Wednesday, March 21, 2012

"Baked" Potato Chips

We have no chips in the house. So, naturally, I wanted to eat some. Isn't that just the way it always goes? I do, however, have a bag of red potatoes.

I don't have a fryer (and we are trying to be healthier anyway), so I decided to look up recipes for baked potato chips. The one I found and decided to try doesn't even involve using your oven! You use your microwave, and here's the recipe!

"Baked" Potato Chips
2 small red potatoes, sliced super thin (use a mandoline if you have one, or the slicer on your cheese grater)
Pam or equivalent cooking spray
Seasoning of your choice (I used my home-made taco seasoning)

1. Lightly spray a microwave safe plate with cooking spray.
2. Arrange potato slices in a single layer, not touching.
3. Lightly spray tops of potato slices with cooking spray.
4. Cook in microwave for three to five minutes until lightly golden brown and crispy (watch carefully, they go from lightly golden brown to BROWN very quickly).
5. Carefully remove plate from microwave and transfer chips to a bowl.
6. Sprinkle with your choice of seasoning and toss to coat.
7. Repeat for remaining potato slices.
8. Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Justice Served, Part Two

It took Clio a long time to find the JAG offices. People were helpful enough, but too often they sent her in the wrong direction. Nearly an hour after she landed on Earth, she finally found the right door and went inside, trying not to look too annoyed as she approached the front desk.

"How can I help you?" the secretary asked, not even looking up as Clio came close.

Clio smiled tightly, biting her tongue for a moment. "I'm here to see Commander Hutchins."

"Your name?"

"Eneas Clio. She knows I'm coming."

"I'll let her know you're here. Sit down and we'll call you when she's ready," the secretary said in a dismissive tone, waving Clio off as she wrote down a note for Commander Hutchins.

Clio narrowed her eyes a bit, leaning on the desk. "Look, I had a very long shuttle flight to get here, and Commander Hutchins said to talk to her as soon as I arrived. I would appreciate it if you cooperated because the Enterprise was more than two days out at the shuttle's maximum speed. This meeting is regarding a rather high priority case, so please stop intentionally delaying me and let her know I'm here now."

"You don't have an appointment, so you wait. Those are the rules. Doesn't matter how long your flight was or how important you think your case is. So have a seat, and we'll get to you when we get to you."

"Please tell me you're kidding."

The secretary finally looked up, giving Clio a cross glare. "No, I'm not kidding. Sit down and stop wasting my time; Commander Hutchins will be with you when she's good and ready."

"Marcia, I hope you're not giving Colonel Eneas a hard time!" a semi-familiar voice yelled from the back, and Clio relaxed, if only slightly. "Let the poor woman pass before she turns your desk over on you."

Marcia scowled and pointed toward Hutchins' office. "I guess she's ready then."

"Thank you," Clio said sweetly, giving Marcia a look that spoke volumes as she passed and went back to the office she'd heard the voice from.

"Grab yourself some coffee and have a seat. I'm just going to run to the bathroom for a minute, but I didn't want to leave you with Marcia." Commander Hutchins smiled a bit. "She can be so unbelievably rude sometimes. Excuse me."

Clio scooted out of the way to let Hutchins pass before going to inspect the coffee maker on the other side of the room. The coffee smelled decent, so she poured some into one of the paper cups and sat down in one of the chairs near the desk before taking a sip. It was bitter, but drinkable. Better than the shuttle's replicator coffee had been at least. Not sure how long she'd be alone, she occupied herself with looking at the few pictures on the walls while she waited.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Short Story: Wicked

They say that no one mourns the wicked, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Charlie was as wicked as they come, and no, she's not dead. But she's gone just the same, and I still don't quite understand it. She didn't leave a note. She didn't so much as call. She didn't say good bye. She simply didn't return to the ship when I asked her. I mean, she didn't even answer the call. She just denied it when it came in. And even though I don't understand, I think I know why.

She was always the aggressor; everything was her idea... or nearly everything. She pushed for what she wanted and most nights I gave it to her. Other nights she would make me beg, and we'd laugh about it afterward. I thought we were ready, so I asked.

She just looked at me for a long time and said, "I have to think about it."

"You have to think about it? I thought that's what you wanted."

"I thought so too. But I don't know."

