I Made It Myself Roundup: Fishsticks, Risotto and Vanilla Extract (not all together)

Mmmm...fancy tv dinner.

I Made It Myself is a series where I document my attempts to cook food that I would normally pay someone else to make, or buy in a package.

I don’t think I ever explicitly stated that my goal for IMIM was to have 50 culinary adventures, but that’s the plan. This entry covers #7, #8, and #9.

#7: Thai Coconut Fishsticks with Peanut Dipping Sauce

I used this recipe from the Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen, though we ended up substituting cod for the halibut. I know from my highschool job frying fish at the Totem House in Seattle that halibut is generally tastier, but this cod was pretty good. It was a little too flaky, so our fishsticks kind of fell apart. But, whatevs. Peanut sauce compensates for flakiness. We served it with a side of kale. All in all, it was a very delicious meal with a kind of tv dinner nostalgia that made me happy.

#8: Artichoke Risotto

I really wanted to try risotto because everyone says it’s so difficult to make, and that was confusing to me because it just seems like creamy rice to me. (I respect food chemistry and realize that there’s some starch business going on with the rice that I don’t fully understand, but I tend towards overconfidence in the kitchen.) I used this somewhat complicated recipe for from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. I’d actually recommend finding a simpler recipe for your first risotto experience (though it’s a great site!). The end product was pretty delicious, but we spent most of the cooking time being a little confused. Also, we used not just artichokes, but also asparagus because it’s the best vegetable on the planet.

#9: Homemade Vanilla Extract (In progress)

I just started the six-month process of making homemade vanilla extract. I’m following the directions on Annie Get Your Glue Gun. I believe it’s going to be awesome, but this will be an exercise in patience, since I have to wait half a year to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Dang.

Games People Play: Bananagrams

Games People Play is a series where I attempt to make the world a better place by encouraging more game playing.

This edition features a review of Bananagrams, also known as “Fruity Pun-Enhanced Speed Scrabble.” The game’s creators claim it is an “award winning* game that will drive you bananas.” Read on to find out if this game truly is the Top Banana.

Bananagrams

Game play: Place the 144 Scrabble-ish tiles face down. Each player takes seven, and at the same time (there are no “turns” in Bananagrams) flips them over and begins to create intersecting words (each player should be essentially building their own crossword puzzle). When any player uses up all of their letters, they call out “Peel!” and every player has to take an additional tile (or two, depending on how you want to play) from the center. Continue playing until all of the tiles have been taken. The first player to use all of their letters wins.

Variations: Yes, a bunch (ahem…get it?). Develop an actual scoring system, to encourage longer words. Or require a thematic connection between words; players must justify how each word fits into a theme. Or reduce the level of chaos by just dividing all the tiles equally between players at the beginning – so there’s no “peeling,” but otherwise the same rules apply.

Fussiness: Minimal. All you need are the tiles, which come in a banana shaped pouch; and a big enough space to play. No board, no pencil or paper.

This game is fun for: People who see the word “stop,” and immediately think “pots, post, opts, tops, spot.” Fans of Boggle, Clabbers, or the Jumble. People who dislike slow things.

Risk of making someone feel bad: Low. Unlike Scrabble, Bananagrams is not a word snob game. Because of the speed element, most of the words played are short, well-known, and easy to spell. There’s less strategy as well – there’s no need to save the Q for a triple word score, for example. People who don’t do well in Bananagrams can simply blame the speed element, go off on a tangent about how the world is moving too fast anyway, and distract everyone from their lack of Bananagram skills by starting a tangential conversation about the Slow Food movement.

How to cheat: An interesting thing about Bananagrams is how easy it is to accidentally cheat by not taking your extra tiles because you’re just so focused on rearranging your board. I’m not saying I’ve ever done this, but it could happen. Stealthy cheaters can take advantage of this.

Benefits of playing: Improves dexterity. Good preparation for career as an anagrammist (that’s a real thing!). Raises potassium levels.

Upgrades: Yeah. It’s called Scrabble. Sorry, haters.

Verdict: Gwen Stefani said it best: This game is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

*Fact check: Bananagrams has won several awards including the Dr. Toy Best Products award, Creative Child Magazine’s 2007 Top Toy of the Year award, and the 2006 Play Matters Good Toy Award. Most recently, it won the Hannah Kane “Anagram This/Math Sangria/Asthma Grain/Giant Ashram” Award for Service to the Cause of Anagramming.

Ask the Expert: Making a Party Playlist

DJ Jojo contemplates music and dessert.

Ask the Expert is a series where I interview friends and others who are experts in a particular party concept.

