Tulle Hell

This is why I need to diet. It's obscene for there to be this much tulle in one location.......




.....anyway, I just had to share that because, well, I'm a whack job. When doing the wedding dress thing I had to try this one on because it was all floofy. It's a size too small but I wasn't going to push the issue because there is no way I'd ever do this.

No doctor today, he's off being a new dad and so the office called and canceled. They did however refer me to an orthopedic sugeon. I hope this doesn't mean I get all stuck full of needles. The lump on my knee is the size of an egg cut lengthwise. I'm paranoid about it because last year my roommate (and one of my best friends) Mike got this freak infection in his neck that was life threatening and just well, as if God poked him there and said "I don't like you!" ---- anyway, I don't think that's the deal here because there's not a lot of pain unless I touch it.

I have to give Angie massive credit for posting her dieting stuff on her blog. She's awesome anyway but that took guts and I think she rocks. I'm really considering doing the same thing -- part of the logic there is having the numbers staring back at me, taunting me like a pissy Frenchman. ('I spit in your general direction!'). But seriously, I don't think I'm even honest with myself, and here I am getting married in a year, moping about looking for a dress when every one I think has more fabric to cover my fat ass than the tent for the reception that's gonna hold 150 people. *sigh*

........of course then I'll have to stop cooking. Or stop eating my cooking.... or as much of it anyway.

Raven, Derek, Morgan (baby) and Mike came over last night. I love playing with Morgan, at three months he's already wrestling to sit up. He's amazingly observant, in his baby way. Derek and Raven tiptoe around him in baby-worship as much less now that they are more used to him. Raven - Ms. "I'm gonna nurse in the bedroom" has gotten more comfortable with the whole idea of having to feed him around others. Personally breastfeeding women, even in public, have never bothered me. In Germany when I was very young, it was not uncommon to see a woman breastfeeding on a park bench, or waiting area or something. The most they'd do was pull the receiving blanket over their should to cover their breast and the baby's face. I don't understand why Americans get all bent out of shape about that stuff. That's definately a rant for another day.

But I cooked dinner last night for everyone and think I done good. This seems to be a trend for me. I love having people over and feeding them. It makes me happy... this recipe is the way it should be done, it can be shortened up for a different time frame.

Southern Fried Chicken

• soak chicken pieces in buttermilk from lunchtime until after supper in the fridge
• put lots of flour in a paper grocery back w/ salt, pepper, and maybe a touch of garlic powder
• remove chicken from buttermilk before bed and put it in the bag
• shake shake shake/// shake shake shake// shake your chicken
• leave in fridge, shaking periodically until really to cook (next day)
• prepare deep fryer, or cast iron skillet or whatever you're using to contain the hot bubbly cholesterol (Crisco is great, I use plain old veggie oil)
• don't crowd the pan, fry chicken until after if floats to the top but before it turns black
• when all done, drain it on a plate with papertowels on it

....the trick is that the buttermilk is a bit acidic and breaks down the meat fibers, keeping it tender and the flour will form a thick crunchy crust on the chicken... even on skinless though not as satisfying. I'm not too good on giving deep fryer directions -- I worked at a Popeye's for a few years and just know when it looks right. I do know that the oil's not hot enough until you can drop a little flour in and hear it really sizzle. Also -- NO WATER IN THE FRYER-- bad things will happen.

Since when did I get to be all freakin' Betty Crocker over here? I guess if I'm not feeling terribly poetic, I can always write about cooking. Mabye I'd get it together to write something other than chatty-chat-crap tomorrow. Maybe. I think everyone I know is in a funk at the moment, I feel bad that I don't have it in me to help as much as I'd like.... almost as if I'm losing my mind lately, pondering infinity, death, and other ineveitables. I should know better. It scares the shit out of me in ice blocks.