02.20.06
Posted in Journal at 4:57 pm by kate
So I’ve developed hives in the last 24-48 hours, and I can’t figure out why. I haven’t eaten things out of the ordinary, I haven’t been too stressed… My skin has been fairly dry recently and I haven’t been good about putting lotion on, which could be the catalyst, but who really knows. I was feeling itchy (but didn’t have any hives) on Saturday and put lotion on then, and tried a thicker one on Sunday because I was still itchy. By last night both my legs and part of my arms were covered in hives. With some help from Calydryl lotion and some Benadryl, I was able to fall asleep and Adam didn’t have to listen to me furtively itch underneath the covers. (We’re pretty sure it was Benadryl, but I threw away the package and put the pills in a plastic bag when we moved, thinking, “I’m a nurse, I’ll recognize what these bright pink pills are without a problem!” Kids – don’t do this at home.)
This morning, I was inspired to document the hives on my leg for posterity. Why, you ask? Because I can! I just thought this photo was kind of cool, but being in the medical profession, I find a lot of things cool that gross other people out.
The hives have calmed down a little this afternoon, but I’m still in an itchy hell – but not as itchy and fiery as earlier. It takes a lot of concentration NOT to itch, so I’m off to the drug store to buy more Benadryl (I’ll keep the packaging this time).
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02.15.06
Posted in Food at 11:33 am by kate
Adam and I went out for a late dinner last night to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Neither of us feel like we have to shower each other with chocolates and gifts, because we’re pretty schmoopey all the rest of the days of the year, but a nearby cafe was doing a special dinner so we thought it would be nice to partake. Twigs, the cafe, has awesome baked goods and sandwiches, and the owners were offering a little taste of what is to come when they open a resturant at night. Here’s a copy of the dinner menu for viewing pleasure.
I worked yesterday and was on transport call last night, so it was a gamble going out to eat. I had my pager hooked to my pants in case I got called back to the hospital, but luckily we had a page free dinner (the vibrate function on my pager is really startling). Twigs was doing 2 seatings last night, at 5:30 and at 8:00 pm. Knowing my inability to get out of work on time, Adam reserved a table for the 8pm seating. A bunch of our friends went to the 5:30 seating; it was a bummer to miss them, but Adam and I had a very relaxed, fun meal on our own. The food came in 4 courses: Antipasti, Primi, Secondi, and Dolci (dessert). It was fabulous start to finish. For the first two courses, you were given a little bit of everything to taste. For the Secondi course, you had to choose one of three things for the main dish, and for dessert each of us could choose one of three things as well.
For the Antipasti, we were given a plate of 4 things with enough for each of us to try everything. We both really enjoyed the cocoa shrimp with mango sauce and the three cheese stuffed artichoke bottoms. They also had fried polenta with wild mushrooms, and prosciutto wrapped slices of cantaloupe. The Primi included a bowl of roasted vegetable minestrone, and a goat cheese salad. The slices of goat cheese were fried, but the frying wasn’t bad for you because it was cancelled out by the bed of salad greens, of course! The slices of pear and the balsamic dressing (?) were a very nice pairing with the goat cheese. The soup was delicious as well.
Adam and I both got the roast duck with orange sauce for the Secondi course. It was beautifully done with roasted root vegetables, but the problem was that I couldn’t eat more than half of it because I had eaten so much in the first 2 courses. Luckily, they wrapped it up for us to take home. It was BYOB, so Adam had picked a 2001 Auslese Riesling which went really nicely with the duck.
Last but not least, was dessert – always my favorite part of the meal. Adam ordered the basil gelato with balsamic marinated strawberries, and I ordered the chocolate mousse with strawberries. The desserts were huge! I thought the flavors of the basil gelato and the balsamic strawberries went really well together, and the basil gelato by itself was stellar! The chocolate mousse was also to die for – very rich and creamy with white and dark chocolate drizzled over it. The strawberries on the side were dipped alternately in white or dark chocolate, which was a nice foil to the mousse. Both desserts had a beautiful presentation, and were delicious. I only finished half my mousse (it was getting to be a struggle to eat it at all because I was feeling pretty full), but got to take the rest home (yay!). Adam’s gelato was not going to travel home well unless we strapped it to the roof or bumper of the car, so we had to leave it behind, which was too bad. This morning, while I was grabbing things from the refridgerator for breakfast, I thought to myself – is it bad to want to eat chocolate mousse for breakfast?
All in all, it was a fantastic meal, and a lovely Valentine’s Day celebration indeed. Our only comment was that it was too much food, which is certainly not a complaint because everything was so delicious, but we felt quite full by the end. The good thing is that I have roast duck and chocolate mousse waiting for me today, and hey – that’s not shabby at all!
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