Food Journal- What I cooked for home and work in January and February

 

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FEBRUARY

                                                                      

Finally, a somewhat warmer weather has arrived although it rains every day. Since I work until 5 or 6 p.m., I do not always have time or will to do grocery shopping after I leave my office. So today, I thought it was a perfect weather to go to the market and stock up on things I need. And, of course, I ended up with full cart of EVERYTHING. Yummy, yummy though- so that's my excuse. Fortunately, some items are dry or can be frozen, so do not have to worry about eating it all within a few days! 

                  My cart: I can never be trusted to go to the market for just ONE thing! 

In the cold and rainy weather, one needs a warming soup.

The soup after adding all ingredients. Looking colorful and interesting! 

I have always been drawn to dishes that are colorful and have multiple ingredients, so when you eat, it is like a little treasure hunt and each bite can have a different taste and texture. 

 And finally, I also made a apple-cherry pie. I do not use any sugar, it is sweet from fruit, and only with flour, eggs and butter. Delicious and natural ingredients do not make me sneeze! I have notice that when I eat outside of home at the restaurants or prepacked meals, I often start sneezing from allergy to chemicals that are added to mass-produced food! When to think about it, it is actually scary what may be in our food if you are not careful and do not read labels! 

I suppose that with all this cooking done already, I will have a day off tomorrow and just spend the whole day lazily. :) 

Winter continues...

 Winter and cold continue. Because of icy roads and being buried in snow, I was not able to go to work for two days. When I finally did go, I parked past the hills, about one mile (1.6 km) from home and walked the distance for two days. It was very cold. My hair froze and looked like a bad wig! 

Over several days, a desperate situation called for desperate measures: fur hats, double layered gloves, socks, and pants. I think that I looked more like a furry ball than a person, but situation was serious, and I was just grateful that my car started up and took me everywhere I needed to go without any issues. Some were not so lucky. 

It was only a short period when snow was nice and fluffy. Despite the cold it turned into a solid block of ice. I could not help it- I had to knock on it! Sounds like knocking on a piece of wood or something solid! No wonder my cats refused to go out- it was hurting their little paws!

https://www.youtube.com/@gebmart9957/videos

Spring, WHERE ARE YOU?????

2024 and Arctic Vortex

Happy New Year! 

2024 arrived so quickly and brought lots of snow and bitter cold. It is somewhat unusual in these parts, so getting out and around is difficult. Good, that I have plenty of food for everybody, including animals! 

The forecast for the rest of the week is pretty much the same- or worse even: tomorrow, the temps are going to drop to -4F/-20C!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope it is not true. Sitting in 3 sweaters already. :( 

 

It is a good day to have a warm lemon tea with ginger! 

Old Home Project- Windows

 And... it's somehow end of May. Almost! The renovation moves at snail pace and I have a feeling that everybody got used to living on plastic foil, paper furniture coverings, stuff in boxes, stuff missing, appliances not working, and GENERAL FREAKING MESS. That includes the cats- now totally cool with the window installation crew hammering away. Well, to be honest, not all of them. Hans still disappears in the woods living off small unfortunate creatures that happened to cross his path and spring water. 

  

So, the whole window drama enters second week BUT at least everything looks good. And new windows do not leak as was proven during the recent torrential rain, so yay! The goal achieved. Sadly, this is when the main door decided it has enough of being used so heavily and leaked through flooding the new floor... Yup. Always something. Was reminded of a movie, an old one with Tom Hans, "The Money Pit", I think, about never-ending home renovation. Should have watched it before getting an idea of sinking my savings into one serious fixer-upper. Anyways... Now is too late, ha ha.  

In the video, there is one of my cats, and an old couch parked outside, and jungle and weeds taking over again. Since it is pretty much the beginning of major works, looks like life will continue in this disorganized manner for at least several weeks! Wish me luck! 

