Wednesday Witterings
Just back for a quick chat. Pills not yet working, and yes lillibet, they are the ones you mentioned. From tonight I have to take two, so bet I'm even sleepier tomorrow (if that is at all possible). Probably won't know until after the weekend if they have any affect on my knee, but think I'd prefer the pain rather than be very drowsy half the day (waste of the rest of my life).
Can understand that giving up teaching brings a huge gap into your life, and perhaps you could consider teaching at night school/adult education once or twice a week. Food technology is akin to cooking, so am sure that your knowledge could help those who are finding it difficult to cope. If not as a paid teacher, then perhaps working with a charity/foodbank - who could arrange for a cookery demo or foodie chat for those who want to enlarge their knowledge of food.
We always have plenty of lemonade Margie, as B just about survives on that - plus wine. The thought of drinking water would make him blanch. So next time we have a spill of anything, will try diluting with lemonade before mopping up.
Thanks to Sheridan for his comment. Many of the recipes in the early days of this blog are well worth making, as I hope all are, but the earlier ones had cost-cutting very much in mind. Pleased he enjoys my 'chit-chat', and sorry that most of it had to be removed from the earlier postings due to blogger restricting my allotted space (well I do go on a bit).
As very sleepy today - at least until lunch-time (this being 12 hours after I took the pill, and it could take longer tomorrow for me to come back to life). Asked B if he could peel/core the mound of apples that he'd picked up after the breeze keeps knocking them from the tree. He was quite pleased as he likes using my 'Victorian' apple peeler/corer that does the job all in one.
After explaining about making up bowls of water with dissolved citric acid, he managed to work through 2 bags, but after I'd 'recovered' from my continual napping, found the apple slices ( the machine sort of slices the apples too in a spiral fashion), many of the slices were turning brown, especially in the centre. Don't know why, perhaps he hadn't used enough citric acid.
Bagged up all the apple slices and now they are in the freezer. Told B I'd do the remaining apples (as then I can get them either into the microwave, or cooked on the hob, before they change colour. Then I set to and sorted out the bag of Victoria plums. All were ripe (or just about), so I saved a few for B to eat, some for me to eat, and halved/stoned the rest and these too are now in the freezer.
We have some blackberries in the garden, but in a sheltered corner so plenty of fruit but none yet ripe enough to pick. Also a huge bramble bush at the sailing club that B can collect fruit from. He did this last year and although we had loads of berries, they weren't very sweet, but can easily add that when cooking them.
Apparently this is a bumper year for soft fruit and also apples, plum and other tree fruits. In the past we used to believe this was advance warning for a hard winter, but nowadays nothing seems to be as it should, so we just have to wait and see what weather we get.
At the moment it is quite chilly, from as low as 3C, to 10C depending on whether we live in rural areas or a town (cities hold the daytime heat). Warmer during the day, but still fairly cool. However a high pressure area is moving towards us from the west, and this should reach us by the weekend, so hopefully more warmth from the sun and less wind. A good time to for this to happen as it is yet another Bank Holiday weekend (not that I normally notice). Then we start looking ahead to Halloween, shortly after that Guy Fawkes Night (aka Bonfire night), and then Christmas, but think I'll keep thinking summer with a pinch of autumn and not rush into anything. This really is a busy culinary time of the year.
Was watching a repeat of the Hairy Bikers budget series this afternoon. They are very easy to watch, and certainly today's episode showed how some of the least expensive ingredients can turn into something that looks very professional - mainly due to the presentation.
Also watched repeats of a couple of other food progs in the afternoon, and later 'Come Dine With Me' so am rather spoiling myself as I fitted in part of 'The Waltons', and all of 'Little House....' around lunch-time.
B wanted to make himself a stir-fry tonight, so I suggested this time he made it from scratch (me not partly preparing the food for him) as one day he might HAVE to cook for himself and best he learned now rather than later. He was happy with that, so I said what needed to be done (thaw the meat he wanted to use, then prepare and part cook the carrot, cauliflower and sugar snap peas....). Of course by 5.00pm he hadn't done anything, not even thawed out the meat, so I suggested he fetched us both a Chinese meal from the take-away (then at least I got a meal cooked for me).
Am really hoping that two pills a day won't knock me out too much, so will have to try and alter my routine of cooking in the morning to planning the day's meals (and the next day's) during the afternoon so that I can make some/freeze some so that B had meals he can reheat in the microwave.
If I go to bed now, after taking my pills, then could be I'll be up on my feet ready to work before noon tomorrow as still plenty to do in the kitchen. Have to make room in the freezer/s for a start, after that can start making apple pies to freeze, steak and kidney ditto, fruit crumbles, and I'm going to make an apricot Tarte Tatin as I've some ripe apricots (saw the Hairy B's making this yesterday, so now know how to without looking up the recipe).
Depending on my state of mind (after the pills) I may decide to have an even earlier night tomorrow so the effects can wear off sooner, this means I may not blog tomorrow (but then I might). Plan to blog on Friday as I now don't blog on Saturday anyway. Maybe not even Sunday this week. At the moment don't know how I'll be feeling so have to play it by ear. Thanks for caring, and thanks also for sending comments. If nothing else I'll try to reply to these, so don't stop sending just because you think I won't be reading them. They always cheer me up. I'd feel lost without you. TTFN.
