Journal

Wind through the grass

I was mowing the lawn and took a pause to take a breath. I watched the wind blow through the two weeks of growth. The grass rippled and danced as its dancing partner swirled about. I wondered why I was doing this.?

2020 - Week 13 Cooking Results

In one of the few outings this week, I headed over to my mental health nurse practitioner, to make are that my quarterly check in on drug levels. As I ran out the door a little behind, I noticed my rear driver side tire was a little low, so I pulled out the powered inflater, and got it to come up. Luckily, I knew the roads would be less busy.

Unfortunately, I hit all the lights red…not just most of them, all of them.

I got on the interstate, and even though I thought they had discouraged funerals…apparently not. There was a funeral procession on the road. So there was a bunching of cars around it, due to the flashing lights. I may have slowed down to.

I was only a little late. Quarantine practices were in full effect In the building and office.

On the way back I was in quite a bit less of a rush, so things went smoother.

However, driving down 56th heading back home, I may have thought that I was perhaps seeing something, but apparently someone was walking down 56th in a full easter bunny costume. The person kept waving at me, cause he clearly saw I noticed, but I think I was a bit too stunned to wave back.

Odd trip.

Baked Mac & Cheese (and peas and tuna)

So I took this classic Alton Brown recipe and added a touch of my youth to it (making a meal out of something cheaper, though this wasn’t exactly cheap). I doubled the recipe because I was pretty sure that leftovers of this are a must for my dear wife. Doubling it makes a whole lot of Mac and Cheese. Apparently at Shannon’s house they did the same thing but also added a can of cream of mushroom soup concentrate. Which to me seems a bit odd, but I suppose thinking through it it could be the kind of thing that you might add into the combination. Shannon had planned to make that while I was supposed to be away in Madison, but she made it for herself and took the leftovers into work.

30 Minute Black Bean Soup

I actually had to go to another store for black beans. I was out already, picking up medication refills, so I stopped by the grocery store closest to me and they had a few on the shelf. It came together using a combination of leftover ingredients and new ones, it worked as a meal. I used a nice combination of things as add ins (red onions, cheese, corn chips, sour cream). It made for a simple, quick filling meal.

Rigatoni with Easy Vodka Sauce

This was easy to pull together. As the vodka sauce cooked, I thought a bit about the pasta. I chose a ridged paste, because that seems like it was appropriate. I used a bit of vodka, and forgot to use a bit for myself, but you know, it happens. It was pretty good, came out a pretty color. And tasted pretty good with the pasta.

Nduja Scrambled Eggs Recipe

The La Quercia Nduja didn’t melt as they suggested it might. So there were little Nduja clumps in the eggs. It was still delicious.

Grilled Cheese

Always good.

2020 - Week 12 Cooking

So…things are depressing. I set my alarm this morning to go shopping, hoping for the best selection. A few others had the same idea. A few older customers were coming out during their designated time, but apparently not all had gotten that news yet. There are a number of things where it seemed a bit odd at why they stock something so much (Pumpernickel bagels aren’t particularly popular). For the most part I got everything I needed, a couple of things I wanted and got done with the trip.

2020 - Week 10 Cooking

One thing I have noticed in the past couple of weeks, is it is really hard for me to do more complicated programming and listen to new music at the same time. On some simpler things, I’m able to mildly split my focus and do both, but working on the logic of more complicated things, it’s hard to have something in my head that I’m not particularly familiar with. Normally I would listen to music on Monday afternoon while I had run out of podcasts, where I seem to be able to compartmentalize them pretty well, but the last several weeks, this really hasn’t been option.

  • Latvian Stew (I will admit this is based on the description in A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, which I found to be so intriguing, that I have to try it)

  • Sloppy Bison

  • Grilled Cheese of some sort

  • Fish of some sort.

2020 - Week 9 Cooking Results

Things got a bit weird due to some minor exhaustion on my part. Luckily I was able to regenerate on Friday by doing minor chores (picking new glasses, picking up prescriptions, etc), mindless things (refilling prescription containers) and napping. As a minor coincidence, both Shannon and I went to the same place to eat, though nearly four hours apart.

Turkey and Bean Chili

I made this Sunday afternoon. I liked the way that it started with whole dried peppers (even though I didn’t have all the kinds, cause of course). Which made me rethink that it would be a better method to make chili in general. By allowing the dried peppers to re-hydrate in warm stock then blending it all together it seems like you get a bit more consistent flavor throughout. Though I suppose I could be imagining things, since I can’t remember having grit or the inconsistent flavor from other chilies that I’ve made with just ground dried peppers. It was an interesting process though, and made some pretty good chili.

Chicken and Rice Meatballs With Hummus

These were easy to make, and would’ve been easier had I remembered to make the rice beforehand (associated with the curry or menudo). they came together well and were nice with the hummus that I bought. Easy dinner that just got passed over a couple of times.

Chicken Massaman Curry With Wheat Beer and Potatoes

So I stopped at 3 stores with no luck, and while I could’ve ordered it from amazon to make it that week, that seemed a bit excessive. I think I need to add some smaller specialty markets to my go rounds. Or at least find something that has a reliably good selection of ingredients that I would occasionally use. I didn’t realize, when I started, how much this would make, so I had to call a lot of audibles. Initially I thought the normal green curry paste I had in would work, but considering this was supposed to be a mild curry, I didn’t want to had the whole 8oz of paste, so I added the 4oz jar, diluted with a bit of water. I could’ve sworn that I had star anise pods, but I did not. So I looked up a reasonable conversion and didn’t have 5 spice powder, or ground anise, so I ended guessing on some cloves. Other then that, I generally followed the recipe. it still worked out pretty good. I think that’s one of the things that comes with making a lot of food, is you can call an audible and it’ll still turn out ok. This is not exactly a weeknight dinner thing I suppose, but it worked on a Saturday afternoon.

