- Last week I decided to do the majority of our grocery shopping from our own pantry and freezer, hoping to save a little space in the budget and rotate some product OUT of storage. The I bought the majority of additional items we needed from Dollar General, getting just bread and some produce from the regular grocery store. I spent a total of $31 for the week. That was pretty fun. What's the least amount you've managed to spend on groceries, or the longest you've been able to stay away from the store?
- Today I blew all that off and went back to my regular shopping routine. Still managed to get some great deals and some extra stuff for the freezer. Spent about $80 instead, which I still feel good about. Do you shop with an eye toward future meals when the deals are there, or do you just focus on your immediate needs?
- I am having a completely irrational and inexplicable need for French Fries. I have always been somewhat immune to fries, barring the occasional need for a small dollar menu purchase from McD's, but lately I could eat them every day and for every meal. I'm trying to keep it under control. I suppose this happens to everyone. What are your favorite cravings/occasional binge foods?
- Valentine's sale candy is better than Christmas sale candy. We can't seem to STOP buying this stuff, though I'm trying very hard to keep the candy consumption to a reasonable, Daisy Bee Bees-conscious level. Easter candy is out now, and it's probably my favorite. Do you have a favorite holiday candy? Conversation hearts? Cadbury eggs? Candy Canes? Etc?
- Now that it's back in commission, my oven is being used ALL DAY today. My brother is coming over, it's my day off, and I've been without the ability to bake for too long. All this is combining for the perfect storm. I'm trying out a new ciabatta recipe today (thanks Cook's Illustrated), making twice-baked potatoes, cooking a slow-roasted garlic crusted roast beef, and heating up a blueberry pie for dessert. We're also having Zuchini fritters, but those don't require the oven. What are y'all having for dinner?
- Anthony Bourdain is coming to Knoxville April 4th. I don't think we can afford tickets, but I'm trying to devise a way we can make it work anyhow. He's one of the few food guys I would pay just to hear tell stories. Maybe Gordon Ramsey too, but I think that's more because I like his accent. Who would you pay to spend a few hours listening to them talk?
- Man vs. Food is a great highway accident of a show. I'm horrified, but I can't look away. Also, I want to go visit every single place they showcase. In honor of the trip to Seattle and the 12 egg omelet, I made Matt his own Chili Cheese Sour Cream Omelet (with only 4 eggs) on Sunday. Anybody else watching this show? Anyone have any over-the-top meal/food stories?
- Finally, can someone, somewhere, give me something to talk about other than food? Sooner than later, our wastelines here on Blue Meadow will be eternally grateful...
Monday, February 23, 2009
Let's Talk About Food, a Bulletin Point Entry
It's not spring yet. My house got dirty again far too quickly. I only saw two of the Oscar nominated movies (The Wrestler and Slumdog Millionaire). My job has become a tedious retail job again. None of these things are interesting. Only food has kept my attention lately (and rather unsurprisingly). So let's discuss, shall we? Feel free to comment on any, all, or none of these bullet points...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Things, some good, some just okay...
First, Mmmmm, Pizza.....Doesn't that look great? You want some, don't you? Beautiful chewy crust--thanks to working at a bakery (free pizza dough just because? OKAY.) No marinara or red sauce of any
kind, instead we used pesto. Layered with mushrooms, artichokes, fresh balls of mozzerella, sliced roma tomatoes, and a sprinkling of parmesan. This pizza was awesome. This pizza was celebratory. This pizza broke my oven.Wait, what?
Well, no, it didn't actually break my oven, but it was the last thing we successfully baked Friday night before the oven gave up and refused to pre-heat the next day. Matt was sure it was somehow his fault. He came home after a half day on Friday so he could surprise me with an early Valentine's day present--he cleaned the house. I mean, he CLEANED the house. The bathrooms, the laundry room, everything in the kitchen (including, ahem, the oven). He did all the waiting laundry, all dried and folded. HE VACUUMED THE STAIRS.
BEST. PRESENT. EVER.
Now, I am sure that, because we were able to make pizza successfully (and such a lovely pizza at that), nothing he did actually *broke* the oven. It turns out the ignitor on the bottom of the oven just gave up and cried uncle, and I believe this has far more to do with the fact that my oven is nearly 10 years old and has been the ultimate work horse in my kitchen than it does that he ran an auto-clean cycle the day before. Anyway, the point being, I don't have a working oven now. We dismantled (or, well, HE dismantled) it Saturday morning after waffles, removed the offending ignitor and headed to the Sears repair and parts shop (ahh, Valentine's Day), where we were informed that they didn't have one in stock, and it would be 5-7 days for a new one to come in the mail (not to mention an extra $13.99 for the shipping, THANKS). So, I am currently without oven. Boo, hiss, etc.
