I think I’m going to spend the day in the kitchen.  I’m in a cooking mood and to me there’s no better way to waste time.  Enjoy the recipe, it will be in the cookbook I’m working on.

Potato Soup

Set pot over medium high heat and add olive oil, meat and onions
When onions are tender add in potatoes and cover with water until 1 inch above the potatoes
Boil until potatoes are tender and break when stabbed by a fork
Drain approximately 2 cups of water out of the pot
Reduce heat to low and stir in whipping cream
Mix together cornstarch and ice water until smooth
Stirring occasionally bring soup to a slow bubble
Slowly add cornstarch blend, stirring constantly
Return to slow boil as soup thickens and add salt, pepper and dill weed
Remove from heat and allow to rest for approximately 5 minutes before serving 

Maybe it’s a little off topic today, or maybe not, since it’s a fun way to kill some time, when you have it to kill, but I was kicked back watching the first episode of the Sarah Conner Chronicles and had a wicked craving for a Rafton’s Exotic Vanilla Porter.  Unfortunately there’s only one left in my fridge and I’m trying to save it for when Nick comes to visit.  He’ll be sharing it or he’s not getting it at all.

Rafton’s Exotic Vanilla Porter isn’t something sold in stores, though a few lucky podcasters got their hands on a bottle at DragonCon 2007.  It was named such for the character Rafe created by author/podcaster Tee Morris and brewed by Jenn.  I don’t remember the whole of the story, but I think this homebrew came at Tee’s request too, Jenn could expound on that better than I could.

What all this mumbo jumbo is about is home brewing.  I have the privilege of being Jenn’s beta tester, and trust me if the Rafton’s had tasted bad Tee and the others would have never gotten it.  What intrigued me though is that she went against what a lot of home brewing publications would tell you in that making a vanilla brew at home is next to impossible because the way the vanilla oils don’t mix with the brew.  Bright havens did she blow them out of the water and had vanilla beans everywhere while creating this porter.  I believe she had at least one bean in every step of the brewing process and not only did it blend well it gave a fantastic aftertaste once drunk that lingered nicely on the palate.

I have seen where she brews and the whole process if mind boggling, so many steps it seems most people would get half way through it and forget about it.  She’s not only made the Rafton’s but three others as well and excelled with each batch.  Real life, however, has reared its hideous head and production of the ShadowsEdge Home Brewery has ceased for the time being.  I am fairly certain that she intends on making another batch of the Rafton’s for DragonCon 2008 and I’m looking forward to it…  I can wait that long I think.  Though if this batch is as good as the last one I may have to give it poor quality marks just to keep it for myself.

Home brewing is definitely something that’s going to take time, space and greenbacks.  Patience too considering I’ve listened to Jenn expound upon how tedious it is to try and bottle the stuff.  It is worth it, especially if you prefer your beer to have body and flavor instead of being hops water you can read through.

If you’ve got a creative spark and have the time it looks like a fun hobby that’s not completely for beer drinkers since you can homebrew wine as well.  Additionally, when it is all said and done, you get to kick back with the finished product and enjoy.  One thing for certain it’s definitely time well wasted.

And yes, there will be more about the Sarah Conner Chonicles and Tee Morris in the future.

A quick and simple marinade for your pork or chicken to add some sweet and tangy flavor to your meal.

You’ll need
.25 cup fresh lime juice (normal or key lime)
1 tsp honey
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine ingredients into a gallon sized Ziploc bag, seal and shake well. Open and add meat of choice, seal and shake again. Put into fridge and let sit at least 6 hours or overnight.

Prepare meat by frying, baking or grilling.

“Keep your knives sharp, your marble board cold, your spice rack neatly organized and your kitchen creative.”

As usual there’s a new recipe over at Your Cre8tivity.  This time I covered Cinnamon Banana Waffles.

What can I say, I may enjoy movies and the like but my favroite way to waste time is in the kitchen.

Today I want to introduce you all, those who haven’t stumbled upon it, to the webcomic of Something*Positive.

I found this webcomic through Mur Lafferty’s Geek Fu Action Grip as I was listening to her podcast archives last year. Mur’s podcast is a whole different excuse for an entry and one we’ll explore later, the woman’s crushes on Wil Wheaton and Alton Brown are wonderful tales into themselves.

