Rainy Days and Wednesdays

I guess Redford missed the impressive thunder and lightning that most of the region had Tuesday evening. It rained here overnight, but nothing like I saw on the news Wednesday morning.

Never the less, I drove through rain into work. I did get both walks in during lulls, but it was damp, dark and dreary.

I went out at lunch and drove to Michael’s for some needed supplies. On the way, I finally got to see the lightning show I’d missed. It was impressive, although walking into and out of the store in the pouring rain, not so much.

I stopped and picked up some chicken fried rice for my lunch. On the way back to work, it was raining like hell and I drove through a deep puddle from a flooded storm drain. I wasn’t hydroplaning as much as submarining! The spray was huge and I was afraid my engine would stall or the brakes would fade, but neither turned out to be true.

At least it wasn’t raining on the trip home after work. But, the weather forecast wasn’t reassuring. It’s supposed to keep raining until Saturday with the worst coming tomorrow. They already have flood watches up.

For some odd reason, I had been thinking about some adventure books I read when I was a kid. They were in the library on 24 Mile Road and the main character was Bomba the Jungle Boy. It was much like Tarzan, but located in South America. I Googled them and found they were written in the 1920s. A few of them were even made into movies. I wonder if anybody else ever heard of Bomba the Jungle Boy?

I watched the news for a little while, then stopped to sweep the floors in the kitchen, bedroom, office and main bath. The sawdust has crept back in…

On a cleaning roll, I washed the bathroom floor. I talked to B___ for a while and then started supper.

I had thawed out two chicken thighs overnight, so I patted them dry and seasoned them with just salt and pepper. I preheated the oven to 475 degrees F., closed the office and bedroom doors (to keep the smoke detector ladies quiet) and heated up a tablespoon of canola oil in my big cast iron skillet on high heat (until hot but not smoking).

I put in the chicken, skin side down and cooked it two minutes.. Then I reduced the heat to medium high. I continued to cook is (always skin side down – occasionally rearranging it but never flipping it) until the fat rendered and the skin was golden brown (about 12 minutes).

I transferred the skillet to the oven and cooked it 13 minutes more. Then I flipped the chicken  and let it cook another five minutes before (until the skin crisps and the meat is thoroughly cooked). I transferred them to a plate and let them rest five minutes.

Note: This is supposed to produce the perfect pan-roasted chicken thighs. And, its quick enough for weekday meals. I have used it before with good results.

While they were searing and baking, I cut up one half of the cauliflower head and boiled that in a big pot.

I plated dinner and it was excellent! I topped the cauliflower with salt and butter. The only thing I forgot was that I had planned on squeezing a lemon over the chicken. Oh well, next time. It was still excellent.

I cleaned up the kitchen and then washed the kitchen floor (I told you I was on a roll). I watched TV until bedtime.

I woke up (no, jumped up) when the alarm went off. But, I couldn’t shut it off!!! Then it dawned on my sleep-befuddled brain it was the weather alert thing. As I said before its LOUD and about two feet from my head on the night stand. It scared the crap out of me!!

I checked and it was for flood warnings. I made sure the real alarm on the clock was still turned on and went back to bed. It was 12:35 AM…