Sit. Stay. Good blog.

• After a month with us, Griz the cat has turned out to be an absolute joy to have around.
• I’ve been cooking much more lately and trying more recipes as a result. I’ve even been keeping recipes, tried and untried, on a Web site for easy reference (complete with notes and photos). If I know you, and you’d like a link to my recipe site, let me know. I promise there’s something on there you’d enjoy.
• We’ve been watching more movies at home lately. Here are three worth checking out:
  Inglorious Bastards
  Let The Right One In
  In The Loop
• I’m ALMOST done Christmas shopping. Almost.
• If you mix 1 box of chocolate cake mix with one 15-oz can of pumpkin, drop the mix into 12 muffin cups and bake it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, you end up with a delicious, chocolaty, low-fat concoction that tastes as good as it looks:
• I really need to stay away from the Gap for a while. Unless I come across a suitcase full of money.

That is all. For now.

I am in love, and thy name is Brussels sprouts. That’s right. Brussels sprouts.

I mean, just LOOK at these things:

Have you ever seen a pan of vegetables that looks so delicious in your life?

I know what you are thinking. You’re thinking that you will never try to cook Brussels sprouts because Brussels sprouts are disgusting. You’re right – Brussels sprouts ARE disgusting – if they are FROZEN and BOILED into that nasty, smooshy, bitter mess you think of when you think of Brussels sprouts. Those Brussels sprouts are a travesty against nature. Those Brussels sprouts are just wrong.

But… when they are FRESH and ROASTED, they are not just good – they are heavenly. Sweet, savory, tender… my mouth waters just thinking about them. Roasted Brussels sprouts are one of the best foods on earth. They are simple to prepare, incredibly good for you and delicious.

To wit:

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Servings: 4
Weight Watchers Points: 2

1 1/2 lbs. Brussels sprouts, cut in half with stems and outer leaves removed
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
Olive oil cooking spray
2-3 shallots, cut cross wise into 1/8-inch thick slices and separated into rings (about 1 cup)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat to 400 degrees.

Toss Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add a couple of spritzes cooking spray if you need to. Spread out in 1 layer in a large, shallow baking pan. Roast, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 25 to 30 minutes.

While sprouts roast, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and shallots to pan with a spritz of cooking spray over high heat. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are golden brown, about 5 minutes.

When sprouts are done, mix shallots and sprouts together in skillet and heat through. Serve immediately.

See? How easy is that?!

When we’re in a rush, I omit the garlic and shallots completely and just go for roasted sprouts with lots of salt. If we don’t have shallots, a diced red onion works really well. Throw a splash of red wine in there just for fun. There are so many variations with this dish you are bound to find a flavor combination that works for you. Lemon is one option. So are chestnuts. Oh, and for those who must do so, you can even add in some bacon. Or leeks. Or maple syrup. I think you see what I’m getting at.

So please – before you cast judgement over the Brussels sprout based on someone’s horrific abuse to the vegetable, try them the right way and then decide if they are really worth your scorn. Hint: they won’t be and you will love them, too.

I go through phases when it comes to blogging. Lately, I’ve been in the downward phase of not posting much of anything, but as you know, life continues to move ahead, whether I write about it or not. So, in the interest of brevity and my own sanity, I will attempt to recount the events of the last several months in one of my world-famous bullet lists.

• We took a trip to Washington D.C. at the end of September. Highlights included the Kennedy Center, a tour of the Capitol, lots of walking, lots of subway-riding, the Magna Carta, tasty pho on a rainy night and pandas. Good people of D.C., you have free pandas to visit whenever it strikes your fancy – take advantage of this more than you currently do! There are some of us who do not have ready access to free pandas and are worse off for it.
• The night before Halloween, in Madison, WI, Mr. Awesome and I had the most incredible squash curry at a Laotian restaurant called Lao Laan-Xang, located off a side-street in a tiny house. Good people of Madison, you have incredible curry available to you – go eat it soon and often! There are some of us who do not have ready access to incredible squash curry and are therefore sad pandas.
• The skywalks in Minneapolis are so great when it’s cold – and it’s cold there much of the time.
• Australian singer Kate Miller-Heidke is a spectacular live performer and will no doubt be a huge star one day. If you ever have the chance to hear her sing, take hold of that chance with both hands and don’t let go.
• Beatles Rock Band is fun, but is more fun with four people.
• I’m trying to cook at least one new recipe per week or so. We’ve had some hits and some not-quite-hits. I’ll try to write more about both in the future.
• John Hodgman was at a Rainy Day Books event at Unity on the Plaza. The picture I have of me and him together would probably be my Christmas card if a.) Mr. Awesome would approve and b.) if I sent such things as Christmas cards.
• I’m trying not to hate Time Warner cable, but they make it so difficult. If they “don’t currently offer contracts” then how am I in one until June? Keyword: “currently.” I’ve now got a calendar appointment set to remind me the day my contract is up. That day cannot come soon enough.

