Tutorial Elephant Chicken soup, Marge & Dave

Current US COVID related deaths: 907,190

US COVID deaths as of 2 days ago: 905,661

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Much of Saturday (1/29) was spent in the basement, putting away small things that I could:

-my door apron got hung back up

-and I got a bunch of bolts put back on my shelves:

I had to take plenty of rest breaks, but I didn’t care…it is so beautiful….I think we picked the perfect wall color (Sherwin Williams Silverpointe in semi-gloss)

that I just kept looking around and loving it. The only downside is...my guest room winter quilt no longer looks good with these colors, so I'll have to make a new one.....oh darn :~).

The kitties (who have been banned from the basement for the week) went crazy exploring things while we were down there:

We headed out in the late morning to pick up a basket that a friend had completed….I know I made a rope basket for our kitchen table as a Christmas present for Michael, but it didn’t end up being sturdy enough for what I wanted….so I commissioned a regular woven basket, and it was ready for pick up today. I think it will be just perfect to corral everything that we keep on the kitchen table:

We looked for some felt bottoms for the basket as we don't want to scratch our table when we move it back and forth....and of course....a new open space must immediately be explored:

In the early afternoon, I took a break for a couple of hours to get a blog entry out…thank you to all who called or texted to make sure I was still alive this week!

Michael and I just had leftovers for dinner, and watched a bunch of ‘’our shows’’ in the evening.

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Michael left for golf on Sunday (1/30) around NOON and I spent most of the day reading my new library book. It is THE BOOKSHOP OF SECOND CHANCES by Jackie Fraser. This book has been recommended by the authors of several blogs that I read….and I can understand why. I thought it started slowly….but once I got it into it, it was definitely hard to put down.

I stopped in the afternoon to make Elephant Chicken Soup:

-saute onions and celery in a mix of olive oil and butter (but actually this time instead of butter I used the chicken fat that formed on the top of my chicken stock....more flavor!)

-add in salt, tarragon, paprika, oregano and minced garlic

-half a cup of flour for a bit of thickening...cooked for 2 minutes

-8 cups of chicken stock brought to a boil

-barley and a can of diced tomatoes, simmered for 45 minutes

-and just before serving Istirred in 2 - 3 cups of chopped, cooked chicken and 3/4 of a cup of half and half

I also baked a loaf of 5 minute artisan bread (our last one, I'll have to make up more dough):

before Marge & Dave:

showed up around 6 PM. We spent a wonderful evening together and when they left before 9 PM, Michael and I just read in the living room until bedtime.

*** I enjoy long, romatic walks down the wine aisle. ***

*** Billion dollar idea: A smoke detector that shuts off when you yell ''I'm just cooking''. ***