Moon Landing Day

55 years ago today...

My paternal grampa told me he felt so lucky with his life.  He said he experienced the first airplane flight (by news, not personally of course) and lived long enough to see humans land on the moon and return safely.  He was very impressed by that.

And that was from someone who experienced WWI, The Great Depression, and WWII...  I was only 19, so I did not properly understand the event at the time.  In my life at the time, scientific advancement was routine and success was assumed.  

Medicine was much advanced.  I suffered appendicitis at 18.  At my grampa's age, I probably would have died.  And I was vaccinated agains several serious diseases.  In college, I was using a computer data center to write code (on punch cards) in Fortran and COBOL.  I could drive the family car, which was relatively solid and safe (station wagons were the SUVs of the time).  Food was refrigerated, safe, and abundant.  We had TV and A/C.

At my age then, grampa had none of those things.  And I suppose grampa was impressed by those things too when I was 19.  But the moon landing seemed to impress him very greatly.  In spite of the negative events of his (somewhat difficult) life, he remained a fairly cheerful and positive person.  He saw the advancements more than the failings of the world.

He was an organic gardener.  "Garden" doesn't quite describe it.  It wasn't a residential garden like we are familiar with today, but neither was it a farm.  It was about 1/2 acre, which he attended to happily when he wasn't building stuff in his large workshop.  I followed in his organic gardening habits and wood-working because of him (though on a much smaller scale.

And I don't want to leave gramma out.  She cooked wonderfully (Pennsylvania Deutch style).  When we visited, I would sit on the porch with her de-stringing beans and de-silking corn, helping in the kitchen too.  When I'm not strir-frying, I'm cooking basically like she did but with a a bit less frying.  "Like", not remotely as well (I still can't make a decent dumpling)...

But I mention her because she was fascinated by "outer space".  When we landed on the moon, she told me that if we could go "out there", then some other intelligent species could come "down here".  And she trusted the advancement of intelligent species.  She said that if a spaceship landed here, she would volunteer to go aboard.

So for both of them (and for general reasons), I wanted to honor this day...

Good Day

I had a good day!

1.  Received notice from the County Court that my request to be permanently excused from jury duty was approved.  I feel bad about that in a way, but I just can't sit for hours istening to lawyers argue making bad arguments if I can't be part of the discussion.  And I'm certain most of the people in the waiting room won't wear masks.

2.  Grocery shopping - Peaches and plums are back!  I love those.  Had to laugh recalling the produce staff guy saying they only carried them "in season".  I know thew start getting them from the southern hemisphere about now.  And he did too, but just wanted an excuse to not fulfill the weekly ad.

3.  Cleaned up a lot of mess from The Mews.  They run around a lot and tip stuff over.  That's OK.  Active cats are better than boring ones.  But I did a lot of sweeping and stuff.

4.  Cleaned all the litter boxes as I di every day or two (depends on usage).  The new high-side litterboxes are working well.  Loki likes to pee straight backwards, which went over the sides of the regular ones. 

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5.  Pork stir-fry and 2 shrimp rolls.  Home-made.  I discovered the Safeway has them in small bags in the produce section.  

6.  It snowed a few inches last week, twice.  When it melted I discovered the earliest crocuses were blooming!

There are about a dozen patches of them, but those are the 2 best.  

7.  Replanted a lot of pansies.  They were frost-heaved up before the established new roots. We had unusually low temps a couple weeks ago. Hopefully, there is still time for them get set with new roots and bloom.

8.  Received a new M/W.  The old one was deteriorating at the top where the magnet is.  Seemed dangerous, so I bought a replacement.  Best Consumer Reports rating (that fit my needs) of course.  Out with the old, in with the new!

9.  Took down the Holly branches I trimmed for height and attached to the front door and mailbox as Xmas decorations.  The leaves were heading to "pale", so it was time.

10.  Filled the 2 thistle seed feeders (for the finches) and the black oil sunflower seed feeder (for most of the others.  And replenished the 2 suet feeders.  Counted 6 pairs of cardinals there just an hour later and many other smaller birds too.  Well, male cardinals are easier to count.

11.  Covered much of the raised garden beds in black plastic.  By planting time in May, the weeds should be dead.

12.  Cleaned muddy work shoes.  They got bad enough when I had to bury Laz.  And worse when I had to bury Ayla.  And it was hard, so I just left them in the basement.  But you have to go on, so I cleaned them top to bottom.  After a few days, when they dry, I will polish them and the wipe "boot wax" on them.  They are 20 years old and fit my feet like a glove.  I would hate to have to replace them.

Enough for 1 day, right?  LOL!

A Couple Of Good Productive Days

Some things have not been going well around here lately.  Nothing life-altering, but when things go wrong (broken birdfeeder pole, lettuce plants died inside the house,  roof shingle blew off in a storm, etc) it adds up, it can get pretty annoying.

So I am happy to mention a few successes!

1.  I cooked a standing rib roast a couple days ago, and I don't think I've ever done that before.  I marinated it overnight (red wine, garlic, onion, herbs) and cooked it to "rare". I don't eat meat rare, but I was slicing it in 1/2" pieces to freeze and reheat later (so that it wouldn't be "well-done" after reheating.   Came out great!

2.  I went grocery shopping (hence the standing prime rib) and also bought a spiral sliced ham (for slicing and freezing for sandwiches).  I check the receipt before I leave the store to make sure I got my Safeway loyalty card discounts and the digital ones from their website.  They were there.  But when I got home, I realized that they had charged me for the ham twice.  

I wasn't sure how to prove I hadn't bought 2 hams.  But in the middle of the night, it occurred to me that the repeated price of 2 hams would be exactly twice the cost on the label.  Which would be really unlikely if I had bought 2 different hams.  So I brought it back to the store (in a cooler with ice-packs around it) and explained it to the customer service manager.

She finally agreed and refunded the cost of the "2nd ham".  Yay!  If she hadn't, I would have demanded they check their videotape of the purchase.  I'm glad a didn't have to.  Actually, it occurs to me just now that I benefited from the refund more than I should have.  

I used a 10% discount coupon I got from them for getting my RSV vaccine.  And I got credit toward a future gas purchase (every $100 spent there gets me 10 cents per gallon off at their gas station).  I don't think I will go back to complain about that because I think it would just be too difficult to calculate and it would be about $2 at most.

3.  A very minor thing, but I advised 2 different people that they had dropped a glove, and a 3rd person that they had dropped their covid mask.  Little things matter.

4.  I've mentioned having laser printer color problems.  The Canon agent finally concluded (after an hour-long discussion and fix-attempts) that I most likely needed new toner.  So I bought some.  And when I got home and looked at the boxes, suddenly I saw similar ones in the computer room.  I had already bought new ones!

So yesterday, I went to return them.  I was concerned they would accept toner back.  But the boxes were unopened and pristine, and they didn't even argue about it.  But when they scanned the receipt on the 1st (black) box, it refused to register.  I figured there was a special policy refusing toner returns.  Bt when I suggested scanning the actual box bar code, it was accepted.  As were the color boxes.  

That was a great relief.  Toner lasts a lot longer than inkjet cartridges but is more expensive per cartridge.  If they had refused the return, I would have been out more than $250!  But it all worked out and I am very happy about that

5.  My good neighbors gave me a small box of Xmas goodies.  I had already bought a small box of chocolate-covered cherries for them and was waiting to add some banana/walnut muffins.  I finally made the muffins last night.

I was delayed on that because I kept not quite having all the ingredients.  Banana/walnut cake is a rather complicated recipe usually cooked in a bundt pan.  It came to me via Mom from Dad's mom.  I've loved it from childhood to the present.  Mom said she would only leave me the recipe in her Will, and she came darn close to that.  Thankfully she relented when she realized she couldn't cook any more.

It is sort of like a spice cake, but only like a standing prime rib roast is like a rump roast.  There is the usual flour and sugar and baking soda.  But you have to separate the egg yolks and whites.  You have to chop walnuts.    You have to mash 2 ripe bananas.  You have to "sour" some milk (milk plus some vinegar).  You have to whip the egg whites.

Then stir various ingredients together in a certain order for a couple minutes each (and it is thick and hard to stir).  Finally, you gently fold the whipped egg white in.  Add that is just for the bundt cake method.  But I wanted to make cupcakes/muffins for the neighbors present.  

