Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

Been a while, hasn't it, Personal Trainer: Walking?

I like to think that, if I could find clothing that was as flattering as I get in Second Life (and had a body as flattering as in Second Life), I'd have at least some sense of style.

Had a couple of folks ask me why my couch was so far away from my TV, and I started asking myself the same thing.

Squinched the couch a good three feet closer, and then realized the reason I did it was the big open space behind the sofa.

But now I had a place for that 3x3 shelf I didn't really need to balance that space out....

This looks so wrong. And yet strangely arousing.

And now all the Wii U content I've bought has been redownloaded, reinstalled, and archived.

The eShop may be locking down, but it's not going away. I mean, I just redownloaded all my old Wii purchases, and as long as Nintendo uses the same backend infrastructure for their shops, I doubt they'll go away.

But securing your purchases is always a good idea. Just in case.

I worked at NOA for the entire life of the Wii U and I've never seen this error...

Just gotta let Yoshi's Woolly World finish up and let the backlog of old Virtual Console games download before continuing...

This Week's Meals (4/4): Spaghetti all’Assassina

According to Pasta Grammar, this doesn't mean "Assasin's Spaghetti" as much as it means "Killer Spaghetti." AND HO BOY DOES THIS LIVE UP TO THE NAME. This is the best spaghetti dish I've ever had.

What's neat about this dish is that you don't boil the spaghetti in water. You saute it in the sauce itself, making for an incredibly powerful tomato taste. Because of that, the pasta isn't like boiled spaghetti, but has this kind of al-dente chew to it and even a crispyness to some strands. But not "raw pasta" crispyness, but a "cooked" crispyness to it.

This is absolutely fantastic.

# Spaghetti all’Assassina

Pasta Grammar

1.125 cup pure tomato purée (avoid anything with added salt or flavor)
10.0 tbsp tomato paste
Salt (to taste)
4.0 tbsp olive oil (plus some extra for drizzling)
2.0 cloves garlic
Red chili pepper flakes (to taste)
7.0 oz spaghetti
3.0 cups water

1 - Fill a saucepan with the water.
2 - Add about 1/10th of tomato purée (save the rest for later) and the tomato paste and bring to a simmer.
3 - Salt the broth to taste.
4 - In a large, cast iron skillet, add the olive oil and a pinch of chili pepper flakes or fresh chili peppers to taste.
5 - Peel the garlic cloves. Add one whole into the pan; dice the other and add this as well.
6 - Heat the pan over high heat until the garlic sizzles.
7 - When it does, pour in the remaining tomato purée and quickly spread it to cover the pan evenly.
8 - Lay the spaghetti down in the center of the pan, and press it out as much as possible into a thin, even layer. The goal is to try and have as much of the spaghetti as possible in contact with the tomato sauce.
9 - Let the tomato sauce completely thicken and begin to burn (a little bit). The pasta touching the pan needs to acquire a some crispy caramelization.
10 - When it does, use a spatula to gently flip it so that the other side can crisp up a little bit as well. Remember that it’s actually the residue of the tomato sauce that’s “burning” so try to ensure that the pasta has an even coating of it. Completely dry pasta won’t crisp.
11 - When both sides are slightly burnt, add one ladleful of hot tomato broth into the pan. Let the liquid completely boil off; you’ll be left with more tomato residue.
12 - Once again, let the pasta sit untouched until the side touching the pan has gotten a little crispy again.
13 - At this point the spaghetti will have softened slightly. Stir the pasta around, flatten it down again, and add another ladle of broth.
14 - This process repeats until the pasta is cooked al dente to your taste. Add broth, let the liquid cook off, leave the pasta alone to crisp a little bit, stir it together, flatten it out, repeat.
15 - Once the pasta has cooked to your liking, let it crisp up at the end as much as you like. Serve immediately, topped with a drizzle of olive oil.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

This Week's Meals (3/4): Salisbury Steak

The food you remember as being really fancy in elementary school.

# Easy Homemade Salisbury Steak Recipe

Belly Full
5.0 steaks

1.0 pound ground beef
0.25 cup panko breadcrumbs
1.0 large egg (beaten)
2.0 teaspoons ketchup (steaks)
1.0 teaspoon Dijon mustard
0.5 teaspoon dried oregano
1.0 teaspoon kosher salt
1.0 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2.0 tablespoons unsalted butter
2.0 tablespoons flour
1.5 cups beef stock
1.0 tablespoon ketchup (gravy)
1.0 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
0.5 teaspoon onion powder
6.0 ounces cremini mushrooms (sliced)
Salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)

