Confessions of a One-Track Mind

Ahh...I slept til almost nine this morning. Woke to a sunshiny day and the knowledge that good has triumphed over evil. All's well.

I had breakfast, and now I've got the pork project simmering on the stove. Just tried a nibble. Mmm, good. Should be scrumptuous over pasta. (I don't like the look of those rolls.)

I scanned next week's Publix ads, since I'll have my food stamps toward the end of their run. There's a BOGO on my prefered bread, deals on canned biscuits, Monterey Jack cheese from the deli, boneless skinless chicken breasts, lunch meats, Fig Newtons, and a few other goodies. (Including Mb's Christmas present, which is something I *can* get with FS.)

Now that the elections have concluded, the holidays will commence in earnest. I ran across a book of first class stamps, and need to check with the post office to see if I'll need additional postage with them. So it looks like I'll be able to send out cards after all. I need to do an address round-up....

I'd better go stir! TTFN.

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Argh, drama. Way too much drama, and no internet to dump it on*. It's been hell. but My god, I've missed youse guys. I'm back, and that's a funny story in itself. Let me see if I can catch you all up with everything.

Spent time at Mb's the week before last, got home and cable/net was disconected. I, being obsessive and resourceful, managed to get my converter box hooked up to my portable TV in time for Person of Interest. I get two channels: CBS and Retro. Route 66 reruns, anyone?

BrightHouse was even nice enough to send someone out to pick up the box, remote and modem...I know it'll be a long time til I can afford it again, but it saves me a drive out to the nearest cable office---which, with the cost of gas, is a Good Thing.

Right now, what gas I *do* have is being hoarded for jury duty, a week from Monday. I'm looking forward to it, and hoping that I'm needed for multiple days, just for the stipend. I haven't had a full tank of gas in months; at the moment, I have a couple gallons, and I'm wondering nervously if I have enough cans to make a recycling run worthwhile.

In the midst of my turmoil and strife, I got a belated birthday gift from Estonia: kukkurkurat sent me a fabulous handbag. It's a soft blue-grey silk brocade, woven with shimmery pastel dragonflies. Definitely not an everyday bag! Am trying to decide what to wear with it to church...possibly the dark grey silk top GK sent me, although it's probably still to warm for that.

Speaking of GK, she's been a busy bee: she's moved across town from where they were, gotten a new part-time job, *and* she's putting together another CARE package; she found a couple tops while she was out and about. (I'd told her that I've discovered that a lot of mine are too big, so I need replacements. She's sending two.)

God bless Mb for helping me stay caffeinated; I know, I've tried to decaffeinate, but after a couple days, I'm so wretched I want to die. No joke, I spent the first half of the week with a thundering headache, moving in slow-mo, wondering how long it would take for my body to be found if I took a Cutco steak knife to my wrists.

Mb rescued me Tuesday evening and took me up to her place. Gave me two 2-liters of diet Coke and the remote so I could watch Sons of Anarchy. What an amazing episode. ( Holy shit! )

I actually did some serious cooking last week, because that was what circumstances called for. Last Sunday, I did a turkey sausage and rice mingle that fed me for three days; the third day I raided my pantry for a can of chili beans and called it red beans and rice. For Wednesday and Thursday, I took the ground beef I got from the food bank and made stroganoff. Nothing fancy, but filling.

Yesterday, my food stamp benefits were loaded for the month. I was out the door bright and early, because I was out of bread and some vital condiments. Came home, and as I was getting out of my car, was approached by the gal from next door asking when I was going to cut my yard. (Last done 4/25. The back yard is literally up to the window sills.) Told her it's not that I like it like that; I just flat-out don't have money to hire anyone. Was open about how incredibly tight things are, basically I'm hocking heirlooms to keep the lights on...a little while later, her friend came over and whacked my front yard down to size. Huge difference! The back would still feed a brontosaurus for a week, but at least now it doesn't look like the abandoned houses on the block.

