Spur of the moment day off today, supposedly to do the outside stuff while the weather was gorgeous (truly gorgeous - highs about 73, sunshine and an identical forecast for every day until next Tuesday).
The best laid plans...
I know I've been coming down with something. It was difficult to get out of bed this morning, but I managed to get myself to Panera by 6:30 or so. It used to be a favorite spot, but a few of the changes they've made recently have me rethinking that (they hand you a beeper for your food order, which would be fine if there were more than four people in the place when I get there; the coffee station is set up in a way that maximizes the probability of either spilled coffee or burned fingers; now, they've set up credit card machines facing the customers, so you have the joy of swiping your own...I honestly think they are working on eliminating as much human interaction as possible).
Journaling, reading, watching last night's Sleepy Hollow on the kindle. Home shortly after nine.
That's where the day derailed. I really, really wanted to go back to bed. Instead, I opted to read for a while. Quite a while (my "books read" for September is going to be pretty awesome in terms of quantity). Oh - I did take time out to clean the kitchen.
Set up to make a batch of yogurt. I realized that I could just heat the milk in the microwave, in the glass bowl to which I transfer it for storage. That also eliminates the potential for scorching the milk.
Peeled butternut squash while watching a movie. Gosh, that stuff is hard to peel, at least with my not-so-top-of-the-line peeler. Hated touching the stringy stuff to pull out the seeds, too (which is why, although I love fresh pumpkin puree, I don't cook a sugar pumpkin more than once a season. Eew, pumpkin guts!).
The squash was for a new-to-me recipe from Jacques Pepin's More Fast Food My Way cookbook. Butter, oil, onion, apple cider, apple cider vinegar, salt and a bit of sugar join the squash in a covered sautee pan to boil until the squash is fork tender. The cover comes off, and it's cooked until the liquid thickens up and everything caramelizes.
The jury is still out on this one. I've a recipe that uses maple syrup in much the same way, and I think I'll like that one better. I still have about three cups of the squash left, all peeled, seeded and cut. Maybe I'll cook that batch that way.
Meantime, I pounded a mutant chicken breast down to half an inch thick, and a regular sized one as well, and sauteed those off as well. Great dinner, and leftover chicken and squash to make lunches for the next two days.
Then did dishes and cleaned the kitchen again. Yep, a vacation day just to clean the kitchen - twice.
Read more. Watched NCIS and part of NCIS-NOLA. Or rather dozed in front of it. No idea why I'm still awake. This happens sometimes when I don't want the next day to come. Lengthen the time I'm awake, which makes the next day seem further away.
What, you expect that to make sense?
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