Cooking In The Car - Part Two

Since the cookie experiment was such a big hit (10 comments so far – almost as many as Jim Brickman – almost!) I decided to conduct another experiment with cooking in my car. I forgot to watch the news last night to find out what yesterday’s temperature was; but I did some searching on the internet this morning and from what I can tell, Huntsville reached 103 yesterday. This seems strange to me because I swear I thought it felt slightly cooler yesterday. Maybe I’ve adjusted to the high temps – but my utility bill sure isn’t! Whew!

Anyway, back to the story at hand. This time I decided to experiment with an egg. I thought about cracking it open and mixing it up with some cheese to see if I could cook and omelet; but instead decided on placing the egg in a glass of water to see if it would end up hard boiled. So, before I left work, I grabbed a small glass from the cabinet, filled it up with water and dropped an egg inside.

Transporting this glass to work wasn’t very easy. I had a few small spills, but luckily I had brought a towel along to dry them up. Once I got to work, I placed the glass on the dashboard of the car and headed inside. It was once again about 7:25 when I put the glass on the dashboard.

I went about my business and silently laughed to myself every time I thought of my egg out there in the hot sun. Was it cooking? I couldn’t wait to find out.

I left work around 4:35 and when I got to the car, the water in the glass was extremely hot – a lot hotter than I thought it would be, actually. I put the egg in the cup holder for the ride home where I changed clothes for the gym and let The Tide out for a potty break.

I went to the gym for an hour and then went to pick my brother up from work; all the while leaving the egg in the car. I wanted to make sure it had plenty of time to cook. By the time I had arrived at my brother’s place of work, the water had cooled off considerably. We actually had some cloudiness in the afternoon and some small rain showers, which obviously cooled things off or at least limited the direct heat of the sun, which probably contributed to the cooling of the water.

When my brother got in the car (around 7:05 p.m.) he informed me he was coming to my house (long story) instead of going home. I told him that was fine, but he had to help me with my experiment.

We arrived at my house and finally were able to start the egg cracking process around 7:20 or so. By this time the egg had been in the glass of water for about 12 hours.

He cracked it open…

Started peeling back the shell…

Clearly my brother loves rubberbands and colored bracelets -

he's Living Strong times two, man!

And…

The egg was not cooked. I’m sad to inform you that this cooking in the car experiment was not quite as successful as the cookies. The white of the egg had actually cooked a little bit, but the yellow, was obviously still quite runny. It was more like a poached egg than anything else.

Not hard boiled - just poached

.

A happy assistant

Egg hands

Oh well, so much for that. My brother had a grand time being my assistant. He told me to include him on any future experiments and suggested I do brownies next time. The weather is cooling off (high 80s/low 90s) over the next few days, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the 100s will be back soon, and there just may be a pan of brownies waiting for them when they arrive.

The failure of this experiment left my brother sad

Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife

I’m sure you have all heard about the would-be rapist who broke into the upstairs window of the Dodson’s home in Lincoln Park here in Huntsville. If you haven’t please check it out here; there are two videos of the story as well as a brief synopsis. Now rape, as we all know, is no laughing matter, nor is burglary or any other crime. The videos of this story went viral on the internet a couple of weeks ago and someone (of course) did a remix of the video and made it into a song, which absolutely cracks me up.

I got this video from Tony (yes, that Tony, we may not be dating, but are indeed on speaking terms) and he got it from You Tube. You Tube is blocked at work and ya’ll know I’m too frugal to pay for internet at home so I cannot give the proper recognition here. So, if you know the guy who made the video let me know who he is so I can properly give him a shout out! Thanks to Jackie who let me know it's The Gregory Brothers! Hope you laugh as much as I did.

The Cookie Experiment

So, I conducted an experiment yesterday and I know you are anxious to hear about it. That is why you stopped by today, isn’t it? Clearly I am hurting for blog material. As those of you who live round these parts know, we have had 100 plus degree days for I don’t know how long – too long if you ask me. For those of you who know me or who have read this blog for any period of time, you know I some times like to do quirky things. So, I decided to conduct The Cookie Experiment. You probably already know where this is going, don’t you?

