Monday, February 03, 2014

Another Monday morning

There just has to be a Monday morning every week, doesn't there? You'd think that after forty years in the workforce, it would be easier to face. Not so.

Pretty dull weekend, which is a bit of a blessing as I seem to have come down with...something. At first it seemed to be a head cold, but my tummy wants to join the party, too. Eh. It's not incapacitating, but makes everything more of an effort. Sitting in front of the fire with a pile of quilts and a book appeals much more than slogging off to work.

Busy-ish week. Hair appointment after work tomorrow, followed immediately by a grocery delivery. Doctor appointment late afternoon Wednesday. Machine embroidery class from six to eight-thirty at the quilt show (forty minutes from home) Thursday night. I'm tired just thinking about all of it.

I've decided to go the easy route on the mystery dinner. While I'll make the apps and dessert, I am seriously considering having the entrée "sort of" catered. I'd like to be able to enjoy the actual mystery (no, I still haven't peeked at the solution); having to run to kitchen to check on things would be counter productive. See also the note about being busy this week.

Speaking of cooking, it does help if you have the right ingredients on hand. I'd thawed a pound of ground beef to make Michael Symon's Salisbury Steak, from his 5in5 cookbook. Part of being able to make the dish in a short time is gathering the ingredients before you start to cook. Things rather broke down when I realized I had none of the beef soup starter I use to make bouillon. In retrospect, I should have checked the cupboard; I usually have some of those little cubes as back up. Eh. I changed the Salisbury steaks into burgers, sautéed mushrooms and onions in the same pan after the burgers were done, then made a gravy...with chicken stock. Through the burgers back into the gravy. Even the best laid plans go awry and lead to rather interesting tasting dinners.

And another dinner of leftovers, as well as today's lunch.

Lemon chicken with (the fresher package of) mushrooms for dinner. I do have plenty of chicken stock on hand, thank you very much. This is a nice, lighter dish that goes well over couscous, rice or noodles. A couple of weeks ago, I cut some fresh boneless, skinless chicken breast into pieces before I froze it; that bag is thawing, which will save me a bit of prep work.

I must be hungry; all this food talk is coming from somewhere. Maybe it's the e-mail I just received that said a coworker brought in doughnuts for her birthday.

Tomorrow is garbage day. I mention this because our snow removal service (hah! "removal") has consistently plowed the upper garage snow into a nice, tall pile in the very spot where we are to put our garbage for pick up. The pile is taller than me. We can put the bags on the ground next to the pile, but have to be careful how we do that, since two separate garage entrances drive right next to that spot. To add to the issue, it's also recycling day.

I don't suppose all the snow can simply melt before tomorrow morning? Didn't think so.

Perhaps tracking down a doughnut will keep me from babbling on. Happy Monday, all.



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