The Day Did Not Begin Well

While I was busy destroying three eggs over easy, which became eggs over with difficulty, the pancakes were burning. Then the spatula refused to work properly again.

"S***," I shouted, threw the spatula at the wall, and stormed out of the kitchen.

Dennis appeared shocked, but I felt much better and soon enjoyed a mangled egg and two salvaged pancakes.

The day turned out to be lovely.

P.S. Look at the spatula. It's bigger than the griddle! No wonder I have trouble manipulating it. Who do they make these giant tools for, anyway?

Meet Morris

A strange little accumulation of sticks decorated with an upended glue trap in the garage told us that moving Mabel to an abandoned barn did not end our pack rat problems. Dennis set the Havahart trap again. Sure enough, Morris showed up the next morning.

What makes us think this isn't Mabel, returned home? This little creature behaved in a different manner from Mabel. (See Mabel Takes The Bait, September 21, 2010.) He was subdued, even timid, whereas Mabel was a live wire who shunned the camera. Morris seemed resigned.

Dennis drove Morris to the abandoned barn where he left Mabel last month, and released him. We imagine that Mabel greeted Morris with, "Where have you been? What took you so long?"

What worries me is that she may also have asked, "How are the kids?"

I Give Up

Problems seem to arrive in little spates, like guests arriving at a party. That's how it's been here in Paradise all week. One problem after another knocked at our door.

I had planned to drive to Colorado to visit Nancy, Todd, Zach, and Cleo, but what seems like a host of failing machines and structures delayed me.

The MacBook Pro computer Dennis gave me for my birthday went away on Monday for a heart transplant at Apple and still has not come home.

The clothes dryer was making such a terrible screeching noise that on Monday I shopped for a new one, which will arrive next Monday.

On Tuesday the sliding door to our patio wouldn't close completely and now must be replaced, which calls for requesting bids from contractors.

The heat pump, which was maintained just two months ago, began vibrating and squeaking on Wednesday, prompting another service call.

Also on Wednesday, when I took my CRV in for wheel alignment, I learned that first I need to buy new tires, which will require some shopping around.

That's when I threw up my hands and said, "I give up. Someday I will get to Colorado, but it won't be this week."

I came home, ate a big bowl of beef stew and some biscuits, and went to bed for a long nap.

Why I Grow Escarole

In July I started seeds of savoy cabbage and broad-leaf escarole and against all logic set the seedlings in the garden in August's blazing heat. That they could survive the heat and insect assaults and grow to maturity before a hard freeze seems improbable -- and yet they do.

This morning Dennis brought a head of escarole in from the garden.

I took down the American Brasserie cookbook and opened it to Tramonto's Sausage, White Bean and Escarole Stew. I had soaked some navy beans overnight and cooked them this morning. I chopped garlic and measured dried New Mexico chiles.

The recipe calls for tomatoes. These late tomatoes from the garden don't look so hot, but they're way better than the grocery store fake tomatoes. (The pimento peppers don't go in the soup. They just happened to be there.)

Kathy and her cousins Linda and Deb had come to visit, so Deb was drafted to chop escarole.

As if that weren't contribution enough, she volunteered to brown the sweet Italian sausage.

After the other ingredients were added and it simmered for a while to swap the juices around, the soup was ready.

Then it was time for lunch. Dennis became the photographer.

The soup was so good that Deb and Linda wanted copies of the recipe. (Kathy already had it.)

Today I couldn't add parsley because the butterfly caterpillars ate it all, and I didn't have Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on. It was still delicious. (The recipe also calls for butter, which isn't needed.)

This is my favorite soup and the sole reason I grow escarole. And I have to add that the soup tasted even better in this superb company.

Quintessential Fall Supper

The cold front that made my bones hurt for the past two days has finally arrived. It blew in late this afternoon. Yellow leaves flew in the wind. The temperature dropped dramatically from the eighties to the sixties. Indian summer is  in a hiatus, or perhaps done for good.

The weather change called for our favorite early autumn supper: country sausage, fried apples, biscuits and gravy.

The gravy is an infrequent indulgence, but it really makes the meal, which is a perfect marriage of tastes: the tart sweetness of Johnathon apples, braised in butter and simmered with a sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon, counterbalanced by peppery cream gravy, crunchy biscuits and sage-scented sausage patties.

Both of us ate with relish, leaving nothing but three biscuits. Tomorrow we will eat responsibly, but tonight we celebrate. The moon is waxing, the air is cool, frogs are croaking by the creek, and all is well.

Non-Stick Rant

Yep, I'm out of sorts over something again. This time it's non-stick 9"x9" baking pans. I use this size pan for cornbread. I serve it from the pan and don't turn it out on a cooling rack.

Sometimes an eager would-be eater grabs a knife to cut the cornbread, scratching the pan with every cut, then uses a metal spatula to remove a piece. After washing, the pan rusts. There goes another non-stick pan. (I use them to hold little pots of seedlings.)

This steel pan was not inexpensive. In case the brand is not evident, here's a close-up...

Hunting for a replacement I can find a plethora of brands, all with with non-stick coating, which I have vowed never to waste money on again. Glass pans don't seem to come in 9"x9" size.

I believe it is a conspiracy among bakeware manufacturers. As long as they all make only non-stick pans, they're assured repeat customers. Not this one, though. I'm boycotting them.

If anyone can tell me where I might find the pan I want, a suitable reward will be forthcoming.

Pole Barn Construction

Thursday afternoon four men came and augered holes for the pole barn poles. Friday morning a truck delivered a pile of materials. Friday afternoon the four men returned and began arranging pieces of metal siding around the building pad.

Dennis came home mid-afternoon to see what was happening. Our neighbor Al and his corgis stopped by, too. The poles were up and the big holes filled with dirt around them.

Next, up went the walls.

After the crew left for the day, I went back to check their progress. These guys are fast.

The big empty space will be filled with an overhead door. That's where our pick-up will be parked. Another overhead door on the south side will accommodate parking of mower and tiller. A person door will give access to a potting/garden tool area with a window. The building is just 24' x 24'.

Except for pouring the concrete floor, the pole barn will be finished on Monday. We're pretty excited.