Dried Garbanzos with Vigo Spanish Seasoning?

Finally got to set up the Dried Garbanzo Beans recipe I have been trying to do for months simply because I couldn't find Vigo Spanish Seasoning. I found out using a packet or 2 of Goya Con Azafran with Taco Seasoning is very close & one smell from the open packets said the same thing. Thankfully I had found a packet of Dash! Salt Free taco seasoning.

The other part was needing 3 pounds of red potatoes, cubed. When I checked my mail, someone had donated a bag of them! I was able to fit only 2 pounds, even after cutting them up & discarding the bad bits. Another thing about my mail - the damn Comenity Envelope was actually there!!! 👍

Also dried garbanzo beans make noises while soaking.

Anyway, the whole shebang is in the crockpot on low for 8 - 10 hours. Should be interesting when it finally gets to smelling up the place.

The desk has 3 drawers once again!

Finally, a project I had been planning for the past 5 years, in the works for at least 30, and for something missing for at least 45 years... finally came to fruition today.

 

An old yellow desk which had been given to a former family member had 3 drawers originally but something happened to the bottom drawer & instead of fixing it, the parts were just thrown away. I ended up inheriting it & I vowed some day to recreate that drawer but at the time I lacked the time, knowledge, & resources to make it come true.

 

During the COVID lockdown & during a fit of having to clean my room extra well, I finally pulled out the best example of a drawer for the desk & measured it in metric. I left the plans for the drawer in a notebook for the past 5 years. It was only within the past couple of months was I able to figure out what I needed.

 

I needed a sheet of wood 7 mm thick - nothing at Lowe's was that thick, so I had to make do with 5 mm thick wood. I would need wood glue, a way to cut the pieces, and importantly, a way to cut channels in the wood for the bottom to slide in. Which also made for a way to glue it firmly in place. That meant a router / cutter accessory for my rotary tool. I got that part done on Tuesday... and getting there wasn't easy because the accessory I got off Amazon wasn't made for my particular tool. The kit required modification. But I knew once I had completed what I needed cut, the drawer would come together quickly.

 

Another problem is I had to rely on someone else to cut the wood into the pieces I needed. The result wasn't perfect but it was good enough to work in spite of the indelicate variances. They weren't horribly bad to make it not work. 

Once I was able to test fit everything, gluing it together, figuring out how to attach the front, centering the drawer pull, clamping it during glue curing... it wasn't easy & maybe there's a better easier way to do it, but I didn't know what it was. But after 2 days of using my rotary tool as a router, I was finally able to see it take shape.

I tried using 1 inch nails to hold it together, but the out of squareness of the resulting box required removing them during gluing. And repeated gluing. I was able to precisely cut a narrow strip for the bottom because in spite of measuring twice & cutting, the bottom was under 1 centimeter short. I wanted it all to glue together tightly so as to prevent ingress of pests.

Finally on Friday, I figured out how the front will attach to hide the mess behind it. I had already figured out how to center the drawer pull, having to cut the bolt to attach it, and then needing a washer to take up a bit of space for a tight fit.

Then today I got out the Polyurethane stuff & gave it all a coat. I didn't see the need to do 2 coats. What I failed to understand is this stuff was not the varnish I used to remember from years ago. It's just a protectant which just absorbed right into the wood, so I'm probably going to be looking for another small container of something.

I got it inserted into the desk & it fits tightly but that was to be expected. I may use some crayon or diatomaceous earth for ease in movement... And the drawer I had in there was moved to the bottom & then I see how that bottom drawer slot has a problem for proper closure. So another problem to figure out?  

I was able to remove the makeshift box I bought & modified to set in place so I could store some of my manga books. In the end, I was able to store all but 6 books from the box. I just need to figure out how to throw the makeshift box away. I feel bad I spent money on it only for it to not quite fit my needs but also fit my needs somewhat. I don't think it cost me much... maybe $11?

 

Not unlike Chili

I spent a few hours this afternoon working on the question of my desk drawer replacement. Finally. 3 hours using my rotary tool & a rigged up routing attachment accessory because it wasn't made for my particular rotary tool but once adapted, performed its task about averagely.

I say about averagely because the tool heated up for much of the use asked of it. The routing bit seemed like it gave up being sharp enough to affect the wood it was being asked to do something to. After 3 hours & a long day - with 1 inch left on a big piece - I gave up & decided to take a break, What I did next I had never done in all the time I owned this rotary tool - I took it apart & applied some lubricating oil to the proper parts. The inner workings are shockingly simple. A DC motor hooked to a power cord with a simple switch.

