Texas Two Step in the Snow

I woke up at 7:00 AM on Wednesday. It was still not snowing and, on the news this morning, they said we had freezing rain late last night which decreased the amount of snow we accumulated. There's still a second round to come (they say another 1-2 inches) later today, but we'll see. I didn't go outside to check if there really was freezing rain, BTW.

Well, it started snowing again at 8:30 AM. I cut the crust off the four or five slices of sourdough bread and the half a loaf of rye bread I had left. I was afraid it would go bad.

The rye crusts were saved for the birds, but the sourdough crusts I cut into bite-sized pieces. I put them in a bowl and topped them with three soft-boiled eggs for my breakfast.

I cut the rest of the bread into one-inch squares and put them in a big bowl. I drizzled them with olive oil and stirred them to coat. I sprinkled them with my house seasoning (salt, pepper and garlic powder) and some dried parsley. You could use Lawry’s Seasoned salt or some Mrs. Dash as well, BTW. Then I put them on a half sheet tray and baked them in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 15 minutes, stirring once.

Croutons! Once they cooled, I put some in a small baggie for immediate use and the rest in a bigger baggie in the freezer.

I finally went and showered near noon. When I got out, my driveway was plowed! Damn, I thought, I missed him. So, I called his house and asked his son how to get him his money. He said his dad was still at work and hadn’t plowed anybody yet!

I looked at my porch and noticed there were no tracks in the snow, so nobody came to the door. Who plowed me out? Must have been my neighbor.

I decided to make that “Texas Two Step” 8 bean soup Lu and Sadie gave me for my birthday. The dried beans were in a wine bottle with a cork. When I pulled out the cork, there was a teeny tiny bottle of Tabasco! I took a picture of it next to a regular salt shaker to show you just how small it was.

I followed the directions: pour the beans into a large pot, along with the spice mixture (well, the spice mixture didn’t flow freely, so I added some warm water to dissolve it, per the instructions). I filled the bottle with water three times and added that to the beans.

Here’s where I made my mistake: You have to simmer it covered for 3 1/2 to 4 hours and it was already 5:30 PM. Oh, well, I’ll make it tonight and eat it tomorrow. I made a sandwich for my dinner and ate a Granny Smith apple for dessert.

Anyway, after it was done simmering, I added two large cans of whole tomatoes (it didn’t say to, but I squished them first, then again I like to squish whole tomatoes) and some Tabasco to taste (I put the whole bottle in – it was a little bottle and a LOT of soup).

I left it to cool and went back to watching the movie “Tombstone” with Kurt Russel. When it was over, I put the now-cooled soup, pot and all, into the fridge and went to bed.