Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

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."

This Week's Meals (1/2): Doctor's Orders.

I never want plain Jell-o again. Except for those thicc parts along the sides. Those can stay.

So I went back to Kura on Friday and picked up the Texas Roll to try it out. It's...more Austin than Texas:

"Spicy tuna, avocado and cream cheese wrapped in Kura specialty sushi rice and dried seaweed with tuna drizzled in spicy mayo and yuzu cream sauce topped with fried onion and sesame."

This is the ideal female body. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

When I created Carrie for Closetspace (yes, the comic isn't dead, the artist is just trying to survive), I based her on Suzanne Vega because I loved the idea (and the sound) of a woman and a guitar and not much else.

What's funny, though, is that Closetspace's story in the comics is just part of a larger story I'd planned out just to make sure the continuity and where they were headed made sense. I had the idea that eventually she'd be a music producer in her 40s and would occasionally play in other's songs as a session player.

There's a sound in some songs where, when I hear them, I think "That's Carrie, playing cause so-and-so was sick that day." It's the sound of Mike Nesmith playing the guitar on the live track of the Monkee's Circle Sky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhtfFpCRRaA) or Jonny Greenwood on Radiohead's "Optimistic" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQCJKWEFyG4) which also happen to be two of my fave songs.

I always imagine she can play on all sorts of different types of genres, but always brings a sort of electric country twang to her playing.

Tonight's TNG was "Data's Day." There's a scene where Data asks the holodeck to conjure up a dance partner, and I don't think it's a coincidence that she looks like Denise Crosby's Tasha Yar.

Given what Data says in about his relationship with her in "Measure of a Man" it seems to have gone deeper than his one night with her in "The Naked Now." I do believe he got closer to her right up until she died.

One thing I really think should have happened in Season 1 of Picard was not that Picard was waiting for Data when he dies, but Tasha.

A rare pic of Steph and Jenn in High School, 1992.

Okay, I snorted.

Tackling the kitchen, and the oven really...REALLY...needed a deep clean. See the counter on the left to see what I'm dealing with....

Cooking makes Oven-chan happy.

This Week's Meals (4/4): Jack in the Box's Deli Trio Grilled Sandwich.

They need to bring this back, either as a sammich, or as a pannido.

# Deli Trio Grilled Sandwich

Jack in the Box (Copycat)
2.0 half-sandwiches

2.0 slice sourdough bread
2.0 slices provolone
butter (as needed)
2.0 tbsp creamy Italian dressing
4.0 slices salami
1.0 slice ham
2.0 slices pickle (sandwich sliced)
1.0 slice turkey

1 - Butter each slice of sourdough bread
2 - Assemble as follows, from top to bottom:

[Top]
Slice of sourdough bread (Buttered on the outside)
Creamy Italian dressing
Slice of provolone
Slice of turkey
Two pickle fillets
Slice of ham
Four slices of coin-sized salami (or one big slice)
Slice of Provolone
Slice of sourdough bread (Buttered on the outside)
[Bottom]

3 - Grill on High to desired doneness

#cooking #thisweeksmeals

This Week's Meals: (3/4): Kibbeh.

Oh, this. THIS. I'm eating it right now and it's everything I remember.

Back in the late 90s, when I was living in State College, PA, an Egyptian restaurant opened up for, like, a week. North and I happened across it while it was open and we stepped in to try it. I didn't know what to get, so I asked the waiter what I should try, and he suggested Kibbeh.

And I've been chasing it ever since. When I was in Austin, I did find places that served it, but I never ordered it because they mentioned it was a wheat shell dish - and I didn't remember wheat being part of the Egyptian kibbeh I had. I missed out on so much.

Up here in Seattle, I did ask a local place if they made kibbeh, and they said the only place they knew was in Seattle, but if a certain cook was in, they could make it for me. But when they said it was wheat shelled, I just never ordered it.

When every recipe for kibbeh I found had that wheat, I realized I was wrong - I was thinking like Wheat Flour - the shell is actually BULGUR wheat, which is a very thick mealy flour and provides that crunchy meal shell I remembered.

And this. This is that kibbeh. :D

They look terrible, though, cause I couldn't make the football shape they were supposed to be in (and those pine nuts make it look...yikes). But that taste. THAT TASTE.

But boy am I glad meal #4 is a sandwich. :D I needed ibuprofin to while shaping the kibbeh.

# Kibbeh

https://www.themediterraneandish.com/kibbeh-recipe/
About 24 kibbeh

2.5 cups fine bulgur wheat
None None Water
1.0 large onion, quartered (shell)
1.5 lb lean ground beef (shell)
2.0 tsp ground allspice (shell)
1.0 tsp ground coriander (shell)
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon (shell)
1.0 tsp black pepper (shell)
Pinch salt (shell)
Oil for frying
1.0 tbsp Olive oil
1.0 medium onion (finely chopped) (filling)
1.0 lb ground beef (cold) (filling)
0.3333333333333333 cup toasted pine nuts (filling)
1.0 tsp ground allspice (filling)
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon (filling)
Pinch salt and pepper (filling)

1 - Cover a fine mesh strainer with a light cloth (a cheesecloth, if you have one). Add the bulgur wheat in, then place the strainer into a bowl filled with water. Let the fine bulgur wheat soak in the water for 15 minutes.
2 - Pull the cloth, holding the bulgur, and squeeze all the water out. You may do this a couple of times until you are sure the bulgur is rid of water. Set aside for now.
3 - Now make the kibbeh (the actual dough that you will later use to form the kibbeh shells). Put the onion, ground beef, spices and pinch of salt into the bowl of a large food processor. Process until the meat is very finely ground almost into a paste.
4 - Transfer the meat mixture into a large bowl and add the bulgur wheat. Use damp hands to combine the bulgur with the meat mixture to make a dough. Cover and refrigerate until later.
5 - Now make the filling. Heat olive oil in a skillet or frying pan.
6 - Saute the onion until just golden, then add the ground beef.
7 - Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the meat is fully browned.
8 - Add the toasted pine nuts, the spices, and the salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
9 - Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
10 - Remove the kibbeh dough from the fridge.
11 - To stuff the kibbeh, you need to have damp hands. Place a small bowl of water next to you. Prepare a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.
12 - Dampen your hands with some water, take a handful of the kibbeh dough (about 2 tablespoon or so) and form into somewhat of an oval-shaped disc in the palm of one hand.
13 - Use your finger to make a well in the middle of the disc, and gradually hollow the disc out to make a larger well or hole for the filling.
14 - Using a spoon, add about 1 tablespoon of the filling. Seal the dough on top and, using both hands, carefully shape it into an oval (football-type shape). Place the stuffed kibbeh on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
15 - Repeat the stuffing steps until you run out, be sure to have damp hands throughout.
16 - Chill the stuffed kibbeh for 1 hour.
17 - Heat the oil in a deep frying pan to 350 degrees F (you'll want the oil hot enough that you can see some gentle bubbling, but not too hot where it will burn the kibbeh shells).
18 - Deep-fry the kibbeh in the hot oil, in batches being carefully not to crowd them, until the kibbeh shells are brown (about 5 minutes or so).
19 - With a slotted spoon or tongs, carefully remove the kibbeh and place them on a pan lined with paper towel to drain. Repeat until you have fried all the stuffed kibbeh.

#cooking #thisweeksmeals

Aww yeah.