Sunny Saturday

I woke up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 7:00 AM Saturday morning. Oh, no, wait a minute, that last part turned out just to be more of Caley's cat hair!

I put on a pot of coffee, did the Blog and then had a cup. I refilled my pill container and then made a simple breakfast: scrambled eggs and rye toast. Then I grabbed my book and another cup of coffee and moved to the couch to let my breakfast digest.

I've got my usual errands plus a bigger one: maintenance on the car. So, I showered and dressed and left the house at 9:15 AM. I had a coupon, so I went to Auto Lab for an oil change and tire rotation that only cost $29.95. I told them about the noise I hear and asked them to check my struts and the trailer hitch installation. All of that was fine (he said on a Volvo, the struts don't go bad until after 150,000 miles. Great!) But, the bad news is the rear brakes are bad. The pads are worn and the rotors are too thin to resurface. I asked for a quote to fix them and he said it would be $390 after my 15% off coupon. I told him I'd be back when I had the money.

This place is about 1/2 mile from Jake and Carla's and I briefly considered dropping by. But, I've got a lot more to do today and dropping by unannounced is not my style. So, next, I went to the bank.

After that, I went to Walmart's for my staples. I saved a bunch on cleaners, laundry detergent, boxed stuff and canned stuff. For example, the Bertolli extra virgin olive oil (51 fluid ounces) I normally pay $18.95 for at Meijer's cost me only $14.95. And, the Mac & cheese boxes that are 98 cents at Meijer's are only 50 cents at Walmart's.

Next was a quick stop at the Feed Store for bird seed and suet cakes. Then I went to Kroger's for my meats, seafood, milk, eggs and butter. Finally I stopped at Westborn for my veggies and herbs.

I noticed there is a decided striking difference between patrons of each store (Walmart's, Kroger's and Westborn). Somebody should do a paper on this. Amazing!

Before going home I stopped at Finn's Auto Repair (who did my front brakes a couple years ago). His quote for the rear brakes was $325.00. When I got home, I checked, and, two years ago, the front brakes (new rotors and pads, as well) cost me less than $200!)

I had everything unpacked and put away by 1:30 PM. I put eight chicken legs in a baggie in the freezer and the other eight in a bowl, covered with buttermilk for deep frying, later.

I changed clothes and headed outside. First I refilled the bird feeder & suet cage and got the new 40 pound bag of seed into the can by the house. Next I picked up winter trash in the immediate patio area.

I dug out and hooked up two more hoses. I noticed the crocuses are blooming in what I used to call Jake's patio garden. I took a photo and checked out in front. Sadly, there are only a few, but they are up and blooming!

I have repeatedly mentioned over the last several days about the dust the mower was throwing last year. So, I pushed the oily, dusty lawn mower outside. I backed the car out, too. I washed the mower with a soft brush and PineSol (to cut the oil) and hot water. When I was done, I washed the car with the same brush, but with Armor-all car wash stuff Jake had bought, used and left when he sold his scooters.

All the time I was working outside, I was assailed by the food smells from the Coney Island across the vacant lot from me. So, while the car and mower were drying, I gave in and walked over. I had a cup of bean with ham soup (they do make good soup there!) then a bacon cheeseburger with crinkle-cut fries. I couldn't finish all the food, BTW.

When I came back, I got a towel and hand dried both the mower and the car. Then, with the garage door shut, I swept up the kitty litter and the dried mud (on the car side) and then pulled both the mower and the car back inside. I went in the house and checked and it was 5:30 PM. So, with achy knees (too many stores with concrete floors), I decided to take a nap.

I woke up at 7:00 PM and started doing a few things (emptying the dishwasher, fertilizing the houseplant, etc.). Jake called around 8:00 PM to "see if I was still alive." Seems he'd sent an email at 9:00 AM I hadn't looked at. My bad!

After talking with him, I took stock and decided I was still bushed and checked out the TV offerings. I saw that on AMC (this is becoming my favorite channel, I think) they were showing "The Magnificent Seven" an old western and one of my favorites. So, I watched that until just after 10:00 PM. I took the chicken legs out and put them on a rack to drain the buttermilk. I'm going to try a combination of my way of frying chicken and Carla's mother's method.

So, instead of dipping them in egg, hot sauce and buttermilk, then in flour seasoned with house seasoning, I dried them off as best I could with paper towels (or "kitchen towels" as they call them in England - Love that!) Then, I dredged them in flour mixed only with garlic powder and Lawry's seasoned salt. Carla's mom cooked her chicken in about 1/2 inch of oil, BTW. But, I'm not that talented, so I have about three inches of oil in the Dutch oven and am deep frying them.

Now, its midnight (amazing what a good nap will do for you) and the oil is finally at 375 degrees F. and the first four chicken legs go in. I usually let them go for 14 minutes, BTW, and did again tonight. Pulled the first batch and put in the second and final batch.

Now, one of my heroes, Alton Brown, suggests that you buy a paper paint bucket to hold the fried chicken in (think Colonel Sander's buckets) but, not having one, I put together two small paper bags to store the chicken legs in (you need paper to wick away the grease, you see). After the second batch, I cleaned up everything except the hot grease (I'll get that in the morning) and, munching on a crisp leg, go back to the TV. There was nothing too exciting on, so I grabbed another book and read until I was ready to fall asleep. So, I did...