Happy Friday! in haste, in haste, for this is day two of me and Damien putting in a new roof, which we hope to finish by Sunday. It’s a small area, about 115 square feet, and only one storey up, but it’s something we’ve never done before, so I’m pretty impressed with us so far. (If you are wondering how one motivates oneself to take on a project like this, it helps to have no choice, and that’s my whole advice.)
Here is what we ate this week!
SATURDAY
Leftovers and I think pizza pockets
I myself had leftover chicken biryani with extra raisins and almonds, and it was yum dot com.
SUNDAY
Vermonter sandwiches, fries
Sunday we made our annual trip to Wellwood Orchard in Vermont, and first we stopped at the cemetery to visit my parents’ grave. We said a decade and I planted some crocuses (I’ve planted various things over the last few years, including roses and lilacs, and they keep mowing them down. It’s very Claremont) and, just because I thought it was funny, some garlic. My parents didn’t agree on lots of things, but they certainly had similar views about garlic. (= It is good.)
We had a lovely time picking apples. Bunch of photos here:
The kids are old enough that nobody insisted on each having their own separate little bag, so we got two half-bushel bags and filled them up, which is the same amount of apples as lots of little bags for about half the price. It’s a little late in the season, so there weren’t tons and tons of apples, but we did get some nice big ones. Nothing like a very in-season apple! It’s like a different fruit from what you get the rest of the year.
For supper, we had Vermonter sandwiches, which is toasted sourdough bread, sliced chicken or turkey, sharp cheddar, green apple, bacon, and honey mustard. The meat I had was an entire frozen turkey breast (99 cents a pound, could not turn it down), but I made the mistake of slicing it first and then roasting it, rather than the other way around, so it kinda tried up. It was still semi-frozen in the morning and I really wanted to prep it ahead of time so we could eat as soon as we got back. But we all came home hungry, so it was fine.
MONDAY
Honey soy chicken wings, coconut rice, sesame broccoli
Monday the kids had the day off for Indigenous People’s day, and I fulfilled my promise to get to work on Corrie’s Halloween costume.
Any guesses what this is going to be? She made the mask/head (not pictured) herself.
She also made this unrelated mask
and was somewhat offended when I jumped in alarm, but then I showed her the picture, and had to agree, it was alarming.
Supper was a great plan but turned out a tiny bit disappointing. Chicken wings were on sale (1.99/lb) so I got a bunch and made this marinade from Recipe Tin Eats. She specifically mentions that they are sticky, and that it can be very disappointing when chicken wings don’t turn out sticky, so she shows you how to achieve stickiness (pouring off the liquid from the cooked chicken, and then basting it with the marinade three times). I followed the directions exactly, but they really just didn’t turn out sticky.
They were fine, just not amazing.
I also made a bunch of coconut rice, also using a Recipe Tin Eats recipe. In this one, she promises it will be fluffy, not gluey, and I’ve made this recipe before and it really does turn out good. You make it in the oven. Then I made a tray of broccoli (just some sesame oil, soy sauce, I think garlic powder, and sesame seeds) and I didn’t really plan who was going to be in the oven when at what temperate, so it kind of baked, which is not ideal.
So overall, a decent meal, but I was bummed because I was expecting it to be spectacular. I made up for it by eating about a cubic yard of coconut rice.
TUESDAY
Pizza
Tuesday I don’t even remember what I was doing — I think maybe I picked up a big bunch of materials at Home Depot, among other things — but I was completely exhausted by the time we got home from school, and I was so delighted with myself for having made three pizzas in the morning. So then I just about wept when Corrie reminded me there was an open house and pumpkin carving at the school at 5. But I got myself together and put my shoes back on and we went, and it was actually lovely.
I finally met her new teacher, who turns out to be a former homeschooler, so that explains a thing or two! (Like why they are reading Beowulf and why Corrie was researching the history of the Angles).
Damien got the pizzas in the oven and it was hot and ready when we got home, and then I collapsed like a bunch of broccoli.
WEDNESDAY
Burgers, chips, raw vegetables
Wednesday I did a bunch of fall yard work. I composted some of the garden beds, planted a bunch of seed garlic and the nine peach pits we prepared, and mulched it all with duck hay. Still gotta mulch the strawberries, peach saplings, and rhubarb. Here’s a picture of what I did, because this post is kind of low on pictures!
