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weather troubles, car troubles
January something, 2019, 4:39 P.M.
Last weekend was a cold and snowy mess, and we barely went anywhere. I stopped on the way home from work Friday and picked up some hair dye, then went home and dyed my hair. Spouse and I braved the snowstorm--as far as Green bay Road, anyway--on Friday evening, going to Mission Barbecue for dinner (it is fantastic, by the way) and Meijer to do the shopping, but that was the last time I left home for the rest of the weekend. Spouse ran over to the Festival for unsalted butter on Sunday, because I mentioned there could possibly be chocolate chip cookies if I only had some butter. But other than that, we were complete homebodies.
We got about 9 inches, and what we got drifted badly over the cars in the drive, so we did a lot of snow clearing. Including in the kitchen--when Spouse woke up Saturday morning, snow had blown down the exhaust fan vent and there was a small flood on the cooktop! He cleaned up the flood, and then when I got up, I took the whole matter as a sign that I needed to stop putting off cleaning that area thoroughly. So I did the backsplash, counter, cooktop and range hood with disinfectant cleaner, and made it shiny and sanitary once more. In fact, I scoured the kitchen pretty well all over, since I planned to bake and needed a properly clean kitchen to do it in. And because I was starting to get a complex about the stains and metal marks in the sink.
I baked two loaves of our favorite bread on Saturday, and did the laundry. The two of us worked together to make a lovely pot of homemade vegetable soup for our Saturday supper. It's really easy to make, and with two pairs of hands on it, it was practically no work at all. We tried something new, and made it in the Cuisinart pressure cooker. Not under pressure, though--we just used it as an electric soup kettle and simmered it. It worked great, and the soup turned out quite nicely in it. We ate half, (with plenty of delicious bread and butter) and saved the rest for Monday night.
Hell, I think I'll throw in the recipe. (Of course, I will have to write it down first--we never bothered to, and we don't really need a written copy after all these years!)
Veggie Soup
This is the basic part, but the beautiful thing is you can throw in any other vegetables you have on hand, or that you especially like. I personally love cruciferous vegetables in soup--broccoli, cauliflower, or cabbage--but Spouse hates it, so I don't usually bother. Also--everything we use is low-sodium or salt-free. It's easier to regulate the saltiness that way.
Put the following in a big pot:
1 quart store-bought beef stock or broth (any flavor would work, but we like beef)
1 cup tomato juice
1 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes, juice and all, crushed by hand
3 stalks celery, cut into one and a half-inch pieces (throw in the leafy parts, too!)
3 medium potatoes, same
3 carrots, same
1 large onion, same
1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables
1 large bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon of herbes de provence or bouquet garni herb blend
several grinds of fresh black pepper
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/3 cup orzo pasta
Simmer on low for several hours (at least two), and add the orzo and continue to simmer until the pasta is cooked.
Taste, adjust seasoning, and serve.
On Sunday, Spouse made his exalted version of a certain fast-food chain's signature breakfast sandwich. Exalted? Why yes--because Jones Dairy Farm Canadian bacon, fresh, large AA eggs, Thomas's English muffins (carefully toasted) , real butter, and Land O' Lakes American cheese from the deli counter makes the very best version of a very good sandwich.
Spouse went out and cleaned up one more time, and I tackled the bathroom, giving it a good, scrubby, disinfecty clean. Then I showered and dressed while he ran out for the butter, and spent a couple hours baking a batch of Tollhouse cookies. Once I was done in the kitchen, Spouse did his dinner prep--his panko-breaded cube steaks benefit greatly from having time to sit in the fridge before going into the oven. We had those with mashed potatoes and peas for our Sunday supper; since that is a one-off meal, it was a good choice this week, as we had the soup for Monday.
You know, I was probably going to write more, here, but I didn't finish, and no big deal...just going to post it.
Reading: "Outside Inn" (1920), by Ethel M. Kelley. I started reading this again. I think most of the characters are annoying, but I somehow still want to finish it.
Listening: Flipping back and forth between 90s grunge and 40s swing this week. Yeah, I'm weird.
Inked Up: Waterman Kultur medium with Waterman Tender Purple, Pilot Vanishing Point medium with Diamine Misty Blue, Conklin Duragraph fine with Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown.
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