Recipe ~ Instant Pot Spaghetti

As always, if you just want the recipe, without the story behind it, click here.

This is basically just my regular spaghetti sauce recipe, but with instructions for including the pasta right in the pot instead of cooking it separately in a different pot. The only differences are the pasta in the pot and the addition of extra water.

 I had previously found a recipe elsewhere for Instant Pot spaghetti, but I only really was going for the information I needed for time and additional liquid, cause the recipe itself was just straight up jarred sauce and pasta, which, IMO, doesn't really qualify as a recipe at all, but rather, a method. Anyway, I took into account the fact that the sauce would already be hot, and adjusted the cook time and liquid addition accordingly, and that's it. But I figured I'd post it anyway, since it's Spaghetti September and all. (Yes, I'm still going with that. I won't stop. I will make it a thing.)

 

So, without further ado, I present to you... 

Instant Pot Spaghetti

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20-30 minutes
Total Time: 30-40 minutes (including time to come to pressure & natural release time)

Equipment:

•  Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker

 Ingredients: 

• 2 lbs Ground Beef, Meatballs, Italian sausage, or other meat (can reduce for cost or health)
• 1-3 Tbs Olive Oil
• 2 Lg Yellow Onions, Diced
• 2 green bell peppers, seeded & diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 lb or so carrots, chopped (or minced, it you want to hide them)
• 3-4 Lg stalks celery, roughly chopped
• about 8oz sliced mushrooms of desired type (fresh or canned-drained) 
• 1 Cup white wine (can sub red/merlot) 
• 2 cans (28oz) diced or stewed tomatoes (or 4 14oz)
• 1 can (14oz) crushed/pureed tomatoes
• 1 can (4oz) tomato paste
• 16-24oz good store-bought or homemade marinara sauce
• 1 Tbs Italian seasoning
• 2-4 plums, figs, or dates (fresh or dried), chopped, diced, or pureed (Or sub 2 Tbs sugar)
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
• 1/4 Cup finely minced fresh parsley (or 3 Tbs parsley flakes), more to taste
• 1 whole rind from one wedge parmesan (optional)
• 1/2 Cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)    
• 4 Cups water or broth
• 1 lb spaghetti pasta, broken in half 

 

Directions: 

• Set to sauté, add meat to pot and start to brown, breaking up into smaller pieces if ground.
• Add garlic onion, peppers, and seasonings, and continue sautéing, stirring regularly, until onion starts to turn translucent, adding olive oil if needed to prevent sticking (not usually needed with leaner meats).
• Add additional veggies and cook for another 3-5 minutes.     
• Deglaze pot with wine allowing it to boil and reduce for about 1 minute.
• Add tomatoes, paste, sauce, plums/figs/dates/sugar, parsley, Parmesan grated + rind and crushed red pepper (if using), and stir well.
• Seal and cook on high pressure for 20-30 minutes w/natural release, or 30-35 minutes w/quick release.
• Remove lid, add broth/water, stirring down to bottom of pot as well as able.
• Add pasta to pot in a criss-cross pattern, ensuring it is completely covered in liquid by pushing down with spoon or ladle. 
• Seal and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes w/natural release 
• Stir well & serve

Recipe ~ Extra Veggie & Meat Spaghetti Sauce (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, or Stovetop)

 

As always, if you just want the recipe, without the story behind it, click here.

It seems like almost every search these days for a recipe for any meat dish, but with lots of vegetables ends up being a vegetarian or vegan recipe. Now, I'm not knocking those, and I'm not one to insist on meat with every meal, or even every day, but I AM a confirmed omnivore, and I want it all! 

So, as per my usual, I set out to make it so, and, in honour of Spaghetti September (What do you mean that isn't a thing? It is so! I totally didn't just invent it on the spot!    OK.. I might have.    Fine! I made it up, but it's a good idea!), and on the heels of my homemade marinara recipes, which are great in this spaghetti sauce, decided it was a good time to post it! 

