The Brown Boot Quest

Fashionistas of the world, I need your help. I'm looking for the perfect (cheap) brown boot. Requirements include: the color brown, mid-calf or taller, some buckle / ruggedness to it, and less than $125.

At $61.59, the Rampage Women's Murphy Tall Boot is leading the race, but I would like a slightly shorter heel... maybe. Maybe not. Maybe this is perfect.

my pizza tastes like fajitas

my pizza tastes like fajitas - qwickening

The cafe has been alternating Asian noodle bowl with fajitas. Tuesday and Thursday had fajitas. Today, the pizza with peppers is clearly recycled fajitas. It is decidedly weird. (And thank goodness they didn't decide to provide an Asian noodle pizza option! Eew.)

but will it make me happy?

I've got a problem; I've got an addiction. Seriously. I get on a "kick" researching something, and I can NOT let it go. When I bought my house, I was obsessed with the various sites that provide MLS listings. For years, I was addicted to Petfinder. (Actually, I still am.) I didn't even mind shopping for new appliances because it involved research. Hours and hours and hours of research. I like sites that have list pages and search results. Bonus points for drill downs and comparison engines.

Research skills are an asset. Addictions are a liability.

So, it is with this in mind that I admit that I'm addicted to researching a new car. My reasons for wanting a new car range far and wide, and I'm not sure any of them are honestly good reasons to buy a new car right now. The truth is that almost all my dog agility crap fits in the Golf now that I've rearranged it a bit. I don't NEED a new car. The Golf doesn't even have 37K on it. It runs perfect. It gets average-to-above-average mpg. It was once my dream car. Why isn't it still good enough? The only thing that the Golf lacks that I'm still tempted by is AWD, but perhaps new tires and maybe shifting my commute times to daylight hours are the simplest answer. Really... The only thing the Golf lacks is a confident night time city driver.

But now... There's a really good deal in play, and suddenly I am forced to ask myself if a new car will make me happy? Will getting this really good deal mitigate buyer's remorse? Will it make me love my commute more and hate my job less? Will it make it make my relationship with Jason easier? Will driving suddenly become fun? Will I have the confidence to drive in the middle lane on the Aurora bridge on a dark and stormy night? Will it give me ninja night vision? Probably not.

I'm tired. I've been researching the perfect cargo liner for a car that I may never buy. Time for bed.

Yeah, that's red f'n meat

Yeah, that's red f'n meat - EightBallDefense

Jason is in New York for work, and his gluten-free-ness was communicated, but the vegetarian-ness was somehow lost.

I was pretty upset when he told me that they served him a steak. Just looking at this picture makes me upset.

Dealer Update

For the record, all three Toyota dealerships gave me painless quotes below MSRP. I thought I was 2 for 3, but it turns out one was in my spam folder. I blame Yahoo, not the dealer.

On the other side of the fence, I've gotten 1 quote out of 3 Ford Dealers. The quote was outrageous. (See previous post.) The other two Ford Dealers seem unable to use email to provide quotes. They called on Monday, but despite my pinging them via email repeatedly, I have received little love from them via email. I might call them this weekend, but then again, I'm starting to feel less of a patriotic need to save Ford and more of a capitalistic need to see the inferior merchant go down in flames.

As far as the Mercury Mariner goes, one of 2 dealers got back to me and told me the following: "We have been having tremendous success with the Hybrid, so much that they are only building sold orders and will not ship Hybrids for store stock." As much as I want to be part of the hybrid market demand, I don't know how I feel about paying full MSRP (or worse) for a built-to-order car.

And finally, I've started looking at used cars more. There's a beat up old Jeep Grand Cherokee on a lot on Aurora for less than $4k that looks tempting. Nice and square. Boxy is my friend. :-)

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Ford!

I just received a quote from Bill Pierre Ford for a Ford Escape Hybrid and nearly shit my pants once I got past the sticker he presented.

As you can see, the MSRP is $34,455. Along with that we are asking for a $2,995 mark up because of the small availability of these highly demaded vehicles. Your total price would be $37,450. I understand you are shopping around, and looking at the toyota product along with the Mercury. I know from my previous Hybrid customers that the toyota product is running anywhere from $4,000 - $6,000 more with the same equipment. And being an informative internet based consumer, I'm sure you know this already. As for the Mercury product, it is the same vehicle with minor cosmetic differences, and pricing should be very close. Please let me know when would be a good time for you to come in so I can go over all the finer details with you. I look forward in meeting you and have a great day.

$3k mark up ABOVE MSRP? Seriously?? Surely you're joking, Mr. Ford!

And, furthermore, Toyota isn't pulling any of this "high demand" shit for their Highlander. I've been quoted prices well below MSRP. In fact, I've been quoted what I would consider as fairly fair prices above invoice. At the very least, they're definitely prices I am not offended by.

Gah! And the reason I would pay another $4-5k for the Highlander is because it's a bigger vehicle! GAH! AND the Toyota dealers spell check their emails!

Gluten Free Pancake Success!

Gluten Free Pancake Success! - qwickening

Holy Beautiful Buckwheat, Batman!

I just made great gluten-free pancakes. Not just good, but GRRRReat.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Pancakes shouldn't be hard. Flour + heat-activated leavening + milk + egg, right? Totally.

However, the last time I tried to make them, I found some recipe that said 2 tsp of baking powder. (I might have also experimented with the flours, but when do I not?) That last batch of pancakes was barely edible in my book. They took forever to cook because they were rising so fast -- like hungry and hollow ghosts from the grave.

The experience traumatized me.

Fast forward to this batch. Heavenly!! I confess that the recipe is based (but modified) on the one I found in The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen. Instead of using ALL buckwheat, I substituted rice flour and potato starch. Rice flour because it's free. (89 cents at the Asian markets) Potato starch because I've been hankering to use the potato starch for something and potato pancakes are a good thing. Also, pure buckwheat is just too darn darn and heavy for both Jason and I. He often mixes in 1/3 cup or less of buckwheat into the mixes we have just to get a hint of flavor without feeling overwhelmed. It really works for us. Trust us.

I think what really, really, makes these pancakes is the play of the 1/4 cup of buckwheat versus the nutmeg. That + the earthy sweetness of the brown sugar meant that we could eat them directly from the pan without condiments like syrup or berries. They were perfect entities all by themselves. Even Grete flipped for them -- following Jason and I around begging for another bite.

I am so proud of myself.

Heck, this is even more exciting: I took notes!! I can recreate these! Bring on gluten free bunch. I got this one nailed.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 c white rice flour
1/4 c potato starch
1/4 c bucketwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 c fat free milk
1 egg