It's a slow day at work, so there's time to blog. I had just the restful weekend that I needed, and feel much more refreshed this week. Hopefully that will sustain me until Friday.
Saturday I went shopping at Burlington Coat Factory for a raincoat, but didn't have any luck finding one I liked. I did buy a couple cute casual tops - they always have bargains there for cheap stuff. I also ran my usual errands, which included a trip to the Chinese grocery store because Bug requested something different than my usual vegetable dumplings for Saturday night dinner, so I bought some tofu and hot chili bean paste to do some experimental cooking. I picked up Tara in the late afternoon and brought her to my place for some afternoon cuddling, then brought her home so she could take care of her errands and I could finish cleaning up my apartment for family night.
Now, for the past few months we've been having family night on Saturdays at my place, and I've gotten things down pretty much like clockwork when it comes to cooking dinner (I make fried vegetable dumplings, white and fried rice for Bee and Bug, Tara makes hot dogs, and I usually make something quick and easy for myself, like ramen, Mediterranean dips or some kind of frozen food). But Bug's request for something different kind of threw a monkey wrench in the timing of the whole works, so everything kind of got done at different times. Luckily it wasn't off by too much though.
I had read an article in the New York Times food section this week about frying tofu and that inspired me to try to fry tofu for the first time. Of course since both Bee and Bug are vegetarians, I couldn't follow the recipe in the paper, but I remembered a fried tofu dish in my youth that consisted of hot bean paste and sauteed green onions. I fried up the tofu with canola oil and the bean paste mixed together, and added the onions at the end, cut into long pieces. I think it turned out rather well for a first attempt - Bug finished it, but it was a little too spicy for her palette. But it was fun trying something new in the kitchen and not having it turn into a disaster.
Sunday I woke up with a headache and feeling very lethargic, so I stayed home all day watching episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles off my DVR and copying them to DVD. Lethargy slowly turned to melancholy, but I managed to pull myself together enough to go with my family to see the new IMAX film, Shine a Light starring the Rolling Stones and directed by Martin Scorsese. Going to the movies is always fun for me, even if it's a subject that I'm not that interested in. I've never been a fan of the Rolling Stones, and probably never will be. What was interesting was that the concert was filmed at the Beacon Theater in New York, where Tara and I saw Porcupine Tree a few months ago on our anniversary. Maybe they will do an IMAX concert of them someday when they get more famous.
Anyway, all in all, it was a restful and enjoyable weekend, and just what I needed to rebound from last week. I hope everyone had a nice weekend too.