Video: 

Old Home Project- Windows

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsIYb4F3J3w

Old Home Project- New Floors

So by now the floor is done but it took over a month! Seriously. This is what happens when there are shortages and "who knows what else is going on." Also, some hardwood was damaged and I had to wait for additional boxes. 

Old floor was all cracked and had holes in it, so sadly it had to go... The fireplace is fixed- old one was leaking smoke to the room as the chimney was not working properly. 

As we took the tiles out, there was... some hardwood beneath! Not expected! It had to be removed as well. Since there were all those mysterious layers there, I hoped that maybe I could find a secret safe with money hidden by other owners but no such luck. 

 

Some of the boxes with hardwood, there were 52 of them in total. 

It was difficult to live with no stove or fridge being in the middle of the living room, and then stove in the middle of the living room, but hey, the trauma is over. Actually, if I had a stove in my living room, I could cook while sitting on the couch... Tempting!

Kitchen is taking shape:

It will take time to finish the whole project, but it's okay. One day at a time. As long as roof is not leaking and no one is cold or hungry, let it progress at its own pace. :)

Old House Project- Daily chores # 1

OLD HOUSE PROJECT

February 2023!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Cannot believe the last post was about 3 years ago!

So......

In a new, almost post-pandemic world, I have embarked on a quite challenging project- an old house renovation! 

Yay and yuck at the same time.  

Yay part includes having a nice quiet place to live, practically in the woods. Yuck part, on the other hand involves tons of work, money, and time- all of which are in a short supply. But finally, I took a first step and started doing SOMETHING. Sad part is, it's going to go on and on forever, as there are material shortages. Like, the wait for the new windows in about 8 months!... Each time it rains, I am close to having a heart attack, walking around and looking for leaks. 

The work goes inside and outside of the house. Sometimes it seems like too much and I'm not sure where to start really. But two days ago, right before the rain, I went outside and trimmed some bushes near the entrance. My rooms got more light but now you can see all dirt and green algae on the window frames and walls! I am supposed to get new windows in May, so I guess the green is not the biggest of my problems. 

In this video, I walked around the house checking out the scope of the mess and trying to figure out what to do first. I guess I need to start with simple sweeping and getting rid of dead leaves, and then old pots and who-knows-what trash. Ahhhhhhhhhhh...........

Of course, today is raining, so there is no way I can do anything outside. Can't be helped. Maybe it's a sign I need to lean up some cement dust inside- not good to sit on it and get it in the lungs!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTXbhzyotP0

Mid-October

 

 

It started getting colder, especially at night and had to turn on the heat again. But during the day is still really nice and you can wear a T-shirt. My gerberas like cooler weather. They start having more flowers than during the summer months. I checked the temps, so for the next two weeks, they still can stay outside but then the nights will be too cold and will have to move all the plants inside. That usually marks the end of balcony season.   :(

Pictures below:

 

1) Picture from one of my local walks

2) Hana

3) Gerbera plants

4) When it's cold, warm soup is a must!

 

 

 

 

Sunday

 

It was a very lazy Sunday! There were hundreds things to do but somehow we ended up relaxing, taking naps or baking. In the pictures:  1) Hana   2) Blueberry pie

October

 

October has started.

… And with it, the first cold night. Temp was still okay in the evening but around 5:30 a.m. I gave in, got up, and turned on the heat. Just a little bit but it felt so nice! During the day it was very warm, to the point that I turned the heat off and opened doors and windows to let the warm air in. But it was a good reminder that the summer is over and I need to do some seasonal things, for example, fold and bring in a table umbrella that I had on my deck, or get out of the storage winter blankets. I usually start using a comforter around end of January as it is the coldest time of year.

I also went out and raked some dead leaves in the garden, so yay me! Afterwards though, I felt quite lazy and spent the rest of my time watching TV and eating ice-cream cones. It means, all the cooking for the week needs to be done tomorrow... Sigh.

 

Hans and Hana getting some sunshine.

Hans appreciating a warm blanket.