Diven better come! / Dream: fried chicken and Starbucks / The Outback Bloomin' Onion

Got an email from my mom about tonight's plans. All I have to do is figure out whether Diven will be coming, so sent an email to my sister asking that - I didn't talk to him much yesterday, and hope she answers since I don't think he'll answer an email at work! Then again, it IS month-end at her work, so it's BUSY - bleh, email to Diven it is, haha. If he's not, I won't. Ah, he's just replied - he KNOWS what will happen if he leaves it as a mystery! (emailed joking threats, here I come!) So has she: "I dunno - ask him!" Just did, heh. I'll be glad to have my Mondays back again in a way - this business of picking me up way early is a challenge in some ways! Hmm... I have my own ideas about stuff, hehe. As per the usual, I had an interesting dream when I finally got to sleep:

* a bunch of us were standing around a computer room when we were summoned by a Very Important Person - we had to get some fried chicken and water, then follow a floor plan to deliver it to someone else who might have a job for us to do

* we noted the long lineups in general for the computers, and the bright signs hanging from the grey ceiling: "DO NOT TAKE MORE THAN YOUR FAIR SHARE OF TIME!" (we wished we could get right back on a preferred computer after we left it, but there was a LONG lineup for that one)

* we viewed the floor plan - decided to go to one corner of the square to get fried chicken, one corner to get water, another corner to see what else was going on, and then the final corner to deliver the goods

* soon, we discovered that the "fried chicken corner" was the only one in which we could transport the fried chicken... the water corner just disintegrated the chicken, and the other two zapped it out of our trays!

* with help from workers, we managed to get some OTHER kind of fried chicken that didn't just disappear into thin air when we reached any corners of the square

* we gave the fried chicken to the person in Corner #4, whereupon he told us to go around the world in a private balloon and pay close attention to the lakes, as he'd lost something very important in a lake while going on that type of journey

* Jon, Jeremy, Nathan, Raymond, a few others, and I all piled into the balloon and began looking around the lakes of the world: we couldn't help but notice the damp body of water where the Titanic had gone down

* we decided to stop by a certain city and see what was going on: there was a Starbucks there which offered a lot of sumptuous desserts, and Jeremy decided to treat us all to a dessert each - yum!

* we had to link arms and get back to our balloon because darkness was falling fast in foggy conditions after we got out of there

* I decided to write something in my diary about this trip, and look back a few years to see if anything I wrote would be considered "interesting reading material" - sort of!

* we went to my apartment for some time, and discovered that the power didn't work at 3:52 AM - SO BAD!

* the dream ended with the manager yelling at us for disturbing her sleep, and us yelling right back at her for not doing her job as far as paying the apartment complex electricity bill went.... oh my!


Not sure what triggered that one - except maybe for the fried chicken / Starbucks from yesterday, haha. I didn't (really) talk to Jeremy, Raymond, OR Nathan all weekend! (I never really talk to Raymond since he's too new for me to get attached to :P)


The Outback Bloomin' Onion

1/3 cups Cornstarch; more if needed
1 1/2 cups Flour
2 teaspoons Garlic; mince
2 teaspoons Paprika
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
24 oz Beer
4 Sweet Vidalia Onions
2 cups Flour
4 teaspoons Paprika
2 teaspoons Garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Creamy chili sauce
1 pt Mayonnaise
1 pt Sour cream
1/2 cup Tomato chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne

Mix cornstarch, flour, and seasonings until well blended. Add beer. Mix well. Cut about 3/4" off top of onion and peel. Cut into onion 12 to 16 vertical wedges, but do not cut through bottom root end. Remove about 1" of petals from center of onion. Dip onion in seasoned flour, and remove excess by shaking. Separate petals to coat thoroughly with batter. Gently place in fryer basket and deep-fry at 375 to 400° 1-1/2 minutes. Turn over and fry 1-1/2 minutes longer or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Place onion upright in shallow bowl and remove center core with circular cutter or apple corer. Serve hot with Creamy Chili Sauce.

Seasoned Flour: Combine flour, paprika, garlic powder, pepper, and cayenne. Mix well.

Creamy Chili Sauce: Combine mayo, sour cream, chili sauce, and cayenne. Mix well.