The rest of Valentine's Day consisted of an amazing glass exhibit at the art museum (yes, we are *so*cultured, you're jealous, I know...), a trip to our favorite little store in Knoxville, Emery's 5 & 10, and a re-imagined dinner, since the Beef Wellington I had intended to make wasn't exactly going to work out on the stove-top. I played iron chef with the ingredients, and it all worked out just fine.
So, Sunday, rather than be upset over my oven and all the things I suddenly desperately wanted to bake, we wandered off in search of half-price Valentine's candy, and new curtains. I confess, you guys, we've lived here nearly a year and a half, and I have yet to install curtains in our living room. Even the lovely scarred marks on the wall from the previous occupant's horrible white curtain bars were still there, but we had nice blinds, I'm not a cave person or anythin
g. Still, some how we just never really knew what we wanted there, and everything I thought of trying just felt wrong for the room, somehow. So, when I got some gift certificates to Pier 1, I figured, this was my best shot. A few awesome packages of panels from the clearance bin, redeemed gift certificates, some patching and painting, and rods from, yes, thank you, Big Lots (I am no snob), and we have curtains like real civilized adults. Total out of pocket was around $25. Totally worth it. I love them, the fit right in with the nature-y elements we already have in the room (I'm a sucker for leaves and birds) and really make the other green items we have pop in an otherwise neutral space.
And they made me forget about my oven, for a while...
Monday, February 9, 2009
The bug has bitten...
My spring fever has manifested in an interesting way this year--an all consuming need to clean.
Shocking, trust me.
Every day I find a new potential project, something beyond the usual mop and sweep. This Saturday, the kitchen was my target. You see, when Matt and I moved in, we decided to use the top of our cabinets as a sort of decorative storage solution. We've got antique silver tea tins and baskets interspersed with pitchers and cake plates, all artfully arranged and quasi-handy, should we need any of them. And, since they hang out in the open air all year round, they need the occasional dust off. LITTLE DID I REALIZE...
When we moved into our house, it had been unoccupied for quite some time, and had been meticulously cleaned before we arrived. Or so I thought. It turns out that the tops of those cabinets were something they missed, intentionally or mistakenly. It never occurred to me to check them before we started sticking our stuff up there. But as I removed it all for cleaning and took a closer look (okay, I was climbing like a monkey on the counter tops), I realized the oversight. You guys. I'm pretty sure no one EVER cleaned the tops of those things. I'll spare you the gory details, but I will say that my efforts to return them to relatively sanitary involved a degreaser, a spackle knife for scraping, and nearly half a roll of paper towels. Seriously upsetting. Seriously squicky.
Anyway, I digress...So we're cleaning. Slowly but surely I'm plotting a course through every room in the house, giving it a nice freshening up in addition to the usual once over with a vacuum and a rag. It's strangely satisfying and compellingly comforting all at once. So, I was just wondering...do you guys have a spring cleaning routine? Any surprises?
Shocking, trust me.
Every day I find a new potential project, something beyond the usual mop and sweep. This Saturday, the kitchen was my target. You see, when Matt and I moved in, we decided to use the top of our cabinets as a sort of decorative storage solution. We've got antique silver tea tins and baskets interspersed with pitchers and cake plates, all artfully arranged and quasi-handy, should we need any of them. And, since they hang out in the open air all year round, they need the occasional dust off. LITTLE DID I REALIZE...
When we moved into our house, it had been unoccupied for quite some time, and had been meticulously cleaned before we arrived. Or so I thought. It turns out that the tops of those cabinets were something they missed, intentionally or mistakenly. It never occurred to me to check them before we started sticking our stuff up there. But as I removed it all for cleaning and took a closer look (okay, I was climbing like a monkey on the counter tops), I realized the oversight. You guys. I'm pretty sure no one EVER cleaned the tops of those things. I'll spare you the gory details, but I will say that my efforts to return them to relatively sanitary involved a degreaser, a spackle knife for scraping, and nearly half a roll of paper towels. Seriously upsetting. Seriously squicky.
Anyway, I digress...So we're cleaning. Slowly but surely I'm plotting a course through every room in the house, giving it a nice freshening up in addition to the usual once over with a vacuum and a rag. It's strangely satisfying and compellingly comforting all at once. So, I was just wondering...do you guys have a spring cleaning routine? Any surprises?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Did I talk about snow before?
Because I was crazy. That wasn't snow, that was just a dusty afternoon.