A proper rest later, I decided I was finally going to make Chili, or namely Random Chili. I start with a vague idea of what Chili is to me & I hopefully arrive later at something edible reminding me of chili. This meant defrosting a 1 pound roll of ground turkey, chopping the better parts of a decent onion, chopping a green pepper, rinsing & slicing an 8 ounce box of common white mushrooms, finding 3 small tomatoes in the vegetable drawer I had forgotten about having suddenly sprouted mold on 2 of them - I rinsed & chopped the lone good tomato - and then rounded up the diced garlic, garlic powder, chili powder, Siracha sauce, Chef Troy's Crunchy Chili Garlic Sauce, & Adobo. The canned ingredients ended up being 1 can no salt diced tomatoes, 1 small can tomato paste, 1 can no salt corn (drained), 1 can no salt kidney beans, 1 can no salt dark red kidney beans, 1 can low sodium black beans. And that was enough!

Mom would get out her stock pot & nearly fill it up with whatever she made. And we'd eat off the treasured meal for a couple weeks. Anywho, I get my chili going, get everything cooked through. And taste it. Excellent again. What's even better is it'll thicken when it cools down. I love it when I get that going on. Didn't need cheese or spaghetti.

I have plans to finish cutting the groove I need in the pieces for the desk drawer replacement tomorrow. I just wish I had been able to finish today before my stamina ran out. Or was that my pain relief? 

Pizza turned out the way I imagined it would

With free tomatoes from the donation table, I decided when I got back from my activities on Tuesday, I would make pizza. Well, I had to recover & wait until Wednesday for the pizza to happen, but it turned out as I thought it would!

Yeast raised dough from my bread machine, low sodium pasta sauce seasoned with Adobo, Basil, Oregano, Thyme, & Garlic powder. Shredded Queso, thick sliced Pepperoni, sliced small round tomatoes I got for free, 1/2 diced onion, sprinkled with some Adobo before baking & grated Parmesan afterwards, with a bit of butter rubbed on the edge crust & allowed to cool.

The best thing is I didn't use a lot of the sauce because then it would be too wet at the end. And I probably used 1/2 cup shredded Queso - it was whatever I had left in the bag, but it covered the sauce well enough. 10 minute pre-bake after rolling out the dough at 400 F, 15 minute bake at 425 F topped. It came out nicely & a bit crispy. I used a recipe which called for olive oil & only 2 cups of flour. I wanted to save on flour for this one & this dough spread out on my large cookie sheet just fine. Next time I might add grated Parmesan during the kneading. 

And I had 1/3 of it left for breakfast. Cold pizza is da bomb! It also smelled so nice baking & afterwards.

A couple Christmas Card Recipes

Checking the mail room had a few items on a donation table & 2 Christmas cards had recipes. I took pictures so others may claim them, but in the meantime, I transcribed the handwriting for this post.  

Pesto Chicken

1. Lay chicken tenders in oven safe dish.
2. Cover with pesto.
3. Cover with shredded cheese.
4. Cover with sun dried tomatoes.
5. Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff 

1. Chop 2-3 onions. Separately chop mushrooms & 3-4 cloves garlic.
2. With 2 tablespoons of butter, sautee onions on medium-low heat.
3. When onions are translucent, add mushrooms & garlic and a dash of Worcestershire. Sautee & set aside.
4. In a deep pan, add beef & another 2 tablespoons of butter.
5. Sautee on medium until meat is browned.
6. Dust with flour.
7. Add onions, mushrooms, & garlic mixture to meat.
8. Add 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire and salt & pepper.
9. Simmer until mixture is a thick gravy.
10. Remove from heat and 3-4 dollops of sour cream. Enjoy over egg noodles!

Mondays aren't too bad for shopping, I guess

MONDAY... I went shopping at the Route 62 Walmart hoping they would have some things Alliance didn't, like the DiRusso patties, and..  I got my answer on that separately.

Meanwhile, I hadn't been in that Walmart for a few months & holy crap they moved around that store, too!! Like what the hell? I say they do this to confuse shoplifters.

Pet food moved to the back instead of off to the right of the pharmacy. Personal care & medical related stuff occupies that now. Toys were moved as well. Then they put some sort of fashion highlight stage in the middle of the clothing section like they're trying to be like the mid to high end stores they competed out of business against... which disrupts the walking flow.

