Weekend Adventures

I wanted to go hiking yesterday but everyone was either busy or observant enough to realize the weather report was calling for rain so instead I walked to the drugstore that's further away from my house in order to get exercise. It did rain, so it was cold and my hair went absolutely insane but it was still enjoyable. I also got lost when I was coming back, which was kind of stupid. I mean, I was about a mile and a half north of my apartment between El Camino Real on the west (to the right) and California Ave on the east (to the left). I kept going straight (south) or right (what I thought was west), but ended up on California Ave, to the east! Strangely, I think I've done that before, too.

Besides the apricot scrub I'd gone for (finally realizing I don't have to bemoan my peeling face, they make products for that) I saw they had Helene's Mint Julep Mask. I remember Catherine using that at Tech. Because this is relatively memorable:



But that stuff worked! Afterward my skin felt great, really smooth. I'm going to keep using it.

That was my biggest activity for the weekend, since Friday, which was the book club with work people, wasn't technically the weekend. That was fun, though. The book was The White Tiger, a very unflattering look at India. Only about half the people there had read the book so we didn't get too deep into it. Sonali, the organizer, had also ordered Indian pizza which I'd never heard of before. Apparently that's what happens when Indian people buy a pizza place in the Mission District.

I also had cooking adventures. Yesterday I made baked bean soup, which I normally enjoy, but the hot dogs I had in the freezer were Safeway brand and they were awful. So bad I couldn't make myself eat the soup and threw it away. Luckily I'd used homemade vegetable stock so in reality I was only out about 88 cents of baked beans. Since I was horrified by the taste of the soup I needed something comforting so I made Kraft mac and cheese and artichokes. Artichokes might count as a vegetable but I've always thought of them as having more entertainment value than nutritional value. Plus there's so little actual edible on them I don't know how they could be good for you.

Then today I made really good pancakes. I used the recipe from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and added some of the sweet dough emulsion my mom got me for Christmas. I think it added a subtle background that made the pancakes a little beyond the ordinary. Plus, I was really hungry by the time they were done which makes anything taste better. And I had Mrs. Butterworth syrup. I grew up with pure maple syrup and now I just love me some butter- and maple-flavored artificial corn syrup.

Today I also realized that I need to post on Facebook when I do social activities because for the past two weeks or more I have only commented about food.