Author: iagardener55

I have decided that I will, probably, (how is that for a decision?) I will stop naming the days of quarantine, and start actually naming the subject matter, like I did in the beginning. I have to think about this for a bit.

Good news. My sourdough starter taught me a significant lesson yesterday. It showed me that I have been doing it all wrong. Go figure! I thought I needed to make five hundred milliliters of a healthy starter, in order to make bread. Not so.

Two, maybe three, years ago, I bought an online course from Mike Greenfield, called SourdoughU. Mike is one of the sourdough people I trust with advise; he, and his brother, Josh, are also Kombucha guru’s. I really never had the time to watch the course, what, with work, the grandkids, and then, my father in law coming to live with us.

Now that I am retired, however, I have gone through the course twice, and plan on a third. There is so much information that I did not understand, but now I do. A new advance in my sourdough journey. Yay!

On a separate note; I have been “plagued”, if you will, no pun intended, with two new, yet, different ailments. A week ago, I started with a left lower quadrant abdominal pain that grew worse until this morning. As the esteemed diagnostican that I am, it felt like, what might have been, an ovarian cyst. Was it? Who knows. We no longer have a physician to call upon.

The other, poor me, is, again, what I believe to be arthritis, in the ring finger, the metacarpophalangeal joint, of my left hand. You can search that, if you want; it just means the joint of my left ring finger that joins my finger to my palm. I have arthritis in several of my knuckles, at, what is called the distal interphalangeal joints, for sure; as do most older people. But never have I had such pain in that joint. It is hard to grasp a glass, or make a fist, without significant discomfort. Again, poor me.

All things considered, with my obesity, and growing really old pains, Ivan and I have made a pact; he will go outside, with me, to ride our bikes, or walk around the park, in return for doing things with him. I have agreed, whole heartedly, and cannot wait to begin.

Until said time of mutual agreement, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Ok. I confess. I have done absolutely nothing on my to do list. But I did do this.

I cleaned the stovetop. I know, it seems trivial, but trivial is all we have these days.

Hopefully, you remember that I bought covers for the stovetop several months ago. (Actually, I bought two more eight packs, because, you can never have enough of a good thing).

In the photo above, the covers are on the second side. I have already used the first sides, and have turned them over. I was going to use new ones, these were so dirty, and full of grease splatter, but I decided to soak them in boiling water, from the electric water kettle. I used a couple of drops of Dawn, (that we had delivered for one leg, and one arm), and soaked them for about ten minutes. I, then, scrubbed them, rinsed and dried them, then, put them back on the stove.

After that, however, I fed my lovely sourdough batches, and remembered that I need to feed them for at least three or four days, so they are strong enough to double their volume in two hours, before using them to make bread. Well, here is what I have tonight. Mind you, the other photo, the other day, was lovely, but the batches are not strong enough to raise dough as well as I need. Take a look.

Both of these quart jars show you a three hour rise. I am getting the rise I need, just not quite fast enough. It will take another few days of feeding, and that is fine with me. The healthier the sourdough is, the better the bread will be. It smells heavenly.

I do think, however, that some of the lack of a speedy rise is because of the temperature in the condo. It is about sixty to sixty seven degrees Fahrenheit on any day. Right now it is ten o’clock pm., and the temperature, in the condo, it sixty seven degrees. That is why I have the jars covered with a dish towel.

Yes. We have a laser temperature probe. Get one. It is amazing. Point, and shoot. Get a digital readout of anything within a few feet distance. I can check the temperature of the kombucha, the sourdough, a steak on the stovetop grill. I can check the temperature of fish cooking in a pan. They are not expensive, but save you overcooking a luscious piece of fish, steak, chicken; you name it. Here, during the time of quarantine, no one can afford to over cook, or under cook, anything they are making for their loved ones.

Well, we are going to try to get out tomorrow, to the store, to restock our perishables. Who knows, though. All we can do is try. Until then, mis amores, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

You would think that by now I would have made some progress in my “to do” list. Alas, I have not.