She slept on the couch that night, no matter how hard I begged her to come to bed. The next morning was shore leave, and she was gone when I got up. I never saw her again. All I have left are the pictures, and they don't do her justice at all. I look at them and I still wonder just what I did wrong.

I know it's not my fault, but I can't help feeling that I had something to do with her sudden disappearance. It would help if I could find her and ask, but even her father has no idea where she is. He says she's never done anything like this to anyone she's ever dated, male or female. That surprised me, finding out she was actually bisexual. She'd never so much as hinted at it while we were together. So now I have to wonder... did she find someone else?

It was never anything I considered, that Charlie would find someone she liked better and just leave. Everyone before her was so reluctant to even come aboard my ship, but she so gladly moved into my cabin that I really thought she was some kind of angel. Now, I'm not so sure.

"All good things come to an end," my mother always said. "Never count on anything. Ever." As much as I hate to admit it, she was right. If something is too good to be true, well... it's usually not true. I wish I had learned that sooner and avoided all this. I know what she'll say when she hears about all this. "I told you so, Felicia. You should find a nice boy. Nice boys don't do that to pretty girls like you." Sometimes I'm not sure she's really my mother.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust a pretty face again, wicked or innocent. I've learned my lesson, painful as it was.

Good bye, Charlie, wherever you are. I hope you're happy.

Justice Served, Part One

Clio was half-asleep on the couch in her office when the comm unit on her desk suddenly went off, startling her so that her panicked flailing dumped her right on the deck. Scowling, she picked herself up and brushed off her uniform before sitting at the desk to answer the call.

"Colonel Eneas?"

"Yeah, that's me." Clio subconsciously swiped at her hair, trying to calm it down. "Who are you?"

"Commander Hutchins with JAG. We're looking at your case against Lieutenant Junior Grade George McKinley, and we're going to need you to come to Earth to testify."

Clio sighed. "Yeah, I expected that. When's his trial date? I have to give Captain Harrison fair warning and make sure the Intelligence center is properly secured."

"I'm afraid this is short notice as McKinley is already here, waiting for trial. We can give you a few days, but not more than a week. Otherwise we'll be denying him a prompt trial since he's waiting for discharge according to this."

Great. Clio smiled tightly. "I think I can manage that. Should I call you before I leave or when I get there?"

"When you arrive is fine. We're a bit busy around here."

"All right. Well, I need to go talk to my commander then. I'll see you in a few days." It was rude, but Clio cut the comm line herself, leaning back in her chair for a moment and rolling her eyes. Why didn't we court-martial the bastard on board? she groused to herself as she got up and left her office.

The trip to the bridge was a short one, and Clio waited impatiently after ringing the chime to Danny's ready room. It seemed like forever until Danny finally said, "Come in."

Biting her lip, Clio went inside and stopped in front of Danny's desk. "Well, JAG just called me. They need me to come to Earth to testify against McKinley, and I only have a week to get there, apparently. Makes me wish we did the court-martial here, but it's too late to change the plans." She watched as Danny sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, his usual reaction to her lately. "Yeah, I know it's a hassle, but it's not my fault."

"I know it's not your fault. You don't have a choice, so go."

"Yes, sir." Knowing better than to stick around and chatter about it, Clio made her way back out of the ready room and back down to the 'Cave', which she painstakingly set to only open for Intelligence officers' unlock codes before going home to pack a bag and explain to Michael just where she was going and why.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Remembrance

I remember being interested in the military as a kid. My dad had been in the Navy, and I always thought that was pretty cool. I didn't know then that not only would I join the military, I would join when our nation was at war.

In 2001, I was fourteen. I thought America was safe. Who would attack America? I knew from school that we were a military superpower, so I figured someone would have to be pretty dumb to attack us.

September 11 started off as any normal day. I got up, I got on the bus, I went to school. I hung out in the courtyard with my friends until the first bell rang, then I went to my first class. As soon as I walked through the door, I knew something was wrong because the TV was on, and something was on fire and pouring thick smoke. I wasn't sure what it was at first. Then they changed to another camera angle.

It was the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in New York City. I'd never been there at that point, but I recognized them. Both towers had been hit by that point.

Class started, but we didn't do any work. Not even ten minutes after the bell rang to start class, another teacher ran to our classroom and she said, "They just hit the Pentagon."