 

My mom's spaghetti sauce always had celery in it, but only a little, and there wasn't minced garlic either - just a little garlic powder, but I prefer the real thing so I knew I wanted to add both of those. Nor did it have much of anything else. It was a very standard sauce, made by adding browned ground beef or Italian sausage, onions, celery, Italian seasoning, and maybe some mushrooms to a can of Ragu. And it was good! I always looked forward to Spaghetti and spinach night (cause, for whatever reason, fresh or frozen spinach, pan "fried" in butter with salt and pepper was ALWAYS the side dish with spaghetti), and always wanted seconds if I could fit it in. But, once my kids were older and the husband was history, I started doing a lot more experimenting with elevating my culinary cred, and had TIME to devote to creating and testing more recipes, I was no longer willing to settle for just "good". 

 

I wanted something that brought together the old nostalgia with some of the sauces I'd had at authentic, Italian restaurants, and was healthier, and had enough vegetables in it that it not only packed in more delicious flavour, but also provided a full serving of veggies with every serving, so certain people who would eat the main dish, but eschew the the veg sides would at least get some extra nutrition. 

So, I looked up a bunch of "the best" recipes, went down several rabbit holes researching what was authentically "traditional, and why, exactly what various ingredients do for the end result in a tomato based meat sauce, discovering that some things actually have chemical reactions aside from the taste of the ingredient, that works with the other ingredients to create whole additional layers of flavour and/or texture (Yay Science!!). I learned a lot, made and ate a lot more spaghetti (I know.. Torture me! LOL), and eventually, perfected (IMO) my final recipe!

 

 There are a few "secret ingredients" in this recipe that really make it shine, from the celery, with its fresh, herbaceous notes, and carrots, giving it the warm, mellow, almost nutty tones, to the addition of pre-prepared marinara to add that extra, robust punch. The red wine brings richness, depth, and complexity, balancing the tomato's acidity with earthy, fruity notes, as well as dissolving fats and triggering flavour molecules from other ingredients, making the overall sauce richer and heartier. 

But it is the plums, figs, or dates, in place of sugar that really push this sauce to another level, with a subtle, but very effective extra dimension and flavour nuance. 

The ingredients list allows for just using sugar, but honestly, it is worth it to use the fruit even if you don't have a crazy huge plum tree in your yard!

 

Extra Veggie & Meat Spaghetti Sauce

 Ingredients: 

    • 2 lbs Ground Beef, Meatballs, Italian sausage, or other meat (can reduce for cost or health)
    • 1-3 Tbs Olive Oil
    • 2 Lg Yellow Onions, Diced
    • 2 green bell peppers, seeded & diced
    • 6 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1/4 lb or so carrots, chopped (or minced, it you want to hide them)
    • 3-4 Lg stalks celery, roughly chopped
    • about 8oz sliced mushrooms of desired type (fresh or canned-drained) 
    • 1 Cup white wine (can sub red/merlot) 
    • 2 cans (28oz) diced or stewed tomatoes (or 4 14oz)
    • 1 can (14oz) crushed/pureed tomatoes
    • 1 can (4oz) tomato paste
    • 16-24oz good store-bought or homemade marinara sauce
    • 1 Tbs Italian seasoning
    • 2-4 plums, figs, or dates (fresh or dried), chopped, diced, or pureed (Or sub 2 Tbs sugar)
    • 2 tsp sea salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
    • 1/4 Cup finely minced fresh parsley (or 3 Tbs parsley flakes), more to taste
    • 1 whole rind from one wedge parmesan (optional)
    • 1/2 Cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)
    

Directions: 

    • Put pot (or skillet, if using slow cooker method) on med-high heat or IP to sauté, add meat to pot and start to brown, breaking up into smaller pieces if ground.
    • Add garlic onion, peppers, and seasonings, and continue sautéing, stirring regularly, until onion starts to turn translucent, adding olive oil if needed to prevent sticking (not usually needed with leaner meats).
    • Add additional veggies and cook for another 3-5 minutes.     
    • Deglaze pot with wine allowing it to boil and reduce for about 1 minute.
        • If using SLOW COOKER, transfer contents of pan to slow cooker. 
    • Add tomatoes, paste, sauce, plums/figs/dates/sugar, and crushed red pepper (if using), and stir well.
        • If using INSTANT POT, stir in minced parsley, and Parmesan grated + rind.
    • Cook:  
        • Instant Pot: Seal lid and cook on high pressure for 20-30 minutes w/natural release, or 30-35 minutes w/quick release.
        • Slow Cooker: Cook on high 4-6 hours, or low 8-16 hours.
            • During the last hour of cooking, stir in minced parsley, and Parmesan grated + rind.
        • Stovetop: Reduce heat to low and gently simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. 
        • During the last 20 minutes of cooking, stir in minced parsley, and Parmesan grated + rind.  

