Life without a lenscap

Spicy Tangerine Beef and Fried Beef Dumplings


Spicy Tangerine Beef

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Corn Starch
• 1 pound Flank Steak or Tri-Tip, cut in thin strips



• 2 tablespoons Dry Sherry
• 2 tablespoons Hoisin Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Honey
• 1 tablespoons Chili Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1/4 cup Tangerine Juice [I could only find orange/tangerine. Tasted fine.]
• 3 tablespoons Canola Oil
• 2 tablespoons minced Ginger [I just used the powder]
• 3 chopped Scallions
• 2 tablespoons Toasted Sesame Seeds

Directions:

1. In a resealable plastic bag, combine the Soy Sauce and Corn Starch and mix well. Add beef, cover, and let marinate for 20 minutes in the refrigerator. [Or, if you're me, put them in a bowl, mix them up and then add the beef and mix it all together, and let stand while you get the rest of the stuff ready/are finishing dumpling stuff]
2. Whisk together the Sherry, Hoisin, Honey, Chili Sauce, Soy Sauce, and Tangerine Juice until completely combined.
3. In large pan or wok, heat oil on high. Add the ginger and beef and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add sauce mixture and cook for another 2 minutes on medium heat until sauce thickens. Just at the end of the process mix in the sesame seeds and Scallions.

Results: Really tasty! I was very happy with the outcome, as was Jeff, who had come over. I left the beef in the sauce a BIT too long, and it was a bit thick on them, but it tasted delicious, regardless, and the consistency was good.

Recipe from foodnetwork.com [Guy Fieri]

Fried Beef Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound Ground Chuck
• 4 Scallions, thinly sliced
• 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 3 tablespoons of Water [twice!]
• 1 beaten Egg
• 1 packet Pot Sticker Wraps [I cut down egg roll wraps. I'm sure won ton wraps would fit really well]

Directions:

1. Mix up the ground chuck, scallions and soy sauce. I used my hands, and pretended I was destroying enemies.
2. Put a wrap out, put a spoonful of the mixture on top this, and wrap it up so that it kinda looks like a dumpling. Anywhere the wrap touches / you fold it, use the beaten egg to make it stick together. Place all the little dumplings on a plate till you're out of filler
3. Pre-heat a non-stick pan
4. Once the pan is hot, fill it with the little dumplings, and let them fry for about 3 minutes. Don't mess with them, just let them hang out. [AndNo, you did not miss the step involving oil. There isn't one.]
5. Add the water [I used more than 3 tablespoons, and am convinced it was a good choice], and cover the pan, so that they steam
6. Reduce the heat, and let them cook until the water evaporates [5 minutes or so]

Results: These were tasty as well. We dipped them in soy sauce. I accidentally burned them a tiny bit, but it was hardly noticeable and they tasted gosh-darned good, so... you know. there. They went well with the beef, and we added broccoli as a vegetable. All in all a tasty meal!

Recipe from foodnetwork.com

Band: Jonathan Coulton
Venue: The Paradise, Boston, MA
Date of Concert: 09/26/09
First Opener: Paul and Storm
     •Absolutely hilarious, a great repoire with the audience. Just as good as JoCo. I reccomend you check them out. I will see them headline if I can.
Set List:
     •Betty and Me
     •Skullcrusher Mountain
     •Brookline
     •Millionaire Girlfriend
     •Octopus
     •So Far, So Good
     •Curl
     •Big Bad World One
     •Blue Sunny Day
     •Always the Moon
     •Creepy Doll
     •Mr. Fancy Pants
     •Code Monkey
     •The Presidents
     •The Future Soon
     •Mandelbrot Set
     •Still Alive [the song from Portal]
     •Re: Your Brains
Encore:
     •A Talk With George
     •First of May
Main Act Thoughts:
     •JoCo does a phenomenal performance. He's a lot of fun. He is a really talented musician, with an acoustic folk style, but mostly he is a geek. Yes. He was once a software engineer, but quit his job to become a musician. Rising to fame for his project in which he wrote a song every week for a year, and released it to the internet fo' free. He rose to further fame when he was asked to write the song for the closing credits of the extremely popular game Portal. [Came with Orange Box] He's extremely witty and clever, and provides alot of intelligent songs. He works with the audience nicely, and performs just as well live as he does on the recordings. He's something of a geek hero. We lurve him.

