Another Tuesday!

I know I said that I would show you photos from the weekend...

But yesterday was Tuesday and you know how well I get along with Tuesdays...

It started early and easy.  I had coffee on the patio while waiting for Mr. K to wake up.

I haven't gone out in public (or to shop) in forever.

Mr. K has no hobbies, doesn't read and most of all, doesn't mind running to the store.

He volunteered to run to Sam's Club.  

I gave him a list.

On the list was a bag of those tiny potatoes.

He did send me a text saying that they had no hard salami...

I was upstairs when he got home, he put the groceries away.

Then I decided to run to Michaels for paint so Locklan and I could work on a project.

I was gone about 45 minutes when Ashley called, asking me to ride to Sam's and sit with the kids in the car while she ran in to pick up one thing.

Instead, I met them there.

Mission accomplihed.

I went home to start dinner.  I had a killer salmon recipe I couldn't wait to make.

I put the salmon in the oven and went to start the baby potatoes that Mr. K bought.

Where were they?

First he said he put them in the fridge.

Nope.

The basement?  The Pantry?  Left in his car?

Nope, nope and nope.

We searched and searched.  I checked his receipt.

Yes, he bought them.  No, we did not have them.

He suggested noodles.

The salmon recipe said to bake the salmon and then broil it for 2 to 3 minutes.

I did.  After 2 minutes, it looked heavenly, it smelled divine.

I went to open the oven and flames shot out!

I screamed and slammed the door. 

I tried again, same thing, well, almost the same thing...

This time Mr.K came running with the fire extinguisher and sprayed the east wall of the kitchen, the inside of the oven, my beautiful salmon dinner AND the noodles cooking on top of the stove.

Sigh...it was Tuesday...

We ate Wendy's.

In an instant!

Years ago, when I was a terribly horrible cook, my mother started buying me kitchen stuff to get me inspired...

Like Mixing bowls,

and potato ricers,

Next it was a bread machine...

And then a pressure cooker!

Now that pressure cooker scared the bejeebers out of me.

Remember those days?

That knobby thing on top rocked back and forth, spewing steamy messages that one day it would blow and your kitchen ceiling would never be the same again...

 

 

Actually, that DID NOT happen. 

Instead, back when Mark and I were just getting on our feet as home owners,

we had some pretty thrifty moments. 

The pressure cooker, that scary pot, could make work boots tender and easy to chew. 

We depended on it.

Until that fateful day...

As usual, I put the pot (full of some cheap cut of meat, some veggies and herbs) on the stove and we high tailed it to the other side of the house where we could not hear the rattle of that dangerous pot.

Finally, the timer went off, I ran in to turn the stove off and we waited the proper number of minutes for the pressure to go down.

I went back into the kitchen, took the knobby thing off the pot and twisted the handles to open it...

But it did not open.

I ran it under cold water...

I tried to wedge something between the handles as a lever...

I tapped it with something hard...

I banged it with something harder...

I sat on the porch with the darn thing, waiting for Mark to get home and open it...

He came...

He saw...

He tapped, twisted, swore and banged...

He put the kids in the car and went to McDonalds.

They ate.

We pitched the darn pot full of our dinner.

For all I know, it's in some landfill, still full of our dinner.

Now...fast forward to 2017...

I bought an INSTANT POT!!!!

 

Yes, it is a pressure cooker...

Yes, it is probably as dangerous as the old one...

 

but it's soooo cool, so modern, and it turns itself off!

 

Yes, it wasn't cheap and the corresponding cookbooks added to the cost...

but it was full of promises of healthy and delicious meals...

 

~not to mention the one that it would take the place of many kitchen things~

 

I no longer have a need for a crock pot, rice cooker, egg cooker, yogurt maker...

(not that I had all of those things in my kitchen)

 

Get the picture?

 

Of course, it needed a purpose...

 

And I found it!

 

It makes the most extraordinary hard boiled eggs!

 

Seriously, the best!

 

I can't believe how easy it is...how beautifully they peel

and how many I can cook at once!

 

Ashley will send up a dozen eggs for me to cook,

I will throw a dozen from our fridge as well...

 

And wham-a-lam!

 

We have eggs.

 

No fuss, no muss!

 

How many eggs will I have to make to break even?

 

Let's just say...

 

Get busy, chickens!

 

 

 

March marches on?

I can't believe we're nearly half way through March.  Other than Michael's birthday,

I've always hated disliked March...

 

I had my reasons...

 

The snow starts to melt and gets dirty.  Every year, I am sure it will stay until my birthday!

 

 

Along with melting snow comes the evidence of  'pooping during a snow storm' in the front yard. 

 

Mr, K thinks that once a day is enough poop scooping and if the snow covers it...

 

So with the melting snow and rising temps

(not to mention a sunny day where I drove with the car windows open and of course

the heated seats on high)...

 

I sent him out with the shovel!

 

 

We still have cold days and I get the urge to become Sally Homemaker. 

 Suzy Homemaker is the hubster!

 

I wander into the kitchen and play with power tools...

 

 

 

and make my own personal (top of the oatmeal box) recipe

 

 

and make...

 

 

 

We never have photos of baked cookies...they don't last that long!

 

 

It's still cold enough in the evening that when you come into the warm house,

fill your belly and kick back the recliner...

 

Well, you KNOW what happens...

 

 

Speaking of resting, yesterday I bought Linda a new bed...

 

 

and the minute I put it down, Winnie claimed it!

 

Of course, I managed to take time to...

 

 

 

(and don't worry, I don't always look like this. 

 I did manage to take time to get my hair cut yesterday)!

 

I've been quilting, thinking about knitting

 

And that's my first 13 days of March...

 

How was yours?

 

(psssst. if your umbrella is open indoors, don't chase a black cat under a ladder today)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's Catch Up!

Wow, lots of things to talk about...

 

Let's start at the end and work our way back...okay?

 

First...Ron and I have tickets for...

 

 

Tonight's Penguin Game!!!

 

As a rather last minute thing, when the people next door couldn't use their tickets, we bought them. 

 

I haven't been to a game yet this year, so I'm excited.  A real date!

 

Of course, it's bitterly cold out there.  The last I saw, it was 7° out there, and they are calling for snow...but I'm willing to brave the cold and snow to watch the Pens beat the Bruins.

 

Next, Andy and Ashley stopped by last night to show us the latest photos of Locklan David...

 

 

 

Isn't he adorable?

 

I thought he was so smart...turning around like that, but Ashley burst my bubble. 

I guess the technician just photographed him from the other side...

 

Hey, what do I know????

 

Last, we have some pretty sick people here...

 

Last week, when I said Tony was feeling punky,

None of us knew, until Noelle forced him to see a doctor,

that he had the flu AND a two infected ears!

 

Noelle thought she was coming down with a cold...

Bronchitis!

 

And lastly,

Dolores, Noelle's grandmother, is in the hospital with the flu.

She's 85 and feeling a little wobbly right now.

As with the flu, they are doing what they can to make her comfortable.

 

How about some prayers, guys? 

They can certainly use them.

 

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers,

I certainly keep everyone who stops by in mine.

 

Back soon.

Jan

 

PS, I made stuffed banana peppers last night...

they were mucho magnificent...do you think I'm finally learning how to cook?