Spring is in the Air!

Spring is in the air. The sun is out. Flowers are blooming. Birds are chirping. Trees are slowly starting to turn green.

You know what that means right? It's allergy season! That's right. Who needs to be able to breathe or see anything within the couple months? Here's a long rant about allergies, followed by an update on my garden. Feel free to skip to the pictures when you get bored.

Those of you who have known me for a while have probably seen me when it was pretty bad. When I would start sneezing and wouldn't stop for an hour or so. When my eyes swelled up so bad they actually swelled to the point where I couldn't close them. When they would swell up every couple days and start tearing like crazy so I couldn't see anything. When I would wander around in a daze because of the congestion. Spring is not a happy time of year.

Well over the years I have figured a few things out. I had a pretty good doctor for a couple years. She actually got me on a drug regimen that allows me to function. For me that was like the invention of electricity. At the time I had thought that I had tried everything with marginal results. Let me explain. The first time I went to her office was late April and I had been taking Zyrtec for a couple weeks. I was not in a good state, to put it mildly. So first she gave me a cortizone shot. That made a world of a difference right then and there. I went to work when I left the doctor's office and my boss looked at me suspiciously and asked if I should be allowed in the plant.

Then she started the drug regimen that I have stuck with since then. I think it's 5 years now. And 2 locations. I am told where I live now is one of the worst allergy areas in the US. Who knows. I take Allegra and Singulair. Then I have Nasacort for the really bad days. The real trick with these is you have to start the drugs before allergy season starts. When I lived in PA I would start them towards the end of February, while there was still a foot of snow on the ground. Now in NC I should start them at the beginning of February although I am dumb and probably didn't start early enough this year. I can't emphasize enough how big a difference it makes starting them early.

A couple years before that I had a bad allergic reaction in my eye. It's not uncommon for my conjunctiva to become swollen during this time of year. Usually it starts tearing real bad and then the tearing stops maybe 30 minutes later and then the swelling goes down a few hours later. It's not pleasant but I didn't really know of any options.

One time it swelled up more than typical. It swelled up to the point where I couldn't close my eye lid over it. At that point I figured it was probably bad, with the eye drying out and all. So I went to the hospital. Service at the hospital was pretty bad (at check in the lady asked me which eye it was) but a few hours later I walked out with my eye still swollen so it wouldn't close and a prescription for antihistamine eye drops.

When I went to the pharmacy to get the eye drops it turns out they don't actually need a prescription and they are really cheap. They are called Retin-A. They burn like hell when you put them in but in about 5 minutes your eyes clear up and the swelling goes down. I've tried the Patanol and I think one other prescription eye drops and they didn't do shit but these work and they work fast. They sell them in a box with 3 small bottles and I must have 20 of those. I keep them everywhere. One in my pocket that I carry with me February-October, one in my desk at work, one in my purse, one in my junk drawer in my kitchen, one in my first aid kit, one on my night stand, one in my master bath, one in my kitchen bathroom.... I kid you not, I really do have all of these. When it starts I am literally blinded that I can't see enough to walk somewhere to find a bottle. The other drugs I take now make it so that doesn't happen as much but now it is habit.

So me and spring don't get along so well. Which makes my decision to start a garden absolutely brilliant, I know. Also, my being insane and going to my garden every day when pollen is at its worst when I am barely making it through the day at work and not without several motrin (sinus headaches seems to be my new thing).

A hot shower followed by the Neti Pot seems to be working for me. I use it pretty much every time after I work on my garden. The Neti pot is a little strange to use. It takes some practice or thought or something that I don't have. If you don't know what you are doing you can get water up into your sinuses which is not fun. If you are now thoroughly confused, don't worry you are not the only one. A Neti Pot is used for nasal irrigation. What you do is, you run water through your nasal cavity to clean out any contaminants, ie pollen, dust or whatever it is the cool kids are sticking up their noses these days. Supposedly it can also improve your sense of smell and taste too because it frees up all the little hairies up there that detect odors. I can't smell when I'm all congested so I guess it helps with that.

The first rule of Neti Potting is blow your nose thoroughly before you start. If you can't breathe through your nose at all, the water does not have some mystical power to get through there either.

The second rule of Neti Potting is use warm water. It should be a bit warmer than body temperature so it fells warm when you stick your finger in it but not hot. Burning the inside of your nose would not be fun.

The third rule of Neti Potting is. um. not really a rule. I didn't understand for a while when I first tried it. So the way you do it is you put the tip of the pot in your left nostril, tilt your head to the right and let in run out of your right nostril into the sink. Now here's where the trouble can come up. If you are using it, you are probably having some congestion issues. Even if you blow your nose, and you can breathe out of your nose at least a little, that doesn't mean it will work. You may have cleared a path to each nostril but not necessarily between the nostrils. This is why you do it after a hot shower. The steam from a hot shower will help loosen things up in there a bit. Hopefully enough for the water to carry it out.

If you hold it for a few seconds, there are a few things that can happen. If it comes out the other nostril you are in good shape and just keep pouring. If it doesn't and nothing happens, straighten you head back up and blow out of your nose as hard as you can without pinching your nose or anything. You will blow the water and hopefully some of the stuff that was clogging you up. I do this over the sink with the water running. Repeat until it comes out the other nostril. There is one other scenario. I'm not quite sure how it happens but sometime it gets further up into the sinus cavity and causes your eyes to tear. At that point you are not happy. Blow your nose out and try and get as much out as possible. If you are sadistic you can try again. I usually quit, suffer for a while and try it another day.



