Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

My air filter hates or when I cook. It's one of the few times the air quality light on it goes red.

Found a way to not just put the antenna outside, but also the upconverter and even the USB Stick outside, and trail the USB cable inside where I could listen. This let the antenna get full signal, and let me stay warm in the living room.

Picked up Radio Marti out of Greenville, North Carolina as clear as if it was broadcasting from next door.

Saw some activity on the CB bands today. I think it was a jammer, too. Everytime someone would key up, another key would blast over it, with what I think was a CB line from Smokey and the Bandit, which just repeated every time someone keyed up.

Quick Question for my Mortal Kombat II friends out there. When the game came out, do you remember a revision where Shao Khan WASN'T at the top of the mountain?

Some video of MK2 Version 0.1 was just recently released, and not having Khan at the top reminded me that the first version I saw didn't have Khan at the top of the mountain. However, the first version I've seen available on MAME (1.1) has Khan at the very top.

Did I just imagine that?

Today's Dr. Who is "Dalek."

Still the best looking version of the tin plated pepper pots in 60 years of history.

This Week's Meals (3/3): Pacific Salmon Chowder.

I love me a good chowder. I love me a good salmon. There's no way this can be terrible.

# Pacific Salmon Chowder

Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking
6.0 servings

1.0 tbsp butter
4.0 whole potatoes (peeled) (diced)
1.0 cup green onions (sliced)
0.25 tsp dill seed
6.0 cups milk
1.0 pound salmon
salt
pepper

1 - Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2 - Add potatoes, green onions and dill seed and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
3 - Add milk and simmer over low heat for 40 minutes.
4 - Add fresh salmon and simmer for 10 minutes more.
5 - Season with salt and pepper.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

The Pacific Northwest gave me an appetite for both wasabi and raw salmon. I've snacked on two cubes of these already....

This Week's MEals (2/3): Pueblo Beef Stew with Green Chilies and Garbanzos

HOLY COW THIS IS SPICY. It's got at least ten green chilies in it and a jalapeno and OMFG it is hot hot HOT. But it IS tasty!

# Pueblo Beef Stew with Green Chilies and Garbanzos

Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking
8.0 servings

2.0 pounds top round beef
0.5 cup flour
2.0 cups onion (chopped)
4.0 slices bacon (chopped)
2.0 cloves garlic (minced)
4.0 tablespoons vegetable oil
2.0 cups beef broth
2.0 cups green chilies (chopped) (peeled) (seeded)
2.0 whole jalapenos (minced)
1.0 teaspoon cumin
0.5 teaspoon Mexican oregano
Salt
pepper
16.0 ounces garbanzos (canned)
2.0 whole tomatoes (peeled) (seeded) (chopped)

1 - Pat beef dry with a clean towel.
2 - Flour meat lightly and reserve.
3 - In a large, ovenproof saucepan or Dutch oven, cook onion, bacon, and garlic over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove to a separate dish and reserve.
4 - Add oil to the saucepan and brown meat on all sides.
5 - Return bacon, onion, and garlic to the pan and stir in tomatoes, broth, chilies, jalapenos, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.
6 - Simmer, covered, over low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
7 - Add garbanzos and continue to simmer for an additional hour, or until meat and vegetables are tender.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

Was out on a quick small drive in the Snoqualmie Valley, and suddenly came into this tiny itty bitty dead end neighborhood Ghibli Movie looking community. I mean, it's four houses literally facing each other between a one-lane road, up on a hill, looking over Preston.

I fell in love with it in just a few minutes. To the point that I came back for pictures. From the outside, it looks pretty tiny, but according to the sellers website, it's got three bedrooms a dining area and living room in a 1450 sq foot area, which isn't much bigger than the apartment I have. It's tiny, and the interiors look to also be very small and cozy. Just my thing (Although three bedrooms is a bit much).

It's still in the valley, it's right off the freeway, it's in an isolated part of a town that makes Duvall look like Houston. It's a lovely house in a lovely place.

But even before I left the lot, I knew I could never afford it, even with the land sale money, and I've just been laid off, and I need to look at surviving the next few months, much less consider talking about buying a house. And then they want $600k for it, and well, yeah. I can't afford a house out here, which is why I rent.

But it is a very cute house, in a very cute place, and in a perfect world, is where I'd live out my days.

