Well, it did start snowing late Sunday night and had
obviously switched to freezing rain overnight. But, all the icicles were
dripping when I left for work (and I left for work 15 minutes early, not
knowing what I might face).
My driveway and my road were a sheet of crunchy snow,
covered with ice. But, when I got to Plymouth Road, it was mostly slush with only the occasional unseen patches of ice. Everyone
went slow and the only real difficulty I faced was at Plymouth
Road and Farmington,
where the stoplights were out. But everyone acted civilized (for a change) and
we all made it through the intersection.
By noon, it had
changed to a light drizzle, so I took and chance and drove home for lunch. I
had the last of the broccoli and cheese soup. I must say, refrigeration is not
kind to cheese soup if you use real cheese. It was no longer the creamy cheese sauce it was when I made it. It was almost like the cheese had
separated. It still tasted good, but the texture sucked. I don’t think I would
have had this problem if I had used, say, Velveeta.
Needless to say both morning (icy) and afternoon (rainy)
walks were taken inside again.
The biggest problem on the expressway home were the occasion
huge sprays of water from trucks and SUVs in the right lane.
My street and driveway were still a mess though. In fact, I
damn near slipped and fell dragging the garbage can out to the road.
Once inside, I treated the cats, changed clothes and drank a
cup of coffee watching the news. Then I got to work putting away my meatball
and marinara sauce. I got two four-cup containers for the freezer with about
two cups left over that I put in the fridge. I’ll probably just serve that on
top of a chunk of bread, instead of making pasta (and making a mess) again.
I washed the Dutch oven and then made my dinner. I ate the
last Parmesan chicken breast along with the last leftover baked potato. It took
three tries in the microwave before my instant read thermometer registered 100
degrees in the thick chicken breast (I hate to warm things up in the microwave,
go to eat them and then find them cold inside).
I topped the potato with some butter and sour cream. Sadly,
I didn’t have any crumbled bacon, green onions or even fresh chives to top that
with, (just pepper) but it still tasted good. So did the chicken, for that
matter.
For some reason, my upper back had been hurting since about noon (I think it’s the dampness, since I didn’t
overdo anything over the weekend or today). So, I reluctantly finally took a pain
pill, so I could sleep at night.
I washed up my plate from dinner and went in to watch some
TV before bedtime. I went to bed at 11:00 PM.
Clever use of the thermometer! I always just expect reheated food to be cold.
ReplyDeleteWhat's an "instant read thermometer" ???
ReplyDelete@ Jake: Thanks! I just thought of it. I, too, was used to, say, lasagna that was too hot on the outside, yet cold in the middle. No more!
ReplyDelete@GPF: It's a digital thermometer with a stainless steel probe you can touch or insert in what you're cooking and it instantly lets you know what the temperature is. I quote "Scientific thermocouple technology is accurate within 2 degrees F in 3 seconds for precise cooking." I can't find a picture of the exact model I have, but I'll post one that's close so you get the idea.
And where would you buy this?
ReplyDeleteIf I remember right, I bought my on the web from Chef's.com. But they sell them at Bed, Bath and Beyond, too. Just make sure you get a digital one. Jake has one as well, so he might know of other places they sell them.
ReplyDelete