Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off today. [First World Problems]I have an empty coffee cup and feline paralysis.[/First World Problems]
Good morning, everyone. I have a couple of thick slices of bread soaking in egg and half-and-half, and they’re destined to become French toast in an hour or so. I only recently learned that some folks mix other ingredients into the eggs and milk - like vanilla, cinnamon, etc. I’ve always only done it this way.
I recently discovered a huge secret to making juicy, tender, almost fluffy meatballs. I’ve become a champeen meatball maker. Last night we had a Mexican albondigas soup, and the meatballs were superb. A couple of weeks ago, I applied the principle to Turkish lamb meatballs and those were awesome, as well. I’ll let you in on it if anyone wants to know, but I know that I go on about cooking and don’t want to bore you.
After breakfast, I have to use Roundup on the baby weeds sprouting through the gravel in the backyard. I used to pull them, but that’s getting hard on the old bones, so I’m now resorting to chemical warfare. I’m getting the weeds while they’re little, so it should only take a few squirts.
Then it’s off to Sally beauty supply to return a bottle of their “Generic” brand shampoo. The label said that the scent was lavender and mint, but in reality it smells more like chemical/sulfur/black pepper. Gah! I hope I can find something I like as a replacement.
My TSA precheck membership was up for renewal, so I opted for positive thinking and paid to have it renewed. I’m hoping to be fully vaccinated and ready for air travel by this autumn. We have a credit with Alaska Airlines and I think it’ll still be good through this year.
I’d like to get in a long walk, but the weather is pretty chancy. The forecast is 60% chance of rain, so I think tomorrow is a better bet.
I hope everyone’s Sunday goes well.
Please do share. I’ve actually been thinking about making meatballs of late, but I’m not very good at it.
Don’t tell shoe. 
Morning all. A bit stiff and sore from my youth soccer exertions yesterday, but nothing much is planned for today and it’s supposed to get near 80F, so there is that. Rain is expected most of the coming week, however, and temperatures by next weekend will have a high in the 60’s…spring weather in Ali-bama.
lucky, as FCM has demonstrated, we have more than a few cooks here, they’ll be demanding that secret from you, so it’d bettr be a good one!
FCM and BBBoo, enjoy the day with your families.
bob-bob, interesting, I got my shingles shots at 67 (this year) no issues and insurance paid it. You mean there’s something the US of A is ahead of GB in?
red, I have three Publix, two Krogers, and two Wal-Mart supercenters within a 6 mile radius of my house–so lots of shopping choices (also an Aldi, but I seldom go there). Good luck on the vaccine chase.
hippie, glad you got your shots; maybe someday…
OK, need to forage for some sustenance. All y’all take care.
It’s been a very busy couple of days here with plenty of walks for everyone (including Polar), tricycle riding, outside play, a trip to the park to play on the playground, and a nice walk in the park with lots of running and stick, rock, and log exploring. There was more screen time than is allowed at home (which is fine at Grandma’s house), and lots of Zoe’s favorite snacks, during which Grandma snuck in healthier options such as yogurt, berries, and apples. She ate a good portion of her dinner the past couple of nights, and I got her to eat a hard-boiled egg and some toast for breakfast yesterday.
Polar is well and truly exhausted too. He does less well with changes to his routine, which impacts him eating dinner. I just fed him so rice soaked in beef broth, which he ate up with some enthusiasm, so that was heartening.
Although Polar closely follows Zoe and wants to be part of being with her, he doesn’t like that she takes “his” spot on the couch. He mopes when that happens. He highly prizes his couch time with “Mom” (me) and acts bereft when he doesn’t get it at the appropriate time. Poor guy is just a creature of habit, especially now that he is older.
However, everything will go back to normal this evening. My daughter and son-in-law are coming to hang out with us for a bit and then take Zoe back home. I am sure she very happy to see Mama and Daddy.
