Ch-ch-changes.

Today seems to be the day that I can blog. It also happens to be the day that I have... maybe a few things to talk about.

First of all, we got our apartment on Sunday. To be quite frank, it looked pretty crappy. Apparently Previous Tenant did not clean at all, and in fact left about 50 of her record albums, a few q-tips, and two odd figurines behind. Luckily we got some awesome landlords who know very well how gross it is and how clean it needs to be when we move in there. They've been working all week so far to clean it, which is awesome of them to do. Luckily our plan wasn't to fully move in and sleep there until Memorial Day, but we also wanted to do a lot more moving this week than we'll be able to given that they're painting the place on Friday. Eh, whatever.

If you didn't hear, it turns out that I was stupidly notifying people of my new address (people = magazines and the DMV) but gave them the wrong address. I should be receiving a new license and registration with the wrong address on them at 2425 Grove, as opposed to 2225 Grove. I also had a package sent there. Sent back, needless to say. I'm debating whether or not to stop by there and own up to my mistake in case they've got any mail that I need (it would probably be smart to snag that license from them).

I did, however, realize my mistake and correct it. Therefore I have indeed received my new license! It's kinda drab. Black and white photo. But I was one of the lucky ones to get my old photo on it instead of having to take a no-smile photo. See?

In other news, Lost is over. (Skip this paragraph if you haven't watched it but think you will) I'm not sure that it's quite hit me yet, though yesterday was rough because usually I'm pretty excited about Tuesdays. Not so much. I think I like the way it ended. There are a lot of people who didn't, and who feel that the "everybody's dead" thing was a cop out, but it only would have been a cop out if they'd used that to explain away everything that we still didn't understand. A lot of people still think that's what they did, but they misunderstand. I'd like to note that what I'm about to say is a combination of my interpretation and the explanation that was provided at the end of the show. Basically, the alternate reality that we've seen this season, their lives in LA, was understood to be a "flash-sideways." What we learn from Christian is that they were actually flash-way-forwards. To hear the words "we all died" come out of Jack's mouth almost shut down our hearing but the truth is that yes, they all died, in their own times. This reality that we've seen was merely a waiting area until they could all move on together. What viewers wanted to see was what happened after the island, for example what happened to Kate, Sawyer, and the other people who were on the plane at the end of the show. Sure, maybe it would have been a happy ending to see Kate live a long life, maybe get married and have some real kids of her own, but never could it have been as satisfying as to see them all back together again in a way that they never could have been because of all the things that came between them. It was happier to finally see them all peaceful and without worry because they just wanted to be with these people with whom they'd formed these incredible, life-changing bonds. Sure, the island was weird and there were strange things that happened. I know there are a lot of people who feel unsatisfied with the explanations about the island. But what those people don't understand is that even though this show takes place on this strange island, it's about the characters, not the island. The writers fooled us into thinking it was about the island, but the truth is that people come and go. They conquer, they destroy, they change the makeup of the island, but the island will still be there and still do what it does even when these people are gone. 

That's enough of that. Sorry. Um, on another note, Sex and the City 2 comes out this weekend. When I first heard that they were making a sequel, I didn't care for it. I loved the first one so much, and I was seriously concerned that they would ruin it all by doing this. And honestly, they still might. But who am I kidding? I love Sex and the City. Love it. I may not be happy with what this movie does for the overall franchise, but I am positive I will love this movie. 'Nuff said.

Umm.... that's all for now.

Bits and bites.

1. I just changed my address with DMV - should be receiving a new license in the next week or so :)

2. We get our new apartment on Sunday!!

3. I am tired.

4. Work is stupid.

5. Three weeks from now my sister will be married!

6. Soon I will be putting up pictures from Corbin's and my trip to Austin and I'll tellya a little bit about it (we can ignore the fact that it happened two months ago).

