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railentheThe apartment has largely recovered from the flood a few days ago, but there were a few issues that came up last night. One caused the other.
First, someone apparently thought it’d be funny to throw something down the trash chute that just happened to be on fire. The chute caught fire and it got up to the fourth floor—sending billowing smoke all the way up to six. Luckily, that was as far as it got, and the damage was relegated to the chute and the place that it empties out.
At this time I would like to say that I am thankful for the fact that this building is made of LOTS OF STONE. The only reason I knew about it was because I went out and asked. I was surprised that, for once, the fire alarm going off wasn’t a false alarm.
More surprising—and disquieting—is the fact that the entire building’s alarm didn’t go off. Had things gotten bad, or had I gone to bed when I originally planned, I would never known about it. …I’m not going to worry about it. There’s enough going on right now that I really don’t need to be frying my nerves on this sort of thing.
(Speaking of nerves, I need to pick up a few packs of my favorite natural sleep aid. As much as chopping a Flexeril will put me out, waking up on it is a bitch.)
Today, was more than decent. My dad came through for me with the meat order that we’d arranged at the start of the slow season—way back when I didn’t know if I’d get enough hours to go without borrowing money from someone. I now have a freezer full of MEAT and vegetables. He even brought a whole turkey! And not one of those gigantinormous turkeys that’s stuffed full of hormones so that it’s huge and flavorless: a turkey-sized turkey, the kind that actually has some flavor and richness to it, one that I am looking forward to roasting in the oven to have for Yule. I’m most definitely going to have to check out my copy of How To Eat to find a good recipe for this turkey. I was going to just roast it, but…if I can do something, then I will do it right.
This’ll be the second slow season he’s helped me pull through. Even if we don’t run into each other as much as I like, I feel good knowing that the rift in my family has finally been largely mended. It was four long years of work, but it worked out in the end.
I do have to go out and exchange my Sodaclub/Sodastream CO2 canister for a full one before the crush sets in—I have a hard enough time getting through the crowds at Bed, Bath and Beyond without the added “oh holy crap, I forgot to pick up something” (sung to the tune of “O Holy Night”). The machine has already paid for itself now that I have the Red Bull-type syrup. A 8.4 ounce can is $2 or so around here. A 4-pack is invariably $8. A bottle of the syrup? $7. It makes 50 servings of approximately 8 ounces each. (I use less syrup…this stuff is POTENT!) So one bottle = $100 worth of Red Bull/other energy drink.
…yep. Yikes. And this isn’t counting the LUDICROUS amount of cola I drink.
I’m still not feeling 100.% Close to around 65%. The original plan was to hit Eden Eternal and play for a while, but…er…I totally forgot to patch the day I was at my friends’ house doing freelancing. I…might have been distracted by the work and the SHINY. By the time the patch is done, I probably will have gone through all of my month’s data allotment and it’ll be highly likely that I’ll be asleep by then. I’ve been having trouble staying awake for a good chunk of the day over the last few weeks. I blame the complete and utter lack of sun. I’m even black!pale. (For the record, that is a very unhealthy light-ish burnt sienna sort of shade. I’m seriously considering a tone lotion so I look less anemic…which won’t stop the actual anemia, I’m on iron for that—but I’d look better! …or dark sepia…)
So my night looks like this: roasted-garlic mashed potatoes, MORE CURRY (I do love me some curry), and an unconsciousness-inducing painkiller.
…hey, I DID have to take sixteen flights of stairs total today. I am stiff!
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Date: 2011-12-23 11:24 am (UTC)Speaking of anpan I need azuki beans.
Date: 2011-12-24 03:11 am (UTC)…I SHOULD MAKE HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE SODA. And drink it with fancy chocolates.
ANPAN SPARKING!!!
Date: 2011-12-24 03:23 am (UTC)YOU SHOULD.
KNOW WHAT SOUNDS GOOD RIGHT NOW? ODANGO.
Date: 2011-12-24 03:45 am (UTC)Ferrero Rocher has a strange texture to me. I like them, but the texture feels weird to me. I like Lindor Truffles, even though they're low-end fancy as far as fancy goes. The other stuff I can't remember the name of, but it has fancy wrappers and exotic flavors like lavendr, orange, and…I kid you not…bacon.
