Sunday, Hitting it Hard

I woke up at 6:30 AM on Sunday. I did finally get some sleep, but I stayed up until after midnight before I got sleepy (too much coffee, I’m guessing). I refilled my pill box, wound the clock, ate breakfast, etc., and finally got around to shaving and showering about 9:00 AM. I washed out the cat waterer and left it to air dry (I gave them a bowl of water while they were waiting, of course).

I left for Kroger’s about 10:00 AM. Fortunately, the next two days are still supposed to be summer-like. Unfortunately, they say a cold front will move through Monday night; bringing some more rain (thank you) but also below normal temperatures they predict will last the rest of the month!

So, last night, I cracked open the kitchen and bedroom windows and turned the furnace on (to burn off that damn burnt-dust smell). I was hoping to grill something for dinner today but, before I watched the weather, I thawed out some bone-less skin-less chicken thighs (it was chilly last night and I was gonna make soup). No bones for flavor? No skin for crunch? Grilling them would just be stupid!

Anyway, back home, I treated the cats and put the groceries away. I hard-boiled the last three old eggs while I was putting things away. I moved my car outside and got to work on the main project for today: cleaning out the garage and the attic for the junk pickup on Monday.

I put on my work gloves and, after moving the car outside, started gathering up everything that was “junk” in the garage. I was just finishing up this part of the project when my daughter, Melissa called. So, I sat on the porch rocker and chatted for a bit. I was sweeping up crap and using the transfer shovel as a dust pan when I inadvertently hung up on her. I called her right back and we chatted a bit more, but she could tell I was preoccupied and let me go.

So, once the garage was cleaned, I opened up the attic stairs in the garage. But, that was just for the opening. You see, the stairs are old, wooden and rickety and I don’t trust them as much as the metal one Jake and I installed in the house. So I went up through the house into the attic and proceeded to throw down every empty box (and there were lots of them), Christmas decorations I no longer use, old cabinets and counter tops and the five ugly wood chairs Lu got with her table she bought at Goodwill a few years back. I was hot and sweaty and it was almost 3:00 PM when I finished upstairs.

Back downstairs, I took a brief break and then got to work with a box cutter, slitting all the empty cartons so they would lie flat. I am not sure just how much space (what the hell does 1/3 of a truck load mean, exactly?) I paid for, but I know I can dispose of the boxes at work, if need be, (they recycle cardboard, so they would be happy to see me with a load of it). I put the cardboard in the last row. If they take it, fine; if not, I’ll get rid of it at work. I took a couple of photos for you.

I admit, I should have checked. But, before I went grocery shopping, I never thought of it. I had downloaded a recipe for zucchini bread and it was pretty simple. But, if you remember, I threw away most of my spices. So, when I went to get some ground cinnamon and nutmeg, there was nothing there!

Dammit! The zucchini I bought for the ratatouille is going south and I needed to use it up! So, like a beggar. I went next door to ask for a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of nutmeg. Tammy had the cinnamon, but no ground nutmeg. But, I have whole nutmegs, so I can cope.

So, at 4:30 PM, I started baking zucchini bread. I preheated the oven for 350 degrees F. and in a large bowl, I mixed together the dry ingredients: 3 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon nutmeg (fresh ground, I might add), 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 3 cups of sugar.

In another bowl, I mixed up the wet ingredients: 1 cup canola oil, 4 beaten eggs, 1/3 cup of water, about 2 cups of grated zucchini (I used a box grater rather than my food processor – the food processor would have been faster, but more of a pain to clean up) and a teaspoon of lemon juice. I mixed the two bowls together and folded in a cup of chopped pecans. Did I mention this was a Paula Deen recipe? If it was a Michigan recipe it would have been walnuts, I’m guessing.

Anyway, I sprayed my two standard loaf pans with non-stick canola oil spray and put the mixture into each. I put them in the oven, set the timer for an hour and went to watch some DIY shows while waiting.

That’s when things went horribly wrong…

I’m not sure if it was the late night last night or all the climbing around and sweating in the attic, but I fell asleep. I woke up about 7:00 PM to the sound of the timer and the smell of burning bread. DAMN!

I planned on giving half a loaf to the neighbors (for their cinnamon contribution) and taking another loaf into work. But, nope! I did check it out and if you cut off the burnt crust, the inside tasted delicious. But the presentation sucks! I took a photo for you to demonstrate (the Captain is not ashamed to showed the world he screwed up! It ain’t the first time, nor probably the last…)

Note;: if you don’t fall asleep and bake it too long, this is a really, really good zucchini bread recipe!

Be that as it may, it was now time to move onto tonight’s dinner. I jacked the oven up to 400 degrees F. and cut a beautiful acorn squash I bought in half. I dug out the seeds and gunk and added two tablespoons of butter to each cavity. Then I added some salt and pepper and a handful of fresh-cut thyme stems to each (I know, I know, my mother would had put in brown sugar, but I’m catering to that “Type 2 diabetes” thing. Besides, the herbs taste pretty good or else I’m just getting used to them). I put them on my cookie sheet and into the oven, setting the timer for another hour.

But, no naps this time! Instead I put a couple of cups of self rising flour into a gallon zip-lock bag. To that I added sea salt, fresh ground pepper and garlic powder. I shook it up to mix it while I heated up some canola oil and butter. I stuck two pieces of the bone-less, skin-less chicken thighs at a time in the bag and shook it up (sort of a “shake and bake” thing, if they still have that). Then I shook off the excess flour and put the chicken into the hot oil.

I got a nice crust on both sides and then shut off the burner. I took the skillet and stuck it in the oven to finish cooking with the squash. My smoke detectors didn’t like that idea, but I opened the bathroom window and turned on the fan in the microwave and they finally shut up.

When the time was up, I checked the squash (it was done) and then plated my Sunday night dinner (after I threw away all the thyme stalks). I ate it watching another episode of Breaking Bad.