Archive
red faced and wind blown
Life continues at a pretty fast pace. Been rolling hard since 5:00 am and its a Sunday. Feel good though and found time for some fun. I woke up bolt awake pretty early and didn’t fight it but just got up. Made my first batch of the new batch of coffees and started with a Light Roast Sumatran. It was pretty good but made it a little weak. I didn’t have much gave 1/2 the batch to Jane for coming to my house yesterday for another photo shoot. We did some torso shots and got some with me with the dog. We have plans for the dog photo but I want it to be a surprise. Jane also brought Ursula her Pyrenees 11 month old puppy and she plays good with Fido. He led her on a merry game of chase being his home turf and he practices his routes. He enjoyed that more then photos.
I did some busy work on the computer and emailing photos took a lot of time and effort because the file size was so large. Watched some Laurel and Hardy while I was doing that and This Week with George Stephanopolis. Bout the best thing on the handful of channels I get. Read the paper too but selectively, reading the whole thing cover to cover is a luxury I can no longer afford.
I also made stew so I would have food to eat this week. I took some stew meat and rolled it in whole wheat flour and browned in olive oil. Cooked a couple of local onions in the drippings and scraped all that in the slow cooker. Added a can of green enchilada sauce, maybe a 1/4 of jar of spaghetti sauce and the rinse water from the containers. Chunked in 3 russet potatoes, 4 smallish local turnips and 4 carrots plus some dried tomatoes I got from the Sellmeyers. Added 4 big cloves of Michigan garlic, going to be sad when that is gone. Its a ways until fresh garlic comes in. Added some Braggs, Worcestershire sauce, Oregano and fresh ground pepper and let that cook a few hours. Then I added a can of green beans and some frozen peas and corn. and let that cook while Ann and I hit some doors for a few hours.
I’ve been doing the Vanderveen neighborhood and finished that today. Its been interesting hitting a high poverty area. People just look really flattered that a politician would come and ask them about what they want in the city. Few of them have complaints or issues. I come back with that’s OK they were’nt planning on a pop quiz on their front porch and tell them a little about my approach of focusing on neighborhoods. Did two trailer parks, the projects and a former trailer park that was brought into the city. Found a number of folks who don’t speak English. They’re is a Rising Sun social club in the neighborhood and they must facilitate civic engagement. Seems worth reaching out to. There is also a Hindu Temple. I love Columbia.
Still struggling to find hosts for yard signs. Its hard to go from I’ve never heard of you to I’ll advertise for you in 5 minutes. Had a couple long conversations and still couldn’t win a yard sign commitment. The burly guy with no pants on I thought was a shoe in. I came in when he invited me but stayed close to the door. It was a trailer so I knew he didn’t have a cage in the basement. He had some issues though and seemed like a player in his neighborhood so it was worth taking the risk and the time to make a connection.
Anne was outside, started calling me after 5 minutes so I would have an excuse to step out but I didn’t notice. Finally gave up on vibrate and am going to learn to live with the phone ringing. Doesn’t do much good to have a cell phone if I never know when I get a call.
Worked hard to get maybe 80 doors. There is no concentration of April voters, a house here and a house there. Plus we took a break for stew and coffee. Made the damn coffee week again and gave the rest to Ann. I roasted a Rwandan this morning when I did laundry. Hung it out to dry even though the weather was calling for not getting above freezing. It was breezy and sunny and ended up being kind of nice. Though 2 days outside and my skin is dry and my face feels warm from being wind blown. I skipped a shower, starting to get dry skin. Will try to move to every other day showering but I’ve got appearances this week. Labor Club Meet and Greet, Valentine’s Date. At least two other meetings to go to possibly a third tomorrow.
Knocked off just a tad early, wasn’t worth going out to start a new neighborhood. Allowed me to get my clothes while it was still light. Then I did some follow up calls. Still back on last weeks. Gotta get caught up, maybe a 1/2 hour after the Labor Club, maybe I can get some in before that if I don’t have to go to the transit public meeting. Only got a half hour of calls in before I went over to Harry’s for dinner and The Walking Dead. The second part of season 2 is off to a strong start. Impressive stuff. It was nice to relax and do something like what I used to.
i heard there was a game on?
