Beer, collard greens, and grits

 
 
 

 
 
 
Only 30 minutes or so after publishing my sob story about losing my special insulated camelback running water bottle, I got this text from my stepfather.
 

 
My mom has a rule that the only way to find a lost item is to finally break down and replace it, and I had just filled up my new bottle and stepped on the treadmill to begin my run when I got the text. I'd been looking for that thing for over a month too. Thank god I take the time to complain about mundane inconveniences on the internet though, or that would still be an unsolved mystery. At least this way I have some closure.
 
Thursday was Rosh Hashana and I work for a glorious school district that closes for Jewish holidays, so I got to do my absolute favorite thing ever - stay up as late as I want and stay in bed as long as I want. The party continued when I could take my sweet time and not go for a run until I'd had plenty of delicious fancy French press Dean and Deluca coffee and breakfast. I could have ran outside but I really wanted to watch Buffy and not put on sunscreen. I did an 8 mile progression run on the treadmill, starting at 9:41 and ending at 8:34. I don't know that I've ever really done a progression run on purpose. I liked it because just when a pace was starting to feel too easy, it was time to get faster.
 
Once again, I had to waste my free time on grad work. I haven't really been doing a great job this way of trying to focus on the positive side of things, so I'll take this as an opportunity. I tend to clean a lot more when the semester is in session. If I'm procrastinating on work reading Buzzfeed or something stupid, then I feel like a piece of crap. But if I'm procrastinating by cleaning....well.... that's not really procrastinating, is it? It has to get done, right? I actually cleaned most of the apartment putting off work! Plus I went to the farmer's market!
 
I'm not exactly sure why, but instead of honoring my Jewish heritage on my dad's side I used my day off to honor my black heritage on my husband's side. I cooked collard greens and grits for dinner. Eric LOVES collard greens, and it's one of the few vegetables that I really can't stand. It's right up there with kale.
 
I came across a recipe for beer braised collard greens (ugh, yes, on Pinterest, but in my defense I have to use it for work and maid of honor duties). It seemed like a match made in Eric's heaven, and I love beer bread and beer soup and basically everything made with beer except beer itself. They had to simmer for hours and it smelled so good.
 
It still tasted like collard greens. Even covering it with salt and hot sauce didn't mask it.
 
I've never made grits, but I also found a recipe on the same site for roasted poblano grits with chorizo. I used my elusive hatch peppers and Andouille sausage.
 
I was going to only post the picture from the recipe because I thought mine looked terrible, but actually even the Pinterest one is kind of gross looking, so I posted them both. (Hint: mine is the one artfully posed on a leopard print snuggie). Like so many good foods, this isn't photogenic.
 

You can see a little of my purple shirt! Go Ravens!



Ok, I guess this one looks a little better.



It was amazing but wow I did not realize how hot those hatch peppers are. I sampled stuff made with them at Wegmans but apparently they used a lot less than me. I typically like mild salsa to be the hottest thing I ever eat so this was a change for me. Even Eric, who loves hot things was impressed. But I'm nothing if not devoted to eating, so with the help of like 5 glasses of crystal light I finished my grits like a champ.

Are you a glass half empty or glass half full kind of person? I'm a glass half empty who desperately wants/tries to be glass half full.