GEARCon 2011!

Gaslight Explorers, Adventurers, and Romantics Convention. This was apparently Portland's first Steampunk convention. Yay Carol for inviting me to another great adventure! I spent two days making a vest for Jeff to wear as his costume. One day dyeing and planing and the next day sewing and unplanning. XD But it turned out pretty well, considering the lack of materials, pattern, and backwards stitch lever. Carol was going to bring a few costume pieces she'd put together in the past but, as they often do, things changed. BUT I had this odd vest thing that I'd bought on a whim forever ago but never got rid of that worked pretty well. Our costumes intact, Jeff and I ventured forth into the Portland and found the hotel where this thing was at. There were some fun booths selling goggles and other steampunk accessories as well as literature and tickets to other cons(I bought those >.<;). After meeting up with our friends and milling about, we left for food! It was VERY hot outside with so many layers on, but it was amusing to see different peoples' reactions to our being in costume. There was a fashion show full of fun costumes, then we left to buy booze! We returned in time for the start of the ball. Actually, during the start, they taught people to dance, but my feet were too tired from all the walking in boots. So we watched people dance, they brought in Unwoman, with her amazing voice and cello-playing, then various performers, and then an industrial-esque band. Yay drinking with oddly dressed people dancing oddly about you to odd music. ^^   There were various different talks and workshops you could go to all weekend, but we didn't attend any. Besides, it was cheaper to just be there Saturday.

This was a really fun event to attend. A little small, but I'm sure by next year it will have grown. Maybe I should pay attention to the workshops/talks? Having a costume and a group really made the experience. (You could tell who were the random curious hotel guests who paid to get in. The stuck out like sore thumbs without costumes!)

This is the terrifically ugly hat that I almost bought because it worked with my costume so well!

Jeff trying on a Stumptown Kilt. I think it would work wonderfully if  he untucked the vest and didn't have the other clothes on.

Yay New friends! The Wonderful Ms. Silverman.

The bag of booze for later...(but that's yet another adventure)

Showing off my vest!

Old-timey photo!

The Boys

Ryan had a little help making his costume look distinguished.

Knight!

Chillaxing....

The trumpet-playing belly-dancer

Unwoman

Contortionist!

She stood on her head!

The Highlander look....with a bit of stempunk added in ^_^

He has an underwater gun!

.....I do not understand the "lolita" style at all.......

Banana Pancakes-Oops

So.....tonight, I tried something not so good. I wanted to make banana pancakes---there randomly appeared bananas in my room! No one claims to have bought them. Weird, eh? Anyhows. Pancakes. So I looked up a pancake recipe, easy enough. Then I decided to add vanilla and cinnamon. The usual, ya know? But adding those gave me the thought.....what if I added nutmeg? Nutmeg and bananas go together, right? >.<; Well, they may, but I either shouldn't have put it in or put too much because yikes! the batter tasted spicy! I added some white and brown sugar to cover it up. The result was.......edible. But the after taste, not so good. Bad random addition on my part. Jeff deemed them edible, but we shall not be trying those again. >.< Therefore, no recipe......

Garbage Egg Flower Soup

This was pretty delicious! It started with an urge to eat potatoes, but to make something more out of them. 

Garbage Egg Flower Soup

BOIL 3 cups of water

ADD 3 bullion cubes (1 chicken, 2 beef)

ADD chunks of potato

while that's boiling, CUT up a carrot and a stalk or two of celery

When the potatoes are mostly tender

ADD rest of vegetables

When they reach an acceptable tenderness

REMOVE from heat and immediately 

POUR in 2 eggs, beaten 

STIR right away

ADD soy sauce, pepper to taste

It is full of delicious noms! I personally like to leave things a little crunchy. Yay combo'd textures in soup! This made a large bath for two very hungry people. 

This could be yum with added meat and/or noodles as well.....

Carne Asada

So twas Jeff's turn for dinner. He enlisted the help of fellow Kitchen Boy Larry(who chefs--cheater) to make these taco-things. "Carne-Asada" Basically meaty roast meat with parsley, onions, and sour cream. It was pretty good-I don't really like eating raw onions. I added some shredded mozzarella cheese on top to take down on the bite. It was pretty nom after that. :)

Sloppy Joes

So, I was all for actually making the stuff, but Jeff and I were both so hungry at the store that that wasn't really going to work. So, he introduced me to MANWICH. Which, isn't too bad of a sauce for a can.

 Sloppy Joes

BROWN a lb of ground beef

DRAIN

MIX in a can of Manwich

HEAT it all up

PLACE in bun

NOMNOMNOM

It was relatively quick and filling. 

French Toast

French Toast
BEAT together 4 eggs, 1 c. milk, 2 tbsp. sugar, 2 tsp vanilla,
MIX/BEAT in 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
DIP bread into mixture
FRY bread

I have a terrible time frying bread in my frying pan. XP So, Kitchen Boy was good enough to take over that bit for me. :) Other than that, it is simple, delicious. I used Killer Dave's bread, which is full of seeds and things. It wasn't stale, so the final thing turned out slightly soggy. I feel like if the bread was toasted or a bit stale, it wouldn't have that problem.

Wanderings

I wanted to go outside! So, we wandered a bit. Jeff began climbing on things, and we stumbled upon the Shakespeare Troupe doing the Tempest, an insulting street and a giraffe car.....

Proof Jeff has a teal.....bubble? Aura?

the street doesn't think Jeff's a person....O.o

Giraffe car!

Fettuccine alla Carbonara

Okay. This was a pain to make. Kitchen Boy cooked the bacon, and I was trying to do everything else. NOT a good idea. I completely messed up the sauce on my first try with our last egg. DX I had to run to the store (literally) and buy some more. Try to get all the ingredients taken care of first, is my thought. Do the bacon cooking before hand. Then the other person can cook the noodles while you're dealing with the sauce? Or perhaps cook the noodles before, too and just let them sit in the water to keep them warm?  Dunno.....

Fettuccine alla Carbonara
COOK and CUT up 6-8 slices of bacon
COOK and maybe DRAIN 6 oz dried fettuccine
COMBINE in a saucepan 1 beaten egg, 1 c. milk, and 2 tbsp. butter
COOK and STIR over med/low heat until it coats a spoon (about 6 mins)--DO NOT LET IT BOIL (this will cook the egg out of the milk and it will be lumpy and gross and not sauce at all!)
COMBINE sauce and pasta
STIR IN bacon, 1/2 c. grated cheese
Add parsley, pepper, garlic salt to taste/as needed

Once you get the hang of the rhythm of cooking this, it isn't very hard and it IS delicious. I have made it several times before with a different partner. This was my first time doing the directing/sauce making. How did he ever do the sauce so well?! Maybe someday I'll be able to, too. This would also taste good with chicken bits. >.>

How to properly clean up bacon.....by Kitchen Boy

NOM!