Thursday, September 30, 2021

STARTED GOING THROUGH THE GARAGE

 I worked so much today. I have to make sure I mark down all the things I did today.  It was a hard day for my client.  

I didn't get to cook until 4pm. I did the first part of a recipe that has to sit in the fridge for 24 hours. Hopefully it will work out. 

I did get to take Lucky for a little walk. 

When I took the garbage out tonight, I decided to start moving things around that I want to get rid of. I am going to do a trash pick up in a few weeks to get rid of all sorts of items that I don't need or want anymore. I can't wait.  I have been waiting until I could move my foster kids boxes so I had room to do this sort of clean out. I get two pick ups a year for free.  I can't wait.

Until tomorrow...

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-ONE OF COOKING COURSE

 I can't believe how busy my work has suddenly gotten.  This time last year I was watching TV all day and now I am working many hours a day.  It is good to be kept busy.

I did have time to make another step of the cannoli dessert. I made Wine Zuppeta. It is a flavorful red wine soup.  It will be part of the dessert.  It is a sweet red wine taste.

I took a 3,000 step walk today.  It was a sunny and not too hot day and Lucky was with the dog walker.

The other day I was in the garage and I found an old metal container. This container has all the Disney characters on it.  It looks like it contained Disney cookies at one time. Now it has a bunch of hair clips and scrunchies. I was so happy to find it. Now that my hair is long, I needed more hair clips and scrunchies.  It also contained a silver hair clip that I got as a little girl with my name on it.  It was special to find that.

Until tomorrow...

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY OF COOKING COURSE

 Once again I worked in the morning and then I took Lucky for a walk.  I read somewhere that instead of taking one long walk a day it is better to take two or three walks a day.  I don't know if it is true but today I walked twice with Lucky for a total of 3,200 steps or 1.42 miles.  

I started making the cannoli dessert but it was just step one. I made the dough for the cannoli.  I then planted my new herbs.  I have an indoor herb garden and I recently got some dill and cilantro. I planted them today.

Until tomorrow...

Monday, September 27, 2021

BOK CHOY AND BAKED TOFU STIR-FRY IN GINGER-CITRUS SAUCE

 I wanted to use up all my veggies this time from my veggie box. Sometimes the veggies go bad before I can use them but this time I made a challenge out of it.  I did it.  I only have some lettuce, a red pepper and a celeriac left.  The celeriac will be used in my next cooking chapter Italian cooking.

I made bok choy and baked tofu stir-fry in ginger-citrus sauce tonight.  It is so good. It even looks good.


I worked with my new client today. 

Yesterday, Sunny the bird was screaming for an hour. Birds, if you don't have one, will sometimes scream. They do it for various reasons. Sometimes they are bored, upset, hungry. Basically, they are like people.  Sunny usually screams when he is hungry, when there is too much sun hitting him and he has a feather that is annoying him. Because of his overgrown beak, he is sometimes unable to pull out his own feathers so I have to do it. When I heard him screaming I went over to see if he was annoyed by something. He didn't have any feathers annoying him and he was fed.  Then I saw that since his wings had not been clipped in a long time, he was getting his wings caught on things in his cage. He was very unhappy about this. I took him out and let him climb on me for a little bit (the dog was put away to avoid a disastrous result) and calm down. Once I got him calm, I put him back. 

Today I took him to the bird store and arranged that the sales person would come outside and get him and have his "pedicure and manicure" as I call it. Wings clipped, beak trimmed and nails clipped. She was so nice and I waited outside. He is so quiet now. He always is after his trim. He doesn't like it one bit but is happy after it gets done. 

The sales person said when I need bird food I don't need to get it shipped, that she would come outside and bring it to me just like today. She was very nice.

Until tomorrow...

Sunday, September 26, 2021

VEGAN LEMONY POTATO SALAD

 I have been craving potato salad for days and this recipe sounded great.  I made it today and it tastes lemony delicious. I used one of the last ripe lemons on my lemon tree. Almost all green unripe lemons left.


Besides laundry and a long talk with a friend who lives in Oregon, that is all I did today. 

Until tomorrow...


