Beeson Banner for November, 2017

 

1 November 2017

My tea has worn off.  I expect to perk up at bed time.

I got rid of my cast-aluminum kettle, an old cast-aluminum skillet that had lost its lid, the lid to our enamel humidifier pot, four table legs, and some glassware at Goodwill.

I ordered the "mexican pizza" at Taco Bell, and regretted it.  Instead of tostadas, it was on flour tortillas fried to a very poor imitation of piecrust.

I should have gone to the Subway in WalMart.

At Owen's West, I noted the location of Kellogg Raisin bran, then went on to see whether they also had Post raisin bran.  At the end of the aisle were the bags of cereal.  I paused to reflect that I'd prefer to buy cereal in bags, but all they ever put into bags is breakfast candy.  Then I noticed that in among the bags of candy was a bag of raisin bran!

International Foods has been re-arranged every time I visit.  The produce display is a fraction of what it was last time — and the produce looks fresher.  I hope they keep selling ginger root until spring, when I want it for making switchel, but I have yet to see another customer when I'm shopping there.

I had been passing up the Kim Chee ramen-noodle every time I visit because the package is too big for one, and Dave wouldn't eat Kim Chee even if he could have the carbs.  But I got to thinking that ramen isn't all that bad warmed over, and made a special stop to buy a packet.  When I went back to the shelf after touring the store I noticed that the label said six and something dollars — for ramen noodle?  Then I noticed that the package was a cube about a quarter yard on a side.  Should have looked to see whether it was a bag of packets or intended for a cauldron, but I was so relieved when I noticed single-serve packets to the left that I grabbed one and left.

Also bought what I thought was puffed sweet corn, but it turned out to be corn puffs with sweet-corn flavor and lots of sugar.  Not bad, but I won't rush back for more when we empty the bag.

 

2 November 2017

There are oak leaves all over the patio.  All the oak trees are on the other side of the house.

 

4 November 2017

When I was reading yesterday's paper, strategically-placed art festivals suggested that today would be a good day to ride my bike around Winona Lake.  When I got up and saw how dark and gloomy it is out there, staying home to change the sheets and bundle up the waste paper was much more appealing.

I'm giving thought to dashing to the fairgrounds for lunch —Oddfellows Café is catering that festival— but it would involve changing out of my grubbies.

We went to First Friday yesterday.  The most interesting machine was the truck that brought the big digger.  It comes apart so that you can back the digger on from the middle; I'd much rather have seen them setting up the exhibit than the exhibit.

The shovel of the big digger had teeth painted on, and there was a spot of paint on a joint about where an eye would be.  It was plain that the machine had been used after the paint job was done, which made it all the more convincing.

Then we went to the Mexican place near the library for supper.  I meant to order a couple of tacos, but ended up ordering a combination plate.  My chalupa was two tostadas with a double portion of tostada dressing on top of them.  So that meant that I had a taco and three tostadas, and a tostada has at least twice as much stuff on it as a taco.  And I ate *all* of it.

I looked up "chalupa" this morning.  It's a kind of boat for use in shallow canals, and the food is supposed to be a shell in the shape of that boat:  you spread a thin layer of masa on a mold, then deep-fry the mold until the chalupa falls off.

Which makes it very like a timbale, and that in turn makes me wonder whether I still have my rosette irons.  There was one mold to make a timbale casing among them.

And Wikipedia says that a "timbale" is a deep-dish savory pie, which one can make in an angel-food cake pan if a timbale pan is wanting.

It's been forty or fifty years since I saw a timbale mold, so I *could* be misremembering, but I'm pretty sure that a fried cup full of goodies was a timbale.

 

8 November 2017

We had reduced-carb macaroni and cheese for supper tonight.  The recipe calls for eight ounces of macaroni, and I had only six ounces.  I put in all the cheese and meat, but used three-fourths as much milk as was called for.

