Protecting to Death

Kids and dogs are being protected in dozens of ways. We vaccinate like mad, and it seems that there's a new thing we need to be afraid of and medicate against every year. Chicken pox has become this thing that must be guarded against by pumping chemicals into their bodies. The flu has become this demon that all must guard against. Diets must be so protected and balanced that children lose the ability to try what works for them. Dogs are given diets balanced off of a human model, which doesn't even work for them. We listen to our doctors and our often lied to vets.

Children are getting more unhealthy and more allergies are cropping up. Their parents bleached their toys and playpens and clothing so they'd never encounter bacteria. Bacteria is good! While I don't suggest letting your child lick a day-old meat cutting board, the bacteria found in rolling in the dirt or eating off the floor helps prime the immune system. They WILL encounter harmful things, and no exposure means they can't protect themselves. No vaccine will substitute an immune system fed off of good old fashioned dirt and bugs. No amount of therapy can sometimes substitute just screaming at your child and spanking them when they're a jackass. The old ways of raising children can be good, and help prevent coddled little brats.

Dogs lived for thousand of years off of fresh kills and scraps. Dogs lived for a long time before we started pumping corn, animal by-product, and chemicals into their bodies. Let's give them raw meat or as close to it as we can afford. (No corn or grain, please. Especially not corn. It's their metabolism's equivalent to pure sugar.) Let's put sprigs of lavender or lavender oil in their bedding before dousing them in flea treatments once a month. Don't give them heartworm treatment constantly if it's been ten years since you've seen a mosquito. Learn about things yourself. Vets are taught by sponsored programs, often times, and companies give them kickbacks. You can learn about WHY your animal does or doesn't need what you give it if you would just sit down and use our friend google.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.


Basic child rearing and animal care (maybe different with training) weren't broke. Don't let modern medicine only fix what it caused, at a higher price tag. Save your money and do a few old-fashioned things that will keep your loved ones safer and healthier without medical intervention.

By the way? Dogs aren't living longer in this age of modern vet care. Their life spans are halved, often times. It wasn't broke until we tried to fix it.

Thanksgiving! (For $30?)

I did all my prep way ahead of time, and all I have to do is take meat/milk out of the fridge and mix it with everything else. All the pans and serving dishes are out and ready. Aside from baking the actual things, I'm done. No measuring except for one cup of milk, and no real veggie chopping except for the potatoes. I'm looking at about 10-15 minutes of work. The rest is oven time. This is my first hosted Thanksgiving. I'm 21, and I did it for $30 for all four people.


There was the turkey. I use legs only because I LOVE dark meat and make ham, too. Also, I'm not patient enough for a whole bird with one oven rack of fail. That was $3 for the meat and another $2 for the veggies/sage and another dollar for the chicken stock I'm cooking it with. I have it here, defrosting (did this a month ahead of time) on the kitchen sink. The green is the oil from the sage I simmered with chicken stock and a bunch of cheap veggies. I'll cook those together then use the extra sexy broth instead of water for the stuffing. Baking bags were extras in the pantry and I only used them to defrost easier and shove more in tiny pans.




There was the ham. Bone-in butt is the most expensive, but it came out to $15. Cooking it as is. We're crazy and love both turkey and ham.





Potatoes... $1 at most. Potatoes. Seriously. Cut them up, boil them, mash with milk and butter, salt and pepper.



Stuffing's $2. Pictured with it are the extra veggies I didn't simmer with the chicken broth being added in to freshen up the stovetop.


The biscuits come out to probably 50 cents. Not even counting those. Recipe in old post.




$1 for cranberry sauce. I only have two cans because I'm a dork and love the jellied stuff. I COULD make the real stuff for about the same price, but I love canned stuff.



Dessert? $1. 1 can of pumpkin and various other things I had sitting around. Pumpkin muffins of win have a recipe on here too.



The alcohol I'm calling purely optional. Let's call that $7 for mine, $2-3 for beverages for everyone.




The gravy will be milk, flour, and drippings. $0.

Turkey: $5
Ham: $15
Potatoes: $1
Stuffing: $2
Cranberry Sauce: $1
Biscuits: $0.50
Muffins: $1
Drinks: $3

Total: $28.50

Let's call it $30 for neatness and margin of tax/extras you might not have.

Super Sexy!

So they have these dorot things at Trader Joe's. They're minced herbs put into little cube trays and frozen, sort of how they pack mosquito larvae/blood worms for fish. You pop a cube or two out into your food and it melts into the second best thing to fresh. I use the cilantro and basil ones since those two herbs just don't keep. I use cilantro very rarely and basil lasts about a day and a half in my fridge.

Sexy.

Garlic Greens?

So I had this cleaned, vacuum packed garlic I found in the fridge. Some of it was sprouting inside the plastic, which was pretty cool. So I planted it in a little terra cotta pot, and it grew!

Now it's getting tall, and I tasted the greens. Tasty!

Looked it up, and garlic greens are a delicacy. I'm growing them in a 4" pot on my windowsill.


Thinking of tossing them into a caesar salad.

Leaders in Cataclysm

There are rumors that Jaina and Sylvanas are going to die in the assault on Arthas. It makes sense. Sylvanas has revenge for her and her people to carry out on Arthas that's worth dying for, and if Jaina had put out, none of this would've happened.