I get in over my skills sometimes.  Muffins cook differently from cakes.  I had to look that up and got so many different instructions.  350F vs 375.  15 minutes or 20.  Cupcake papers or parchment paper circles on the bottom.  Top oven shelf or middle.  Fill 1/2 way or 2/3.  I went with cupcake papers and averaged the rest.

Because there is always "the toothpick test"...  The final arbitrator of doneness, LOL!  I was nervous about the results the whole time they were cooling.  After an hour, I finally gave one a taste-test (I had 22).  It was perfect...

I don't bake desserts often.  Brownies or tollhouse cookies a few times a year.  I hadn't made a banana/walnut cake in 5 years.  I 'm not sure I had made them as muffins before.  You experienced bakers may smile, but I feel insufferably pleased!  For me, that was a big deal.  And they worked out.😁

6.  And finally, I did something that might be useful to all cooks.  I've been frustrated about where to place my recipe cards while using them.  I've previously propped them up on the back of my cutting board, but stuff gets splashed around sometimes.  I wanted something better.  I could have glued a plastic clip to the base of the cabinet door above where I do my food prep.  But that seemed ugly.

So I stuck a small piece of double-sided tape in the center of the bottom of the door.  Then I stuck a small refrigerator magnet on the tape.  Then I put a small magnet with a handle on that.  I just take the top one off and trap the recipe card between them. 

 

So I've had a great couple of days.  Successful returns, error-adjustments, cooking a few things, and a nice little invention.  

Fathers Day (Late), But Other Stuff

First, Happy day-late Fathers Day to all Dads out there.  Since I am not one myself (unless you count The Mews), and my own Dad is deceased,I tend to forget it most years.  I mentioned it on The Mews blog around mid-day (when I finally realized it), but didn't post here then because I was busy.

Second, the "busy" was cooking chicken thighs in the smoker.  It was a total coincidence.  Last time I used it was late October.  Well, I've been learning to use the air-fryer since then.  But I bought 10 chicken thighs Friday, drowned them in dry rub overnight Sat/Sun and started the smoker up at Noon.  Naturally, a stiff wind sprung up after I started, so I had to spend more time than usual just making sure things were safe.

And I am safe.  Hose on and ready to use, welding gloves, long tongs, bucket of water below the incoming air vent (in case a bit of charcoal falls out through it), and the skoker is visible through the kitchen window while I am doing work inside.

Lori spent most of the time inside.  She was out when I started, but she likes to jump onto the smoker (she has never experienced it being hot).  And when she made a move on the deck rails toward it, I put her inside.  Like I said "safe".

The chicken turned out well.  I've read that all the smoke you are going to get into the meat happens in the first hour.  So I give it 2 hours and then finish it at 225F.  I can safely say you will never see me on one of the outdoor cooking contests, LOL!

Third, have had 2 minor but annoying wounds recently.  Contacted the Fry Daddy Friday night while making shrimp rolls.  It hurt at the time, but seemed to stop quickly.  Next morning, I discovered a blister the size of a grape.  Right between my right thumb and forefinger, and that was an awkward spot.  I soaked a needle in mouthwash (cheap sanitation) and popped it.  Don't go all "ick".  It is just broken cell contents.  

I dried it with a tissue, dapped some Triple Ointment on it and put a large flexible band-aid on it.  The band-aids hold against water, but not soap, so I've gone through 6 of them.  I leave it exposed when I can (heals faster), but it is a spot that gets brushed often in regular daily activities.  So it is annoying.

I also found a splinter in a finger.  Not anything important in itself, but I kept picking at it.   And when I finally got it out it wouldn't stop bleeding!  That is unusual for me.  I get a shot, they put a bandaid over it and it is clean when I take it off.  I cut a minor cut (I do live a wild life, LOL!) and a wipe ends the bleeding.  So this was odd.  So I end up with bandaids on 2 places on the same hand.  

Fourth, I have 2 digital kitchen probe thermometer/timers and 2 digital non-timing thermometers.  All of a sudden, none worked!  Three of them have batteries I can replace (love those rechargeable batteries).  One has a special battery.  I hate those round one-use batteries.  One registered the house temperature as 200F.  2 wouldn't display at all, and the last has to be tapped a few times to display.

Four all at once going bad?  That is like lottery ticket odds.  And none were especially accurate before.   I tested then all a few weeks ago (using a crushed ice/water slurry and then boiling water).  One of the digital kitchen probe thermometer/timers was 4F low and the other was 4F high.  I could deal with that putting labels on each.  

The 2 digital non-timing thermometers are more problematic.  One is WAY crazy and the other keeps changing the display 4F at a time.  The way crazy one needs the special round battery; the other uses an AAA baterry.  Replacing it didn't change anything.  Actually, I suspect the cabled probes have failed.  I'll have to see if new probes are cheaper than whole new thermometers.

Fifth, I bought an electric lawn mower a few years ago.  It was awful.  It has 2 batteries and each lasts about 5 minutes for light work.  So I bought a much better one (Ryobi self-propelled).  Each of the 2 batteries last about 30 minutes (self-propel takes energy), but it was worth it.  I only used it for trimming work.

But right after the warrantee expired, I hit something that caused the blade to stop turning.  I suppose the is a shear pin in there somewhere.  I keep planning to disassemble the blade connections and look for one, and I keep not doing it.  There is always something more urgent to do.  There is a mower repair shop nearby that mentions they repair electric mowers.  I should just bring it to them and pay to get it fixed.  I really miss the self-propelled feature (forward AND reverse).

Sixth, I got the 40 meadow flower seedlings planted days ago.  They all seem to be thriving and I can't wqait to see what they grow and bloom into.  But I strained my back and knees doing it.  Limped around for 3 days.  I'm finally feeling better today, so I guess I can go out and do something else to mess myself up again.  The garden enclosure that was damaged in heavy snow last January (oddly can't recall if that was this year or the previous) keeps calling out for attention.

Seventh, speaking of the garden enclosure, the problem is that the electrical conduit pipe I inserted in the PVC pipe was bent and in a couple places, the PVC connections actually broke.  FYI, the metal pipe was for strength; the PVC was for the convenient complex connections not available for the metal.  

It was all my fault.  Several years ago, a snowfall bent them slightly.  But I was able to straighten them in place.  So I added temporary supports at all the half-points on the top.  They are at awkward places in the garden, so the plan was to put them up in early Winter.  I didn't last year (was it 2 years ago?).  And when the forecast was for 2" of snow one night, I didn't worry about it.  But we got 8"!  Everything bent.

I never remember to keep the camera in my pocket, so no pics of the bent pipes...  😞

Well, any way, I was walking the yard and looked at the bent metal pipes and decided I was never going to fix the garden enclosure if I didn't straighten the metal conduit first.  How do that was uncertain.  But I tried sticking one end on the pipe under the shed It sits on cinder blocks).  That worked a bit but not completely because the ground was too sloped for full bending.  So I carried a cinder block to the other shed and put a pipe end under the riding mower trailer hitch and over the cinder block.  That worked.

Not that the metal conduits are as straight as when I bought them, but it was close enough.  That didn't help my back much, but now all I need is a PVC 4-way connector, 3' of PVC pipe (to replace what I had to cut off), and connectors to join the new short pieces.

I am considering buying serious black iron pipe.  A bit expensive, but snow wouldn't bend that.  I'll give the electrical conduit (with additional supports) another heavy snow before I try the black iron.

Eighth, I almost forgot about shaving my head.  Meagan asked why.  Well, several reasons.  I got tired of trimming my hair myself.  And I don't like going to the barber recently.  There are always a few people who just won't wear masks.  The last visit (last Fall), there was a guy coughing and maskless and I asked him about a mask.  

He was an anti-vaxxer.  Said he was a professional "pharmacueticalist" and that zinc and Vitamin C worked fine.  I said I doubted that, in the face of all the professional research and he got angry.  So I just said "no fight here" because he was leaving.  But I kept my mask on for a while until I had to take it off so the barber could shave around my ears.

The barber is a nice guy, but he isn't going to argue with anyone.  So I haven't been back since.  And so, I decided to just eliminate the need to visit at all.  Shaved my head...

