Feb15
steps 13,545
Last month, I had a week of normal sleep. I wish I could get that back. Right now, we are being buffeted by 60+ miles per hour wind. The lights flickered momentarily. Well, it is all gone just that fast. I hope my deer are not blown all over the yard.
Finally, I have long and skinny spatulas. They are nine inches long, could be longer to suit me. The pink/green/yellow set is in the dishwasher, ready to be washed. I have been searching forever for something like this, but longer. I hate getting contents on my hands but hate waste. So, this will work. I think I have seen these before and rejected the idea because they really need to be longer.
Because I over-ate the wrong things, I gained back seven pounds. Now, I have come to my senses and eating more normally and hopefully losing at least that weight and maybe more. I don't feel like going to weigh right now, so that will be in a future post.
For dinner I had a large bowl of soup. Then. I made brownies, ate a few and put the rest away. Other than the soup and brownies, I had one piece of bread and about 6 ounces of milk today along with part of an apple, banana, pecans, and three prunes. That is not a lot of calories in my opinion. Tommy had a small bowl of soup and a ham sandwich.
Sunday will be the last soup, a bowl for each of us. However, there is a 3-pound package of ground meat. I want more soup. This is a small oval crockpot. I have an 8-quart crockpot in storage. I won it, never used it. I have trouble picking it up empty. So, I am sure I could not handle it with food in it. But, it would work better for cooking pots of anything for freezing.
The storm was terrific tonight. I wonder what new Sunday will bring.
There was a wind storm with rain here too. That wind was fierce! My 8 quart crockpot is heavy too and more so when filled with food. I wouldn’t try to lift it and move it with food in it.
ReplyDeleteBelinda,
DeleteIt was definitely fierce here. I at least need to get the crock out when it has food in it. So, I doubt I will be using it. The area to use it is so small that it makes it hard to use my small crockpot.
For a long tim, in my farmhouse , my oval crock pot lived on the counter near its plug. The part of the counter it was in had a roll top designed for hiding small appliances. I never lift the crockpot full if food. I serve it straight from the pot (unplugged). I would often lift the cooled, mostly empty pot out and tuck in the refrigerator to be heated the next day. I have also left it in the warm setting overnight for lunch leftovers, but only if it was soup or chili. (Neither of which I like. Not sure why, but I really dislike almost all soups/stews.)
ReplyDeleteWhat brownie recipe do you use? I made chocolate brownies with pecans and white chocolate chips last week. My recipe is the old Hershey’s cocoa recipe. For Valentine’s Day I made a chocolate cheesecake with a coconut shortbread crust. Kids who went out all came home for dessert, with dates or friends! Amazingly, there is still one large (or two small) slice left.
-Meg B.
I never leave the crockpot in the appliance because that is inviting spills that burn on whether the appliance is plugged in or not. The crockpot is sort of behind the coffeemaker, so not in an ideal place to dip or stir or anything. I pull it toward the front of the counter to use it. There is no counter space here to speak of. And, I ended that sentence with a preposition.
DeleteI used the box of brownie mix that Tommy brought me. I cannot mix and beat brownies in my lap. I can work with a mix. I lost my recipe in the house.
Meg B. that cheesecake sounds amazing! Can you provide the recipe?
DeleteSure, but forgive my typos. I am relegated to a phone.
DeleteCrust: 18 Oreos, crushed in a blender, mixed 2 tbsp melted butter. I used about 25 coconut flavored shortbread cookies, (Dewey’s brand)about 1/4 cup flaked coconut.
Press in springform pan.
Cheesecake: 24 ounces softened cream cheese, beat with 3/4 cups sugar, 1 tsp vanilla. (I used coconut extract)Add 1 bar of melted, slightly cooled semi sweet baking chocolate. (I used about two cups of melted chocolate chips) mix well. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, mixing on low until just combined. Pour over crust. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for about 60 minutes. (Until center is almost set) Turn off oven leaving cheesecake in there for another 30 minutes. (I have forgotten about it for much longer. Leaving it in the oven while the oven cools helps prevent it from cracking)
Remove pan, set on wire rack to cool completely. Chill. Enjoy. ( My family likes it room temperature!)
Meg B.
Thanks, Meg. Now I want to bake one.
DeleteThanks, Meg! My daughter bakes once a month for her coworkers, and she's always looking for new desserts. I will pass this one along to her!
