Plugs + Liz = Not Good

This has not been my week for electrical devices.  First it was the washing machine which wouldn't start and flashed a "DL" error message at me.  A little internet sleuthing determined something was wrong with the door latch and I should unplug the machine to let it reset.  Great, except getting to the outlet behind the tightly-wedged-into-a-very-small-area washer and dryer proved to be a challenge.  I finally managed to accomplish it, but not without a small electrical shock when I touched the wrong part of the cord and also disconnecting the dryer from the outside vent. 

Then it was my laptop.  C'mon, give me a break.  It completely froze and the only thing I knew to do was let the battery run down and hope it would re-start.  In the meantime, I purloined Henry's so I could work in the interim.  I finally got mine up and running, only to find Henry's laptop had crashed and burned.  This was not shaping up to be anything good.

Fortunately a phone conversation with my computer goddess (Leann Woody, I bow down in your honor) resulted in my removing the battery (who knew?) and re-setting the thing.  Ha, what a trick and one I fear I will have to resort to often.

Then the washing machine went AWOL again.  Sigh.

We decided to embark upon one of our marathon walks to escape our "anything with a plug" woes.  Strapped on our camelbacks, laced up our walking shoes and hit the road.

This is how it ended two hours later:

After several months of no rain here in Atlanta, the skies opened up.  Now understand, we needed the rain, but not when we were on foot about 4 miles from home.  Really?

So we did what any reasonable people would do.  Sloshed our way back, hit the shower, put on warm dry (repeat DRY) slouch clothes (for me that means an old pair of chef's pants) and made a big batch of rosemary pine nut popcorn.  Henry took his into the mancave along with a beer and the remote and I sat down at my now-working laptop to blog. 

There are worse ways to spend a rainy Sunday.  Even if the dryer is back on the fritz and we have no way to dry those wet clothes!

ROSEMARY PINE NUT POPCORN

For the rosemary oil:
1 cup canola or other vegetable oil
6 large sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat and warm for about 20 minutes to let flavors infuse.  Make sure to warm it gently and do not let it boil or sizzle.  Remove from heat and let stand, covered, overnight.  Strain into a clean jar and refrigerate.  It will keep for several weeks.

For the popcorn:
7 tablespoons rosemary oil, divided
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Copious amounts of Kosher salt

Place 3 tablespoons of the rosemary oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add popcorn and cover.  When kernels start to pop, shake pan over heat so as not to burn the popcorn.  When popping slows, remove from heat immediately to prevent burning.

Pour the popped kernels into a large bowl.  Add pine nuts and drizzle with remaining rosemary oil.  Add Parmigiano Reggiano and salt to taste.  Toss well and add more salt or cheese if needed.

This would normally serve between 4 -6, but we pretty much managed to scarf it all up between the two of us.  Hey, we deserved it after that wet walk, right?