The last market day of the year, and there were fewer food vendors and more handcraft vendors, not surprisingly. I had been hoping for some leeks, but got there too late in the day. Instead, I brought home what looked like skinny leeks but was actually young garlic; I'm guessing the farm was thinning the garlic crop? I also brought home some locally grown Purple Karma barley to try; it is whole rather than pearled, so takes longer to cook, and has a very different texture than the mucilaginous pearl barley...
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~ not bigger than a breadbox ~
But in fact it started out as just that... but now is in the process of being converted into a studio apartment for Opal. Not really set up yet, just some of the Caer Cardboard furniture moved in temporarily. Kenya and Sequoia are visiting while Opal puts her feet up for a few and thinks about what to deal with next... I'm thinking maybe a worktable, at least one bookcase, maybe an
armchair instead of the couch, and a single bed insted of the big double clothespin bed. The flooring is contact paper on bristol board, and will anchor future color choices. Opal really likes "Danish Modern" MCM style, which isn't surprising given her heritage.~ not bigger than a breadbox ~
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The resipei embroidery project is perfect handwork to take with me when on transit. I get to fill some otherwise useless time with satisfying progress, and it isn't so absorbing that I miss my stop!
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Note to self (and to share)... do not use or purchase again "Anchor Hocking" brand lids for waterbath canning, even if they are $2 cheaper (and what is usually a reputable brand). Of the 12 lids in the box, tried using them with several recipes, more than half the lids did not seal. All the "Ball" brand lids used at the same time sealed properly. I have been canning for years, and never had this kind of problem before. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action...
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Yesterday when I was chatting with the B's about food over the phone, Barb described her "Green Soup" which sounded so appealing that I had to pick up some broccoli and some potato just to make a version of it myself. (she was telling me how she had to adapt due to them having an all day power outage; she used Mom's hand food mill instead of a stick blender)
I had made some good strong chicken bone broth earlier in the week, and used that as a base. Added the broccoli, the yellow Finn potato, and all the other greens from the fridge (spinach, garden mix, and the remnants of bok choy). Cooked a small onion and half the bunch of green garlic then added that as well. Seasoned with some of Penzey's "Justice" mixture and a good spoonful of chicken better-than-boullion. Once it was all cooked and softened, the stick blender turned it into a fragrant green-flecked pot of delicious dinner (and several future meals). Since it was originally a broccoli-cheddar soup in theory, I added a few cheese cubes for garnish and was happy.
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This evening my laptop started behaving in a most peculiar way... it repeatedly threw up a banner across a quarter of the screen letting me know it was trying to "cast", while not allowing me to do anything else. I have never seen that before, and AFAIK had not told it to do so or pushed any new buttons?? Fortunately I was able to call Karen, and ask if John was free and could help with my computer problems. Once he called me back, he was able to talk me through poking around in the settings folder and turning off a bunch of stuff I never use, which seems to have at least stopped the giant banner from obscuring the screen, and lets me type again. It is a bit alarming how dependent I've become on the pixel world to keep in contact with the human world.
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December SMART goals (x=extra)
| # | THINGS MADE | THINGS FIXED | THINGS GONE |
| 1 | 2 pairs underwear | vegetable steamer legs | fridge science experiments |
| 2 | knitted shrew | shrew eyes | yard waste bin |
| 3 | 1 pair undies | Gamma bucket lid | recycle bin |
| 4 | 2 alphabeast drawings | one page of the embroidery transfer | recycle bin |
| 5 | - | daypack mended | recycle bin |
| 6 | x | cleaned keyboard | x |
| 7 | x | x | x |
| 8 | x | x | x |
| 9 | x | x | x |
today's gratitudes -
- my sister in law is wonderful, I would be her friend even if she wasn't married to my little brother!
- John was able to do remote tech support on the phone, and we got my laptop to stop filling the screen with peculiar messages
- asking for help instead of panicking, and getting help
Time of Isolation - Day 2002
Your mention of green soup reminded me of an experience a former employer had. She, too, made "Green Soup" and served it to her pre-school son and his small friend. The small friend looked at the soup and said, "My mother doesn't allow me to eat stuff like this."
ReplyDeleteso funny!!
DeleteALL alliums are GOOD alliums. In my humble opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree... that is one of the reasons why I have a switchplate in my kitchen that says "when in doubt, add onions"
Delete