Day 168: Sunday Quiet

Today I just made chicken soup, baked scones, did dishes, and laundry.

Not very exciting, but it was what I wanted today. I read some books too.

Chicken soup is done by defrosting a large packet of skinless and boneless chicken thighs. I soaked them for all morning in water in a pan in the sink to defrost them. I then took the wet chicken and put it in a glass pan. I roast the chicken for about an hour with salt, pepper, and Herbs de Provence. Just on the “bone” side.

I then pour off the liquid and add a teaspoon of the chicken base from a jar and let that sit. It is my version of chicken broth. It is not salty enough for most and a bit bland. You can use chicken stock–but I was out. I then bake the chicken another 15 mins to dry out a bit.

I also made scones in the same oven. I was not thinking and mixed it all together and had to knead (I really confused the editing tool when I spelled knead as need!) the scone mix instead of stirring it all together. I was able to save it, and the scones are okay (I have made scones by kneading before). Scones only take 15 mins, so I slipped them in on the bottom rack of my oven and got them done first.

Aside: I was talking to Mom Wild while cooking. Mom was interested in the scones I was making for Susie. So to surprise her, I sent her a pastry cutter and two boxes of scones mix–Amazon. I use only King Arthur scones mix. King Arthur works perfectly every time (even when I make mistakes). I have an excellent pastry cutter that makes quick work of it.

I then peeled and cut carrots into coins. I chopped some celery with leaves. I chopped up 1/4 of an onion that we had leftover. I chopped up some almost ruined fresh herbs. I cooked the veggies in butter until they were sweated. I added a teaspoon of crushed garlic–called adding the pope in cajun cooking (I have a large jar of garlic I buy from the restaurant supply store). I then chopped the still almost too hot chicken thighs. I dump the base, chicken, and water and let it boil and turned it down, adding even more water.

Before all of this, I discovered that we had no egg noodles. I looked up the recipe online and said, that all? I got out my rolling pin and my rolling mat and made the dough and rolled it out after letting it rest for ten minutes. Next time I will cut the dough in half. I ended up with 1/4 inch thick noodles, as that is the room I had on the mat. Thinner next time! I cut the noodles and let them dry over a bowl that I put outside.

I added the noodles hours later when they were mostly dry. The soup was good if a bit plain.

I ordered groceries for Safeway for items we need to replenish. I also added an Olympic Provisions order as we are in the Portland delivery area for specialty items. We have locally made and grown food coming: A small ham, sausage, cheese, and a box of weird and heritage vegetables. As things are always weird here, you could not get toilet paper for months in Beaverton, but you could always get a heritage tomato and have it delivered!

I took a nap after the soup was served up.

I then took all the stamps I have purchased for my collection over the last couple of months and updated my collection. I still collect stamps, but I find it a lonely hobby, and so I just do it once in a while. Internet sales make the purchase and auctions more interesting now–you can see some very hard-to-get items for sale. It is about the price of a used car, but you can get a letter crisped by the Hindenburg crash, for example, on the auctions now. Prices are all over the place so I can get something special once in a while for an excellent price. For anyone interested in stamps, I just acquired a used USA airmail for a low price: C14. The link is to a retail website. This stamp is one of the few USA stamps that is worth more for a used than perfect unused mint version. I bought a nice used one.

I had to sign-on to work and approve a design that someone finished late on Friday. They are in India time, so this is already Monday. The world is flat!

Today the reports show more than three-hundred sixty people in the USA died from the infection. This is a reducing rate, finally!

I decided to head to Turkey for our music. A Dervish prayer: Come and Let Us Praise Allah.