The Daily EO

The Daily EO: February 26th, 2013

I challenged my husband to make something from his Alton Brown cookbooks in the month of February. So he invited his friend over for dinner on Wednesday night and selected Butternut Squash and Potato Dumplings as his recipe. I do the grocery shopping and he does dinners, so he gave me the list of ingredients to pick up. Tuesday night he was tackling it and this is an involved recipe. Not only that, despite following it pretty closely, the recipe ending up needing 3 times as much flour as it calls for. (ever try rolling muffin batter?)

Roasting, scooping, stirring, kneading, rolling, boiling, ice bathing, draining, drying, oil drenching. Then the next night, frying.

I love white terry bar clothes for my kitchen clothes of choice. They always absorb, never shrink in the wash, easily replaceable. making dumplings is a messy event and for once we used up almost every cloth we had for the draining and drying. By the time we were finished, we had a pile of wet clothes and a mess of a kitchen. We tackled clean-up and I threw a load of laundry to clean up all my bar mops.

Our washing machine in our condo is some fancy european apartment sized ones. Ones that have no patience for North American foolishness of adding something mid cycle. So, once it is started, there is no going back. Sure you can turn off the machine, then turn it to spin & drain, and eventually, it might let you inside. I threw a little extra soap in to tackle all the oil and flour on the bar mops, but nothing unusual.

I noticed about 15 minutes in that the soap level was quite foamy, but figured that was due to my increased soap usage – afterall, I generally have the door closed to the laundry while I do it, so I really had no idea how foamy it gets during the cycle.

I was in the other room – and let’s face it, that’s not too far away when you live in a downtown Vancouver condo – when my husband called for me to grab towels for the washing machine. It’s leaking! Alas!

Wha?!

Okay – quick. Towels. Mop it up. Hmmmm. Not too much of a mess. Just a small leak from the very front of the machine. Weird.

But as stated – I can’t open the damn machine. So we mop up the water, turn it to spin & drain and keep a towel under there to pick up the water. And wait.

Long Night. And we haven’t even eaten them yet.

February 26th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary: Apparently, if you wash Butternut Squash Dumplings in a washing machine, they wedge in the door and break the seal. Who knew?

The Daily EO: February 25, 2013

You know those weeks where you sit at the beginning of it and wonder how you are going to get everything done. This was such a week. Which is why I am telling you about it at the very end of it, breaking my own rule of trying to write within 24 hours.

It wasn’t necessarily the number of things (though there are quite a few), it is a huge project that is due on March 1st at noon. It feels huge, but it probably the same size as term paper and everyone knows you never do those things ahead. Just exactly when you need to. Just in Time.

February 25th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary: The beginning of an insurmountable week – that I know now from age and experience I will get everything done.

The Daily EO: February 24th, 2013

I awoke early.

I always seem to awake early these days.

I futzed around a bit while in my pyjamas. About 9 am, I changed into work out gear because I knew I was going to the gym.

I ate greek yogurt.

I played Plants vs Zombies on my phone.

I thought about catching up on work.

I ate a tofu hot dog.

I watched an episode of Castle.

I checked on my taxes (that are waiting for the last T4). Haven’t changed.

I re-read a book.

I ate a box of macaroni and cheese. Yes, I did. I am proud of it too.

I kicked off my running shoes.

I flipped through Chatelaine and considered cooking one of the recipes.

February 24th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary: I changed out of my workout gear about 9 pm into my pyjamas after never leaving home. Lazy Sunday. Needed that.

The Daily EO: February 23rd, 2013

I do not have problems with germs or thoughts of contamination. I don’t use disinfectant really. I don’t worry about washing new items that I buy in a store. I use public toilets. I eat food that I have dropped on the floor (so long as it is a reasonably clean floor) I think that there are germs all around us and that my body is equipped to deal with them. Granted, I seem to have a solid immune system, so perhaps that is why I am careless.

Okay, yes, if food is rotten, smells funny, been in the fridge too long, or anything else like that. I stay away. But I really find it weird that other people avoid shaking your hand if they have a cold.

Perhaps I am too lenient in these things, perhaps I am not concerned enough. I don’t know, but there are all kinds and I try to be understanding of that.

My friend Alison is different than me. She washes all of her fruits and veggies, washes all new towels, avoids dirty items, frequently washes her hands and teaches her children the same. And I don’t think she teaches the “2 second rule”. Potential germs give her the heebee geebees.

I don’t think this is an issue of who is better or worse, but just we’re different.

She and her family were over for the day today and we spent it using the facilities that our building has to offer. One of which is the rooftop hot tub.

The hot tub was clearly needing additional chlorine added as it had turned slightly green like all outdoor pools and hot tubs do when the chlorine levels drop for too long. There was no algae build-up or bad smell, just the colour was off. When I was a kid, my job was to check the chlorine in our pool, so unfortunately, our pool was green once or twice a summer much to my mother’s annoyance.

