Cartoon Friday - Loki

Loki, on a trip to the vet last year.

image made using toonPAINT app, for iPhone

Hello Vino

There's a weekly dinner which happens at the Nashes, which has been going on since 2006.  There was a "precursor/prequel" version of it which actually started back in ye ole university days, around 2004, but that was mostly just with Breann.  The "Weekly Dinner with the Nashes" didn't actually start until 2006 though.

contrary to random belief, The Nashes is a household of Breann, Lee...and now Logan, Lola, and Teddy.  It is NOT a country club, which is a question that came up.  The food is much better than the slop at a country club.  =oP

Due to the long-standing belief that my cooking is hazardous to everyone else's health, Breann has always kindly asked if I can just pick up a bottle of wine, with an occasional detour into a bread, cheese, or dessert.

Over the years, it's been a small selection of tried-but-true wines, numbering less than a dozen wineries.  I personally will pick up a bottle if the label caught my eye, which is haphazard.  Sometimes it's tasty, sometimes Lee glares at me while he tries to gag sip it down.  The worse case was when he poured a half bottle out and declared that kosher wine was never allowed in the house again.
it was really really really really bad wine - don't get kosher wine!!

About a month ago, had the random idea of going through the alphabet.  It may or may not have been a little bit of OCD kicking in...
The expected response was that Lee would be wary and Breann would be half-amused.
Breann: "umm.....okaaaaay....alphabet...."
Lee: "cool, this should be interesting!"
Donald:   o_O


The type of wine is dictated by the food Breann is cooking...the label/winery is dictated by the alphabet (going to have to hit Specs for letters like Q and Z!).

Week One: Arrow Creek's cab.  Verdict...it's okay.  Not an awesome wine, but a good wine.
Week Two: Blackstone Sonoma Reserve's pinot noir.  Really enjoyed this one

Going to be an interesting 24 weeks    ;)

Cheesecake Tarts

When you tell people you're re-learning how to cook, you get all kinds of help.  Apparently people like to eat!
One of those people is the lady who cuts my hair, and she'll describe a dish while she's working.  A haircut is already a relaxing experience, but when someone is describing a cooking process and food, it becomes something even more delightful.
The latest dish she passed along was for Cheesecake Tarts - it's super simple, very customizable, and damn tasty!
The main ingredients are very simple: two 8-oz packages of cream cheese, one cup of sugar, two eggs, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.  Place all in a bowl, and start mixing. 
Now, one lesson I've learned is that cooking apparently requires booze of some sort, usually a glass of wine (music is also nice).  In this instance, beer was used.  Look - two hands!



Keep mixing until you get a nice creamy mixture, and the consistency will be like that of cake batter, maybe a little heavier (hello, creamcheese...).



Let that sit by itself (it won't be lonely for long), and get some cupcake liners.  At the bottom of each layer, place a vanilla wafer...this is going to act like a "crust".  Then fill up about 2/3 - 3/4 full with mix.  Bake at 350-degrees for about 30-35 minutes, until the tops are a light golden brown color.  Take out, let cool about 20 minutes.  the tarts are going to settle, making dent in the top.



Oh no - dents.  WhatEVER do we fill that with?
Pie filling.  Any type you like. 
And depending on the grocery store you use, you may find yourself standing there for quite some time, trying to figure out which one you want to use.
===no, of course not, this was NOT a five minute process for yours truly===
Fill the dents (sorry, I don't know what the technical word is, and "settled parts" sounds like I'm playing Oregon Trail) so you have a nice little pile of pie filling - in this case, blueberry filling was used.  You wind up with some tasty little creations that look as good as they taste:



Oh, and a good rule of thumb - have a tester.  No, this is not at ALL an excuse to snack while cooking... 
Actually, you will want one that you can poke into to make sure they're cooked.  I hear tbat you can use a toothpick, but this is a better way to do it...



Now, the original recipe was apparently created with the mini-cupcake liners in mind...so the vanilla wafer actually fills the bottom and makes a real crust.  These cook for about 20 minutes (again, until the tops are golden brown). 
Another idea is to get a cookie-crust cake, and make a large pie-sized version.  A co-worker tried this and said that it came out great.
Also, you can play with the pie fillings.  Alternate blueberry and cherry (or strawberry) and you have a 4th of July snack.  You're only limited by the types of pie filling you can find.
Oh, and a word of caution - if you want to use whipped cream on top?  Wait until you're serving.  Found out the hard way that whipped cream loves to melt really quickly.



