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Category: cooking/baking

Fri. May 23, 2025 – some stuff to do, some to put off, some off putting…

Warm, and moist. Great in a cake, not so great in the weather. But it could be cold, and moist, which hurts. I’m assuming that we actually will get to hot and wet before the end of the day. It was certainly hot and moist yesterday.

I did get some stuff done. I got three pickups out of the way, with a bunch more to do today. Then it was grocery shopping for the weekend (and some sale items) and kid stuff. The kid stuff took until late, then dinner out, then finally home.

Today will be mostly pickups. Some shopping for stuff for the BOL. Some loading of stuff to take up. I am juggling possibilities to see if I go up today or tomorrow. It’s looking like tomorrow as I have some awkwardly timed pickups. Even then, I won’t be leaving in the morning tomorrow either. Which raises the question of picking up the solar panels today, or tomorrow on the way out of town… The timing really sucks though, with nothing quite lining up. The most annoying thing is that I didn’t win the major item in the auction with the last pickup, but I did win some minor things. So I’m stuck getting them later than I would have liked.

I was busy with the kid stuff and couldn’t adjust my bids.

Oh well. I like to combine trips, and have everything lined up, but I can’t always. W and the girls can’t head up until later Saturday either because of kid stuff commitments. As long as I get everything, it is what it is.

Probably time to buy even less, but I find it hard to pass on a great deal. And there is still stuff we need, like stuff for the boat. Freaking auction had a bunch of good stuff, on Lake Conroe, which was convenient too. But I didn’t win most of it. Had I known, I’d have been more aggressive bidding on lots once I knew I was making the trip.

It seems like there is always something to do, or buy. But that’s the story of my life. Always be working, always be stacking. Today’s no different.

nick

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Thur. May 22, 2025 – Still busy, just different busy

Still hot too. It was a bit cooler yesterday and was even pleasant in the shade, with a breeze. Since the overcast held up for a lot of the day, temps didn’t climb as high. I’m hoping today is similar.

Did my doctor visits. Apparently I’m healthy. Cardiac, oncology, bloodwork, all good. Ruling out any major issues is a good thing. I’ll do my follow up colonoscopy in the next couple of months, and some allergy testing. That should answer any remaining questions. After all that, I can stride confidently into my next decade.

Did some shopping in between docs. Grabbed 130 media at the Goodwill outlet. That’s about half movies, half CDs, and some books and games. Most of the books and games will go to my auctioneer. Everything else will get ripped to the server. It was a rare day to have all that stuff I wanted.

Stopped in at the fun store to see my friends. Had a nice chat and they did a steady stream of business while I was there. They had a lot of pistols on consignment. I’ve been seeing a lot of ammo in my auctions lately, even .22LR. Times are getting tight again, methinks.

Taking D1 and her friends out for dinner rounded out the evening. Good news from the docs, and a night with family. It was a good day.

Today I’ll be trying to get a couple of pickups done. I’ve got a few other things to do too, but most of the day is open. Tonight, D2 walks across the stage at her middle school. Time FLIES.

Use that power of time to do a little, frequently. Before you know it, you’ll have world class stacks, speak another language, have a solid new skill, or have saved for your BOL. Or all of those if you are ambitious.

Stack the good things.

nick

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Tues. Mar. 25, 2025 – nothing but filler today

Probably still cool and clear. Despite the forecast for possible rain, yesterday was sunny and clear by noon. It even dried out some. Today should be similar.

I was really hurting yesterday, so I took some meds and went back to sleep. Got up in the afternoon, did my auction stuff, and my kid taxi stuff. Went by the chiropractor, got adjusted, and felt better, but came home and went back to bed.

Today I either feel better, in which case I’ll go to school with D2 and do some audio or lighting stuff, or I go back to bed after taking more meds. We’ll see what happens.

Grid up, meds and treatment available. So I’m using them.

Stack some alternatives, just in case. You’re unlikely to regret it.

n

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Thur. Jan. 30, 2025 – youtube shorts are the devil…

Cool and damp, but warmer overall. That’s the trend and I don’t need to bet against the trend. I think it made it to 70F yesterday despite the overcast. And it never really rained, although the dew point was making everything wet with condensation. I think we’ll get more of that today.

So I did my pickups for the day, got gas, went to Costco… did some other auction stuff. Moved some stuff around the house to make room for Girl Scout cookies. Yup, it’s cookie season again. Get ready to support your local troop.

