend zone and bide my time.

I wake up without ever finishing that bus ride.

Booming Classics

broderic on April 20, 2012

When I was in high school the music of the day was “classic rock.” The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd were all popular with my classmates. These bands were all part of our parent’s lives and years later they became a part if ours. It was a 20 year span before we embraced the music as ours.

Fast forward to today. The music from 20 years ago was Nirvana, rap, grunge, and R&B. I liked it then. Now it is our “classic music.” I can’t believe it. My generation’s music is now “classic.”

The time does fly.

Before You Steal It

broderic on April 20, 2012

I keep trying to play this on my guitar. Not this cover version, but the original by The Black Keys. It’s straight up 3 chord song, but it needs the distortion of fuzz. Anyhow, I think I like this song better than the previous.

What about you?

Madoka

broderic on April 20, 2012

I’m really digging Puella Magi Madoka Magica, an anime from 2011 that is being broadcast on CrunchyRoll. I had torrented the first couple episodes last year, but never got around to finishing out the series because, you know, mahou shojo. And if you don’t know, look it up.

I may like my anime or manga in the moe vein, but I didn’t think I could get into the magical girl genre. Except, Madoka is different. I kept hearing about how it bent the magical girl genre into dark corners twisting its tropes, characterizations, and conventions into a deep, dark anime; that intrigued me. I had to catch up with it.

When I originally watched the first couple episodes last year, I couldn’t maintain interest. The character design was off-kilter and simplistic. The main character Madoka with her eyes doesn’t look appealing. She’s got a doll like face. The style just wasn’t to my liking and I probably gave up on it because of that.

On my second look, I got past my superficial first impressions and began to appreciate Madoka for its story. It’s been a wonderful run, so far, and with two episodes left (out of 12) I can’t wait.

It’s always been my hope that the few readers reading this blog would follow up on some of the anime I blog about. I wish you would watch this one; it’s pretty good.