Not like I still had a lot.  I was bald on the top anyway.  Not much to lose.

That odd thing is that my baseballs hats feel odd on my scalp.  I tightened each a notch and that helped them fit better.

Cooking

 I love to prepare food and cook it.  I find it satisfying to do the knifework, plan the timing, handle the food, and then eat it (and preparing food and eating it are two different pleasures).  I don't know exactly when that started, but I remember being in the kitchen as a young teenager.  Mom listened to Broadway musicals and that probably lured me in to start.  But I've always enjoyed good food.  

So when I asked "can I help?" I got a few minor jobs.  Peel potatoes and carrots.  Mash the potatoes.  Watch the timer.  Eventually, I got to actually cut some veggies.  I got better at stuff.  

It's not like I liked it better than a lot of other activities (golfing, bowling, building simple wood stuff, HO trains, Marvel comic books, reading sci-fi), but it was one.  And both Mom and I enjoyed classical and Broadway music.

I had always been the primary dish-washer (being eldest child) and baby-sat the younger siblings (being eldest child).  But one of the pleasures of baby-sitting was that I was also trusted to make a simple dinner at 12 (Chung King Chicken Chow Mein in the old double cans was my favorite, being easy to manage).

I was a Boy Scout.  And I had this idea that a guy should be able to do anything it took to get by day-to-day.  I would have taken Home Economics in school, but that was reserved for girls (guys took wood-working shop) back then (mid 60s).

I came across a funny phrase back then; "If you like bacon, you have to get down in the mud and keep the hogs happy".  Meaning, if you want something, you have to be able to do it yourself.  I liked good food.

I've probably mentioned this before (you blog long enough and you can repeat yourself) but Mom was a very average cook and seldom met a vegetable that couldn't be boiled for too long.  When I discovered stir-frying and steaming later it really opened my eyes to food.

In college, I earned money and/or free meals by cooking sweet&sour pork for other guy's cheap dates in the dorm rec room.  

There's a slight story behind that.  Male dorms never had stovetops in the rec rooms.  Female dorms did.  In 1969, the Univ of MD arranged for a coed dorm by application and approval.  I was approved.  WOW, there was a stovetop (and a bathtub in the shower room BTW).  

Well, I had nothing to cook WITH, so I took a job selling cookware.  Great stuff.  Stainless steel inside and out with a layer of copper in between for heat diffusion.  But if you sold one set, you got to keep the sales kit.  I sold one set and quit and had a full set of cookware that was worth a year's tuition!

So I was able to cook meals at the new coed dorm.  I told the other guys in the dorm that I could cook sweet&sour pork.  The cost was either $5 above ingredient cost or I would buy enough to feed "them and a date and me too.  I had dropped out of the dining hall expense and bought a mini-fridge (good for beer and cheap steaks).  Fed myself better than the dining hall did, and cheaper too.

A business major on my floor of the dorm arranged to sell cheesesteak subs for 2 hours each night for his major.  I cooked a LOT of those.  He offerred better than minimum wage and 1 free sub each night.  So, I love to cook.

Anyway, here was dinner last night.  Cubed smoked pork with smothered onions, broccoli, bicolor corn-on-the-cob, and a nice tossed salad.  With zinfandel wine and leftover cocktail.  I love variety in a meal.  

A bit of pan-frying adds taste and appearance to corn...  Well, there was oil in the pan, so why not use it?

And it makes a salad better when you have variety to choose from.

Dessert was assorted cut-up fresh fruit.

Dinner At Chez Cavebear

A few months ago, I received an offer to subscribe to many magazines at $2 per year.  I know a come-on when I see it, but 3 of them were interesting and I had subscribed to them in the past.  Cooks Illustratated and Eating Well, and I forget the 3rd which hasn't arrived yet.

I'm no sucker.  I know they will beg me to renew the subscription in a year.  I won't.  But, as they desire to take advantage of me (hoping I will automatically renew) I will take advantage of them.  Both magazines are very good and have good recipes.  A year's worth of good recipes from 2 cooking magazines is nice.

In fact, they are good enough that I used all the subscription inserts as bookmarks.  Oddly, they equaled each other rather well.

One that interested me was beef with black bean garlic sauce and asparagus.  I didn't find that sauce in the store when I shopped but I found black beans and I found the basic recipe online.  OK, so it wasn't fermented black beans.  And I didn't use flank steak.  But I improvise.

I had New York Strip steak I cut into 2"x2"x6" pieces 1/4" thick because I like cutting the pieces against the grain.  I had the black beans (but not fermented).  I had garlic. I had canned jalepeno.  I immersion-blended the mix.  Close enough.  Then I made a cornstarch slurry of beef boullion paste, sherry, and soy sauce with some toasted sesame seed oil.

The wok cooked the beef nicely and I set it in a bowl.  Then wokked asparagus, red bell peppers, and scallions.  Just the too much "crunch".  Returned the beef and poured the cornstarch slurry in for a minute.    That made the veggies "crunch" right.  Had to add water because the slurry was too thick, but water never ruins the taste, just changes viscosity.

The result was very good!  Enough hot for me (I don't need much), enough beef (I like meat but not a LOT!) and the veggies came out perfectly.  With a nice tossed salad, a perfect meal.  Hurray to a magazine recipe (even if I didn't follow it exactly).

Next time, I will serve it over angel hair spaghetti or fettucini.  It needed a starch (I used a slice of bread).

A professional chef would have been horrified, I suppose.  Well, I'm not one, but I can turn out a decent dish most times.  The failures get tossed (there is a good reason to have premade meals in the freezer).  The good ones I eat and enjoy.  LOL!

Happing dining to all!

Shopping And Healing

Or maybe not so much healing.  I had stuff I needed, so I went out.  Walmart was an experience.  I needed a bunch of odd stuff.  And I sure discovered I'm not healing much more lately.    One thing I really needed was cat litter.  I've given up trying to lift those 35 pound tubs, so I get the 12 (whatever) pound jugs.  The big tub cost isn't lower enough to make it worth scooping it all into smaller containers anyway.

I used to just casually pick up 2 of the smaller jugs at a time.  Now it takes both hands for one.  My shoulder reminds me it isn't like it was.  I even have to remember to pick up a 6-pack of soda with the left hand.  The right arm is USUALLY OK, but sometimes there is the OUCHIE if I bend it wrong.

I had a real cartful this time.  I usually go through self-checkout, but I decided to stand in line so the cashier would bag everything.  Emptying the cart into the car was a pain.  

Then I went grocery shopping.  That wasn't a lot of fun.  After walking through the football-sized Walmart, I was starting to get a bit stiff at the hips.  Sometimes I realize I'm not as healed as I think.  And to make things worse, a lot of stuff I went there for wasn't available.  

No Corn On The Cob, no peaches, no plums, no chunky horseradish, no baby bok choy (I buy it for the leaves to use in making egg rolls and the mature stuff is all stalks), no muenster cheese (love that), no whole milk in half gallon, and no pepperoni sticks (the pre-sliced stuff is nearly $14/pound and I have a meat slicer machine).

I found other stuff and went to check-out.  One register open and 6 carts ahead of me, meaning about 15 minutes.  Standing up is wearisome these days.  

When I got home, the unloading was hard.  I wish I had an elevator in the house.  Most days now, I can manage the stairs one foot per step like normal, but I was stiff.  So it was both feet on each step one at a time and I had a LOT of bags.  It was slow going and I was pretty much worn out.

And then I had to put everything away!  *SIGH*  The 4' shuffle from the counter to the fridge gets long after enough "back-and-forths".  I just wanted to sit.  But because I wasted meat recently by delaying to cook and store it, I needed to bake the chicken thighs and bacon immediately.

There is a series of TV ads that make fun of Boomers acting like their parents.  Acting in certain ways, not understanding computers, giving unwanted advice in stores, etc.  I get that, smart phones are not my accustomed way to communicate and I think of writing an email before I think of texting.  But they also ridiculed sighing with pleasure when sitting down in a chair.  I don't get THAT!  It is just a physical ease to sit down after standing for hours.  I make the same sound myself after standing for hours and then sitting.  My knees relax; my back relaxes.  So I sat for 15 minutes.

