Then it was Saturday…

I woke up on Saturday at 6:30 a.m. I freaked a little, thinking I was late for something. But then I realized my haircut was not until 9:30 a.m. So, I chilled a little. I had two cups of coffee and an English muffin for breakfast. I shaved, showered and got dressed and then left for my morning errands.

I got my shaggy hair and beard cut (about two week’s over-due, thanks to my SC vacation). Then I went to Kroger’s, Westborn, and finally GFS. I stopped at Little Bill’s Trophy (you may remember them from the dead guy boxes, back in the day). But they were closed for vacation until after Labor Day. Bummer! I had a plan!

I got home about 11:00 a.m. and left the truck outside. I had sh*t to do in the garage.

I carted in the shopping bags, treated Caley and then unpacked the groceries. I mixed one bag of coleslaw mix with half of a bottle of Marzetti Original Slaw dressing. I let that get happy in the fridge for lunch.

I changed into shorts and a T-shirt and then started to water all the container gardens. I walked back to see if the vegetable garden needed watering (it didn’t) and saw my beans, peas and radishes had sprouted. Not to self: Thin the radishes!

I also noticed that all the tomatoes I had ripening were gone! I found a few stems here and there in the grass. Damn! Looks like I’m feeding the skunk again. I picked some catnip for Caley.

Back inside, I made lunch by warming up some of the pulled pork I thawed out overnight. I had about two cups left. I toasted two slices of sourdough bread, put on the pulled pork and a good helping of Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. I topped that with some coleslaw, added some chips and a pickle to my plate and ate a great lunch. Well, great except for the chips. There was cat hair on them!

I watched some DIY shows while I ate. I decided to shut off the TV and take a nap (I haven’t had one since I left SC). So, I did. When I woke up, I cleaned both toilets (not the most glamorous part of home ownership, LOL).

My daughter Melissa called around 5:00 p.m. and we caught each other up. We hadn’t talked in almost a month so that took some time. It sounds like they are making good progress on the house, but still have a ways to go.

When we finally hung up, I realized it was getting late and I still had dinner to make. So, I pulled the truck in the garage and buttoned everything up for the night.

I peeled two thin eggplants I got at Westborn. I cut them into thick slices while the oil heated up in my skillet. I tried Carla’s trick and put 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan, one cup of flour and one cup of Panko breadcrumbs in a baggie. I dipped each slice into some eggs I’d beaten and then shook them up (four at a time) in the baggie. I put the eggplant into the frying pan flipping them when they were golden.

I put each batch on a rack over some paper towels in a half sheet pan.  Meanwhile, I heated some water and a jar of store-bought pasta sauce. I made half a box of thick spaghetti. I lined my little cookie sheet with aluminum foil. I set the nicest rounds of eggplant on the foil, put some sauce on them and then a slice of mozzarella cheese on top. I stuck those in the oven under the broiler until the cheese had melted.

I mixed the spaghetti with the pasta sauce and plated some, along with some of the eggplant parmesan. I put a spoonful of pasta sauce on top each eggplant slice and sprinkled some grated parmesan cheese on top.

Dinner may have been a little late, but it was well worth the wait. I cleaned up the mess I made of the kitchen and then went into watch TV until bedtime.