Two Dishes

           I must have at least a dozen posts in which I mention that I really don’t enjoy cooking.  Roland does.  If he was not in my life and it was only Jenna and me – well, we’d be living on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and milk.  I can follow a recipe, but cooking requires heat.  I hate the heat.

          Most of the time I have cooked dinner Roland doesn’t like it.  It surprises me that there are two things he does request of me.  Two Separate dishes: Potato salad and Ham chowder.  Neither which I have a recipe for but have done from memory.

          My mom was not the greatest cook – but then I’ve never had a sophisticated pallet and so never saw my mom as a lousy cook.  She wasn’t lousy.  Her food was edible, but it was mostly survival food – at least compared to Roland’s. I never thought of mom’s food as bland until after I was married.

          I remember seeing seasonings in the cupboards though not a lot.  I don’t think she seasoned or even salted her food. We had family staples such as spaghetti, hamburger-rice casserole, and ham chowder for instance.  She seemed to do a lot more cooking when Patrick and I were younger than she had after Corey and Kayla had come along.  

          I remember mom teaching Patrick and I how to make different foods.  We each made a loaf of French bread as she demonstrated.  I also remember her teaching me ham chowder.  She said you start with a rue – a flour and butter base.  You make a ball and slowly add canned milk and stir it in to keep it thickened.  When I told Roland that was how you start, he didn’t know what a “rue” was.  I don’t know if that was the word my mom told me.  The spelling that I used does not have a definition for cooking thickener. 

               [The correct spelling is R-O-U-X.  I now understand why I couldn't find it.]

          I have made potato salad more than I have ham chowder.  It has mostly been spontaneous because the potatoes need to be used up.  I prefer olives in my potato salad though olives have not always been available at the time Roland wants me to make potato salad.  Not everybody likes olives.  I know my youngest daughter-in-law does not.

            Roland’s latest request was for ham chowder.  I personally think it’s too hot for soups or hot chocolate. Nonetheless I made chowder yesterday.  I think it is one of the better ones I have ever made.

My Theme Song Right Now

 

I was introduced to the Holderness family early in the pandemic.  I love most of the parodies that I have seen.  As of now I relate to this one the most:

No, Not the Toilet!

Before we were given the stay-at-home order, Roland and I had ordered some tiles to finish the kitchen and change out the carpet in the bathrooms.  We had asked about toilet removal and were told that the contractors worked together and NOTHING would stop the production.  I think maybe COVID could . . .

 

picture from https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/100-home-repairs-you-can-do-yourself

We do have two bathrooms and so would be able to use the one that wasn’t being worked on.  Still it seemed unpredictable.  We didn’t feel good about it.  Especially after Lowes called to say they had received half the order and they would deliver it.  Um . . . no.  We want the whole order.  None of this waiting around for what MIGHT or MIGHT NOT happen.  We cancelled the order and said we would try again once COVID had ended (because by that time the Stay-at-home order had gone into effect – and though we would have liked to support the employment of those in need of finances seriously how would the crew be able to social distance in our bathroom?  Our entire house isn’t that big.)

It seemed a good time for road construction and many home projects but NOT the toilet.  I see pictures that have been posted by friends who grew gardens and added rooms and decks and landscape and what have you.  But every time I see a toilet I cringe thinking of all the time we may have waited for delivery and installation and possibly been without a second toilet – never mind the toilet paper.

 Meanwhile we purchased a new stove and gas line.  If we have another snowmegeden in which the electricity goes out again, we would like a back up so that we don’t freeze.  Plus the range that came with the house had crooked burners and only two of them worked.  I like our new stove and Roland LOVES it.  Before Covid we had a new roof put in and just added a front deck (which also needed to be replaced) and so the tiles have moved further down the list of purchases to make.  But perhaps by the time COVID does end for real we can move it back to the top.

Parable of the Sower

 

Today was supposed to be ward conference. 

Though we were initially scheduled to return on July 26

Circumstances have changed and we have not

Been able to attend

 

Last night the stake secretary provided a message

A virtual recording which I watched this morning.

It was only six and a half minutes long.

Short but powerful.

 

The message was on the parable of the Sower and

Compared this time to the seeds represented and

Which ones we will choose to be

You can listen and watch to this parable here

HOPE

 We all need Hope

Hope that we can attend church

without worry about coming in

contact or spreading coronavirus

Hope that schools will be

in session as they were before

where our children can play together

without Plexiglas dividers and social distancing

Hope that one day we will be able

to go out in public without having

to wear a mask

 

Hope that we can learn from history

and not erase anything and

everything we might find offensive 

so that we may learn

Hope that we can provide for our families

and not have to choose between

having to leave the house in order to provide

or staying home in order to keep safe

Hope that all of us will learn that we

are not really free if we are not safe

Hope that we will not have to watch

loved ones stumble and fall.

 

Hope that the persecutions

and judgement may stop

Hope that we may return

to our better selves.

                                                               kfr

Athletes: Is the Sacrifice Really Worth it?

I hear different stories about athletics – which sports are open, which ones should be open, which ones should not open . . . there are athletes who would like to return to playing – they’re bored!  They miss playing.  Some have returned but without an audience – but they are still at risk in my opinion.

Since the pandemic started I have heard “I am not going to hole up for the rest of my life – I am not going to die hiding out . . .  If I am going to go anyway, I’m going to be doing something I love . . . “  But is it worth it really?  Getting the cornavirus will not mean you will die – at least not right away.  You could be in the hospital for two weeks to six months and not be allowed visitation.  You may show no symptoms whatsoever.  You may be hooked up to oxygen for the rest of your life.  Is it worth the gamble to play one last game of football or golf?

Was getting the modeling job for Lucky Strikes worth throat cancer for Janet Sackman? (see here) Was receiving that final text really worth taking your eyes off the road?  How about that one last drink that put you behind bars because your reflexes wouldn’t allow you to break before killing someone? 

                   healthy lunge                                                                         Covid infected lung                                          

I wonder how the athlete, movie star, or any other celebrity will react when it happens to them.  Was the risk worth it?

Stinky Hand Sanitizers

I remember my brother scouring the city for hand sanitizer back in April.  He finally managed to get some (I don’t know if it was an online order or how he obtained it –it was not a brand he recognized) but he said it had a really foul odor that came with it. I was reminded of this when we were in New York and my daughter-in-law had offered me some sanitizer “if I could stand the smell”  I can’t smell and so do not know how stinky it was/is.

          I was watching the news yesterday and learned that there were far too many hand sanitizers on the market which are harmful to the body.  It made me question the safety of the sanitizer that different family members had purchased.  Check the label.  Stay safe.

For FDA updates see here.