Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

This Week's Meals: BONUS

There's a special place in my heart for one baked good. I judge bakeries based on it. And if I don't like the way you make it, I won't ever go back to your bakery.

Today, I made the thing. TODAY, I AM THE BAKER. TODAY, I'M THE GOD! I'M THE GOOoOOoOOOD!

I made...Cinnamon Rolls. Specifically, Luby's Cinnamon Rolls.

My oven nearly ruined them...they're supposed to bake at 350F, but my oven does it's own thing. After dialing in 350F (Which is 325F on my oven's dial), I popped in the rolls. I checked on them at fifteen minutes to find my oven running at 425F, and the rolls starting to over-brown. I think I got them out in time.

The glaze is something that I was really interested in. I don't know if it's a Texas thing, a Southern thing, or a Seattle thing, but up here in Seattle, cinnamon rolls are frosted with a cream cheese frosting. It's not bad, and in fact, quite good, but it's not what we use at home.

The Luby's recipe uses evaporated milk, butter and powdered sugar, and is just like I remember from the cinnamon rolls back home.

Oh, this could be super dangerous. SUPER dangerous.

Yule Log on Earth

Yule Log in Space

#SecondLife

That's quite the temperature rise....

So I began thinking....I can't use this in the living room. What if I moved it to the computer room instead of the 3x3 cube. It's more of a server rack looking thing, and would hold the PC, VCR and laser printer, so we'll throw it there. We'll use the 3x3 cube in the living room, and 2x2 cube in the bedroom.

And as I'm assembling the 3x3 cube, I'm realizing there's not enough room for the PC, VCR and some of the Video Game Shrine on top, so that wouldn't work either. And then I thought, maybe if I take the 2x4 shelving, and turn it on it's side, it's now 4x2 shelving, and suddenly I had enought room for everything.

SWEET.

But now I have that 3x3 cube, and no place for it. So I threw it against the back wall, and I'll hope I find something I can eventually use it for.

The moral of the story? Freaking measure everything before you buy from IKEA, or get ready to think super creatively.

So, about that computer shelving....

Since about November, I've been thinking of changing up the house a bit. The 2x2 cube I had in the office did a good job until I got a VCR that didn't fit in the cube, and the laser printer I got from my parents sure wasn't, so I ordered a 3x3 cube.

At the same time, I wanted to get rid of the TV tray I was using as a nightstand in the bedroom, and I figured the 2x2 cube would make for a great replacement.

THIRDLY, now that I also had a second VCR in the living room for encoding, and the PC was already just sitting on the ground, I figured getting some nice shelving for that would at least give me a place for the VCR and PC and it'd look nice.

Looking online at IKEA, I found a nice low shelf, and ordered it. What I got was MUCH larger than the pictures showed, and honestly, I think I got the wrong "structural supports" but the right number of shelfs. It ended up being MUCH bigger and wider than I expected.

Oh my goodness, moving the sectional to the left side that opens the living room up so so so much.

Here it comes....

POSTED WITH NO COMMENT

Ice Storm Approaching, go to Red Alert!

22F/-6C out there.

Elf on the Shelf Cereal? Rudolph Cereal?

Do not get these confused.

I'm heading out for groceries in a few...

Should I or shouldn't I?

Oh my goodness Cheri Oteri is tiny.

Two down, four to go....

The new computer center. Now actually functional, and with new laser printer (FINALLY!). There's a story about this shelving, though. I'll talk about it after the sofa is rebiult.

Kyle Hill is slowly turning into a genetically engineered human lion hybrid.

One of the bad things about the way I keep snacking down to a minimum is that I keep very little food in the house. Usually just what I need to make the next week's meals, and a few snacks.

Thursday is my usual grocery trip day. Thursday and Friday however are calling for Winter Storm conditions again and the roads from the last storm aren't all that great right now.

The good news is, I have enough cooked food until Friday. I've got frozen food for the weekend, and I have PLENTY of emergency food to last several weeks beyond (and this storm won't go anywhere near that long).

If the roads are good enough, I may try a grocery trip Thursday morning before the storm starts. Hopefully the road coming out of my apartment is in good enough shape to get on the clearer main roads.

If not, I'm not too worried. I have plenty of reserves.

I should probably top up those solar batteries, though, juuuuuust in case.

Birdie tracks in the snow.