Wettest March on Record

We reached 11 inches of rain in March alone.

24 more hours of rain forecast.

Workers are scheduled to begin work on my place today.

What a busy schedule they have had.

Carpet ripped up and pad removed.

Sofa discarded

The carpet will be repaced with this tile.

The forecast for Easter sunday

Sunshine and 75 degrees!

Notice the little picture of Connor and Riley.

Today is Connor's 18th birthday!

Much better!

A lot of rice

A little gumbo

A tall glass of water

and more Ice Cream

I made chicken gumbo and smoke came out my ears.

Last night I made chicken gumbo, with chicken thighs, keilbasa, bell pepper, onion, celery, tomatoes, chicken broth, and okra. Delicious!

The recipe, however, called for 1 teaspoon each of cayenne pepper, white pepper, and black pepper. Too much pepper!!! It made my eyes water it was so hot. I had to eat a big bowl of ice cream to cool off.

Now that it has sat overnight, the heat quotient has probably tripled. I will deliver a large bowl of it to Jim who claims nothing is ever too hot for him. For myself, I am going to cook some white rice and put a little of the gumbo over it.

"Vernon's a good soul but"

Yesterday I had a friendly conversation with a nephew about the merits of the health reform bill. I tried to respect his opinion but then he posted the comment to someone that "Vernon's a good soul but" which I felt was somewhat dismissive of mine. It is good to have a blog!

No, I like to think of myself as a person who takes the time to research a topic and try to base any comments I have on actual facts.

For example, when you stated that “This is a disaster and this executive order to amend a bill like this is unconstitutional.”, I found and read the executive order. You are probably right that if he tried to amend the bill it might be unconstitutional, but the executive order doesn’t do that. What it does do is instruct his Secretary of Health and Human Services to insure that the Hyde Amendment be enforced on federal funds that the new bill provides. This simply reinforces what the bill already contains. This was done to reassure the pro-life faction that federal funds would indeed not be used to cover abortions.

My personal opinion is that to give the Hyde Amendment any semblance of permanency is a mistake. The Hyde Amendment is not permanent law. It must be renewed at the beginning of each congress and is actually a rider which is attached to annual appropriation bills and primarily affects Medicaid. When the Supreme court ruled that abortion is legal this amendment was devised to deny that right to one class of women, namely the poor. Henry Hyde himself said “I would certainly like to prevent, if I could legally, anybody having an abortion: a rich woman, a middle class woman, or a poor woman. Unfortunately, the only vehicle available is the HEW Medicaid bill.”

As to your comment “…hospitals looking more like the VA with longer wait times, degraded service, and inadequate care for the masses” I fail to understand your logic. Thirty two million people who didn’t have insurance before will now have access to private insurance (so much for a “socialized system”). What a windfall this is to insurance companies and to hospitals. Thirty two million people will have access to health care without having to rely on emergency room treatment.

You cite Amtrak and the post office as examples of government getting involved in creating massive debts. The post office receives no subsidy from the government. Railroads (environmentally friendly by the way) receive only a fraction of the subsidies that go to transportation. The bulk of that money goes to airlines and highway maintenance. The United States only spends 0.4% of its transportation capital on rail. Compare that to 21% in France and 22% in Germany.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I will show dessert first.

Green mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Main course

Irish Lamb Stew

Heat some olive oil in dutch oven.

Cook 2 medium chopped onions until soft.

Trim fat from meaty shoulder lamb chops and cut into bite size pieces and add to pot.

Add salt and pepper

Peel and slice 2 russet baking potatoes and add to pot with 3 cups chicken stock.

Add 1/2 teaspoon worchestershire sauce.

A little thyme.

Cut two more russet potatoes into large chunks and add to pot.

Stir making sure potatoes are covered with stock.

Cover pot and bake for 1 hour.

Add carrots and 1/4 cup each of pearl barley and heavy sweet cream.

Bake an additional 1 hour.

Remove from oven and add salt and pepper and some chopped fresh parsley.

I served it with a loaf of Irish soda bread

and for dessert, the aforementioned ice cream.

Is this clutter or color?

Stuffed Chicken Thighs

It is great to wake up in the morning, turn my computer on, and see the above message.

Yesterday I spent a few hours at the bookstore, went to the market, returned home and began to make braised stuffed chicken thighs, homemade tomato sauce, and spaghetti.

I begin by thawing a package of frozen chopped spinach.

I make fresh breadcrumbs.

I take out my cleverly designed cutting boards with a variety of cutting surfaces.



I assemble ingredients for the stuffing.


Thyme, parmesan cheese, chopped spinach, fronds from fennel, bread crumbs, shallots, minced garlic, and an egg.
I recently discovered these eggs which are somewhat more expensive but oh so good.




The stuffing refrigerated for at least 30 minutes and then is spooned onto skinless boned chicken thighs.

Notice that spindle of kitchen string which was given to me years ago. It seems endless.




I roll up the thighs and tie them in bundles.
Next I brown them in olive oil in a large skillet and set them aside.

Next I make a tomato sauce.

I cook 2 cups of chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped carrot, 1/2 cup of diced fennel bulb, 1/2 cup chopped scallion, and some minced garlic in the same skillet.

I add 1 1/2 cups of white wine, bring it to a boil, scraping up the brown bits until the wine is reduced by half.

Next I stir in 3 cups of chicken broth, a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes, some fresh basil and thyme, and the chicken thighs.

Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes.

I served it over spaghetti.

A loaf of warm chiabatta bread completed the meal.

Cod with potatoes and fennel

A sharp-eyed person might notice that the fish is haddock.

I would prefer Cod beacuse of the thicker pieces.



I got this recipe from Martha Stewarts' Everyday food cookbook.

The fish is cut into good sized pieces, placed on top of the potato mixture, covered, and allowed to cook for about 10 minutes.

I brought the skillet directly to the table.
I forgot to take a photograph of the finished dish but we enjoyed it and we especially liked the flavor of the fennel and the orange zest.

Please note the new quotation in my profile.

One of the very best things about getting old becomes crystal clear when you consider the alternative.