SpooOOOoooky
Oct. 29th, 2020 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39End of October already!
Insane.
People keep saying, "I can't wait for this year to be over!" as if the social construct of "this year" matters at in the scheme of all things coronavirus. We're still screwed on January 1st 2021.
Although, I wonder if the election will change anything. Probably not. There are still too many of a certain generation around to continue sucking the life out of their children.
Aaaaaanyway. I had a busy week at work. I'm one of the people training captionists in our new software, so every day this week I had a presentation/training session to give. I was nervous for the first one, but actually they all went really well. My biggest concern wasn't public speaking, but rather my ability to operate the equipment needed for the presentations and training sessions. I'd hate to have a session delayed just because I can't get some speakers to work, or something.
Fortunately it all went well, just a few little hiccups that didn't really affect everyone's ability to complete training. I'm surprised that so far, no one in my training groups has asked for additional training time. All of them seem comfortable enough to use the software in a live setting. That makes me feel good, like I'm conveying the information in a digestible manner. And I kind of enjoy giving the presentation, answering questions, and helping people. It's kind of nice.
As a little treat for myself after my first successful training session, I decided to visit a local plant nursery specializing in succulents and carnivorous plants. I was looking for a pitcher plant for the house, to help catch some of the gnats and fruit flies that are following us inside this time of year. The owner didn't have any trumpet pitchers, which is what I was looking for, but she did have flytraps and the hanging-type of pitchers. I didn't buy anything but she promised to have some trumpet pitchers by Friday so I will check back in to see. She was very nice and all her plants looked wonderfully healthy :)
Although that trip didn't work out, I had already secretly ordered myself some more plants! No, I don't have a plant problem! Why would you say that???
The neat thing about carnivorous plants is that if you're buying them as rhizomes/seedlings, they're usually pretty cheap. These plants are notoriously tempermental and difficult to keep alive, which is part of why buying a large one can be very expensive (some pitcher plants go for THOUSANDS of dollars!).
It was easy for me to find a flytrap and a sundew in Florida. Sundews grow here naturally so they're fairly easy to come across, and flytraps can be found in almost any hardware store. I got mine from a local farmstead. The other two plants I ordered are from Ohio of all places! One was just a regular trumpet pitcher, which like I said I want because they do well indoors. But these are SUPER tiny, I'm talking the size of a quarter, so it will be a good long while before they're catching anything. For that reason they can stay outside in a pot.
The other plant is one I've been pining after ever since I saw it online. It's called a butterwort, and actually these grow natively in Florida as well. There are many kinds of butterwort, but I was especially captivated by the Mexican butterworts and their cultivars. Florida-native butterworts are green with long, floppy leaves. The Mexican butterworts look very similar to a succulent, growing in tight rosettes and having a beautiful white-and-pink coloring. Not only that, they are carnivorous plants after all, and at certain times of year they develop pupillae similar to a sundew.
Here is a sample picture from the interwebs:
I just had to have one. They're not expensive, and they're beautiful. You know? Why not. Here is the one that arrived in the mail. It's a "pinguicula Florian". It's super tiny, but absolutely beautiful. It will be a while before it develops digestive fluid or anything but for now I'm just happy it looks healthy.
So now I have all four carnivorous plants together. I really hope I can keep them alive through the winter...it's going to be a challenge. Wish me luck!
I was relieved when Tuesday finally arrived. I had a nice big glass of wine and Jameson and I watched the last episode of Bly Manor together. It was...intense. Still digesting that. If you haven't seen Haunting of Hill House or Haunting of Bly Manor, I highly recommend both.
On Wednesday I was feeling a little stressed, so tried to distract myself with chores and cooking. As usual.
I wiped down all the counters and cabinet doors in the kitchen. After Jameson got up I vacuumed, then went out to the garden to see how things are growing. It's still hot here so some of my less heat-resistant plants look pretty terrible. Most of the carrots are small and wilted (again), but one of them looks ok. I hope it makes it.
The jalapeno has actually produced a pretty big pepper! And there are lots more flowers, so I'm hoping we'll get a good crop from it.
The tomatoes are all sprawling and gangly thanks to the heat, with very little fruit. But at least they DO have some fruit. The cherry cutting has about eight tomatoes, while the "best boy" has only one but it looks to be growing well.
The cranberry hibiscus is now taller than me (when I planted it just a few months ago it was like a foot tall) and covered in buds. I'm excited to see it bloom!
Too soon it was time for lunch. I ate quickly, then got to work on dinner because there was a lot of prep work involved.
