It's Getting Hot in Here

Drinking right now: Assam Organic, Origin: India, $35.99/lb

My notes for this post's planning start with this line:

I just paid a $180 electric bill! Things have got to change!

And change they have!

The first changes were by choice. I did a little research, and found that running a central air conditioning unit  uses far more electricity than the ceiling fans. I'm a fan of 72 degrees; if it gets to 73, I'm sweating buckets. You don't even want to know how I embarrassed myself in Puerto Rico just over a year and half ago, with their year-round 90 degree weather (I'm saying all this in Fahrenheit.)

Anyway, my research showed that raising the temperature in the house by one degree can knock about 3% off one's electric bill. I promptly raised us to 76, and we started running ceiling fans most of the day.

Razi proudly shows off the new setup.

The problem here was Beorn's room. While we have four bedrooms, one is very small--intended to be an office. We put Beorn in there, as a baby doesn't need a lot of space--but it's the only room with no fan and on the warmer (north) side of the house. Thankfully, Razi loves his brother greatly and was excited when we started moving Beorn into his room.

This has worked fantastically so far, and the next bill was down over $30, which is even more than I estimated.

Then, we had an earthquake. We're still sorting out the damages (which are a pain when you have no coverage for earthquakes and are short on money as it is) but the biggest loss has turned out to be part of our breaker panel being knocked loose. This led to the motor on our indoor AC unit shorting out, which has been all kinds of fun and we are not happy with some people at the moment.

Needless to say, our electric bill is going to be non-existant for next month, and I'm much more prepared for Puerto Rico next time. It's kind of a good thing to learn to live without the AC, though I've found my "breaking point" to be about 83 degrees; after that, I start getting headaches, tired, etc. Good thing I'm losing weight!

I'm proud of my kitchen.

The kitchen was a big selling point on this house, for me. It's the center of my home (thought many of you may think that's actually my computer desk), and where I spend probably over half my time. It's not without issues, but it's comfortable and becoming more "mine" every day.

	My very first addition to the kitchen.

These past couple of months, I've started using Evernote a great deal. It's really awesome, and gives me a chance to organize things without using notes all over my desktop and fridge.

I had the brilliant (if I may say so) idea to nuke Akalee's old laptop (which never worked well anyways) and install Linux. The laptop barely runs anything, but it's enough to access all my recipes and other Evernote notebooks. The only disappointment is that the sound card has totally given out; so I can't stream my music to the kitchen, but at least can clip recipes and access them right by my cooking area!

Well, a little to the edge of my cooking area because I do want the laptop to actually function.

Other places in my kitchen are naturally becoming arranged as I spend more time there. The spoons that were stuffed in a drawer are now in easy access on the counter, as well as other tools I use often.

During a recent trip to Ikea, we (Akalee first) noticed that their display kitchens had the splash boards lined with these neat little bars to hang things from.

Totally not my photo, but you get the idea.

This made both of us very excited for it allows us to keep things in easy reach without taking up counter space--also, keeping them more out-of-reach of little hands! What I want to start with is adding a rack to hang my mesh colanders above the sink, as well as the towels I use strictly for my baking (always need something to just throw over the loaves as they cool.)

We have a lot of plans for these little things, and they're really not expensive: about $5 for the rail itself, then a couple of dollars for each hangy-thing.

Because I finally got them right....almost?

Today's late lunch/snack was tamagoyaki, a delightful traditional Japanese bento staple that I'm more than happy to butcher over and over. Even when it's totally wrong, it tastes so good.

I've finally reached the point where I can actually roll it, but everyone else seems to have pretty little round rolls while mine stay flat. Looks like I just have to practice more! Darn!

Tamagoyaki

4 large eggs
1 TBSP sugar
1 tsp mirin
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soy sauce
vegetable oil in a mister/spray bottle

If you can used pastured eggs, the whole thing will stick together much better! 

Mix together everything but the oil, until it's coherent but not frothy. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, then spray the bottom with the oil (I use olive oil.) You want this to be very hot, but not where the oil is smoking; it's a fun dance.

Pour a thin layer of egg mixture into the skillet, tilting the pan around to spread it out. Pop any bubbles that come up. After a few seconds, it will firm up and you can begin rolling it gently into a log at one end of the skillet.

Spray the pan with more oil, and pour another thin layer of egg. Lift the existing log so that the eggs run underneath, then roll it all up as it cooks. Repeat the process until the eggs are all used.

Cook the outside of the final roll a little bit to seal it all together, then turn out onto a plate or cutting board to cool. Slice into even pieces for a light, savory finger food.

Just so you know...

To the right, I've added a link to the publicly-viewable notebook with my recipes--at least the ones of which I have digital copies! I'm always adding things; anything I find online (and immediately cook, generally) will be added there.

There is also a Google maps link so the people in my area can see where I'm getting all my food from. It's so crazy now, to go to the grocery store and have only four aisles to visit. I pretty much live in the produce and baking sections!

Also, check out my new mascot, to the right. I mentioned it on the facebook page, but I don't think I said anything here.