Another morning after

Well, we seem to have survived Christmas. Not too much angst or stress. I've got a couple of holiday related tasks left to do but it seems to be winding down with no casualties.

At dinner, Amanda tried to rally her brothers with the thought that my birthday is in a couple of weeks and they should all chip in to get me new sneakers and a hotel room for Arisia '06 which happens around my birthday. I convinced her that in fact I don't want to spend the night at Arisia and she switched plans to getting me the bus ticket to get there and back.

Alex won a rock and roll trivia game against Eric, Amanda and me. Deep blushing - he's the youngest and it is a 50's, 60's, 70's edition.

On a happier note, I'm halfway through Jim Hetley's "Winter Oak". Well worth the wait, Jim.

(Update: Finished the book. A good read. Thanks.)

Lesson Learned

So the peanut evils and the baklava have been made and packed up, ready for distribution. However, the spirit of experimentation briefly possessed me and I sought to add chocolate to some baklava. I know this can be done and I can think of a couple of ways of doing it.

And one way that won't work. Don't try to melt chocolate chips in a microwave. Perhaps it would work on low power, but I severely scorched 'em. It was a smoky, smelly mess.

Next time, Marc, find some instructions. Or just melt chocolate in a double boiler since you already know how to do that.