cooking blind and gettin' work done

so yesterday, vlad asked me if i would mind making him dinner. 'nah', i said, 'no worries. watcha want? alfredo? chicken? rice and chicken?' (see a theme here? the man loves chicken.) 'or steak? with potatoes?'

'no... i was thinking... spinach.'

er- huh? i cocked my head at the phone thinkin, ...is this VLAD i'm talking to? or some weird alien hiding out as a russian? 'you sure?'

'yeah. with, like, some mushrooms. and angel hair. but creamy. can you do that?'

can i do that. well. let's see. at first i thought no prob i'll just zip online and get a recipe.

none of the recipes worked with his dietary issues. (the man cannot eat acidic foods or anything spicey or garlic or any o' the good stuff. i know. poor guy.)

so i thought, eh, i can make that.

and improvised.

i boiled noodles while i sauted mushrooms in butter (shhh. don't tell him about the butter.) and then some fresh spinach.

it tasted like... like..... feet. buttery feet. (ew)

so i added in some sea salt and a little poultry seasoning he uses when he grills... and.... nada. still bland.

then i added sour cream. how much, you say? no. flippin. idea. then i was like hmmmmm and poured in some of the lambrusco i was drinking. then, bc i saw no harm in it, i tossed some garlic salt in the mix too.

then it tasted pretty damn good. add in some cooked chicken, pour over angel hair and you've got yourself a chicken spinach mushroom pasta thingie with sour cream and lambrusco (italian red table wine) and some spices.

he ate it after i went to bed.

oh yeah. afterthought- i think i added some milk in there, too, that made it a little 'runnier' and not as globby. but. again. no idea how much... and some fresh rosemary. not... sure... how much....

today, he goes, 'hey, can you make that again? that pasta? is was REALLY GOOD.'

'uh. uhm. sure?'

cut to me, a little freaked out, bc lord knows how i made that dish last night. i honestly wasn't paying attention. and i was GLAD when i was done cooking it, bc i didn't like not knowing what i was doing. so. once again, i have to cook a meal blind. gulp. i hope i remember how to wing it like i did last night.

i also am makin myself a stir fry.... the lazy gal's way. microwaved brown rice mixed with frozen veggies grilled up and some scrambled egg mixed in with some spices and soy sauce, and yum.

i'm going to try to track down pad thai noodles at trader joe's tonight after work.... but i doubt that will turn out well.

did you know that russians call trader joe's, traders joe? yeah. they move the s. why? no clue.

also? i made chocolate cake last night. and put it in a heart-shaped rubber 'pan' that my mom had gotten me.... one of the strangest things i've worked with while baking, but it was SO. SIMPLE. to clean and get the cake out. mmmmm. i hope vlad left some for me tonight.

doubt it.

he's also having more work done tonight. on his tattoos. as in, getting a good portion of outlining done to his left arm..... bc he's adding another sleeve. crazy man. i'm not going with him, and this is the very first time since we've met that we've had work done without the other one being there. but. since it's tax season, i'm exhausted, and i just cannot afford to drive all the way north (over an hour drive) to sit and watch vlad get outlining done for three hours and then drive back home. (overall time, around 5 hours or so.) so he's leaving from work early and i guess... i'll see it tomorrow.

scares me, bc i usually have input on the designs. as in, rightbeforehestarts i'll be like yo! what about this???? and they'll both go awesome! let's do it! let me get a new trace goin'!

and i won't be there to do that.

but i trust him.

but i won't be there to do that. eep.

something funny he did say, tho, yesterday- 'hey at least i can cry. i don't have to look tough, you won't be there. score.'

?????? the man has a total SLEEVE on his right arm, a star on his left elbow and another tat on his right shoulder blade. he's afraid he won't look 'tough' if i'm there? pffft.

although i must say, when i had my rib piece done, i laughed hysterically..... bc i am uber ticklish, and my pain threshold is.... high. to put it mildly. i guess vlad's ... isn't. it may have something to do with our artist, every time i see him, going, 'yo lo! the girl who feels no pain!' and he tells the story to all the big biker guys that come in for the same area to be worked on... 'skinny white girl held her shit, yo! craziest shit i ever saw.' er- should i feel flattered? was that a compliment? somehow, coming from christian our artist....... i think so.

wish me luck with my tattoo-addicted husband and my attempt at the 'weird mushroom pasta thing i made but don't know how i made it but i'm making it again' dish.