DECEMBER 2022
Wednesday 2022.12.28
Christmas Day
When I wrote my blog entry on Sunday morning, the weather forecast was for 73°F that day. Actually, the temperature outside peaked at 84° and my indoor thermometer recorded a high of 85°.
The ribs I wrote about turned out perfect. I saved about a third of the meat for later, possibly to make a panini with it. I've done it before. It's good.
I heard from my twin brother. He is having further tests done after his heart issues. It's cause for concern. He looks more like my mother's side of the family. They rarely live until retirement. My grandfather died of a heart attack in our home when he was 63. I was five years old then and I didn't understand death. I still remember telling my grandmother I would never die.
My mother was 62 when she passed. Her brother was only 50. Their mother lived into her 80s. As for me, I'm practically a clone of my father. On his side of the family, relatives live into their 90s. If my bladder issues don't lead to kidney failure, I might have many years ahead of me.
The Billable Procedures Treadmill
I've written about it in the past. When a medical group learns I have decent insurance they run me through every doctor in the group who can legally do something for which to charge my insurance. That hasn't happened to me lately, but a friend complained to me about it at length this week.
His wife is in the Marines. As a result, he has excellent medical coverage. Unlike my insurance, which pays only about 40% for most procedures (I pay nothing, except a $20 copay per visit), his insurance pays 100%.
He was in the hospital a few weeks ago and when they saw his insurance coverage, they started recommending every procedure they could think of. Thankfully, he was able to deny most of those treatments, but he was annoyed that the average citizen like you and me get only moderate coverage while those with a premium policy have access to luxury treatments.
I've seen it myself. I tell the doctor I am having a problem with something. He looks me over and tells me he sees nothing wrong. Everything is normal. Is it?
Can I complain? No. For 2022 I ran up more than $100,000 in medical procedures, for which I paid only about $400. I have an ongoing prescription for medical supplies, for which I pay nothing. I'm thankful I have good insurance.
Last Blog of the Year
2022 is coming to an end. As has been customary for me and this blog, I'll publish a review of 2022 and a look forward into 2023. Look for that on Sunday, January 1st.
And so I am about to put this year of blogs into the Archives. They're all there, more than 1,300 entries, going back to 2010, not that anyone would be interested. However, they don't take up much space on the server, only about 7MB. I like keeping them because sometimes I need to refer back to something I wrote a while ago.
Although I am definitely slowing down when it comes to making cooking videos, I've been good about blogging. I'll continue that anyway.
And having mentioned cooking videos, on January 1st I'll publish a video I've been holding for a few weeks, Popcorn Chicken. Then I'll probably return to the practice of featuring recipes and videos from the archives.
Sunday 2022.12.25
Merry Christmas!
Hopefully your holiday is happy for you. For many of you, I hope you're coming out of this latest winter freeze. It has been on the news so much, Donald Trump might be happy the weather is taking some of the focus off of him.
As planned, this morning I read the last chapter of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Weather
The big news, of course, has been the frigid weather here in the USA. I have a friend in Kentucky. He reported 2°F one day and 3°F the following day. That might be colder than my freezer. They were also under a boil-water advisory as well, because a water main broke in the town.
The forecast here has been sunny and mild, 73°F, for Christmas day. For Tuesday there is a prediction, 80%, of rain, continuing through the weekend.
With the cold weather comes an increase in sickness. I'm happy I got my flu shot. The county here is recommending masks again, when inside public places like stores, banks, other businesses, etc. I never stopped wearing a mask. I keep a few in the glove compartment of my car.
Christmas
I didn't do anything special for the holiday, other than finish reading the book I mentioned above. On Christmas eve I made one of my Ciabatta Burgers. I make them about the same as my Cheeseburger recipe and video. The difference is the bread I use. I like the square rolls sold at Costco. They don't label them as ciabatta, but they are close enough to deserve the name.
I like to shave a little of the crust off the top and bottom, then split them. I butter both sides of each slice of bread and toast it in the skillet while I'm cooking the beef patty.
Plain beef doesn't interest me; so, I season the patty with a little salt and pepper, some onion powder and garlic powder before it goes into the pan. I probably don't cook it enough. I like it a little pink on the inside, but not rare. It goes onto the bun with a slice of cheese on top and bottom. I don't use condiments like mustard or pickle. The seasoning gives the burger all the flavor I want. Maybe people put condiments on their burgers because an unseasoned beef patty tastes so bland.
