Last night I was able to sleep for six consecutive hours. Bliss!
I arose around 4:30, and had several hours to putter before Attila arrived home from work. So I flipped on the back porch light, and ventured out to select a squash to cook, before the cost of hydro doubled at 7:00 a.m. Our harvested squash are sitting on the back porch, looking quite wonderful. I had already cooked, and we had eaten, the largest squash, one that had burst open as it ripened. I chose for this morning, another squash that had burst open. It was huge, at least 15 pounds! It would not fit into one pan, two were required to get it into the oven. Attila arrived home to the sweet scent of roasting squash.
Our car is having issues, something leaking in the back end, and making a lot of noise when the car reaches highway speed. An appointment has been made for tomorrow afternoon, with the local mechanic. Fingers are crossed that it is nothing serious. Attila took Tank to work, so as not to put more stress on the car.
A trip to the city is in order one of these days. I need a haircut! The migraine headaches started last week, because my bangs are touching my eyebrows. I try to keep them away from my face with barrettes, but my hair can be contained for only short periods of time, before it breaks loose and is back tickling my eyebrows and lids. The hair stylist was on vacation until last Monday, but there just hasn’t been time to even call for an appointment. I don’t want to cut them myself this time around, as my hair does need to be cut by someone who knows what they are doing.
Also, the first draft of my book should be ready for pickup in the city; better call them to touch base, they must think I am a “no show”. And there are boxes of items to go to the corporate charity store in the city, items that the women’s shelter and men’s mission did not want.
My day was spent primarily in the kitchen. This was not planned. The squash was baked, the oven turned off just before 7:00 a.m., and left to cool. Later in the day the flesh was removed from the skin, and pureed in the food processor. Then it was measured into two cup portions, which were placed in plastic bags to be frozen for future use. Two cups of pureed butternut squash will make one recipe of Pumpkin Squares. There were six two-cup packages of pureed squash for the freezer, and one package for the refrigerator for squares for our Thanksgiving Dinner this weekend.
While I was preparing the squash for baking, I perused the kitchen and spied a jar of green lentils. That jar of lentils came into my life with Attila, so it is over twenty years old. It is what I regard as “vintage food”. Waste not, want not! Two likely recipes popped up during an internet search on how to use green lentils. One was a salad, which did not appeal to me, but I knew Attila would like it, so I decided to give it a go. The other recipe I had spotted some time ago, it interested me. It was for Chocolate Lentil Cookies, a very unlikely cookie, in my opinion.
There were about four cups of green lentils, so I cooked all four cups. It turns out that that is a lot of lentils.
I made the salad, and have to admit that I loved it, and so did Attila. The salad is full of culinary excitement, I don’t know how else to describe it. The bonus was, after eating a cup of the salad, I felt like a million bucks, truly, a general feeling of well being took over my whole body. Who knew!
I made the cookies, and we both liked those too.
There were still a lot of lentils left, so I made a second salad to keep in the refrigerator, and a second batch of cookies to keep in the freezer for Attila’s lunches.
Now the green lentils are all gone, and the jar is in the recycling box. One jar down, many to go!
Worldly Distractions
Weather
17°C
Date: 5:00 PM EDT Wednesday 7 October 2015
Condition: Partly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.6 kPa
Tendency: falling
Visibility: 24 km
Temperature: 16.5°C
Dewpoint: 13.3°C
Humidity: 81%
Wind: SW 11 km/h
Quote
“Rebellion against your handicaps gets you nowhere. Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world – making the most of one’s best.”
Harry Emerson Fosdick
1878 – 1969
I will need that lentil salad recipe, my dear. I love lentils.
You are the only person I have ever heard who gets migraines when her bangs start getting long. It’s so … strange! … Hey … I’ve got bangs … I need to pay closer attention!
Sorry about your car issues. Hope that it’s an easy and inexpensive fix!
Hope you’ve had a chance to get your bangs cut. I’ve also been having a problem with migraines for the last week or so. For the first time ever mine are presaged by an aura, zigzag vision. Because of that I’ve been able to take something to interrupt it before it gets too far, thank goodness! No idea what’s caused this change. I haven’t had a migraine in years.
Any chance for getting the lentil salad recipe? 🙂
Kate, OK, the recipe link is there already, and you have brought to light a design issue, if you can’t find the link, then it isn’t obvious enough. Sooo… links are now green text. Also, I have added a new tab at the top of the entry, called Recipes, hovering over it should give you a list of links to all new recipes that I add from here on in.
