Need to make room

The house is a mess. My freezers are overflowing. There's too much food in my fridge. Mostly very positive problems, I think. In most times, at least. But Christmas is coming! Where would I stick my ham? Casseroles? Sweet bakes?

Can't use veranda as cooler, because it's still full of MIL's stuff. New kitchen is full of building materials, dining table is under... plumbing equipment? Video projector? We haven't been able to eat at the table for a long time, probably since summer.

So, from now on, I will not buy food...

Or maybe I will. I usually do.

Last time I went really shopping was Monday last week. I was leaving the next day, so I needed to make sure there was things os can eat (as he still has some issues with food). And then I got "free" food in the same evening (like 10 containers of vanilla soy yoghurt, half a litre each). I really didn't have much time to process all I got, so I just stuck them to the freezers where ever I found an empty nook... Boys did a fine job on emptying the fridge during the week. I was back home by 1am Friday.

Friday dinner was insired by pasta carbonara; I had spaghetti, bacon, and some basic cheeses (eggs and garlic at least are in the original receipe) Nevertheless, it was delicious.

Then by Saturday morning I was feeling feverish, so all things I planned on doing were left undone. I didn't eat much on Saturday, family had rice and chicken (from freezer) in cream sauce. Yesterday I decided we need to have a proper dinner, so I rummaged the big chest freezer and found minced meat (it's 50/50 pork and beef). Fried that with taco seasoning, cut some chines cabbage in to thin strips, heated a carton of baked beans, grated some odd ends of cheese and ta-da! burritos!

Today I'm feeling slightly better, but not much. I knew I had some marinated chicken in the freezer, and we have WAY too much hamburger buns in there, too. I fries the chicken, sliced it. Chicken burgers!

I'm not planning on going to grocery stores this week until Friday. If I'm feeling ok. I might need some cheese, if I'd like to make pizza (but I do have some real mozzarella in the freezer). Maybe I'll make a quiche to use up some veggies?

Veranda and dining table will have to wait.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark

Last week I was on a work trip in Denmark. Nice weather (sunny, warm, just a light breeze - something I WOULD NOT expect from Denmark!). Long, long days, interesting people and good food.

And unfortunately I got covid, most likely on my way back home at the airport security line (should've gone by train). Well, haven't got a covid test, but symptoms are just right for this new strain. I'm not completely wiped out, but sick enough to call my supervisor "Sorry, can't work". Really it doesn't matter that much, I'm usually working from home anyway, I could've played working by sending few emails. Byt why should I? Here where I live I get paid if I'm sick only few days, and I can just call my supervisor to tell I'm sick. So if I AM sick, I am sick and not pretend to not be.

But it is nice to be at home sick alone. No-one is demanding my attention, or asking me things. It is so quiet (it wasn't quiet in Denmark) and I just sit in my comfy chair sniffing and nursing some hot drink and do nothing else... (of course it would be completely different thing if I was really really sick, but I'm not)

And - I've not told hb I'm on a sick leave. Either he would worry too much or then think I'm not sick and calls me all day do-this, do-that blah-blah-blah.

I would LOVE to be able to do all those small things around the house, but I AM sick, now my head is full of something icky and my brains are slow. If I put washing machine on, I get exhausted and all sweaty. If I go out with 'Suma (I mean I open the door and just stand in the middle of the driveway "You better go now for a pee and a poo!") I will freeze with my winter coat on...

But it was nice to meet my colleagues from Germany and France and all other places.

No beige food 😆

I just read from somewhere, that beige food is not good for you. Ok.

Meatballs in tomato sauce. I used some of the cooked spaghetti squash in meatballs, and tomato sauce has grated carrot, swede and beet. And tomatoes. Very nice with spaghetti. And defintely not beige!

And then the recurring part of my life

 

Mushrooms!!!

It's not been the best mushrooming autunm weatherwise - it's been either raining or it's been way too cold for me to pick mushrooms. I've got mild Raynaud's, and when the temperature is below +5C, my fingers start hurting. I'm not very good at this living in the cold north-thing.

