vegetable recipes

 

Recipe for a vegetable dish Esme ate tonight with me and said it was 'nice' - olive oil and 1/4 cup water bring to boil in a saucepan, add about two handfuls of frozen finely-chopped kale that I bought yesterday, a handful of yellow pepper, and a handful of onion, bring back to boil and saute, add a big dash of biryani masala spice, added about a tablespoon of butter on top of that to activate the spice, then about a half can of rinsed and drained canned cannellini beans (will use the other half tomorrow) and some seasoning salt and bring to a higher temp, stirring until the water reduces to a sauce consistency. Mark had made pork chops and potatoes already and I made this on the side.

 

I had bought these vegetables yesterday while out grocery shopping and said 'it was perhaps a pipe dream' to think about cooking something like this because Esme wouldn't eat it.  Mark said, make it anyway - and put some on her plate.  And then I would have made it, and not let the ingredients sit.  Lately it feels like anything I want to make beyond the norm is just too much work, always on the run, getting propane, getting gas, getting necessity stuff and looking at the vegetables is sort of like 'yea, right.. dreaming'.   But it was good.  And I'm glad she at least said it was nice- didn't see her eat it but she said she did.

other veggie thing I made earlier in the week for us - that I know she did eat:

onion, orange pepper and frozen green peas, with kielbasa sausage and butter, served beside a packet of parmesan sauce noodles that also, I consider usually something she won't eat.  But she looked at the pack and said 'I've had something like this before, maybe'.. so I made those together, while Mark made himself a hamburger.

 

It's been a week, off to bed, post office tomorrow

Lyffan's nose is cold

 

Lyffan says her nose is cold.  She's curled up at the foot of the bed here.  Mark and Esme made lots of fudge today - chocolate and cashew flavors.  They're thinking of doing a white chocolate/maple version tomorrow.  I ran lots and lots of post office packages today.  My left hand is telling me just how much.  Of course that is after yesterday plus today on top of that.  And I started at 8 this morning and ended at about 4 both days.  Have to get myself into the office job to work tomorrow, and sometime find a way to look at the brake fluid in the little car when it is 1.) daylight and 2.) I am not at work.  But it has now been the Winter Solstice and the days should get longer, right?  

Time for me to curl up in the bed as well, if Lyffan will make some room for me.  Catalan (section 2 version) and French (phone version) today.  I dreamt of an incredible artist studio visit last night - went through sketchbooks, and listened to a lot of people talking about their work and saw them working on things.  But then of course, just a dream.  I would like to sketch some things but I haven't actually picked up pencils for more than phone doodling in a few months.

Slogging through it

 Slogging through it.  Christmas mail that is - but we got a little lucky today that one of the trucks did not come and we only had a regular load today, instead of the double-Christmas loads we have been having.  And it will not affect tomorrow, because of the kind of truck it was (although, we can deliver some of it if we want it isn't the Sunday priority stuff).  But yes, I still have to go do some more packages tomorrow, and work on Monday, and then two days off - of everything, I think ... I'm not entirely sure, but it will be nice if it is.  I've almost told myself that I need to make some madeleines and work on my Ruby book if I have Christmas Even off  ... but I'm not committing to that.  Because, I'm tired.  And it sounds nice but still...    I got up too early today - and left somewhat early.. and tomorrow I don't need to be there until eight, and I will probably still get up too early, as I just am in the habit of that time now and sleeping in sounds fun in theory but in practice it hasn't happened often.

Switched over to Catalan for a bit again, as I kept doing my phrases in half-French Latin again at work without realizing it - just that patois of things like 'it is not that' n'etre se quoi or just n'etre ) and 'there's another one of those', and 'get a move on already (imperata se quoi) actually something like 'move yourself or what')' and 'it fell down' (tomber est ce que)... They roll off my tongue so easily and I can tell what they meant but it is quite hard to write them down or translate.  The one was otra se te quoi - meaning 'there's another one of those' which was close in meaning but definitely a mix of two languages (patois).  And je ne sais jamais quoi : I've never known that?  So, I thought it was time to switch over and since the French is so high level on my computer and getting there on my phone for some reason I segued into Catalan instead for some review.