It was delicious, and the left-overs fit into one of my smaller refrigerator dishes.  The cheese was Aldi's Specially Selected New York White Cheddar.  The meat was Aldi too; I'd meant to garnish with Spam, but all we had was Brookdale Luncheon Meat.  I sliced it as thin as I could and completely covered the top.

And now I want to go slice off some of the leftovers.  It's just as good cold.

 

9 November 2017

Weather Underground still says that tomorrow will be a good day to ride to Duck Down and Above — I don't even need to worry about buying more stuff than will fit between the blocks of Black Ice.

It also says, alas, that the sun will set just when we sit down to supper.  It will continue to set earlier for another month and a half, but the rate at which it gets earlier should slack off soon.

Pity to waste the sunlight at the beginning of the day.

I'm planning to buy milk at Owen's today, but I'm waiting for the call that my prescriptions are ready.

 

11 November 2017

Oops, I forgot to notice when it was eleven o'clock.

Sat down this morning to read yesterday's paper in the on-line version —much to my surprise, the Times-Union is quite readable in PDF format— and discovered that I hadn't read anything since Monday.  One disadvantage of the electronic version is that you don't get a pile of paper on the sofa when you get behind.  But it's cataract-friendly.

Or should that be cataract-hostile, since magnification keeps cataracts from doing their job.

I'm planning to talk about having my cataracts out the next time I see Dr. Hicks.

(Log out to add that to the list of things to tell Dr. Darr.)

Yesterday I went to Duck Down & Above to redeem a coupon for duck bacon, and bought six stuffed chicken breasts.  One flavor was really unusual:  the chicken is stuffed with stuffing!

I plan to serve it with baked vegetables tomorrow evening.  Provided that I remember to buy vegetables today.

I stopped at Aldi on the way back from Leesburg, and I'm unhappier with the new layout than ever.  I like to never found the tomato paste, and gave up on the pickled artichokes when I looked at my phone and realized that I just barely had time to get home before the end of civil twilight.

It isn't just that I no longer know where things are; they no longer keep all the items of a given kind on the same shelf.  There are some chips in the aisle where you come in, and another deposit a couple of aisles over, and I think I saw a third display of chip-type snacks.  The sandwich-sliced pickles are next to the peanut butter —which would be logical if I weren't the only person in the whole world who doesn't make one word of peanut-butter-and-jelly— but the rest of the pickles are nowhere to be seen.  They are no longer associated with the salad trimmings — and I don't recall seeing the croutons etc. next to the salad dressings.  Nor am I sure that the display of salad dressings that I noticed was the only one.

Aldi should post a map.

Dave says that when he went out for today's paper, he found four papers in the box.

 

13 November 2017

The local police department has a Burmese interpreter on call.

I had the wash all done by nap time, except for what's still on drying racks, and two shirts that need to be ironed.

I didn't think things hung outside would dry very fast, so I hung them on racks in front of the air filter.

In the afternoon, I drove to Owen's to buy bread, milk, and shrimp sushi, and picked up a steak that I intend to bake tomorrow.  I'll bake a small skillet of vegetables beside it.  I baked the last of our home-grown potatoes when we had pork loin a few days ago, but I bought a package of fordhook limas today; those are good baked if I bury them under the other vegetables.

 

15 November 2017

The beans were a bit underdone.  The steak was delicious, and the mixed vegetables weren't bad.  We picked out all the asparagus and snap peas. Baked both at 375F for half an hour, with another little skillet upended over the vegetables as a lid.

It's soggy out today.  Dave is simplifying his Web site by removing features that break down or require maintenance.  I'm putting off ironing.  Haven't heard from Al.  <checks>  He's curled up on the living-room sofa.

Before logging off, I plugged in the iron and sprayed a scarf and one of the shirts with water.

 

17 November 2017

Dave plugged in his new Raspberry Pi this morning, and it worked!  He said "That's the way I like 'em."

