Winter Of Discontent

The calendars are all wrong. It looks like we’re skipping fall this year and are jumping straight into winter. It’s going to be a long one. Dennis pointed out, as I complained, that we did get some Indian summer (are we allowed to use that phrase?) right after those first couple frosts. That nice bit of weather did allow me to dig the carrots and otherwise finish clearing out the garden. But I want more of that nice weather! I hate going immediately from flip flops to snow boots. That’s just not right.

This will be my winter of discontent. Dennis is scheduled for a rotator cuff repair, so guess who will be doing the snow shoveling? And the driving? And hauling in the groceries? At least I do have a battery-powered, light weight (as in easy to pick up and move, it does quickly move a lot of snow) snow blower to use. (He bought that for me when he had the other shoulder fixed a couple winters ago.) That snow blower might mitigate some of my complaining. Maybe...

Thanks to my inability to let my plants go when the first frosts threaten, I have plenty of greenery in the house to enjoy. The plants are placed near windows for natural sunlight, but I also have three grow lights strategically positioned. The contrast of green plants with the white snow just outside the windows lifts my spirits.

Several of the plants are blossoming now. I’m happy to see the geraniums sending up their flower sprigs. I have two diplodenias, one of which has one bright pink flower. The other was touched by frost but is recovering nicely. It’s sending up tendrils as though it wishes to become a vine. Another plant (don’t know what it is) that always thrives outside but gets very leggy inside has a trumpet-shaped white and pink flower as well as a bud. One of the multiple amaryllis looked dead when I brought it inside, but I continued to water it. It’s come back to life and is rewarding me with a big flower stalk. I can see the blooms will be red. It should be fully open by the time the Courier is delivered (Thursday for us outliers).

The Whole Life Challenge shared this recipe on their site recently. It sounded good enough to try, and even though I switched it up and made a major substitution, it’s good enough to share with you. (I’m entering the final two weeks, then I’m on my own the rest of the year.)

Bacon Shredded Short Ribs

2# boneless short ribs

1# bacon

1 white onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

Juice from 1 lemon

1/2 C olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Cut ribs and bacon in half to fit in your slow cooker. Put meats with onion and garlic in the cooker. Coat with juice and oil, and season to taste. Cook 5 hours on high. Shred ribs using a couple forks. Serve atop mashed sweet potato, with a side salad or cole slaw.

Not having short ribs on hand, and being 36 miles from a grocers, I subbed in a chuck roast of a similar weight. I cut the roast into several slices about the size short ribs would be. I zapped a sweet potato in the microwave for myself, while Mr. Picky had a zapped white spud. It certainly made enough for us to have a couple of meals. Dennis said it wrecked the bacon as slow cooked bacon is anything but crisp! (I will get short ribs for the next time I make this, and I’ll probably fry the bacon and crumble it atop the finished ribs. I’ll only use a half pound of bacon, too.)