Hello, friends. Because of the busy days last week, I found some eggplant that had to be composted, a definite frugal fail. To make sure that didn't happen with our last picking on Sunday, I cooked it up with chinese plum sauce I made a while back, and rice. This and sauteed spinach were cooked with our garlic. I wanted to keep busy on Tuesday, so Monday evening, I pulled out six gallon bags of veggie scraps from the freezer, and put the pots on the woodstove. They warmed and simmered all night, and early morning. I strained them, then pressure canned two rounds of broth, which will be added to the pantry shelves. For supper, I used up all the cute little tromboncino we harvested on Sunday, and made Burden soup. This also used our garlic, onion, potatoes, parsley, and the last of the basil. Focaccia was made to go with it, using our rosemary and onion. We did get a good freeze Monday night, though it doesn't look like it bit everything in the garden. For the past week or so, we've been having dinner by candlelight, which is always a welcome seasonal pleasure.
I met my sister on Wednesday. Though we found one of our favorite thrift stores closed now on Wednesdays to sanitize, we were able to visit several others. I found two cashmere sweaters for $1.49 & $2.99, two wool vests (I forget, but not much), a sturdy basket $2, and cobalt blue jar with bail lid $1.99. I'd recently heard of a bakery in that town who were making Italian pastries, so we went by there, and got some goodies. It's been a long time since I had these. My favorite was the sfogliatella, which was the real deal. We also headed to TJ Maxx, where I found a cotton nightgown on clearance for $12. The best price I've been able to find online is in the $30's, so this made me happy. Then next door, at Harris Teeter, I stocked up on organic garbanzo beans at the sale price of $3.19/4 cans, and got B1G1 on my favorite organic chips. I made hummus for lunches, and yogurt. Kale was gathered for a new to us salad, which also used our pear and garlic. I subbed feta cheese for the gorgonzola, because that's what we had. I'd make it again.
Laundry was hung on the line. All the items I'd been collecting to donate were dropped off, while I was in town. I found a small gift to put in J's Christmas stocking and a pillowcase, both for .50, while there. Windows were opened on warm days, and shut in the evening, to keep the warmth in. Nights warmed up to the 50's, so we let our fire go out. Sweet peppers were pickled and canned. These are new to me, but I'm hoping they'll be good in salads, sandwiches and egg dishes, as promised. I enjoyed listening to free Pandora while canning. I returned a book to the library while in town. This is the second one recently that I didn't want to finish, which is unusual for me. I decided there are so many good things I want to read, there's no sense in wasting time on something I'm not enjoying. I'm still enjoying breakfast scrambles some mornings, using our tromboncino squash, cherry tomatoes and peppers, and some olives. One morning, I had a couple of sprigs of lambs quarter to add in.
On Sunday, I felt like pumpkin pancakes, so that's what I made, using the King Arthur Flour recipe. J had already eaten, as he eats shortly after he gets up, and it takes me a while to want breakfast. He ended up having some for lunch. I put a half recipe of the dry ingredients in the pantry, so next time, I'll just have to add the pumpkin, eggs and milk. Both of us were really dragging, as neither of us slept well, but we managed to transfer most of the files on the old computer to the new, which felt like an accomplishment. J also planted our garlic, which is also a great accomplishment. There are 174 cloves in the ground now, which should be a gracious plenty. He amended the soil with organic fertilizer before planting. J finished an order, and I powder coated it, which was all we felt like doing workwise. We have time before the other orders need to ship, and we'll get to them when we're more energetic. It's good for me to remember to be kind to myself. Wishing you many kind experiences this week.
