well at least he can cook
March 12, 2012

Friday was a coffee shop dinner, some laundry, and an early night.

Saturday was a coffee shop breakfast, followed by shopping, errands, more laundry, and hamburgers on the grill for dinner.

Sunday was a morning at home...the rest of the laundry, housework, and started a letter to Aunt & Uncle in Phoenix. In the afternoon, we ran to Penzeys & Woodmans, then went...duh duh DUH...dryer shopping! Which went quickly, since I knew exactly what I wanted. Not as quick as it could have, though--Spouse got stubborn and insisted on us going to Blue Box to see what they had on offer, even though I knew that
A: I was absolutely getting a Speed Queen, and
B: only Grand Appliance sells Speed Queens in our area.

And honestly--he's like a teenager looking at cars when we go appliance shopping! I don't know what possible use it would be to have a dryer that looks like a sports car and has 241 separate settings, lights, readouts, and buzzers. It needs to sit in my grungy, linty, cobwebby old 1950 basement and dry loads on high or permanent press, and to do it quietly, efficiently, and reliably. THAT IS IT.

And when it comes to Speed Queens, there are three basic rear-control electric models available. The $469.00 model, the $499.00 model, and the $599.00 model. They all have the same high heat wattage, heavy duty motor, three-year warranty, and commercial-grade construction. The differences are inconsequestial; just a variance in available features. For instance, that thirty-dollar difference between the low end and the middle? Buys you a signal buzzer. That's it. And the extra hundred bucks on the high end? You get the buzzer, a light inside, and bunch of cycles designed to accommodate types of clothing we do not buy or wear at my house.

So once he let me go to Grand, I ordered my dryer. Put a hundred down, and set up a date for delivery. Spouse and I will drop off the balance this week, and they will come on the 24th to remove the old one and deliver the new one to my basement.

BUT. They will not be installing it. I am sick of paying a fortune for the new cords they insist you buy if they install it. My last two dryers have only lasted a few years each, so why should I have to an extra thirty bucks for a cord? The cord on the current one was new on install, so it's good enough. And one would hope that the electro-mechanical technician I'm married to is perfectly capable of putting the cord on, plugging it in, sliding it into position, and leveling it off, for goodness' sake.

So I got that dealt with, came home, finished and printed my letter to Aunt & Uncle, and a recipe I was sending as well, and dug out a small box. The reason we went to Penzey's was so that we could include a small jar of Herbes de Provence along with the recipe for the French-Style Pot Roasted Pork Loin. Which meant we were now sending a package, and not merely a letter. Found the box my cell phone came in, packaged up the letter and the herbs, wrapped the whole thing in a sheet of brown paper cut from a paper grocery bag, and got it addressed. (I dropped it at the PO on my way home from work today.)

Then I folded the last load of laundry, and Spouse took on the task of making dinner. Last week at the grocery store, they had thin-sliced strips of chicken breast marked down for quick sale, so we bought a pack just because hey--cheap chicken! Of course, we then had to find something to make with them. They were fine in the freezer, but we never use that cut and so we wanted to find a recipe suited to them.

What Spouse came up with was a chicken piccata, scallopini sort of a dish. And it was insanely good. He dredged the chicken pieces in seasoned flour and sauteed them in garlic butter, then let them rest in a warm oven while he deglazed the pan with Sauvignon Blanc and lemon juice, and reduced this to a sauce. A couple pinches of sugar to balance the acidity, a little more flour to thicken it, and some fresh chopped parsely at the finish, and poured over the chicken--POW was that ever fantastic. He served it over steamed rice that he'd infused with lemongrass, and threw some steamed whole green beans alongside, and it was simply heaven. My contributions were confined to minor kitchen assistance, sauce-balancing, and dessert: I macerated some wonderful strawberries from Sam's and served them over a store-bought angelfood cake. Hey--I got off easy, and he frigging loves strawberries and angelfood cake!

He is getting to be a seriously good cook, boys and girls. I couldn't believe that he blew me away two Sundays in a row, but he sure did.