Fat Tuesday

I shouldn't have mentioned the cold on Monday, as it was even colder Tuesday morning! It was 4 degrees F. when I carried the trash bags out to the road.

However, it did warm up nicely to a high of just around 32 degrees F. during the day.

Monday night, while I was scouring the fridge and freezer for things to either eat or throw away, I came across the last frozen 4-cup container of meatballs and tomato sauce I had made on New Year's Eve. So, I took it out to thaw.

I was surprised when I got home that there was no mail in the box (I always get something, mostly trash). Back inside, I took out the meatballs and tomato sauce; put it in a sauce pan and on the stove on "low".

If you recall, I splashed grease on the stove Friday, making my fish and fries. Well, ever since, the front burner would not light. So, tonight, I took the components of that burner and boiled them in salted water. Jake also suggested rubbing the igniter with steel wool, so I did that, too. We'll see...

Meanwhile, I glanced outside and saw the post office vehicle, dropping off my mail. Since I had already donned my workout shorts and T-shirt (and, not willing to give my neighbors a chance to laugh) I hopped in the car, pulled it back out and got the mail.

Again, it was mostly trash, but it did have my winter tax bill. My estimated taxes are now more than 5% less than last year. So, good news, I pay less taxes. But bad news, my house is now appraised at less than I owe on it... Sigh...

All my efforts to fix the stove were for naught. I lit the big front burner with my grill lighter and started to boil some salted water for the pasta. I am using linguine, simply because I have two boxes of that.

When the linguine was done (about one minute before "al dente") I pulled it off and drained it. I put it back in the pasta pan and added the sauce and meatballs. Why before it was al dente? Because, it will suck up the sauce that way. Then I tossed it together. I hit it with the last of the basil and an equal amount of parsley, diced, to give it a fresh bit of flavor.

I let it all get happy while I responded to a phone call. I got a voicemail, so I left a message and moved on.

Excellent dinner! My only complaint is that I made the meatballs too big, so next time I will make them just a tad smaller. I think two or three small ones on a plate would look better than one big one, lol!

I watched some TV, then went to bed early again.