Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from June, 2019 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 3:46 pm on June 24, 2019 Permalink  

  Good Feelings 

  Waking this morning, it felt like it was going to be a great day.  How wrong can feelings be!  The sky isn’t the limit, it’s what I believe in.  We did have an inch and a half of rain last night and with the sun shining this morning . . . I had good feelings.

  After running a few errands, I settled into the kitchen to see what the refrigerator held for supper.  One of our best bets for a good purchase from the grocery story is a rotisserie chicken.  Bringing it home hot from the store with a container of slaw is all we need for a supper.  The best part is that there is so much chicken on these chubby gals that after it is boned out . . . there is a lot of good eating left.  I usually make a small bowl of cold chicken salad for sandwiches for the coming day.  The remainder of the cubed chicken goes into a hotdish.  Alfredo sauce is our favorite for the hotdish using the Pennie pasta.  Dicing up frozen vegetables or even using a can of mixed vegetables or chopped up green beans tops it off.  Dennis prefers a very moist hotdish.  That calls for me rinsing out the Alfredo jar with some cream.  Sometimes we put crushed cracker crumbs on top or just a layer of fresh ground pepper.  Within 45 to 50 minutes in a 325 degree oven we call it a great hot meal for supper.

  It’s not that I don’t like making meals.  I like to make a dish that will allow for left-overs.  In thinking about it, the rotisserie chicken usually runs about $8.98 in our grocery store.  Figuring one hot supper after it is brought home, a cold chicken salad sandwich with a cup of soup for the next night’s supper . . . and then having the hotdish on the third night . . . it is a very value-conscious purchase.  I don’t think Dr. Oz thinks kindly on Rotisserie chicken, but . . . we have been purchasing it off and on for quite some time and have no qualms about it.  It’s good protein.  I have even purchased the chicken and refrigerated it until the next day when I had time to work with the boned out chicken.  Convenience . . . you can’t beat it. 

  Yesterday we were at an event where someone had recently smashed their finger.  It looked sore and I am sure it throbbed as the time when on.  It reminded me of how often Dad had done the self same thing while working.  It kind of grossed me out, when after a day or so, he would be in his shop and could be found drilling a very small hole in the center of the nail of the injured finger.  He assured me that it took the pressure off of the injury and in time the nail would fall off on its own.  Oh how much we take our hands and fingers for granted as we work them every day.  They may be calloused from the work, but oh so tender when harmed.

  My good feelings have endured the entire day.  The breeze is blowing into the west porch windows and the chimes in the evergreen tree are bringing melodious music into our home.  It’s a good thing.

   
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  Noreen 3:25 pm on March 15, 2019 Permalink  

  Roasted Salty Pecans 

  We made it though the night of terror with no buildings being torn apart.  By the sounds of the wind howling it would not have surprised me one bit.

  With a day of laundry it made good sense to do a bit in the kitchen as well.  Not the most favorite room in the house when Dennis has no idea of what he could be hungry for.  I had decided last night that I was hungry for some salted roasted pecans.  Filling up a two cup vessel with pecan halves to the brim, adding strong salt water, the soaking process began.  This morning the pecans were turned out on a paper towel to do a bit of air drying.  They didn’t look very appetizing in their swollen state and the color was a pasty tan.  Putting them on a piece of parchment paper, I gave them a swift spray of Pam, followed by a light dusting of table salt.  The oven was set at 325 degrees.  In 45 minutes, I could smell the aroma of the roasting pecans.  Checking on them they were just the perfect deep dark brown.  It’s a close call between them being perfect or needing a bit more time.  Naturally, I had to taste as the time went on.  When they are at their best is when you go to crush them, they shatter.  They will get stored in a plastic container ready when needed.  Dennis likes a few crushed and put on top of ice cream.  Dennis would like anything that is put on ice cream.  Me . . . I like a few of them as a snack.  I do better with salty snacks than sweet.

  With that being said, the oven was hot so why not put in a batch of brownies.  Yup . . . Betty Crocker to the rescue.  Mom always made hot ovens do double duty.  To make Dennis’ day, he helped whip up some peanut butter frosting for the top of the brownies.  Man, oh man . . . it had been a long time since something baked came out of the oven.  

