I spent 12 hours of my weekend cleaning petitions for submission to the board of elections (cleaning, by the way, is very legal. It just means I make sure errors are corrected). Monday night I went from work to the gym directly to the house where I was cleaning them. I got home a little after midnight after finishing them so they could be submitted this morning, on the final day they are due.

Last night i got about three hours worth of sleep because I kept having nightmares about the petitions. An election district was mislabeled, the school subdistrict was left blank, the addresses were invalid. One nightmare after another, waking up in a sweat each time.

I can deal with the lack of sleep, but the anxiety over this process just drains me. Unshaven, my hair a mess, and bags under my eyes big enough to hide a couch, my boss let me go home early so I could catch up on lost sleep.

Little does he know that zombie James or not I am going to be kickin' it at Bistro Europa tonight with you all. As draining as the process is I always feel like celebrating when it is done, even if I haven't slept in a week or can remember the last time I did laundry (which, thankfully, neither happened this time around, but the summer political season is just a few months away!).

Can't wait to see you all there tonight.

Bring Cash. They don't take cards and neither do I if you want a lap dance.

Hey everyone,


Hope to see you all tomorrow at Jim's party. Just a reminder, Bistro Europa is cash only, so bring some paper because they don't take plastic.


Love you kittens,

-James

I need to remember to take pictures when I am in the kitchen experimenting.

So tonight, around 8:30 I get hungry and go into the kitchen to do something about that. Two hours later I have made borscht, broiled some frozen smelt, and made a kumquat simple syrup.

(e:tinypliny) wrote about delicious kumquats at PriceRite. I couldn't resist. They are such a delicious and underrated fruit. So, I chop them up, squash them under a chef's knife, and drop them into water. I let them boil for a few minutes, then add sugar and simmer for two minutes.

Best part, after I strained the syrup to take out the kumquat rind. So now, as a product, I have candied kumquats! I put them in the fridge and they are delicious.

So, now I have kumquat flavored syrup for making cocktails or toping a dessert. The sweet citrusy flavor is in there, but the sugar killed the tartness I love so much. Tomorrow, if I am productive, I will mix something up and give a big toast to Pliny.

Cheers!

Howdy,

I told the good folks in my office that I started this two weeks ago. And I should have, I had the bacon in the fridge. But I didn't have a handle of vodka and just saying I had started it was sure to get me to actually do it. Now that the confession is out of the way...

Let me confess something else. I hate vodka. I mean, the flavor is alright and it mixes well. But it is such a pedestrian liquor. Now I am done confessing...


What happens when you have this



and you add this


why, you get this


and this



so I am infusing Vodka with a vanilla bean in one jar and bacon and pepper in another. Three weeks in the dark cupboard until it is ready. Expect a future post.