Queenkv’s Brainpickings

I had a craving for my Dad’s laarb. He does amazing things with ground beef and I love coming up to his cooking.

On the way to the store, I called him for the ingredients. At the end of our conversation, I mentioned I was trying it all with some fake meat — tofu grounded up to look like beef. I imagined the look of disbelief on his face.

originally uploaded by queenkv.

Here’s my vegetarian version of my Dad’s Laarb. I used Morning Star’s grilled beef starter. I could totally taste the difference between ground beef and this substitute because I knew what was going into the dish. But I’d love to do a blind taste test some day and see if my palate knows the difference.

This morning, we went for our first run of 2007. It felt awesome to jog down Shunga Trail, 70-degrees outside with a helpful breeze. I suppose you could call me a fair-weather runner. The idea of running in the snow, rain or slosh does not appeal to me. That’s why we have gyms.

On this run, I had my favorite Xmas present attached to my hip, my iPod Nano. Thanks Dad! I grooved to Eats Tapes, Fischer Spooner and Britney Spears. Don’t laugh.

I also enjoy watching the seasons change on the Shunga Trail. Most of the trees are bare and in a few weeks, they should be blooming with delicate white flowers. I think we picked a good day for a run. A few weeks ago, another jogger found a dead body on the trail. No foul play. Just a dead body.

Gosh…that’s the cynic journalist talking. Sorry.

originally uploaded by queenkv.

Here’s Daisy showing off her table manners at Bark Park. She’s so happy when she’s running around the park, off leash. She’s also very temperamental when other dogs try to do more than a friendly sniff. The other day, we had to break-up a few canine fights. Crazy Daisy. She’s cute, but a little high-strung.

originally uploaded by queenkv.

This is the result of Daisy being high-strung. We left her alone in the apartment one night and she ripped up these magazines and papers. This is the first time she ever did anything like that. I wonder if it’s because we have noisy new neighbors.

Topeka is a cheap place to live and we’re paying under $500/month for a two-bedroom apartment. But as the saying goes, we’re getting what we paid for — a dorm-like environment with party-minded college students, Section 8 families and bratty kids who yell at my puppy. Around the time of our new neighbors moving in was the same time Mark’s bike was stolen off our balcony. We live on the third floor! Plus it was snowing and freezing outside. So, on a weekend when Mark was away in SF, some asshole climbed up to the third floor balcony and somehow shimmied down with a bright yellow mountain bike. Mark still has the serial number for the bike. I’ll probably trip the next jerk I see riding around on a yellow mountain bike at this apartment complex. Trip first and ask questions later.

And a few days after that, another asshole stole our welcome mat. That was low and unnecessary. However, I suppose it’s to be expected living at this complex.

OK, time to leave this hell hole and take our puppy to our doggie oasis. Our happy place: Bark Park.

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For St. Patrick’s Day, we took a roadtrip down the Turnpike to Emporia. We toasted the holiday at Natasha’s.

If you get a chance, I hope you’d consider voting for this pix. The more votes it get’s the more chances it has to be published in the next issue of JPG Magazine. How neat is that?

So, I gave up meat for Lent. This usually makes cooking a challenge for me, since I like to craft my meals around the meat-of-the-day. I’m still cool with chicken and seafood, I just made a promise to myself to avoid red meat.

So far…I’ve managed to avoid red meat. At work, someone’s mom treated us to a pizza meal for his birthday. Very sweet, but all the pies were meat pies! Eeck! I stuck with the bread sticks. I also ended-up picking off the pepperoni slices, after I saw another co-worker do so.

originally uploaded by queenkv.

I decided to embrace tofu as my meat-of-the-day.

This is an Alfredo risotto with tofu, grounded-up and seasoned to look and taste like ground beef. During this kitchen session, I tried out Morning Star’s Sausage Crumbles. Not bad…I’d love to a do a side-by-side taste test with ground beef. Maybe after lent.

• 1 Bag of Morning Star’s Sausage Crumbles
• 1/2 bottle of Classico’s Alfredo Mushroom Sauce
• A pinch of Rosemary
• A few teaspoons of garlic salt and onion powder
• 3 cups of white rice
• Lot’s of chicken broth
• A few teaspoons of olive oil

(this recipe will basically look similar to my other rice dishes…simply because I like the texture of the rice, simmered down with chicken broth and other liquids)

In a paella pan (or you could use any large, deep pan), I sauteed the rice with olive oil and garlic salt and onion powder until golden. Then I stirred in some chicken broth to cover the rice. Watch out for the steaming action when the broth hits the hot surface. After the broth reduces to less than half, I added in the rest of the chicken broth, the rosemary, Alfredo sauce and the entire bag of the sausage crumbles. I brought the mixture up to a boil and then I set the stove temperature to low and covered the pan. I let the mixture simmer for 20 minutes.

