Journal

2021 - Week 17 Cooking Results

With the pandemic still going on, and my recent angry bone spurs, I debating for a bit about going to the Downtown Farmers Market. I drove to get the cash for it, along with money for a haircut, but even after all that, wasn’t sure I wanted to go. My Saturday has turned into a sleep in, exercise, then do things. I ended up deciding to go late that night, but I think I won’t go every week. The vendor booths were about once every other normal booth space, no ready to eat food, no musicians (not always bad). The vast majority of people were masked (though I did smell someone smoking), and overall things seemed fine. It was nice to see my vendors again, and I completely understand the whole going or not.

I did notice the kick in the pants on the budget, for not going to the market every week last year ($80/week in cash, sometimes more). The leftover money from the haircut, and first market’s $100 went pretty quick. I scrambled with my last $9 (all 1’s) to pay to get that hunk of cheese, effectively on my way out.

It felt good, perhaps normal, to be there. Things were spaced out enough, and people were, for the most part, not crowding together. Attendance was quite down for a normal market, which is probably for the best, at least for the early risers. It feels like a start to return to normal. Also, ramps.

Next week I am on call between 6p and 1:30a (Friday into Saturday) for about 20 minutes worth of work, So I’ll clearly not be going.

Macaroni and Cheese with Ham and Peas

Sometimes you skim a recipe and think, clearly the person that wrote this didn’t have to do the dishes. This is not like that, trying to keep it to one pot. However, I upped the speed by using two pots, so I could make the béchamel sauce while the water came to a boil, reducing the time between combining the two. I had about 8 oz of bread that I had chopped up and stuck in the fridge. I had whole milk that I accidentally ordered instead of my normal 2%. I adjusted up the powdered muster (maybe 2t instead of 1.5t). I swiped out the cayenne pepper with chipotle chili morita and used probably 4 times as much. I also swapped out the Monterey jack with pepper jack. I used what I had left of the (free) ham I got with a gift certificate from work, and used a whole bag of peas, instead of just a cup. After all those adjustments, the bread crumbs got a bit to dark (not distasteful, but not pleasing looking) at 5 minutes of broiling time, but at 3 minutes it was way too little. So probably some part of that probably around 4 minutes would’ve been just right. Pretty good, after my adjustments.

Gochujang Chicken and Tortellini

So uh…this was easy and quite tasty. I am working my way though that tub of gochujang (I’ll probably buy another when I make i through). I may have aded the entire bag of the cheese tortellini (what am I going to do with 4 oz of tortellini). I should have probably adjusting things up because of that, but even so, had that fermented, savory cheese flavor coming out and dancing across my tastebuds.

Anda Bhurji

I will admit that I’ve had a bad experience with garlic and eggs in the past, so I had a light head with the garlic. I apparently missed the mart of 3 green chile peppers, so I added jalapeño powder instead. So i guess it really wasn’t that close to what it was supposed to be, but it was tasty.

Turkey Burger With Sriracha Mayo

Shannon wasn’t in the mood, so we ordered out instead. I will do these today.

Mood and naps

This past Friday, I napped. I had the day off, as I haven’t taken much time off in the past year or so, for obvious reasons. I will be taking Friday’s off for the foreseeable future as I need to whittle down my vacation time for the removal of the temporarily elevated bank max. I got up early so as not to disturb Shannon’s routine where medicating the cats is involved. Went back to sleep / read. Got up and headed to get gas for the mower, and got back when it was still a bit early to politely mow (before 9), so I laid down again for another nap, this time accompanied by Freyja. Got up, mowed a bit, did a bit of scheduled work (took the day off after I had scheduled the work), Finished mowing, then napped again. I suppose this may be the blah’s taking a hold of me, or nothing really to do.

I also skipped coffee, so is it that?

Anyways I am paying attention to you mood.