This makes sense, too. We know the Alliance and Horde are going to be at open war because Garrosh is going to be leading and he has less leadership capability than Basic Campfire. But would Jaina really allow that? I think she'd be able to do something to get Thrall to come back for a few minutes to whack Garrosh over the head. She'd do SOMETHING.

Also, I think Sylvanas would have the sense to convince Thrall to put Basic Campfire in charge.

I listened to the convo between Tirion, Varian and Jaina a few minutes ago. Look at this....

Herald Beluus yells: The Warchief of the Horde, Thrall, and Overlord Garrosh Hellscream have arrived upon the tournament grounds! Clear the way to the entrance!

Thrall, Garrosh and their escort appear from inside the Sunreaver Pavilion and walk along the path following the Ring of Champions, stopping near the middle of the ring.

Thrall says: Garrosh, I expect you to control yourself here. I do not want a repeat of the Violet Citadel.

Garrosh Hellscream says: Pah! That was a show of strength, worthy of a leader. I only regret I did not kill that human before the mage interfered.

Thrall says: We are guests here, Garrosh, and you will conduct yourself honorably.

Garrosh Hellscream says: What honor is there in thrashing about with blunted sticks? This is a waste of time.

The group proceeds to the western entrance of the Coliseum, where Highlord Tirion Fordring awaits.

Highlord Tirion Fordring says: Welcome, Warchief Thrall. Overlord Hellscream.

Thrall says: Thank you for the invitation, Lord Fordring. We look forward to observing these games.

Garrosh Hellscream says: Speak for yourself, Thrall.

Highlord Tirion Fordring says: I hope you'll see the merit of these events in time, Garrosh. We cannot win against the Scourge if we continue to war against one another.

Thrall says: Wise words.

Garrosh Hellscream says: Words of a fool, you mean. The Horde will destroy the undead without your aid, human, or that of the pompous king.

Thrall says: Garrosh, enough!

Highlord Tirion Fordring says: Under my roof, gentlemen, I trust you will behave.

Thrall says: Of course, Tirion. I apologize for his outburst. It will not be repeated.

Garrosh Hellscream says: Bah.

Highlord Tirion Fordring says: If you will follow me, then.

The group then walks in to the coliseum proper and disappears inside.

Herald Beluus yells: His Majesty, King Varian Wrynn, and Lady Jaina Proudmoore have touched down upon the tournament grounds! Make way!

Varian, Jaina and their escort appear from inside the Silver Covenant Pavilion and walk west towards the Argent Pavilion.

King Varian Wrynn says: Tirion.

Highlord Tirion Fordring says: King Varian, Lady Jaina. Welcome to the tournament. Your place in the coliseum is waiting.

Lady Jaina Proudmoore says: Thank you. It's the least I can do to support this; we need to stand together.

King Varian Wrynn says: You ask much of me, Tirion, to sit and watch, trusting the savages to keep themselves in check.

Highlord Tirion Fordring says: My people are here to ensure they honor the rules of engagement. It will do your subjects well to see you in the stands.

Lady Jaina Proudmoore says: I'm sure Thrall will have his people under control...

King Varian Wrynn says: Perhaps. I doubt the effectiveness of this gambit. We would be better served preparing our armies for the final assault.

King Varian Wrynn says: But if my presence is required in these games to gain your support in the battle, then I will remain. For now.

Highlord Tirion Fordring nods and gestures for his guests to follow.

The group then walks in to the coliseum proper and disappears inside.

Same convo, really.

Moar Recipes!

These are a little bit more fall-ish and they're all really tasty.

Egg Nog!

Beat 6 eggs really hard. I even use an electric mixer for this. I know.

Add 1 cup castor sugar. AKA baker's sugar or superfine sugar or whatever.
Blend that in.

1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cinnamon

Gradually add
2 1/2 c cream (sometimes I use half and half or more milk than cream)
2 c milk

Optionally, 1/2 cup each rum and brandy.



Caramel

Heat a saucepan on medium heat.

Melt 1 cup butter and mix in 1 lb (2 1/3 cup) brown sugar and a dash of salt.

Add 1 cup cornsyrup, keep heating. Add 15 oz condensed milk VERY slowly when it's hot. Make sure it hits and holds 250 degrees with a candy thermometer. Go up a little more if you'd like, but if you get it too hot, it'll be really, really hard. 245 makes syrup, 250 makes soft and semi-firm caramels. Anything too low will make a grainy mess.


Take off heat and add 1 tsp high quality vanilla. Cool in large, shallow dish. I use the freezer. Cut into bits and roll in rectangles of wax paper as little candy wrappers.


Doughnuts

Scald 1/2 cup milk and add in 2 TB butter. I do this on medium.

Add 1/4 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp salt. Cool the mixture in a mixing bowl.

Sprinkle and whisk in one at a time:
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1/16 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour.

Mix completely then add another 3/4-1 cup flour. Dough will be stickyish depending on how much, but it won't impact flavor.

Knead for 5 minutes and let rest 60-90 minutes. Roll out and shape. (Will be flat, I roll to 1/4 inch and just us a tiny shotglass to make inch-wide doughnut holes)

Let rest 30-45 minutes.