First I made green aji verde sauce (mayo, greek yogurt, cilantro, jalapeno, parmesan cheese, lime juice, garlic). The jalapeno I got from the store was a dud, so I ended up adding sriracha as well.
Next I cooked some chicken breasts for the filling, then shredded it with a fork.
When that was done I carmelized some onions and garlic on the stove, added the chicken and some spices and chicken broth, and let that simmer for about 30 minutes.
By the time that was done it was nearly 3pm. Jameson put on Pee-Wee's Big Adventure for us to watch, brought back a lot of nostalgia as I used to watch Pee-Wee's Playhouse as a kid.
Around dinnertime I began filling the empanadas. I rolled out some premade pie crusts and cut circles in them with a large cup, then dropped a few tablespoons of filling in each circle and crimped it closed with a fork. I poked air holes in the top, then brushed each empanada with a little egg and milk.
They came out delicious, although way too delicate because of the pastry crust. Next time I'll use pizza dough, it'll probably be a lot sturdier. Still it was a good meal!
I also made a few "pumpkin pie" empanadas! Canned pumpkin is so super cheap, and all you have to do is add everyday spices and a bit of sugar to make an awesome dessert. I topped mine with a little vanilla ice cream and homemade whipped cream. Yum!
After dinner I had class. I wasn't really in the mood but I did get to work with some new steno software so that was fun at least.
Thursday, it was very windy outside. After breakfast I meal prepped for the week and watched some tutorials on my steno software. Jameson had a busy day of starting a new term, answering student questions, grading, and course design, so I tried to leave him alone. We had planned to go get carving pumpkins today, but since he was so busy I just got them myself (I used to get them for us on the circus too). It was surprisingly hard to find pumpkins just a few days before Halloween, but I guess Christmas comes earlier and earlier every year. At Lowe's there were only a few sad pumpkins left, and they didn't look very good, so I tried Walmart and no luck. Finally I found some at Publix, but they were very big. I guess we'll just have a lot of seeds this year! I'll post pics of them when we start carving Friday or Saturday :)
Back home I decided to roast the kabocha squash I'd gotten myself earlier in the week. If you've never had kabocha squash (also called Japanese pumpkin), you should definitely give it a try! I had it for the first time while working on the cruise ship and was hooked. It roasts up similarly to sweet potato fries, but it's got a creamier, sweeter, and drier texture. Not to mention it's very nutritious, and you can eat the skin! You can go sweet or savory with it, I prefer savory so decorated mine with garlic salt, pepper, and a little cardamom. 8 minutes in the air fryer and I had perfect crispy delicious kabocha fries.
I also decided to make some more granola. My goal in making granola every month is to cut down on the amount of processed cereal and other snacks that I would normally buy. Granola is a food I could eat forever, I never seem to get tired of it. And when it's made at home it's cheaper and healthier than most cereals and chips/crackers. There you have it.
This time I made cherry almond dark chocolate granola! I had some leftover almond slivers from an Asian dish I'd made a while ago, and some leftover pepitas too. The dried cherries were a bit expensive but they're SO delicious, I wanted to splurge on them just this once. I used those plus all the usual ingredients from the original recipe: oats, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The last time I made granola it didn't clump, so this time I took extra steps to hopefully get the clumping effect I was looking for. I added a tablespoon of egg whites (if you're doing a whole recipe use 1 egg white, I was halving it) which is supposed to act as a binder. I was also careful to mix all the wet ingredients together before adding them to the dry. I kept a close eye on the granola during cooking and took care not to leave it in too long. When the granola was done cooking I left it on the counter for an hour and a half/until it was completely cooled.
And it STILL didn't clump. DAMMIT!
I don't know what on earth I'm doing wrong. All I can think to do is add more egg whites next time, or just give up on forcing clumps to happen entirely.
As I was getting ready for bed, an idea struck. I went back to the stove and dumped the granola into a saucepan, and put it on low heat. The dark chocolate chips began to melt...and coat the granola. I spread it on a sheet pan and waited for it to cool and harden.
After about an hour it STILL wasn't hardening. In a panic, I threw it in the fridge.
About 30 minutes later...we've got clumps people!
This doesn't fix my overall issue with getting clumping, but it at least helps for this batch. I suspect I'll need to use a different sweetener that will have a stronger binding ability, like maybe brown sugar. We'll see.
I worked on steno for about an hour while Jameson taught a class, then watched him play some spooky-themed games: Carrion and Man of Medan. Tomorrow we'll carve pumpkins, and hopefully I'll have enough time to roast some of the seeds. I want to make caramel apples too but really doubt I'll have time for both activities.