 

18 November 2017

I was thinking about postponing the wash and shopping on Monday, but Weather Underground says that Tuesday will have a higher low and a lower high, which will make it easier to dress.  High winds on both days, which probably means that I'm going to dry the clothes on racks again. 

 

21 November 2017

Yesterday I started toward the door with a bag of clothespins on my shoulder, noticed the flag snapping in the cold, cold, wind, and went back to the laundry room to hang up the pins and get out the racks.

Today's shopping trip was cancelled by a threat of rain.  The weather didn't make good on the threat — but I wouldn't have been back yet, and it's a bit threatening in the west.  [It started raining at three.]

Just as well that I didn't stop two other places — it's no longer possible to go into Aldi and come right back out with what you went in after.

Once again, after a prolonged hunt, I gave up on finding pickled artichokes because I was nervous about having enough time to get home.

I'm planning to go back tomorrow.  I bought a frozen game hen, but I think I'd rather bake a fresh chicken.

And one of the two pairs of socks I bought fit; there might be a few left tomorrow.  They are acrylic socks lightly seasoned with merino wool.  Merino is the opposite of stocking wool; it felts easily, and wears out of a mixture quickly.  But when quite new, the socks feel pretty good.

I still need polyester tights.  Weather Underground says that Friday should be a good day to re-schedule.  Umm . . . go into a big-box store on Black Friday?

I'm tempted to go anyway, and hope that being a bad data point will mean smaller crowds in the departments I'm interested in.

 

22 November 2017

We had pizza for supper Monday night.  It's lucky that I goofed and entered at an exit, because there was no legal way into Marco's parking lot.  Well, it was technically legal to turn onto Buffalo, go past the exit, and back up into their sharply-curved driveway.

I pretty much had their undivided attention!

Marco's is on Winona Avenue, at the intersection with Buffalo.  I usually get in by their entrance off Indiana Street, but when I got to the turn, it was barricaded:  Indiana had been torn up for sewer work.  So I turned into the next alley I passed, and had committed myself before I saw the "exit only" sign.

I spent two and a half hours out of the house this morning.  I bought a fresh chicken, some pre-mashed potatoes, and canned gravy.  And I *found* the pickled artichokes!  I got the chicken gravy and the mashed potatoes at Owen's on the way home.  All I could find at Aldi was frozen potato chunks intended to be steamed and mashed.  If I'm going to cook them and mash them, I might as well peel them — particularly since I can peel them with a ricer.

I've found a place to sit when I clean my glasses (yesterday) or read the flyer (today).  There's a mobility scooter parked by the front window, where it would be a good place for people to watch for the KABS bus.

 

24 November 2017

Lovely day out.  And I have bright full-spectrum light for sewing.  First job is to hem up the jeans Dave bought a few days ago, then I plan to work on on the bras that I'm making.

I'd really, really like to make a blouse-dress and a full pleated skirt out of Dharma's black raw silk — but where would I wear something that dramatic?

I was careless about standing still yesterday, and this morning I was barely able to get out of bed.  I loosened up after moving around a while, but my hip still hurts when I pay attention to it.

So I just now stood while reading a newspaper clipping that I found while putting the pieces I cut off Dave's jeans into the "offcuts" box.  Labeled, so that I'll know which pants they are for patching.

Supper tonight was about the same as yesterday, except that we ate off paper plates and (except for the gravy, mashed potatoes, and peas) we warmed individual servings in the microwave.

The dressing is so good that I plan to drive to Aldi tomorrow and buy another box of chicken-flavor dressing.  I had planned to go clothes shopping, but tonight I didn't feel like laying my clothes out after re-stuffing on leftovers —with curfew at 5:00, I have to leave as early as possible— and a weekday would be better for visiting big-box stores anyway.

The giblets in the chicken were a neck, a gizzard, and rather a lot of liver — at least one piece of which came from a much larger bird.  I fried the liver in butter and we snacked it.