Recipe ~ Quick & Easy Marinara

 

As always, if you just want the recipe, without the story behind it, click here.

This is my cheater version of marinara, and an edited version of the first recipe I ever used to make homemade marinara. It has nowhere near the depth and flavour explosion of my my full marinara recipe, but it is still good enough to rival most of the chain restaurants, and is ready in under 20 minutes. 

 The original recipe I found used butter, instead of olive oil, garlic powder instead of minced garlic (which is easy to keep on hand - I actually use dried, minced garlic, which I reconstitute in a small jar and keep in my fridge. Even professional chefs say there is minimal difference in cooked sauces and simmered/stewed dishes), no wine or wine vinegar, and just some dried oregano and either parsley or basil (can't remember which), instead of Italian seasoning. This takes the same amount of time and effort.. maybe an extra minute or less, and tastes way better, which is why it's posted here, instead of just letting people find that other one when searching. The OG tasted decent, for sure, but it was more like sauce packet marinara, vs chain restaurant marinara, if that makes sense. 

 

If you want to make something more like the little hole in the wall, authentic, family owned Italian restaurant, or nonna would serve, then you'll have to put in the extra time and effort for this recipe. Trust me. It's WORTH IT! But if you just want a darn good sauce for some pasta or mozzarella sticks right now, follow the instructions below. 

 Quick & Easy Marinara

Equipment:

• Medium saucepan.
• Something to stir with.
• Measuring cups/spoons/good eyeball.

Ingredients: 

     • 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil 
    • 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1(6 oz) can tomato paste
    • 1 1/2 cups water 
    • 1 Tbs red wine vinegar or 2 Tbs dry, red wine
    • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
    • a dash each of Salt and pepper, to taste
    • Pinch of sugar

Directions: 

     1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, until tender.

    2. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

    3. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasoning as desired.

Recipe ~ Majorly Mouthwatering Marinara (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, or Stovetop)

As always, if you just want the recipe, without the story behind it, click here.

This big batch marinara can be made in the Instant Pot (or similar), slow cooker, or the stove top, and there are specific instructions for each. A food processor will come in very handy, but isn't absolutely necessary. It's such a big batch because it is a bit time consuming, and, trust me - you're going to want to have more on hand that just one meal's worth! So, have airtight, freezer safe containers on hand to store for later, and/or gift to others. Or, if you're really not into the make ahead thing at all or have zero freezer space, you can scale the recipe down. 

  

I resisted the urge to label this, "The BEST Marinara", because that's already been done multiple times, and that is subjective anyway. 

 

 That said, this recipe was created by testing many of "the best" recipes out there, from handed down family recipes, to restaurants, famous cooking shows, food networks, and food websites, to find the best of the best, then combining elements, methods, and ingredients to come up with a marinara that isn't missing anything, is well balanced, aromatic, the perfect texture, and truly embodies the classic, Italian, family recipes, melded with modern, fine dining experiences. My taste buds and test kitchen tasters say I nailed it, but don't take our word for it! Give it a shot and decide for yourself!

 The amount of olive oil may seem excessive, but it's really not. The additional olive oil - and be sure to use good quality, extra virgin olive oil -  improves the texture and gives it that "secret ingredient" level taste punch than may lesser recipes lack. 

 

If you're looking for a much quicker and easier, but still delicious marinara, check out my recipe for quick and easy marinara (releasing 2025.09.29, so the link won't work 'til then). If you're ready to put in the effort for the explosion of flavours, texture, and nuance of the genuine article, follow the instructions below, and prepare your palate for a delectable delight!  