But there's mushrooms in the freezer, and I've dried some (black chanterelles). My freezers are full, and I need to take a stock inventory on my pantry shelves, because youknow, winter is coming.

I'm not very optimistic about the future. That eastern idiot of a country has been escalating things lately I don't know whether to be scared, terrified, annoyed or angry. At school we were taught this saying We weather the weather whatever the weather whether we like it or not, and somehow it seems so relevant now.

But. We have enough firewood for the whole winter, much more than usually. I've made sure we have a lot of rice and pasta, and some flour and seasonings. I've planted garlic and checked we have plenty of candles and matches. I've got more yarn than I could possibly knit, and our financial situation is, for once, stable. No debts, only mortage. All cars are paid, electricity will be fixed tariff this winter.

So. I'm knitting socks.

I spent money!

One of local grocery chains has a special campaign week. I went shopping on Monday, I needed cat food and dog treats. Yes, I bought both.

But I also bought new frying pans! They are all steel and shiny - yes, plural. I bought one big (28cm) and one small one (24cm). And I took four old pans to recycling. Yes, I admit, I have had way too many frying pans, but sometimes I have had three or four on the (wood)stove at the same time.

I love my new pans. This little one isn't so shiny now, I fried pumpkin pancakes in butter (but it will wash off!!!)

We have this running joke with my siblings, that no matter what you are going to cook, the very first thing you need to do is wash some five frying pans. Every time.

I also bought ceramic coated frying pan for d. Those steel pans are way too heavy for her, but this was much lighter.

Garlic is planted - 86 cloves. Let's hope they'll grow. Last autunm I planted only 60 something cloves and it's too few. I should aim for 100+, but I couldn't do it this autunm. Or I could've, but then there wouldn't be any to eat this winter!

I bought spaghetti squash, it was cheapest pumpkin in the grocery store. I don't know how you are supposed to treat it to get spaghetti-like strands? Mine are always short. But anyway. I can't serve them as they are, it is very dobious looking stuff. First I fried few spoonfulls in butter, but they didn't hold their shape. I added an egg and a tablespoon of flour, and tried again. Much better!

I put some of the stuff into the freezer, and today I made those pumpkin pancakes. They are wery delicious! Tomorrow I've been asked to cook meatballs in tomato sauce and spaghetti, so I decided I'll put some of the stuff in to  meatballs. Good timing anyway, I just made a small batch of breadcrumbs, I'll use those, too.

Let's try this now

 I've got some serious problems signing in my blog. Funny thing is, that in some blogs I can comment as myself?

Some tweaks later I managed yesterday get bolgpst through, so I hope I can do this. Annoying thing, this technology.

But it's October. It means days have less than 12 hours daylight - sunrise is at 8:20 and sunset is at 17:53, lenght of the day is less than 10 hours and twilight is less than an hour in the morning and in the evening (in theory, in the morning it was ok'ish around 7 o'clock, but in the evening it was completely dark around seven o'clock). In the summer we can work in the garden late, like ten pm or later. Active part of the day is much much longer. Now I've noticed I find myself sitting in front ot telly or with my laptop right after I've made/eaten dinner, around half past six!

I've tried to include more potatoes to our diet. With young adults it is easy to give up and make pasta and rice day after day. Because that's easy, that's what they like. But potatoes are ... better. I like potaoes.

And they are either free (from my sister's root cellar) or very cheap (from the store; 5kg bag of all purpose potatoes - yes, they are called that, there's several varieties of them - is 2,79€. That's 0,56€/kg. Potatoes we grow are also all purpose potatoes. They are not same varieties that in the UK, because of the long days in the summer. UK potatoes do not grow here.

Ok, but potatoes: in the last seven days I've made potato wedges in the oven, scalloped garlic potatoes, mashed potatoes, and cabbage stew/soup with a lot of potatoes. So every other day potatoes, every other day something else.

If this works, I'll try to write more often. This is early mornings (like eight o'clock) now:

Blog troubles

 Or is it google troubles? No idea. Third try.