Sock Soup
Coconut was spayed on Thursday, and you'd never know it based on how she's been running around. Alex's dad and brother were over on Sunday night, and they had her zipping in circles around the yard. I warned Alex that the vet said she shouldn't be running like that, and that she is supposed to be on a leash at all times outside for the next two weeks, but his response was, "Look at her! She feels fine!"
Monday morning, she woke up with a huge knot behind her incision. I called the vet's office last night, and the receptionist told me to put warm compresses on it for 10-minute intervals, and to call back to schedule an appointment if it doesn't go down. Anyway, I tried. I couldn't find any clean washcloths, so I took an old sock, soaked it, dropped it in a pyrex measuring cup, and threw it in the microwave. However, what the receptionist didn't tell me was how to get a 5-1/2 month old terrier to sit still for 10 minutes while attempting to hold a warm compress on her shaved belly. If you have suggestions other than, "hand-feed her treats for the entire 10 minutes," they are welcome.
*****
It's no secret: I don't really cook. Occasionally I will run across a recipe that seems like it might be worth its while, and of those occasions, even fewer result in actual This-Was-Worth-It cooking. Most of my dinners (I eat alone except for about twice a week) are comprised of pasta or boil-in-bag rice and some sort of once-frozen protein (tonight: rice and Archer Farms garlic & herb shrimp), or a long list of unhealthy snack foods that eventually result in me not really being hungry enough to cook a meal (last night: string cheese, orange cranberry muffin, Halloween candy, a couple bites of leftover and probably-not-good-anymore lo mein, Finding Nemo fruit snacks).
My classroom aide is about my mom's age. However, while my mom was growing up in a household with two working parents and either cooking dinner for her family or fending for herself, my aide was growing up in a house with 9 siblings and a mom whose sole purpose was to "make home" for her family. There is definitely nothing wrong with either scenario, but I think the difference just helps to explain why I prefer Easy, and my aide prefers Less Expensive. And also why she still does her 25-year-old son's laundry, but whatever.
That said, she gives me a very hard time about my pre-cooked, pre-prepared (er, I guess the "pre" is already in the "prepared," but you know what I mean) preferences. When I mentioned that I might buy a precooked turkey for thanksgiving, she said, "why doesn't that surprise me?" And then tried to argue with me about how much better home-cooked turkey would be. (To which I responded 1. The side dishes are the main event anyway, and 2. My family ate Thanksgiving dinner in a restaurant last year because there were so few of us, so what's the difference?)
I guess my point is, why "slave away in the kitchen?" If you think of it as slaving, then you are not having fun. If you enjoy it, then by all means, go for it (and then invite me over)! But if I want to spend more on precooked bacon because I value my time (time that will not be spent standing in front of a popping, messy skillet, and then having to clean up the greasy mess later) more than my money, whose business is it to judge me?
*****
While reading another blog, I was pointed in the direction of this site, which I find "hilarious." It makes me want to put quotes around "everything." Also, it "inspired" me to buy "this book." I am "enjoying" it thoroughly, and also using it to procrastinate reading Pride & Prejudice for book club. I am not "proud" to admit, I have a "prejudice" against the "classics." Oooh that was painful.
Monday morning, she woke up with a huge knot behind her incision. I called the vet's office last night, and the receptionist told me to put warm compresses on it for 10-minute intervals, and to call back to schedule an appointment if it doesn't go down. Anyway, I tried. I couldn't find any clean washcloths, so I took an old sock, soaked it, dropped it in a pyrex measuring cup, and threw it in the microwave. However, what the receptionist didn't tell me was how to get a 5-1/2 month old terrier to sit still for 10 minutes while attempting to hold a warm compress on her shaved belly. If you have suggestions other than, "hand-feed her treats for the entire 10 minutes," they are welcome.
