Blustery Day

Yesterday's "get my life together" attempt: I tried to take my recycling out, but it turns out the city recycling center is closed on Wednesdays. It's also closed on Tuesdays, which means it's closed on the two days I'm most likely to be out and about during the day. But everything's in my car to go out tomorrow. I also cleaned out the "nest" that tends to develop on and around the sofa -- all the newspapers with the crossword puzzles or with articles I wanted to go back to, my crossword reference materials, spiral notebooks, books, etc. You could take one look at my living room and tell exactly where I spend most of my leisure time.

Yesterday's Galloping Gourmet adventure: I bought a real chef's knife, and boy, does it make a difference. Now we'll see how long I can go before I end up needing stitches (I don't have a great track record with sharp objects). I also did a huge amount of grocery shopping. The fun thing about a lot of fall fruits and vegetables is that they keep pretty well, so I can stock up. I also got nuts for all my fall baking needs. As for cooking, I made homemade strawberry jam, using some berries I found in my freezer inventory. For breakfast this morning, I made scones to go with them. I'll continue clearing out my freezer this evening by making a stew, and I may also bake some oatmeal cookies. The sad thing about my current cooking binge is that while I'm cooking like a madwoman, I have almost zero appetite. It's the act of cooking I'm enjoying, then I taste what I've made, and then I'm done. The freezer is going to get really full now, but I guess that means next time I'm starving but don't feel like cooking, I'll have plenty to eat.

You'd think from the way I put up food that I grew up during the Depression or had parents who grew up during the Depression. Maybe it's a farm girl thing. If you have a big garden, you have to find some way of preserving all the stuff you grow. I remember being dragged out of bed early in the morning during the summer to help pick the corn (it's sweetest if you pick it first thing in the morning before it gets hot), and then blanch it for freezing. Ditto with stringing and snapping peas and stewing and canning tomatoes.

I'm taking most of today as my "I finished the book!" holiday. I've got tea, cookies later maybe, and some books. I'm a little disappointed in this round of library books, since there were two in a row I decided I didn't care to finish. But I'm in the middle of another Terry Pratchett book now, and he's reliably good. And then I have a few (ha!) more in my to-be-read pile. The weather is as blustery as promised, so it's a perfect day for that sort of thing.