The threat of rain did limit some of what I wanted to do. I had some stuff I should have moved to storage, but I didn’t want to get it wet in the back of the truck… or that’s the excuse I’m going with anyway…

Today, after helping to stack cases of cookies, I’ll be moving and cleaning up more stuff. Can’t have all my crep stacked around the house if people are coming to get their cookies. I should have gotten it all taken care of before now, but didn’t. I really need deadlines.

The problem with that as it relates to prepping is that you never know the date of the thing you are prepping for (Y2K being an exception). Most bad things happen suddenly, and while there may have been plenty of warning, the actual event doesn’t usually kick off on a schedule. Some people try to maintain that top level of readiness for any disaster, but I mostly end up trying to maintain a baseline of readiness that meets most needs most of the time, but might leave me short in some specific areas and some specific scenarios. It’s easier my way, and I’m generally comfortable with it, but it may not be good enough for anyone else.

Find a level you are comfortable with, aim to achieve that. Then work to build on that incrementally. Always be working, just maybe not always at a fever pitch.

And stack of course.

nick

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Fri. Jan. 24, 2025 – weird week, glad it’s ending…

Cold, dry, and clear. Warming later. I hope. Easy to make predictions, harder to make CORRECT predictions… but warming would be nice.

So another day went by without a massive amount of backlogged tasks finally being cleared. I did manage some domestic bliss. And I put some more Christmas stuff away. Didn’t have any pickups, so I was actually home all day. Did have kid taxi duty, and that ate a few hours.

I had time to make dinner though. Lamb chops. Yum. I had the lamb from Costco to bag and freeze, but half of it had already spoiled. I’m taking that flat back to Costco. I had two flats, both same dates, both same shelf in the fridge, but one stunk. So it’s going back, probably later today. I decided to cook half the other flat for dinner and freeze the rest. Usually I grill the triangle chops, but it was cold out…

I seared them in my cast iron, in fat, oregano, basil, and rosemary, then added chopped baby potatoes, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Cover and simmer with a bit of red wine, turning frequently until the potatoes were done. Remove meat and potatoes, make a red wine reduction with the pan drippings and voila’, dinner is served. Chops were medium rare to medium… and it was good. For bread I tried the new shelf stable baguettes from costco. They were pretty good, and are ready in about 10 minutes. We normally like lamb a bit more rare, but I felt better cooking them a bit more this time.

I’ve got a pork rib roast thawing for today or this weekend that I froze in 2018. I’m finally getting down into one of the chest freezers…

Today I’ve got an appointment with my eye doctor, and a couple of pickups to do. And of course, kid taxi later.

Not much time for more domestic bliss. I know what I’ll be doing this weekend…

That’s right, stackin’!!

Don’t be slackin’ (like me)

nick

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Mon. Jan. 13, 2025 – back to it…

Warmer, and damp but maybe not wet. It was misty,drippy and grey most of Sunday, but it did get a little bit of blue sky before dusk. I’m hoping the blue was a harbinger of today’s weather. But if not, I’ll deal.

Spent yesterday casually doing stuff around the house. I was poking at my office cleanup, watching some auctions close, putting Christmas decor away, and half a dozen other things. W did get the tree stripped and the bins loaded for the attic. I put them away at the end of the day. It’s opened up the foyer and living room… and if I can get some of my auction stuff out of here it will open up even more. That’s the goal anyway.

Today I’ll be on the phone making some appointments, if I can. I’ll be trying to get an auction set up too. And I might head south to do a pickup, so that I don’t have to go in opposite directions tomorrow. I’m sure some domestic bliss will happen too. Then it’s a kid pickup in the middle of the afternoon, and the other kid in early evening. I have to build my schedule around that. Finally, if it’s dry enough, I’ll get the last of the outdoor decor down. Or maybe I’ll go back to bed, and spend the day reading. Probably not.

There is always work to be done, and preps to be stacked.

So I’ll get to work, stacking.

nick

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Fri. Nov. 29, 2024 – Slightly less red Friday

Cold but clear. Warming later but IDK how much. Funny thing is that at the beginning of the week the forecast was for warming. Cooling happened. Oh well, that’s why I no longer pay much attention.

Thursday was a lot of cooking, some great smells and even better tastes, sitting around watching tv, and the smallest bit of work… and only because it enabled cooking.