Getting up and getting a glass of tea and writing a blog post was a good move last night. Got those thoughts out of my head and I was tired by the end, holding off sleep for a good break in the narrative. Sharing the parts of the tale I didn’t want to forget. And then sleep. Grand total of 8 hours, first time in weeks and I felt good. Not the sleep deprived dangerous kind of good but well rested and normal kind of good. I might have a new strategy going.
I got up moving a little slow. The rain scheduled for today was cancelled so washed a couple of loads and got them on the line. Got some local grass fed ground beast out of the freezer so I would be obligated to cook, best day of the week to do so, even though still have leftovers back. Did some dishes and read the paper. Then I got a couple of phone calls and lost my window to call power brokers before having to get ready for the daily canvass.
Left a note on the front door to come on in and was in the shower when my driver arrived. Started in the most distant part of the neighborhood and what I thought would be the awkward to walk spots. Then I did this area I didn’t really know existed. Off the beaten path and this suburban wonderland of adequate infrastructure and comfortable homes. A beautiful day with lots of kids outside playing. Unknowingly hit the house of one of my clients, which hit home the wisdom of giving up my clinical load.
I’m getting faster and no one had issues. Got some houses of folks who had signed my petition. Arranged for more yard signs. Nice having consistent success with that pitch, I’ve been slack on it, not wanting to go from never heard of you to sure I’ll advertise for you in five minutes. Meeting people who know me from the paper. Someone from the dog park, big supporter, big hater of my opponent the “dog nazi” and she waffled on a sign, but came through.
My driver had a meeting so I came home dealt with emails and had some leftovers for lunch. I had made a big salad for breakfast (leaf lettuce, cucumber, with local spinach, broccoli, & fenugreek sprouts with swiss cheese, salami and my homemade mustard dressing). I also brought in the laundry as Fido wouldn’t go outside without me.
Still got out and got some doors, met people who were glad their neighbor was running, getting a lot of signs. It was nice being able to leave from my front door and getting comfortable off my usual rap since some I’d asked to sign my petition. Second to the last door, the guy with the antique firetruck who wasn’t on my list but I wanted to touch base said to get home to watch the game. Then I realized why that one house I skipped was having a party. Still stopped at my progressive friends and chatted some but they were expecting pizza and had the game on.
I would’ve watched it myself but its not on the one channel I get (gotta get some triple A batteries). Would have ordered pizza but my earlier self knew my weak willed self really wanted to cook dinner after a long and hard day of door knocking. Its ground round so I browned it in a little olive oil and added a big onion from the market and half a yellow pepper as well as some broccoli, spinach, and a couple of local roasted jalapenos out of the freezer and some garlic from the Monroe market. Added some spaghetti sauce as I am living largely can free thank you very much until they stop putting BPA in the liner. Then I added Mrs. Dash, fresh ground cumin and mustard seed, and a chipotle’ bullion cube. Thought about thickening it but didn’t. Ate it on toast with some of my homemade hot bread and butter pickles and some garlic olives. Pretty yummy.
Then I took Fido for a walk because he was acting like a spaz all evening. Today was his off day but tomorrow is a nightmare day (for him) of work, door knocking, dinner with Trevor, City Council meeting. I would have had to gotten his walk in before work to stay on schedule and I can’t count on waking bolt awake at five every morning, or four or three as the case may be. Some day all this will feel normal and I will just sleep like a normal person. right?
its all downhill from here
Good morning faithful reader. At least for now that’s all that gets to see these words as we travel down the campaign road largely in privateblogstealthmode. I had the Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum yesterday afternoon. I wasn’t as prepared I would have liked. I got my intro and closing written but didn’t put together any notes to refer to in the general questions section. All in all it wasn’t terrible. If I picked a winner I would have said Bill Pauls. He seemed pretty comfortable, hit on his experience and came off as an affable insider with majority views. In the newspaper coverage I got tagged for supporting the hotel tax increase to expand the airport. A candidate in the other race got the line about bringing in partners which I was advised to take.
I still feel like spending my time talking to voters, getting organized and mounting a serious door to door to effort is better then the meeting with city officials and working on your sound bites approach of the other candidates which seem to be some of the other candidates approach. I suspect I won more votes in my 1/2 hour of furious door knocking then anyone did in the Chamber Forum or the newspaper coverage after. We shall see in April.