Oof, it’s getting so grey and drab and chilly out there.
I also did some more chimpy hardscaping in front, and planted a ton of spring bulbs in front and in back — daffodils, tulips, crocuses, alliums, and some kind of purple and orange fluttery-looking flower, I forget what it’s called. And mulched it all.
Oh, do I hate planting bulbs in the fall. You’d think it would be an encouraging act of hope, staking out a claim for tomorrow, doing what you can to put your trust in a brighter future and so on. And it is that, but it feels awful, just futile. Fall is just tough. Everything is dead or dying, everything smells old and rotten, the birds are leaving, everything is leaning and weary and worn out. Plus I always manage to kneel in dog poop while I’m planting, and this year was no exception. But I got those mofos into the ground, and maybe they will even grow, who knows.
I knew Thursday was going to be super busy, so I made supper Wednesday evening.
Looking very promising. The recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but I was using turkey breast (the second whole turkey breast I got. This one was more suited for my purposes).
THURSDAY
Chicken and dumplings
So Thursday we started on the roof. We didn’t completely know how damaged it was under the shingles, so I was pretty nervous about what we might find. We spread some tarps on the ground, climbed up, and started pulling the shingles and flashing away. It was nippy up there! Sunny but windy.
About an hour into it, I heard traffic slowing down, and saw that cars were having to avoid my giant inflated fried egg that had blown into the road, and we decided that we are dumb enough to think we can do roofing, but we don’t need to compound that by getting sued by some driver who has whiplash because of our escaped inflated egg. So I climbed down and YOU KNOW WHAT? Climbing up a ladder is kind of scary, but nowhere near as scary as climbing down a roof and turning yourself around to get onto a ladder to climb down it! But I retrieved the egg, and we got all those shingles off
The roof underneath turned out to be rotten in the spots we expected, but quite a bit of it is sound. We talked to my brother, who is a builder, and he affirmed that we can definitely do this thing, and gave us some good advice about where the water is probably coming in and what to do about it. Very encouraging! I won’t share any pictures because I’m in no frame of mind for the internet to tell me we’re doing it all wrong.
I went out to pick up some more caulk and a tool to remove siding, and some more tarps, and then I picked up the kids while Damien started in removing the rotten wood. When I got home, I heated up the chicken I had made the previous evening.
I guess you would call it a chicken stew. It is this chicken and dumpling recipe from Sip and Feast, and when I got back, I made the dumpling dough, which calls for butter, milk, AND sour cream. This is an insanely rich recipe, and my only complaint is that I cooked the dumplings at least twice as long as recommended, and they still didn’t completely cook through, and were kind of damp.
But I just had to serve it eventually, and it really was delicious
and, as I hoped, a very tasty, cozy, and nourishing meal after a chilly day on the roof. Damien and I thought it was great, although if I make it again, I may skip the peas. The kids were not impressed, and most of them didn’t even try it. Oh well! At this point, I’m storing up recipes to make again when it’s just me and Damien in the house.
FRIDAY
Mac and cheese
Damien just went off to Home Depot for lumber, and when he gets home, we’re gonna start pulling out old mousy insulation, pulling off siding, waterproofing and caulking, and start rebuilding trusses and decking. We got our hands on a roll of high-end self-adhering water and ice shield, and, well, we are at the age when we’re pretty excited about that.
I also have a doctor’s appointment so my stupid doctor can tell me it’s okay to keep taking my medicine, because look at me, I’m still alive, which we definitely wouldn’t be able to determine vie telehealth. In anticipation of this visit, I have carefully arranged to gain ten pounds since our last visit, so I’m looking forward to this.
I did find one final head of garlic in the garden, which I missed before. So, in answer to your question: Yes, I do think I’m the queen of the underground, but at least I’m willing to help with the insulation. And occasionally make undercooked dumplings.
I guess I’m guessing Strong Sad (armholes to be added later) on Corrie’s costume, assuming that your having liked H*R somehow translates to your kids liking it now…? Dinner-wise, we too had macaroni and cheese once this past week. Combining Jack cheese with smoked cheddar from Aldi did turn out to be a good way to tamp down the smokiness to a more subtle level…I guess I don’t like smoked cheddar as much as I like smoked gouda.
we did have a Strong Sad one year, for favorite character day. Corrie is going to be Bender this year, though. He is, sigh, her hero.
