It is a rainy Saturday. It has been a rough week. Social distancing is taking its toll. Even on this introvert.
After days and days of continuing on in this new normal, I feel the weight of "get up and get dressed; you'll feel better" pressing down on my psyche, making me feel worse about not doing just that.
Right now, there seems no point to it. Why would I need or want to get up and get dressed when I am going nowhere? I will see no one but my cat.
Even scrolling thru Instagram looking at new makeup isn't bringing me joy or inspiration.
I'm coining this feeling of general idgaf apathy "Covidepression"
Because, this isn't normal depression. This is situational depression at its finest, because it is effecting us all. Well, a good portion of us anyway.
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Fresh Spring Rolls Recipe
It's spring time! The mint is in bloom! That means it's time for spring rolls.
Spring rolls are really easy to make, and you can add a variety of things to them. In summer time, I particularly like to add fresh basil to them - especially after it's bloomed when the leaves take on a more peppery flavor.
Some of my friends enjoy dipping these in peanut sauce. I enjoy dipping them in sweet thai chili sauce. It's a lot of fun to get a bunch of different sauces together and try them out. Maybe some hoisin, or plum sauce, or even just regular duck sauce. Y'all do you.
Please note that this recipe does not contain measurements. See the last paragraph for measurement guidelines. This is definitely more of an advanced recipe in that regard. You'll be able to taste what is right for your palate, and I am not going to hold you back from your destiny in that regard. I have included pictures below as well so that you don't have to scroll thru them to get to the recipe (I friggin hate that).
Fresh Spring Rolls
Spring rolls are really easy to make, and you can add a variety of things to them. In summer time, I particularly like to add fresh basil to them - especially after it's bloomed when the leaves take on a more peppery flavor.
Some of my friends enjoy dipping these in peanut sauce. I enjoy dipping them in sweet thai chili sauce. It's a lot of fun to get a bunch of different sauces together and try them out. Maybe some hoisin, or plum sauce, or even just regular duck sauce. Y'all do you.
Please note that this recipe does not contain measurements. See the last paragraph for measurement guidelines. This is definitely more of an advanced recipe in that regard. You'll be able to taste what is right for your palate, and I am not going to hold you back from your destiny in that regard. I have included pictures below as well so that you don't have to scroll thru them to get to the recipe (I friggin hate that).
Fresh Spring Rolls
- Cellophane Noodles (the thin ones used in Mai Fun)
- Cellophane wrapper papers
- Precooked jumbo shrimp (or chicken, or crab, or anything else you want to put in)
- Dipping sauce of your choice (mine is the sweet thai chili)
- Sesame Oil or Rice wine vinegar (or both)
- Cheap garden salad blend (the iceberg with the carrots)
- Fresh Mint, Fresh Basil, or any other fresh herbs you want to use. Sometimes I use both.
- Chinese Five Spice Powder
- Salt & Pepper
Thaw the shrimp under running water. Take any of the shells off if you need to. If doing chicken or crab, prepare them how you want to. Make sure that they're cold, but not frozen.
Prepare cellophane noodles according to package directions. (usually it's boil till they're translucent, and then drain them.) Run them under cool water in a colander when complete till they are cold. You can add them back to the same pot, as long as the pot is cold as well. You may wish to cut them for ease of eating and working with. If so, I use the Pampered Chef Salad Choppers. Add some of the ricewine vinegar and sesame oil to this and massage into the noodles. Just enough that they're not soggy. You'll want them to be dry enough to have the ricepaper wrapper stick to them. Add salt and pepper as well. *you might also consider adding Lemongrass or Lime essential oil. But, only a drop or two.*
In a bowl, I use the salad choppers again to mince the salad and the herbs together. chop it very fine, and add the five spice powder to taste.
Now that everything is ready to roll, it's time to work with the cellophane wrappers. It's best to have an area with a cutting board set near your sink. And everything around it that you intend to put inside your spring roll. Take the wrapper in your non-dominant hand. Run it under warm water on one side and then flip it and continue to run it under water, until it is pliant and molding to your hand. Then, using your dominant hand to help, lay it onto the cutting board flat.
Stuff like a burrito. I like to put the shrimp down first, then the salad, and then the rice noodles. Then you wrap it like a burrito, by tucking the sides in, and wrapping one of the long edges around everything, and the other long edge on top of it. They will stick together. Quickly transfer it to a plate, seam down. Dry your hands and grab another cellophane wrapper (if you get them wet, they will stick together). Repeat process till you have made the desired amount.
