yet more Sunday snippets

in which our plucky heroine has a busy day...

and just in case there wasn't enough going on, for some unknown reason I decided that cooking up a double batch of Awesome Sauce this evening would be a good idea. Thinking it would be a grand idea to begin to use the last of last year's frozen tomatoes...

Not thinking about how it takes quite a while for it to cook down properly into a nice thick condiment. Not thinking about how even after it was the lovely sweet and savory and spicy delight, that I would then need to process all the various jars full. (I do have the jars, and the lids, and the rings, but still....) And how once begun, there is no option to put the whole process on hold and finish it tomorrow, nope, the maslin pan does not fit in the fridge, and I don't think I've suitable containers to put it in the freezer overnight, though that will be my next look around the kitchen cupboards, as I don't really want to stay up late enough to get this done, but I also don't want to waste all the effort so far... Tune in tomorrow to find out what happened...

※※※

I gave a presentation online today: "Care Tasks are Morally Neutral, or, Good Enough Is Perfect" as an introduction to the concepts and suggestions in How to Keep House While Drowning. I think my talk was received well, as there was some good discussion and comments afterwards. Here is a Powells Books interview with the author KC Davis

※※※

on why it is important to label freezer containers... I had intended to make egg drop soup for lunch, and yesterday took out what I thought was a tub full of broth to thaw in the fridge overnight. Nope, not broth, but applesauce! (I have no idea why I froze a container of applesauce, since usually that gets canned for pantry storage)

※※※

~ so tasty ~

I might need to try making this recipe, as it seems very doable, and I have successfully made other kinds of steamed dumplings. I love soup dumplings, but eating out at XLB is a rare treat. Recipe makes 20 dumplings, so you will need 20 wrappers, and some water and a setup for steaming...

Soup

⅔ cup hot water
1 packet gelatin powder
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon chicken stock

Filling

5 oz ground pork
1 green onion, finely chopped
2 shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped
½ inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
1 clove garlic, grated
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sake

※※※

Last night I fell asleep around 9. When I woke at around 2:20am and picked up my phone, I ended up texting with M, who was still awake. that the "nightlight" function on my phone (that I never used) is not a different way to use the phone for lighting. (I had thought it was like the "flashlight" function) I found out it changes the blue light colorway of the phone screen (which our brains think means "sunrise, time to be awake") to an overall "amber" hue, intended to tell our brain that "the sun is going down, time to go to sleep"... Old dog, new tricks; maybe this will help with my insomnia and sleep derangement.

※※※

September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	-	prune grapevine	yard waste bin
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. I gave a presentation today that went well, none of the dreadful things I feared happened, and my friends all said it was quite splendid.
2. the kitchen smells amazing, filled with the combination of tomato and garlic and ginger...
3. the more I allow my mind the option of thinking of alternatives, the more willing it is to do so.

Time of Isolation - Day 1164