Weekend Update

I slept through the alarm on Saturday, so even though I hurried, I was 10 minutes late for my massage appointment. I hate that! I apologized (of course) but I still was pissed at myself. We Germans are anal about that kind of stuff!

We talked about projects. She is adding a 10-foot addition to her house and I volunteered to help. I told her I have to build a 10-foot long sofa table for a woman at work and she didn’t.

From there, I went to get my hair cut.

I headed back home and only stopped at two places. One was the cheap gas station ($3.55 US for regular) to top off my tank and the other was Westborn. At Westborn, I got some fresh asparagus, a cauliflower head, some pork chunks and some veal chunks. I made two impulse buys: a block of three year old aged sharp cheddar cheese and a beautiful eggplant. Then I headed the truck home.

I treated Caley, changed clothes and then went out back. I filled up the last of the peanuts in the squirrel feeder and spread some bird seed on the ground for the mourning doves.

I walked around the yard, looking for signs of spring. The hibiscus were still a non-show (maybe), but the daffodils were just poking up. I opened my shed for the first time this year (probably the first time in four or five months) and was happy to see everything was there, safe and dry.

I played my bass plaque through both its songs and then locked the shed back up: “Don’t worry – be happy” and “Take me to the river.”

Back inside, I finally cut up the Panera bread baguettes into one-inch chunks. They were definitely stale! But, think about it… How many people do you know who make Panera bread into croutons? I am definitely going uptown, here!!!

I chopped four cloves of garlic into a rough chop and covered them with 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil. I noted the time and let it sit for four hours to infuse.

I spent the time watching TV and eating the sharp cheddar cheese with Triscuits.  An excellent Brunch!

Then I combined 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese with a sprinkle of dried thyme, dried parsley, smoked paprika, a pinch of cayenne pepper, salt and fresh ground black pepper. I put that into a medium mixing bowl. I added the croutons and then pressed the oil through a slotted spoon, smushing the garlic with a wooden spoon. Of course, not all of it went through, so I’ll save that for something else. I tossed it with a spatula.

I put the croutons in a single layer on a half sheet pan into a preheated 300 degree F. oven. I set the timer for 15 minutes.

When the timer went off, I pulled the pan out and mixed everything around (the ones on the outside cook faster than the ones in the middle, you see). I put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

When that time had elapsed, I pulled them again, mixed them all around and topped them with another 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. I put them back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes until they were brown and crunchy.

I let them cool completely and then stuck them in a baggie.

For supper I was supposed to make city chicken or spring pasta. Instead, I peeled the eggplant, set up my breading station and fried that. Delicious as always!

I didn’t sleep well Saturday night, but finally fell sound asleep around 5:00 a.m. Jake called me at 7:00 a.m. After we hung up, I went back to bed and slept almost until noon! Which is why the two Blog posts are combined into one!

All that tossing around annoyed Caley, so she retired to her basket (first time in a long time).

 

I ate the rest of the eggplant for my Sunday supper. I decided I’d already wasted most of the day sleeping, so I would waste the rest of it watching old movies. So, I did.