1 - In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, ketchup for the steaks, Dijon mustard, oregano, and kosher salt until combined.
2 - Shape the mixture into equal oval patties, about 3/4-inch thick.
3 - In a large nonstick skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat
4 - Add the steaks and cook, about 3 minutes per side until they get a nice golden crust (reducing the heat if they're browning too much.)
5 -Transfer to a plate.
6 - Reduce the heat to medium and in the same skillet with the drippings, add butter.
7 - Once melted, add in the flour and whisk until combined and no lumps remain.
8 - Reduce heat to medium-low and pour in the beef stock, whisking well.
9 - Add in the ketchup for the gravy, Worcestershire, onion powder, whisking to combine.
10 - Add in the mushrooms, then simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken.
11 - Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
12 - Add the partially cooked steaks back to the skillet and nestle into the gravy
13 - Cover and cook another 10 minutes until cooked through (with an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.)
14 - Serve steaks over mashed potatoes with some of the mushroom gravy drizzled on top.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

All my DSi/3DS purchases downloaded to an SD Card, and that SD Card mirrored to a file in case it corrupts. I'm surprised with how loaded my 3DS is, it still fits in 32GB.

This Week's Meals (2/4): Orange Chicken Parmesan

So, remember when I said "Maybe I'll make some food from web cooking shows I like?" I went straight for Mythical Kitchen's Orange Chicken Parm. A fusion of Panda Express' Orange Chicken and Italian Chicken Parmesan. Oddly, no parmesan in this recipe. Or orange.

What got me to try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNU6htR0TdI

It's a gigantic recipe, and looks kind of daunting. In fact, I was dreading making this cause I figured with this many ingredients and deep frying, I was about to wreck my kitchen. But it's fairly simple, and any kitchen wreckage was going to happen no matter what.

My dish looks a bit different from Josh Scherer's mainly because I didn't watch the video as I cooked (it's a 15 minute video, this takes a while to make). My mozarella isn't as melted as his, but is still pretty melty, and I think I cut the chicken too small.

Also, did you know there's a sriracha shortage? I rarely use sriracha (I prefer sambal oelek, an Indonesian chili paste), but I figured I'd get some for this, and couldn't find it anywhere. Apparently, the chili peppers used for sriracha are in low supply due to a drought where they're harvested. The sambal oelek made do in a pinch, though.

Original Video is Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjNQT2RlN5U

# Orange Chicken Parmesan

Mythical Kitchen

1.0 lb chicken thighs
1.0 Tbsp Soy sauce
1.0 tsp Rice wine vinegar (chicken)
1.0 tsp Sugar (chicken)
1.0 Egg white
0.25 tsp white pepper
2.0 Tbsp vegetable oil
2.0 cloves garlic (minced)
0.0625 tsp red chili flake
1.0 Tbsp ginger (grated)
12.0 ounces tomato juice
2.0 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (sauce)
0.25 cup sugar (sauce)
1.0 tsp sriracha
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp dried basil
0.5 tsp fennel seed
1.0 tsp cornstarch (sauce)
2.0 Tbsp water
1.0 cup cornstarch (chicken)
10.0 cherry tomatoes (halved)
0.5 cup fresh basil
Olive oil
1.0 cup mozzarella (low moisture) (cubed)
vegetable oil (for deep-frying)

1 - Cut chicken thighs into chunks.
2 - Whisk together egg white, soy, sauce, pepper, the rice wine vinegar for the chicken, and the sugar for the chicken.
3 - Add in chicken pieces and let marinate for 1 hour.
4 - While marinating, heat oil in a sautee pan and add ginger and garlic.
5 - Stir fry for a few minutes until fragrant.
6 - Add the red chili flake, tomato juice, the rice wine vinegar for the sauce, the sugar for the sauce, sriracha, sakt, dried basil, fennel seed, cornstarch for the sauce and water.
7 - Cook for 6 minutes until sticky and reduced.
8 - Add cornstarch to chicken/marinade mix and stir until well-coated.
9 - Place a paper towel on a plate. We'll use this to drain the chicken.
10 - Deep fry at 350 for 4 minutes or until golden brown
11 - Remove the chicken and drain.
12 - Add chicken to the sticky tomato sauce and pour it in a heat proof dish.
13 - Arrange halved cherry tomatoes around the saucy chicken and then add mozzarella cheese.
14 - Bake at 500 degrees for 8 minutes, until cheese is melty and golden.
15 - Top with fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

This Week's Meals (1/4): Luby's Dinner Rolls (Yeast Rolls Redux)

If at first you don't succeed, burn the recipe and go find another.

This one came from my Luby's cookbook and while it's still a little crumblier than I like my yeast rolls (I like the roll tops brown and thinly crusted, and the bread to be super moist and a little stringily pull apart), it is absolutely a Very Good Yeast roll. If anything, this is a lot less "biscuit" like yesterday's rolls and more "rustic homemade recipe" version of a yeast roll.

