I have two tricks that I’ve picked up in the last couple of years that are super awesome and I wish I’d learned them earlier!
All posts by mclaypool
Night Owls
Last night I got the urge to make chocolate chip cookies. I had the flour all measured out and the butter melting on the stove when I realized that I didn’t have enough eggs. Aarrrgh! So I set out to see if the corner store was open to pick up some eggs. Open? Yes. Eggs? No. But the bigger store two doors down was *also* open. At 11:30PM. *grin*
Cellier des Dauphins
Upshot: meh…
Cost: less than $10
Notes: major points for being a *grape* wine, but definitely not a fantastic one. Kinda sour, kinda thin. However, better than several I’ve had in the last few
Months, and cheaper. Overall, an ok cheap wine, but not something I would serve to guests.
My Bed
I was remaking my bed this morning after changing my sheets (juggling laundry when everything has to hang dry in the winter is an adventure) when I realized I’d never posted any pics of my fitted sheets that I made. Well, actually, I never finished them, so I have really big flat sheets that I tuck under all the way around. They work just fine, and look fairly snazzy 🙂 Here’s the purple set; next time I change my sheets I’ll try to post a photo of the blue set (don’t hold your breath; winter has me on a much longer sheet-changing cycle).
Location:Jwa 3(sam)-dong,Busan,South Korea
Geoge Island
Today Haley and I took the subway halfway across town to meet up with the family of a couple of my students. They’re originally from Poland and have been here for seven years. They have a car, so are able to travel places that can’t be reached by public transit. We all piled in, including the dog, and drove forever to get to a place called Geoge Island, to the southeast of Busan.
The land around there has lots of waterways, so first we drive over a few bridges. However, instead of a bridge one section has a tunnel; a concrete tube lying on the floor of the bay. My photos didn’t turn out; one tunnel looks the same as another :p
The big attraction of the island was walking the dog on the beach; it’s deserted enough to let him off the leash for a while.
Korean beaches aren’t very warm in February though, so we didn’t stay more than an hour. Then we went out to lunch at some all-you-can-eat place where you pick out raw meat from a buffet and bring it back to the table to fry there. It was pretty good; Haley and I both ate a lot of meat 🙂 Then back to town, where they showed me some good places to shop, including the “secret” bakers supply stores 🙂 After parting from them, we hopped onto the subway to get as close to Costco as we could before taking a taxi the rest of the way. Hundreds of dollars later, we took a taxi home and put away our groceries. Dinner tonight? Brie and donuts! Super healthy 🙂
Deviled Eggs and Strawberry Pie
This weekend I made deviled eggs and strawberry pie. The deviled eggs turned out great. I used lemon juice instead of the vinegar and I like it so well I think I’ll use lemon juice from now on. Here’s the original recipe:
Deviled Eggs
Servings: 12
Ingredients:
6 eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise (1.8 oz, 51 g)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard (.07 oz, 2 g)
1/8 teaspoon salt
paprika
Directions:
Put eggs into a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Let boil for one minute, then cover tightly, remove from heat, and let sit for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, use cold water to chill the eggs as quickly as possible, to avoid a green ring.
Halve hard-cooked eggs lengthwise; remove yolks and mash. Use back of spoon to completely pulverize chunks. Add mayo, mustard, salt, and vinegar and mix. Hand mixer may be necessary for double batch. Refill whites with yolk mixture; sprinkle paprika on top to taste.
Hint: if you’re taking your deviled eggs to a potluck, put the filling into a Ziploc bag. When you get there, cut the corner off of the bag and use it to pipe the filling into the eggs (like frosting).
Source: Better Homes & Gardens; alterations by Marilynn and Meg Claypool.
My strawberry pie was less successful. The crust turned out great, but the filling was not so excellent. My crust recipe is here:
http://mobile.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/07/easy-pie-dough-recipe.html
It’s by another of those fantastic “cooking as science” not just art chefs I love. He has an article about why the crust works the way it does here:
I think I may have mentioned this recipe before, but it’s so awesome that it bears repeating 🙂
Now I have to go score about a million midterm exams in time to turn in grades in two days :p
Holy crap, it’s cold!
Walking to school this morning, we agreed it was pretty damn cold. Haley said it was below freezing, but I disagreed… Turns out she was right. It’s about 15ËšF outside right now!!! This is definitely the coldest weather I’ve ever been in. My face hurts, my nose runs, my eyes water… Still way better than the summer though. I think I’ll go buy us some scarves this weekend 🙂
Bad News/Good News
Sadly, the logic board of my laptop is fried. Damn. It’ll cost about $1,700 to fix. So I guess I’ll be buying a new computer. Of course, if I order one here, the keyboard will be in Korean. But ordering a MacBook from the US will be… complicated :p Oh well, I’ll get it figured out.
On the plus side: I’m lying in bed, with a bowl of strawberries and a glass of champagne getting ready to watch the latest episode of Fringe. I’ve got a bowl of pizza sauce mixed up on the counter and pizza dough rising on the table… 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hoist by my own stupidity
Two nights ago I managed to knock a water bottle over onto my laptop in my sleep. Woke up in a puddle of water with my metallic, plugged in computer. The power supply was fried; better it than me. Not sure yet whether the computer will be ok once it dries out – hopefully, since the water should evaporate without a lot of residue… Though the battery isn’t removable in this computer, unlike my last one, which makes me a little nervous. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow…
Location:Jwa-dong, Busan, South Korea
My Mommy Sent me Christmas
I got to my friends’ house tonight to hang out for Thanksgiving, and one of the first things they mentioned was “Nox’s Boxes”. Yes, my care packages from Mom arrived 🙂 I was expecting most of it, but I was really, really touched by the little things she included. She sent some of our traditional Christmas decorations, and The Polar Express book that we read every Christmas Eve… She sent our Christmas stockings! Intriguingly stuffed… — even one for Hooligan! I almost cried… Thanks Mom 🙂 🙂 🙂