Finally hot, finally Friday

It was finally "July" hot today, but the humidity got worse as the day wore on. I was very glad I had the chance to cut the lawn last night, when it was cooler and drier.

My weekend's a mess of things ToDo on Saturday, so I did the bedding at lunch today as well as ran the dishwasher. Before I went back to work, I visited my old nemesis, the raspberry bush, and picked a mess of them for tonight's dessert. I only got stuck three times.

Once home for the weekend, I filled out two graduation cards, (I stuck one in the mailbox and will deliver the other in person tomorrow), emptied the dishwasher and made up the bed. Then I went out back, hooked up the square sprinkler and watered the raised bed garden for 30 minutes. There is a slight (30%) chance of rain tonight through tomorrow morning, but I can't count on that...

As I said, its hot and sticky outside, so I decided to clean the house tonight (in the air conditioning, lol) instead of working outdoors.

Now, I'm not sure I mentioned this before but I was having some problems with the electric floor sweeper. I took it apart and found a dryer sheet stuck half way up the tube. Well, I am now having the same sort of problems with the vacuum cleaner.

So I put the now-useless vacuum cleaner on top of the washer and drier and checked it out, by sticking a coat hanger down the tube. I bent a coat hanger into a hook and dragged out the blockage. No drier sheet this time, just a big clump of Caley cat hair.

I fired up the air compressor and blew out the filter and then put it all back together. I vacuumed off the two walk-off rugs and then stopped, as the stove timer went off.

I went back outside and turned the water back off. I took off the square-head sprinkler and stuck the open hose into the reflecting pool. I am hoping more fresh water will encourage it to bloom (you should see my brother Carl's water lilies!) I turned the faucet on to "low" and went back inside.

Back inside, I vacuumed the living room rug. I swept the kitchen and then vacuumed the two walk-off rugs and the downstairs tile. I went back outside and shut off the water. I coiled up the hose and put the spray nozzle back on.

I moved the kitchen chairs, the rolling cart and the trash basket into the living room. Then I made up a bucket of screaming hot water and lemon Top Job and washed the kitchen floor. I went and watched TV while that dried.

Once I could walk in the kitchen again, I started making my dinner. I got this idea from all the calzone-family pizzas being offered recently. I was thinking "quick snack," BTW.

So, I took a can of Pillsbury crescent rolls and opened them up. I spooned a thin layer of jarred pizza sauce on each one. Then I added two or three slices of pepperoni. I opened a can of mushrooms (this is supposed to be a quick snack idea, if you remember) and added two or three slices on top of the pepperoni. I got out my shredded mozzarella and here's where I hit a snag!

The mozzarella was moldy! I have two choices left: some shredded mild cheddar (not exactly pizza-like) and my beloved Parmigiano-Reggiano. So, I got out the micro pane and covered each slice with the Parm.

Then I rolled them up (not as easy as I had envisioned) and placed them on some parchment paper, covering a half sheet pan. I stuck them in a preheated 375 degrees F. oven and let them bake for 13 minutes.

After they cooled, I tried one (oh, let's be honest, it was late and I was hungry, so I ate four of them!) The result: the crescent dough was too sweet to be mistaken for pizza dough. I kicked myself in the butt for not thinking of that, because I could have sprinkled the top with kosher salt before baking them (next time I'll try that). The inside was all pizza (but mozzarella cheese would have been better). Oh well, as a foodie, you live and learn...

I watched TV (a History channel show about "Moon shiners, bootleggers and rum runners") until bedtime.

But, before I go to sleep, I must tell you my three favorite stories about the Prohibition era.

1. Legend has it that there is a tunnel underneath the St. Clair Inn that extends across the St. Clair River to Canada where booze was smuggled in. I should have asked Jake to investigate this when he worked there.

2. In winter, rum runners would go across Lake St. Clair in stripped down Model T's across the ice. Supposedly there are cars still in the lake here and there where the ice broke and they fell through. Now, I have trouble with this one, because I don't know of many places where Lake St. Clair is that deep!

3. My favorite Prohibition story was told to me by my father. It seemed that he and some of the friends he emigrated with decided to go get some booze in Canada. So, they crossed the border and bought a bunch of pints of whiskey. Being German, (we have problems in this area) they had to sample the wares first, of course.

To hide the booze they all slid them inside their pants. So, when they got to the border crossing you had three or four drunken Germans accosted by a border guard. He asked them if they had any alcohol and my father (being an honest fellow) laughed and patted his belly and said, "Yes, right here!"

The border guard, noticing their condition, also laughed, said, "I can see that!" and waved them through...