It'll be an odd week. I'm taking most of it off, one of my sisters is coming through and we're going to Hamilton (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) with the Mattas. It'll be a fun week. Even after all the weather related nonsense of the last 24 hours. Shannon has not been feeling the best, so hopefully she can get over it before the fun part of the week.
So I had some fresh broccoli (Grade A) and some Bok Choy (Blue Gate) and just went from there. It was pretty good.
So these kind of fell apart. I figure I didn't drain the kimchi enough, so we treated them sort of like sloppy joes.
I pulled out one of the last few loafs of bread I have from my brother to make the grilled cheese. It turned out pretty good. I do miss that bread.
This turned into a scramble. I decided it be easier to make. Served with bagels.
sprinkle sprinkle, salt salt, roast roast, slice then sandwiches.
Interesting set of ingredients, but a nice flavor profile to something that feels familiar but has a new flavor to it. I enjoyed it.
So this was a simple thing to do on a hot day. Also avoids that burden of having tuna open with several cats in the house. Turned out pretty good. I diverted a bit, but followed the recipe for the most part.
Thursday, I was exhausted after a long day, so I stopped by the Cheese Shop on the way home and had them make us dinner. Delicious times, and after a full nights sleep I felt way way better.
Funny thing, in describing the day and why I was tired to the nurse, through some miscommunication and misunderstanding there was an assumption that I had gotten an OWI, after explaining a bit, this was cleared up, but it struck me as funny.
Good as always.
Between the Art Festival and seeing the Mr Rogers documentary, we had eggs and bacon. It was good.
This past week I got a chance to catch up with a friend of mine. And he noticed how much better off I was compared to the last time he saw me. And it's true. I am in a much better place. I have a theory that I can tell how bad off I am by the amount of books I consume. Perhaps. I don't think they always correlate, but I am on quite the run this year vs previous years (already consumed more then last year). Part of me feels like I am cheating a bit, as I am listening to audio books during my morning walk. But even with that, I am in a better place. I have played a bit with meditation, but have trouble fitting it in my lackadaisical morning routine. I suppose if I segmented my morning more it'd work better.
That being said, being able to get my shit together enough to actually make progress in important parts of my life and then being generally rejected is kind of frustrating, but I was still able to roll with getting that bad news. Knowing that, the next time I receive an advertisement for that type of insurance, I'm going to perhaps have to throw my current insurance company under the bus. Plus...the world *sigh*.
So after reading some about elderflowers after Wabi Sabi Farm posted about it, then talking with them at market, I went down the road a bit with some experimenting with elderflowers. After I made a cocktail / mocktail (3 small strawberries, 2 T strawberry puree, 2-3 T elderflower syrup, over ice, topped with sparkling water, and gin (2-3 shots) if you are so inclined). I do think I need to version the elderflower syrup, I used a 1:3 ratio and the juice of one lime, as I don't need as much sugar in my life. Looking at a cross section of elderflower syrup recipes, they tend to soak it for a lot longer. I've seen time frames from 5 minutes to 48 hours, which seems like a range of flavors and tastes. I'm tempted to buy a syrup, but I'm pretty sure I a. don't want to spend that much money and b. need another bought syrup in my fridge (still have a lot of tonic syrup left). I steeped the flowers for about 20 minutes. It does have a decent smell and a mild taste, but is oft lost in the strawberries and gin. So more things to try. More tweaking to do. I may try elderflower alcohol next week.
This turned into a sandwich. Cause that's what was wanted. I roasted the boneless skinless chicken thighs and chicken thighs for the other salad at the same time. It was an effective use of the oven as the temperature kept increasing this week.
A simple combination of chicken, celery, some pickles, some other good things and put on bread or buns. Quick and simple, as the cooking was done the day before.
Served to me with the Pseudo Sue. Good things. This would make a good cook out combination.
Combined with beans, tomatoes, and warmed up it made a good meat part for a taco salad.
I expected this to be a bit spicy, but not excessively so. And for me, I could tell that it was building into an area that I enjoy, but my dear wife does not. So I warned her, and her being the dutiful taster that she is, tried, but then couldn't take the heat. I felt bad, and made her scrambled eggs (Blue Gate Farm) instead. I baked the sauce, onions and pork in the oven at 375 for a bit until the pork was about the right temperature. Some was a bit over (as I didn't consistently slice the tenderloin), but to much so. I enjoyed it, but feel bad for my wife.
Salt, little buns, good stuff.
So per a discussion on my family's chat, we talked about the various versions of chicken salad. My oldest sister (very health conscious) talking about the chicken on a salad, while an in-law was talking about chicken salad (as in mayo-based). While I do not understand the use of canned chicken, I suppose I cannot comment to much about it since I haven't used it. When I make mayo-based salad, I either pickup a rotisserie chicken or roast chicken thighs (the day before) and make the salad out of the pulled chicken from the thighs or rotisserie chicken. I dunno. Anyways, doing both!
Little metly, a bit delicious and they disappeared really quickly at Garlic Fest. I enjoy spending time on the Grade A Gardens land, relaxing afternoon.
So reading later, I realized this took around 6 hours of cooking to finish. The bone came out fairly cleanly and the pork is really tender and juicy. It did cool down the rest of the house as the oven was running for a good chunk of the day. We put the pork on Tortas and ate to our hearts content.
I skipped the spices and just made mutton burgers in a pita. This was an even older then normal sheep from Lucky George. Good things.
Shannon went to have fun with her co-workers, I picked up something at the cheese shop, so skipped.
Simple, using those torta buns.
Delayed. Per conversation with Jordan, and a preference from my wife, I'll be making a dessert. I'm still making this, but will start it today, and finish it monday.
Good stuff. I wanted to drink Pseudo Sue with this, but I ran out earlier in the day...
I believe my comment after describing this to my wife was, "this is not good for you". They were pretty good though.
So this is relatively simple. I made a couple of adjustments. I cooked down the onion in the bacon fat. I added a red pepper to it too. All and all it was nice and filling and simple.
Simple. Layer of cheese, ham, baked a bit, then topped with guacamole. I added some pickled jalapenos.
