Jenn Boo-lari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

Hey, Mark Hamill in 1972!

Every year, I spend my birthday getting food from Pennsylvania and Canada as I do miss my time there. North sent some stuff the other day, actual physical reminders of my time in State College. Made a memory shelf out of it all.

Kirby! Snorlax!

An evening in State College, Pennsylvania, 1997, twenty six years later.

Tired of not seeing your candidates on the final voting ballots? PRIMARIES ARE COMING UP.

Vote the heck out of the pirimaries, and who knows, your guy may show up on the final ballot. But you gotta get your votes out there.

If you have a primary coming, please vote.

OMFG

Central Pennsylvania came by to visit for my birth-month!

This Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

The recipe says this was from 1978, and it certainly looks like a 1978 Sunday Night Family Dinner. It's actually pretty decent if a tiny bit bland. Definitely needs salt and pepper (the recipe didn't have any, and I didn't add any thinking the Velveeta would be salty enough), and maybe a dash of hot sauce to spice it up.

This is the original recipe, which is far larger than my scaled down dish. The recipe says "Feeds 18-20!."

# Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Fredericksburg Home Kitchen Cook Book

0.25 pound butter
1.0 cup onion (chopped)
1.0 cup celery (chopped)
1.0 clove garlic (minced)
4.0 ounces mushrooms (canned)
4.0 tbsp flour
4.0 cups chicken stock
2.0 pounds Velveeta (grated)
2.5 cups tomatoes (stewed)
2.5 cups peas (drained)
4.0 ounces pimentos (canned)
5.0 pounds chicken thighs (cooked) (diced)
16.0 ounces spaghetti (boiled) (drained)

1 - Saute at medium high heat the onion, celery, garlic and mushrooms until soft and slightly brown.
2 - Add flour and stir until well blended.
3 - Add chicken stock slowly and stir until thickened.
4 - Add cheese, tomatoes. pimiento and peas, stir until cheese melts.
5 - Add chicken and spaghetti and mix well with other ingredients.
6 - Place in greased casseroles and refrigerate overnight.
7 - Put in cold oven and bake at 375 degrees F. for 35 minutes.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

I got a care package from North Hibiki the other day, and in it were a small collection of coins. This penny is 99 years old. If I have my number correct, one of my grandparents (maybe two) weren't even born yet when this was minted.

This Week's Bread: Luby's (sorta) Yeast Rolls

Finally! Some proper yeast rolls. Still not 100% what I got in school but I think that's because they buttered the tops before baking.

Also, they came out perfectly moist. I tried something different this time by mixing the dough ONLY until it all came together instead of until it was firm. I think I've been over working my bread doughs. When I try the struan bread again, I'll try mixing the dough until it JUST comes together. Might get a bigger rise doing that.

Not quite Luby's yeast rolls cause I didn't do the little mushroom cloverleaf ball thing, but THEY'RE STILL SO GOOD.

# Luby's Dinner Rolls
18 rolls

Luby's Recipes & Memories

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 #baking

This Week's Meals (Bonus!): Teaberry Ice Cream!

The wonderful wintergreen flavor of Pepto-Bismol in an ice cream. ❤

# Homemade Teaberry Ice Cream

A Coalcracker in the Kitchen

1.5 cups milk
1.5 cups heavy cream
4.0 large egg yolks
0.6666666666666666 cup granulated sugar
1.0 teaspoon teaberry extract
0.5 tsp vanilla extract
3.0 drops red food coloring
0.0625 tsp salt
4.0 cups ice cubes
1.0 drop blue food coloring

1 - Place ice cubes into a large metal bowl and fill about a third of the way with cold water. Put bowl in fridge.
2 - Place a mesh strainer over a glass bowl nearby.
3 - Heat the milk and cream in a medium saucepan over low heat until it just begins to bubble; do not boil.
4 - Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until pale yellow.
5 - Once the milk and cream are ready, remove from heat.
6 - Stir in the salt, extracts and food colorings.
7 - Temper the eggs by taking about 1/3 of the warmed milk mixture and slowly stream it into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.
8 - Slowly pour the tempered yolks back into the saucepan while stirring then return to the heat on low and stir with a spatula scraping down the sides of the pan as well.
9 - Cook until an instant-read thermometer reads 170 degrees F.
10 - Pour the cooked custard into the strainer you set up over the glass bowl, then put the bowl into the ice water.
11 - Stir the custard until it cools.
12 - Once cool, cover the bowl with the custard with plastic and chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
13 - Pour the chilled custard into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions for your maker.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

If you're hiring Fae, I'm withdrawing my application. You're not getting my name....

Just got a fresh clean copy of Windows 3.1, possibly with PC-DOS 6.3 on it. Not sure what I should do with it other than archive it...

This empty bucket may not look like much, but in 1999 and 2000, this was one of the most important things in my new post-transition life.

"We are the Borg. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."

Link: "BRING IT."

#tearsofthekingdom (June Roundup)

You could have called this entire game "The Legend of Zelda: Courage to Jump."

#tearsofthekingdom (June roundup)

The Bestie and Me.

#tearsofthekingdom (June roundup)

You and me both, man. You and me both.

#tearsofthekingdom (June roundup)

This Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Shrimp Jambalaya

Shrimp, sausage and just a touch of hot sauce. What's not to like?

# Shrimp Jambalaya

America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking

8.0 ounces andouille sausage
1.0 whole onion
1.0 stalk celery
1.0 whole red bell pepper
5.0 cloves garlic
1.0 pound shrimp (deveined)
14.5 oz tomatoes (diced)
1.0 tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 cups white rice
1.0 tsp salt
0.5 tsp thyme
8.0 oz clam juice
1.5 cups chicken broth
2.0 tbsp parsley

1 - Slice the sausage into 1/4-inch-thick rounds.
2 - Peel the skin and any tough outer layers from the onion.
3 - Mince the onion into 1/8-inch or smaller pieces.
4 - Cut the celery rib lengthwise into thin strips.
5 - Cut the strips crosswise into small pieces.
6 - Trim a 1/2 inch from the top and bottom of the pepper, including the stem.
7 - Slice the pepper from top to bottom into several pieces that will sit flat on the cutting board.
8 - Trim the white ribs on the interior of each piece and remove any remaining seeds.
9 - Cut the pepper into strips and then chop fine.
10 - Use the side of a chef's knife to tap the clove. The skin should loosen enough to remove by hand.
11 - Once the garlic has been peeled, use a garlic press to mince it.
12 - Remove the shells from the shrimp.
13 - Drain the canned tomatoes into a fine-mesh strainer set over a large measuring cup or bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup of the juice.
14 - Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat until shimmering.
15 - Add the sausage and cook until lightly browned, about three minutes.
16 - Put the sausage on a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving the fat in the pot.
17 - Add the onion, celery and bell pepper to the fat in the pot and return the to medium heat.
18 - Cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the vegetables are softened, about five minutes.
19 - Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.
20 - Stir in the rice, salt and thyme and cook for one minute.
21 - Stir in the tomatoes, the reserved tomato juice, clam juice, broth and the browned sausage.
22 - Bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits.
23 - Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
24 - Scatter the shrimp over the rice and cook, covered, until the rice is tender and the shrimp have cooked through, about five minutes.
25 - Stir in the parsley before serving.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

I SOMEHOW MADE HIM PRETTIER.

#tearsofthekingdom