Over the weekend I bought some Nestle cookie dough, which was by one get one free at Publix by the way. Chocolate chip cookies are one of my most favorite things on earth. I have gone through phases, I’m not ashamed to say, where I will eat chocolate chip cookies every night. Love them! I actually bought these cookies just for experimental purposes if you can believe it. I honestly haven’t baked any of them except for the three I used in the experiment.

So, yesterday morning before I left for work, I put three of the unbaked chocolate chip cookies on my small Silpat and coordinating cookie sheet.

When I arrived at work, I placed the unbaked cookies on the dash of my car and headed in to the office. I wanted to see if they would bake in the heat of my car. I was pretty sure they would, but didn’t know if I would end up with hot dough or crispy cookies.

The cookies were placed on the dash around 7:25 (yes, I was running late – have been all week). I had an appointment yesterday afternoon; so, I left work around 2:40 and when I arrived at the car, the cookies were indeed baked through. The chocolate chips, were, naturally, gooey because of the heat, but the actual cookie was baked.

Pay no attention to my disgusting windsheild; it's the fault of my sappy Hackberry tree.

I took a bite out of one, and it was indeed delicious. I took a few photos, placed the cookies in the passenger seat and headed to my appointment. Every time I looked over and saw the cookies, it totally cracked me up.

Cookies - baked in the car! Yum!

The view through the dirty windshield - after I had taken some bites.

I left the cookies in the passenger seat through my appointment and while I was at the gym. I got home for the day around 6:40 and the cookies had been in the car the whole time, still making me laugh. Generally speaking, these cookies were actually a little crisper than I like. I prefer a chewier, softer cookie, but they were still good. I actually brought the other two today to eat with my lunch. I’m sure I’ll share this story with the girls at lunch who will think I’m even crazier than they first thought. I wanted someone to take my picture with the cookies, but sadly, there was no one around.

So, that was my experiment yesterday. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but it provided me with a little humor on and off throughout the day; not to mention my car briefly smelled like fresh baked cookies. I’m thinking about doing an egg next or maybe something else. Any suggestions?

I Braved the Tax Free Crowds

This post isn’t going to be as spectacular as you think. Since I know you all come here to find out all the juicy details of my life and I didn’t want to go two whole week days without a post, I thought I would fill you in on my action-packed weekend activities.

This past weekend was Alabama’s fifth annual tax-free shopping weekend which means people were out in droves. I typically stay away from the malls and other stores on this particular weekend because I know it will be jam packed with folks fighting over the last Trapper Keeper, but I really wanted a new pair of jeans so I decided to brave the hordes of people and the 100 plus degree elements and head over to the mall.

I purchased nothing.

I then went to Target to pick up a few things they had one sale (plus I had a couple of gift cards) and while there ran into my friend Brenda from work. I was chatting with her outside of Shoe Carnival and ended up buying a $9.00 pair of shoes (they had been $35). I wore them to work yesterday and today my feet hurt. They are cute though. I should have taken a photo, but I didn’t. My apologies.

After fighting the crowds at Target, I went to Publix, where shopping is a pleasure, and indeed it was a pleasure because there was hardly anyone there. I guess since groceries were not tax free people steered clear of the grocery store. I bought my goods and headed home where I finished cleaning house, reading, working sudoku puzzles and watching television. Such is the life of a single girl.

Sunday night was the first NFL preseason football game of the season, which I normally do not watch but MY WORD television has been the epitome of boring this summer, has it not?

This luxurious weekend may seem boring to most of you, but I was actually happy to have the time to myself. It seems like every weekend for the past few months has been scheduled to the brim with things to do and I was happy for the break.

Today I am conducting an experiment to share with you here on The Chronicles of Nat. I know you are waiting with baited breath to see what it is. You’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out. Hopefully it will work. If not, I’ll still fill you in on all the details. Until next time!

Another Post About Nothing

I don’t have much to say this week; I’m sorry. Life has fallen back into the realm of boring and with the 100 plus degree days, well, there’s not much I want to do rather than stay inside an air-conditioned room.

