Heat upon heat upon heat

         We're frying these days. Anyone still out there saying that climate change is a myth? I'd tell them to go to Hell, but they can just hang around outside and get heat exhaustion right here on Earth. Anyway, I'm hiding behind my drawn curtains, hugging my beloved AC, and downing as much no name KoolAid as I need. I'm playing TS3 but I don't have any ready pics for you right now. Legends of Idleon continues to hold my interest. I don't get the concept of guilds in an AFK game. I keep having to turn people down as a result. I'm sure the developer of this game had a rationale, but I honestly don't see it. I check in, update my 'dudes', give them something to do, and then leave the game. Clicker Heroes also has guilds, and I don't get it there either.

         Hail and well met to my two or three followers. Got a question for you. Would you happen to know what kind of beans go into making refried beans? I bought a tin of them today (I can fry them up and make a sammich with'em - yes, I'm weird) and I was just wondering. Of course, I'll Google the answer if it really gets on my nerves to do so. I'm thinking it's either romano or pinto beans. I fried up some romano beans and had them with curried rice last night. Rice and beans: a fine staple for centuries. I should have added more curry, I think. Anyway, now that I actually know what I'm doing as far as rice goes, I have something besides ramen to eat for lunch and dinner.

       I'm off work now until the end of August. Life is there. I guess that's all I have for you guys today. I will try to stop by here more often and post the nonsense of my life. The restrictions are lifting, and we will soon be out of the woods. Keep on keeping on with masking and social distancing. We'll get through this soon.

BYE.

Testing... tap... tap...

     I am going to give the new format a shot, as it's going to become the main format by the end of June. Just a bit of drivel about my thoughts and what I've been doing.

     I have a shiny new lappy with a touchpad and this raised-by-mouse old crone is feeling crazy disoriented with the new setup. I have a wireless mouse I could transfer back and forth from compy to lappy but I guess I should at least TRY and get used to the touchpad. Apparently I am not the only one who has dealt with this ageless struggle. Don't you love 'first world problems'? Anyway, I have also been reading more because of the pandemic. My current exploration is 'The works of Matthew Arnold'.

    I have loved Matthew Arnold since I first heard 'Dover Beach' being read aloud. Of late, I've been studying his poetry and loving every moment of it. He's melancholic without being too bitter (Hello, Souster!) and the imagery is stunning. This guy was very fond of the ancient Greeks as well. Now I want to read Sophocles and his compatriots. I have to wonder if Arnold was a looker in the 1800s. Side-whiskers were considered attractive, iirc. This school inspector travelled England looking at the various schools. And he wrote poems.

 

     Nothing new on the cooking horizon though I did buy some instant rice vermicelli. Rice noodle ramen? I have plans. It's pretty grim-looking outside and Arnold's poetry just makes sense. But enough of that. The month is coming to an end.

BYE.

Praise the bell pepper!

      Thanks to the pandemic I have done a lot more home cooking. I consider myself incredibly lazy and preferred to just pick something up over dragging my bones to the store, actually doing prep work, and then slaving o'er the hot stove for an hour. However, the pandemic has taken all the fun out of stopping off at Subway, A&W, or McDonald's, and with the layoff, I need to batten down the hatches anyway. I started shopping for ingredients and the like and actually got some pretty good meals out of all the work. Who knew that cooking for oneself could be good?

     Yes, when I first moved out into my apartment, I tried my hand at cooking and it turned out okay. But I really was not that adventurous and lost interest in cooking at home. Convenience won out over elbow grease. If it couldn't be microwaved, what's the use? However, times change and I have begun the practice of putting meals together that usually guarantee leftovers and actually don't taste too bad.

      In the beginning, I worked with that economic favourite: ramen. However, I skipped the packet for actual broth as broth is not as expensive as... say... Chunky Soup.

Root veggie ramen - my first attempt.

   



















 I followed that up with what has become my new favourite vegetable: the bell pepper.

  





















      It turns out that the bell pepper is quite versatile. Ramen without broth, the way it's supposed to be, I imagine, is just great with bell pepper as well.

   













 Oh, and I tried my hand combining it with new yellow potatoes as a side for my smokies.

     Finally, see how well it plays with chicken patties. Yes, the patties are fully cooked and just need to be warmed up from their frozen state. I also recently discovered that fried onions are pretty good.

   So, this is my life thus far. Mom's ecstatic. She knows I'm not into cooking and this new mania is the best news she's ever gotten.

   Will I continue to cook stuff like this (or even better) once the pandemic has passed? Considering there's talk of a second wave, I guess cooking at home is going to be a thing for a while. Well, it was about time, eh?





BYE.