5-6-26

 W: 316.2            BS:

• Herbed rolls
• Stuffed loin chops
• Dishes 1
• Dishes 2
• Laundry?
• Clean kitchen
• Vacuum 1
• Vacuum 2
• ?

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The butter bread recipe, with herbs and done as dinner rolls.

• Garlic
• Black peppercorns
• Red peppercorns
• Thai basil
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Kosher salt

All spun up together in a spice grinder.

11 identical rolls, done by weight.  12 minutes at 450.

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I'm becoming more and more convinced the single biggest problem our society has is not enough people receiving impact therapy to genitals and knees.  'Ye shall know the villainous by their limp".

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5-5-26

 W: 316.6        BS: NA

• 
  

Life with 'people' is a big game of 'choose your battles'.  I like things neat and orderly, and the 'people' I live with have no experience with neat and orderly. This leaves it to me to clean up after myself, AND them.   My energy is limited by the heart thing.  Over the last five years I have learned to pick and choose, and not push beyond what my body agrees with.  I've done that... it didn't end well.  It would take a team of ninja maids to clean after people who can't even SEE* the endless trash and clutter they create.  I am in no way a team of ninja maids.

Well, we have people coming for dinner tomorrow.  Something I usually avoid for exactly the  reason I am dealing with today and tomorrow.  I am ashamed of this home, and it cuts deadly deep that I must make the choices I do.

I'll spend today and tomorrow trying to first-pass the place into an acceptable condition.  Even while the 'people' continue to recreate their chosen environment right behind me as I clean.  I will not succeed, but I must try anyway.

* I have come to understand these people really don't see the trash and clutter.  It's their normal.  They will happily step over a piece of paper laying in a hallway for months without ever registering they did so.   Months... or forever really.  It's not that they expect someone else to clean up after them.  They have no idea at all anything needs cleaned up.  Both sinks and the counter can be (and have been) covered in stacked dirty dishes, and not one of them would even have a notion towards doing dishes.  They don't see them.  On a fairly regular basis I take photos of the worst piles and messes, and text them to my wife.  Each time I get "OMG, I didn't realize!" and something may...may... get done on a short term.   The reality is it's too late for these people.  Their life pattern is set, and it's under a nice comfy pile of trash and debris.

I am not equipped for that battle anymore.  I did it my whole life.  Just can't anymore. The worst part is knowing they don't care what it does to me.

I think I'll just go drink till *I* can't see it either.

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Butter bread recipe

 

I call this 'Butter Bread', for obvious reasons.  Tender, rich, and yes... buttery.  Also dead simple to make, slices like a dream, and makes wonderful toast and sandwiches.  I use a kitchenaid to do the bulk of the work, but by hand is a winner too.

 1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees).
 3 cups bread flour. 2.5 cups for dough and .5 cup to adjust dough and flour the board.
 1 stick salted butter, melted and well warmed.
 2 teaspoons sugar.
 1 teaspoon salt (to taste).
 2 teaspoons dry yeast.

• In your mixing bowl, put two teaspoons of dry yeast, one cup of bread flour, and one cup of warm water.  Add two teaspoons of sugar.  Whisk till well combined, and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes in a warm spot.  If the yeast is good, a very active and bubbly sponge will be formed.
• While the wee yeastie beasties are having sexy time, melt a stick of butter in the microwave. Melt, not boil.  Preferably salted butter, as that's what the recipe allows for.
• When the sponge is bubbling well, add one teaspoon of salt, all the melted butter, and 1.5 more cups of bread flour to the bowl.  Using the bread hook, run on speed 2 till the dough pulls together.  We are looking for a silky and slightly sticky dough that just leaves the bowl clean, but maybe sticks and pulls just a little.  If it looks too sticky, add a spoonful of the reserved flour every minute as it kneads till it looks right.  It's far easier to add flour than it is to add water.
• Knead (Machine or hand) for three to four minutes.  Put the dough in an oiled bowl (I just use the same mixer bowl, spritzed with olive oil) and cover.  Place in a warm spot for thirty minutes to rise.
• After thirty minutes place dough on a lightly floured spot and flatten it out.  Fold it back in using letter folds in one direction, then the other, till the dough gets too tight to work easily.  Place it back in the oiled bowl and back to the warm spot for another twenty to thirty minutes.
• After the dough has relaxed and risen more, form it into the desired loaf shape, or place in a bread pan if it's to be sandwich/toast bread.  If using a bread pan, butter it well or line with parchment*.   Turn the oven on to 450, and allow the dough to do it's final rise while the oven preheats.
• When the oven is ready, and the dough has risen well, brush it gently with egg wash and slightly score the top if you wish.  Now is time to sprinkle on toasted sesame seed if that is to taste.
• Bake at 450 for 20-25 minutes, and then start checking internal temp with a quick probe. 190-200 degrees is the goal. Lower means more tender, and higher means crustier.
• Allow the bread to cool completely on a rack before slicing.

*Parchment lined pan hack:  If you have two pans the same size that nest, place a parchment sheet over one greased pan, and use the second to press that parchment into place.  Weight the second pan with canned goods and let sit till it's needed.  The parchment will be shaped to the pan perfectly, with no cutting and fitting.