I am getting better at this being furiously busy. Was up a little early so made dinner in the crock pot before work. I took a pork loin and rolled in whole wheat flour and browned in a little olive oil. Rubbed it down in the spice mix my sister Betty made for Christmas presents and threw in with some black eyed peas I’d soaked, a couple carrots, garlic, a green and a yellow bell pepper, and some onion powder (my last onion was rotten). Put in a pint of water (less would have been better, I thought the beans would absorb more) and some “better then bullion”. It was good in my post door knocking rest break.
After that I went to a Legislative Forum by the League of Women Voters. Met a few folks and renewed relationships with some Democrats I had chatted up at the Chili Supper. Took grief for my muted tie from the same guy who gave me grief for my loud tie at the Chili Supper. I told him at least I bought this one new. How long before people notice I really only have one nice dress shirt? I’ve got a number of short sleeves but my Anarchist “A” on my forearm might give some of the electorate pause.
The forum was pretty fun. We have a funny and smart state house legislative delegation. I even like the Republican Kurt Schafer and Chris Kelly our house guy is really hilarious. They cross the aisle and get shit done which I appreciate why Stills and Weber make the lonely good fight in near supermajority Republican state which I also appreciate.
Came home and slept the sleep of the just. Continuing to read some Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, my political hero. Was considering using a piece of his for my final Ed Group this morning. Its been hitting me hard and challenging me to be less of a slave to passion. I am working on new piece based on his ideas, let me see if I remember the opening stanza I wrote yesterday morning. Living alone gives the great pleasure of being able to walk around house singing nonsense to yourself. If you haven’t tried it, please do.
“Anything done without intention
Can do damage to the soul
From the harsh word said when you are angry
To eating a doughnut when you’re full”
Tough words to live by, but the promise is freedom and serenity. Well worth having bouncing around my head. Might keep me from swinging through the Taco Bell drive through when I feel entitled.
rocked on through the weekend
Its Sunday night at 9:22. I’m pretty tired but mind is spinning a bit. I made a jar of sun tea and put in one pack of the Organic Nighty Night tea that was snowing me. I also put in a ginger and a couple of chai. Thought it might be good at night. Thinking about a doctor’s appt. on the insomnia. There is a sleeping pill called Trazodone, a tricyclic anti-depressant they mostly use as a sleeper these days. It builds up a level in your system so it doesn’t have the problem of tolerance and dependence that goes along with all the other sleepers and why I even use the tea sparingly.
I’m tired though and expect to sleep well. Got a load of laundry done and another on the line and pretty much caught up on that front. I don’t have a large array of dress clothes. This week the big night will be Thursday with the Chamber candidate forum and a Legislator forum where I will have to try to meet people at the Library. It will also allow me to see what to expect when I do mine with the League of Women Voters.
I knocked on about fifty doors today. It was sunny and in the 50s I think. I was in a jacket some, in a sweater some, and put both on for the final push. Didn’t win a lot of commitments but had lots of positive interactions and only one “We’re not interested” before I got half way up the driveway. I think they thought I was a Jehovah’s Witness or something.
I’m a little congested and feel like I fought off a cold or the flue. Tomorrow I have a site visit at work with the Missouri Institute of Mental Health so I need to go in a little early and pull some charts and do a quick walk through. It’ll at least be a day off the grind. Monday night is big night, doors if I can swing it, phone calls to local power brokers, follow up calls to the weekend doors, and need to write my intro and closing.
I got up early today and made bean soup. Its vegetarian and a little bland. It seemed better at lunch. Jeff brought homemade bread that was just incredible, better then Uprise, and Vicki made an apple pie from scratch. Trevor and Lisa made a nice salad so it was the deluxe spread. Long meeting afterward. Think I used up all my focus up.
Gepetto, I want to be a real boy
Good morning faithful reader. Here in Missouri we had a beautiful weekend of weather and I unexpectedly had a little time on my hands. Yesterday I got some serious time in the garden and completed the cold frame. It was sunny in the 60s and it was too windy to finish raking the backyard. I also futzed around with the big compost bin and remembered to leave it open before the big rain last night. I finished shoveling the cold frame bed and pulled out the grass clumps because the biggest chunk of it was yard prior to the Fall.