And got up to cook.  At least this time it all went perfectly!  I baked boneless chicken thighs sprinkled with smoked paprika, with lemon wedges and sliced shallots at 400F for 40 minutes.  That produces a flavorful liquid, which I drained off and mixed with lots of green olives and cornstarch which I heated until thickened  to make a sauce which I poured back over the chicken and set in the fridge when slightly cooled.  It's a North African recipe I found once and quite interesting.

Meanwhile, I set a wire rack over a baking pan and spread the bacon strips over it.  In the same 400F oven, I let them bake 12 minutes setting them on newspaper to soak out grease.  I put them in a container in the freezer.  They keep great.  I also keep the bacon grease for some cooking.

THEN I sat down for a couple hours.   Whew.  It was a long day...  I'll probably lay in bed for 12 hours!  I often do 9-12.  I'm still tired these days.  And the heated waterbed is SO soft and comfy.  And The Mews all gather around slowly during the night.  By dawn, they are all there.  Even Laz and Ayla are often sometimes just on opposite sides of me, against me.

How To Ruin A Roast

I enjoy cooking.  But I can sure mess up sometimes!  Here's the way to do everything wrong.

1.  Buy a pork roast on a Monday.  Now, it was a cheap Boston Butt at $2/pound, so it wasn't like a Standing Beef Rib roast at $10/pound.  But it's big, so it isn't free.  

2.  Leave it in the refrigerator (planning to cut it up and smother it in dry rub "tomorrow")  for 4 days.

3.  You positively CAN'T let it go another day, so cut it into 2" slabs and cover it with the dry rub.  Put it back in the refrigerator to smoke tomorrow.

4.  It's "tomorrow", but it is raining.  OK, the rub will really soak in by "tomorrow"!

5.  Next day smoke the slabs for 3 hours (it's the next Monday by now).  I usually smoke the Butt outside for a few hours (no real benefit longer than that, the surface is impervious after that long) and finish it in the oven at 225F.  Set portable timer for 3 hours.

6.  Timer goes off while watching TV.  Yeah, gotta take it out.  Forget about doing that for another 3 hours.

7.  Suddenly remember the pork and take it out of the oven.  Well, it certainly is safely cooked!  Cut off a chunk to eat (dinner).  Put the whole tray into the basement refrigerator to chill.  

8.  No problems with the pork overnight, so I decide it is safe (and it was).

9.  Gotta cube and package it "Tomorrow".  Leave pork in refrigerator 4 more days.  This makes it 11 days since bought.  

10.  Take it out to cut it up.  It is hard as a rock!  Sharp knives struggle...  I cut some pieces off for stewing.  It "sort of" softened. but "chewy" would be too kind a description.

11.  Consider leaving it outside to punish wandering raccoons and possums.

12.  But decide to just wrap it up in a trash bag with cat litter (to discourage scavengers), place the bag in a box, and put the box in another trash bag.

I expect this will really confuse some future landfill archeologist.  One may find my roast centuries from now, intact, and be baffled by our current-day culinary practices.  And (considering the kitty litter I added to the bag) be amazed at our choice of "spices".  After all, who ELSE'S pork roast will still be around to compare it to?

Anyway, I still need cubed smoked pork for my stews and stir-fries, so I've added it to my shopping list.  At least I'll have good reason to remember to cut it up and dry-rub it THAT DAY and smoke it the next...  And cube it as soon as chilled)!

Hope you enjoyed this...  ;)

A Good Day

Yesterday...  Last night... 

First, I got my new iPhone XR working.  Not that it was EASY getting to Apple help, but once there, the assistance was great!  The agent I spoke to (on my old cordless phone) was patient, helpful and knowledgeable.  I also need Verizon help and got it.  5 hold minutes each is nothing to complain about.  I called my neighbor friend Deb to try it, and my sister later.  It worked.

HURRAY!

Apps and contacts come later.  Knowing the iPhone worked was the major event.  I do miss having a printed manual though.  Looking stuff up in print is "sometimes" easier than visiting a help site that makes you figure out even the QUESTION to ask.

Second, I cooked outside the first time this year.  The Boston Butt was cut into 2 slabs for greater dry rub exposure and smoked for 2 hours.  Well, quite frankly, after 2 hours the surface is sealed and it is easier to complete the cooking in the oven at 225F.

Third, removing the pork allowed space for 12 chicken boneless skinless thighs to get smoked for an hour.  They finished in the oven just as the pork came out.   

The pork was SO GREAT I just noshed on cut parts all night.  Best pork butt I ever cooked.  BTW to those with other names for parts of pork "butt" is not actually "butt".  Its' a shoulder part.   Sorry, sometimes I get "eww" when mentioning "butt" LOL!

I drowned the meat in dry rub overnight, and it really pain off.  I bet the chicken thighs are the same (dinner tonight).  

Sometimes I get lucky, and the pork was IT.  Maybe the chicken too. 

I walked better yesterday.  It comes and goes.  Yesterday was better than average.  Maybe going out to the smoker helped distract me.  Any port in a storm, as they say.

New seeds arrived in the mail.  I better get busy with some of them as I'm behind schedule with some early ones.  I've been spending more time in the basement lately (laundry, litter-boxes and some seedling tray platform tray repairs).  

Had to "glue&screw" some of the platforms.  The drill was "heavier than I remembered it".  I got by carefully.  It's funny how slight differences in strength make big differences in handling tools.  Took both hands to hold the drill straight, and also to move things around.

But I couldn't have done that at all 2 weeks ago.  

Next project is to get all sites listed in my password manager so that I don't depend on old lists and marked-out scribbles.  It's a pain to change everything, but I can see the ones I've done make life easier. The hardest part was figuring out how to add passwords to start.  It is easier after the first few.  

At least it seems to work.  And I have wicked long and complicated password manager password.  Takes minutes to type it, but I don't have to do it often.

I only wish everything went that easy...

2 Months

I'm disappointed!  Depending on how I count the day I fell and today, it has been 2 months since I fell.   It is starting to feel like this may never end, and I have this worry I'm as "good as I'm going to get".  Or next month I may look back on this post and laugh as I do cartwheels on the lawn or carry a big laundry basket down the stairs easily.  But not yet...

I had some problems before I fell.  I was routinely getting leg and rib muscle cramps for a decade.  I had involuntary finger-clench cramps, but usually only after doing hard gripping of tools.  Oddly enough, those went away for weeks.  Well, they are back.  Maybe the muscles were shocked from the fall and are recovering.  

And I'm feeling sorer around my lower back and (coff, coff) butt than earlier this week.  It moves around some though.  Maybe that's a good sign of healing, but I could do without it.  I'm walking a bit stiffer again.  Maybe it is that I stopped taking even Ibuprophen last week.  I may start a daily OTC dosage again.  If it is the same in a week, I'll call my primary care Dr.  

But it is really annoying to get worse after getting better.  Maybe that's normal; 2 steps forward, one back.  As I've said, I don't have much experience with lingering problems.  Maybe I've been walking too much or too little.  Maybe I've been comfortable enough to sit awkwardly lately.

My right arm is weaker than I realized.  I have some simple platforms I use to adjust seedling tray heights under my basement shelf stand lights.  They were originally just glued together and I screwed some in place last year.  I missed a few (probably in use at the time).  Well, one came loose and I decided to check (and screw) all of them.

It was harder than I thought!  I had to use both hands to hold the drill upright and straight.  And pulling the drill bit OUT took some effort (which normally requires no effort at all).  At least pushing DOWN on the screws as I drove them in wasn't a problem.  Drill straight and pull out, bad.  Screw in, good.  Well, at least I got them all reinforced...

So it was time to make dinner.  Pork stew (tastes better than it sounds) and a tossed salad.  But more cutting and chopping.  But more gripping the knife handles.  More finger-clenches...  I had to physically pull some fingers back into place.  

Ever had a basic recipe you've made a 100 times and one time it just doesn't work?  Last night was like that.  The potatoes and carrots in the stew wouldn't soften!  I even put it all in a bowl and M/W it 3 more minutes.  Still not stew-soft.  I ate it anyway while watching TV.  I like good food, but sometimes (so long as it is not spoiled), I'll eat what I end up with.  

2 hours later, I realized I had a pork roast (Boston Butt) and chicken that needed to be marinated for cooking later today before it went bad.  More slicing and knife-gripping!  I slice the big pork chunk into 2" slabs for smoking and cube them later when they cool.  The chicken is boneless/skinless but also gets smoked.  