I made bread in the machine. Had to hit one of my “bread kit” buckets for sugar. The buckets have 10 pounds of flour, 5 pounds sugar, yeast packets, and a liter of peanut oil. I realized I should add some salt to them too. Add water and there are several variations on bread that can be made from the bucket. I’ve got buckets of the bulk ingredients and salt, oil, and yeast in other places, but the “kit” bucket puts them conveniently together. Oh, there is a pound of corn meal in there too, for variety. Yeast was from 2022 but worked fine.

All the milk for cooking was LaLa UHT full fat milk in shelf stable half liter cartons. I keep them in the fridge for even better life. They are a great choice to have milk on hand in places where you don’t use enough to keep fresh around, or don’t have fresh. I have the single serving box milks too, but they tend to age out before we use them. They won’t kill you, but the taste changes and they get chunky like tapioca if you let them get more than a few months past ‘best by’.

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Plan for today is to put up the Christmas lights and some decorations, and then maybe do some of the other stuff on the list. The attic work gets pushed to another day.

We’re headed home on Saturday, without much time to do more than pack up and secure the house. I don’t think I’ll get into the bigger projects in the attic without an extra day of wiggle room. I’d love to stay until late Sunday like normal, but wife and kids have stuff to do in Houston, and I have an auction pickup Saturday afternoon- ham radio stuff for me and for my swapmeet in March.

“Plans are worthless, but planning is invaluable” or something very close to that was said by a very successful General. I’m going to go with it.

Do some planning. Use some preps. And do some stacking. Maybe there will be a sale!

nick

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Thur. Nov. 28, 2024 – Thanksgiving Day

Cool and damp with a small chance of rain today. We’ll see. Most of the local weather goes around us here. Yesterday turned out very nice, with moderate temps and not too much sun.

It was a good day for working and I did get stuff done. I spent some of the afternoon doing meatspace things, building relationships. Getting a feel for people. Trying to become an insider, rather than an interloper. This is not an easy process. It takes a lot of time. And a lot of work.

Speaking of work, I think I’ll try to not do to much of it today. This is a great time to be mindful of what we have to be thankful for. And there is a lot. Time together, and time to get our stuff together.

Thank you all for continuing to come around and participate in this shared endeavor. Thank you Barbara for your continued support. Thank you Rick for all you do.

Count your blessings today, and give thanks.

nick

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Wed. Nov. 27, 2024 – progress is being made, albeit slowly

Cool, even cold this morning, warming later, then cold again. Another beautiful day, if a bit on the chilly side.

Got the walls in the dockhouse buttoned up. Still need to buy and install the trim, but at least the walls are closed.

For every new receptacle I put in two duplex outlets. I flip one upside down so that no matter how the flat plug is built, you should be able to plug in and have the cord point down. I do quad boxes because if you need a receptacle, you probably need more than one…and I’m doing the work anyway…

Today I’ll clean up my mess, put the room mostly back together, and move onto the next thing on the list. Not sure what that will be, but I’ll do something.

I should probably start brining the turkey, if we’re going to brine it…

Time to do the ten thousand things.

And stacking. Can’t forget about that.

nick

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Mon. Nov. 25, 2024 – a week off… sorta

Should be cool and clear again today. Other than the crazy wind, yesterday was very nice, staying in the 70s most of the day. The sun was very hot, but the wind kept me cool. Today is supposed to be a little warmer, and without the wind.

I slept in,but not as late as some times when we’re up here. I was up and productive anyway. Although daytime reading is like daytime drinking… once you start, you won’t get much else done.

I got the speakers hooked up on the dock, did more of the electrical work, and started on finishing closing up the walls in the dockhouse. Then I ran out of daylight.

Had a nice fire and chat on the patio instead of my usual time alone on the dock with my radio and tiny fire.

Today I’ll keep working on getting the dockhouse back together from the flood damage. After that we’ll see about some networking or some other stuff on the list. There’s plenty on the list, but if it’s nice out, I might shift stuff around a bit to take advantage of the weather.

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The turkey is defrosting in the fridge, and we’re debating whether to brine it and bake, or brine and smoke… or maybe some other technique will jump out at us. Dunno, brining seems to be a common denominator, so maybe I’ll start with that. I generally cook at home, and my wife does most of the cooking when we’re up here. Thanksgiving will take both of us though. And maybe the kids will get involved with something other than just the baking. Maybe.

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Meanwhile the world continues to race headlong towards global conflict. Make your preparations. Learn what you need to know. Meet the people around you. Stack.

nick

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