Ok, I might have called her Rainbow Brite previously, but now I feel bad about Ann Curry. Her wardrobe is unfortunate. My god, those outfits. And this is coming from a woman who has worn little more than yoga pants and fleece tops for the last six years. And clogs. Yes I do.
But now that she's about to be fired and she still has to come to work each morning at some ridiculously early hour and be all, "Hey, good morning, let's have a great show today." What? Who can do that? I mean, Al Roker was probably a lot to deal with already but now she has to chuckle at his lame puns knowing her exit is imminent and be graceful about it. That's superhuman. I watched about 45 minutes this morning and it's not hard to read the underscoring sentiment. Or maybe it's just me imagining pop-up video style text bubbles reading, "Shut the F up already with the weather puns, Al" or "Thanks for nothin', Lauer, you a-hole." She's been a pillar of class and grace, thus far. If I were her I would be so tempted to wear that crazy smock dress featuring the Today Show rainbow from waist-to-hip for the rest of my days. That's right. Rainbow Brite every single crazy day.
Oh Ann. My condolences.
My defining moment of departure from the Today show had nothing to do with Ann Curry. I'd always turned on NBC as a default. I remember getting ready for school with Jane Pauley and Bryant Gumbel. I watched with horror Katie and Matt's live coverage of 9/11. And then Matt Lauer interviewed the Colorado teenager who spilled her frozen yogurt on President Obama's shoe. Yogurt on a goddamn shoe. Over and out.
Plus said teenager had that speech inflection where every sentence rises in pitch at the end and comes out like a question. What is that? I hope it's only prevalent in girls so that we can avoid it entirely because it might kill me. Literally. Just kidding about the literally; I know how to use the word correctly.
So I'm breaking up with the Today Show but I'm jumping into bed with a new love: The Newsroom. I watched the pilot twice yesterday. So good. The pilot is on You Tube and the show looks promising enough to allllmossssst make me order HBO. Except it airs Sundays at 10:00 p.m. and it's a rare Sunday eve that sees me awake at 11:00 p.m. And also I'm cheap. So most likely I'll bide my time until it comes out on DVD and then I will ignore my children and watch the whole thing in one long and delicious sit-down, thus reprising my former nickname, Leah de la Sofa.
God, Mom, no. I'm not really going to ignore the boys. Joking.
Um...sooo... it was really hot here last week and I needed to throw together a rare weeknight dinner for all four of us. Turning on the oven or grilling wasn't going to happen. So we ate saltines with peanut butter. The end. Joking again! I kill myself (no, not literally). I had a ton of snap peas and spinach from my garden. (Oh, how I'm loving my garden. But that ramble--and it's going to be one heck of a ramble--is for another time.) I made an all-microwave meal. And it was decent.
Abundant snaps
Snap Pea and Salmon Quinoa (for 4)
1 cup uncooked Quinoa
2 or so cups snap peas, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups spinach, washed and finely chopped
1 (approx. 1 lb) salmon filet, cut into 4 pieces
Citrus Vinaigrette
2 tbsp. olive oil
Zest and juice of 1/2 - 1 lemon (I like a lot of lemon, the boys not so much)
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar (or preferred)
2 tbsp. orange juice
2 tbsp. chopped chives
Salt and pepper, to taste. I have a salt problem and feel like it needs a little extra salt. But that's me.
1. Cook quinoa according to package directions (I microwaved, clearly).
2. Trim and chop about this many snap peas (it's a little over two cups. I measured!), microwave with a little water for 1 minute. Add to bowl with quinoa.
3. Microwave chopped spinach for 30 seconds. It will look horrible but will add color and vitamins. Add it to the bowl and stir well so the spinach doesn't stay clumpy and the quinoa fluffs up.
4. Mix vinaigrette together and add, stir again. It looks like a lot but don't fret, the grain soaks it up.
4. Mix vinaigrette together and add, stir again. It looks like a lot but don't fret, the grain soaks it up.
5. I salted and peppered and lemoned the salmon and cooked each piece of individually, in my handy microwave egg cooker, for 55 seconds. Alternatively, I'm sure you could do it all on a plate covered with plastic wrap but I've got no idea how long it would take to cook. Helpful.
Salmon in the microwave egg cooker
6. Let the salmon rest for a couple minutes, flake with a fork and add to the quinoa mixture. Maybe add chopped, toasted walnuts if you've got them. Add a little crunch, yes?
7. Serve it up and enjoy a fresh, healthful no oven meal that's not a sandwich. Or Ben and Jerry's Phish Food frozen yogurt. Not that that's happened.
View from my bedroom window. So much nicer in the summer. The end.
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