i put my hands up in the air sometimes

Mmm...today was lovely. I woke up in time to get some work done this morning, and I even wrote a page of Malcolm and Amelia's story before venturing down to the south bay for my training session with Alyssa. As I suspected, Alyssa tried to kill me after my week away, and my phlegm-filled lungs tried to assist her, but I survived. I'm actually feeling a lot better, even though my voice is still rough and I occasionally start coughing uncontrollably, so at least there's that. And my workout made my twisted ankle feel tired, but hopefully that will encourage it to return to its usual untwisted state sometime soon. Alyssa was in fine form and it was great to see her, so I'm glad that I went down despite my cold.

After the gym, I went to Joanie's and ate some delicious eggs (the waiter was v. surprised when I asked for eggs instead of a cobb salad, but it was just cold enough outside that I wanted something warm). Then, I adjourned to Starbucks and wrote for a couple of hours; I need to look at my notebook and determine how many pages I actually wrote, but I finished the scene I was working on and had a major revelation about one of the characters (which I may or may not keep - it's a big risk), so it was all good. I eventually abandoned the south bay and drove back to the evil city just in time to beat traffic, then went to the grocery store and bought a few ingredients to make something tasty for supper.

Terry is quite pleased that "Next Iron Chef" and "Top Chef" are both in the DVR rotation -- watching cooking shows always makes me want to cook, and I was seriously in the mood tonight. So when I got home, I read a few recipes from Bruce Aidell's "Complete Book of Pork" cookbook and put the porkchops I'd bought in a brine to enhance their flavor before cooking them. Then, I did some work for an hour before cooking supper, but the supper was relatively easy (albeit stir-heavy, so I spent half an hour over the stove), so it was quite nice. I made the risotto al barolo out of Mario Batali's cookbook; when I've made it for friends, they've loved it, but my parents were quite bemused by it when I made it several years ago. I didn't have any barolo wine, but the pinot noir I picked up at Safeway did the trick (so much so that I used a cup for the risotto, and then Terry and I polished off the bottle tonight). When the risotto was nearly done, I pan fried the porkchops, and it all came together at approximately the same time. I didn't do the recommended pan sauce after the porkchops since I didn't want to bother with it, but perhaps I'll try it next time.

The verdict was that the risotto was great, and the porkchops were quite tasty but perhaps overcooked by a minute (or they could have been brined longer; the cookbook recommended four hours and I brined them for two). Still, it was a lovely supper and I felt v. please with my accomplishments. Terry ate the risotto too, which was a score for me since she then volunteered to do the dishes afterward, and we sat around the dining room table and drank our wine and discussed life. Then we watched tonight's "How I Met Your Mother", and now I'm going to go to bed so that I can get up tomorrow and write (supposedly). Goodnight!