recipe review: parmesan-crusted tilapia

i was reading gale gand's new cookbook tuesday night as i was attempting to decompress enough to go the fuck to sleep. i'd had some time off from work and my first day back was wednesday, so i was hoping to turn in early enough so i wouldn't be completely exhausted. of course i couldn't go to sleep right away, even though i was in bed by 9:30.

anyway...i'd already started my shopping list for the week and saw that tilapia was on sale, so i added it to my list, planning to make another batch of dijon fish cakes. then i saw this recipe for parmesan-crusted tilapia, and the fish part of it looked easy enough to try out.

i got 3 tilapia fillets, which was slightly more than a pound. i used shredded parmesan instead of grated b/c that's what was in the fridge. i also used dried parsley instead of fresh b/c that's what was on hand. i didn't actually measure the pepper - i used a ziploc bag for the panko/parmesan mixture and just kinda eyeballed the pepper (and the parsley, actually).

verdict: meh. i think it needed a bit more seasoning of some sort. not salt, necessarily, b/c parmesan is salty enough on its own, but something. maybe i'll add a bit of paprika next time. or lemon pepper instead of black pepper. i'm not sure. i'm willing to try it again, though. i was kinda rushing through prep because i wanted to eat and have things cleaned up in time for the blackhawks game. i was successful in that quest, but maybe next time i won't be as harried and can actually think about seasoning, etc.

a stormy monday of sorts

obviously depending on how you choose to define "stormy." it looks like it's gonna rain any minute now as i write this.

i woke up around 3:30 this morning attempting to shake myself out of a really intense nightmare. that was one of those moments when i once again realized how much it sucks to be lonely - to not have someone that you could curl up with and they would tell you, even if it's a bald-faced lie, that things would be ok.

i was watching anthony bourdain's parts unknown while working on job apps late this morning. this week's episode was all about the mississippi delta, and it made me think of my father, and then i got all weepy. actually i'm still a bit on the weepy side. i know - who cries over seeing tamales being served in mississippi? this girl does, apparently. i remember how excited daddy was when he was finally able to get his hands on a tamale recipe and make it his own. those tamales were good, too.

and now i have to leave for work in a few minutes and hope that the bullshit is kept to a minimum b/c i'm already in a weird mental space today.

happy monday. :P

just in time for mother's day

i think it was monday or tuesday of this week that i officially hit my "i am so DONE with mother's day ads" peak. mother's day is difficult because of [reasons], and every year, it feels like i'm bombarded with more and more commercials and sales and gift ideas and offers until i want to literally run away screaming. i don't like announcing that i feel this way, though, b/c i know mother's day is a big deal for some folks and i don't want to steal their joy, but sometimes, i just wanna yell "holy fucking shit we get it moms are awesome enough with the commercialism already" as part of the aforementioned running away and screaming. i am the worst.

as an alternative, though, i thought i would share some of the tweets i posted last year for mother's day and then go back to pretending that this holiday doesn't really exist. (yes, i do the same thing for father's day. i'm a equal-opportunity both parents are dead and therefore i have no fucks to give about these holidays hater.)

good morning. happy sunday. happy mother's day.
— eulalia (@queeneulalia) May 12, 2013

s/o to all the moms i know who are raising children that i actually enjoy spending time with outside of #adventuresinbabysitting.
— eulalia (@queeneulalia) May 12, 2013

s/o to all of my friends' moms who i've adopted along the way. thank you for raising kids who grew up to be great adults (so far).
— eulalia (@queeneulalia) May 12, 2013

s/o to the folks who have complicated relationships with their mothers and therefore can't get behind the sentiment today. *hugs* for y'all.
— eulalia (@queeneulalia) May 12, 2013

s/o to the folks who lost their mothers way too soon (29 years ago for me) and might be feeling some kinda way today. *hugs* for y'all, too.
— eulalia (@queeneulalia) May 12, 2013

oh, what the hell...*hugs* all around. the sun's out and this is the last sunday i have to work until june, so i'm trying to be positive. :D
— eulalia (@queeneulalia) May 12, 2013

lucky for me that i no longer have to work sundays, which means i can spend this mother's day...i don't actually know what i'll be doing yet, besides watching hockey. maybe i'll just drink and watch hockey. that's an acceptable way to spend a sunday, right? right.

but seriously - happy mother's day to all the awesome moms i know. thank you for raising (mostly) wonderful children. your efforts are noted and appreciated. :-)