You Will Notice Something's Missing

Viz., the new refrigerator that was supposed to be delivered today.  We came home to a cheerful voice on the answering machine telling us that he was calling to confirm delivery.  This, after Brian made it clear to the store that a) the contractor would be there today and b) if there were any questions, not to call the home # but  rather my cell phone.  

Do people even listen anymore?  Because we had the same experience when dealing with my credit union, leaving voice mails giving explicit instructions not to call the number listed on the account, because it was the home # and one is there during the day.  It took three phone calls and my nastiest lissen-up-yew-maggots voice before it got through to them.

On the plus side of the ledger, the backsplash on the built-in cabinet and the countertops are gorgeous. I'll have to try for a better shot during daylight.

Poulet à la Réaménagement

A shout out to the Presto people.  Without this, we probably would have starved.

Assemble your batterie de cuisine --  electric skillet, one dinner fork, one spatula, one heavy coffee mug, one gallon sized freezer bag, one cardboard plate that is deep enough to hold a couple of fistfuls of flour (it would be a good idea before starting any of this to go upstairs and look for the flour).

Put a coffee-mugful of water and a tablespoon of butter in the electric skillet.  Turn it to 400° until it bubbles.  Pour in a bag of red potatoes, cut all to one size if necessary.  Sprinkle with salt, put the lid on the skillet, and turn it down to 200°.  Keep an eye on it for an hour or so, prodding the potatoes with the fork occasionally.  When they are done but still have a little firmness at the core, scoop them up and put into whatever microwave-proof bowl you can find in the disorder.

Freeze in place when power goes out to half the basement and wait for spousal unit to put down the power tools and descend to the basement to flip the circuit breaker. Agree that it would probably be a good idea to postpone the rest of the dinner prep until he's done.

Take two chicken breasts and while they are still partly frozen, slice them into two cutlets each.  Put them in the freezer bag, one at a time, and pound them to an even thickness with the coffee mug which you are using because the mallet is still in one of the old cabinets that have been pushed into the spare bedroom.  

Don’t break the mug.

Put a three quarters of a mug or so of flour – assuming you have found it -- in the cardboard plate and season with salt and pepper.  If you managed to locate the spice rack while you were looking for the flour, add a half teaspoon of dried and pulverized thyme.  Dredge the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour.

Dump the water out of the electric skillet, wipe it out, and heat it to 350°.  Pour in a couple of dribbles of cooking oil.  Add a tablespoonful of butter.  When the butter foams, brown the chicken cutlets on both sides.  Turn the skillet down to 250°, push the cutlets to one side, add a jar of drained green beans (the can opener is still missing), cover and let cook for about five minutes, until the chicken is done and the beans are heated through.

Walk out to the other room and pop a few of the potatoes in the microwave that’s sitting on the table there, just long enough to reheat them.  Serve with the chicken and the green beans.  Save the rest of the potatoes and two of the chicken cutlets for tomorrow night so that you won’t have to go through all of this again.

Happy Belated Lunar New Year

Xinnian hao, y'all.  Best wishes for the Year of the Horse.

Mamma Said There'd Be Days Like This

1.  The countertop man says he won't have them ready to install until the 6th.
2.  At thirteen minutes past ten this morning, my life got very interesting, very fast.
3.  I re-chipped my front tooth.

These things only come in threes, right?  Right?

It Was A Reasonable Assumption

To save money, the spousal unit is doing some of the electrical work himself.

He:  I've turned off the furnace. (note:  it's 35F outside.  Practically a heat wave).

Me:  What on earth for?

He:  I have to re-wire the thermostat.

Me:  Oh...okay.  I thought you were going all weird and Scotch-Irish on me.

Caturday!

And To Make Things Really Peachy

The water main just broke.

I am hosting a tabletop exercise tomorrow with our Incident Command Staff, RSVP, the Red Cross, the EMA, and the county's largest employer.  There is no way in hell there will be enough water pressure to shower in the morning.