Tomorrow, however, may prove more fruitful. Not sure. One can only hope. Soon, however, I will need to trim my fingernails, because I keep making stupid mistakes when my nails touch keys on the computer that I did not want them to touch.

I am, actually, waiting for the starter(s) to ripen so I can make some more bread this week. It has been months since I made bread, even longer for the sourdough.

I am not sure, really, how well the population here, appreciates sourdough; the dark, hard crust, the large bubbles in the middle, the smell.

I enjoy it because it is what I am used to. Here, however, the bread is usually soft, blonde, without much scent, other than yeast. What I propose is a dark, hard, crispy crust, almost burnt looking. It will have very little of the starter smell; actually, it will smell almost burnt, not yeasty.

It will have large holes in the middle, be able to be cut into lovely slices, for sandwiches, or, for dipping in olive oil, and spices; to be enjoyed by those that appreciate crusty bread.

The bread I made, before moving here, was delicious. It was not appreciated by everyone that ate it however. That is okay with me. Not everything I do is appreciated by everyone- not even YKW. He tries to eat the bread I make, but, really, he smells it, and says how good, or bad, it smells. Thankfully, it usually smells good, even excellent. That works for me.

When we get out of bed tomorrow, I will attempt a couple of loaves of bread, and, maybe, apple squares. Who knows. Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

We have seen, on the internet, that many states have been having another record breaking amounts of snowfall, and bad weather, in general. We hope this finds all of you well, and in good health, and happiness.

This is a follow up of sorts, to keep you in our loop, so to speak. I have not done any of the things I thought I was going to do today, but, gosh, with my busy schedule, I will try to fit them in tomorrow, and/or the next day. Not sure if that will be possible with all of the many things we have planned. Not.

Our friend, and concierge, Jesús, went out today, and bought us thirty six eggs. Milk was delivered yesterday, late afternoon, and, bread delivered Saturday, so, for the moment, we are good. Well, almost.

What I really need is cottage cheese. Here, though, only a handful of stores sell, or even know what cottage cheese is. I think the stores that do sell it have a more expat American clientele than others.

What I did do, however, was make another batch of egg bites. For this batch, I defrosted some bierwurst sausages, from Simply Sausages™, removed the casings, cuz YKW cannot bite through them, and formed them into “burgers”. I grilled them on the stove, crumbled half of one into the blender, added about a cup of grated Gruyere cheese, (too much), four eggs, half an egg shell, twice, of milk, about a teaspoon of Italian seasonings, S&P, and gave it a whirl, on low, for about thirty seconds. Added that to the egg mold, covered it with the lid that came with it, and put it in the IP, (a cup of water on the bottom), on steam, for ten minutes. I let it cool down, naturally, for another ten minutes, then, released the pressure manually, took them out and let them cool, lid off, for another five minutes. After they cooled a bit, I flipped them out, onto a plate, as you see them. In less than thirty minutes you can have fourteen of these cooked, and ready to eat. (You stack two of the egg molds in a six quart IP.)

So, as I said, I made another batch of egg bites; this time, without the cottage cheese. Take my word that you do not want to make them without cottage cheese. It adds such a light texture to the bite that is definitely lacking using only milk, cheese, and eggs. Will I eat them? Of course. For five dollars a pair, of course I will. Someone has to.

We are hoping to get to the store tomorrow, to stock up on supplies, our staples, (cottage cheese) but who knows. Until we get there, and back, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

This is what I found this morning. How could you not want to do something with this living stuff?

While I have you here, this is what I have done with the recipe book. Let me know what you think.

The book is divided by large folders titled American, Asian, Indian, Italian, and Mexican. Then each specialty is subdivided by Beef, Bread/Pasta, Chicken, Pork, Rice/Sauces/Soups, and Seafood. Some of the subs have very little in them; and some are bulging. Very few of them have I made yet, mostly the egg bites, and goulash. We really enjoy goulash.

