In which the parenthetical phrase is taken out behind the barn and nearly beat to death, and I talk about food. A LOT

Dear chickens,

Would you please look into making eggs that are a touch less infuriating to peel once hardboiled?

Damn!

======================

Tracy Lynn's Dad's cheese dip, which was mentioned yesterday here and for which I feel obligated to NOT share the recipe, being as how it's a big ol' secret and all (Hint - the majority of the 'gredients is everyone's favorite fake cheese inna box. That's ALL I'm saying about that.), is not only good on bread as hoity-toity pinkies-up fondue goodness, and also as a rather more hoi-polloi taco topper, but also, ALSO! rocks the hizz as a base for beefy mac n' cheese.

My goodness, what a versatile food.

=======================

When I was a kid, the first dish I learned to prepare was tuna casserole. Mmmm, egg noodles (cooked, natch, though it took me an iteration to learn that, and what a glutinous mess of a meal THAT first attempt was...), a cupla cans o' tuna (PLUS the tuna water - no wastee!), a can of peas, some milk, about 5 pounds of everyone's favorite fake cheese inna box (though it's best to take it OUT of the box first) cut up into cubes, and some S&P. Mix, cover, bake for 30 minutes at 350F, dinner is served.

By the time I was 11 I could do it all by myself, and LOVED the responsibility that entailed. I know, I'm a kitchen freak.

The second thing I learned to cook by heart was Tollhouse cookies.

I was reminded of this at 4:30 this morning, when I was making the first batch of Tollhouse cookies (with bonus dark chocolate M&Ms in!) ever created from scratch in the Tiny House.

What, you don't bake when you can't sleep? For shame. Some nice warm cookies and a cup of hot chocolate is BOUND to make you feel better, even if you're awake when roosters are still cackling merry dreams in their sleep.

When I'm bored, I cook. It's that simple. I love to fool around (mess around? experiment? is there some term I can use here that doesn't sound naughty?) in the kitchen, even when sleep-deprived. I half thought about loading up the slow cooker with something for dinner at around 5 a.m., but then decided to finish the cookies and head back to bed for a much-needed naplet. Turns out that was a good idea. That 45 minutes of sleep was some of the best of the night.

Plus which, there were COOKIES to eat once I got up! Sweeeeeet.

==========================

What do y'all do when you can't sleep?

Surf for pron? I can see all I need to see in about 15 minutes, thanks. I'll need more options.

Read a book? And risk getting so into it that there's no CHANCE of heading back to bed (Damn you Terry Pratchett!). A strong second choice if I'm up only an hour or so ahead of schedule, not if there are two or more hours to burn.

I don't do handcrafty things, so that's right out. Plus which, trying to cross-stitch/knit/crochet/crewel/whatever takes counting and patience and attention to detail skillz, none of which I'm very good at.

That pretty much leaves cooking, right? Or laundry? Ironing (Bwuahahahah!!)?

Yeah, not ironing. I'm NEVER bored enough for that.