And finally, I’ll break out of the bullet format to introduce Griz, the newest member of our family:

On Saturday, we were doing some Christmas-looking at Oak Park Mall (we aren’t really shopping yet, although I know we should be) and came across a store set up by Animal Haven Animal Shelter to help adopt some animals. Mr. Awesome and I are suckers for animals, so we had to go in and look around. There, among the puppies and kittens and dogs was this sweet-looking cat sitting at the back of his cage. He reminded us both so much of Rags that we walked around the mall and went back to look at him three times. This cat was beautiful, declawed, neutered and about 4 years old. He was perfect. It’s been a over a year since Rags died, and we’re ready for another cat. So we paid the adoption fee and took home Griz (Grizwald, Grizzly Bear) Saturday afternoon.

The ride home was great. Griz was calm and quiet and seemed to love getting petted. We got home and shut him in a bathroom with his litter box and food and water. After about 30 minutes we returned to check on him and he was a bit angrier than he was on the ride home. He was emitting this low, guttural growl and seemed to not want anything to do with us. So we got a toy and played with him, and what do you know, he turned back into the sweet cat from the ride home. This pattern continued throughout the night and much of the day on Sunday (during which time he graduated to having full-run of the house): Sweet, lovable Griz one minute, evil, growling Griz the next. Last night, he slept on our bed and both Mr. Awesome and I were a tiny bit frightened that Evil Griz would emerge in the middle of the night and try to eat us. That didn’t happen – in fact, Griz was really great and sweet and snuggly all night long – but neither of us got much sleep anyway.

Today, Griz is home alone all day. I have visions of returning home to find it partially destroyed, although I have nothing to base that on at all. We’re hoping Evil Griz goes away permanently, but I remind Griz every once in a while that we have 30 days to return his furry tail to the shelter if he doesn’t straighten up. I don’t think it will come to that – I think he’s going to work out really well. He’s even sort of getting along with Finnie:

More to come – hopefully sooner that later.

There were some dirty plates
and a glass of milk
beside her on a small table
near the rank, disheveled bed—

Wrinkled and nearly blind
she lay and snored
rousing with anger in her tones
to cry for food,

Gimme something to eat—
They’re starving me—
I’m all right I won’t go
to the hospital. No, no, no

Give me something to eat
Let me take you
to the hospital, I said
and after you are well

you can do as you please.
She smiled, Yes
you do what you please first
then I can do what I please—

Oh, oh, oh! she cried
as the ambulance men lifted
her to the stretcher—
Is this what you call

making me comfortable?
By now her mind was clear—
Oh you think you’re smart
you young people,

she said, but I’ll tell you
you don’t know anything.
Then we started.
On the way

we passed a long row
of elms. She looked at them
awhile out of
the ambulance window and said,

What are all those
fuzzy-looking things out there?
Trees? Well, I’m tired
of them and rolled her head away.

Who doesn’t love soup? If it’s you who doesn’t love soup, then quit reading right now, because this post is all about best soup ever, aka last night’s dinner and today’s lunch.

This recipe is so easy you’ll amaze yourself that it came from your kitchen. The recipe is from Rachel Ray’s magazine. While most of the stuff you’ll find in there isn’t especially Weight Watchers friendly, there are hidden gems to be found, like this soup.

This picture isn’t mine – it’s from the magazine. Mine looked just like this, only in a blue bowl and there were more electronics on the table.

Curried Chicken and Cider Soup
Servings: 4
Weight Watchers Points: 6 per serving

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp grated ginger root
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 cup apple cider
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
4 cups fat-free chicken broth or water
1/2 head of cauliflower, coarsely chopped (about 4 cups)
1/2 store-bought rotisserie chicken, bones and skin removed, and shredded

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, ginger and a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add the curry powder and cumin and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cider, scraping all the good stuff from the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken broth or water and the sweet potato, and bring to a boil. Add the cauliflower, lower the heat, and simmer until veggies are tender, about 15 minutes.

Using a hand blender, puree the soup and add the shredded chicken. Heat through and season with salt and pepper. Top with a dollop of plain yogurt, if desired.

TIP: I used two cans of chicken broth, and had to add about a half a cup of water to equal 4 cups of liquid. Be careful of adding too much salt because the rotisserie chicken will be pretty salty.

