Sunday, Doing Saturday’s Errands

I woke up at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday. I, of course, got up a couple of times in the night for bathroom breaks, but I fell right back asleep. What’s weird is that I was still tired Sunday morning. I guess I didn’t realize that having to talk with my Brother Carl for four hours would be so draining…

But, I grabbed a cup of coffee, took my pills, ate an English muffin and then started writing the Blog post. It had rained overnight and big patches of my lawn were visible.

Then I wrapped up three packages I needed to ship. Next, I filled out my shopping list. Finally I shaved, showered and got dressed.

I left a little after 10:00 a.m. It was raining again. I stopped at the corner gas station for some Cope, but my little friend wasn’t there. Bummer!

I went to CVS next and got some iron tablets (I ran out). From there I went to Costco for some coffee and peanuts. I also bought a couple of bulk boxes of things for Courtney’s snack drawer at work (it’s a long story). I don’t pretend to know a lot of stuff, but I have learned over the years you have to humor pregnant women.

Next stop was Westborn. The only, real reason I went there was to get some Red Pelican Hot Mustard. It’s the only place I know that still sells it. And I need some!!!

Sidebar: One of the many thing I forgot to mention about Saturday was my brother Carl gave me an unopened one-pound tube of Braunschweiger (liver sausage). He said he bought it on a whim (we grew up eating it), but didn’t have bread in the house and was afraid it would go bad. I suspect he offered it to his kids and grandkids and they turned their noses up. But, hell yeah! I love that stuff, so I took it.

Now, we ate it as kids two ways. My father always put butter on rye bread and then the liver sausage. It was good (don’t get me wrong) but the other way was Red Pelican hot mustard (one of our family’s staples) on rye bread. Fantastic!!!

But, they didn’t have any! You know I ain’t shy, so I asked. They said they stopped carrying it due to lack of demand. I searched their mustard rack (and it’s extensive) but there was no hot mustard. There was several brands of regular mustard, Dijon mustard, honey mustard, stone ground mustard, even jalapeno mustard, but nothing called “Hot” mustard! The closest they had was something (I forget the name or the manufacturer, but it was made in Michigan) that said it was a hot yellow mustard.

WTF? Hot mustard isn’t yellow mustard!

So, I wandered around in a hot mustard-deprived haze, looking at stuff. I ended up buying a head of cauliflower, a head of lettuce, two acorn squash, a bunch of fresh thyme and five HoneyCrisp apples for work.

When I walked outside, the rain was mixing with snow. The temperature must have been dropping, although it still didn’t feel “cold.”

From there I went to Kroger’s. I bought a few things I needed (like boxed chicken stock) and a few things on a whim (like fresh strawberries on sale). I checked out their mustard selection and found they at least had Mr. Mustard hot mustard. A poor substitute, but I bought it.

Note: When I get a chance, I will Google Red Pelican hot mustard and buy a damn case of it!

Next, I went up Merriman to Six Mile Road and drove over to the Laurel Park Place Mall. Jos. A Banks is having a sale on winter items and a double breasted pea coat is on sale for a ridiculously low price. I couldn’t afford it in the fall, but for $89.99, I can now upgrade my winter wardrobe.

I left there and, since I was that far west, I drove over to Haggerty Road and the Borders book store.  I got the two books I wanted and bought a third on impulse, waiting in line.

When I came out, it was snowing big, fat, wet flakes. I went across Six Mile to Beech Daly and down to the Post Office. I took care of business and then headed home.

It took a long time to unpack, but when the truck was empty and put away, I made a liver sausage sandwich for lunch. Mustard wasn’t right but, all in all, a damn good lunch. Thanks, Carl.

Then I took an hour nap.

After I woke up, I went out and started the bike. I ran it for maybe five minutes. It was nice to hear that exhaust again. I rolled it forward a foot to avoid flat spots on the tires.

I went out back and refilled the feeders. The squirrels should be happy as I've been out of peanuts for almost a week. Inside, I started a load of laundry and ran the dishwasher.

I had a chunk of bacon-wrapped pork loin in the freezer that I thawed for dinner.  But first up was the acorn squash. I cut both of the squash in half, scooped out the seeds and sliced a flat spot on the bottom. I used a paring knife to cut a diamond patchwork into the flesh like I recently learned to do with butternut squash. I added a pat of butter, herbs (fresh thyme and dried rosemary) salt and pepper. I put the sheet tray into a preheated 400 degree oven and set the timer for one hour and 15 minutes.

When the timer went off, I shut off the oven and let the squash sit (you can’t really overcook squash, but you sure as hell can undercook it!) I cut up the mushrooms and fried them up with some sliced onions (it was a whim).

Then I heated up the pork loin in the microwave. I sliced it up, plated my dinner and ate.

I was disappointed. Either the pork loin was in the freezer too long or reheating it went wrong. It tasted alright, but it was really tough. And I had the ratio wrong with the mushrooms/onions. The onions completely overpowered the mushrooms. I wanted mushrooms, with a hint of onion; Not onions with a hint of mushroom.

But, the squash was excellent! I went back for seconds, but only for the squash.

I cleaned up the mess, putting the other two squash in the fridge and shit-canning the remaining pork loin and mushrooms and onions.

I couldn’t find any new, good movies on TV. But I turned Scarface (Al Pacino) on as background noise while I read. I fell asleep about 11:00 p.m.