Because the internet can never have too many cooking blogs...

So yeah, it's official, I start the new job Monday morning and I've already processed out of the old job.  It's nice not to be under the gun and having to pack up all my stuff yet again for another odyssey into the great unknown.  Anyway, that's all of the job stuff for now.  Let's get down to the real reason for this entry.

I may have said it once before, but I do love to cook.  I'm also fortunate to live with someone that loves to eat what I cook.  In that regard, things work out rather well.  Until now, however, I've never gone into great detail about just how I make the dinners that have Ms. Darkstar raving on her blog about how tasty it is.

Naturally, once it was known I would be home (although we didn't know at the time it would be permanent), I received a list of things that I would be required to cook.  Tonight's meal would consist of French onion soup, and key lime pie for dessert.

A couple of the things I truly love, food-wise, are French onion soup and clam chowder.  I've had many different preparations of each, in different places, and I've tried several recipe variations at home.  Another thing about me is I love to tweak a recipe, adding here and subtracting or omitting there and seeing how things turn out.  This recipe started out from Top Secret Recipes, specifically Top Secret Restaurant Recipes Volume 2, with a few modifications by yours truly.

A quick note, and full disclosure: I absolutely LOVE Penzey's Spices.  I first discovered them when I was living in Saint Paul, MN about eight years ago, and was in hog heaven when I found out they had a store here in Dallas.

I'll try to keep the more exotic blends (ones that can't be replicated by a trip to the local grocery store) to a minimum, but for heaven's sake, do yourself a favor and get their catalog, try a few things, and see if they don't have what I consider to be the best spices and dried herbs I've ever tried.

I mean, c'mon, spicey goodness in your mail box?  What's not to love about that, for crying out loud?

Of course, one should pace oneself, so don't be like me and point to the catalog and announce you'd like one of everything, please, even if in your little heart of hearts you truly mean it.


So ... on to the soup.

 Most of the traditional recipes for this soup call for chicken stock, while the recipe I "followed" calls for beef broth.  I compromised by adding some beef bouillon granules to the chicken stock (use unsalted or low sodium, whether it's stock or broth.  It makes it easier to control the flavoring).  The recipe calls for three different cheeses, but I prefer to use the traditional Gruyere, because the nutty flavor of the cheese compliments the sweetness of the finished soup.  The Parmesan cheese serves double duty, as you will see in a moment.

That may look like way too much onion (that's three white onions in that bowl), but they will cook down.  Don't let the amount spook you.  This recipe will cook down to about four servings (or two servings with seconds).

First thing you do is melt down the butter (one-half of a stick, or 1/4 cup) in your soup pot.  Do this over medium-high heat, and wait for the butter to stop foaming.  If you're the adventurous sort, like I am, let the butter brown a little bit before dumping in the onions.  Stir well to coat them with the butter, than cook them until they start turning brown.  Be VERY careful not to burn them.  It's a good idea not to stray too far at this stage and stir often.  When the onions have a little bit of brownish color to them and have reduced in volume in the pan, add the stock and a small sprinkling of the bouillon granules, along with 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder.  (I had a picture of this but my stupid phone decided not to save it after I took it.  Bah.)

The crouton toppers are fairly simple.  I used a loaf of demi-French bread I got at Target (seems to be the best size without a lot left over), made four slices about 1 inch thick, and topped each with a mixture of Parmesan cheese and dried parsley.  These went into a 350-degree oven until they were browned and crispy (recipe says 10 minutes, your time will vary, just keep an eye on them and pull them when they're browned).




Let the soup simmer uncovered for about an hour, adding three tablespoons of the Parmesan during the last ten minutes of cooking.  And now, it's time to finish and serve.

I bought these crocks at my local restaurant supply store.  They're not all that expensive and, because they're oven-safe, they can go under the broiler for the finjal step.  Unless your serving dishes are safe in this way, DO NOT place them in the oven.

To finish the soup, ladle it into your crock or bowl, place a crouton on top, and top it with the Gruyere you've grated beforehand.  Place it under the broiler until the cheese melts and browns slightly on the top.