For this edition, I interviewed friend and music aficionado, DJ Jojo (who moonlights as the editor of a popular social-good-meets-social-networking website). In this entry, DJ Jojo shares her secrets for creating the perfect blend of songs for a party or event. Read on for tips to consider, pitfalls to avoid, and solutions to pressing moral dilemmas.

Everybody’s Invited!: Grammar nerd alert.  I must know, do you say “mix tape” or “mixed tape”?

DJ Jojo: I tend to use “mix tape” for the kind I made on my stereo in high school, and “mixtape” for compilations that are produced or remixed by a DJ. I hope that doesn’t ruin my reputation as an editor, since “mixed tape” makes more grammatical sense. But it probably helps my reputation as a fake DJ, so it’s all good.

EI!: You are obviously not afraid to take editorial risks! Does that apply to playlists as well? How would you describe your basic approach to selecting songs for a party playlist?

Jojo: Yes, risk-taking is key. There are two basic principles to consider: balance and mood. I strive for a balance of types of songs: old and new; ones that everyone will know and ones that hardly anyone will know; songs to sing along to and songs to fade into the background. And to determine the appropriate mood, I ask myself: Will people be dancing? Eating? Playing games? Reminiscing about high school? Having philosophical conversations? Getting wasted?

EI!: The playlist influences the vibe of the party. What are your strategies for determining song order?

Jojo: I like to start with some mellow songs for the beginning of the party, when people are still being introduced and settling in, then go into more upbeat or danceable songs during the middle when people are likely to be having the most fun. Then towards the end of the party, I like to emphasize the old-school tunes so the tired and/or drunk guests can feel that warm and fuzzy nostalgia. Then I’ll switch back to mellow tunes at the very end of the night, so the stragglers feel so sleepy that they want to go home.

EI!: Any common pitfalls to avoid?

Jojo: One common pitfall is getting to the best part of the playlist too early, before most of the guests arrive. It can be a wasted opportunity to show the guests how cool you really are! To avoid this disappointment, you can prepare a less carefully-selected playlist to listen to as you set up for the party and as the first few guests arrive.

Another common error is including songs that are much quieter or louder than the rest of your playlist—you’ll find yourself fiddling with the volume knob for the rest of the night and never finding quite the right decibel level. The low-tech way to avoid this problem is to quickly run through your playlist before the party and listen to the beginning of each song (which I recommend doing anyway to make sure the song order feels right).

EI!: We’ve got a question from a reader who writes,

Recently I’ve had a couple friends ask me to make them a mix. Instead of spending hours curating the perfect playlist (like I used to back in the day), I’ve gotten a little lazy and have turned to Pandora or iTunes Genius to, um, speed up the process. My question is two-fold. First, am I a bad person? And second, who do you think would win in a contest to create the best playlist – a living, breathing human being, or the world’s greatest music algorithm?

Jojo: Quite the moral dilemma you pose here! First, you are not a bad person, but your laziness might come at a cost. Tools like Pandora don’t know you very well, and they definitely don’t know your friend, so the playlist may fall a little flat to the recipient’s ears (and heart!). Second, I believe a living, breathing human can make a better mix than any computer—but only if the human has an insanely encyclopedic knowledge of music, an extremely close relationship with the listener, and a lot of free time.

(Editor’s Note: Is that a challenge? Hmmm…)

EI!: Finally, if your life had a soundtrack, what would the theme song be?

Jojo: Hmm. I can’t choose just one—I’m a Gemini, so I think I’m entitled to two songs: “Not Like Me” by Jean Grae, and J.S. Bach’s Prelude in C Major for piano (from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I).

Are you ready to get Lost?

by Flickr user stevegarfield

Editor’s Note: You might want to skip this entry if you’re not familiar with the band Driveshaft.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly breathed a sigh of relief when I found out that President Obama’s State of the Union address wouldn’t be conflicting with the season premiere of Lost. I mean, I already know that universal health care is pretty much a lost cause (Massachusetts, you broke my heart*). What I don’t know is what will happen in the Jack/Sawyer/Kate/Juliet quadrangle.