7. I don't have a lot to say.

The US postal service can go to hell

I suppose they haven't done anything THAT deserving of hell, but they certainly are making me angry. A few weeks ago, so that I wouldn't forget, I put in a forwarding order so that my mail would go to my new address starting June 1. Apparently that threw off their whole system. Sometimes I get mail when I'm supposed to. Sometimes I get it, but a week or two (or more) late. Sometimes it gets sent back to the sender. Sometimes it evaporates into thin air. Take, for example, the ten Mexican vanilla beans I ordered on April 26. Gone. Haven't come to me, haven't gone to my new address, haven't been sent back. Or the most recent Real Simple magazine: sent to my new address (thank goodness my sister lives there and can snag it for me). Or take my paycheck. Sent back to my employer. He sent it again, but it hasn't arrived... however I did receive mail from him on Saturday. What?

Apparently "Beginning June 1" doesn't mean anything. I realize I may have jumped the gun by putting in the forwarding order, but come on, I had to do SOMETHING. We had just decided to move into a new apartment but we still had more than a month before the move, and it was too early to pack. I needed some action! You'd think that the forwarding order might sit dormant in the system until June 1, at which point it would pop up and yell "Hey! Don't send me to 2000 Monument! Send me to 2425 Grove!" I was wrong.

Rant over.

new music is as refreshing as basil lemonade

About a week ago, maybe two, I figured out how stale my music library is, and it just about drove me crazy. I had resorted to the radio. THE RADIO.

Something had to be done. Occasionally I watch Grey's Anatomy on some women's network on cable in the evenings and, as I'm sure most know, Grey's Anatomy is a sort of pioneer for unknown artists. A particular song was playing that I super enjoyed, so I decided to visit a website that logged each and every song used in Grey's. I Groovesharked every song -- and I mean every song -- and then bought the ones I liked off of iTunes. Spent about $23. Got some new music.

Then I took a hint from Corbin and started listening to NPR's "All Songs Considered" podcast. I had my doubts at first but I've found some music there that I like too. So I laid the smackdown on my music library. Here's what I'm loving most, in no particular order other than Grey's music first and NPR music second:

The Quintessential Summer Dinner

There are some foods that are best during certain seasons. I'm not talking veggies here; obviously eating seasonal veggies is optimal. But there are some other foods that really just don't feel right in the wrong season. Barbecue is a good example of this: isn't it really a summer food? Does it feel right to you to eat barbecue in the winter? Another example is anything grilled. This isn't such a clear-cut example, as grilled things taste good year round, but they're really at their strongest during the summer. That's when eating something that's grilled becomes grilling something. Stews are delicious too, but don't mix that well with summer weather, am I right?

For this reason, Corbin and I have taken a liking to the Martha Stewart Everyday Food cookbook (here). Instead of being split up into chapters like Salads, Poultry, Dessert, etc., it's split into the chapters of Summer, Spring, Winter, Fall. This is seriously awesome and a stroke of pure genius. Now I don't have to scour every chapter in the book for something to eat! I can flip right to the season and it's guaranteed to be a good recipe. On Monday night, I did just that.

The dinner about which I'm going to tell you was one of the best dinners I've had in recent memory. I can cook well, but it's not often that I get everything spot-on. Maybe the veggie isn't cooked well, or the meat doesn't have enough flavor. Maybe it's just not quite what we were in the mood for that night (a la turkey sausage manicotti Sunday night) or we would have rather eaten out. But Monday.... ooooh, Monday. It started out a little dodgy because the weather was sitting on the edge of a storm and the plan was to grill every part of the meal. We got lucky, though, so I put together our dinner: garlic-marinated chicken cutlets with grilled potatoes and asparagus. And the meal is even better than it sounds.

I'm serious, if you have access to a grill, you have GOT to try this. I feel like I make meals like this all the time – meat, veggie, potatoes – but there is so much flavor in this dish. It's partly due to the chicken marinade (which is delicious) and partly due to the garlic vinaigrette in which you toss the asparagus after grilling it. Oddly enough the potatoes, though only tossed with butter, salt and pepper after grilling, are also melt-in-your-mouth fantastic.