Saturday, September 25, 2021

END-OF-SUMMER VEGETABLE SOUP

 It looked like it was going to rain today but it never did.  Lucky and I took a walk late in the day when the sun started to peak through the clouds.

I made a lovely soup this afternoon.  It is a End-of-Summer Vegetable Soup made from green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, corn, cannelloni beans, and fresh dill.  It is a very light and refreshing soup.  

Until tomorrow...

Friday, September 24, 2021

SLEPT LATE, LATE TO A MEETING

 I woke up and was late to a zoom meeting because I forgot to set an alarm.  It wasn't a meeting meeting but a group meeting so it wasn't super important but something I wanted to attend.  I missed half of it. Oh, well.  What can you do?  

I spent part of the day doing things like paying bills, doing a little work, figuring something out, etc.  Then suddenly it is noon.  I took a walk and mailed the bills.  I dropped off the last coconut cookie to my neighbor. 

I made a super great sandwich for lunch. They call it a toastie in some countries. I call it delicious.

My groceries came at 7:30pm and I have food again. The food to do the next chapter in the cooking course.

Until tomorrow...

Thursday, September 23, 2021

VEGAN VEGGIE CHEESY PASTA CASSEROLE

 It was a busy day of shopping. I bought my fruits and veggies and then regular food.  I ordered all my regular food and then the information would not go through. It was so frustrating. It took hours to finally go through. 

I had a phone call with a friend and we caught up.

I made a dish I call Vegan Veggie Cheesy Pasta Casserole.  It has many veggies and tofu mixed with pasta and cheese sauce.  It is super tasty.


Lucky and I took a walk and saw a neighbor. He said he loved the pastries I dropped by yesterday. He liked the coconut shortcrust cookies with the passion fruit ganache the best. 

Until tomorrow...


Wednesday, September 22, 2021

NO BAKING BUT AN AWESOME SALAD

 I had another busy day.  It is fun after so much time with fairly idle days. I had a doctor's appointment with my gut doctor.  It was a check in and it went well.  She wants to schedule my endoscopy and colonoscopy but I am hesitant until we get this Covid thing under control. If I was alone in the place I would go but the place is an open room with only curtains between patients. That does not make me feel comfortable. 

Last night I took my first injection of Orencia in six weeks.  I ceased taking Orencia because of the covid booster and never started taking it again because I wasn't sure it was working.  I tried to get another RA doctor but I was turned down by the doctor. I wanted to get on another RA medicine but to do that I would probably need to get another RA doctor.  I decided that since I don't have a new doctor I would try going back on Orencia and see if it works better this time.  

Last night I also started my new menopause meds.  I started estrogen and progesterone last night. I don't feel any different so let's hope it stays that way.

I had a last minute work zoom with a client that went really well.  I had to do some work for another client. 

I didn't have time to do any cooking or baking today between everything. I have a picture of a salad that I made a while ago.


Then I took a plate of the Baba Napoletano to my next door neighbor and a plate of cookies and baba to my neighbor and his son down the street.  It feels good to give my treats away. My neighbor suggested I start a pop-up.  I said I am thinking of selling baked goods in the future. He said he would be happy to be a customer. 

I only did a small walk with everything going on today.  I didn't even have time to wash my sink full of dishes from yesterday!

Until tomorrow...



Tuesday, September 21, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-NINE OF COOKING COURSE

 Today was a big day of baking.  I finally made the Baba Napoletano that I was going to bake on Saturday but realized I was missing an ingredient. Now that I have the ingredient, today was the day.  Baba Napoletano is small little balls of pastry that are infused with a fruity, spicy sauce made with rum.  The Baba pastry has a long history that dates back to an exiled Polish king.  

The Baba au Rhum (baba in rum), which I made a few months ago, originated in the region of Lorraine in France in the 18th century. But it is not the French who invented this sweet cake, but the exiled Polish king Stanislaus I who resided in Lorraine.  The story goes that the baba au rhum may have been an adaptation of the traditional Polish and German Kugelhupf cake. Stanislaus' daughter Marie married French King Louis XV and her father's patissier came with her to the royal French court. He baked the baba au rhum for the court and for the French people when he opened a patisserie in Paris.

