We upgraded my computer to Windows 7 and saw this during the process. Way to go Dell:
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Not Inspiring Much Confidence
Posted in Thinking
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Lentil Soup
So, yeah, been in a funk. But, what usually fixes the funk? Cooking. Tonight the better-half is taking care of things for his mother and so I decided to make lentil soup (it’s funny that link takes you to a time a couple of years ago when I was in a funk and I made this soup to feel better).
I used French lentils we had in the pantry and the carrots were straight from our garden. Awesome. I still don’t have the bird of paradise spice/herb that Alton Brown’s recipe calls for and so this time I used Herbs de Provence which I bought this summer for another lentil recipe.
This entry is definitely not featuring fancy food photography because it doesn’t look like much…the lentils are really dark. But the soup was outstanding. I cooked it for a little longer to completely make the remaining whole lentils creamy (I used the stick blender to puree everything) and I can’t wait to eat it tomorrow for lunch. And, judging by the amount of soup currently in the pot, we’ll be getting at least one other meal out of it.
When the package tells you to rinse and pick through lentils, it’s a good idea. I found a pretty sizable stone–a tooth breaker.
I’m Scratching My Head
A co-worker just walked into my office and said, “Oh, you are here.” I looked at her like she had 3 heads. She said the marker next to my name on the In/Out board said I was out. I told her there shouldn’t be a marker next to my name because I removed it over a year ago. She laughed and then walked away.
I listened until the coast was clear and then stood up, walked over to the door and looked at the In/Out board. My name still doesn’t have a marker next to it.
She never said why she was checking up on me. And, since I have to walk past her office every time I use the bathroom, she should have seen me within the last hour so she knew I was here. Wonder what that was all about?
Posted in Generic Thoughts
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Smiles
I’ve been in kind of a funk lately. But, the google image today is making me smile every time I go to the page.
Posted in Watching
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Fried
We recently purchased a Krups fryer (we picked the model we did because it has a filter so the house doesn’t stink up) and Friday night was the maiden voyage. We weren’t sure exactly what to fry first but finally decided on fish and chips. The better-half was in charge of frying while I fretted. I was a candy maker during a few summers in college and having lightning hot candy syrup burn you makes for fretting when there are high heat splattery things going on in the kitchen. He once worked at Jungle Man Dan’s French Fry Hut and so he has some professional experience with hot oil and frying things.
Background: Usually when we fry we set up the propane tank outside and then I run back and forth between the warming oven and the fryer while he works. This makes for hit or miss frying results. The indoor fryer is a much better way to fry.
The fries were outstanding and AMAZING (yes, in all caps) and we’ll never fry those outside again. The fish was equally good…cod in a beer batter. Both were sprinkled with malt vinegar.
Speaking of vinegar, we polished off a jar of dilly green beans that I canned this summer (recipe is in the Ball’s Blue Book). Spicy and tangy and oh my sweet hopping john they were good.
Posted in Eating
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IX. The Courtyard, by H.P. Lovecraft
It was the city I had known before;
The ancient, leprous town where mongrel throngs
Chant to strange gods, and beat unhallowed gongs
In crypts beneath foul alleys near the shore.
The rotting, fish-eyed houses leered at me
From where they leaned, drunk and half-animate,
As edging through the filth I passed the gate
To the black courtyard where the man would be….
The dark walls closed me in, and loud I cursed
That ever I had come to such a den,
When suddenly a score of windows burst
Into wild light, and swarmed with dancing men:
Mad, soundless revels of the dragging dead-
And not a corpse had either hands or head!
(first pub. Weird Tales, 16, No. 3 (September 1930), 322.)
This came in an email from the better-half’s friend. The subject line of the email was “A sinister aperitif for Halloween‏”.
Posted in Reading
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GD Co-workers
I don’t want to sound like I avoid all sick people because I don’t. Yesterday I saw someone in a car with a mask on…seriously, people. Allow me to mock.
But, there’s someone at work today who is coming down with a cold or some other funk. She openly admits it and I just called her Sneezy. Stay the frack home. Just because it isn’t the dreaded H1N1 doesn’t mean the rest of us want to catch your freaking cold.
We have a liberal leave policy and telecommuting is an option. Come in, get your work and get the hell out of here.
Posted in General Spleen Venting
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It’s beginning to look a lot like Halloween
The first year we lived here we got very excited about Halloween and we decorated in anticipation–lights on the front porch, spooky lights in the upstairs windows, scary music at the door and a big bag of assorted candies–the good stuff, not that ratty crap that always sinks to the bottom of the stash. I think we had 2 kids stop by. Our neighborhood is lame. Now we don’t even bother. Usually we head over to the better-half’s friend’s house in Ashland where kids still trick or treat and the folks in town make a big deal.
I pulled the lights out of the attic the other day and now they are haunting our kitchen window:
Really quite scary:
Posted in Generic Thoughts, House Proud
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