 

Khaos' Marinara

Equipment:

• large Dutch oven (for stove top), heavy bottom skillet (for slow cooker), or an Instant Pot (or other electric pressure cooker).
• Food processor, blender, or potato masher type tool and large mixing bowl.

Ingredients: 

    • 1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil 
    • 8-10 cloves garlic, minced
    • 2 (28oz) cans crushed/pureed tomatoes
    • 1(6 oz) can tomato paste
    • 1/2 Cup or a little more Merlot (or other dry, red wine)
    • 1/4 Cup fresh basil, finely chopped
    • 2 Tbs fresh oregano, finely chopped
    • 2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
    • 2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
    • 1 tsp fresh marjoram, finely chopped
    • 1-2 Tbs fresh parsley, finely chopped
        (You can sub the fresh herbs for 2 Tbs Italian seasoning, or individual dried herbs - just use 1/3 the amount of dried, and make sure there is parsley in the seasoning mix, or add your own)

    • 1/2 tsp sea salt
    • 1/2-2 tsp fresh ground black pepper or medley (optional)
    • 1 tsp sugar

Directions: 

•  Pour tomatoes into bowl of food processor or blender, and puree until smooth, OR place in a large bowl and use hands and/or a masher to crush tomatoes until no large chunks remain and are as smooth as possible.
• Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven (for stove top), heavy bottom skillet (for slow cooker) over medium-low heat - or the inner liner of the Instant Pot on sauté until shimmering. 
• Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
• Add red pepper flakes (if using) and cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden-brown and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add tomato paste, and cook stirring often, until the paste is darker in color and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add wine and deglaze pan, making sure nothing is left sticking to the pan, and allow to reduce for a minute or so.
• IF USING SLOW COOKER: Dump contents of skillet and all remaining ingredients into slow cooker, cook on high 4-6 hours, or low 6-12 hours, and skip to last step. Otherwise...
• Add remaining ingredients and bring to simmer.
• IF USING INSTANT POT: Seal lid and cook at high pressure for 30 minutes with a natural release, and skip to last step. Otherwise...
• Reduce heat to continue a gentle simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, for an hour or two, until no longer acidic tasting and flavours are fully melded. 
• Serve over whatever sounds good, and portion the rest into 8-16 oz airtight containers for later. 

 Notes: 

• Can be stored in the fridge for a week or two, regular freezer up to 6 months, if airtight, and deep freezer indefinitely. (will still be safe to eat indefinitely in regular freezer, but taste and texture may change slightly) Vacuum seal containers before freezing for maximum freshness.    

Red Room (White Room - Cream Parody)

In the red room with tarp curtains in a warehouse
Onion country, crypto payments, wired hirelings
Blood  concourses run down to screams on the dark web
Website smiles on you grieving, for entertainment.

I'll wait in this place where the sun never shines
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves

You thought no strings would be perfect on her profile
That's the ticket, restless damsels, in chat windows
You fell into such a bad time from your frustration
As you logged in, felt my own need just beginning
I'm waiting for you when you come 'round back
Ties bind you so no chance to run from your hell.

At this party you're the feature for the hard crowd
Exultation in each new wound for high bidding
Hungry tigers webcam watchers look in your eyes
Getting messy, goodbye is close, my poor darling

You'll lie in this place bleeding for the crowd;
Die in the dark where the shadows run from themselves

© 2025 Khaos WolfKat

Micah (Luka Parody - Suzanne Vega 1987)

My name is Micah. 
I live where there is no shore. 
I live way East of you.
To drive here takes 3 hours or more

If you hear something late at night
Some kind of rustle, some kind of bite
Just don't ask me what it was
Just don't ask me what it was
Just don't ask me what it was

I think it's because I'm hungry
I try not to snack too loud
Maybe it's because I'm cranky
I missed my nap cause of the crowd

I brought you my zucchini long
What do you mean by, "That's so wrong?"
We just don’t measure anymore
We just don’t measure anymore
We just don’t measure anymore

Yes I think I'm okay
Found Grogu stealing snacks again
If you ask that's what I'll say
And it's not your business anyway

I guess I'd like to be alone
My diet's broken, buttons blown
Just don't ask me if I ran
Just don't ask me if I ran
Just don't ask me if I ran

His name is Micah
He wants a Daddy at his door
He lives way East of you
Yes I think you’ve heard that before

If you see crumbs across the floor
He'll say the green one’s back for more
Just don’t ask him "Where's the cake?"
Just don’t ask if he ate the cake
Just don’t ask him about the cake

Monday Noon at Acid Test
We laugh and cry, confess our mess.
If you ask why we don’t slack
We’ll just say "Keep Coming Back!"

