In the News Recently

I'm a caffeine addict. I've been drinking coffee since a college girlfriend first got me to drink a few cups while studying for exams. I was such an addict at some points during my college career that I measured my consumption not in cups per day but in pots per day, as some of my friends could attest. When I tried to quit cold turkey after landing my first job, I had severe headaches and blurred vision for the first few weeks. Since then, I've returned to my caffeinated ways, adding the frequent cup or two of earl grey in with the coffee, but I've never tried to relive my glorious college consumption.

You're probably wondering why I mention that little factiod. Well, it's because of articles like this that claim that the cure for baldness lies in copious caffeine consumption. So, what do I think of these claims?

Yeah, right....

***UPDATE*** As you can see below, Wally is/had been drinking enough coffee to put him into triple digits, and it didn't do anything for him (click to enlarge).

I reiterate: yeah, right....

Smile

So when you are feeling blue or having a bad day I have a sure fire way to make you smile. Pop in the DVD Monsters Inc., and watch the short film extra- "For the Birds". If you don't have the movie you can down load it on iTunes.

Because I Have Nothing Else To Post

For your fun and amusement.*

*I should probably note that it was Amelia who found it, so if you get fired for playing at work, blame her :P

Ummmm... Ew?

We realized almost immediately after we got married that neither one of us enjoyed a particularly wide variety of foods. So, the past few years, we have had "foods of the year" and have learned to like foods such as tomatoes, fish, shrimp, and green beans. Yeah, I know, we're really wild and crazy with our new foods, aren't we? Well, we still haven't chosen a new food this year, so when Amelia was out looking for a veggie for dinner tonight, she chose something new. Brussels sprouts.

I don't think we'll be trying that particular experiment again any time soon...

Crafty

I started a craft project for the year. Each month will have their own little border and cute graphic. I thought you might like to see "January". It is hard to see in the picture but the top right corner and above the scarf are snowflakes.

The Regulator Station Clock

At long last, Amy and I set aside our lack of handy-person experience and attempted to hang the clock that my dad made for us and gave us at Christmas. With the help of Dad and the great people at Roush Hardware up the road, we finally got it hung.

It's a spiffy addition to our kitching/dining room, dontcha think? Thanks again, Dad!

The Potato Flip Diary #5

The Quest For the Perfect Flip

A much better effort.

The Players

The Pan	7" cast iron skillet, well seasoned
The Ingredients	Russet potato (~7 oz peeled and shredded) White onion, ~2 oz Pepperoni <1 oz Salt and pepper Shredded cheese (<1 oz)
The Fat	Vegetable oil, ~ 1 tsp

The Plan

After shredding the potato, rinse in cold water then pat dry. Saute the onions in a small amount of oil, add to the potatoes and pepperoni mixture, then add the remaining oil to the pan, add the potato mixture and fry 5-6 minutes per side, flipping in the middle, then cover with shredded cheese and bake in a 350 degree oven until the cheese melts.

The Results

Significantly better than last time. Rinsing the potato removed a lot of starch, which kept the potatoes from sticking so badly to the bottom of the pan. Unfortunately, they also didn't stick so well to each other.

The Verdict

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being hash browns and 10 being the "perfect flip," this experiment ranks: 1 (hash browns).

Lessons Learned

I want to thank MUD for suggesting rinsing the potatoes the last time I tried. I had thought that it might help, and his suggestion was all the validation I needed to try. On the plus side, the stickage was minimal. Now I need to figure out how to get the right amount of stickage to get the potatoes to stick to each other, but not the pan. I'm considering cutting up and then boiling the potatoes, then cooling and shredding. I'm hoping that some of the starch will be removed, but not so much that I end up with hash browns again. But, I'm heartened. This was much better than my last attempt.

Amelia Has Once Again Proved...

... she is the boss of me. She beat me again, 2-1, at cribbage.

