Christmas vacation - Day 11

I woke up Tuesday morning at 3:30 AM to go to the bathroom. I headed downstairs so I wouldn't bother my guests (because I needed to blow my nose as well). I went back to bed but could not fall asleep. Something seemed strange! I lay there, trying to figure it out when it dawned on me! My neighbor's generator wasn't running. I sprang to the window and looked out. His garage lights were on!

So, I grabbed the flashlight and went out to the garage, pausing on the way to turn the inside garage light on. I found and tripped the main breaker, and my light went on!! The power works!!!

I came back inside and turned off the propane heater and turned on the furnace. On the way back to my bedroom, I noticed from the lighted crack under the door that the overhead light in the office was on. So, I opened the door just a tad and reached in to shut it off. Lu sat up in bed and murmured something about the electricity must be on. I told her it was and to go back to sleep.

I didn't want to reset all the digital clocks as most of them make a beeping noise when you do (not something anybody else would want to hear when they are trying to sleep). But, I did fix my bedroom clock and set the alarm for 6:30 AM. Garbage day, remember? Contrary to my normal habits, I had put the bulk of the trash out to the road yesterday afternoon (not wanting to attempt it in the early morning darkness). But there was still one half-filled bag I needed to attend to.

So, at 6:30 AM, I cleaned out the kitty litter box, collected all the remaining trash (mostly Kleenex and toilet paper from blowing my nose) and took the bag out the front door and out to the road. The garage door was still disconnected and locked down for the night, you see.

Back inside, I decided to celebrate by making a pot of coffee. Lu had thoughtfully bought me some instant coffee on the day the power went out, but I thought some real coffee would be nice for a change. I took out one of the frozen onion bagels to thaw and the cream cheese, for later.

When the ladies had arisen, I asked if either Lu or Sadie would like a bagel. But, as it turned out, Lu rarely eats them and then only blueberry, while Sadie only eats raisin ones. So, while they fixed their breakfast of nuts and bark, I ate my onion bagel with butter, cream cheese and my third cup of coffee.

I next concentrated on filling the Blog in, up to date. This was a real pain in the butt, trying to remember events of three days ago, BTW. I printed them off and asked Lu to edit and fact-check them (I knew she'd get a kick out of that, only talking to goats all day long, and she did). I tried to explain to her that I write in a conversational style (I write it just like I would say it) but she would have none of it. So, these three entries say things like "I awoke" instead of my usual "I woke up." And, as far as fact-checking goes, she completely forgot (as did I) that my birthday present from them had finally come the day before. It was a 2-foot x 3-foot Gel-mat for the kitchen floor, designed to minimize the stress on your legs and knees. Thanks, guys!

It was a lazy day for me. However, Lu was busy wrapping presents and Sadie asked it she could use my exercise machine. I was quite embarrassed when it started squeaking loudly, letting everyone know just how long it's been since I used it! A few shots of WD-40 and that stopped, thank god!

We discussed dinner, with Lu saying the leftover soup and salad would be great. I nixed that idea. Under emergency (no electricity) measures, that's fine, but I want to cook something! So, I suggested eggplant parmesan, cooked their way (not fried with breading first, but just naked eggplant baked with cheese and tomato sauce) and a side of pasta. They agreed, so I thawed out some of my homemade tomato sauce from last fall.

They left around 4:00 PM on a shopping trip and I filled in the Blog to date and then went and took a nap. I woke up when they returned and after a bit, I started making dinner. I cut the eggplant into thin slices but I drew the line at not peeling it (I hate the taste of eggplant peel).

They had brought a chunk of Provolone cheese, so I thin-sliced a little of it for the dinner. I used my roasted tomatoes, cooked and then frozen from the Fall harvest that I thawed out and warmed in a pan as the sauce. Here's where I committed the ultimate chef's sin! I didn't taste it!! I did when I froze it and knew it was great, so why bother, right? Wrong!

So, I put a little of the sauce in the bottom of my Corningware baking dish. Then, I put a layer of thin sliced eggplant, topped with the provolone cheese. I topped that with shredded mozzarella cheese and repeated until the dish was full. This went into a 350 degrees F. oven for about an hour.

Meanwhile, I cooked up some whole wheat spaghetti to al dente and Sadie made her usual HUGE salad. I drained the pasta and then, when the eggplant was done, I plated it. So, everybody got some eggplant Parmesan, a small swirl of pasta (easy to do with tongs) that was topped with more of the tomato sauce and the salad.

Sadie and I were still working out way through the salad (way too much roughage for me, BTW. P.S. Don't ask, LOL!) when Lu tried the eggplant Parmesan. I inquired on how it tasted and she said, "Oh, its good!" Then, she said to Sadie, sotto voce, "Don't eat this."

It turns out that I had put red pepper flakes in the sauce when I made it. And, Sadie cannot eat peppers. So, while it was not too hot for me (or apparently Lu) it would have been bad for Sadie to eat it (I am deliberately not going into details here, BTW). So, I felt bad...

Sadie, having already consumed her daily ration of a huge salad, was content to eat the remaining naked pasta. Lu did eat the skinless eggplant Parmesan (although I am sure she missed the skin). And I enjoyed it, although I missed the breading. So, a 100% perfect meal? I think not... It was certainly NOT my best effort at cooking "bland."

After cleaning up, we started working together on crossword puzzles. At some point, I suggested relocating to the living room (my butt was falling asleep). We continued until about 9:30 PM, when both Lu and I were noticeably falling asleep, so we all agreed to go to bed.