Everyone has the crud

The flu and sickness season is going gangbusters this year, and I woke up feeling crummy, likely from yesterday's exposure to everything in Urgent Care.

I had to work, of course, but afterwards I made a chicken pot pie, because it sounded amazing.

Letting it cool is the hardest part.

A very smokey Thursday

The air smells smokey and I could taste it on my walk to the gym, and then my walk with Kat. We did 1.5 miles, and it was a nice walk and talk about not much of anything. We both love talking about apartment layouts and possibilities and of course TheRentSituationTheseDays, and it was all very nice. This continues to be a great start to my day.

 

I took the clean towels to my gym locker, which addressed the last of the Laundry folding issue, and it was nice to have the couch visible when I walked in.

 

Yesterday I made a frittata from the massive amount of eggs and spinach that I had and it was really good. I added  mushrooms, scallions, and radishes, and the radishes really roasted nicely, giving just the right amount of starchiness and substance. How to Make a Frittata.

 

 

There was enough that I have several grab-and-go slices in the fridge, and I like this. The bread that I made yesterday has just the right amount of crispness to make a nice sandwich from a slice of the frittata. The flavor has a depth that makes me want to make grilled cheese, which is never a bad thing.

 

I've had difficulty with aspirating this morning -- sometimes the neurology gets the wires crossed and "swallow but don't breathe" doesn't worksmoothly. Then I end up coughing, which sparks a headache and wears me out. Combined with the air quality this leaves me tired and wanting to just crawl in my cave. I'm very grateful I work remotely.

 

I have acupuncture at lunchtime, and I'm looking forward to it.

I didn't go get the milk yesterday, so I'll need to go down and fetch it this evening before I meet with my writing student. 

Life is good.

Parsley

Parsley is an easily grown herb that doesn't get enough credit.

Packed with nutrients, a chopped half cup contains Vitamin A: 108% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)

Vitamin C: 53% of the RDI

Vitamin K: 547% of the RDI

Folate: 11% of the RDI

Potassium: 4% of the RDI

Recipes with parsley as a main star:

Quinoa Tabouli

Parsley Potatoes

Potato Salad

18 hours later

18 hours after the second vaccine and a blanket of fatigue has just cloaked my shoulders while also it feels like every joint is being twisted in exactly the wrong direction.

 

I took what was left of my energy and set a chicken breast to thaw, then chopped an onion. It went into a pot with olive oil, turmeric, black pepper, rosemary, and salt. The I added a half cup or so each red lentils and yellow split peas and let that simmer while I peeled garlic, chopped the last of the kinda wilty celery and the white potatoes that were left from last week's delivery. (The red potatoes are still keeping well, so they can see a different recipe soon enough.) I stirred it and let it simmer while I fielded a couple emails, then added just enough chicken broth to cover the whole mess.

The bottle of room temperature water seems cool and refreshing against my tongue that feels hot and too big for my mouth.

I'm watching a bit more of There Will Be Blood while I wait for the chicken to defrost. Is there anything more luxurious than the way PT Anderson languishes camera time on his actors subtlely? It's an indulgence.

Misfit Food

This morning I had a bowl of yogurt made from last week's milk, and swirled in a dollop of raspberry preserves. Yesterday I ate the last of the beans I made the day before, so there's a batch of black-eyed peas simmering now so that I can have them on hand later. I might whip up a batch of mashed potatoes to go with it. (Nope, could never go keto.)

A box of misfit food will arrive Friday  Saturday, because of the holiday -- various slightly misshapen organic produce that isn't "pretty" enough to send to stores. I have sympathy for these castoffs. Bonus: they are much cheaper than at the market. So I signed up for a box every other week to get me through until the local farm delivery comes in mid-May.

