Cookie Detective | Fr 12/23

I woke up to the sounds of Minecraft in real life from the construction site next door since I knocked out without washing up or using my mask and earplugs, but I'm sure I would've been woken up even with them. Soon after waking up Adrian told me that Helen was on her way and bringing ingredients to make burgers. I felt my shame kick in since I felt like a caveman and the place was messy from us making more cookie dough, but she didn't seem surprised by it.

I quickly showered as the other two prepared lunch, and the food was tasty. I got to talk with Helen a bit more and was surprised to hear that her sisters both studied Psychology. It was bittersweet to hear after realizing that Psychology was not the path for me, but she told me that her older sister is a teacher, so at least that sister is making use of her degree in something relevant.

Adrian insisted that I move to Matthew's bed and he even called to confirm that it'd be fine. Matthew also said it would be okay to use his computer and the allure of stable internet has me excited. I started laundry for Matthew's bedding, we cleaned up after lunch, and by then the cookie dough was chilled so we started to bake a batch.

It turns out we're too impatient with cookies, both when it comes to softening butter and chilling the dough. During our first batch we dipped the butter into hot water and now we put the dough in the freezer, but both methods were sorry excuses for the proper techniques. The cookies didn't expand at all and looked more like cake pops even though they were cooked on the inside, but they still tasted alright.

After that I got settled into Matthew's room and Adrian got ready to pack up and ship a guitar he sold before leaving to teach a singing lesson. Now I'm living watching Zenit Kazan hitting lines on a proper monitor, but I feel the tug to be a responsible adult and do something productive. I should probably do some Java 8 lessons or look over my journal, but I realized that I can play Left 4 Dead on Matthew's computer and that's all I can think about now. I should also do some digging on places to eat around the Getty and Santa Monica Pier for tomorrow, but the game is calling to me.

I logged into steam, installed Left 4 Dead, and my mods were automatically accounted for too. It was too easy to do, but I was living playing again. I guess I didn't have to leave Texas to do it, but I'm enjoying an LA winter at least.

After playing and watching more volleyball videos I decided to make dinner. Adrian suggested I prepare the steak Matthew bought since he's not at home, so I looked at a video that recommended high heat to sear a steak. I expected to get some smoke, but I didn't prepare for how much I'd have to fan afterwards.

The smoke detector went off, but I fanned it with a towel for a bit and got it to stop. It's too bad the smoke didn't stop coming and the detector kept going for what felt like an eternity. I settled on fanning with a jacket since it was the largest thing I could use, so I went ham like I was working out. A neighbor came by asking if everything was okay which made my shame kick in so I cracked the windows, turned the A/C fan on, and flapped the jacket until my arms were jelly.

I finally got to eat the steak maybe 15 minutes after first putting it into the pan, but it was surprisingly okay for a first attempt at a steak. It had alright amount of red, but very little browning. At the moment I didn't care though. I didn't even want to look at a steak after the smoke fanning.

Afterwards Adrian came back while I tried making more cookies and I realized that the dough was still too firm. I'm not sure why this is, but I suspect too much flour or not enough baking soda. They still taste fine, but I miss the crispness and thinness. We tried making more that were already flat instead of balls, and they ended up okay. I guess it doesn't matter much though.

I'm excited for tomorrow with Annie, but I'm kind of worried it'll be hectic since we're improvising a lot of plans. I also asked the hair dyeing folks about the plans and we're trying to nail down ordering dye and scheduling a day for everyone. I'm ready for it.