Thursday and off for the weekend!

It was chilly Thursday morning, but I was not fooled. It's supposed to be in the upper 50's by this afternoon, so I wore my light jacket rather than my leather coat. When I went home at lunchtime, the car interior had already been heated by the sun to an uncomfortable temperature.

I stopped at Kroger's and then Westborn Market to get ingredients for this weekend's meals. Then I went home and had a sandwich for lunch.

I went out to the Building 73 site to check out the progress of my contractors and was well pleased. They have moved beyond the office area to wiring the shop area. There is a bit of confusion about the OpteMAN, in that we did not ask for an optical handoff (I put a shit load of fiber in this building) but since the demark and the MDF are less than 30 feet apart, it doesn't seem to matter. Anyway, AT&T can see us and we can ping the servers, so we are good to go. (I'll try and explain this all later, Mom...)

At 4:45 PM, our Director came out and told everybody "Happy Easter" and said we could leave now, so I did.

Since I was leaving early, I swung by the quarter car wash (right next to my street) and hosed off the Volvo. Then, I got the mail and pulled in the garage. I treated the cats and then went back into the garage with a towel and dried off the car.

Then I went back inside. I know I have often complained about Scruffy barfing up hair balls. Well, I never have seen Caley do that. Instead she just sheds hair EVERYWHERE! So, tonight, I am sick of it!!!

I vacuumed and swept the living room, my bedroom and the office. Then I swept the kitchen clean and out onto the walk-off rug downstairs. So, I dragged the vacuum cleaner downstairs and cleaned off both walk-off rugs and the downstairs with the vacuum cleaner. I emptied the receptacle (which had an unbelievable amount of cat hair) and then took the filter out into the garage. I opened the garage door, turned on the air compressor and blew the filter off, clean and clear.

Once I had the vacuum back together and back in the linen closet, the cats felt free to reappear. While only Caley fears the broom, both of them hate the vacuum cleaner.

Now it's time for dinner. I am using an Alton Brown recipe, in case you are interested. I took out the thick cod fillet and let it come up to room temperature as I made my preparations. I put three inches of peanut oil in my Dutch oven, along with the candy thermometer, and turned up the heat to get it to 350 degrees F.

Next I made my batter by whisking together two cups of flour, one teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a dash of Old Bay Seasoning. Then I whisked in a bottle of beer (I used Labatt's Blue, but I think any beer will do) until it was completely smooth and free from lumps. I stuck the batter into the fridge for 15 minutes. Note: this batter can be made up to an hour before using.

I got out the last of my first bag of the Kroger shoestring potatoes (maybe a generous handful) and carefully put them into the oil. I let them cook for about two minutes and then pulled them out with the spider. I put them on a rack I'd prepared (sitting on top a cookie sheet, covered with paper towels) and hit them with salt. I set them on another cookie sheet and then into the oven preheated to "warm".

Then I took the cod and tried to cut it into roughly one ounce chunks. I had prepared a paper plate with cornstarch. So, I patted each piece dry with a paper towel (or "kitchen towel" as they say in England), dredged it in the cornstarch, and shook off the excess. I dipped it in the batter and then immersed it in the oil. Once the batter set, I turned them over and let them cook until golden brown (about two minutes, total). I was working in small batches (two or three pieces per batch).

Each batch came out and onto the rack and then I hit them with kosher salt. When I was finished, I plated three of them and the French fries. I topped the fries with malt vinegar and the fish with lemon juice. I was just too lazy to make tartar sauce, you see.

Speaking of lemon juice, here's a tip: With fresh lemons, all you have to do is roll them on the cutting board, pressing hard with your hand before you slice them. But, with older lemons, like I had, just stick them in the microwave for 30 seconds and that helps to release the juice.

I ate dinner watching TV (and, dinner was excellent, BTW). I turned the TV off at 10:00 PM and went to bed.