If you don't have a broiler or don't have oven-safe serving dishes, an alternative is to use a cook's torch (I've seen these at Target and places like Bed, Bath and Beyond in addition to restaurant supply stores) to melt the cheese.  Just keep an eye on it so you don't burn the cheese or start a fire.  Always practice safe cooking.

I served our soup with a 2010 Hogue late-harvest Riesling (don't you just love my fancy plates?) and Ms. Darkstar was simply overjoyed that she didn't have to cook anymore -- oh, and the soup was great, too.








Dessert is a simple key lime pie, from a recipe off a bottle of Nellie and Joe's Key Lime Juice and available on their website.

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom of this page.  Tune in tomorrow as I torment you further with my culinary adventures and prepare a simple country-fried steak and mashed potato dinner.

I need to let dinner digest a bit.

I made it ... and just in time

It's been a while since I've been able to do a proper update here, and I confess, I forgot where it was that I last updated from.  My update tonight is because I am home once again, out enjoying a glass of wine and some wonderful wood-oven baked pizza.  Tonight is a celebration, for a couple of reasons.  Allow me to elaborate:

For the past six months, I have been in the "training" phase of my job.  I spent five weeks with a regular trainer, who showed me a little more of what the job was about, and allowed me to develop my skills of driving, backing, and dealing with various shippers and receivers under different types of loads.  Following that, there was a week of classroom work, more practice on the truck yard, and then it was off for three weeks with a fellow student.  In this phase, we would be reinforcing what we had learned previously while relying on each other to make it through the more difficult situations.

The final phase is three months of solo driving, essentially doing the job on your own.  You were responsible for getting things done in the proper order, getting them done on time, and keeping everything compliant with company rules and federal regulations.

So, now let's backtrack a bit to the New Jersey load.  I had made it as far as Ohio when they gave me another load to deliver in Pennsylvania, reason being I had more time to make the delivery than the person the load was assigned to.  This happens for a lot of reasons, and I made the delivery as scheduled.  I was low on hours, both for the day and overall, and I wondered about thins as I received my next assignment: picking up in Ohio and heading to Houston.  I would pick up Saturday afternoon for a Monday delivery.

Had I sufficient hours, I may have been able to make it.  Unfortunately, I ran short on delivery day, and as I was doing my trip plan, I made this fact known and asked for someone else to take the load so it wouldn't be late.  I repeated this request on Sunday.  It wasn't until Monday that I was finally able to swap loads, with my load going to Terrell, Texas on Tuesday, giving me time to sit and gain a few hours so I could make delivery.

I opted (with some minor prodding from Ms. Darkstar) to see if I could take my home time after I dropped off in Terrell.  My truck had some mechanical problems that needed attention, the trailer I was hauling was due for it's annual state/DOT inspection, and Dallas was only about 25 miles away.  I was glad to see that my request was approved, and I began packing.  Not to mention the fact that I still had a shot at that local job that I was called about the week previous.

I got a message later on Tuesday telling me that I had successfully completed my training and would now be made part of the regular fleet.  That made me happy, in that at least I knew all the hard work paid off.  I was also about to mark six months with the company, and could pick up my award the next time I was at the yard.

I made the delivery, headed back to Dallas, and today I had the second interview.  After about fifteen minutes, I was conditionally offered the job, pending the results of a background check and urine screening.

I know, since I hold a hazardous materials endorsement, that there is nothing in my background that is cause for alarm, and I know the urine test will be clear, so it appears I have a new job.  All I need to know is my starting date.  Once I know that, I can go back and process out from the company I now work for.

I wonder if I should wait and get my service award before I tell them?

Back and forth, and from out of the blue

I made the Denver load on time from Albuquerque, and boy, was that a long night of driving.  While I was getting unloaded, I was given my next load assignment: head to Kansas and pick up a load going to New Jersey.  They were even helpful enough to tell me that the load was all set and ready to be picked up.  And, had I the hours to do that, I would have been there yesterday, but as it turned out, I had to wait until this morning before I could roll again.  