If you hear laughter getting loud,
It’s just the parking lot naughty crowd.
Just don’t ask us what it was,
Just don’t ask us what it was,
Just don’t ask us what it was.

© 2025 Khaos WolfKat & [Anonymous]
An Acid Test original. Just don’t ask us what it was. 😏

One {With My Mug} (Metallica Parody)

 I can't remember anything
Until I've had my caffeine
Deep down inside I feel to scream
This withdrawal headache drops me

Now that the night is through with me
I'm waking up, I cannot see
Why no coffee's left for me
Nothing is real but pain now

Morning breath and I smell like death
Oh java, wake me
Back to my room my nerves to steel
In pumps life that I must feel
But can't look forward to a meal
Wait for the time when I live

I need a tube that sticks in me
Just want a nice caffeine IV
Synced to alarm clock so hands free
How divine would that be
Catch my breath as I wish for leth
Oh fresh brew wake me

Now the wait is gone, the coffee's done
Oh quad shot, help me
Take a breath, oh this roast has depth
Rich nectar, wake me

Darkness in a mug for me
All that I see
Absolute hoarder
I cannot give
I will not share
All for myself
Jitter juice making me well

Cuppa has given me sight
Given me speech
Sharpened my hearing
Strengthened my arms
Given me legs
Awakened my soul
Before I was just a shell

© 2025 Khaos WolfKat

Behold ~ The Dolly Llama!

dollyllama.biz.id

Introducing a brand new guru ~  your spiritual guide for the days when adulting is cancelled, naps are mandatory, and cranky is your default setting. 

 

She hails from the sacred space where mirth meets mysticism and seriousness gets side-eyed.

 

Her alphabet blocks of wisdom (cause who needs pearls!?) is perfect for those moments when patience is on backorder and enlightenment can wait until after snack time!

 

Soon to be available, pending interest level, in plushy form, and her various teachings as posters, postcards, greeting cards, and more.

Fake Wood End Table Refurbish

 I'd been trying to figure out for a while how I was going to "fix" the damaged area of this end table. It was my parents', and I hadn't even realised for some time that it wasn't real oak, like most of their living room furniture, and the other end tables, but turned out it is made of pressboard, with a fake wood laminate. Now, no hate on this! I have plenty of pressboard stuff, and it usually lasts well and looks great, but this one had gotten some water damage, and if you've ever had pressboard furniture, you know what that means! 

I forgot to take a picture before I started at all, but here are a couple pics that show it a bit...

Setting up all the nice stuff, both my things that had weathered well, or that I fixed up, and the stuff of my parents' that I inherited, in my new digs that are actually NICE (not like fancy nice, but not ghetto either), I didn't want that messing up the look of everything else, but the rest of it looked good, and it is a pretty solid piece. So, I started With sealing the damaged bit with epoxy. 

  

 Well.. ACTUALLY, I started with trying to paint a base layer over it all, but quickly discovered that the paint soaked right into the compressed sawdust that is pressboard, no matter how much paint I used, and just looked like there was NO paint there, which is why you can see paint on part of the table, but the one spot that looks like I didn't paint in that pic, so I did the epoxy bit, and THEN added a spray paint base. 

 

For some reason, I also didn't take a pic of it  fully spray painted, before the next step. Probably because I was in the process, but it was fully that khaki colour before I switched to the acrylic paints. 

 The next step was adding in large brushes of the main few colour blends, and some contrasting lines, get the feel of wood grain.

 You can see my creative mess pile.. err.. I mean workstation there, above. 

  Another angle and more coverage. 

 

 Starting to add in more texture here.   