Yes, the bangs and migraine thing is unusual. I noticed it years ago, and it is 100% consistent. If I get headaches, it is always because my bangs are touching my eyebrows, or eyelids. Haircuts are better than painkillers! 🙂
Teri, links are now green txt, and also the new recipe links are listed when you hover over the new Recipes tab at the top of the entry.
I go in tomorrow to get my hair cut, and I am really looking forward to it. My last haircut was March 2015, I didn’t quite make it for a year between cuts. Haircuts cost a lot of money, at least from the perspective of my income level, and I regard them as an indulgence, so I stretch out the time between cuts as far as I can.
I also hate my bangs touching my eyebrow area. But I have always cut my own hair so no problem, just get out the scissors!
I am spurred on by your lentils story. I’ve started the daunting task of giving up added sugar – and also just began taking some serious probiotics – in a feeble attempt at better health. I like your saying today… it’s so true. Happy Thanksgiving soon!
Bex, oh how I envy you the ability to cut your own hair! You do such a great job too, what a gift.
Wow, giving up added sugar is something I doubt I could accomplish. I am having some luck reducing added sugar, to the reccommended 5 teaspoons per day. I use three of them as maple syrup in my morning coffee, where I enjoy it the most. Most days I can keep it under the 5 teaspoons, but not yesterday, those chocolate lentil cookies took me right over the limit. I don’t worry too much about one day though, and I am back to normal today, letting Attila eat all those cookies. He eats a lot of sugar, and so far has not gained weight. The probiotics are a great idea! I wonder, can I make my own… something to research!
Thanks for the Happy Thankgiving! I had keep forgetting about it, although I doubt Attila has forgotten, he loves a turkey dinner! My sister invited us to join them, but it is a long drive, and we aren’t really up to another weekend of travel. Maybe next year!
Hi Maggie,
You are an early riser! My hubby is an early riser too. I’m essentially a night owl.
That’s a BIG squash! I never roasted squash and now want to. Glad you got such a good yield. Surprised too that the squirrels haven’t descended upon your squash. They love to attack the pumpkins during the fall used around here for decorations.
Sorry about the car problem and hope it is nothing serious. Our new car has been to the shop four times already this year. Nothing serious and it’s still under warrantee but oy! Mostly the problems have been digital……
I too have never heard of bangs bringing on migraines. That is interesting. I try so often to grow my bangs out but get frustrated and cut them. I learned to cut my own bangs along time ago from some magazine. You take the part of your bangs you want cut and pull them all forward into a ponytail and twirl that around tight. The you just snip off what you want. This gives the bangs a more natural look then a blunt cut.
First draft of your book ready soon…yay!!!!!!
I love lentils. Love lentils in eastern Indian foods. Well, love eastern Indian food. Can’t believe you had a jar for twenty years. Smiling wide.
Cheers!
Maggie, I also consider haircuts and indulgence. There’s almost always something more important to put the money toward, like food and payments on things we want/need to pay. I just got my hair cut finally about 2-3 weeks ago. I don’t get migraines, instead when my hair gets too long my skin starts to break out, I’m talking break out really badly. So I have to get my hair cut so my skin will clear up.
At this point, weeks later, my skin is just starting to clear up now. I think maybe I’m going to have to start setting money aside for hair cuts every few months. I’m getting too old to be fighting with acne to the point that I have to use daily doses of antibiotics!
Nora, I grew up on a farm, and every morning I awoke with the first chirps of the birds just outside my window. I love early mornings. I have learned that most other people do not, lol.
The squirrels did indeed nibble on the squash, there are “scabs” where they nibbled. That does not affect the quality of the flesh inside the squash though, so I just wash them thoroughly, then bake them skin side up. I do the same thing with our Halloween pumpkins, they make good pies, as long as I cut away any singed flesh, and carefully remove all of the wax from the candles. Again, waste not, want not.
The car problem, as it turns out, is expensive, it is a bearing and will cost $400 or more to get it replaced. Toyota parts are pricey. The car is a 2010 model, and this is the first issue other than brakes, so I think we are doing OK with it. We will no longer be putting on the miles, as we have been doing over the last five years commuting back and forth from the country house to the little house in the city… we live in one house!
You might like the lentil salad recipe under the recipe tab above Nora, if you like spicy foods.
We are sensitive gals Teri, a hairdressers dream! That sounds miserable, your skin breaking out, worth avoiding I agree. I plan on getting regular haircuts now that we live at Mist Cottage, at least twice a year, lol!
Yup, Maggie! I’m thinking every 3-4 months for a hair cut, myself. If I let it go a year that’s definitely too long.