Saturday, January 27, 2007

Note to self - cayenne pepper doesn't feel good in paper cuts.

Friday night I made a fantastic salad with mixed sweet baby greens, dried cranberries, feta cheese, chunks of turkey and sweet&spicy pecans I whipped up this evening. I really do love honey-roasted nuts, but it's like too much of a good thing - a little too cloying.

I took a few tablespoons Karo syrup and mixed in about 1/2 t of salt, about 1 t of cayenne pepper, about 1/2 t fresh-cracked black pepper, and about 1/2 t of sage powder. Mixed them up and put them on a foil-covered bake sheet & stuck them in a 350ish oven for about 10 minutes or so. Then turned them out onto another foil sheet, making sure they weren't all globbed up. THen when they cool, break up any bits that did manage to stick together. Next time, I'm going to sprinkle on some Japanese 5 spice powder when they are still warm and sticky - that should be delicious.
Anyway, the pepper gives the nuts a little bit more oomph and adds something to the whole salad. I mixed the greens with a simple olive oil/balsamic vinegar dressing. easy peasy.

This is one of my favorite salads ever - it manages to be incredibly savory and satisfying without seeming too bland or - you know? You know how you are halfway through grazing a salad and you suddenly realize you are really sick of lettuce forever and ever? It doesn't happen with this salad.

OK, I've been really good about not trashing people lately, but someone left an apartment in such vile condition that I'm going to post photos here on Tuesday and share a few thoughts I'm having on hygiene. It's just that I'm wondering how in the course of normal usage a person might break the lid of the toilet tank. And other things... I mean, THIS makes leaving a dead animal in an apartment seem almost understated. Nasty. Ew.

I'm starting real estate school this weekend. Ugh. I'm so sleep-deprived it's getting pretty bad. If I don't fall alseep in class it will be a miracle. Ah, sleep: perchance, to drool.

See you on the other side.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Real Estate School... it seems like yet another venture where your great and many talents are underutilized, if I may be so blunt. I mean, if you like it, go for it, but the rest of the world might benefit if you... say turn to financially feasible writing or some such???? Or more beautiful things?????

phlegmfatale said...

meg - Actually, I do very well at my job, which I see as helping people connect with a living space they'll be happy in. I think it's because I'm personable, relaxed and attentive, and it seemed a good lead-in to doing real-estate. I honestly would prefer to make my living and thrive creatively, but it seems the opportunities haven't presented themselves readily, and I sort of haven't known how to go about the writing thing. With the jewelry, I have a steady side income, and could probably make that into a living wage, but I've never put that much energy into it. Bottom line is I need more discipline, generally speaking. When I get my license, I'll stay with the company I'm in and work in sales as well as continue my managerial duties. I'm so complimented you think so highly of my creative endeavors- such high praise from such a lovely artist as you!

Anonymous said...

I tried real estate many years ago. When I retired at the ripe old age of 55 Mrs Myron was convinced we would starve to death. When the 12 month contract I had with the company I retired from expired, she went to work on me. So I got my license. Soon discovered I wasn't a real estate agent at heart. License expired.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

Real estate school? I think you would be boffo at real estate! Study hard.

And I have a craving for that lovely salad now. Trouble is, I love salad, but hate making it.

Anonymous said...

mmm...

that salad sounds delish!

On the other end of the spectrum, can't wait to see those pictures.

phlegmfatale said...

g bro - Believe it or not, I DID get to class on time. And I brought packs of pencils and hi-lighters. It went well and the teacher was very informative and interesting.

myron - You know, you may have had a real niche in the industry, though - did you know that men and women who've served in the US military get special financing with lower interest rates than the rest of us get, and rightly so? I wonder how many of them know that? But then again, I can see why the milquetoast men might annoy a manly man amongst their ranks - tiresome, that!

barbara - aw shucks - people have told me that quite a bit at my job - I should qualify that by saying lots of people have told me that who I've rented apartments to. The funny thing was that the teacher kept talking about how uniformly despised real estate agents are, and I could almost feel my bottom lip quiver. No! *L* Seriously, I DO see why people would think that. But like anything else, it's probably the scummy fraud-prone bottom 5% that make the other 95% look terrible.

blogwhore - you've got to try that salad - you'll love it!

Yup, those pictures will be brutal, but I'm going to show them in their unvarnished glory.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure you're very good at whatever you do, Phlegmmy, I hope you didn't think I was dissing the idea. So I hope you enjoy the experience, too. Say, you might get a list of hopefuls from Myron and sell them places with the lower interest rates? Hee hee.