Author: H Walker Jones, Esq

A professional programmer with a sordid past involving sysadmin, tech support, and cooking.

Mt. Sled Helens

For a couple of years now, I’ve been pushing all the snow in the driveway into a single pile at the end.

As few as six inches of snow makes a pile three feet high, with a run of eight feet.

The kids have dubbed it “Mt. Sled Helens.”

mt. sled helens
Sledding down Mt. Sled Helens

We don’t have many hills of any decent size in this corner of Massachusetts, so this fills the gap when I can’t drive the girls to the good sledding hills.

Mummenschanz!

We took all of the joneslings to see the Mummenschanz at the VETS Theater in Providence tonight.  They come through every few decades – the last time I saw them was 25 years ago.

But first: dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (right around the corner from the theater).  We relegated the cousins to their own end of the table.

joneslings at dinner
Joneslings around the kids’ end of the table

I think it’s safe to say we were all in good spirits.

20150122 Meghan at Cheesecake Factory
M., being especially beautiful tonight

Finally – the show.

happy joneslings
Happy joneslings

Breakfast Casserole

breakfast casserole - finished product
Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of frozen hashbrowns (about 1/2 package)
  • 1/2 pound sausage (we like spicy chicken, but pork or another kind is good too)
  • 1 small/medium onion, diced
  • 1/4 bell pepper (any color) (optional)
  • handful of sliced mushrooms (optional)
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 cup of milk
  • 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1-2 cups mexican cheese
  • black pepper to taste

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. grease a 1-2 quart baking dish
  3. Brown the sausage, onions, and peppers/mushrooms/what-have-you in a skillet over medium heat
  4. Whisk the eggs, milk, garlic powder, and pepper
  5. Spread the hashbrowns into the baking dish
  6. Pour the egg mixture over the hashbrowns
  7. Layer down half the cheese – enough to cover the hashbrowns
  8. Spread out the sausage mixture
  9. Layer down the rest of the cheese – enough to cover everything
  10. Cover with aluminum foil and back for an hour
  11. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes to brown the cheese a little

Makes 5-6 servings.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top!

I don’t have any cash

“No!  I work on a cash-only basis.”
“But it’s a perfectly good check!”
“No!  I’ll make it very clear.  You slip me the cash, and I’ll slip you the wiener.”
“But I don’t have any cash.”
“Then I don’t have a wiener!”

— Adventures in Babysitting

The Last Ringbearer

I was reminded over the weekend about The Last Ringbearer while talking with my buddy Sam, who likes The Lord Of the Rings but had never heard of TLR.

The tl;dr version is it’s LOTR as told by the losing side.  I enjoyed LTR more than LOTR because it provides more context to the events – the political manoeuvring and intrigue, about-faces, and a far more rational  explanation for why the battles portrayed in LOTR are so important.

The original is in Russian, but the English translation is “non-commerical” (the translator’s words) and is free.  It can be found at http://ymarkov.livejournal.com/270570.html where the translator provides backstory for why TLR exists and why the translation is free.

Tortillas

Tortillas are surprisingly easy to make, but it does go a lot faster with two: one to flatten dough while the other cooks the previously-flattened dough.  Each tortilla takes about as long to cook as to roll.

These tortillas are good enough to eat plain.  They store well in a ziploc baggie.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • (up to) 1 cup warm water

Steps:

  1. Preheat a large skillet on medium heat (our stove runs hot so it’s more like medium-low, YMMV)
  2. Mix flour and salt in a medium mixing bowl
  3. Cut in oil with a pastry blender or a fork
  4. Slowly incorporate water, mixing until a soft dough forms
  5. Make 2-inch dough balls – probably ten or twelve
  6. Roll flat with a rolling pin.  The dough should be as close to paper-thin as you can make it (you’ll probably wind up with cardstock).
    • You  won’t need to flour the surface – if the dough is good it won’t stick (except maybe to the rolling pin)
  7. Cook the tortillas one at a time until they start to bubble, then flip and heat until brown spots form.

Credit to https://kbmillers.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/169/

Black Bean Burgers

I love black bean burgers, which means in my house I’m the odd man out.  Used to be that I would only buy them when we went out because they seemed hard to make.  That is, until now.

Black Bean Burgers

Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings: 4 patties
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 15 oz Black beans, canned drained and rinsed; I prefer the low-sodium beans
  • 1/2 - 1 whole Bell pepper
  • 1 small Onion
  • 3 cloves Garlic minced
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 tbsp Chili powder
  • 1 tbsp Cumin
  • 1/2 cup Bread crumbs up to 1 cup may be required
  • 1-4 tbsp Vegetable oil

Equipment

  • Potato Masher
  • Skillet
  • Flat bottom bowl or sauce pan

Method
 

  1. Finely dice the bell pepper and onion
  2. Mash the beans in the bowl; you may optionally reserve some from being mashed if you like whole beans in your patties
  3. Mix in peppers, onions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and egg
  4. Mix in a half-cup of bread crumbs, until you have a dry, grainy paste. If mixture is still wet, mix in small amounts of bread crumbs until it's dry.
  5. Divide into quarters (or fifths/sixths if you prefer smaller/tiny patties)
  6. Fry in a little oil over medium heat until each side is slightly browned

Notes

  • The patties tend to be "thirsty" and require a bit of oil, generally 1 tablespoon per patty.
  • Patties freeze exceptionally well; you can throw frozen patties right on the pan.
  • I tend to make these while I'm making hamburgers as well, and the beef fat substitutes the vegetable oil very well (though it makes the burgers non-vegetarian).

 

Sam

[The kids are watching “How To Train Your Dragon 2”]

“Hiccup looks like Uncle Sam.”

“… Oh, yeah.  A very young looking Uncle Sam.”

“Yeah, when he shaves.”

Ice-pinging on Silver Lake

While walking the dog around the lake this morning, I heard the newly-formed ice ‘pinging’ as the sun rose above the trees.  Turn up the volume to hear it.

New Year’s 2014

xmas tree
The Christmas tree at Quincy Market, December 2014

We have established some new family traditions around Christmas and New Years:

  • a family night out to Quincy Market to see the Christmas tree and have some dinner;
  • the early-evening fireworks on Boston Common for New Year’s Eve.

These are real, official traditions – we’ve done them for at least two years in a row.

The night at Quincy Market isn’t fancy: a casual stroll around the touristy section of Boston, with some overpriced dinner and maybe some trinkets from the various and sundry vendors.  A ride on the carousel, before it closes for the year, is mandatory.

selfie, Dad and Alpha child
My beard makes me look like sasquatch

Along with the Christmas tree there is a light show called ‘Blink,’ which plays every hour or so.  Music by the Boston Pops is piped in over the loudspeakers.

We chose to stay home for Christmas Day, rather than travelling to Connecticut to join our folks.  That is a tradition I can get behind – so much less stress than driving around all day.

We didn’t plan much for the day.  We held open the possibility of going to the cinema, but the girls wanted to stay home and watch a movie we got for Christmas (Guardians of the Galaxy).  Having a low-stress holiday is refreshing, so unlike the holidays of my childhood.

My folks weren’t thrilled with not seeing us – my father is very resistant to change, and he’s accustomed to hosting the entire family – but we had Christmas Part II on the following Sunday, which was actually pretty fun.

starburst
A pair of starbursts over Boston Common, New Year’s Eve 2014

This year Baba (the kids’ name for their grandmother) joined us for the fireworks.  We took the train in, ate dinner in the city, and walked to the Common with hot chocolate in hand.

The weather was cold but the sky was clear.  The show ran a little long, about 15 minutes, but the kids were thrilled and we all forgot about the cold for a bit.