Because I only have to provide dinner twice a week it allows me to 'cook' as opposed to just put a meal on the table so I'm always trolling for new recipes. I don't do something new every time but I've tried several new recipes lately though I haven't always taken pictures. I've made garlic butter baked cod with a cherry tomato sauce (really good), improvised my own gumbo with instant roux powder, okra, onions, celery, catfish and shrimp, and rice (better than I thought it would be), and most recently blistered broccoli pasta with walnuts, parmesan, and mint (also really good).
Thursday I printed out a recipe for french onion galette but I have to find gruyere cheese which is not to be found in this little town nor any of the acceptable substitutions two of which I've never heard of so I guess I'll be making a trip into Shopping Mecca to the giant grocery store there which I need to do anyway because the grocery store here stopped carrying the organic mayonnaise and the orecchiette pasta that I like so much.
High 90s was bad enough. Now that we've hit day after day of triple digits with no relief in sight for the foreseeable future, shit is even worse. My toad lilies are dying no matter how much water I give them every day, same with the white butterfly ginger. Even the drought tolerant mistflower is wilty. The rock rose, members of the mallow/hibiscus family, don't seem to mind, getting along with the watering I do in that flower bed which is less than some of the others. The picture is off the internet because I can't seem to remember to take a picture of mine in the morning when they're open.
I've started walking the dog in the early mornings while the street is still mostly in shade. Finally got to visit my friends at the other end of the block. Leonard was sitting on his porch yesterday so I stopped to chat and Judy heard my voice and came out so that was nice. Haven't seen them, or anybody on the street, for weeks.
Made a run to the Evil Empire Friday to get a new hose for the little backyard and a new sprayer nozzle to replace the one that leaks more water than it sprays out. Also got a nicer soap dish to replace the crappy plastic one in the bathroom and a new pair of cheap sandals of which they had maybe half a dozen left but miracle of miracles, one pair in my size. And then to the new hardware store/lumber yard in town for 3 repair kits for the hose in front that I've already repaired twice. You'd think I'd have just replaced that one but the hose in the little backyard is ancient, stiff, cracked, and not worth the trouble to repair.
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I'd intended to publish this yesterday, yesterday being Friday, but instead of uploading the pictures I decided to repair the hose so I hauled it inside to work on it. Found the slit that I thought the geyser was shooting out from, cut the hose and put it back together with the repair kit, then found another slit about 6” away and another slit about 6” away in the other direction and then examined the hose and found not just the two bulging spots but two more that would soon be bulging and declared the hose a piece of shit and undid the repair I had just done and then removed the two repair/splice pieces already on the hose and in the process gouged a bit of flesh off one of my fingers that bled profusely. So back to Alamo H/L to return the three repair/splice things I had bought earlier and bought another new hose. After that I had to fix dinner which was no great shakes either.
And today, Saturday, I finally girded my loins for a trip to Shopping Mecca down the highway in Rosenberg but first stopped at the little market on the way for some okra, yellow squash and another little miracle, peaches. The owner of the market scoured the state and found one orchard that still had some but these are absolutely the last Texas peaches of the season. Then on to SM to the grocery store there to get the gruyere cheese and a few other things including stocking up on the organic mayonnaise and then to J C Penney's to get some shorts which I didn't expect them to have being the end of summer and stores are putting out their winter merchandise and another miracle of miracles they had two pair in my size of the style I like. Then to another grocery store at the other end to stock up on the orecchiette pasta and finally swinging by the Evil Empire to return the 16 gauge extension cord and get the 14 gauge that I should have bought.
Between yesterday and today I am shopped out and hope I don't have to go into another store for the foreseeable future.
You certainly run yourself ragged. I wish your devotion to your gardens were more productive. You have so many lovely plantings and work harder than mother nature to keep them happy and provided for.
ReplyDeletea sudden burst of activity as opposed to the lazy slug I've been, besides watering the things I hope survive.
DeleteThat amount of shopping would be a year's supply for me. I'm glad you found most of what you were looking for. Your cooking sounds very good, also advanced.