I planted lettuce and leaf lettuce. I was out of seed, the seed catalog sitting on my counter unread, so I added some broccoli, cabbage, and peas figuring I would eat the little plantlings in salads. I didn’t have much luck with keeping the deer out of them to growing to adulthood. That sort of thing is supposed to be really nutritious and I would like to eat more salads.
Its been strange living by myself. Its hard to cook for one. I’ve been making a big meal and then eating it for days until it is gone. I made this bowl of dressing that has been two meals thus far with many to come. It was really quite delicious. I took my stale bread crusts, mostly whole wheat store bread, some whole grain white, some wheat/rye made slow to stretch the yeast (14 lbs of flour with the yeast pack) made in a clay oven in the woods in a 19th century camp out by my friend Jeff, and some holiday bread from my sister Betty that got stale on me.
I had sliced and all that dry, I keep a dish of it going through the winter and make dressing when I get a bowl full. I had frozen some Thanksgiving turkey and the drippings and I added that. I also added a bunch of celery, 1/2 red onion, yellow onion, 6 cloves garlic, maybe a tsp of thyme, 1/4 tsp mace, and the rest of my dried white sage from the garden I had dried last year (maybe 2 tbsp).
I baked it in my biggest glass mixing bowl with foil for an hour and without file for 1/2 hour at 400 degrees. Let it cool and yum. The mace really sets it off. Its a powerful spice. I added lots of fresh ground pepper as I didn’t put any in to cook. For left overs I sliced out a piece and baked it in the toaster oven with some smoked gouda and served it with a couple of farm eggs over easy. Will likely do the same for lunch. Better think about dinner, maybe salmon patties and a salad.
Saturday I took Fido for a hike. We were at the dog park but it was such a nice day everyone was there and there were to many big dogs for Fido to relax and run. So we walked down to the trails by Cosmo. Actually that was Sunday, yesterday felt like Sunday but it was Monday being MLK day yesterday. Saturday I did campaign stuff all day. I have two plans to go forward with and am awaiting someone else’s decision which created this space. I also closed down my Facebook account. Hadn’t realized how much I relied on it for pseudosocialization. Maybe I will go out and be a real person instead.
step one part two
Living alone has forced me to really think about food. Its really inconvenient to live by yourself if you like home cooking. Been making tasty soups I can eat for days and days and realizing I need two thing, because I can’t eat lunch and dinner. The minestrone soup has been good. For lunch on my late day I made hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes so I added some peas, corn, and brie and am baking it for shepherd’s pie.
I have as long as it takes to get done to post. I am going to go back to my paraphrase of the NA Steps in clear, concrete, simple language with all references to hearing removed. Original text is also beautiful, spare and powerful, from Cyber Recovery. I read the first part to get into the flow and it sounds really good I think. Maybe I’ll strip down all my writing, its kind of powerful and adds to clarity of thought.
In recovery what we call success changes. When we were using drugs we were planning to get high or getting over being sick from being high. Success was staying out of trouble. In recovery success can be staying sober and going to meetings. Some people just do that for a long time. Staying clean is success. Working the steps can be success too but really its about knowing God. That way we can get clean physically, mentally, and spiritually. If we know God we learn how to live. We are honest, help other people, and learn how to love. We love people who don’t even love themselves. Going back to school or getting a job can be success too. Some people think money is success. Recovery does not depend on what we have or what we know. Recovery is being free and not thinking about drugs or wanting to do drugs.
Being sad over not doing something we said we would do teaches us about failure. Being curious about what we can do helps us grow. If we can let ourselves fail we can try to do stuff. When we are clean we have to be brave and try new things. Thinking things are better then they are or worse then they are is like when we were using drugs.
Wondering what other people feel and think, especially about us looks like a problem. This helps us think things over and get advice. It helps us learn about God. Learning more about what is good and what is bad helps us know God. We don’t believe old lies we heard or be afraid of things we don’t understand. Learning about God is important in NA.
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getting tired, looks like there will be a step 3. Thanks for checking this out and sharing it if you do. Its cool stuff and I am blessed to have been asked to get to know it more deeply. Your comments are requested and appreciated.
“i am mostly water, 70 percent, don’t worry about the rent”
Listening to an alt country mix John made for me a long time ago. Great stuff, late 90s. Feeling grateful and content. Last week was a veritable whirlwind and until now I have subscribed to a drama free lifestyle for a long time. But not always and even as I’ve gone about a more ordinary existence I have known a penchant for action lays. Certainly won’t have to worry about boredom anytime soon as it looks.
