It’s been a week since my last post. I’m not dead, yet! This is good news. The bad news is, it has been a very boring week with little to report at the moment. The day after my birthday was basically a lost cause. We went for a short walk in the afternoon but neither of us had much of an appetite after Saturday’s epic dinner. We basically sat on the couch watching TV for the majority of the day. At night we joined a couple of friends for an online trivia game hosted by our usual pub trivia company. It seems counterintuitive to host a trivia night online because there is no way to stop people from cheating if they want to. We did not cheat, and as a result, we finished something absurd like 50th out of 60 teams. At least half the teams who submitted answers had perfect scores. In spite of the cheaters, we agreed to keep meeting for trivia night in the weeks ahead.
My night culminated with the series finale of Homeland, a show that I have “hate-watched” since its first season, and whose finale was just as atrocious as I assumed it would be.
Monday was an even lazier day than Sunday, as I somehow managed to barely take 5,000 steps according to my watch. This might be due to the fact that I spent a large chunk of time on my computer downloading free classes/lectures to watch while I’m unemployed. After a very brief walk (I think that was the day I was waiting on a package that needed to be forwarded to Ian?) I made my famous pasta with Italian sausage for dinner. Technically it’s not my famous pasta dish, but I’ve taken credit for it since moving to Los Angeles. As far as I know the recipe was created by my mom’s old college roommate. When I was in college (in PA, not VT) she used to make it for me every once in a while. I should post the recipe one day. I hear people enjoy that kind of thing on the Internet. I’ll be sure to type 10,000 words and insert 50 pictures of my beautiful house before I get to the actual recipe, as is the norm with most home chef’s blogs. Nevertheless, the pasta came out delicious.
On Tuesday we did a little better with getting outside and exercising. I think that was the night we decided to eat leftovers and watch the first two Die Hard movies, which someone in this house has — shockingly — never seen before. I, on the other hand, often describe Die Hard as the greatest Christmas movie ever made. And — when I was younger — I would argue that Die Hard 2 was the superior film compared to the original. Nowadays were I to say that I would get laughed out of a room. In fact, when the topic was raised on a Zoom call last night everyone except for me appeared to agree that not only was the original better but that Die Hard 2 is, in fact, a terrible film! Rather than take umbrage with the sentiment I kept my mouth shut.
On Wednesday I went on a morning 5K run before settling into my “office” (the kitchen table) to watch a lecture on entrepreneurship. Dinner that night was turkey and cheddar sandwiches on pretzel buns with potato chips. Then I had my weekly Zoom call for Survivor. The OG reality show is usually terrible, but this season has been surprisingly excellent.
Yesterday for breakfast I tried my hand at “Hawaiian breakfast sliders,” a take on the breakfast menu item made by Silver Lake Coffee I used to crush when I was hungover at work. They are incredibly easy to make. You cut four King’s Hawaiian rolls in half and toast them (or in my case skillet them with butter). Scramble three eggs. Cook two or three strips of bacon. Add cheddar cheese. Cut into quarters. Serve. It’s really not that hard. See:
Yesterday I watched another lecture online and did some light writing exercises before making dinner. Once again I broke out the slow cooker, this time to prepare beef bourguignon. I found a few recipes online and sort of cobbled together my own based on the elements of each that I liked the most. It started with chopped bacon and seared stew beef. Then I whisked together a sauce (in the same pan as the bacon and beef drippings/bits) that included chicken broth, red wine, soy sauce, tomato sauce, and flour. I added in chopped carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, and thyme. Then I set my phasers to “stun” and let the slow cooker do its thing for a few hours. The results were good last night, but they were even better for lunch this afternoon. The sauce was too thin last night, but after sitting overnight in the fridge it was perfect. Here’s an early picture of the slow cooker working its magic.
Today has been a relatively quiet one. I went for a run this morning. Breakfast was yogurt and granola. Lunch was the aforementioned beef bourguignon leftovers. We just got some more groceries delivered so dinner will likely include some fresh veggies and maybe a sandwich with cold cuts, cheese, and avocado? Apparently tomorrow I’m getting eggplant parm for dinner, but I’ve been promised that no less than three times since our quarantine began, and the closest I’ve gotten to it is watching the GF throw out old, unused eggplants. I’ll post a picture if it actually happens.
Keep staying healthy and staying safe.
Beirut Slump – Staircase [MP3]
