Emo memo

A combination of PMS, Great Expectations and no word from NB in almost 48 hours had me all moody this evening. As I do, once every couple of months, I decided it was time to go into Heartless Boy Magnet mode and break some hearts and not care about stupid boys and their stupid uncommunicative ways.

I LBD'd and smokey-eye'd myself, and made myself a strong appletini, then sat down to wait for Ronez to come home and HBM it up with me at ex-roomie's Victoria's Secret party. A little alc and deathcab later, and I'm pretty mellowed out, so I texted the NB, even though I vowed not to.

Alc is meant to bring out the real you, right? I guess I'm ok with the real me being incapable of being angry and heartless. That can't be bad.

Damn The Man!

So, last night USC kids gathered in force to fight for their right to... party. I mean, the fighting wasn't part of the original plan, but when the police showed up it pretty much became the new black.


It was really weird, like living in the 70s in the times of protests and rights, but without actually having to care about anyone or anything except being drunk. DPS or LAPD, whichevs it was, was pretty impotent. They had a good 50 people in their riot gear trying to storm a college block party, but sort of not knowing what to do other than walk forward and stop and have a chat. I guess they got fierce in the end when they brought out the foam batons, but really... I was seriously considering looting Ralphs, since the long arm of the law was busy that night.

Clown Face!

So I know regularly I'm the last person anyone would ask for make-up tips from, but here is my one contribution: My Excellent Mascara

That is, 100% Waterproof Mascara from Rimmel.

Why, you ask?

Last night, I went to the sauna. It was like 3am, so I had my 'owoot tonight' face on. Sweated buckets, got really dehydrated... yet somehow, remained completely streak free. Amazing. I woke up the morning after with cotton mouth, a pounding headache, and wonderful thick lush lashes.

I guess I shouldn't be so surprised since it's all 100% waterproof, but I never really thought that was true.

Thoughts on the Paella Party

I'm meant to be doing an essay, but Rona wants me to update, so I shall. (I was really hard to convince.)

On the Paella itself:

-Why was it so sour? Next time (or for anyone who might want to make it in the future), must make sure my tinned tomatoes are sweeter. (These ones were Ralph's generic brand, possibly stewed in Italian herbs but it's hard to remember.)

-The pans were way to full even before rice went in. Must learn about proportions.

-The rice on top was 'crispy' the rice underneath too mushy. Must make sure all of rice is covered (should be easier when there are less ingredients) and not cook for so long. Also make sure there is enough long grain rice so one does not have to resort to large random bag of japanese rice.

-The rice was not nice coloured -- must find sugar daddy to buy me saffron. Alternatively, must locate my yellow food colouring.

-At one point, tomato paste was just smeared over top of rice. Should stir the tomatoes in before putting the rice in.

-Chicken was tasteless. Must marinate properly.

-Catfish has annoying spines even in fillet, made it hard to cut. Next time may splash out and spend an extra 50c to get Talapia. Also, catfish a little fishy.

-Half a pound of unpeeled prawns were not a good idea. Next time, 1/4 of a pound will do.

-Tinned greenbeans are brown. Vile.


On the Sangria:

-The merlot (yes, it turns out Franzia does have different grapes) was too heavy, but the 'chillable' wine (aka mystery grapes?) was good.

-Added rum as it was the only available liquor in the house.

-OJ was a little sour especially with the merlot so added minute maid lemonade also. But didn't really need it for chillable wine. Maybe was just too drunk to notice taste by 2nd box?

Serving Sangria

I'm just a little bit too fond of alliteration.

Anyway, it's 3 am but thanks to a midnight coffee run by Mom and a post-coffee Del Taco run by Dad, I am sufficiently caffinated enough to be buzzed all night not doing work. Woo woo.

So instead, I am looking up how to make sangria.

We've done this before, but it was sour as all hell. From using lemon concentrate.

This sangria isn't actually one that I made, it was one consumed in Cabo. But I took the pic so that counts for something right?

So here's how it's gonna go down:

1 part orange juice
1/2 part gin or maybe brandy.. we'll see.
2 parts red wine.

Zinfadel, or Merlot, some recipes say. In this case, it's Franzia. We're classy like that. (Does Franzia even have a type of grape? Or is it just a hodgepodge of leftovers?)

And er, some chopped apples and oranges and maybe a few grapes for good measure. Actually, we have some frozen grapes in the freezer, those would make pretty cute ice cubes huh? Then it won't dilute the drinks. Anyhoo, they can all hang out in the 5 million plastic pitchers left over from the big 2-1.

So far, confirmed:

Me
Rach
Ronez
Ginge
Shawks
Mom
Dad
Steph
Stephen
Liv
Bert
Jake

Waiting on:
Jesse
The boys from 5
Ross
Probs some other peeps

Do you even care? Probs not. But that's cool.

More on Paella

And maybe in the last 2 minutes of the vegetable one, I'll crack a couple of eggs over the top. That would look nice, hopefully.

The Paella Plan

The Roommates and I are having a Paella Partay this Friday. Mostly because I wanted to try to recreate the amazing Paella that Sam and I had in Spain, but also because I have been having these little visions in my head of being a classy lady and hosting cocktail parties and soirees etc etc.

However, I am finding recipes difficult to decide on. I'm making 3 different ones, Seafood (coz that's the real deal), chicken (because I like chicken) and veggie (coz Rach and Mom are anti-animal).

So, just to keep my thoughts in order, here's what I'm going to do:

Ingredients:

Diced onion
Chopped tomato
Diced red pepper
Diced yellow pepper
Garlic
Chopped parsley
Frozen peas
Paprika
Saffron
Med grain rice
Chicken stock
Olive Oil
Salt n pepper
Lemons

Seafood:
Fillet talapia, cubed (and salted)
Squid, ringed
4 large prawns (not shelled)
some muscles.

Chicken:
Chicken parts, cubed (and deboned) (and salted)

Vegetable:
Asparagus?
Green beans
Canned artichoke
White beans

Method:

Coat the bottom of the pan in olive oil. Heat. Fry onions and garlic, then add bell peppers. Add paprika. Add chicken/seafood (minus prawns and muscles) /raw (ie not canned) vegetables.

(I'm debating adding Sofrito but it looks like a bit too much work)

Add chicken stock. Let simmer. Add rice. Add canned tomatoes/ other vegetables that you left out. Add saffron. Give it all a good stir. Let simmer for say... 10-15 minutes. Arrange seafood nicely on top.

Oven it for... 15 minutes?

Sprinkle some parsley on top, slice a lemon in half or mebbe into quarters and put on side or on top or whatevs.

Done :)
We hope.

Next up: The sangria I will try to make.

PS. To the person who asked: I loved James in Last King of Scotland and thought he could have been nominated for supporting if only Forest hadn't stolen the show.