Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

It's time...

Parentalpocalypse, Day 7 & 8.

Light days, these days. We visited Summer Stage,v had a nice walk around town that evening, hit the farmers market the next day and then had an amazing dinner at the Melrose in Renton. HIGHLY recommended. Bring an extra wallet.

Our time together is growing short, so we're picking up the pace a bit, and for day nine, we're visiting my Almost-Home....

Where I am now.

I did. Will you?

Parentalpocalypse: Day 4, 5 and 6....

Day 4 began with a request from Dad to see a fishing village of some sort, and to grab some seafood. So we decided to start the day on a boat, with a ferry ride over to Whidbey Island. I've always liked the ferries. I've always liked the ocean. Very much like the salt sea air. So starting the day with all three was very nice.

Our first stop was Langley, a sleepy little town that was absolutely not sleepy at all. It seems that all these towns were having festivals this weekend, so it was packed.

We explored the area a bit, and moved along to our next town along the east coast of Whidbey Island to Baby ISland and Freeland (sorry to miss you Ashley and Eli!). Freeland was the quiet sleepy town I expected with not a lot going on. I did see four people hanging around a garage who looked AWFULLY familiar though.

We flipped over to the West Side, and found a lovely beach that I'M NOT TELLING ANYONE ABOUT BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY PLACE I SAW WITH BEACH ACCESS AND I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO RUIN IT.

Seriously, though, we had the place to ourselves and a lovely view and I could just sit there and drink in the sea a ir and quiet. We just sat there for an hour, taking it all in (I was gonna say drinking it all in....don't drink that water).

From there, we stumbled into Fort Casey. We weren't expecting to see a pretty much completely intact fort, but the battlements, a freaking CANNON and a lighthouse. Dad's a Vietnam Vet and explained all the different buildings we saw. We're going to make a dedicated trip to Fort Casey so they're well rested and able to explore the battlements.

We made our way though Oak HArbor and ended up in Anacortes. Both towns fed my dad's craving for experiencing fishing villages and towns. But Anacortes also fed our tomachs, where we ate some great seafood on the bay at the Secret Cove restaurant. Great food, service...iffy. But I can't blame them. I think someone called in AND they were training a new waitress. We got some free key-lime pie without even complaining, so they took good care of us.

Day 5 and 6:

We were all tuckered out from roadtripping, and I had two meetings over two days to deal with, so we decided to relax these days. Day 5 we didn't do much. Mostly just watched movies.and grabed groceries.
Day 6 was much of the same, except they wanted me to cook. And I gave them six hours of cooking. With more to come soon. 🙂

And now we're here, waiting for Day 7....

Dang, y'all. Not even a day into my fiftieth and your already sending me applications?

And my lady, she went downtown
She bought some ber-ra-ccoli
She brought it ho-ome...
She's chop'in broccoli
Chop'in brocco-li
Chop'in brocco-la
Chop'in brocco-laa-aa

This Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Parentalpocalypse Edition

They wanted home made Hour and Sour Soup, Fried Rice and Beef and Broccoli. And they got it in droves.

Dad wanted Sweet and Sour Pork, but after six hours of cooking my back and neck said "we're done." Tentative plans to make that on Thursday....

For now, though... ::collapses::

This is what happens when mom buys the groceries. And I'm 100% happy with this decision.

Where I am now....

Parentalpocalypse, Day Three: One thing my parents and I enjoy, is roadtripping. And we are getting thos emiles in while they're here. Today we explored northwestern Washington State, and actually got to within feet of the Canadian Border.

Just took a small drive up the old Pacific Highway route. While in Marysville, we came across an antique car show, including a still running 100 year old Model A! Apparently, they just hang around this parking lot every weekend.

We took our time climbing the highway up towards Blaine, showing off some little ghostowns here and there, such as Bow, and slightly less ghost towns like Edison and others.

We came back, and I did something I wanted to do for a LONG time. Back in 1982, when I was a little kid, Saturday Nights were staying up late with the parents, watching Twilight Zone, Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica. Occasionally with a black forest cake or A&W Root Beer Floats.

Under the guise of getting coffee for the morning, I snuck out to the grocery store, got coffee, and some cake slices for the folks. At 10:30, I switched over to Plex, and on came Twilight Zone. Then Star Trek. Then Battlestar Galactica.

I really wanted to do this. I missed out on the chance last time they were up here, I wasn't going to lose it again. So for two and a half hours, I got to be eight years old again, keeping my parents up, while we watched Sci Fi. And I wanted to have a night of those good times again.