The really funny thing is - Catalan is only available on Duolingo 'from the Spanish side' - as in, it thinks you are a Spanish speaker and all of the other text is in Spanish.  And now - without changing any other settings anywhere else - I'm getting Facebook ads and spam emails to my Google mail in Spanish. *roll eyes*  Oh yay, the interconnected web.

Trying to stay awake until at least eight p.m. tonight as I don't need to clockin tomorrow until eight.  I still need to check the brake fluid in the little car that had a warning light come up - but as soon as I got home (in the mail truck) from the route today I started eating, and then made dinner for everyone, and then ate some more.  Then I had a nosebleed, and decided a steamy bath was in order.  Doing laundry, and languages, and then maybe it will be time for bed.

I haven't even cleaned off the little tree and ornaments and put it up - but I do have some gifts wrapped up.  It's been really hard to shop for anything with my schedule, but I've gathered a few things and the family has bought some other things that they wanted during grocery trips, a few games and computer stuff.

it's been a long week and it's Tuesday

 It's gearing up to that again, it's been a long week and it's only Tuesday.  This is because I did the post office on Saturday and then went out to the store on Sunday and I really could just crash now after dinner and take a nap.  But there is laundry in the washer, and I need to get it to the dryer.  When that gets in the dryer I'll probably head off to bed.

The two trucks that were supposed to come in today both had mishaps, and are going to have to limp in tomorrow.  So I sat without a lot to do this afternoon except phone calls, mail and email - and fighting the eyelids that wanted to droop.  Ran out to the feed store after work, because there's no time like the present etc... even though I would have liked to have taken a nap even then.  Driving in the sun around 3 o'clock in the afternoon in November here is vicious - there is nowhere to look that isn't bright as blazes etc. 

I've let both of my Japanese Duolingo leader boards slide a bit - dropping to Pearl and Amethyst.  But then that is also doing only Japanese, and I haven't broken my streaks, just not doing as much xp as was usual for me before.  There's a twinge there of 'hey, go do some Latvian', but here I am writing a blog post, instead, with my little black cat sitting by my side.

 My Mikki Mack books should be coming sometime - and I'm going to give a few of them away.  They were inspired by a few different people, which, sadly, one of the elderly gentlemen passed away recently.  I had given him an idea the character in the book was based on him and his little cat, but with stories and characterizations from other cats I've known.  I saw an old work friend at the store the other day and he has had a few sad things in the past few years, as well.  He gave his regards for Daphne, as he knew her from a little pup, as well. I think I'll drop one of the books off at their desk at the old store with a note that the character is based off Mr. Art - because they'll recognize that.

after a long route

Well, the route actually got done about 1:45 pm.. which is a bit early for it - but it wasn't easy, either.  Then, I ran all over returning library books and getting the last of the groceries that I had forgotten / wasn't sure about getting the other day.  Then I made a quick soup to go with the bacon sandwiches Mark was making for dinner. Fed the animals, and watered my garden, and I'm headed to bed.  Dishes and laundry can wait until tomorrow.. I truly hope so.  Did a few different languages - oddly, French was not one of them today.

The soup was just a can of chicken noodle soup, a can of sliced carrots (with water), white onion and spices - and I let it simmer for a half hour, but it really could have used a whole hour.  It is the first week of school and everybody in the whole world seems to be sniffling - bus driver, people at work, people at the grocery store.  I told my daughter the soup was 'triage' ahead of time - and I gave her a small dose of pineapple juice in tea this morning before school, as well.
 

me(brain)-->kick studio <--laundry crunch

 So the long work weekend is over - and it looks like I have today off.  It is dim and humid from the rains the past few days, so I am still feeling a little quiet and wondering how much effort I want to put into things that need effort put into them.  And if I should play a little hooky from sweeping and laundry and etc for a few hours and work at my studio table, which would be very much more enticing if there was adequate light.  I've been playing with Hungarian again the past few days, remembering what I had nearly forgotten before it ran out of my brain - same thing I did with Finnish a week or so ago.  And I've done some French today to counterbalance it.  I worked on a bag yesterday while we watched the Hunt for Red October. 

