Update: I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and then got sick. Everyone is already settling into the school year schedule but it seemed a waste to discard an already finished post. So here it is…
Our household tends to move towards a more nocturnal schedule during the summer. Three of us are natural night owls. One is an early bird no matter how late she goes to bed but at least she’s easily amused by the television and can now feed herself breakfast. She’s also learned that if she lets us sleep she gets to watch more shows. The other one really has no schedule but he hates the heat so being up later when it’s cooler works as well as anything else.
Sy is off during the summer and I sorta make my own hours so it works for us even though it’s going to change in the next week. I’m going to be the only one in the household NOT going to school so it’s back to the regimented lifestyle. It’s going to be strange being the only non-student, but I’ve got a novel to finish up. That should keep me a wee bit busy.
I’ve been doing a lot of museum related side-work this summer. The extra cash has been wonderful but the extra hours have virtually eliminated my writing time. Having everyone home at practically all hours put the final nail in the coffin. It’s very difficult to focus when being pulled in several different directions. I need peace and quiet and some time to shuffle around the house in my slippers while making endless cups of tea for the words to flow.
The summer side-work and everyone home are not a bad thing, really. Just different. I don’t deal well with different. It takes me too damn long to adjust and by the time I do adjust everything has gone and changed all over again.
Being off my typical schedule and working more means that I haven’t been cooking a lot lately. Too hot. Too busy. So not hungry till well after dark.
Eating at midnight is not a good idea. But sometimes inspiration takes its sweet time arriving.
We don’t do take-out much, not nearly as often as the kids would like. I’ve been relying a bit more on the lovely roasted bird that Costco makes for a very reasonable price. We still had a carcass in the fridge from a couple of days ago as well as some remnants of a meal I actually managed to cook. When you’re putting together dinner after 11 pm you really need to work with what’s already cooked.
I made a big salad with leftover chicken and extra feta from a previous night’s couscous and chicken salad. Added some croutons for crunch, red onion for zip and dried apricots for a bit of sweet. Drizzled on Cesar dressing and my dinner was done.
While building the salad for dinner, something I never would have done in years past, I realized that I want a perfect Big Salad bowl.
We have a full kitchen’s complement of bowls but I’m pulling a Goldilocks. A mixing bowl is too large. A soup bowl too small. I’m going to have to keep an eye out for The One. What size exactly is the perfect Big Salad bowl?
Sy didn’t want a salad. He eventually settled on some leftover red meat, a toasted roll with red onion and goat cheese. He let me have a bite. It was pretty yummy. I’d show you a picture but he ate it all before I could get a shot.
We don’t have red meat all that often anymore. Maybe once or twice a month. It seems odd in comparison to the standard American diet (I’ll resist making SAD jokes) but there is precedence in the shift in that we’re moving towards what our grandparents ate, especially in the Old Country. I’m hoping me and mine stay on this economic continent but the sad fact is that there just aren’t enough resources for the entire world to consume the way Americans have been for the last fifty years or so. These are one of the many things that keep me up at night. What kind of world are we leaving for those to come?
At least it’s been a gradual “decline” in eating standards? I didn’t even realize how long it had been since we had steak till the kids starting asking for one. I’m not about to raise up a cow in the backyard but I can at least still go to the grocery store for one on demand, occasionally.
I’ve been working a lot more out in the garden and even cleaning out areas of the house that haven’t been touched in years. I’m looking at you potting hole. Does anyone really need over 200 small pots? They’re getting returned to the nursery they originated from.
Summer is almost over. Kids go back to school in the next couple of weeks. The nights are getting cooler. The leaves are already starting to change. It’s time to finish up the outdoor chores and get ready to settle in for the coming winter.
I’m trying to get in a second planting of various crops before it’s too late. I even rediscovered the supplies for building an insulated hoop house over one of the raised beds while I was cleaning out the potting hole.
I can’t wait to eat my own salad greens and herbs again.
I’m willing to eat salad for dinner.
Especially once I find that perfect bowl.
