9 September 2020
We’ve entered the peak month for hurricanes, at least in the state of Florida. Keep your fingers crossed!
I had my last round of sulfa drugs yesterday and maybe it’s psychosomatic but I felt better yesterday than I have in a couple of months. I walked, did yoga, and swam laps and even had enough energy to do a few things around the house. The new drug didn’t seem to give me the body odor that sulfa drugs usually do, but then I wasn’t around anyone for them to smell me.
The sprinkler guy will come tomorrow and give me some kind of news on the problem with my 3 zone valve. That thing is ancient. I suspect it was put in when the house was built in 1956. Hopefully, I just reassembled it incorrectly.
I also have a company working with FPL to come out and remove the On Call system I have on the pool and the air conditioner. It allowed FPL to shut off your air and pool pump during peak usages and supposedly allowed you to save some money. I had these installed several years ago. When I had to replace the timer on the pool last week, the electrician told me FPL had wired their On Call system wrong. I asked him to disconnect and called FPL and asked them to remove the boxes. He’s due sometime tomorrow morning. Every electrician I have had in the house has told me the On Call system was incorrectly wired – including two of FPL’s electricians!
I had to take my jeep in today for the third software recall requiring a dealership to complete. Add that to the two software upgrades I had to do and I’m beginning to think the computers on these things are a little haywire. As a matter of fact, one of the recalls had to do with someone being able to hack the jeep and take control of the breaks, acceleration and steering.
The last time I went to Hollywood Chrysler Jeep I felt I was taken advantage of on the service. It was totally my fault because I didn’t read what I signed. Today, there was no up-sale of service so I was in and out within and hour and 15 minutes.
Every so often I get a craving. Today’s craving was home made caramel corn. It’s remarkably easy to make and tastes much better than Cracker Jack. I made two large gallon baggies and I often give some of it away but not this time. It’s all for me. I hand shelled the peanuts, roasted them slightly and then made the caramel sauce to pour on the popcorn. The only real time is you have to put it in the oven at 250 F and stir every 15 minutes for 1 hour. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Speaking of craving, I was on a zoom meeting the other day and someone mentioned cucumber sandwiches. I haven’t had those since I was a kid. My grandmother Ruby used to drag me around with her to Women’s Club and Garden Club meetings and there were always refreshments. Once I experienced cucumber sandwiches, I was hooked. I kept going back with her in hopes of getting some more. Alas, it was not to be.
What did happen was once I was served some type of congealed salad. It was the most awful thing I’ve put in my mouth. I almost gagged and threw up. That cured me from going with my grandmother. When she would plead with me to go with her, it was a firm no.
Anyway, back to the cucumber sandwiches. I made a grocery stop after the car dealership and picked up the ingredients for the cucumber sandwiches. I made them and had a few for lunch. One thing that makes them taste so good is the soft, white bread with the crusts cut off.
Mrs. Williamson who lived up the street from us used to have me in and she would make me PB&J sandwiches with the crust cut off. That spoiled me for life. Only later when I experienced real French bread in Paris did I begin to get back into crusty bread.
She also used to make me wilted lettuce. She picked young lettuce that had not formed a head and sautéed it in bacon drippings and onions and added a small shot of vinegar and the crumbled up bacon. I even make that sometimes now but without the bacon.
Palm Beach County has entered phase 2 of the pandemic, whatever that means. South Florida has so many small towns in the three county area that it is difficult to get everyone on the same page. You could be sitting at one restaurant with one set of rules, leave the city limits and be under the guidelines of another set of rules.
Not sure what I did strenuous yesterday but my arm is letting me know it is not happy. I feel it could have been the rain storms that swept through. In any case, it continues to improve, albeit slowly.
Recipe for caramel corn:
- Pop corn, enough for a four gallon pot.
- Shell and slightly parch the raw peanuts (red ones are the best) – I usually put them in a 350 F oven for about 10 minutes.
- Make the caramel sauce
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup Karo syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Melt the butter in a medium size pot. Add the syrup and brown sugar and stir. Once it comes to a boil, let boil – unstirred – for 4 minutes (I set a timer). Remove from the heat and add vanilla flavoring and baking soda and stir vigorously. Pour over peanuts and popcorn and mix well.
Spread over two rimmed cookie sheets and place in a 250 F oven, stirring every 15 minutes for 1 hour. Remove, let cool, then break apart and bag.
Recipe for cucumber sandwiches
1. 1 8oz package of cream cheese
2. 3 tablespoons mayo
3. 1 or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh dill
4. 1 or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh chives
5. salt and pepper to taste
6. 1 English cucumber sliced very thinly
Mix softened cream cheese and mayo with a hand mixer in a medium sized bowl. Hand fold in the fresh herbs, salt and pepper.
Spread the cream cheese mixture on one side of two slices of white bread. Add the cucumber slices in layers to make the sandwich onto the cream cheese of one slice. Put the two pieces of bread together and cut off the crusts. You can then slice them into triangles or into three sections.
What up here? You had cucumber sandwiches growing up! My first cucumber sandwich was in the United Kingdom. I didn’t know we had them in Mississippi. My Mother didn’t drag me to the meetings but she did bring me back the sweet treats. Also, Mrs. Williamson never made me any peanut butter sandwiches. I don’t think she ever fed me. She must have liked you. All Mrs. Williamson ever did was talk about her niece, Betty Flowers.
Mrs. Williams loved me more than she did you. She would even come to the house to make me the wilted lettuce. I don’t know why. I was never really close to Russell.
She must have loved you more. Mrs. Williamson came to your house and made you wilted lettuce salads! Again, I never knew such things existed until decades later, and then I first heard of them from a cookbook. I have made them for myself and still make them occasionally, but use the veggie bacon, not the real stuff. Too bad we discovered cholesterol.
Not sure why she took a shine to me. Russell was a strange dude. I remember him sneaking smokes from his Dad. Archie said he worked for the highway department for a while before he died. I vaguely remembered Mr. Williamson and I think I must have started visiting her after his death. I never remember Russel during those visits so she must have appreciated when I stopped by to see her.