See a Resemblance?

Can you see the similarities? Carson looks like a retarded cat. We had her shaved last Saturday. When she came home, Corin kept harassing her. He followed her everywhere, and kept trying to bat her and her tail. She was not having it.

Census Work

So I started working for the Census Bureau yesterday. Training is very painful; sitting around listening to the crew leader and assistants read the documents to us, and going through the same exercises over and over and over. The information has definitely been beaten into me. I thought I was prepared to sit on my ass for six hours, but apparently not. My tailbone feels like somebody has slowly been sawing through it. Seriously, all my training as a couch potato has not paid off. At least I am making $16.75 an hour. Pretty decent. The job only lasts up until July 5th, not very long. And they could always release me earlier depending on how efficient I am (i.e. if there is no more work to be done, they won't need me anymore). Hopefully I can get out into the field soon, because this training stuff is driving me nuts!!!! Not to mention the early to bed early to rise bullshit.

Hash Browns, Why do You Allude Me?

First of all, I am no chef. I prefer the modest title "cook." I can't create, but I can follow directions. I'm sure I am not alone here. For the most part, I can follow directions pretty well. Sure, it takes practice to make a spankin' good pizza crust, or any bread for that matter. But even if I'm not 100% successful, it is edible. I have finally met my foe . . . hash browns.

Hash browns? Really? Isn't that easy? You may be asking yourself in your head. My response, you'd think. When I was growing up, hash browns used to be my favorite food. I was lucky to have a dad who would get up early to make them for us from scratch. Of course being a bored, self-consumed child/teenager, I never bothered to get the proper instruction from my dad. I am ruing the day when I eagerly consumed the hash browns, and moved on in my life.

Lately I have been craving these (and no, there is no bun in the oven, I'm just bored and therefore hungry). I try to make hash browns at least twice a week, excluding the weekend when Gas Monkey gives it a try (and yes my jawline has been getting soft as a result). I've done a lot of research and have been testing all these methods. So far no success.

The first problem. No matter how much I prepare my beautiful new stainless steel pans, the hash browns stick. This is annoying since they need to be fried and crispy. When I use my pans, the crispy part sticks to the pan, and all I'm left with is the non-crispy parts. Yuck. Out of curiosity, I have used my George Foreman Grill. So far my success rate with that is 50-50.

The next problem, to precook the potatoes or not. Well, when I don't cook the potatoes, I end up with a grey slimy mess. Even if it is slightly edible, it is not appetizing. It looks like cooked worms. And it is not crispy.

Alright, so let's boil the potatoes first. This is annoying. Being the late-sleeper that I am, by the time I have boiled the potatoes and try to cook the hash browns, it is noon. Not that I am adverse to eating hash browns at any time of the day. However, when I try to cook the hash browns from boiled potatoes, they become mush. Who wants to eat fried mashed potatoes?

At this point I'm sure you're thinking, why not just buy the frozen hash browns? I am a person who likes to know how to make things from scratch. And by now I have made enough things by scratch that Gas Monkey is disappointed when I don't. So it is a failure on my part. I'm so frustrated!

Dad, if you're reading, I'm going to come over one of these days with my fantastic stainless steel pan and take the training I should have had a long time ago. (By the way, Gas Monkey may want the training as well. His are only mildly more successful than my own). I'm bound and determined to conquer this!