Fido has been sleeping all day getting up only to follow me to whatever room I’m in and crashing. After better then a week of Olive 24/7 I think he just wants rest. We did walk down to the park and he played a bit with a 6 month old Blue Sheltie. I don’t think I’d ever seen one that cute. She got Fido to chase her but she was slow and they didn’t figure out how to play anything else so we walked the trail home.
I was tired today, slept poorly and slept in for me. I lay down for a nap but didn’t go down and ended up just reading a Spider Man comic. The 70s stuff has a strong since of nostalgia for me. “Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider Man” I remember well from when I was a boy. Tarantula is the villain and I remember drawing him, even the foreshortened right leg and having to imagine the toe spike that’s imbedded in the wall. He was like if Spider Man and Zorro had a kid being Hispanic and the half mask. Some of the stuffs pretty solid but there’s a cheese factor. My next one features the “Death Dance of the Hypno Hustler!”
I forgot this song is on the CD, awesome. Whenever I hear myself its unsettling and hard not to listen to myself and yet its not entirely pleasant (and not just because I’m such a bad singer).
Jeff and Becky and their kiddos came over for dinner. I was hoping Fido would get over his weirded out by kids thing if he had some sustained time with kids but no such luck. I had made minestrone soup yesterday. As a a base I used all my canned tomatoes (pretty much done with canned food all things being equal, I’ll pass on the skyrocketing BPA levels thank you very much).
While I got that going I took 2 local pasture raised cube steaks, floured them in whole wheat flour and browned in the cast iron skillet. Chopped them into little pieces and all the drippings and even the saucer of flour figuring it would thicken. I would later regret that move because I was going to someone who was gluten frees house for a potluck I thought but it was a chile supper and I was late so it didn’t matter anyway. Had a gluten free beer speaking of nostalgia. (Long term readers will remember I lost my papa and gluten free this and that was a frequent blog topic for awhile.)
Oh yeah, I fried the cube steaks in bacon grease, its not much meat for a giant pot of soup and the extra flavor didn’t hurt. I then added the giant kolrabi (well half of it, going to use it for chickpea potato salad with some russets for the work potluck), a couple of Michigan carrots, 3 Michigan red onions, a green pepper, half a bottle of homemade cherry wine (my sainted Mama taught me to add a little sweet to take the bite out of tomatoes), 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, some spinach, and purple cabbage. Whoop fresh green beans snapped real short, the black eyed peas I’d made at New Years, and a sizable amount of dried basil from the garden and Turkish oregano. At the end I added most of a can of black olives I had from Thanksgiving and some whole wheat spiral pasta.
It was yummy, pretty healthy too, and had a minestrone taste to it. Ended up adding a tsp of Better then Bullion too. Jeff and Becky are traveling and to hang out a few hours in the afternoon I thought soup and salad would be nice. I did an all local salad with market lettuce, spinach, purple cabbage, shredded carrot, heart nuts (a cross of Black and English walnuts) from the Michigan market, and Michigan apples.
I made a homemade dressing as well. I added apple cider vinegar to the last of the tahini in its own jar and some Michigan honey (boy you know local honey is cool but the honey that’s like the honey that I grew up on is just more honeyer to me), a little turmeric, a lot of freshly ground mustard (the kids enjoyed the mortar and pestle), maybe something else, I was gabbing with the guests.
Jeff brought a loaf of wheat/rye bread he’d made in the woods in a clay oven. He’s a history buff and reenactor who has a big 19th century or so camp out in Missouri every year at this time and we hang out for a bit before or after. Jeff hosted me on my first visit to Columbia and showed me the town I fell in love with. Its funny in the campaign I say “I love Columbia” and people always say “How long have you been here?”, its funny. He made it old school stretching the yeast, using only a packet for 14 pounds of flour like they would have in the olden days and stuff was expensive. They bought yeast from brewers who grew it.