I went over to thank them profusely, and mentioned that BrightHouse has cut off everything, and she then proceded to give me the passwoord to her wireless. So I'm online, in my office, and after everything I've said and thought about the neighbors from Hell, I'm willing to admit I might be wrong. Yes, their six kids and IDEK how many dogs are freakin' loud, but she's a nice, helpful person. If there *is* anything hinky going on, I don't care (as long as it stays over there!).

I've got laundry going---I'm going to put it in the dryer when I'm finished with this---and I'm contemplating a lebanon bologna sandwich when I've done that.

Tomorrow after church, I plan to shop at Save-a-Lot, where I don't usually go. But I got a flyer advertizing some great 10 for $10 deals, and who knows, maybe they've overhauled the place and it's less squicky. (It's in the oldest shopping center around here, and last few times I was in there, it smelled...off.)

J is away on vacation for a couple weeks...I just hope everything goes okay. Her car is a little younger than mine, but not by much.


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* Actually, it's only my drama secondhand, so I'm not at liberty to dump it, but geez. I've never before been in the position of loathing the person one of my friends was seeing---in the case of GK's other half, it took exposure to him as a husband---but I really want to punch this individual in the face. Repeatedly.

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The half-dollars took care of my car insurance payment with a smidge left over. Yay! Don't know what I'm going to do at the end of this month, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I still have an $80 credit with the water department. Thank god, because it's so brutally hot that I'm in the shower constantly. As in, sometimes I get dizzy and have to go sit in there until my core temp goes down. And not even from exertion, today all it took was sitting up in bed.

Made a pan of Ghirardelli brownies last night, embellished with a cup of peanut butter chips. Yum! Haven't had much chocolate lately, so this was a treat. (When that's gone, I'm gonna make a pound cake from the mix GK sent me. Good thing I organized my baking pans, eh?)

Oh, and this afternoon, J had me calling a potential client about a dog. She made an appointment for next week, and J wants me to assist her. (Her usual person is under the weather, but I'll take what I can get, maybe it'll at least cover the cell phone bill for a while.)

I was going to babble about TV for a while, but just don't have te energy. But hey---at least it's finally August. The end *should* be in sight in the next 6-8 weeks.

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A little while ago, I did something I've never done before: I fixed poached eggs for breakfast. I used the non-stick skillet gifted to me by pwcorgigirl the Christmas before last, added a splash of vinegar to the water per Gordon Ramsey (at least I *think* it was Gordon)---and they turned out quite edibly. The vinegar adds a nice tang.

It's literally been forty years since I last had a poached egg (okay, thirty-nine, but that really doesn't have the same ring to it)---the only time I ever had them was that ghastly summer at "fat camp". They were runny and nasty and raw-looking. I generally like eggs, but those were vile.

With that memory, I've been putting off attempting them on my own, but...I've plateaued in the low 280s, and while I own that fried eggs aren't the only things keeping the weight on---extreme sloth being another---I figure the way I dollop on the Olivio, Poaching versus frying probably saves me 300 calories per plate. Waist not, if you'll fogive the pun.

I wouldn't go so far as to say I've perfected them, but I don't think the technique is terribly complicated, either. (A little firmer around the yolks would be nice.)

I know, it's just breakfast, nothing earth-shaking, but sometimes it's all about the small victories.

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The house is pungent with the aroma of collards cooking. Until last year, I'd never sampled collard greens, but when I got a bagful at the food bank and Mb cooked them up for us, I discoverred I'm a fan. This is my first attempt at cooking them on my own, so...fingers crossed!

Once they show signs of being done, I'm going on to phase two, which is rustling up some cornbread to go with them. Mmmmm! And since I know I have A Lot of it, I may cook up some rice, too. Starchy, I know, but at least it's real food and I don't make a habit of that often enough, so I'm trying to encourage it.

Or maybe some black-eyed peas, I've got lots of those, too....

