WotD

Word of the Day! Depuration - the removal of impurities from the body, such as xenobiotics. Xenobiotic is a fancy word for a chemical that isn't supposed to be found; its not normally produced.
Ex. My liver is utilizing depuration in relation to the antibiotics I'm taking for pneumonia.
Don't you feel smarter now?

Depuration is also a beer produced by Russian River Brewing. It is "a Blonde Ale aged in French oak Chardonnay barrels with white wine grapes for one year with three strains of Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, & Pediococcus (yeast)."
I'd love to try it!

V-Day + Other Schtuf

Going to the KU/CU game rocked. It was awesome to see just as many, and at times a lot more, Kansas fans than Colorado. Highlights...
the 3 KU kids on the front row, right in front of the CU student section...the fact that they sell beer at the arena....the stupid signs trying to make fun of Kansas..

I think that Kaun (as in the KU center, Sasha) in Russian means either "hands like rocks" or "surprisingly athletic" depending on your voice inflection.

These next few days are going to be difficult. I feel really gross ~ half the time I'm hacking up a lung ~ and its just hard to concentrate anyway. Spring fever, spring fever!
There's a guy in my meatcutting class who is trying to get through it for the 3rd time. Someone commented, "I think I'd just give up." Yeah. Once is hard enough.

Saturday is Frasca night...I might take pics of all the lovely charcuterie and do a little write-up. There are seats open for walk-ins...the only reservation was available at 10:30. I'm just so psyched to go! Having something to look forward to is so important, you know? Even if its just a kick-ass dinner and a night on the town.

The Chinese New Year cake (Nian Gao) turned out really well. Red bean paste definitely tastes better than it sounds.

Spring Break Plans

They aren't much, but I'll be in L-town late Thursday the 22nd - late afternoon Sunday the 25th. Definitely looking forward to it.
On my to-do list:

1. Hang out with Wenjun and Jo
2. Go to Free State at least once
3. See KU beat Iowa State...in person
4. Have lunch or dinner with Mom at the former Westside Deli
5. Try to get Dad to play beer pong again.
6. Make dinner with Peggy
7. Sleep a lot.

Meatcutting isn't one of my strengths. Its weird ~ I have this expectation that I'll be good at anything involving hand-eye coordination. And it just doesn't happen. Chef's nice though. And we're eating International Cuisine at our leisure. I'll eat whatever Timmy (he's at Rioja...my Restaurant Week destination) makes. 1 day down, 8 to go...

I Am Like Buddy Holly

So i'm a nerd, but I'm cool. I was told this a few days ago, and after I got used to it, kinda agree.
In the last 2 days, I've gone to an asian market. And babysat 3 kids under the age of 5, simultaneously. I was not at the market with the kids though. The experience would've been very surreal and pretty awful, I think.
I got some amazing "gourmet" ramen from the market, and was able to spend some time with Elaine from class. Its so much better than anything Evansville had, in terms of ingredients...I think I could make any recipe from Asia if I knew how to obtain it...I know it would be at the market, the problem would be knowing how to identify the item and know how to ask for it.

Next week there's a Chinese New Year party at Noi's...I'm making an authentic cake. I'm glad I knew what ingredients to get, because the English translations = not the same.
Here are pics of the kids I babysat..two of them anyway. Maximilian and Eva...