*disclaimer - Breann supervised during this process, to ensure that no one was harmed in the making or eating of these tarts....thanks Kitty!!!

Pets and Posts

Sometimes, I feel a small urge to start a blog for my two dogs, Pandora & Loki.

They have enough personality that it could work... and they think they're little people (minus the opposable thumbs), so it wouldn't be a surprise.

Then I realize that my own blog posting is sporadic enough as it is. With school, I feel a sense of "time crunch" and barely have enough time for any real socializing and blogging, let alone maintaining a whole new blog for the pets

but it's tempting... oh so tempting

Loki, being the super-nosy being, would definitely be discussing all the comings and goings of the neighborhood. The blinds in the front part of the apartment *must* be left up a foot, so he can see out and watch everyone. NOSY DOG! If he could work the remote control, I am sure he would fill me on on the summary of the day's soap operas. He'd also know all the best neighborhood gossip. And he'd daydream about Chicken. Roast Chickens the size of minivans. Chicken Bits that float through the air, and one must simply leap up to snag morsels of yumminess. Chickens that tango across the room, before laying down in the food bowl, surrounded by tasty veggies. Chicken. Chicken for day, years, eons...of all sizes and shapes. CHICKEN!

Pandora would discuss her Napoleonic complex - the complexities and difficulties of trying to rule an apartment (let alone the world) when she's less than a foot tall...let alone barely a foot long. She'd be addicted to the news all day, blasting Sarah Palin for her stupidity and Barack Obama for his inability to strike out in a brave manner on any topic. She'd delve into politics, world events, social commentary...and would have a very well-developed dialogue. She'd argue with the radio (as if they could hear her), providing commentary to NPR and attempting to bash in the hollow head of Glenn Beck.

Maybe they can just have a Facebook page, for starters, and see how that goes...

Apartment Progress - The Bathroom

In January, I moved into a new apartment, a half-mile from work.
(yes, the commute is AMAZING...five-minute walk and minuscule gasoline bill)

There was an initial flurry of acquiring essentials. Never before in my life did I realize how truly wondrous a colander is.

After that initial outflow of monies, sat down and created a Plan of Attack for outfitting the new home. Eventually decided on the following order: Bathroom, Bedroom, Study, Kitchen, Living Room.
It basically goes in order of simplest to most-complex to finish...which has the misfortune of leaving the living room as last, although it's the room where I spend the most time (when awake).

The bathroom was finished in early February. The essentials got knocked out rather quickly - the holdouts were finding some sort of shelving unit for an open space under the kitchen counter (thank you, Container Store!), and getting around to the photographs & frames for the walls.

This is what I started out working with:

Yay, 70's yellow tile...which was easily covered up with a bright blue & white striped shower curtain. Scoured stores in town for this look and ultimately had to go to Amazon.com to find what I was looking for:

Might put something on the back of the toilet tank, but it's a very small "water closet", so works fine as-is for now.

Yes Virginia, there is a sink and faucet over to the right.

180-degree view of the bathroom.

Originally the plan was to do blue and white, with a hint of gray. However, fell in love with some vintage-looking countertop items that are a pewter-gray... and the rest of the bathroom followed suit from that. The vanity area is white and dark gray, with small elements of blue.
The water closet is a lot of blue and white, with a dark gray bathmat, pulling the two rooms together.

It's a small start, but it's a step.

Next stop, bedroom. Which, is turning out to take awhile because I'm being picky. Oops.

I snagged this from Breann - who snagged it before me. Play along!

1. My most prized possession is: A stuffed Mickey Mouse from when I was a child...and has managed to survive all these years, with a LOT of Mom's stitching holding it together.

2. If I could be one age for the rest of my life, I would want to be: 30. It's that nice in-between when you still see life as a large vista in front of you, but with some actual experience to help make sense of things.

3. The best way to spend a weekend is: With the windows open, hanging out with the dogs and the record player cranked up.