There's really nothing tricky about this meal, either. It's very straight-forward and simple to make. I will tell a couple of things that might help, though. First of all, the recipe calls for cutlets. You may be able to find cutlets in your grocery store, but if not, buy a few boneless breasts (I bought a three-pack) and cut them horizontally through the middle to make them half as thick. It's important that they're all the same thickness so that they all cook at the same speed, so if after cutting them they are different thicknesses, put the breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound them with something heavy like a rolling pin until they're even thicknesses. I used the back of my ice cream scoop because I don't have a rolling pin.

Second of all, the recipe isn't very clear about the best way to time this, probably because it seems to be aimed for grills that aren't very big (so you'd have to cook everything separately). If you have a grill that's big enough to house all of the food at once, as my parents do, then do what I did. The potatoes go on the grill for about 25 minutes. I let them sit for 12 or 13, then I flipped them. After I flipped them, I used those last 12 minutes to cook the rest of the food. The asparagus takes about 8 minutes, and the chicken takes 4-6 minutes, so I just timed it so that they were all done at the same time. It may seem like a lot of multi-tasking, but it's not too difficult.

Anyway, enough of my blabbering. Here is the recipe, which I've also posted below, though this online version seems to be double the recipe in my book to leave you leftovers for other recipes. You can either halve everything or follow the links to the leftover recipes!

3 pounds baby red new potatoes, halved or quartered if large
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for grates
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup white-wine vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped, plus sprigs for garnish, if desired
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 pounds chicken cutlets (about 12)
1 tablespoon butter
Grilled asparagus, cut on the diagonal into 1 1/2-inch pieces (3 cups)
2 tablespoons garlic vinaigrette, recipe below
1. 
   
   
   Heat grill to medium. Fold two 4-foot-long sheets of aluminum foil in half to make two separate double-layer sheets. Place half the potatoes on each double layer. Form two packets, folding foil over potatoes and crimping edges to seal. Place on grill and cook, turning over once, until potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat. Leave potatoes from one packet wrapped in foil to keep warm. Open second packet to let potatoes cool; reserve for Potato Salad. Raise grill to high; lightly oil grates.
2. 
   
   
   Meanwhile, make marinade: In a large baking dish, whisk together oil, garlic, vinegar, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken; turn several times to coat. Let marinate at room temperature 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes.
3. 
   
   
   Lift chicken from marinade and grill until browned and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from grill. Cover half of chicken with foil to keep warm. Reserve other half for Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad.
4. 
   
   
   Remove warm potatoes from foil; transfer to a medium bowl, toss with butter, and season with salt and pepper. In a medium bowl, toss asparagus with vinaigrette. Serve the grilled chicken with potatoes and asparagus. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

Vinaigrette:

¼ cup white-wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons minced garlic
¾ cup olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper

In a small bowl or jar, combine white-wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and garlic; season generously with coarse salt and ground pepper. Whisk or shake to combine. Add olive oil; whisk or shake again. Store in an airtight container or jar, and refrigerate, up to 2 weeks. Shake before using.

I want to tear my eyes out.

Here's the thing about OnDemand: it's awesome. Right? It's awesome. Unless you have satellite, in which  case OnDemand sucks (they always forget to tell you that in the ads - it's all about the HD, but there are about seven crappy movies on demand and that's it).

I don't have satellite, I have Verizon, which has really awesome OnDemand. TONS of stuff: new movies, old movies, free movies, television shows, exercise shows, cooking shows, tons of stuff. I usually catch Grey's Anatomy on there because I have too much else recording on the DVR on Thursday nights. And usually there's a great benefit to watching a television show on demand, and it's that you have much fewer commercials, if any. 

When I watch Grey's Anatomy on demand, they still insert commercials in every designated commercial spot on the show. And for some reason, they also don't allow you to rewind, fast forward, or pause that particular show on demand. Whatever, I can deal with some commercials. But here is what makes me want to tear my eyes out: they play the same commercials in every spot. Two commercials. Every time. The exact same ones. Even watching something live on TV is not that bad. This episode features a commercial for Disney's Ocean (or whatever... I started to tune it out) and a commercial for the Un-Anniversary edition of Alice in Wonderland. Seeing the same two commercials 12 times in a 45-minute episode makes me crazy.

That's all.