1.13.2018 Leland, MI 3:03pm

I suppose I'll just have to do free hand, but I suppose it isn't hand when you're typing...wait yes it is.

Anyways, its another snowy day in Leland, MI.  I've been here for how long now?  I'm used to the winter I suppose, but I don't think I've grown to like it other than it gives plenty of excuse to enjoy some of my favorite past times.  Sleeping, eating/cooking, and watching movies and TV.  I've really plugged in to this whole Hygge thing, have you heard of it?  Its all over my Pinterest if you want to check it out.  Its basically a lifestyle of living cozy.  Cozy clothes (check), cozy pets (Stella, check), endless amounts of entertainment to consume (netflix, hulu, the wild web, check check check), Food (not as much as I would like, but close enough check).

I'm not starting the third season of The Affair and wanting to finish it up this weekend before my Showtime subscription runs out.  Its a really fascinating story line, pretty serious though.  Not many laughs in the affair.  More of the awww shit variety.  I basically vowed since Dawsons Creek to follow Joshua Jackson anywhere so here we are and he's still adorable, hot and handsome all rolled up into one tall drink of canadian mountain spring water with scruff.

Its that time of day again...

The time of day where the sun hits just in the right spot in my living room to completely flood my otherwise shaded house in light.  By the time I complete this blog, the sunlight will have faded below the tree line signifying the time I should be heading to the beach to enjoy sunset. 

Wish you were here.....

Long time since the last post and so much has changed.  Along the way I will fill you in, but for now I'll just keep it simple with the day to day stuff while we all try to figure out which direction this blog is taking.

For now I am living in Leland, Michigan where I have been spending my summers since I was a bebe and my mom was a bebe and my grandmother was a bebe.  Basically (from what I am told), my family has been coming to Northern Michigan to summer since 1902. 

This past year I have been lucky enough to spend almost an entire year in the place I called home during so many summers.  Winter was quite different than anything I was used to having grown up right outside Washington DC and the only other place I have spent any real time living was in the city of Buffalo, New York. 

It's been the best of times this past fall and winter.  I'm here to chronicle my expected crazy summer.  At the end of the season I may have up to FIVE jobs.  Holy cow!  I'm also working on a big project (one of the jobs) which I hope to share with you all in the next month or so.  Get excited, cause I am and this thing could be BIG!

For now I leave you with a Michigan sunset pic I took this past winter. 

Much more to come!!!  This was one of my New Years resolutions to start blogging more.  Its only May.....almost June.  There's still time, there's still time!

Stupid Uninformed Metro Riders

I don't think there's any other city that gets more ticked off at people for not following the unspoken (yet highly known) rules of their metro system than those of Washington DC. Today a woman slipped her hand in the door of the train as it was closing and held us up a couple minutes, when the door finally opened she popped her head in and asked, "does this train go to Union Station." A collective "NO!" came from us witnessing the incident and as the door shut on the confused woman, we all gave each other the obligatory shaking of the head and sighs of exasperation at those folks who hold us regulars up. ARGH!

Back to wasting time while trying not to waste time

A handy collection of all the links and things I've been looking at today that others may find interesting...personal comments may be included where comments need to be made.

mental_floss Fun With Pie Charts post reminds me of the days when I was a naive middle schooler and used pie charts to decribe just about everything from which genre of music I was digging at the time to what boys I thought were cute comparitively.

Often thought of bringing my own seating on Metro....

A few good tips on How to Become a Morning Person. It really is a lovely time of day once you get over the whole fact that it's morning....

Christian Bale gives interview on hating giving interviews.

2010

In 2010 I will blog more (I hope...and at least while I remain unemployed). Pretty much since I woke up I've been having all kinds of thoughts....too many to track in any other outlet and since I have no one here to talk to besides me cat....blogosphere ftw.

Listy Goodness:

Woke up saying oh god oh god oh god...and I stayed in last night (well except for those few hours I went out)! Really its all cooking related....do not drink late and leave oven unattended! Though I cannot share my cooking disaster without incriminating myself I can tell you....well....its bad but momentarily being resolved.

9 Ways the Future Will Suck

8 Nerds Who Will Utterly Kick Your Ass

Best of: Culture, Comics, Games, TV and Movies

The whole Angel/Cordelia love thing always really bothered me. Has anyone else been re-watching on TNT? Since I haven't had a lot to do recently, Ive been DVR-ing the eps...I wish Cordelia would just get evil already and go away. I really want to like her, and I do in the first couple seasons, but being first a Buffy fan, the Angel/Cordelia "relationship" REALLY bugs me. It doesn't seem right. Does anyone else out there feel the same way?

I could seriously eat Hollandaise/Bearnaise ALL THE FRIGGIN TIME. Why is it so good on so many different things? This year I hope to become an home-made accomplished Saucier.

Why are all holidays synonymous with drinking? Thats not good for the people of Earth is it? Or maybe Ive been living my life an entirely wrong way? Please show me the light w/o using religion. I triple dog dare ya.

