Stepping out

Andy and I are stepping out this morning.  We are going to Carfagna's for supplies for the 4th.  Not a big day, but Matt and his little family are coming over for a swim and cookout. I don't actually like cooking out but I love the results.  Food tastes so much better from outdoors on the grill with briquettes and smoke and sizzle. YUM. I can usually find someone to do the grilling while I enjoy the results with pleasure. I look forward to seeing what Carfagna's have to offer this morning.

I am going to get one of those large Italian loaves of bread to do it up with pizza toppings. Then get the usual grilling meat.  Also, I want to get some ready-made items to make the day really easy for everyone...especially me since I am entertaining deficient now days it seems. I am totally out of practice.

There are items in that small Italian grocery that I can't find anyplace else, so it is a treat out for me today.  We have a couple of other places to go but those are stay in the car errands.

Note: Just returned; it was not as much fun as I thought it would be. crowded, restrictive, rushed

It's a lovely day today and Andy has watered the flowers and vegetables already.  Monica and her crew are coming so I am a happy woman. Having said that a new car lease is in the works.  It is time to select a new car and I loath the process.  I hate tramping around in the hot parking lots listening to the speel of the equally hot and tired salesperson. Now days a person has to be alert so as not to sign something that hurts at the end of the lease. Shoot.  I wish I had not thought of that fresh hell to come.

Hurry sweet corn

I have this intense urge for corn on the cob today.  I have had a time figuring out dinner, well, lunch and dinner. I saw corn in the freezer and cod and shrimp.  So there it is a sweet corn and cod stew with bacon,  onions, and shrimp.  Last night's dinner disappeared at an alarming rate.  Andy went for seconds and the entire dish of pasta with spicy shrimp Alfredo was gone! Well, that's a lesson learned.

I won't be telling you what I am reading at the moment...I was looking on Amazon for recently released, five stars. fiction and started reading this book online and before I knew it turned steamy, to put it mildly.  The characters are interesting, but it is lewd, (Will she finish it?)

I took a garden stroll in my nightgown and robe this morning dead heading the flowers and checking to see how they are doing.  Andy was watering them, so they are happy plants and thriving this season.  I have cautioned July to behave this year.  We've had just about enough shenanigans.  There is a limit. (Though not supposed to, I did take a peek at the internet news this morning. I saw people arming themselves and their homes.) Notice the contrast in this one paragraph?

Peaches

It seems unbelievable that the peach truck has hit Columbus already...and we missed it.  However, we are making a peach run this morning because Weinland Market is selling them by the box or pound.  We will start off with the by -the- pound until we taste them to see if a box is what we'll need. This market also sells liquor and we need a new supply of that...who has been drinking our booze? I can't think that one- a -day each causes the bottles to empty so quickly. Hmmm.

I am in the cooking mood today yet I can't think what to make.  Maybe the market will inspire me although Andy is all about in and out quickly so we don't catch anything. Mike and Beth went to Stubenville yesterday for the baby peek-a-boos' baptism and the church was full, some masks and no distancing. I guess they figure they are safe since they have had no cases to date.

This is going to be a good swim day too.  I will ask Andy to get my chair float out today.  It is time to break it in for the summer. I am plowing through The Stationmaster's Daughter from the same author as the Emerald comb. I am having trouble being interested in the great details of the railroad.  I don't want to know how it runs, only that it gets us where we want to go both literally and story-wise.

If the peaches are good then a cobbler will be on the menu today. What else???
 Note: Nope. Peaches were not what we expected.  But I did find shrimp for spicy shrimp Alfredo for tonight,

I joined a group of fans of Escape to the Chateau and I cannot believe that a subject as harmless as that can inspire mean jabs and sports such jealousy.  I wanted to get away from the world news and yet this is just as mean and hostile as the so-called "news"... which is more like opinions. So back to reading and sanity.

Lazy

Andy and I agree, we are lazy and enjoying this isolation way too much. We read, swim, move to the computer, back to reading, Andy waters the container plants, and reads.  I cook, read, do the computer, cook some more...you get the drift. I am reading The Emerald Comb and I am hooked.  This is the third or fourth book by this author and I have pretty much liked them all.

I stay away from TV during the day and the computer news; it is too upsetting. I still like the evening television, but the line up is awful.

