Which proves the Bren book is moving nicely.
I thought I’d put it on and just sit down and trim up a few details in the scene…
It would have been a nice pot of stew. A total loss. Fortunately I got to it before the pot was ruined, but nothing else. I think it’s going to be beans tonight.
We had a little snow this morning and now the sky is that lovely china blue it gets up here in the north. It’s forecasted to snow non-stop for the next several days, but the weather reports have not been reliable lately.
Beyond that, we’ve both been working hard: we got the infamous glitch repaired, thanks to the software designer; we’ve corresponded with everybody we know about who was caught in it.
It’s going to be beans for dinner. I’m a Southwesterner, and Jane’s an adopted Southwesterner, so jalapenos are a Good Thing with us. We’re allergic to onion, so it’s fortunate we have no trouble with hot peppers… A can of pinto beans, a spoonful of sliced-in-a-jar jalapenos (milder than the fresh sort)…cooked together, then poured into a bowl, add enough shredded cheese to cover same, and pop bowl into the microwave to melt the cheese. Makes a nice inexpensive supper…for nights when I’ve created a disaster in the kitchen. You’re never more than 10 minutes away from that meal—or chili over pasta. And fortunately we both like it.
We’re not going back to the rink this week: we’re just not that organized yet, and it will be wall-to-wall kids temporarily out of reach of their parents…meaning some of them with new Christmas skates and some of them just sure they’re Wayne Gretzky in the making. We want to get back on the ice. But next week will be tamer.
I made a big pan of seven layer bean dip, which mostly disappeared over the weekend when the locust plague that is our gaming group found it. It’s another fast snack that eats like a meal, may be prepared in advance, and requires only something like chips to eat.
1 lb. ground beef, prepared with a package of taco mix (or just add a TB each of cumin powder and chili powder as it browns.)
8 oz. guacamole (I make my own)
8 oz. sour cream
1 8 oz. package of shredded cheese
1 12 oz. can of refried beans
1 small bottle or can salsa, sans onions (make your own?)
1 small can sliced olives (I use green onions and olives, but again, onions…)
Layer beans, sour cream, ground beef, guacamole, salsa, and cheese, then sprinkle with the olives. You could probably warm it in the microwave before adding the olives, and it gets better if it can sit overnight. Yum.
Yum. 😉
Yum is right! One of the best pieces of advice that was given to me as a newly wed was from a very good cook. She said that most dishes will
benefit greatly if left in the fridge over night
to “let the flavors marry”,and it does indeed!
I take schredded cheese,a flour tortilla,salsa and just about any left-overs and nuke it for a minute,—instant meal. When will the pubilsher finish with your last Bren book???
My usual trick is to put water on for tea, wander away from the stove for just a moment – really the briefest of side-jaunts – really.
But once I’ve left the kitchen the immediate past is completely superceeded by THE NOW and tea-memory is overwritten. Eventually the smell of hot metal wafting through the house tells me that I’ve boiled the pot dry, again.
I have been advised that I should get a pot with a whistle, but I’ve boiled a few of those dry, too. Comes from being ‘distractable’ as my mother used to call it. She said I was the easiest baby, (there were eight of us, babies that is). No matter how whiny or fractious I was, all she had to do was put something new and shiny in front of me, and presto-chango, happy baby! Unfortunately, life as a grown-up requires focus and a working short-term memory. ‘Distractable’ is not an adult virtue.
I understand this mindset. 🙂
I’ve burned up a number of kettles with and without whistle. These days I’m using an electric. Sunbeam made a model that automatically turns off when after it starts boiling so I can turn it on and if I get back to late I just turn it back on to get the boil up again. Saves on smoke alarm batteries!
Great idea, Rift! Sounds like just what I need.
The trick is to morph ‘distractable’ into ‘creative’, something I’m still working on after 60 some years of trying. For me the answer has been to find the right tools and the right set-ups to take up the slack when the mind goes wandering.
Wish I had CJ’s bent for wandering into great stories, though. I’d give a lot to have characters like Bren and Jago make an appearance in my ‘distracted’ moments. 😉
@Rift and Laura: We’ve had electric kettles with an automatic shutoff for years. Unfortunately the style and type we like is no longer available and that is why we have 2 or 3 of them with at least one in working order. DH then welds the others back together to have for emergency use.