One particularly fun and tasty appetizer we made was Nigella Lawson's famous "Rockamole" - that is, guacamole made with Roquefort (blue) cheese. Yeah, it sounds weird - I was definitely skeptical at too when my friend Stu from TWU first raved about it to me. But now I think I'm a complete "Rock" convert:
Here's the recipe we used:
4 ripe avocados
1 plum tomato, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
Salt & pepper to taste
3/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 lime, squeezed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 dash paprika
Peel and pit avocados. Place in a large bowl, and mash 'em real good with clean hands! (But leave a few bits chunky, we don't want guac soup.) Mix in uh, everything else, and serve with corn tortilla chips. Soooo easy, and serves four.
---
The other day, I was walking out of the office, strollin' down Michigan Avenue with some of my coworkers like I have done so a million times before when I was rather suddenly taken aback by how incredibly awesome the buildings looked. Maybe it was because the day/blue backdrop itself was so beautiful, or maybe I was just tired and in a crazy mood, but I felt the urge to take pictures like a lame tourist in my own city.
Above: Wrigley Building (left) and Chicago Tribune tower (right) at Michigan + Wacker. Also, a limo!
Trump Towaaaa!
South-facing view from The Point
I have never been to another downtown district that has been as aesthetically pleasing to the senses as Chicago is. Here, the buildings are white and gleaming, the streets are wide and clean, and unlike many other places, the air smells quite good. The kind of sad thing is that it's very easy to stop noticing these things after you live in a big, busy city for a long time. It's easy to overlook our incredible skyline or our painstakingly-kept parks because we've all seen it so many times before. It's easy to sneer at that too-oily pizza at lunchtime because we're used to deep dish that takes 40 minutes to perfect. And it's easiest to ignore homeless people and dorky tourists and sharp-dressed businessmen because most of the time, everyone ignores you back. Now obviously there are exceptions, I'm not saying nobody talks to each other ever here. In fact, the Midwest is probably one of the friendlier metropolitan areas in the U.S. But still, on the whole, everyone walks around briskly with big sunglasses and earplugs, in their own bubbles, following their own agendas, most of which do not involve you whatsoever.
I dunno, most of the time I really am quite content with just walking around, pretending like I'm invisible and enjoying the chance to people-watch and indulge my creeper tendencies. But then I realize that to them, I am invisible, which is kind of depressing. Whereas in India we were blatantly stared at ALL the TIME, here I feel like a nothing, a nobody on the streets. I don't know which situation I prefer to be in - both get pretty old at times. Guess the grass is always on the other side, eh?
No comments:
Post a Comment