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For starters, I'm 284 as of this morning. My reunion is a scant seven weeks away, and I'm hoping I can drop another 10 pounds between now and then. Being laid up because of my foot didn't help my progress, now it's getting to the season where my pores are starting to leak. Summer, guh!

I'm trying to decide what I'm going to wear to the event...I don't want to buy anything; I have tons of clothes as it is. The fact that most of my pants are quite baggy doesn't help. It's a Good Thing in terms of visible progress, but not so good in terms of having to spend money to replace old reliables with new, smaller items. Which leaves skirts? A dress? OMG, shoes?! What shoes do I have that are drop-dead? *wibbles* Because I cherish the small, forlorn hope that the love of my life will appear and be smitten....

Got caught up on the last couple eps of "Missing", and so far, everything I surmised has either been correct, or will probably be proven so ere long. I still don't really care about Ashley Judd one way or another, but regular Sean Bean for the win! Ditto Cliff Curtis! (And that guy playing Giancarlo ain't exactly a troll, either.)

Last night, I had an odd sort of dream, where SO came over to ask me about how to cook a big beef roast that he had. I told him he needed to start roasting at 500F for the first half-hour to sear it, then reduce the heat to 350F for the rest of the cooking time, total cook time 20 minutes per pound. (IDK where I came up with these numbers, but they sound about right.) He left, carrying his roast in a cardboard box, and I went back to what I was doing, setting up a rib roast that I was concocting.

Still in my dream, I tried to think of where I'd heard about the technique I was attempting, which consisted of carving the roast off the ribs, putting the ribs in the bottom of the roasting pan,arched side up with the roast atop the arch. Bobby Flay, I thought, on Worst Cooks in America.

I woke up and realized immediately that in fact it wasn't Bobby Flay, it was Roger Mooking from Everyday Exotic, it was supposed to be a caraway-crusted pork roast, and while I'd managed to separate the ribs from the roast, I'd left out the marinade/glaze stage. Ooops. My cookery show geek is showing.

Joyful Beltane to those who celebrate. Happy May Day to the rest of you.

Blessed be.

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The more I see this commercial,



the more I want to try his gauchpazo and that organic mushroom risotto. He's a badass AND he cooks? Be still, my heart!

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Friday's Kitchen Nightmares had Gordon Ramsey saving a Mexican restaurant, complaining that the cochinita pibil was bland and too dry...but at least he didn't shoot the cook. During my OUaTiM* phase, I made puerco pibil several times, and correctly made, it should be neither bland nor dry. Ever. It certainly was a blast from the past, as that fandom was what got me writing again after a long draught.

Saturday's mail brought a notice from the electric company that they're going to be installing one of the new smart meters soon. (As recently discussed in a Question du jour) According to the card they sent, I'll even be able to check my power consumption online. Oh goody, a way to check it with and without A/C usage.

I knew exactly what I was going to wear to church tomorrow, but NOT if I'm going to be visited by Aunt Flo. Pink chiffon is NOT the thing under those circumstances. And remind me to check for mold before placement....

o = o = o = o = o = o = o

*Once Upon a Time in Mexico

J took me out to lunch this afternoon, then we sat there and shot the breeze for two solid hours. Dogs, dog training, reality TV and music. She wasn't aware that I like classical music, which surprised me. (The classical music channel is my default setting for background noise.)

Finally, we went back to her place and watched a couple movie: Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Bolt. Cute. Diverting.

I was going to try to whip up dessert to take to church tomorrow, but it's too late now. Plus, I'm trying to figure out what I have ingredients for. It seems like half the recipes I look at have ONE major componant I'm lacking. I have margerine, but it calls for butter. I have soda and powder, but no cream of tartar. Or it wants me to separate eggs. I'm lacking when it comes to buttermilk, coconut flakes and nuts.