Can understand that giving up teaching brings a huge gap into your life, and perhaps you could consider teaching at night school/adult education once or twice a week. Food technology is akin to cooking, so am sure that your knowledge could help those who are finding it difficult to cope. If not as a paid teacher, then perhaps working with a charity/foodbank - who could arrange for a cookery demo or foodie chat for those who want to enlarge their knowledge of food.
We always have plenty of lemonade Margie, as B just about survives on that - plus wine. The thought of drinking water would make him blanch. So next time we have a spill of anything, will try diluting with lemonade before mopping up.
Thanks to Sheridan for his comment. Many of the recipes in the early days of this blog are well worth making, as I hope all are, but the earlier ones had cost-cutting very much in mind. Pleased he enjoys my 'chit-chat', and sorry that most of it had to be removed from the earlier postings due to blogger restricting my allotted space (well I do go on a bit).
As very sleepy today - at least until lunch-time (this being 12 hours after I took the pill, and it could take longer tomorrow for me to come back to life). Asked B if he could peel/core the mound of apples that he'd picked up after the breeze keeps knocking them from the tree. He was quite pleased as he likes using my 'Victorian' apple peeler/corer that does the job all in one.
After explaining about making up bowls of water with dissolved citric acid, he managed to work through 2 bags, but after I'd 'recovered' from my continual napping, found the apple slices ( the machine sort of slices the apples too in a spiral fashion), many of the slices were turning brown, especially in the centre. Don't know why, perhaps he hadn't used enough citric acid.
Bagged up all the apple slices and now they are in the freezer. Told B I'd do the remaining apples (as then I can get them either into the microwave, or cooked on the hob, before they change colour. Then I set to and sorted out the bag of Victoria plums. All were ripe (or just about), so I saved a few for B to eat, some for me to eat, and halved/stoned the rest and these too are now in the freezer.
We have some blackberries in the garden, but in a sheltered corner so plenty of fruit but none yet ripe enough to pick. Also a huge bramble bush at the sailing club that B can collect fruit from. He did this last year and although we had loads of berries, they weren't very sweet, but can easily add that when cooking them.
Apparently this is a bumper year for soft fruit and also apples, plum and other tree fruits. In the past we used to believe this was advance warning for a hard winter, but nowadays nothing seems to be as it should, so we just have to wait and see what weather we get.
At the moment it is quite chilly, from as low as 3C, to 10C depending on whether we live in rural areas or a town (cities hold the daytime heat). Warmer during the day, but still fairly cool. However a high pressure area is moving towards us from the west, and this should reach us by the weekend, so hopefully more warmth from the sun and less wind. A good time to for this to happen as it is yet another Bank Holiday weekend (not that I normally notice). Then we start looking ahead to Halloween, shortly after that Guy Fawkes Night (aka Bonfire night), and then Christmas, but think I'll keep thinking summer with a pinch of autumn and not rush into anything. This really is a busy culinary time of the year.
Was watching a repeat of the Hairy Bikers budget series this afternoon. They are very easy to watch, and certainly today's episode showed how some of the least expensive ingredients can turn into something that looks very professional - mainly due to the presentation.
Also watched repeats of a couple of other food progs in the afternoon, and later 'Come Dine With Me' so am rather spoiling myself as I fitted in part of 'The Waltons', and all of 'Little House....' around lunch-time.
B wanted to make himself a stir-fry tonight, so I suggested this time he made it from scratch (me not partly preparing the food for him) as one day he might HAVE to cook for himself and best he learned now rather than later. He was happy with that, so I said what needed to be done (thaw the meat he wanted to use, then prepare and part cook the carrot, cauliflower and sugar snap peas....). Of course by 5.00pm he hadn't done anything, not even thawed out the meat, so I suggested he fetched us both a Chinese meal from the take-away (then at least I got a meal cooked for me).
Am really hoping that two pills a day won't knock me out too much, so will have to try and alter my routine of cooking in the morning to planning the day's meals (and the next day's) during the afternoon so that I can make some/freeze some so that B had meals he can reheat in the microwave.
If I go to bed now, after taking my pills, then could be I'll be up on my feet ready to work before noon tomorrow as still plenty to do in the kitchen. Have to make room in the freezer/s for a start, after that can start making apple pies to freeze, steak and kidney ditto, fruit crumbles, and I'm going to make an apricot Tarte Tatin as I've some ripe apricots (saw the Hairy B's making this yesterday, so now know how to without looking up the recipe).
Depending on my state of mind (after the pills) I may decide to have an even earlier night tomorrow so the effects can wear off sooner, this means I may not blog tomorrow (but then I might). Plan to blog on Friday as I now don't blog on Saturday anyway. Maybe not even Sunday this week. At the moment don't know how I'll be feeling so have to play it by ear. Thanks for caring, and thanks also for sending comments. If nothing else I'll try to reply to these, so don't stop sending just because you think I won't be reading them. They always cheer me up. I'd feel lost without you. TTFN.
posted by Shirley at 9:58 pm
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