It’s Sunday afternoon and it’s been a lazy-aesthetic kind of day. I’ve done the laundry and cleaned the kitchen and I’m just now getting around to putting on clothes that are not pajamas. I’ve made some hot cider and there’s enough for two, if you want some, so let’s sit down, sip something warm, and do a little weekly recap.
The workweek went well, but the most important part of it (at least in my opinion) was the day that contained pie.
Specifically, I made my first apple pie of the season for our office Thanksgiving potluck. I put on my trusty apron (which I realized is fading but I am loath to get rid of it since we have such fond memories), sliced a variety of apples (three of them, one of which is Granny Smith), mixed them with all the spices that smell like Autumn should smell (six of them; the ratio remains my secret), and baked a pie I was extremely proud of – seriously, I have literally never had a pie go together this easy. I’ve made premade boxed dinners that were harder than this. I definitely crossed my fingers while it’s in the oven!
It was so easy I was sure I had messed it up somehow, but I needn’t have worried because when the party started, they annihilated it. There’s a saying that goes something like “ate and left no crumbs” – and I’ve seen it in reference to debate, but it also applies here. I mean, just take a look:
I also wore my new vest (which Krystal bought on clearance specifically because she thought I would look good in it – and she was right) and I felt quite charming, to tell the truth.
The week didn’t start out with such promise, though. After writing last week’s blog post I noticed that the inside temperature kept rising, maxing out at 73 degrees before the outside temperature kept it in check. It turns out the outside unit – the one our complex just replaced a few months ago – wasn’t running.
I replaced batteries, checked breakers, even offered it emotional support; nothing worked. I did check the condensate pipe and pulled out a few finger-lengths of red sludgy material. So in the end, I filed a maintenance ticket and hoped the crew would come out sometime Monday – which they did!
I’ve been having a hankering for mushrooms, so on Friday after work I picked up some stew meat and some mixed mushrooms and all the stuff to make a comforting stew and cheesy bread. For the stew I had wanted to use dried porcini mushrooms, but nobody had them in stock, (which, had I found them, would have ended up in my stock, haha) and so I made use of onion-and-mushroom umami powder.
Five hours later and everything had cooked down nicely.
The cheesy bread didn’t turn out exactly as I had anticipated – it as supposed to be cheese filled, but I overfilled the pocket and ended up just kneading the cheese throughout the dough and baking it that way. It was still good!
On Saturday I went out to one of my local thrift shops. They were running a 50% everything sale to make room for new items – in fact, they’re now closed until Friday to reset the store. For $8 total I took home a stack of Food & Wine cookbooks (yes, I inadvertently purchased a few duplicates), a table runner with a leafy pattern that to me screams “fall”, an opinionated owl, a faux-stone bunny, and two leaf pins, one in gold and one in autumn orange.
It was also time for my yearly purchase of one bottle of whiskey, but to my extreme disappointment I discovered that Jameson apparently discontinued their Stout Edition a whole year ago, apparently right after I bought my last bottle. So I did not buy anything because that’s almost the only whiskey I’ve ever bought. The little bit I had left granted me entry into the elusive, exclusive Crow Bar:
Saturday night the rain was absolutely pouring down, but I had my leftover stew and half a bottle of Shiraz and Murder, She Wrote on the TV.
Frankly, that alone qualified as a win.
And now my cider is gone and my back is hurting so I’m about to put the recliner into the recline position and turn on the heating pad.
What about you? how’ve you been? Eating deliciously? Finding treasures? Saying your preferred temperature?
Running In My Head 
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