Play Date!

Charlotte is here. Kelly is playing with her, remarkably well, considering that when she is playing with her friend Trinity, there is usually more than one argument. Charlotte's parents have two daughters, but about seven months ago dropped out of sight. We thought we'd somehow offended them (well Jean did). It turns out that they'd had twin boys, and been totally swamped. So Charlotte's mom, Tara, dropped her off at 11am, and said, "how's 2:30 for a pick-up?" I'm sure she would have said 7pm if she thought she could get away with it .

When the visit is over, since Jean needs to get some studying done before I go to my NOVA meeting, I'm going to rope Kelly into coming with me to pick up my bike from Performance Bike. I'm taking coupons from my original purchase with me, so I can buy a floor pump. That hand pump is a pain to use to keep the tires inflated. Maybe I'll buy some shorts while I'm there.

Cooking School

Well, I might have to buy a blender. I tried out the Sauce Mayonnaise recipe today. I had all the ingredients described below, but instead of a blender, I had an old food processor. The only blade I could find was not a mixing blade, but a chopping one. So I was running the thing on high, tipping it to the side to try to get the eggs and oil to mix up and hit the upper cutting blade. After running through the entire recipe, I put it into a plastic container and placed it into the freezer for 15 minutes.

When it came out, it was not runny at all, which I had feared. It had a nice light whipped body to it. I took a spoon and tasted it. Man, that was pretty strong. The cayenne was probably the most overpowering component of it. So I made a sandwich with a garden burger and spread some on that. Blended with the flavors of the sandwich it was a lot more interesting. How's that? Homemade chef-style Mayonnaise and a veggie burger sandwich .

Since the source of this article was an interview with a recording engineer who is also a gourmet, who lamented that anyone would use supermarket mayonnaise when this simple recipe is the first thing a chef student must learn, I think the combination is pretty funny.

So I'll try it tomorrow as a dipping sauce for some fish. If that works well, I'll tell Jean I want a blender for my birthday!

Busy Day

My 'day off' was quite busy, despite feeling under the weather. I took my bike to Performance Bike after dropping Kelly off at Bridgeport. I was bummed that they couldn't do the tune-up on the spot. I have to go back tomorrow to pick it up. It's just as well. I had dreams of riding it today, but I didn't feel well enough.

I followed up by doing the grocery shopping as well. Big bill, this time! I also did dishes and laundry. After lunch (grocery store sushi, mmmm!) I went to take in a movie, so I did do something for myself. I saw One Night At McCool's, which was actually worse than I thought it would be, but not aweful. I just wanted to do something vacation-y so badly that I was willing to put up with a bad movie, and this was the only movie which would finish in time for me to get home and help with Kelly. Sad, huh?

When I got home, I decided to wash my car, and Kelly helped. She actually worked pretty hard. I'm going to give her a 50 cent tip on her allowance this weekend. Evening saw Kelly and I playing her own unique variation on Trivial Pursuit, which mainly involved putting pie wedges all over the board and throwing the die. Then the usual chores (baths and toothbrushing), and now I'm the only one up. Not for long. Gotta kill this bug

Tres De Mayo

Mentor held it's annual Cinco De Mayo celebration yesterday. Yes, on May 3rd. I don't know why. It's true that May 5th is on this Saturday, but at least you'd think they would have held it on Friday. But onward... In the past, they've had games for the kids, Mexican music, pony rides, a petting zoo and food. In previous years, all but the petting zoo and the pony rides have been inside. This year it was all outside.

Jean brought Kelly down around 4pm, and went back to PCC to take an exam. Kelly and I stayed at Mentor to enjoy the celebration. Kelly got to see several of her old classmates from the on-campus daycare, including Charlotte, whom she'll be having a playdate with this Saturday, and Courtney, whom she wants to invite to her birthday party.

We stayed until about 6pm, during which time Kelly played all the games twice, procuring a heavy load of loot, most of which I got to carry. We came home, and I was so sticky from standing out in the sun that I took a shower before she had her bath.