  A bit of time was spent in the sewing studio.  Dennis and WD-40 worked magic on the works within the belly of Santa.  The motor that turns Santa at the waist and moves one of the arms is in the worst possible place.  The motor may well have been one of the first things built upon Santa’s spine and the fiberglass body was then put in place.  It seems to have helped with the movement.  For us, we would never leave the Santa plugged in and left turning for any length of time.  It is nice to be able to enjoy the movement once in awhile.  While some of the WD-40 continues to drip at will on paper, we called it a day and shut down the lights until another day.  Each step needs to be done thoughtfully as there are no do-overs.  

  I am contemplating supper and Dennis is getting a generous amount of the roasted pecans crushed for his after-supper treat.

   
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  Noreen 4:48 pm on October 24, 2018 Permalink  

  Today felt like a day much like the farming days. Fall is here and it was time to check the canning cellar to see what is ready for the winter season and what is needed to fill some empty spots. No . . . my canning days are long over. I do enjoy having grocery items in the cabinets of the cistern closet. Running to the grocery store every several days . . . I am not cut from that cloth. Dennis totally agrees with having enough on hand to make a good meal.

  In time we will be filling in the empty spots of items we use all the time. We are not fussy eaters. It does not take a lot of prep time for a meal here on Stauffer Avenue.

  The item that we don’t have on board is a freezer. What we have above the refrigerator seems to serve us well. Chicken seems to be Dennis’ favorite. I have a freezer baggie full of Bisquick that has flavorings of turmeric, cinnamon, salt, pepper and a smidge of Cyanine pepper. Shaking the chicken tenders in the mix and giving them a few turns in a fry pan seems to be Dennis’ go to meal. I have tried fixing them in the oven and he was not in like with that technique.

  As Megan and I had visited the Odin Craft Mill while she was here, there is a bit more of the specialty items on the kitchen counter. No doubt Carrie’s kitchen counter resembles Stauffer Avenue’s as Megan took a few items home to share with Nicholas and her mom and dad. Not necessarily healthy but definitely a treat for the taste buds. I do think about doing baking . . . and then I don’t do it. Perhaps wintery days may spur that desire. We will take a step back to decide.

   
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  Noreen 4:27 pm on April 28, 2018 Permalink  

  We lucked out on a great day. No wind! Neighbor Bob is an over-the-road trucker and his route never has him home over the weekend. Bob also has a rather large fire ring that he allows us to use . . . as long as we keep it tidy around it when we are finished using it. Use it we did. An acre that endured countless horrific winds was showing a bit of anything and everything that could be burned. Today this seemed a better alternative than using the rider mower and doing the continual mulching.

  The six tall evergreens on the far east end of the acre had lost quite a few boughs. They were the no brainer to add to the fire periodically to keep the multiple plastic garbage barrels of leaves burning. Dennis tended the fire, dumped the barrels and I continued to fill the barrels with leaves from the windrows I had raked together yesterday. When I had raked there were quite a few pine cones that came with and when they hit the heat . . . it was pop, pop, pop.

  Here we are at supper time. Though our butts are dragging, we are finished with spring cleanup on the acre.

  Dennis had one last item to close the list of “to do.” We are making a trip north tomorrow to pick up a construction item. Out of the back garage came the two wheel trailer. At a time back it was a trailer for a defunct fiberglass boat. Dennis had the foresight to ditch the boat, find a piece of steel that was 4′ by 10′ and we now have a two wheel trailer that has high utility. The side boards that Dennis fathomed are a bit rough, but do the job. Dennis made sure to replace the wheel bearings as the trailer had no doubt been in water numerous times. Off Dennis went this late afternoon to the gas station and checked the tires.

  We are closing this great day with frozen waffles topped with Ready Whip and organic Maple syrup with a side of Jimmy Dean frozen pre-cooked sausages. Sounded like a great quick meal and leave the guilt behind.

   
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  Noreen 5:34 pm on December 16, 2017 Permalink  

  I have had a great day. Dennis is fixing eggs and sausages for supper. Sweet.

   
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  Noreen 4:49 pm on November 27, 2017 Permalink  

  The Day Was Good 

  Somehow I had a busier day than I had expected. Of course when the laundry basket is overflowing, it can’t be denied. Though it’s not hard pushing buttons, they still need to have someone sorting the clothes and they don’t start themselves. I had it timed perfectly. By the time I had my walk completed, the washer was just in the last of the spinning.

