Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

"A part of a complete Christmas Dinner."™

Thoughts Before Bed.

2023 was the year I ate oven dried tarantula, and that STILL wasn't the worst thing that happened this year.

@Orb2069 - it was actually a white elephant gift Crystal got at work, and surprised us with before dinner. I've always said that if some culture out there eats something, I'll try it at least once. So I put my money, and the tarantula, where my mouth was.

Surprisingly, it's not terrible. It's not good either. Like eating a mouthful of shrimp shells, minus the shrimp taste. In fact, it was completely tasteless. Pure texture. I ate some with a strawberry that was on the table and was surprised it wasn't bad. Crystal agreed that with SOME kind of flavor it could probably be good. I'd say if it was maybe brined in salt, or had a light salt crust, I'd eat it as a snack.

Thanks to @Amazonchique and Lissa, I now have an air fryer.

GIVE ME YOUR RECIPES.

So. That new Dr Who. Gotta say I was not happy with the first half, as there was a LOT of "Disney" elements to it with the fantasy stuff and music, but the second half felt more Dr Who to me.

I'm hoping the season kinda walks back the fantasy elements (or at least un-Dinsey-fies), because if they keep it up, I may end putting the show away for a while.

@Alairthephoenix - There are some really fun Doctor/Jamie scenes in Tomb of the Cybermen.

So, I figured out a fix for that Seafood Marinara that was so bad. Take the seafood out, put it in a new bowl, and pour spaghetti marinara over it. SOLVED.

A wonderful Christmas Dinner with Crystal, Lissa, Noam and Seanan. A night full of good talk, good food and...well...something else on the menu.

And yes, we did eat it. Goes good with strawberries. And by good I mean...well...the strawberries were good.

@kkarhan - Gourmet roomie told me I overcooked the tomato paste and it scorched....

@Jennconspiracy - Some Hungarians over on Bluesky told me I didn't put enough in. 😆

I have skinny jeans? I can wear my scrunch boots with them!

It's a commercial. But it's what feels like Christmas to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zCsFvVg0UY

@kkarhan - I worried that the recipe didn't have any "season to taste." So I seasoned it. And it didn't take. And did it again. And it didn't take. Eventually I got worried about the amount of salt going into it. Eventually I just stopped cooking it, and servied it up, thinking "I'll salt it when I eat it if it needs more."

And when I ate a full spoonful, it still wasn't salty, even with romano cheese sprinkled on it. Instead it was incredibly bitter tasting tomato.

I'm guessing "tomato paste" might mean something different wherever this was printed and it should have beeen "tomato puree" or something "tomato sauce." Either way, it tastes horrible and was a disservice to the seafood.

This Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Seafood Marinara.

It's bad folks. Like REALLY bad. Ooof. And I LOVE seafood.

Made some cinnamon rolls for Christmas dinner, and the first batch came out SO bad (they literally melted into a sheet of dough when rising), that I made a second batch.

The second batch was sort of better, but still collapsed on itself. And the oven decided to overcook them. And I put too much evaporated milk in the icing when It came out too thick, and made it too thin.

Next time, I'm going to try making them in a casserole dish instead of a baking tray like the instructions say so the walls (and the other rolls) can hold the dough up.

But hey, dry cinnamon bread with a hint of icing! Maybe a few seconds in the microwave will save 'em.

Everyone time I see this brand name at the local grocery store, my brain automatically assumes it's AI generated art struggling to make a complete word.