After slicing, I made a dry rub mix.  It works on both pork and chicken.  More grabbing stuff with the hands...  I don't have a "special recipe" but ask if you want the general mix of stuff.  I just "guesstimate" each time.

I really packed it on this time!  I'm not a spicy-hot type of cook, but brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, etc can  add a lot of flavor.  But by the time I was done and had the meat back in the fridge, my fingers were going all whichway.  

Thank goodness for NSAID muscle rubs.  I had to slather it on my hands and it took 15 minutes to take effect, but it did.  Otherwise, I would not be typing now...

Which leads me to the last thing for today.  Typing causes the finger-clenches the most.  The muscle rub is working for now, but I'm finding it hard to post every day and visit as often as I would wish.  I appreciate the visits from you.  

I will get back into a more regular habit of posting and visiting as soon as I can.  And after smoking an 8 lb pork roast, 12 chicken thighs, and having frozen steaks and shrimp in the freezer, I will not be doing serious "slicing and dicing" for a while).

Each day, I expect "next week" will be a lot better.  And I expect that, one week, that will be true.  I'm so very much looking forward to that week.

Two Whole Weeks

It's hard to believe it has been 2 weeks since I fell off that darn ladder!  The hours go slowly, but the days disappear.     

Some minor accomplishments:

1.  Right shoulder is better.  I was able to sit down and pay some bills.  Hurray, I can print a check legibly again!

2.  Doing the above, I needed an envelope from the computer room.  Without really thinking about it, I stood up and free-walked (slowly and with hands on the walls) there and back.  I wouldn't want to try free-walking any farther though.  And I don't plan on doing it again today.  But it was good to discover I could.

3.  Made a real meal (as opposed to just thawing out a few things).  Fried eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, cocoa, and green tea.  Tonight will be a pork/mushroom/pepper stir-fry.

4.  Did some very light kitchen countertop cleaning.  Just handi-wipe work, but it looks better.

5.  Unpacked 3 kitchen items I received a month ago and was ignoring.  They are for sugar, flour, and cornstarch.  They are cats!  I marked the collar tab of each with "S F or C" to tell them apart.  No more ugly mason jars...

6.  Washed some socks in the sink.  I have LOTS of clean socks, but most are hard to put on right now.  These were nice slippery-stretchy golf socks.  Easier to pull on AND get into my shoes.

7.  Again, my many thanks for all the good wishes and concerns.  They help me get through each day.

Isn't it funny how little things mean a lot sometimes?

Meal Prep

I enjoy preparing and cooking food.  Slicing, chopping, peeling, etc is relaxing in a way.  I have a good set of Wusthof Classic knives and holding block that I bought from a cutlery store going out of business that was literally putting up the "Going Out Of Business" sign as I walked past.  25% of original price.

I added some individual knives later at regular price online but they weren't worth it mainly.  I find I don't really use the slightly curved "chef knives" often.  But there were 2 real gems.  The "Deli Knife" is great.  Though designed for cutting sandwiches without tearing them apart, the serrated blade and offset handle makes it easy to cut anything.
 

The Santoku knife has airpockets on the sides to reduce food sticking.

I use the Santoku for almost everything, the deli knife frequenty, and my paring knife next most. 

I use the Santoku daily, the deli knife frequently, and my 2 paring knives often (one is a mini santoku).

I have other cheaper sets, some knives of which are not bad.  And a set of Ginsu knives (they are actually decent.  Someday, I am going to built a knife block to hold them all.  The construction is not all that complicated, but it would be about 2' wide.  I would lose some counter space, but gain some drawer space.  But at least that "once in a month knife" would be easily available.

Like that "scary-as-hell-cleaver"...  I almost cut off a fingertip the first time I used it!  Sharp AND heavy with a round slippery wood handle.  What could go wrong with THAT?  I think I should reshape the handle..  It might be safe after that.  Or in case of zombies or werewolves...

But I'm not writing this about knives and prep work.  I'm writing about cooking food.  I'm not really great at it.  I forget to start the timer for simmering spaghetti while I am cutting up my salad.  Or the timer goes off and I turn of the wrong burner.  I do a lot of M/W reheating to adjust, LOL!  It all works out well enough in the end. 

I'm somewhere between the harried parent cooking boxed mac and cheese, that show "Worst Cook", and Iron chef.

Partly, I try to do too much.  When Dad was here in his last days, he said "Wow, you cook Sunday Dinner every night".  Maybe...  I got into the habit of a small amount of meat, a green veg, a red or yellow veg, sometimes a starch, and always a fancy tossed salad.  Yeah, healthy, but I like that stuff.

Dad was a "meat&potatoes guy.  I could give him a small piece of steak and a potato, and he wanted bread with it (starch city).  But he hadn't had green veggies that hadn't been boiled to death before and was a bit surprised by them.  Mom learned to cook from her Mom and she was French, so veggies were boiled within in an inch of their lives. 

The first time I ever had "Chinese Food" a whole world of veggies opened up for me.  "Chewy veggies?"  what a concept!  I learned streaming, I learned stir-frying, and later M/W all of which delivered a "crunch" to veggies.  Dad said the best meals he ever had were here.  Which did lead me to think why he hadn't learned to cook and share that duty with Mom.

But even THAT is not why I'm writing.

I'm writing because sometimes I DON'T cook.  No, not "takeout" or "delivery".  The cold plate...

This was a recent dinner when I was too tired to actually cook.  Sliced hot sausage, cubed cooked ham, cooked shrimp, chicken breast, olives, diced tomatoes, reheated potato, reheated spinach, and the small container has homemade cocktail sauce.  The glasses have Zinfandel wine and a cocktail of gin/pomegranate juice/gingerale (I call it a "Cavebear Sling").  And not a SINGLE thing I cooked that day.  LOL!



 

Cooking

I enjoy cooking.  But sometimes the "same old same old" gets boring.  So I read cooking articles in the newspaper, see some on TV, etc.  Most just seem like the authors are randomly throwing things together to create something new ("Sausage with cauliflower and mushrooms"?  No thank you). 

But sometimes I find a strange one that sounds (in my mind) like it might work.  I've been making a North Aftican chicken dish I found.  It sounds weird but I really like it. 

It is chicken with lemon and shallots and green olives.  I made it a few days ago, took it out of the oven, set it to cool enough to set into individual containers (covered it with a wire rack so the cats wouldn't get at it), and forgot about it overnight!  Had to toss those...

ARGHHH!

So I just had to do it again today.  Went shopping for a new pack of 10 thighs and lemons.  This time all went well.  The pan holds 6 thighs, so I baked the other 4 with more spices and panko flake coating.  That went well too (and actually one of THOSE was dinner tonight with a big tossed salad, an ear of corn, and some brocolli. 

It was important to me to make up for the wasted ones...  When a mess up cooking (and fortunately, it is just me, not guests) I want to do it again right soon.

And (I may have mentioned the recipe previously), it is very flexible.  No specific amounts of anything (sort of making a salad)

You take skinless chick thighs (I think bone-in adds to the flavor) seasoned with garlic, ginger, and paprika to taste to marinate for a few hours;  place them in a shallow baking pan, top them with with lemon and shallot wedges.  Heat oven to 350F.  Bake about 40 minutes (til 175-180F).  Remove thighs to covered plate.  Remove lemon wedges to a plate to cool. 

If you don't like chicken fat, drain into a fat-separator and wait 5 minutes, then return non-fat portion to pan.  Whisk in enough cornstarch to make a medium slurry.  A shot of dry sherry and some chicken paste is a nice addition.

Add more green olives than you might think (4-8 per thigh) to baking pan and return to the oven for 5 minutes.  If the sauce is too thick, whisking in a little water at a time works fine.  Place thighs in baking pan to reheat (thighs are very forgiving of temperature and reheating).

This recipe is easier than it sounds, is completely open to ingredient quantities, and flexible.  You can do almost anything you want, for example, so long as the chicken thighs reach 175F.  And, in fact, my recipe is more complicated than the recipe I found (which was just a chicken parts/lemon/shallot/green olive stew.