Then I decided that I really liked how it was looking, but, it didn't match the rest of the table, so then came the idea to make it look like the top was made from reclaimed wood, so I painted the lines for that, and started working them in with the texturing.  

Yeah, it just looks like lines messily drawn on there at first, but trust the process! 

 

  More, more, more blending and texturing. 

 

 Just about done, but still doesn't have quite the right look. 

Annnnnd, now I routinely forget that it's not just real wood, like the other stuff, and nobody who visits believes it's just painted unless they look really close either. I am happy with the end result!

 

 

 

Smokeless Fire Pit on a SERIOUS Budget AND Disabled Friendly Build

This is an account of how I built my really snazzy looking (IMO), smokeless, turbo air charged (OK, not turbo, but you can clearly hear the air rushing in! It's super cool! Err.. Hot, actually) fire pit, mostly sitting down, for about $110.00 +tax. 

First of all, I read a lot of instructionals, and watched even more videos on the topic of DIYing a smokeless fire pit. There were lots of good builds, good ideas, and aspects of various ones that I liked. Most of them were either out of my budget range, and/or required a level of labour that I can no longer do, nor afford to pay for, and a crazy amount of them assumed that "on a budget" means under $1000, or even "really cheap" builds for $300 -$500. 

The ones that were in the under $150 range were mostly ones made from repurposed junk and salvaged materials that were not the aesthetic I wanted, or they required the manual labour to locate, pick up, haul, load, and unload salvaged materials myself, which I'm just not able to do. As mentioned elsewhere in this blog, and known to many of y'all, I am disabled. My walking and standing time are seriously limited, and any serious lifting and working must be done seated. So, I needed something I could afford on a fixed income, DYI-able within my abilities and with very limited help, that still looked attractive, fit with the natural theme I wanted, and was easily usable for me as well. 

I've never been one to give up once I decide I want to make something happen, so, next came the adapt, improvise, and overcome phase! I figured out what elements were really important for what I wanted, and what was just extra work for bragging rights.

I was able to do the majority of the work seated. I did have some help with bringing me stuff, but I also could have used my scooter and my Gorilla dumping wagon (These things are AWESOME, BTW) to do the hauling stuff myself. It just would have added a bit more time to the job. That said, that would be true even if I were fully able bodied, so no net difference. 

I applied for a Dom Depot (AKA Home Depot. LOL) credit card, and got fifty bucks off the whole haul, plus free delivery, which helped a lot! You can get most of the supplies cheaper at Wally World, but with the $50 off, this was cheaper for me. Here's what I ended up with...

Supplies

• Retaining wall blocks x34 ($81.00)

The main structure of the fire pit, obviously. Cheaper stones than these can be had, to make your overall project even more budget friendly, but I really liked these a lot, and they fit within my under $150 cap.

• Sand ($7.59) (Available at WalMart for cheaper)

Insulates, to keep fire and heat contained, absorbs and helps distribute heat evenly, supports and helps even out the base stones, absorbs moisture, to help with drainage. 

• Pea Gravel ($6.25) (Available at WalMart for cheaper)

Helps with drainage, heat distribution, and air flow. 

 • Lava rock ($14.29) (Available at WalMart for cheaper and a bigger bag)
Retains heat, to keep the fire pit hotter, longer, absorbs and helps distribute heat evenly, provides additional air flow for hotter and cleaner burning, and drainage.

Instructions

• Lay ring of 12 stones
• Mark around outside & move stones out of the way. 
• Dig out the marked circle 2-3 inches deep.

• Lay sand & level - Dump the bag out in the circle and spread it out with a rake or something. A metal rake like the one shown is best for this, IMO. 

• Replace the 12 stones, using sand underneath to level them as needed. 
• Remove 4 stones opposite one another (make sure remaining stones stay put!)

• Lay 2nd two levels, staggering stones for each layer.

• Optional, but recommended - Place two stones inside, to support wood for fire building and/or for supporting cooking grate. Having the stones there to prop a couple logs on over your tinder and kindling REALLY improves fast and easy fire starting! It will up your fire game for real. 

• Add pea gravel and level. 

