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Jan. 16th, 2018 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zesty_pintoImagine a well-made batter dipped fish filet. A heavy, thick, egg batter wrapped around the sheet of meat and crusted with a light, flaky panko topping that integrates into the thick, glue-like barrier and becomes one: a perfect barrier for the oil to take as it loses moisture into a crispy, delicious experience of soft and hard.
Now imagine that fish filet is your car, the batter is sheet ice, and the panko is three inches of snow.
What I like about really cold weather is that snow refuses to stick around. Five inches? Yeah, some of it is going into my ankle on the way to the car, but I can swipe my arm and most of it will brush off. This, though, was the product of the perfect amalgamation of transitional weather into negative temperatures.
When we left the car on the rare warm day this winter, it rained on us mercilessly for 48 hours straight along with the rest of the Eastern half of the United States.
That rain slowly froze into sheet ice, my most hated enemy. Every place that gravity would allow soon draped over as it added another layer of glass to my windshield.
That sheet ice at least then started to accumulate with snow, which it would do for the next eight hours.
The snow became not only obtrusive as a result, but a pain in the butt to remove.
Ever had a dream where you had to dismantle an igloo? I haven't, and after thirty minutes of scraping, cracking (thank god the glass wasn't damaged), and relentless hands, we managed to get the front and back windows cleared enough to make it driveable. I think the ice on the hood and our roof is not going to be removable anytime soon.
It took me three days just to get the wipers cleared enough to use them, when it started snowing again last night. That was where I got my money's worth out of a tiny scraper.
DIY
So this weekend we needed to hit the hardware store because the curtains came in. My neighbors, who may have been affected by a frozen pipe or a plumbing problem, have been away but after some discussion with them a few weeks back, they can hear us through the walls relatively easily. Like, easily enough to hear the TV through the wall (the TV is not against their wall), so we took a Russian route with this: we got curtains and a set of soundproofing sheets and set them up for our bedroom.
For an amateur that doesn't have the best idea on how to measure things, I think I did a decent enough job; four reinforcement points for the curtain rod, dremel to saw the wood and a serrated knife to finish the block off followed by a drill bit to make a hole for the insertion point. The pole's ugly. The rest is gorgeous, though.
Our bedroom is now surprisingly quieter. I'm not sure how much sound is muffled for them, but I'm hoping this means they won't be able to hear us through the walls as much at the least.
I need to do the guest room next, which I already marked but haven't had the chance to drill because we've been coming home late. Work's been keeping us busy.
I've been gaming more often and I did pick up a door anchor, so I've been trying to do some arm work between my other activities, which include playing old games and-
Cooking
I made sushi for the first time in years.
I made inari as well as what I like to call a "bagel maki" - smoked salmon, cream cheese, chives, cucumbers, and avocado. Rice was a bit dry because I only seasoned the inari, but still worked wonderfully.
Last night I used these new big bowls that are normally for serving salad but also perfect for large bowl dishes like ramen. I made poke with shredded greens, green peppers, shredded ginger, the salmon, seasoned rice with vinegar/sugar and toasted sesame seeds, julienned cucumber, and some of those pickles as well.
I also finally made these chayotes that Michelle's parents gave me into soy pickles. Also fantastic, they go well with a lot of things. They also went through my soy sauce supplies in the process. I'll be hitting Amazon soon I think.
I baked some boneless porkchops with a shake and bake and now that doubles as a cheap katsu shortcut. I think I'll have to see how to repeat the process. This was just baking though, the typical recipe seems to suggest doing a fry first. I'd rather not because frying is a PITA, so will have to figure out how to hack this.
I used the cast iron before all this and made some chicken and dumplings. Or as Michelle liked to call it, chicken and vegan hamburger. I have no idea how I did it, but she kept saying how it reminded her of hamburger. Not enough water maybe?
I still have a pumpkin that I said I would make into pie and it's starting to go soft, so I think this will have to be tonight's agenda.
In terms of dinner in general, I guess I'll make some sort of vegetable medley of some kind. Maybe stir fry.
I took photos because I'm now part of a Facebook group that posts memes and food, so I'll share those along the way.
Now imagine that fish filet is your car, the batter is sheet ice, and the panko is three inches of snow.
What I like about really cold weather is that snow refuses to stick around. Five inches? Yeah, some of it is going into my ankle on the way to the car, but I can swipe my arm and most of it will brush off. This, though, was the product of the perfect amalgamation of transitional weather into negative temperatures.
When we left the car on the rare warm day this winter, it rained on us mercilessly for 48 hours straight along with the rest of the Eastern half of the United States.
That rain slowly froze into sheet ice, my most hated enemy. Every place that gravity would allow soon draped over as it added another layer of glass to my windshield.
That sheet ice at least then started to accumulate with snow, which it would do for the next eight hours.
