I woke up at 5:30 AM, debated whether or not to try and get more sleep, but gave up, got up and made coffee. I stripped the bedding and put it in the washer. Then I tackled the kitchen (what a mess!) I filled the dishwasher and got it going, then hand-washed the things that require it (Calphalon non-stick frying pan, chef's knife, and the inside and top of the crock pot).
Next, I made my breakfast. I'd found a small baggie with some of that ham in it in the fridge, so I made a tri-fold ham and cheese omelet. I used shredded extra sharp cheddar for the cheese, BTW. I cleaned up that mess and then shaved and showered. I have a 9:30 barber's appointment.
After the barber, I went to Kroger to pick up a few things for dinner, then Westborn Market for my veggies. At Westborn, I looked at the list and saw I forgot two items at Kroger's. Unfortunately, they did not carry them at Westborn, so back to Kroger's I went! Luckily, it was still early yet, so it wasn't too crowded. On the way back, I stopped at the quarter carwash and hosed off the car. Now, I know we are supposed to have freezing rain tomorrow morning, then rain, and finally turning to slushy snow Sunday night into Monday. But, I have, like, a 1/4 inch of salt crust all over the car and that can't be doing the finish any good! I got back home just after 10:30 AM.
Once home, I unpacked my groceries. Then I got busy making a fixture to hold the plant stand's table legs while I stain and polyurethane them. I took a chunk of 2 x 4 (long enough to have the weight to not tip when I stick the legs on it) and wrapped a piece of electrician's tape around a 5/16" drill bit just short of the length of the wooden dowels I had glued in to the legs a few days ago. I drilled three holes, stopping when I got to the tape. I got my sawhorses and a piece of plywood, covered it with a piece of white plastic I'd saved from something and was ready to stain the top's bottom, the center pole and the three legs. The plan is to stain and polyurethane them, let them dry, assemble the table, and then stain and polyurethane the top last.
I'm using a cherry stain as the end tables and the display table in the living room all have a reddish cast to them. So, I kinda want them to match as well as they can. I switched to my old glasses; the one's where the lenses started to delaminate. I still suspect it was staining all the wood in the kitchen remodel and living room molding that did it! And, I don't want to screw up my new (well, newer) glasses.
I thought I had everything stained, twice, and was just about to take off my rubber gloves when I remembered the three wooden plugs (that covers the three screw that will hold the legs on). So, I grabbed them, stained them and then cleaned up. I'll let the stain soak in and check on the color. This table is pine, of course, so it's not as dark as I'd like.
While that is soaking in, I get the bedding out of the dryer and remake the bed. Now, it's the electric sweeper to deal with Caley's hair fallout. Just doing that has aggravated my back again. So, I quit when the hair was all gone. I'll vacuum and dust mop next weekend, when my back will be all better (hopefully).
Okay, I'm making a compound butter, first, that I'll use a little of on Sunday. I let two sticks of butter come to room temperature, and then added about 1/8 cup of fine-diced shallots, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and a chuck of gorgonzola cheese. Using a fork and a lot of muscle, I blended it for a long time. Then I put it on a piece of Saran Wrap and molded it into a log shape, rolled it up, then rolled that in tin foil, labeled it and popped it in the freezer.
I switched over to prepping for tonight's dinner. I was thinking Polish, again, and decided to make Galumpkis (cabbage rolls), perogies and either fresh rutabagas or cauliflower. Sounds like a lot, right? Well, not really. Jake and Carla are coming over to play cards, so I'll have plenty of taste testers.
So, I messed up, first thing out of the gate! I'm using (but not) three different recipes as my guide. All of them said to core the cabbage and put the whole head into boiling water, parboil it a bit and you can just peel the leaves off. I thought, "That's crazy! I only need about 10 leaves and I'll use the rest of the cabbage for something else."