That's my week. Hope you all have a nice end of October and a Happy Halloween!
Insane.
People keep saying, "I can't wait for this year to be over!" as if the social construct of "this year" matters at in the scheme of all things coronavirus. We're still screwed on January 1st 2021.
Although, I wonder if the election will change anything. Probably not. There are still too many of a certain generation around to continue sucking the life out of their children.
Aaaaaanyway. I had a busy week at work. I'm one of the people training captionists in our new software, so every day this week I had a presentation/training session to give. I was nervous for the first one, but actually they all went really well. My biggest concern wasn't public speaking, but rather my ability to operate the equipment needed for the presentations and training sessions. I'd hate to have a session delayed just because I can't get some speakers to work, or something.
Fortunately it all went well, just a few little hiccups that didn't really affect everyone's ability to complete training. I'm surprised that so far, no one in my training groups has asked for additional training time. All of them seem comfortable enough to use the software in a live setting. That makes me feel good, like I'm conveying the information in a digestible manner. And I kind of enjoy giving the presentation, answering questions, and helping people. It's kind of nice.
As a little treat for myself after my first successful training session, I decided to visit a local plant nursery specializing in succulents and carnivorous plants. I was looking for a pitcher plant for the house, to help catch some of the gnats and fruit flies that are following us inside this time of year. The owner didn't have any trumpet pitchers, which is what I was looking for, but she did have flytraps and the hanging-type of pitchers. I didn't buy anything but she promised to have some trumpet pitchers by Friday so I will check back in to see. She was very nice and all her plants looked wonderfully healthy :)
Although that trip didn't work out, I had already secretly ordered myself some more plants! No, I don't have a plant problem! Why would you say that???
The neat thing about carnivorous plants is that if you're buying them as rhizomes/seedlings, they're usually pretty cheap. These plants are notoriously tempermental and difficult to keep alive, which is part of why buying a large one can be very expensive (some pitcher plants go for THOUSANDS of dollars!).
It was easy for me to find a flytrap and a sundew in Florida. Sundews grow here naturally so they're fairly easy to come across, and flytraps can be found in almost any hardware store. I got mine from a local farmstead. The other two plants I ordered are from Ohio of all places! One was just a regular trumpet pitcher, which like I said I want because they do well indoors. But these are SUPER tiny, I'm talking the size of a quarter, so it will be a good long while before they're catching anything. For that reason they can stay outside in a pot.
The other plant is one I've been pining after ever since I saw it online. It's called a butterwort, and actually these grow natively in Florida as well. There are many kinds of butterwort, but I was especially captivated by the Mexican butterworts and their cultivars. Florida-native butterworts are green with long, floppy leaves. The Mexican butterworts look very similar to a succulent, growing in tight rosettes and having a beautiful white-and-pink coloring. Not only that, they are carnivorous plants after all, and at certain times of year they develop pupillae similar to a sundew.
Here is a sample picture from the interwebs:
I just had to have one. They're not expensive, and they're beautiful. You know? Why not. Here is the one that arrived in the mail. It's a "pinguicula Florian". It's super tiny, but absolutely beautiful. It will be a while before it develops digestive fluid or anything but for now I'm just happy it looks healthy.
So now I have all four carnivorous plants together. I really hope I can keep them alive through the winter...it's going to be a challenge. Wish me luck!
I was relieved when Tuesday finally arrived. I had a nice big glass of wine and Jameson and I watched the last episode of Bly Manor together. It was...intense. Still digesting that. If you haven't seen Haunting of Hill House or Haunting of Bly Manor, I highly recommend both.
On Wednesday I was feeling a little stressed, so tried to distract myself with chores and cooking. As usual.
I wiped down all the counters and cabinet doors in the kitchen. After Jameson got up I vacuumed, then went out to the garden to see how things are growing. It's still hot here so some of my less heat-resistant plants look pretty terrible. Most of the carrots are small and wilted (again), but one of them looks ok. I hope it makes it.
The jalapeno has actually produced a pretty big pepper! And there are lots more flowers, so I'm hoping we'll get a good crop from it.
The tomatoes are all sprawling and gangly thanks to the heat, with very little fruit. But at least they DO have some fruit. The cherry cutting has about eight tomatoes, while the "best boy" has only one but it looks to be growing well.
The cranberry hibiscus is now taller than me (when I planted it just a few months ago it was like a foot tall) and covered in buds. I'm excited to see it bloom!
Too soon it was time for lunch. I ate quickly, then got to work on dinner because there was a lot of prep work involved.
