Southern Cookin'

I don't know what's come over me. But I LIKE IT! Today I went to the farmer's market and to a little grocery store in town. I bought the usual at the farmers mkt: okra, corn, cantaloupe, eggs, and a few new things: onions, green beans, mustard and turnip greens. Surprisingly, I spent more than I planned at the grocery store, but I was pleased with the prices. So pleased, in fact, that I bought a lot of items that were not on the list!

When I got home, I made a HUGE pot of greens. Turned out to be about 3 or 4 cups. I'll be eating those tomorrow with some cornbread...mmm, mmm GOOD!

Then, I made a delicious dinner for myself, my husband and our houseguest*. Chicken fried steak with cream gravy, homemade (as in not from the box) mashed potatoes, and fresh corn on the cob. It was DELICIOUS if I do say so myself! and I do! :)

Finally, I cleaned and de-stemmed the strawberries and set the beans to soak overnight. Tomorrow is beans, greens, cornbread and FOOTBALL!

*houseguest
We have a soldier staying with us for the weekend. He has not been able to find a place to live yet, so when he reported to the unit at 3:45pm Friday, and his plan for the weekend was to sleep in his truck, SB of course invited him to our house. He called me about 30 minutes before they got here, and I was so glad that the guestroom was guest ready (except for curtains, so I stole the extension rod from the kitchen window, and threw over a sheet.) It's no bed and breakfast, but it's better than the Chevrolet room! There was a time we were in a town with no place to stay, and a couple let us stay with them. It was just after we got married, and we had to outprocess from a unit SB belonged to, but wasn't working in. George and Lindsey opened their home to us, and SB told me that's just how the military worked, sometime we might be in the position to do the same for someone else. And now we are. That's what it means when they say the "military family." He's from Wisconsion, so I'm happy to show him some Southern hospitality and goooood cookin!

Job/Home Front

On the Job Hunt!

I have had one interview for an FRSA position on post, and have a second interview scheduled Monday. This is the job I held for almost 2 years in Germany. I also interviewed for a part-time teller position with a bank in town. There would be some positives of working there (near the house, not full time so I could still do the things I like to do at the house) but not enough to go with it (low pay, EVERY Saturday...). So, please pray I am placed in the job for which I feel very well suited!

and

On the Home Front!

Most all the boxes are unpacked and kind of organized. I have done some purging and feel good about that. What I really need is a scanner to scan some things I'd like to have digitally so I can share them with people. I have cards and letters I'd like to get in a scrapbook, too. But I'll get to all of that one day. The rooms are set up in degrees. Downstairs and kitchen look the best because these are the most used. Our bedroom is pretty okay, as are the bathrooms. The guestroom, living room upstairs and "office" are not so squared away...little by little, they'll get there. I am sure that just as we get settled in it will be time to move again!

That Small Town Feel

Today, I went to do some errands. I wasn't crazy about doing it, but it needed to be done. One of the errands was to go to the dreaded Wal. I know. Saturday on a payday weekend, what was I thinking?! But this is the day I can have the truck, go by myself, not worry about needing to get back with it if SB needs it for work or whatever.

So, armed with my trusty list, I head out for the cleaners, post office, farmers market and Wal. The line for the cleaners was out the door. That means two people ahead of me. It's just a little shop recommended by someone from SB's unit. While waiting, I had time to read the pinned up business cards, flyers, and notices. I listened to the counterperson. She knew both patrons before me, called them by name, inquired about the first one's school schedule (because she could pick them up on her way home), and ran after the second with the change she forgot. When it was my turn and the 'how are you's were exchanged, she said, "oh, I'm fine, just a little tired, always so much to do!" I said, "me too, and I still have to hit the dreaded Wal!" She went on to tell me about the new HyVee that just opened, and when she asked when we needed the cleaning ready told me that she is always happy to support military spouses because they are the real force behind those men defending our country. You know...because we are the ones keeping them in clean clothes! :)

On to the post office. Another line out the door. But in line I met a lady (I didn't start it, the man in front of her was obviously trying to avoid her conversation), who kept me so distracted that the 30 minute wait flew by! She told me about the Blue Jay football team (Junction City High School. They made it to state last year!) and even told me about some job openings on post. She was mailing a digital photo frame to her daughter who is in college. She has 2 in college, one in HS, and her husband is in Iraq. There was more... I can't recall it just now. On my way out the door, the post office worker man called me back, "Heather? You forgot your pen!" So nice. Then, walking to the car I passed a lady on the street. "HI! It's a beautiful day, isn't it?!" I responded with, "it sure is! Have a great weekend!" "I will if it says like this!" she said.