Heat oil on medium about an inch and a half deep (or more, but why?) to 365 degrees. Plop the doughnuts in a bit at a time until they are ALMOST a tiny bit browned, then flip, wait a few seconds, then fish them out onto paper towels.

I roll them in a glaze and cinnamon sugar. You can do one or the other.

Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp vanila
2 TB cold water. I use double if I'll be putting it in cinnamon sugar too.



Caesar Salad of DOOM!

The salad itself is simple. Romaine (or iceberg if you're poor) and grated parmesean. Fresh is best. For croutons, I make garlic bread a few days before and leave the extras out overnight then cut it into cubes and put it in a sealed container so it keeps really moist and only a bit chewy/crunchy. Cheap croutons are hard. Good ones are a bit tougher and harder than normal bread. Since the dressing has raw egg in it, keep it cold and don't keep it more than 12-24 hours. I'd use it right away.

Dressing:

In a food processor or if you're awesome with mincing, destroy together...

2 cloves garlic. Small for normal garlic, large for extra. 2 small and some roasted if you're nuts.
2 anchovy filets or 1/2 tsp anchovy paste
1 egg (or mayo if you're a pussy)
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tb dijon mustard
1/4 tsp worstershire sauce

When you're done, whisk in 1/2 cup olive oil.


It's sexy and sooo worth it. Makes about 3/4 cup.

Let sit an hour so the flavors can take effect or it's just not as good.

Cast Iron > Nonstick

I've used nonstick most of my life because I hate stainless steel. Everything sticks to it. I've had birds, and the first rule with birds and nonstick is to not use it around them or make them food with it. The fumes can kill them.

I, for one, am skittish to use something that could kill a bird. Dead birds usually mean it's not too good for us, either. I got a cast iron pan just to try it out, and everything stuck to it. It was "preseasoned" which I've since learned is a load of crap.

Why use cast iron? Properly maintained, it IS nonstick. Also, you really, really have to screw up royally in order to break it. You have to either leave it soaking in water for so long that it rusts completely through... or break a good inch of iron. It's sort of idiot proof, and very forgiving. Use the wrong sort of spatula on nonstick once, and you're screwed.

Cast iron is also cheaper. A decent pan is about $20. A cheap nonstick pan of the same size is about $30 and requires a lot of special TLC, and still only lasts about 1-3 years. The expensive ones last about 10 years. Cast iron lasts for centuries if you'll let it, and it gets better with age.

This is my nonstick pan. I've had it about 18 months. The silicone flipper I use for it was $20, and the pan was $30. Both require special care. Notice how chipped it is. I shouldn't really cook with it anymore, and I'll chuck it as soon as I'm perfectly adjusted to cast iron.





This is my $20 cast iron pan, bought at the same store, with its $10 spatula. The spatula can take a lot of abuse, as can the pan. The discolorations are mostly from the camera, and they are not rust. This is actually a beautiful, healthy pan. Also, you'll never have to wash it again.

Unless you screw up.



How does cast iron work? You build up a layer of fats (not oils... you want something that is naturally solid at room temperature) and carbon, and they condense into the pan. Cast iron is porous, so it soaks it all in. You don't cook your food in the fats, but on them. You'll use less oil in the cooking. Do yourself a favor and switch to cast iron and let your nonstick slowly fade away. I'm replacing my nonstick pot that I use for candy making with an enameled cast iron one. Cast iron holds heat in better, cooks nicer, and the layers of fat and carbon carry the flavors of the food, which means you'll have more flavor. Also, studies show that trace amounts of iron do carry into the food, which is good for you.



How to purchase and use cast iron:

A website I looked at to learn this myself said to get a #10 skillet from eBay. Griswold apparently went out of business in like the 1950s, and did something really cool to their skillets that they don't do anymore. Also, things were made better back then.

If you don't want to get them off ebay, you'll have some frustration at first, but I used a new one just fine. I went to the grocery store, found the kitchen section, and picked out a "lodge" brand skillet.

When you get your skillet home, and it seems properly seasoned, go ahead and use it if it's used.

However, if you bought it new, it'll either be raw or "preseasoned" and you'll want to pick up some steel wool and a small tub of lard. For one of the few times in the life of your skillet, you're going to use soap and water. That's right! Bacteria won't really grow on your pan on the inside, and you'll never, ever put anything on a cold pan. By the time you put your food on the pan, it'll be heated enough to kill anything.

With a new pan, get your steel wool, soap it up, and scrub the living holy crap out of the thing, all sides. Get everything off of the pan that you THINK might be there. You'll also want to do this step to the cooking surface if your seasoned pan starts to stick something to it. You'll have to build up the nonstick again, but it means that you did something wrong at some point.

Next step is important if you EVER put water on your pan. Otherwise, it'll rust. You're going to dry the thing off and put it on the burner on low heat for about 5 minutes. This'll make sure there is no water in the pan. Turn the burner off and let it cool a bit.

Then, get a paper towel and later the lard on! Just LATHER that stuff on, rubbing it into the iron. Then put the pan on a cookie sheet (preferably with sides) and stick it in the oven. Turn the oven on to 400 degrees. It'll smoke quite a bit.

