Mis en Place

That's a fancy French cooking term for getting your sh*t together before you start.  It's a really good idea, especially if you don't always remember to put all the ingredients into things.  This way you chop, slice, brown (in the case of the Italian sausage pictured), open, and measure before beginning, therefore having all of your sh*t ready to sling into the pot or skillet as it's called for.  This morning I made Hearty Minestrone Soup from the Taste of Home website.  Well, that's where I started, anyway.  I found the recipe on Friday and knew I wanted to make it mostly out of things we already had so I started my hunt.  Miraculously, we had a pound of sweet Italian sausage in the freezer, we always have onions, celery, and bell peppers, we have a good stockpile of canned diced tomatoes too, and broth (just in case a couple commenters were right and it wasn't soupy enough; it wasn't; I put in 2 cups).  Another of the commenters said she cooked up and added a cup of tiny pasta, we even had that.  (little rings.  how cute are they?)  What we didn't have was 6 cups' worth of zucchini.  Hmm, evidently this was a recipe written in the desperation of zucchini harvest time, which is great if it's September and you can't turn off your zucchini plants, but it's January and zucchini ain't cheap these days.  What we did have was a bag and a half of frozen mixed veggies plus Durwood made some stew last night and had too much kohlrabi to put in (really? is there really such a thing as too much kohlrabi?) so he gave me the overage for my soup.  I measured 6 cups of that and, presto, we have soup.  It looks good.  It smells great.  I'll let you know how it tastes after lunch.

We had a peek-a-boo sunrise today.  I don't even want to think what the weather's going to be this week.  Right now it's just under 40 degrees and it's kinda drizzling.  Sometime in the next 48 hours they're predicting all hell breaking loose--snow and wind and ice and... and... and tornadoes down South.  Watch, we'll get all geared up for Armageddon and the storm will split to go around Green Bay (does it all the time, I think it has something to do with the big body of water just up the road).  I'd be just fine with that, but I've got the feeling that the storm's drawn a bead on us and we're doomed.

I got the sock foot knitted to 7" last night.  One more inch to knit and then the toe decreases begin.  I want to get it done before plunging into my BLKG Design-a-thon knitting.  (must remember to write it down as I make it up, have to hand in the pattern with the product...)

No hawks today, only a male Downy Woodpecker having suet for breakfast.

January 31--Russ Bishop, Parker Ranch, HI.  The grass looked like a thick green carpet over the lumpy field.  Century-old fenceposts straggled like rotten teeth in a line as far as Minnie could see.  "This is not the way I imagined Hawaii looks."  She sat in the front seat of the Jeep feeling displaced and confused.  "I suppose you were imagining white sand beaches and swaying palms," said Roger, laughing.  She scowled at him.  "Yes, exactly, a pineapple plantation instead of a cattle ranch."  She tipped her head back.  "Only the sky is right, blue with puffy, white clouds.  That's what I had in mind."  His warm laugh rolled out as he put the Jeep in gear and drove down the rutted lane to the low house visible in the valley below.

I know I say this at the end of every month, but I can't believe January's over already.  Time... zoom.  I'm going to strip the beds today.  Fresh sheets for everybody!  That means laundry too.  Oh well, I want to sew today so doing laundry's easy since I'll be down there anyway..  Aloha.
--Barbara