Without a Date

Bet you thought that was a statement about my situation tonight. Well, you would be right but that isn't the reason for my statement.

Greg is at the Country House building his shop work benches as I type. I am in the city after a day of trying to find fabric & other assorted items for my Mama's new house.

While out & about today I found that I was less than a couple miles away from a local 'green market' that is held at a beach park but didn't open until 2:00p. I decided to treat myself to lunch at one of our old hang outs nearby, while waiting for the market to open. I had a salad & broccoli soup ... plus a glass of wine. That made me very relaxed & sleepy but I went to the market for raw milk, yogurt & a flat of eggs anyway. One of the booths was selling sour dough bread which I love (a bucket list item of learning how to make) & bought a round loaf. Then I went home with the intention of a nap after that wine.

Got home, unloaded & decide to do another project instead of a nap since it was close to 3:00p by this time.

I have a cheap (very cheaply made & only paid $3 or so) slim ladderback chair that I decided would go well in my Mom's very small bedroom. I thought she could use it to help her dress in the mornings. I decided I would go ahead & stain it. I found a very small can of 'oak' stain that I used & it turned out great. I'll poly it tomorrow.

Back to my dateless situation ... A couple of weeks ago I somewhat reorganized the outside freezer & had found some meat product frozen in a rubbermaid container w/o a date on it. While in the garage staining said chair I remembered the frozen container & took it out. Upon opening it I found that it was Pizza meatballs that I made & froze .... last year sometime. I think it was around March or April. I opened the container & they looked fine. A few ice crystals on the top ones but otherwise fine.

I had opened a jar of homemade spaghetti sauce last week for some leftover cabbage rolls & had about 1/2 a jar leftover. I decided to heat that up & put in the meatballs. It's simmering on the stove now & I plan on cutting a couple slices of that bread & having an open faced meatball sub with freshly shaved parmesan on top.

I really have no idea how long those meatballs have been in the freezer but am going to eat them anyway. Will be looking at pics of  Greg's shop benches & eating a meatball open faced sub by myself tonight. Long (temporary) distance relationships are like this.

I am making a crock pot beef roast with smashed potatoes & fresh brussel sprouts tomorrow night, to have with my Bunch when he gets home tomorrow.

Hope everyone is enjoying this Hallmark Holliday & enjoying spending it with whomever you so choose ... even if it's with questionable meat from the freezer, without a date.

You load 16 tons & what do you get

Another day older & deeper in debt ...

Well ok, it wasn't 16 tons but it sure felt like it.

2 tons aggregate rock

Even though we live in the city, the directions to our house are "turn left off the hard road".  Yes, we live on a dirt road, one of only a handful left in this county. It is also a private road which means that the city doesn't maintain it. And it sometimes gets rough turning off that hard road. We had gotten tired of rattling our teeth upon entering the dirt road. Greg bought 2 tons of aggregate rock from a local rock yard in order to fill in some ruts. Here are a couple of pics of the bone jarring divets. They don't look that big but believe me they are rough.

We got up early this morning & shoveled it into the edge & most of those holes. We need bigger equipment than shovels to do a proper job but at least it evens it out a bit. No after shots, just not exciting enough.

We finally used our salt block last night. I had gone to a local farmer's market where there are a couple of guys selling flash frozen fish. I purchased a couple of red snapper filets & we decided to give the block a whirl.

First placed on a cold grill

Grill heated to 575 degrees.

Brush Canola Oil on once hot. It turned that dark color automatically.

Filets added.

Cooked snapper, sauteed dandelion greens & yellow rice.

Looks good right? It was terrible! Greg thinks I got snaffooed on the fish as it was very tendony. Lots of veins running in it. Sure hope it wasn't that expensive piece of salt! Gonna try a couple of ribeyes this week. Will let you know if they turn out better.

After we got back from shoveling, we put a pork roast in the crock pot for dinner. I have just now put on fresh snap beans & red potatoes. I'm starving!

On the gardening front I planted 8 basil plants today. Even though I have given away around 40 at work I still have more. Stephen, Duke or JUGM let me know if you need some, I'll be glad to share!

Last, but not least I scored at an estate sale this week. Look what I got for $2. It's a small collander, but what is so special you ask? It has holes all OVER. Almost all my newer heavy duty ones have 'dead' space in them & don't drain well. I am very happy with this purchase but that isn't all ...

The biggest bargain I got was this lovely Haverty's loveseat!

You see, we are going to eventually build a barn at the Country House & part of that will be a kitchen, dining area, sitting room & bedroom/office. We'll need furniture & I ran across this on Thursday. This sale had many over priced antiques but their furniture seemed priced low. This set was priced at $225. I didn't buy it but when I got back to my office I checked out Haverty's website & this loveseat/ottoman was priced at over $700! You bet I went back the next day & with the discount they were having I got them for $150! It is in great shape & I bet hasn't been sat in more than 20 times. It's a bit crowed in our living room for now but I just couldn't pass it up. Just wish I had room in my vehicle (& house) for that Alexander armoire for $200 (originally $800)!

Greg is getting ready to smash the taters. Did I mention, I'm starving!