4. My outlook on life is:"I still believe I can fly". Whatever it is, most things can be accomplished with enough effort. If not, then there's valuable lessons to be learned for the next attempt.

5. If you want to annoy me: talk about how much something you have costs. A thing's worth is in its features and what it means to the person, not the dollar sign attached.

6. I am completely defenseless when it comes to: coffee.

7. When dressing for the day one should put on: a watch.

Adventures in Re-Learning How to Cook - Baked Chicken

Once upon a time, I knew how to cook. I rocked the Home Ec class, and could make stuff. Somewhere along the past decade, that ability went pfffffffffffft. The clear warning sign was the time that the dog wouldn't even eat one of the dishes... and this is the dog that is believed to be part pig.

The new year's resolution for 2011 was to re-learn how to cook, if it killed me.
I'm sure that family and friends took out life insurance policies.

Last night was the first "real dish" made at the new apartment, not counting the spaghetti made the first weekend after unpacking.
I've watched Breann cook about every week, and one of her mainstay dishes is a roasted chicken. I had boneless chicken breasts on-hand, but the basic idea was there and could be modified.

So, this was the basic equation for possible disaster:
No recipe + Dish modified from observed dish = ?
Surprisingly, it turned out well (Breann's a good teacher...and is very very patient)

First up, carrots, onions, and red potatoes. Basics.
Which got taken care of very quickly, thanks to this wonderful gadget:

Williams-Sonoma Vegetable Chop & Measure

And we wind up with this:

(it was an excuse to start taking photos again...)

There's also some carrots, but the photograph didn't take well, so use your imagination. If you're not sure what a carrot looks like to do so, then you're in worse shape than I am when it comes to cooking.

Enter one baking dish, some olive oil, and butter... and browned chicken.

Now, this was the one aspect where my brain coughed up some random bit of knowledge, dredged up from who knows where. It's very easy to picture the mind as a series of shelves of knowledge - this would be some dusty, cobwebby area, and I apologize profusely to the neuron that had to go there to be useful.

However, said neuron had the idea to put a pat of butter on each of the browned chicken pieces, so that they wouldn't dry out while baking.

Again, I have no idea where this idea came from. I went to thank the neuron, but its supervisor said that it was out sick today, having inhaled massive amounts of dust, but is expected back at work on Friday.

Put in oven on 300-degrees for about an hour and a half.

Which is where the worry came in. Not having a recipe, and not having cooked in...???...a long time, was really just guessing and throwing it into the wind on this one. Especially while working on a term paper, which meant that I wasn't even focused and a lot of time went by unobserved.

Plus, there was a very random worry that the olive oil would catch on fire from the heat and light the apartment on fire. No clue where this concern came from, but the thought was very prevalent that I'd soon be meeting my end at the hands of olive oil.

This may or may not stem from a hatred of [unnamed tv chef], who is always babbling on about EVOO, and hoping she'd catch on fire and go away. Karma twisted the concept, and now I was afraid of a Death by Chicken, involving fireballs. Like a really bad version of Super Mario Brothers...

ANYWAY, the end result was this:

It was damn-tasty, and tthere was much rejoicing in the land (well, in the apartment).

In the future, will drizzle some olive oil on the vegetables, which dried out just a little but not were still good.

With the exception of Loki, who smelled chicken but didn't get any, which is why I'm sure he kept kicking me in the kidneys that night while sleeping.

World Cup Madness

It's that time that comes around every four years!

No, not the Olympics...that's every two years. No matter what they say about it being an every-four-year event, it's really two years, since they have that Summer and Winter business going on.

(and where are the Spring and Fall games?)

WORLD CUP!

If you enjoy sports, know that it is the most-widely viewed sports event ever.

If you don't enjoy sports, know that there are hot mens running around, who often get shirtless after a match.

Somehow, after years of falling asleep whenever sports were present, soccer and rugby stuck to the head stuffing I call brains. Not sure why - maybe because there's actually activity and skill involved, unlike baseball and football. Tennis is also fun, but boring as hell to watch. Golf? Neither fun to play or watch, unless it's mini-golf, and even then it's only good for about an hour before being mind-numbing.

