Saturday's Saga

I woke up at 7:00 AM on Saturday and made some coffee. I decided on a brunch rather than breakfast, so I took out a roll of pork sausage and a container of the meatballs and sauce (for tonight's dinner) to thaw. Next, I made up this weekend's rather sparse ToDo list (I need a break, man!) and posted the Blog. I also replied to a lot of comments and personal emails.

It dawned on me that I was unable to send the Blog to my Mom last Monday (no computer), so I now owe her two week's worth. Since the magic button the Webmaster made only pulls up one week's worth of Blog to send to her, I needed to cut and paste a few days worth of them and the associated comments into a Word document. Get ready for a mini-series Blog, Mom!

I can now also use my camera again, so I took a couple of pictures and posted them for you.

I ran the laundry through the final rinse (no lake, just a big puddle) and threw the clothes in the dryer.

Around noon, I put the thawed pork sausage in my cast iron pan to brown it and proceeded to make white sausage gravy. Jake called to see how I was feeling. I told him I was making White Sausage Gravy using my recipe but using his favorite recipe for the biscuits. He said, "There's a recipe for that gravy?"

Well, it is pretty simple: Once the pork sausage is browned, you transfer it to a bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving the rendered fat. To the fat you add two tablespoons of flour and cook it for a minute or two. While whisking you add in two cups of milk and bring that up to a boil. You lower the heat and simmer for two more minutes. Add the sausage back in and season liberally with black pepper.

Meanwhile, I started making some biscuits. Now, I make my share of biscuits, but the "work the butter into the flour until its pea-sized" part is always a pain. This recipe substitutes heavy cream for the butter and is a breeze!

You whisk together two cups of flour, two teaspoons of sugar, two teaspoons of baking powder and one half teaspoon of salt. Then you stir in one and one half cups of heavy cream. You stir that until the dough forms (about 30 seconds) and then put the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Either roll it or just pat it into a 3/4-inch circle (here's where I messed up! I rolled mine too thin) and then cut out with a biscuit cutter (I don't have one. I still use my trusty little mushroom can.)

You put them on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper (I skipped that step) and into an oven, preheated to 450 degrees F. until golden brown (about 15 minutes.

So, mine came out too thin and not as cool as Jake's. But, they were still delicious, especially topped with the gravy!!

I was checking the TV guide when I saw an old favorite of mine, Thunderheart (a 1992 film starring Val Kilmer about contemporary Indians), so I watched that (I told you I was taking a break!)

Since I ate breakfast so late, I didn't make my dinner until 8:00 PM. I just reheated the meatballs and sauce while I cooked 1/2 pound of vermicelli. I mixed the two and bingo! Instant dinner!!

I read on the couch for a while and then took my book in the bedroom. When I got sleepy, I turned off the light and said goodnight to the cats.