After about 10-15 minutes, reach in with a paper towel wad and mop up the extra grease. You want a thin layer to remain. Too thick and it won't condense. Turn the oven down to 250 or 275 for another hour, then turn off the heat and leave it for a while.

Take the pan out, wipe the bottom really heavily, and your pan's ready to use, really.

Always, always, always, heat the damn thing before you put the food on, or it'll stick. Also, it's best to use a metal spatula. Mine was $10 at target. It needs a flat front edge, not curved, and rounded corners. It'll scrape the metal just right to even it out, but not kill your layers of seasoning.

I also have some freezer burned bacon in the freezer I toss on my pan one piece at a time when I think my seasoning could use some help. Bacon grease and lard are lovely things.

I also find that you want to cook on medium low where you'd normally cook medium-medium high. The pan retains heat, so you might want to play with heat settings at first.



Cleanup.

Get a paper towel when the pan is still warm. Wipe off the food.

If there's too little grease left from cooking (this happens a lot when I make pancakes) take a piece of bacon, some back grease, or some lard, put it on the pan, smooth it around, and let things cool down.


You're done.


Seriously.


Since I've started to do thigns properly, I've had nothing stick, nothing go wrong, and the food tastes sooo much better.

Also, my stupid pan's not in the dishwasher or dirty half the fucking time.



Oh, my bible during this learning process: http://www.richsoil.com/cast-iron.jsp

So pictures...

We went on a very pretty date, and I took these picturethings.

I hate my apartment.

So there's a game I play. I play it whenever I boil water, heat up a pan, use the stove, or look at the stove.

Best case scenario, I hear the tiny, disconnected fire alarm go off.

For there is STEAM! And some fucking idiot put a fire alarm by the natural flow out for steam from the stove. So we've unplugged it for sanity. Some steam might get in the bedroom by magic or by me forgetting to shut the door. (Yes, cannot cook with an open bedroom door. For steam means fire. Or spaghetti. They just want to be thorough.

Second scenario, there's something in the burner. It may or may not be imaginary. This will still create smoke, even if there's nothing visibly there and it's all been cleaned. Residue from water, oxygen, nitrogen, or carbon in any of its forms can do this. 100% chance of this smoke permeating the door and causing the working fire alarm to blare loudly. Can't cook when anyone's sleeping or... well... it's right over the bed. The little one beeps still, to let us know food's cooking.


Third scenario, this creates fire. This can be from imaginary things too. Often creates heat spikes which can cause over boiling and actual spills... which create stench and fire. Fire is not good for kitchens and makes really irritating fire alarms go into overdrive, I think. They KNOW.


I... hate my apartment. It has a sense of humor. I have a lease that ends in July.

Discovery! Frozen Lemonade!

So I wanted to make frozen lemonade. I decided to make the lemonade by boiling the sugar, water, and lemon juice to get a very, very sweet mix. Then I saw strawberries!

So I chopped up strawberries and tossed them in, and boiled the mix for a while. Once the strawberry chunks were all translucent and colorless, I cooled it and strained them out, putting it in to cool. When it was cool, tossed it in the ice cream maker, then froze it more.

OMGNOM!

VERRAH Tasty!

Epic Sheep.

So the external DVD drive...

No dice. Had to get a new internal for it to work. Got it and it.. worked! Just had to wiggle and giggle it to get things in the right boot priority, and everything installed just fine! It's working on installing WoW right now, and having some issues there, but that's probably my problem.

And job interview tomorrow at best buy! Wish meh lucks!

So on that computer....

I started the lovely process of installing windows. Well, rather, TRIED to do so. Nothing wanted to play with the damned hard drive! So I fidget and bitch and moan... the figure out that the hard drive....

....

........

Was never plugged in.

So I plug it in, and nothing. So I unplug the external DVD, and hit keys I find on the motherboard website and get to the BIOS screen. Then I do a bunch of shit, and find I can get there again if I take out the xp disc.

The BIOS won't recognize the external DVD drive.

Eff.

Gonna get an adapter for the ribbon cable the internal needs but the motherboard won't accept.


And that sushi for the last post looks fucking amazing to me. /nom.

Considering Blogging About Building Your Own Computer...

And this is sushi I made today. Well.. some of it. I took this picture after we put away a lot of it. I could barely fit it onto the platter! This was $6 worth of salmon.

I'm hoping that I can trust myself to mount a processor, but I could probably figure out and give out info on building a compute for dummies at some point. Saves you hundreds.



I also get asstons of halibut so I can try to make halibut rolls. If I ever open my restaurant, I'm using the food setting on my camera for the menu. I'm hungry again from the picture of that sushi.

Fruit Flies... and I need a tripod!

So, I figured out how to make fruit fly bait after they kept swarming on dough that I had rising. Water, sugar, and yeast with a BIT of flour seems to do the job. They totally ignore the fruity stuff I had in favor of it, and it's killing them off by the dozen while they drown. I would like to try to put something like soap in there as well once it gets smelly so they'll die faster, but it at least keeps them off other things.

I also need a tripod. Exhibit A:



That was one twitch in ten seconds of exposure. TEN SECONDS. Mrow.

But... Northwest sunsets are great. Can't bitch about those. Much.