Band: Streetlight Manifesto
Venue: House of Blues, Boston, MA
Date of Concert: 09/22/09
First Opener: Broadway Calls
     •Great punk band! Authentic sound, and genuinely well done songs.
Second Opener: Outernational
     •Few and far between are the occasions where I actively hated having to stand in a concert venue and listen to drivel as much as I did with this act. No talent, and they tried to hide it with volume.
Set List:
     •That'll Be The Day
     •We Will Fall Together
     •Down, Down, Down to Mephisto's Cafe
     •Point/Counterpoint - Keasbey Nights - Point/Counterpoint
     •Would You be Impressed
     •Forty Days
     •Watch it Crash
     •A Moment of Silence
     •A Moment of Violence
     •Here's to Life
     •Somewhere in the Between
Encore:
     •Failing, Flailing
     •The Big Sleep
Main Act Thoughts:
     •Amazing. I have yet to be dismayed by a live set from this band. And it looks like the point of dismayal is not coming anytime soon. They play incredibly intricate songs, and they do so just as tightly live as they do on their albums, working with the crowd, but also providing a persistent and non-stop drive, all-the-way-through.

Did I mention that this is my favorite band of all time? I think they're unspeakably talented. I can't even handle how amazing they are. And every time I see them live it just reminds me of how much they deserve that praise. [Ian: This is my U2]

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Restaurant of Nomming: Bintliff's
Location of Nomming: Ogunquit, Maine
Menu description of Noms: Créme Brulee French Toast: Our specialty Tuscan French toast, glazed with our French style vanilla bean custard and caramelized raw sugar
Cost of Noms: $8.99
Thoughts on Noms: Oh, sweet baby Jesus. So delicious I pretty much couldn't even handle it. It was pretty much perfect French Toast. I will be returning to sample their other french toasts. They have FIVE on their menu, and they all looked fantastic. Didn't even need to touch the syrup.

Bacon Wrapped Pork Roast

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Ingredients:

• 1 pork loin (1 1/2 pounds)
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary [I had the kind in a spice bottle. It tasted just fine]
• 1/4 lb bacon, thinly sliced
• 1 cup white wine

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Season pork wil salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet [Yeah. I have a regular pan, so I used a regular pan. Worked fine!] over medium heat. Sear pork on all sides until browned, about 10 minutes total. Remove from heat.
2. Rub pork with chopped rosemary; wrap with bacon, overlapping strips slightly. Tie pork roast wih kitchen twine. Roast in oven, basting occasionally with cooking juices, until internal temperature is 145°F on a meat thermometer, 35 o 40 minutes. Remove from oven. Transfer pork to a serving dish.
3. Make pan sauce. Place the roasting skillet on the stove top over low heat. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrap up any browned bits from the pan bottom. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a small saucepan. Skim off the fat. Reheat to serving temperature if necessary.

Results: Absolutely delicious.

Recipe from simplyrecipes.com

Date Completed: 09/12/2009
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     5:30 AM this Saturday morning found me standing in Copley Square with my bike in a lovely amount of rain. My cousin Chris was there with me, my cousin Caitlin graciously brought us there. I was busy staring into space, munching on a banana and querying to myself whether or not I would die that day. See three months ago I had encountered a float in the Boston Pride parade that was labeled "Harbor to the Bay" It advertised itself as a bike ride fuindraiser, 100% of the money from which went to aids charities. I was captivated by the concept, and by the incredibly well done graphics [judge away]. Upon querying those around me, I learned that it was a ride that traveled from Boston to Provincetown. Querying the people at it's representative booth after the parade, I learned that this was a 125 mile ride. Having never ridden more than 10 miles on a bike in my life, it seemed clear and logical to me that this would be an activity I needed to accomplish. I always make such perfect sense.

