What a long, strange day it's been

First, I burned the inside of my left wrist cooking spinach. That's right, folks, cooking spinach. I've never used frozen spinach before, and I confess to being a bit of a fresh-vegetable snob. However, this "green gnocchi" recipe of Rachael Ray's called for frozen, so frozen it was. The package directions said to put the spinach in 1/2 c of boiling water in a saucepan, and stab the block of spinach with a fork to hasten thawing. So I stabbed it (it was a small saucepan), and the water in the pan promptly bounced up and burned me.

Then we went to yoga school and dressed up as pregnant women. It was pre-natal day. The teacher went through a stunning litany of what happens to your body when you are pregnant. Most of it is not good: you gain 7 liters of water (14 bottles of spring water), the curve of your spine is exaggerated, etc. Toward the end, no position is comfortable for more than 5 minutes, a fact pre-natal yoga teachers need to remember. And you can't lie on your belly. And you can't lie on your back for very long. Yikes. Anyway, we strapped blankets to our middles and did yoga poses, which were grotesquely transformed. Our center of gravity was thrown off and certain balancing poses were suddenly harder to get into. And the extra weight hanging from our middles was no joke. Still, it was funny seeing the guys pregnant ;)

"The Women's History of the World" had some truly disturbing stuff in it. I don't know if it's good or bad that I'm now aware of it. I guess sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I had dinner with T after yoga. There was a beautiful painting in the restaurant, pink, with a turtle and a bird hugging. I know D would like it. I asked if I could buy it (it was only $70, which for paintings is nothing), but the waitress said I would need to call the artist, and gave me his card. I feel shy about calling the artist.

Comments

Two types of artists - ones that are painfully shy and ones that you can never get to shut up. So maybe you could get a third party to make the call. ;)

Actually, I'm exaggerating. Some artists can have legitimate conversations. I've just known too many dysfunctional ones who get offended too easily and are no fun to talk to.

As for pregnant yoga, I'm glad I'm not a woman. Yoga's hard enough to do already without a huge stomach. I'm about as flexible as an iron pole.

Hope your wrist feels better. I have so many burns from cooking. It's no fun. Did you see Bsoholic's burn?
Lora said…
Frozen spinach is best thawed out in a microwave.

Neat lesson with the pre-natal Yoga. I don't know if they told you, but yu can't lie on your back after about 4 months of pregnancy because the weight of the uterus cuts of blood flow to the womb. Also you can't breathe properly.
Bearette said…
Thanks ZS. I did actually see a pic of B's burn! It looked painful. I think you're right about the artists ;)

Lora - I'll keep that in mind next time. I usually have an anti-microwave bias (or use it just for re-heating) but in this case, I think it's smart to use it! They did tell us about lying on the back, but they either didn't say or I couldn't remember when that starts. Now I know :)
SK said…
Tell me a little more about the anti-microwave bias.. I'm curious. I confess I am a meat eater and I've thought about going vegetetarian but I don't know I can do it or if I'll ever be ready.. I love steak and leather too much (head is now hanging down in shame), but I have started buying mostly organic veggies and fruit, cooking fresh instead of frozen, and I've switched to Paul Newmans organic coffee b/c a)it's organic, b)proceeds go to charity, and c)it's fair trade certified (which is really important to me - I loathe Folgers). I'm worried about all the dangers of the microwave..just like that stupid sixty second oven at Subway..that thing freaks me out. A pizza in a minute? Something sounds awfully fishy....
Anonymous said…
I hate getting burnt when I cook. It hurts.
Bearette said…
Lost - Hi! I'm not sure if the microwave is dangerous or anything, although it very well could be. For me, it's mostly that it doesn't heat stuff all the way through and I just feel like it's more natural somehow to use the oven or stovetop. Then again, there are people who eat raw diets b/c they feel like cooking anything is unnatural. So I guess everyone has their own thing. I am going to microwave spinach from now on, though, b/c I hate burning myself ;) And I do use the microwave to reheat, just not to cook something the first time around (usually). About the meat/veg thing - whatever works for you! No need for shame. Some people at my yoga program are vegan and get mad when people eat yogurt and cheese. I can't give up yogurt and cheese. With regard to the other stuff, I stopped eating red meat in college (the institutional red meat was too gross) and I never liked fish. So that left chicken, and I realized when I started cooking (after college) that I just couldn't cook it. So that's how I became veg.

WW - I hate getting burned too. I think I'm going to wear rubber gloves when I cook now. Or else I'll be extra careful.

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