Introducing Penny, the Hermit

Among my family and friends, it’s no secret that I’m a loner.  I LIKE to be alone.  Really.  But these days that simply doesn’t happen very often, what with my daughter and her family living with us.  I love having daily access to my grandson and I know I’ll enjoy the new baby too, when he’s born in a few months.  My son-in-law is a huge help around the house, since he’s not currently working he’s handling most housecleaning and yard duties.  So it’s a pretty good deal for everyone, but still, I need time alone. 

For that reason, the past weekend was NIRVANA.  Allen had a class out of town that lasted all weekend, and on Sunday Ayla and family went to visit out-of-town relatives.  I spent Saturday hitting a few thrift stores and spending my gift certificate to AC Moore, a birthday present from Tahnee.  Sunday I never left the house. 

Sunday morning while I my tea was brewing and my toast was, well, toasting, I made a list of the things I wanted to accomplish that day.  In addition to the usual mountain of laundry that is my weekend, here’s what I did:

●Made honey mustard dressing, Asian ginger dressing, and croutons

●Made a double batch of sugar cookie dough

●Made crumbs out of all the bread I had dried

●Froze the leftover soup I had made a few days earlier so I can whip it out on some night I don’t want to cook

●Made chili and refried beans from the pintos I had cooked Friday

●Blocked a knitted project that will be given as a Christmas gift

●Finished a knitted sweater, also a Christmas gift

●Cleaned as  I went along, so as not to make a HUGE mess

There were a few things on the list that didn’t get done, like making bread dough and scones.  I passed on the scones because we had cookies, after all.  I froze 2/3 of the cookie dough so I’ll be ready to decorate cookies with Drake next month for holidays.  I might make the bread dough tonight.

The bread crumbs were made with French bread the thrift store was giving away.  Publix, a local grocery store, gives their day-old bread to thrift stores and I happened to be there when they brought it in.  I got 2 free loaves, one I crumbled and dried in an old cotton pillowcase dedicated to that purpose.  Now it's all ground up and is sitting in an old pickle jar for use on chicken or in meatloaf.  Half the other loaf became the croutons, the other half may be made into bread pudding.  Or more croutons.  I love croutons.

I froze half the chili, the other half will be served tonight over baked potatoes.  I froze the refried beans, which will be handy to have for quick meals and healthier (and cheaper!) than the canned ones.  Having so much homemade food at the ready eases the temptation to run out for fast food or call for pizza.  I try to cook every night but with my health problems some days I simply don’t feel up to it.  I cook more than most people I know but we still succumb to the call of Wendy’s far too often.  Time for that to stop.     

So you don’t get the impression that I’m all work and no play, I should mention I watched 2 episodes of Mad Men on Sunday.  Anytime I got tired I rewarded my hard work with 30 minutes or so of mindless TV, and Mad Men will have to do until Downton Abbey comes back on.