     I signed up that night and began riding, and soon upgraded my ride to a Schwinn Fastback - a road bike that would be more up to bringing me the distance, and more comfortable and efficient. I rode a few times a week, and did a few 50 mile rides in the area, and learned how gears are supposed to work. Suddenly September 12th was here. I felt ready, but terrified. With the help of many of you, I had raised $1,220 for the Aids Action Committee of Massachusetts, and as I am terrible at money raising, this seemed to me quite the accomplishment.

     Right. So. Saturday morning, standing in the rain, and all of a sudden, I was on my bike and riding out into the empty, early morning city streets. I put my feet into the pedals at 6:20 AM or so, yelled Yee-haw, and ignored the rain coming down upon us. It had begun. And we rode through the city. As we approached the edge of the city, God up above decided to crush every hope of a sunny day that might have existed and released a deluge from above. I mean, it fucking POURED. But like the mailmen, I would not be removed from my quest, and around 9:30 or 10, the sun peeked out and the rain stopped. It dried up and I could see the road ahead. We made the half-way point, the sagamore bridge, at 10:30, and after stopping for some mid-day noms, we carried on. Around 12:30 or one, it began misting, and that was fine. I found I got to a place where you simply acknowledge you're going to get wet, and you carry on through it. Around 90 miles my knee began to hurt. Interestingly enough, about the same time that it began POURING again. By this I mean I was riding through consistently 4" puddles, and at times, rode through 1 foot deep puddles.

     Around 100 miles my knee decided it really needed to be noticed, and every push down would release a very tiny "fuck" from my lips. We came to the second to last pit stop, and it was suggested that I take the sag wagon back. But I needed to finish this. And suddenly there was a second wind. I fucking pushed like I never had before. And for a while I could ignore the pain. I slammed through the last pit stop. And then at 110 miles or so the knee came back. And it came back in a very angry way. But I wanted it to be done, so I just kept pushing. And holy shit, do you know how many hills are on the fucking cape? A TON.

     Any way! Through sheer determination, a lot of swearing, maybe some screaming, definetly some crying and being very literally pushed by my cousin Chris [THANK YOU CHRIS.] I made it to the finish line in P-Town. And I am so goddamn proud of myself. And I am so thankful to Chris, and for all the support I received, and to jacin for showing up to root, and to Lewis and my parents for waiting for me at the finish line.

Motherfucking DONE, bitches.



This image from the end of the ride ©Lewis B. Day

Playing with my flash, and my bike, in the beginning weeks of training for the Harbor to the Bay.

DONATE TO THE RIDE HERE

Thank you to those of you who have donated - expect a more formal thank you soon.

