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Cooking Blog...Calamari Stew with Garlic Toast

Calamari Stew with Garlic Toast (Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil  2 cloves garlic, cut in 1/2  1 3/4 cups tomato sauce  1 cup white wine  1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme leaves  1 teaspoon red pepper flakes  1/2 teaspoon salt  1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper  2 pounds calamari (squid), bodies thinly sliced and tentacles whole  For the Garlic Toast:  4 to 6 slices of bread  Olive oil, for drizzling 

Directions

For the Calamari Stew: Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a medium pot. Add the garlic and let cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove the garlic. Add the tomato sauce, white wine, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the calamari and stir to combine. Continue to cook until the mixture comes back up to a simmer, about 2 more minutes. Serve immediately with the Garlic Toasts.

For the Garlic Toast: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Meanwhile, drizzle the bread slices with olive oil. Toast until the bread is crisp and turning golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and rub the top of the toasts with whole garlic cloves. Serve immediately with the Calamari Stew.

sex on fire

For months this song has been stuck in my head...

Francesca managed to drag me out of the house last night for a gig at the Cat Club. Actually I was pleasantly surprised, the band she wanted to see, Purple Melon, was good! The first band, I can't say they impressed me as much. Their song Fat Kid pretty much sent me into a tizzy of giggles, and given how unbelievably small the Cat Club is, I'm pretty sure they could see me mocking them by the bar with Casey. Then again, it's entirely possibly I'm being  a complete narcissist and that they in fact were not paying attention to the bitches by the bar. Despite the first band's total lack of talent, the second band, who I'll just refer to as Twinkle Butt (given the lead singers stars on his ass) actually were sorta fun...when they played covers...of songs I actually enjoyed. Seriously though, I was horrified by them upon first glance - the whole Marilyn Manson look? Really? Realllly? Finally those boy from Britain played and were fun, actually knew how to play their instruments (a rare find in LA) and managed to draw a small crowd, despite having only been in LA for a couple of weeks. I heard a little Doobie Brothers influence, crossed with from Zeppelin, Cream, Beatles, Queen and the Stones.

How about you judge them for yourselves... purplemelon.co.uk

Im bored, time for fashion week blogging

Jean Charles de Castlebajac decided to murder Muppets for this Fall/Winter '09 show at Paris Fashion week. No Kermie!!!!!

Alaxander McQueen Fall/Winter '09......Lady Gaga will be wearing this shit tomorrow...and then claim its part of her immaculate conception. Her doucheyness gets more powerful as the days go by.

More Alexander McQueen Fall/Winter '09.....I'm obsessed. 

Whiskey in the Jar

Last night my mother and I decided we were up and moving to Ireland. Actually this was our plan is McCain/Palin were to win, however, our boy won...and yet we still want to move. And given that Ireland's economy is the 2nd most in the shitter of western nations (Iceland taking 1st place), you can basically get a great deal on property in Ireland.

 

Here's the Millfall House in Castlecomer, co. Kilkenny. It's not big, actually, of the homes we found this is on the smaller side, however, it has stable space for 5 and 12 acres....so we're sold. In all truthfulness, I was actually more infatuated with the house in Tomastown which is right near Mount Juliet (for those not in the know - Mount Juliet has a GORGEOUS golf course and ridiculous manor that is straight out of a Jane Austen novel...except not in the Lake District of England, but whatever)...

Basically I'm pretty impressed with my persuasion skills - I convinced my mom in a matter of minutes that moving to Ireland for retirement was a great idea. I think in large part my infatuation with moving there has to do with my decision to not attend Trinity for college! I will ALWAYS regret having not gone there for university. Seriously, Dublin for 4 years....heaven...but alas, I decided to go to U of M. (A huge mistake in retrospect)

Now for photos...

And some whiskey in the jar to get me in the mood for St. Pattys

tea party

I haven't posted anything for a few days because I haven't had anything particularly happy or interesting to say. However, these images have inspired me to have a TEA PARTY.