DeleteSnowmageddon: The Next Adventure turned out to be a non-issue here in my part of the Northeast. 3 inches of snow, tops. But it's raining now, and it's going to form ice on everything. Then high winds are supposed to take out the power lines. Hurray for winter! LOL
ReplyDeleteDH lost his marbles and spent hours in the kitchen yesterday, cooking up a (not snow) storm. The only problem with that is he absolutely wrecks the kitchen and makes nothing but sweets and carbs.
First, he made lunch sandwiches of brie, pastrami, apple slices, and **cinnamon** apple butter. Revolting. I scraped off the apple butter as best I could and added pickled red onions, which helped the flavor profile immensely. My only defense is that I was beyond starving.
Then he made Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cake. I am trying to convince him to throw it out--that he should not be eating anything that has 2 full sticks of butter in it. I had a 1-inch square to test it, but will not eat another bite. That shit is EVIL and should be illegal.
Finally--after I thought he got all the carbs out of his system--he made pork sausage with ravioli & tortellini sauce "as a treat" for dinner. I dislike pork sausage, and try to never eat pasta. Sigh.
I tell you, that man done lost his everloving mind...
Thankfully, he has not tried to cook anything today.
Today I am making all-veggie soup (no noodles/rice/carbs) and a ground turkey cottage pie topped with mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes.
Linda, is Tommy strong enough to be the designated crock pot wrangler? I mean, can he lift it and wash it? It's a shame to not use it, especially since you are right--it will be so useful for cooking so many of your meals...
Your husband is amazing how he cooks. It is funny at the same time.
DeleteI felt like gagging when you said she put two sticks of butter in the cake. That sounds like eating it is a death wish. I use olive oil in place of butter.
Tell him the kitchen broke.
He can pick it up. But, he cannot walk with it. Sometimes, I take things out of the oven and put them on the counter. It is safer. We have unique skills. I pick up something heavy off the floor, but only about 8 inches can I lift it. He can reach that far and get it up the rest of the way. He can get heavy things out of the oven. It hurts me. He will try to walk with tiny two inch steps. Sometimes, I make him let me get things from oven. I might drop them, but I won't fall down like he would.
It is safer to cook soup two days than take chances with that monster crock pot. We are eating soup for the third day, so six servings in the crockpot.
PS: Exciting news! I am trying to make tepache, which is kinda/sorta the Mexican equivalent of kombucha. You make it with water, brown sugar, carefully washed pineapple rind and the core. So, the parts that would normally go to waste. I can't wait to see if it starts to ferment!
ReplyDeleteSue,
DeleteI have never had kombucha. I cannot have fermented stuff. But, the pineapple does sound good. I have never heard of tepache. Let me know how it tastes. I imagine like a pineapple upside down cake.
It is fermenting! I didn't see anything at first, but looked closer and saw tiny, tiny bubbles at the water line.
ReplyDeleteMy kitchen is cold (67-68F) so that could be what is slowing down the fermentation. It's usually a 48-hour process, but it may go to 72. I love kitchen experiments
It won't taste sweet like a pineapple cake. It should be tart due to bacteria consuming the sugar and bubbly due to those same bacteria farting up a storm. Here's to farting bacteria! LOL.
The cool kitchen could be slowing down the fermentation process. Okay, will it taste like pineapple?
DeleteYes, my chilly kitchen is definitely slowing down the fermentation. I can give it 2 more days. If I've got no fermentation by 4 days, it's "dead in the water" so to speak.
ReplyDeleteThe end result should be a tart pineapple flavor. I did taste a spoonful; it tastes like sweet, light pineapple drink. No tartness. It's tasty enough that I could pour it over ice and sip it. But it's not the correct flavor profile.
The sweetness means the wild yeast (I did say bacteria earlier, but I should have said yeast) from the pineapple skin aren't feasting on the sugar, and the scarcity of fermentation bubbles means they aren't farting, either--because they aren't eating! I may have to wait until spring to try this again, when the ambient temp of my kitchen is warmer.
So I've added a new experiment to my kitchen counter: homemade creme fraiche. You mix heavy cream and a couple tablespoons of active culture buttermilk. Let it sit in a jar on the counter for 24 hours. Stir and refrigerate for another 24 hours, and you should have creme fraiche. Add lime juice and salt to make Mexican crema. I hope this works, because creme fraiche is frighteningly expensive in the stores.
Oh! And I ordered some daffodils! Gonna throw them in the fridge for a few months so they get a proper chill, and then plant them to see what I get. More experimentation!
Plant the daffodils now. They will get a chill. Around here, I have had daffodils bloom in January.
ReplyDeleteI hope the crema experiment works. Have you ever made buttermilk on the counter? Wait until the kitchen is warmer.