I woke up early (no surprise after how much sleep I got Friday night). I made some coffee, had a cup and posted the Blog.
Next, I went through the fridge, cupboards and the pantry and worked out my grocery list. I have a lot of errands to run this morning and, while it's supposed to be warmer, it's also supposed to rain...
After shaving and showering, I left to get my haircut. As I always do, when the garage door went up, I stepped outside to look around. It was so warm, I went back in the house to check the thermometer. It was 44 degrees F. at 8:45 AM!
So, I got my hair cut, stopped at the Feed Store for another 40 pound bag of bird seed, filled up my tank with gas, and then went to Gordon Food Supply (GFS). I keep seeing people on TV using a nice rack on their half-sheet pans (square holes, like hardware cloth) and, since I buy the half sheet pans there, I was hoping they might have them. They didn't...
But, I did refill my pistachio stash (they are supposed to be good for reducing cholesterol), bought a pack of 12 bar towels (the huge pack Jake and Carla got me last year are just about all gone) and did an impulse buy of five pounds of roasted, salted peanuts in the shell (just for my squirrels).
Then I hit Kroger's, where I got some GREAT deals. I have a Kroger's card, you see, and after they total everything up, the receipt shows you what you saved. I spent $95.02 for two weeks of groceries and I saved $16.50.
Why in the hell do I still not have a CVS card? I guess I'm just a rebel...
Then it was on to WestBorn for my veggies and apples. I spent a bit more than usual there because, tomorrow, I want to try and make Gumbo Ya-Ya. It's a recipe from Mr. B's Bistro in New Orleans and it is getting close to Mardi Gras season. What's both daunting and challenging is it takes four hours at the stove to do!
BTW, legend say that the term "gumbo ya-ya" was a French-based dialect spoken in New Orleans during the 1800's. Another school of thought says that "gumbo ya-ya" referred to the chattering of women while they cooked in 19-century New Orleans (having been married twice, I lean towards the "chattering of women" theory, LOL). Cindy Brennan, proprietor of Mister B's in the French Quarter, says the restaurant's gumbo ya-ya is the best selling dish on the menu.
So, in addition to my usual produce and fruit, I needed Andouille sausage and a rotisserie chicken (now I could have roasted the damn chicken myself, but at $6, it ain't hardly worth the effort anymore).
Besides, I realized I only have one quart of homemade chicken stock left. So, early this morning (lol, like at 4:00 AM) when I thought of it, I got a 6+ pound chicken out of the freezer and put in on a rack to thaw. So that and the rotisserie chicken carcass will make me more stock today (or tomorrow if that big ole bird doesn't thaw in time).
So, I wanted to make bean soup with ham today. I loosely adapted another bean soup recipe, as I normally use the Senate Bean Soup recipe (repeatedly mentioned in this Blog), but I am a bit tired of it.
What I didn't know was this recipe called for the dried beans (in this case Great White Northern) to soak over night. Of course, there is a quick-fire method. So, at 1:00 PM, I spread the beans on my half sheet pan and sorted through them. I was amazed at finding NO stones!
So, I heated up some water and kosher salt, and threw the beans in the pot when it was boiling. I let them stand for an hour and then drained and rinsed them.
While that was happening, I went out and refilled the bird feeder and put the peanuts in the peanut feeder. I put a trail of peanuts from the bird feeder to the tree where the peanut feeder is, so the squirrels would get the concept.
Next, I took my medium-sized (12 quart) stock pot and added three quarts of cold water, 1/2 a big sweet onion (rough chopped), two stalks of celery (rough chopped as well) and 1 1/2 pounds of smoked ham hocks. I brought that to a boil and then turned it down to a simmer. I simmered that for over two hours (skimming occasionally).
I strained it and returned the broth to the now-cleaned stock pot. Note to self: Why in the hell didn't you taste it at this point?
So, I innocently added the beans to my stock and let them simmer for an hour. Then, I cut up all the ham I had in the fridge into nice cubes. I threw them in along with four skinny carrots (sliced), four peeled russet potatoes (cubed) and a teaspoon of Joe & Kathy's Bouquet Garni (which is a mixture of savory, rosemary thyme, oregano, basil, dill weed, marjoram, sage and tarragon).
I simmered that for another hour and then tasted tested... Oh shit! Way too salty and I never added any salt! I suspect it was the smoked ham hocks!
I peeled and put in a whole russet potato (the only way I know to pull salt out of a dish - but there are already four russet potatoes in there...)
After another hour, I dug out the whole potato and threw it away. I tasted it and it's still a bit salty. Shit! I can't give this to my Mom!
My daughter Melissa called somewhere in there, but I was too ticked to see who was calling or answer the phone. But, when I did check, I called her back. For some reason I don't remember, we got talking about our cable. We both have Brighthouse, BTW.
Warning: Amazing coincidence ahead!
She was telling me that she can see who is calling on her TV screen, so I said, "How does that work?" She instructed me to go to my TV and get "setting" on my remote. At that exact moment, the TV cable, the computer and the phone all stopped working!
I called her back on my "emergency" cell phone and yelled at her for telling me some secret trick or something that blew up my connection. She, of course, proclaimed her innocence. After we hung up, I called Brighthouse and found there was an overall loss of connection in Redford. What are the odds?
So, I had no TV, no phone and no internet for the rest of the night.
I put the bean soup in five quart containers and into the fridge (I am still deciding what I can do to save this soup before I freeze it). I grabbed an old favorite book and read until I fell asleep.