For Christmas dinner this evening I'll eat Pork Spareribs that are cooking for 24 hours in a sous vide water bath. I'll finish them briefly in my air fryer before slathering the ribs with some of my homemade Barbecue Sauce. They went into the bath yesterday around 5:00PM so that they'd be ready today. On the side will be a bowl of mixed greens garnished with some of my homemade Salad Dressing. It isn't turkey with all the trimmings, but it will be a delicious meal.
My Christmas present to myself was the fake ficus tree I bought, which I still haven't put into the planter outside. I need to buy sand and river rock. Help from a friend would make the task easier, but there is no one in the park young enough I would ask for assistance. The task will get done, eventually.
Painting
Many years ago I did an oil painting for my living room. It's of an Italian farmhouse, done from a photograph in a cookbook. A few years ago a friend and her boyfriend were in my home and he noticed I forgot to add the chimney. I don't know why I never noticed that. I'm usually very good with details.
This week I finally got around to adding the chimney. The challenge was the tiles on top. I wasn't sure what would look best. I searched for photographs on the internet and found one I liked. That became the model for my chimney top.
If you're wondering about size, the painting is four feet on each side. Initially, it took five months to paint, mostly because of all the tiles on the roof.
Wednesday 2022.12.21
Happy Winter Solstice
Today is the first day of winter. It's also the shortest day of the year — or, more accurately, the sun will above the horizon for the least amount of time in the northern hemisphere. The day is still 24 hours long. The daylight hours will start getting longer now. That doesn't mean they'll get warmer. Not yet. Essentially, the heat will be off more than it is on; so, the days and nights will continue to get colder until the beginning of spring.
Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol
Every December 21st I start reading A Christmas Carol. There are only five chapters, or staves. I read one every evening so that I can read the last one on Christmas morning. I've been doing this for many years.
I prepared. I have the book as an ebook (and a paperback as well). And so I charged the battery on my e-readers. I have several devices. Besides my Kobo reader, my newest device, I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab A and I still have my original reader, a Nook Color. And, being the avid reader that I am, I also have the Nook e-reader app on my laptop computers.
There's more. I have an audiobook version on my SanDisk MP3 player. I might not use that, though. The reading is rather slow. I know the book so well, I can almost skim through it.
Then there are the movies. My favorite is the 1951 version, A Christmas Carol, with Alastair Sim. I'll watch it this week.
House January 6 Committee
Did you watch the final public hearing of the Jan. 6 committee? I did. The accusations seemed very clear to me. I watched the earlier hearings and this one summed up the findings for me, and maybe quite a few others. Mitch McConnel said, "The entire nation knows who is responsible for that day," without actually naming the ex-president. We know whom he meant.
Of the four criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, I hope at least one of them leads to an indictment. A conviction might be impossible, but an indictment would place another negative mark on the ex-president's legacy and might, hopefully, either prevent him from ultimately running for office again or maybe cause him to lose the Republican nomination.
Trump still has his dedicated followers, and that's fine. There aren't enough of them to guarantee him an election victory. It's the undecided in swing states that could pose a problem. The fewer of them who vote for him, the better for the nation. We don't need another four years of him as president. The first four years should have taught Americans a lesson. Be careful who you vote for.
Trump's Taxes
The ex-president suffered another blow to his over-inflated dignity this week when the House committee voted yesterday to make six years of his tax records public. The Guardian ran a headline that seemed to sum up 2022 succinctly for Trump: "The January 6 committee just gave a final blow to Trump's very bad year." Add another final flow: The vote to release his tax records to the public.
What is the future for Trump? That is so difficult to guess because, like a phoenix, he has an uncanny talent for rising from the ashes. Most pundits and op-ed writers agree, however, that his stardom is fading. He declared his candidacy for 2024, most likely to accept campaign donations he can add to his bank accounts for personal use, but it appears unlikely he'll win the GOP nomination. If his tax records reveal blatant lies about his self-professed wealth, or worse, if they show cases of tax evasion crimes, that might drive the final nail into his presidential aspirations coffin.
Sunday 2022.12.18
A Week Until Christmas
As mentioned in last Sunday's blog, three of my YouTube videos are popular at Christmastime — Mom's Italian Christmas Cookies, Scalloped Potatoes and Bailey's Irish Cream. I featured the cookies recipe for a while. Now I'm featuring the potato recipe because some cooks are looking for a side dish to prepare as part of their holiday meal. After Christmas I'll feature the Bailey's in anticipation of the New Year's holiday.
