Ay and oh times none

We thought we'd lost our laundry card. We tore our (very tiny) house apart looking for the damn thing, even as I swore up and down that I put it in our usual place and had no idea what happened to it. It got to the point where we borrowed a downstairs neighbor's card because the hamper was bubbling over with socks and my sock drawer was a gaping maw of emptiness. And then I woke up one morning and there it was, sitting on my desk. Not quite Rod Serling material, but still, a deeply bizarre experience for all involved.

I blame sub-I. I also blame sub-I for a. talking in my sleep during a poorly conceived nap today about having to wake up urgently and complete discharge summaries; and b. not blogging at all.

I didn't photograph them, but I brought carrot cake cupcakes* to call today. Precisely one week ago, I brought pastries made of croissant dough filled with blackberry jam or cream cheese whipped with Meyer lemon zest and confectioner's sugar:

The idea for these little guys came purely from the fact that, now that NYUSoM's housing authority has sent a stern e-mail saying that no current NYU medical student will be offered housing next year, thereby neatly squashing my pipe dream of a blissful transition to internship. Andy already created a tornado of Craigslist searches; I'm coping by trying to empty the fridge of half-full jars, jugs, and bottles. The jam is first on the chopping block.

And what better to do with my last day off before a 7-day stretch than to stroll to Union Square, load up on groceries, and make something with too many components.

These carrots are seared in olive oil, then slow-roasted for about 45 minutes until tender; it's a great technique that needn't be dish-intensive if one has a cast-iron skillet. I even managed to coax great carroty flavor out of the rather tough post-winter carrots at the Greenmarket. The mushrooms are tossed in paprika and soy sauce, then slow-roasted. It's all over lentils stewed with juniper and onions.

For the final touches, there's a brown butter vinaigrette, crunchy quinoa clusters (recipe by Mark Bittman), and toasted walnuts. Labor-intensive, yes, but a soothing alternative to the hectic labor of floor medicine.

*Andy apparently loves carrot cake. How wonderful it is to discover new ways to make one's spouse a type 2 diabetic!