My Favorite Cookbook....

Cooking for yourself when you live by yourself can be a challenge. There is no one to impress and it can be difficult to convince yourself to make something delicious. I don't consider myself very proficient in the kitchen and the problem is compounded by the fact when I actually decide to make something yummy most recipes serve four, eight, or sixteen people. There's no way I can ever eat that many leftovers and reducing a recipe can leave me with a dilemma or two - I'm pretty good at math but figuring out how to deal with adding 1/8th of an egg to a dish is mighty baffling.

This summer I was at a book festival and I found a fantastic cookbook that makes recipes for ONE person. I had never heard of such a thing. I bought that book, and have been sad ever since that I missed the author's presentation of her recipes for the general public. Had I known what I know now, I would have stalked that lady, made her sign my book, and probably creepily given her a hug. The recipes are great, but my favorite part of the book is the introduction, where she discusses the joy in cooking and eating by yourself. It doesn't matter if it works out! You can add or remove any ingredients that you want, whether you just don't have them or you just don't like them! Also, drink a glass of wine while you are cooking!

I doubt if I can post any recipes without getting sued for a copyright infringement, but there is a stir fry recipe that was so good I got myself a wok and stir fry has turned into my go-to for a quick and easy dinner. It's even curbed my cravings for ordering Chinese food - I've only done that once or twice since September. I made steak au poivre with a side of steamed asparagus and mashed potatoes a few weeks ago and sat there staring at it thinking, "Who made this? And WHY IS IT SO DELICIOUS? Also, who knew that you could throw some pepper on a steak, cook it in some wine and be allowed to give it a fancy French name?" She also makes the point throughout the book that buying locally grown fresh vegetables and ethically raised meat is better for everybody involved. That is something I'm growing to appreciate the more I learn about it. This cookbook has definitely changed the way I look at cooking for myself and has made me more creative in the kitchen. It is called Serves One: Simple Meals to Savor When You're on Your Own by Toni Lydecker. I'm not the only one around here who approves:

"You'd better be share that with me, lady, or I'll eat a plastic bag in protest."

Things Ion Does for Breakfast

Ever since I've had Ion, he's been a big cat. When I adopted him as a six month old kitten, he weighed almost 8 pounds. He has a big bone structure, for sure, but there is no denying he's a bit overweight:

Jabba the Cat?

I have had several veterinarians advise me to put him on diets over the years, and I've done that (on and off) with some success. We are currently in a 'cats are on a diet' phase, which is good for them in the long term, but it is really pissing them off in the short term. Every morning, about an hour before I want to get up, I get pressure for breakfast time. I do my best to ignore the pleas, but I'm a very light sleeper. Toby's approach is to lay directly on my face, purr loudly, dig his claws into my neck, and drool. Ion, however, has employed slightly more creative techniques to annoy me awake. He...

... moves food bowls into direct path of my morning shower...

...removes lady products from the bathroom. chews on them....


...attempts to rip mirror off the wall...


...destroys my blinds. lounges about admiring handiwork...

He's clever, right?

Here I go!

I love reading blogs, from legit money-making operations to personal accounts of day to day life. I've thought about writing my own for awhile now. Yesterday, I discovered through an internet rabbit hole of a google account that I started this blog sometime in October of 2007. GeekALicious at crazycatladygeek.blogspot.com, with a bright pink background, nothing posted, and absolutely no recollection of ever having created it. Oh, how I laughed at myself! I hate, HATE, the term Crazy Cat Lady. I'm not too fond of the Geek thing, either. I'm ok with pink, but it's not my favorite color. So I don't know what I was thinking and have convinced myself I was tipsy and sarcastic when I did it. Maybe? Who knows. According to my calendar, it was during graduate school, which was a confusing time anyway.

I reconsidered starting a blog when this happened on my facebook page the other day:

Perhaps I have things to talk about that might be better suited for a blog format than a facebook status update? Perhaps. At least I already know how to turn off the comments here.

What stopped me from having a blog before was that I thought it should be about something specific. I think what I'm actually going to do here is post about things I really like... or really dislike. There will probably be stuff about my cats, as I am a lady who had a couple of them (my craziness level has yet to professionally assessed). Also I have a PhD in chemistry, so I can't rule out some geekiness, either. There will probably be stuff about my favorite places on the internet. There will absolutely be posts about food. I love food. Oh, and TV. I like TV. I find the political process very interesting as well, so I warn that there will probably something about that here too. I guess we'll see what happens, eh?

I might as well formally introduce the kitties:

Toby & Ion: Brothers or Boyfriends?!

Thanks for reading :)