It’s a hearty meal and it almost tastes like meat. Mark said I went a little heavy on the rosemary. So, that’s why I changed the measurement to a pinch. I like how the sausage crumbles absorb the flavor of the Alfredo sauce

I do miss cooking things from scratch. Cooking with pre-made sauces is convenient, but I know if I had the time, I could whip up my own Alfredo sauce. Sometimes it’s tough getting ingredients in Topeka, especially for the Thai and Filipino dishes. Most of my cookbooks are probably targeted to people living in metropolitan centers within easy access to a Whole Foods-like specialty store.

Someday, I will cook something without a pre-made sauce. Someday.

originally uploaded by queenkv.

Back to our roadtrip to Emporia….These limestone sculptures are at the Lyon County Fairgrounds. According to Marci Penner, they’re suppose to represent prominent historic Kansans. I’ll try to post more about our roadtrip, another time.

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I woke-up ’round 9:00 this morning. That feels late for me, since I’m typically up ’round 7 AM to read over headlines and blogs.

Last night, I got home late. I was out at a Topeka bar for girls’ night-out with my co-workers. I’ve been warned to keep most pictures from the festivities off my blogs. Where’s the trust?

Yesterday, we did a road-trip around the south-central parts of the state. We ate lunch on the Santa Fe Trail in Council Grove. We had an old-fashioned soda and a peanut-butter malt for dessert at a soda fountain bar that dates back to the 1920’s. We tried catching the St. Patty’s parade in Emporia but we got there late. So we did drinks and played pool at a cute billards place on Commercial Street. I also found El Salavdorian cuisine inside a railroad car restuarant. Yummy!

We had some lovely weather in Topeka over the last week. I took Daisy to Bark Park for the first time in a while. She loved running off leash, tackling bigger dogs and chasing after squirrels.

My weekend’s cut in half since I’m heading back to my graveyard shift for the next two days. I’m producing the morning show while another producer takes a vacation. I wish I had a little more advance notice, but I’m sucking it up for now. I don’t want to whine and when it comes down to it, I have a good life and career now. Despite the bump in the schedule, I’ll round out my week falling asleep with my hubby and Daisy. I’ll go back to browsing headlines, blogs and musings for my long week-day mornings. Maybe we’ll even do lunch outside the apartment, just like when we were dating back at Haas.

Good times.

PT’s CAFE, 29th ST — We lost Internet connection on Sunday morning. Imagine me going 24 hours without checking e-mail and headlines. So, I’m happy we went to thiswifi -enabled cafe this morning. Otherwise, I would have went bonkers. Plus, I would have went into work completely clueless on what’s going on in the world.

At home and at the gym, I also spent some time with Good Morning America and CNN’s This America Morning for today’s national and international news. I turned on NPR’s Morning Edition for in-depth analysis. Who would have thought Fred Thompson, aka D.A. Arthur Branch, would consider a run for the White House?

I spent the weekend following the Jayhawks in Oklahoma City. On Saturday, they beat the K-State Wildcats. Yesterday, they edged out Texas Tech in overtime. I also felt sorry for the Wildcats getting snubbed over a berth to the NCAA Championships. I’m also bummed that Standford’s going to the big dance and Cal got dissed on two brackets. My Golden Bears didn’t even get an invitation to the NIT. Ouch.

Last night, we tried out the Smackdown Trivia Contest at the Bottleneck in Lawrence. Our team was called “The Cocky Spaniels.” We did well with Sci-Fi Lit and Musicals…but we clearly needed more brains on our team. And Mark was able to bust out his archeology degree.

What was the name of the book given to a compilation of Quiche and Mayan myths and history?

Answer: Popol Vuh.

According to the Mistress of Questions, this was toughest question of the evening. She said she was proud of my hubby. Then another team decided to smack on equally difficult question.

Better luck next weekend.

I’m getting used to my new schedule. It’s nice to chill in the morning with my honey.We’re chilling to sounds of home with Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW in Santa Monica. I love Internet radio.

