Road Trip

I slept in until 7:30 AM! It was wonderful. Unfortunately, the weather was not. It was 16 degrees F. and we had an Alberta Clipper :) coming through. It was that same damn light, powdery snow that was so slippery. Why should I care? It’s Saturday and I’m in for the day, right? Wrong!

I left at 8:30 AM to go to Suburban Volvo in Troy. I am tired of people flashing their brights at me and, since I can’t seem to fix them, I thought I would pay the professionals to adjust my headlights. I listened to the NPR news on WDET Detroit and just took it easy.

I-96 was treacherous. Either it was too cold for the salt to work, or the salt trucks had come and gone too soon. Either way, nobody got above 40 MPH. To make matter worse, I missed my exit to the Southfield freeway (you actually get off the “express lanes” and onto the “local lanes” about two miles before you come to it). So, I got off on Greenfield and went back.

The Southfield freeway turns into Southfield road, so I went slipping and sliding the rest of the way on surface streets. It’s about a 20 mile trip and I got there about 10:00 AM: An hour and a half to go 20 miles!

I had called during the week, so they knew I was coming. They did their usual “complimentary” wheel alignment test and showed me that my wheels needed alignment. So, I said, go ahead (I want these tires to last at least another 20,000 miles).

I had brought a book and they have free coffee so I just waited… and waited… and waited…

Finally, they let me know they had fixed the driver’s side headlight (the one that was too high) but couldn’t fix the passenger side one as the actual fixture had broken apart inside, somehow (I knew how, but didn't say). They could order me a new headlight fixture (for $332.80 US), but there was nothing more they could do today.

So, I left there about noon,  $257.33 US poorer and, I still have to come back either next Thursday (when they are open until 8:00 PM) or next Saturday and probably have to pay another $500 with parts and labor. I keep telling myself that, since I don’t have a car payment, it’s all worth it, but that’s wearing thin…

I passed a Kroger’s in Troy on my way home so I swung in. Now this Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. I’m not that fond of football, but there is a lot of buzz about the snacks for the party and I’m really thinking of making some nachos (I haven’t had them in years). There are about as many nacho recipes as there are meatloaf recipes (Bon Appetit had one that included radishes, for God’s sake).  But, I have a simple plan (I think, anyway) and, other than what I have at home, all I needed was some tortilla chips, green onions and Jalapeno peppers. So, that’s what I bought.

The ride home was done on drier pavement and was much quicker. Still on WDET, I listened to Ann Delisi's Essential Music on the way back. It was Barret Strong’s birthday. He was the first Motown singer to have a hit: “Money” (The best things in life are free, but you can give them to the birds and bees. I want money…) he later began to write songs, like “I heard it through the grapevine” and, one of my personal favorites “Papa was a rolling stone.“

In fact, now that I think about it, that would make a great epitaph for me (as I get older, I think about these things): “Papa was a rolling stone. Wherever he laid his hat was his home. And when he died, all he left us was alone…”

John C. Goerlich

1948- 20__

“And when he died, all he left us was alone…”

I LIKE IT!

I treated the cats and then went out to refill the suet cage and squirrel feeder while I still had my going-to-town clothes on and the snow was still light. Then I changed into my usual shorts and t-shirt.

I washed three of the new Tupperware cereal containers and left them to air dry. Then I replaced the furnace filters as per my calendar’s instructions. Speaking of my calendar, I knew in my head that my buddy Leon’s birthday was in the beginning of February, so I sent him a card last Wednesday.  For some reason, I thought his birthday was this weekend. But when I turned the calendar page over Friday night, I saw that it was on the 9^th of February, so I sent it a week early. My bad. Oh well, I’ll be the first to congratulate him, I guess.

Then I got started on my soup for this weekend. Now, I wanted to make a bean soup and I wanted to use a ham hock that I was sure I had in the freezer.. But, when I checked both the freezer in the fridge and the small chest freezer in the garage, I couldn’t find it! So, I got to thinking…

Ham hock = bacon? Now, long time readers will remember that there are three Campbell’s soups that I love: chicken noodle, split pea with ham and bean with bacon. But, I didn’t want a tomato-based bean with bacon soup, like Campbell’s. I wanted a basic bean soup.

So, I took out a pound of thick-sliced bacon (the only kind I buy) and cut it into lardons with the kitchen shears. I put those in my Dutch oven and turned the heat on medium.

[Sidebar: Am I the only one who’s noticed that, when you see some good deal on bacon these days and go to buy it, the package is NOT a pound (16 ounces) but just 12 ounces? Do they think we’re stupid? Bah!]

Anyway, off the soapbox… Jake called while I was in the middle of this and we talked about work, motorcycles, boats and the Volvo, etc. I told him what I was doing and asked if he thought I should take the bacon to crisp or just well done for soup. He suggested well-done, to avoid a “crunch” in the soup. So, that’s what I did.

After we hung up, I took the bacon out with a slotted spoon and set it on some paper towels to drain. There was a LOT of bacon fat left, so I poured most of it into my “bacon fat coffee cup” that (ala my Mother) I keep in the fridge. In the remaining fat, I sautéed a medium sized diced yellow onion and about a cup of chopped celery. When they were almost done, I added three minced cloves of garlic.

[Another sidebar: Did you ever notice that in most authentic Italian recipes, you are NEVER supposed to cut, chop or mince the garlic, just smash it with the side of your knife? I believe the theory is that you lose valuable oils if you cut the garlic. But, that’s just my German interpretation of Italian cooking…]

Anyway…

To that celery, onion and garlic mixture, I added the box of chicken broth I had (I wanted to use it somewhere as I was embarrassed to have “broth” in my pantry). I threw in two fresh bay leaves and the frozen rind of some old, leftover Parmigiano-Reggiano (I always put those in the freezer as they add some mysterious flavor to soups and stews). Then I opened, drained and rinsed a can each of the following: Great Northern beans, Pinto beans, Cannellini beans (white kidney beans), Garbanzos beans and Black-eye Peas. I added each to the soup.

Meanwhile, I labeled three of the cereal Tupperware containers and put them on the top shelf of the cupboard. See photos.

I let the soup get happy on “low” while I debated on whether or not to use the stick blender to puree it a little to thicken it. I decided to take a nap while I thought about it, so I did.

When I woke up, I taste-tested it and added a little salt and a lot of fresh-ground black pepper. I discarded the bay leaves and cheese rind, then I ate a bowl of it with the last hunk of Rustic Italian bread for my late-lunch/early supper. It was excellent with no need to thicken it. I will definitely add this to my recipes as it’s a CaptainK original.

I turned the heat off so it could cool and I could freeze the remaining soup (although I will probably take some in to work for my two Michelle’s and Vicky). I made a cup of coffee for dessert and went in to watch some TV until bedtime.