After the small route yesterday, in the rainstorm, I was SO tired - enough to go to sleep, but I had gotten the pork loin on the way home anyway, and rounded everyone up to go out in the afternoon (since the rain had stopped, and that also makes me tired), and go get our major grocery list (still forgot a few things).  I was standing in front of the aluminum foil with Esme, trying really hard to do the 'bouncing ball map thing' with the entire list so I knew where we were going and how fast etc.. which I usually do in the back of my head -and I couldn't even focus on which aluminum foil we had at home compared to the assortment in front of us - and for a moment, couldn't even realize if Reynold's Wrap was aluminum foil or saran wrap.  Esme saw that and she knew I was very very tired, if I couldn't do that, and also didn't know ten steps ahead of myself where we were going next (I knew maybe the next two).  I was honest with her about that, so she knew why I wasn't doing my usual thing.  Mark was off on the other side of the store (he drove, luckily) getting other things.  

That kind of tired feels like being drunk, knowing that my brain isn't working to the potential I'm used to - I said it was a lot like this Princess Bride quote to both of them in the store, as we walked out- and then I had to make the meme.

But, I snapped up enough to get all the items that were on the list and a few that weren't (but missed two or three non-urgent things, because I didn't want to go across the store, and the other we weren't entirely out yet).  And we got home, made dinner and I didn't even crash hard until at least nine.  And then the dogs got me up and down half the night - so I'm halfway to brain power this morning and starting on my second pot of coffee at 10:30 am.

I'd like to push myself over to that studio table to work on a large sheet of paper with all my pencils, but I know that will take a few hours -

hours that could be used folding laundry, making a bed, washing counters and sweeping floors, and just general pickup from having been on at the post office for five days - and then there is just general buildup of stuff overall that happens with my ADHD and I don't find it bothersome until I actually get time maybe to do something about it (and even then, bah)

I think about the ink I was so excited to get four months ago, and have used twice?  That almost does it.  I think about yarn that looks like yarn the computer keeps advertising to me and I say 'if I just dug that out, maybe I could do something nice with it'.. and again, I counterbalance that potential use of time with the laundry, and cost-sink-analysis of how much benefit I'll truly get out of it as future me scowling at present-me wasting time doing-things as much as wasting time staring-thinking-things.  I think about time and space and that feels like lighting up a giant light bulb, I think about lots of things, chemistry, geometry, baking, the garden - and still the biggest factor is the dimness and the outside weather.

since it was wet outside, and she didn't want to miss dinner when it was eventually served yesterday, Lyffan slept in the table space just behind my computer monitor for a while yesterday.  I caught a couple of pictures of her, although it was entirely voluntary- she let me know she could have gotten up and left during that 'snappy eye thing' but she didn't - and please let her know when the tuna was ready.  *can opener did that, and Esme still had to poke her a bit to make sure she understood yes, now, come downstairs!*

Esme also made up a great batch of our Dragon Spice porkchop spice from Mark's metric recipe.  I have trouble sometimes without the scale he has doing it by hand.  I ordered some maple sugar chili spice the other day and will be interested to see what that is like when it comes.  I like to look at what the spice combinations are and keep some on hand to add to rice and stirfry stuff - but only for things Esme and I eat.  Mark keeps his mixtures for things specific, like meatloaf and porkchop spice, and they're good - but I like to try some different things. 

*stare into coffee cup a bit more*  if it wasn't so dank, I'd think more about baking

it's going to be one of those days, and the pinball method is probably the best thing for it.  do three things here, do three things there, continue moving until you're tired, try not to sit too long before getting up and pinballing a few more things - look at progress - decide the next three things etc etc...  the look at progress thing is just as important as the small break to drink coffee etc.. and to say 'that needed to be done, and now it's done' helps to do the next three things

11:30 I decided, after folding and sorting and starting another load of laundry, and putting away all the eggs from last night that had been set out to dry - that I needed to make a little french toast and then see what I wanted to work on next after that.  I've turned on some extra lights up here, picked up a few things, and planning some more steps.

4pm :  I've done some Japanese, and finished the laundry stuff, and Mark had roasted one of the ends of the pork loin since this morning so we all had sandwiches

7 pm : I did something at the studio table, and it wasn't half bad.. but I played a lot of my game, as well  I also went out and filled the chicken's nest boxes with fresh chips and poked around the garden, then cut up a bunch of cherry tomatoes, a few peppers and some of the lime basil and put it in a freezer container to make some food with in the next few days - the cherry tomatoes had just been in a bowl in the fridge building up but it was high time I did something more with them

drawing