I’m back at the gym this week after taking last week off to deal with, well, you know. I’m still not losing weight, which was become increasingly frustrating. I’ve been to the doctor multiple times over the past couple of weeks to try and determine what is causing the lack of weight loss. I’ve donated a lot of blood to labs recently, which makes me wonder, what do they do with it after it’s tested? Does it get incinerated? Inquiring minds want to know. I head back to the doctor on Friday and hope to have an answer other than, “you’re just stressed;” because that’s what one doctor has been telling me for about five years. Wrong, buddy. Go back for a refresher at medical school, please.

As for my daily Bible reading, it is still going quite well. I’ve missed a day here and there, but always catch up after that happens and I am still on track to read the Bible in one year, which is awesome. I’m really excited about that.

The garden has become an absolute disaster and I’ve pretty much given up hope. The tomatoes all grew into one another was the first problem. It was hard to distinguish which plant went where. The only tomatoes I’ve been able to reap and eat were the small, sweet 100s. The larger tomatoes, which I love to eat on sandwiches or just by themselves, have all gone to the squirrels. The little rodents have taken the tomatoes while they were still green and so I haven’t been able to eat even one of them. Same for the Juliet hybrids, I think I’ve only been able to eat two of those. The peppers have done a little better and they are still growing. I’ve pretty much given up on the tomatoes and don’t even intend on watering them anymore. One, I don’t like standing out in the heat; and two, I’ve kind of lost interest. I know, that’s sad. Maybe next year I’ll be more devoted to the garden, or maybe I won’t even plant one who knows? Also, this is the time of year when the tomatoes always have these strange looking bugs on them and they kind of freak me out and make me want to stay far away from the tomatoes.

Football season is only four weeks away and that is very exciting! I have a meeting at the newspaper today about the upcoming season and to get a new head shot taken, which makes me laugh because it’s not like I ever wrote features and they certainly never use a head shot but who knows, maybe something new is in the works.

I’m sending in my deposit for my 2011 trip to the Tour de France. That’s right folks, I’m taking my gig across the pond and I couldn’t be happier! I’m very excited! The plan is to spend 7 -10 days in France at the tour and then another week somewhere else in Europe. The second week, Jackie is planning to fly over and Lord only knows what we will get ourselves into when we are on foreign soil. We are both really excited and pinching our pennies to make the trip possible. The trip is still a year away, but I’m filled to the brim with excitement.

I was reading The Big Mama Blog the other day and she linked to this recipe for broccoli and OH MY WORD! You must try it. It truly is the best broccoli EVER!

I’ve started eating in the cafeteria for lunch with some girls that I’m friends with here at work. I bring my lunch, mind you, just go there to eat rather than sit at my desk and chance a bug hopping into my food. I haven’t eaten in the cafeteria since before I started dating Tony and I think it’s helped me not be so lonely while at work, which has been nice.

For those of you wondering about my well being, thanks for the concern. I am doing a little better each day but still am quite sad and have random bursts of crying. It’s hard to believe that something I put so much work and love into has come to an end, but I am healing with the help of friends, my therapist (no joke!) and prayer. I know life will be back to some semblance of normal before too long and I suppose that’s a good thing. Keep sending positive thoughts my way! Have a great day!!

Bug Bait

A while back I think I mentioned in passing that we had a bug problem here at work. Well, I think I’m ready to talk about it or at least blog about it anyway.

A month or so ago, I began to constantly hear the chirping of crickets. It was seriously so loud that I felt as though I worked at a bait and tackle store. Then one day I started finding crickets climbing on the walls, jumping around on the floor, lying dead on the filing cabinets; and I wasn’t the only one. When Tony worked here, he sat in the cubicle next to me and he had dead bugs on his desk on a daily basis. One day, a couple of bugs fell from the ceiling onto his desk. I thought he was exaggerating, but later that same day while sitting in his cubicle, I had one land on my leg. Crickets and beetles seemed to be what plagued us the most.

It started getting out of control and was becoming an everyday occurrence. I can only assume these critters wanted to get in from the heat like us humans; but they needed to find another refuge from the sun. We let our VP know about the problem and he got on the backs of the folks in charge of bug control; but still the problem didn’t seem to go away.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a bug fall on my head, another in my lap and still others on my desk, all while I was sitting at my desk working. It was awful. If anyone has ever seen me around bugs, then you know how crazy I get. I hate bugs; make that HATE! They are gross and creepy and give me the ibby jibbys. So, needless to say, on those occasions when these bugs were falling on me, I screamed and jumped out of my seat and danced around like a crazy person. It’s a miracle I didn’t take my clothes off in the process as has been done in the past and witness by readers of this blog. It was as though those bugs were looking down at the top of my head and placing bets on who could land on top of it.

