Sleep (or lack there of), books, toys

Listen up, brain. I know DST kicked our ass this year, but that should be responsible for ONE hour of lost sleep, not FIVE. Two nights of two hours of broken sleep after a night of four hours sleep is unacceptable. Straighten up and sleep at night or I'll replace you with a sack full of kittens.

No love,
Thistle

I have to stop buying kitchen toys. None of them work out for me and it's just a waste of money.

Soda Stream: Used a few times, bought some flavors, then stopped using it. I should try using up more of the flavors, but nothing I make tastes right (and it's not like it's a complex recipe or something -- carbonate the water and squirt a measure of flavor liquid in). If someone were a fan of knock-off, store brand sodas, I suppose they'd love Soda Stream.

Panini Maker: Okay, the failing with you was totally my fault. I should have realized that the reason "professional" paninis taste so good is that they're dripping with oil, thus they get a really crunchy, fried exterior. Not wanting to make food dripping in oil, you are nothing more than an annoying-to-clean toaster. I take that back, sandwiches I make on toast come out better than sandwiches I make in you. Plus did I mention you're really annoying to clean?

Crock pot: Okay, I like you, this is a request and not a complaint. It makes me nervous leaving things running while I'm off at work. Please don't burn my apartment down. Also, if you'd make my pot roast yummy, I'd appreciate it. The ingredients were expensive ($15, though I have enough white wine vinegar to last me the rest of my life), so I'd like to get a few good meals out of it.

I changed my mind about reading another Michael Grant book next. The thing is, whatever I read after a great series I'll enjoy less, because it's not that great series. I didn't want to unfairly dislike a book that I might otherwise like, so I took something from the bottom of my To Read pile. The third oldest book there, Enclave. A banner on the Amazon page tells me I bought it on July 6, 2011.

I was surprised that I'm actually liking it. Often things sink to the bottom of the pile for a reason, though sometimes not. (The Chaos Walking series was near the bottom, and that turned out to be the best thing I read in 2013.)

I was kind of looking to read something lighter after the darkness that was Gone, but Enclave turns out to not be all light and roses. It's set after the end of the world(?? after another world war?) and people are trying to survive underground.

Review: Paula Deen Pot Roast

Okay, so this pot roast is officially called Mississippi Pot Roast, but it should be named Paula Deen Pot Roast. Who in their right mind (other than obviously clueless me) puts a whole stick of butter into a pot roast?! Why did I not question that BEFORE making it?

Ugh.

On the plus side, at least it came out tasting somewhere in the fine-good-interesting range -- flavor varied bite by bite, so it's hard to pin it down closer than that. I'll finish it (over the next many meals), but I won't be making it again as-is (and likely not a variation of it).

The so-called "gravy" was about 50% grease/melted butter. I skimmed off as much as I could and stuck the rest in the fridge. Tomorrow hopefully I can remove the rest and maybe make real gravy out of it (I've seen it done tons of times, never did it myself).

I keep forgetting I'm really not much of a beef fan (other than in burger form). Don't ask me how I keep forgetting that, but every time I cook beef I remember.

I need to use my crock pot more. Cleanup is so easy!

Interestingly, the onions basically disappeared. A whole big onion's worth of them!