2021 - Week 11 Cooking Results

The week got a bit weird, as far as cooking goes. Due to timing and forgetfulness, two out of four items did not get made. I did, however, take a nice scenic drive to Decorah, Cedar Rapids and back home again. It was nice to just have different input then my normal patterns of the last year or so. There were several things along the way, where, had I not been on an appointment time (2:PM pick up in Decorah), I would of stopped to take pictures of: small cemeteries, barn squares, buildings and various kitsch. I previously thought that I hadn’t left my residing county in just over a year, but I was mistaken, we had taken a day trip that is in the county over. I saw the devastation that the 2020 derecho left to the neighborhood that my parents’ and brother’s neighborhood. Once a well tree covered neighborhood, it just looked barren. The way home, while familiar, was still a nice change of pace, since, again, I haven’t driven any significant distance in over a year.

Ahi Ahi Tuna

Delayed. Shannon was going to have fish the next day, so she didn’t want to have it on Thursday.

Pasta Cacio e Uova

Even though I had Pecorino Romano on my grocery list, I thought I did have any cheese on my list, so I didn’t buy it.

New World Kitchen Burger and Alt Bacon

I didn’t do much, though I removed the vegan-iaty by putting them on butter buns, then because butter, added cheese. It was ok.

Eggs, maple sausage

Leftover maple sausage from a Cheese Bar take home dinner. Good things

2021 - Week 7 Cooking Results

The start of the week was quite stressful. Due to the extremely low temperature, our furnace had an issue running properly, specifically going from stage 1 heat to stage 2 heat. After another visit, well worth it, the HVAC technician, allowed for air to come from inside the house, rather then sucking in the -10 to -18 from outside, causing the chamber to have problems. Once we had that in place, things started to work properly again. He was forward thinking to allow me to re-engage the fresh air intake, once it got to be not so silly outside. So we’re on fresh air again, as the temperature is 27F. I was able to export data from the tracking of the thermostat, and you could basically see how things were struggling.

Screen Shot 2021-02-21 at 10.46.34 AM.png

After he made the change, you could see the dramatic difference in performance, where it would maintain a temp within a few degrees. I slept through the night 2 days later (without getting up multiple times to check the temp). So thanks to Thrasher for keeping me in a mostly good frame of mind.

Sloppy Sammys (for real this time)

Good stuff.

Cheddar and Pickled Jalapenos Breakfast Scramble

I don’t know why I needed a recipe for this. Pickled jalapeños would have been something that I would’ve put on an egg sandwich previously, so to mix them into eggs…sure fine. It was ok. I would’ve had more peppers.

Chicken Fried Rice

I used some of the chicken tenderloins to do this, and I think that was a good call. Low in fat, having the flavors added to it from the fried rice ingredients mad for a good dish. A bit of prep up front, and then a bunch of execution, To have a quick dinner.

Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Potatoes

I ended up using just over 2 pounds of potatoes, a good portion of the Momofuku Spicy seasoned salt, bacon, eggs and a bit of grated Prairie Breeze. I splattered some chili crunch over it at the end. Quite tasty. Not a lot of effort. I got out my mandolin, but ended up putting it away, so no extra tools used. Crisp on the outside potatoes, for the most part, but steamy soft on the inside. A bit of heat and a wonderful combination of flavors.

Stove top Mac and Cheese

I used around 3 oz of Hooks 10 year, and the rest was Prairie Breeze. I think with that mix it made for a nice smooth but with quite the punch of cheddar. I like the process, where you have parts. I tried to skip the last step, but that really is necessary to thicken up the sauce. Good things.

2021 - Week 7 Cooking

I’ve been craving to take my big camera out for a photo session. But with the weather as it is (and Covid), I don’t really want to leave the house. Hopefully spring will be here soon and I can walk and take photos of blooms. I also think last night I was in the mood for breakfast.

2021 - Week 1 Cooking Results (WTF was THAT?)

I am getting pretty bad at leaving the house. During the last big snow storm I went to make a cheese shop run before it got really bad, but forgot my house keys (drove to Shannon’s work to pickup her house keys). This past week while leaving the house to go to a doctor appointment I didn’t have my house keys, car keys, or wallet. I had my phones though. So I got a lyft, was a little bit late for my doctor appointment, got Shannon’s set of house and car keys, and came back home. I have been trying to actively make sure that I have my keys with me when I leave the house for any reason now.