Early in that paragraph I hopped over to Facebook and told a friend one of my favorite stories about my dad when she had mentioned David Bowie, here it is [One time a long time ago Dad called from the road and asked my mom to speak to me. He said, “Have you ever heard of David Bowie?” “Um, yeah Dad I’ve heard of him why.” “Well I went to get fuel last night about 3:00 in the morning and all the fuel pumps were blocked by these tour buses, so I went inside and I said ‘Hey whose buses are blocking the fuel pumps?’ and this anemic little fuck came up and said ‘They’re my buses I’m David Bowie'” Dad went on “So I said are you any relation to Jim Bowie? He had a knife that could cut his hair, you could use a knife like that.” This was 80s Bowie so his hair wasn’t that long but Dad was sensitive about stuff like that. A couple years ago I showed him The Man Who Fell to Earth and told him that’s who he’d told off.]
Well its getting late and I still have dishes to wash.
more blessed then lucky
I have to say I kind of love the three day weekend. Its closer to the 14 hour work week I dream of. Hosting a party yesterday really made it seem like another Saturday and so today feels like a Sunday, minus the morning paper. Its cooling off and still breezy. My one regret from the party was that it was to windy for a fire. But the sun is shining so it seems more brisk then cold. I spent some time outside puttering in the yard. I planted the last of my discount tulips. I put them near the house by the rain barrel at the West end in the back where its sunny. One of the secrets of winter gardening is work in the sun and I was low and out of the wind.
I also tried to rake. I finished the last little bit of the front yesterday but it was way too windy. The fence row was in the sun and out of the wind so I cleared that out. The compost could use the green from all the ivy I pulled out. If I get anymore gumption I’ll try something in doors. Like re-caulking the bath tub. I am listening to some music, my Wangbuckler stuff. Its kind of charming, if I do say so myself. John Fenn is really awesome. I need to contact him and see if he is going to put that stuff online so I can link it here. Its strange listening to yourself, oddly compelling.
For having a dinner party not a lot of mess to clean up and the house is pretty clean. Been sprawling into the empty bedrooms. Why not? At some point I guess I’ll have to reshuffle someday but my as well use the space. The party was pretty fun, good conversation. People came in little waves so we all got to eat around the table but in shifts. Everything came out pretty well.
I made pulled pork. I’d gotten a pork roast from the Coopers at the last Columbia market and I used a cup of market salsa, a cup of Sticky Pig barbecue sauce, green pepper, 2 red onions (Monroe market), stick of celery, lot of garlic (some from Monroe), tsp cumin seed, tsp coriander seed, tbsp chili powder and tbsp paprika so I had a nice local content and it was tasty. Cooked it until it fell off the bone, pulled it removed fat and bone and let it cook another hour or three depending on when you came to the party. I through the bone out back and Fido got to it first and ate it. I was kind of proud of him keeping it from Olive and have a lot of faith in both of them (2 dogs/1 bone can be serious trouble).
I’ve probably mentioned my family always ate pork on New Years so you root ahead. If you eat chicken you’ll scratch and beef leaves you standing chewing your cud. My sister made fish I saw so she could swim ahead. Healthier if not luckier then the other white meat. I also made black eyed pea/potato salad as I think black eyed peas on New Years is a southern thing. They’re not my favorite bean and hard to make good vegetarian so I didn’t try and used this recipe adapted for chick peas I saw in the paper. I peeled some and chopped potatoes (Yukon golds and a couple Russets [best thing I could find at Mosers which is not where you want to buy potatoes]) and boiled them til almost soft drained and let cool. Earlier I had cooked my black eyed peas with a little salt, dash of cayenne & turmeric just to boost the flavor a bit. Then I mixed that with 1/2 cup or so chopped parsley out of the garden, the juice and grated peal of a large lemon, also had cooked maybe 4 tbsps garlic in 3 tbsps olive oil and cooked on lowest heat for 6 minutes with my garlic pieces pretty big and added some freshly ground pepper. Not to shabby if I do say so myself and healthier then the usual, although I may add Miracle Whip to the leftovers.
My other dish was noodles which Asians eat on the lunar new year for luck but 1/1 is close enough. I called it savory peach and cashew noodles but it should be called noodle dumb ass. Harry always called made up stuff from what you have on hand “dumb ass”. I actually like to cook this way, brings out my creativity. I made a sauce out most a pint of peach butter (a butter has more fruit then sugar, unlike jams and jellies, healthier and almost as yummy but doesn’t keep like jelly so I was eager to use it), with Braggs, fried carrot, shallots, green pepper, 5 dried Thai chili peppers, and a chipotle bullion cube. I thickened it with the last of Kevin’s Thanksgiving rue and added a good splash of sesame oil at the end. I mixed it with 1/2 egg noodles and 1/2 whole wheat egg noodles because Mosers didn’t have Asian noodles. Oh yeah and some canned cashews, they were in their too.
