Tuesday was (finally) a perfect Michigan spring day. Oh, it
started out cool (I wore a jacket into work), but it ended up in the 60’s and
sunny, with a slight breeze.
I took the trashcan out to the road and then headed into
work.
I went to the Newburgh Grill for lunch again and got the
bean with ham soup and a gyro. Both were excellent.
Then I went to Lowe’s. I picked up two clear shower curtains
(Caley put a rip in the main bathroom one and the half-one downstairs has mold
on it that didn’t wash off) and four primed 2-inch wide, 8-foot long lath
strips.
I drove back to work through Hines Park. Nice…
When I got home after work, I retrieved the trashcan and
then went inside. The damn cat had thrown up on the bedspread. So, I cleaned it
up, treated it with “Shout” and threw it in the washer.
Then I changed clothes and went out back. I was going to cut
the back lawn, but the tractor’s battery was dead (I was afraid of that). I
still don’t have electricity in my shed, so I got one of the 100-foot power
cords and my macho battery charger. I plugged the card into the only outside
outlet I have (on my patio), ran it out to the shed and set the charger on “slow.”
It’s too late for tonight (even on “quick”) and supposed to rain tomorrow. I
guess the grass can wait.
Sidebar: Back in the day, I would have got jumper cables and
the truck. But the last time I jumped the old bike, Tracey jumped all over me!
She said you never jump a small battery with an auto battery. I dunno. 12-volt
to 12-volt? What’s the problem? But, I figured she knew better than me, so now
I don’t do that. Besides, she scares me…
So, I gave up on working outside. I went out into the garage
to work on the cabinet doors. I needed to clean up the three cabinet doors that
were over the stove. I used some nitrile gloves and spray degreaser. Those
doors are really gross!
Now, here’s my challenge. The original upper cabinets are
flush-mounted, frame and panel doors (a top rail, a bottom rail, two stiles,
and a panel).
The later addition of the base cabinets look similar enough that,
with paint, I think they will match.
But the ones that were over the stove were plank-style (like
the old ones in my house). Now, I added lath strips to mine, just to give them
some dimension. But, here, I want to match the “look.” Since they will be
across the room, I think I can pull this off.
I scrubbed them twice and set them up to dry.
Back inside, I made a simple pasta sauce from thawed out
items. I fried up a diced onions and, when they were translucent, threw in
three cloves of minced garlic. I pulled those out and fried up a pound of
ground chuck, some diced red peppers, a smaller amount of green peppers and
some diced leeks (all of which I froze last fall).
When that was cooked, I added in the onions and garlic and a
big can of whole tomatoes that I crushed by hand, first. I threw in a can of
tomato sauce. I stirred that up and started adding herbs. I used my hand to
measure (I was making this all up, if you haven’t guessed) some oregano, basil,
and some red pepper flakes. I also added a lot of black pepper (I’d been adding
salt during the cooking process). I kept taste-testing and adjusted as needed.
Meanwhile, I cooked some pasta. I had half a box of penne
and another half of mostaccioli (I dislike mostaccioli – its smooth side doesn’t
hold sauce well). But I made them both.
When the pasta was ready, I topped it with the pasta sauce.
I had thrown away my fresh grated Parmesan cheese from Westborn. So, I used my
chuck of Parmigiano-Reggiano and the micro plane to top my dish.
It was fantastic!!!
I stated to watch my NCIS shows but fell asleep
before the first one finished.
Thanks for the cabinet picks. Are you painting them, as well? If so, has she chosen a colour?
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