I don't do much for the holidays. There was a time when I baked Christmas cookies to give away. Now, I have very few friends. They mostly moved away. And I can't bring cookies into work now that I've been retired for more than 10 years.
I have a little plastic elf someone gave me several years ago. I put that on top of a speaker in my living room. That's my only decoration.
I'm not a Scrooge, but for whom would I decorate? I have no children or grandchildren. Ever since the beginning of the Covid pandemic almost no one visits anymore. And no one shares anything. It's a different time. Who knows if we'll ever return to the friendlier days of the past? Oh well. Life.
A Bit of Fun
One bit of amusement I enjoyed: I have an app that allows me to download a YouTube video to my computer. I downloaded one of the burning fireplace videos and saved it on a flash drive I can plug into my Blu-ray player. Now, when anyone does come to visit, I can put the fireplace on TV and tell them to pull up a chair and have a warm.
I wish I had put that on my laptop computer and started it running next to my bed on Monday evening when the electricity, and therefore the heat, were off. It might have slept better.
Chex Mix
On Thursday I made a double batch of Chex Mix. The recipe varies from one batch to another, depending on what is available. As mentioned in an earlier blog, Costco isn't selling the three pack of corn, rice and wheat Chex cereals. I ordered them on Amazon, but the rice Chex won't be shipped until later. I substituted with Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.
If you look at the picture on the recipe page, you'll see I also include some Goldfish crackers. This year I didn't include the pretzels, but I found at Costco a large jar of peanut butter filled pretzels. I thought that might add an interesting flavor. It doesn't. I've been picking them out and throwing them in the trash.
After baking for the appropriate amount of time (I go longer because it is a double batch) to dry out the water that comes with the butter (up to 20%), I let the mix cool and then stored it in ziplock bags. This year I won't give any of it away.
Movies
I've been watching some of the Christmas movies I've collected in the past. And I just ordered another one. I've had a decent copy of The Man Who Invented Christmas, but I like the movie so much, I wanted a good Blu-ray copy. The price was fair on Amazon; so, I ordered it.
If you're not familiar with the movie, it's probably a fictitious re-enactment of how Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol. I'm sure some of it might be true, but a lot of it seems fictional. Nonetheless, it's an enjoyable film.
Yesterday evening I watched A Christmas in Connecticut, which I watch every December. It's one of my favorites.
Wednesday 2022.12.14
I'm Thankful I Can Cook
One problem with getting older is that life offers fewer pleasures. You probably already know my situation; so, there is no need to go into it again.
One of the pleasures of life, no matter how old we get, is food — good food. By good I mean food that tastes really good. Sure, foods low in sodium and saturated fats are better for us, but I enjoy eating delicious food.
On Sunday, while I had ribs cooking in a sous vide setup, I made New England Clam Cakes. (See the recipe for a picture.) They are round, spherical cakes made with flour and clam juice, with plenty of clams mixed into the batter. They're not the healthiest of foods because they are deep fried in oil until cooked all the way through and crisp on the outside.
I grew up in New England, in the town of Mystic, Connecticut. During the summer we'd often go to the beach in Rhode Island, a place called Misquamicut State Beach. I would often buy the clam cakes sold in the refreshment stand. Many places sold them — the drive-in theaters, restaurants and diners, even fast-food hamburger joints. I really like clam cakes.
When I decided to learn how to make my own, I ran into a dilemma. At first, I used baking powder. It worked okay, but the outside would become too crisp while the insides continued to cook. The result was bumps, and sometimes long "legs," of batter squeezing out as the inside expanded, making clam cakes that looked more like alien life forms than something to eat.
For those who prefer to work with baking powder, I included a recipe for Clam Fritters on this web site. Compare that picture to the one of Clam Cakes. The fritters are a little easier to make because there is no waiting time for the yeast to expand the dough. However, when I experimented with using yeast rather than baking powder, I much preferred the yeast cakes.
The term cakes is actually inaccurate. Think of Crab Cakes. They're more like round flat disks. Dough deep-fat fried in oil are fritters. I tried doing some research to learn how Clam Cakes got their name, but I found nothing.
Another Reason I am Thankful I Can Cook
I watched one of the many Ted Talks that are available on the internet. This one addressed the question: Why are humans so smart even though we don't have the largest brain? The answer is neural density. Of all the species, we have the most neurons per cubic centimeter of brain mass. The reason: We cook.
Cooking makes more calories available to the body. The central nervous system uses a huge portion of the energy we consume each day. We couldn't survive if we had only raw food to eat.
