AT Fall Cure: Days 9 & 10

Day 9: Find a New Recipe and Cook Tonight

UPDATE: My husband hated this soup. He asked me for permission to toss it after a couple of days of taking it to work. I let him: and then I tossed the book the recipe came from!

I cook every night. Nonetheless, I found this new recipe to try:

Autumn Celebration Soup
from Canada's Best Slow Cooker Recipes, by Donna-Marie Pye.

1 lb (500g) rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1" (2.5cm) cubes (about 4 cups or 1 L)
1 onion, chopped
1 potato, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup (250 ml) chicken stock
1/2 ( 125 ml) cup dry white wine
2 cups (500 ml) water
2 tablespoons (25 ml) brown sugar
2 teaspoons (10 ml) caraway seeds
1 tablespoon( 15 ml) paprika
2 cups (500 ml) milk or light (5%) cream
Sour Cream
Crisp Bacon bits

1. In a slow cooker, combine rutabaga, onion, potato, carrots, stock, wine, water, sugar, caraway seeds, and paprika. Cover and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours, or on High for 6 to 8 hours, until vegetables are tender.

2. Strain the vegetables, reserving stock. In a blender or food processor, puree vegetables in batches. Transfer back to slow cooker; add reserved stock and milk, Heat on Low for 25 to 30 minutes or until warmed through.

3. Spoon soup into bowls and garnish with dollops of sour cream and a sprinkle of bacon bits.

I will skip Step. 2. (and likely Step 3!) This soup will be put in the fridge and kept all week for my husband to take to work for lunch.

(One of the disadvantages of frozen home made soup stock: takes a while to thaw, even after microwaving it).


Day 10: Make a List of Top Six Home Needs.

I already have a list.

It goes like this:

Daughter's Room:

• Hang curtains
• Sand ceiling
• Find solution for “hole” for Chandelier
• Shorten chandelier
• Buy inserts for organizing desk
• Paint ceiling
• Paint shelves in alcove
• Framing Horse Picture project
  

Laundry Room:

• Paint paneling wall
• Paint small dresser
• Re-hang drying cord
• Re-configure donation station table to hold four laundry baskets.

Upstairs Bathroom:

• build new shelves
• Paint new shelves
• Hang new shelves
• Add decorative bits to new mirror
• Install mirror.

Kitchen:

• Paint upper cabinet frames
• Paint upper cabinet doors
• Wash walls
• Paint walls
• Paint pine shelving?

Back Entry:

• Re-paint boards yellow
• Mount hooks on boards
• Mount boards to wall
• Paint walls and "ceiling."

Basement Storage Area:

• Hang new curtain line (attach to old, somehow?)
• Re-hang curtains

Or does Maxwell mean we ought to make a list of the repairs and structural sort of things we need to do? In which case, there is this list of six things:

1. Replace floor tiles in Kitchen
2. Replace flooring in upstairs bathroom
3. Re-wire house
4. Repair cracks in foundation
5. Insulate walls in Basement
6. Install exhaust fan for stove

Or as he did in the video, does Maxwell mean an off-the-top of your head "Today, this sounds good list?"


1. Purchase and install new bath tub surround.

I have long wanted simple, classic 4x4 black and white tiles here. (All white, with a horizontal strip of black.) Inexpensive and not that difficult to do, assuming the wall is sound.

But, it is never going to happen. It would have to be a DIY to fit within our budget: and given this is our only tub and shower--I can't see it being out of commission for the week (or more) I would need to get it done. I don't know. Maybe I'm just too exhausted by the whole idea.

I'm wondering if hubby and I can give each other a new tub surround (in white) installed for Christmas? Imagine, picking something out in a store: and then having someone else do the work. Wow. What a concept.

2. Spot clean or purchase new living room carpet.
My son is eating in there without permission and when we leave the dog alone, he leaves us "presents." Enough said.

3. Build a headboard for the Master bedroom
This has been on my Cure list for some time!

4. Hang the Photo from Montreal in Living Room

5. Do I really have to come up with something else just to prove a point?

6. Well, I'll consider the point proven. We have lots to do. Anyone who is remotely interested in their space can think of things to do. This cure is not for the likes of me, I think. The Eight step cure has room enough: but not this one. Oh well. I'm getting lots done, aren't I?