*****
It's no secret: I don't really cook. Occasionally I will run across a recipe that seems like it might be worth its while, and of those occasions, even fewer result in actual This-Was-Worth-It cooking. Most of my dinners (I eat alone except for about twice a week) are comprised of pasta or boil-in-bag rice and some sort of once-frozen protein (tonight: rice and Archer Farms garlic & herb shrimp), or a long list of unhealthy snack foods that eventually result in me not really being hungry enough to cook a meal (last night: string cheese, orange cranberry muffin, Halloween candy, a couple bites of leftover and probably-not-good-anymore lo mein, Finding Nemo fruit snacks).
My classroom aide is about my mom's age. However, while my mom was growing up in a household with two working parents and either cooking dinner for her family or fending for herself, my aide was growing up in a house with 9 siblings and a mom whose sole purpose was to "make home" for her family. There is definitely nothing wrong with either scenario, but I think the difference just helps to explain why I prefer Easy, and my aide prefers Less Expensive. And also why she still does her 25-year-old son's laundry, but whatever.
That said, she gives me a very hard time about my pre-cooked, pre-prepared (er, I guess the "pre" is already in the "prepared," but you know what I mean) preferences. When I mentioned that I might buy a precooked turkey for thanksgiving, she said, "why doesn't that surprise me?" And then tried to argue with me about how much better home-cooked turkey would be. (To which I responded 1. The side dishes are the main event anyway, and 2. My family ate Thanksgiving dinner in a restaurant last year because there were so few of us, so what's the difference?)
I guess my point is, why "slave away in the kitchen?" If you think of it as slaving, then you are not having fun. If you enjoy it, then by all means, go for it (and then invite me over)! But if I want to spend more on precooked bacon because I value my time (time that will not be spent standing in front of a popping, messy skillet, and then having to clean up the greasy mess later) more than my money, whose business is it to judge me?
*****
While reading another blog, I was pointed in the direction of this site, which I find "hilarious." It makes me want to put quotes around "everything." Also, it "inspired" me to buy "this book." I am "enjoying" it thoroughly, and also using it to procrastinate reading Pride & Prejudice for book club. I am not "proud" to admit, I have a "prejudice" against the "classics." Oooh that was painful.
posted by Jess at 8:05 PM
5 Comments:
That book is one of the "best" books "ever."
oh, poor coconut!
i thought that site was hilarious, too. and if it's worth anything to you, i couldn't get through Pride & Prejudice, either. I tried twice and couldn't force myself to get past the middle of the book.
Don't beat yourself up over that one.
I found that that book was a fun read. I had to be super-careful not to let it turn me into a punctuation snob. You should be careful, too.
You are "funny."
Ok, but for real, you do make me laugh.
Who give a san-fairy-ann where the turkey comes from?! The stuffing and potatoes and gravy and cranberry sauce and, and, and are the "important" bits! Enjoy.
I'm a cooking snob, but I totally get the appeal of having someone else do the turkey. They usually come out pretty standard anyway...and that way you can really let your sides shine. The secret to really fantastic mashed potatoes, in my opinion, is the addition of some finely grated parmesan at the end. Not so much to over power, but a good spoonful to give it a little something. But by all means, test it first for yourselves, in case you don't like it.
For sweet potatoes, I usually get real lazy and just roast them along side whatever is in the oven for about an hour to hour and a half in foil. Then eat sliced with butter.
If you like collards (or with any other green), cook down about half a chopped onion and a couple of cloves of minced garlic in some olive oil for about 5 minutes. Throw in a package of cherry tomatoes that you've halved, cook for another couple of minutes until they look like they're breaking down. Salt and pepper liberally (add some chili flakes for extra spice if you like) and then added cooked chopped collards or your cooked green of choice. If you're going to do spinach, throw it right into the pan and wilt it down. At the end squeeze half to a whole lemon over it to taste, salt and pepper. E voila! Tasty and pretty easy. (To precook your greens just boil in water til cooked to taste. I usually let collards go about twenty minutes). I like collards around the holidays because they're supposed to be lucky. And I'm a sucker.
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