OK now for the garden. You should keep in mind all that ranting above this. After about 30 mins outside I typically can't breathe or see. So you should really be impressed with what you see below.

You can start to tell which are things I'm growing and which are weeds so that's progress. When K visited a few weeks ago his comment was 'um I can't really tell which are your plants and which are weeds.' Bastard.



Let's start with the lettuces. This is my lettuce bed. With some tomatoes in the background. Those are sunflowers on the right. This will be interesting if they truly grow to the 9 ft that they claim they will. Yes, 2 of them bolted. Not sure why but I figure I'll just leave them there and decide something later.

I planted a whole bunch of lettuce seeds. Problem is I don't know which one is which. I know I planted spinach, arugula, and I got a spring mix. Let me know if you know what these are.


I just ate my first couple radishes. I pulled one out a couple days ago and it was still a little small. I stuck it back in the hole. Didn't work out so well. I left the rest to let them grow a bit more. I think this was actually the first radish I have ever eaten. They were quite spicy. I read somewhere that they are good with some butter and sea salt so that's what I did. I cut them in half, spread a little butter, sprinkled with sea salt and popped it in my mouth. Probably not the best way to do it. It was incredibly spicy. It didn't hit right away but all of a sudden I went whoa. I took small bites after that.


Blueberry bush. Look there are already berries forming!
Tomato plants.
Corn and soybeans. I read somewhere they do well when grown together. The soybeans are supposed to grow up the corn stalk and add nitrogen to the soil, which is supposed to be good for the corn. We'll see how that works out.
Shallot. I had one in my pantry. I stuck it in the ground. This is what happens. I'm told the greens on here should be good although I haven't tried them yet.
Bell peppers and butternut squash. Still pretty puny looking.

Rants

I know, another ranting boring post. Sorry. You should have figured that out from the title and not even opened it. Although I have done some cooking and baking and some of it was even good and I am even making some progress on the garden, I am just not in the mood to post about it.

It's amazing how disappointing people are. No matter how low you set your expectations, they seem to find a way to get under that. Maybe not every time. But often enough. Too often.

I am turning more and more sociopathic. If that's even possible. It frustrates me horribly when you try to do something that helps someone else out and they keep you from being able to do it. And then they bitch about you trying to do it. I seem to constantly be mad at people for their incompetence and general worthlessness.

I would do so much better in a world without people. Maybe one day I'll go 'off the grid' and live off the land and become a hermit. Well not really off the grid because I like electricity and city water and heat and air conditioning and internet and chocolate. But somehow I need to not have to deal with people. I thought being an engineer, you would deal with ideas and things. Little did I know that people would find a way to creep in there and screw everything up.

Yes, vague, incoherent with a hint of angry. I guess probably more than a hint. Tough luck. If you want better, go somewhere else.

Here's a poem that epitomizes my mood. One of the only poems I actually know from memory. Although I copy and pasted it from somewhere rather than typing it because I'm lazy. Although when I searched for it so I could copy and paste, I found some blog where some asshole wrote how this poem provides no value to society and that's what caused Columbine or something along those lines. Wrong. It's arrogant assholes like you that make people want you dead and cause things like Columbine.


Frustration

If I had a shiny gun,
I could have a world of fun
Speeding bullets through the brains
Of the folk who give me pains;

Or had I some poison gas,
I could make the moments pass
Bumping off a number of
People whom I do not love.

But I have no lethal weapon-
Thus does Fate our pleasure step on!
So they still are quick and well
Who should be, by rights, in hell.

-- Dorothy Parker

'Tis the Season

It's that time of year. If I cared enough I'd find some horrible Christmas music to play here. It's the time when people get especially stupid.

So, as with the tradition I started last year, no baking from now until New Years. While I do like cookies and all the rich flavors typically associated with this time of year, I don't like all the garbage people do. I'm still up in the air about posting any of the saved posts that I have.

Now that I live in the Bible Belt, it might be even worse. It's a pretty close contest because at least I don't live across the street from a church now.

With the way people behave, I don't even want to leave the house during this time of year. Even more than I usually am. If I do go out at all, I'll go at really odd hours just to avoid all the stupid people. All the people who claim to be good Christians but are really just doing it for the gifts. So that they can put themselves into debt and then go on welfare and bitch about tax6es.=

We have a plant wide dinner and meeting in December each year. They actually say a prayer at the start of it. A nice Christian prayer. Because obviously everyone should be a good Christian. Who are busy being completely disrespectful of everyone else because they need to get to Church. Am I the only one who finds this slightly offensive? How would the 'good Christians' feel we did a Muslim prayer?

And just think, I'm writing this on a Sunday where I'm relatively calm.

Grapefruit Pith

Imagine eating the pith of a grapefruit. Just the pith, no juice or zest at all. Eat the pith on the entire grapefruit, not just that bite. That's the mood I'm in.

Damn Southerners need to learn to drive.

Just because you put your turn signal on doesn't mean you have the right of way. So I am driving home from work today. There are 2 lanes each way and of course I am in the left. So this idiot in the right lane hauling a trailer realizes he needs to make a left turn. So he puts on his turn signal while I am next to the trailer. I am going about 10 mi/hr faster than him so I proceed to go past him. The car behind me left him a gap to move over. While I am passing him he starts honking like crazy like I should have stopped or something for him to move over. His turn wasn't even for another mile up the road.

