Fluff, Dreck, and Flotsam

sirzig brought me flowers on Friday. Purple tulips. How pretty!


They're sitting in my kitchen window, and they make me smile every time I look at them. I have spent a fair amount of time looking at them over the weekend, because of my new obsession with cheese making. On which note, I have some cheese-porn for you...


Here are the cheddar and the monterey jack I made last week. They're in the drying phase and almost ready to be waxed and aged. You can really see the difference in how tightly the curds got pressed. Both cheeses started out with roughly the same amount of curds, but the cheddar was pressed with 50 lbs and the monterey jack only got pressed with 8. Thus the jack is much "fluffier."


Hopefully my fancy black cheese wax gets here soon so I can carry out my plan to make goth cheeses... (The pun continues to grow: "My cheeses are clearly goth because after they are de-pressed, I paint them black and put them in my dank basement where they will hang out and try to be cool.") Someone also mentioned the idea of smoking, and while I think smoking my cheeses might be a fine idea, I haven't figured out how to work that into the extended pun.

The mozzarella and ginger ale I took to May Day seemed to go over rather well. This week, I'd like to make another cheddar - this time with craisins pressed in the curds. With Crown coming at me like a freight train, though, I'm not sure if I'll have the time.

For purposes of plausible deniability, I usually leave the logging OFF on my messenger client. This Friday night was one of those few instances when I wish that I had left the logging turned on, because the exchange I had with gwyneth1362's 16-year-old son was PRICELESS. I shall try and recreate it for you.
( Stealth Adventure Cake is born. )

Remember that "test cake" with the bite out of it? I asked quackersbob if he would bring it to my party today. So... When you see the "Stealth Adventure Cake" on the table, you know what happened.

I am busy. Super-duper busy... And aparently a masochist.

I'm in the middle of the network migration for which I was hired as "project staff" at the Uni. (The migration being the "project".) Hopefully by the end of summer I will be a "permanent employee" of the department, or I'll be looking for another job after Pennsic.... again. So I've been putting in a lot of extra hours on weekends to get people's computers migrated as "seemlessly as possible." Working 12 straight days stresses me out... Working with a bunch of tightly scheduled luddites REALLY stresses me out.

So given the fact that the next month and a half is going to suck ANYWAY, I figure I'd liven things up by quitting smoking. I haven't had a cigarette since April 8th, and so far no one is dead. Having quit for 3 months last summer, I must say that quitting this time was much easier... I just had a lingering feeling that I was forgetting something. I can't tell you how many times I checked to make sure I hadn't left the oven on...

But as we all know, I am a retard, so those two things weren't enough. I am displeased with my current weight, and I live in terror that quitting smoking will make me gain even MORE weight, so of course, NOW is a GREAT time to start a diet and exercise plan...

I'm really REALLY amazed that no one is dead. Like, really.

Initially, I lost 9 lbs, but according to the scales, I gained 4 back during coronation. :-P. I find it hard to believe that the 7 oz steak I had on Saturday evening did this to me...

Aaaaanyway.

All that is not the point. The point is, that as my reward for not killing anyone, I have bought myself the recipe software of my dreams. It allows me to create and export cookbooks complete with nutrition information for every recipe:



(Notice that I've left of the crunchy topping because I am on a freaking diet. I was pleased to discover that a good sized portion of this only has 230 calories... I love cheesy potatoes.)

So... Yeah... My next task will be getting all my favorite recipes imported into my cookbook.

There are a zillion different variations on this recipe so I'm going to break up the ingredients into 3 groups:
Main, wet, and topping.

( Messy-ass write up of a recipe. )

Yay, casserole!

Posting recipes from the bus... here goes...

Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a big pot on the stove and add:
3 peeled, diced potatoes
1 diced onion
1 diced stalk of celery
1 diced bell pepper (red or green)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Red pepper seeds add a nice kick but are not required...

Put a lid on the pot and sweat the veggies until onions are tender. Make sure they all get coated in oil so that they don't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

Add 2 cups water (or enough to cover veggies) and bring to a boil. Allow boiling for 5 minutes and add 1 or 2 cups milk. Bring to boil again and reduce heat to medium.

Add 2 cans corn and 1 can baked beans or pork and beans WITH LIQUID.

Simmer until all veggies are soft. If desired (and I do..) add some slices of processed cheese to melt during the simmering phase... I put in 8... Try not to BOIL the soup after the cheese has been added or you'll have a weird texture problem. It'll still taste OK, but the cheese will not be creamy... it will be... cheese balls in milk water...

This recipe makes about 3 quarts and goes much faster than one would expect three quarts of soup to be eaten.

Super tastey served with a buttered english muffin or bagel. The best thing about this recipe is that it's EXTREMELY FORGIVING of "creative measuring". I change the veggie amounts based on what I'm hungry for that day. Just remember that too many beans make for a more mealy texture in the soup and not enough corn (or no corn at all) makes the soup significantly less sweet.

ENJOY!