A brief whine. I want to be well. The cold backed off for the book festival, but then I got dizzy and sick to my stomach. I pulled something between coughing and throwing up. Now my head hurts, and I have a fever again. Make it go away. I have things to do. Also, Mr Peabody had another seizure.

Whine.

Your roommate be crazy. Dump her. I am sorry for her that she apparently can't find a place to live that she can afford that doesn't totally step all over her issues, but not sorry enough for her to think it's right for you to have to live with it.

I just had Homemade Mapo Dofu for dinner after a 2-hour scavenger hunt for ingredients - international market for the Asian ingredients, then farmer's market hoping for good local beef, then local organic grocery store for beef when the farmer's market failed, then going BACK to the grocery store for silken tofu when I realized I only had normal tofu in the fridge, not to mention a stop at the liquor store for dry sherry, only to realize when I got home that I had an unopened bottle already. Though on the plus side, I also bought the ingredients for a True Manhattan (c) at the liquor store (minus the cherries) so that's good.

Dinner was quite tasty. I don't know if it was worth the shopping effort, but at least I now have some fermented bean paste and homemade chili oil, so I can make it again with much less time, and can also do some other Szechuan cooking.

The Manhattan was absolutely worth it.

I would need a manhattan after all that food shopping!

....ooh. I kinda want to open a bottle of wine. But then I have the whole "but I'm drinking ALONE!" problem. Plus the "can't drink a whole bottle alone (and still get up in the morning)". Maybe I'll go get some beer.

I drink alone all the damned time. It's one or the beauties of being an adult. Go right ahead and open it, meara.

I think you should open it. However, you should also invest in one of those vacuum pumpy things when you get a chance. They're awesome for making you feel like you don't have to drink the whole bottle.

Alternatively, you should consider picking up some Black Box boxed wines if you can find a liquor store that stocks them. I know, I know, boxed wine. But trust me, this is really quite good stuff! It's part of a new trend toward not-incredibly-shitty boxed wines. It's not the $40+ bottles of wines I came home with from Napa, but it's way better than most sub-$15 bottles. I especially like the Merlot, but everything I've had from them has been quite nice, for the price equivalent of about $5 a bottle. And you can easily drink just one or two glasses without worrying about the rest going bad! There's a similar brand called Bota Box that's also good, though I always go back to the Black Box.

When Meg isn't pregnant, we keep one or two of the boxes around all the time. When I'm drinking alone I tend to drink beer and whiskey more, so we're on a break, but the fact that my local liquor store has the entire line of Black Box has me excited for the future.

Huh--I've seen those, Gris, but always thought "I can't drink ONE bottle, much less FOUR!" I didn't realize it stayed good for quite so long.

I think I'm going to eventually get myself off the couch, clean out the fridge (I should've done that BEFORE vacation, oops) and then walk over to Trader Joe's or the co-op and get some beer (...I think TJ's doesn't have any cold beer).

Have a glass or two, cork it. You can drink the rest this weekend, or use it in red sauce or pot roast in the next couple of months.

I had a package of Butter Chicken paste hiding in the back of the pantry, basmati rise (DAMN, a cup makes a lot!) some frozen chicken breast under the aquavit we never drink in the freezer. SCORE, good poverty dinner!

I think I'll get a bag of cheap stir-fry veg tomorrow and make that with the leftover rice, and maybe I can get a 1/2 pound of cheap beef strips. I have sesame-ginger marinade in the fridge.

I didn't realize it stayed good for quite so long.

They'll stay good for at least a month, with very little noticeable change in quality. In theory, no air every gets inside the baggy, though clearly theory and reality are slightly different. And the nice thing is they very rarely last that long, because just having them there means you can convince yourself to have "just one glass" pretty much whenever. I drink a lot while cooking...

I think TJ's doesn't have any cold beer

Mine certainly doesn't. I love a few of their beers, though. The dark one, especially. Something Dog?

Poverty/Pantry dinners are the best, Erin. We try to do them at least once every 2 weeks.

Well, I did go to TJ's (yay I love it being a block away) and now, since there was no cold beer, beer is chilling in my fridge and I'm drinking watermelon juice. Um. Sorta similar? OK, not.