Then I get into town so there's no passing areas. I ended up behind this car that was going 15. Literally. He started braking when he went down a hill and hit 20. I was stuck behind him for about 3 miles. At 15 mi/hr that's 12 excrutiatingly long minutes.

Damn Southerners. I need to move back north. Or at least somewhere where people know how to drive. Or where there are no people. That's probably the best solution.

And who in their right mind reads a book by someone who can't form a complete sentence (a book that is not all pictures, that is)? I am tired about hearing about her stupid book. While my blog is by no means grammatically perfect, at least there is one grammatically correct sentence somewhere in here. (And if you know what I'm talking about here, comment so I feel better)

Yes, I am a bitter, angry person.

Update: It does, however, make me happy that when i google 'grapefruit pith' this post comes up on the first page!

Finger

This is my poor finger. For the record, it is really hard to take a picture of your own finger. Since I am left handed, I cut my right index finger. So to take a picture of it I had to hold the camera with my left hand, thumb on the bottom to try and stabilize it, and then snap the picture and try to hold it still enough to take the pic. The first couple I tried to get a close up but it came out really blurry. The first one I tried I didn't even get my finger.

So the split down the length of the nail... that is how it grew back when I smashed it in a car door a couple years ago. I thought it would close but it never seemed to. The nail grows in, in 2 sections and the side at the top of the pic grows in under the other side. Don't ask me why. I don't know. That's just what it does. I've been trying to make it grow normal but that hasn't worked so far.

Anyway... back to the knife.... I was slicing up some bread for the recipe I posted earlier when I sliced my finger. That would be the slice toward the tip of the nail in the pic. I sliced through the top nail, the bottom nail and into my finger. I actually responded pretty fast and kept it from bleeding much. This is the next day after I cleaned it up. Doesn't look too bad, considering. Anyway, that's my story and now I am typing without my pointer again.

The Sweet 100

Some time ago, someone out there came up with the Omnivore's 100, a list of 100 items that everyone who is into food should eat before they die or something like that. And people with blogs would copy the list and signify what they'de eaten and such. The original list came from someone I think in England or something, so the list definitely leaned toward English and Indian food. I'd been meaning to do it but I hadn't quite gotten around to it.

Then I saw this list from Cakespy. It's the same type of list except for all sweets. This is so much more me. So here's the list. Bold means I've eaten it. Small means I wouldn't eat it (there aren't any, haha). 49/100 isn't bad. You'll probably be seeing a number of these being made and posted in the near future.

1. Red Velvet Cake - who hasn't? though I have to admit I think every one I've had came from a box mix.
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie - I did live in central PA for several years....
4. Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
5. Beignet - mmmm
6. Baklava - I've made it a few times and had it in restaurants a few times... not that difficult to makes
7. Black and white cookie - who hasn't? though I never really loved them, maybe it was the ones that I had that weren't so great. maybe I'll have to try them again some day
8. Seven Layer Bar (also known as the Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
9. Fried Fruit pie (sometimes called hand pies) - I have to admit the first time I'd had a freshly made one was just a couple months ago at the Apple Festival in
10. Kringle
11. Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
12. Scone with clotted cream
13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy
14. Halvah
15. Macarons
16. Banana pudding with nilla wafers
17. Bubble tea (with tapioca "pearls")
18. Dixie Cup
19. Rice Krispie treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout cookies
24. Moon cake
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo bar
29. Baba au rhum
30. King Cake
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavlova
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoofly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
37. Panna Cotta
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon / mille-fueille
40. Russian Tea Cake / Mexican Wedding Cake
41. Anzac biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolache
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas
46. Moon Pie
47. Dutch baby
48. Boston Cream Pie
49. Homemade chocolate chip cookies
50. Pralines
51. Gooey butter cake
52. Rusks
53. Daifuku - never knew what they were called but they are the glutinous rice balls filled with red bean paste, or black sesame paste, or peanut or something else
54. Green tea cake or cookies
55. Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
56. Crème brûlée
57. Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake)
58. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
59. Jelly Roll
60. Pop Tarts
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An "upside down" dessert (Pineapple upside down cake or Tarte Tatin)
63. Hummingbird Cake
64. Jell-O from a mold
65. Black forest cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi
68. Linzer torte
69. Churro
70. Stollen - I haven't yet but I have one on my counter that I will be cutting into shortly
71. Angel Food Cake
72. Mincemeat pie
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail
76. Pain au chocolat
77. A piece of Gingerbread House
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade marshmallows
88. Rigo Janci
89. Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc)
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S'mores
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
96. Joe Froggers
97. Sables
98. Millionaire's Shortbread
99. Animal crackers
100. Basbousa

Gift Giving

"The foundation of gift giving is reciprocity. You haven't given me a gift, you've given me an obligation."

"The essence of the custom is that I now have to go out and purchase for you a gift of commensurate value and representing the same perceived level of friendship as that represented by the gift you've given me. It's no wonder suicide rates skyrocket this time of year."

Holiday Spirit

I hate Christmas. I hate the stupid people standing outside every store trying to get your money. I hate the stupid Christmas music that stupid stores feel the need to play. I hate all the crowds out there buying stupid gifts getting in my way of just regular everyday life. And people who claim to be all holiday spirit-y and then they kill someone trying to get some stupid toy or a deal on that TV. This is what they call Christmas spirit? This is what how people show their love and goodwill to others and peace and all that other crap?