Yesterday was a glorious 60 degree day, with cloudless blue skies. My husband mowed the lawn. And today, today as I sit here and type, the snow is piling all around me. East Tennessee Weathermen are LOSERS. And when I say this, please do not think I'm sad about this new snowfall. I'm thrilled, mostly because I just *knew* they had it wrong, and got all my errands finished yesterday. Because the predicted rain had only begun slightly as I headed to an appointment this morning (a do-over of an appointment from the 19th that gratefully did not get moved a record 2nd time because of snow), and because the giant flakes of snow the rain morphed into in less than an hour had only just begun to accumulate by the time I headed to Walgreens for my final pass at productivity today. I made it home having only slipped and slid twice coming down the big hill at Campbell Station, driving through the Winter Wonderland that I had forgotten Knoxville had the ability to be. In short, y'all, it's snowing like mad, and I'm loving it.
*Now, my Colorado and Mid-west contingent would find the accumulation we've got so far truly laughable. But it's the most we've seen here in these moderate southern parts for quite some time. The kids are going to go APE.*
So, now that I'm home and warm and safe, I'm spending the day cozily ensconced by the fire, with a stack of library books, hot chocolate, and Chex Mix leftover from Super Bowl Supper. Later there will be spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove top, and a mandatory screening of Groundhog Day, another story of a "blizzard" and a perfect day, and rather appropriate for more than just the calendar date. Today has been good in all the ways that my Friday was not, and I would not mind repeating it.
So, yes, um, sorry...what else is new?
We had a lovely weekend spent largely the way married people spend their weekends, at Lowe's. Actually, only a small part took place at Lowe's, but that place just seems to be such a catalyst for all manner of other things around here. We now have new and improved smoke detectors and a great new combo door stop/door latch on our problematic bathroom door. We bought new birdseed and an great new birdfeeder on clearance, just in time for the storm. We shuffled a dozen more Christmas boxes in the garage and took huge steps in making it functional again. We worked on our February budget, ate pizza, and went to see The Wrestler. We talked and planned and schemed and organized, and all in all felt very productive. It was good. February is off to a nice start.
I wish I had more to say, but beyond the mundane and everyday, beyond the grind of Brinks and the Bakery and school and whatnot, well, we've still only got talk. But Matt and I are figuring things out, and by the time we thaw out over here, and spring arrives and my heart swells with the dogwood blooms, we might have actual plans for our future. So, yes, we've got that going for us. ;)
I'm about to go and start on the second of my library books, "the green book", and I'm wondering if any of you have read it, and if so, what did you think? Was there anything in the book you weren't already doing that it made you decide to do?
Yesterday was a glorious 60 degree day, with cloudless blue skies. My husband mowed the lawn. And today, today as I sit here and type, the snow is piling all around me. East Tennessee Weathermen are LOSERS. And when I say this, please do not think I'm sad about this new snowfall. I'm thrilled, mostly because I just *knew* they had it wrong, and got all my errands finished yesterday. Because the predicted rain had only begun slightly as I headed to an appointment this morning (a do-over of an appointment from the 19th that gratefully did not get moved a record 2nd time because of snow), and because the giant flakes of snow the rain morphed into in less than an hour had only just begun to accumulate by the time I headed to Walgreens for my final pass at productivity today. I made it home having only slipped and slid twice coming down the big hill at Campbell Station, driving through the Winter Wonderland that I had forgotten Knoxville had the ability to be. In short, y'all, it's snowing like mad, and I'm loving it.
*Now, my Colorado and Mid-west contingent would find the accumulation we've got so far truly laughable. But it's the most we've seen here in these moderate southern parts for quite some time. The kids are going to go APE.*
So, now that I'm home and warm and safe, I'm spending the day cozily ensconced by the fire, with a stack of library books, hot chocolate, and Chex Mix leftover from Super Bowl Supper. Later there will be spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove top, and a mandatory screening of Groundhog Day, another story of a "blizzard" and a perfect day, and rather appropriate for more than just the calendar date. Today has been good in all the ways that my Friday was not, and I would not mind repeating it.
So, yes, um, sorry...what else is new?
We had a lovely weekend spent largely the way married people spend their weekends, at Lowe's. Actually, only a small part took place at Lowe's, but that place just seems to be such a catalyst for all manner of other things around here. We now have new and improved smoke detectors and a great new combo door stop/door latch on our problematic bathroom door. We bought new birdseed and an great new birdfeeder on clearance, just in time for the storm. We shuffled a dozen more Christmas boxes in the garage and took huge steps in making it functional again. We worked on our February budget, ate pizza, and went to see The Wrestler. We talked and planned and schemed and organized, and all in all felt very productive. It was good. February is off to a nice start.
I wish I had more to say, but beyond the mundane and everyday, beyond the grind of Brinks and the Bakery and school and whatnot, well, we've still only got talk. But Matt and I are figuring things out, and by the time we thaw out over here, and spring arrives and my heart swells with the dogwood blooms, we might have actual plans for our future. So, yes, we've got that going for us. ;)
I'm about to go and start on the second of my library books, "the green book", and I'm wondering if any of you have read it, and if so, what did you think? Was there anything in the book you weren't already doing that it made you decide to do?
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