Fifty is the new Eight.

Where I am now.

Fashion Goals:

This Week's Celebratory Birthday Meal: Fairy Bread

So I have a close friend in Australia who, a few weeks ago, told me I needed to make scones after she saw my Popeyes Biscuits. That did me right, and she mentioned Fairy Bread to try as well. It's been on my radar for my birthday ever since.

Yes, it's not quite my birthday yet (about 25 hours from now). But as my parents will be here for the next two weeks I made this now so I could have some before they got here.

This is really good. For something so simple, it's REALLY good. Since becoming diabetic and cutting back on my sweets, I've lost a bit of my sweet tooth. I like cake, but rarely finish a slice in one sitting before it's too sweet. This has a really subtle sweetness that builds as you chew it, and a heckuva crunchy texture.

This is dangerous. Now I can have something lightly sweet anytime I want. And all it takes is a TON of butter and a TON of sprinkles. :)

# Fairy Bread

A slice of bread.
Enough margarine (or softened butter) to thickly spread on the bread
A whole lotta nonpareil sprinkles

1 - Grab you a slice of bread.
2 - Spread butter on bread VERY thickly, making sure to cover the whole slice.
3 - Add enough sprinkles to spread across the bread, covering it completely.

#thisweeksmeals

Ending Day Three of Super Adulting:

Spent the last two nights introducing a friend to Ranma 1/2. I really love that they're enjoying something that gave me a lot of joy over the years.

This Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Klobásník (aka Kolaches, aka Pigs-in-a-Blanket)

Last time I made these, I marked them as "remake." Mainly because they came out very sweet. Almost too sweet. When I made these this time, I tried to see where I could cut back on the sweetness, but didn't find any place I could really cut back. So I just tried to make them again.

This does use my kolache dough recipe, which has mace in it, so I left the mace out this time...and it tasted good! Not overly sweet like last time, so maybe that was the culprit. The honey butter says to use unsalted butter, but I may go with salted next time just for a bit more flavor on the bread.

# Klobásník

Multiple
5.0 Klobásník

0.25 cup milk (scalded)
0.25 cup sugar
0.5 tsp salt
0.75 package yeast
0.25 cup water (dough)
1.0 whole egg (beaten) (dough)
0.25 cup salted butter (melted)
1.6666666666666665 cups flour
2.5 slices American Cheese
5.0 whole sausages (hot dog sized)
0.5 tsp water (egg wash)
1.0 whole egg (egg wash)
1.0 tbsp unsalted butter (honey butter) (melted)
1.0 tbsp honey

1 - Combine milk, sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm.
2 - Stir yeast into warm water; let stand 5 minutes.
3 - Add to milk mixture. Stir in eggs and margarine and enough flour to make a soft dough.
4 - Knead on lightly floured board until smooth and elastic.
5 - Cover, let rise in warm place until double in bulk.
6 - Punch down, cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
7 - While dough is still rising, add the sausages to a large skillet and cook until warmed through, turning while they cook to ensure all sides are lightly seared.
remove the dough to a work surface lightly sprinkled with flour.
8 - Cut the dough into equal amounts, depending on the amount you are making)
9 - Prepare a large baking sheet with a silicone mat or sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Set aside.
10 - Working with one piece of dough at a time, press the dough into a larger square shape, slightly larger than what's needed for the sausage to fit on one side.
11 - Place a half slice of cheese on one side, then the sausage.
12 - Roll the dough and pinch together where it meets.
13 - Place on the prepared baking sheet with the seam side down.
14 - Continue until all the klobásník are prepared.
15 - Place the klobásník on the baking sheet with approximately 1/2 to 1 inch of space in between, they rise while they bake, but it’s ok if they run into each other.
16 - Cover and let rise for an additional 45 minutes.
17 - While rising, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
18 - Remove the cover from the klobásník
19 - Prepare the egg wash by beating the egg with the water. Brush this over the top of the dough.
20 - Bake for 14-15 minutes until the tops are golden. Turn the baking sheet during the middle of baking if needed for even browning.
21 - Remove from the oven, combine the melted butter and honey, and brush this on top of the klobásník while they are still hot.
22 - Let cool for several minutes, then serve warm.

Makes 5 klobasniks at ~37.5g carbs per klobasnik.
Calories 571
Total Fat 31g
Total Carbohydrate 48g
Protein 16g

#thisweeksmeals #baking

Where I am now....

Comics are coming. ETA: August 23rd, 3797AD

The Onion gonna Onion