I hate people going to church, though this hatred isn't as strong now since at least I don't live across the street from a church any more. From my experience the strongly religious, in particular Catholics as that was the church I lived by, are the most rude, inconsiderate people. I am still bitter about living there. All the church people parking illegally, blocking driveways, blocking streets, hitting cars and not even stopping to assess damage, parking in multiple parking spots that had clearly been shoveled out by hand.... I could keep going and going, like the energizer bunny but I think you get the idea.

Now I realize this is not necessarily a function of the holidays. It's more a function of human nature and pretty much that people suck but the holidays seem to augment this. It brings out everything bad about people. And there are plenty of bad things. Well, maybe not everything but enough for me to hate this time of year.

So here comes my dilemma.

I want to make cookies. But I am strongly opposed to making anything that might be associated with holiday cheer and all that garbage. The fact that I did the Daring Bakers challenge (to be posted later this month) was bad enough. But don't worry, mine doesn't resemble what it was supposed to look like.

So this is what I've decided to do. I made the cookies. Well, at least the dough. Now the dough is one more thing in my freezer. I'll bake them when all this ridiculousness is over and I can go back to baking. My goal is to not do any baking until after all this crap. Unless I think of something that cannot be twisted into some sort of holiday cheer type thing.

So this is what I decided on. I still have candy left from Halloween. I know, most people finished theirs a month or more ago but I still have some there because I was figuring I'd use it for some sort of baked goods and then haven't quite gotten to it yet. Well now I have. I made a chocolate cookie dough, broke up the candy and mixed it in. I had Butterfingers a whole bunch of Butterfingers. Enough to fill up a bowl so I decided that was all I was going to use in this batch. I also had Baby Ruth's and Crunch bars and a few other things but that's all I used.

I had a little trouble initially because my heat wasn't working that day and it was cold. So when I went to cream the butter it didn't work extremely well. I left it on the counter for 24 hours thinking it wasn't under 55 in my house so it'd soften but it still wasn't as soft as usual. Oh well. I proceeded like it was soft and just let the mixer beat it a bit more.

I made them into cookie size balls so when I'm ready to make them I just have to plop them on a cookie sheet and they are good to go. I was lazy and didn't feel like going upstairs to get my computer to choose a recipe and figured I'd just fudge it.

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cup AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup cocoa powder
a whole bunch of fun size Butterfingers, crushed

Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the vanilla followed by the eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined between additions. Scrape down the bowl and mix again to make sure it's uniform.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Add to the wet and mix until uniform. Scrape down the sides and make sure it's actually uniform. Mix in the Butterfingers.
Scoop into cookie size balls. Chill the balls for at least 2 hours. Bake at 350. Or don't. Timing will depend on how big you made the cookies, like all cookies.

Cinnamon Bun Trauma

I have made cinnamon buns many times. I started with Alton Brow's recipe, practiced a whole bunch, made my own little tweaks on it and ultimately had my cinnamon bun recipe. I've made it probably 20 times or so with very consistent results.

After I got settled in a little, I made my pasta and stuff, which was really successful. My kitchen layout is wonderful. I have so much more working space and it's all right by the stove so it works really well. I was giddy with the prospects of everything I was going to make and how tasty it was going to be.

I figured I'd make my tried and true cinnamon buns so that I could bring them to work and get my boss off my case for not having any baked goods that day. I had made a pot of oatmeal over the weekend as well so I had that for breakfast and I brought the tray in without trying them first figuring they would be good like they always are.

I brought them to our Monday morning meeting and dished them out. Other people started trying them first while I was scooping them out but I assured them they would be good because I'd made them so many times. After I got a bunch out I grabbed one to have myself even though I wasn't really hungry I figured I needed to have one before they were gone.

Well this was rather traumatic. It was hard and tough and all sorts of not good. The flavor was good but the texture was all wrong. It was supposed to be gooey and soft and all sorts of wonderfulness that is cinnamon buns. It was all sorts of wrong.

That night I came home and started another batch. I baked them Wednesday night even though I had some sort of nasty stomach unhappiness. Unhappiness that kept me from tasting them that night. They came out slightly better but still not quite right.

So I will do another batch this weekend and see how it goes. This needs to be resolved.

My New House

Here are some real pics of my house using my new camera. I finally found my card reader so I could post these.

These are of the house empty. Let's start at the entry again. Here are the stairs up to the bedrooms and office.


To the left, the living room with the daybed I inherited because they couldn't get it out.
And through the living room to the dining room/kitchen.


And over to the sunroom
Now let's head up. Here's the guest bath.
And the guest bedroom
My office. Which by the way isn't in the hvac so we'll see how much use it really gets besides as a place to store stuff.
My master bath
The hall between the bath and my bedroom with the monstrous closets.

And my bedroom




And this was after my stuff was delivered. I had an unpacking service so I had them take care of some items, though not everything. The unpacking is really nice because they take away the boxes and paper. If they hadn't I would have filled our dumpster many times over.

This is my pathetic wardrobe. I had them unpack my clothes and this is what it filled. This is just the walk in closet. There is another side of the closet on the right as well that I couldnt' get in the picture. There is a 2nd closet as well.
Fortunately I had my suitcase of clothes that I had brought down with me that when I spread it out and put all my coats and hung up all my jackets, sweatshirts, fleeces, etc and moved everything from my dressers to my closet made it look like I could almost make good use of it.