Clouds = Sunset. Not smog. Clouds.

SUMMER!

So summer's finally fucking here! It's 62 degrees and beautifully cloudy with the occasional drop (not drops) of rain. It's so fucking perfect I want to hug and kiss it. It's not hot humid as much as a cool, clean feeling that's not dry but not muggy either. It's a cool, lovely breeze.

I took pictures. I missed my beautiful northwest summers. Been gone since about 2004 or 2005.

Freaking Incredible

So I went to http://www.makemysushi.com/ to learn some stuffs about making sushis. I had the rice, and I went to Haggen for the fishes. BTW, Haggen fish person really knew her stuff and pointed us to some flash frozen ahi and some super fresh locally caught salmon. Incredible. Friend and I nommed on sushi all day (I'm talking 3 full meals) for $17.

Not going to a sushi place for a LONG time.... until I have excess monies. We made 10 gigantic rolls and ate some of the fish as sashimi.

Definetly making up for the fail at Tokyo House. $40 for burnt chicken and iffy fish. Going to see if I can find unagi and tobiko on the Asian market row that is Meridian. I'm also low on miso paste and edamame.



Right now... wondering how okra would taste with tuna or unagi.

Engineering > All

The boyfriend told me so. I really liked it on my rogue, but I don't play her. Giving it to my DK for RP was the best thing ever. She needs all her mats gathered for her, but damn... she has Jeeves now! I use him for RP on her, too, and engineering creations and robotics have become a huge part of the character. She uses Gnomish Cloaking Device all the time, and the xray specs when she's drunk.

Oh, and the mounts are pure win. She's put all her undead mounts "to rest" because having them violates her beliefs.

Engineering is the best thing ever.

Patch! (Less ZOMG)

So it's been a few days.

Xperl's working. Before it and the base UI were too effed for me to really do anything but RP and level an alt against lvl 17 mobs with the health and buffs of a fuzz tank and the portrait of the LAST mob I fought. Very confusing, with health and shit not updating. But I have target of target back and that kind of shits.

Still need to do heroic trial of champions. We got a horrible combo, and I'm thinking of going back to it with 2 healers for that first boss combo. It's HARD. I do want that trinket from normal, though. It's sex on a stick.

Getting close to having the cuts I NEED for JCing. Just really need my SP/hit one right now. Otherwise, I'm decently good. We're heroicing enoughish, and I can start buyingi shit with emblems soon.

Patch Tonight!

So totally not prepared. Drained my honor thinking no way in hell it'd be this week. Have my gems planned, but not enough ore or money for cold weather tome, and definitely not enough JC daily tokens because I haven't done the daily in months because I assumed they'd be drops.

Not enough champion's seals. Enough WG marks, though. One good thing.

Can't wait for champion of the frozed wastes, though, and all the heroic spamming! Need to get down and dirty re-gearing Sharicakes with all the sexy stuff. PVP gear... EVERYTHING. Zomg.


Blargh. I'll update this after patch has been down a few days and I'm not running around like a freak.

So Tokyo House is Fail....

So I got into one of my "famous" hungry ZOMG moods where I'm eating my own flesh for foods, so we went to Wasabee. 2 minutes late, so we hit Tokyo house.

$40 later, I'm on the lookout for sick stomach. Not only was the katsu burned, but the sushi tasted seriously like fish. As in, "I'm too hungry to not eat, but I should send it back and GTFO." I was able to down it with lemon juice... but yeah. NOOOOO more Tokyo house. It was NASTY and tasted like it'd been sitting out for a day.

So yes, kids. Tokyo house is gross now. I'm glad I ordere the sashimi as it's both easiest to tell nasties in and easiest to fix with lemon juice.


The miso was also... like... effed.

Patch!

I predict... August 18th.

I have my WG marks. I'm trying to bounce around under honor cap by buying random crap/stocking it up in marks and stuff. I'm using the on use BOA honor tokens and stuff like that. 70 WG marks will get me the new WG gear. I have 263 champion's seals. I got the last of the non 2h (which is insane) emblem gear, so Celenna and Melanae can have their fire and ice daggers.

3.2... I am just about ready.

Getting my boyfriend to PVP with me every night or so, so I can L2 arena.

I have to learned to stop breeding dogs on showdog, though. I'm being really good, and getting rid of every brood bitch I don't NEED. Keeping my head above water, at least.


RP-wise, I'm having fun with insane warlock, mostly. A lot of the people I RP my other mains with aren't as active right now, so she's getting most of the attention. Working on the stuff for her replacement, but I've been lazy. Maybe when I have a job I'll make him. Jobs are great for character thinky stuff. I came up with half the concepts for my Death Knight while folding clothes at Macy's.


And I'm done.



J/K

Okay, now I is.

315+......

So I learned from a guildie that The heirloom chests will be 60 seals. I'm already saving up 315 for the stuff.

So... I have a priest. That's 60. The shammy can use her crap. As can the boomkin.

I have a warrior. That's 60. I also have a rogue. That's another 60...

Unless....


Bitch... warrior gonna wear leather.




So I'm saving up 425.

I have 235. 5 per day... That's 38 days, a few less depending on luck.

