I was making dinner the other day and realized that there are five items in my pantry/fridge that are fresh ingredients, always on hand and budget friendly. I find them to be versatile, healthy and easily available year round. They tend to have a long shelf life if stored properly so they are wonderful for the once a month shopper to keep on hand.
Besides their common availability all five also have in common that they provide nutrients, fiber and many necessary vitamins and minerals.
Hello, dears. I didn't mean to go so long without a coffee chat. I've started four, but they irritated me. One sounded too complaining. One sounded too confrontational. One sounded boring. I gave up and went away and now I am back. We shall see if I come up with anything reasonably between the three previous failed ones!
There are no real sweets on hand, since John is fasting sugar until next week. I expect he will want to cut way back following this fast of his and I shall do my best to accommodate him.
This week's kitchen is likely from the early to mid 1920's. It's a simple room and straightforward. I love the windows...I admit I'm big on having a well lit kitchen and even on a dull day a kitchen with plenty of windows will have some light.
Let me begin this room examination with a confession: I'd love a stove like that one pictured there. I've seen the most dainty little gas stoves in flea markets and antiques fairs. I can't tell if this is gas or more likely wood. At any rate it's small and delicate looking and not at all imposing as the great huge Home Comfort stove that graced a home I lived in once long ago. I love that the stove is slipped into that built in nook, much like a big old English kitchen fireplace nook.
Saturday: We've had a nice relaxing Shabat in our home. It was so cold! It never went over 38F today and the promised sunshine? Peeked in the window about 4:30 and then slipped behind the clouds again and was never seen again. Pooh!
We kept the little propane heater on all day long and even so the heat pump would periodically come on in an attempt to keep the temperature up indoors. I don't think we ran the propane heater much last year or the year before. In fact, I distinctly remember feeling sorry for the propane company because they made little money off us those two years. Perhaps this year will be better for them. I always figure propane into my budget starting in August since we typically get our first fill-up in September. Some years the last fill-up comes in March and others it's in April but never beyond that do we see the man unless it's time for tank maintenance.
First let us go right to that floor. You know, the guys who laid linoleum in those days must have been artists. Look at those scallops!
Saturday: We had a very quiet New Year's Day here. Just me and John and the rain. I didn't do a thing except an extended Bible study in the morning. We had a Submarine sandwich that we ate for our midday meal, with the last of the Christmas cookies, a soda and chips. We paid far too much for that silly sandwich but we sure did enjoy it. It made us feel we'd done something special for New Year's and that was what we'd meant to do.
Today was not a quiet Shabat day as we'd usually like to have. We'd had a rather desperate housebound Daddy text asking please could we take the boys. They do live in a small house and it had been raining for two days. I told him we'd take them for the midmorning to mid-afternoon time frame and I quickly made plans. I found pizza dough in the freezer yesterday and set it out to thaw. The boys love pizza almost as much as they like pancakes.
Well hello and welcome to a new year. While the year is brand new, I tend to change things up a wee bit, just to make it feel as new as it seems to me at the moment. Truth told it's mostly a lot of the same old things but a little refreshing does a great deal towards improving a familiar meal or a comfortable chair, and a blog.
First I thought I'd reintroduce the retro kitchen photos. I know that many of you enjoyed seeing them and commenting on what you liked or didn't. I thought it would be fun to go back to sharing those for a while. And I'll just go ahead and comment on this one: I love the reverse tile color from one side to the other but honestly doesn't that dining area seem a bit too snug for three? I'm assuming it's a living/dining room opposite that divided wall but personally I'd like a bit more elbow room at the table, even if there were normally just the two of us.