I am now in south central Kansas, and tomorrow I should be in southeastern Illinois by the time I have to shut down for the day.  Although the load isn't due until Saturday, I should be at the receiver by sometime Friday afternoon.  I have to remember to call them and see if they'll let me park overnight so I can be there for delivery early Saturday morning.  If not, I'll have to adjust my stopping point and find another safe haven to stay the night.

Last month, right around the time I was getting ready to roll out on this current adventure, I had interviewed at a company close to home about a local driving job.  By the time I was ready to leave they still hadn't made any decisions, so with a heavy heart I set off on my journey.  I kinda figured that because I'd be gone for so long they'd choose another candidate and that would be the end of that.  I still sent a very nice thank-you letter (courtesy of my administrative assistant, Ms. Darkstar) and tried to forget about how disappointed I was.

As I was getting close to stopping today, I get a phone call from the company I interviewed at last month.  They wanted me to come in for a second interview.  I told them, quite honestly, that I was very interested in the job but at the moment I was in Kansas heading to New Jersey, and quite possibly would not be able to return to Dallas for at least another couple of weeks.  The gentleman said to keep him advised of my status and to notify them when I was back in the area and could come in for a second interview.

I hung up, and a few minutes later I laughed.  It was about all I could do at that point.  A close-to-home job with a regular, reliable paycheck, and I can't get the process in motion to secure it right now.

On the plus side, this trip will give me the miles I need to be able to complete this phase of my training, and I should be able to finagle my way back home fairly soon.  They've waited this long to make a hiring decision, so I guess it's quite possible that they may be willing to wait a couple more weeks.

Today's picture is part of the birthday present I am getting for Ms. Darkstar, and hopefully I can give it to her fairly soon.  

Have a great rest of the week, and I'll write more when I'm able.

Cashing in my Daylight Savings

Once again, I'm back in Albuquerque.  I delivered my load yesterday, although I was asked to take a load to Denver but the truck that was supposed to meet up with me didn't make it on time.  There's another truck on the way with yet another load to Denver, and since that has to be there early in the morning and the other truck isn't due until early this evening, I'll be running all night to make the delivery time.

Better tonight than last night.  A persistent storm system kept dumping snow in the areas I would have had to travel through.  As you can see from the picture, we got a little bit overnight here as well.  By afternoon it should all be gone as the temperatures rise into the 60s.

I'm hoping for a journey into warmer temperatures.  My auxiliary power unit is not working right, meaning I can't run anything electrical or use the heater with the truck shut down.  The sooner this gets fixed, the better, but I'm preparing for lots of cold nights and lots of lost sleep as I get up periodically to run the truck to get some heat.

I have some other things to get caught up on before I try to nap, but I just wanted to throw a quick update here and hope everyone enjoys what's left of the weekend.  And, I want to give a special acknowledgement to Ms. Darkstar, for successfully evading the Grim Reaper for another year.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Back at it

Amazingly enough, I got off the yard without much trouble, as opposed to the last time I went through this.  The class was interesting, and is something they do on a fairly regular basis for all of the drivers, so at least I'm not in any kind of trouble.  I took a load out of Fort Worth yesterday and now I'm in New Mexico, where I will deliver tomorrow afternoon.

These are the types of loads I like -- no rush to deliver, no need to hustle and hustle, burning up all of my hours -- and while I wish every load is like this, I am grateful for them when I can get them.  I have no idea where I will be heading after delivery tomorrow (gee, where have we heard that before?), and I still need to find a place to spend the night as well.

I'm keeping this short because I need to get other things done, and while I have the time, I better get moving on them.  I'll update more when I get the next opportunity.

If I don't get online before then, have a great weekend.

A nice surprise

As I suspected, I didn't take the load that I picked up in Laredo any further than Lewisville.  When I arrived at that stop, I received a message informing me that yes, there was a mistake in the dates for the rest of the deliveries.  It seems the Tennessee delivery was supposed to be a day earlier, and since there was absolutely no way I was going to make it there, they had another truck ready to take the load the rest of the way.  So, it was back to Dallas to make the trade, and hopefully for me, get time to rest and let my hours of service regenerate a bit.

