Thursday, May 1, 2008

In for a yard

While we were in New Jersey for Passover, we went to my sister-in-law's brother's house for a Seder. While there, I realized something amazing: they had more furniture OUTSIDE their house than we have inside. Okay, I'm exaggerating slightly. I mean, they didn't have bedroom furniture outside. Just patio furniture. Lots and lots of it. A full couch and two chairs plus a coffee table surrounding an outdoor fireplace with full chimney. A table and chairs. Another set of couches, chairs, and tables.

Oh, and all their outdoor furniture was nicer than our real furniture. Hee! Seriously, though, my boys aren't potty trained. I know our couch is ripped and in serious ill-repair, but I don't like it enough to have it refinished and I refuse to buy a new one when I know in the next year, there is an approximately 100% chance the couch will be peed on, at least once, during the potty training endeavors. Okay, hopefully I'm overestimating that 100% chance, but if we bought a new couch, you know it definitely would get peed on. Potty training is going to be harrowing enough; I don't want to have to worry about possessions getting worried as well. So we're just fine with our old couch, thanks.

Back to this house we were at for the Seder: it was nice. A McMansion...the first I'd ever been in. Generic, cookie-cutter-ish, and a tiny bit TOO perfect, but nice. A little odd, and not my cup of tea. I guess I don't need to worry too much about it, though, as the chances of us buying a McMansion are slim. See, first we'd have to win the lottery...

So what do you think? Have you ever been in a McMansion? They're not so omni-present in the Boston area as they are in the part of New Jersey where my inlaws live. It was kind of strange to just see neighborhood after neighborhood after neighborhood of gigantic houses, all looking vaguely similar and brand-new.

Random unrelated thought: I was paging through the 3/30 Boston Globe Magazine (yes, I'm just reading it now. I know! It's May already! Anyway...). In their cooking section, they explain that a frittata is an egg dish that is not flipped in the pan but is finished in the oven, while a tortilla espanola is basically the same dish, except flipped in the pan using the technique Giovanna was kind enough to explain to me where you invert the eggs onto a plate, then slide it back into the pan.

So now I know. I'll happily make tortilla espanola from now on as I clearly can't be trusted with making a frittata! The article in the Globe states: "Frittatas are even easier to make [than tortilla espanola] because they don't have to be flipped in the pan." How little they know. How vastly they underestimate my ability to burn myself with hot pan handles. Bring on the flipping any day! Of course, I may be blogging next time about how my tortilla espanola slid off the plate and onto the hot burner, or onto my hand, or something equally ridiculous. Cooking is always an adventure!

2 comments:

Mommy, Esq. said...

The problem I have with McMansions is you can't hide your clutter in an open floor plan. But more closets would be nice. It was great to meet you at the MOT meeting on Monday!

10 lbs of awesome in a 5 lb bag said...

I always put my tortillas espanola in the oven for a while. I'm too lazy to try to let them cook through enough to flip them over in the pan. Another way to cheat is to get those pre-diced potatoes, you know, the ones in the green bag that you can find in the breakfast food aisles in the supermarket?

Also, another lawyer here with a self-loathing complex regarding his McMansion. Or, at least my friends who live in townhouses call it a McMansion. I just call it a house. But for us, it was either a shoebox closer in to the city, for the same money, or our place, in a neighborhood chock full of houses with similar layouts. (There were two builders, and about four models a piece.) Ideally, I'd move into an ultra-contemporary place, closer to the city, but I'm not independently wealthy, so that is not going to happen.