t
o
n
y
a
n
g
'
s
 
w
e
b
l
o
g


making slow-cooked pulled chicken is not hard, but i've never done it before. however, i've made pulled pork a bunch of times in the past, and i imagine the process is pretty much the same. i began my preparations a bit before noontime.

slow-cooked pulled chicken sandwich

3.3 lbs. chicken breast
1 vidalia onion, chopped
1 can of chicken stock
1 cup of water
2 tsp liquid smoke
---
18 oz. stubb's spicy bbq sauce
onion rolls

there aren't too much ingredients: chicken breast, onion, chicken stock. i had some liquid smoke (purchased back in 2010 for my beef jerky recipe) and various unopened bottles of barbecue sauce in the cupboard. i researched recipes but none of were to my exact liking so i combined a few. one recipe slow-cooked the chicken in the barbecue sauce, but i found in my experience that juices from the cooked meat will dilute the sauce and make it bland; better to add the sauce at the very end. another recipe used chicken stock instead of water for a tastier chicken; i didn't have enough stock to cover everything so i added a cup of water to make up the difference. a third recipe suggested the chopped onions addition. i wonder if i should add some salt, but hopefully the bbq sauce will provide the flavor. i will let everything slow cook (on the low setting) for the next 6 hours.

karen didn't leave for work until almost 10am this morning. after hearing about the news of her friend paula's layoff, i think she has a very low opinion of her clinic. i expect to see more of her in the coming mornings.

next month (may) is the 4th month karen has been living here. it can't come too soon, i look forward to living alone again. i can get sick of even the best roommate given enough time. there's only been a select few candidates in the past whom i could imagine rooming with for an extended duration. as far as roommates are concerned, karen's okay, but she managed to invite 2 guests to my house since she's been here, and i still have concerns about her cooking. this morning she made pork chop (!), which infused the house with a lovely oily scent (sarcasm). and when she finally left, she couldn't lock the door, and blamed her key. in the 15 years i've lived here i never had a problem with my door, but after a cavalcade of roommates who repeatedly can't figure out how to work the lock, the door has been acting a little weird lately. i may have to change the lock, it's been so worn down from abuse.

the solar installation company were back again today, this time with a convoy of 4 parked vans along the street. i didn't check their progress last night but saw this morning that they seemed to have finished mounting the frames but no panel work yet. it was supposed to rain something fierce today so not sure why there were even more people today than yesterday, since they couldn't do any outdoor work. the frames are a little weird, they sort of stick out beyond the edge of the roof; maybe they're get trimmed, or maybe it's a way to extend the number of installed panels.

as the day wore on, the slow-cooking chicken became more fragrant, courtesy of the onions and liquid smoke; i doubt chicken by itself (or in chicken broth) can smell that good.

i watered all the plants in my grow closet. next week seems to be a stretch of 70's weather so i may begin planting some of them, or at least move them outside so they can harden to the local weather. in the late afternoon i went to star market to pick up a few things, despite the pouring rain. i wore my rubber boots and carried an umbrella. it was really just an excuse to tag a pokestop so i could continue my streak. like market basket, star market has recently rearranged its aisles, so now i can't find anything. i ended up leaving with 2 bags of chips on sale (limited edition cape cod black garlic chips and terra exotic potato chips).

my webhost contacted me with a warning that i was in violation of their hosting agreement. apparently i had 845GB worth of data stored on the server, in a directory called snapshot. inside were these dated files that appeared to be a backup of some kind, with mkv file extensions. had i been hacked, and the hacker using my webhost as a storage depository? it was confusing. but i went ahead and erased the files. that's when it dawned on me: these are internet webcam video backups! hence the mkv extensions, hence the dates! i downloaded a file to check, and sure enough, it was a video of the cafe. i must've set it up at some point and simply forgot about it. it's been uploading backup videos for the past few months. i went into the admin page of the camera and turned off the backup. hopefully this should also speed up the cafe internet speed now that there isn't a constant stream of video uploading to an ftp site.

karen returned home super early, at 5:20pm. she must've left work at 4:30pm. seems like she's given her work place the middle finger now. she must've been in the office a total of 5 hours. so not only can i look forward to seeing her in the mornings, but likewise in the late afternoons. so glad she's leaving in another month!

i shared some pull chicken sandwich with karen in the evening, after she already had a can of progresso clam chowder (she said it was good, i told her there are better canned chowders out there). we chatted about paula, which seems to be weighing heavily on karen's mind. she told me paula has an enemy at work, who might've been behind her dismissal.

the pulled chicken was okay. the sauce was a bit tangy, and the chicken was a little soupy. maybe if it had more time to slow-cook it could get drier, but i also added half a cup of broth earlier which wasn't necessary. if i make this recipe again, i'll try a different barbecue sauce next time (or even make my own, with a stronger flavor).