Electricity
The power did indeed go off on Monday evening. It was a rough night. The work replacing the utility pole was just a little way from my bedroom windows. It was loud. I couldn't help thinking it was like industrial grade tooth extraction. The noise eventually settled down and the pole was lifted out of the ground by a very tall crane.
The weather forecast was for 39°F during the night. With no electricity, my furnace wouldn't work, so I put an extra quilt on the bed. I have a digital thermometer in my living room. It records the day's highs and lows. That night the temperature in my home dropped to 54°F.
Twice I dreamed the electricity, and thus the heat, came back on, only to be disappointed when I was awake enough to see my bedroom was still dark. In another dream I saw them put the old pole back in the ground upside-down. Recycling?
Finally, a little before 7:00 in the morning the power came back on and therefore also the heat. I slept until 8:00. I checked in the morning; they replaced the old pole with a new one.
Finally, Reading
I finished reading Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman. Most of the basic information about Trump I already knew from reading news articles. She provided a lot of the details I never read before.
Now I'm starting another one — Revenge by Michael Cohen.
Sunday 2022.12.11
My Annual Exercise in Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior
If you've seen my videos, you've seen the calendar on the wall of my kitchen. For the past several years I have been creating and printing them myself. They go back to a time when there was a Borders Bookstore in the shopping center down the street.
I used to buy my calendars every year because I like the 8½- by 14-inch format. There is plenty of room to write notes. That store closed and since then I haven't found any calendar I like in any other of the local stores. So, I create my own.
The format requires legal-sized paper, of course, but I want stronger material, like card stock. A package of legal card stock costs more than a package of 11 by 17 — a lot more. 50 sheets of 8½ by 14 costs $25.99 on Amazon. 250 sheets of 11 by 17 — five times more sheets — costs less than $2 more, $27.29. Which would you buy?
I have a paper cutter. I trim the sheets as I need them. And, I keep the trimmings too because those become my shopping lists. That's another bit of odd behavior. I tape pieces to the inside of my front door. Each is labeled with the name of a local store — Costco, Albertsons, etc. Whenever I notice I am running low on something, I write it on the appropriate list, starting from the bottom. Then, when I feel like shopping, I cut off the piece of list and bring it with me. That way, I never forget anything.
I'm Craving Homemade Chex Mix Again
There was a time when Costco sold a three-pack box of Corn, Rice, and Wheat Chex cereals each November/December in time for holiday baking. I haven't seen those boxes in a few years. I used to buy them, along with nuts and other small crackers or pretzels to make my own Chex Mix snack. This year, I ordered three boxes of Chex cereal from Amazon. The other ingredients I can buy locally.
My First Tree
I am planning to replace my citrus trees with fake outdoor (UV resistant) trees. With the watering, feeding, and spraying for invasive insects, they are becoming more work than I want. A few years ago I changed my landscaping to reduce maintenance. It's time to reduce again.
The upper portion (above the graft) of the Buddha's Hand tree was destroyed by aphids. That part finally died. From the lower section, just above the root ball, some new growth has started. That is from the host tree and it might be an ordinary lemon tree when it eventually becomes large enough to look like a tree and bear fruit.
My original plan was to wait until I received December's payment from YouTube, but I saw one of the trees on my wish list was reduced 21% in price with an additional 20% off with a coupon. That more than pays for the shipping and sales tax. So, ordered it, an ordinary ficus. The original plan remains in place, to order one per month (or when YouTube pays me enough to purchase a tree) until all the planters are full.
The entire project probably won't be complete until summer — maybe sooner if I see irresistible price reductions on some of the trees on my wish list.
More About Popcorn Chicken
I usually do my research before doing a video. This time, however, I believed I knew what I was doing and only afterward did I view many popcorn chicken videos on YouTube. And, what a surprise!
Most people make way too much work for themselves. They drop the nuggets one at a time into the coating, then one at a time into the hot oil. If KFC made popcorn chicken that way, they'd be out of business. I dumped all the pieces (from three chicken thighs) into a bag with about a quarter cup of dry coating mix. I gave it a good shake. Then, after shaking off the excess coating, I dumped all the pieces into a skillet of hot oil. Cooking time was three minutes.
If you look at the clock on the wall (after I publish this video) it appears to take about 40 minutes, from start to finish, to make this meal. That isn't accurate. There is the intro and outro to shoot. There is time between shots to focus the camera and frame the image for each clip. I also wash dishes and utensils along the way. A longer video can take the better part of an afternoon to shoot. This one was so short and easy, I waited for the sun to go down and darkness to set in outside so that I wouldn't need to cover the windows.