Was hoping to grab another bag of Halloween candy but did not. Did find Con Azafran though!! 1st time finding it! I'm also getting an idea on where Pepitas are stocked & found those, too. They moved Dairy around, cookies, & snack chips like Cheezits were moved. Bread was moved. Cereal aisle completely flipped. Some places remained the same because they kind of have to. Couldn't find any 3 pound turkey breast roasts... Maybe not until November?

Also they're bringing in these new center coffin freezers which have more windows on the sides. But now with sliding doors which some people can't be arsed to close after they're done looking. Saw that happen more than once.

It was a good trip to visit another store for once. I made an effort. And I got 2 more zany Crimmas ornaments! The display wasn't as elaborate as the Alliance Walmart but still found a couple.

I once had an idea, then I got a better one

And in the span of about 2 hours, I have effected a better fix for my bed in regard to ribs which keep falling out. 3/8 inch bolts Grade 8 bought yesterday at Lowe's where I made a sizeable purchase of supplies.

The plan was to buy 12 8 inch long 3/8 inch bolts Grade 8 (decently strong! from info I had searched) & with a metal rated 3/8 inch drill bit, punch holes through the bed frame & slide them through & into the ribs which were 3/8 inch hollow. And that plan pretty much held through! I fixed the 2 most annoying ribs, including the 1st one which I had slapped a ton of Gorilla Tape on & was more or less still in place. But finally I had a better idea. The fix I put in place at the time was born in the middle of the night with the idea of getting the heck back to sleep & maybe for the past year worked well enough.

Lowe's didn't have 12 8 inch bolts but 4 3 inch ones... But I also got 6 8 inch 3/8 inch bolts of a lesser grade. Don't know how strong they are, but hopefully if I need to replace the ones now in use, they'll do until I get the 8 inch bolts.

The idea was to make it impossible for the ribs to fall out when parts of my bed frame somehow twist & bend & allow ribs to fall out of their U shaped catch supports. Punch a hole through, shove in a honking long strong bolt, & be done with it. It's a design oversight. Bad engineering.

IT'S TOO CUSTOM

Spent $128 at the hardware grocery store Lowe's. They refused to cut a sheet of wood for me saying it's "too custom." I got supplies for a few projects. Fixing my bed frame, strengthening my (not) Ikea bookshelf, fixing a storage box lid, and a craft project - making a drawer missing from a desk. My grandfather made the toy box when I was 5 and the lid broke practically in the 1st year of having it. And the missing desk drawer fell apart like over 40 years ago for some reason. During COVID I measured another intact drawer to see what it would need to make one. Now I just need to get the wood cut.

 

Dr. Demento Retired

I discovered Dr. D from records I bought while in Columbus in the mid 80s & then after coming back home found his show on late night radio on Sundays. I would get cassette tapes & record them... followed him from one radio station to another... & then suddenly he was off the air locally & then off the air period. Westwood One & On The Radio Broadcasting syndicated the show but for some reason refused to offer a list of stations carrying Dr. D. Like they didn't want anyone to listen & it was up to the fanbase to report in. Eventually he went online when he really deserved a satellite radio channel. Musical comedy & spoken word comedy along with offbeat unreleased tapes, rare 78s... His record collection is so massive, when he finally moved the floor in the rooms he had it in were discovered to be sagging! Dr. D is a rare one. Whatever happened to the movie someone was making about him?

Accomplished

I accomplished 3 things digitally yesterday:

1. Searching for liner notes on the Terrorvision Rockafire Explosion release, I ran across a listing of the vinyl edition on eBay by none other than Creative Engineering himself, Aaron Fechter! It was $700 & he sold 8 of them before it was Sold Out (which included a 2 hour tour package) - and in the gallery of images with the listing was clear images of the liner notes booklet, covers included! I grabbed them with plans to print a CD sized booklet which should have been included anyway!! I didn't really need character photos or a gatefold poster.

2. Managed to download 2 different PDFs of the October 2025 Previews order catalog... One was 20 mb & the other was much larger. Previous 2 files were almost 250mb.

3. Got Google's AI search assistant to produce a recipe for lentils in the crockpot which is much like the recipe I used months ago when I got all those bags & then somehow lost it! I don't know how it got lost when I made it over & over for like 3 months!!