A snowy winter broccoli soup of a day

I bought a bunch of broccoli last week for 99 cents a pound – anticipating that it might snow.

Today was the soup day.

First get the broccoli to steaming.

Next get out the soup pot and put butter in:

Add onions and garlic:

After they have sweated for a bit – drown ’em in chicken broth:

Note: this chicken broth was from Grocery Outlet and certainly not LOW fat! (Low Carb, yes…)

Oh, what to add next?

Maybe whipping cream?

Sure – then what?

This is Xanthan Gum – a low carb thickener.

I put just a spoonful in – and danged if it did not clump up.

Next time I would take some broth and mix the xanthan gum and broth in a separate bowl and dump them back in the soup pot when they are well blended.

Better than finding globs and smushing them against the side of the pot to break them up…

Next – the broccoli goes in!

And it gets pulverized!

My friend Wanda, said to me a few months ago, that life is too short to not eat good cheese.  She is right.  I no longer buy the medium cheese – it is sharp or even Extra-Sharp!

If you do not have access to Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheese  – I feel sorry for you.

What on earth could make this soup any better??

Bacon!

Bacon makes everything better!

Yum.

I had two bowls full!

A break for freedom and shopping!

The snow stopped and the ice went away and I took it as a sign that I could make a break from the homestead and head to town.

I wiggled down the driveway with those anti-skid brakes working all the way to the bottom.

1st gear for the 1st mile to the 1st stop sign.  Then – the highway was clear.  YAY!  I could clearly see my way to town… and Goodwill.

Goodwill was not so good to me today.  I found a french press travel mug.  A vintage 70’s clock and a book on CD – 16 CDs- if I like the story that will be great fun.  If not – garage sale fodder.

I would have preferred to find something to sell at a huge profit – but I am out of practise after being stuck home for 5 days.

Oh, yeah…

I got these winter boots – brand new for 4.99 – not my perfect style – but the perfect price!

Maybe tomorrow…

Snowed in again… A pantry party!

I have had the thought of cleaning out the pantry in the back of my mind for quite some time now and since I am stuck at home – AGAIN – turns out that today was the day.

First I had to take a lot of stuff OUT of the pantry.

I shop at Grocery Outlet sometimes and pick up odd stuff.   Apparently I picked up this can of asian pears – maybe a decade or so ago?

Hint:  when the can is expanded on both ends and wobbles  instead of sits – that is a clue to THROW IT OUT!

I shudder to think how many hours it took to get this done: I have pile of stuff to take to Goodwill – whenever I get outa here…

(Plus I really want to go shopping at Goodwill in the worst way!)

I found that I had more jars and containers to put things in that things to put in!

** Goodwill COLD Turkey – and I mean COLD! **

Hello, my name is ______, and I have not been to Goodwill for over 4 days.

I am a shopoholic.

At least that is how it FEELS.

I have been sorta ill and then the snow came and then the ice and then the COLD.

So, what to do whey you cannot go shopping?

I shop at home.

I go to a shelf, or closet and find something I no longer need – and sell it on ebay.

Today, it was this fab arts and crafts era design book from 1915.

I so like how they deconstructed bugs to make art.

So then I decided that I had a whole lot of “little” stuff to get rid of and packaged up lots of Wacky Packages from the 70’s and vintage travel stickers – old buttons- and whatevers into cellophane envelopes and ready to sell at the antique mall – where I have a small space.

It is supposed to snow the next couple of days.

School has been closed so far this week – and again tomorrow.

I am a LOUSY driver in the snow.  (Fabulous in the rain!)

And I am lucky that I have someone in town to keep the office open for me.

So tomorrow, I guess I know where I will be shopping once again…

************ Fire and Ice ************

I like living where I do.

It usually rains all winter.

I LIKE the rain.

The temperature in the winter should be 40-50-ish day and night in the winter.

Something has gone terribly wrong today…

This is supposed to be a RAIN chain!  Not an ICE chain…

It is 23 degrees outside and might I say that is it a toasty 67 degrees inside.

The best part is that the heat is free!

Look at this woodstove – it is keeping about 1/2 the house warm with wood from our land.

What is that drum-like contraption on top of the stove, you ask?

Well – it is an amazing thing, indeed.

It has a metal plate on the bottom that, when heated – spins a fan and forces air downwards over the top of the stove and along sides of the stove – and all that nice warm heat – goes down towards the floor and slowly rises and heats up the house.

I have had a ecofan on the stove for years, an when I put my hand in front of it – no discernable airflow could be detected.

I was looking for another type fan and low and behold found this one on ebay.

This drum type fan – kicks butt.  The airflow is dynamic and it has won me over!

The ecofan has been designated to the secondary woodstove in the kitchen.

We really don’t use this stove to cook on(we have a real one) – just for junk mail and supplemental heat in the winter.

Look.

Free Heat!

Ain’t that what it is all about?

***** There is Infinite Heat and there is Wood Heat *******

This is a setting on the vintage Frigidaire Flair stove that I have at my office.

It got me to thinking.

Infinite Heat

Infinite Heat

Infinite Heat

Oooooooh-Wheee – – wouldn’t that be nice.

I suppose many of you do NOT heat your home with wood.

We do.

At least we heat PART of the house with wood.

And it got me to thinking how nice “Infinite Heat” would be, as keeping a woodstove going for 5-6 months out of the year is a chore.

The heat from a woodstove is fabulous and comforting.

We have that fan on the stove that starts spins merely by the heat of the stove.

I just ordered another type that again, works by heat, but pushes the air downward.  I am anxious to see if it gets more heat out and about in the house.  I will give an update on this.

The glow from the Infinite Heat of the old Flair really cannot compete with the glow from a well stoked wood stove….

Ahhh….

Doesn’t that make it all the work worthwhile?