The eggnog was special. I started with 11 Lacunae eggs (the shells are a pastel green, very distinctive) one was cracked and with a raw egg dish you’re already risking salmonella so I set aside which allowed me to show it off. I whisked the yolks and then slowly added 1 1/2 cups sugar. Mixed in a quart of milk and a quart of heavy whipping cream as well as 2 cups Wild Turkey, 1/2 cup of spiced rum, 2 cups E&J brandy, mixed that up and put it in a giant pitcher. After dinner I beat the egg whites until they were half way to custard and mixed that in best I could in my now two pitchers (I need an enormous bowl to make a full recipe, next year I’ll do a half batch). Then I beat another 1/2 quart of heavy whipping cream until it was most of the way to whipped cream and mixed that up. Fresh grated nutmeg for a topper and delicious. Not the heaviest nog I’d ever had but for carrying all that liquor it was pretty thick.
2012 is off to a pretty good start though to be honest I feel more blessed then lucky.
I put in a movie, more to see if my DVD player works then wanting to watch a movie. Mostly I am tired of being productive and not tired enough to go to sleep and for such was invented television. Cancelling my satellite and having my housemates move out has made for something akin to if not loneliness then certainly a satiation with being with my own thoughts. A rarity as I’m rather into it. Watching a horror movie Harry loaned me. I think I’ve seen it before, HP Lovecraft’s From Beyond, pretty good as I recall for what it is.
Its been a pretty relaxing evening. Took advantage of Olive keeping Fido company all day and got some dinner at Wendy’s and did a little shopping. Got some of the things on my list a nice can opener with big teeth and a cork screw at Macy’s. I also picked up a few cardigans at a good price. Struck out on a few things too, no rain jacket, garlic press or even a spatula like what I was looking for. I’m not a fan of shopping but it was tolerable.
Glad to have wrapped up another week. Getting busier but I was thankful it was OK for a while. I did my education group on some selections from the Enchiridion. It was well received. I call stoicism the only evidence based philosophy because of its heavy influence on cognitive behavioral therapy. I had given a lot of the Dover Thrift Editions away and been speaking him up to some of the smart dudes in treatment so I think that paved the way for greater acceptance.
Yesterday I walked dogs and made soup. Walking a dog is a joy walking two dogs is a bit of a chore. Olive is definitely a hound as she likes to stop and sniff at pretty much everything except when she is pulling on the leash trying to smell something ahead. She also has a pit bull stubbornness and some pull. We got into a little test of wills when I finally made her sit. Ultimately we made it to the dog park, started making the rounds, lots of big dogs so both of them were a little timid and then Olive jumped up on a picnic table full of regulars, mostly older. There was this general look of disdain and I grabbed Olive by the collar and pulled her off the table a little to roughly for the general sensibilities and it was a bit embarrassing. Closest thing I’ve been to losing my cool for a while. Made me glad I never had kids. I am known for being calm, gentle even, but if I had to deal with kids at odd times I suspect I would grab ’em up, maybe even bop ’em like I did to Fido and Olive summer before last when they were going after Remi the neighbors little purse dog. Glad I’ve done batterer intervention for a long time. Makes me look past the bullshit of easy excuses and own up my behavior and work on changing it. Don’t think I’ll get short with Olive again.
Soup was a better experience. I looked up a recipe just to make sure there weren’t any celeriac tricks I needed to know. There aren’t but I got a pretty good recipe which I only slightly modified. I cooked three shallots in a teaspoon of bacon grease, added the peeled and chopped celeriac and three yukon golds also chopped. Then a quart of homemade chicken stock, a Michigan apple (the rest I think left at Brenda’s), and a bit more then a 1/2 tsp of thyme. Also added a kielbasa and a half (Kowalski’s holiday kielbasa from Danny’s in Monroe) and cooked it til it was done about a half hour. Added some of Kevin’s rue when it wasn’t thick enough. It was good and different. I like making soup cooking for one. Everything is in one pot but you still get your veggies.
