July 11th Dinner Post

[livetobake]

Good Morning!

It is a blue sky with puffy clouds along with a HHH day with the high of 90 and the low of 72.

I am glad I already weeded the flowers and gardens.

I had a unusual guest enjoying some leftovers yesterday. Not who or what you would think. I opened the trash can and at the bottom was a baby racoon shaking and scared and had probably been stuck in there for hours. I pulled the can down by the creek and woods and laid it on its side and opened the lid. It would not come out as it was that scared. I had a rake I took with me so carefully nudged it and stood way back and after a couple of minutes I saw the nose and all of a sudden it was out and running into the woods. I stayed way back as I had no desire in getting attacked even if it was a small one. I have rearranged the bungy cord so that it is super tight and hopefully it will not be opened again like that. The cord was still attached so it must have worked its way in.

Dinner will be egg salad sandwiches, raw veggies and dip along with strawberry smoothies.

What will be your dinner this Monday?

[rosie]

Ditto on the weather.

LTB you're way way nicer than me. That little thing would be in racoon heaven. We have had so many coons, possums, skunks + various other creatures here. They kill our kittens and chickens. We see em their goners. If I offend anyone all I can say is live here and pick up dismembered kittens or bury a good layer.

I morphed some meatcrap into goulash so tho it's a bit weird we're gonna eat it.

[Chayote]

Another very cold day here... I needed to put the heating on at 8am and it's been on ever since. God help me when the electricity bill comes in... I ordered some warmer clothes for John today... they should be here in three or four days.

I did a few mundane things today... finished cleaning the oven (dirty from previous tenants) which I started before our ten days in Melbourne. If anyone knows a tried and true method of cleaning metal oven racks that still have baked on fat/oil stains even after spraying them with oven cleaner and twice through the dishwasher on the hottest temperature. I can't scrub them because the cold weather is playing havoc with the arthritis in my hands. Any suggestions of cleaning methods gratefully received. That reminds me, I need to put rubber gloves on my next shopping list.

I've spent the evening knitting a dress for a teddy bear. I have two doll cabinets... will be four cabinets in the new house... with dolls and teddy bears and I need to spend some time making clothes for them. It's fun working on things other than blankets.

Dinner tonight: John had another pork steak burger without the lettuce because we ran out; I had a small bowl of spaghetti bolognaise and I was still hungry so I followed it with a sandwich with ham, alfalfa and potato chips.

Poker tomorrow which means we'll buy a hot lunch in the bistro at the club and I won't need to cook tomorrow night... *yay!!*

[rosie]

Another very cold day here... I needed to put the heating on at 8am and it's been on ever since. God help me when the electricity bill comes in... I ordered some warmer clothes for John today... they should be here in three or four days.

I did a few mundane things today... finished cleaning the oven (dirty from previous tenants) which I started before our ten days in Melbourne. If anyone knows a tried and true method of cleaning metal oven racks that still have baked on fat/oil stains even after spraying them with oven cleaner and twice through the dishwasher on the hottest temperature. I can't scrub them because the cold weather is playing havoc with the arthritis in my hands. Any suggestions of cleaning methods gratefully received. That reminds me, I need to put rubber gloves on my next shopping list.

I've spent the evening knitting a dress for a teddy bear. I have two doll cabinets... will be four cabinets in the new house... with dolls and teddy bears and I need to spend some time making clothes for them. It's fun working on things other than blankets.

Dinner tonight: John had another pork steak burger without the lettuce because we ran out; I had a small bowl of spaghetti bolognaise and I was still hungry so I followed it with a sandwich with ham, alfalfa and potato chips.

Poker tomorrow which means we'll buy a hot lunch in the bistro at the club and I won't need to cook tomorrow night... *yay!!*

I have trouble scrubbing too. Put them in a big trash bag. Pour in some ammonia and seal the bag. Leave outside overnight next day just spray or run thru dishwasher. I do it when there's snow. The outside temp does not matter. I just put a few big glugs of ammonia. Doesn't take alot.

[Sabine]

Be careful with the ammonia Chayote, don't breath the fumes in.
I cleaned my oven during the covid lockdown. I have an automatic cleaning cycle in my oven , but I don't like to use it, because the oven goes up to a super hot temp and that scares me. So I looked up oven cleaning including the racks on " you tube " , found so many different methods. The one that worked for me was putting the racks in your bath tub and put some dryer sheets in the water and leave it overnight. It s best to put an old towel in the tub and put the racks on the towel before adding the water and dryer sheets. Next morning just rub the racks and all the baked on stuff will come off. It worked for me , hope it works for you.
I have a large farm kitchen sink in my utility room so I didn't have to put the racks in the bathtub, they fit into the sink.
instead of dryer sheets ( if you don't have any ) you could use dishwasher tabs. Make sure racks are covered with hot water before adding tabs. Leave overnight.

[CharleneG]

It is beautiful and clear today, great views of the Cascades and the Olympics from up on my hill. I made what I thought was going to be a quick Grocery Outlet run and I noticed my low air pressure light was lit up when I pulled in. I did my shopping, came out and I had the flattest tire I’ve seen in awhile. Welllll [email protected]!! I called AAA and while I was waiting a nice man coming out of the store found what killed my tire, about a 3” long cotter key, probably came off the roofing truck across the street from my house. Oh well, got the spare put on and immediately drove the few blocks to Les Schwab Tire and set up an appointment for a new set of tires tomorrow morning. I knew I needed to get new tires in the next few months, just thought I might be able to wait for fall.

I am planning on trying out a recipe for Monterey Chicken Quiche tonight, if it turns out good I’ll post the recipe. I’ll have some fruit with it.

[Chayote]

I have trouble scrubbing too. Put them in a big trash bag. Pour in some ammonia and seal the bag. Leave outside overnight next day just spray or run thru dishwasher. I do it when there's snow. The outside temp does not matter. I just put a few big glugs of ammonia. Doesn't take alot.

Thanks, rosie... I'll give it a go. The only ammonia available at our supermarkets is cloudy ammonia. Is that what you're talking about?

https://i.imgur.com/m4nYyyn.jpg

[Chayote]

Be careful with the ammonia Chayote, don't breath the fumes in.

I will be careful, Sabine... I'll make sure I use a mask if I go ahead with the ammonia. The oven shouldn't have been so dirty when we moved in and I mentioned it on the condition report. The landlord wasn't required to clean it, just not expect it to be clean when we leave. That won't happen because I want to use the oven in the meantime.

[rosie]

Thanks, rosie... I'll give it a go. The only ammonia available at our supermarkets is cloudy ammonia. Is that what you're talking about?

https://i.imgur.com/m4nYyyn.jpg

I had to googlé cloudy ammonia. Reads like it's the same except cloudy has soap where regular doesn't. Worth a shot.