OPERATION: MASECA

THE CHALLENGE: Use an entire bag of Maseca before moving*

THE OPPONENT: 2.2 kg of corn flour (10% mas producto!)

LENGTH OF MISSION: Approx. 6 weeks

SUCCESSES TO DATE:

Recreating Tony's mom's recipe, but with the addition of avocado and substitution of feta (shh!)

Breakfast burrito of sorts

Super healthy breakfast gorditas (sauteed onions/garlic/beans/tomato/chipotle/cilantro/epazote from the distant land of Roslindale). I now realize that there's nothing breakfasty about them except for the fact that I ate them before noon, but whatever.

The aftermath, plus the only semblance of drawing I've done in the past couple weeks. Buried under my pile o' resumes, of course.

*Don't ask me to where. I do not yet know.

Short and Sweet (Take 2!)

Thing 1:

And Thing 2:

 And Thing 3. I accidentally nicked a zucchini while unpacking from the grocery:

Boston Strong

After a celebratory run to Watertown, I realized I had to try to share some of the beauty that is now coming from the place we've all been watching. Last night's fear and today's anxiety have turned into tonight's joy, thankfulness, and unity.

This whole week I have been safe, calm, and relatively unaffected by Boston's crisis, and for that I've been counting my blessings. That being said, things got creepy last night when there was what I now realize was a police chase past my house. I'm so fortunate, though, to have people in my life who are dear enough to leave Skype on overnight and pray with me and send me gifs of puppies and point out that we are so so lucky that this is not a daily reality.

I spent my day in front of the TV, exactly like you shouldn't, and when it ended just as we hoped, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and promptly called my mom, exactly like you should. (Thanks, Kathleen, for those strict instructions.)

I set out to get some fresh air, and it was so reassuring to see not deserted streets but people walking and smiling and smoking and dogs running and playing and doing their business. Someone commented that it was like after a hurricane, but I thought it was like the south, what with everyone smiling at each other...

With a smile on my face and tears in my eyes, I ran towards what I'd been seeing on the news all day, I was welcomed to Watertown by cheering crowds and police going in the opposite direction from yesterday's chase, waving and honking. 

After seeing an aching city experience and watch such scary stuff all week long, I had to share some of the goodness I saw just now. But... now that I'm trying to do so, I'm having some difficulties, considering one of the many explosions this week was my laptop charger. So check back in a few days for some neat videos.

There is a picture that I can upload (uncropped, sorry): one I drew as part of Operation Anxiety Relief.

And I'll leave you with this fantastic video from earlier this week from The Colbert Report I hold you over.

Thanks so much for your love and concern for me and the city of Boston. :)

First Person

Long time no post, I've realized.

I haven't been cooking particularly interesting things lately, though I did come home cranky and cold one day and made some pretty bomb chili. But alas, no photos, so you'll have to take my word for it.

A different cranky day I went to Dosa Factory in Central Square. Apparently this is a dosa. Also they literally gave me three bites of potato. I knew what none of this was when I ordered it, but it was super fun.

First time at Crema Cafe. I pass by it erry single day and had never gotten anything. SUCH. GOOD. QUICHE. Also I got my taxes done at the library, waited for five hours, and got some books in the meantime. I'm trying poetry on for size. We'll see how long that lasts.

AND my first attempt at drawing a person. It's from when Julie and I were in Provence and went to a random Vietnamese grocery. We got a green tea mochi and she was a little surprised to see the kidney bean insides....

And here's some artwork that the kindergartners have posted by the bathrooms at school. Enjoy:

A Super Cambridgey Weekend

I can't stop making tortillas.

Which is fine, considering I have 5 pounds of corn flour to use up. My aunts were in town this weekend, so Saturday morning I decided (a) I should make breakfast for everyone and (b) I need to use as many ingredients as possible in hopes that our packed dorm refrigerator's door might actually close. Solution: breakfast burritos.

Except I forgot the refried beans and queso fresco, which were the main things I wanted to get rid of anyways. FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS.

Anyways, these are they. I can't believe I voluntarily put hot sauce on mine.

In other news, happy Palm Sunday, y'all! Today I was pleasantly surprised that my church was giving out palms. Got a whole frond, too. Way to go, protestants.

That happened outside church, here. SO nice in the sun. Almost as though it were Spring or something.

Fine Art and Frijoles

This post's drawings are brought to you by Boston's finest, the Museum of Fine Arts. Apparently they have a  thing every Wednesday night where they bring in a live (clothed) model and set them up in different parts of the museum. While drawing people always results in disaster for me, they also have art supplies that you can take to whatever part of the museum you want.

SO my pal E. (as she says on her blog) situated herself in front of the model and I took my gear to the nearby Art of the Americas wing. My first stop was with the castas paintings. Check it out, I think they're fascinating. Examples are at the bottom of this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casta#Pintura_de_castas

I should have seen it coming, but after drawing a disfigured face, I moved on over to colonial Peruvian silver communion accoutrements, and this chalice and cruet (?) / vinajera happened:

I kindly ask that you squint and pretend things are symmetrical.

A major highlight was their really awesome erasers, which I have since purchased. It feels like sticky tack and you can shape it into a point. Also it doesn't tear up your paper. Also it was 69 cents. Wins all around.

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This post's food, tortillas with refried beans and queso fresco, is brought to you by Tony's mom and a Mexican store in Roslindale. Also a couple hours of work, a smoky kitchen, and a lot of laughs. 

Each individual step is relatively simple, but there's a whole lot of room for mistakes, we found. To make the masa, you mix Maseca, water, and salt...if you remember...ha. Then you make little balls and flatten them as evenly as possible, to just the right thickness. After that, you put them on a heated and oiled comal/whatever that big cast iron sheet is we found in my kitchen. Then you try not to forget about them cause you're simultaneously doing laundry. Another tricky part was cutting them open to put all the stuff in. That got a little messy...

BUT even the wonky ones tasted amazing. Just sayin.

Monday Night Wins

I realize I'm easily amused, but two fun things happened tonight.

Many moons ago, when I served 40 hours a week, I had all sorts of time to beebop all around town. This included frequent visits to what must be the US's best Armenian grocery store. So I hadn't gone in months, but today I skipped the gym and went on over to get some random goodies for a certain visitor coming to town. I feel like, living near Watertown, this shouldn't be overlooked. I also did what you're not supposed to and went shopping hungry, so this happened:

That was win #1. Win #2 was that my mom sent the blizzard sketch I mentioned before. Turns out she had "scooped it up because she feared would be lost to the ages." Ta daa!