I can get the chest pieces, the horsie, and the banner as it stands now. By next week, replace the banner with the tabard, then wait a while for the fucking pony. Banner's not terribly important.


Also, I'm going broke on Showdog, but I have a lot of Dalmatians up to show soon. My Papillon/Belgian Malinois Kennel's biting the dust, though, I think. Might have to just hunker down. STOP BREEDING *cough* and get some money back.


RP-wise, Maylora's in prison. Getting all this shit for her... and she's going to be dead in a year. I love my characters.

So My Dog Died.... It's Happy Picture Time!

God, she hated her picture taken, flash or no flash. The older she got, the smarter she got about blinking and twitching as soon as we snapped it. She was an amazing girl, and made me fall in love with Catahoulas. She was too smart for her own good, and went far before her time. Her health problems started too early, and I wish I'd had all the time in the world with her.

I need to put up more shit...

I'll do a post later this week. My lovely, wonderful dog died yesterday, on the 9th.

But this cheered me up:

CRUSADER ZOMG!

So, on the PTR, I've learned some things.

The argent warhorse is NOT pally only! My lock can have it!

Also, the tabard is SEX. In a hat.

And the banner... oooo....


*jizzfest*

The horsie is 100 seals, the banner's 15. The tabard's 50, and the pony for your squire is 150.

Another Game....

So... I went back to playing showdog.com, an online, browser-based dog show sim that I'd played a few years ago.

Already addicted.

I might intro people to it through this just so I can yap about it.

It's based on real dog showing, and is very accurate as most people who play it either show dogs or know people who do.

Just read.

Just that link. Best RPG review EVAR.

Recipes!

I'm going to start posting my recipes in this post, and just edit it as I add stuff. Most of these recipes I found online, but have made slight changes to. I'm just sexy that way. However, many of these are from my mommy. I'll start with the things I have actual recipes to, then move on to directions to stuff that's less precise, like fried rice, salmon, steak, etc.

I'm a sexy cook.

Pumpkin Muffins

Mix:

2 cups pumpkin

2 eggs

½ cup oil

½ cup melted butter

½ cup water

2 cups sugar

1 cup brown sugar

Mix separately in bowl and add to above mixture:

3 ½ cups flour

2 tsp. Cinnamon

½ tsp. Cloves

1 ¼ tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Soda

2 ½ tsp. Baking powder

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar onto muffin tops before baking. I mean, lay it the HELL on.

Bake at 375 degrees

For regular muffins: 20-25 minutes--18-24 muffins.

For mini muffins: 10-12 minutes--5-6 dozen minis.

They're best overnight.

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Miso Soup

4 cups water

2t fish stock. I forgot the bloody name. Little granules.

3-4 TB Miso Paste

Boil the freaking water with the fish stuff. When it comes to barely a boil, start dissolving the miso in it as quickly as possible. The less boiling the miso does, the better. You want it just boily enough to dissolve. If you're adding tofu, add before the miso paste. Seaweed? Right before you serve it, or it'll dissolve and be disgusting. Add very little or you'll just have salad.

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Macaroni Salad

This is one of my imprecise ones.

You're gonna want a bag of macaroni. About a poundish. More if you want, and scale accordingly. Not elbow macaroni, but little circles about a cm or less long. You're also going to want to hard boil some eggs and mince them up. I'd say about 4 of them. A good couple handfulls of chopped celery, a couple of pickles, diced, some minced onion (tablespoon or two), and some spices I'll list.

Cook the macaroni al dente. It'll soften up a lot in this process. Drain it, and put it in a big bowl. Dump in about a cup or so of mayo, the listed veggies, and a good few tablespoons of mustard. My favorite is Jack Daniels old no7. It's sexy. Mix it all up, adding more mayo if needed, and use garlic salt (my favorite thing ever) and pepper to taste. Then add a teaspoon or two of paprika, to taste. Put it in the fridge overnight, checking every few hours. If it gets dry, add milk, not more mayo. I always use skim milk, personally.

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Thankfully Not Buttermilk Pancakes

1 ½ cups flour

3 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tb sugar

1 ¼ cup milk

1 egg

3 tb melted butter

Mix the dry ingredients first, then add in the wet ones. The key to pancakes is to stir them as little as possible. Then cook them... like pancakes. Not rocket science.

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Starbucks Cookies

These are copycat cookies to the white chocolate/cranberry cookies that Starbucks makes. My mom did this, and it's almost impossible to do right. I still need to attempt.... But they rock.

Beat:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

1 c firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup sugar

Add:

2 eggs, room temp

1 t vanilla

Mix together:

1 ½ c flour

1 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

½ t salt

Add:

3c oats

1 ½ c Craisins

1 pkg white baking chips

Bake 350 degree oven with parchment paper, 12 minutes for big cookies, flatten with pancake turner, bake 2 more minutes, then cool for a while.

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Banana Bread

2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

½ cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 1/3 cups mashed banana

Mix very well, bake at 350 for an hour for whole batch.

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Cobbler!

Batter:

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup milk

1/8 tsp salt

¾ tsp baking powder

You're also going to ready fruit for it. This is also not rocket science. I use blackberries. I basically dump them in a saucepan with sugar and cook them down until they look and taste like jam. Then dump them in a pan, pour the batter on top, and bake it at 350 till it looks... cooked, I guess.