DB/BB/New House and deflowering my new kitchen!

I have now closed on my house! It was a bit painful. The money transfer took all day Tuesday and then the movers showed up almost 4 hours late. But now everything is here. And a lot is unpacked.... not all... but a lot. I have pics but I can't currently find my SD Card reader.


Now I have a real kitchen! For the last week or so I've been thinking about my first real meal I was going to make in my new kitchen. I decided on Spaghetti Bolognese with freshly made spaghetti and freshly ground meat using my stand mixer and attachments that have sadly been sitting in a box for over 2 months now. They have been crying to get out of the box and make something. Maybe that's why I haven't been sleeping well. I also made fresh baked bread, based of the No Knead Bread recipe that has been all the rage for a while with some garlic butter. I threw in a salad to call it a balanced meal and attempted to make Creme Brulee for dessert.

The first time doing something doesn't always work out the way you hope it would. It can be awkward because you don't know exactly how everything should happen. I had very ambitious hopes for how it would be. Which can lead to disappoint. Well let me tell you, it was everything I hoped it would be. Although it wasn't perfect, we'll get there eventually, it was a very good and satisfying experience.

So the first thing I started was the No Knead Bread. I pretty much used this recipe, the original. Here is my version. I made the dough Friday night so that I could have it with my bread on Saturday. It came out wonderfully. It had a wonderful crisp chewy crust. I threw a head of garlic in the oven while the pan was heating and made garlic butter to spread on the bread. mmmmmmmmmm tasty


No Knead Bread

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
1 5/8 cup water

Mix everything together in a bowl and let it rise on the counter for at least 12 hours. The dough is very wet.
Flour your countertop and hands generously and dump the dough on the counter. Work the dough into a ball. Flour a bowl generously and throw in the dough.
Allow to rise about 2 hours.
Heat up a cast iron dutch oven in the oven at 450 for at least a half an hour.
Dump the dough into the dutch oven, cover and bake for 30 mins.
Take the lid off and bake for an additional 15 mins until the bread is golden brown and crusty.


Next item was the sauce. I ground 2 lbs of chuck with my stand mixer. I learned that the piece I used last time for making the really thick spaghetti is actually for the meat grinder. Oops. It was still good. Well I learned something. I went a little heavy with the red pepper flake but it was good. It makes a lot of sauce. I froze 2 quarts of it and still had enough for a half a lb of pasta. The round quart containers like the ones from chinese takeout places fit perfectly in the door of my freezer. Woohoo I'm filling my fridge.


Bolognese Sauce

2 lbs ground chuck
8 oz mushrooms, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 jar tomato sauce
mozzerella cheese
parmesan cheese
sprinkles of red pepper flake, basil, oregano, parsley, garlic powder to taste

Brown the beef in a large skillet on medium high. Remove the meat and set aside.
Add the mushrooms to the pan and brown for a minute then add the onion. Cook until translucent.
Add back the meat and the tomato sauce, bring to a simmer and lower heat to medium low.
Taste and season as desired.
Add cheese.
Simmer until the pasta is ready.


The next item was the pasta. I learned something there too... the first time I made the dough I made it too wet and the noodles all stuck together. This time I made it too dry and it doesn't extrude. It's like trying to extrude plastic with the heats too low or off. I had to rip the whole thing apart, get the dough out, incorporate more water and re-extrude. But I got it. I made half of it and froze the other half.


Fresh Pasta

2 1/4 cup flour
1 large egg
water

Mix flour and egg in your stand mixer.
Add water slowly just until the dough holds together if squeezed.
Rest dough for 15 mins to let the water saturate the flour.
Extrude through your pasta maker. Re-extrude as necessary.
Add to boiling salted water until it floats.
Add to hot sauce immediately to get the sauce to integrate into the pasta.


And for dessert.... creme brule. I used something like Dorie Greenspan's recipe that people did for Tuesdays with Dorie. Of course I had my modifications. I did it in a water bath rather than low oven temp. I still tried to caramelize the sugar on top in the toaster oven, like before I moved in because I don't have a torch. It didn't work so well. I have a couple more ramekins of the custard that I will try again. I only had a couple small ramekins with me and not enough room in the fridge for the ingredients and whatnot until I got in the house.

Creme Brulee

1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
sugar on top to coat

Preheat oven to 350.
Heat milk and cream in a pan to a simmer.
Mix egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl.
Stream into egg yolks while whisking to temper the eggs.
Stir in vanilla.
Pour through strainer into 4 1 cup ramekins.
Place a pan to be used as a water bath in the oven.
Place ramekins in pan and pour boiling water to create water bath.
Bake for 1 hour or until custard is firm.
Chill for at least 4 hours.
Just before eating, sprinkle sugar on top just to coat.
Use a torch or broiler to caramelize the sugar on top.
Allow to cool a couple minutes so crust forms.
Eat immediately.



Next I will try to catch up on the Daring Bakers and Barefoot Bloggers challenges I've missed for a while now. I will make as many as possible but some of them probably aren't going to happen. I have my doubts I'm going to find good enough tomatoes to make a panzanella salad. Hopefully most of the others will happen over the next couple months.

Maybe I'll get the rest of stuff put away at some point too.

Closing!

So I signed all the papers for my house yesterday. We couldn't do the money transfers because it was a stupid holiday. So the money part was left for today. I was told it should be a quick process, that what was left should be a piece of cake. I thought I'd be in the house by 10 this morning.

