Something I should have never admitted: powdered potatoes.

I did it. It was me. I promised myself I never would. I scoffed at the idea. But then, standing in my kitchen after cleaning the counter of rotted potato juice, damning boxed Pasta Roni to hell since we’ve been eating it once or twice a week lately, and wondering what on EARTH would fill my ever-hungry stomach, I realized it was time.

To make the bag-o-potato that Jeff had purchased once upon the time he claimed was delicious. I reasoned with myself–it was here, I shouldn’t waste, there ARE children starving in Africa, Asia, South America, and probably down the block from me. They are edible, and they have potatoes in them. Plus, as we are moving in a few weeks, I shouldn’t allow them into our new home. Right? We should just use them up…now. RIGHT?

bag_potatoes

This is the bag. The bag full of offensive powdered-potato. But I had exhausted my other options for sides. I had no choice. So I opened the bag, to investigate.
insidebag

The inside seemed OK. It was powdered, but smelled like potato. I wasn’t sure how large the potatoes would get, so I had to guesstimate which bowl size I would use. This one seemed to be the right size. I wasn’t sure how large powdered potatoes got. But I have seen those amazing meals they give to people in the army, when you add water and it becomes so hot you can’t even hold it. So I knew there was magical things that could happen when it says “Just add water.” Like sea monkeys. Just add water, and soon you have a family.

inbowl_potatoes

Anyways, I waited for the water to boil. I made a list of reasons I was justified in my head, and I when the water boiled I poured it into the bowl. The bowl, of course, DID burn my hand, because I wasn’t thinking that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to hold said bowl as I poured the water. But that’s another story. Then I poured the potato powder in and Voila!–

Potatoes.alldone_potatoes

I must say, they were not as bad as I thought they were going to be. I guess I have to take them off the “Absolutely not” list and put them onto the “Only in an Emergency” list.

Dually noted.

The hunt continues…

We still haven’t found an apartment, and becuase of it I have spent the entire weekend eating my feelings in my weight of Milk Duds, JuJu Bees, and movie popcorn. I haven’t been able to slow myself. All I know is, this week is the week I need to find SOMETHING. ANYTHING.

I am sick of looking, but nothing we see is good enough. The location will be great, and then there is carpet. Or the floors are hardwood, but the street parking is awful. Or the street parking rocks, but I wouldn’t live in an apartment with wood-colored cabinets if my life depended on it. Etc., etc.

This is a crazy life. But I hope that something will be coming up this week–an offer, a beautiful apartment, my other roommates finally cleaning up dishes before I get to them out of anger, or magically I will come home one day to a non-sticky floor and dinner prepared for me.

Who knows? I can’t wait to see what happens…

The more you read, the more you know.

My BFF Lauren always reminds me of a quote from our childhood:

The more you read, the more you know
The more you know, the smarter you grow
The smarter you grow, the stronger your voice
When speaking your mind, or making a choice

It was on a libary poster when we were in the 4th grade, and we’d spend lunch line time trying to memorize it. 12 years later, we still remember it, so it worked! In light of reading, here’s some information about my reading love…

*A book that made you laugh: Straight Man, by Richard Russo
*A book that made you cry: Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
*A book that scared you: Scary Stories III, by Alvin Schwartz
*A book that disgusted you: In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
*A book you loved in elementary school: Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Paterson
*A book you loved in middle/junior high school: The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman
*A book you loved in high school: Night, by Elie Wiesel
*A book you loved in college: The Wall, by John Hersey
*A book that challenged your identity: Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
*A series that you love: Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling
*Your favorite “coming of age” book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
*Your favorite classic: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
*Your favorite romantic novel: The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks
*My favorite book (non-fiction): An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore

A list of lists.

I was making my “Life to do” list I make once every two or so weeks and realized half the items on the list required their own lists. So here we go:

* Become a California resident

*Make a doctor’s appointment

*Make a list of Christmas gifts/people

*Chose a recipe for Thanksgiving turkey

*Map the oven plans for Thanksgiving day (to see who needs to have what in the oven when)

*Find an apartment

*Begin packing/tossing things from old apartment

*Figure out New Year’s Eve plans

*Send out mail

*Christmas card list — keep to under 40 people

*By “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” for book club — due Thanksgiving

*Figure out what I can do to help Prop 8 be defeated.

*Dinner this week/next week

Those that are bold need their OWN lists.

Yikes. I’d better get started.

I'll need a meat thermometer…

Well, the big day is almost here. No, not Halloween. Thanksgiving. The big Turkey day. My first away from home. I am very excited about the prospects of the up-and-coming holiday, and recently I had a conversation with Jeff that went something like this:

“Hey Jeff, I want to host Thanksgiving.” – me

“OK. Cool.” -Jeff

“Hey, I think Jen and I are going to host Thanksgiving.” – Becca, who just had walked in.

“Oh.” – me (Disappointed because I wanted to cook the turkey)

“But, can you do the turkey? Please?” – Becca

“Um, sure, no problem.” – me (Internally screaming YES OF COURSE)

But now I had a problem. I had to make a turkey. I’ve never so much as thought about roasting a bird. But my friend K can do it, so if she can, I can. Thus, I came up with a six week plan.

Week 1: October 19-25

*Research types of recipes for roasted turkey

Week 2: October 26-November 1

*Practice roasting a chicken

Week 3: November 2-8

*Practice on a small-sized turkey

Week 4: Nov 9-15

*Whittle away recipes, choose favorite 1

Week 5: Nov 16-22

*Whittle away recipes, choose favorite 1, buy ingredients

Week 6: Nov 22-27

*Discuss with Becca how her oven cooks, lay out final plan, purchase turkey

*Cook!

Now I know that might seem a little ridiculous, but I want my first turkey to be delicious. So I am going to practice. I’ve bought a chicken for this week, and last week looked at some recipes. However today, I was researching a bit more, and I found this:

Number of Diners: 12.
Turkey Size (including leftovers): 16 to 18 pounds.
Thawing Time (for a frozen turkey): Refrigerator, 3 1/2 to 4 days; cool water (changed every half hour), 8 to 9 hours.
Roasting Time (unstuffed): Roast at 425° F for 45 minutes. Cover with foil, reduce temperature to 350° F, and continue to roast until a thigh registers 180° F, 2 1/2 to 3 hours total.”

This sounds harder than I originally thought. And that information is from “Real Simple.”

Real Simple also had this little trick: “Tip: Roast two small turkeys side by side rather than one extra-large bird. They’ll be done in almost half the time.”

I just might, Real Simple, I just might.

Meanwhile, I’d like to hear what you all think–what’s hard about cooking a turkey, what’s easy, what do I need to remember?

I already feel like I need to purchase a meat thermometer, and a baster. So I did some more probing on the website from Real Simple, and found out there are 7 things I should own to make a turkey. This might get expensive.

*Meat thermometer
*Baster
*Roasting pan
*Roasting rack
*Carving board
*Carving set
*Gravy separator

Looks like I have some work to do…next up, “40 ways to Simplify Thanksgiving.” I can’t think of 10 things I’d need to do, let alone 40 things I’d want to make my life easier. Looks like I have some learning to do…