The snow became not only obtrusive as a result, but a pain in the butt to remove.
Ever had a dream where you had to dismantle an igloo? I haven't, and after thirty minutes of scraping, cracking (thank god the glass wasn't damaged), and relentless hands, we managed to get the front and back windows cleared enough to make it driveable. I think the ice on the hood and our roof is not going to be removable anytime soon.
It took me three days just to get the wipers cleared enough to use them, when it started snowing again last night. That was where I got my money's worth out of a tiny scraper.
DIY
So this weekend we needed to hit the hardware store because the curtains came in. My neighbors, who may have been affected by a frozen pipe or a plumbing problem, have been away but after some discussion with them a few weeks back, they can hear us through the walls relatively easily. Like, easily enough to hear the TV through the wall (the TV is not against their wall), so we took a Russian route with this: we got curtains and a set of soundproofing sheets and set them up for our bedroom.
For an amateur that doesn't have the best idea on how to measure things, I think I did a decent enough job; four reinforcement points for the curtain rod, dremel to saw the wood and a serrated knife to finish the block off followed by a drill bit to make a hole for the insertion point. The pole's ugly. The rest is gorgeous, though.
Our bedroom is now surprisingly quieter. I'm not sure how much sound is muffled for them, but I'm hoping this means they won't be able to hear us through the walls as much at the least.
I need to do the guest room next, which I already marked but haven't had the chance to drill because we've been coming home late. Work's been keeping us busy.
I've been gaming more often and I did pick up a door anchor, so I've been trying to do some arm work between my other activities, which include playing old games and-
Cooking
I made sushi for the first time in years.
I made inari as well as what I like to call a "bagel maki" - smoked salmon, cream cheese, chives, cucumbers, and avocado. Rice was a bit dry because I only seasoned the inari, but still worked wonderfully.
Last night I used these new big bowls that are normally for serving salad but also perfect for large bowl dishes like ramen. I made poke with shredded greens, green peppers, shredded ginger, the salmon, seasoned rice with vinegar/sugar and toasted sesame seeds, julienned cucumber, and some of those pickles as well.
I also finally made these chayotes that Michelle's parents gave me into soy pickles. Also fantastic, they go well with a lot of things. They also went through my soy sauce supplies in the process. I'll be hitting Amazon soon I think.
I baked some boneless porkchops with a shake and bake and now that doubles as a cheap katsu shortcut. I think I'll have to see how to repeat the process. This was just baking though, the typical recipe seems to suggest doing a fry first. I'd rather not because frying is a PITA, so will have to figure out how to hack this.
I used the cast iron before all this and made some chicken and dumplings. Or as Michelle liked to call it, chicken and vegan hamburger. I have no idea how I did it, but she kept saying how it reminded her of hamburger. Not enough water maybe?
I still have a pumpkin that I said I would make into pie and it's starting to go soft, so I think this will have to be tonight's agenda.
In terms of dinner in general, I guess I'll make some sort of vegetable medley of some kind. Maybe stir fry.
I took photos because I'm now part of a Facebook group that posts memes and food, so I'll share those along the way.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-17 07:39 pm (UTC)We've had "weather," but it's gone pretty immediately. I need some MAJOR weather. I want time off from work.
I'm scared to make my own sushi. What if I poison us all? I think about that Simpsons episode with the blowfish fish, even though I'd never do something like that. I don't even like raw sushi, actually.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-17 08:32 pm (UTC)lol If you don't like raw sushi, then you don't have to worry too much. TBH, getting sushi-grade fish is hard for me to do without shelling a real payment for it (plus Michelle isn't a fan of raw fish either), so I usually end up using cooked items or smoked fish as well. Smoked seems to be a decent enough compromise for Michelle as she loves Philadelphia rolls (smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumber, basically the sushi equivalent of a light brunch sandwich). Inari itself is pretty much a rice ball in a fried tofu pouch. Very savory and sweet and fairly easy to make, uh, if you can get access to the fried tofu.
Anyway, general rule for fish is the less fishy it smells, the better the cut and the better to handle. Parasites might be another factor, which you can freeze out after a week or two in a freezer. Don't be afraid to drink or have it with wasabi in that case, or you can do the Korean route and have it sashimi style with gochujan (think of it as a sweeter, thicker equivalent to sriracha).
no subject
Date: 2018-01-22 09:34 pm (UTC)I can sometimes do a Philly roll depending on my mood. My favorite tends to California rolls and variations of it (yeah, yeah, I know). One place near us has basically a cali roll with cream cheese added, and shrimp on top. Yum!
I also like a well done Volcano roll, depending on the prep (I know it's different everywhere).
I keep telling Doug we need to try making it ourselves. At least California rolls would be easy.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-17 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-22 09:37 pm (UTC)