The bank opened at 9 this morning so I got there a couple minutes before 9. There was a whole line of people waiting for them to open. I thought that was kind of strange but whatever. For some reason it took a while for them to do it so it was about 9:30 when I had the check in my hand.

I have never had a check that large in my possession before. The most I've had before was about $3000 and that already made me uncomfortable. And this was 20% down + fees. So this was a monstrous check sitting in my passenger seat. It was a long 10 minute drive to the lawyer's office.

I get to the lawyer's office and she is not there. Some other lady comes out and asks what I'm doing there. I explain to her what is going on and she comes over, takes the check, tells me it'll be about noon or so before they do anything and ushers me out the door. This was a little disheartening. I had just handed the largest check I have ever seen to a lady I'd never seen before and whose name I didn't even know. The only consolation I had was the check was made out so that it would be my down payment.

So the second I am out the door I call my realtor so she can explain what the hell just happened and if I should storm back in there to get my check. She didn't answer. I just paced around the parking lot about to have a heart attack. Eventually my realtor called back and said it was OK and I just had to wait and that noon isn't that bad.

So I went to Panera and waited. And waited. And waited. And ate a chocolate chip bagel, toasted with butter and a lemonade. And waited. Noon rolls around. And I'm wondering what's going on and if I should call anyone or who I should even call. My realtor calls me at about 12:10 asking if I'd heard anything. Apparently she hadn't heard anything either and was hoping that I had. She had called the lawyer and couldn't reach her. The lawyer's office apparently is out 12-1 every day for lunch. So I continued to wait. Needless to say, I am not thrilled with this lawyer. I suspect the staff at Panera were suspicious because I was there being all fidgety and nervous. And I was there for so long. Just playing with my computer, nursing a lemonade, checking my phone every couple minutes with a car parked right in front loaded up with who knows what. I'm shady like that.

And apparently there was someone else at Panera with my name. It was strange because I was sitting there playing with my computer when I hear my name on their speaker system. I looked up like wait, what did I order when I realized maybe it's someone else. No one ever has my name.

At about 1:30 my realtor called. I was hopeful that everything was now done and I could finally get into the house. Not so much. They were still waiting on the wire transfer. Something about getting backed up because of the holiday. Like I care. I wanted to get into the house so I could get my stuff in and clean the place down. I thought I'd have that done by 1 or so. Instead I wasted my day at Panera.

It looks like I am going to have a long night ahead of me. After I get things done at the house I have to go back up, pack up the rest of my stuff, get it in the car and be out the door by 7AM tomorrow to get down here in time to meet the movers. Assuming the wire transfer gets done and I do get in this afternoon.

I hate this. Today was supposed to be an easy happy day.

Quote of the Day

"Friends let you to not sit in a room by yourself."

Maybe not of the day. Maybe of the week. Maybe something else.



First person who can tell me what the quote is from wins a prize.

Post a comment with where you think it is from.

I tweaked the quote so you can't google it to find the answer.

Yes, I am that insane.

No, I don't know what the prize is but I'll figure something out.

Yes, I am having a conversation with myself.

House!!!

Like I mentioned before, I have chosen and reached an agreement on a house. I am closing on the 10th. Today we did an inspection. It went pretty well. A few cosmetic issues but nothing of real concern. I can totally fix most of the cosmetic issues too. In like an hour and $50.

Well you know how I am. I can't exactly just sit there and stay out of the way while they do the inspection. So I decided to take pics of the house. I was using the VGA camera on my cell phone so pictures are not that great and apparently angled really poorly. I just snapped and figured it'd be good. I'm not exactly a professional photographer.


So without further ado, here is a grand tour of my house.


The first 2 are the exterior, obviously. Front and then side/back. It's a townhouse so they maintain the exterior and yard. I have the garage, 2 spots on the left and the space for a car in front of the garage. There is a mirroring house with their garage attached to the right of the pic. I could probably put 1 or 2 more cars pulled straight in but it might be difficult to get cars out. And there's my car on the left, at least the butt of it (the silver one). I don't think I ever got a pic of it posted.


There's not much of a patio in the back but there is enough room for a grill and since I'm the end unit I can also use the yard on the side. There's shrubbery around it that makes it a little more private, though it's definitely not secluded. I'm figuring I'll get a folding chair and table or a few of those plastic stacking chairs that I can keep in the sunroom and pull out as desired. If I decide I like the outdoors. That's the sunroom with all the blinds drawn. My old couch will go in there. And the grill that I intend to get. And in the winter my little herb garden. That will be in planters that will get moved around as necessary.
OK let's go back to the front and go in the house. So you walk in the front door and this is what you see. Stairs to the right. Living room on the left, connecting back to the kitchen and sunroom.

Here's another angle of the living room. And I think that's Howard, one of the inspectors. I've been told that they are really good prefinished hardwood floors. I think he said it was spruce but he had a pretty heavy accent and I didn't want to ask a 4th time what he said. Oh, and it's on the stairs too. I'm thinking I am going to get a microfiber sectional in here. And I think an LCD over the fireplace. It's a working gas log fireplace. The inspectors said it could easily heat the 1st floor should the heat die or something. Good to know but hopefully won't get used.

