WhistlinDixie

Call the Fire Department!

I think that there should be a law passed that prevents me from entering the kitchen with the intent to cook. Today, I was browning some ground beef when I noticed white smoke coming up from around my frying pan. I figured that it must be a film of soap burning off of the pan. Then, I noticed that it didn’t smell too good. I looked under the pan and noticed that something was under the burner and was smoking. I figured that someone had just spilled something down on the burner and that it was just burning off. Then I noticed that the smoke turned dark brown. I lifted up my pan and realized that a small fire had started underneath my skillet. I was able to blow it out, but the smoke made its way around the apartment and set off a smoke alarm. I grabbed the closest thing that I could fan with, a half empty roll of paper towels, and did my best to make the alarm stop. I ended up succeeding without having any of the fire sprinklers go off. After that, I continued cooking my dinner, albeit, on a different burner.

Destruction, Total Destruction

Should have known that it would happen sooner or later. I have ruined my first piece of plasticware. That can happen when you microwave one bun’s worth of sloppy joe on high for three minutes. I kind of forgot how little I had in there. I put it in that long since yesterday it was still a little cool, but that was three bun’s worths. Oh well, first time for everything I guess.

Completely off topic, but the funniest thing happened two days ago on TV. I think it was NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace who was a guest on the Tony Danza show. Tony decided to challenge Rusty to a go cart race. As they were coming out of a turn, Rusty tapped Tony’s bumper, causing Tony to spin and actually flip over in his cart. Wallace said that he was thinking, "Oh my gosh, I just killed Tony Danza!" Actually, Tony was just shaken up, without a scratch on him. Bet he’s glad he had a roll bar and was wearing his seatbelt.

Lookin’ Good Too…

This is what my meal could have looked like yesterday had I not accidentally put too much gravy on my mashed potatoes, spilling over onto the rest of my plate. Also, in case you were wondering, the mashed potatoes have not gone bad. The reason that they are so dark is because I mixed some of the gravy into the mashed potatoes to add flavor.

Mmmm…. Home cooking

Eatin’ Good in the Neighborhood

I have heard from some of you that you were disappointed in my efforts at having a decent dinner. I must say that I have been improving. You must remember, the first three nights in my apartment, I ate only frozen dinners. Then, the next few weeks were filled with Hamburger Helper. Last week, I broke the habit and made goulash with mac & cheese one night and cooked a chicken breast another night. Tonight, I had beef and noodles, with instant mashed potatoes substituted for the noodles. I decided to include a picture of my culinary masterpiece from tonight. Sorry for the appearance, but I’m still working on the whole presentation thing right now. Would have looked better if I had something to thicken the sauce. Oh well, hope you enjoy the pic.

Just because it doesn’t look good doesn’t mean that it isn’t good

Technical Difficulty

This wireless network is really starting to get on my nerves. From around 10:00 this morning until 9:00 tonight, I have been unable to access the internet. No matter where I carried my laptop in my hall, I could not connect to a good access point. Since I could not access the internet, I ended up playing HalfLife 2 all afternoon. Finally finished the game. The ending cinematic was predictable after playing the first game. The high point was definitely when you got the dark energy-infused gravity gun. You don’t know how much fun it is to grab enemies and fling them at each other. It was also fun to rip large items off of walls that used to be unmovable objects.

In other news, tonight marked the first time that I actually cooked a meal for myself, other than just putting something in the microwave or the oven. So maybe it was only Hamburger Helper. You have to start somewhere. Just for kicks, my mom suggested that I take a picture of it, so, here you go:

The true bachelor setup: food, TV (ESPN, nonetheless), and a computer. Who could ask for anything more?

OK, so maybe it doesn’t look too appetizing. It was tasty and somewhat nutritious.