verbranden

I have been so good about trying to not spend too much money on frivolous things since Hylke had his accidents. But people only have so much willpower. Yes, this means what you think it means, an order of about oh, $95 worth of perfume. That said, I'm actually kinda glad I folded when I did, because two limited editions I wanted to buy were in a series that ended tomorrow, but I thought it lasted longer. I got them just in time.

( Because I'm sure you're dying to know what I bought )

Today's Project: Peanut Sauce

So I'm trying to cook more at home and eat out less, for many reasons. To save some money, to generally eat healthier and 'cause I'm starting to get kinda tired of the usual places we eat. Yesterday's rice pudding was sort of a barometer to see how this would go. I figured if I managed to fuck up something as simple as that, my whole plan was doomed to failure. And since the pudding turned out so well, I figured today I might as well try my hand at something that I've been wanting to make for a long time. Peanut sauce! It will be the perfect way to spice up my otherwise ordinary stir fry of rice noodles, tofu, broccoli and cauliflower. Somehow, when my husband buys the ingredients, we end up with fewer varieties of vegetable. THIS IS SUSPICIOUS.

Google gave me two recipes that I want to try, so I started with an incredibly simple one. Only peanut butter, water, soy sauce, sugar and a lime. It turned out well and it was super fast, which is good for a work day meal. I think I'm gonna use less sugar next time, I don't like it quite so sweet.

Ultimately though, I want to end up making this:

Ingredients:

* 1 cup fresh-tasting dry roasted peanuts, unsalted
* 1/3 cup water
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 tsp. dark soy sauce
* 2 tsp. sesame oil
* 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
* 2 Tbsp. fish sauce (If vegetarian, use vegetarian fish sauce or regular soy sauce)
* 1/2 tsp. tamarind paste OR 1/2 Tbsp. lime juice
* 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, OR 1 tsp. Thai chili sauce (more or less to taste)
* 1/3 cup coconut milk

Instructions are simple enough, put everything into a blender and go.

I need to buy a blender

So despite the freaky weather conditions, we made it to my parents' place in one piece. And of course, the first thing we did was open presents. Yay presents!

Hylke loved his presents, I got him Fallout3: Game of the Year Edition for our ps3 and Secret Agent Clank for his psp. I got my parents a bluray player to go with the new hdtv that my brother bought them, and since both my parents have birthdays relatively near Christmas, I got them each a bluray movie, Star Trek for my dad and Up for my mom. My sister bought my dad the new Terminator movie on bluray too, which he watched last night. My sister liked the Zelda game I bought her for her nintendo ds, but said she needs to beat the first one before she can play it. XD David is another one to have the misfortune to have a birthday near Christmas, and since he didn't mention that he wanted anything, I just got him a BestBuy gift card; he said he planned to buy some of the Halo extras with it.

I got that (relatively) new The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun that was recently published by Christopher Tolkien and two bottles of perfume from Hylke. From the rest of the family, we got money and gift cards, and I'm perfectly okay with that. XD

This morning, we're all going to go out for breakfast, which will be fun. After that, we're going to go to the Humane Society where my mom volunteers to feed and otherwise take care of the animals there. It will be nice. :)

So anyone who knows BPAL knows Snake Oil. I got an imp of it in my last order just because it's so crazy popular I figured I'd try it eventually, and it has just been sitting around casually waiting its turn for testing. Today was it's day.

I smell like a hippie shop.

BUT IN A GOOD WAY.

I smell warm and resinous and sensuous and intoxicating. I love this stuff, and can now see why people flip out over it. I can see why there's a joke FAQ of "Do you sell Snake Oil in 55 gallon drums?" I WOULD TOTALLY BUY IT. This stuff is *that* amazing.

And it's supposed to get even better aged? SIGN ME UP.