Back to Something*Positive.

Randy Milholland began the comic in December of 2001 and has either had daily updates, guest strips or filler running ever since. His comics are an interesting look at life through the various eyes of the cast though it primarily focuses upon Davan and his direct sphere of influence of friends and family.

Despite the title, not everything is uplifting and positive. There are comics that deal with the suicide of one of Davan’s best friends, as well as the death of his mother. But even in the shadow of all that darkness there are brighter notes, with the marriages of friends and the antics of Choo Choo Bear.

Choo Choo Bear deserves his own post, but will have to settle for a paragraph. He is my favorite of the comic cast and I’m sure I’m not alone in this. I was iffy on the comic itself until he was introduced and then I was like an addict, looking for more and more Choo Choo. Choo Choo Bear is a melting, furless pink cat who swallows anything from keys, to his collar to underwear within the confines of his boneless body and ensures the hilarity of the comic. One of these days I’m going to find a print of this cat and hang it on my office wall.

Something*Positive is in my daily regime of webcomic checks, and usually the first one I’ll open. It’s one I recommend for any of my readers, especially if you’ve stuck with me on this blog and learned of my sick sense of humor.

Long live Something*Positive and a huge heap of thanks to Randy for such a wonderful comic.

Rating:

On a side note: Weekly Recipe is up on Your Cre8tivity. This week I covered a fried rice recipe I learned from my mother.

**Edit** Hopefully corrected all instances of Davan’s name, this is what I get for RPing with a friend who plays a Davin online.

The weekly recipe is up on Your Cre8tivity, this time I recovered my failure at making cookie bars by turning them into ice cream crumblies.

Tomorrow I’m off to see Pirates 3 – At Worlds End with Jenn and Sloane.  I think I’ll break my currency rule and write posts on all three films over the weekend.

Monday I’m conquering the 5th season of Babylon 5.  I’ll have to start that one over and write about those too.

Currently I have my nose buried in a Xanth book which it’s taking me FOREVER to read.  I just can’t get into the puns and such that Piers Anthony writes.  Best thing I think he ever did was If I Pay Thee Not in Gold with Mercedes Lackey.  I also just finished Anne Rice’s The Mummy and was reminded of how much she pissed me off by never working on the hinted at sequel.  The Mummy and The Witching Hour are two of her best pieces of writing, better than any of the Lestat books she wrote.  I’m also reading Jude Deveroux’s The Black Lion for the umpteenth time.

Books books and more books.  Jenn and I are working on a sister site to this one which we hope to have up and running soon.  I’ll do a formal announcement on that one when it’s finished and ready to be read.

I’m on a Pixar kick….  Watched Cars and Monsters Inc yesterday and enjoyed the hell out of the fact John Ratzenburger has a voice in every Pixar film.

Ok, enough rambling from me.  Go cook, go read, go watch a movie, but whatever you do, enjoy it.  Pirates tomorrow.

I’m cheating today. I have cookies and potato salad to make for a party tomorrow.

Considering I co-author Your Cre8tivity and decided to start posting recipes there on Fridays I thought I would link back to the first one of the series and will continue to link to the recipes I post. After all, what is cooking but time very well wasted?

Today I started with Peanut Butter Fudge Refrigerator Cookies which I swiped from my dad and added notes for diabetics. I made these with Splenda recently and they turned out very good, at least Sloane and I thought so.

I may, eventually, post a variation of enchiladas that runs in the family. The absolute original I’m forsworn not to share.

If cooking isn’t your thing then I have another distraction for you.

As good as the graphics on today’s games are I still find myself longing for the good ol days when I was in the single digits of age and the Nintendo came out. The fact that Pong turned 40 this month made that need for nostalgia all the more powerful and I’ve been spending time more and more on vNES.

vNES offers over 500 hundred titles for your pleasure and memory of the 8 bit Nintendo games and I’ve been drowning myself in Solomon’s Key lately. Hellfire I still remember sitting for hours on end with my mom playing that game.

Go cook or go play but above everything else, enjoy what you do.