It is fine on its own.  I usually serve a thigh over spaghetti with the sauce.  If you just want the thighs, make little sauce. 

I'm mostly mentioning this because I was really annoyed at myself at letting the previous version sit out and spoil.  And then one paragraph let to another, LOL!

Cooking Time, Part 3

OK, I got off on the cookware tangent yesterday.  I still want to mention my cooking.  LOL!

I'm no chef.  But I have been cooking for myself, and others at times, for almost 50 years.  I pretty much cycle though a couple dozen recipes using chicken, pork, beef, ham, shrimp, and pasta (I hate fish).  I can can pretty much do a decent stir-fry with whatever is in the refrigerator.

The stir-fry was a challenge for years.  The sheet-steel woks were always hard to manage and too large for one person.  I kept searching for a small true cast iron one.  I finally found it.  Wonderful thing.  As cast iron, it holds heat.  At 9", it is perfect for one or 2 servings.  It sits solidly on a gas or electric burner.  And it comes pre-seasoned.  I get nothing for saying this, I just like good stuff.

So I buy Boston Butt pork and slow cook it it in the oven at 250F for hours or smoke it outside and cut it all up into cubes I freeze in portions later.  Or buy beef short ribs and sear them to make beef stew (much more taste than stew beef).  I bake or pan fry chicken thighs.  I sear and pan-fry chicken breasts.  Sometimes I make my own "Shake&Bake" mixture, sometimes I just saute them skin side down.

I like searing fully-cooked 1/2" ham slices for later use in tossed salads or with roasted peppers.  I saute or M/W marinated shrimp for dipping in homemade cocktail sauce or commercial tarter sauce (I just can't make decent tarter sauce) or stir-fries.  I buy meatballs at a deli, but I make my own sauce (large canned crushed tomatoes and a small canned roasted diced tomatoes (with crushed fresh garlic, oregano, and dried red pepper).

Pork stew is great.  The diced Boston Butt stays moist and tender.  3 oz of pork, one diced potato, one dived carrot, one diced celery stalk, and I add a spoonful of "Better Than Bouillon" (and the low-sodium version when I can find it) chicken paste. And others.  At least, I never get bored.

I bought a Big Mac and a McChicken sandwich last week.  First time in years.  I was horribly disappointed...  So, I'll stick to my home-cooking for another few years.

I make pizza sometimes.  The pizza stone really helps.  I think I will aim toward thicker softer crusts though.  A little extra yeast in the bread machine recipe should help.

I made nachos for the first time a few months ago.  Too much cheap cheese and soggy chips.  The last time (a week ago), I used crushed hot italian sausage, added some salsa with black olives scallions, and sour cream of course), and used "scoopables" chips.  THAT worked out great.  I'm new to nachos.  Many of you are probably laughing at my simplicity.  That's OK...

I make tollhouse cookies routinely from scratch.  Well, actually, I make tollhouse cookie BARS.  I finally figured out how to convert the cookie recipe into a bar recipe.

Have you ever made banana cake?  I don't mean banana bread.  There is a difference.  You make it in a angel food cake pan and it involves separating the eggs yolks and whites and folding the whipped whites into the batter, etc.  My mom made it and I adored it.  She would never give me the recipe (saying "you will never visit if I tell you.  I'll leave it to you in my Will").  Turns out she got it from Dad's Mom.  Mom finally did send it to me.  3 times.  And every version was slightly different, LOL!

For dinner last night, I made a stir fry of marinated shrimp, asparugus, hot peppers, and mushrooms; served over broken up angel hair spaghetti.  With a splash of dry sherry, soy sauce, and sesame seed oil.  With a baked red beet and a tossed salad with ranch dressing.

When Dad was living with me, he was amazed I made "Sunday Dinner" every day.  Well, why not?  I have the time and the interest.  There is no point in not eating well, and I don't have to go to restaurants to do it.

Quite a Day!

Most people keep regular hours waking and sleeping.  I managed that for 35 years of regular office work, but since I retired in 2006, that went totally out the window.  For example, I got up at 11 am Thursday and stayed up til 1 PM  Friday.  I did some yardwork in daylight and stayed on the computer from after dinner to 1 PM Friday and crashed for 4 hours sleep.  Got up at 5PM, fed the Mews 1st and 2nd breakfast then let them out for the brief daylight left.

Stay with me here...

Made dinner at 8 PM.  I had lots of "refrigerator-fodder" and a packaged 1/2" slice of uncooked ham.  Tghat ham slice is large.  I pulled out my 2 burned Lodge cast iron flat griddle and heated tht baby up for 15 minutes.  Talk about sizzle! 

Then I went to the basement and harvested a dozen leaves of the baby bok choy  and celery I'm growing there.  Destrung (destringed?) a dozen snow peas, cut strips of red and green bell peppers, sliced up a jalepeno pepper, sliced a 1/2 onion and 4 cremini mushrooms and went to work with the wok. 

The celery chunks . peppers, and mushrooms went into the wok first.  Followed by the onions, then the celery leaves, sliced bok choy, and shredded garlic and ginger.  Then, before they were "almost crisp", I added a 1/4 cup cornstarch and chicken broth mix and let it bubble for slightly over a minute.

My friends, it was the most perfect stir-fry I have ever made!

I did not eat it with a salad,
I did not eat it with a side.
I just put the bowl on table
And I put it all inside!

Even the TV choices were great (I eat watching TV).  There was a show about the Broadway hit 'Hamilton', a good Nature show, and MSNBC  commentary about the days political events.

I NEEDED THAT!  These last 2 weeks have been frustrating.  And I haven't even resolved all the email issues yet.  But the new computer is up and running except for that, my backup program is working, and I CAN get to each of my 3 email accounts by logging in and out for each one whenever I want to check.  I'll solve that one soon.

Cavebear

Never...

slam the microwave oven door when you are annoyed at the news... It can stop working. 

So here I am with a selection of frozen meals (all home-made) to select from.  I'm not even sure I remember HOW to thaw and re-heat a frozen cooked turkey drumstick.  I haven't actually BAKED a potato in 15 years  (Nuke it 5 minutes, instant "baked" potato).

The cats are horrified: "How will he heat our canned food", they wail (sit can in hot tap water for 5 minutes. 

 I can't imagine reheating a turkey drumstick wrapping it in foil for 30 minutes.  It seems so wasteful of energy.  Maybe I'll simmer it in broth in a pan on the stovetop.  Or maybe I should finally order a pizza for delivery.  Do they still do that (its been a few years)?

I've ordered a new one and should arrive Saturday.  Just actually heating water in a pan tomorrow for my morning green tea is going to seem odd...

I better turn on the oven if I want to eat tonight...  LOL!

Assorted Stuff

Some days, I get more work done in the house and yard than usual.  I've been busy the past couple of days...

1.  The door to the garden enclosure is on a slope, so it is set above the highest ground (to allow it to open).  Unfortunately (in theory), that would allow Evil Squirrels to get under it.  The gap is 2" at one end.  So I need a barrier that doesn't block the door but blocks the gap.  I decided on a way. 

The door opens outwards, so a small barrier at ground level inside the door will work.  But I also need to get a wheelbarrow in there so it has to be removable.  And it is in ground contact, so it can't be wood that rots.  Well, I have leftover pieces of the composite decking and THAT won't rot.  So if I made some holder for the composite piece that could allow it to be lifted out easily, that would be perfect.

Being a woodworker of minor skill, I thought to cut a dado slot in 2 pieces of pressure treated 2"x4" wood 6" long (the width of the composite decking piece).  I've done router work before and am usually successful at it.  But I learned that router small pieces of wood does NOT work well.  Too late, I recalled advice from a woodworker magazine that said to do the routing first on long pieces and then cut the wood to size. 

Hindsight (or, in this case, hind-memory) is 20/20.

It was a disaster.  Trying of router 6' pieces of wood just chewed them up badly (Don't worry, my fingers were never in danger.  I may be only moderately-skilled, but I am EVER so cautious!).  But that attempt failed utterly.

So I decided to BUILD a slot.  A little table saw work, and I had 1"x1"strips of wood to glue to a 3" wide base |__| and the inside was the slot I needed.  When the glue dried I added screws for permanence.  The slot for the composite deck board is 3/16" wider than the board for easy removal.  It doesn't matter if the board is a bit loose; an Evil Squirrel can't lift it.

