t
o
n
y
a
n
g
'
s
 
w
e
b
l
o
g


DEC

11

2012

this morning i: went to rite aid to stock up on some altoids. that's where i saw the peanut butter dove chocolates drew's been searching for. i decided not to get them because they weren't on sale; went to the bank in union square to deposit the very last rent check; went to market basket to pick up some flan ingredients. there was also a lone pitbull puppy tied near the bike rack. i'm not afraid of dogs but i am afraid of pitbulls. however, i took the opportunity to pet my very first pitbull. the puppy was very well behaved and even tried to follow me as i rode back home.

most of my ramekins were in belmont so i had to go to my parents' place to get them. for the sake of speed, i took my trek allant. since that bike has no baskets, i carried the glass ramekins wrapped up in some towels inside a backpack. the allant is a great bike, and every time i ride it i can't believe i only paid $100 for it. besides bigger wheels, it's much lighter than my normal trek grocery-getter, which i definitely notice when i more easily ride up hills.

FLAN(14 servings)

10 white eggs
6 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups sugar (for caramel)

these flan i'm making is for dinner on thursday night. the recipe is actually for 12 flan, but there's enough to make 14. i only really need about half a dozen, but might as well make some extras while i'm at it. i'm also making some blue cheese burgers and possibly some steamed mussels, but i won't need to get those ingredients until thursday (for maximum freshness).

i set the timer for a 45 minute bake but it must've went off and i didn't hear it, so i'm not exactly sure how long i ended up cooking the flan (probably an hour). i poked a few with a butter knife which came out clean, but the flan isn't so overbaked that there isn't some wiggle when i tilt the ramekin.

2 more neoprene camera accessories arrived today: a small purple-lined zing lens pouch and an op/tech DSLR zoom cover. i was torn between the smaller regular DSLR cover and the longer DSLR zoom. it fits my 60D with 18-200mm fine, with about an inch of space left over at the end. had i gotten the regular cover, it would've been an inch too short. the neoprene wouldn't protect the camera from a drop, but it will prevent the finish from getting marred. i'll use the cover while the camera still feels new to me, but after a while it's just easier using the camera without the cover. i kind of regret not going with the zing cover, despite the velcro enclosures. the op/tech uses snaps, which are kind of hard to fasten.

the only package i'm waiting for now is the foscam FI8910W wireless webcam. it was shipped from kansas city last thursday but the estimate says it won't arrive until this saturday. i'm not sure why there's a delay. package tracking shows the last known activity being friday, when it left kansas city, but no additional activity since then. i wonder if it might've gotten lost?

i heard the bad news today that amazon.com will begin charging for taxes on purchases made in massachusetts beginning next autumn. this naturally sucks for me since i do most of my online shopping through amazon.com. everything from books to electronics to random things like replacement parts. this might push me into using some other online retailers now for things i'd normally buy through amazon. one argument is that this will make local stores more competitive, but what people don't get is there's always someplace online that i can buy something for far cheaper than any physical store.

drew didn't return home until almost 8:30. we were supposed to get wings so i was waiting for him to get back so we could order and eat. i almost couldn't wait anymore but finally he did return. i called in the order and we went to wing works together to pick up our food. i got the 10 piece whiskey BBQ, my first time (drew got it last time and said they were good). it tasted like rochester, with a smokier flavor and not as spicy, not bad. later we watched the penultimate episode of tattoo master. new school artist jesse ended up getting eliminated.