Food and memories

So I was gonna make potato pancakes for dinner tonight before I realized that I was out of onions. Walked to the little shop up the road from me, but they were out too. So bought a soda and thought of what else I could make. Realized that I had all the items needed to make one of my favorite childhood dishes, potatoes and dumplings. It was something that my maternal grandmother used to make, and occasionally my mother after Grandma Chris died. It is a simple dish requiring only potatoes, flour, eggs, and water. It is usually eaten with butter and sour cream. Not a light dish, but very tasty. :)

It is one of the few things that I know how to cook without having a written recipe for. When I was in college I had mentioned missing the dish and my mom gave me the recipe to follow. That was the first time I'd ever made it, but the recipe is so easy that I memorized it. The dumplings are two parts flour for every one part water and egg. Mix dough into a nice tacky substance. When the potatoes are almost done boiling, drop dumplings into the water with a teaspoon. Once the dumplings rise to the top, let them cook five minutes more and then pour the hot water off. Serve with small amount of melted butter and sour cream. Like I said easy.

I don't remember the last time I made this dish, but I know it was over four years ago. Thankfully my sieve like memory managed to retain this. It turned out quite well, and I enjoyed it along with slightly sweeten ice tea. The whole dinner was a reminder of happier times growing up. It was a comfort dinner, and after a week of not feeling quite right (sinus issues again, along with that wonderful monthly visitor all women know so well) one that I hadn't realized I needed. It is amazing how our memory connects with our senses.

The Adventures of the Mighty Stain Fighter

Okay, so one has a bit of time to think of silly things while doing laundry by hand.

So my new alter ego, MSF, tackled the overflowing laundry basket that I've been ignoring for a while. Spent a few hours scrubbing clothes, bed linens, my welcome and bathroom mats, and my towel. If you want a good upper arm workout, wash your sheets by hand. Hmm, scrubbing the mats was a good workout too. Plus they're all bright and clean now, and the sheets smell great. As frustrating as it is to do all of it by hand, I've found that not only is it a useful skill, but my clothes look new longer. Another plus is since we have a water catchment tank (catches rain water), I don't have to haul water to do my laundry (or for any other reason).

Tricks I've discovered for dealing with stains: 1) if you can rinse it before it dries, do so (During training I spilled chocolate ice cream on my white skirt. I went to the ladies room and rinses it out and scrubbed the worse parts with a bit of hand soap. Since it was just a small section of my skirt, it didn't take me soaking the whole thing. By the time I finished you couldn't even tell I'd spilled anything), 2) use the nifty bar laundry soap they sell here and then let it soak for a while, 3) soak the darn object in bleach (or the color safe alternative), 4) dye the thing a darker color (I haven't had to use this one yet, but I have a few things I'm contemplating dying just to make them look better), 5) use the stained object for yard work, cleaning, and other things that require older, rattier clothes.

Other than laundry, I didn't do a whole lot today. But I figure it was a big accomplishment to get all of my laundry done. Spent the rest of the day reading and doing little odd and end things. Then I made "Poor Girl's Chicken Fettuccine" for dinner. Basically I cooked five chicken breast tenderloins with some Mrs. Dash garlic and herb stuff, made a box of Kraft "Cheesy Alfredo" pasta, mixed the chicken with the pasta and added some cherry tomatoes from my yard. Overall not a bad little dinner.