simple made special

Help Wanted

I want to work here for a day or two and wear a little pink apron. Then I want this to be my party. I don't know why typepad is formatting the text like this, but I haven't figured out how to change it yet. It is really bugging me.

My pretty new tooth, and why I won't have a new summer wardrobe

Altogether an okay experience, not too traumatic, but rather unpleasant and might I add... damn expensive? All for a tooth that seemed perfectly fine to me, but what do I know? My dentist has a brand new motorcycle to show for all of his good work, it's actually really cool because it has some pretty risque imagery painted on it. Very unorthodox for this area, and apparently he's taken some flack for it. Back to the tooth. The procedure takes about 4 hours in three appointments. The second appointment is the worst, that's when they cut your tooth open and scrape out the root. I kind of wished he hadn't explained the process to me. I had to imagine it the whole time. I would have preferred to lay there ignorant of the process. The dentist I had as a kid would say, 'okay I'm going to put a tight rubber band around your tooth, so it might sting.' He has actually giving me the shot of novocaine! Genius.

The Dressing

I've had so many requests for my dressing recipe, that I am posting the recipe here. Actually it was one request, see how accommodating I am. Does it count if that one person asked more than once? I thought so. First let me say, by way of disclaimer that I have a strong liking for vinegar, so please adjust your oil/vinegar proportions accordingly. Many recipes call for 3 parts oil, 1 part vinegar, so you may want to start there. 

Ingredients: 

Oil, any kind really 

Vinegar, I like white wine, and sherry is good, too. Lemon juice is also nice. 

Mint leaves, a small handfull 

Salt and Pepper 

If you want to be all fancy, these are optional (add just before you add the mint): a little piece of garlic a shake of cumin (seems to lower the acidity) a little blob, maybe a 1/2 teaspoon of seedy mustard a little piece of shallot you can also substitute any herb, or combination of herbs that you like. I love cilantro. 

In a small food processor (I use my small one because I don't make very much dressing at a time, this won't keep) wiz up your oil and vinegar. I do a small gurgle of each, but you could do different measurements as noted above. Mine probably amount to 2 Tablespoons of each. Add some salt and pepper. Add the garlic so it purees well. When you have mixed this well, taste a little bit. This is the time to adjust your vinegar and oil. If it seems to sour add a little oil, if it's too greasy add a little vinegar and some salt. When this mixture is to your liking (and you could use the dressing as it) add your mint leaves. 

A word about mint. The first time I read the recipe that I base this from, I thought, 'that sounds odd, I don't think I would like that.' But I have tons of mint growing in my yard, so I tried it. I believe it is lemon mint, because it smells like lemon.