This past Monday, I came in and saw a cockroach that was no less than four inches long and quite wide crawling on the wall in front of my cubicle. I screamed, but no one was around because I am usually one of the first people to arrive. Finally I saw a person and made sure I had a witness to the large creature. I emailed the VP and told him that a roach the size of a small mouse was right in front of me and that if it fell on my head I was done for the day. My secretary, Bonnie, and I watched it crawl up the ceiling and disappear beside a skylight. That afternoon, Bonnie decided to nickname me “Bug Bait” and put a sign outside my cubicle declaring me as such.

On Tuesday, the Pest Control people finally arrived and interviewed me as to what my problems were. They said those large roaches were just wood roaches and carried no disease. I think they are lying! Did you know a roach can live for like two weeks without it’s head because they don’t have a central nervous system? It’s true! And disgusting! The Pest Control folks put out some traps – on the floor – and went about their business. I don’t know if they tackled the roof of our building or not, but those floor traps aren’t going to do much for the bugs that are falling from up above onto my freshly washed hair.

When I came in this morning, there were bugs in the traps outside of my cubicle, but not in any of the others. What is it about me that draw the bugs here? Why am I “Bug Bait”? I hope the bug drama goes away soon, but I’m not going to hold my breath. I imagine they will be lurking around every corner until the weather cools off. It would be preferable to have a cover over my cubicle, but that’s not easily done and holding an umbrella while typing is also not so easy. So, in the meantime, I’ll just roll with the punches and hope they don’t land in my breakfast or lunch.

Catching Up With Friends and Babies

Maria and David

This past Sunday, Jackie and I went to a bridal shower for Maria Brown. Jackie and I both hate bridal showers, but made an exception in this case because Maria is the younger sister of our childhood friends, Tina and Shawna. Maria came to live with Tina a Shawna's family when she was just a few days old and was later adopted by the Browns. She's a sweet, sweet, girl! I’m sure you remember Shawna; she is after all, the Fire Marshall. Tina, you may remember, was the pregnant gal that went to the Alabama vs. North Texas game with us last football season and then she had a baby, Cecilia, who I introduced here. Then I found out on Sunday that Tina isn’t even a reader of my blog?! She says she didn’t know I had one, but I think she just forgot about it. At any rate, that’s been remedied and I sent her the link yesterday. Tina, are you reading?

Shawna and Tina are concentrating hard on their duties as sisters.

Back to the shower, which I suppose was the original subject of this post. Sweet little Maria is marrying David sometime in September I think (don’t you love the accurateness of this blog?) They met in college (again, I think) and now live in Chattanooga. They are getting married at the Botanical Garden in Huntsville (that’s a fact, unless they changed their minds) which is a lovely place. My cousin Lauren was married there.

Maria and David got lots of nice gifts, which I’m sure they will enjoy using. One of the interesting things about this shower is that men were also invited. Lately that’s how we’ve been doing things at church. I don’t know why we’ve started doing it this way; but my guess is that the men like another opportunity to eat.

I also saw my friend Kimberly who is moving to Mylasia in about three weeks. She will live there for six months! I didn’t get a picture of Kimberly, but she is adorable! She and her sister Shelley are so cute and always happy and very smart dressers. I told Kimberly she needs to go shopping with me sometime so I can look as cute as she does! You can check out Kimberly’s blog here.

Tina had Cecilia with her, who has turned out to be quite a little chunk. She is adorable, and looks just like her father. Tina’s mom says Cecilia has Tina’s eyes, but I’m not so sure.

The shower was a nice opportunity to catch up with Tina who lives in Birmingham, and also Shawna, who recently moved to Birmingham. Best wishes to Maria and David as they look towards the future and starting a new life together!

A new grill for the happy couple

Me, Jackie and Cecilia, and Tina

I just thought this was a funny picture, Cecilia looks drunk here, obviously she's not, right Tina?

Me and baby Cecilia