Dumb! Not one of the leaves I tried to "peel" came off whole! They all ripped, and I had to throw away half. The ones I did use were all tore up and the resultant cabbage rolls looked like crap! Take this ole boy's advice; parboil the whole head after coring!!!
Anyway, the cabbage leaves went into boiling water and I started on the filling. I saut�ed a nice big onion, medium diced. I added a pound of hamburger and a pound of ground pork. When that was all nicely done, I added some diced shallots (I am really fixated on shallots, as you may have noticed. I love that flavor) and garlic. I seasoned it with some of Emeril's Essence (you can buy it in the spice section, but I just make my own) and some dried oregano. I added a good splash of Worcestershire sauce and a can of diced tomatoes, juice and all. I was letting that get happy when the doorbell rang.
It was Jake and Carla! But, not at the usual 4:00 PM! It's like, just after 1:30 PM or so. No respect for tradition!!! They are supposed to come over at 4:00 and wake me up from my afternoon nap, not 2 1/2 hours earlier and find me prepping dinner! Oh well, I must carry on, anyway...
So, I make up some tomato sauce for the Galumpkis, by mixing a can of tomato sauce and a can of diced tomatoes, seasoned with just salt and pepper (I figure the filling is seasoned enough to carry the dish). I first tried to use my casserole dish, but it was too small. I was going to use an aluminum cake pan, but Carla reminded me that aluminum and the acid in tomato sauce don't mix well. So, I ended up using two glass dishes (a 9 x 13 and a 9 x 9). I put a good amount of filling on each leaf and rolled them up, as best as I could, given their condition. I secured each roll with a toothpick. I splashed tomato sauce on the bottom of each pan, and then put in the cabbage rolls. I topped the rolls with the rest of the tomato sauce, covered them with tin foil and stuck them in the garage to keep cool until we were ready for dinner.
We started playing cards (I forget the name of the first game. Skip-Bo? I dunno!) When each had won a round or two, we tried to switch to Uno. But, we learned the batteries to the Uno gizmo were dead and they were "C" batteries, the one kind I didn't have spares for. So, we switched to Scrabble.
I got SLAUGHTERED!!! It didn't help that Jake successfully used all seven of his letters once and got the 50 bonus points. I got hung up on trying to use the "Q" and the "U" instead of concentrating on making other words and points. I don't remember the exact final score (thank God!) but Jake had well over 200 points, Carla was a close second and I had fewer than 100... Not one of my finer Scrabble games!
Time to start dinner. I put the cabbage rolls in the oven for 30 minutes, after preheating it to 375 degrees F. I got out the rutabagas, but Carla said the time she's tried it, she didn't like it (but it was in a roast, and I didn't like it that time, either). So, I got out the cauliflower and it had black spots on it. We ended up using frozen sweet corn. I boiled the perogies and then kept them warm in a skillet with onions and butter in it.
Results? The cabbage rolls were excellent, if I do say so myself. The three of use ended up eating all but one in the 9 x 13 pan. The perogies and onions, topped with sour cream and the sweet corn, topped with butter and salt, were good choices for sides.
Carla made a pot of after-dinner coffee and we played "Kings in the Corner," each of us winning enough so everyone felt good about it (not like that damn Scrabble game, lol!) Despite my protestations, Carla insisted on cleaning up the kitchen. Jake went to check on my computer (it's acting funky) and I just carried the conversation back and forth between the two of them. Finally, they were done, gathered up their stuff and left about 7:30 PM. Nice Saturday visit and dinner!
Well, I'm full and have nothing much to do, so I grabbed my book and stretched out on the living room couch, listening to the radio (still on from Saturday Morning, Over Easy this morning). Not sure when I dozed off, but I know it was before my brother, Jim, called at 9:30 PM to thank me for the birthday card I sent (he did leave a voicemail).
I woke up at 12:30 AM, shut off the music and the lights and went to bed. I noticed that the moon was bright and beautiful overhead and there was no sign of freezing rain.