Saturday's Soup

I woke up at 7:30 and got started. Shave, shower, take my meds, get dressed and I'm out the door, starting my errands. I got my haircut (it's a week early, but my barber's leaving next Saturday on vacation, so it's either a week early or a week late and I decided to err on the side of caution and/or good grooming).

Then I'm on to Westborn Market for fresh produce and finally Meijer's for the rest of my grocery shopping. Got home and got everything put away. I started a load of laundry and then surveyed my castle. Hmmm... Everything's still more or less clean from last weekend's efforts, except the kitchen floor. So, the kitchen mat goes in the next load of laundry and I sweep, then mop the floor, and go read until it dries.

Once I can walk in the kitchen again, I begin to make today's dinner. It's a Tyler Florence recipe for Hunter's Minestrone, described as a rustic Italian soup. This is NOT a 30-Minute meal, BTW. You end up using 3 different pots and your food processor, so clean-up's no snap either.

I had just added the cooked rigatoni to it when Jyl rang the doorbell. She was on her way to her sister's in Detroit and stopped by to drop off Joe and Riese's school pictures (in a frame, no less!) I asked her if she would like to eat some soup and she said no, but she's have a taste. So, I put a half ladle of soup in a bowl for her to try. I described how the soup was made while she tasted it and when the bowl was empty, she said, "Okay, okay! Give me a full bowl of it!" So, I know one person at least who likes it.

She left and I got busy blowing the leaves off the back patio and onto the grass. I'm gonna mulch them up with the mower, later today. I came back in the house when Jake and Carla stopped by. They are on the way up to St. Clair to pick up our half of a side of beef and I still needed to give them my half of the money. They also became my food tasters and both seemed to like the soup, although Carla burned her tongue trying it, which she didn't like at all. Then they left.

Now I took my trusty blower to the front. I got a carpet of leaves in the driveway and on the porch, so I blew them all into the grass. Blower went back in the garage and the lawn mower came out. I cut the front twice and then cut the back twice (it takes two times to really mulch the leaves up, but the second time you can do at a faster speed). I stopped for a moment to admire my work. But, as I was standing on the back patio, I watched at least a dozen leaves slowly drift down from the trees and land on the lawn Sigh...

I went back inside, covered with leaves and dust, and took a hot shower. The warm water soothed my aches and pains, but relaxed me enough so that it pretty much answered the question: dinner or a nap?

I woke up at 6:00 PM (or maybe 7:00 or maybe 5:00. I already changed the clocks in anticipation of Daylight Savings Time ending so I am all confused about what time it really is). Anyway, I gave up on making the Parmesan baguette slices for the soup and just went and ate two bowls of it. Not bad... not bad at all...

I watched TV until bedtime. I woke up in the middle of the night and decided since I was awake anyway, I'd post this.