6/17/09

2009 Ruined - Lynn Nottage
2008 "August: Osage County" - Tracy Letts
2007 Rabbit Hole - David Lindsay-Abaire
2005 Doubt, a parable - John Patrick Shanley
2004 I Am My Own Wife - Doug Wright
2003 Anna in the Tropics - Nilo Cruz
2002 Topdog/Underdog - Suzan-Lori Parks
2001 Proof - David Auburn
2000 Dinner With Friends - Donald Margulies
1999 Wit - Margaret Edson
1998 How I Learned to Drive - Paula Vogel
1996 Rent - the late Jonathan Larson
1995 The Young Man From Atlanta - Horton Foote
1994 Three Tall Women - Edward Albee
1993 Angels in America: Millennium Approaches - Tony Kushner
1992 The Kentucky Cycle - Robert Schenkkan
1991 Lost in Yonkers - Neil Simon
1990 The Piano Lesson - August Wilson
1989 The Heidi Chronicles - Wendy Wasserstein
1988 Driving Miss Daisy - Alfred Uhry
1987 Fences - August Wilson
1985 Sunday in the Park With George; music and lyrics - Stephen Sondheim, book - James Lapine.
1984 Glengarry Glen Ross - David Mamet
1983 Night, Mother - Marsha Norman
1982 A Soldier's Play - Charles Fuller
1981 Crimes of the Heart - Beth Henley
1980 Talley's Folly - Lanford Wilson
1979 Buried Child - Sam Shepard
1978 The Gin Game - Donald L. Coburn
1977 The Shadow Box - Michael Cristofer
1976 A Chorus Line conceived, choreographed and directed - Michael Bennett, with book - James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music - Marvin Hamlisch, and lyrics - Edward Kleban
1975 Seascape - Edward Albee
1973 That Championship Season - Jason Miller
1971 The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds - Paul Zindel
1970 No Place To Be Somebody - Charles Gordone
1969 The Great White Hope - Howard Sackler
1967 A Delicate Balance - Edward Albee
1965 The Subject Was Roses - Frank D. Gilroy
1962 How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying - Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows
1961 All The Way Home - Tad Mosel
1960 Fiorello! Book - Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, music - Jerry Bock and lyrics - Sheldon Harnick.
1959 J. B. - Archibald Macleish
1958 Look Homeward, Angel - Ketti Frings
1957 Long Day's Journey Into Night - Eugene O'Neill
1956 Diary of Anne Frank - Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich
1955 Cat on A Hot Tin Roof - Tennessee Williams
1954 The Teahouse of the August Moon - John Patrick
1953 Picnic - William Inge
1952 The Shrike - Joseph Kramm
1950 South Pacific - Richard Rodgers
1949 Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
1948 A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams
1946 State of the Union - Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay
1945 Harvey - Mary Chase
1943 The Skin of Our Teeth - Thornton Wilder
1941 There Shall Be No Night - Robert E. Sherwood
1940 The Time of Your Life - William Saroyan
1939 Abe Lincoln in Illinois - Robert E. Sherwood
1938 Our Town - Thornton Wilder
1937 You Can't Take It With You - Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman
1936 Idiots Delight - Robert E. Sherwood
1935 The Old Maid - Zoe Akins
1934 Men in White - Sidney Kingsley
1933 Both Your Houses - Maxwell Anderson
1932 Of Thee I Sing - George S. Kaufman
1931 Alison's House - Susan Glaspell
1930 The Green Pastures - Marc Connelly
1929 Street Scene - Elmer L. Rice
1928 Strange Interlude - Eugene O'Neill
1927 In Abraham's Bosom - Paul Green
1926 Craig's Wife - George Kelly
1925 They Knew What They Wanted - Sidney Howard
1924 Hell-Bent Fer Heaven - Hatcher Hughes
1923 Icebound - Owen Davis
1922 Anna Christie - Eugene O'Neill
1921 Miss Lulu Bett - Zona Gale
1920 Beyond the Horizon - Eugene O'Neill
1918 Why Marry? - Jesse Lynch Williams

1 : Singin' In The Rain [1952]
2 : West Side Story [1961]
3 : The Wizard of Oz [1939]
4 : The Sound of Music [1965]
5 : Cabaret [1972]
6 : Mary Poppins [1964]
7 : A Star Is Born [1954]
8 : My Fair Lady [1964]
9 : An American In Paris [1951]
10 : Meet me in St. Louis [1944]
11 : The King and I [1956]
12 : Chicago [2002]
13 : 42nd Street [1933]
14 : All That Jazz [1979]
15 : Top Hat [1935]
16 : Funny Girl [1968]
17 : The Band Wagon [1953]
18 : Yankee Doodle Dandy [1942]
19 : On The Town [1949]
20 : Grease [1978]
21 : Seven Brides for Seven Brothers [1954]
22 : Beauty and the Beast [1991]
23 : Guys and Dolls [1955]
24 : Show Boat [1936]
25 : Moulin Rouge! [2001]