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the 70's of this weekend was like a dream as temperature this morning dipped into more seasonable 30's. the heat even kicked in and there was a brief morning flurry. the sky was dark and grey, there would be no sun today.

i woke around 9am but stayed in bed before finally getting up close to 10am. surprisingly, kevin was still asleep, a far cry from when he first arrived and would wake up at 6-7am to leave for work. i'm not complaining too much, since he went to the office this weekend. but like an encore of yesterday morning, the moment i started using the bathroom, i heard him getting up. i finished abruptly so he can use the facilities, which he did just seconds after i vacated, didn't even wait for the air to clear. thankfully i had the foresight and courtesy of spraying some freshener first. he finally left for work 40 minutes later.

i did a load of laundry, washing kevin's bath towel as well which smelled so badly you couldn't go to the bathroom without getting a whiff. i could've done it over the weekend, but i wanted to wait until it was a cold day, so the residual heat from the dryer could warm up the house. i also used the oven to roast some hazelnuts.

i realized today that if i was following the weekly soil drenching schedule, then i should've doused the plants yesterday. but i felt some of the soil and they were still moist. at the same time, i can't wait for the soil tops to dry out without another Bti treatment since that would allow the gnat worms to mature into pupae then a new cycle of adults will emerge. i decided i will go back on wednesday, when the weather will be warmer, to perform the soil drench, regardless if the soil is still moist or not. but hopefully giving it a few more days will allow more drying to take place. and when i drench this time, i'll try not to overdue it.

the only thing i did today then was getting some market basket groceries. i decided to make two recipes this week: first a lasagna, then later a quiche. after a week of salad, i crave warm food with plenty of protein and carbs.

i've got a few hachiya (egg-shaped) persimmons ripening on my kitchen counter. they're ready to eat now, but how? they're soft enough on the inside that i cut a little hole and tried sucking out the pulp, which only got me so far. i ended up partially peeling the persimmon and slurping up the sweet pulp that way. if you never had a persimmon before, not only is it pulp on the inside, but there's a surprising crunchy middle section as well.

there was hardly any production today, 2.26kWh was it. we are already in the period where day length is increasing on both ends - earlier sunrise, later sunset - but you won't know it from today's action. hopefully we get a really nice sunny cold winter day this week to prove it.

generic lasagna
8 servings

1 lbs. ground beef
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced

28 oz. canned tomatoes
2 6 oz. can tomato paste
1/4 cup white wine

1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 bay leaves
16 oz. lasagna noodles
13 x 9" lasagna dish

2 eggs
15 oz. ricotta cheese

16 oz. mozzarella, diced
2.5 oz. gorgonzola blue cheese

parmesan cheese (topping)

meat sauce: sauté onion and garlic, add ground beef cook until brown. add canned tomatoes and wine and remaining dry ingredients. simmer for 30 minutes. remove bay leaves. layering: preheat oven to 375°F. cook lasagna noodles. mix eggs with ricotta cheese. noodle layer + ricotta layer + mozzarella blue cheese layer + meat sauce layer. repeat. top with parmesan cheese. bake for 45 minutes. let cool before serving.

i started making my lasagna at 6pm, hoping to have it ready by 7:30pm, just in time for the bulls-celtics game. kevin came home at 6:30pm. he was going to make something, but when he went back out to get some more ingredients, i told him he could stock up the freezer with frozen pizza, which probably swayed him and he decided to have frozen pizza instead once he got back.

total rookie mistake, i didn't cool the lasagna noodles long enough so they were still brittle when i drained them. they ended up cracking into pieces and wouldn't stay flat when i tried to put them into the lasagna dish. the lasagna didn't go into the oven until 7:30pm. kevin was so impressed he took some photos. he shared a slice of his puffy crust supreme pizza, it was pretty good, very salty which is what i like. when the lasagna was finally done baking, i let it sit for 15 minutes before cutting into it. i was ready to give kevin a piece, but he only took a small bite. i ended up having two pieces of lasagna (from a split of 8).

he stayed in the living room for most of the night. i learned that the two undergraduates living in my grand uncle's apartment won't leave until may, which means kevin can't move into that apartment until then, which means another month here. i don't think i ever had a roommate for 5 months. thankfully the winter season always feel like it goes by quick, which is what i'm hoping for. kevin probably doesn't mind staying here another month but i like to see him gone sooner than later. maybe my sister's godmother will finally get her housing notification, in which case kevin can finally move out.

kevin also asked me if we can speak english in the house, so he can practice. he said at his office, he and his office mate do this. i didn't want to say yes because i know for a fact that his english is not very good, and i don't want to try deciphering his english, or him trying to understand my fast english. basically, i don't think he's fluent enough in english to make it so it won't be a pain in the ass for me to try and communicate with him. between chinese and english, i will naturally default to whatever language i think you're most fluent in.