That's the last time I teach her a fun game :P

Our Weekend

Wow, were we busy! Since Friday, here's what we've done:

1. Visited Amelia's one-time neighbors, who were like a third set of grandparents for her and her sister
2. Visited Amelia's parents for her mom's birthday
3. The Bald Man went on a bachelor party for long-time friend Cooper, with Xabu and Cooper's older brother, Dr. Who
4. Visited The Bald Man's Gramps and played several games of SkipBo
5. Went to Cooper's wedding, where The Bald Man played amateur videographer, and Amelia snapped some pictures
6. Attended the reception for Cooper's wedding
7. Watched The Ball drop with Xabu and Piglet (and then promptly fell asleep)
8. Found only one geocache on our "Caching Anniversary" (it was too cold and wet to do any serious caching)
9. Finally returned home to our lonely kitties.

We had lots of fun. Amelia took a great picture this weekend, too :)

Game Night

Tonight was game night at our house. Tom's stocking-stuffer from Santa was the game of cribbage. Tom played it as a little boy with his grandma and mom. Now cribbage involves math and if you know me I hate math. Well guess what, the final score of tonight's games. Amy- 2, Tom- 1. Woo Hoo- math challenged and still carried the night! Guess we will have to play again to see if was beginner's luck.

The Potato Flip Diary #4

The Quest For the Perfect Flip

Good heavens, today sucked.

The Players

The Pan	7" cast iron skillet, well seasoned(???)
The Ingredients	Russet potato (~7 oz peeled and shredded) White onion, ~2 oz Pepperoni ~1 oz Salt and pepper Shredded cheese (~1 oz)
The Fat	Vegetable oil, ~ 1 tsp

The Plan

The plan was to saute the onions in a small amount of oil, add to the potatoes and pepperoni mixture, then add the remaining oil to the pan, add the potato mixture and fry 5-6 minutes per side, flipping in the middle, then cover with shredded cheese and bake in a 350 degree oven until the cheese melts.

The Results

Everything went OK until the potato mixture hit the pan. I formed the mass into shape without a lot of pressing down to flatten, which I thought might have been part of my previous problems. Evidently that wasn't it, as the potatoes stuck so hard I actually had to move the potatoes to another skillet to finish cooking.

The Verdict

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being hash browns and 10 being the "perfect flip," this experiment ranks about -10.

Lessons Learned

Today was awful. I had thought after last time that my pan wasn't seasoned enough, so I made sure that after last time, I greased it properly while still warm, something any number of sites tell me to do. It didn't seem to do anything. This was the worst stick of them all. I'm going to reseason the pan tonight, but I'm not sure if I'll ever get it right. If things keep going the way they are, I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and start using regular non-stick cookware.

Something to Ponder...

I forgot about this picture...



This is from our fall trip to Hocking Hills. Questions you ask yourself? Where does Bambi, Yogi, Bullwinkle or Wile E. go at night? The Motel 6 down the street?

The Potato Flip Diary #3

The Quest For the Perfect Flip

Well, I've had better attempts.

The Players

The Pan	7" cast iron skillet, well seasoned
The Ingredients	Red pototoes (~7 oz peeled and shredded) White onion, ~2 oz Pepperoni ~1 oz Salt and pepper Shredded cheese (~1 oz)
The Fat	Butter, < 1 tsp Vegetable oil, < 1 tsp

The Plan

The plan today was to sautee the onions over medium heat in the butter, then combine everything except the cheese and cook the flip over the same medium heat, this time in the vegetable oil. I extended the cooking time to ~8 minutes per side to get the nice GBD I wanted, before a quick trip to a 350 degree oven long enough to melt the cheese.

The Results

Failed. Miserably. The potatoes were so stuck to the bottom of the skillet that there was no way the mass could be flipped.

The Verdict

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being hash browns and 10 being the "perfect flip," this experiment ranks: 1.