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Pizza Dough

(my pride)

1 ½ Cups warm water

1 package yeast

2 ½ cups bread flour

1 cup semolina flour

2 tb olive oil

2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

mix the yeast with the bloody water and sugar. Let it sit a minute. Then add the salt and olive oil, stirring. Then dump in the flour mix, stirring it more. Knead it up and dump it in a bowl covered with plastic for a day or day and a half. Then pop it in the fridge another day and a half to two days. A few hours before making it, take it out. A total of 3 days should pass.

Roll this shit out. I use a rounded tumbler instead of a rolling pin. It should be 1/8 inch thin. I mean, put some MUSCLE into it. Takes some practice. Then put some light sauce on it, sprinkle cheese LIGHTLY (doesn't take much, this is a thin pizza) and pop on toppings. I love basil, salami, and gourmet pepperoni. Bake at 500 degrees (hotter is better ) for about 5 minutes. Check it, though. It's picky that hot.

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Biscuits

3 cups flour

1 tb baking powder

1 tb sugar

1 tsp salt

¾ tsp cream of tartar

¾ cup butter

1 cup milk

450 degrees. Mix all but butter and milk. Cut in butter until resembles crumbs, put milk in well. Stir and knead as little as possible. ¾ inch thick, 2.5 inches around.

Bake 10-14 mins.

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Fudge

3 cups sugar

1 ½ sticks butter

Mix on medium heat then add:

1 small can evaporated milk (2/3 cup)

1 package chocolate

1 ½ cups marshmallow cream

Boil 4-5 minutes then take off heat and add.

1 tsp vanilla

It's freaking hot, so let it cool in a pan.

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Pretzels: Super sexy gods of dough.

1 ½ Cup Warm Water

1 1/8 tsp yeast

2 tb brown sugar

(Sit 8 minutes)

2 tb butter, warm.

1 1/8 tsp salt

1 cup bread flour

3 cups flour

Knead, Rise at least 2 hours. I prefer overnight, though. I also coat the bowl in shortening. I think it just keeps them better. Add flour if they're a bit too sticky. You want them to be soft when you roll them out into ropes with your hands. The softer and thinner, the better. Ideally, they should be 1/4 inch thick. I twist them rather than pretzel them. Dip them in a warm water bath with baking soda and put them on either parchment paper or a silpat (zomg silpat) and bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt and serve. Also makes pretzel dogs!

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Spinach Pasta

In a food processor: (I know, blasphemy)

8 oz spinach

2 eggs

1 tb Olive Oil

1 tsp salt.

When it's good and... pastey and tiny as much as possible, mix in with a cup of bread flour and a cup of semolina flour. If it's still wetish, put in more bread flour. Knead the holy hell out of it for 5-10 minutes, then put it in a bowl under plastic wrap for 10 minutes or more.... just not too long. Then roll it out thin, but not THAT thin. I'd say 1mm. If you can see through it, it's about half the thickness you want. Cut it into strips or squares, for ravioli. For ravioli, I mix ricotta cheese, egg, garlic, salt, some pepper, parmesean, romano, asiago.. etc.. and put a tiny bit of the mixture on a 2" square of dough and put another square on top, sealing it with a knife. Dry the pasta out for noodles if you'd like, and boil them as usual.

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Best Sugar Cookies Evars

Cream together: (cheat if you WANT to...)

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup butter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Add in:

2 ¾ cups Flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

8-10 mins @ 375

Random Things!

I got a bug up my ass to list some random things about myself while I was doing the cheaper version of #1.


1. I'll eat tuna in 2 ways. Raw, sashimi grade tuna in sushi, sashimi, or nigiri. I love me some yellowtail. That, or chunk light (no solid white for me) with mayo, mustard, garlic salt (optional onion and pickle) on saltines.

2. AC in cars is okay. But NOTHING beats having the windows down. Even in January when you need the heat on full blast. Boyfriend hates that one.

3. I refuse to add things to my tea. No sugar, lemon, milk... screw you all. Definetly no fruit.

4. I want to open a restaurant if it wasn't so expensive and... so much work.

5. I hate pencils. I use them for scantrons and character sheets only. Pens FTW.

6. My handwriting is not legible and I can't write for long. Too much time typing.

7. I want to try to make my graphic art into monies. It'd be sexy.

8. I hate radio. It's crackly and people TALK. When people talk over music... I get mean. STFU and you won't have to pay people to crack jokes in between songs... and you'll need fewer commercials. Talk radio drives me up a WALL.

9. I can't use a computer setup that's not mine. Last time I did, in Mexico, I brought my keyboard and mouse. But the chair was a few inches too high, and the desk was off. I death gripped bosses.

10. California rolls fail. They gag me. Even sans avacado (the thing I always have to tell the sushi chef to replace with cucumber or at one nice place... tobiko. :D )

11. I hate Mexican food in the US except for some places. I thouht I just liked heavily American-raped stuff. Turns out... I like Mexican food. I like my guacamole thin and sauce-like, not chunky. I like my tacos as thin, bready, moist tortilla with meat. Lettuce is bleh... cabbage is much nicer. Never enough limes, but limes are a bit tart. My dream taco's the norm where I went in Sonora.

