Recently Consumed: Quarantine Edition

Yes, it now takes me three weeks to rack up enough content to write a post.  Sadly, I have not grown better at capturing the moments that have been lifting us up and keeping us occupied.  We have watched a ton of movies, I’ve actually gotten back to reading, we celebrated my sister’s birthday (six feet apart and with masks in a big outdoor area) and this weekend, the weather was so so nice and we spent lots of time outside.  Yet, my camera roll is just pictures of Andi and Cream of Wheat.  What is wrong with me??

Anyway, since my life is now just a list of things I’ve consumed, I thought I’d just break it down into some categories: things watched, things read, things eaten.  Here we go!

Things Watched:

  • I think we’ve talked about watching The Sopranos for ten years, but we finally pulled the trigger (no pun intended :P) and are already a few episodes into Season 2!
  • Can you believe we’d never seen any of the Lord of the Rings films?  In my mind, it seemed like some big time commitment and I’d made it my whole life without them, so it didn’t feel pressing but we plowed through them a couple weekends ago and I LOVED them!  The plot was interesting, the graphics really held up (Helm’s Deep is how you do a nighttime battle scene, Game of Thrones) and Orlando Bloom really made being a fairy seem cool.  Halfway through Return of the King, I told Joey “if one of these hobbitses die, I will lose it!”  Why did I wait so long??
  • My sister told me I needed to watch Broad City and she was right!  Every time Joey would catch part of an episode, he’d laugh the entire time.  It really is funny.
  • Joey flew through Misery so after he finished, I promised I’d watch the movie with him.  He wouldn’t even tell me if there were more torture scenes than that one torture scene, but I survived and actually thought it was pretty good.
  • We’ve watched like a thousand other things, but I’ll end here 🙂

Things Read:

  • In all honesty, though I’ve technically read parts of three books during this quarantine, two of them I’d started way earlier and I’m only halfway through the third one.  Don’t be like me and get into a habit of looking at your phone instead of reading at night!
  • The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip.  Unless you count Harry Potter, I don’t think I’ve read a true fantasy story maybe ever?  I got this one at our book swap in December and vowed to actually give it a go.  I didn’t love it, to be honest, but I’m glad I gave it a chance.
  • Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  If you know me, you know I love Taylor Jenkins Reid.  This one wasn’t as good as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo but I still really liked it.  She has such an knack for creating characters that feel so real I often find myself wanting to Google them before I remember they’re fictional.  
  • Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver.  I’m only halfway through and something like ten years removed from the last time I read a Barbara Kingsolver book, but I really like this one!

Things Eaten:

  • Asparagus Quiche with a Polenta Crust.  When your mom already makes the best classic quiche, it’s best not to even try making something similar, so polenta quiche it is!  We’ve been making this for years and it’s truly creamy and delicious.
  • Kale Caesar Salad.  We’ve definitely forgone our weekly salad-in-a-jar habit, but we’ve been trying to throw in a dinner salad here and there.  This one is old and I actually made the recipe up myself, but it’s delicious and the only update I’ve made is this technique for homemade croutons (they are crazy good!).
  • Sesame Soba Noodles.  Joey made these for us and then I think I ate the leftovers four days in a row.
  • We’ve also ordered a lot of take out.  Ramen from Uncle will never get old!

A pup who likes to sleep with his tongue out // A blossom update // A snowstorm that ruined all those blossoms // Aforementioned polenta quiche

In other news, we close on our house this Thursday (and it’s in person, ugh!!!), so that’s something to look forward too 🙂

Recently Consumed

Wow, has it really been since LAST APRIL that I wrote one of these posts??  How dare I?!  But it’s a new year and it’s time to check in all the things consumed by my head, heart, eyes, ears and stomach lately.

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Chocolate-Covered Dates Stuffed with Peppermint Cream

I know I already mentioned this in my weekend post, but we’ve nearly finished off this batch of dates and I have leftover peppermint cream, so I already have plans to make more!  Joey told me these were “professional,” so I’ll take that a sign they were good, plus I really did love them myself!

Chernobyl

Why didn’t anyone tell me how deeply fucked up this show was?!  Okay, except everything I heard about this show made it clear that it was deeply fucked up.  We knocked the whole series out in a few days and besides being just really well made and well shot and well acted, it is HARROWING and unbelievably gruesome.  I cannot believe this incident actually happened (and not even that long ago!).  What a monumental disaster!

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Cosmic Crisp Apple

My mom gifted me this apple before they left for vacation and wow, so juicy and sweet and beautiful!  Plus I thought of her as I ate it… which was probably her ploy all along!!!

Paul Walter Hauser Fever

I’ve listened to not one, but two, Paul Walter Hauser (I, Tonya, BlacKkKlansman, Richard Jewell) interviews this week and he is a delight!!!  Not only is he incredibly funny but also hard-working, talented and down-to-earth.  More please!

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Black Bean + Tempeh Tacos with Cashew Cheese Sauce

Is this the thousandth time I’ve talked about how much I love these veggie tacos?  Probably, but here we are again!  We chowed down on these as we finished Chernobyl in the dark and I managed not to make a huge mess even.  They are truly so good, please make them.

Film Scores

You guys thought I’d already gone off the deep end with how many movies I saw this year, but the nerdom continues because I’m now listening to the scores of those films.  But for real, beautiful wordless music is the best thing to listen to at work! Last week I was on the Little Women score, which is twinkly and elegant and beyond beautiful and this week has been dedicated to the Marriage Story score, by Randy Newman.  I think I’ll hit up the Joker score (it did win the Golden Globe after all!) next week.

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Double Puppy Party

I have consumed a lot of puppy time this week!  One dog is DEFINITELY easier than two — I wish I had video evidence of me being pulled in half as I walked them both solo on Wednesday — but they are really entertaining together.  Plus it’s nice when Joey and I each have a dog to cuddle on the couch at night ♥

I realize I have not listed any books or restaurant food here, which must mean I’m slacking all of 10 days into the new year 😛  I just got that 2020 Yelp Elite badge so I need to step up my game this weekend maybe??  Also, I’m halfway through my first read of the year, The Scholar, and it’s alright, not amazing and not bad but interesting enough.  I’ll report back on both of these things, soon hopefully!  Happy Weekend to you all!