Computer Chaos & Creative Procrastination!

Well ... what a shocker of a week I've had at work!! As you can probably guess from this post title, it had nothing to do with my JOB as such - which I love - it was all computer-related!! GRRRRRR!!!! It all started last Thursday when we got a phone call to say that the department's network was showing that we were off-line. So, I rang our IT department at Head Office to get them to talk me through getting it back up (had happened several times in the last month, annoying and time consuming, but do-able). NOT THIS TIME! After nearly two hours with the phone clamped between by ear and shoulder, sitting on the floor with my head stuck under my desk trying to make sense of the upturned-spaghetti-bowl of cords and cables, they decided I needed to send the server to Head Office to be replaced - it was dead. OK ... so I had a crash course in how to put something on a courier and blithely went into a busy weekend of activities, thinking the computer would be back on Monday, good as new. BARP!! WRONG!! I shall cut a VERY long and involved story short (OK, a BIT shorter!) by saying that during Monday and Tuesday I spent another four or five hours on the phone and under the desk, following instructions to pull this cord, plug that lead in, type this, press this key ... my head was awhirl!! And at the end of all this frustration ... they FINALLY decided the problem couldn't be fixed over the phone ... they'd send a tech the hour and a half to fix it!! AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHH!!! Why didn't they just do this last Thursday!! It would have saved my already questionable sanity, saved me getting a crick in the neck and shoulder from being under the desk with a phone tucked under my ear ... and my workload wouldn't have backed up like the Red Sea in front of Moses! SIGH!! So followed two very long days of catch up so that I can start holidays - today was my last day. My boss is now very careful not to mention the "C" word in my hearing - you know the Fawlty Towers catch-phrase, "Don't mention the war!", well, in our office it is now, "Don't mention the computer!"

So ... with all of the extra time spent at work trying to sort out the "C" word, you can imagine that nothing has been crossed off my "To Do" list at home. Oh dear! And Christmas is just over a week away and we leave for the beach on Monday! EEK!! So, of course with such a long list of jobs to accomplish before Monday, I got stuck straight into the list when I eventually made it home from work ... right??? NOPE!! I PROCRASTINATED! :0) Today's form of procrastination (I am a master of sooooo many! Tee! Hee! Hee!) was of the culinary variety - yep! I played in the kitchen and made Sugar Coated Peanuts. Not only are these YUMMO, they are a great, quick idea for Christmas gifts for the sweet-tooths in your life. And it's such a simple recipe, I thought I'd share. Here goes ...

SUGAR COATED PEANUTS

Ingredients: 500g raw peanuts (with the red skin still on); two cups of sugar; two cups of water; 1/2 teaspoon of red food colouring.

Step 1. Place water and sugar into a large frying pan.

Step 2. Stir sugar/water mix over a low heat until sugar dissolves completely.

Step 3. Add red food colouring and stir until combined.

Step 4. Add peanuts to the mix and stir until they are completely coated.



Step 5. Bring to the boil and boil for about 12 minutes, uncovered.


Stir a few times while mixture is boiling so all peanuts cook evenly.

Step 6. At around the 12 minute mark, to check whether the peanuts are ready, dribble some of the toffee mix into a saucer of cold water. If it cracks and goes brittle, it's ready to have the heat turned off. The mix looks a little like bubbling lava at this point.



Step 7. Turn the heat off and stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar crystallises and goes to a powdery consistency as it sticks to the peanuts.

Step 8. Turn coated peanuts out onto a tray lined with baking paper to cool

Once these tasty, sugary morsels are cool, you can either tip them into a nice jar and tie a ribbon round the lid to give someone as a gift, or, my personal favourite ...

GOBBLE THEM UP YOURSELF!! :0)

So ... there you go ... how to procrastinate the afternoon away. On the up side, I WILL be bottling some of these yummies to give as gifts ... if there's any left by the time I'm ready to bottle them! :0) Hmmm ... Maybe I'll just buy some more peanuts and do up another batch! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Hope your week has been less stressful than mine and that your afternoon has been more productive than mine .... though I'm not sure your results could possibly be as yummy! :0) I'll be back at least once before we head to the beach on Monday, so til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS