Well, I am a part teacher and part network admin for my school system. The good news is that means I stay employed because while classes aren't being held, many schools are trying to handle some academics through their networks. I am unhappy that my plans for St. Patty's Day (and the following day of recovery) will be at home with a few close friends instead of the pub we usually frequent. I did make a homemade corned beef, took 6 days brining in my fridge, but it came out great! The menu will include that and potatoes and other root veggies to soak up the beer!
Shopping has become a pain, but so far the stores around me haven't run out of anything critical (like coffee). I have stocked the pantry and freezer in my normal early month shopping before the insanity broke out, so I think I'm set. I will say that no trips to NYC for a while, which is a little disappointing because I love to shop there! Gotta go, I have a chocolate dump cake (using Guinness, of course) to make!
Everyone, please stay safe and I hope healthy until we know the extent of this problem. I am so tired of hearing about what might be and I am doing my best to ignore the politics of it -- although that's hard. I will miss the start of Baseball season (Let's Go Mets!), but hopefully, things will settle down soon. I love you all!!!
OMG Yes! Coffee please, maybe with a shot of Irish in it :-)
A turkey and swiss sandwich with a jalapeno and bacon jam, homemade chips and a microbrew organge beer.
Entering a competition here is pretty tough. The themes are so interesting and reading the stories is amazing! I enjoy entering, I love reading, and I am certainly glad I am not a judge!
Congrats to the winners and also the top ten. And I also want to acknowledge all the entires. They were among the best stories I have read anywhere! Thank you all!!
Brooke
While a number of the accents are marvelous, the one that gets my attraction is Liverpool. The reason is a young lady I met on a beach in New Orleans -- no, no sex put away your dirty minds, you perverts :-) She was 10 years old and on vacation with her parents. She thought my NY accent was unusual, so we spent a couple of hours comparing how we said different words and phrases and were thoroughly entertained by each other. I never forgot her, her marvelous accent, or how sweet a girl she was. Let's see, she would be about 30 now and would love to hear from her again. Her being 11 at the time, I doubt I made the same impression on her as she made on me.
InstaPot Mongolian Beef over Rice.
INGREDIENTS
2 lb flank steak cut into thin strips
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 cup soy sauce low sodium
2/3 cup water
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp ginger minced
1/2 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbsp sesame oil (not Toasted Sesame Oil)
2 green onions chopped
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Prepare the beef: In a large bowl toss the flank steak strips with the cornstarch together and let them sit for 5 minutes. This will ensure the cornstarch penetrates the beef.
Make the sauce: In a medium size bowl add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, water, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, red pepper flakes and whisk well. Set aside.
Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. (See your manufacturer's guide for detailed instructions on how to use your instant pot.)
Sear the beef: Add half of the sesame oil to the pot. When the oil is hot add half of the flank steak and cook 2 to 3 minutes until it starts to brown. Remove from the pot and repeat with remaining sesame oil and beef. Deglaze with a little water, then return all the beef to the pot and press the cancel button on your Instant Pot.
Pour the sauce over the beef and stir well.
Cook: Close the lid (follow the manufacturer's guide for instructions on how to close the instant pot lid). Set the Instant Pot to the Manual (high pressure) setting and set the timer to 10 minutes.
When cooking is complete, use a quick release to depressurize.
Stir in the green onions and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve over rice.
Cats ... and I didn't think it was nearly as bad as the critics said. Taylor Swift performed well and the new song they added is very well done (Beautiful Ghosts). I think the problem is the original story was a loosely tied collection of short stories and even the original play was pretty loose. If you liked the play, I think you would like the movie. If you never saw the play, I think the movie will be confusing.
