An Update, and the Joys of Whole Grain cooking
Originally published at Modern Domestic Geek. You can comment here or there.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, and my last posted was redacted because I felt it was so negative. That being said, my motivation to continue this site has been tested. As it is right now, I think the podcast is dead, and will only be revived by some sort of miracle. But I do want to continue to blog here, though I will need to make some changes.
I started this blog after reading the book Julie and Julia, and seeing the movie. That had inspired me to get back to blogging, and to start a project of my own. After discovering what the subject of Julie Powell’s new book was, that really turned me off - from her, and from the ideas that she had perpetuated in her first book. Then the Alton Brown Project was a disaster, much too time consuming and expensive to be practical for someone trying to manage a household and a full-time job. Then I went to a con that killed my urge to podcast, and I wondered what I was even doing here.
But - I went to a lot of trouble to set up this blog the way I want it, and while I sometimes find it hard to find topics to discuss, I still want to keep doing it. So I am, in text form. So, I’m going to post about my journey into weight loss and healthy eating, the never ending attempt to keep my house clean, and my love of media and entertainment.
So, an update. Since my last public post, I’ve attended two cons, had two house guests, and made whole grain pancakes. Oh there was more, but at the time I’m writing this that’s what stands out. Such is my silly little life sometimes. Which means we won’t be talking about my job, though it has been particularly soul-sucking lately.
The two cons were Balticon and Wizard World Philadelphia, now named Philly Comicon. Both were disapointing in different ways. Balticon was held north of Baltimore over Memorial Day weekend, and usually is the highlight of my year. But this year, combined with a change in focus that seemed to shut my interests out, staying at an off-site hotel, and a panel schedule, it came to my realization that this is no longer my con, which broke my heart. But, it was good to see my friends and spend some time with couple of them. WWP, which was great fun last year, was taken over by ComicCon, and as a result had lines worthy of Dragon*Con, and guests that were sort of surly. But I got to hang with some people I had met at Balticon, so I had a lot of fun. I was also able to acquire some art, which always makes me happy.
As for the guests, last Thursday I walked in my house to find my friend known as Vivid Muse sitting on my couch, talking to my son. Turns up she had conspired with Dan to surprise me, and that she did! She stayed the night and drove back to her home in Virginia the next day, but it was so good to see her and spend some quality time with her. Her leaving was kept from being too sad because I then had Kim the Comic Book Goddess come and stay she could attend WWP with me. Kim is a wonderful houseguest, not asking much of me (neither did Viv - she insisted she NOT be a burden) and made the weekend so much more pleasant.
While Kim was here, I made pancakes. Now as part of my new eating plan, I’m trying to eat more whole grains. Now the last time I stayed at Viv’s house, she made pancakes made from whole wheat pastry flour, and you could hardly tell they were whole wheat. I made some yesterday, and boy, these weren’t like Viv’s. i think it had to do with the flour, which was much coarser than I would expect pastry flour to be, so I think it may have been mislabeled. Kim liked the pancakes, which was good, for I didn’t have the courage to try them.
One thing that made them so much easier was the usage of my new electric griddle, which made making pancakes, and the grilled cheese I made later so easy. I see myself pulling that out a lot - especially this summer, since that keeps the kitchen cooler than my oven/stovetop does.
So that’s my update, I ‘m going to try posting more often now, as I find the time to.
Cheers,
MA