Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

I have a helpful personality. I also occasionally have a forceful personality. This often turns into a forcefully helpful personality. Which isn't always a good thing as it leads to stepping on toes.

#thoughtsineededtogetoutofmyhead

Oho!

https://www.ign.com/articles/where-to-buy-the-legend-of-zelda-complete-series-dvd

I'm going to try baking a breaf loaf one more time. After friends suggested that stuff was being over proofed, I looked at proofing methods out there.

Most of the recipes I follow say "let rise of an hour" and I do it. Others say "let rise until doubled in size" and I actually have trouble judging that.

But there's another method of testing a proof I've seen mentioned a few times where you poke it and if it sprigs back fast, it's not proofed. If it springs back slow, it's fine. And if it never springs back, it's over proofed.

I can pretty much say any bread I've made using a timer would NEVER spring back. Like ever. So we'll try one more time, and see if this works.

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

True Story: Kids these days say things like "rizz" and "skibidi" meanwhile the friends my age tell me "Sometimes you talk like a late 1800s California gold prospector."

Thoughts Before Bed:

My swimsuit from this weekend's swim is finally dried out. I squeezed out all the chlorine pool water, then gave it a good soaking in tap water, and squeezed it out again to drip dry.

I was just in the bathroom to take my pills before bed, and I caught a look at it hanging on its hanger. It's very much a woman's swimsuit. Shimmery spandex with bright purple trim. This isn't my first swim suit. In fact, I gave away my other one when it didn't fit anymore after having sat in a closet for nearly 20 years unused.

But there was a time when something like that was forbidden. I wasn't supposed to have that. Much less wear it to a pool. Having one felt wrong because it "wasn't for me." I mean, I knew it was right for me, but everyone else thought otherwise. And so I didn't have one, and when I did I rarely used it, late at night at an apartment pool until the neighbors complained.

And now it just sits there, all dry and ready for the next pool event. It doesn't care if I should have it or not, it's just doing it's job as best it can. And, twenty years after my last swim, and fourty from my last real regular swim, wearing it feels right.

It's fine for me to wear. I can use it. I should use it. I will use it.

After I get some safety pins to keep my darned skirt on.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper? CAPCOM VS SNK 1 AND 2?!

Oh yeah. Loving this....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bkLKebJ2so

Last evening, I was having dinner with Lissa and Crystal and the topic of Ken Paxton's alarming public announcements about blocking mail-in ballots and trying to get lists of trans people. I mentioned "They're just trying to ligitimize corruption as how business as done in Texas," which is why they're so up front and matter of fact about it. And I got to thinking WHY would they use that kind of mindset to push their continuing corruption.

And I think it's because they're trying to create this idea in Texans heads that "We will do everything we can to save Texas from the evil bad guys." We will corrupt ourselves to make sure you're safe from the commies and socialists looking to...I dunno...make sure your kids eat.

It's the only reason I can think they'd announce this stuff so plainly out in the open, outside of "we're so safe no one can touch us."

Fun aside: I just had to go to Crystal's social media to determine WHAT Ken Paxton thing she was talking about. He's said SO many things.

Went out to check the mail tonight about 3AM. No big deal or anything - just an errand I decided to do before bed.

I forgot how much I enjoy being out at night. When I was throwing newspapers in the 90s, I was out every night at 2AM to about 4AM. Walking around apartment complexes in the dark witht he cool air. It's very refreshing.

I did this the other night, when the Pride Art Installation went up but before the plexiglass was installed. Out there at 3AM next to City Hall, enjoying the clean cool air, the quiet, the dark. So lovely.

I really want to do this more often, but I get the idea a random person walking around My Little Town at 3AM might be a little creepy-making for some people. :)

I'm very much a creature of the night.

Again, tastes good, but super dense...

I have unintentionally made giant MRE Wheat Snack Bread.

It's been almost two years and I'm STILL struggling with making bread.

I either knead too much or not enough and can't dial in the right amount. I've watched videos, following their instructions to the letter, and the dough never looks like in the video. I've asked for advice, rarely works. In the oven, there's no oven spring.

What I get is okay, but very dense, and often pretty dry. And never holds its shape.

I'm not getting better at it, and I think its just time to move on. I can at least do pastries and smaller breads. Just the Big Breads keep failing. :/

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 realize this song is a lip synch parody of Star Wars, but every time I see it, I have to play it. The lyrics are stupid, but it's actually a really good song, and an instrant earworm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RySHDUU2juM

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!

Between physical therapy and tabling at Summerstage yesterday, and grocery shopping today, I think I over did it. My muscles are telling me to take it easy next time...