Here are my top tips for throwing a Lost final season premiere viewing party:

• Decor theme: Beachy.
• Party favors: Sunscreen, lib balm, or used copies of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.
• Give everyone a Sawyer-style nickname and nametag when they arrive. (Try to invite one friend with freckles and one with eyeliner for this reason.)
• Watch ABC’s 8-minute recap of the first five seasons, because you’ve most certainly forgotten some of the weird crap that happened. If/when questions arise about plot points or chronology, you can consult the Lostpedia for answers.
• Obviously, create some Dharma Initiative labels for your beer, peanut butter, and mayonnaise. Yes, it’s gross, but this is the food you will be serving. (You can also order some wild boar jerky to get into the spirit of the island.)
• Drinking game:  Any time 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 or 42 is mentioned; take a sip. Any time Desmond says “Brotha,” take a sip. Any time Jack looks earnest, take a sip. (If you do the last one, you’ll probably want to call cabs for your friends.)
• Create a few Season 6 prediction prompts (“What’s up with the polar bears?” “What happened to the couple that got buried alive?” “Who the eff is Jacob?” “Which characters will die?” “What is your Lost theory of everything?”), and have each guest write down their predictions, and put them in a self-addressed stamped envelope. You should keep them and make a note to drop them in the mail the week before the series finale.

What are your ideas?

*But not as much as Tea Partiers, Fox News, and filibuster rules.

Guest Post: Birthday Bash in the Big Apple

This is a guest post by one of my best friends, Maddie, who hosted an awesome 30th birthday party last month.

I love parties, and I wish I was the type of girl who throws big parties every weekend.  But it can be tricky (and expensive) to throw a party in New York City!  My husband Mike and I both turned 30 last month and we wanted to do something big, but we also needed to keep it affordable.

M&M

Here’s how we did it:

Step 1: Find a Venue

I logged onto New York Magazine’s website to check out all of the vendors that allow private parties in NYC.  As vendor after vendor got back to me, I became more and more disheartened.  Costs ranged from a flat fee of over $2,000 to charging guests $100 at the door.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t in our price range.

Our second thought was just to show up at the door of a bar, and then 40 of our friends would just happen to stop by, too!  That’s what our friend Brian did at Gallery Bar.  The best part about that bar is their super cute photo booth! But I knew that things would get crowded fast, and my grandmother and entire family wanted to come to our party so I needed a Plan C.

The extended fam. (Editor's Note: One of my favorite families in the world!)

So, I went back to New York Magazine’s vendor list and finally found Antarctica Bar. It was perfect for so many reasons:

• It’s free
• It’s huge
• It’s near the train in the hip Tribeca neighborhood
• There’s a pool table
• They let you play your iPod if you want
• If your friends like to drink, they have huge drinks that are super cheap!

Step Two: Make It Cute

Now that we had our venue, we needed to spice things up. I wanted a few inexpensive favors, so I browsed through the vendors at Etsy. I was looking for something fun and unique, so I was excited to find these super cute mustaches from CupcakeSocial’s Etsy page.

Doesn't Hannah look cute? (Editor's Note: No, not really.)

Step Three: Make It Delicious

I got these delicious cakes and cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery (immortalized in SNL’s Lazy Sunday video).

Yum.

I also filled some jars with pretty pastel candies, and filled these popcorn bags with fresh popcorn:

Since people were mostly drinking, it was easy to provide a few snacks for people without spending too much money.

Step Four: Remember It

We wanted to capture the events of the evening with a fun Polaroid camera.  Did you know that Polaroid doesn’t make those ancient cameras that we used to use anymore? But now there is a great Fuji Instant camera. We bought a few of them and let guests take photos throughout the night.

Thanks, Hannah, for coming to our party! Now that I’ve thrown a big NYC party, I’m excited for more parties to come.

Editor's Note: I do not like my hair in this photo, but Maddie looks good so I'll allow it.

“Ask a Librarian” online chat, and other wonders of the public library

Courtesy of the awesome Catalog Card Generator on http://www.blyberg.net

After about 15 library card-less years, I finally made my way down to the Brooklyn Central Library and got myself a library card last Saturday morning. My how times have changed! Gone are the days of flipping through faded cards in the old wooden catalogue. Mr. Dewey Decimal, meet Mr. Online Database. This morning I received an email notifying me that The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is sitting on a shelf, waiting for me to pick it up. An email! That is so 2010!

This has nothing to do with theme parties, vacations, holidays, or scavenger hunts. But it has everything to do with being a more interesting person. I am so excited to learn more about science, food, social change, medicine, and music. This also affords me an opportunity to assuage my young adult lit habit (Anne of Green Gables is like crack to me!), without breaking the bank.

Why didn’t I think of this sooner?

Thanks to Anne (of Delmar, not Green Gables) for the inspiration.

Anticipation

Ziggy says there's a 72% chance I'll be watching Quantum Leap while drinking Beet-Carrot-Apple-Ginger juice.

When I feel blue*, I’ll often make a list of things I’m looking forward to.