Somehow at work, I became the go-to person for the World Cup. All I did was put up a bracket poster to track the games, and ask if we could turn the lobby television channel to some channel that plays the games.

How does the finals systems work? Which teams are playing today? Whose ahead on points? How does a match work? What are they doing? What's going on?

How does one become a soccer guru?

Wikipedia

You too can become an instant quasi-not-really-expert on anything known to man...or at least a dozen people who created and edited a page on the internet.

The best part of the World Cup? The television at work.

The bank provides a random assortment of channels. On the surface, the channels that are filtered out make sense...until you actually make a list of the channels that are available.

At that point, it looks like someone in Accounting was drawing lines on another sheet of paper and the ink bled through onto the tv service contract, thus eliminating some useful channels.

One of these would be ESPN...which is not a channel I normally say in conjunction with the word "useful".

The channel that we do get? Univision.

YES!

Do you know what it means when you're watching the World Cup on Univision?

It means that you don't have a damn clue what's going on because it's all in Spanish - and that makes it easier to actually work and look up to see what's going on occasion, rather than just stare at the tv all day.

It also means that the game is more entertaining. There is a world of difference between the announcers on ESPN and the announcers on Univision.

ESPN likes to speak very stately, very knowledgeable, and as if they were a newscast.

In a word? Boring.

Univision likes to get into the game, as if they were...oh, I don't know...watching a sporting event!

When a goal is made? You'll know!

Because they scream GOLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The lessons learned today?

1. Soccer is fun.

2. Wikipedia is a great tool.

3. Univision is entertaining as all hell.

4. If Donald had been born speaking Spanish, he might have been more interested in sports growing up.

Saturday Bike Ride

photos taken on a bike ride last weekend

Doomsday

Sitting on the couch, blowing my nose and sneezing, I've pulled up Tivo and there is a program that was recorded from the History Channel.

"2012 Extinction"...basically about predictions for the end of the world on 21-Dec-2012.

Hooya! 'Cause really, when one is sick...and tired of being sick...there is something deliciously nice about watching someone narrate about the end of the world.

"Yeah...yeah, get everyone else too. Bitches!"

*cue sneezing*

Interestingly, the modern Maya are saying "no, that's not what the calendar means - the world isn't going to end."

The white people who are interpreting the calendar are saying "Nooo, that IS what it says, and we know better!

An eye-candy movie released this year compromises. "Yes, it will be a big bad earth-crushing disaster...but some select people in big ark ships will survive."

Wouldn't it be more interesting if the prediction was off by ONE day?

Think about it... there are going to be a bunch of people getting ready for that day, even if they don't believe the world will end. There will be parties that are making jest of the fact, there will be people digging shelters in their back yards, and there will be nut-jobs making life a little more difficult for everyone else by trying to help out the disaster.

If the End of the World happened on 20-Dec-2012... well, to begin with that'd be a waste of a LOT of alcohol! On the upside, it'd get the whole event out of the way before people go into a mass hysteria, so that'd be saving a lot of hassle at the least. Plus it'd be one less day of watching this damn Tempurpedic bed commercial (which is on right now) and watching the idiot woman bounce on a bed with a glass of wine to test how firm it is.

(lady...you spill that wine, that is a WASTE and you'd deserve a smack)

I don't want my bed to hug me with squishy firmness. I want to lay on it and doze off.

Anywhoo...

Even better might be End of the World on 22-Dec-2012. The parties are done, the hangovers have commenced. That strange man is done hollering that the end is here. The nut job with the rifle at the shopping mall has been arrested. The news stations are still talking about it because they have to fill the time with *something*.

BAM!

Hey, quick fix to the hangovers! What would make you forget your headache faster than the planet cracking open?

The upside is that the booze didn't go to waste, everyone got to enjoy the end of the world events a little longer...and the only real downside (beside that planet cracking open thing) is that it'd be about 12-24 more hours of watching this damn lady jumping on the bed with a glass of wine.

(supposedly your mattress will last twenty years, which is how long they've been running this ad. seriously, it's the same glass of wine as when i was ten and watching her damn feet go up and down on that twinkie-sponge-bed! the wine's not even good any more twenty years later - who cares if it spills now?)

Maybe that's why God will destroy the world. Tempurpedic beds commercials.