Monday, February 22, 2016

Shy Finns & Haddock

These things are completely unrelated, but I might as well make one post of them to save space:







And tonight's dinner...Haddock, with chili powder, green onions, mushrooms, Monterrey jack and cheddar cheese.



Sunday, February 21, 2016

The weekend in three songs...

Well one album and two songs:

Dark Side of the Moon
Here I Go Again
Someday Lady You'll Accompany Me

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Was cold this morning.

Last night I did go see Deadpool -- at the Millbury Theaters, which sit completely exposed at the top of a hill. Holy Heck the wind was blowing and that wasn't the best planning!

From the National Weather Service:

6:30AM Minimum temperature check (note these are all records): Boston -9F, Providence -9F, Worcester -16F, Hartford (Bradley) -12F.


The 4am temps:
MAZALL-141000- CENTRAL AND WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

CITY SKY/WX TMP DP RH WIND PRES REMARKS
WORCESTER CLEAR -15 -27 54 NW17 30.11R WCI -40
FITCHBURG PTCLDY -12 -28 45 NW14G25 30.22R WCI -34
ORANGE CLEAR -14 -27 52 NW16 30.24R WCI -38
SPRINGFIELD PTCLDY -12 -28 44 N6 30.29R WCI -26
WESTFIELD CLEAR -11 -28 43 N14G20 30.30R WCI -33
NORTH ADAMS CLEAR -15 -28 52 W10 30.32R WCI -35
PITTSFIELD CLEAR -16 -29 52 NW8 30.22R WCI -34
$$

RIZALL-141000- RHODE ISLAND

CITY SKY/WX TMP DP RH WIND PRES REMARKS
PROVIDENCE CLEAR -8 -26 41 NW13 30.27R WCI -28
NEWPORT CLEAR -7 -20 53 NW18G30 30.23R WCI -30
BLOCK ISLAND PTCLDY -2 -15 55 NW17G30 30.23R WCI -24
SMITHFIELD PTCLDY -11 -31 37 NW13 30.18R WCI -32
WESTERLY CLEAR -6 -26 37 NW9G20 30.29R WCI -23
$$

CTZALL-141000- CONNECTICUT

CITY SKY/WX TMP DP RH WIND PRES REMARKS
BRADLEY INTL CLEAR -10 -27 42 NW3 30.31R
HARTFORD CLEAR -7 -24 43 NW6 30.36R WCI -20
BRIDGEPORT CLEAR -4 -19 48 NW14 30.36R WCI -24
DANBURY CLEAR -7 -22 48 NW7 30.33R WCI -21
GROTON CLEAR -6 -20 50 NW18 30.30R WCI -29
NEW HAVEN CLEAR -5 -20 48 N12 30.36R WCI -23
CHESTER FAIR -6 -24 41 NW10G22 30.28R WCI -23
MERIDEN CLEAR -5 -24 39 NW10G24 30.33R WCI -23
WILLIMANTIC PTCLDY -8 -26 41 NW8G23 30.29R WCI -24
OXFORD CLEAR -9 -29 37 NW8 30.27R WCI -26


Tuesday, February 9, 2016

My First Pulla!

Pulla is, along with Pannukakku, one of the comfort foods of my childhood since they were served at all the big shindigs at the Finn Hall and Pulla was common at family visits.

It's amazing just what the smell of the Cardamom did to me when making this!

Followed this recipe: Allrecipes Finnish Pulla

This however is the Finn Hall recipe:

I did have to improvise a bit -- I had started everything and discovered I had no white sugar, just Sugar-in-the-Raw. So while the milk was still hot I whisked in the sugar, salt, and cardamom to dissolve the sugar. After it cooled to lukewarm I added the eggs and yeast/warm water mix and enough flour (2 cups) to make batter:


Then I beat in enough flour (3 cups) to make dough. Rising #1 on a floured board:

Rise #2 in a bowl by the woodstove. Punch it, let it rise a third time:

Divide into thirds, then sixths so you can braid the rolls:



Brush on beaten egg, and sprinkle with Sugar-in-the-Raw:

The directions said to watch it carefully since the bottoms can burn...and I just barely avoided burning the bottoms!!! The taste and texture were good...though it wasn't going to win any Finnish baking contests!
:

Now I have to think up a name for a truck...

