I’ve been freaking out a little bit over the last few days. I got a letter from my new landlord (our building was sold earlier this month) that said, “We will be entering your apartment on January 30 to exhibit the rental unit to prospective mortgagees.” So I spent the entire weekend cleaning and making my place look nice. I hope they are not going to pull an Ellis Act on the building and evict everyone. I’m really worried about that. I’ve only lived here for a half year, and I really like my place. I don’t want to have to find another one.

I am guessing I’ll find out tomorrow what’s happening.

Good times.

In lighter news, I’ve been trying out a new tea. Stash Fusion Green and White Tea. It was two dollars at Trader Joe’s. I have been pleased with my (small) investment. I like having teas at work that don’t need milk and sugar.

Oh, how annoying. At our party on Thursday, I took home a bunch of jerk chicken with the intent of shredding it up for soup. I thought I took home five breasts, but it turned out to be one breast and four thighs. Argh! I don’t like using dark meat in soup. It’s too fatty. I prefer dark meat for straight eating, but I use the white meat for soup. It’s a pretty good balance, means I can use the entire chicken when I roast it.

I was so sad at the results of the white elephant gift exchange. I was really trying to get the gift that I unwrapped, a copy of The Food and Wines of Spain. But it was stolen away from me in the last round. Blast! (I’ll get you for that, Angie.) I ended up with a foam six-pack cooler filled with ginger ale.

I tried a new recipe this week, but I wasn’t really happy with it. I got it from my friend Eddie; it’s one of Mario Batali’s recipes. I’m still going to post it anyway, because I think it might just be a problem with me and my taste buds. I am not terribly keen on the combination of sweet and savory. Some people do enjoy it. For example, my mom and dad love putting raisins in their curries. To that, I say nay! (J agrees.)

But hey, you might like it. Zucca en agrodolce.

Zucca en Agrodolce

(Molto Italiano by Mario Batali)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound sugar pumpkin or acorn squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon red hot pepper flakes
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh mint

In a 10- to 12-inch sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until smoking. Add the pumpkin and garlic and cook until the pumpkin is light golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes, vinegar, and honey and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid is reduced to a syrupy glaze and the pumpkin is tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from the heat, add the mint, and serve.

Congrats to Lydia and Zack on their engagement!

Our holiday party is this afternoon. There was a thing with a strike and caterers, which is why it was postponed to January. I’ll let you know how the food is.

We almost lost Balthazar, Jer’s character, last night during D&D. We kind of got a little full of ourselves and decided to take on 40 enemies in one encounter. And then we decided to take on one really tough guy before we levelled. If we had waited until we were level six, it would have been a bit easier, since three of us would have gotten our second attack. But we survived, thanks to a simple distraction spell cast by our magister. Hurray! Scott, our DM, says that if that hadn’t worked, we probably would have lost two party members. (Brindel would have survived, because she runs FAST.)

I made about a half gallon of stock last night. No, it’s not a lot, but I only had two carcasses. It’ll suit my purposes (sauce and soup) just fine. Also, it’s probably a little on the concentrated side, so I may need to thin it out with water. I fell asleep on the couch while it was simmering. The comforting aroma made me tired.

I’m mostly better. Hurray!

Okay, so we’re not getting that table, but R☆ and Jer are constructing a new gaming surface. When finished it will be awesome. I spent way too much time at Home Depot yesterday with them (and Rosy).

One good thing about getting sick: I eat the stuff I’ve frozen.

I need to make stock. I have chicken bits. I will need to stop by a grocery store on the way home to get an onion.

NPR does a report on Katamari Damacy.

I’m still coughing. Now, as a bonus, my nose is leaking all over the place. Huzzah! (Don’t worry, Mom, I’m being careful not to get nosebleeds.)

I had to cancel our D&D session tonight. That makes me sad.

I went to Trader Joe’s this morning to pick up another bottle of Dynamo. It’s got a lot of vitamins in it or something. Its main feature (to me) is that it doesn’t really taste like orange juice. It unfortunately tastes a little too pineapple-y, but it’s reasonable enough in taste for me to make it through 64 ounces.

I hope I can go to work tomorrow.

Dang it, I think I might be getting sick. I’ve started coughing rather frequently. Good thing I’ve already got the soup made.

ETA: Ooh, Martha, if you’ve given me what you had last week at work when you damn well should have been at home getting better, I am sooooo sitting on your next reimbursment request for two weeks.

Middle Eastern Lamb Meatballs

(because you’ll probably end up with extra filling)

Extra filling
Whatever’s left of the egg glaze, or 1 egg if there’s none left
1/4-1/2 cup bread crumbs
Some kind of vegetable oil, for pan frying

Mix the leftover filling with the egg and bread crumbs. Form into small balls and place on a plate. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Heat some oil in a large skillet. Add the meatballs in one layer. Brown on one side for 2-3 minutes, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until nicely browned.