On the other hand, I have flour, sugar (brown, white and confectioners), and pounds upon pounds of dried plums. I suspect a cross between gingerbread and fruitcake.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

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Ever since that pancake post a few weeks ago, I've been craving pancakes. Not even Norwegian pancakes in particular, just pancakes in general---this cespite the fact that my previous attempts at pancakes have been less than successful.

Since the urge wouldn't go away, I got a little jar of pancake mix at Aldi. Had it for a week before the yen became unbearable. This morning, I finally got to the point where nothing but pancakes would do. Not fried eggs, not bread and honey---no, it HAD to be pancakes.

Thinking it over and remembering my mother's ambrosial pancakes, I added a capful of vanilla extract to the water before pouring it into the mix. To give it a little more kick, I added a few shakes of cinnamon and a dash of ginger to the mix before I added the water.

Apparently, I've cultivated some culinary prowess since my last attempt at pancakes. They were neither burned nor runny, and they didn't taste like nasty lumps of fried flour, either.

I added dabs of butter to each as the second side was cooking, and drizzled a bit of Aldi honey over them. Quite tasty! Mind you, the additives were barely noticable, but I can up the spices a bit next time.
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A little while ago, I said to myself, "Self, you really ought to find something to do with that package of Little Smokies you got from the food pantry the other day."

For starters, I threw them into my trust cast-iron skillet and heated them, and as that was going on, I rooted around in my pantry, because basically Little Smokies = weenies and we all know beans and weenies is a classic. And god knows, I've got beans.

So I threw in a drained can of pork and beans, then a can of drained light kidney beans. Nice, but it still looked inadequate.

I drained some diced tomatoes and plonked them in. Good, but a bit bland, so I fished out a packet of taco seasoning...best by last March. It was caked up, so I grabbed a strainer, held it over the skillet and dumped the taco stuff in. Ended up being about half the envelope, which given the sodium content, is plenty. It's enough to give it a little favor.

Despite having been drained, there's still a certain amount of pan gravy to it, so I threw the macaroni from a box of mac'n'cheese in to nuke.

Dinner will be served momentarily.
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Ahab has the attention span of a fruit fly. He channel surfs incessantly. Click, click, click, pause for ten seconds, click, pause, click, click click...PICK ONE, I want to scream. Stick with something! No, I didn't mean NASCAR.

He also dials the heat up to a sultry 80F, which I find intolerable. I am engaged in passive-aggressive war over the thermostat. Sweaters, man! Try them! Don't just sit around in your light-weight cotton shirt-sleeves and whine that you're cold.

Do I sound heartless? Sorry, but I don't give a fuck. I live in a house with NO heat save for space heaters, I've routinely survived 50-something indoor temps, 80 degrees, FFS? Is ridiculous.

He got it into his head that he wanted shrimp scampi. I went to Publix to get shrimp, only to discover that the sale advertised in flyer he had didn't start til the next day. So I went back the next day---with him, after his 9:30 AM doctor's appointment. Shopping with said fruit fly...not fun.

And may I just say, I don't even *LIKE* shrimp? These, especially, looked like they'd grown up in the recent gulf oil spill. So basically, I was cooking it for him, not us. The recipe was from Rachel Ray (whom I also don't like, perky little foodie wannabe), and the instructions called for heating a pan on high heat until water vaporized, adding oil, then garlic and crushed red pepper 'until fragrant'.

Until the smoke alarm goes off, is more like it. I ended up dumping the pan in the sink and bolting out the back door and yarking up bile on the patio.

When I could breathe again (not exaggerating, that was a truly toxic combo), I went back and started over. Lower heat, slower cooking time, Ahab said it was good, which may have saved his life, by that point, and tried to get me to have some. No fucking way.

Mind you, it hasn't been ALL bad. I've gotten to drive Ahab's car, which is quite nice (2009 Hyundai with all the amenities), and I didn't miss the season two premiere of Justified, which was---*flails*. I now completely understand what that reviewer meant when they described Mags Bennett as the love-child of Tony Soprano and Paula Dean. Wow! (And hopefully next week, we get more Boyd. I heart Boyd.)

