Weekend will be for traveling

so I need to be posting now AND more importantly, I need to be doing postable things, i.e. box emptying, kitchen floor sweeping, etc. etc. But, it's hot and the no air con at work brought me down. It brought me to multiple Pepsis (but hey they are rinsed and ready for recycling) and candy (no good redeeming recyclable ability there) and horrors more salty goodness in chips and faux Ritz cracker form. So, being hot and cranky produced a major snack attack.

To the dishes and then bed.

The Weekend Again

Productivity for the weekend always has its ups and downs. I probably need to make a chart that lists my Mille Bornes playing compared to other tasks and if I did other things two times to every one of Mille Bornes then I'd be on track. I would say a greater percentage than that was spent on the Parker Brothers disc Friday and Saturday.

Only a bit on Sunday though, because I was all about two new tasks: making banana bread and playing Scrabble to assist the Literacy Volunteer group in town.

My initial reaction to the banana bread was not too favorable, but I think cutting off the burnt edges has given it better value. The burnt edges are not too truly my fault-I am blaming my super hot ahead of its time baking zone AKA oven for that. Pictures of the banana breading maybe available at a later date, we will have to see. Things I will have to consider should I ever bake in my kitchen again:

• sweet creamed butter, good or bad for baking? and if it's not for baking, a nice note on the package would have been helpful. In the butter world what is the difference of use for the unsalted and the aforementioned sweet kind?
• when it says 9 x 5 pan, should you really go for the 8 x 4 and just be liberal with getting rid of the batter which is what I did. I thought about using some cupcake wrappers instead, but that would be too much baking adventure for one day.
• mushy bananas~how mushy is mushy, as in if the banana has lost all banana containment and is outwardly highly smooshy, can it be saved? I was too grossed out and gave it to the trash can with only a small eek!
• a second banana note~even with mushy bananas I think a little more better mixing could have happened. The little bits that baked in are pretend jellied areas-at least this is how I am getting through with it as I eat my sample goods.
• brown sugar storage~I know I read something about this not too long ago, so I may look into that one still.
• reading Cookwise, that's why I checked it out, to be more informed, but I just dove into my kitchen products with a devil may care attitude.

My rewards for the baking and Scrabbling were miscellaneous purchases at Hastings:

1. Hello Kitty candy, but I really just wanted the adorable and devilish tin http://www.thisnext.com/item/F65AA274/34DCC02C/Hello-Kitty-cinnamon-hots
2. Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation, hey I didn't realize I was older http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Vowell
3. Scrabble book, so thematic http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?isbn=9780671042189&nrd=1&mode=about_boardgames
4. many mags
5. oh and Damages rental; don't know what I think on this, so I only got the first ep

My goal for the week will be following the wisdom of Get Organized Now and work on my mini goals as in I might want the kitchen to be a fully functioning baking paradise, but there are some smaller areas to fix before baking supremacy can begin.

Said mini goals to follow!

Cutest of the day

http://tiny.cc/iaSOj

Love me or leaf me indeed. This could be my reward for all of the shifting and sorting over the weekend. It just barely beats out the Indiana Jones lego keychain and the Mimobot Ewok, aaah. I think I would have to complete a whole room redo to deserve such a frivolous item and the contenders are:

1. Bedroom closet + two crazy shelving units + bedside pile of plenty = minimum 3 hours commitment
2. Guest bedroom + upper closet shelf + wrapping corner + miscellaneous electronic goods + OMG another shelving unit + the still not observable because of the stuff piled on it green desk = 8 hours
3. Family room + 4 boxes of old mail (not mine though ;) + cat's rocking chair + inability to eat at breakfast table + DVD leaning tower(s) + fireplace + crazy sofa X changing furniture arrangement to better inhabit area = minimum of 10 hours

Okay, I just exhausted myself and am not sure if the cutest of this day will even possibly be mine before August-send your prayers and hefty bags.

French toast files: Alternate to Alton Brown

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/French-Toast-I/Detail.aspx
check no snooty half & half, ha ha
I also searched for French taoist, but that's a whole other result page.
Cheers!

Procrastination checklist

• Watch Arrested Development ~ found 1st season DVD, have not unwrapped
• Read magazines like Self, Real Simple and ShopSmart! ~ got new Shape, flipped through
• Read an actual book ~ 20 pages of Miss Zukas hiking
• Watch Library DVDs ~ oops, due tomorrow
• Hold out for Netflix DVDs ~ nothing arrived yet
• Slink over to Hastings for DVDs ~ SAT plan, after checking Netflix list
• Sort through things that I have already sorted-it's becoming a habit. ~ I believe everything was 1 sort mania
• Listen to music ~ no, but will listen to comedy CDs while French toasting
• Mail things! ~ returned 4 packages
• Eat fast food because I don't want to have to keep doing dishes and break my streak of fabulous possession reduction (which needs a sassier title BTW). ~ one Wendy's stop
• Go to cine or multiplex for Wanted ~ Wall-E, but there's still a lot of weekend left
• Go to gym and realize by Saturday it was all a dream of do gooding gone to seed. ~ gym on FRI :)

Inappropriate food longings

I woke up, humidity sticking me to the core, and decided I wanted French toast. Since I have never made French toast, nor actually make a lot of anything, this was very unusual. I do think the breath of newness sweeping my abode (in the form of clear-er areas, not quite clean and clear, but definitely better!!!) may have been the reason why.

I attempted to find the recipe in:

• my aunt's cookbook (too Americana oriented as in sides and jello)
• my Bittman everything book (which I couldn't find, but the pantry wasn't touched in yesterday's sweep, so better luck later on)
• the web of course: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_26808,00.html

Alton Brown's half and half ingredient seems a little snooty (how French, bad, bad), so I'm going to try to milk it instead.

And now that I've made myself completely hungry, it's time to actually try the cooking part.

This is it; the big kahuna of shopping, faux pas! No, this is the weekend of possession reduction. I would like to make the guest bed and room hospitable, actually inhabitable, is the goal. I would also like to clear my desk space and send off my returns from past shopping sprees AND the pantry and regular old laundry.

This is what I will probably do instead:

1. Watch Arrested Development because Jason Bateman's NPR interview put me in the mood.
2. Read magazines like Self, Real Simple and ShopSmart!
3. Read an actual book of the fiction family, possibly Karin Slaughter, or wait I have a loaner book I need to get done ASAP.
4. Watch Library DVDs
5. Hold out for Netflix DVDs
6. Slink over to Hastings for DVDs
7. Sort through things that I have already sorted-it's becoming a habit.
8. Listen to music
9. Mail things!
10. Eat fast food because I don't want to have to keep doing dishes and break my streak of fabulous possession reduction (which needs a sassier title BTW).
11. Go to cine or multiplex for Wanted,
12. Go to gym and realize by Saturday it was all a dream of do gooding gone to seed.

I have at least started the return part by printing out a return address label. I have also started #2, 3 & 9 on the procrastination list, so you know who's winning.

I will enjoy this holiday regardless of my infernal listing, but wish me luck!