…CHOCOLATE LIKE JECHT WOULD LIKE IT.
ODANGO ATAMA?
Date: 2011-12-24 03:52 am (UTC)The texture isn't for everyone; I'm one of those people who has trouble with globby textures such as creme caramel, creme brulee or panacotta (which is a shame because the taste of a good vanilla panacotta is to die for) so I end up gagging. The bacon flavor doesn't surprise me; there are some ridiculous exotic flavours for confectionary and desserts these days. I went to Fortnum and Mason's last year and they were selling dried ants, chocolate covered scorpions and other assorted invertebrates as snacks.
Jecht's idea of a sundae probably involves steak. AND BEER.
it's real bacon...as in ACTUAL BITS OF BACON
Date: 2011-12-24 04:18 am (UTC)IMMA SOWWY, IT'S A TEXTURE THING!
Now custards like creme brulee and creme caramel and crema Catalan are things I have no problems with. I love them and am actually in the process of creating a Guilt-Free Vanilla Creme Brulee recipe using fat-free half-and-half and egg substitute. I'm half way there, having adapted a box!brulee to a low-fat status with no discernible difference to the people I tested it on, but the stuff from scratch is hard to do!
But…I can't eat Jello. I can't do it. Not unless I chew it. Otherwise, *GAG* The same goes for mashed potatoes, and any custards that don't have something in them that involves chewing, be it caramelized sugar or cookie bits. Needless to say, I have to avoid those things if eating in public. I'm tired of getting made fun of when I chew a couple times at a pudding before I swallow it.
AAAAAAAAGUH CHOCOLATE COVERED SCORPIONS WHY YOU REMIND ME?
They had those at our local mall recently. I was almost ballsy enough to try one…I was half there before someone informed me that, just before an experimental "NOM," scorpions are arachnids.
I'm allergic to those things.
*Railenthe casts Flee!*
AGAIN NOT SURPRISED.
Date: 2011-12-24 04:28 am (UTC)Also available as wowwipops. (Who'd want to lick to the center?)
*FLEES FROM SCORPION LOLLIPOP*
Date: 2011-12-24 04:39 am (UTC)I had to get over my own custard issue when I found out that creme brulee is basically a cooked-then-baked-then-chilled-then-FRICKEN-BLOWTORCH'D custard—and that making ice cream from scratch without a special freezer involves starting with a custard base.
Which is part of why I love creme brulee so much: the crunchy burnt sugar on top gives me an excuse to chew without looking incredibly strange because, hey, this lady's chewing CUSTARD.
And it helps that if I know it's on the menu, I can ask for a tiny spoon. Itsy bitsy bites seem to help me not go *HRK* on it.
((that said, I detest warm custards. They must be chilled! They must! How the heck are people I know eating brulees when they're STILL HOT?))
ATTACK WHILE ITS LASER'S UP!!!
Date: 2011-12-24 04:56 am (UTC)And off topic but when I get the time I would so love to do an FF seiyuu hilarious in hindsight relationship gag post because after seeing a great number of anime and the resumes of these seiyuus, there are some that will make me laugh no matter how good a job the actors do. Firion bullying a good natured Sephiroth!? MADNESS!
DO A BARREL ROLL! …wait, wrong game…
Date: 2011-12-24 05:17 am (UTC)In quick answer, WE DON'T KNOW. We just don't ask questions and we run with it. We ask questions, we brick it. And I love my occasional nightly insomnia-relieving sweetened steamed milk to give it up. The last time something worked and I asked questions there was an explosion. That was my second to previous computer. So we no longer ask questions when something works that in all logic SHOULD NOT. XD
The only problem: the lower fat content in skim milk means that it takes a few neat tricks to get a custard to thicken. A MUCH longer cook time, for one, at a lower heat, and supplemented with cornstarch when it's cooked to taste. It doesn't change the taste at all, thankfully, but basically when you sub in skim for whole, you've got to manually condense the milk as you cook. It's time consuming.
The good thing is, because it cooks down so much, you get this lovely, rich custard base when all is said and done, with the texture of this silky, creamy pudding…and sans the guilt.
…you know, the way I eat, I should be as big as a house…