A few days ago, I listened to a podcast where there was a discussion about "Why do you need cookbooks when you have The Internet?" And this is a good example why. The original recipe I had was from the Internet. Granted, it was from a foodie site, but it was just off the net. I don't know how often it's tested, how often they repeated the process and dialed it in. Have they been tested for scalability? And unless they're a big name, I don't know who made it and if their tastes coincide with mine.

In a cookbook, especially the ones from restaurants, they're constantly repeated, usually scalable, and have been dialed in for however long the restaurant is open.

In the end, cookbooks are good things. And while websites are good (I've made some great recipes from websites), I'll always pick books over websites just for reliability.

Speaking of scalability, I might have a more "yeast roll" experience if I make the full 18-roll recipe on the muffin tins as the recipe mention....
# Luby's Dinner Rolls

Luby's Recipes & Memories
18.0 rolls

1.3333333333333333 cups warm water
2.0 tbsp active dry yeast
0.5 cup sugar
3.0 whole eggs
4.0 tbsp butter (melted)
0.3333333333333333 cup nonfat dry milk
1.0 tsp salt
5.0 cups all-purpose flour
vegetable oil (as needed)

1 - In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend water, yeast and sugar. Set aside 5 minutes to allow yeast
mixture to become frothy.
2 - Add eggs and butter.
3 - Using the dough hook of the electric mixer, beat on medium speed until blended.
4 - Add dry milk and salt. Mix well.
5 - Add flour, one cup at a time, mixing until dough begins to pull away from sides of bowl.
6 - Leaving dough in bowl, lightly grease top of dough ball with oil.
7 - Cover loosely and let rise in a warm place 1 hour or until doubled in size.
8 - Lightly grease a muffin pan.
9 - Punch dough down and divide it evenly into the number of portions you want.
10 - Gently roll each piece into a ball and place one ball into each muffin cup.
11 - Let rise in a warm place 1 hour or until rolls have doubled in size.
12 - Preheat oven to 350°F.
13 - Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

This Week's Meals (1/3): It Was Supposed To Be Yeast Rolls But Somehow They Became Southern Biscuits.

So, big old dumb me forgot I HAVE a recipe for yeast rolls in my Luby's cook book and instead went online for one. That was probably my first mistake.

The second one was making the dough, I could not get it to "dial in" to a correct dough. It was either too sticky, or too dry and I couldn't get that middle ground. Eventually, I just had to say "good enough" and continue. I'm not sure if I overcooked the bread or if the dough was not good, but these are not the fluffy light yeast rolls I'd hoped for.

But they're NOT BAD.

They're not yeast rolls. They're biscuits. A nice lightly crunchy bread shell with a fluffy soft interior. So I'm not calling it a failure. But it's not what I was expecting. But they're still pretty good. Needs a little salt to be a real southern biscuit, though.

Probably won't post the recipe as it didn't come out right - but if you want it, let me know.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

Taking the occasion of the Wii U/3DS eShop lockdown to take my old Wii and "secure my purchases" there. If you thought navigating the 3DS shop was bad, imagine downloading all your old games after ten years on the Wii Shop Channel.

SO. MANY. BUTTON PRESSES.

Tonight's TNG was "The Wounded."

I love Rosalind Chao's Keiko O'Brien. She's such a sharper more intense character than the easy going and laid back O'Brien, and the dynamic really works for them as a happily, if occasionally antagonistic married couple.

I'm actually one degree of separation from her in real life. She was on the set of The Big Brawl, which my dad was the camera truck driver for the shoot. Which technically makes me one degree of separation from Jackie Chan now that I think about it. He said she was actually really nice and sweet, but wasn't on the shoot for very long.

Also in this episode, I noticed The Two Datas sitting together! Sitting at one of the forward stations is Guy Vardaman (bottom left), who often doubled for Brent Spiner as Data, as well as was in the background quite a bit. AND was also the inspiration for Guy Fleegman in Galaxy Quest, the character who wasn't important enough for a name.

Watching Muppets Take Manhattan when I came across this fine actress. I forgot Gates McFadden did a lot of choreography work with them. Dancing Doctor indeed. :)

First day of the year with all the windows open!

Something Leonard Nimoy was very particular about was how his Vulcan ears were portrayed. Specifically that they had a gentle front point on the tips. But another thing about his ears were that they were glued back along his head.

When he first got fitted for the ears for The Motion Picture, Fred Phillips forgot he had to pin his ears back and, as described in the Making Of book, he looked like a "gremlin." Easily fixed though.

But that's something I'm noticing with the new new Trek series Vulcans. They don't pin their ears back. And everytime I see that, I think about that gremlin line in the book. :)

I'm currently working encoding episodes of Buck Rogers and found one with Jamie Lee Curtis in it! And it's one I distinctly remember from my childhood, too. We all get our start somewhere....

This Week's Meals (2/2): Cause it's not Jell-o.

I never understood why my surround system kept showing "dUd." I finally dug through the manual, and it's supposed to be "DVD."