In a very remote churchyard cemetery here in New Mexico, we saw a grave with asparagus growing on it. I told my children they should plant a perennial like rhubarb on my grave and then make a pie in my memory every year. They were creeped out by this, perhaps rightly.
Good luck with your roofing. My husband has done a LOT of roofing over the years, on some very steep roofs, but I’ve only ever been the ground crew. You’re a brave woman.
Creeping out one’s kids is a really underrated pleasure of parenthood.
“carefully arranged” to gain ten pounds. 😅
This level of tongue-in-cheek and *dry* with…THIS is why I enjoy your “What’s For Supper” posts!
Thank you for sharing your life, recipes, and creativity with us.
*wit
Wow, you do roofing too. We are roofing as well, but it’s the roof of an old storehouse that had a plastic tarp on it (because it leaked for about 10 years.) Almost all of the tools inside were ruined, but we were living up north and there wasn’t much we could do about it. When I say “we”are roofing it means I make runs to In-n-out Burger and serve tea. My husband swears by a new fangled plastic paint that kept our roof water tight for about seven years until it started cracking. (We moved back to Santa Barbara in June as my husband can now work remotely –anywhere.) He just reapplied the plastic paint to our flat roof. The first test was a true downpour a few days ago. Now it’s hot again but the nights are definitely cooler and the days shorter. My youngest daughter complains that there are no seasons here. She is driving now, which is hard to believe–and getting herself to her new high school. I’m relieved she’s not on the electric bike anymore. My older kids never could get over the fact that I “gave her a motorcycle!” I’m very proud that she walks the hallowed walls of the high school her great grandmother went to.
I’m on a new adventure too. I quit my job of seven years and am feeling giddy. I’m reading a lot, gardening a smidge, cultivating a koi pond and cooking when I feel like it. I have three at home, including my second oldest boy who has gone back to school to get a business degree. (As a programmer, he knew his days were numbered.) He’s the one we’re trying to move into the store house. He may never leave. Charlotte, the youngest, wants to be a doctor, and Xavier the youngest boy landed pool/beach boy at the swanky Rosewood. (Some lady handed him a $300 tip on Sunday!)He doesn’t know what he wants to do in life, but his new thing is to go diving for lobsters at our beach. He has a whole posse going to SBCC, from where we used to live.
It’s kind of weird having grown children now. It went by so fast! I’m both nostalgic AND relieved. I sat behind a Mom at mass last Sunday that had six Irish twins (they all looked about a year apart). Her infant looked about a week old. The two youngest toddlers were intent upon poking the baby, which exasperated the oldest daughter who was cradling her. I saw that “you’re not the boss of me” look in their eyes. I kept thinking of that tired Mom for the rest of the day. I remembered my ancient memory of wishing that every parish had an outreach group whose sole purpose is to let Moms sleep.
Your food looks great! I’m inspired to make coconut rice! Do you still have the enthusiasm to make the homemade costumes? My oldest son accused me of selling out on costumes after the first three. He’s probably right.
Is Corrie a toilet paper roll? Or the bill from schoolhouse Rock? My apologies for being so far off the mark.
Good luck with the roofing! I admire your gumption going up but esp . going down- I climbed a ladder last year to pick the singular apple on our tree, and I almost stayed up there instead of coming back down. My husband didn’t understand why I insisted he hold the ladder steady.
I’ve never been wild about dumplings. Once on a Girl Scout camping trip we cooked something on a Coleman stove with dumplings on top, and they never cooked through. We named them “hot raw dough” and that is how I have thought of them ever since. Hot raw dough.
Did you know you can throw a (mostly) frozen turkey breast in the crock pot and many hours later it will be cooked to perfection? Season the turkey the way you normally do. Just make sure to grease the crockpot first. The only drawbacks are that the turkey won’t be pretty to look at when it’s done and the skin will be too slimy (not crispy at all) to be edible. Other than that, it is a fool proof, simple way to make a perfectly moist turkey breast. If the breast is too big, use tightly wrapped tin foil in place of the lid. The house will smell great when you come home too.
Good luck with the roofing! We just did ours in February.