Bits and Pieces from an Overwhelmed Mind

My brain is overflowing with so much political and assassination news that I wanted to take a break from writing this blog today. My second thought was maybe that is exactly why I need to write. If you are feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by all that is happening in U.S. politics, you are welcome to hide here for the few minutes it takes to read my blog most days.

We woke up to rain this morning. Fortunately, it did not last long. Joe was chomping at the bit to go buy a longer extension for his pole saw and to get busy cutting cracked limbs off of the tree that had already dropped one limb on our garage roof during the severe storm we had two days ago. I sat with him while he cut limbs and branches while on a ladder. Now he is busy cutting the limbs up further so he can use them in his raised garden beds. I caught photos of Joe working away.

I think my camera lens fogged over from the humidity.

My birthday gift was a new four-quart Pampered Chef crockpot. Our house is currently filled with the aroma of crockpot barbecued boneless pork ribs. I will be making a green salad and mediterranean chickpea rice to serve with the ribs. The rice dish calls for 3-4 tablespoons of fresh parsley. Joe planted the parsley two months ago – I am excited to use it!

We used to belong to a Martha Stewart meal plan. We would get three or four meals sent to our home weekly. At the time, Joe was cooking and would prepare the meals. During the process he would have conversations with Martha. Usually along the lines of, “No, Martha, I am not going to juice ½ of the lemon now and ½ of the lemon in twenty minutes. I am going to juice the entire lemon right now.” This is a mild version of the suggestions he had for Martha and her cooking tips. Mind you, Martha was not present in our kitchen – I was!

Two of our friends had suggested Joe do a YouTube Cooking show while cooking the Martha meals. Joe does not like the limelight so refused. Eventually, I cancelled the meal plan with Martha as it was too stressful for Joe and for me listening to his rants. Joe is usually very mild mannered but over the year of following Martha’s step-by-step recipes he had grown more frustrated. I think in part because Martha had not changed – she was still insisting he juice a lemon or dice an onion in multiple steps. He felt this was a waste of his time when he could do it all at once. Also keep in mind, Joe liked to clean up as he went so Martha’s directions were foiling his clean as you go method.

Now that I do the cooking, I wonder if we would still be using Martha Stewart if I had done the cooking back then. I also clean up as I go. I would have juiced the lemon and diced the onion at the beginning. The only real difference between Joe and me is that I would not have felt the need to argue with Martha. I would just do it my way. I always do it my way in cooking. I may feel the need to follow recipes to the nth degree. But the process itself may get messed with along the way and I don’t feel compelled to discuss it. Joe is a process kind of guy so guess he felt there needed to be a conversation even if it was one sided. Again, Martha was not present in our kitchen.

Still, I found the year “we cooked with Martha” full of laughter. Okay, I was the only one laughing.