Double Decker

This is something that I keep meaning to write about - and soon won't be doing much - Double Decker Steaming - something the Chinese have been doing for centuries - maybe millennia. I had the epiphany-let a while back. Steaming two things in succession - or steaming them in two separate pots was getting old. I have four of those wonderful steamer thingies (vegetable steamer baskets) - two of them have little feet - one has lost its feet - and one is much older - it has adjustable feet and opens completely flat - so it really isn't so much of a basket at that point. Anyway, I put one of the ones with decent feet into the pot - put the corn on that - then I extend the feet as far as they will go on the oldest one and put that down around and on top of the corn. Lastly, I put whatever vegetable I am "also" steaming on that - broccoli and green beans were the two most common. When the top vegetable is "done" (I prefer my vegetables to be still almost crunchy when cooked) I bet the corn is two and remove them both. Now, here comes the less than optimal bit. I like most of my vegetables to be covered with butter and garlic salt (hey, did you know that there is salt in garlic salt?!) so I transfer them to another dish and adulterate (in some people's eyes at least) them there. I still often end up with two things to clean, but it still feels like I am being efficient somehow. Yay for double decker steaming. With the disappearance of corn on the cob imminent (hopefully just for the winter), I don't know how many more times I will be doing this - but it was so cool, I had to share!

Yesterday, Kate (a person who has done a good bit of work at the Smith) and I spent two hours working on the electrics. For some reason, there were two sets of numbers on them - one set of huge, lovely old numbers and a second set of teeny weeny little numbers - both represented the dimmer pack number to which the socket was supposed to be related. I, for one, was tired of telling people who came in what was going on - and I wanted to get a handle on exactly what was working and what wasn't. Turned out that we really only had one bad circuit - the receptacle had been pushed into the electric somehow. There was one other place where a circuit had never been. Four circuits that we have no idea what happened to them and one circuit that somehow isn't connected to where it should be connected. Weird stuff. But I am glad we are taking the time to do this. We also found six instruments (lighting instruments) that were non-functional. Most of them probably just need their bulbs replaced. But that is for another day. The next day will be for working on the front of house light trees. Fun stuff!