I am appalled at both the actions of idiots and those in power who encouraged them, that are now calling for reconciliation, clearly without any truth involved.

Chicken Tikka Masala

I am pretty sure I have made this version before, and it turned out pretty much as I expected. I had to re-balance a little as the two packs of chicken were a bit more then it should’ve been.

Vietnamese-Style Baked Chicken

I thought I’d make this week, but with a bit of stress from work and watching idiots desecrate our capitol building, we ordered out cause I just couldn’t. Delayed I suppose.

Buttermilk Pancakes

I do like this recipe, it really does hit that spot. I’m light on the bourbon barrel aged syrup (this one picked up at a distillery tour in the Seattle area), but it’s a meal that makes you feel satiated.

Turkey, Cheddar, and Pickled Apple Sandwiches

Mildly pickled apples? they were fairly distinct by themselves, but worked very well in the sandwich. I used some honey that had been sitting on my unused desk at work for months, for multiple parts of this recipe. It is a bit crystalized, but I’ll get it back. I ended up making 3 of the 4 sandwiches that were called for(thinking that each of us would have a sandwich and a half), but I ended up with two and Shannon had one. It was quite tasty.

Beef Chili-Frito Bowls

So a nice shortcut to create a nice sauce for chili is adding the enchilada sauce. It added a bit of richness, and cut the cooking time by quite a bit. Probably not great for you, but easy to do, tasty and filling. I still need to make a full on chili here at some point, but maybe not. I usually end up eating most of it.

2020 - Week 52 Cooking (Finally)

This year has taken forever. While at the same time being full of the sameness of repetition. There were only a handful of things that broke up the monotony. This all being said, we still are in a pretty good place. We donated more, we supported the local economy more (admittedly a bit differently). We are starting the conversation about going out to eat again (probably still at least a couple of months away). To close out the year, I’ve got 3 more days of work, while Shannon has 4. I’ve grown vaguely comfortable working form home, but I do miss having the ability to leave work. As it stands, it’s always there.

2020 - Week 40 Cooking Results

Freyja has had a rough time the past couple of months. I think we finally have found what has been causing it. it seems like treating her ears like she has an inner ear infection has worked out and her behavior is really starting to finally return to normal. I may have been a bit emotional when she jumped up on my lap fort the first time in months, two days ago, she snuggled up for a nap time yesterday, and actually came up on to the bed this morning (normally she’s a fine heat thief). While giving her medication is becoming far more challenging, as she is getting back to her normal sassy self (I had to slowly chase her around the main level of the house for a couple of laps this morning). It’s good to see her become herself again.

Tuna Melt, perhaps following this

I did mostly follow the recipe, at least as much as I could. The packages of tuna that I had were not similar to the size they wanted to use, so even halving the recipe, I had to 6/10th it. It was pretty good. I used processed cheese, since it said to do so. It was a cleaner melt, but didn’t taste as good as it could’ve. As a note, Loki was insistent on getting some of the sandwich, but was not around when I was actually making it, when I would’ve actually given some tuna out.

Korean Chicken and Rice Porridge

I decided to delay this, since we already have a lot of leftovers from this week, so I don’t want to make another large leftover item (also it takes a bit, and it’s warmer than expected). I think next Saturday will work out well.

Smoky Tomato & Red Pepper Soup with White Beans

Made early in the week before it got warmer again. Soup season, in theory, being back in full force. I was pretty good, a thicker soup with a bit of paprika toasted white beans floating on the top. Pretty good. I actually ended up putting bit of it on top of the leftover pasta.

Pasta c'Anciuova e Muddica Atturrata

So I think this ended up being trying then it probably intended, but I also skipped a few steps because I replaced the bread crumb process with panko to save time. I used a very nice jar of anchovies to create the sauce for the pasta, and over all I think it turned out pretty well, if a bit dry. Certainly as we started eating the cats, mostly Loki, realized there was something delicious in the air.

Sloppy Sammys

Good as always.

Possible: Cranberry Apple Shrub

Ingredients not found.

2020 Iowa Derecho - Personal Experience

This week got shot to shit.