Here’s today’s list:

• The final season of Lost.
• Hosting a Red Hot Chocolate Tasting Party on Valentine’s Day weekend (featuring both red hots and a chocolate tasting).
• Going to Turkey with C and M around Thanksgiving**, and not just because going to Turkey on Thanksgiving sounds funny.
• Watching Quantum Leap on Hulu. I ♥ that show.
• Using my juicer more.
• The two weddings I’m planning to go to this year.
• Paying off a significant chunk of my student loans this year.
• New project – Extreme Makeover: My Kitchen Edition***

* I also do this when I’m excited. Or when I’m hungry.

** Tentative plans.

*** I smell a new blog series.

Games People Play: Apples to Apples

Games People Play was one of the write-in votes on my poll from last week about what I should name my new game review feature. I assume everyone would have voted for it if I’d been clever enough to think of it in the first place, so I’m going with it. For the first installment, I’ve reviewed Apples to Apples, a game often described by its creators as “hilarious” and “outrageous.” Demonstrable fact or obvious overstatement? Read on to find out!

Apples to Apples

Game play: Players draw seven red cards, each with a noun on it. Nouns range from “Hillary Clinton” to “My Bedroom.” For each round, one player serves as the judge. The judge draws a green card, which has an adjective on it – maybe “spicy” or “elegant.” Each player throws down one red noun card from their hand to “match” the adjective. The judge decides which noun fits best and awards a point to the person who chose it. It’s completely subjective, so part of the game is figuring out what the judge is going to like best. Some judges are literal, others go for abstract connections, some go for cheap jokes.

Variations: Only, like, a million. Try having the judge select two green adjectives, and challenge players to find the noun that goes with both. Let players attempt to sway the judge by advocating for their card. Or, use the cards for an entirely different game. Select a group of adjectives and nouns that describe a mutual friend or a celebrity, and have players guess who you’re thinking of.

Fussiness: Minimal. You need a giant stack of cards, and you need to keep the red ones separated from the green ones. I suppose this game is not good for color blind people.

This game is fun for: People who like nouns, adjectives, patterns, non sequiturs, silliness, dissonance, and historical and contemporary cultural references. It’s also fun for those who enjoy matchmaking, categorizing, making connections, armchair psychology, and laughing.

Risk of making someone feel bad: Low. There are no “right answers” in Apples to Apples, and no one is ever put on the spot. In fact, no skill is involved whatsoever. I suppose if the judge drew the “Tragic” card, and you threw down “My Haircut” because the judge had recently been involved in a terrible salon experience, that might make them feel embarrassed (in Apples to Apples, whenever the noun begins with “My,” it refers to the judge). Otherwise, though, this is a safe bet for sensitive game players.

How to cheat: Bribery. Reverse psychology. Mind control.

Benefits of playing: This is a great game for getting to know people better, so try it with colleagues or new friends. I think it probably stimulates creativity, and it certainly sparks good conversation. It will also help you understand the difference between a noun and an adjective, if that’s an issue for you. You’re on your own with verbs.

Upgrades: Check out the fancy party crate edition for your more sophisticated soirees.

Verdict: Red card = Apples to Apples. Green card = Hilarious.

I Made It Myself: Gluten-Free Pizza

I Made It Myself is a series where I document my attempts to cook food that I would normally pay someone else to make, or buy in a package.

Okay, so this doesn’t totally meet the IMIM criteria because I used a mix for the crust, but I’ve never actually made any kind of pizza dough before, so I say this counts. I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix. That dude makes some good gluten-free baking mixes. I’m going to follow his Twitter account.

Look how happy I was to be mixing the dough:

Then I put the dough in some pans. See:

What’s next? You guessed it. Homemade pizza sauce!

Then…cheese…duh.

Toppings!

There you have it. Photographic evidence that I made some pizza.

Everybody’s invited to the next decade

Everybody’s Invited! has been making some New Year’s resolutions. Below is what you can expect to see on this blog in 2010. Your input is needed, so please take a few moments to weigh in on the polls. It’s very much appreciated!

So…in addition to going to the gym more regularly, EI! will also:

Feature a greater emphasis on scavenger hunts. I neglected this topic in the aughts, and I plan to make up for it in the next decade.  Watch out for themed scavenger hunt lists that you can remix for your own purposes, and tips for organizing events for your friends.

Play more games, but in a good way. I seriously love games (especially the word and board kind, but less so the video and mind kinds), so I’m going to start featuring reviews and recommendations of existing games, as well as instructions for how to play the awesome games that I’ve invented.

Herald the return of DIY Theme Party Videos. I’m sure you’ve been missing the poor audio quality and frequent jump cuts that characterized my first two DIY videos, so you’ll be glad to know that they’ll be back in 2010 with the same low production values as before.

And of course, I’ll continue regular EI! features like “I Made It Myself” and “Ask the Expert.”

Stay tuned and thanks for your help!