Smiling all the way (two blocks) to the farmers market where I needed to see a lady about a canteloupe, I continued with my errands. I walked straight up to the table, grabbed the one I wanted and showed it to her saying, "I just need one canteloupe this week." She said, "oh, that's my mother-in-law's, MOM--how much are you going to charge this lady for that puny little canteloupe?" It was 50 cents. But I KNOW it will be so much better than the one they were selling at the Wal for $1.50! Her m-i-l retorted, "well, where are YOUR canteloupes??" initiating a short back and forth about keeping the chickens away from the produce and how this week she was not so successful. "See you next week," I said, ending our exchange.

Well, the morning has gone swimmingly, I think. Maybe I should just go home. Wal cannot make it better and will most likely make it much worse. Much to my surprise, it was not a completely unpleasant experience. My biggest issue was the overabundance of choices. That's the "culture shock" everyone keeps warning me about. I had a coupon for Pringles. There were about 42 different Pringle options! It was a lot to take in, but that stress was balanced by a quick phone call from my bff KC, and all the nice folks I encountered. The man working in kitchen stuffs asked what I was looking for when he could see me scanning the aisles and then assisted me in locating the crockpots; I was able to help a lady find the minnestrone soup she was hunting in a can that will feed her husband (not "these tiny cans of Campbells that cost twice as much as these larger ones of Progresso and Chunky" or something) and we coaxed it down from the back of the top shelf with a bottle of shampoo; the ladies behind me in the checkout line were impressed and told me so when I was checking over my list while waiting my turn. Then we all got a good laugh at the fact that this was probably not the best time to be looking to see what I may have forgotten. Once in line, there is no going back!

Man, that's a lotta errands, and I've done a good job. I should reward myself with a coke from the drive thru (I think). Well, there's the Taco Bell. So I pull in. "Good Afternoon, how are you?" hmm, that's nice! "I'm fine, thanks, may I have a large coke, please?" -- "Pepsi okay?" UGH! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! *heavy sigh* then, politely, "no, you know what? Let me just get one of those fruity freezes, pina colada, please." So, no coke. But the pina colada freeze was pretty good, and I've decided that's a serving of fruit. :)

Home, unload, make chili dogs, eat, write blog post. It's 3:15pm. I'm full, my errands are done and I'm feeling like Junction City might just be a little bit like another small town I know.

I LOVE That Man!

I made a LONG list this morning for the grocery store. I made plans to go to the commissary and then the dreaded Wal. Then, when Stephen woke up (he worked overnight last night, so he had to sleep a few hours today) I said, "so...I know you don't want to outfit our home with the food, and truthfully, I don't either...but..." and that's when he said...

"Then why don't we just go out for mexican food tonight, and we'll get the groceries tomorrow."

I LOVE THAT MAN!!! :)

Way Down the List

So I usually check my blog and look at the list of blogs on the side to see who has updated since I was last here. WELL...Looks like I'm pretty far down the list! So, I guess it's time to post!

When you don't have a job, or kids, travel photos, or just a ton of things going on, there just isn't that much to say. I'm STILL going through boxes, watching too much Law and Order, tending to my toe (pulled the nail almost off...did I mention that?) going to the dentist (chipped a tooth, too!) and being domestic.

That paragraph brought a couple things up.
1. Watching Law and Order. I enjoy this program. I missed it for 3 yrs, so I'm going to allow myself to watch myself sick of it! I like SVU the most, the regular second, and Criminal Intent if there is nothing else on (including Criminal Minds, Medium, What Not to Wear, a movie, etc.,) Obviously I want to like L&O CI, but it's just weird. That Vincent D'Onofrio can be a little annoying. And the theme song (which I dearly love) is the same as regular L&O, but like on crack. It's like the extended dance mix version or soemthing. Call me old fashioned, but I'm not a fan.
2. Being domestic. We are doing a lot more eating at home these days. You know, since 98% of all food we put in our mouths came from restaurants, drive thru windows, and pizza delivery for almost a month. I'm enjoying it. I think husband is, too. The difficult part is the one car. I can't very well go grocery shopping when he's got the car at work. I can take him, take the car and come back for him. We did this when I had the dentist appt today and then we came home for lunch and he took the car back. He has all night duty AGAIN (more on that in a sec), so he really needs to have the car while he's there to do his building checks or whatever. Anyway, tomorrow he'll be sleeping and I'll be at the store. This, like everything else, will come together in time.

The overnight duty. He has it FOUR TIMES in October. I'm not a fan of this. But whatever, I know it's his job and I'm being supportive. I just hate that he has to do it. :(

Anyway...I guess I best end this. I think Law and Order is about to be on! ;)

"That" Room

There are technically three bedrooms in the house. I don't know if there is some contractor/home builder dictionary that has a definition of "bedroom" but I think it should be some kind of illegal to call a room that is maybe 9'x9' a bedroom. If you lay a queen sized air mattress on the floor in there, you can barely open the door to the room and/or closet, nevermind getting any other furniture in there. Like a dresser, desk or bookshelf. I know a child's room would have a twin, or twin bunk beds, but still...