Also....Wesley is a bad ass (if you don't watch Angel, you should...I was into the whole vampire thing way before these Twilight/True Blood dorks (which I totally am).

A story about almost the worst thing I've ever tasted.....

Over the weekend I went grocery shopping and in an effort to save money,
while still eating well, I decided to give powdered sauces a try. You
know what I'm talking about, you see them in the spice aisle usually and
while you know the can never live up to homemade they get by as "ok" or
"pretty good". Gravy for example, while most delicious when whipped up
on the stove from juices of your respective meats, is still quite good
out of the jar and passably delicious when a gravy "powder" is mixed
with water (stirring constantly until you bring to a boil).

So we know, gravy powder mix, not so terrible, right? Have you all ever
tried any of the other powder sauce mixers? I never had...until last
night.

I believe my first folly was going for a quick fix of an old family
recipe.
We take food very seriously in our family (Mom, you know what I'm
talking
about) and may even be considered "food snobs" when it comes to certain
dishes. Certain recipes have been passed down over time, and may
perhaps be considered "Secret Family Recipes". We love decadence.
Welsh Rarebit, Pot de Creme, Christmas Potatoes, etc. But out most
coveted dish of all time in our repertoire (at least in my opinion)
is...*drum roll please*

Hollandaise

Delicious, smooth, buttery, hollandaise sauce. Don't even get me
started about Hollandaise's sister companion, Bearnaise. If I go into
detail we might all go into a food coma without even having tasted the
stuff, but more likely we would end up at expensive French restaurants
demanding a medium rare herb encrusted roast with a side of red baby
potatoes and steamed asparagus. *Drool*

But I digress.....if you haven't been too distracted by the food
descriptions above, you may have an idea about where this story is
going.
I was in the market and saw the packaged Hollandaise. Knowing I'm on a
tight budget, but will be eating at home (alone) a lot I thought, why
don't I treat myself with a family favorite recipe in instant form. It
can't be all bad. The moment the cashier scanned the package, I knew it
was sacrilege, but I imagined telling my family this Christmas, while
sweating over the double broiler constantly whisking the egg yolk and
butter mixture (clockwise with a wooden spoon non-stop), about my
discovery that powdered Hollandaise wasn't all bad after all. Not that
we would dream of using the stuff at our Holiday meal, but maybe we
could incorporate it into more family dinners without all the work. I
would be the brave soul. The Lucy who wasn't afraid of trying new,
cheap ways to better expand my culinary horizons. I'd get a pat on the
back.

But I was so, so wrong.

The mixture (when added to water over a medium/low heat whisking
consistently while watching The Day After Tomorrow) thickened up quite
quickly and I was pretty impressed with the consistency. Making
Hollandaise from scratch is tricky and you never know when it might
curdle on you, but I could tell this mixture was going to keep up its
beautiful appearance until my salmon was done broiling and the brussel
sprouts were properly steamed. Just to be safe, I added a generous
pinch of kosher salt and several good shakes of lemon pepper...took a
minute to gaze at interchanging scenes of Jake Gyllenhaal and Randy
Quaid on the television....picked up a spoon and gave it a taste.

YUCK!

This stuff was gross. It was chalky and boring and just awful. Ok...it
needs more seasoning. More salt, more pepper, the juice of an entire
lemon.

Taste.

EW.

Disgusting.

I stared at the sauce for a few moments while several tornadoes hit Los
Angeles causing mass destruction and panic (I love disaster movies) and
wondered what I should do. Should I throw it out? Probably. It was
gross, no one was expecting it except me as part of the meal, and I knew
my salmon and sprouts could survive without it. But then again,
maybe...just maybe the salmon and brussel sprouts could enhance the
chalky yucky sauce.
Its possible right? I just need to add some more butter, salt, pepper
and lemon to everything and it will be ok. Right? Suddenly my healthy
dinner (minus the intended sauce) turned into a sodium/citrus-filled hot
mess. I loaded my plate with the nicely cooked salmon filet and a
healthy helping of brussel sprouts, added butter and lemon, held my
breath and spooned on minimal helping of the hollandaise.

You can imagine, it was terrible. What did it taste like? Salt and
lemon with odd textures that resembled the food I was eating. You know
what though......I ate it all anyway. I had just planned out my meals
for the week and I'd be damned if this disgraceful stuff was going to
ruin MY carefully thought out meal plan. I have a budget. I must stick
to the budget. I need my greens and my protein.

After my meal, I threw out the rest of the sauce (disgraceful that
product was put on the market....should I write to the FDA?). In
reality, the package only cost 89 cents so it's not like I was losing
out on much, but I felt like such an idiot for believing, if only
vaguely, that a package of powdered Hollandaise could even remotely
compare to the real thing. I'm still even wallowing this morning about
it, which is why I decided to write my experience down in hopes that
both you and I may never make this mistake (or in my case, make the
mistake AGAIN).

You know what the funny part is? I had three perfectly tasty Lean
Cuisines sitting in the freezer that I had not incorporated into my meal
plan that could have been eaten instead.

Oh well, live and learn.