Tomorrow, market, shopping, laundry (60 & sunny definitely using the clothesline), hiking with the dogs (patiently), and cleaning house. Wouldn’t mind doing some yard work. I still have tulips to put in and haven’t finished raking even the front yard. Glad real winter has stayed her hand. With the beautiful day putting off some house cleaning to Sunday is not a bad idea. Not having people over until 3 and a 3 day weekend. sweet.
feeling a bit chill
I was watching this pretty intense Australian movie called The Tracker when the VCR just went dead. Got it going again but now I’m blogging. Its got a grooving sound track and its a little heavy handed but good. shit. video out again. I think my DVD player is on the fritz. I guess I am more likely to cancel netflix then buy another one. It’ll be nice to stop them from dipping into my bank account. I haven’t missed directv and haven’t tried to connect the antenna I got from Harry yet. I kind of like peace and quiet.
What a great day, it was so beautiful, especially for December. The sun was out some and I hung a load of laundry out. I made soup. I used chicken stock I’d made and the turkey neck left over from Thanksgiving. There’s a lot of meat on a neck and Fido enjoyed a little integument and such. I added some water a piece and a half of celery and maybe 1/2 a cup of celeriac leaves. I chunked the celery up big. I also added herbs from the garden mostly parsley but also oregano, marjoram and wild onions. I also threw in almost a cup of lentils and cooked that until the lentils were done and turned it off.
I went shopping with Sarah and had a pleasant time at the mall and such and drove carefully through the maelstrom of pushy people on cell phones wheeling around in big SUVs. Didn’t end up getting anyone but me stuff but I got some neat stuff. I had a $15 Target card for being a good worker bee and got a metal colander (I’ve been looking at thrift stores for years and hadn’t found one) and a glass loaf pan.
I had no luck at the Shoe Department looking for a goretex or goretexlike hiking shoe. Did find one at “the locally owned shoe store that happens to be at the mall” as Sarah was an excellent mall navigator having grown up at the mall in her mom’s bookstore, and got a new pair of Merrels for around a hundred bucks. I walk enough to justify it and I ripped the seams out of the goretex in my current two year pair when I was sinking knee deep in the mud floating the Lemine.
At the kitchen gadget store got my dough mixer I was missing from the pumpkin pies. Even a few pies will justify the expense. No luck on getting a sieve though, I’ll have to try flea markets and antique malls or else start shopping in a time machine. Stopped at Westlakes as Sarah wasn’t finding her present but I got some bathroom caulk and a cute little shot glass that also has teaspoon and tablespoon markers. Should come in handy. I did finish my soup before Michael came with some mushrooms from Harry, a few carrots, a handful of little taters, some kale, some rue Kevin made on Thanksgiving to thicken it, and garlic. Also threw in 3 or 4 semi dried thai chile peppers.
Maybe I’ll make some tea with Baileys and have a piece of my pumpkin pie. No way am I going to make one for Christmas. I’ve been eating it every day for better then half a week. Should have offered Michael a slice when he came to pick me and Fido up to go to the off leash dog trails by Cosmo park. They’re extensive with a couple good little climbs and some nice views. Goes down to the boardwalk and we hiked the extra loop by the golf course. Fido stayed pretty close and had fun playing with Olive. My face feels windblown from the brisk day and my new shoes have some inaugural mud but performed well on the muddy hills.
I could’ve gotten more done on the Christmas front but it was a fun day, the dog had a good time, and I got a lot of other stuff done. I planted the rest of the 50 pack tulips I got at a discount earlier this month. I continued to fold them into the strawberry patch and pull grass. Need to get in and clip up the white sage gone amok and plant another six pack and I’m done with that project. Probably after Christmas though, I’ve really gotta get wrapping and follow through on an idea.
Expect to hear more from me and of course the annual tradition of the holiday letter. Probably would have done it already but it was a somber year here at Leslie Lane. And with all the magic and the growth and getting better at standing on our own two feet, or four feet really for some, it is still worth celebrating a new year coming on. Hope you can make it for some lucky new years dinner, mimosas perhaps, Baileys and home roasted coffee, and weather permitting a fire. Any time after 3 would be lovely and if you get no more invitation then this, consider yourself invited.
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