Variety Sunday

I got up a little late on Sunday (7:30 AM). But, hey, I was up late, straining my oil (I'm sure there's a dirty joke in there somewhere, but, let it go...) I reheated a cup of coffee and sat out on the front porch, in the cool morning air.

I got a lot of things to do today, so I decided to get going. I shaved and showered and then went to the bank to deposit a check I got in the mail on Saturday. I hit the Walmart's next door for a bag of flour. I really need to fry up those drumsticks and thighs. I can't leave them in buttermilk forever.

So, once back home at about 9:00 AM, I started watering the back yard. I took the recaliant sprinkler, jiggled it, slapped it a bit and hooked it up, thinking if it didn't work it's going in the trash. I must have put the fear of God in it, because it started to work again!

Back inside, I heated up the oil. I want to make the rest of the chicken while it's still cool enough to keep the window open and the vent fan on high. I started the last load of laundry for the weekend.

So, when the oil reached 375 degrees F., I put in two cut up red potatoes. Speaking of potatoes, when I got the chicken out of the fridge, I noticed a big container of leftover mashed potatoes! Man, I can almost taste those potato cakes!!

I thought I'd try Carla's method of breading, so I put a generous amount of flour, some seasoned salt, onion powder, garlic powder and fresh ground black pepper in a big baggie. I put in two drumsticks and a thigh, shook them around and, after taking out the potatoes, added them to the oil. It took three batches, but I got everything cooked by 11:00 AM.

I had a lot of trouble controlling the temperature (it was either 350 or 400 degrees) So, I don't know if it was the temperature variation or the used oil, but the chicken all came out darker than I would have liked. But the taste-test drumstick (hey, you gotta check it, right?) was delicious! I let all the chicken sit on a rack, over paper towels to drain and cool.

During that time, I was moving the sprinkler around, ending up with the square sprinkler watering the raised bed garden. I also hung up or folded the clothes when they were done in the dryer.

So, at noon, I unpacked the new storm door. Finally, I got my hands on the installation guide. The first thing was to take five separate measurements. When I did that, I realized the aluminum trim I so carefully reattached to the new door would now interfere enough with the new door so it couldn't be installed. Dammitt!

So, instead of installing the door (well, it does say it takes two people to install it because you have to leave the heavy glass in it), I am trying to pull out little nails, cut the aluminum trim back (while not letting the sharp metal cut me!) and reattaching it differently. I wish now I would have had the storm door instructions here when I put the steel door in.

By 3:00 PM, I am hot, sweaty and very annoyed. But, I think I have it so it will work. I won't know today, though, because I quit! I took a rinse-off shower (it's very hot and muggy here) and changed into clean clothes. I got out the watering can and watered the container gardens in front.

Now, my plan was to make what Jake calls his Kicked-Up Kraut for Sunday dinner. But, those mashed potatoes are calling me. Since the smoked sausage I bought for his dish was "buy one, get one free" I took the extra one I had frozen out to thaw and will try his recipe during the week. For today, though, I fried the last four strips of bacon up (for BLTs during the week) and put the sliced sausage and a sliced yellow onion into the bacon grease. I let the sausage get brown and the onion caramelize.

Meanwhile, I mixed some of the mashed potatoes with an egg and a little flour. When the sausage and onion was done, I put it into a bowl, wiped out the pan, added some canola oil and fried up my potato cakes. I ate Sunday dinner watching the Olympics and the potato cakes were every bit as good as I'd hoped they would be!

I finally got through to Carla's Mom (it's her birthday today). She said she hadn't answered before because she didn't recognize my number. But, I did get a chance to wish her Happy Birthday. She said to tell my Mom hello for her, so "Hi Mom," from Acenter.

It's 6:00 PM and I'm going back to the Olympics (these games are addictive). Nope, the news is on, now.

So, as you can see, I took the rest of Sunday afternoon and evening off. I watched my normal Sunday shows after 8:00 PM and went to bed at 11:00. Not the most productive one I've had, but it's been a nice weekend.