Mom and I both got our 1st dose of the Covid vaccine yesterday. After all these weeks of watching video of long lines and hearing the horror stories about long waits, it couldn’t have been easier. So glad they finally let pharmacies start distributing them here in Nevada!
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Pretending
In a much earlier post I tried to explain why I never play the evil person in role-playing games. Ran across this quote that encapsulates it for me:
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night
Fun with Hats
One of the perks of deciding to grow my hair out a bit is that I now look decent in hats. I’ve always enjoyed wearing hats, so I am very pleased with this. Here’s the current collection:
I especially enjoy the Fedoras as they are easy to wear in the car: the small brim at the back doesn’t interfere with the head rest.
Fashion Update
Look! A new mask! And a lovely one it is in basic black. Suppose I should have my boots on to complete the look; maybe next time.
Small Return to Normal
Yesterday I got mom out of the house for something other than a doctor’s visit. We went to see the Chinese New Year’s display at the Bellagio Hotel. All safety protocols were followed as you can see in this picture of mom with her double masking:
The wheelchair is just for travelling long distances quickly; mom is still quite mobile in general.
The display at the Conservatory is fabulous:
Two Quick Notes
One: Over the weekend, someone on Nextdoor posted a picture of a cougar that they saw near the golf course here. I have assumed that since we live next to Lake Mead National Recreation Area and have herds of big horn sheep nearby that we would also have cougars, but this is the first I’ve heard of one being spotted near by. I am definitely going to be limiting my walks with Brindy to the more built-up areas!
Two: I took an on-line class to brush up on my paper flower making skills last month. You can see the results over on my “Paper Flowers” page.
Another Coyote Picture
This was taken yesterday morning. Brindy and I were originally over by the sign on the other side of the street; I decided to forgo the closer shot in favor of getting some distance!
Pictures of Paper Flowers
I’ve put a new menu item at the top of this page: Paper Flowers. I will be posting pictures there of the flowers I make. Meanwhile, I’ve loaded it with some of my past creations.
New Crafting Space
When I first saw the office in our house, I figured it would be great for both computer work and crafting. After all, the previous owners had turned an entire walk-in closet into desk and countertop space:
Turns out, though, that paperwork and gaming do not mix well with crafting. In January I started an on-line class to get me back into paper flower making and I realized just how much I wanted my own separate space for it. Fortunately, I have a 4-1/2 x 5 foot storage room off the back porch. I’ve spent the last few days switching paper good supplies out and crafting supplies in.
Here’s the new crafting space:
The room is so small that it doesn’t take much to warm it up. Not sure yet what I will do in the heat of the summer, but I’m sure I will figure something out.
Just to make sure I don’t burn the place down by leaving the heater or my glue gun on, I have all the electrical stuff on a timer. Also, there is a sprinkler head in this little storage room.
My one splurge for this new space was a desk with adjustable height. I spend so much time sitting in front of my computer that I thought it would be nice to be able to stand to do some of my crafting. The desk raises and lowers at the the touch of a button.
I still have some arranging to do and I might hang pictures or put up a few shelves, but so far I am very happy with the way this is working out. I am getting a lot of flowers made!
New Recipe Success
When I’m going through cookbooks trying to pick out recipes, I can usually visualize what they might be like. Every once in a while, though, I come across one that I haven’t a clue about and yet something about it makes me want to try it. This is one such recipe for me:
- Cabbage & Beef Soup
- 1/4 cup Vegetable oil, (2 fl oz/60 mil)
1 Yellow onion, large, coarsely chopped
2 cloves Garlic, coarsely chopped
1 lb Flank steak, (500 g), trimmed of fat
Salt and pepper
8 cups Canned beef broth, (2 qt/21)
1 lb Canned plum (Roma) tomatoes, (500 g) with juice
1/3 cup Lemon juice, (2-1/2 fl oz/8O mil )
1/4 cup Sugar, (2 oz/60 g)
1/4 cup Raisins, (1 oz/30 g)
1 head Savoy cabbage, cored and cut into 1/2-inch (12-mm) wide ribbons
2 Bay leaves
(You can replace the beef with kielbasa sausages, cutting them into 1/2-inch (12-mm) slices, which is basically what I did; I used some beef summer sausage that I had down in my freezer.)
There are reasons I didn’t know what to expect from this dish: I don’t fix soup very often, I don’t cook with cabbage much, and I have never made a sweet and sour dish before. And, yet, I kept coming back to this recipe.
Finally, last week, I decided it was time to try it. Mom doesn’t think much of cooked cabbage, but was willing to at least taste the dish. The only change I made (besides the meat) was to use a red cabbage I happened to have on hand. I knew there was enough acid in the dish to keep the color of the cabbage from going to blue.
Turns out this soup is freaking delicious!
Mom not only ate all I gave her, but was open to a second serving. And it made enough that I have two bags full of soup in the freezer to look forward to having at a later date.
The only thing I didn’t think worked out well was the use of whole (albeit smashed) tomatoes. I ended up cutting them into smaller pieces so that they were spread throughout the soup.
The other change I would make to the ingredients is that I would cut the cabbage in spoon-size pieces to make it easier to eat.
Here are the instructions:
Heat the oil in a large pot over low to medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until
translucent, 2-3 minutes. Season the flank steak with salt and pepper, add to the pan, and cook, turning once, until lightly browned on each side, 2-3 minutes. Add the broth and stir and scrape with a wooden spoon to deglaze any browned bits.Add the tomatoes, crushing them slightly with the wooden spoon. Add the lemon juice, sugar, raisins, cabbage, and bay leaves. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, partly cover, and simmer gently until the meat is tender, about 1 hour.
Discard the bay leaves. Remove the meat from the pot and, using a sharp knife and a fork, cut and tear it up into coarse bite-sized pieces. Stir the meat back into the pot. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings, if necessary. Ladle into warmed bowls and serve.
Very glad I tried this out; it’s a definite keeper!
Tuples and Attributes 