This morning I woke up with an aching neck and a headache. I decided that I'd had too much sun the previous day, since I'm fair skinned and usually take the trouble to apply sunblock when I know I'm going to be outside any length of time. But I didn't really realize that Mentor was going to have the whole celebration outside, so I was unprepared.

I spent the better half of the day feeling crummy, even snapping at Jean when she asked me the same question about five times (I apologized later). Finally around 2:30pm I gave up and took some Alleve. By 4pm I was feeling okay. Now I find out that kids at Kelly's school have been going home sick with aching muscles and headaches. So my little disease vector strikes again. I only hope I feel well enough to go to NOVA tomorrow night. After all, I only get to go twice a month!

Friday Off

I'm so excited! I'm finally getting off my duff and taking my bike in to the store to get the cables adjusted and the chains inspected/cleaned! I'm taking all of tomorrow off, so I can go for a long ride and run a few errands afterwards. 'Course, the mechanic may call in sick, but with luck...

Sauce Mayonnaise

Boy are there a lot of recipes for this. Most of them are on foreign websites, but you can use the Google link that follows to have them translated ... Steve Albini's recipe for Sauce Mayonnaise via Gourmandizer

Here is a recipe anyone can use to make a wonderful Sauce Mayonnaise:

Into a stationary blender, crack one egg. Add an extra egg yolk, one garlic clove, a strong quarter teaspoon of cayenne (or a teaspoon of white pepper ground very fine) and either a slight teaspoon of salt or a tablespoon of Tamari soy sauce.

Blend at high speed until the garlic is finely divided and the egg begins to froth. With the blender still running, trickle in good olive oil until the mayonnaise thickens and will accept no more oil. (this will vary, but will usually be about a cup.)

Stop the blender and add a tablespoon of good vinegar OR the juice of half a lemon. Fold the mayonnaise once or twice with a spatula, which will loosen it considerably. Pulse the blender until the thick consistency returns.

Taste. If the mayonnaise tastes oily, add more acid (vinegar or lemon juice only. Never combine the two, as this makes for a weird bilious aftertaste).

Chill covered for at least 15 minutes. I often add a tablespoon of fresh or dried dill or thyme at the beginning of the process. Don't add the acid at the beginning, as this can prevent the eggs from emulsifying.

Ingredients:

• Two eggs (egg + 1 yolk)



• 1 garlic clove



• 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper



• 1 tablespoon Tamari soy sauce OR 1 teaspoon salt



• (optionally: 1 tablespoon fresh or dried dill or thyme)






• ~ 1 cup olive oil



• juice of 1/2 lemon OR 1 tablespoon 'good' vinegar

Do the Robot

It's been two days now, and I still can't get that image out of my head. The image of a giant robot (common in Japanese anime). The image of that robot dancing frenetically, jerking it's knees up to it's chest, slamming them down into the waters of a city harbor, against the night backdrop of artificially lit buildings. The image moving in concert to the sound of a frantic dancehouse ditty, while blasts of steam fire upward from the robot's head in time to the music. The robot's arms shoot out and akimbo, endangering the helicopter hovering nearby. In the helicopter, a tiny figure is visible through the open cargo door, dancing in competition with the robot.

Was it all a dream? No, it was Bust A Groove 2. Since I've bought the Playstation 2, I have been meaning to spend a block of time playing this game, but something else always seems to take priority. But Jean has not only been playing it, she's been making steady progress.

Jean is taking classes again, and as a reward she's 'allowing' herself to play Bust A Groove 2 for a half hour or so a night. It's funny, she's following the same learning curve with this game that she used to follow with games on the Super Nintendo, such as Donkey Kong Country. Initially she'll get whooped at every turn, and she carps endlessly about how the game is 'cheating', and not recognizing her moves. Then she makes a little progress and the complaints slacken. Finally, she puts her head down and masters the game.

The same thing seems to be happening here. A couple of nights ago she got so far up the game ladder that one of the 'hidden characters', Robo Z Gold, was revealed. Man did that flip me. It flipped Jean too, as she got her butt kicked in that round. A brief search of the Internet reveals that there are more of these surprise characters in store too. Since I don't have to play to see them now, I think I'll enjoy it!