So hey, we made pickles again today.

Last weekend, d had reserved a half bushel of #2 cukes from the farmer's market vendor who also has all the delicious herbs (including dill), price $30. We picked it up this morning, along with some dill flowers. Instead of buying garlic from the market, I got pre-peeled cloves from the Korean grocer. Easy that way to be sure they weren't moldy.

So for each 3 litres of pickles (we made 7+) I used

• 6-8 dill stalks
• 4 smashed garlic cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 aniseed star
• 1/2 tsp peppercorns
• 1 bag of cheap black tea (for tannins)

One batch had a couple hot chiles chopped up and tossed in. Another han double the garlic. Another had double mustard.

These are submerged in 5% brine and sitting in the closet. I also saved some brine from the last batch and "started" them with a splash of that culture.

It was a team effort. K did a lot of cuke trimming and washing, and also cut down the plastic trays we're using to push the cukes under water. D cut and trimmed and ran to the store for more mustard. All I really did was pack the bins, and do a little washing. It's so much easier with a team. And everyone has an investment in the food they'll later enjoy.

With better process and ingredients that aren't mouldy, I'm reasonably sure we won't lose any to infection this year but I guess we'll find out!

There's quite a bit about life that could be improved, and where we're able, we're working on it, but I am very happy to be sharing it with the person to whom I've been officially married for sixteen years today. SCHMOOP.

I feel reasonably confident we'll make it to the next power of 2, thirty-two thanks to good health and a stable living situation. If we make it to sixty-four, I'll just state my wish that it not be with significantly lessened quality of life.

If we actually hit one hundred and twenty eight, I will assume we've been at some point uploaded into solar-powered robotic carapaces clattering around the searingly hot, wind-scoured remains of human civilization, making a living wrenching the last few bits of rare earths required to keep ourselves alive. I wonder what kind of sex we'll have?

for the cat hair and potting soil that blew onto the painting that was drying on the balcony... it actually sort of works...

There's no flour or dairy in this cornbread recipe.

• 2 cups corn meal
• 2 cups nut milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbs bacon grease
• 1 tsp each baking soda & baking powder
• 2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 10" crockery or cast iron pan

How do

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Put the cooking vessel in to pre-heat for about five minutes.
2. Add milk and bacon grease to mixing bowl & heat (microwave, e.g.) until grease melts
3. Add other ingredients and fold gently until uniform.
4. Remove vessel from oven and gingerly coat with grease.
5. Pour batter into vessel, return to oven
6. Bake 18-25 minutes until nicely browned and toothpick comes clean
7. Let it cool on a rack 5-10 minutes at least before cutting in.

This is a good "substrate" cornbread. It holds together well when cooled, and wants stuff added to it, like gravy or butter or honey or jam or what-have-you. I used nut milk + lemon juice because I didn't want to pay for buttermilk and we have a house mate who can't do lactose; we have a nut milk maker here so it's easy enough to produce for cheap.

I imagine you could start by substituting a vegan shortening for the bacon grease to make it 100% hippie-safe, but you'd also need to do something with the eggs which provide the glue to hold it all together.

Enya's still making the same kinda music she made, what, 30 years ago. Not just song patterns, down to the same synth patches and chord changes. Pretty impressive. Most musicians evolve, but if you find a niche that makes bank it's kinda hard to abandon it. Especially when you own a castle.

I had my wisdom teeth removed today.

I opted for twilight sedation, because why would I want to be awake for that if I had a safe alternative.

They put me on nitrous first. It did nothing for me. Annoying.

Then put an IV in my hand and started me on Fentanyl for pain, telling me I'd feel a hot flash. Which I didn't. Getting a little more annoyed. Dentistry without pain relief is kind of a nightmare for me.

Five minutes later I poked myself with a finger nail and didn't feel much so at least there was that.

Then they started me on Versed. I was having conversations like I don't feel anything, should I feel something? And they said Well you should feel like you've had a drink or two. And I'm like, nope. And they said, well, you get more before the procedure starts. And I'm like, I hope so!

Surgeon shows up at some point and says, "okay let's get started" and they up the sedation, finally I'm feeling a little less like I'm staring at a ceiling for 20 minutes and more like minutes are kind of sliding into each other. I still feel dude freezing up my gums though. 

And at some points there was a lot of yanking and whatever, but it is not very concerning, which is pretty much when I accept that I am going to get the sedation I paid for.

Time stops telescoping around when they remove the IV, and I get sat up and walked to the recovery room for a review of Teh Rulez which include not drinking hot fluids until the freezing is gone -- that one I am ignoring, like seriously, I need my fugging coffee. Also gauze pads to chew on until I stop bleeding so much. Which I have changed a few times. 