I am unsure as to how to describe this. Looking back, over all, we were fairly lucky as far as the Derecho ripped across the state, for the most part, I didn’t notice. I was working, and had a power blip, started to reconnect, then lost power. I headed upstairs to see what was going on and discovered that the tree in our front yard had fallen.

First Picture, through door window, You can see the repairs already starting as a MidAmerican truck drives by

First Picture, through door window, You can see the repairs already starting as a MidAmerican truck drives by

I didn’t hear it fall, at least I think not. Shortly after that I heard the sirens come up.

As a note, the tree fell about as perfectly as a tree could. It hit no wires, any houses, other trees, or cars, just covered up about half the street, meaning you can still get in and out of the street.

This started a ~55 hour period where we were without power. During that time I reported my tree fell into the street to the city, I tried to go to work on Monday (after the outage) but gave up. We drove around on Monday evening (partially to recharge our phones), where we found a way to make it to work. We also discovered that the entry point for power, two blocks to west or so had a tree tangled up in it. With further driving about, still charging our devices, we saw a few houses that were clearly damaged by trees, we discovered another entry point for power to our house, a couple blocks east and a few blocks south, was also mangled.

We returned home, ended up in separate bedrooms (no power, no CPAP, snoring like a rhino and lack of sleep for me).

Tuesday, I got up, got dressed to go into the office (the first time in other then the 6 hours to re-setup my MacBook pro (2 three hour sessions), since the pandemic was started to be taken seriously). My plan was to pick up some monger sandwiches at the cheese shop on my way home. When I started to plan my route home, I discovered the Cheese Shop was out of power, though they got some dry ice to keep their cheese refrigerated, which is good for them. We ended up getting delivery…from somewhere. This was the beginning of my exhaustion. During the day, the City, I think, came and chopped up the center of the tree to pull most of the tree out of the street. This is due to me following my father’s advice and reporting it to the city.

I had started calling around to tree companies to try to get someone to come out, I should have probably started during the storm. However I did end up getting a couple of touch backs, but as we started cleaning things up, it became apparent that we could, after the city cut up the tree, do it ourselves. I carried the large chunks to the wood pile, then between us doing it a few evenings of effort, and me swapping my morning exercise, using a hedge trimmer (after power was restored), a hand saw, and a lopper (I guess that’s what it’s called) we were able to get this accomplished and have piles of wood for the city to pick up.

Wednesday, I went to work again at the office. More tired. Unlike the first night where I got up several times, tossed and turned a lot, this night I mostly slept through the night in a black dreamless exhausting nothingness. I was worried about getting to the point where I’d have to toss all the meat, and after a discussion with my manager, I ran off to Burtek Dry Ice, who sold dry ice to the public for a bit, ended up with 50 pounds (22.6 kilos), put two ten pound bags in the upstairs freezer, and 3 in deep freeze. There was still ice in the ice maker upstairs, though it was starting to get a bit watery, but still icy. I headed back to work and did some more work as best as I could being exhausted. On my way home I stopped at a grocery store to picked up another 20 pound (~9 kilos) bag of ice on my way home.

I was very hopeful on as I started to travel home. Unlike Tuesday, where 80% of the stoplights were out, driving Wednesday 80% of them were on. I drove into the neighborhood, and it was looking good, as far as electricity was concerned, lights on here and there. I noticed the elementary school’s sign was on. I got home and was a bit despondent, because no lights were on in our house. Then I heard the neighbor’s air conditioning unit kicked on, I still didn’t see any movement in the house. I may have yelled in frustration. As I put my key in the lock, lights came on (or very close to it). As thing started to warm up and reconnect, I went and checked on the air conditioner, the internet came on and things started to feel normal.

It felt good to sleep, next to my wife, with fans and my CPAP machine. It felt nice to be able to watch the bees in my mint garden, from my workspace, though it appears as if the Painted Lady Butterflies had suffered from the derecho, or moved on (hoping for the latter).

This all being said. There are still people without power, having blocked streets and sporadic cell coverage, especially in Cedar Rapids. While the local media seems to be covering it well, the national media has completed failed at coverage, since, I suspect, the pictures aren’t dramatic enough (no storm to catch, just clean up). There’s so much going on.