Now, Where Was I?

I am feeling a little disoriented today without the list of things to do at 507 to keep me busy. That was a little bit bigger project than I am used to these days, but back in the day, I remember having a few time consuming gigs that took a few days to recover from. I will adjust quickly.

The gutters are to be installed today and the old ones hauled off--and good riddance to that smelly mess!

Meanwhile, the Man Cave looks like an episode of Hoarders!  We hauled home two full pickup bed loads of stuff from the garage yesterday evening and pretty much just dumped it in the Man Cave.  It was hot, we were tired, it will still be there when we get to it.  It will take us a few days to put things back in usable form...then the home projects can resume!  :D

Our yard is the only one on our street that didn't get a haircut this weekend.  Ornery says it looks like this place is vacant. I guess it has been! The rain has really made it look thick and lush.  So pretty!

I plan to spend my first week at home full-time cooking and organizing.  If I cook each morning I can build the freezer stock back up. I am looking for some good ideas for chicken--something new and different.  I'll post what I find on my neglected recipe blog.  I have two new cookbooks coming in a couple of weeks, and I am hoping to resurrect some make-a-mix recipes and once-a-month cooking plans. I also plan to not eat another fast-food meal for a very long time!

As for the organizing, I am starting at the front of the house and working my way back to the back.  First room up:  The Library. Stay tuned for progress reports and photos!

Kite and License Plate Art and Tomato Basil Soup

Holidays seem like odd days to me.  Some places are open, others are not.  It doesn't seem like a "real" day if the mail doesn't run, and today as President's Day was no different in that vein.  We got off to a fairly good start, but by noon Ornery and I were both disinterested in doing work.  He managed to get all the trim around the doors and ceiling in our bathroom painted today, but that is all he accomplished--really only about an hour's worth of work.  I did even less!

I did make this cute kite which is hanging on the wall just as you enter the studio.  The tail is fairly long--about three feet--and has all different ribbons tied onto it.

The bottom right hand panel says "Free Spirit" on it.  This took me several hours to make, but I am pleased with the outcome.

I also finished this little piece.  Well, it isn't really so little, it's about 18 inches across and a foot tall.  I had fun digging through all my doo-dads to embellish this. :)

It is raining tonight, and I fixed tomato basil soup from a recipe I discovered while rifling through my recipes last week.  It was simple to make, and oh-so-tasty!

1 large (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 large (28 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. blackstrap molasses (to add LOTS of minerals)
1 tsp. baking soda (to neutralize the acid in the tomatoes)

Mix it all together in large saucepan and heat through, but do not boil.  We served it with Town House Italian Flavored flat bread crackers.  Yum, yum!

Tuna and Pasta Salad

Last week when we were at Jason's deli preparing to shop for groceries, I had some pasta salad and decided to buy ingredients to make some.  I haven't ever made anything like it before (that I can recall) and I didn't have a recipe, so today I experimented and came up with this.

         In a large bowl, mix:
8 oz. twirly vegetable pasta, cooked al dente
1 can skipjack tuna, drained and flaked  or one chicken breast cooked and finely chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
2 roasted red peppers (in a jar) chopped
1 small can sliced olives
          Mix together and pour over salad ingredients:
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I used vegannaise)
2 T olive oil
1-2 T vinegar (I used Braggs Apple Cider, but others would work)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dried dill weed
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. Beau Monde Seasoning mix (celery salt, onion powder)

Refrigerate before serving so flavors can mingle and mix. Quite tasty and filling!