Organums make my organs bleed.

It is 3:36 AM and I sit here at my jerker desk from Ikea, listening to the most painfully boring music I've ever heard. And yet I have to know every single note for my music history class and be able to give a brief (keyword being brief) analysis on each piece. I've never heard so many drones and leaping fifths in my life, and yet here I sit, painfully listening to each one. The most annoying part about this situation is not the music itself, but how I have to learn it all now because I can't pay attention in class because it's so difficult to stay awake in. I have a good two pages of notes, and those were all from the first half of the first day of class before I succumbed to unconsciousness via the smooth melismatic sounds of Richard Crocker's interpretations of what he believed gregorian chants originally sounded like.

It is now 3:57 and I have not done anything since I typed that last sentence.

Must pray.

TODAY I PLAYED ON A REAL STRADIVARIUS!!!1111

No more junk food, no more coke. If I don't work out, I can't enjoy junk food without a guilty conscience. Clean and healthy eating from here on out!

Yes, this is what guys think about.

Weekend of Food

So this past weekend was a rather fun-filled weekend of cuisine. There were a few events that warranted some adventure and exploration in the world of cooking.

The first of these events was my church's first bible study of the school year. We decided to make it a potluck and since my apartment was hosting, I decided to make two things. The first (and infinitely easier) of the two dishes was an insalata caprese. Insalata caprese is a very basic Italian salad which mainly consists of mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil, with seasoning on top. There wasn't anything particularly remarkable about this, but it was pretty good.

The second dish was much more complicated and tedious, even to the point of being dangerous. This is where I decided to be adventurous and try my hand at coconut fried shrimp. The first step was to get the coconut flakes. I'm becoming more of an elitist in regards to where I get my ingredients, and I decided to get two whole coconuts. I roasted them in the oven for about half an hour and then cracked them open. Colletively, it took me about an hour to grate both coconuts, since you have to break them into pieces that are small and straight enough (as opposed to larger round ones) to be usable on a grater. Once I did that, I seasoned the shrimp (apparently the shrimp at the butcher's counter at Ralph come pre-deveined! all you have to do is peel off the shell!) in some spices and corn starch, dipped them in egg whites for some protein cohesiveness, and then dipped them in the coconut flakes. Once that was done, it was into the fryer they went.

It was my first time deep frying with oil. And so, like a total newb, I put a lid on the pot where the oil was heating up. A couple of minutes later, the pot explodes because the oil superheated. The lid went flying up about a foot in the air, did a 180, and landed upside down on the pot. There was a fireball, and there was hot oil everywhere, including my arm and feet. It was amazing that I wasn't burned, considering how close my face was to the pot at the time, and so the situation could've turned out much worse, such as being blinded. My brother-in-law told me that "every good chef has a hot oil incident." His happened when he was dumping hot oil into the trash can that had water in it, and when the two forces collide, there's a big explosion. Anyway, Dan Mats and Meenah were around to help me calm down and clean up, and we ended up making a full batch of coconut shrimp. They turned out amazing, and I think using fresh ingredients (like a stupid coconut) really makes all the difference.

The next day I was invited over to cook for the lovely ladies of Plaza 313, which was Christine, Kelly, Hayley, and Sarah. I decided to make sweet and sour pork, and again, I used fresh ingredients instead of getting stuff from a can. I marinated the pork overnight in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and a mixture of flour and corn starch. For the rest of the dish, I used whole red bell peppers, green bell peppers, carrots, celery, an onion, and a whole pineapple. Once the vegetables were chopped, I started frying the pork, this time being much more cautious to not let the oil superheat again. Once that was done, I began stir frying everything together, and introduced a sauce of ketchup, vinegar, honey, and sugar into the mixture. It turned out really well, although I thought the pork was a bit salty so I'll probably add water to the marinade next time to thin out the soy sauce a bit.

Later that night was game night where our beloved Bruins defeated the Washington State Cougars 28-3. Since it was a football game, I decided to try my hand at some good old-fashioned hamburgers. I decided to make a red a theme for the burger since Wasu is red and as a Bruin I was eating them. Red meat marinated in coke which has a red can, red onions, red cabbage, tomatoes, pepper jack cheese, light mayo (which mixes with the juices of the meat to make a killer sauce), on a toasted bun. The burger was okay, but I probably won't marinate the meat in coke next time. Being in liquid for so long made the patties fall apart and it was difficult to make them stick back together. Next time, I'm just going to grind the meat myself (with half sirloin and half chuck) and just season it. Also, maybe I can slice the onions a little thinner. There was too much bitter onion juice in each bite.

The last dish of the night would be my proudest accomplishment of the weekend. Braised baby back ribs. To be technical, braising involves a low heat, moist, over a long period of time. This supposedly dissolves the collagen fibers into gelatin which is what makes ribs so tasty and tender. Anyway, I applied my own dry rub to the meat the night before and then let it sit overnight. The next night I made a braising liquid from white wine, white wine vinegar, worchestershire sauce, honey, and garlic, and added that to the ribs, and then stuck them in a 225 degree oven for 3 hours. Afterward, I took the braising liquid and reduced it into a glaze and smothered that on top of the ribs and broiled them for about 30 seconds. The result? Well, let the picture explain. We started the braising at around 7pm, and started eating by 10:45. And it was worth every second of the wait.

I'm also down about $127 bucks from the weekend, but thankfully I have a handful of ASUCLA coupons that give me cheap or free food.