Ground Pork Menudo

Delayed!

Taco Salad

Good, as always.

2020 - Week 1 Cooking

I’ve been doing this for over a decade. Generally for myself, I know a handful of people read it, but my stats show it’s not much more then that. I removed the ads, cause I didn’t like looking at them (and it’s be a long time since I had any sort of pay out). Book referral links remain, which again, doesn’t provide much in way of payment either. My skills have gotten better, but I only cook 4-10 hours a week, as opposed to people I know that do it as a living. I’m certainly willing to take on difficult tasks and can usually call an audible that works. I only occasionally pull a complete failure (where we both dislike it).

This year I’m going to explore more vegetarian dishes and play with fermentation a bit. I also want to audit my cookbook collection and maybe start to donate some. They’re in 4 locations now (spare bedroom, dining room, living room and digital), so it would be nice to have a reference, so I don’t accidentally buy a cookbook again (I almost bought the Noma one again). I used a gift from my parents to get two vegetarian cookbooks (One mentioned by the Mattas, the other just looked fun and was popular).

We’ll see how the year goes.

2019 - Week 53 Cooking

I’m running a bit late this year, just didn’t want to make decisions on next years finances and general goals. So we’re trying to adjust things into the Needs (50), Wants (30), and Savings (20), to better get things done. I’ve already implemented more savings, but will probably need to add more. By last years quick pass we have to many fixed payments, meaning we probably need to pay things off to get things off the list. Target could be phones and student loan (my last one).

2019 - Week 44 Cooking

While I took two days off this past week, it still has been quite stressful. After a PTO sale last week, I was able to pay off the last part of my medical stuff, and as I have met my out of pocket max for the year, there should be no surprises from my side anymore. Other then paying for it, things are going fine, I think. My next round of doctor appointments start soon to follow up on how things are going after the stents and drug changes. Beyond that we had quite the range of estimates for Máni getting his dentistry, I was quite worried since the money we had left was, in theory could cover most of it, but would completely strip the not full emergency fund. Luckily it was on the low end, and the procedure went well. 3 removed teeth later (and still on drugs) Máni seems to be doing a whole let better. So far it’s only canned soft food on the diet, but he does seem a bit more cheery and snugly.

So the other thing. A few weeks ago, I was renting a rug doctor, and figured without the cloth shelf thing, it should be able to stand upright. I was very gentle as I tested the rear hatchback, but apparently with the minimum amount of pressure, the large hatch back window glass shattered. I certainly felt stupid at the time, but ended up driving home with a fully open window and got everything mostly cleaned up. I had trunk tray in the back which certainly helped get the glass in the garbage (pick up tray, treat as funnel, into the bin). After calling a bunch of glass places on a early Saturday afternoon, I got a hold of one. I expected a lot of call backs on Monday, which I did not get. The one I worked with, said he’d get me a used glass from out of state, which was fine, but it would take a bit. It becomes very apparent how convent having two cars is, when you are really just limited to one. It made various appointment taking challenging and waiting sometimes a must (as times when things are done are often unpredictable). Eventually, after 17 days of waiting, I contacted a friend of mine’s brother in law at Sun Auto Glass (Ankeny). He provided a quote, and the next day (18) after asking for an update from the original vendor (still waiting for it to get from Kansas City to here?), I cancelled and told Sun to move forward. The next day, it was installed. After a bit of discussion, Shannon convinced me that it is what insurance is for, so I submitted the bill for reimbursement.

The positive thing here is that I didn’t dwell on it. I reacted in a fashion that was appropriate (upset, self blame), but didn’t drag that out into the following days, weeks or months. This would be my brains normal course of action, where it generally drags down my mood for the next quarter or two or three.

Remaining items we have are paying off my machine that I bought (since my bone spurs are preventing my walking, and I need cardio activity in my life), and an engine light causing problem with my car (I have a sensor, it’s not problematic problematic, just not exactly good). Then we should be back to normal expenses. It has been an expensive year.

2019 - Week 43 Cooking

Yesterday I took Freyja and Mani in for blood tests (a check on our upcoming expenses list). Freyja to see how she’s doing in her treatment of her hyperthyroidism, and Mani to make sure he’s good to have his dentistry later this week (tooth removal and general cleaning). I also paid off the last of my surgery bill (another check). Much to my delight, the insurance payment went through for all the doctor appointments and tests before the surgery (over $2k outstanding). So now I’m cleared of all the medical debt (only took a bit of wrangling and a bit of patience). We have the dentistry for Mani remaining, my exercise machine (actual bone spurs kind of not conducive to walking), and a couple of outstanding issues with my car (including my own dumbassery, and something that just needs to be fixed, but is not a dreadful problem). My car is to the point where the repair and challenges are to be balanced with the need to replace it. Maybe i should just look for something newer, but not new, to get started. Not now, but start looking in general. Anyways, more expensive year then expected, by quite a bit, but it looks like we’ll get through it all right (thanks to selling of banked PTO). It certainly has been stressful, but therapy and work helps me keep going pretty well (Been working from home for the last week (except Tuesday, when I went in to get a flu shot and went to therapy). Looks like it’ll continue this week (waiting for the part to fix the dumbassery problem I caused).

2019 - Week 42 Cooking

I’ve decided to take a break from hosting thanksgiving this year. Uncle Jan (Shannon’s) graciously offered to take everyone out instead, which works out just as well, because it still brings everyone together. With the minor monetary pressures of my cardiac stuff, money stress from Mani having a tooth extraction and me being a god damn moron yesterday, I just don’t think I could balance all the stuff in my mind and thanksgiving at the same time. I’ll be back at it next year.