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| Osteospermum |
Today has been a sunny day with a daytime high in the upper 60s. Very pleasant weather. In the morning, I walked around the back garden, checking on the plants and I picked a handful of peapods and some Japanese purple mustard greens. I've learned that you need to keep them in a glass of water once they are picked; otherwise, they wilt rather quickly. Later, in the afternoon, I walked in the driveway for 15 minutes, then, checked on the plants in the front garden, and took neighbor T's mail, which had been delivered to my address, over to her. It has left me wondering if I had any mail at all or if it was delivered to someone else! Our tax statements are being mailed around this time, so, it's not a good time for mail to go astray!
Today, I went through and tidied the drawers in the new sideboard. Daughter had set them up with all the gift wrap supplies, but, things got a bit messy during the holidays. Now, everything has been taken out of each drawer, sorted, and put back. All the Christmas things are in the bottom drawer (gift bags, wrapping paper, cards, ribbons, etc.), all the other occasion gift wrap are in the middle drawer and the top drawer has tissue paper, plain brown paper, and bubble wrap, and a little box holding a pair of scissors, the roll of tape, a glue stick, a couple of pens and a pencil.
For brunch, I made a version of a popular Sri Lankan dish called "koththu roti" (sometimes spelled kottu roti), which is made by chopping up flat bread and stir frying it with eggs, vegetables, and leftover meat or chicken if desired, and spices. I say "a version of" because I used lavash bread as my flat bread or roti, cut into strips. I added the last little bit of the ground beef mixture that was left, an egg, curry powder, chili powder, and a spoonful of a spicy relish known as "katta sambol", which is a mixture of onions, chilies, and a type of dried fish flakes. It turned out well.
Later, for tea, I decided to use up the little bit of the egg and milk mixture left over from Wednesday's French toast and an egg yolk leftover from the masala chai tea cookies that daughter had baked over the weekend. I added the egg yolk to the leftover French toast mixture along with a little more milk, some flour, salt and vanilla, and made pancakes (the thin kind, not the fluffy American pancakes); we enjoyed them, sprinkled with sugar and lemon juice for a tea time treat.
For dinner, I cooked the fish curry I had planned to cook on Wednesday, using frozen pollock fillets, dhal (red lentil curry), sauteed shredded Japanese purple mustard greens (I sauteed them with onions, chili powder, curry leaves, spices, etc.) and a pot of rice.
After dinner, I did the dishes, cleaned the litter box, etc., and chatted on the phone with friend R.
Today, I am grateful for:
- A sunny day/pleasant weather
- Being able to pick vegetables from my garden
- Being able to stand and walk without pain
- Not falling when I was walking
- Working appliances
Today's joyful activity was being in the garden.
Plans for tomorrow include cleaning the bathrooms and gardening with M.
How was your Thursday? What are your plans for Friday?
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You were a lot more ambitious in your cooking that I was yesterday. But I did enjoy mixing together a few leftovers with some eggs noodles to come up with a creamy cheesey chicken noodle concoction - perfect for a snow day.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of a sideboard with your gift wrapping supplies all organized, mine are stored in two long boxes in our guest closet and not quite as accessible as I would like.
There are days when I don't feel like cooking at all and then, there are days like yesterday, when I cook three meals! I love those egg noodle casseroles! They are a delicious way to use up leftovers!
DeleteThe sideboard replaced the broken down wicker chest in which I kept the gift wrap. I am now wondering if using the drawers for the gift wrap is the best possible use of that space, but, for the time being, it keeps everything nicely organized!
Sounds like a pleasant productive day. I would like to figure out a place for my wrapping paper like you have. Currently it stores under the bed in the guest room. It's organized into storage boxes, but awkward to get out. However, we don't wrap that many things, except at Christmas when it lives out on a table, so I guess it's not too bad.
ReplyDeleteIt was a very pleasant day and just about productive enough for me to feel happy! :D We organized the gift wrap in the sideboard drawers when the old wicker chest in which I stored them was tossed. I like having the gift wrap organized, but, as you say, we don't wrap that many gifts and I am wondering if the drawer space could be better utilized. Maybe store the table linen there, instead? (Currently stored in the cabinet part of a shelf unit in the dining room). In which case, I'll have to find another spot for the gift wrap! Maybe the Christmas gift wrap can be stored in a box under the bed...
DeleteYou're very good a coming up with ideas to use up all your leftovers. I'm impressed and need to follow your example.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a good day and achieved enough to feel productive.
I'm having a quietish day at home and have done a bit more on sorting out the kitchen cupboards. I have too much in the way of kitchen equipment, a lot of which I don't use, so I am packing the excess away to be able to make better use of the limited storage space. The excess will either go to the charity donation or be stored in the garage if it's a piece of equipment that can eventually replace an item currently in use.
Thank you, Eileen; leftovers will get eaten, one way or another! Often, soups, stir-frys, or fried rice are my go-to recipes for savory leftovers and bread pudding or croutons for leftover bread. Casseroles are good, too, for bits of meat and vegetables. :)
DeleteYes, exactly - I did just enough to make me feel productive! :D
Well done on sorting out the kitchen cupboards! I, too, need to do that! Might be a project for the weekend!