12. Friends don't let friends eat farmed fish or Atlantic salmon. There's a reason why, in Washington, farmed Pacific salmon's more expensive than wild Atlantic. Atlantic is just that fail. The fish live through spawns. Spawning salmon are cat food quality... disgusting. I want salmon who have not spawned. Virgins if you will.

13. More random to come.

Unemployed, but RPing.

So my job turned out horrible. KNW Distributing in Bellingham/Mt. Vernon seems to be a scam. They refused to pay my training, and fast talked me when I mentioned state law. I GTFOed.


So now, I have more time to RP and hopefully pick up Ulduar again. My lock's getting a lot more tolerant as she realizes what a whore she's been. My DK's growing up, and I want to map it out for her. She's getting so much sexier.

I have a LVL 30 priest nao.

I know someone who wants their priest up, and in exchange for lvling, is gonna make me some pretty drawings of my resto durid, halfbreed childrens, and maybe my deekay.

Hoping to get those as a perk while I powerlevel, as I like to do.

And maybe get the fucking paladin past 32.

*stabs said paladin*


Good friend is moving into his own place tomorrow. It'll be nice to have him closer and be able to split the swag from Costco runs with someone again.

Ulduar!

So... we wiped a bunch on Ignus.


Gotta learn that bastard. I think it's the tanks' faults.

Actually... I know it's our fault.




Healers did beautifully. Tanks fail.

OT failed a little.


MT failed muchly. Did loot lev, though, and we're at least having fun while we wipe.



BTW?


MT = Me.



WTB competent MT.

Some Pictures From Yesterday

A New, Insane, Project!

I'm bored. I paid off my debts for the chopper.

But... what about when I randomly get gear on characters? (even ones I don't play matter so STFU) I never have the enchanting mats there!

So... I have a chart of each slot for each 80 and what enchant would go best there. Added all up....

323 Infinite Dust
68 Greater Cosmic Essences
31 Dream Shards
31 Abyss Crystals

And various other crap like Eternal Earth and Titanium Bars.


I also need to buy shoulder/head things and pop them in the bank. Never know....


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Oh, and I also posted an IC explanation from my DK to her husband about what happened to cause a falling out between her and a friend:


Sharilyn snuggled up against Nayyn, putting a cold finger to his warm lips. "I'll tell you what happened, love. Should've asked me." She snuggled into him closer.

"Well, we were talking and started to disagree on Icecrown. I told her how Grandfather wanted me to live in Kalimdor, and she started telling me how terrible Icecrown was and how great the stupid trees and hot springs in Winterspring were.

She kept screaming at me about the Scourge and not listening that I wanted some things like Frostmorne only if it wouldn't hurt things. She thought a sword that looked like it would have all the things wrong with it... and just kept yelling at me about how bad the Scourge was and how horrible Icecrown is and how I shouldn't live there even though I really love it.

I kept telling her that I like it where I live, and that we're just different. She kept yelling so I left. She followed me. I kept leaving, and in one place I ran, in the sewers, someone came and tormented me a little, then a warlock came and hurt me and threw fire at me. I left and cried.

She chased me down and kept yelling at me. I screamed at her to leave over and over.... I kept backing away, trying to make her leave. I fell and started to run. She kept chasing me, and I just wanted to get away and cry... I didn't want to lead her home. I mean, if she kept chasing me and I just went home, she'd find me and know where we live....

I tried to lose her in the undead... I could normally take them but she distracted me and one got hold of me, so... they tore me up. She brought me back and I tried to explain to her why I liked Icecrown. I even tried to show her why ice was pretty when she didn't like the frostwyrms.

I showed her and she demanded I tell her why she didn't like the Scourge. I didn't really care and gave her some bad answers... she got pissed and left. That was kind of what I wanted, you know?"

Sharilyn looked into Nayyn's face and started to unlace his shirt, purring. "You're all I have, now."

Job.

I finally got a job!

As of the 10th, I will no longer have a life. I'll be working 45+ hours per week.

No more raiding, probably. We were just getting to where we could do most weeks and have some fun.

This job better be worth it.

I already hate it.

I don't really want it, but I could have actual money and my income could be sexy and naked dancing in the streets could happen.





I don't want to grow up.


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In other news, our Paladin is at 32 right now.

I want to kill him. In the face. Just used my chopper to transport him ONCE since getting it.

If he hits 60 by June 10th, I'll be happy.

New Shinies!

Trees and harbor are pretty.


I did this one of grass with a background of the harbor area... did another one focusing harbor with the grass out of focus.

Testing zoom. Did it from across campus, facing the library. Sexy camera is sexy.


Same idea. I feel like spybitch when I do this.


Boats are pretty.



Dandelions plus ultra camera of doom? Win.




The wind made this a challenge. Normally I'd hold them straight, but you can see through them to the pretty white flowers in back.



Finally in focus!




Said pretty white flowers with the wrong leaves. Too much white.


Columbine plus wind is fail.


FOCUS! (kinda)


I like this one. Pretty and abstract.



My obsession with flowers continues.


Sunday: Countless pics from the national park. Wewt! (better not be fuckin cloudy)