I met the truck, unhooked from the trailer, and got out of the way.  Not surprisingly, the way the load was set after unloading, and even with my load locks bracing it, the load still tipped.  It was fixed, and I am hoping it was accepted as there was no real damage to the load that I could see, and was somewhat easily restacked.  And, just to make my day complete, I got hit on the head with two cases of broccoli.  Lovely.

Around the time all of this was happening, I received a call from my office.  Since I was close to the yard, and I had a class coming due that I needed to take, and since I lived in town ... would I be willing to return to the yard and take my downtime in the comfort of my home?  This caught me completely off guard, but of course I wasn't going to pass up this opportunity to see home for even a day or two at most.

I got some laundry done, organized some more music to take with me on the road (it's easier to load up an MP3 player than it is trying to find a decent radio station that doesn't annoy me after about fifteen minutes these days), and tonight I'm at a place called The Wine Therapist with Ms. Darkstar.  This is her usual night to hang out with her writer friends, and because I had the car, I was given the choice to tag along.  I agreed, because I had wanted to see this place ever since Ms. Darkstar first talked about it.

No, sadly, I cannot partake of any of the alcoholic offerings, and what a lovely list they have, too.  Instead, I am sipping on a non-alcoholic Pinot Noir soda.  It contains the pinot noir juice concentrate, mixed with sparkling water, and is quite tasty.

Tomorrow, it's back to the truck yard to take that class, see if my truck has been repaired, and find out where in the country I will be enroute to once I get final clearance to leave.  My truck was placed out of service for mechanical repairs, and I'm hoping they actually get fixed this time around, as most of the problems are the same ones that existed the last time I was back in Dallas.

So, that's where things stand in my exciting life.  I will update more when I find out where I'm going, and when I'm able to actually type out an update.  Have a great rest of the week.

Where was I ... and where am I?

The big problem with playing catch-up with the blog is I get so busy I lose track of time, and can't remember the last time I was able to post something.  Add in the fact that I also lose track of what day of the week it is (all day yesterday I kept thinking it was Sunday), and it makes for an interesting time trying to remember what I last talked about.

The break I was hoping to take was a short one, and after finishing the multi-drop load on the 28th, I got to rest until the morning of the 29th, when I was sent to South Carolina to pick up a load going to Laredo, Texas. The only problem was the load was already a day behind schedule, and there was no way I was going to make it for the delivery date.  So, I ran the load as far as Atlanta, and swapped out with another driver.  I was then given a load out of Columbus, GA, going to Laredo.  And, since this load contained hazardous materials, I had to be extra vigilant in my inspection of the trailer I was given.

It's a good thing I was, because it had one tire that had not only gone bald, but had the steel cords showing.  The registration was gone, meaning I had to call in to the office to get a copy of it faxed to me at the truck stop, and then take the trailer over to a tire shop to get fixed before I could pick up my load.  Which meant I was later than I wanted to be in getting to Columbus, but still on time.

I made it to Laredo without running into any of the nasty weather that was moving through the area I was driving through.  I hit a couple of downpours in Louisiana and some fog through Alabama, but other than that I didn't get hit with anything.

The nice thing about being in Laredo is there's a Wal-Mart that has truck parking.  After dropping my trailer, I headed over there and stocked up on things that I needed, like more food (canned soups, canned pineapple, some meats that don't need refrigeration) and other items like sodas and personal hygiene products.

I got my load early this morning.  I have a stop in Lewisville, Texas before heading to Lebanon, Tennessee, and the final stop is in Elkton, Maryland.  The only major problem I can see is that Maryland and Tennessee are due on the same day, about six hours apart.  Forgetting the time zone change, there's no way I can cover over seven hundred miles in what will amount to three and a half hours by the time I'm done unloading in Tennessee.  I've let the office know about it, and I'll continue to send the running late reports if need be, but as far as I'm concerned, it is officially Not My Problem anymore.


I didn't have a lot of time or opportunity to take pictures this past week or so, but the picture to the left is of the retreating storm clouds in Piedmont, South Carolina.  The picture to the right is sunset in Dallas, Texas, where I'm staying for the night.  It's sad that I'm home, but I can't go home.

Here's hoping for a decent week.