Your weather sounds heavenly compared to here. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. xo Diana
ReplyDeleteIt is gorgeous weather outside, today, too! It's 70F right now at 2:30 p.m.; we'll go down to 46F tonight. Which is probably warmer than what your high temperatures are currently! Thank you, Diana; hope you, too, will have a lovely weekend. Hope your family members are continuing to do well, too; I am keeping them in my prayers.
DeleteIt sure sounds like it was a very pleasant day. We have the closing on our vacation property today!
ReplyDeleteOoh, fingers crossed that the closing goes through without any trouble! Have a lovely weekend, Martha.
DeleteBy the way, all the food you made yesterday sounds delicious, had my mouth watering just reading about it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Martha. I miss your weekly meal plans, by the way. :)
DeleteI love the sound of the organised gift wrap. It makes so much sense and will probably make things a lot easier for you. Also - I'm going to get a box for scissors for wrapping because I can never find them, so I'll try and hide a pair in place like you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lyssa. I like having the gift wrap organized, but, now, I am wondering if I am giving prime storage space to items that are not used all that much (except at Christmas). Maybe the table linen is better stored in the drawers, instead? (Currently stored in the cupboard part of a shelving unit.)
DeleteBut, then, where will I store the gift wrap? :D
As for the scissors - organizing experts say to have one pair of scissors and keep it in a set place and return it to that place after use. I don't follow that rule because it will not work for me! I try to keep things where I use them and I have several pairs of scissors in different rooms! So, there is the pair with the gift wrap and there's a pair in the kitchen drawer to snip open packets of things that never tear when I pull at the "tear here" corner. Plus, of course, there are multiple pairs in my sewing box! Whenever I have a sewing or knitting project, I keep a pair of scissors in the bag with the project for convenience. :)
You have the same problem as I do with wrongly delivered mail and parcels. I agree it's a worry when important mail doesn't get delivered to the correct address.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't take much for drawers and cupboards to get messy and it's good to have it all sorted again.
I just ordered some pancakes, ready made ones from the supermarket as I do like them with lemon juice and sugar as a treat. I know I could easily make my own and not like I'm that lazy very often :)
I remember you mentioning that you had some misdelivered mail to deal with, not too long ago. One time, I received a big package containing a trampoline that should have been delivered to the same house number, but, two streets over! Fortunately, I was able to contact the person (her phone number was on the package) and she drove over and picked it up!
DeleteI am constantly tidying up drawers and cupboards; my daughter says I should pay more attention to what I have out on shelves and tables, but, I like having tidy cabinets, etc. Even if they are hidden out of sight! :)
I think it is great that you are able to order pancakes from the supermarket! Out grocery stores carry frozen American style pancakes, which are fluffy, but, only the Armenian store and some Asian stores carry the thin pancakes and they don't have the curbside pick up option. Enjoy your treat when you get them! :)
Well, that sounds like nice weather for a stroll around "the estate" picking veggies and photographing lovely flowers! Not too hot, not too cool. I do admire your enthusiasm and ingenuity in creating delicious meals while ensuring that food doesn't go to waste.
ReplyDeleteI saw my friend for coffee this morning for the first time since just before Christmas! We certainly had a good chat. It was good to know that she is feeling better, as well as the restaurants and cafes being open at last.
Ha, ha, yes, my estate! Today, we went up to 70F, but now, it is starting to cool down a bit. Our nighttime low is supposed to be 46F, tonight.
DeleteThank you, Bushlady; some days, I don't want to cook, but, other days, I'll happily turn leftovers into a new dish!
I'm so glad you were able to visit your friend, today, and have coffee with her. Glad to hear that she is feeling better. I'm sure the restaurants and cafes opening again has to be a good thing. I am still not comfortable with eating out, however (today's new Covid numbers were over 15,000 in L.A. County). But, it's good to have the option, especially if the numbers are lower, isn't it?
Sounds like a beautiful weather day. The flowers on the photo are so gorgeous. I love the colour of them.
ReplyDeleteWe are having some lovely weather, Sharon. Next week will be even warmer, according to the forecast! These osteospermum are a pale lilac color! I have about three different colors of osteospermum. :)
DeleteThe kottu roti sounds really good. I looked it up after you mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteI made a flat bread the other day to go with our chickpea stew and it turned out
"just ok". I normally make it with plain yogurt but didn't have any so it wasn't the same. We ate some of the bread but maybe I could make a small version of the kottu with the remaining. Maybe with just egg. Something I will think about today.
You were busy Thursday straightening your cabinet and getting it all nice and organized. Did you declutter anything while you were doing that? lol
I hope you will like the flat bread with egg. I'd add some onions, too, if possible, :)
DeleteI was hoping to declutter a few things, but, I didn't. I tossed a couple of crushed package bows and some dried glue sticks, but, that's not really decluttering, is it?
yes it is ;)
DeleteYou were storing them and now you aren't. They were thrown away.
On to the decluttering list they go.
Thank you, Debra. :)
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