Serving size is usually 2 spring rolls per person. I find that if I use about 2 cups of the salad (before chopping into tiny shreds, and 6 shrimp, and 1 of the blocks inside the cellophane noodle package, that it's about enough. However, if you make too much noodles or salad, you can combine them together, and store in the fridge in an airtight container until you are ready to use them again. They'll keep for a couple of days. So, you can always prep the filling in advance.
Prepare cellophane noodles according to package directions. (usually it's boil till they're translucent, and then drain them.) Run them under cool water in a colander when complete till they are cold. You can add them back to the same pot, as long as the pot is cold as well. You may wish to cut them for ease of eating and working with. If so, I use the Pampered Chef Salad Choppers. Add some of the ricewine vinegar and sesame oil to this and massage into the noodles. Just enough that they're not soggy. You'll want them to be dry enough to have the ricepaper wrapper stick to them. Add salt and pepper as well. *you might also consider adding Lemongrass or Lime essential oil. But, only a drop or two.*
In a bowl, I use the salad choppers again to mince the salad and the herbs together. chop it very fine, and add the five spice powder to taste.
Now that everything is ready to roll, it's time to work with the cellophane wrappers. It's best to have an area with a cutting board set near your sink. And everything around it that you intend to put inside your spring roll. Take the wrapper in your non-dominant hand. Run it under warm water on one side and then flip it and continue to run it under water, until it is pliant and molding to your hand. Then, using your dominant hand to help, lay it onto the cutting board flat.
Stuff like a burrito. I like to put the shrimp down first, then the salad, and then the rice noodles. Then you wrap it like a burrito, by tucking the sides in, and wrapping one of the long edges around everything, and the other long edge on top of it. They will stick together. Quickly transfer it to a plate, seam down. Dry your hands and grab another cellophane wrapper (if you get them wet, they will stick together). Repeat process till you have made the desired amount.
Serving size is usually 2 spring rolls per person. I find that if I use about 2 cups of the salad (before chopping into tiny shreds, and 6 shrimp, and 1 of the blocks inside the cellophane noodle package, that it's about enough. However, if you make too much noodles or salad, you can combine them together, and store in the fridge in an airtight container until you are ready to use them again. They'll keep for a couple of days. So, you can always prep the filling in advance.
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| Shopping List: The Cellophane items, I got at Food Lion. The salad, and shrimp I got at Aldi. I grow the mint (not pictured) myself. |
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| Additions, but not necessary. |
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| One row of cellophane noodles (there were 3 in the package) |
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| Thaw the shrimp, peel the tails off. |
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| Tail Shells off and ready for wrapping. |
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| This is about 7 leaves of mint from the garden. |
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| Add the salad to a bowl. |
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| This is about 2 - 3 cups worth before chopping |
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| Add the mint and chop. |
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| You can see how much it shrunk. |
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| Add Five Spice Powder too the mixture and stir. |
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| Brings it down to about 1 & 1/2 cups |
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| Cellophane noodles look like this when done. |
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| Rinse them (and the pot) with cold water. |
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| Shake all the excess moisture from them. You might even want to get a paper towel to try them a bit. |
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| This shows that there is no moisture left in the pan. The noodles will be damp, but not soaking wet. I've already added the salt, pepper, two shakes of the vinegar, and a drop of the sesame oil. And there is still no residual moisture lingering. |
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| Chopping them up just a bit to make it easier to eat and handle. |
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| 1 - You can tell that this wrapper has a pattern. The pattern goes invisible when it's warmed. Hold it like this. |
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| 3 - Now it's ready, when it starts to fold around your fingers. |
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| 2 - It begins to go clear, but it's still pretty rigid |
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| Lay it flat on the cutting board |
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| Add Shrimp |
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| Add salad mixture on top. Best to use your hands for all of this. |
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| Add the noodles on top. Careful not to over stuff. |
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| Fold your two shortest ends inward |
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| Fold one of the lengths over, and then the last one on top of it. |
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| Finished product. |
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| There is some left over that I will keep for another spring roll in the future. When I thaw more shrimp. I've mixed the cello noodles and the salad mixture together here. |
Saturday, April 4, 2020
Seeking a friend for the end of the world... oh, wait...too late
Part of me is happy not to be stuck with someone...having to answer for my every allergic sneeze, or pollen filled cough.
