Big Game Huntress

 

Covid has brought out another side in all of us, for many, a dark side. 

 

Wait! Don't leave! 

 

I'm not talking about our reaction the virus itself, whether or not we acknowledge it and understand the threat it poses, we've already shown our true colors in that respect. I'm talking about those new activities we've been forced to come up with over the past 10 or 11 months due to the restrictions we're under, and while we've been unable to do much of what had been an underappreciated part of our everyday life. You know, those new activities we've had to embrace that have become a form self-preservation, like binge watching Schitt'$ Creek (guilty), sport eating (yes, sadly, I've come to see that's a thing), and avoiding spending every second in the same room with our spouse (or is that just me?).

We're writing, we're reading, we're playing online games, we're driving our kids crazy with incessant sharing of memes we think are funny but they don't, we're spending an inordinate amount of time on grocery websites finding their funny mistakes and adding foods to our cart that we know we won't end up ordering. You know, that kinda stuff.

But me? I took up hunting. Big game hunting, no less. Yes, I am officially a huntress. Committed. Locked and loaded. Stalking my prey.

Why? How? Who brought out this dark side of me?

It started with something I'm sure you're familiar with if you read this blog regularly (and you should, you know, it only takes about 5 minutes twice a week) or follow my Baking In A Tornado FB page (pretty please, with sugar and a cherry on top). The something that precipitated my deep dive into the world of armed pursuit was as innocent as having my son coming home (safely) in November after my not having seen him for a year. While he was here, he mentioned that he was trying to get the new Play Station 5, but it was impossible, stock was low, scalper bots were buying them all the minute they came available, and since he was going to be stuck home alone once he returned to Colorado in December, he would love to have one. Always seeing the glass half empty, he was resigned to not getting one in the near (or, due to the limited stock and infrequent availability, distant) future.

Anyway, we had a great month, spending so much time together. We talked, we laughed, I got a little more than one word answers to my questions, I made all of his favorite foods (even sent him home with frozen meals) and I tried out some new recipe ideas on him.

 

Scotcharoo Mini Muffins

But way too quickly that month came to an end. And I was left here with Johnny and Moira (not complaining), a grocery cart full of items to delete, one less taste tester, and the Covid numbers still escalating.

 

Hmmm . . . what to do . . . what to do . . . I really needed a new hobby. Or something.

 

And then it hit me. I would hunt. Now hunting is a blood sport, not something I've ever embraced, but desperate times call for desperate measures, it seems. And one sad, lonely, day after he had left in December, I found myself entertaining the concept of the unthinkable.

 

Here's the true silver lining. I was fully engaged. It was all encompassing, time consuming, I had so much to learn. I had to use patience (not something I've ever been known for), my wiles, my concentration. Hell, I even put my insomnia to good use, turns out night time is optimal for surveillance. I began to stalk those pursuing the same quarry, learning their tactics. I followed hunters on twitter, discovered that I wasn't above using their intel where provided, and incorporating it into the genesis of a strategy of my own. 

The prey was elusive and hundreds of thousands (literally) of people were after it. But I would not give up. Turns out I'm ruthless, tenacious, unrelenting. Who knew? Well, OK, my mom. But I was packing heat, hot on the trail of my quarry. And in a time when we've lost control of so much, I was empowered, determined.

 

So did I, before the end of hunting season (or ever, as the case may be), actually pull the trigger on my loaded credit card to bag that elusive Play Station 5? Well, turns out that isn't the point. It's not the claim, it's the game (a sentiment with which my son would vehemently disagree, btw).

 

Here's something we did agree on: the laughs along the way? No credit card needed, those were priceless.

 

Post of someone I don't know but had started following on twitter (along with 105,000 other people looking for a PS5):

 

Desperate Facebook conversation with a friend who only works at Target part time, and neither in the state where I live nor where PurDude lives:

 

 

One of the most fun phone conversations I've had with PurDude in a long time:

PurDude: Hello.

Me: Hi honey, I think I got one.

PurDude: One what?
Me: A PS5.

PurDude: I think you need to get some sleep.

Me: I really think I got one.

PurDude: That's almost impossible right now.

Me: I know, they sell out the minute they go on sale or the website crashes, but I think I got one. I was stuck in a loop waiting on Boulder so I opened another tab and tried for Longmont.

PurDude: OK, and what makes you think you got one?
Me: This:

 

Big game, bagged.

Scotcharoo Mini Muffins   

                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe


Ingredients:

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup Rice Krispies cereal

 

2 TBSP peanut butter

1 TBSP canola oil

3 TBSP butterscotch chips

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 TBSP butterscotch schnapps (can omit)

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

 

Directions:

*Cover a small tray with parchment paper.

*In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips until smooth when stirred. Gently mix in the cereal. Spoon into 24 small balls onto the parchment paper, then place in the freezer for an hour.

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 24 mini muffin wells. Remove chocolate/cereal balls from the freezer.

*In a microwave safe bowl, melt the peanut butter, canola oil and butterscotch chips at 10 second intervals just until smooth when stirred. Whisk in the brown sugar, vanilla, butterscotch schnapps (if using), and milk. Once incorporated, whisk in the egg, then mix in the flour and baking powder. 

*Divide the batter into the mini muffin wells. Top each with a chocolate/cereal ball and press down just slightly.

*Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until they spring back to the touch. Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely.