Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

Last Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Tim Walz' New Ulm Hotdish

Completely spaced out on posting this, but I decided to finally try one of what is apparently three Tim Walz's hotdish dishes out there. I chose this one cause I'm a sucker for sausage. Please do not take that out of context.

This was a good meal. Nothing hugely special - it's hot dish, it's hot, it's filling, with mild flavors. A good weekday dinner the family will like. Could use some salt and pepper. Maybe some ketchup? :D

I think changing up the sausage would really brighten this up. Instead of using bratwurst, try some hot Italian sausage?

Like most homemade recipes I've come across, the instructions were fairly vague, expecting you to just know how to prepare and cook them. I've updated the recipe to be a little more specific.

# Tim Walz's New Ulm Hotdish

Tim Walz
11.0 servings

1.0 whole onion (diced)
1.0 tsp garlic powder
1.0 cup celery (chopped)
0.5 cup milk
1.0 cup sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
19.0 ounces bratwurst
12.0 fl oz beer
10.5 ounces cheddar cheese soup
10.5 ounces cream of mushroom soup
32.0 oz tater tots

1 - Bring a pot of water to a boil.
2 - Add beer, onions and garlic powder.
3 - Submerge brats into the pot and reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes.
4 - Remove the brats and allow to cool
5 - While cooling, drain the water, keeping the onions.
5 - Butter the casserole dish.
6 - Combine the onion, celery, cheddar cheese soup, cream of mushroom soup and milk into a separate bowl.
7 - Chop of the brats into bite size pieces and add to the bowl with the other ingredients.
8 - Pour the mixture into the casserole dish, top with tater tots and bake for 1 hour at 350F.
9 - Sprinkle with cheese for the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking.

Makes 11 servings at ~400 calories per serving.

Calories 382
Total Fat 23g
Total Carbohydrate 24g
Protien 10g

#cooking #thisweeksmeals

Again, tastes good, but super dense...

I have unintentionally made giant MRE Wheat Snack Bread.

Lunch is... served....

I don't think Safeway put this in the right container.

I'm really enjoying my time in VR. Once I bought into the idea of it being a Star Trek holodeck, I really dove into it.

This pic of me watching a movie isn't really a posed picture like Second Life. It's actually me, watching a movie. Existing in a cabin in the snow. My POV is in the second pic.

It's funny. I still havent' lost that "look in the mirror, and see the right body staring back at you" feeling. But it's more normal now. I work in there during the Creator Jams, I explore worlds in there.

But sometimes I catch a reflection, or I walk past a mirror, and I catch a quick unexpected glimpse of...well...a close appoximation of the me that lives in my head. I still cry sometimes when I see me in that mirror.

But only when I really want to feel it now. 🙂

Also: My ear pokes out from under the hair! EEEE! THAT'S THE CUTEST THING IN THE WORLD, VR OR MEATSPACE! ❤

I didn't dream it! The watermelon at the farmer's market is real!

Not as sweet as the last one, but still sweeter than what I can get at the store. I had to share half of it with Crystal and Lissa, just cause that's too much watermelon for me.

Even the tupperware bowls are just half the watermelon!

Huh. Mythical Kitchen made a video showing The Three Stages of Jenn's Transition. 1980s, 1990s, 2000s.

I still draw my comics as often as my health allows, but sometimes I have a little extra "oomph" to do something special for friends.

New body, who dis?

Finally moved out of the Zelda and Zelda-edited avatars at got one that is a little more "me." She's still not perfect...she's a bit curvier than I'd like (I prefer being slender), she's got a bit of a babyface. But as a friend said, very few of us are happy with our bodies.

Those nails have GOT to go, though.

While the mesh and textures were pre-made, I had to learn how to attach the textures to the mesh, as well as the different types of textures, and learning how to create dynamic bones to make the hair move. Took a few hours over about a week. But I learned a LOT doing it.

#resonite

Guess who (digitally) regenerated?

The Zelda avvie in Resonite was always just a placeholder until I found something better. After a friend figured out how to darken my skin, and get longer hair, I stuck with the Zelda avatar a bit longer.

I found an avvie I quite liked a few weeks ago, and downloaded it. She was a bit...curvier...than I expected...and after applying all the textures, needed to skin tone tweaks to look more like me. And Once I put the sweater on her, her figure toned down more to my liking. Still would prefer the more slender Zelda figure, though....

I need to remove the talon fingernails in Blender, but otherwise, I'm pretty happy with the new body. I'll miss the Zelda one, but that's Zelda, not me. This is closer to me. :)

Back to Resonite and Second Life for some serious stay-cation relaxation....

Please stop calling Trump "Donnie." Do not ruin the One True Donnie for me:

Be safe, Japanese friends.

Where I am now.

Parentalpocalypse, Day 11: Forests

So after finding out that whale watching tickets are $150 a person, and that Fort Casey is a LONG ways away, we cancelled both these trips, leaving our itinerary completely open. I asked what they both wanted to do - and Dad wanted to see forests.

So I took them down some local forest roads. As you know, I haven't been forest road driving in over two years. After my car started acting up and the skid plate finally shredded to pieces, I did not feel safe on forest roads.

So I kept it local, I had my forest road survival kit with me, and just hoped for the best. Even though the local forest roads are far more maintained than the deep forest ones, there were a few moments I felt the road was too rough on my injured car...but as usual she made it through with flying colors.

Once I get a job - major car repair is in order.

We grabbed some burgers and came home and relaxed.

We really don't have anything scheduled tomorrow. Just relax, pack and get ready for them leaving Tuesday afternoon....

Parentalpocalypse Day 10: The Mother-Daughter Day.

Day began very VERY early with a breakfast at Sultan Bakery up in Sultan with Crystal, Lissa and a certain corgi pup. It was good to get together with the girls outside of work time. But an 8AM wake up is not ideal, and after getting back home, I fell back asleep to my normal wake up of about 1PM

When I'm president of the world, I'm making a law that breakfast must be available 24 hours a day.

Dad has been a lot of the focus these last few days, with his wanting to see a real fisherman's wharf. Today was Mom Day, and she wanted to see some of Seattle. Specifically the International District. I decide to take her on a little trip around town.

Back when I worked in downtown Seattle, there was this signpost near our office: "Scenic Route 4." I didn't know what that was, but after some more in the Fauntelroy area, I decided to do some research. Turns out during the 1962, Seattle created these routes for the Worlds' Fair. I found a map of the routes, but it was VERY vague and VERY hard to follow. But I did try to follow the routes and there were some good views and neat things to see, even in 2010.

I decided to take mom to a few a of them, first stopping off at this scenic overlook on Queen Anne Hill. Great views of Lake Union. We also made our way to Admiralty Point and the gardens there. But what blew the top off our day was Kerry Park.

I knew Kerry Park had a great view, and I tend to take people there, especially at night, to destroy their minds with the view. But not only did we have our view today - we got the Blue Angels. I'd completely forgotten that Seafair was going on today, and we had a great view of the planes taking off, buzzing the Space Needle and circling around to get to their SeaFair performance.

After we left, we headed to Pike Place Market. And with my folks being elderly and mobility impaired, we got a plush parking space thanks to their Handicap placard. Got some good samosas there, shopped for some groceries and saw some flowers. Sadly, mom's back began to bother her, so we moved along.

From there we visited the International District and saw some sites. Sadly, did not get out much becuase parking is expensive and she needed some back-rest. But we did get out for the Dr Rizal Park and it's great view of town.

From there, took a drive to West Seattle, specifically for another viewpoint of the town and Elliot Bay. Going home, I got all mixed up and we ended up taking the 99 Tunnel for some fun and getting lost trying to get back home.

In all, a fun day with unexpected highlights.

There are two more days with them. We're hoping for a little (light) forest road driving tomorrow (the car is not up to my usual forest driving shenanigans until I have a job where I can repair her). Monday will be packing up and a farewell dinner.

Gonna hate to see them go, but we're making plans for winter.

Also: I really need to load up those maps again and try to rebuild a scenic drive around Seattle. It's not the same as 1962, but a lot of the sites are still there, and would make a good driving route.

WAIT WHAT UNIVERSE DID I WAKE UP IN

Where I am now.

Parentalpocalypse Day 9

Dad wanted to see a fishing marina, I knew a great one. I needed to drop off some equipment with a friend. What did these two things have in common? CANADA.

We headed out to Abbotsford cause the Sumas crossing was quick, and I dropped off a package that was sitting in my foyer waiting for delivery for six months.

This is pretty far from Vancouver and the Steveston Fisherman's Wharf, so I kind of struggled with what to do between here and there. I decided to hot some of the spots I'd hit when I was considering emigrating to Vancouver.

First, a trip down Avenue Zero, where you drive on a road in Canada, and the border is inches to your left. Nothing between the countries to stop people from crossing over (except hidden camera, sensors, all manner of monitors and a big ole ditch). It's always neat to see how open a border can be.

We skipped Peace Arch, and headed through to White Rock so dad could add another fishing village. It was PACKED. Apparently there was yet another summer fair going on.

From there, we headed to Centennial Beach, where, after being complimented that I knew the area like an old pro, I proceeded to make a million wrong turns. Karma, man.

But we did make it and spent some time at the beach staring at Mt Baker and collecting shells for mom's craft work. From three I took them down to Tsawassen for some more water views.

We jumped over to Steveston Harbor where we finally enjoyed a real fisherman's Wharf with real fish and chips.

Sadly our time in Canada was short, and we really only saw three of my MANY cheap-to-free Vancouver haunts. But it was nice to be in my "Almost Home" for a bit. I've missed it.

And dad had his first Ketchup Chips! 78 and never had ketchup chips. We've been to Canada three times! How the heck did that happen?

(Alt text on the Android app is broken)

Where I am now...