We are thinking that we will start out making things in the Asian folder first. There are still a few ingredients we need to purchase, however, we have yet to find the Oriental stores, here in town. And, who knows if they are even open. Well, it will be a fine time, driving around the city, looking for the stores. Yay. An adventure!!

I will post photos of any, and all accomplishments, as soon as I accomplish them!!!

Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Happy Valentine’s Day. You may be glad to know that I am keeping my husband.

We have not been to the grocery store in a few weeks, so the staples are gone. No eggs, milk, cheeses, or veg. We did find a can of SPAM. What more does one need? Am I right?

That we had for our dinner tonight; SPAM sandwiches. We both smiled!

When I was very young, we used to have Mac and cheese, (with Velveeta cheese), and SPAM. Not in the way most people have Mac and cheese, with SPAM. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, my father used to sprinkle sugar on the Mac, and mom sprinkled brown sugar on the SPAM. Why none of us are diabetics is also unknown. Let me tell you what, though, they were both amazing.

Whether I would still feel the same way, now, I cannot say. Although, I have not made Mac and cheese in years, I have had a small dish, from the cafeteria, while I was still working. And, yes, I sprinkled it with sugar, and yes, it was great.

Speaking of cooking, I just took a photo of the recipe of the recipe book I am compiling. Obviously, it is not full of my recipes; these are more than one hundred recipes I have found online, that I want to try.

Today I made another batch of egg bites, with only three eggs. That is all we had left. Do not do that. You need the cheeses, the eggs, and whatever proteins, and veg you want for it to set up in the egg mold. Without all of the required ingredients, there are but a few, the bites do not stay together. Yuck.

Tomorrow, I have made quite the list of things to do: kombucha, sourdough bread, and Apple Squares!!! I cannot wait. Apple Squares, I assure you, are addictive.

While I wait for tomorrow, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones. Please.

I have found an amazing hack that has changed my plants, and my plant care routine forever.

What is it, you ask? Diluted coffee. Every other week, water your plants with diluted coffee, and see what happens.

Our poinsettias are still beautiful and red; the Wandering Jew has two new shoots, and the Peperomia has a new petal.

I forgot one; our new Kaffir lime tree. We just got it, a few days ago. When you see the photo, understand, I have not had the time to clean off the water spots from the leaves. I will get around to it, eventually.

Soon, we will be exploring foods from other places, all around the world; America, Asia, India, Italy, and here, in Mexico.

I have purchased a three ring binder, folders, etcétera, and have started putting together recipes from each of the aforementioned parts of the world into the binder.

We have also sourced most of the ingredients needed, for the Asian and Mexican recipes, that is. Hence the kaffir lime tree.

We cannot wait to get going on this new adventure so, while we wait to begin, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Before I start my ramblings, I want to express our condolences to our best friend, Enrique, who has lost another brother. His brother, Armando, died recently of the CoVid 19 virus, and was only seventy years old.

I, one the other hand, it may interest you to know, am slowly getting a bit of my spark back.

Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to know that the sourdough starter I worked so hard to get healthy, is still alive, and producing bubbles like crazy. I mention this only because, in the last few weeks, while I was in my funk, I left it in the fridge, for three months, unfed, and, uncared for. I feared I would be unable to fix it, revive it.

I took the jar out of the fridge, mixed in the two centimeters of grey liquid floating on top of the starter, took out one hundred grams, put that in a new, clean jar, and fed it the same weight of water and flour. After a few hours, I put it back in the fridge.

This morning, the starter is happily forming bubbles, smells very happy, and will become a loaf, or two, of bread this weekend.

Similarly, we have two containers of kombucha brewing on the counter; both are happy and healthy. Five gallons of fermented probiotics, a drink that tastes differently with each batch.