The Baba then went to the South of Italy when the French chefs cooked for families in Naples. That is where the Baba changed to the Baba Napoletano and being soaked in the fruity and alcohol sauce.

My Baba Napoletano taste amazing.  They are soft and soaked in the sauce.  I am happy with the way they turned out.  I plated them with some of the passion fruit ganache that I had leftover. 


This second picture shows how I soaked the babas.  

Lucky and I took a walk today. It was very sunny and quite hot so we didn't go far. 

I had a networking meeting and a foster meeting today.  Busy day.

Until tomorrow...
 

Monday, September 20, 2021

PAKISTANI ZUCCHINI (COURGETTE) CURRY - TORAI KI SABZI

 I had a busy day. First my ex-foster kid's boxes were finally moved out of my garage. I was storing them for over 2 years. They needed to be moved a long time ago but then Covid happened.  Today they were moved and I couldn't be happier. I wanted to clear out my garage but with all those boxes it made it very difficult.

Then I found out I was turned down by the new rheumatoid arthritis doctor.  They have too many patients and I do not meet the criteria as critical.  So, now I have to decide what to do. I think I need to be my own doctor for a while. I have been considering going back on the Orencia for a while and see if I feel even slightly better.  I read an article about how doctors are overwhelmed with all the requests from patients not just about Covid but just everything. So, maybe just avoiding doctors right now is the best thing. 

Then I went on a 3,000 step walk in the lovely sunshine. Yes, it is sunny here finally.  We had rain last night and it cleared out the smoke.  I hear it is coming back.

I wanted to use the zucchini before it went bad so I made Pakistani zucchini curry. I made this before and really liked it.  Basically I cook the zucchini and tomatoes and then mash the zucchini while it is cooking in these spices.  This time I am eating it over brown rice but it can be eaten with roti or naan.  

It was a full day.  

Until tomorrow...


Sunday, September 19, 2021

HOARDER YOU SAY?!

 I forgot to mention that my Name Day Anniversary was last week.  My name day is a tradition in Europe where each name has a day where that name is celebrated.  My name day was last week.  I celebrated it with a piece of lemon meringue pie!  In Europe it is like another birthday. I kept mine low key.

Today I made soup.  I have been trying to use up my veggies before they go bad.  I purchased too many veggies that will go rotten quickly so I need to cook with them fast.  First I made the roasted veggies and now I made Swiss Chard, Potato and Chickpea Stew.  It is so good.  I mistakenly put a little too much paprika and cayenne but I think it adds flavor and would be good if I had a cold or flu.  It is an easy and tasty soup.  I used all my chard and a delicata squash.  Plus I used the leftover chickpeas from making the meringue the other day.  No waste! 

Lucky and I went on a walk today and ran into a masked neighbor and had a chat.  I tried to take it easy today.  I have a busy week ahead.

I finally filed some online paperwork for The-Insurance-Company-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.  I have had the information for ages and the deadline is approaching.  It took some digging to get all the information back to 2008!  People laugh that I save this stuff but look, it came in handy.  Hoarder some might say. I say you never know when some paperwork comes in handy and you may be getting money back!

Until tomorrow...


Saturday, September 18, 2021

SHEET PAN OVEN ROASTED VEGGIES AGAIN

 I did what I set out to do.  I took a slow day. It was supposed to rain today and I thought "Okay I will take it easy today." Well, it did what people in FL call a "sun spritz".  The sun was out but all it did was a misty rain.  Not going to help the fires or the drought.

I did some laundry and watched TV. Then it in the early afternoon I took Lucky for a short walk.  She is doing this weird jumpy limp thing that concerns me.  She did it before. She seems to only do it on hills. We ran into some neighbors who heard me saying I was baking and giving out the baked goods and said they would be happy to take any I didn't want.  So, good another place to get rid of my cooking wares.

Then after feeding Lucky I decided that I have way too many veggies and I need to start cooking them or they are going to go to waste.  I made one of my favorites: Sheet Pan Oven Roasted Potatoes, Green Beans and Carrots.  It is so delicious.   It is super easy too. 