We’ve been very lucky and haven’t had any toddler meltdowns. We’ve had a couple of whiny noooooos, but we quickly nip that behaviour in the bud and carry on.
I have Safeway, Fred Meyer (Kroger), Wal-Mart, Winco and Target near here. Whole Foods and Trader Joes are over in Tacoma/University Place and I don’t bother to go out there because I just hate dealing with traffic. I shop Safeway and Costco pretty much exclusively. We don’t have an Aldi’s.
When I have to commute down to Olympia, I’ll stop at the Haggen’s near my office for some fruit or yogurt.
I am waiting for Zoe to wake up, but am currently enjoying my quiet time. I am sure she’ll be up soon. She was up between 6:30 and 7:00 yesterday, so we’ll see how long I have the morning to myself.
Don’t worry - you’ll get there. Eventually.
We don’t routinely vaccinate for chickenpox here either- exposure to kids with chickenpox can act to suppress shingles, apparently, so we’ve opted to carry on passing it on to be a later generation’s problem. There may be parallels to other aspects of society, but I’d probably better not get into that…
I got it as a kid during school holidays- my parents showed pity and let me have one day off when I was judged no longer contagious but still looked a bit dodgy. A day which I spent seeing Princess Diana open the chimpanzee house at Chester zoo.
Almost as entertaining as the time I watched the monorail there get opened, which promptly broke down with Princess Michael of Kent on board during the opening ceremony. We went there all the time (as we had assorted means of getting in free), but my parents were too cheap to pay for the monorail. I went on it once, in my teens, after years of dropping hints- it got about 200 meters, then broke down. I was stuck up there for 4 hours and had to get rescued by the fire brigade.
Anyway…
I was overoptimistic thinking I’d be done with irk stuff by 1- it was pretty much done by 11.30, but as more things may come on the system, I’m still logged in and boooored.
metal mouse, that store is one of 5 Kroger stores within 10 miles of my home. I like the smaller one in Lavergne better than any of the others. Parking is good (they opted to put their gas station at the end of the shopping center rather than in the middle of the parking lot) and the produce is much nicer.
I’m glad you’ve had a good time with Zoe taters.
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and surfing with a small dog on my lap. 
Other than the usual Sunday chores, not much is on the agenda for today.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
The two 15th-century recipes I’m looking at calls for egg yolks, salt, bread, butter or grease (for frying) and sugar.
Yes, please!
Lady SCAdian, her mother and I spent 45 minutes hanging in mid-air over Busch Gardens one afternoon. We were only about fifty yards from the end of the line when it happened. Nice view from up there, but it got a little boring after a while. 
Currently 46F (wind chill 39) and partly cloudy; high 45, low tonight 16. Red flag warning until 8:00, and a wind advisory from noon until midnight. Not planning to go anywhere today…
Damned sugar ants are a problem this year. I think I’ll need to get an exterminator in here, although I’m not sure what they can do about the problem. They took over the cat’s food dish last night. I spray what trails I can find with Lysol, which works as well as bug killer, but these things are so tiny they can get in through the smallest of cracks. Won’t be long before they’ll be in the hummer feeder. Anybody have any luck with an exterminator for these?
Meatball secret:
Do use a few crumbs, but don’t use eggs. Use fatty meat, as lean burger will make cobbly dry tough meatballs. And the big thing:
Per one pound of burger, mix 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda into a tablespoon of water, and then add a teaspoon of lemon juice and stir. It’ll fizz up, and then immediately mix it into the meat. Shape your balls, and let them sit awhile. The soda tenderizes the meat and somehow magically makes it so that the meat holds onto its juice. The fizziness also “fluffs” up the meatballs, so that they’re not dense and chewy.
Every one of last night’s numerous albondigas were eaten up, they turned out so good.