And now I'm having oatmeal, just pouring it down my throat, because the last food I had was about 24 hours ago with one thing and another.

There's antibiotics and Tylenol-3 to pick up at the pharmacy later. Apparently I will look like I got in a fight and lost in a day or two.  Whatever.

So that's how I spent my early afternoon. I'll probably spend the rest of the day reading or whatever. I'm sure the pain will kick in at some point, but if it never really does that's fine with me. 

Another false fire alarm last night. According to our condo newsletter, it's caused by people seeking refuge from the cold in the parking garage stairwells and smoking / lighting fires to stay warm. I mean, understandable to take refuge, but it's not like one can stay if the alarm goes off. So not ideal.

So I guess we'll probably have another one or two over the weekend as temps drop to -20.

The board says they've gotten approval from the city to instal maglocks on the doors so they can't be forced at night. Certainly have mixed feelings about it, but apparently every time fire trucks roll it costs us a not insignificant amount of money so...

Tonight the condo's book club did an annual thing they do, which is check out a bunch of play scripts from the library and do a reading. Sounds interesting, but not much information provided, least of all _which play_.

So I go down because how bad could it be? And it is about 10 people, mostly older, and we're all sitting around around a table (there's no designated readers OMG 1) and everyone takes turns reading, switching roles scene by scene (OMG 2) and I've already done the social niceties and kind of committed, and then discover that it's a fucking Woody Allen play and by then it's too late to back out. 

So for two and a half hours I read different roles from _Don't Drink the Water_, trying not to turn the obvious Allen character into a whiny schmuck when I get him, but the language is just so exactly that ... and there's all the misogynistic bullshit, the toxic masculinity, the casual racism, the colonialism, the physical sexual assault (that she later says she hoped he'd do), the terrible plot that doesn’t even have the most obvious and interesting twist, the unnecessary rape/suicide references, the ... just ... OMFG 

Anyway, everyone was super nice, I met some new people in the building, I made some folks laugh, and got compliments on my cold reading, so it wasn't a total loss. 

It could have been worse, said d -- it could have been a hobby script. 

This building is so warm. It's bizarre. Even at -10 outside, it's 22 in here. The air handler hasn't come on in a couple months despite a colder than normal month. I'm not sure where the heat comes from. I guess I could walk around with an infra-red thermometer and figure it out.

...

I did walk around with a thermometer and there's no obvious source of significant heat. The little wall in the laundry room with the hot water pipe in it is 4C higher than ambient but everything else is all within 1C of the floor and walls.

I guess a pie-wedge shaped dwelling design in a circular building with a lot of insulation on the exterior wall is just really efficient (duh), and at least on the south side where we are, exposed to the angled winter sun, it's enough. The cats sure like the sun.

We'll see how it goes in three months though.

...

It's certainly a pleasant change from multi-hundred dollar heating bills in the old house.  

There are other bills, though. The condo fees ($630) pay for all utilities except electricity, along with exterior and common area maintenance, amenities, staff salaries and property tax on the building. Our electric bill is about $70 a month, with $40 of that a constant connection fee, which kind of sucks. And then there's city services tax, and contents insurance. Under $1K a month all in, with not much chance of a sudden disaster/emergency expense, which is really what you want for a retirement situation. Sure, we're a few years away from that, but it's good to be settled early.

...

Also, for those of you in the south who celebrate the harvest well after those of us in the north have typically already several days of frost in the morning, happy Thanksgiving. (We do it in early October in Canada. Because we like to eat more fresh things than potatoes.)

I find this recipe necessary because most home-prepared syrup recipes rely on baker's chocolate or chocolate chips, and not only are those more expensive than cocoa powder, they add unnecessary fat. This recipe has little fat and yet won't granulate or set up in the fridge because of the corn syrup and xanthan gum.

I am not down on fat, but I don't see that it's necessary here; the xanthan gum in addition to helping avert crystallization adds a nice bit of unctuousness to the texture. This is really good on ice cream, which is what it was designed for.

Chocolate Syrup (cocoa powder base)

• 2 C white sugar
• 1 C cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/16 tsp Xanthan gum (seriously do not add too much)

​​​​​​​Stir dry ingredients thoroughly together in a saucepan, then add

• 1.5 C water
• 1 Tbs corn syrup

And bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, over medium heat and clip on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat when temperature passes 220F and let cool somewhat. To finish, Stir in: 

• 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

Then decant into a serving container, e.g. squeeze bottle or glass jar, whatever. Refrigerate. Will keep at least a week in the refrigerator without granulating.