This morning before breakfast I fed the cats, emptied the dishwasher, made the bed around our fat cat Serenity, ironed +Annette's new workshirt, packed her lunch, put some bread in the oven to toast for breadcrumbs later, and saw her off to work.
Dry breadcrumbs are pretty easy. Just cut up some crustless bread into inch squares and toast on an oven tray at 130ยบ until they're dry and crispy all the way through. Thinner bits of bread cook faster; if I feel any squish when I pinch the pieces, I put them back in for another five minutes.
You can use a blender to turn the lumps into crumbs, but I'm still a little leery about using such devices so I put the pieces in a plastic bag and gently crush them with a rolling pin.
Today I have some guys coming over for a roleplaying game session from 12 to 5, so I have to race around like a whirlwind to get everything organised in time! Thankfully we don't have many plans for the weekend, so we'll both have some recovery time.
School went back earlier this week, so Annette's work at the college has been extra busy. Luckily her daughter Maddy is pretty self-sufficient, so I don't need to worry too much about getting her organised in the mornings as well.
I put a load of laundry on and vacuumed the carpet. Needing to pick up a few things, I hopped on my bike and did a circuit of the shops - hardware store for ant sand and a replacement globe for the bug zapper, pet shop for cat food, and grocery store for milk. Back home I had a quick snack and hung out the washing. Time to shower and get things ready for the game!
I was just having some lunch when people started turning up. I managed to keep my brain running for the duration, and it was a fun game. I ran a session of Ryuutama, where the group journeyed into a swamp to negotiate with a witch. After running a five hour game though, I felt like a nap.
But it's time to get dinner ready! Tonight I'm going to cook pan-fried steak with mashed potatoes and some frozen veggies. Annette's on a low chemical diet to test for food intolerances, so our menu tends to be at once limited and interesting.
Our mashed potatoes usually consist of boiled potatoes, finely chopped spring onions, chives, garlic paste, and rice milk.
I used to cook steak too slowly, so it would turn grey and chewy. Now that I have access to a good stove and a heavy ridge-based frying pan, I crank the heat a little and sear lines into the meat while leaving the middle tender.
Before I started cooking, I loaded the dishwasher, took the recycling out, and brought the laundry in. I managed to coordinate the food reasonably well, so everything ended up being cooked and ready at the same time. It's a talent I'm still working on; in my first few weeks, one item would often be finished while something else was far from ready.
After dinner we relaxed with the last few episodes of The Walking Dead season one. It's my first time watching the show. It's good! Very tense and visceral.
Before bed, I had time to check the bug lamp (not sure if it's working properly), rinse some plates and scrub some pots, and load the dishwasher.
As I was getting ready for bed, I saw our other cat Suki tearing strips off their cardboard scratch mat. Something to clean up in the morning
Goodnight!
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