"Hey, man! Don't Taz Me!"

It doesn't have anything to do with this post, but I still think its the best one-liner I ever heard!

I woke up off and on during the night and then slept in until 7:30 AM on Saturday. I grabbed my robe and posted the skimpy Blog (I know my fans get anxious). I printed off this week's ToDo list. Then I went out, ground up some coffee beans and put a pot on.

I didn't make any breakfast, although I thought about it. The coffee seemed enough. I washed up the few dishes from last night and emptied the dishwasher. I noticed one of my dinner plates has a chip knocked out of it and that really ticks me off! Why? Because I bought this set when my favorite store in the world (Bombay - half the stuff in my house came from there) was closing down for a ridiculously low price. At the time, (I was there at lunch with my friend), B___ suggested I buy two and store one unopened in the attic in case I ever broke something. I scoffed at the idea. Now, I really wish I'd followed his suggestion (I freaking hate it when he's right!!!)

Speaking of B___, he called just after "Saturday Morning, Over Easy" finished. He asked if I had made an appointment with my doctor to have my right leg looked at and sounded a bit skeptical when I told him it was getting a little better (it seems to have settled into a heavy ache rather than the stabbing pain I was having).

In keeping with resting my leg, I really didn't do too much. I washed a load of clothes, tidied up some things, etc. My daughter Melissa called about 1:00 PM and we talked for an hour or so. According to her, it's a sunny day in North Carolina, so hopefully Tropical Storm Ida has moved on.

I was thrilled for a moment or two to hear my grandson Carl was interested in archery. I pictured us going deer hunting in the wilds of Minnesota. But Missy quickly dispelled that idea, explaining it was only archery, not hunting. Ah well, other than Jake (who hasn't gone in years) it's another Goerlich tradition that won't be passed on...

I saw the mailman come and went outside to retrieve the meager mail. I was amazed at how warm it was! So, in spite of my vow to not "do" anything until my leg felt normal, I decided to tackle the last of the leaves on the ground. I know better than to climb the ladder and clean the gutters. It ain't gonna happen anytime soon...

There was a significant amount of leaves that had lodged underneath the sail boat trailer and the trailer that, naturally, never got mulched with the mower (see photos). My idea was to use my blower and blow them out past the fence and into the lot next door. However, what I didn't realize was there was a layer of pine needles that had come first. This created a wet layer that encumbered the effect of the blower.

So, when I got the concrete pad cleared off, I switched to a leaf rake and dragged them to Jake's patio to dry off. There's a slight chance of rain Sunday morning, but I'm close to my goal! I put everything away and went back inside for the night.

Now its time to make the potato leek soup. I must tell you, I'm not following a recipe now; I've made this enough I'm just winging it.

So, in a traditional potato leek soup, you are trying to keep everything "white," (you are supposed to even use white pepper, not black). But since I now have a African American daughter, I refuse to discriminate! However, I still only cut up the white and light green parts of the leeks and saut�ed them in oil and butter.

Again, since I am making this one up, I added the rest (maybe 1/2 cup) of the onions I diced for the hot dogs. No sense in throwing them away!

Sidebar: I had mentioned the soggy hot dogs story to my friend B___ and asked if that was a childhood memory of his. He said, no. The way his mother made hot dogs was to cut a slit in them, put in some cheddar cheese slices and wrap them in bacon! She cooked them in the oven under the broiler and then served them on buns!! Jesus! Yumo!! Mom, what were you thinking?

I cut the remaining Yukon Gold potatoes (maybe 2 1/2 pounds) into a 1/2-inch dice without peeling them. Again, that's classically wrong, but the skin of a Yukon Gold potato is very thin and very tasty. I threw those in the pot and added maybe three cups of my new chicken stock and maybe two cups of water (just enough to cover the potatoes). Then I put in a cup of heavy cream. I added in a handful of dried parsley, some salt and a good grind of black pepper.

I brought that to a boil, and then simmered it for about 20 minutes (until the potatoes were fork tender). Then I used my Japanese spider and took out about 1/4 of the veggies. The rest got pureed with the immersion blender. I returned the veggies and let it all get happy for a while.

I dished up a big bowlful and went in to watch some taped cooking shows. Later on, I put the now-cooled soup into two four-cup containers and into the fridge. I'll clean up the mess in the morning...