jeweled balm for the battered spirit

The sun beat down on my back as I sat on the step filing my nails. It felt good. I raised my eyes and looked towards the trees that skirt the far side of the pond and marveled at the crispness of each leaf. Above them, the sky was the kind of blue that you see in the fall, when the air isn’t languid and soft with humidity. All the moisture now lay in the grass, a thick layer of dew that fell in the night. The dogs got their legs wet, and my pink crocs did nothing to keep the water away from my feet when we did our little toodle around the edge of the field this morning.

Thoughts of winter flash in my brain - unwelcome and quickly pushed away.

It was haircut and bath day for the dogs yesterday. They showed a certain amount of dismay when Carm hauled out the grooming table as they know full well what is coming. They were good though and cooperated well. Now they are sleek and hairless until their coats grow in, which will take less time than one would hope…

Sunday I attended my niece, Grace’s, wedding shower. I hitched a ride with my sister-in-law Tammy as it was way out on the far side of town. It was a lovely shower and I was so glad that I went. As an added bonus we stayed for supper at Frank & Tammy’s, something that we rarely do. The thing about families is that often get-togethers are all or nothing events, and with 4 siblings and their families it gets to be overwhelming.

I’m good with 2 or 4 guests at a time, after that I start to panic. I never know what to cook for big crowds. I think it is easier when a hunk of meat is at the center of the menu, but since I try to keep plant-based it gets trickier.

Of course I say plant-based, but what do I have in the instant pot? Eggs. We’ll be giving those up as soon as golf is over. I like to send Carm with a snack for the 9th hole and an egg, apple and walnuts seem to keep him fueled.

See this site for some eye opening facts about eggs: https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/eggs/

All that being said about eggs, I love a hard-boiled egg just barely cooled. And the instant pot makes them gosh-darn easy to peel ;-)

“Summer is the time when one sheds one’s tensions with one’s clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all’s right with the world.”

~Ada Louise Huxtable

common everyday life

Fall has surely arrived. I made a go with the swing (after pre-made a bunch of lunches and suppers), but when the sun skirted behind the clouds I felt a definite chill. I was tempted to bring out a blanket for the cool bits.

It is almost 4pm and I’m inside now watching golf… it is the CP Women's Open which is being played in Ottawa. We have a runner in the race too which makes it as exciting as a game of golf can be (yawn). Too bad that she played earlier in the day before the cameras arrived.

Remember that chili the other day… well… it came out totally runny, more like soup than chili. I was going to drain it but then at the last minute thought of adding rice and cooking it for another 7 minutes. So I divided all but one supper’s worth into containers and added the rice. Fire up the IP and voila. The result was great!

I put one container in the freezer for camping. My plan is to have a few meals in the bag so to speak for our trip so that we keep with the weight loss.

I decided to spice things up a little yesterday and made a trip to Dollarama for some spice jars. The camper cache hadn’t had a good go through for ages but  now they are in matching bottles and filled with fresh herbs and spices. I’ll be motivated to cook when we are out :-)

Just look how exciting my life is. I’ve become obsessed with cooking and finding recipes, but not much else is going on.

a little while later… soup is done and packaged up. Four suppers for fridge/freezer. When it is time to eat: add to instant pot, add mushrooms, frozen veg, and uncooked pasta. Seven minutes on high pressure and supper is ready. (note to self: that’s 7 minutes after it comes up to pressure which might be 20 min if frozen.)

“As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness -- just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength; the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm.”
― Laura Ingalls Wilder

its been chili

Four o’clock. It’s two pm now so I have two hours until I have to start the chili… two hours to work up the energy to get chopping and slicing. The beans have soaked and are ready to go, but the red and green peppers, and onions sit on the kitchen counter, taunting me with their wholeness. The knife still has to do its work there. I haven’t made a chili for a few years and can’t recall the potion of spices required to make a tasty meal but how hard can it be?

Monday was possibly the last day of summer. I lazed around on the back deck, taking it easy on the swing, and dipping in the pool when I got too hot. I was glad that I luxuriated and didn’t spend my day in the basement sorting, or equally as bad, in the city.

It has been sunny but cool for the last few days (or was there a day of rain in there?). Nights have started dipping below 10C, so that might be it for the pool until next year. We don’t have a heater, instead we rely on Mother Nature to keep it warm which usually works out okay. This year she’s favoring and earlier move to autumn.

Yesterday I had breakfast with Diane and Mary. It was a treat to see them :-) although meeting at the bakery was a challenge for me: unctuous apple fritters, delectable donuts, marvelous pastries… well, you get the idea. I stuck with a bagel & cream cheese which wasn’t the best, but was a nice treat.

Four o’clock already and the chili has started to cook. As usual, I put too much stuff in to be able to fit everything that I wanted. Can of diced tomatoes - nix. Mushrooms - nix. So, I’ll do what I’ve been doing with the soup: cook the base, divide into meal portions, then when it is time to make the meal add the missing ingredients and fire up the instant pot. I’ve been thinking of getting the bigger pot, but figure I’d be in the same boat, just with more meal portions. A second pot? Maybe. Better planning? Perhaps.