Donuts and Fire. Yes.

Sidney and I headed back home this morning, and on the way we stopped by a little bakery that has donuts! I got a chocolate covered one.

I also got some chocolate milk, because, yes, chocolate milk.

When we got back home, I found some crackers and pepper jack. Um, yes please!

I also felt the need to eat at least a little bit of brotein. Can you find the brotein bar??

It was then my pleasure to get rid of all the grassy fall decorations around the house. This included all the corn stalks and all the tall grasses that we had around. And what is the easiest way to get rid of a bunch of grasses that had been drying out for over a month? Let me think...

I stuffed it all into our burn barrel and then lit the bottom through a hole in the side. In almost no time, the corn stalks and grasses went from looking like this:

...to looking like this:

Heck. Yes.

With the joy of a 15-foot flame, I went inside and made a nice hearty dinner of stove top macaroni and cheese. 

It was a shout out to the fire. The flame was yellow-orange; the macaroni and cheese was yellow-orange.

Coincidence?

Burger Redo

I'll try to keep this one as short as possible. I didn't eat breakfast before my chemistry lab because I forgot. After my lab, I went to get gas and stumbled upon an Italian job. 

And although I don't particularly like the design and styling of the Ghibli, I still enjoy seeing somewhat exotic cars like Maseratis.

When I got home, I started my food intake for the day with a biscuit.

Remember Tay's Burger Shack from a little while back? Well, tonight I convinced Sidney to accompany me there. I said that I would absolutely go back, and a week later I am!

Naturally, I got the exact same thing as last time. A quadruple burger with extra cheese, caramelized onions, and bacon.

I also didn't tell Sidney that the burgers were made with grass fed beef, since she's had bad experiences with it in the past. She may well have seen the numerous signs advertising that the beef is grass fed, but she agreed that the burgers were good. I call that a success.

We then headed to my parents' house, where I delighted in some cherry ice cream.

Frost??

I knew it was a little chilly outside, but I didn't expect this:

With the first frost on, I celebrated by going to class. Yay! At least I had my brotein bar with me.

Then I had another one after class.

When I got home, I had to balance my brotein intake with some carbs. I have a slight candy addiction.

But for dinner, all would be right. I had some more chicken strips and some more pizza to go with it.

For dessert, I decided that a biscuit would suffice. I wasn't really in the mood for super sweet things.

Weird, I know.

Just a good day

Pretending last night didn't happen, I began today like any other:

I was then pleasantly surprised when I saw a classic BMW 2002 parked on Sunnyside.

These little cars are actually pretty rare, so seeing one was a little special. Plus, they look good!

I went home, and for dinner, I figured I would use the little deep fryer that my parents had just given us.

I breaded up some chicken tenders (the correct way - two coatings), and commenced frying.

The smells that emanate from the oil when breaded chicken is being fried is simply indescribable and salivation-inducing.

Unfortunately, the first batch didn't turn out too well. The breading stuck to the basket and left quite a morbid sight behind. Chicken strips lovers, look away now.

I was left with naked deep fried chicken tenders.

Eventually, though, I figured out the proper technique that prevented the sticking of the breading to the basket. And once I got rolling, I couldn't be stopped! Just look at these gorgeous crispy chicken strips!

We also had some store bought biscuits from a roll that we baked up, because it's hard to beat chicken and biscuits!

I loaded up with just that.

I can say that these were the best chicken strips I've made to date, but they could still use some more fine tuning.

For dessert, I had some leftover chocolate pie, some whipped cream, and a cup of jello.

This was just, well...here, look at this:

Election Day Woes

I woke up this morning bright and early to go and cast my vote for the 2016 Presidential Election, among other elections. A drive that should only take 2 minutes ended up taking about 30 minutes. This can't be a good sign.

When I arrived at the polling location, I was disheartened by the packedness of the parking lot, then heartened by my luckiness to actually find a spot, and then disheartened once more when I first spotted the line.

The line was wrapped almost all the way around the building, and that was just the line to get inside. I knew that once I got inside there would be still more waiting to do. The picture below shows where the line ends and also where I had started.

But the fortunate thing is that the line seemed to be moving at a decent pace. All told, I waited in line for just a little over an hour. It could have been much worse, but it should have been much better. I went back to my parents' house, grabbed my stuff, then drove back to Lawrence so that I could go to class. I stopped by the house, grabbed a double chocolate banana muffin, and then headed in to school.

On my way in, as I approached my destination, I had a brotein bar to supplement my earlier muffin. I would need all the energy I could get today.

I had another brotein bar just before my last class of the day. By now, I was running on empty. I had gotten only a few hours of sleep last night, and this last class just has a tendency to drag on.

But made it through I did. I was surprised to find three cars in the parking lot all with the same last three letters on their license plates. I guess that happens in a county where a majority of the population is concentrated in one location.

I got home and I declared that it was a good night for a frozen pizza. Minimal effort but still good.

Tonight we would try one of the deep dish ones.

I just got half of the pizza and called it good.

Then, with a carb energy boost, I went to Tennis Club practice. This also served as a distraction from the election results.

Soon enough, though, practice ended and I drove home. I sat down to watch the results of the election, not really believing what I was seeing. It became clearer and clearer that this night was the night that called for the drowning of sorrows in ice cream. Luckily, we had not just any ice cream, but DaBomb!!!

I lost myself in the wonderful ymmminess.

Barbecue, Reunions, Ice Cream

I was running a tad low on brotein bars, so I took emergency action. 

I then took a minute during the day to kick my feet up and enjoy the weather and the view.

On my way home, I had some sugary snacks.

I then noticed that Mother Nature had been partaking in the art of graffiti on our deck.

Later in the evening, I met a friend for barbecue at my favorite barbecue place in Kansas City.

I got a brisket and pulled pork sandwich with fries.

I haven't seen this bro for a long time, and it was nice to catch up with him. The most interesting thing about Ray is that he's an engineering student, he's been doing co-ops and internships, he's been dealing with rockets and fine electronics, and everything he says goes so far over my head that I'm not even sure he knows what he's talking about. But it's always interesting.

After eating at the Joe's Kansas City Olathe location, we headed across the street to the Sylas and Maddy's Olathe location. That was convenient!

I got chocolate fudge brownie and DaBomb, but ray was having a tough time deciding what to get.

Eventually, he got a five flavor sample in a waffle cone. Maybe next time he'll be able to make a decision.