Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Perfumes..and time wasters!

Yay! My perfumes arrived yesterday from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab!

I ordered 20 of their sample sized "Imps", in a wide variety of scents. My favorite so far is "O", but I'm also really digging "Siren" and "Blood Amber". I'll try them all, one a day--it's the belated birthday gift that keeps on giving!

I was looking through Personal Demons yesterday and realized the place in that book where I almost gave up, and sat on my hands for almost three weeks because I had no idea how to get where I needed to be, was page 160. Guess where I'm stuck on The Demon Inside? Page 160, you say? Why, yes!

The good news is, I think I have figured out how to get over the hump. I actually got some words in this morning and think I'll do more tonight (after Heroes, of course.)

Also in time-wasting, I decided, for some insane reason, that it would be fun to make spanakopita from scratch. Okay, actually it was kind of fun, but next time I'm using fresh spinach instead of frozen, because that shit was a bitch to thaw and took forever. Plus, phyllo pastry? Fiddly, although not as bad as I've heard. They say to keep it damp, but I actually found it easier to work with a little drier. Less fragile but still quite pliable.

Anyway. That's it. I smell good--or at least I did until I started messing about with spinach and feta cheese--and I'll either eat well tonight or I'll eat terribly. (I'm also doing roast potatoes with garlic, lemon, oregano and nutmeg).

Oh, and I've become obsessed with Dog the Bounty Hunter.

25 comments:

Angie said...

Spanakopita is worth the trouble, although I'll admit it's really annoying to make. I use the frozen-and-chopped kind of spinach because it goes well with a lot of recipes and you can take however much you need need from the bag I put it into a large strainer over a bowl to thaw. Aside from doing a bit of draining while it thaws, it also lets air circulate all around the blob of spinach so it thaws faster. When it's thawed, I press a cereal bowl down on top of the mass to squish all the liquid out, then use it for whatever.

And I like the new color scheme very much -- the blues are a great accent to the grey and black.

Angie

Anonymous said...

I love the new colour scheme! Grey rocks. My living room and kitchen walls are painted grey, and it's anything but monochrome.

Though frozen chopped spinach is handy, I prefer the fresh. You need like 8 pounds of it but you can season it as you cook it. More garlic! mmmmmm

Have you ever made dolmathes? Now there's some fiddly work. Totally worth it IMO.

I got stuck around page 80 (of 140 or so, so I think it may be a similar spot) ...but The Man is done his latest semester, and I've had lots of time to think so I'm pretty sure I'm ready to get over the hump.

writtenwyrdd said...

http://www.melissa-marr.com/wickedlovely.html

I wanted to share this page with you because I just LOVE how it changes when you scroll over the figures.

Love the new blog look, btw.

And yummy sounding food!

Anonymous said...

I looooove all the scents I get from Black Phoenix!

One of my favorites is Maenad. I order little sample vials all the time just to mix things up a bit.

Gabriele Campbell said...

Next book you should skip page 160. :)

I like the new look.

Anonymous said...

I had a Dog phase, then after watching enough of the show the tough guy thing started to come off more like egotism to me.

writtenwyrdd said...

If you liked Dog, there's a movie starring Kiera Knightly called Domino about a socialite turned bounty hunter, based on a real person. It's pretty good.

Rebecca said...

that sounds yum. You've inspired me to get off my arse and cook something decent tonight. My kids have been sick and I've done nothing but open tins of baked beans and scramble eggs for days now....

I'm HUNGRY and I want something nice!

Anonymous said...

When I was a cook way back when, they used to make me do all the phyllo, cause I was the only one in the kitchen with the paitience for it. And when you're making 150 spanakopita, 150 chicken/artichoke triangles and 25 salmon and basil in phyllo, you need some freakin' paitience. If I never work with the stuff again, it'll be fifty billion years too soon.

And I love the new colors. Much easier on the eyes, especially in a dark room.

Glad to hear you're over your bump, but...

Dog? Oh, December, say it ain't so!

Stacia said...

Oh, yes, Angie, it was TOTALLY worth it. Delicious! And the potatoes too, which I was a little unsure about. We ate well last night, very well indeed.
I bought the frozen whole leaf spinach, which was frozen in little blocks. I floated them in water, had to keep changing the water, took forever. Then just squeezed the hell out of them with my bare hands. Cereal bowl sounds easier.


Thanks Seeley! Our next house is going to have gray interiors, very pale gray-blue in fact. I can see the color in my head. :-) Everything goes with it--I'll have one set of accessories for summer and another for winter, just like my mother used to when I was a kid.
What's a dolmathe?
And I think I got over the hump! *Hopefully*

See, Written, I love stuff like that--it's so freaking cool--but can't afford a designer to do it for me. It's going on the Dream Site list, for when I actually make some money doing this. :-) If I'm lucky.