2.  The 3 areas I surrounded by edging last Fall are not working out as intended.  The closest one was planted with tulips and hyacinths in wire cages to protect them from the Voracious Voles and Evil Squirrels (who consider them delicacies), and daffodils (which are toxic and unpalatable to both).  But the hyacinths never came up (I suspect the 1/2" wire mesh was too small for the stems) and there weren't enough daffodils to cover the intended area.

So I have to dig up the hyacinth cages and try again this Fall, and add more daffodils.  The tulips did nicely and I expect them to be around for many year.   I have some tulips in places where voles and squirrels do not think to dig, and they have been blooming for 20 years.

But in the meantime, weeds are growing.  Most are easy enough to pull up by the roots, but there is a clumping grass with deep roots and pulling on them just takes off the tops so they grow back.  So for 2 days, I've spent an hour each day digging under the roots and prying them up.  I have some impressive piles...   Those will be composted after they spend a week in sealed plastic bags set in the full sun until they are as thoroughly dead as the Wicked Witch Of The East in Oz ("not only merely dead, really, most sincerely dead.”).

The poaching shovel really works well for that (a really narrow shovel).  I got almost all of those dug up!  The remaining weeds are kinds that can be cut off just below ground with my scuffle hoe.


3.  The Evil Squirrel live cage has been set again.  I didn't mind the 2 new squirrels around the birdfeeder (they can't get past the barrel baffle and the round disc baffle above it), but I saw one climbing on the garden enclosure trying to find a way in, and THAT one has got to go.  I'll get it; squirrels are suckers for peanut butter.

4.  The 2d edged circle is not planted.  I meant to move a plant called Lymachia to there, but it is too invasive, so I am killing all of it .  I thought it could be controlled in a circle I could mow around, but I've found them growing in 3 spots around the yard (1 spot 150' away from the patch) so they have to go.  I'll just keep cutting them down to ground level with my hedge trimmer until the roots are exhausted.  Meanwwhile, I will use the rototiller to turn over the soil in the circle and cover it in newspaper (the newspaper uses harmless soy ink).  That should kill off all weeds by Fall.  I think I will move the numerous Black-Eyed Susan volunteer plants from around the flowerbeds there.

5.  The 3rd edging area was planted with wildflower seeds last Fall, but it is mostly weeds.  I'm not sure what to do there.  On the one hand, there ARE wildflowers growing, and I want those.  On the other hand, 90% of the plants growing there are weeds.  I might try selective weeding, but not knowing what the good plants are (that might bloom next year) I might just undo some good plants.  But there are some plants I KNOW are weeds, so I think I will pull them and see what happens.

6.  I'm preparing to paint the rebuilt bathroom.  Have pale mossy green paint, dropclothes, rollers, etc.  Have TSP (trisodium phosphate to clean the 30 year old walls, gloves for protection, sponges, etc.  Ive painted every place I've ever been in (many apartments), so I know the routine..  It taking all the stuff off the walls that slows me.  That mirror has sharp edges!  I want to surround it with a wood frame.  And I have the frames.  But they are dark wood and the wood in the bathroom (towel bar, TP holder, toothbrush holder, light switch cover etc are light wood.  I need to see if I can stain those dark (danish walnut).  And I need to score the mirror smaller by 3" to account for the wood frame size.


7.  Weeded the old flowerbeds for an hour until I came across poison ivy plants creeping in.  I used to be immune to poison ivy, but 10 years ago developed a terrible rash from it.   It is one of those things that don't bother you until they do.  I'll need to wear heavy duty rubber gloves, have a bucket of bleach nearby and dip my trowel and gloves into it regularly.  And hope I don't forget and wipe my brow.

8.  Pulled up a dozen or so thorny thistles.  I wore heavy leather gloves that beat the torns, so it went well.  The thistles don't have deep roots, so they come up easily.  But they have enough stored food to mature their seeds after being pulled up (like dandelions) so they will go in the plastic bags with the poison ivy.

9.  A lot of my trees have the habit of sending out new branches from the trunks anywhere they can get sunlight.  So they drop down to walking level.  Since I get tired of pushing branches out of my way while I mow the lawn, I went after them yesterday.  I bought a pole pruner (a limb saw on a 10' pole) a couple years ago and this is the first time I used it.  It worked great!  A few cuts under the branch then more cuts on the top.  The undercuts prevent the falling branch from peeling off a foot of bark on the tree trunk (allowing diseases to start).  Hard on the arms though.  I may try my electric chain saw next time.

10.  Cleaned the riding mower deck completely.  The top collects dry grass clippings, the underside packs wet grass clippings on the undersurface like paper mache!  It took some real scraping.  Actually, I couldn't figure out how to get to the underside safely.  But I have these 2"x8"x8' boards with metal ends that you can clamp to trailers and other flat surfaces.  So I placed the boards on a 2' high landscaping box and drove the mower up on it. 

After detaching the spark plug wires for safety, I was able to crawl under and scrape the deck clean of packed dead grass clippings.  Took an hour though.  That mower blade really stays in the way. 

11.  I left the mower on the boards last night.  It occurred to me that I should sharpen the blades.  But I had enough old grass on my face and it was time to feed the cats.  So the blade sharpening is for tomorrow...

12.  The edged circles are too small for using my large roto-tiller.  But there are smaller electric versions.  The advertised gas one is called a Mantis.  But I found one with better ratings (Earthwise, with a 4.5 of 5 rating) and ordered it from Amazon.  It should be perfect for the smaller spaces and I've always wanted one like that.










13.  Next project is to whack down the underbrush in the far back yard.  It has gotten amazingly overgrown since just removing a few trees back there 2 years ago.  I have a 4-stroke gas powered Stihl whacker with a metal blade but I've resisted using it because I hate the noise (I'm really a very quiet person), and it seems vaguely dangerous, but it is time to bring it out!  Serious work needs serious tools.  I'll be careful with it.

Cooking Misadventure

Deli roast beef is a bit pricey at $7.99/pound here, and roasts of the same cut are often on sale at half the price.  So I bought a slicing machine last month to slice my own sandwich meat from roasts I cook myself.  I'll probably have to do that a whole year to pay for the slicer, LOL!  But I bought a steamship round roast last month and cooked it to perfect rareness and cut it into 3' thick slabs.  The slicing went great for the 1st slab.  I froze the other 3 slabs for later slicing as needed.  And forgot I had them. 

So when I used up those 1st slices for sandwiches, I bought another roast ( a rump roast this time).  Two things went wrong with that.  First, I immediately discovered I still had most of the steamship round in the freezer.  So I might have a year's supply of roast beef sandwich meat. 

The second wrong thing was the cooking of the rump roast.  Now, I know how to cook it.  I stab it all over with my steely knives ('Hotel California', anyone?).  I push slivers of green pepper, onion, and garlic into the slits.  I even inject it with some red wine.  It comes out quite flavorful.  I don't like boring sandwiches... 

I slow-cook it 225F for several hours, fat side up for basting, and put a digital thermometer probe into the center set to alarm at 130F internal temperature.  Well, after several hours, I began to wonder why it hadn't reached temperature.  Yes, the oven was on.  The digital alarm, however, was NOT.  It was 145F internal when I checked, and of course the temperature rose above 150F as it rested on top of the stove after I took it out.  That is up into the "well-done" range, and I don't like it that much cooked.

ARGGGHHHH!

Well, I cut it into 3" slabs and put the slabs into plastic bags after it cooled in the fridge overnight.  Those are all in the freezer for some future use.  But I had the most-cooked pointed end of the roast left out.  Not liking to waste anything, I thought of what to do to save it.  Well, I had red and green bell peppers, and thought that with it sliced real thinly and a lot of moist veggies it might be OK.  And a sauce might help. 

So I got out my jar of beef boullion paste, put a teaspoon into a 1/3 cup very hot water to dissolve it, added some cornstarch to thicken it, added some spices and hot pepper flakes and a splash of soy sauce and shook the heck out of the container (easiest way to make a sauce I know of).

Then I sauteed the bell peppers slowly till softened, added the sauce to heat and thicken.  Added the very thinly sliced beef to heat through.  Well!  I've had worse pepper beef from chinese restaurants...  And the beef will probably be good with mushrooms and onions with regular beef gravy over noodles too.  So its not a loss; just a change in menus for a while.