The '03 Ranger is pretty well shot...I've been hesitating buying new tires to replace the three dry-rotted ones (and the used one I bought to replace the one too badly dry-rotted to hold air). Two or three weeks ago I came home from the dump and could smell that I now had a stuck front brake. Kind of annoying paying insurance every month on a four wheel drive I don't trust to drive in the snow, or more than five miles from home.

Especially when it means having to make sure I time traveling with my car around the timing on storms so I can try to get in before the driveway is impassable, or it's daylight so I can safely park at a nearby plowed-out business and walk along/across Route 6 to go get my snowblower.

Would love a Jeep...but they must have transmissions made of gold for what they go for, especially for something not terribly practical (I'd still need to get a trailer for it) and that almost no one who owns one actually uses it off roading (and I've been avoiding some favorite trails for years not trusting my old truck to make it...)

Would love a 3/4 ton...but I don't want to spend that much money either and I really don't need one yet.

But then during the Super Bowl I'm looking around and find this guy at Central Ford ... 2001 with 93,000 miles (150,000 fewer than my '03). I'm only figuring on putting about 5,000 miles a year on it so it should keep me in good shape for a while. Since my Fusion is up to 135,000 it's also nice having a reliable spare too.

Since I was already planning to work from home on Monday (another storm was forecast and it sounded like I'd have to leave by noon to get home in time to safely get up my driveway)...I just took the morning off and was the crazy fool who went to buy a car in a snowstorm:

They are doing some minor mechanical repairs they had to order parts for so it'll be Wednesday before I get it home :(

Been eating better...

Lot less take-out than I have been eating recently.
Salmon with cranberry walnut salad:

Strip steak with mandarin raisin salad:

Sausage, Cabbage, and Bean Stew



While I was prepping those ingredients, I also had some baked cod & spaghetti squash in the oven.

I left in the fridge overnight, and put in the crockpot when I left for work to cook

It was...OK. Not good, not bad but was missing something. What made it pop into something delicious was some wild rice and diced tomatoes...nice save!

First significant snow of the winter

Friday 2/5 was the first snow of any mention to fall this year. As it was supposed to come in and dump then be gone by 2pm, I hoped to be on the low side of the 5-8" forecast...it ended up going to 8-12" :/

But despite the intensity, as expected the ride home wasn't bad but I left early to get home in time to clear the driveway in daylight:

Parked at the Stone House and walked in.

So you're telling me I need to get out my chainsaw to remove a tree from on top of my woodpile so I can stack the wood I saw on the woodpile?


About half of Brooklyn lost power -- this was basically a mid-tier ice storm due to the weight of the snow. Crews from out of state getting ready to head out from Ocean State Job Lot on Saturday. With significant number of limbs coming down for 24 hours after the snow stopped, it was Monday before all power was restored.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Kiss Her...

Little too long for the quotes on the right:
Kiss her. Slowly, take your time, there’s no place you’d rather be. Kiss her but not like you’re waiting for something else, like your hands beneath her shirt or her skirt or tangled up in her bra straps. Nothing like that. Kiss her like you’ve forgotten any other mouth that your mouth has ever touched. Kiss her with a curious childish delight. Laugh into her mouth, inhale her sighs. Kiss her until she moans. Kiss her with her face in your hands. Or your hands in her hair. Or pulling her closer at the waist. Kiss her like you want to take her dancing. Like you want to spin her into an open arena and watch her look at you like you’re the brightest thing she’s ever seen. Kiss her like she’s the brightest thing you’ve ever seen. Take your time. Kiss her like the first and only piece of chocolate you’re ever going to taste. Kiss her until she forgets how to count. Kiss her silent. Come away, ask her what 2+2 is and listen to her say your name in answer.


Related(?) note -- bit of a Shakespeare mash-up since the lines are from two different plays but I thought they worked together:
“What fools these mortals be! We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”