One plane flying into a tower could have been an accident. Two planes flying into two towers would be a really strange coincidence, so I kind of figured it was on purpose. But the Pentagon? Even as a kid I knew how important that building was. That's when it clicked that America was suddenly at war, attacked on her own soil.

We watched as the South Tower collapsed. Then a portion of the Pentagon. Then the North Tower just before my first class ended, and the attack was over. I don't remember hearing about Flight 93 until later in the day when they mentioned that a plane that seemed bound for the D.C. area had crashed in Pennsylvania.

I think that's the day I really decided. I took the ASVAB, a placement test for the military, in my senior year, three years later. I had high scores, and I was getting calls from all branches of the military. I wasn't interested in the Marine Corps, so they stopped calling and sending letters first. I thought about the Navy, but at the time I was only interested in the submarine force. The submarine force didn't accept women yet.

I didn't actually join until I'd been out of high school for a year. Initially, I thought about the Air Force. However, the Air Force would only accept me with a GED if I had college credit. With the Air Force out of the equation, I turned to the Army.

I told them I wanted to be a linguist. I even took their language test and passed it easily. They didn't have any slots for linguists, they told me, after I took the test of course. Since I'd had such high scores, my recruiter suggested I look at other military intelligence fields. Out of what was available, I chose Signals Analysis. I went to school for that, and then I never did it for real. The closest I got was collecting Morse code in Korea, which is where I met my husband.

We got married about a year before I got out of the Army. He got out the year after I did.

I look back and I realize that without the events of September 11, 2001, my life could have been very different. Maybe I still would have joined the military, but during peace rather than war. Or maybe I wouldn't have, and I would have never met my husband.

And if I had never met my husband, I would have never met his friend,John Smith. John quickly became a close friend of mine as well.

John is currently deployed in the War Against Terror with his National Guard unit. We are both hoping he stays safe and comes home.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Theater Craziness

So on Tuesday, we went to see the last Harry Potter movie. We'd wanted to see it for a while, and we figured the crowd would have died down a little. The parking lot was pretty full, so we thought there would still be a decently sized group there to see the movie.

When we walked into the 6:30 PM showing, there were maybe ten people there, including us. Then Mark noticed that the movie didn't sound right, so he went to talk to the manager. Turns out that the center channel speaker had blown, which the girl selling tickets didn't tell us about.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Wasabi Brownies?

Cupcake Project: The Brownie Recipe for Everyone - Panko-Encrusted ...: "I'm imagining you staring at your screen. Your head is cocked to the side and you've rested your hand on your chin to ponder my bizarre title.  Could a panko-encrusted wasabi brownie really be the brownie recipe for everyone?"


Yeah, that about sums up what I was thinking at first. But it sounds surprisingly tasty after thinking about it a bit. I almost want to try baking these myself!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Short Story: Seeing the Stars

(This was a writing challenge also. This one takes place in 2360, when Felicia Quinn was ten years old.)

"Felicia! Mom said stay in the cabin while she was gone!"

"What Mom doesn't know won't hurt her. Come on, Liv, this is boring!"

Olivia crossed her arms and stood in front of the door, glowering with all the meanness she could muster. "Mom said."

Felicia shrugged and turned around, darting over to the couch and scrambling up on its back. "You can't stop me." She stuck her tongue out at her sister and pulled the air vent cover off, dropping it on the deck before she hauled herself up into the vent. She paused, scooting around so that she could look at Olivia through the opening. "You coming?"

Short Story: The Captain's Angel

(This was written for a writing challenge.)

"Hey, Felicia. Wake up."

"No, thank you. I'll just stay asleep, thanks." Felicia pulled the blanket over her head, only to have it suddenly yanked away. "Hey!" She sat up, grabbing at it and trying not to laugh as Charlie held it out of her reach. "Okay, okay. I'm up."

"Better hurry," Charlie advised sweetly as she folded the blanket and set it on the bed. "You know. Starship to run and all that."

"...right. Thanks." Felicia kissed Charlie's cheek and scrambled off the bed. "I'd ask you to join me, but..."

Charlie giggled, pushing her away toward the head. "Go on, crazy. You'll be late."

Wow

Damn, it's been a while. Truth is...I replaced my aging laptop and didn't remember the link to get here! I had to go look it up!

I do plan to use this more often, but college starts in a month (A MONTH! SERIOUSLY!) so there won't be a new post every day!

I do have some new fiction to post though. Keep an eye out!