Lessons Learned

So, I had hash browns today. Good thing I like them :) I'm not completely sure where I went wrong this morning, though I think it may have been a combination of using butter and lowering the stove top. It could also have been the pan, it may not have been as well seasoned as it should have been. Next time, I bump the heat back up to medium high, though I'll give the split fat one more try. I'll also make double-dog sure that the pan is nice and slick before I try this again.

Son of a... part 2

Oops- I cut my thumb this morning chopping lettuce. Guess what it doesn't matter if the knife is sharp or dull- it still hurts!

The Potato Flip Diary #2

The Quest For the Perfect Flip

All in all, today's exeperiment went better, although the players changed up a bit.

The Players

The Pan	7" cast iron skillet, well seasoned
The Ingredients	Red pototoes (~7.5 oz peeled and shredded) Bacon (1 rasher, crumbled) Misc dry seasonings Shredded cheese (~1 oz)
The Fat	Vegetable oil, ~ 1 tsp

The Method

Ack! I didn't have any onion this morning, so I had to make do without. Combined the potatoes, bacon and misc seasonings (I honestly can't remember what they are, how bad is that?). Put the pan over high-ish heat to get things hot before I begain, then added the oil to the pan, swirled to coat the pan, then drop in the potato mixture, and press very lightly into shape. Cook 4-5 minutes per side, flipping halfway through. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top, then bake in 350 degree oven about 10 minutes.

The Results

Mostly positive. There was minor stickage before the first flip, but it was easily dislodged. The flip itself took two tries again, but it wasn't like last week when it was the butter keeping the flip from lifting off. It was because I didn't account for the steep sides of the pan, and the flip never got to turning. After baking, everything was pretty much stuck to the bottom again, but wasn't too difficult to dislodge.

The Verdict

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being hash browns and 10 being the "perfect flip," this experiment ranks about 8.5.

Lessons Learned

The vegetable oil is the way to go, at least for the cooking of the potatoes. Next time, when I have onions to deal with again, I think I'll sautee the onions in butter, but cook the flip in oil.

I need to keep in mind the sides of the pan when flipping. I almost had hash browns again this morning because of an uncareful flip.

I'm stumped why the flip would be sticking at all, both before the first flip and after the oven time. I'll have to check around the internet and see if I can come up with anything.

Son of a...

Again, I'm reminded that a dull knife is far more dangerous than a sharp one. We took our Henckels in to be sharpened tonight, and I was using an older one to cut up a potato. I had to push down way harder than normal, the potato slipped and nicked the middle finger on my left hand. Man, does it hurt! Can't wait to get our knives back...

Bah, Humbug!

Since the Christmas season began in August this year (just check the time the decorations came out in the stores!) I thought I was doing good and got 90% of our Christmas cards done and a gift for our Goddaughter bought and wrapped to send to California by December 5^th. I walked to the post office this morning and guess what- they are out of Christmas stamps!!! The postal worker was very rude when I commented that they were out the last time I stopped by in November. He responded in a manner of – “Lady they all ship the same get over it.” I know they all ship the same but I am the consumer and you make something I want to buy so have your holiday stamps in stock during the holiday season! Why do I want snowflake stamps in July?

Another post office grumble- Since I was steaming about the stamps I did not really pay attention to the cost of my shipment to CA. I am frugal- I admit it proudly. So when the smart-ass postal worker asked when I need my package to arrive I told him by December 25^th so nothing fancy (no special delivery, no signature required, no insurance etc.) Well it is going parcel post, which is fine with me. Well sending it parcel post is based on weight. If I sent it by priority mail (2-3 days) it is a flat rate of $4.05 Since I did not check the cost I ended up paying an extra $2.61 for slower service!

Another seasonal grumble. I was in JC Penney’s over the weekend. Shopping for birthdays (3 in December), a wedding (Dec 31st) and Christmas. I stood in line for 20 minutes to check out and when you ask for a box they tell you that they are out. Again- it is the busiest shopping season of the year. They should know folks are going to ask for boxes to wrap their gifts, PLAN AHEAD- order extra.