Early in the day, I cut a stalk of celery into quarter-inch slices, put them into a saucepan, added the neck and gizzard, dumped in a can of chicken broth, brought it to a boil, turned off the heat, put a lid on it, and left it to cool.

A while before oven time, I poured as much broth as the water called for on the box into my big mixing bowl, beat an egg into it, and used my slotted spatula to add the solid bits in the left-over broth.  By then I'd eaten both the neck and the gizzard.  I chopped a slice of onion and two or three mini-sweet peppers, added those, and dumped in the box of bread crumbs.  I let that soak, tossing it a few times, before dumping it into a generously-buttered skillet.  Then I reflected that the wide surface would give off a lot of steam —the directions said to dump into boiling water and serve at once— and poured a little of the left-over broth over it.  Wish I knew exactly how much, because it was just right.

Popped it into the oven half an hour before the chicken came out.

 

25 November 2017

I woke at 7:23 instead of my usual nine or ten this morning.  This would have been groovy if I hadn't cancelled my long bike ride.  (I think I'll take it on Monday, and wash on Tuesday.)

As soon as I stitch the pants I cut off and pinned up yesterday, I plan to drive to Aldi and stock up on fizzwater.  We have nothing but plain seltzer left on the shelves.

The main purpose of the trip was to buy another box of stuffing, to heat left-over chicken under.  It was delicious, and I'm tempted to make some when we haven't got chicken.  Hey, using broth instead of water, and adding an egg, celery, peppers, and onions takes it out of the pure-carb class, right?  . . .  right?

I did finish shortening Dave's new pants.  That and supper was about all I did today, and Eternal September is down, so I can't goof off on Usenet.  I did catch up reading the Times-Union.

Two cups was on the border of being too much broth, but would have been too little if I'd set the oven for 375 instead of 350.

 

27 November 2017

I spent today washing clothes.  Dave spent it trying to make the modem/router that Comcast sent us yesterday work.  You're supposed to be able to set it to "bridge mode" and go right on using your old router and intranet.  He gave up on "bridge mode" yesterday.

I can still use e-mail, usenet, and the Web, so these struggles aren't affecting me.

I've re-scheduled the rained-out tour for tomorrow.  The prediction is for dry, sunny, and not too cold.

 

29 November 2017

And a lovely day it was.  I was nervous about leaving my mittens and windbreaker behind, but ended up taking off my gloves and a shirt.

Meijer had lots of lovely sweatpants and leggings, but every last garment was ashamed of its fiber content.  Since the whole point of the exercise is to replace my cotton clothing with something that won't kill me if I get wet on a cold day, mystery fiber just won't do.

I did find a pair of Spandex leggings with a garish grey stripe on a clearance rack.  With a T-shirt covering the silliest part, they don't look as bad on me as they did on the hanger.

Lunch at Panda Express and off to Walmart.  Their sweat pants were labeled with fiber content, but it was all polyester mixed with cotton, except for one that was mixed with rayon.

I did find a three-dollar pair of Spandex santa-claus tights hanging on a clearance rack.  I was able to squeezed into them while wearing two other pairs of tights, so I threw them into the cart.  They were actually four dollars, of course — and when I got them home, I realized that they weren't on clearance, they were just very, very cheap — they don't even distinguish between front and back.  I'd thought it surprisingly early for santa-claus to be on clearance.

The "fair isle" design, again, looks better on me than on the hanger.  Many of the stripes are actually knittable, albeit calling for weaving and maybe intarsia rather than straight fair isle.  But two-inch Santa-Claus stripes about six inches apart render them strictly underwear.

 

30 November 2017

Dave has persuaded the new router to behave itself, and is now finding ways to take advantage of its slightly-greater range.  He also bought legs and built a table today.

I cut enough bias tape to bind nine armholes off a scrap of linen.  I *think* it's enough.  I may return Bull's _Territory_ to the library tomorrow.