Anna N

I only empty it when going away for an extended period. Otherwise I just leave it. My biggest problem is I forget to empty and clean the drip tray underneath and it gets quite disgusting. I have even put a sign on the handle of the door of the oven saying empty drip tray. It doesn’t do any good and I am the only one who uses it.

I am not familiar with that character and so I looked him up. Except for the gender his description matches me to a T so it’s quite possible we are related. “Uncle Fester is a completely hairless, hunched, and barrel-shaped man with dark, sunken eyes and often a deranged smile.” From Wikipedia.

And I am certainly familiar with that expression and perhaps my brain flip-flopped on the first letter. I remain curious though.

That would mean relinquishing a very precious outlet of which there are very few! Don’t forget we are the queens of kitchen appliances!😂

When I realized what time it was and that Kerry had not eaten today I began to pull together a frittata for her. However, she arrived home with only enough time to munch on some corn chips with salsa and, I’m guessing, guac. I didn’t actually see it. But I’ll stick it in the fridge I’m sure it will get eaten eventually. Nothing exciting, just ham and cheese with a few scallions slices thrown in there. I will likely have a small sliver to bide me over until dinner time. Just as an aside, I am a word and usage junkie. This use of the verb “bide” came quite naturally but when I do some investigation I don’t find much to support this usage. I suspect it is Derbyshire/Yorkshire dialect. Back to food and cooking. We have had a chance now to shake down this kitchen and its weaknesses are beginning to override its strengths. One thing that I struggle with even more than Kerry, I suspect, is the lighting. With black appliances and black counters there is nothing to reflect light and the lightIng is weak and minimal at best. There is no light over the range as the microwave is there and it does not appear to have a light built-in as most of the over-the-range ones do. The dishwasher appears to work only to sanitize already clean dishes otherwise it just sanitizes the food right onto them. Some of the issues with the kitchen have much to do with whoever determined what cabinets should contain what items. I guess this is a very personal matter. If we owned it we would fix it but for now we are working around it as best we can.

@blue_dolphin Those do look good! Mid morning snack: one of Kerry‘s cookies and a bowl of cherries and grapes. We just unpacked this bowl and it always whispers “asparagus” to us. But it was right in front of my nose so I put my fruit in it. I am still moving at a snail’s pace. But then what are holidays for? Still my Puritan upbringing weighs heavy on my mind. Idle hands are the devils play things and such. But my mind is not entirely idle. I am contemplating dinner.

Good morning. It is another sunny but relatively cool day here in Little Current. Breakfast this morning is leftover pork from yesterday evening on toasted rye bread. I will save my fruit for a midmorning snack today. No idea what I will get up to today but I rather doubt that Canada Day will influence it one way or the other.

Glad you are OK. Sorry about the additional pills. I rattle when I walk because I take that many.

The lower one is pork shoulder and the upper one is labelled boneless pork sirloin. Not being a butcher I can’t be any more helpful.

Yup. Hence I avoided it. 😂 I’d rather celebrate the joys of island life.

Can you ever have enough groceries? And the rhubarb – – – Kerry only asked if there was anyway to get rhubarb and it miraculously appeared. J, who knows everything and everybody, was able to get some. There are four people on J’s street with rhubarb in their gardens. (More of the on-sale striploins, rib and shoulder pork chops, mushrooms and Dijon mustard.)

Thank you so much. You are the best,

Another gift that came across the border, this time duty-free. A selection of premium soy sauces. If anyone is knowledgable about these, I would be happy to hear more. I just received them yesterday still have not had an opportunity to taste them or to do any research on them. I am hoping to incorporate them into something while we’re up here.

No. Crossing an international border. Without getting into the realm of politics there are very high duties on dairy products. These came up from Buffalo, NY.

I don’t know the price. These cheeses were a gift. I only know that there is 250% duty on them.

Another blue cheese that made its way across the border (and paid the price)☹️ But it was delicious on rye toast. Grapes and cherries on the side.

I woke up to a gorgeous morning in Northeastern Manitoulin. It is 14°C with the high forecast for 21° and sunny all day long.

All joking aside, I am hoping that you are OK this morning.

The salad before service. On the plate. First time really using the new kitchen and let me tell you there is something to be said for the work triangle — the one we don’t have here! Both of us are doing circles expecting to find the sink only it’s not where it should be. I have not used a gas range since I was knee-high to a corgi. I was expecting incredible things. This is a Frigidaire gas range. Let me tell you if they had decided to use it to burn Joan of Arc she would’ve barely got a sunburn and that would’ve taken a couple of hours. How I miss my induction range. But dinner was good. The steak was just incredible. And the cocktail didn’t hurt a bit. And to make my evening complete when I went into my room for something or other I found my brand new eye glasses that a kitten had hidden in my fanny pack!

But @JoNorvelleWalker—Are you sure you want to see an emergency room Doctor Who poses as a garden gnome and is pretty high right now on an Eeyore’s Requiem?

So Kerry announced in no uncertain terms that said she had had chicken for dinner yesterday evening and chicken for lunch today so there was no way on gods’ (any of them) green earth that she was having chicken for dinner tonight. So there are three strip loins swimming in the sous vide at 54.5°C for about an hour. One will be for another meal.

Yes I do know this but I’ve always had so much more faith in John Milton tan in the FDA or whoever made that determination. “ The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.” Which I have always taken to mean that what we believe becomes so. So copper bracelets for arthritis, a bar of soap in bed for leg cramps, magnets for just about everything else. And if all those things fail then a double scotch (or a couple of mai tais) will usually do the trick.

Outside view of the front of our new digs. We have the lower unit. The mist has cleared and we can see the marina. And Kerry was able to escape the clutches of the emergency department long enough to make a trip to the liquor store. The magazine in front is a freebie as most of you know.

Like shipping coal to Newcastle.

Yep. Tonic water with quinine. Whether it actually works or whether it is only in my head, I find I have fewer night time leg cramps if I have a drink of tonic water on a daily basis (even fewer if I add enough gin to the tonic water). Probably more psychological than anything (or perhaps just better hydration) but I say if it works for you go for it. My sister swears by a bar of soap in her bed as a “cure” for leg cramps. If you believe it works and you believe you have fewer cramps as a result.... so long as these remedies are not harmful I don’t see any reason to change.