My weekend

We had such a beautiful weekend, here, in Seattle. As usual, one daughter came with me on errands. We made a detour to the beach for a couple of hours and sat in the sunshine, talked, walked along the shoreline collecting shells, and enjoyed the peace of an autumn day at the beach. Summer days at the beach are filled with lively families; but autumn days are quiet. Even the families who were also there on Saturday were quietly enjoying the sand and water.

The tide was very low which makes finding shells in good condition a lot easier. We also saw the largest jelly fish that we've ever spotted in Puget Sound waters. In addition, this particular beach seems to be a good spot for watching the harbor seals. It never fails that while we are there, we can watch at least one harbor seal bobbing through the water.

Sunday was equally peaceful and filled with sunshine. My daughters put together a cookout for the family in the evening. After dinner we made s'mores, but not with marshmallows. We used circus peanut candy instead (it's what we had). Circus peanuts are a semi-dried marshmallow. They actually do puff and soften when roasted over a fire, just not as much as a regular marshmallow. The resulting s'more is very tasty, although not at all gooey.

And today the rain is back. It's also the first day of classes for my daughters. One daughter is a part time student, primarily focusing on her senior project, which is an art show in the spring. The other daughter is completing her requirements for the other half of her major field -- education. She's taking a couple of classes and student teaching this year. And speaking of said daughter, she overslept a bit, and now I'm driving her to the transit center. I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that your week is off to a great beginning. Be back tomorrow!

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers when the house feels cold!

Over the weekend we had rice and garbanzo beans, cooked carrots, chicken and cheese burritos and frozen peas.

Monday--
I had simmered the carcass of a roasted chicken last week, and frozen the broth and scraps of meat for making soup. Monday was just the kind of day where soup would be appreciated -- the skies were dark, it looked like rain could begin at any moment, and the house did not warm much at all (63 F was the warmest it got in the main areas of the house).  The menu for Monday -- chicken soup to go with leftovers from my volunteer work over the weekend (tea sandwiches, potato chips, cookies and fruit).

Tuesday--
Tuesday I roasted my last whole turkey. Roasting the turkey is a decision that no only affects the menu, but also impacts the household heat. The Friday before, I checked the weather forecasts and it looked to be rainy and cool this week. I had no idea how chilly it would feel in the house, though, so I was very appreciative of something so large that needed a long cooking period. Dinner on Tuesday was roasted turkey, gravy, cornbread stuffing, frozen green beans, cranberry sauce from last week.

Wednesday--
With a roasted turkey this week, Wednesday would be a good day for easy leftover cooking. There was cooked rice in the fridge, from the weekend, turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce from the night before, and frozen peas done in the microwave to round out the meal. With the turkey carcass, at this point I had pulled enough meat off of some of the bones to start a crockpot of broth overnight, with leg, thigh, and wing bones. This will reduce my work on the main turkey stock-making day, on Friday, and maybe the rest of the turkey bones will actually fit in my small-ish crockpot, and cook overnight Friday into Saturday.

Thursday--
I forgot to use up the cranberry sauce yesterday, so that's a priority to use up. Lots of leftover turkey, and a bit of gravy. I made stock overnight, so I will make a bit more gravy with a cup of it. The rest of dinner will sound a bit odd, but it works, and uses leftovers. So, Thursday dinner menu -- turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, potato chips, steamed carrots, tossed salad that included lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, and cooked green beans. It was all good, even it the combo sounds strange.

I baked bread today, which helped warm the kitchen in the late afternoon, opening the oven door to release all of the heat after baking.

Friday--
I have the rest of the turkey carcass to cook up today. I think that I'll use whatever meat I can remove from it in a turkey curry, or a Moroccan wrap, using spices to help hide the heavy flavors of dark meat poultry.

What was on your menu this past week?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!