i will only make bacon in that, plugged in outside on my backyard deck, so i don't fill up the house with the smell of bacon grease. i bought this package of bacon a long time ago, months at least, and i wasn't sure if it was still good, but i was betting that since it's cured and sealed, it'd be okay. it passed the sniff test at least, smelled like bacon, nothing weird. the instructions said bacon cooks at 375°F at 16-20 minutes. i cut the bacon strips in half and laid out about half of it on the grill.
i left the bacon to smoke and cook outside while i was back in the living room watching tv and keeping an eye on the time. at the midway point i went back and flipped the bacon over with a pair of chopsticks. it probably wasn't necessary since there's heating elements both on the top and bottom, but it also allowed me to check if the bacon were done yet. close to 20 minutes i removed the bacon, i knew they were done cooking because they started to bubble.
i layered the rest of the bacon and went back inside to wait. the second batch i overcooked them; the bacon turned out super crispy but much of the fat had been rendered away so the flavor was gone and it was drier than juicy. i set the finished bacon strips on a cooling rack so they can dry (and won't turn soggy like when i leave them on paper napkins). the bacon became a snack - like jerky - and occasionally i'd wander into the kitchen and eat a strip. i also cleaned the grill parts so the grease doesn't solidify. i saved the bacon fat and washed off the grill plates in the sink. from beginning to end, it took more than a hour to cook the bacon. making bacon is an event, not something casual!
earlier i swept the sidewalk with a broom and trimmed some overgrown backyard vegetation. from my window i watched as upstairs david called an uber and seemed to be going to the airport because he also packed a suitcase. that means i have the whole house to myself i imagine the entire weekend if not longer.
AGP gas $31.50 20# $25 5# before 1:30-2pm walk-in don't sell tanks
i left for boston today by 2:20pm. it was a late start, but since i was only going to haymarket, i didn't need a lot of time. 20 minutes to ride in, 20 minutes to browse, and then another 20 minutes to ride back. i was expecting it to be hot but the weather today was surprisingly cold, colder than yesterday it seems. the sky was also overcast and there was higher humidity, so it felt clammy. it was actually pretty good riding weather, not cold, not hot, and a cloudy sky so i wasn't cooking in the sun.
i was very exact in what i was getting at haymarket, and that was cherries. the ones i got last friday were pretty good, and i went back to the same vendor. 
2lbs. bags were selling for $3 a piece, i ended up buying 3 bags. i also got 3 boxes of mission figs ($1 box) and some white peaches (7 for $2). no oranges this time, the ones i got last week weren't that great, and orange season seems to be waning. with that i returned home.
i got home at 3:20pm, nearly exactly an hour long roundtrip. i was going to take a shower, but decided to visit the community garden before i changed out of my sweaty clothes. i also threw out my compost trash, including a container of very mold sichuan paocai. i probably didn't wash the container very well and it didn't help that the fermented vegetables didn't have any of its original broth to keep the bad bacteria in check. it looked so gross, i didn't just want to throw it out, i wanted to take it into the backyard and burn it so it could never rise again.
there was nobody in the garden. one thing i failed to mention was it rained a little bit in the morning, enough to leave puddles on the road, and certainly enough to water the garden that it didn't need additional watering. i was just there for inspection, but ended up watering some more after all, just so i wouldn't have to come over the weekend. i collected the few rip ground cherries that had fallen off. the rain had washed off most of the diatomaceous earth powder. i inspected my ground cherries and eggplants, there didn't seem to be any pests, i'll stop dusting them for the time being. also they're big enough now that a few pests won't harm the overall health of the plants. i was happy to see some flowers finally on one of the bitter melon plants. being the first flowers they were of course all male. i checked the mallow leaves and flower buds, i'm pretty certain that one mallow growing in raised bed zero in my parents' backyard is actually another maroon hollyhock.
since there was nobody else in the garden, i went around to take some early summer flower photos. had i known there wasn't going to be anyone in the garden, i would've brought my drone and taken an aerial snapshot of the entire community garden.
i returned home and took that much deserved shower. afterwards i tried one of the white peaches, it was actually pretty good. they weren't juicy but i like my peaches firm. it also had a nice mellow sweetness, no tartness.
from the webcam, i saw the UPS driver deliver my new instant pot to my parents' place (i only had it delivered there because i thought it wouldn't arrive until sunday, but they changed the schedule and it arrived earlier than expected). the driver wasn't very careful, he basically threw the box onto the front steps, where it bounced a few times before settling. i have it on video, so if the instant pot is broken, i've got proof as to how it got damaged.
when my mother returned home she called to tell me that my 2nd aunt's television wasn't working again. i'd just fixed her smart tv issue about 2 weeks ago, and now it's broken again? my mother said my aunt couldn't watch anything now, and that everything was in english. she asked me if i could go take a look at it tomorrow morning on my way to belmont. that was the plan, but since i had some free time, i called my aunt and asked her if i could go to her place now and fix her tv. so i got on my bike and rode in the direction of porter square. i watched the crowd of mask-free young people eating dinner outside sugar & spice.
when i got to my 2nd aunt's apartment (my 2nd uncle was also there, busy writing and transcribing either the bible or the dictionary), i asked her to show me the problem. she grabbed her remote and navigated to youtube. when she clicked it, it was able to get in. she was surprised that her problem now seemed to be fixed. if i had to guess, i think her internet was down momentarily, that's why she wasn't able to log into youtube. before i left, i also helped her set up the floor unit AC in her bedroom, as the temperature is expected to skyrocket for the next 4-5 days. tonight was actually kind of pleasant, but she could still open her window if she wanted to let in the cool breeze, but close her if she wants to run the AC.
back at home, i waited for game 2 of the hawks-bucks series to start at 8:30pm before eating my dinner, the last of my leftover greek orzo salad. i also had a bowl of cherries and the last of the white claw, blackberry flavor. so far i've tried 4 flavors, and i think only pineapple and mango are good, while strawberry tastes like cough medicine and blackberry is meh at best. as for the game, it wasn't even exciting as the bucks took an early lead and never looked back. in the second half they were up nearly 40 points and rested all their starters to cruise to an easy victory. this was the bucks i was expecting, the team that beat the seemingly invincible nets. game 3 is sunday night at 8:30pm, as the conference final moves to atlanta.