I have more super easy recipes to make tomorrow.  

Until tomorrow...

Friday, September 17, 2021

JUST A TOASTIE TODAY

I decided today was a bit of a rest day. Some of my ingredients are still coming from Amazon so I can't make the next recipe. Instead I worked even though I wasn't supposed to. I took a big plate of pie, cookies, and meringues to my neighbor for his road trip, gave my dog walker a big piece of pie for the weekend and ate a tiny piece of pie myself. 

For lunch I decided to make what they call a toastie in Australia. It is a grilled cheese here but I put some things in my grilled cheese and I am not sure if in the USA it would still be called a grilled cheese. I put vegan butter and mustard on the outside of the bread and put the bread butter side down in the frying pan. Then I put some mustard on the inside of the bread. Then I put vegan cheese. Then I put tofurky deli slices. Then I put more vegan cheese and mustard. Then I did the same thing with the other slice of bread; butter and mustard on the outside and mustard on the inside. I then put a heavy lid on the sandwich while it cooked to make sure the cheese cooked. 

It was ooey gooey goodness.

I walked 3,000 steps but I was in a rush because the dog walker came back early with Lucky.

Oh, had two pens that ran out of ink so I put them somewhere safe. I hate throwing away pens (plus these are special pens) because it is wasteful so I buy ink. I bought this special ink about a month ago but I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. I needed this ink to write on my special pad so I bought more more. It arrived today.  Wouldn't you know that as soon as the ink arrived, I could not find the two pens I put somewhere safe. But while I was looking for the two pens, I found the ink I bought a month ago! Then 10 mins later I found the two pens. Now I have lots of ink for the future!!!

That was my day.

Until tomorrow...

Thursday, September 16, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-EIGHT OF COOKING COURSE

 I wanted to make the Italian Meringue today but I needed something to put it on. I decided to make a lemon meringue pie.  The crust came out okay but it was a rustic crust.  The lemon curd came out awesome.  That is my sweet spot.  The meringue didn't firm up enough but enough to put on the pie.  The pie tastes great.  

My neighbors will love this.  

I didn't have time to do anything else today. This really took up a lot of time.  More than I expected. I would make this again but make the meringue differently.

I was going to make another recipe but got all the way to taking out the ingredients only to find out one of the ingredients was missing. Ugh. Amazon says it will have it to me on Saturday.

Until tomorrow...


Wednesday, September 15, 2021

WHAT TO DO WITH TWO CANS OF CHICKPEAS?

 The past two days I made vegan meringues using the liquid from two cans of chickpeas.  That meant I had two cans of chickpeas with no liquid in my fridge that I needed to cook quickly before it went bad.  I put out a plea on social media for suggestions.  I received many suggestions from hummus to curry to fried chickpeas to soup.  I knew I didn't want to make another curry since I just ate one.  Then my friend of 30 years from Sweden wrote and gave me the recipe of a Chickpea Stew.  It sounded really good. It was a stew with a mix of curry and Thai.  Tonight I made it and it is delicious.  I substituted basil leaves with keifer leaves and put in diced tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes but the rest I kept the same.  So tasty. 

I had another day of lots of work.  I had planned to bake but found I had no time.  I dropped a plate of cookies and candies off to my neighbor.  

Lucky and I took a little walk between making this stew.  

Until tomorrow...


Tuesday, September 14, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-SEVEN OF COOKING COURSE

 Well, I did it.  I made the French Meringues.  They are Coffee French Meringues.  I did have a few hiccups but they look like meringues and they taste like meringues.  They are cooked and edible.  What more could I ask for?  


I had more work and walked a 2-mile DVD.  That was pretty much my whole day.  

Until tomorrow...


Monday, September 13, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-SIX OF COOKING COURSE

 I had a ton of dishes to wash this morning after a work presentation.  All that cooking yesterday produced a ton of dishes. I wanted to get a short baking item completed so I made French Meringues.  I thought this should be easy but a French recipe got me again!  I took them out of the oven and they looked cooked but when I tried to get them out of the molds, they were not cooked through. Ugh!  Not another French baking failure!  