5-4-26

 W: 316.6                BS: 134

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5-1-26 Meme Dump

 W: 315.6            BS: 109

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4-29-26

 W: 315.0                BS: 132

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Everything comes with a price. 

Sometimes it's your money. 

Sometimes it's your time. 

Sometimes it's your sanity. 

Sometimes it's your soul.

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4-28-26

 W: 315.0.          BS: 157

4-27-26

 W: 317.8                BS: 109

• Dishes 1
• Dishes 2
• Laundry
• Sort/put away
• Vacuum 1
• Vacuum 2
• Cages away
• Fix wagon
• Move boat
• Fix door
• Meat sale
• Trash
• ?

Couple hours sleep.  3?  4?  Whatever. Hang.

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So... this special guy who tried to shoot up the liars ball in DC. Has anyone added up just HOW MANY gun laws he broke? Just curious.

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Tiny garden update....

 Lessee....

• Mint
• Parsley
• Daikon radish
• Oregano
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Sage
• Lettuce leaf basil
• Italian basil
• Horseradish
• Scarlet globe radish
• Autumn red radish
• Tennis ball lettuce
• Spring onion
• Macomber turnips
• Thousand head kale
• Butternut squash
• Zucchini squash
• Various tomatoes
• Various peppers
• (yet to appear)  Cucumbers
• (yet to appear) Pole beans

4-25-26

 W: 319.0            BS: 137

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The flat rate mind....

Here's a glimpse into how Flat-Rate techs think.  This is actually a mental plan created on-the-go.  Flat rate techs do this ALL DAY LONG.

Next ten minutes....

• Take dirty plate to sink
• Get supplements from counter next to sink and take them
• Carry laundry basket upstairs
• Dump basket on my side of the bed
• Sort and separate laundry
• Gather dirty clothes into now empty basket
• Fill med case for next two weeks
• Take today's meds
• Grab toady's cigars from humidor next to meds
• (Add:  Good healthy poo)
• (Add:  Grab med thing for downstairs)
• Carry dirty laundry and cigars downstairs
• Load and run washer
• (Add:  Fill test kit)
• Go smoke a cigar and sip coffee

There's a solid plan for the next few minutes.

4-24-26

 W: 316.8            BS: 130

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I've known many people, and many kinds of people. This morning I am thinking about Lawyers and Criminals, and the intersections between the groups.   There are good and bad of each, and a vast group in the middle who are unremarkable.  That said, I believe lawyers and criminals share a trait I've seen more in those groups than anywhere else. The lack of morality.  The lack of a sense of right and wrong.  Not all of them obviously.  Some of each group can be damn fine people.  I know some personally and well.  But... many lack a moral center.  They are not guided by right and wrong, but by the questions "Will I get caught?" and "What can they do to me?".

Of course, when we see someone who is all of the above;  Lawyer, Criminal, and no moral center.... that is the land politicians come from.

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The oregano took well, and came back in abundance this year.

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'Cloche'

Cloche, a thing to cover plants when they are young and tender.  Makes a lot of sense.  Each plant gets it's own little greenhouse.  Retains heat and moisture and staves off killing frosts.

I suppose if I had a fine aristocratic nose to look down at people from, I might have the fancy glass versions ($25 each)

Or, if I was even lazier than I am and a spendthrift to boot, I could buy them in plastic from Amazon ($1 each).

I'm neither of those things.  I'm a cheap old bast.... um.... frugal gentleman.  The wife has aquariums, and that means distilled water in multiple gallon jugs at a time.  The resulting empty plastic bottles need only the bottom cut off to make a very serviceable cloche at my favorite price ($0).

This is why I have well started zucchini, butternut, and basil plants in zone 6b in mid-April.

Re-use, re-purpose, re-cycle.

4-23-26

 W: 318.2            BS: 80

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Fixed income bargain shopper that I am, I'm now using Walmart for the bulk of our groceries.  Why?  They sell the commodity a little less expensive.  Even with delivery and loss of 'gas points', it still comes out cheaper for the family. In addition, they screw up a lot less than Giant and so far have never scammed us on coupon details. Sure, I still watch the other stores like a hawk, snatching bargains as and when.

Walmart has this 'meal deal'.  A middlin small rotisserie chicken and two 'large' (undefined) sides (Potatoes and mac), all for $10.  It looked of possibilities, so I added three of same to our last grocery order.

The 'large' sides were bigger than expected.  The potatoes, astonishingly, were real, and had a splash of gravy.  The mac n cheese was lackluster but edible.  Needed hot sauce and garlic.  The chickens were actually tasty and moist, without too much salt which I had feared.

From the $30 in meals deals the family ate for several days, at least three meals combined. The kiddos sat down and demolished the sides before day two was over.  All the easily usable meat was off the chickens by day three, and that included sliced chicken, chicken salad, and chicken soup.  The three busted down and broken carcasses went into the pressure cooker and yielded eight quarts of really rich stock.

All in all, this deal works. Fair value and the minions were pleased to stuff their gobs.

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