Chefguy, I think I saw ants that tiny when we were in Hawai’i. I luckily was wearing reading glasses when I was in the kitchen of the rental, or I wouldn’t have seen the little buggers. I thought our west coast Argentine ants were small! I had luck by researching Argentine ants online and ordering a do-it-yourself pest control kit. It came with more professional strength products than you can get at Home Depot, and the website gave a good education about the biology and habits of the ant species I was trying to kill off. Terro had worked in the past, but it just wasn’t cutting it anymore.
ETA: This is the kit I got. It worked well.
I disagree on the bread crumbs. I use them. For the meat, mix 2:1 beef and veal. (Or use pork if you can’t get ground veal.)
Hey, thanks. I’ll probably call an exterminator because we also have a mole infestation. ::headsmack::
For meatballs I use a mixture of ground 80% beef and ground pork. Pork adds a flavor punch. Here’s my Italian meatball recipe:
1 pound ground beef (80/20)
1 pound ground pork
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1-2 tsp fennel seeds
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil.
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In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except olive oil by hand, using a light touch. Take a portion of meat in hand, and roll between palms to form a ball that is firmly packed but not compressed. Repeat, making each meatball about 2 inches in diameter (smaller than a baseball, larger than a golf ball).
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In a large, heavy pot heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add meatballs in batches. Do not crowd. Brown well on bottoms before turning, or meatballs will break apart. Continue cooking until browned all over. Remove meatballs to a plate as each batch is finished. Let meatballs cool slightly; cover and refrigerate until needed.
I’ve been saving bacon grease. I have a grease keeper, but I’ve just been pouring unfiltered grease into a chipped-beef jar. I used some (plus some sausage) last weekend to make more gravy to add the leftover bacon-and-sausage gravy.
I keep mine in the freezer in an old Tupperware container. When it gets full, I invert it on a paper towel and bang it on the counter until it releases, then toss the block of fat into the compost bin and start over.
I keep it in the fridge. I used to keep more (plus duck fat), but with the low-carb lifestyle I don’t need it as much. But I have more then enough for gravy (when I allow carbs) or something else.
Gravy and hash browns: reason enough to keep some on hand.
Home, showered, and exhausted! There were several huge shrub things, probably all originated from one or two original plants, that they wanted removed so they could make a play area for Roxy. We thought we’d have to chainsaw them out, but it turned out their roots were fairly shallow - all we had to do was dig out around them, cut them with the loppers, and SIL was able to pull them out. Then we pulled out the remaining roots as well as we could and raked the soil around to fill the voids.
They need more dirt, and that’s going to be a challenge. There’s absolutely no way to get any sort of vehicle back there. All dirt will have to be moved via wheelbarrow or cart. I’m pretty sure they can’t afford to have someone do it for them. But they’re young - they can deal.
FCD taught SIL how to use the chainsaw and he’s now got 2 small trees to cut up into firewood for their firepit. After we got the worst of it done, we had veggie beef soup and crusty bread for a late lunch/early supper. Then we left.
We’ve both showered and are in chillage attire. I’ve got a peach crisp in the oven for a delayed dessert. But the rest of the evening shall be full of idleness and such. Tomorrow, I’ll finish filling my raised garden bed, but that may be all the yard work I get done this week, what with the forecast of rain. SIL asked if I want Roxy this week - I’m thinking I might take her to the museum on Thursday.
Looks like he’ll be going back to work some time in April, which will create a bit of a problem. We’ll have to go to Ocala again for the last 2 weeks of the month so they’ll have to find child care for while we’re gone. I hate leaving them in the lurch, but I can’t let FCD go alone to care for his folks. I’ve already let her know what will have to happen.
Thus endeth my day and my weekend. I think I need to assume the recline position.
We rarely have gravy on hash browns. (Saturday is starch hash browns day.) Unless it’s one of the two or three times a year I make chicken-fried steak. I make bacon-and-sausage gravy (the bacon grease is necessary), but The Missus likes non-bacon gravy on the chicken-fried steak. Now I can make the gravy without 32 bits of bacon in it.