Friday Going French

I rose later and planned to stay home most of the day. The coffee was assembled the night before, still Zabar’s Roast that I picked up in NYC. I had this with a banana and cottage cheese, small curds, dusted with sea salt and smoked paprika. I was distracted and worked on my Sunday School plans, read emails, looked at the news (depressing), and aligned my transactions into Quicken. It was Friday (Monday and Friday being my usual laundry days), so I started the laundry by stripping my bed and washing the sheets and towels. I would remake the bed with the other set of sheets and use new towels.

I wrote the blog. Again, I had trouble getting focused on it, and soon it was late; I published it. It is overcast but not raining, but the rains return next week. It is always a glorious time in Oregon when the rains return and the plants (and the moss) grow green. I love to visit the coast in September, and will try to find a few weekdays for that. I missed most of my bids on some Duck stamps (the federal government requires the purchase of a stamp to hunt ducks, which are lovely, but never cheap), but got one and a few inexpensive postage dues I was missing, too. I am just filling in the gaps in my album that are still inexpensive. I find most of my missing older stamps are expensive and rarely listed at an auction. I watched for years for an opening for many stamps (I have all the US Zepplin stamps after years of watching with two flown covers).

What I have learned is that there are a few of us stamp collectors who are willing to pay more than $100, and even fewer who are willing to pay over $200. There are also crazy folks paying thousands, but I assume they are dealers or investors. I have also learned that proofs, stamps printed on cardboard and paper, usually as examples of stamps — much like today’s posters in the US post office, exist at much lower prices, and the print is generally perfect. I have one for a stamp that has no price (there is only one known version), and I have a proof of the same stamp that once belonged to President Roosevelt’s collection. Excellent! FDR’s collection was broken up and sold after his passing, and parts of it have surfaced here and there. Now, instead of an unfilled empty spot, I have FDR’s proof still glued down by him on a small piece of paper.

Sorry for the aside, this is also a distraction.

I reheated the Chinese-style food and watched a group of videos on YouTube. ShipHappens, Battleship New Jersey, The Descriminating Gamer, and a few others filled much of my afternoon. Corwin stopped by to check an unusual quarter he found. We determined it was a normal quarter after using my scales and magnifiers (I use them primarily for stamps). I was chopping and preparing to make Bœuf Bourguignon from the recipe we cooked at Evelyn’s Midtown Kitchen. This is an update to Julia Child’s version. I had about 3/4 of the amount of beef, but that did not stop me. I replaced the onions with celery and onion powder, but that left it with a darker flavor, which was not bad. Deborah is allergic to onions, so I try to switch them out when I can. I also skipped, as did Evelyn, when we cooked this with her in Detroit, the pearl onions.

I burned the brown bits on the bottom of the Dutch oven, and luckily, I have another, so I switched to that one. That saved the meal, but there is a slight bitterness from this. I will have to be more careful next time. I had put the flour on the meat too early in the process, which caused the issue. I mixed this up with another recipe for beef stew that cooks the beef with the flour (and I nearly burned that too, hmmm). I got a full glass of wine (two half glasses, as I believe you should only fill your wine glass to the level that is the mess you are willing to clean up after you knock it over). I use a bulb glass, not a stemmed glass, when I am cooking in my tiny kitchen.

Aside: I love my tiny galley kitchen.

It seemed to take forever for the carrots to soften, and I think next time I will just ‘sweat’ them (words from New Orleans cooking). I followed Evelyn’s special baking instructions, setting the oven to 450°F to form a crust on the meat and then reducing the temperature to 325°F after adding the wine, stock, and various other aromatics.

I then cleaned up and let the would-be French-style mix bake for hours. I fried the mushrooms to get them nice and brown, ready to be mixed into the Bœuf Bourguignon. I used high heat and avocado oil. Next, I boarded Air VW the Gray and took it to Costco, and there I bought sandwiches and fruit for the Sunday School. I returned home and loaded that into the fridge to be ready for Sunday.

I made various updates to my plans, adding in more information on the early fragments of the Gospels. I resisted buying a reproduction of the fragments (you can download the images, print them, and make your own). I finally finished and set a copy off (I sent a fix later, as Grammarly made a change I missed and also overlooked some obvious issues).

I had a few servings of my version of Bœuf Bourguignon, and although it could have been better, it was still not terrible. I would add more liquid next time, too. I will leave the bay leaves whole and remove them. The onion powder can be added later with the mushrooms.

Stuffed with food and the standing, chopping, mixing, cleaning, and wine left me tired. I decided to read and found myself sleeping before 10! I woke up a few times to check my hydration. Again, this is a reminder to keep up the walking and reduce sugar.

I dreamed most of the night, and sleep seemed shallow, but the dreams were large. They have all faded, but the dreams were pleasant, featuring travel, eating, and enjoying friends and family, including those who now only exist in dreams. All my living friends were there too (so if you woke up tired with a vague sense of happiness, hmm). I woke tired from all the dream-partying!

Thanks for reading