I did a little research and I think I know what went wrong, so I am going to do them over tomorrow. They tasted super good and I want to make them correctly.

Besides work and baking, that was pretty much my whole day.  I didn't walk because the cookies took over one hour to bake and I had a doctor appointment after they got out of the oven.

Until tomorrow...


Sunday, September 12, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-FIVE OF COOKING COURSE

 I made cookies, lots and lots of cookies.  I took the cookie dough that I made yesterday and rolled it out and made many, many little chocolate shortcrust cookies. They are super good with chocolate nibs and sea salt flakes on top. That sweet/salty cookie. They are the size of tea cookies.  



I also took Lucky for a one-mile walk.

I made a good dinner that I will show another day.  

Until tomorrow...


Saturday, September 11, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-FOUR OF COOKING COURSE

 Today was all about cooking.  Lucky and I did take a one mile walk and ran into some neighbors but other than that I cooked.  I made cocoa margarine for today's baking and for future baking.  I made Cremoso Passion - Passion Fruit Ganache on Coconut Shortcrust Cookies.  I made the coconut shortcrust cookies yesterday and iced them today.  The cookies are delicious with bits of coconut in them. They are soft on the inside. The ganache is just a bit tart and it pairs well with the sweetness of the cookie.  


Then I made the batter for the next cookie and it needed to chill.  I decided it was getting late and I am going to roll them and put them in the oven tomorrow.  

That was the whole day.  It doesn't seem like much but then I made a vegan burger for dinner and I was ready to put my feet up.

Until tomorrow...

Friday, September 10, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-THREE OF COOKING COURSE

 Yesterday I mixed together Vegan Mango Passion Fruit Candy. It had to refrigerate for 12 hours.  Today I cut the fruit candy into shapes and rolled those shapes in citric sugar.  It made cute little candies where the taste reminds me of Sour Patch Kids.


I also made cookies but I will show you those tomorrow after I dress them up a bit. It was a busy day.

Last night there was a huge lightening storm and then a down pour.  So very strange for this time of the year.  It was so loud it woke me up.  Then today it was so overcast and cold most of the day. Yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of the orange sky day when it looked like the apocalypse was happening.

I didn't get to walk with all the baking going on.  

Until tomorrow...

Thursday, September 9, 2021

VEGAN STUFFED RED PEPPERS

 Tonight I looked around to see what I could make for dinner. I saw the red peppers in the fridge and thought stuffed peppers. I cut the peppers in half and put them in a baking dish. I took cooked wild rice, diced teriyaki tofu, diced green beans, corn, and diced zucchini and put them in a bowl.  I added garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and sriracha.  I added this mixture to the half of peppers and put vegan cheese on top.  I put the baking dish in the oven and cooked it for 35 minutes.  I like my peppers crisp.  It came out great. It made a delicious dinner.


Lucky and I took a walk today. 2,000 more steps.  

I had a bunch of work to do day.  

I did a cooking course project but it needs 24 hours to chill before I can unveil it.  

Until tomorrow...

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-TWO OF COOKING COURSE

 One of the steps of the cooking course was to make a Vegan White Coconut Chocolate.  I thought how great it would be to put the white coconut chocolate on top of the Hazelnut Crumble Shortbread Cookies.  So I iced the cookies and it turned out amazing.  The cookies are melt in your mouth.  

I walked early today because I had things to do later in the day. It was a busy day with work.

Until tomorrow...

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-ONE OF COOKING COURSE

 I am back to baking the Italian Pastry course.  I got some good news that I will be continuing this cooking course past the one year that I originally signed up for.  I am stoked mostly because I don't think I will be able to finish the current number of chapters in the original twelve months and the added another chapter and are about to add another chapter.

Today I baked Vegan Hazelnut Crumble Shortbread Cookies.  I had the option of making a hazelnut crumble that I would put on something like a cake or to make shortbread cookies.  I decided to make cookies and then tomorrow add something to those cookies.  It could be fun and exciting and delicious or it could be a complete fail.  Who knows?  

These cookies are crunchy and sweet.  They are rough and crumbly but really good.  They are not delicate cookies in that they are made from three different types of grain: rice flour, hazelnut flour and cornmeal.  