I have a LOT of cooked beef roast to get through in the coming months...  LOL!

I'm more into pork and chicken and shrimp than beef, but after the poverty days of my 20s, I can eat nearly anything rather frequently if it is what I have.  And I am more creative about using what I have these days too.

My cooking motto is "whatever goes wrong, deal with it".

Thankful Thursday

1.  The bathroom remodelers completed the work today.  But there are some places where tape is holding trim tight for another whole day, so I will post the "after" pictures next time.

2.  The cats don't have to be locked into the bedroom anymore (well until the next project).

3.  I won't have to set my alarms for 6:30 am tomorrow.  That will be a relief because I kept worrying during the nights that I would sleep through them.  6:30 may not seem early to you,  but I had mine set for 5 am for 35 years, and after 10 years retired, I'm out of the alarm habit.

BTW, I don't actually use alarm clocks anymore.  I use digital kitchen timers.  Since I keep irregular hours these days, I can just push the hour button 9 times, press start, and not worry about what time of day that gets me up.  SO much easier than a real alarm clock.

4.  I have my car back in the garage again (the remodelers were using it for a work area).

5.  With the 6 weeks of nearly constant daily drizzle done, I was able to mow the lawn today.

6.  I felt free to work in the garden again.  I planted my last 4 tomato seedlings, 14' of italian pole beans, 8' of cucumbers, 4 cantaloupe melons, 2 honeydew melons, 2 squash, 6 leeks, 18 corns (10 early and 8 late season).  Harvested my first 6 radishes of the season (wow, even home grown radishes taste better than the grocery store stuff - spicier, firmer).  My snow peas are starting to produce...

7.  To celebrate the remodeling completion, I made a nice dinner.  Delmonico steak, fried potatoes, asparagus with mushrooms, tossed salad, SEVERAL glasses of wine!  And fresh fruit for dessert (plum, peach, apple, grapes, and cantaloupe).

8.  I'm setting the timers tonight for 12 hours.  If I wake up refreshed before that, fine.  If not, well, I have some catching up to do.

9.  After dinner, all the cats were on my chair with me.  They shifted positions a few times, but there was always one on the back and one on each arm.  They were happy to get time outside this afternoon, but they really wanted closeness.  And they got plenty of attention this evening.  And I bet they will almost be surprised not to be locked into the bedroom tomorrow morning!

And, yes, I shared my steak with them...

Moderately Busy Day

Sometimes I slack off a couple of days even when I have work to do.  Yeah, busy as I seem to be, I can ebnd up just cooking and watching science/nature DVDs...

But I got back to work today.  The tulip/hyacinth cages have a time deadline for planting the bulbs before the ground freezes, so I started with those.  I made 6 more before my hand started cramping up.  I need 27 cages and I have 20 built now.  Tomorrow should finish the remaining 7.

So after that, I started making spaghetti sauce.  Nothing too fancy.  I use 2 cans of 28 oz crushed tomato, a 1/2 minced green bell pepper, 1 minced jalapeno pepper, 1/2 minced onion, 1/4 of red wine, a tsp of sugar, a tbls of dried italian seasoning, a handful of sliced button mushrooms, and a doz pre-cooked meatballs I get frozen from the meat store.  I just let it simmer slowly for an hour, scraping the bottom with a spatula every 5 minutes.  It's good enough for me; not like I have an Italian grandmother to answer to...  LOL!  I have Tupperware containers just the right size for one meal, and spoon the mixture evenly for freezing.  But I like a LOT of tomato sauce on my pasta, so my Tupperware size might not be yours...  BTW, I spoon the 1" meatballs out first and cut them in half.  I like a bit with most forkfuls rather than large meatballs at once.  Sometimes I use 3 hot italian sausages, cooked separately, then added to the sauce.

While that was going on (and with the repeating timer set to 5 minutes to remind me to stir the sauce), I took care of some internet order problems. 

First, I had ordered a replacement cat tree sisal post for the one that Ayla finally broke using it as a launch pad to the top of the tall bookcases.  I thought all those posts were the same, but this one had a 3' bolt that stuck down into the hut below, and surely some cat would have been injured.  Since it was advertised as "sort-bolt", I asked them to send me a free return shipping label.

Second, I had ordered a new crock pot with a removable stoneware insert for easy cleaning.  I thought I was ordering the same size as my 40 year old 1-piece Rival crockpot.  But as soon as I opened the box I was shocked at how large it was.  I contacted Amazon.com about a return, and the response was to over me $28.11 for the $49.99 item (as it was a 3rd party sale). 

Well, I checked the 3rd party seller's return policy and it stated it followed Amazon.con return policies.  Which were (for unused, withing 30 days, and in entirely original packing) 100% refund.  After a 2nd email to Amazon.com, I received a statement of not only 100% refund, but a free return shipping label.  Bless their hearts...

So while the spaghetti sauce was simmering between stirrings, I reboxed the crockpot in the original retail box in the original shipping box. 

Third, I had bought a set of Wusthof-Trident kitchen knives a few years ago from a place going out of business.  While using a knife I seldom use, a piece of the handle just fell right off!  It was like a piece of knapped flint struck off from a core.  I emailed them about it and they replied saying to pack up the knife and broken piece and send it to them packed very carefully.

I did that today, and oh boy did I "package" it carefully!  I found a thin box large enough, cut cardboard pieces from other boxes to fit, got my roll of duct tape, and raided my stash of bubble wrap.  I wrapped the blade in bubble wrap.  I set the knife on one piece of cardboard 3" larger than the knife and poked holes in the cardboard at the narrow parts of the knife handle and ran twist-ties through the holes the attach it to the cardboard.  Then I wrapped a larger piece of cardboard around the 1st piece and duct-taped it in all directions.  I put the broken-off piece in a plastic sandwich bag (labeled, of course) and duct-taped IT to the cardboard.  Then I wrapped the whole thing in more bubble wrap.  Then I slipped a copy of their email to me authorizing a return (with my name, address, phone number, and email address) into the box and stuffed what little space was left with packing (leftover from packing the crockpot).

The outside of the box is thoroughly "shipping-taped".  If that isn't well-packed, then "well-packed" isn't possible.  It may take them 15 minutes of work just to get at the knife inside.  No one will ever accuse ME of shipping a dangerous product.  :)

I sure wish I had thought to take pictures!!!

And THEN, I had received an order of 8 trays of (24 5.5oz cans per tray) Wellness canned cat food from Chewy.com a couple days ago ago and was unpacking it.  I discovered I was one tray missing!  So I called them  The person I talked to (Patrick) didn't hesitate to immediately order a replacement.  But he asked about my cats, then mentioned his, and we talked for 45 minutes.  They are either not busy and "Customer Service" or they are extremely friendly.

He has 4 male cats (all former strays who get along great) and he names them after minor mythology gods in various languages (1 each Persian, Briton, Greek, and Egyptian).  He said he uses minor mythology names "because there are too many Zeuses and Thors".  I was impressed!  And he asked for my blog URL, so I might have a new reader.

But the timing was ironic.  I had to tell him that I had just posted (in complete error) about receiving a goodie box from Chewy.com and it turning out to be a different company (Purr8Packs).  He laughed and said things like that happen but I should correct the past posts to give credit to the Purr*Packs company (which was next on my To Do List), but it sure made me think higher of Chewy.com for not hoping for undo credit.

He said he would make sure to look at older posts to get a good idea of what my blog was like.  Is that understanding, or what?

Loaded up the SUV with accumulated cardboard boxes for the recycling center.  Too many for my small recycling barrel that only gets picked up every 2 weeks.  The free space in the basement is nice.

The spaghetti dinner was great.   And now I have 5 more containers of sauce freezing for future use.  I don't like to bother making sauce one meal at a time. 

So tomorrow, I go off with the car packed with 2 boxes for UPS, the back full of empty boxes for recycling,  4 bags of plastic shopping bags to be stuffed into the shopping bag recycle box there (my county recycling center does not accept "film plastic" (shopping bags).  On the way home, I'll do my bi-weekly grocery shopping at Safeway (for the good produce) and the local meat market.

But today was a pretty productive day.

Hope you had a good day too!