But, it was always my goal to have a best male friend as my partner in crime.
But I dont think that's ever gonna happen. For a multitude of reasons.
And I swear, I am so ridiculously, deleriously, sick of hearing the platitudes of "you are such a wonderful woman...he's out there somewhere" that i could vomit enough to warrant a covid test.
Let us all just be honest. No one is equipped to handle me. I'm too #heidemaintenance and too weird and broken in ways other people arent. It is cool and fun in short durations. But, it is irritating and frustrating to guys over any length of time.
So, yeah...that's what I've been thinking about lately. Fuck my dreams. Fuck joy. Fuck it all. I am going back to being dead inside. It'll be easier to hide my disappointment.
But, it was always my goal to have a best male friend as my partner in crime.
But I dont think that's ever gonna happen. For a multitude of reasons.
And I swear, I am so ridiculously, deleriously, sick of hearing the platitudes of "you are such a wonderful woman...he's out there somewhere" that i could vomit enough to warrant a covid test.
Let us all just be honest. No one is equipped to handle me. I'm too #heidemaintenance and too weird and broken in ways other people arent. It is cool and fun in short durations. But, it is irritating and frustrating to guys over any length of time.
So, yeah...that's what I've been thinking about lately. Fuck my dreams. Fuck joy. Fuck it all. I am going back to being dead inside. It'll be easier to hide my disappointment.
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
2019 Wrap up
Wow, what a year it's been.
I've been so busy focused on my house for the last half of it that it just flew by. Still in the middle of demolition, and will begin reconstruction in the new year.
I've read a whole 55 books, and that's awesome!
My biggest highlight was getting to see my long-lost cousin in Tennessee. It was so awesome. I had such a great time with her. And it was if I had never lost any time with her. Except for the fact that we were grown and could do anything we wanted without adult permission/supervision.
Highlights from this year:
I've been so busy focused on my house for the last half of it that it just flew by. Still in the middle of demolition, and will begin reconstruction in the new year.
I've read a whole 55 books, and that's awesome!
My biggest highlight was getting to see my long-lost cousin in Tennessee. It was so awesome. I had such a great time with her. And it was if I had never lost any time with her. Except for the fact that we were grown and could do anything we wanted without adult permission/supervision.
Highlights from this year:
- Jan - Don's retirement party
- Feb - HARI for training
- Mar - Sherry Quinn's retirement party
- April - Greek with Katie & Derrick, Lunch with Larry, and SECU testing on the Mobile App.
- May - Met Corrie in TN, SECU Board Mtg, Beethoven's Piano Concerto #3 with Dad, PTA Handover 5/30.
- June - DSI Job with Heather where I learned how to enter in the computer; got new red glasses; Held Michele and Mark's wedding; Went to a Durham Bulls game with Rob, Reno and Dad; and Dowdy's retirement party; Lunch with Tammy & Steve; Ice Cream with Dad, Rob, Reno, Val, Keith, & Z; BBwks interview. Started working there in July; and Joanne's retirement party.
- July - Reno Citizenship party @ ORO; Found MadHatter on Wizards Unite (we're fast friends now).
- Aug - Paris is Burning screening with Dad; Mudcats game with Heather & Christian (my first); SECU Board Mtg; Fell off a ladder at BBwks
- Sept - Water Heater exploded. I cease to have a kitchen; Abatement Co comes out to give an estimate; Lunch with Marjorie & Pattycakes
- Oct - Z's 18th birthday party; SECU Big Mtg in Grnsboro; Went to Black Mtn to visit with Dani & Paul; Brunch with Michele; James' (pattycakes) birthday party at the mining place; CHOP's retirement party; Karen's Halloween Party; Halloween @ Rob & Reno's
- Nov - Valloween; Packout for my kitchen; Abatement; SECU Holiday party at Winston's; Worked my first Black Friday @ Bbwks
- Dec - Worked my first Candle day, and my first 4.95 event @ bbwks; Vals Birthday Brunch; Reno's Holiday Party; Work's Holiday Party; Reno's progressive dinner; Lunch with Steve & Tammy; Rob & Reno Xmas Dinner (met some new people). Also took Dad to Simple Greek and he loved it.
Some of the things I'm proud of myself for this year - I've met a bunch of new people both thru work, and friends. I've been really patient not having a kitchen. 55 freaking books!!!
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