Now, I’m browsing headlines, blogs and indulging in my new digital distraction, twitter. I can update this social network site from anywhere: through aol IM, the web site and my cell phone. I’m intrigued with the random musings posted from all over the US and the world. A few days ago, somebody twittered about doing lunch at Trafalgar Square. That brought back memories of living in London. Other people twitter about waiting for a doctor’s appointment or heading out to an LA club. It’s like viewing other people’s lives through a peephole. Feel free to join the conversation….or lurk on the sidelines. We’ll see how long this web fad will last.

Now on to random musings about food and going out.

originally uploaded by queenkv.

On my work blog, I raved about doing brunch at the Brick Oven in Topeka. I didn’t think they could disappoint me until they served up this poor excuse for a side of bacon.

(note this was before Lent and before I gave-up red meat)

On the menu, it’s described as “Hickory Smoked Bacon.” It tasted rubbery, sweet and burnt. Mark said it was disgusting and it felt like his teeth were going to be pulled out of his head. I told our server and she said the Brick Oven fries up the bacon with brown sugar. OK - that’s NOWHERE on the menu. I told her bacon needs to be crispy and burn-free. She was willing to take the side back to the kitchen. The second serving of bacon tasted less rubbery and burnt…but no crispy pieces to be found. She felt awful and I decided to let the issue rest.

Note to self - avoid Hickory Smoked Bacon at the Brick Oven.

originally uploaded by queenkv.

Last weekend I did my best to stick with the anti-red-meat plan with Ole Tapas in Lawrence. I remembered Gautam had problems being a vegetarian in Spain. “No jamon,” he told the servers at the tapas bars and they’d shake their heads in disbelief. However, on the other side of the tapas cuisine is the fantastic seafood offerings. Last weekend, I ordered this Catalan seafood broth: salmon, shrimp, calamari and scallops.

I wanted more of that savory broth with touches of saffron, butter and other herbs. It was served on a plate and that confused me on the dish’s identity as a broth. I was bummed about having to ration my bread dipping on the broth, since there wasn’t enough to go around. Still, the seafood was seared nicely and I enjoyed the flaky salmon.

We also enjoyed the margaritas at Ole Tapas. This place doesn’t know how to make a decent pitcher of sangria, but they were spot on with the margaritas.

originally uploaded by queenkv.

I’m fascinated by bathroom art at clubs and bars. A few weekends ago, I snapped this picture of the ladies room at the Replay Lounge. I enjoy reading love promises and broken-heart rantings on the walls of the loo.

Bathroom art could make an interesting photo exhibit theme. Maybe I’ll work on that. I now have the time thanks to my new work schedule.

It rocks!

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I woke-up around 5:00 AM and found Mark sleeping beside me. Unlike the last two weeks, I woke-up without feeling empty.

My world is better again.

Last night, I picked up Mark from MCI and we did dinner at Ole’ Tapas. Over a tasty Catalan seafood broth and patatas bravas, we caught-up on work, friends and random headlines. I could feel the weeks of bitter isolation and negative vibes melt away over glasses of margaritas.

Over the last two weeks, I finished a bottle of wine, Jameson, four Red Stripes and one Dos Equis. Anything to fall asleep on my own.

And the best thing about this weekend, I don’t have to fall asleep at noon today! I have entire Sunday with my husband - going to church, eating out, watching a movie and maybe even going to trivia night at a Lawrence bar. That’s because I’ve heading to prime time, starting tomorrow. After a little schedule switch-up at work, I’m now producing an evening news show. Woot! More resources, viewers, reporters, photogs and crazy good times.

It will take some time to adjust my body to a new sleep schedule, but I totally think it’s worth it! Anything for the chance to fall asleep with my husband and my baby.

Memories of warmer weather in my home state. I snapped this shot the day after we took Jennie out to fly over Torrey Pines. Good times.

originally uploaded by queenkv.

Now…you may be asking yourself:

Wait a minute, Queenkv. What’s wrong with your math? It’s Thursday night. That means you have one more show on Friday!

No no. No no. I agreed to help out work and produce the 10:00 show tonight.

So, two more shows until Mark comes home.
Two more shows until my weekend begins.
Two more shows until BIG changes happen at work.

I think I got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep today. Hopefully, this coffee will kick in and wake me up. ‘Cause right now, I want to crawl back into bed.