The Eighth Mission - #39: Grow

"the other hand"

This week's mission proved to be a bit more challenging.

You never realize how much you rely on your dominant hand for mundane, everyday tasks. I figured it wouldn't be so bad when brushing my hair, but then quickly spiraled downward when trying to brush my teeth and finding the micro movements of my dominant hand could not be replicated by my off hand.

WOW! This is going to be a long day.

Most of my other chores for the day were relatively easy, using both hands simultaneously, until I began cooking...

...how easily these blogs turn into something food related...

...cutting an onion for chili was very difficult, well at least for the speed and accuracy that I have practiced so well with my dominant hand. I kept having to put the knife in my right hand to get the feel for how I usually hold it, and again I couldn't replicate it with my left.  ANNNNDDDD you can't believe how much my hand would cramp up...so not used to working those muscles like that. I am quite impressed with myself for not cutting any of my digits off, but still it was quite a feat.

Later that evening, my weekly D&D group got together and I was supposed to continue the drawing our map, but quickly handed it off to one of my fellow adventurers because there was no way I would be able to properly sketch any form of detail. I even tried taking player notes...NOPE! Totally illegible.  I'm going to have to rewrite those later this week.

The first person I saw happened to be one of the gals at the front desk of my dog's daycare, Tonya. We'll see how her trials with her non-dominant hand go, and where the card ends up!

Until next week Travelers!

The Sixth Mission - #52: Creative

Food! Glorious food!

Yet again, I am beset by another food challenge...

Who shuffled this deck!?

This one should prove to be interesting, especially with my allergies, it has been the crux of what my wife and I have had to deal with the past 4 years.

The second week of February has proven to be a very VERY long week. Regardless of my intention for 2017 to "do less", it seems I have ended up with the same breakneck pace as previous years. So the last couple days of this week left me with a sense of inability to get this task done.

Thankfully there is my weekly D&D group. One of the ways I have lured them into playing at our place is the offer of food. One of the things I love to do is host (I believe I mentioned that before). In this group, we have several different food preferences, whether they be medical, religious, or moral, so trying to find something that fits can be challenging.  This week I settled on BREAKFAST! But to make it portable to the gaming table, I made them all in muffin form.

One of my fellow gamers was so enamored with tonight's offering, he became the recipient of the card.  Thanks Steve!

1 loaf Against the Grain Baguette

     (a regular french bread baguette will suffice, if you don't feel like avoiding wheat)

1 - 8 oz package three cheese cheddar cheese blend

9 large eggs

3 tblsp half & half

salt & pepper to taste

Optional:

   1 - 12 oz package Smithfield All Natural Uncured Bacon

       0r

   1 - 12 oz tube Country Style Pork Sausage

for bacon muffins:

Line a baking tray with parchment paper, lay bacon on tray and place in 375 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until cooked to desired doneness (I prefer mine just a little under done so it has some room to cook in the muffins). Set aside and let cool.

Dice Bacon.

for sausage muffins:

Brown sausage in skillet. Set aside and let cool.

Spray 12-count muffin pan with cooking spray.

Defrost baguette according to directions, dice baguette in 1/2 inch cubes.  Place 3-4 baguette cubes in each muffin tin.

Optional: Sprinkle bacon or sausage in each muffin tin, cover each with cheese.

Crack all eggs in bowl, add half & half, salt and pepper. Scramble eggs thoroughly. Pour enough egg mixture into each muffin tin to about the 2/3 mark.

Place in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean).

Let cool and serve.

Feel free to make modifications, use ham instead or add sautéd vegetables till your heart's content.  make sure not to overload any of the muffin tins.

Card Updates:

No movement yet Travelers! Stay tuned though, hopefully soon we see new and exciting locations!

The Third Mission - Mission Objective #40: Growth

FOOOOOOD!

Of all the cards, I was rather apprehensive about this one...

Trying a new food!

For those of you who know me and my issues with food understand how tough this one could have been for me.

For the rest of you, suffice it to say I have a myriad of food allergies that trigger a condition I was diagnosed with a few years back.

NOOOOOO!!!

I used to like food...no...love food! A fervent Food Network fan and a love of cooking and entertaining, I had often thought of hanging up my camera and picking up my knives and starting a new career in the food industry.

But alas, my allergies have made it...interesting...

...maybe one day...

Onto the MISSION!

My boss, Rachael has on many occasions talked about one of her favorite new beverage finds: Bubble Tea!  After a long day fighting technical demons with the knights who say I.T. we took a break to Kim's Pho in Fairfax for refreshments!

BTW...the place is wicked cool, very nice decor, smelled delicious (unfortunately smell is as far as I can get as all asian food is pretty much off the menu - thank you allergy Gods!). But for those of you who can and are in the area...I recommend at least taking it in!

She ordered a Black Tea Bubble Tea and I myself went whole hog on the 'new food' mission and ordered a Lychee Bubble Tea (never having tried either)....

DAMN WAS THAT LYCHEE SWEET!

They weren't kidding everytime it comes up on one of my Food Network cooking shows.

Anyway, back to the office we went but not before handing the card off to Rachael for the next leg of this journey!

Card Updates

So far, these cards haven't moved yet...well...it's not even been a month, so we'll still give them some time!

Keep watching!