Sunday Dinner, October 11, 2009

Well, I've procrastinated long enough. I've got my cup of hot Earl Grey tea and my snuggly fleece throw over my feet and legs to ward off the delicious Fall chill in the air and it's time to get down to the business of this Sunday's Dinner.

Today has been cool and overcast. Our low for Saturday morning was down into the low 40'sF and the high today was in the mid-50'sF. I love this kind of day and took full advantage of it by doing a little reading and playing on my laptop and not much else.

I did make a simple supper of scrambled fresh eggs that were given to us by a neighbor, and also fried some smoked sausage to accompany them. Other than that I haven't done anything that could be considered constructive.

My lazy day was one reason I've put off writing this post.

Another is the fact that my guest list for Sunday Dinner is hanging in limbo, and I don't deal very well with uncertainty when it comes to cooking a meal. I like it much better when I know exactly how many I need to feed, whether it's just me and Lamar or a crowd of 25.

I promise I'm getting to the point. Like right now.

I bought a 5 lb. beef tip roast at $1.98/lb. at Wal*mart Supercenter when I did my grocery shopping last week. I cut it up into 2 smaller roasts to cook for me and Lamar, and cut the rest of it up into stew meat.

We had beef roast with potatoes cooked with it and gravy made from the roast juices for supper Friday night. I still have another roast to cook for later, and 3 packages of stew meat in the freezer for later meals. Each will yield a meal with the meat costing about $2 per meal. Not bad for beef in this day and time.

I'm going to cook a package of the stew meat tonight. When I get home from church tomorrow I'll heat up the stew meat and broth and make some simple homemade egg noodles to add to it. According to how many are here for Sunday Dinner I'll adjust the amount of noodles I make.

I've been craving fried cabbage so I'll fix the appropriate amount of that when I get home. It only takes about 15 minutes to cut up the cabbage, fry it fast and hot in a little oil to brown it, then add a couple of tablespoons of water, salt and pepper to it and cover it to steam for a bit.

I have garden green beans in the freezer and I also have some canned green beans, so I may take the more convenient route tomorrow and just heat up some canned green beans.

That's the menu for La Casa de Jennings tomorrow: Homemade beef and noodles, fried cabbage, and green beans, with portions adjusted to accommodate the number of guests to be served.

What's on the menu at your place this week? Just give a shout out in the comments to participate.I am thoroughly enjoying our cool Fall weather. It's rained 5 out of the last 7 days, and the coming week promises more of the same. I don't mind the rain as long as it doesn't flood and get into the apartment, which it's never done, so I'm good in that respect, but area farmers have an entirely different perspective regarding the cool, rainy weather.

Most years by the middle of October well over half the cotton, soybeans, rice, corn, milo and other crops have been harvested, but not this year. There are 2 cotton gins just a stone's throw from my apartment and they have yet to run for the first time this year.

This has been a weird, strange year for weather and crops. A cold, wet Spring and early Summer meant crops were planted late, and then June set records for heat and drought. July through the present has been much cooler and wetter than average, so crops are at least a month behind schedule in maturing.

And even for the crops that have managed to mature, it's been so wet that farmers can't get into the fields to harvest.The cool weather has varying effects on how I feel. I love the cool weather, but add rain and storms to the mix and it tends to make my arthritis more painful. I want to do more, but my arthritis really protests when I try to do too much.

So this week has run the gamut of lots of productivity to getting almost nothing at all accomplished.

I have problems with pacing myself. When I feel reasonably well I tend to push myself and work until I can't go any more. Then I end up hurting and don't feel like doing anything at all.

So I'm usually either working like a fiend or sitting on my prodigious rump. I don't have much middle ground when it comes to activity, it seems.

Here's hoping that I can find some equilibrium and manage to get some things done around the apartment this week while still remembering to take time to rest as needed. Since it's supposed to rain most of this coming week I should have plenty of opportunity to work and rest in the appropriate proportions.Y'all have a great Sunday and new week, spending time with people you love and doing things that bring you joy. May God meet all your needs and may you have enough to share.