It was cold outside with a biting wind and we were in bathing suits.

February 23rd, 2013 Extra-Ordinary: Potential germs won out over cold. But Alison didn’t complain, she didn’t say we couldn’t go in. She just hesitated for a mere moment and then got in. That’s cool.

The Daily EO: February 22nd, 2013

My husband and I both love Thai food, and I’ll admit, I generally go back to Pad Thai regularly. I love it. In all its noodlely goodness, half the time I get a stomach ache from too much carbs, but its worth it.

But better than Pad Thai is a Green Mango Salad. It is my favorite salad. It is my favorite mango application. It is my favorite appetizer. And I dare say it is in my top five favorite foods of all time.

But the trouble with a Green Mango Salad is that I don’t find it often in Thai restaurants or – annoyingly – the green mango is out of season in the winter. So, I am left hoping each different restaurant I go that I will find what I am looking for.

February 22nd, 2013 Extra-Ordinary: Pretty good Pad Thai tonight, but alas, no Green Mango Salad on the menu. Hoping for next time.

The Daily EO: February 21st, 2013

Do you remember when gas $.59/litre? Do you spell litre as “liter”? If no to both, then you’re probably not Canadian or you’re too young to be up this late reading a blog.

I have never commuted far distances in my life, so in the last six months, I have visited the gas station much more frequently then I have been accustomed to. And I drive a Honda Fit, so really my stops there about once a week, but that is about 3 times more than I normally used to go.

I remember when gas was $.59 and $.49 and $.39 even. For the $.39 I wasn’t legally able to drive, but I remember seeing the numbers. I also remember when gas hit $.99/litre. Unfortunately, I was in automotive industry at the time – making vehicle accessories for credit happy Americans driving gas sucking behemoths. When gas costs $.99/litre, people tend to stop driving Hummers, huge trucks and other type vehicles.

But they adjusted and the truck market somewhat recovered. And like you all – I’d abruptly stop and make a u-turn if I saw a station advertising $.99/litre.

February 21st, 2013 Extra-Ordinary: How many things that seemed outrageous just a couple years before become desired and mainstream? I ponder these things while I sit at the pump paying a $1.29/litre celebrating my good deal on gas.

The Daily EO: February 20th, 2013

When we moved to Vancouver, my husband got an official job before I did, but it was a 7 month contract. That was 6 months ago. This week, they decided to extend his contract. Until September. Which means he now gets benefits for the duration. And they are talking about full time too.

February 20th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary: There was really little doubt – everyone likes Emile and he is great at what he does – but we’ve been here before. Nice to have it official.

The Daily EO: February 19th, 2013

My insurance claim has finally come through, so I finally can purchase replacement items for my things that were stolen. This is good. Because the bag that I have been dragging my things around is somewhat embarrassing. The first thing I went shopping for is sunglasses. I went to The Bay because I didn’t want to spend a fortune but I didn’t want to get drugstore sunglasses either.

But people disorganize things, so when I finally found the ones – and a lovely plaid pattern on the arms – they were not in the correct section. But that is okay – I found them anyways. But when I turned over the tag – it said $230.

Now for some of you reading this, you may feel that $230 is quite reasonable to pay for sunglasses, but it is about $100 more than I want to spend, and $150 more than the insurance company is willing to reimburse.

But now nothing else compares.

February 19th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary: Plaid arms mean Burberry, Susan – you know that.

The Daily EO: February 18th, 2013

There are unanswerable questions.

I generally use the washroom close to my office, but today I used the washroom on the production floor. It is a large room bathroom with lockers and closets, etc.

When I closed the stall door I faced this well-meaning instruction:

I pondered this for a while.

What is too much paper towel? Is that more than one sheet? Or is just the right amount to get my hands dry? Should I take just a little and then go back for more? Is there an international standard? Is it based upon hand size? Or how far up my arms I wash? Is somebody going to be judging me on my paper towel use? Should I drip and shake dry?

February 18th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary: I think directives should be much more clear. I am never using this bathroom again.

The Daily EO: February 17th, 2013

Today we visited my grandpa in his retirement residence. We invited ourselves to lunch. On Sundays it is usually a brunch type offering and today was no different.

I like pancakes just fine – I’ve told you about Pancakes for Dinner. But I really like pancakes’ cousins: Waffles and Crepes. (and French toast, but I think that is more of a distant relation). I mean really, they are pretty much the same thing but for a slight ingredient change: more oil for waffles, more water for crepes.

So when grandpa asked we wanted to go out for lunch or eat at home, we queried the menu. Cream of Asparagus Soup and Belgium Waffles with Whip Cream and Strawberries and a side order of Bacon (low sodium of course). Go out?! And miss waffles? Do you not know me at all, grandpa?

February 17th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary: Crispy Strawberry Belgium Waffles (though I wonder if a true Belgian made breakfast?)