Now let's continue into the kitchen. That's Cheryl, my realtor. I was just bopping around taking pictures so she ended up in the pic. A nice lay out. The cabinets and appliances are functional but definitely not new. Apparently I missed taking pics of it but to the left is where the dining table would go and then glass doors to the sunroom that then leads out side to the pic you can see above. I have 18.5" between the top cabinets and the countertop to fit a TV. So now I know what my limits are for the LCD that will go right where their TV is.

Here is what I'm dreaming up for the kitchen. New cabinets (I'll need to determine if I just need to do the faces or the whole thing), stainless steel appliances, tile floor, I am undecided on granite or manufactured stone countertops. The layout is great. I really like the island and there's lots of cabinets and countertop space.

This is the laundry room that leads to the garage. It is to the right of the fridge in the kitchen.

Then next to the laundry room is the half bath. My realtor likes the wallpaper. Me, eh. It'll stay for now. It's got the same vinyl floors as the kitchen.

And then next to the bathroom is the pantry. mmmm this should work nicely for me. It's pretty deep. Hopefully I won't overflow it.

That covers the downstairs. Now let's head up the stairs. In front is the water heater. Not really any significant storage here. To the left of it is the hall bathoom and further over the 2nd bedroom. To the right is the master. The master is so much more important so we'll head there first.

Here are a few different angles. First from the doorway. Another angle near from the right of the door and then a shot from the left to the right showing the closets and leading to the master bath. There's plenty of light though my pics don't show that so well.

Yes it is that green. This is the first place to get repainted.

Big walk in on the left. And then smaller closet on the right. The one on the right is actually bigger than the closet at my old apt. This should be funny. I might fill one rack in the big closet. Then lots of storage in the rest.

Now for the bathroom. To the right, sink and toilet.

And to the left, the shower. I know the green here and in the bedroom are pretty hideous. That's the first thing getting repainted. I'm thinking gray. A real light gray. I'm not sure if I want to do the same shade in the bedroom and the bath or maybe do the bath a shade darker. Any thoughts?

In my fantasies I'm going to redo this bath. Solid surface vanity, new toilet, get rid of that wallpaper and a walk in shower. I really want a walk in shower. Then the guest bath would get a similar thing except with a soaking tub instead of the shower. We'll is what, if anything, actually happens.

Let's continue. Through the bath to the office. The desk and cabinets are built in. This is actually pretty exciting. And most of the drawers have file holder thingys too. I like file holders. It's got a skylight that is angled that you can't really see out of but provides some light. One problem though is that the A/C does not seem to have a vent in here. We'll see how well it works. There is also the attic access from here. It's got the pull down stairs and a solid floor. Nothing particularly fancy, not a living space, but a solid floor is good for putting random crap that I really should get rid of but instead stick in the attic.

OK, we're done with the master suite. Now let's check out the guest area. Here's the bathroom. Yes, it really is that purple. This will get repainted too. Any thoughts on color? Same as the master? That would save me a can of paint. It's got pretty much the same tub as the master too.

And over to the guest room.

And here is the closet. I didn't capture it very well but this thing is monstrous. It's bigger than the walk in in the master. No one visiting me is staying long enough to use all that closet space. This means more storage space for me.


And that's my house.

So what do you think?

Food Blogging

So I saw this post on a blog talking about food blogs. It is kind of a strange post. I'm kinda disturbed by it actually. Apparently there is a very dark scary side of food blogging that I didn't know about. Kind of like the little kid who found out the boogie man really does exist. And it's that weird uncle who is just a little too friendly with your kid brother. And while this uncle doesn't seem to care for you, he seems to spend a little too much private time with your brother.

OK that's a pretty disturbing analogy. Anyway.....

The poster, or rather the person the poster is quoting, felt that food blogging is an eating disorder. She thinks she is obsessing because she has 20 food blogs in her reader (hah, what does that say about me? I've got 100+) and that food blogging made her obsess over food. She would hide what she was eating online because she was afraid of what other food bloggers would think. There is also a focus on food bloggers not being overweight but maybe having been overweight and posting everything they eat.

Maybe I am on another planet or something but the food blogs I read don't post everything they eat. A lot of them are bakers who carefully test and hone their recipes and techniques and post amazing pictures of it. It's about expressing and preserving your passion for food.

For me the purpose of this blog is a lot different. I like to bake. I baked a lot before I started this blog. It lets me carry on about something I made without having to bore someone (or have to listen to someone tell me that I'm boring). I blog about the good and the bad with no discretion. Just anything that I have some thoughts on or that I make just because I feel I need to make something. And it's probably better that I spend a bit of time blogging after I make something rather than making the next thing. It keeps me from making food for the rest of my life in a single day.

The blog is really like having someone to talk to but without having to listen to them. It's got the pro's of people without the con's of having to deal with their drama and need for attention. I can ignore the blog when I've got other stuff going on and it doesn't get mad. It doesn't talk back and it always agrees with me.

So a blog is like having a friend without any of the stupid stuff that comes with people. I get to have my cake and eat it too. Literally and figuratively. Right? Right.

My New House

We have reached an agreement on my new house! Within 30 days it should be mine! Woohoo! I went to bed at about 6:30 right after I got home from signing the papers!

People Watching

I went to a wedding this weekend. To get to this wedding I had to fly. To fly, I had to go to the airport. That's where the show went on.