Lucky and I took a 2-mile outside walk today.  The air was very clear and we needed to get outside.

Until tomorrow...



Monday, September 6, 2021

APRICOT & LEMON VEGAN PROTEIN BARS

I got up early this morning because today is my first masked, distanced backyard visit. I fed everyone (me, dog, bird) breakfast and then started to get ready. My visitors are notoriously early so I knew I needed to hustle. I put the umbrella on the picnic table, picked up dog poop, set the chairs 6' apart at least and started bringing things downstairs. My backyard is downstairs. I got all the food ready and had it waiting in the kitchen on a tray. I brought out the pitchers of iced tea and water. 

Then they arrived and I opened up my side entrance so they didn't have to come in the house. We met out back and sat down for four hours. I brought the food down and they ate. It was a pleasant afternoon. The smokey air disappeared for a day so we could enjoy being outside for their visit. 

The best part was that they understood the need for me keeping safe. It meant a lot since so many people do not understand why I have stayed in my bubble for so many months. People in my family and friends have gotten Covid and, yes, they have recovered. But will the same thing happen to me? Do I want to take the chance? No, I don't. 

I made these fun apricot and lemon protein bars. They were a hit.
After my guests left Lucky and I went for a mile walk. It felt good to walk after all that sitting.

Until tomorrow...

Sunday, September 5, 2021

SPICY PEANUT DIP

 I finished my deep clean of the downstairs and vacuumed the stairs coming upstairs. I cleaned the birdcage and washed the dishes. Then we moved outside to clean up a little of the mess out there.  I did a little garden work, swept up, and cleaned off the furniture.  

The air is the worse so far.  It was in the dark red all day (140s) I had a mask on the whole time I was outside. It was 80 degrees and I was sweating. It was not a fun time.

I decided to make the spicy peanut dip for my company.  I have some guests coming to do a distanced outside visit.  I thought it was going to be today but it is going to be tomorrow. So I made the dip for something to nosh on. I already have the sweet cake Pandolce Genovese ready to eat and some homemade iced tea. But I felt more was needed.  I made some protein bars that I will show you tomorrow.  I figure with some sliced apples, nuts and pretzels that should be enough.

I started watching Only Murders in the Building with Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short.  It is really good. I wasn't sure what to expect but I am enjoying it. There are funny parts but most of all it is keeping me entertained. It is a whodunit but also like a cozy murder mystery.  the premise is that three strangers who live in the same building and, it turns out, listen to the same podcast get intertwined in a murder investigation. I am done with episode three and I will be watching more.

I did a 2 mile DVD walk.  This is the first time in a while.  I didn't carry my phone or wear my watch yesterday so my walking while I cleaned for 4 hours didn't log.  I am sure I walked at least 2,000 steps!  

Until tomorrow...

Saturday, September 4, 2021

DEEP CLEAN AND SOUTHWEST SALAD

 My task for today was to deep clean the downstairs.  I got started early which was very good since the deep clean took 4 hours.  I dusted and boy did it need it.  Piles of dust everywhere.  I am sure the fires are not helping with the dust.  Then I cleaned the bathroom and that took a bit of time since I had to dust/clean in there also.  Then I went to putting things away and finally to vacuuming.  Oh, I almost forgot the almost 15 minutes I spent figuring out how to disassemble the wire dog cage so I can store it.  I had two dog cages for the last year and half in my bedroom and finally figured out how to store one.  I didn't have space to store it without disassembling it.  

Good news is that my ex-foster kids boxes are supposed to finally be moved after over 2 years out of my garage.  I am so happy.  They are taking up so much space that I could use to organize things.  What with all my Covid paper supplies taking up much needed space too.

After my four hours of hot, tiresome work, I took a shower to get all that dirt off me.  I felt so disgusting especially since I can't open the windows since the smoke in the air is over 100 (that is full on orange). Right now it is at 110.  That is not good for people with breathing problems.