I thought of you when I ordered, Colleen, and I kept meaning to comment about it on your blog! How did you like Blood Kiss?


Lol Gabriele, that's what I'll do. "Where's page 160?"
"There isn't one."

Stacia said...

Dog an egotist, Michele? Eh, maybe a little. I haven't noticed but I certainly wouldn't say it's not possible. I just get a kick out of Beth and her crazy outfits, and I think they're a really sweet family.


I heard about that movie, Written, but unfortunately can't stomach Kiera Knightley. Much like how the presence of Drew Barrymore prevented me from seeing the last Hugh Grant movie, which pissed me off because I love Hugh.

We do really nice dinners less often than we used to, Rebecca, but sometimes you just get in the modd to really cook, don't you? I usually do meat pies when in that mood (or a few of the other recipes on the Overflow blog) but we were watching some Greek cooking sow the other day and I ate spanakopitas pretty much every day throughout my entire pregnancy with Faery (seriously; they were about all I could stand the smell of for the first sixteen weeks) so I decided to give it a go, and yay!



Salmon and basil in phyllo, kis? *salivates* Are you going to share that recipe with me?!

What's wrong with Dog?

What I love most about it is they get all dramatic and worked up, and talk about how tough this one's going to be, and then they find the fugitive and the fugitive is like, "Oh. You're here. Okay." And just gets in the car. Lol!

Stacia said...

Not to mention my newfound adoration of anything and everything American. Or at least, most things. Not, like, American Idol or anything. But just about everything else.

Robyn said...

I adore the Chapmans- and V95 is right. After he followed that bastard into Mexico to drag him back, Dog can do no wrong.

I also get a kick out of Beth and her, um, blessings. Did you see the South Park episode spoofing them? Hysterical.

Sam said...

Hello!
Loved catching up on your blog - you've been busy this summer! The articles with Raelene and Treva were interesting. I was also wondering what spanakopita was - I kept reading spankanova, and went hmmm - a bdsm dish?
:-)

Stacia said...

I agree, V95. You know a few of the women that animal attacked set up legal defense funds for Dog? And the Hawaii state legislature passed a resoltuion requestiong Mexico not extradite (and a bunch of congressmen wrote a letter to Condoleezza Rice asking her to deny Mexico's request.)


I haven't seen that episode! But I know they apparently thought it was hysterical. She joked the SP creators didn't make her boobs big enough, lol.


Sam! You're back, yay!!
Spanakopita is a greek spinach-and-feta-cheese pie, in phyllo pastry. Delicious! And much simpler than I thought it would be, I'm definitely making it again.

Vicki said...

I love the new colors. Yeah. I'm linking to you on my T13 today. :)

Kate Thornton said...

I love the new colors - and the spanikopita! My DH does a fab pizza thing with phyllo and sliced tomatoes - right out of the Sunset Magazine.

Such a treat to read your blog!

Kate

Kate Thornton said...

Oh, and I linked to you, too!

Karen Erickson said...

My husband is completely obsessed with Dog the Bounty Hunter. Every time I watch it I always want to go to Hawaii. LOL

I think your dinner sounds great! :)

Stacia said...

Thanks, Vicki! :-) Loved the post about the cars--excellent character stuff too!


Ooh, Kate, recipe please? I added you link (yours too, Vicki, sorry it took me so long!)


It does make Hawaii look cool, doesn't it Karen? It was a goood dinner, too, I was very pleased with it!

Anonymous said...

Dolmathes are those little rolls of rice and meat (usually lamb or beef) inside grape leaves. They come with a yummy lemony hollaindaise type sauce. Mmmm...

Stacia said...

Mmmm, I love stuffed grape leaves! Ive only ever had vegetarian ones, but those are delicious.

Recipe?

Unknown said...

Oooh perfume and cooking, two of my favorite things. This is my first time by here and I came on my lucky day apparently. :)

Tempest Knight said...

OMG! I'm obsessed with "Dog The Bounty Hunter" too. *wg* His son Leeland is such a cutie. ;)

Stacia said...

Welcome Samantha, and thanks for the comment! Stick around, hopefully you'll like the other stuff too!


Yay Tempest! I know, Leland is a hottie, isn't he? And he seems so nice. Like such a good person. But one who could still totally kick ass. Seriously? They show two episodes a day here, then re-air them twice later in the day. It's not unusual for me to watch them at least twice.