Friday with Cooking

I rose after my alarm started at 7. Finding the kitchen, I assembled the French press, poured liberal goodness into its glass bottom, and covered it with the screen and top. My electric kettle supplied hot water. I am still resisting this time zone, time change, and darkness. The sun was yet to rise! I turned on my wide-spectrum light, but the loss of light depression (SAD, Seasonal Affected Disorder, is another name) was not impacting me today. It was a naturally bright, cold, and happy morning in Oregon, not our usual grey and damp and coffee drinking start. I was feeling that I was not getting enough walking and overeating (though my weight is unchanged and my clothing loosely fitting). I planned to get out these next couple of days.

I will head to Michigan on Wednesday next week and return to the Pacific Northwest late on November 20th.

I spent the morning writing, finding focus, and writing fast. Unfortunately, Grammarly had an outage, and I had to rely on Microsoft to help edit the text using MS Word. It missed dozens of typos and wording issues that Grammarly found once it was running again about an hour after I published the blog. That left me disappointed as I thought I was better. Poo.

I use these tools to remove the typos and poor wording that stream-of-conscious writing produces. I don’t have the time to review my text three times and read backward. I need Grammarly to find those so I can make this production, writing a blog, a couple-hour task, and not a whole day process. I let WordPress handle posting details and the care and feeding of a blog website. Yes, WordPress is training wheels for a would-be influencer, and the tagging is rudimental, but I am using it just to post. Before, I wrote an email or a lengthy post on Facebook, but I like having more control and clear ownership. I pay for a service from WordPress, and I clearly own the content. But the tools can make you lazy. Hmmm.

Returning to the narrative, breakfast was a banana and cereal with milk. The coffee helped me find my focus and ignore all the political news. I am not reading much now as most of it is still ash-sorting.

I wrote until about 9ish as I completed the blog. I cleaned up, shaved, and so on. I dressed in a T-shirt and often would wear my now baggy blue sweater as I quickly get cold, a leftover from chemotherapy. I watched another episode, well, half of one, of the show Silo on Apple+ and enjoyed the unpredictable post-apocalyptic story in season one. Sort of a mystery and crime story, all mixed in a space-opera setting except underground and after the mysterious poisoning of the world. I will manage another episode later in the evening but can only take the darkness in short doses.

I opened a can of baked beans (with pork) and heated them in a pan. I had that with some crackers. I headed to Hillsboro for a walk. It is a lovely walk with many Antique stores and other distractions to make it pleasant. I found parking without issue on Friday early afternoon.

I walk up and down the streets and talk to friends on the phone while I walk. It feels like I am not alone when I chat and walk, though I travel well by myself and am comfortable walking anywhere now, be that New Orleans, Casablanca, Chicago, East Lansing, or Portland. However, I am always watchful and try to notice things that could be a risk and avoid them. The situational awareness training is always there.

I did not find any antiques I needed this time and avoided buying coffee or expensive pasta by not stopping at a foodie store. Next time, I will stop by the edgy crystal shop to look for Christmas items. They often have excellent earrings, boxes, and soaps, all good gifts.

I locked in nearly 4,000 steps for the day (as did a friend on the phone who called, and we walked together by phone) and felt better. During the walk, I noticed that my left leg seemed weak and painful, a new thing. I took some painkillers, and that seemed to help. My balance was off some, and I think the lack of walking for two weeks has been a setback. Later, while cutting my toenails, I had to reach for the grab bar as I suddenly started to fall into the shower sideways (towards the left, my bad side). It would have been a bad fall, but I arrested it. I will be more careful!

Next, I started chopping to assemble the items for yet another try (YAT) at Jambalaya, but this time without seafood and selecting a brown-style concoction. I chopped (and cried for) more onions. I realized the recipe was too large and cut it in half (four cups of rice and onions is too much for me). I had to do the dishes from yesterday’s Italian dinner and prepare the kitchen for the next adventure.

I replaced chicken with ham and smoked sausage with andouille smoked sausage in a large pan with a lid. I cooked the meat while finishing the assembly of the components. I used cane syrup for the brown sugar, which surprisingly added a smoked flavor or, more likely, increased it when I carmelized the sugar after removing the meat. I added the trinity (onion, green pepper, celery) but delayed the pope (sliced garlic) until later. I included not a roux but Kitchen Bouquet sauce from a jar, as I learned in New Orleans (a cheat and an improvement). I cooked this until it almost stuck to the pan. This turned the veggies black, but I had no fear. I returned the meat, added the pope to the pan, and let it all get settled and friendly with each other again. I added a regular-sized can of fire-roasted chopped tomatoes and scrapped the pan bottom to get all the smoke goodness in the sauce. I put in more than a tablespoon of Joe’s spices from the class (Bayou blend) and a tablespoon of their Cajan Worcestershire sauce. I added some of their dried garlic, too. I added two cups of rice I had (Indian style, but no matter) and three and some more cups of chicken broth from a box. I bring it all to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to a low temperature to match the usual rice cooking process. It was done after twenty minutes.

The flavor is good, and it was excellent with a sprinkle of Joe’s spicy version. If you want to make it perfect, add some drops of the Cajan Worcestershire sauce. The smoky flavor is there, and the touch of heat is good. The extra sprinkles add more heat to a level I like. I am satisfied with the result, though most folks would want it hotter spiced.

I have three bowls, each with more sprinkles of hot spices. I return to the kitchen, seeing that the house elves still haven’t done anything, and it looks as if a Cajan chef blew up. I do the dishes and put the cooling Jambalaya in the frig. Soon, the kitchen is back to its usual chaotic mess, but it is familiar.

Corwin visits and has a few bowls of reheated Jambalaya with sprinkles. I get a high-five from him. Since my brain surgery, I have had some trouble with taste, and I am never sure of my cooking with these new spices and processes. Corwin is my taster. All is good.

Corwin and I agree that he can be paid to remove the leaves from my gutter (I will have to pay someone). He will take a payment to ensure no leaves remain after the trees are empty and will clear the mess as it happens. This means multiple passes, I am afraid.

We decided not to drink beer but to enjoy ice cream and headed to Salt and Straw in Beaverton’s Cedar Mills Crossing in Air Volvo. We arrived after 8, and there was a crowd of mostly Asians and Indians in line or enjoying ice cream. I suspect the American crowd was earlier and the date crowd of young folks later. I had a Pumpkin Pie Tiramisu cone, and Corwin went for a Parker Roll and other flavors I don’t remember ice cream cone. All good. We walk around the strip mall and learn that the new La Provence closes early at 8PM (and sooner on Mondays and Sundays). Soon, we were cold (the ice cream countering the warmness of Bayou-style spices), boarded an Air Volvo, and returned to the Volvo Cave without issue. Corwin collects extra ham and Jambalaya for easy lunches/dinners and heads out.

I watch some videos on the ShipHappens and Battleship New Jersey channels. I shower, put on PJs, and read for a while. I blast Christopher Cross’s best music on Amazon’s Echo device (I still pay for music). I return to quiet music to sleep by to cover the strange house noises that wake me. I used to wake immediately when Susie called, or she fell or was lost in the dark, and I still wake for odd sounds–years as a caretaker. Best to cover the sounds with music.

I sleep until 6ish without waking.

Thank you for reading.