Tomorrow I'm home again, thank your Mother/Father God.

I'll be off to bed in a little bit...as soon as I trip the thermostat.
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I'm here at Captain Ahab's with Mb---poor dear, she needs moral support. There have been Plumbing Events of Epic Proportions, and she's been SO stressed. Having now spent a couple days with the Captain, I UNDERSTAND WHY.

Made shepherd's pie for dinner last night. This time I added onion power and some steakhouse grind seasoned pepper, and it was quite good. Ahab bitched because it contained corn, so next time I may see how it turns out with diced tomatoes.

I'm mulling over an idea for spn_gen_bigbang*---I've never done a big bang before, at least not in the sense of something I signed up for. I've written a couple fics that were longer than 15K words---a couple. None of them in this fandom. (Wait, I take that back; Seen and Unseen was 16.7 K.)

This is something...I started it a year and a half ago. It's basically an alternate season 5. I got a couple thousand words down, and lost my rhythm. I now have a clue where it's going, which is good, although as is so often the case, Getting There is going to be a challenge.

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* Writer signups are open through March 15th, so if you think you'vve got a long story in you, drop by and commit yourself. (Maybe that came out a little wrong....)

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The other day, I had some wonderful shepherd's pie and have been thinking about it ever since. It seemed fairly simple, and I'm attempting to recreate it.

Publix has lean ground beef on sale this week. I browned and peppered and drained just over a pound of that and put it in the bottom of my dish. Added a can of corn, drained, and stirred it and the beef together. It was a little full, so I spooned off a bit of it for a nibble and found it good.

For the potatoes, I smoothed a package of ready-made country-style mashed potatoes atop the corn and beef mixture and bestowed a generous handful of shredded cheese (between 1/2 and 2/3rds of a cup, I'd guesstimate).

Per the potato directions, it's baking at 350 for 25 minutes. Should be yummy!

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Tonight, turkey is the protein du jour. (Thighs, baked.) Still plenty of rice to go with it, and mixed veggies. Or maybe some diced 'maters and corn. Decisions, decisions.

I need to get some laundry going. I need to...everything, basically. Last night, I went back and reread last year's entries at this time, and it seems like I was making progress. There's no sign of it now; it's all been reclaimed by clutter.

As I read somewhere lately, I've gone from epic!fail right to apocalypti!fail.

Also, I'm aghast that it's Thursday evening already...the week has melted away---I haven't walked, or been to the library---although I have made some calls for J about dog training. (It may not make me any money, but at least it gives me something I can put on my resume under "What I've been doing all this time".)

Got an email from AI about a job-seekers workshop in T'ville...I'm weighing cost versus benefit and am still undecided. Luckily, it isn't til the first week in February. (I know I haven't been talking about this much, because it's so tedious, but I'm getting a little desperate---I have GOT to get a real job, soon.)

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ETA, I went with green beans. That's another can from the stockpile disposed of!

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I've been busy in the kitchen...got some breakfast sausages at the food pantry, which I've cooked up (so they'll last another couple of days) and stuck in the fridge. While the stovetop and skillet were already hot, I started a bag of rice.

I'll have enough rice for days---which is just fine with me, since I got assorted frozen veggies they can accompany. I really am trying to eat better! I think I've had more green stuff in the last week than I have in the last couple months. I have to push myself, is all.

Of course, I also have to work my way through all the canned stuff in my pantry.

It would be nice if I could get motivated enough to do some walking. Especially since the weather is lovely at the moment.

Have had a few sporradic spasms of cleaning, but hardly enough to make a difference---although I *can* get to the couch again.

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Recipes from this vintage volume (Copyright 1959, revised 1972):



( Good summer recipes for tomatoes, squash and burgers )
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