I hope the holiday season gets better than this.

A Long Way For Dinner

So, Amelia and I were supposed to pick up dinner to have with some friends this evening. Not being overly familiar with the area, I went to the company's website to look up the locations. Helpfully, they had all their locations linked to MapQuest. So, here's the location that we were going to head to. My mouse is next to the location, the one in Powell.

So, I clicked on the link to the Powell location, and I got this page on MapQuest. "What the hell?" thinks I. I mean, I know Powell is small, but I've found smaller locales.

So, I zoomed out, and kept zooming out until I finally saw this. Good thing that we decided to switch restaurants! We never had the optional water wings installed on Amelia's car!

The Potato Flip Diary #1

The Quest For the Perfect Flip

I've tried making potato rosti, which Amelia calls "potato flip," several times since I got our cast iron properly seasoned, with mixed success. I'm beginning to think that it's not the cast iron, but one or more of the following:

1. the ingredients
2. the methods
3. the guy holding the pan

To that end, I've decided to start keeping track of what I use and what I do when I make the flip, in hopes that I can get this figured out and start enjoying my breakfast again.

The Players

The Pan	7" cast iron skillet, well seasoned
The Ingredients	Red pototoes (~7.5 oz peeled and shredded) Yellow onion (~2 oz minced) Pepperoni (~.1 oz minced) Seasoned salt
The Fat	Butter, ~ 1 tbsp

The Method

I used about 1/2 tbsp of the butter to sautee the onions in a hottish skillet. Add them to shredded potatoes and minced pepperoni, season with seasoned salt and mix thoroughly. Melt the rest of the butter in the skillet, then drop in the potato mixture, press very lightly into shape. Cook 3-4 minutes per side, flipping halfway through. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top, then bake in 350 degree oven about 10 minutes.

The Results

Mixed results. On the plus side, the onions didn't stick during the sautee process, which leads me to believe that I should skip garlic altogether (I used to use a clove or two of garlic). I think that was the start of my downfall with previous attempts, because the garlic nearly always stuck, and it would go downhill from there. I had problems with the actual flipping, though. The potatoes stuck a bit to the bottom of the pan, but were dislodged without a lot of force. However, when I actually flipped, I had an issue. I think I had a little too much fat in the pan, because the pan didn't want to let go of the potatoes. It's not that they were stuck, because they slid around the pan once they were dislodged. So, the first flip attempt turned my flip into hash browns. I mushed everything back together as best as I could and tried flipping again, and got it mostly over. After baking, everything was pretty much stuck to the bottom again, but wasn't too difficult to dislodge.

The Verdict

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being hash browns and 10 being the "perfect flip," this experiment ranks about 6.5.

Lessons Learned

I switched several things from previous attempts. First, I used a different pan, the 7" pan rather than the 10" one. I've had more problems with the 7" pan, but it really is the right one to use. Second, as noted above, I didn't use garlic. I think that throughout my experiments, I'll continue to leave out the garlic, but I'm looking forward to putting it back in. The flip is good without it, but much better with it. Third, I used different potatoes. Previously I had used russets, which are a lot starchier than the reds I used today. The reds aren't the waxy potatoes, I don't think those would work at all, but they don't have nearly the starch as the russets. I think that might have helped, and I'll use them again next time.

I'm a little confused about the fat situation. On the one hand, I think there might not have been enough fat, since my potatoes stuck before flipping. On the other hand, I think there might have been too much fat, because the pan didn't want to let go of the potatoes for flipping. It could be that butter is the wrong fat to use. Next time, I'll use a smidge of vegetable oil and see if that helps.

And, yes, I know I'm a nerd for blogging in such detail about making my breakfast :P

Today's Activity

If you are able, go do it. It doesn't take long, and it could really help out someone in need.