Goodbyes and Peanut Sauce

After last night's shenanigans, or "symposium," using our new term from the Blanton museum's Grecian urn collection, I had to take a nap immediately after work, which usually leaves me in a groggy haze without the motivation to do anything afterwards. But today, resolve in tow, I got up and proceeded to cook dinner and drink an espresso mocha till I woke up. And it's a good thing I did, because my house guests/room mate came home while I was in the kitchen, but only to say goodbye because they are driving home to Florida tonight and that makes me sad :(

For dinner I made a "Thai" peanut sauce and mixed it with rice noodles. I found the recipe several years ago and it's been a favorite ever since. It's really simple, and looks like this:

Thai peanut sauce + noodles

1 box rice noodles

1 cup creamy peanut butter

4 tsp brown sugar

1/4 c rice vinegar

2 tsp chili powder or paste

4 tbs chopped chives

4 cloves minced garlic

1/4 cup soy sauce (or to taste)

1 cup coconut milk

Vegetables - I like the pre-mixed cans of Asian vegetables and broccoli

Cubed tofu (if you want it)

1) in a large sauce pan, whisk together all but the coconut milk over medium heat

2) adjust seasonings to taste

3) stir in coconut milk

4) stir in vegetables (steam the broccoli first if you use it)

5) mix over rice noodles in a large bowl - and it's finished.

Easy! My dinner companion disapproved of the tofu, but as the evening's cook and resident vegetarian... I win.

While finishing up, my poetry boys came home to pack up their things and say goodbye. They brought such good energy into the house and I'm going to miss them. It's one of my life's goals to be the type of person that brings good energy into a room, and not because of a desire to have more people like me, but simply because people who can do that bring joy with them, and that's an unmatchable gift. I can be quite the storm cloud sometimes, and I hope that as I work to bring more peace and a sense of settlement into my life, that the chaos I often feel around and in myself will dissipate.

Quite possible the funniest, and perhaps scariest, picture I've ever seen. This is Lennon, Matt, Eirik, and Adam, or, respectively: Lennon, Cuban, Big Poppa E, and Henzbo.

My turn with the boys. At least I get to keep the one in the middle.


Haiku throw down at Kick Butt Coffee's open mic yesterday night.

I love to write, and I don't know why I'm so absurdly afraid to share anything that I have to say. It's odd not being counted as one of the writers when I write reams of words that simply never make it outside of sealed notebooks. Even maintaining this blog is difficult for me and takes a twist of the arm, since there's a part of myself that always says, "no one wants to read what you have to say, you don't have anything to say anyway." So I try to focus on the counter-voice in my head that reminds me, much more gently, that I'm doing this for myself, because I enjoy chronicalling the day, and because it's good practice at putting something I create into a potentially public sphere. This is an exercise in overcoming my inner defeatist. With each post, I'm the champion of the bout. Another victory - helps to make quite a good night.