The first nine bottles of this last batch, all of them, were flat, no carbonation whatsoever! So, last night, I opened bottle number ten, about ten feet from my glass, and proceeded to spray my lovely kombucha all over the kitchen!

It was everywhere– on the counters, on the walls, on the stove, even on the open swinging door to the kitchen. It took about half an hour to find, and clean it all up. Plus, I only got to drink what was left; half a glass.

On the up side, I have just made the best batch of egg bites to date. I ate them, for the first time, when I was in New Orleans, attending a conference for Operating Room nurses. There were two bites per portion, and cost five dollars a pop. They are available at Starbucks to this day.

As I am not interested in finding a Starbucks here, nor do I want to spend five dollars for two bites, I searched the internet for a few recipes and tried them.

These are so soft, and smooth, and made with two different cheeses, plus cottage cheese; so, actually that makes three cheeses.

They are made in my favorite appliance, the Instant Pot, and take less than thirty minutes, start to finish. The recipe is called Best Damn Instant Pot Egg Bites by Recipe Teacher. It calls for gouda cheese and heavy cream, neither of which I have on hand, so I improvised. Try them. Amazing.

That is it for today. I will try to find little things to tell you here on in. While we wait for that, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Today, I made a huge pot of goulash. My version, of course. It was pretty good, considering I have never tasted anyone else’s version of it.

I wished I had some celery, (apio), but I did not. It was okay, as I made it, a bit boring, but, while YKW, (you know who), was napping, I added a bit of fish sauce, and it became amazing!!!!

There is, however, about six liters of goulash to contain, which I need to disperse. I followed the recipe, closely, so I am going to hope that those, to whom we disperse said goulash, will enjoy it.

I must tell you, however, that this fish sauce, is a very underutilized condiment. It adds a touch of the newest flavor, umami, into a dish. You need to taste it in a small amount of whatever you are making before you add it to the entire dish. It is, actually, the essence of sardines. Who would have thought?

He has not tried it yet, so, please, do not email him that I have done this. I will let you know how it was received.

Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and, protect your loved ones.

HE DID IT. HE REALLY DID IT!

My husband trimmed my horribly nasty, full of split ends being pulled out of my head every time I combed it, my hair!!!!! He did a superior job of it too, I am happy to say. Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of the mess it was, however, it was at least two to three inches below my shoulders, and, it was a mess.

I lost an absurd amount of hair every time I brushed my hair, thinning my already too thin hair so, as I said to our cousin Marco last week, I look like a homeless woman, living on the streets.

I have not had my hair trimmed in close to a year now, with the current living situation as it is, high alert, salons closed. Well, I do not need one now, or for the foreseeable future. You decide.

That simple, loving gesture has made such an impact on my self esteem, I do not have the words to express it. Gracias, mi amor.

Anyone that really knows me, knows that I have struggled, all of my life actually, with low self worth. I will say that it has been my constant nemesis since I was in grade school. Were there, are there, times when that slips into the background of my thoughts? Absolutely. Thank you Lord.

With the quarantine, we have only gone to the store, delivered groceries where needed, and back to our luxury jail cells. Fortunately, we are free to move about the entire jail, and have privileges not known to many of the incarcerated; not those incarcerated down here, that is.

We have seen the US has a new President, President Joe Biden. This is not a political site, so I will not discuss my feelings on this platform. He is the new President of the United States, and that alone, demands our respect. Like him, or not, he is the leader of that free, and wonderful country.

All I am going to say on the subject is this- watch your civil liberties, people. Already, you have no freedom to express your political views on your SMS sites. Newsmen, real newsmen, are being cancelled, on the internet, because they have differing views about the things that are happening. Be prepared to have even more of your rights subjected to the ideas of his new government.

Let us put that on hold, while we wait to see what happens to your paychecks, those of you actually getting paychecks, in the next few months. While we wait, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Most importantly, however, happy something birthday to my youngest sister, Nancy. I will forever think of her as my “little” sister, as long as I am able to remember her. We love you dearly.