Then since it was so hot I made a gigantic Southwest salad.  The salad had: tofu, lettuce, black beans, green peppers, parsley, tomatoes, corn, vegan cheese, and I made baked tortilla strips.  I made a dressing out of vegan mayo, ketchup and sriracha.  It was sweet and spicy.  It was a huge delicious salad.  

Then I sat down and watched Bombshell.  I never watched it before.  It was good.  Sad but good.

Until tomorrow...

Friday, September 3, 2021

CURRY AND FIXED WASHER

Today was a good day.  I had the tech show up and he could fix my washer.  It was more expensive than I wanted but I don't have to worry about having to buy a new washer while in lock down in Covid. It was the pump.  He showed me all the stuff stuck in the pump.  Obviously my ex was not as careful as I was about emptying our her pockets as I am.  There was a tile, plastic bag, hair clip and other things.  I wonder if the tile is the Ipod that was lost years ago. It makes sense.  I told her she put it in the washer.  We looked everywhere in the house for it. The washer works and I am happy.

Once the washer was fixed I decided to make Potato, Green Bean, Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry with Wild Rice.  It turned out amazing!  I have plenty left over.  I just love curry.  I can make it as spicy as I want (or don't want).  

Now I am watching Cinderella on Amazon Prime.  So far it is okay.  Entertaining.

Until tomorrow...
 

Thursday, September 2, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY OF COOKING COURSE

 The Italian Chapter of the cooking course is treating me much better.  I started the Italian Chapter and I already baked my first recipe.  I made a Vegan Pandolce Genovese.  This is a sweet cake that originated from Genoa in the 16th century. It is traditionally served around Christmas time.  It can be made with dried fruits, raisins and spices.  It has a tradition where the first slice is given to the first person in need that you see, the second slice is wrapped up and saved until February 3 which is the day of Saint Biaggio, the protector of the throat and other ailments. The third slice is finally for the family, starting with the mother as she is usually the one who prepared the cake.

My Pandolce Genovese was made with chocolate chips and pistachios.  This sweet cake is round and has a thick brown crust and a light and fluffy interior.  It is so good.  The chef in my video said to eat it for breakfast.  




I also made coconut margarine.  It is an ingredient in some of the Italian recipes.  It was a science experiment.

I also had a tech come to the house for all of 5 minutes to fix something.  Nothing makes you feel more incompetent than when a tech shows up when you can't do something and they do it in less than five minutes.  But it is fixed and he fixed another one that I have too.  

I ordered all the Italian ingredients today and had some of them delivered today.  The rest will be arriving over the weekend.  

The air was orange today so going out was not in the cards.  

I was supposed to be on a virtual meeting with RA folks but there was no link in the invite and I didn't realize until 5 minutes before.  Probably just as well.  It was a busy day.  I have to spend tomorrow morning getting the garage ready for the washing machine tech to fix my washer.  I want to make the space easy for him to get around and right now it is not since my paint cabinet (right next to the washer) collapsed in the middle of the night and paint and paint cans went everywhere.  I think I am going to try to breakdown the cabinet tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

DAY ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-NINE OF COOKING COURSE

 Today was a roller coaster of a day.  I found out my Covid test results arrived this afternoon.  I am negative for Covid.  That is a relief.  I didn't think I had Covid but these days it is better to get a test and know for sure than to worry for weeks if I have a serious disease.  I am now sure I had an infection in my tooth that caused the fever last week.

I had a customer service rep call me today when I had a phone call scheduled for tomorrow to "see if I had time today" to deal with the issue.  I was eating lunch but sure.  There went 45 min of my day dealing with that and it was not fixed and now I have to have a tech come to the house tomorrow.  Ugh.

I tried to cook the final two French Pastries in my cooking course.  Once again it was a fail.  I was very disheartened when it was a disaster.  I bought a special baking powder that said it was phosphate free only to open it today and see it has phosphates.  Ugh.  The eclairs and paris-brest both fell and came out a funny color.  They were a mess.

It was a disappointment.  I was looking forward to a eclair.  I am not moving on to the Italian Pastries and Desserts.  I am leaving French Pastries behind.  Au revoir!

I had many family and friend communications today with Covid situations and weather issues so I ran out of time to walk. 

Until tomorrow...