Month: August 2024

This summer the family decided to go on an adventure with Mabel and Dipper and watch Gravity Falls.  It premiered in 2012 so it’s an older show but animation back in 2012 but pretty amazing so it doesn’t feel dated.

The show follows the adventures of Mabel and Dipper who are from California and have to spend the summer with their Great Uncle Stan in the town of Gravity Falls.  Stan is an odd fellow who runs the Mystery Shack…a tourist attraction of oddities from around the Gravity Falls.

The characters are funny and memorable and the mysteries within Gravity Falls are fun for the kids (and adults!) to be interested in.  Season 2 really kicks things into gear and the series ended in a great way.  Fate had us watch the series finale on the last day of our summer and it coincided with Mabel and Dipper’s last day of the summer in Gravity Falls.  It is a show we will associate with the Summer of 2024 and we are even trying to convince Maman to dress up for Halloween as characters from the show.

Here’s a note for future self:

If you have AVCHD files to export:

1. Create a new library in Final Cut Pro.  If it’s for something specific, save it in the appropriate folder.  Otherwise just create a random library to export files to.  You’re just using the export feature, not creating a timeline or anything.
2. With the new library created, click on the Date that it created within the library.  Within here you can drag media to import.
3. Click File->Share->HEVC
4. Go to info tab
   1. Format: Computer Video Codec: HEVC 10-bit Resolution: Whatever the original was (which was 1920×1080 when I was working on it).  Action: Save Only otherwise it will open every file.

A note about the Video Codecs…I originally chose HEVC 10-Bit (Dolby Vision).  This made the videos turn dark but they were HDR.  I’m not an expert on HDR so I’m not sure if I can take a video from 2013 which wasn’t captured in HDR and then…make it HDR?  Not sure.  I decided to just stick with 10-bit HEVC without the HDR so the videos would be brighter.  Not sure if that was a mistake if I want to make use of my awesome HDR television but at the moment, it’s not like I have any other HDR devices.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pressure_cooker_paella_with_chicken_and_sausage/

I modified this recipe to make it easier (I didn’t heat the broth with the saffron ahead of time…

The recipe below is my modified recipe.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 pound (3 to 4) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (325g) short- or medium-grain rice (I used white rice)

Method
1. Cook the vegetables, chicken, and sausage in the pressure cooker:
Select the “Sauté” setting on your electric pressure cooker and add the oil and garlic. Sauté until little bubbles of oil form around the garlic and it becomes aromatic, 1 to 2 minutes.

2. Stir in the onion and bell pepper. Sauté until they have softened a little bit, 3 to 4 more minutes. Stir in the paprika and salt, and sauté for one more minute.

3. Add the chicken and sausage and stir to combine. Sauté for 5 to 6 minutes, until the chicken has turned opaque. It’s ok if the chicken is still a little pink in the middle.

4. Cook the vegetables and stir in the chicken and sausage for the instant pot paella

5. Scrape the bottom of the pan:
Add a splash of the hot broth to the pan and use it to scrape up any browned bits that have developed on the bottom of the pan. These browned bits add a lot of flavor to the dish, so don’t skip this step. (This also helps prevent the dish from burning on the bottom during cooking!)

7. Add the remaining ingredients and the broth:
Stir in the rice, then pour in the rest of the hot broth with the peas. Push down any grains of rice from the sides of the pot, making sure that everything is submerged in the cooking liquid.

8. Pour the chicken broth and peas over the other ingredients for making instant pot paella

9. Stir all the ingredients for instant pot paella together before pressure cooking.

10. Pressure cook the paella:
Secure the lid on the pressure cooker, and make sure the pressure regulator is in its “Sealing” position. Cancel the “Sauté” cooking program, then select the “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” program and set the cooking time to 5 minutes at high pressure.

The pot will take 5 to 10 minutes to come up to pressure, and then the cooking program will begin counting down.

11. Release the pressure:
When the cooking program ends, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure by moving the pressure regulator to its “Venting” position.

release the steam from the instant pot

Serve:
When the pressure has fully released, open the pot. Scoop onto plates, garnish with chopped parsley, and serve it piping hot. Leftovers will keep for about a week.

You may get a crust of dark caramelization and crunchy rice at the bottom of the pan — this is ok! This is called “socarrat” and is traditional for paella. Just mix it in and enjoy!

Notes:
– I should try the smoked paprika next time as the recipe suggests.
– Kids didn’t like the green pepper or the onion.

To my knowledge, summer 2024 would have been the first time I caught the covid virus.  I wanted to write down what I went through for historical record.  This was quite the whopper of a virus back in 2020 but in the year 2024, perhaps it’s a different thing altogether.

On Wednesday July 24th I woke up with a sore throat.  I also tested positive.  We did end up tracking it back to an outdoor lunch with Joe on our back patio as he later contacted me saying that he was sick after seeing us and to our knowledge, he must have caught it from someone at work.

Considering the interactions with Joe were completely outside and I don’t remember swapping utensils, I would say that this particular virus strain is quite contagious.

Anyhow, Wednesday came with a minor sore throat and general lack of energy.  I remember going for a nap in the early afternoon and being woken to a tornado alert.  While I napped, the rest of the family spent the afternoon in the basement.  Vero figures this is where Ezra might have caught the virus eventually.

The next day the kids and Vero went off to the cottage we had rented for a few days.  I was unable to attend.  Thursday and Friday my sore throat had gone away but I was generally on energy and appetite and going through a million kleenex.  By Saturday the family had returned early from the cottage because Ezra had a cough and had tested positive as well.  Luckily by Saturday I was back in shape overall with a lingering runny nose over the next week.  But I’m talking about blowing my nose five times in a day vs. 500 times in a day.

The only other symptom I can report on was having a hard time falling asleep.  There would be a few nights where I see the clock and it’s still 2 or 3am.  I felt this lingering side effect went away after a week.

Vero ended up testing positive a few days after Ezra.  She also had similar symptoms along with a fever on the first day (from what I remember while typing this).  Ezra had a pretty bad cough throughout a few nights but overall, I would say that we all made it out with what we can consider ‘mild’ symptoms.  No difficulty breathing or anything like that.

As I type this two weeks later, Sierra is the miracle child and somehow has not tested positive nor presented any symptoms.  We did our best to stay away…Ezra and I stayed in the basement a lot and wore our masks when going upstairs.  Vero was careful around her.  Ezra, being four years old, had to constantly be reminded to wear his mask near Sierra.  As the week went by, we became more lax in trying to protect Sierra.  But at the same time, she wasn’t getting sick and we have to think that we were dealing with a fairly contagious strain here!

My personal belief is formed from something Mom told me.  A few years back when a lot of folks in Gaspe got the virus, Maureen, John, Uncle Fred and Aunt Judy did not get the virus.  But they all had it the spring before.  This is the case with Sierra.  She caught the virus in the spring of 2024 but the rest of us managed to not get it.  I believe that there is some form of immunity to obtaining the virus a second time within…the same year?  It’s hard to nail down a time frame but it’s definitely more than six months.  Who knows if I’m right?  I haven’t really found scientific research to back this theory up, only anecdotes.

All in all, after four years without the virus, I would say that vaccinations helped us out and gave us minor symptoms.  It is a shame that we had to miss Anne-Marie’s wedding as she was in the middle of chemotherapy treatments during this time but it is what it is.  There was no way we were going to take a chance giving her any virus.