It was 5:03 on the clock when I started and 5:42 when I walked out of the kitchen with my plate of cooked popcorn chicken. The edited video is only seven minutes long.
Another Experiment
This one doesn't involve my water works. YouTube sent out recommendations to add captions to videos to reach a wider audience and acquire more views. Adding subtitles is a lot of work. Is it worth it?
I'm experimenting with my Popcorn Chicken video. It took all morning to type and embed the subtitles. My plan was to upload the video as "unlisted" and then use the link to view it on my smartphone to see those subtitles. It looked good, but I knew I could do better.
And that led to all sorts of frustration. I wanted a separate subtitle file. The most common is the ".srt" file format. Although acceptable to YouTube, they prefer something called Scenarist Closed Caption format, or ".scc". That, of course, led to research.
I understood what I thought I needed to know, but my Adobe Premiere Pro program wouldn't output to the .scc format. I spent another day trying to figure out why. Finally, a friend called and he's good at solving these problems. It took him only a few seconds.
I had to start again. In my further research I learned that closed captions really are closed in Premiere Pro. The software wouldn't allow me to change the font size. Thankfully, I had everything I needed saved to files; so, it was relatively easy to start anew. I deleted my subtitled project file.
Working with my original un-subtitled video file, it took the better part of a morning to reconstruct the subtitled file. There were no difficulties and everything worked as I wanted it to. I put the video on YouTube and test it. My plan was still to publish it after the first of the year. Let Mom's Christmas Cookies, Scalloped Potatoes and Homemade Bailey's Irish Cream enjoy their holiday popularity. However…
When viewing the video on my phone, I saw some problems. Evidently YouTube doesn't like fractions. That's easy to fix. I can use 1/4 rather than ¼. There was a curly quote, which also doesn't show correctly in a video, and there was an instance of "their" where there should have been "there". I fixed those.
Is it worth all that effort? No. YouTube has its own auto-generated subtitles, like closed captioning on TV. That reaches the hearing-impaired audience. I deleted the subtitled video from YouTube and uploaded my standard HD video.
Popcorn Pacific Cod
In my endeavors to use up food in my freezer, this past week I pulled out the last two Pacific cod filets and thawed them. While they thawed, I mixed some of my Finger Lickin' Chicken coating mix with some Chinese Five Spice seasoning. Then I cut the fillets into nuggets and placed them in a ziplock bag with some of the coating mix. After giving the bag a good shake to coat the pieces evenly, I cooked them in hot oil until lightly browned
The flavor: Delicious? No. Edible? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Sort of. I ate it all, but I followed it up with a small glass of egg nog to put a better flavor in my mouth. I love egg nog.
Wednesday 2022.12.7
Influenza
I read a news article in Axios about this year's flu epidemic. Here are a few excerpts and my comments.
The worst flu outbreak in more than a decade has left nearly every state with high or very high levels of flu activity.
I haven't heard or read any statistics about flu here in Santa Barbara county. I looked at the county's web page about influenza, but there was no specific information. There was only the strong recommendation advising residents to get their annual flu shot. I got mine last month.
About 4 in 10 Americans say they don't plan to get a flu shot this season, largely over concerns the vaccines don't work well or have side effects.
This I don't understand. I've been getting a flu shot every year for many years. The vaccine isn't expensive and most insurance plans will pay for it. Mine was free. I never experience any side effects and I can testify to it being effective. If I do get the flu, the symptoms are mild and I am usually sick for only one day.
I mentioned in last month's blog my brief bout with illness. It was before I was vaccinated. I tested myself for Covid and the results were negative. So, I am assuming it was a mild case of the flu.
The flu outbreak comes as other respiratory diseases are circulating, including respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and emerging COVID variants.
One friend's mother was admitted into the hospital ICU with RSV. At last report, she is doing much better.
I want to get my third Covid booster, but supposedly there are new vaccines on the way. They're supposed to be better at protecting the body against the latest variants. I haven't heard anything about when they might be available. I might get another booster anyway. My last one was administered nearly six months ago. I'm due.
Meanwhile, I still wear a mask when I go shopping.
Popcorn Chicken
In Sunday's blog I wrote this about my chicken nuggets: "If ever I were to make these again, I would lightly coat them so that I could taste more of the chicken." I told a friend about them and sent him a photograph. He said, "Cut the pieces smaller and make popcorn chicken."