So, it has become that room. "Where should we put __________?"
"I don't know. Just put it in that room."
Right now it has boxes of books, photos, miscellaneous stuff I think I need to save, look at, keep for that one day when I might need/want it. I plan to spend some time next week organizing (downsizing) that kind of stuff.

I took about an hour and a half out of Sunday football to shelve books. They are not all shelved, but the bookshelf we put in there is full. I need to move some boxes around and put the other bookshelf in there. Tomorrow. Today I still have one more football game to watch. That room can wait.

About the Kitchen...

There are a few things I have noticed about the kitchen lately.
1. It's really nice to have a dishwasher. And yet, it kind of sucks to get up in the morning and still have yesterday's dishes to put away. Also, because we are a family of 2, it often happens that there is only one of something we need (like the big knife) and it is in the dishwasher. Dirty.

2. You fill up whatever counter space you have. We have extended our counterspace in this house over our last one by about 3 ft, and have a double sink where the Burstadt house had a single. It was full in that house and it is full in this one. What's that about? We have added an appliance we didn't have there (mixer that was in storage), but the microwave is built in here and sat countertop there. The rest of the house is the same way, though. When it is empty it seems huge, but as soon as you get your junk in there, it gets a lot smaller!

3. Pans. I've discovered or decided (not sure which) that I would rather wash a pan full of grease, butter, or burned casserole than to have to wash the scrambled egg pan. It's just all gross! That egg residue? ICK! And it gets all stuck around the handle bolts, and when you scrub it, it then gets all over the sponge. Gross.

4. Food Planning. This must be a well-choreographed dance if there is any hope to avoid spoilage. I get so excited by the Farmer's Market offerings, and overwhelmed by the choices at the commissary and (however reluctantly, the Wal.) that I look in the refrigerator and find we are perilously close to wasting some food! Our obstacles are (1) that we enjoy different foods (2) the commissary has the 93% lean ground beef only in 1.5 lb pkgs (what kind of recipe calls for increments of .5?) and the giantest of chicken breasts, too much in a pkg, and (3) cooking for 2 almost always leaves leftovers that must be figured into the overall plan. This will become easier as we settle into our routines. I'm looking at it as a challenge!

5. I'm REALLY enjoying the water dispenser in the refrigerator! :)

That's the sitch in the kitch!

Moving Pictures

This is what happens when you ship your Jelly Belly machine with the jelly beans in it. They were stuck securely to the side of the glass!

The movers wrote on the boxes what was inside. This says 7 VCR Copies, 2 something...What did you think it said?

Living Room

Kitchen

Kitchen. This was a difficult room.

Boxes, cardboard, boxes, paper, boxes...

No Deal

It looks like I got the raw end of the deal on the box/blog post deal. I thought I'd just keep going in the garage and then get to make 4 or 5 posts. However, I got hot, tired, sweaty, and a sore hand from using the hand tool on the vacuum to freshen up the love seat. So now I don't FEEL like making a bunch of posts! I did get a lot done, though, and managed to work up quite an appetite! So I will cook some Farmer's Market corn on the cob to go with some shake n bake chicken, and leave you with a photo of my Farmer's Market haul!

$10.25 (It was $10.50, but we returned the egg carton from last time, so we got a quarter back!)

12 eggs

1 cantelope

1 squash

1 bell pepper

1 lb okra

6 ears of corn

1 cucumber

OKRA!

So, we went to the Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago, and got this awesome okra. $1.50 per pound. And a pound is a LOTTA okra for one person. You know, because some people in our house don't eat it. I meant to snap a pick straight out of the bag, but forgot. Here it is after washing and trimming.

Then I boiled some up so I could snack on it while frying the rest. It was DELICIOUS!

And I snapped a photo with slime included for all those who gag at the sight. You're welcome. :)

Then I got down to serious business. I let it soak in a milk/egg bath for a few minutes, flopped it around in some seasoned cornmeal, and then dropped it in some super-hot oil.

Yield: Fried Okra. One of my top ten favorite things to eat!

Bargaining

I have made a deal with myself! For every box I empty/organize/put away, etc,. I get to make one blog post. Since I have a list of things to post about, this should work out. It is noon now, so I am setting a goal of 3 boxes and 3 blog posts before dinner.

Also, each time I make a blog post, that is considered "a turn" on the computer. So...that means checking email and facebook, too. :)

HERE I GO!

Still in Transition

We continue to unpack and arrange; move things and organize; settle and sort. I almost began think that if one can live 3 yrs without something, it might better if it just went away... ALMOST. Then I found the photo album/scrapbook box I had left in the states while we were in Germany. I can do without the tired towels and the curtains that were great in the house in Pflugerville, but won't work at the house in Junction City. I don't really need a pile of candle holders that cost a ridiculous amount of money, but I had forgotten existed. But this giant rubbermaid box of photos and memories were exactly what I needed. I spent over an hour looking through childhood, family, friends and good times. Those other boxes will be there tomorrow when I'm in here updating the blog with the first few pictures of the house. This one just couldn't wait another minute!