The sun… the missing sun… last November and December we had 13 total days of sun, so far this Jan we've had 8 - which is a huge improvement but it also means that we've had 14 days of cloud, snow, and rain! I'm sitting in a sunspot at the moment (9:30am), but it is meant to cloud over and snow this afternoon…
Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and it looked like the roads would be good so a quick message to Jo Ellen and Don for a late lunch and the race was on! First we had to run out to check on someone's house which took a little less than half an hour but it meant I really had to put boots to the ground… I had a pork sirloin roast with a herby dry rub to go into the instant pot (easy if the IP didn't glitch on me a few times), Carm took care of the mashed potatoes and vacuuming, and I tackled 2 new recipes: creamy parmesan & bacon brussels sprouts, and hot honey & parmesan glazed carrots. I raced around the kitchen like a mad woman trying to get this all sorted, getting cranky with Carm every time he stepped into my whirling path.
The instant pot failed on me a few times when I was sauteing the pork and then the onions, and then again part way through cooking the roast! Unfortunately I didn't notice right away so it sat for who knows how long… Luckily the roast was partially cooked, so I just stuck it back in for another 5 minutes of HP, leaving it to naturally release - cooked! The delay was not too bad and I think we were sitting down to lunch by a little past 2:30.
How did the new recipes go? Both were excellent ways to turn a healthy vegetable into a scrumptious, rich, unhealthy side. The brussels sprouts had bacon, cream, and tons of garlic: once the bacon was crisped and removed from the pan, the brussels sprouts were added with lots of butter; they cooked until they were starting to brown, then cream was added; it cooked a few minutes more, then the whole thing was topped with gruyere & parmesan cheeses and popped into the oven. Decadent!!!
The carrots weren't gilded with butter and bacon but did have a bit of parm as well as a honey glaze. The glaze was made by heating some honey, adding some of my chilli garlic crisp oil for some heat, then a bit of apple cider vinegar was added for some zip. They were good, but I didn't fully follow the recipe so I think they could have been better. The flavour somewhat disguised the weird texture of the frozen carrots.
I'll make both again! The brussels sprouts can be made ahead and popped into the oven for the final 15 minutes when the time is right - perhaps a good Thanksgiving recipe?
Speaking of carrots - there's a bit of a funny story. I was shopping in Costco with Carm and saw a giant 10lb bag of carrots. I bought them and they got stuck downstairs, some days (or was it weeks) later, I went to get some and they were starting to go weird, so I got the peeler out and did the whole lot. I diced them and stuck them in the freezer for soups. Handy to have right?
So I had this giant bag of frozen carrots but wanted to roast some so asked Carm for a bag of fresh ones, but didn't specify that I only wanted a few 😱 So… he picked up another giant bag at Costco!!! Downstairs they went, upstairs they came, and we peeled & chopped the next 10 pounds! Carm helped this time ;-) Note to self: frozen carrots get a weird texture that doesn't roast well!
Saturday was another hibernation day but I puttered around the kitchen getting various cooking things done… Friday I had an imaging appointment in the morning, then we left, with Carm driving due to my horrible night vision, to pick up Mom for her CT scan around 5. It was bloody cold! We got Mom to the hospital on time (a bit of hurry up and wait!), and she got her scan. She has to wait until Feb 22nd for the results… it will be a very long month, especially for her. She still can't wear the mouth appliance so she is still on a liquid diet… I think she would love to sink her teeth into something solid but that’s a ways off 😞
What else can you do but persevere… Mom does it with grace and humour - I don't think I'd be as awesome at getting on with it as she has done.
Thursday was a snow day - Kirsten called in the afternoon so we could go for a walk together - her on a snowy road, me on the treadmill. We walked and chatted for almost an hour! She called my cell phone so I could wear my headphones - the audio quality was excellent :-)
Wednesday we met up with Kirsten in middle earth for lunch at the shwarma place (big garlicky burp)! And there's almost a week (in reverse), flown by.
Just after 10am and the sun is gone :-( I think I'll change the ‘sun’ entry in my log to ‘snow’! I don't think that 2 hours of sun counts as a sunny day…
I've been reading mostly crap… the book I just started is about a woman who owns a chocolate shop and a billionaire (of course - millionaire is no longer enough), is opening a chocolate shop right next to her, threatening to drive her out of business… what billionaire is opening a little shop in a tiny town called Poppy Creek? But will they fall in love? Probably! 🤪
Gosh, I sat down with not much to say but I managed to say it in over 1000 words 😱
Awesome!
“more sunshine“
“dogs sleeping in a sun spot”
“my headphones”
“walking with Kirsten”
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