Actually a lot of my inspiration for a tea party has come from the floral prints that are descending for spring! I'm just dying for an excuse to wear some super over the top frothy floral party dress!

Michael Cera (Sophia in male form) signed on for Arrested Development the Movie!

Now I'll actually go see it.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday JC Fresh!

xo Little Hand

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I actually had to stop because my eyes began to hurt from staring at my iTunes library.

In alphabetical order

Playground Love - Air

(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman - Aretha Franklin

Love and Hapiness - Al Green

While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles

Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen

So Far Away - Carole King

Will You Still Love Me, Tomorrow, Some Kind of Wonderful, Up on the Roof Medley (Live) - Carole King and James Taylor

Sunshine of Your Love - Cream

Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills and Nash

Wooden Ships - Crosby, Stills and Nash

Woodstock - Crosby, Still, Nash, and Young (or Jefferson Airplane, depending on the day)

Ants Marching (Live at Red Rocks) - Dave Matthews Band

Leslie Ann Levine - The Decemberists

Lullaby of Birdland - Ella Fitzgerald

Mack the Knife - Ella Fitzgerald (totally obscure and fantastic - she forgets the lyrics 1/2 way throw and still kills it)

Bennie and the Jets - Elton John

Pinball Wizard (from Tommy) - Elton John

Claire de lune - Claude Debussy

Fu-Gee-La - The Fugees

Djobi Djoba - Gypsy Kings

Carolina on My Mind - James Taylor

Walking Man - James Taylor

Mama You Been on My Mind - Jeff Buckley

Lover, You Should Have Come Over - Jeff Buckley

A Love Supreme (Part 1 - Acknowledgement) - John Coltrane

California - Joni Mitchell

A Case of You - Joni Mitchell

Tonight - Leonard Bernstien and Stephan Sodheim

Son Et Lumiere - The Mars Volta

Intertiatic E.S.P. - The Mars Volta (These two have to be paired together, specifically with Son Et Lumiere preceding Intertiatic E.S.P.)

Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) - Marvin Gaye

Stella By Starlight - Miles Davis

Harvest Moon- Neil Young

I Put a Spell on You - Nina Simone

Red Football - Sinead O'Connor

Rose Rouge - St. Germain

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours - Stevie Wonder

Electric Relaxation - A Tribe Called Quest

Edelweiss (from the Sound of Music) - Julie Andrews

more to come.....

'S Wonderful

Instead of sleeping, I thought I'd compile my favorite songs into one list. Originally I set off to make E a mix...low and behold, I find myself sidetracked and determined to make a list of my favorite songs of all time.

.........

give me an hour and I'll prob be half way there, or onto a different project.

what everyone's blogging about: the oscars

Of course, like everyone else in Los Angeles, my eyes were transfixed on the tube as the "luminaries" (thanks SJP) paraded themselves down Hollywood Boulevard for the 2009 Academy Awards. I wont lie, I made sure I was comfortably seated on the couch promptly at 3pm so I would not miss anything by way of the fashions. I don't know why I had such lofty expectations for the frocks and ensembles this year, especially given the economy, but I suppose I was hoping someone would have the cojones to pull a Bjork circa 2001. Much to my dismay, no one did (dammit MIA why did you have to go have your baby a week before the big night). Here's a couple that simply stunned me. (The few that made me want to puke up the wheel of brie I ate while watching the pre-show will come later (word to the wise, don't make my mistake and take on such an undertaking - I have gained a new sympathy for bulimics).)  

The Stunners:            

                
I simply refuse to take part in the Brangelina worship that stank up ABC's Pre Oscar roundup, but those emeralds were simply too much to over look. I want them. IMMEDIATELY.

Anne Hathaway in Armani Prive: art deco and absolutely beautiful. She reminded me of a 1930's 'Spirit of Ecstacy' RR hood ornament. I'm selling Anne short, she's more of a decorative Lalique H. Ornament.

my first blog

i'm little hand, and this is my first blog.

we'll see how this whole thing goes.

this has the potential to get interesting, but inevitably, i predict i'll get bored with this project and move onto something else that strikes my fancy.

enjoy.