I thought about it, and I wanted to try making the chicken with less coating. So, I did as he said. I cut two chicken thighs into smaller pieces, about 16 per thigh. Then I poured some of my Finger Lickin' Chicken coating mix into a ziplock bag, added the chicken pieces, and gave it a good shake.
I have a fryer basket, typical of the ones you see in commercial kitchens. Mine is round. I bought it back when I had ideas about making fried clams, before I learned those large clams are no longer available due to a fishing moratorium. However, the basket makes a good sifter for removing the excess coating from the chicken pieces.
After shaking off the excess coating mix, and heating a skillet with frying oil, I carefully dumped in the coated chicken pieces and cooked until the largest pieces were done all the way through.
These came out better — just the right balance of chicken flavor and coating mix. If anything, they needed a little salt. I would proudly serve these to guests. They would be good on a buffet table, plated with tongs or frilly toothpicks on the side for self-service. My plan is to make these for the friend who suggested the idea. I know he would enjoy them.
And, so successful were they, I decided to make them again and shoot a video. It's edited and ready to publish, but I'll probably wait until after the first of the year. My seasonal recipes are doing well right now. My Mom's Christmas Cookies has been in first place for at least two weeks.
Here We Go Again
Yesterday we received another notice of a scheduled power outage. This one is supposed to happen on Monday, December 12, from 7:00PM until 7:00AM the following day.
I emphasize "supposed to" because half these notices never amount to anything. Nonetheless, I'm ready. I filled my oil lamps with lamp oil and I have batteries charged for my other storm lanterns.
Sunday 2022.12.4
And I Thought I Had it Bad
I received a phone call from a friend on Wednesday. He was in the hospital. He suffered a concussion and then an aneurysm. He just went on vacation for two weeks and has since spent nearly his entire vacation in the hospital — actually three of them. When he called, he had been transferred to a third facility for recovery. His condition is complicated by his alcoholism.
Although he had a stroke-like event, he said he hasn't lost any functioning. No paralysis. No loss of memory (as far as he can remember). The prognosis is good. He's only 40 years old. He has since been released and he is still in Virginia.
Meanwhile, another friend emailed me, also on Wednesday. His mother is in the hospital with RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). Her condition is complicated by her having been a smoker most of her life. She was on breathing support in the ICU, but the latest report was that her condition is improving.
Another Experiment
I'm trying not to turn this blog into a journal about my bladder, but sometimes a little good news might be appropriate.
I've written about my experiences with self-catheterization. I was experiencing more episodes of bleeding than relief. I gave up, almost. I still try, usually when I get out of bed in the morning or in the evening before retiring, but if I encounter any resistance I don't force it. That's what results in bleeding.
What I have been doing is relaxing my muscles inside and letting pee flow naturally. I haven't been getting much out, but the amount has been slowly increasing and it is becoming increasingly easier to pee. Maybe I am on my way to functioning normally again, eventually. I suspect I still have a long road to travel.
Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall
That quote is from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Besides the bad news about friends on Wednesday — when it rains, it pours! — the weather here has been changing too. It has indeed been raining.
It rained Thursday night and continues to rain, on and off, through the weekend. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny again.
This is the sixth storm of the season and, finally, we got a generous portion in the area where I live — nearly two inches. Most of the previous storms gave us very little rain, if any at all. From this storm we received the second most rainfall in the county, the highest being at the top of the mountain pass (4½ inches), which always gets the lion's share of the rain.
We are currently at 103% of our normal-to-date rainfall — third from the bottom because those previous storms contributed almost nothing here. The cities to the north did much better. One is at 201% of normal. It's a pity all that rain flows into the ocean.
The entire county is currently at 124% of normal, but the storm didn't contribute much to the reservoirs. The local lake is currently at 31% capacity. But any rain at all is appreciated, especially because I don't need to go outdoors. I'm retired, warm and dry in my own home. I love it.
Chicken Nuggets?
I saw something on the Internet about an easy way to make chicken nuggets. I didn't read the article, but the photograph immediately made me think of my recipe for Finger Lickin' Chicken.
I use boneless chicken thighs, which I usually cut in half or in thirds. What if I were to cut each thigh into, say, nine or ten pieces for pop-in-the-mouth nuggets? It was worth a try.
They were good. However, the chicken pieces were small and therefore the coating was the predominant flavor. If ever I were to make these again, I would lightly coat them so that I could taste more of the chicken.