Date night: Mole Poblano is not my friend

A picture from our honeymoon.

Tonight for date night we went to Casa Moreno, a Mexican restaurant up the street from us. We had a marvelous time. We sat outside on a comfy leather bench with the neon sign glowing red on us, and the twinkle lights behind us totally setting the mood. The food was great: our salsa was wonderfully spicy, the chips were fresh, the flautas were STUFFED with chicken (I hate when they charge $10 for a dish then skimp on the meat), and the guacamole was delish. However, I ordered a chicken dish called Mole Poblano, a house recipe with tons of spices and mexican chocolate in the sauce. I was disappointed, but Conrad will eat anything, so he picked away at it.

For reals. It was like eating my own barf (not that I would know anything about that...).

It reminded me of China. REAL Chinese food, not Panda or Pick Up Stix. Really stinky and strong. In a bad way. The flautas made up for it. The beans were fresh and the rice was really good. We will be returning, I just won't order the Mole Poblano.  Now we're watching Nightmare before Christmas, a movie I've actually never seen all the way through before. I love Conrad!!

Pros and Cons

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The issue: the Maxima

CONS: seriously it's humiliating driving a filthy black (it looks greyish brown because its so dirty) car around. there's LEAVES, yes, leaves, and dirt and sticks and empty water bottles and a dirty beach towel on the inside. The windows are always filmy, no matter how much Windex I use. 

PROS: It's compact, accelerates well, and gets pretty good mileage. And when it is nice and clean and shiny, it looks pretty classy (well, as classy as a homeless man looks in a tux. Like, yeah, he's cleaned up, but he's still homeless, and the tux will be dirty in less than a day).

VERDICT: keep the Max

The issue: showering

PROS: You smell good after. You smell good during. If you shave, then you're shaven. People like other people who are shaven and nice smelling. I'm just gonna say what everyone was thinking: you can pee standing up! It's great. I'm a total shower-pee-er.

CONS: It takes so much time out of my day. TONS of effort. My bathtub isn't slanted in the back, so I can't really relax. I have to sit up straight. Hair takes forever to dry, and I refuse to blowdry/straighten. You have to go back into the bathroom to hang up your towel.

VERDICT: don't shower unless I'm convulsing people.

The issue: having ONE 4 quart pot to cook with, and nothing else. Not even a microwave.

PROS: I don't have to wash a lot of pots.

CONS: Cannot reheat foods unless I wait 30 mins for the oven to heat up. Cannot cook more than one thing at a time. The pot is huge; it takes up the whole counter to dry (did I mention no dishwasher?). 

VERDICT: Get a nice set of pots and pans, AND a microwave. I can do without the dishwasher. I have Conrad.

Enchiladas for Dummies

Tonight I'm making chicken enchiladas. Mmm. What better food on a semi-rainy day than something hot and cheesy and mildly spicy? I prefer the green enchilada sauce; I think it has a better kick to it. Last week I bought a rotisserie chicken (it''s amazing how much meat is on them, and for only $5 or $6) and used some of the meat for a salad. I used the leftover meat for tonight's meal, which consisted of corn tortillas (better flavor than flour) stuffed with shredded chicken, sour cream, some of the enchilada sauce, and shredded cheese. topped with the rest of the sauce, more cheese (in my opinion, you can never have enough cheese. Unfortunately, you can have enough love handles, so I try to keep it light), and bake at 325 F for 45 min to an hour.

You have to use a lower bake setting for a meal like this, where most or all of your ingredients have been refridgerated. If the heat is too high, only the outside will cook, and when you take a bite the inside won't be warm. So stick with 300 or 325, maybe 350 if you choose to heat the mixture before stuffing the tortillas.

You could make them all kinds of different ways by adding rice and beans, using ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning, or just cheese.

Delish!! I would love suggestions on what to cook if you have any ideas.

Today I went to the clinic at school, just so they could tell me how I'm improving with this horrible cough. She said I'm doing well, but that I might have "non-contagious walking pneumonia." Oh joy. The effects of swine flu aren't all bad though: I've dropped to my lowest weight! I should catch a flu when I'm feeling fat.

"I'm one stomach flu away from my goal weight."

First of many recipes

Tonight I made white chocolate bread pudding. The recipe called for 3 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips, but I decided to substitute part of that for butterscotch. It turned out great! I used 18 eggs for this recipe. It's a long cooking process, but as far as difficulty, it's really simple. No crazy chef techniques required. All the eggs in it (6 whole eggs, plus 12 yolks) turn into a custard, and the top layer of bread stays chewy, as it isn't completely submersed in the custard mixture.

Next, I want to make Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic Tomato Sauce and Pesto. Sounds delish, and I think I only need to buy canned tomato puree, basil and pesto. I have everything else. Easy! For Conrad's birthday next week, I'm gonna make creme brulee. I bought a kit with the chef's torch and 4 creme brulee dishes. Should be fun. I should start hosting dinner parties for anyone willing to come!

Black Death

Turns out I had swine flu. Which morphed into the devil's bronchitis. I've finally started getting better.

I returned to school this week to a ton of make up work, three tests I have to make up, and an exhausted body. Most of my teachers have been really cool about me making up the work, particularly my math teacher. She's told me to take as much time as I need and has been really sympathetic. My Bible/Shakespeare teacher (same guy) is being great too. he's given me a week to figure everything out and get all my work turned in, and I can make up the test tomorrow. My American Lit teacher, however, has not been so gracious. I gave her the doctors note explaining why i was out and excusing me for the WHOLE two weeks I was gone. she gave me one day to make up the test (which by the way, when I went to her office to take it, I waited for 45 mins before she showed up) and until tomorrow to turn in the work.

Busy Tess! Lots to do! I'm actually off to American Lit in a few minutes, so hopefully she doesn't change her mind about letting me do the work. Ugh.