An Omelette Recipe and a Book Review

So I made the most perfect omelettes I've ever made two days ago. Turns out what I've been missing all these years is a rubber spatula; you know, the kind with the flexible edge that you use to mix batters? That seems to be the only kind that's able to get under the set egg and clean it off the skillet. Here's my recipe and approximate directions for my perfect omelette:

(For 2)
5 eggs, beaten
A bunch of spinach
1 cup shaved parmesan
Half of a chorizo (substitute ham or other protein)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic
Vegetable oil

Start the garlic in the vegetable oil and sauté (half) the spinach on medium. Add (half) the chorizo or whatever meat you have. Once both are cooked through, move the dry ingredients into a single circular layer in middle of the pan, and pour (half) the beaten egg into the skillet until everything is covered. Lower the heat, and let the egg cook for about seven to ten minutes. Poke constantly at the outer rim of the omelette with your rubber spatula, and turn the skillet to let whatever runny egg is still at the center of the omelette come to the edge. Sprinkle in the cheese and let it melt. After seven to ten minutes, the bottom of the omelette should be cooked and should come off pretty easily all the way around. Dig your rubber spatula into one side of the omelette and, using your finger (or an extra spatula), fold the omelette over. Flipping, if you can do it, would be pretty cool here.

That's a perfect omelette.

Oh, and I also finished Christopher Moore's Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. It's a good summer read, although Moore might have done a better job of separating out the biblical stories of Christ's life to be a touch more authentic. The characterizations are zany, and the dialogue is zippy and laugh-out-loud. The premise of the story is fantastic, and it highlights why the modern evangelical movement (as well as any Christian denomination that has the gall to announce itself the one true church on Earth) is narrow-minded and pig-headed. It's not that Moore writes non-fiction; it's that the universal truths in all religions of the world show such a claim to be as archaic as thinking that we're the only intelligent life in the universe. The possibility is just too great for that to be truth. The other aspect of Lamb that I appreciated was the humanity that Moore brought to Christ the person. Sometimes, in the midst of all of the parables and the sermons and the miracles, we forget that Jesus also farted and burped and cursed and ate too much garlic and got dirty and laughed and rough-housed. That's what makes him so appealing as a leader: he was, as much as he was the eternal and glorious Firstborn, a real mortal with his own faults.

I started at the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) yesterday, but I won't be going back until mid-August when I return from vacation, so I'll post about that when I know more about it. I'm also (maybe) going to the "Americans in Paris" exhibit at the MFA tonight, so I'll post about that later.

Finally, the biggest news in the GLBTQ community is, of course, the latest ruling from New York's Supreme Court that the denial of gay marriage does not violate the state's constitution. I am still shocked that the majority would use the vocabulary of "procreation" to justify it as a POSSIBLE ground the Legislature might have considered. I believe Chief Justice Kaye was correct in saying that there was a fundamental consitutional right at issue: "The Court concludes, however, that same-sex marriage is not deeply rooted in tradition, and thus cannot implicate any fundamental liberty. But fundamental rights, once recognized, cannot be denied to articular groups on the ground that these groups have historically been denied those rights." The full decision can be read here, and Chief Justice Kaye's dissent begins on page 43.