First I made green aji verde sauce (mayo, greek yogurt, cilantro, jalapeno, parmesan cheese, lime juice, garlic). The jalapeno I got from the store was a dud, so I ended up adding sriracha as well.
Next I cooked some chicken breasts for the filling, then shredded it with a fork.
When that was done I carmelized some onions and garlic on the stove, added the chicken and some spices and chicken broth, and let that simmer for about 30 minutes.
By the time that was done it was nearly 3pm. Jameson put on Pee-Wee's Big Adventure for us to watch, brought back a lot of nostalgia as I used to watch Pee-Wee's Playhouse as a kid.
Around dinnertime I began filling the empanadas. I rolled out some premade pie crusts and cut circles in them with a large cup, then dropped a few tablespoons of filling in each circle and crimped it closed with a fork. I poked air holes in the top, then brushed each empanada with a little egg and milk.
They came out delicious, although way too delicate because of the pastry crust. Next time I'll use pizza dough, it'll probably be a lot sturdier. Still it was a good meal!
I also made a few "pumpkin pie" empanadas! Canned pumpkin is so super cheap, and all you have to do is add everyday spices and a bit of sugar to make an awesome dessert. I topped mine with a little vanilla ice cream and homemade whipped cream. Yum!
After dinner I had class. I wasn't really in the mood but I did get to work with some new steno software so that was fun at least.
Thursday, it was very windy outside. After breakfast I meal prepped for the week and watched some tutorials on my steno software. Jameson had a busy day of starting a new term, answering student questions, grading, and course design, so I tried to leave him alone. We had planned to go get carving pumpkins today, but since he was so busy I just got them myself (I used to get them for us on the circus too). It was surprisingly hard to find pumpkins just a few days before Halloween, but I guess Christmas comes earlier and earlier every year. At Lowe's there were only a few sad pumpkins left, and they didn't look very good, so I tried Walmart and no luck. Finally I found some at Publix, but they were very big. I guess we'll just have a lot of seeds this year! I'll post pics of them when we start carving Friday or Saturday :)
Back home I decided to roast the kabocha squash I'd gotten myself earlier in the week. If you've never had kabocha squash (also called Japanese pumpkin), you should definitely give it a try! I had it for the first time while working on the cruise ship and was hooked. It roasts up similarly to sweet potato fries, but it's got a creamier, sweeter, and drier texture. Not to mention it's very nutritious, and you can eat the skin! You can go sweet or savory with it, I prefer savory so decorated mine with garlic salt, pepper, and a little cardamom. 8 minutes in the air fryer and I had perfect crispy delicious kabocha fries.
I also decided to make some more granola. My goal in making granola every month is to cut down on the amount of processed cereal and other snacks that I would normally buy. Granola is a food I could eat forever, I never seem to get tired of it. And when it's made at home it's cheaper and healthier than most cereals and chips/crackers. There you have it.
This time I made cherry almond dark chocolate granola! I had some leftover almond slivers from an Asian dish I'd made a while ago, and some leftover pepitas too. The dried cherries were a bit expensive but they're SO delicious, I wanted to splurge on them just this once. I used those plus all the usual ingredients from the original recipe: oats, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The last time I made granola it didn't clump, so this time I took extra steps to hopefully get the clumping effect I was looking for. I added a tablespoon of egg whites (if you're doing a whole recipe use 1 egg white, I was halving it) which is supposed to act as a binder. I was also careful to mix all the wet ingredients together before adding them to the dry. I kept a close eye on the granola during cooking and took care not to leave it in too long. When the granola was done cooking I left it on the counter for an hour and a half/until it was completely cooled.
And it STILL didn't clump. DAMMIT!
I don't know what on earth I'm doing wrong. All I can think to do is add more egg whites next time, or just give up on forcing clumps to happen entirely.
As I was getting ready for bed, an idea struck. I went back to the stove and dumped the granola into a saucepan, and put it on low heat. The dark chocolate chips began to melt...and coat the granola. I spread it on a sheet pan and waited for it to cool and harden.
After about an hour it STILL wasn't hardening. In a panic, I threw it in the fridge.
About 30 minutes later...we've got clumps people!
This doesn't fix my overall issue with getting clumping, but it at least helps for this batch. I suspect I'll need to use a different sweetener that will have a stronger binding ability, like maybe brown sugar. We'll see.
I worked on steno for about an hour while Jameson taught a class, then watched him play some spooky-themed games: Carrion and Man of Medan. Tomorrow we'll carve pumpkins, and hopefully I'll have enough time to roast some of the seeds. I want to make caramel apples too but really doubt I'll have time for both activities.
That's my week. Hope you all have a nice end of October and a Happy Halloween!
