As promised, I've really neglected this spot, and not from posting too much at the Boar's Head, I guarantee you. I've been having a hard time getting web access and time to think simultaneously, plus my trusty recorder went through the wash, which is hardly helpful to my ability to write. (Pathetic, I know. Accepting donations.) I don't intend to leave this spot empty forever, but I don't foresee giving it the TLC it needs for a while longer.

But so long as I've got your RSS reader's attention, can I ask for a little prayer?
+ Honey and I are moving. Maybe. We don't know for sure, but we'd probably better find out in the next couple of weeks.
+ Honey and I *both* need new jobs. At the same time. I've actually been functionally unemployed for a while now, and although I've had some odd jobs here and there, we're starting to feel the pinch.
+ I'm thinking about going back to school. That would be going for my master's. I can't tell you how much I hate the idea of more school, since it seems like I just escaped a nightmarish undergrad experience, but I'm assured that if I find a good program, I can enjoy it and get a decently-paying job in my field. Of course, they said that about my undergrad, and it made a lot of sense then, too...
+ I'm very phobic of churches, but I know I need one. My church is not bad. It's really as good as it gets in so many ways. But I still need to get over my church weirdness and go. I need a lot of stuff that doesn't come anywhere else but a collection of messed-up Christians--which is to say, any collection of Christians.
+ Honey and I are both recovering from some kind of unusual flu that could, all on its own, feature as a villain in a particularly frightening *Doctor Who* episode. So we're short on food and the apartment's a disaster area, and neither of us has energy to do much about it. It's a depressing situation, and the last thing we need after all this is depression, but unless things change, that's what we're *both* looking at.
+ My spiritual life has been crap lately and I haven't really found it in me to care. That has to change.

Thanks, peoples.

In what may be one of the most fun internet developments for me a a good long while, I'm now a member at the lovely Boar's Head Tavern. It's a really nice place. Michael still has the Farrah poster up. I'm not sure what to make of that.

3 AM

Really, the only appropriate response to Hillary's new ad.

Is it just me, or has it become utterly impossible to take these people seriously these days?

HT: Daring Fireball

Backpacking Recipes

Since it's hard to explain a whole recipe in 140 characters, here's my better response to AndyM801, who, in response to my announcement of my deification as god of backpacking food, asked me to share a backpacking recipe or two. Fair enough. I tried to tweet a backpacking cholent recipe, but in retrospect, I'm pretty sure that it was basically useless. So here we go.

Cholent is a Sabbath meal-in-a-pot that's cooked overnight in an oven or a crock pot, idea being you don't do any work cooking come Shabbos lunch. They tend to be a way to use up leftovers and such. Personally, I've never made cholent the same way twice, and that goes for this ersatz one, too. If you don't have all this stuff ready, don't sweat it, just make a good substitution.

Obviously this cholent isn't work free, nor do you have to cook it overnight (although i wonder, could you somehow bury it in a campfire? idle musing.) but since I'm using Sarah Kirkconnell's venerable Freezer Bag Cooking methodology, it almost is. Consult your rabbi for the details, although if he's reformed, he'll probably have to make something up on the spot. Go easy on him.*

Spike's Backpacking Cholent

In a quart freezer bag, combine...

• 1/2 cup precooked bulgur or rice or a combination
• 1 oz precooked chickpeas
• 1 oz precooked red kidneys
• 1 oz (more or less) vegan burger crumbles, dried hamburger or TVP
• 1 Tb dried diced tomatoes
• 1 Tb peas (or whatever green vegetable you have on hand)
• 1/2 Tb baharat
• 1/4 tsp granulated garlic
• 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne, depending on how spicy the baharat is, or omit if you want
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Low-sodium bouillion of your choice--I like beef

Cover with boiling water with an inch or so to spare and put in a cozy for 15 minutes.

I'm a big fan of Thai, so when I found coconut cream powder, I had to try it out. This is my first attempt, and it's pretty good. It need some simplification, but of course, when someone Twitters me a request, I'm required by law to do what they say. Me and Strong Bad gots it rough.

Spike's Thai Curry, Mark I

In a bowl, combine...

• 1 c. instant or precooked rice
• 5 Tb. coconut milk powder
• 2 Tb. peas
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1/2 tsp chile powder (chile with an e, not chili with an i. use a little more cayenne if you don't have it.)
• 1 TrueLemon packet
• 1/2 tsp five spice powder
• 1/4 tsp granulated garlic
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp dried basil (optional)
• 1/4 tsp dried cilantro (optional)

Mix and divide into two quart freezer bags. (Did I mention this makes 2 servings?) Cover with boiling water and let sit in a cozy for 15 minutes.

But like I said, it's way too complicated, so I'm working on simplifying. My stovetop curry uses an equal combination of pad thai and panang curry pastes from Maeploy (I think--I'll have to check the brand and the exact pastes I use.) So next on my dehydration agenda is a tub of each of those. That stuff goes a long way, it's cheap, and looks promising for drying. If it works, and I haven't gotten bored with blogging in the next week or so, I'll post that one.

* I am not personally any more Jewish than I am Catholic, but since my mother calls at least twice a day and is deeply disappointed that I didn't go legal or medical, you can put me down as "sympathetic."

I'm not sure what the procedure is for first posts anymore, if one is expected to lay out an introduction or just start pumping out non sequiturs from the get-go.  Anyway, I'm Spike.  Good to meet you.

Ah, I was never good at inroductions anyway.

I have a Twitter account at http://twitter.com/FatherSpike if I disappear for weeks at a time, which I am apt to do.