• Add lava rock and level.

• Enjoy your new fire pit!.

 

• Optional step - I used a couple cinder blocks to make a holder for fire tongs, poker, skewers, etc. It works well.  

 

 • Another optional, but definitely recommend step - I built a matching bench, right up next to the pit, with some additional retaining wall blocks. It is perfect placement for building the fire whilst sitting, and some additional seating that looks great. 

 

  This should look familiar to anyone who has ever chatted in the Gorean Room on Alt.com, or pretty much any other Gorean chat room that allows RP as well.

 

Dramaville
(Sung to the tune of "Margaritaville", by Jimmy Buffet)

Typin' to some chick,
Layin' it on thick;
All of the slaves here are dainty and sweet.
Tellin' her sweet things,
She promises no strings.
Yeah someday you know that we're gonna meet

Wasted a day again chattin in Dramaville,
Searchin' for my lost honor in Alt
Some people claim that there's a troll there to blame
but I know, it's just damned Alt

Don't know the reason,
Stayed here all season
Now I got me a slave, she wears my collar with style.
But she's a real beauty,
A kajira cutie,
At least it says so on her Yahoo profile!

Wasted a day again chattin in Dramaville,
Searchin' for my lost honor in Alt
Some people claim that there's a troll there to blame
Now I think, - hell it could just be Alt.

She's up to her old tricks.
I found out her new Nick,
I made a big fuss and then called her a whore
But there's slavegirl_supine
I think she'll do just fine
I keep coming back here to take it some more.

Wasted a day again chattin in Dramaville,
Searchin' for my lost honor in Alt
Some people claim that there's a troll there to blame
but I know, it's just damned Alt
Yes, and some people claim that there's a troll there to blame
And I know... I should stay outta Alt!

Lyrics © Khaos WolfKat 2008

What is Non Sexual/Romance/Kink Oriented D/s?

 

 There seems to be some disconnect between my and some others' definition of "non sexually or romantically oriented", so I am posting this to clarify. 

I realise that many people view and/or enter into D/s dynamics as a kink, fetish, or sex/arousal oriented thing, or as the basis or a part of a romantic relationship, and that is fine, for those who practice in those ways. 

It is very important to note, however, that there are also many people who view D/s as an integral part of their lives/lifestyle, without the necessity, or even desire for any kind of kink, fetish, sexual, or romantic element to it. It is possible, and far more common than you may think, to have a D/s dynamic without any of that. 

 For those of us in this camp, a D/s element will likely be an important part of any romantic relationship, and often part of sexual or BDSM activities, but those things are not part of the D/s. Rather, the D/s is part of them because it is a part of our lives, period.

If your desired dynamic includes or focuses on any of the things like those listed below, then you are seeking a sex and/or romance oriented dynamic:

• Orgasms - Control, restrictions, requirements, causing, denying, "edging", or anything else regarding getting off or being sexually aroused.
  
• Rules, restrictions, or required wearing/not wearing of panties or anything else (bra, high heels, lingerie, short skirts, corsets, fetish wear, etc) for the purpose of feeling/looking sexy or having one's body "open" or "available".
• Sex toys, their use, requirements or restrictions on their use.
• Rules, restrictions, or required disclosure regarding masturbation, sexual partners, or other sexual activities.
• Sexually servicing the dom or others.
• Having access to the sub's body in any sexual kind of way, for any reason.
• Doing/not doing anything specifically because it turns someone on. 
  

If you want control or involvement with any of those elements, then you should be looking for someone who is also seeking a sexual dynamic, as a non sexual dynamic, by definition, does not include them. 

Non sexual dynamic means that if the dom (or sub) needs/wants a blowjob, handjob, intercourse, cyber sex/wank fodder, etc, they get it somewhere else. 

And no, calling a sex act, "punishment", because "Well, you aren't supposed to like punishment" does not make it an accepted part of a non sexual dynamic. That is just gross and rapey.

That doesn't mean some aspect is never allowed to cause arousal for anyone involved. It might. We don't always know what will cause that reaction. It just means that none of what is done or involved in the dynamic is for the purpose of arousal. 

I hope that clears things up.