um, rosie, are we going to have to enroll you in a 12-step program for earrings??? Dang! :eek: It’s probably a good thing that I don’t have (or want) holes in my ears - I could see myself going crazy with all the pretty choices.
And we’re back from errands and lunch. We redeemed our $10 off coupon (issued because we spent over $50 at Lowe’s yesterday) to buy **FCD ** a couple of storage bins for ManLand. We used the self-checkout and discovered that whoever used it before us left behind their $10 off coupon - cha-ching!!! Almost like finding a tenner on the ground. And since we’re about to do our bathroom remodel, every bit will help.
We got groceries, and I picked up a nice hunk of corned beef and a head of cabbage, plus a sack o’ N.O.T. among other stuff. In a little bit, I’m going to get the beef a-simmerin’, and later, I’ll toss in carrots, celery, some N.O.T. chunks, some onion, and the cabbage. That will make for one yummerrific dinner tonight. Plus I bought some pineapple slices and cherries - I see a pineapple upside down cake on the menu also. That’s the only cake I’ve ever successfully made from scratch (apart from pound cake) and it’s one of my sweetie’s favorites.
I fully intend to finish the living room today, clean out the hall closet, and remove some unwanted clothing from my closet. I have blouses in there that I’ve only worn once and I’m not sure why I bought them in the first place - it’s time to purge! That and cooking will pretty much be my day. It’s raining out - what better way to pass a dreary day? I mean, considering I don’t have a hot tub.
I have double chocolate walnut biscotti in the oven. Thing is, I prefer my biscotti somewhat moist (heresy, I know) and I don’t drink coffee. So, there is a chocolate baked good in my oven.
And soon I have to take #1 son on the highway to teach him how to do that. I asked The Husband to teach him to parallel park–I don’t have the patience to teach that.
Tree is down, and most of Xmas put away. Need to sort through some things and tidy a bit. I also need to purchase #1 son’s Bday present. I’ll tell you what I’ma gonna get him: Mario Galaxy for Wii. His Bday is 1/9–HINT, HINT, LiLi.
And that’s all the news that’s fit to print over here.
Corned beef is simmering. Pineapple upsidedown cake is in the oven - I tried a slightly different approach - sure hope it’s good. In about half an hour, I’ll toss the veggies into the pot with the corned beef (except for the cabbage - that’ll wait till later.)
But I haven’t done any cleaning. I can do that tomorrow. Or the next day. I don’t have to be back to work till Wednesday.
Oh yeah - tomorrow - MMP. Hmmmmmm, what to do, what to do??
Beer cheese soup is one of the nummiest soups ever, that’s what it is.
Moooooom I want some corned beef and cabbage!
Hmmmmm… I do believe beer cheese soup and corned beef and cabbage will both appear on the bill of fare at chez swampy’s in the near future. Not at the same time, of course, cause well, that’d be over the top even for me.
I’m takin’ a break from cave spiffin’. The master bedroom and bath, kitchen and laundry area are done. That’s almost half of da cave. Next I tackle the livin’ and dinin’ rooms. I’ll do the guest bedroom, study, other bath and hallway after that, either today or tomorrow cause they don’t take that long. I could get stuff cookin’ and then finish up. I hate cave cleanin’. However, I do love me a clean cave.
I survived! And it didn’t take all that long, either. He has the beginnings of a lead foot. Yikes…
Beer Cheese Soup or Cheesy Beer Soup or Beery Cheesy Soup or Soupy Cheesy Beer–oh, wait…
I cup milk (I use skim) heated* with
1 can chicken broth (I use College Inn) you can use beef broth, but I never have.
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup flour
1 can beer or 2/3 of one bottle of beer
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (must be sharp), grated
Optional ingredients:
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced green onions sauted in butter
8 oz mild bulk pork sausage sauted, drained
1 cup pre-cooked broccoli.
I use the onions and add some garlic to taste.
In a heavy, large pot (Dutch oven preferred), melt butter. Saute the onions (and garlic) in the butter until soft. Add flour and stir until dissolved. Cook over gentle heat allowing it to bubble, stirring constantly. Slowly add milk/broth combo; whisk over low heat until smooth. Once all m/b combo is added, add cheddar cheese (and sausage or broccoli or celery). Stir and bring to slow boil, stirring occasionally. I try not to let it get to a boil, but just before a boil, if you follow me.
Turn off heat; add beer and stir well. Reheat over low heat and serve. It keeps well in the fridge, but does thicken up. You can either add more beer to thin it or use it as a fondue (or just enjoy really thick soup like I do). Serve with French bread and salad or whatever you like.
I heat the milk and then just pour the broth into it and set aside. Do not scald the milk!
I hope you all like it–it’s very good on a cold winter’s day. I’ve been known to garnish it with popped popcorn, which is actually really good with it.
The cake is out of the oven, and the syrupy goodness of the now up-side bottom is dripping down. I am optimistic for a good outcome. The veggies (minus the cabbage) are in the pot, and in a little bit, I’ll add said cabbage. Dinner should be at 5 or so.
The house smells yummmmmm. It’s one of those rare moments when I don’t want the windows open - trap the cake-y goodness inside. It *almost * makes up for the lack of chocolate in the pantry.
Speaking of cooking and stuff, I forgot to share this one earlier.