  Time for heavy food is over. I boiled some eggs, chopped an onion, opened two cans of chicken breast meat in water, pulled out the Mayo and . . . there . . . I had a good snacking dish that was healthy. Time to keep track of the carbs. I knew that I had gone overboard over Thanksgiving. Time to get back on track and I am doing it for no one else but me, myself and I.

  

  Sharing from times ago and from new stitiching projects.

  A trip to the post office and I am done with holiday mailing. Actually two trips to the post office as I had an incomplete mailing address on one of the packages. I don’t go overboard but I feel good sharing some embroidered items with some nieces and a nephew. In times past I couldn’t bring myself to toss Mom’s and Great Grandma Laura’s embroidery hoops. With these mailings I am lightening a bit of my stashes.  It seemed the best way of fulfilling my desire to let a few family members know that they were in my thoughts while I was stitching.

  With Megan and Carrie spending several days on Stauffer doing some stitching, Dennis and I have a plan for a trip to Mankato to fill in some places that need a bit of extra lighting in the sewing studio.  As Dennis said, we are going to spend a few extra dollars and “get the good stuff.”  

  Our Christmas tree is lit and our home feels “just right.”  There is no where in the world I would rather be . . . right here on Stauffer Avenue.

   
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  Noreen 6:02 pm on August 20, 2017 Permalink  

  A very quiet relaxing day on Stauffer today. A batch of egg salad and a bowl of creamed cucumbers . . . what else could we ask for.

   
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  Noreen 7:30 am on May 19, 2017 Permalink  

  Hmm, the furnace kicked in and it felt good. Very cool outside and very soggy. Today was a good day to turn my interests into remodeling a shirt and leave the thoughts of the last flowerbeds that need attention for another day. Different strokes for different days. We did enjoy a great crab salad for supper. Green peppers, onions, celery, shredded cheese and crab. Colorful dish and quite healthy. The worse part of making the salad is all the fine chopping of the goodies.

   
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  Noreen 4:31 am on May 1, 2017 Permalink  

  Cold, rain and winds kept me in the kitchen this morning. I enjoy opening the refrigerator and having options in regard to what can be put out for a light meal. Not all meals are meat, potatoes and “what’s for dessert.” Three pounds of thick sliced bacon baked out will keep in the refrigerator for some time to be used in either salads, sandwiches or additions to meat dishes and hot-dishes. While the oven was working its magic a box of strawberries were diced. They work on cereal, yogurt or on ice cream. Dennis does enjoy strawberries. my go-to snack is a boiled egg or egg salad. We do go through a lot of eggs and onions.

  The entire time I was in the kitchen we had on the RFD television channel. They were featuring the state of Washington and all of the varieties of cherries they raise. My memories went back to our round oak kitchen table with six pair of feet under the table of Raymond and Lena. We never went hungry. If it could be butchered or canned . . . we had it. One of the dessert treats was when Mom would bring up a quart jar of canned Bing Cherry sauce. They were quite expensive when bought by the crate and the season for canning cherries was short. You can only get so many cherries into a quart jar, and when there are six sauce dishes on the table for Mom to divvy up, not all is always equal. Calvin, Michael and I would make the mistake of counting the cherry pits that would be left in each of our dishes and, oh, course, we had to compare to see who had had the most of this wonderful treat. It angered my Dad to the degree that he would literally rise out of his chair. Times like that I thought his arms were six feet long. One of the three of us would get cuffed and demeaned, reminding us that we never had gone hungry and there was no threat of it happening. Ya, kids can be petty.

  By two this afternoon the rain had let up. I suited up with my winter jacket, cap, gloves and mittens to head out for my walk. It was 42 degrees with it feeling like 34 with a brisk wind. When I got home the coffee went great with a good helping of fresh egg salad lofted to my mouth on some whole grain chips. Yum.

   
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  Noreen 4:10 am on April 12, 2017 Permalink  

  The rain had missed us and so now has the snow. I am hoping for a fairly dry Easter Sunday for Megan and Nicholas’ sake. Today the main event was “Haircut Day” on Stauffer. Friend, Jean, has moved back from Colorado. She had at one time a salon here in town. Now in her early 70s . . . hey . . . just like me, she has not renewed her Minnesota license, but gives good haircuts for a price point of a “tip.” It’s been a great day. Biscuits are about done in the oven and that will be followed by some chicken mozzarella meatballs with Penne pasta sautéed in Alfredo sauce. Dennis is a good sport when it comes to trying new items for a supper. Gotta love that guy.