I also added a pint of cream every other week to my milk order, and might have to add eggs as well. I use them just as eggs but then also the tea cakes take 3 eggs each. And apparently this is the year that tea-cake becomes a major staple in my life. Who knew? I might have to start freezing half the loaf, or turning it into a crumb crust for (something, I'm not sure what, maybe a nice cream cheese filling? sounds like I'll definitely need more eggs. 🤔)

Coziness by the spoonful

Is there anything better than a pressure cooker to help support simple living? A cup of dried beans in plenty of water did their thing while I ran errands and cleaned the house. 

An hour later, they were tender and ready. I drizzled olive oil and seasoned with rosemary-salt-pepper.

Update of the Week

A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave. ---Mahatma Ghandi

Out the window:
Nightly thunderstorms have been happening all week, and it's gorgeous and sometimes very dramatic. The days are oppressively hot. I'm so glad to have air conditioning. It looks like the coming week is going to be filled with rain and possibly thunder and lightning. The milk run is next week, and I'm glad I have new wipers and new tires and new brakes. 

Connecting:
Letters and songs

Books and conversation

A visit with Vivian where I got to tell her that I love her just the way she is and she doesn't need to change anything about herself to please others.

Daily morning phone calls with my friends sustain me in this isolation.

Reading:
A Hidden Wholeness, Parker Palmer

"The Moral Equivalent of War," William James

"The Sentimentality of Reason," William James

Watching:
Umbrella Academy, Season 2

Doing:

• Philosophy: Office Hours Monday-Friday
• Writing: Submitted a piece to two more journals. I feel as though my job right now is collecting rejection slips. Writing for the upcoming week is largely focusing on letting the Spirit guide me instead of accomplishing an assignment. It's going to be a wonky month.
• This upcoming month, I think I'm putting Stillness as an activity. 

Cooking:
Once I finally came out of the disability fog this week, I wanted nothing more than the world's most simple fare, and lots of it. I made a pot of rice, a pot of white beans, and a lentil and potato soup. This is soul food.

Knitting:

• The garter blanket is onto skein 5 (Woolstok 150, Highland Fleece). It's large enough that I no longer store it in a basket but in my large backpack. It's ridiculous to try to carry, so it's fortunate that none of us is going anywhere these days.
• the Brownstone jumper is on skein 2 (Woolstok 150, Cast Iron). I like the perspective shift I'm getting with doing the jumper construction in a way that is completely new to me (sleeves first; body worked from the bottom up; I've ever done a V-neck before).

No words needed:


Lesson learned the past few days:

Breathe. 

No, really, that's it; just breathe. 

Daydreaming:
A cabin in the woods, with a little garden patio, and a doghouse between the kiln and the writing studio.

Listening:

Bread Class: Sourdough Starter

If you're looking to make a sourdough starter, I like this recipe from King Arthur. It takes five days, and you can use whatever flour you have on hand. Rye is traditional; this one calls for whole wheat; I've used pretty much whatever was available and had good results. 

The trick to starter is that it is a fermentation. Your first loaves using the batch will likely not have that characteristic tangy smell and flavor, since the starter hasn't aged long enough. The good news is that it will still perk the bread along quite nicely. Don't give up; just keep using the starter to make more bread -- give it away to your neighbors and friends, and you'll be the hit on the block.  In a couple months of regular baking and feeding, and your loaves will have that sharp classic flavor.

My recipe makes two loaves, and now that I live alone I give one loaf away out of every batch. I always smile when people point out that I could freeze the second loaf, which is true, but has nothing to do with why I make bread. Some days I make a second batch the day after "Bread Day," meaning I give away both loaves since I'm still working on the one from the day before.  Generally, I make bread twice a week for my own consumption. Any baking other than that is for mental health.

Storing it: I store my bread in a brown paper bag, cut side down. It lasts about three days (if it's not eaten by then) before it gets overly hard and I cut it into strips to dry out completely for dog treats.

Mayonnaise

I made mayonnaise from scratch, and yes!, I followed the recipe exactly. The texture is amazing, but next time I'll use less mustard.

And now it is allowed to be Autumn

I went to the co-op for ginger.