8 AM Christmas morning, my MIL is starting to prepare dinner, which will be at 2. Is she putting the turkey or the roast in the oven? Um, no, she’s boiling green beans. And by boiling, I mean full rolling boil in water - SIX HOURS before dinner. For frozen green beans!! :eek: When I noticed the pot boiling over (which is how I discovered what she was cooking) I asked if she wanted me to turn it off. No, just turn it down and let it boil.
Needless to say, when dinner was served, I could have gummed the green beans without fear of choking. The sugar snap peas, on the other hand, were cold. She put the full bag’s worth in the microwave for 7 or 8 minutes. Yep, they were still frozen on the inside.
I’m wondering if, at 76, maybe she needs supervision in the kitchen…
I haven’t been quite as industrious as some folks here, but in my defense, I have had a nasty headache all day. Papa Tigs has had an even worse headache, so neither one of us has been terribly ambitious. However, we did get the 7 boxes of books hauled off to Goodwill (and boy, were they happy to have them already neatly boxed up, considering they were doing a land-office business today), and I got the rest of snowbunny**‘s stuff out of the spare room. And I only found one pair of sneakers, two pairs of slippers, and seven books under the bed. :dubious: Now all that needs doing in there is vacuuming and moving the old TV in to the dresser (it’s nice to have the TV when I’m sleeping in there because Rusty is freaking out from storms) and getting it all hooked up, and we’re all set. In that room. But vacuuming has to wait because, frankly, I’m not sure my head could handle it right now, and I know Papa Tigs’ can’t!
Oh, and I dug out and folded up a whole bunch of assorted cardboard to go in the recycling, whenever they come by for it this week. And we recycled three large bags of plastic bags at the grocery store.
Livin’ and dinin’ rooms are done. YAY! OOH! And the guest bedroom and study are dusted (and well done too!) cause ol’ y’all know who dusted 'em. This makes me want to get ambitious and finish cause all I gotta do is vacuum both rooms and the hall and clean up the guest bathroom which is in pretty good shape.
Now he’s gone to pick up some pizza cause he’s starving, poor thing! Said he was wastin’ away to nuttin’! It’s kinda windy out. Hope he doesn’t just blow away.
Da cave is now all spiffed, fit for human habitation and company. YAY!!! Also pizza has been et and ol’ y’all know who is no longer wastin’ away. Tragedy averted.
Ok, it’s beerverage time and perhaps jacuzzi bath time. Or not. We’ll see. Definitely beerverage time though.
More boxes up to attic–about 5 more to go and Xmas will be over for another year.
I went for a walk with The Husband. He insists that #1 son is down and needs to “haul himself up”. Me, I don’t see it. Kid has friends, knows what he has to do in school, his teachers enjoy him (but think he isn’t challenging himself), he has Youth group, and his Facebook, online games. I think The Husband doesn’t like #1 son’s hair being long, his not liking all things tech or financial, and his not wanting to spend time with his Dad or Mom. This to me is also normal. Oy.
Well, I lied. I said I wasn’t going to vacuum the spare room today because of Papa Tigs’ and my headaches, but I decided the room was so close to being finished, I’d just get it over with. So I vacuumed and dusted, and then moved the old TV in (although I haven’t hooked it up yet). So it’s now an actual spare room again, as well as a nice place for Papa Tigs to keep his work clothes so he doesn’t wake me up when he leaves at 0 dark 30.
But that’s definitely enough work for one day. Except laundry; I need to get Papa Tigs’ stuff done. And then it’s a peaceful evening watching The Amazing Race and catching lots of Zs, I hope!
Yeah, I guess I lied too. I’m in this current funk because I’m mad at myself for not getting any work done today. So, instead of actually doing something, I’ll just sit here getting more mad and a worse headache.
The good news, I guess, is that I have to go to work tomorrow. And maybe I’ll do some stuff to make up for my laziness today.
I had a burst of ambition and moved the rug in the LR, vacuumed, rearranged the furniture in there and basically tidied. I did not dust–I only dust when I can write my name on the furniture–I hate to dust. So, the boxes are all out of the LR now, with the pics back up etc. Tomorrow I will put all the boxes back in the attic, since nobody else did. :rolleyes:
The Husband did vacuum our room and the FR, though.
More knitting and either HP5 again or more House, if it’s on, or the Colbert Report special DVD I got from #1 son. Decisions, decisions…
Got home last this afternoon from Christmas with the in-laws. I’m all Christmas-ed out. I really need to take down our Christmas tree. Probably tomorrow.
I’m so pleased with all that I got for Christmas, though I’m a bit disappointed that my husband did not get me anything that I didn’t already know about. I spent a bunch of time making him a sexy calendar for his desk here at home. Oh well.
I think my friends think I’m becoming a 50’s housewife though. My SIL wondered why I wanted stuff for the kitchen for Christmas, lol. I got two very cute aprons, a 500 cookie cookbook, Nigella Express cookbook, a stock pot and a bunch of other kitcheny stuff. I love it all and know I will use it. Plus I got free digiprint cards for pro-ex!!! That means I can go through all my 2007 pictures and print my favs to scrapbook. I’m such a geek, lol.
I’m off to start going through my cookbooks and mark the recipes I want to try.
Almost like finding a tenner on the ground. And since we’re about to do our bathroom remodel, every bit will help.
Plus I got free digiprint cards for pro-ex!!! That means I can go through all my 2007 pictures and print my favs to scrapbook. I’m such a geek, lol.