Anti-Social Media
Something good, every day.
Garlic Soup
When my friend told me that she loves to make this simple soup, I was skeptical. In fact, I was skeptical right up until I had a spoonful yesterday.
This is the perfect soup to make when you’re sick. It’s quick, simple, delicious and loaded with garlic. And it’s vegan!
Ingredients:
- 4-6 cloves of garlic (2-3 Tbsp), minced
- 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 cups water or veggie stock. I used 4 cups stock and 2 cups water.
- 2 cups macaroni (or your preferred noodle)
- salt & pepper (to taste)
Instructions:
- Finely mince garlic.
- Heat olive oil in a pot over medium-low heat, add garlic and sauté until it starts to caramelize, but be careful not to burn it!
- Add 1/2 tsp salt and slowly incorporate liquid.
- Bring to a boil and add noodles.
- Keep at a low boil or simmer until the noodles are cooked.
- Add salt & pepper to taste.
Make this bowl of love for that special person in your life who is a little under the weather (or who just loves garlic)!
Sick Day
It got me. I have succumbed. The dreaded cold. It’s mostly in my head (sniffle, cough), but my body is protesting too. I got the “must-dos” tackled and now it’s tea, soup and sleep for me. I’m really hoping if I rest hard I’ll feel better tomorrow.
Sweater Weather
Holy shit, I knit a sweater!
It’s not that I didn’t think I could, more like I didn’t think I would.
There are two things about knitting sweaters that’s not appealing to me. And they both have to do with size.
One is that a sweater is a big project that uses quite a lot of yarn, and yarn is expensive! If you want a nice sweater you need to use nice yarn, and I’m pretty frugal. So, when I saw all these balls of lovely orange yarn at the thrift store I was pretty excited by the prospect of knitting a sweater for under $5.
The second reason I don’t like to knit sweaters is because I find it difficult to knit things to size, and a sweater isn’t any good if it doesn’t fit. I feel like I can measure all I want and I’m still not guaranteed to get something that I like that actually looks good. I have an irregular body shape, and I don’t like to fuss much, so finding a pattern and knitting an actual garment is pretty intimidating.
Well, I did it. I finished it today, and it’s… just OK. I mean it does fit. I don’t hate it, I just… I don’t think I’m going to be making another sweater anytime soon.
I guess I’ll just be sticking to hats and mittens, scarves and shawls, socks and slippers.
At least I tried!
Roll Playing
Today we played the final session of an awesome D&D campaign, hosted by our friend. It was her first time as Dungeon/Game Master and she did a fantastic job.
From the handwritten invitations (delivered to our door!) to introduce the campaign, to creating/finding tokens to represent items in the game, her stellar hand-drawn maps, background music and snacks may have spoiled us.
Actually, she did such a great job it almost makes me want to run a campaign myself (almost).
It’s always sad to say goodbye (for now) to a character. I really enjoyed playing Madista Vendamon, and had so much fun with my real life D&D friends and their characters. Maybe I’ll see if I can write up a narrative from the notes I took during our sessions.
Walterdale Wisdom
Someone from Walterdale Theatre once told me, “every performance is an audition for your next show.”
It’s always stuck with me. It’s simple and obvious and maybe that makes it feel profound.
I don’t remember who said it; I know that I’ve repeated it to others. Perhaps it’s one of those self-propagating truisms that doesn’t really need attribution, but it feels right to credit the wonderful Walterdale Community.
Well, today I have evidence of the truth that I always believed it to be.
I received an email from a woman I’ve never met who saw the railroad show I did in the fall. She said she really enjoyed my performance and reached out to one of my fellow cast members for my contact information to inquire whether I might be interested in taking on a role in the one-act play she has written for the new works festival this summer.
Do your best in all things. You never know who might be watching!
Easy Vegan Gravy
This gravy is super easy to whip up and tastes incredibly delicious. Which is amazing because it has no oil and no animal products!
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Whole Wheat or Spelt Flour
- 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Thyme
- ¼ tsp Fresh Black Pepper
- 2 cups Vegetable Broth
- 2 Tbs Soy Sauce
- 1/2 tsp Mustard
Instructions
- Toast dry ingredients over low heat until aromatic.
- Slowly add veggie broth, whisking to remove any clumps.
- Add soy sauce and mustard, stir to combine.
- Simmer on med-low heat until bubbly and thickened.
Seriously, that’s it. This gravy is so good. Even Murray likes it (my dad)!
Any leftovers will keep in the fridge for a week or so, but it’s so easy to make you might as well eat it all!
To make gravy even easier I will often pre-mix a few batches of the dry ingredients in advance, so that when it’s gravy time I’m ready to go. Homemade pre-packing!
Ukulele and a Microphone
Wow. That was… exhilarating!
My first time will not be my last.
It didn’t go as well as I hoped, but who cares! It was SO MUCH FUN.
I ended up going 8th/last (insert long story about how I wanted to make sure Aldon would be able to make it on time).
I had so much nervous energy, I felt like I was going to blast off through the roof. But it felt amazing, not scary.
I fucked up each song in it’s own way, getting worse and worse as my tempo sped up and up and up (BLAST OFF)! I lost my place, forgot the lyrics, rambled on and… it was not good musicianship, but maybe it also wasn’t a terrible performance.
And I learned so much from that 10 minutes of doing-a-thing-I-had-never-done-before.
Not just about the feeling of doing-a-thing-I-had-never-done-before, but about doing that particular thing. Do I need a list? Probably not, but why the hell not.
Lessons I learned last night about playing at an open mic:
1. Slow the fuck down.
Nerves lead to energy and an increased heart rate and I need to slow down (i.e. keep the tempo) if I’m going to be able to play the right chords and sing the right lyrics at the right time. Timing is huge! Can I hear it for percussion?! And breathe, dammit! Allowing little moments of silence and stillness will serve me well.
2. Crutches are there to support you.
Yeah, so when I first came up with this challenge to myself it was: play a 3 song set at open mic with 100% memorization. Well, that’s all fine and good, but maybe not for your first ever performance in public. It was a lot to ask. Yes, I know those 3 songs 100%, but when I’m in a very particular environment: i.e. at home, alone. Next time I will not be so stubborn. I will allow myself to bring so-called cheat sheets. It’s not cheating!
3. Practice smart.
I practice a lot. It builds my confidence, it makes me better and it’s fun! But next time I’m practicing to perform at a different time and place, with varying environmental factors, I will consider the effects each of these things might have, and try to include/account for them in practice. I never play uke with a pick. But I did last night my first time playing in front of strangers! See #2 above.
4. I really love performing.
It’s probably a good idea to find more opportunities to do so, and keep practicing so I can get better. I’m not looking to be a professional musician (or actor or anything else), but that doesn’t mean I can’t put time and effort toward it.
5. It’s scary, and that’s why it’s awesome.
Push, push, push those boundaries. Keep searching for that thing you haven’t found yet. Maybe it’s out there, maybe it’s in here, maybe it doesn’t even exist, but keep looking. It’s not the finding that matters, it’s the seeking.
Curious about the set? I played:
- Ain’t No Reason – Brett Dennen.
- Bad Moon Rising – CCR
- Mr. Jones – Counting Crows (to be fair I messed this up so bad I don’t know if I can count it, but I tried)!
The Evidence
Courtesy of my friend, SM ❤️. The view from the couch!