Today we are having stir-fry.  I have cleaned the fridge and everything I see seems to fit into the stir-fry skillet. Beth and Nate like it very much as do I.  Andy is afraid of some of the ingredients, afraid I have slipped in some mushrooms.  I have not, but the artichoke bottoms look like mushrooms and have the same texture, so he will skip this treat, thank you very much. I hear the lid for the last time, so the skillet is now empty.  Too late, Andy.

I hope you are all well and happy and are, perhaps, enjoying this quiet time with your family.

An all vegetable and cheese gratin:

blessed sleep

We entertained hoards yesterday, eight people, and two were babies.  I count them because I am so out of practice when it comes to entertaining.  I went to bed at 7:00 and slept round the clock and now feel I could practice sleeping for another eight hours. We had a beautiful day and they did seem to enjoy the ribs, wings, fried rice, and whatever else we had that I can't recall. I'll have a look in the fridge when I get my strength back to see the left-overs if Andy does not beat me there first. The pool got a good work out yesterday for the first time this season.  It was always too cold for the big babies until now.  We have a pool heater, but we never use it.  I always say the pool is meant to cool you off.  If you want warm, take a shower.

Well, 'they' are prepared to tear down Teddy Roosevelt's statue now.  I am in a fit daily with what is going on in America.  We, (no they) have let loose something wild and now it is all way out of control. What started out as understandable has morphed into the bizarre.
And yet there is more...Eskimo pie must be renamed now. Words fail me.

Now and then I love days like this; the kitchen door opened to the yard with a gentle rain blessing the plants.  Mike got two more window boxes up yesterday and later today we are going for more plants which should be enough until fall.

Have a day as good as it gets.

Father's Day

A gathering of three father's on Sunday will be wonderful. There will be nine or ten of us which is a crowd in this day and age.  I can't believe I am calling this a crowd but I am leaning to anticipation as I start the menu for my Columbus (may I say Columbus?) family. We will start with drinks and a small cheese and fruit board. Andy has found the most delicious margarita mix and I have gone through one whole bottle myself and that is with my one drink a day in the late afternoon with Andy who also has one drink a day. When there are guests, well,...

It is supposed to be a nice day, so we will eat outside. We're having ribs (from Sam's which are delicious,) and wings.  I am using the spicy seasoning dry mix from Hidden Valley on the wings for a day or so as a marinade. We are having a crockpot full of fresh green beans with green onions, potatoes, and corn cooked low and slow. Beth is making a salad and I am making my gratin of potatoes, green onions (from Andy's garden stash,) cauliflower, broccoli, and cheese. I am also making fried rice. I don't know about dessert. People are on diets.  Mike has lost forty pounds and Beth is looking great.

Okay, that's it for now.  Have fun Sunday. 

dinner
 

The world has gone mad

I opened a can of worms with one woman today on my Facebook.  But, I am fed up with what is going on in our country and gave a mild review of a couple of things leaving out, thankfully, the way I felt about Aunt Jemima having to re-label. It's just one sequin too many.  I picked up the newspaper to read the food section which is the only section where I don't lose my cool and there it was: I could not believe what I was reading:

" Columbus State is taking down the statue of Christopher Columbus??? And, HBO has pulled Gone with the Wind? I can think of several HBO programs that should be pulled and buried, but Gone with the Wind? The world has gone mad."

Does that mean we have to rename our city of Columbus too?

One woman advised me he had no business having a statue in the first place according to her daughter. Now I am going to have to Google the faults of Christopher Columbus. (I did and there are some.) There is a new program on WOSU public television where you can watch, at 7:00 Escape to the Chateau and at 8:00 America's biggest fibs. A smug British woman found joy in pointing out the many big fibs that we Americans, and the world, are fed about our greatness. It's an eye-opener and a series, so there are many fibs and no one is safe dead or alive.

Another eye-opener; we won't be getting a generator for around $35,000! I was stunned and could not get rid of the guy fast enough. As I said, the world has gone mad. So in our old age Andy and I will simply fumble around in the dark, another nice thing to look forward to. Bah humbug.

Escape

Since I don't want any of you to miss a really good series called Escape to the Chateau, I am going to give you a synopsis of the story.
It seems there are 40,000 French chateaus going to ruin because the owners cannot afford the upkeep.  The British are buying them up and working on restoring them, mostly themselves. A couple called Dick and Angela Strawbridge along with their two little children bought one for 248,000 English pounds, really 390,000 because they had to buy the walled garden, and they are very successful in restoring the 45 rooms and 7 outbuildings because Dick Strawbridge can do anything!  It is amazing the extent of his abilities.  His wife is so creative, has great ideas, and is especially good at decorating. So far, and I do hope there are more, I found six seasons.  I first saw the last two seasons on WOSU public broadcasting and was hooked.  To catch up, google Dailymotion escape to the chateau or u tube.