Since the recipe called for only half the chicken, I diced up the other half and mixed it up with about 1 1/2 Tbsp of light mayo, some dijon, some honey and some dried tarragon for a quick chicken salad. We served the salad on toast alongside the soup. The soup is hearty and thick, and will stick nicely to the sandwiches if you dip them. The chicken salad made three servings, with about 3 WW points per serving. I cut a piece of toast in half for my sandwich, so I only had to account for one piece of whole-wheat bread (1 WW point). So, the whole meal with a big bowl of soup and half a delicious chicken salad sandwich was 9 WW points. Not too shabby, considering how delicious and filling the meal was. Plus, there’s lots of good veggies in the soup.

Today, I had the leftovers and I dare say the soup is even better today. This recipe is definitely a keeper – what a great fall find!

Terrible Yellow Eyes is a visual love letter to the great work that is Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. Soon to be released as a movie, the original book inspires fear, courage, curiosity and most of all imagination in all who read it. The art works displayed on Terrible Yellow Eyes range from the whimsical to fear-inducing, but so do the emotional reactions to the story.

Each image is viewable in a large, high-resolution version so you can see all the lucious details. Here are a smattering of favorites, but everything on the site is worth a look:

“The point is, [Sendak's] children do survive. They always survive. They look horror in the face and walk by with a sniff.” - Jonathon Jones (The Guardian)

Today I share with you one of the best music videos I’ve ever seen. The song is okay, but the video is just stunning and clever and incredible. If you can’t see the embedded video, click here to view.

The video is directed by a group who call themselves Shynola. According to Wikipedia, Shynola is also responsible for the title sequences of the brilliant British comedy, The IT Crowd. If you haven’t seen The IT Crowd, and have ever used a computer, you should check it out. It’s available online all over the place, if you look hard enough.

Once you’ve finished with The IT Crowd, check out my new British love of a show, featuring some of the same players as those in The IT Crowd – The Mighty Boosh.

The show’s three seasons were just released on DVD, and you can catch single episodes on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim on Sunday nights.

As for why I’m at work on a Saturday… it’s the start of a new semester and thankfully, many of the youth of America still don’t know how to use thier computers. Bless ‘em for keeping me employed.

Home Again by Billy Collins

The black porcelain lamp
painted with boughs of cherry blossoms
still stands on its end table,
unlit, the little chain untouched,
just the way I left it,

just the way it remained while I was off
leaning into the prow of a boat,
doused with spray, heading for a limestone island,
or sitting at the base of a high Celtic cross
eating a green apple.

While I balanced a pan of hot water on a stone wall
and shaved outside a cottage
overlooking the Irish Sea,
this stack of books, this chair, and paperweight
were utterly still, as they are now.

And you, red box of matches on the floor,
you waited here too, faithful as Penelope,
while I saw the tiny fields
disappear under the wings of my plane,
or swarm up and down the flowing Corrib River.

As I lay in a meadow near Ballyvaughan,
ankles crossed, arms behind my head,
watching clouds as they rolled in—
billowing, massive, Atlantic-fresh—
you all held your places in these rooms,
stuck to your knitting,
waited for me to stand here again,
bags at my feet, house key still in hand,
admiring your constancy,
your silent fealty, your steadfast repose.

Chalk this recipe up under the “why didn’t I think of that?” category. I like tacos, but don’t want the extra calories that come from taco shells. Solution: turn the tacos into lettuce wraps, thanks to a recipe from Gina’s Weight Watcher’s Recipes (which, by the way, is an excellent resource for anyone looking for healthy recipes).

I’ve modified the original quite a bit, using prepared taco seasoning instead of a combination of spices (I was out of cumin the first time I made this, and liked the way mine turned out), adding more veggies (take advantage of in-season peppers, people!) and using tender Boston lettuce instead of iceberg. The final result is a dish that is healthy, delicious, easy and quite attractive, if I do say so myself:

Those paying close attention will notice the side dish is basil-lime corn, which I posted about yesterday. Isn’t that plate gorgeous? It was as delicious as it looks, too. Mr. Awesome likes to mix it all up and eat it with corn chips. More power to him – he’s not counting points

Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps
Servings: 4 (1 serving equals two wraps)
Weight Watchers Points: 3 per serving

1.2 lbs ground turkey
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1/2 c. red bell pepper, diced
1/2 c. green bell pepper, diced
1/2 c. onion, diced
1/2 tomato sauce
1/2 c. water
8 leaves Boston (aka bibb) lettuce
salsa, for topping

Brown turkey in large skillet. When turkey is cooked through, stir in taco seasoning. Add the veggies, tomato sauce and water to the skillet. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Serve the taco mixture with lettuce as lettuce wraps, and top with salsa.

TIP: We didn’t have any tomato sauce the last time we made these, so I stirred in half a can of diced tomatoes instead and it was delicious. I think next time we’ll add both the tomato sauce and some diced tomatoes.

These are so delicious, and the turkey mixture reheats really well so you can eat leftovers the next day.