Vicky Learns to Cook

 What makes someone take the time to create a space to play? Sometimes it's inspiration by looking at what other's have done, and seeing the possibilities. I was digging around on the internet and found some focaccia art. It looked interesting and I remember liking focaccia but am trying to eat healthier. I found a whole wheat recipe and decided why not give it a try? So on Sunday I made the dough and let it rise, then slathered it in oil, as one does. The classic dimpled look comes from poking your fingers in the dough and then letting it rise again.  Then you get to play! What you're looking at here is from left to right, top to bottom:  cherry tomato sun,  red onion clouds and mountains, yellow bell pepper and black olive black eyed susans, parsley and dill trees, mini pepper flowers and black olive and black sesame seed rocks and gravel.  I wanted something blue for water ,but there are no naturally blue vegetables.  I may have to go sweet instead of sa...

 Jan 9, 2022 What can you do with one chicken? This week my hubby went to the local store. He asked that question that brings the deer in the headlights for me - do I need anything? I can never remember when he asks. I typically do have something but its gone out of my head when he is about to get whatever it is. Dumb brain.   I'd ordered chicken in my Kroger Click list, but for some reason they were out of chicken! This rarely happens. I remembered as he was about to leave that I needed chicken breast, but would take any form.  He came back with a whole chicken.  I grabbed my boning knife and began cutting down the breast bone.  The breast comes off in what we consider boneless chicken breast with a layer called the chicken tender, smaller piece.  With both sides breasts removed, I flipped over the bird and looked at the leg quarters I cut along the thigh, bending the leg and thigh to find the right place.  The leg quarter then bends back and pop...

 I was telling my Mom today, even when I retire someday, I'm going to need some kind of routine.  I feel lost without it.  Yes, I'm a Virgo, yes I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, type A, extrovert, ESTJ on the Meyers Briggs, all of that. (And a night owl, but that doesnt really matter here) Extrovert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging I need structure. I need routine.  And I need to break out of the routine too, routinely. (laughs) It's true! So while I dont' look forward to work, necessarily, I do look forward to getting back to my routines.  Things have a way of changing, however;  my org at work, my meetings, my classes can all shift.  It can actually cause me some anxiety to NOT get the weekly meetings set up immediately after we start tomorrow. All that unknown bothers me.  This is why I end up building structure where there is none, planning where there is no plan.  It's an essential skill, may I even say a virtue to be flexible, to deal with a...

 Well we made it to 2022. I got around to most of the rooms, organized, deep cleaned a good portion of it. I'm beat. Really tired. And it's not done. At this point, I'm running out of days and energy.  But the only person pushing me to do this was me. And work beckons the day after tomorrow.  At what point do you stop the organizing and just live with what you have? Do you push it to weekends when you don't get it all done? I have a box of good dinnerware that needs to be put somewhere. I have cupboards that have stuff in them that I never use. This would be my next project. If you don't count putting the Christmas decorations away.  But your mind can only take so much change, so many decisions. So many new places for things. It's physically tiring too.  Still, whenever I look at my cleaned up rooms, my once again white counters, I don't feel like it as time wasted.  One more day to go, as my routine seeps back in, and thoughts of work come back.  Hope...

 It's Monday. We are in the no mans land of holiday between Christmas and New Years.  Today was Utility room day, not much to do in that room except recycle some bottles and bags, clean up my stuff from culinary and martial arts classes. There's a lot of stuff involved in both. I ended up putting the extra vases in the closet and realized that's where the ironing board was, not that I've needed it lately.   All that's left is to vacuum.  It feels like a chili kind of day. Very slushy and cold outside.  chili !!

Osouji, essentially "Big Cleaning", is a Japanese ritual of the  household that is highly believed to cleanse the home and purify the residence in order to welcome “Toshigami,” the kami (Shinto deity) of the New Year. There is more to it than just cleaning, but the idea that I am taking from it is to prepare for the New Year, one that certainly that will be spent at home for the most part as the pandemic lingers on.  I got the idea from my previous dojo where we cleaned the mats at the beginning of the year.  It isnt like me to want to clean, but the idea of having gone through every room, knowing where everything is, organizing, removing things never used, and knowing that at least for the moment it is truly deeply clean, does appeal to me.  It wouldn't help if I had someone else do it, since there are thousands of little decisions to make as I go - what to keep? what to discard? how deep is deep cleaning?  And it's a personal thing to do. To make the home most...

 I've been nose deep in books lately.  In the hopes that I have more time to read books,  I ordered three more in the series I just read.  Here is the first book: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger.  Looking forward to Curtsies & Conspiracies, Manners & Mutiny, and Waistcoats & Weaponry.  I'm sure some of you have read them already. No Spoilers! I brought my head up long enough to see the cookie supply was getting low, so I grabbed some rice krispies and made one of my favorites from my Mother in Law's recipes - Date Skillet Krispie cookies.  This is one of those recipes that come out hot and you have to roll them or manipulate them while hot or they dont work. So you hear a lot of "ooh! Tsss Hot! Ah!" while making them. Cant exactly surprise someone with them haha.  On the hydroponic gardening front, the lettuce wilted and died, not sure why. Too much fertilizer/nutrients I guess? But the basil has begun to germinate, so I'm h...