Note:  They are so successful they are fully booked through 2022 for weddings and food lovers' holidays.

So naturally, when I saw Amazon list a new book called Secrets of the Chateau by Kathleen McGurl (not Dick and Angela's) I ordered it for my now-defunct Kindle.  I started this historical novel  and could not put it down and then my Kindle took a  vacation...a never-ending vacation.  I ordered a new one and while bringing it to life would be easy for many people it was impossible for me and I was eager to read. Finally, Beth, my daughter-in-law took pity on me and not only brought my new Kindle to life but straightened out the rat's nest of cords connecting my pc computer and modems and God only knows what else is plugged into that series of tangles. So I am giving her a gift of a manicure and pedicure from our favorite nail salon and I am off to have the service for myself right now.  Yea. I am leaving home for a couple of hours. I hope I can remember how to drive after months of isolation during my ESCAPE to the nail salon.

Pork fried rice

So today the menu is simple because there is a lot going on at Many Branches.  A couple of days ago we had to take all the food out of the fridge and freezer (from the kitchen) to ice it down due to electricity outage. I left out a really big pork butt roast which I used the next day to roast low and slow.  Well, we are still using it and today it is in the form of fried rice.  I am making a lot of it because I think we will have a lot going on here today.  One of our readers was kind enough to tell me about her whole house generator and now Mike is on the trail to find a good provider for this endeavor. I am not usually excited about large expenditures for things like new driveways, point tucking the chimneys, stairlifts, and generators.  But I am excited about this because I go a little nuts when there is no electricity and have discovered it may be my favorite thing after all is said and done.

I am in need of Trader Joe's, too, but I am hesitant about going out.  We still don't know the damage that the gathering of masses of people in the last two weeks may have caused.

Lemon drizzle cake sounds like a Saturday to me.  I have tried for years to copy the recipe for Starbucks' lemon slices.  That cake was so silky and delicious and I have not had it for years, but I do have about twenty lemon cake/bread recipes that I have tried while looking for the right one.  I may just pick one and go for it if I can get to Trader Joe's for lemons. Sigh.

modern era

The storm caused the electricity to go off around dinner time last night.  Today around 11:00 we started icing down all the food from one fridge and freezer.  The electric came back on and we started putting things back and then it went off again.  It is around noon now and we are leaving it for a few hours just in case it goes off again.  Why don't they bury the wires?  It's way past time to catch up in this neighborhood.  These are nice, really nice houses, and every time the wind blows out goes the electricity.  We are getting estimates for an all house generator because after thirty-some years I am tired of this.  I was doing David's wedding twenty three years ago for 250 people and the electricity went off while the caterers were heating the food. I should have learned my lesson then.

I am doing all seafood tonight. I hope it does not go off again, but if it does, the seafood will be eaten by then.

This is hell week, so the electricity went off which drives me crazy, but my Kindle died at the same time with a really good read in the waiting. Now if I buy another Kindle from 
Amazon, can they transfer all of my books from old Kindle to new?

I hope your week is going better than mine.  Of course, I know it could be worse. So I will shut up.

ribs and tots

I think I have told you about Sam's delicious ribs.  They are all done except for the last-minute heating and the separation of the ribs. Today I coupled them with mini tater tots with Hidden Valley spicy seasoning mix.  Corn for a side.  You know it is hot, but the AC is really showing off today and it is cool and rib ready. I thought we might have company, but I think everyone is staying inside.  Andy has been in the pool which is a perfect temperature.  We have a pool heater but we never use it.  I figure if you want warm water, take a shower.  The pool is to cool.

I have decided not to watch the news for several days.  I get so mad and sad and I don't want to spend my life watching turmoil unfold.

Book: Secret of the Chateau

Tonight Escape to the Chateau is on, unless the programmer goes amok and I do love that show.  I ordered a new fiction best seller today for my Kindle about three couples going together to buy a chateau in southern France...and then my Kindle took a rest and refuses to work...like some people. I am not at all technical and must rely on the kindness of others, but they are all too busy and WORKING.  They have not missed a beat and in that respect it is the same every year, eight months work, four months off and in Nate's case, that's four months travel.  I don't know how that will work this year, however.  He might have to stay in America.

Time to slice the ribs and get things set up.  Have a lovely eveening.