ReplyDeletenot gourmet advanced. most are fairly straightforward.
DeleteIt’s always good to try new recipes and it makes dinner fun rather than just having to eat. How you stand that heat, I have no idea.
ReplyDeleteI stay inside, drink water but I'm acclimated to it, well, not these extreme temperatures but I guess I tolerate them better than you would. me, I'd be miserable in the snow and ice.
DeleteSome of those recipes look familiar- are you using the NYT's cooking app? I use their recipes all the time. I've been trying not to turn on the oven due to the heat and I can get away with making smaller portions and using the air fryer/toaster oven instead. It's faster and doesn't heat up the kitchen as much but lately, even just turning on the burners on the stove heats things up.
ReplyDeleteI've given up on the outside- root hog or die. Amazing how some things just keep on growing. I figure that most things will come back. I hope so.
You had quite a day in the outside world! Some days are like that- the burst of energy happens and we can actually do things. Now yes, rest a few days. Let us know how the onion galette comes out.
I do not have the NYT cooking app but I get their daily newsletter and there is always a food at the end and if I think I'd like to try it I google the recipe since NYT won't let me see it. sometimes I can find it on someone else's site or more generally one that is so similar as to be basically the same. the garlic butter baked cod came from the Washington Post, the blistered broccoli and onion galette from the NYT.
DeleteI almost pulled out the zinnias today, determined when I went to bed that I was going to do it as they were suffering in the heat. couldn't do it yet. at this point I'm mostly just trying to keep the azaleas, plumerias, leatherleaf ferns, and some of the ginger watered. and yes I watered the zinnias this morning. I should just pull them out.
I love how much energy you have and all the things you get done there. I am such a lazy bum, so I have to ask what's your secret source of energy? Maybe I should start drinking coffee again... Engllsh Breakfast Tea just doesn't do it!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say I had a lot of energy. two days of activity after weeks of molting. I just had to get those things taken care of. now I'll go back to molting until it cools off out there.
DeleteSounds like you got a lot of stuff done! Hope you enjoy those peaches. A fresh peach is a rare thing these days. Maybe your toad lilies need a little sunshade or something to keep the worst of the heat away? (Assuming they're in the sun.)
ReplyDeletemostly in the shade, dying anyway. I just hope the roots survive. we don't usually have Texas peaches this late in the year so these are a real treat.
DeleteEllen, I just saw your comment about iTunes on my blog. My first thought is, sync your desktop to the cloud (if that's possible) and then sync your phone via the cloud. That should connect the two and allow them to more or less communicate. If your desktop also won't talk to the cloud, you may simply need to upgrade your equipment and/or software. (Or maybe you don't mind!)
Deletemy desktop is at least 15 years old, maybe, probably a little older. can't upgrade the operating system anymore.I'll try sincing my new iPhone 13 to the computer but I think I already tried that and same problem, desktop too old.
DeleteShopping is just the worst - glad you got all that done in one fell swoop so now you can avoid it!
ReplyDeletetook about 2 hours on Saturday which I think is pretty good. tried not to get distracted by anything other than what I went in for.
DeleteJust this morning I was listening to our local hunting and fishing show, and the guys were talking about the latest TP&W species reports. I can't remember all of the numbers, but I do remember their mention of a 27% increase in the white-wing dove population this year; all the populations are up, some even more considerably. So, what we're seeing at our feeders isn't an anomaly -- it's just a sign of something taking place across the state.
ReplyDeletethey're definitely either expanding their territory or, more likely, moving it what with global warming. lots of other life is or will be doing it too. they are just so aggressive. I saw one body slam another one to get it off the bird feeder.
DeleteIf there's one really good thing I learned during the lockdown(s), it's that shopping can be cut down to the bare necessities without losing the meaning of life.
ReplyDeleteI just hope for you to get lower temps soon.
I tried very hard not to get distracted, just went straight for the items I was after. current forecast triple digits for the next 7 days and then it starts dropping into high to mid 90s.
DeleteIt's hotter than hell here, as well. At least we do not have your humidity. So, of course the air conditioner has picked today to die.
ReplyDelete