But, c'est la vie....

https://theirwingroup.com/properties/8550-310th-avenue-se-preston-wa-98050-2002329

This Week's Bread: Bannock

I don't know if it was the instructions, or my stove, but it took 30 minutes to cook the bannock on the first side, and eventually I pushed the heat up just to get it to finally cook.

Also, forgot to let it cool, so the center, while not raw, is a little too chewy for my liking. I gotta remember to let bread cool!

# Bannock Bread

Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking
4.0 servings

2.0 cups flour
4.0 tsp baking powder
1.0 tsp salt
0.5 cup shortening
0.5 cup water

1 - Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2 - Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3 - Gradually mix in water to form a thick dough.
4 - Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 15 minutes, or until it is very smooth.
5 - Grease bottom and sides of a 10 inch cast-iron skillet.
6 - Press dough into the pan and cook, uncovered, on top of the stove over low heat for about 10 minutes on each side. Watch carefully so bread does not burn before center is cooked through.
7 - Place loaf on a rack to cool.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

This Week's Meals: (1/3): Chippewa Wild Rice and Eggs.

I used 15 eggs in this recipe and cooked in three batches with my largest skillet. It's a really good omlette. And really thick. :D

# Chippewa Wild Rice and Eggs

Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking
2.0 servings

1.0 cup water
0.25 tsp salt
0.3333333333333333 cups wild rice
4.0 slices bacon (cut into thin strips)
4.0 whole green onions (thinly sliced)
6.0 whole eggs
0.125 tsp ground pepper

1 - In a saucepan, birng water and a pinch of salt to a boil.
2 - Stir in wild rice.
3 - Cover and reduce heat to low.
4 - Simmer for 50 to 60 minutes, untiil all water is absorbed.
5 - Fluff with fork and reserve.
6 - In an 8-inch nonstick or well-seasoned skillet over medium heat, sauté bacon until crisp.
7 - Drain off all but about 2 tablespoons of drippings from skillet.
8 - Add green onions and wild rice and sauté briefly.
9 - In a mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs with salt and pepper.
10 - Add eggs to skillet and stir with a fork to scramble lightly.
11 - Stop stirring and allow eggs to brown lightly on the bottom.
12 - Place a large dinner plate face down on top of skillet. Carefully flip skillet and turn omelet out on plate.
13 - Slide omelet back into pan and cook for a few seconds.
14 - Cut into wedges and serve hot or at room temperature.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

Dear cook book writers.

Please please PLEASE do not separate your cooking instructions. I nearly forgot to make the rice because you separated those instructions from the rest of the instructions.

This weekend's Shortwave Contacts. Yes, Jenn is on her Shortwave shit again. The greener, the stronger, the redder, the weaker.

Picked up my very first Shortwave Pirate Station, B Side Radio on 6935kHz. Strongest signal I've gotten since I restarted the Shortwave, and some good music to boot.

https://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/index.php/B_Side_Radio

I'm gonna be rich, I tells ya! RICH!

When using an OCR to scan in a recipe, remember to go over it just to make sure everything's good.

"Oh, that's a cute outfit Iluminaughtii is wearing. I've always liked the oversized sweater and leggings look, but I just look a circus tent in them....but what if Digital Jenn wore it?"

::five minutes and $250 Linden Dollars later::

"Oh. That's cute. THAT'S REAL CUTE."

#secondlife

Finally got an direct antenna connection for my SDR radio. It's actually really NOT the antenna I intend to use for shortwave - it's more of a mount for my longwire to properly clip onto. A quick check on Shortwave and AM tells me it's working WAY WAY WAAAAAAY better than the kludge I made back in the other house.

I've already picked up a signal from Africa, as well as the local low power station Valley 104.9 which even my car (which is a DX monster) has trouble picking up in town.

I was talking with Erwin Zel about the Gillespie County schools on another post, and it got me remembering the last few times I was in Texas.

In 2018, I started planning my yearly "trip to Texas on my two month layoff." Seeing how the wind was blowing politically down there, I made it a mission to see everything and everywhere that meant something to me while I was there. EVERYTHING.

I put 9000 miles on my car during the 2018 trip (including going there and back from Seattle). And on every trip, I tracked myself with GPS.

There were still some things I didn't see, and when I went back in 2019, this time using my parents car, I made a list of everything else I wanted to see, and did that as well. I haven't been back since.

Given how the trans situation is down there, I don't know that I can go back.

Too many windows....