The weather has taken over my universe, for the moment. Today the snow packed roads will subjected to more freezing rain and ice pellets. Perhaps the temperature will rise above freezing and melt the snow on the roads, I certainly hope so. The plough has just gone by the house, 7:30 a.m., so there will be a very heavy and wet snow bank across the end of the driveway.
At the best of times I find it challenging to have no work, then suddenly be working, then have no work, then suddenly be working; never knowing what location I will be driving to, or what the roads will be like, or if I will need to prepare food for the day. In the winter it becomes more challenging still to find a balance, as there are few distractions from the process. The last time Attila and I left the house to spend time with friends or relatives was December. It is so difficult to get away in the winter, even to shop for food.
Last weekend we prepared pizzas for dinner, two of them. We have been enjoying a slice of reheated pizza, and fresh salad, the last few nights for dinner, and will again tonight. We feel fortunate to have discovered that leftovers are often tastier than the original dish; I think that alone may have saved us a “small fortune” on our food expenditures. What an extravagance it is to eat fresh lettuce in January in Ontario, Canada. Attila’s fresh sprouts add quite a bit to our fresh salads.
This morning I am searching for a recipe for salad dressing. I am using several criteria for the search, it must be: inexpensive, basic ingredients on hand, easy to prepare, easy to prepare in small quantities, low sodium, low fat, DELICIOUS. What usually happens is that the most promising recipes are collected, perused for inspiration, then parts are used in different combinations until I find something to suit.
My birthday present from Attila this year is a food dehydrator. Exactly what I wanted! What fun there will be in experimenting with different foods; I could even desiccate my own coconut!
The weather and food preparation, riveting stuff. Food and shelter, I do not take them for granted. In my opinion, hiring other people’s labour to accomplish these things says a whole lot about a person’s world view on the division of labour, and the distribution of wealth.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
-4 °C
Condition: Mist
Pressure: 101.6 kPa
Visibility: 5 km
Temperature: -4.0°C
Dewpoint: -4.3°C
Humidity: 98 %
Wind: SE 15 km/h
Wind Chill: -9
Quote
“I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of “Admin.” The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern.”
C. S. Lewis
1898 – 1963