Lemon Avocado Vinaigrette

• ⅓ cup olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• 1 dipper full raw honey - about 2 Tablespoons
• dash sea salt
• ¼ cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large avocado, pit removed and flesh scooped out
• ¼ cup bacon grease, with some bits of bacon (secret ingredient!) -leave out for vegetarian option, which is still amazing.
  

Put everything but the bacon grease in a food processor and blend until smooth. Slowly pour the bacon grease and bacon bits into the food processor, while running, until incorporated. Pour the results into a mason jar. Makes about 3 cups. Store in the refrigerator for two to three weeks, if it lasts that long.

Hot enough for you?

After 15 days in a row in excess of 90 degree heat, and the sixth in a row of ninety-five plus, I think I'm getting used to it. I actually feel more comfortable with the air conditioning off, the windows open, and the ceiling fan moving the air about a bit.

Of course, it could just be that I've lost my mind, but either way, I'm comfortable.

I made macaroni salad. It got a lot bigger than I thought it would, but it's delicious. The dressing has fresh basil, dill and oregano from the garden, and the salad has cucumbers carrots, peas, celery and red onion. This is summer.

Market Report

I love Tuesday!
Another great delivery of fresh produce came our way again, this time with blueberries and asparagus as crown jewels. Frankly, after the cooking fest that was Memorial Day, we won't be spending much time in the kitchen -- feel free to ask for some of the minestrone soup, potato salad, London broil, or any of the other mountain of food that needs eating from the fridge!

Even with all that we already have, I see a batch of fresh yogurt and granola getting made this weekend, all to go with the blueberries.

The weekend in pictures.

Hair Appointment at Candy's

Getting Advice

After Meeting, waiting on the singing

She was in love with reading all weekend -- this was how she rode everywhere.

Ready for the adventure.
(Let me point out that it was 80 degrees out)

Cooking is serious business

Making our own ketchup for the burgers.

The Park!!

Heading to meeting

Gathered and Singing

Playing with Zane

Girls on Campus

Do the important things first

Vivian is correct. We need to update all our recipes to have a new first step: Make Coffee.

Happy Spring Break from our kitchen.

The Noodle Dream!

Another from this weekend

Also, our friend Sam wanted to try out some freshly milled flour, so we went right about getting him all set up with that.

Life is good.
Namaste, y'all.
♥ & ☮

We made noodles

Working together

We made noodles, again. We couldn't decide between regular spaghetti or basic macaroni, so we made both. It was as fun as it always is, and the bonus is that it is really quick and yummy too. Tonight, Harvey whipped up a super-savory beef stroganoff to top the noodles, and it was just right.

Making the spaghetti

Spaghetti rosettes

Macaroni      

Cutting the macaroni

  

The Final Product

Happy PiEnstein Day

To celebrate, we are making cheesecake something or other this evening when we get home, not really because it has anything to do with Pi or Einstein, and it might not even be round, but mostly because it's cheesecake. I am wanting to make gingerbread for the crust, but that's too ambitious for a midweek evening.

Happy PiEnstein Day!!

Adopt an olive tree

It's that time of year again when I sign up for the produce for the year. This year I'm adding in an olive oil subscription, adopting an olive tree from a grove on the the Carolina Villani Estate:

The Carolina Villani Estate is situated in San Paolo Civitate, by the area called Alto Tavoliere in the northern region of Puglia. The hilly location 182 meters above sea level combined with the mild climate makes this area ideal for olive growing. In particular, it’s known for producing Peranzana olives.

Frankly, I can't wait to receive our first shipment, and it couldn't be timed better. Wednesday night we poured the last of our three liter tin into the glass bottle of olive oil we keep next to the stove, and I told Harvey it was time to up our game when it comes to the olive oil, given that we now have such great bread and vegetables to go with it, and he agreed.

Today we are going on a date to Oliveto here in town, and I'm totally looking forward to it. But that certificate of adoption is getting framed and hung in the kitchen for certain.

Now if I could just find a source for durum wheat, I'd be golden.

It begins

The mill came today. I'm completely excited about this.