There was a lady in front of me in the main line going up to security. She got flagged for additional checks so she went to the special line at the side. I wasn't, so I went to the line next to hers. So I am standing on the other side waiting for my carry on stuff to come down the belt. She comes over to my line and stands there as well. I think to myself, uh ok whatever. My bags come down the belt, followed by the person behind me. I am there putting my shoes back on and putting my laptop away so that I am good to walk to the terminal. At this point the lady the lady starts getting very upset. She wants to know where her bags are. She knows she came through before me and the person behind me and our bags are coming out and hers aren't. At which point I point at the other line, where her bags are sitting and backing up the people who are in that line.

Next was the lady who was in front of me going through the actual security check. She was probably about 35, well to do type person. She was dressed nicely, probably has a personal chef, trainer, stylist, whatever else rich people have. She had a cup of fruit with her. Probably a nice healthy snack to have with her on while she is waiting. We got to the part where you put your bags on the belt to go through the X-ray and you walk through and at some airports they have the air thing that blows on you. Well she is putting her stuff on the belt when she gets this unhappy look on her face. She asks the security person if she can carry the fruit with her through as she walks through and not put it through the X-ray. He says no, it has to go through the X-ray. At this point she looks like a kicked puppy. She hands him the cup and asks if he would throw it away. She won't eat food that has been X-rayed. He tells her the X-ray won't do anything to it but she insists she wants to throw it away. The security guy is bewildered and throws the cup in the trash. I just wish I had been cool enough to think of something witty at that point that would have completely screwed up her moral/hippy concepts.

After I arrive I am waiting for my ride to pick me up. He decided to take a 'scenic' tour of Philly so I ended up waiting for a bit. Yay for street fights in the ghetto. There was one guy who apparently got the curbside valet. I saw a guy sitting in the car for probably 15 minutes right there waiting. He wasn't dressed in a uniform or anything so I figured he was just a guy waiting for someone. I figured he got bored or something and decided to circle around. He starts pulling away when I see a guy running up clearly as fast as he can with his suitcase and bag waving frantically. The valet stops and apologizes. He gave him the keys and the guy proceeded to load his car and eventually drive off. Apparently the valet was at the wrong terminal which is why he sat there for so long. Glad I didn't pay for that service.

Next was a lady who was probably in her mid to late 40's. Not a small or young lady. A car with a few people in it pulled up. A guy about her age comes running out of the car, they both jump on each other in this dramatic hug. They are picking each other up and spinning around. Kind of like in a movie but they didn't look like a typical movie couple.

The airport is a good place to people watch. People are so strange and there are so many of them at the airport.

Withdrawal

I think I am starting to go through withdrawal. I have been here for over a month now. While I have access to good produce, I don't really have a means of doing anything with it besides eating it as is. The fridge I'm using now is one of those little cube fridges so there is barely any room for anything.

My cooking is not particularly good. I know this. I've made lots of really bad food. I've made lots of mediocre food. I eat junk food. I don't even cook that often. I've gone weeks eating leftovers and junk food and being a scavenger of lunches at work.

But I've always had the option of cooking, just not the time, energy, etc. Now I don't really have the means. Sure, I have my toaster oven. I've made toasted sandwiches and a couple baked goods in it but it's not the same. I can't really make pasta. I can't really brown meat. I can't make pancakes. I suppose I could make bacon in the microwave but I don't really have room in the fridge for a pack of bacon.

So I am going through withdrawal. While I like going out to eat, I don't like doing it every meal every day. So I have my attempt at making food. But with my limited resources (and the fact that a lot of my food is bad even when I have a full kitchen) my meals have been very bleh. I make something but it's usually some version of a sandwich or a quesadilla. That or a piece of fruit or a tomato. While they are definitely good, all I can do is eat it underripe. Once they ripen there is no room in the fridge so they only have a day or 2. I can't make a peach pie. I suppose I might be able to make roasted tomatoes but I can't make pasta to use the tomatoes in the sauce. Or some version of fried rice. Or a real grilled cheese sandwich. Or anything bigger than a single serving that would need to be refrigerated.

This does not exactly satisfy.

Magic Bullet

I don't have a blender or a food processor. Not with me, not in storage with the movers, no where. So I was in a kitchen store and bought a Magic Bullet. I've been eying the Magic Bullet for a while now. Maybe my sleep schedule was screwed up and I keep seeing infomercials. Now I have it sitting here and I am wondering if I should return it. It is not the one with the blender attachment and juicer. It was $60. I've looked at reviews and they are mixed. I just don't know.

So do I open it or should I just realize it was stupid to buy and return it?

DB and BB

I know, I've missed all the recent challenges. I'll have plenty of stuff to try later to catch up. Which I will do. After I get settled. And get a house. And unwind. Well, making all this stuff will probably be part of the unwinding.

Right now all I have to cook is my toaster oven, microwave, electric kettle and electric wok. My prep is done at a bathroom sink. I probably won't make the September ones either. I haven't really found a grocery store I'm happy with yet. But I haven't really looked because I've been busy and had other stuff to worry about. I have gone to the Lenoir Farmers market, which was OK but rather small.

Today I went to the Charlotte farmer's market. That was rather impressive. It was big with lots of farms each having their own stands. As you walked by the cantaloupes you could smell them. Same with the peaches. I bought more stuff than I should have since I just have one of those tiny cube fridges that is already almost full. If I had been thinking I would have taken a pic with my new cell phone that has a camera but I'm not that smart. One day I'll do some more exploring of Charlotte. And I'll get a GPS. And a lot of other things. But not today.

Anyway, I'll catch up eventually.