The good, the bad, and the ugly

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving to all my American readers! Did you have a nice Thanksgiving Day?

Today is Black Friday. Are you shopping today? I not but I might go out tomorrow for Small Business Saturday to help support our local small businesses. Like my local yarn shop.

Anyway we had some good, some bad, and some ugly for Thanksgiving.

We discovered that we have “pantry moths“. And they lay eggs that turn into gross larvae. We’ve seen these moths for a couple of weeks but no nest. I did find some larvae near a bag of macadamia nuts and killed the larvae and tossed the nuts. The moths are still around but the larvae are hiding. Bad and ugly.

I was making my pumpkin pies Wednesday evening and needed more flour. I sifted through the new bag of flour as I put it into a Tupperware container and found none. Good.

I also needed to refill my sugar container as I only had about one cup and needed more. The new sugar bag had some webs and larvae on the outside and in. I put the bag into a zipper bag and tossed into the garbage can outside. The second bag of sugar had larvae inside so I tossed as well. I had no more white sugar. Bad.

So I substituted brown sugar for the rest of the white sugar I needed for my pies. Good.

I hate to tell Mr. Aitch about any substitutions so I waited to tell him about the brown sugar until he had some of the pumpkin pie after dinner. As I was getting the pie out of the refrigerator, he told me that pumpkin pie was not his favorite and was edible for Thanksgiving. We’ve been married for 40 years and this was the first time I recall him telling me he was not a fan of pumpkin pie. Whatever. He took a bite and raved about how good it was. He said he might have to reconsider he ranking of pumpkin pie. I told him what happened and said I need to substitute brown sugar for the white sugar every time. He even ate a second piece. Good.

We were supposed to have the traditional green bean casserole. It was in the oven and just needed the sprinkle of onion rings on top and five more minutes. I pulled the casserole out and Mr. Aitch sprinkled on the onion rings. Then as I was putting it back in the oven. the dish slipped off the rack and bounced onto the hardwood floor. Upside down. Bad.

We scooped up the mess with some spatulas and cleaned the floor. We were fortunate that the casserole dish didn’t break and no one got burned. So I just opened a can of plain old green beans to have instead. Good.

I planned on having home-baked rolls, too. But they didn’t thaw or rise in time. I think some had freezer burn as once they did start to rise, they were rather deformed. Ugly.

The meal was still good – turkey, stuffing, mashed potaotes, green beans, Conumdrum white wine, and pumpkin pie. We are very thankful for all our blessings.

Did you have some good, bad, or ugly for your Thanksgiving?

Not my favorite but…

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

…I beginning to like pizza.

Yeah, I’m one of those weird people who does not choose pizza over anything else on the Favorite Foods Menu.

Real pizza isn’t bad actually. And by “real” I mean not frozen. Ever.

And we’ve tried just about every brand. None have ever hit the mark.

Some things should be frozen. Like ice cream. Or pound cake. Or fresh fruit.

Some things should not. Like green beans (I prefer canned). Or lettuce. Or pizza.

Frozen pizza is convenient. And that’s the only positive thing I can say about it.

My frozen pizza is never bubbly. It has never, ever looked like the picture on the pizza box.

Pizza box pizza. Mine never looks like this.

The crust is either hard and dry or dry on the outside and soggy in the center and always tasteless. The sauce is so-so. The cheese melts but I’m not sure if it is real cheese or some oily cheese wanna be. The pepperoni and/or other toppings are never evenly distributed and the pepperoni sits in a puddle of oil. Even when I doctor up the plain pizza, the added toppings sit on the impenetrable surface and don’t melt into the cheese.

I follow the directions on the box to a “T” because I really, really want it to turn out right. Every frozen pizza manufacturer has their own special cooking directions: a certain oven temperature, the correct rack placement in the oven (upper, middle, lower), the right amount of time, and a recommended surface (directly on the rack, in a pan, never on a stone). When I manage to eat one piece, I burn the roof of my mouth. Every. Single. Time.

So when Mr. Aitch suggested I pick up a pizza for dinner one day last week, you can image my enthusiasm.

I had to wait a few minutes so the pizza was right out of the oven and stayed hot for the twelve-minute drive home. I didn’t even turn on the seat warmer in my car. The pepperoni, onions, and mushrooms (I like most anything except sausage and anchovies) were evenly distributed over the surface of the pizza and had melted into the cheese. The crust was thick, soft, chewy and delicious. I did not burn the roof of my mouth with the first bite.

I ate three pieces. It was so good. Still not my favorite food but I would eat this again.

Of course when you have “better ingredients”, you end up with “better pizza”.

Not our pizza but just as good as this looks.

Goodies and special days

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Do you remember a few weeks ago I made many loaves of quick breads to help heat up the house when we had several days of bitter cold temperatures?

We had a slight reprieve right after that. Only sight. The temps actually made it into double digits!

Well, last week I did made several more loaves of quick breads as we had several days of bitter cold temperatures again.

Only I didn’t keep all the breads for us.

I mailed a care package of goodies to my aunt.

Cinnamon Crunch Bread and Pumpkin Bread. All wrapped up and gift-worthy.

Did you also know that February has six, count ’em, SIX ***Special Days***?

February 2 – Ground Hog Day. He saw his shadow. Six more weeks of winter. It was also Super Bowl Sunday in the US. Great day for Seahawks fans. Broncos fans? Not so much. 😦 (Sorry TW)
February 12 – Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday. The 16th US President.
February 14 – Valentine’s Day. A day to show those you love that you love them.
February 17 – President’s Day. To honor all US Presidents.
February 22 – George Washington’s Birthday. The 1st US President.
February 23 – Evelyn Kreidle’s Birthday. My aunt: the BEST aunt and a truly, wonderful, second mom to our family. I always felt that she and I had a special bond as we were both “the middle child.”

Do you have any other “Special” days this month?

New Orleans – Can we come back?

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

I attended a conference in New Orleans the week before the Super Bowl.

We had a great time though I was stuck inside most of the time.

I’ve learned in the past that I can’t concentrate on knitting on an airplane. I managed to knit an Olive Oil Drip Catcher at the airport but that’s all the knitting I did.

And I don’t even have a photo of it!

Our hotel was on the corner of Canal and Bourbon streets.