urban earth mother

I came home tonight, through the freezing rain and ice and puddle-filled sidewalks, and pondered dinner. Spouse said he wasn't feeling great (headache) and wasn't that hungry but I asked him what he wanted and ran down a list of things we had: sausages, Quorn fillets, cabbage, potatoes, baked beans . He said sausage, beans and chips would be fine. Excuse me? Chips? Did I at any point mention chips? No, I didn't, but I did say potatoes and to an Englishman that's just chips-in-the-raw. Well, I wasn't opposed to a bit of a challenge tonight, so I pulled out the old Fanny Farmer again. It failed me on boiling eggs on a modern range, but I figured something involving deep frying had to be easier. Scrub, slice, soak, boil, cool, dry, fry. Easy-peasy. How do you make crispy chips? Can anyone tell me this? Everything seemed to go well, and they tasted great (spouse: Ooo! It smells lovely! Me: That's hot fat.) but were soggy. I drained them and kept them in a hot oven w...

I feel like such a slug today for having stayed in my jammies (nightie and bed jacket set, actually, that I picked up at the vintage shop the day before the big job loss). I put a skirt and coat on over them when I had to go out to buy cat litter! Although I have technically done things today. I finally sat down to start ending my winter coat (vintage swing coat bought about 3 years ago) since both armpits have torn and the lining is just a mess. I managed to fix the pits and some of the lining, but am putting of the really long seaming until next week. I'm hand-sewing, so it's a big production. After I'd finished the first arm, spouse called me in to the office to remind me to put up his dry-erase board. He just bought it yesterday to help him plan (he's a big note taker) and asked me to put it up since I am Keeper of the Drill. He bought me the drill the Christmas before we married (to shocked looks in the family when I opened it) and I don't get much chance to us...

I've taken to baking bread lately. Spouse lost his job yesterday, so we're looking into budgeting better and the bread would be a good way to economize. It *would* be if we didn't eat all of it in one sitting! The first batch I made started with a sponge made with commercial yeast, but I kept some back to feed to have a starter around regularly. It' had a bit more commercial yeast put in, but mainly it's running wild now. The starter, plus slow risings is giving wonderful results and tonight's bread was the best so far. I made them in a three loaf baguette pan, but the oven was to steamy to get a really crisp crust. Baguettes, of a sort 1 cup starter 1 cup warm water 1 cup flour Mix and let sit over night In the morning, add: 1 cup warm water, into which has been dissolved sugar cube and 1/2 T salt 3 cups flour (more if needed) Mix to form a ball and kneed until it starts to feel elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise 2-3 hours. Knock down and let...