I Can't Find The Sam Adams, Either

Well, the project is on hold for 1.5 weeks until the counter-tops get here.  In the meantime, I'm living in the basement, Brian is living in the master bedroom, the cats aren't speaking to us and Babyface is a nervous wreck.

(Power tools do that to her.  She is also nursing an intense hatred for the contractor, a wholly inoffensive and hard-working young man).

I'm batching it tonight and wanted to make my recipe for Rice Cooker Beans and Rice to have for dinner, and as a nice, belly-warming lunch to have for the next three days. Everything was swell until I realized that the can-opener is somewhere in the spare bedroom behind a wall of old cabinetry.

Beans and Rice, sans beans, is just...sad.  

Notes On A Renovation, Week II

The distributor shipped the cabinets minus their glass doors.

Notes On A Renovation

Two more weeks.  The people cutting the countertops told the contractor that they don't think they'll be done any sooner.

The microwave, crockpot, electric skillet and coffee-maker are set up in the basement. I don't know which is more annoying, having to cook where I do laundry, or having to do laundry where I cook.

Just Because

Call Him The Kitchenator

I had to take a VITA class this afternoon.  When I got home the kitchen had been completely dismantled.

He even took up the old floor.

Caturday!

Remember, Rome Wasn't Built Like Your Mother

The contractor comes on Monday so we have been (very little me, a lot more he) packing out the kitchen. For the next fortnight I will be cooking on the electric skillet in the basement and doing dishes in the laundry room sink. It is quite possible that blogging will be affected, so I'm just letting you know.

The Drama Queen, like all cats, is a Republican.  She wants everything to be the same way it has always been, and her response to the relocation of the refrigerator was to leave a highly aromatic deposit on the floor in front of it.  I can't wait to see how she handles a bunch of guys in workboots and toolbelts tromping around.

I Swear On A Stack I Am Not Making This Up

One of the additional duties performed by Trudy*, our Administrative Assistant, is to record and release the telephone notices that go out to inform personnel of emergencies. Fortunately, this rarely happens, but Sunday night all staff got to hear her calm, competent voice letting them know that the Health Department would be closed on Monday due to snow.  

Tuesday morning our singularly clueless senior staff person came to find me with a worried look on her face.

SCSSP:  I don't have Trudy's name on my call-down list. Do you know if she got the message about the office being closed?

Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind

Inside of back and front doors.

Inside of window on the kitchen stairs.

It's more fun, I guess, when you have to dig for it.

Or at least it makes success a bit sweeter.

The Weather Channel says we got 3.9 inches.  My ass.

                                 

The cats have been yammering to be allowed outside.  My evil side wants to let them go and see if that overhang will fall on them.

We Are Not Amused

When Icicles Hang on the Wall

We still have power, we still have cable, and we still have Internet connectivity.  But the spousal unit went out at 0955 to blow out the driveway and by the time he came back in, 45 minutes later, another inch of snow had fallen.

I'm reasonably sure I could make it in to work tomorrow.  I'm just as sure that I would not be able to make it home.

Update:  12:07pm.  In keeping with the best traditions of Murphy's Law, our reverse osmosis system has stopped producing water.  Brian went over to the tiny village grocery store and came back with two jugs of the bottled stuff, but in true Captain Oates spirit I have offered to drink wine for the duration.

Update:  13:34pm.  I had to substitute this photo as being slightly more representative of what is happening outside.

Update:  15:45pm.  The county has announced that they're pulling all the plows off the roads in fifteen minutes.

Update:  16:02pm.  Bowing to the inevitable, the county has announced that non-essential county offices will be closed tomorrow.

Caturday!

Looking at the weather report, it's a good thing we stocked up on kibble.  I will be very surprised if our Internet is still up by this time tomorrow.

Quote of the Day

Among the crowd of relations near and far most families possess one relation par excellence, who stands out from all the rest by reason either of generosity, aggravatingness, or strength of character.  Sometimes this relation is an uncle; more often it is an aunt; almost invariably he or she is unmarried or widowed, because the single state naturally allows more time and energy for interest beyond the personal household.  ~ Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey