Flowers, Furniture Crimes & Freezer Dinners

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Some weeks are filled with big, impressive accomplishments. This one was filled with a boiling carcass and poltergeist.

Table of Contents

🕰 I Went to Shoppers

Canadians know what that means instantly.

I was standing outside Shoppers Drug Mart (one of Canada's linoleum-floored chain pharmacies) waiting for a friend when I looked up and saw the old post office clock tower glowing in the early evening light. It was 6:16 p.m. A very specific time that means nothing.

I don't usually post photos of my town, but standing there I thought-you'd probably like it. The buildings, the bricks, the kind of place where someone might stop and hand you a zucchini out of their car window. Which has happened. Twice.

It was me.

Thanksgiving Tease

Last Saturday night I made the flower arrangements for Sunday's Thanksgiving dinner. Two for the dining table, and another 5 to give away to guests. I'll share the full table soon, but for now; a quick look. The flowers were far too much. Wearing a tiara to a football game too much.

Which means they were exactly right.

The full table setting will be in an upcoming post. I expect by the time I finish all the leftovers, I'll have time to write the Thanksgiving post. I can't rush it otherwise I'll forget to tell you I about the vanilla gravy I made.

Also, if you're wondering what the flower prep looked like before this photo happened-please enjoy this behind-the-scenes:

🍗 One Turkey. Ten Jars of Broth.

The Thanksgiving turkey was 25 pounds. After dinner, I broke it down and made stock like I always do. That remnants gave me ten (2-cup) jars of broth, which I pressure canned while the house slowly filled with the scent of turkey fat and cheesecloth.

This is the broth I'll use all winter. In soups, sauces, stews and rice. If you've never made your own, I have a whole post about how to make chicken broth and also how to pressure can it if you want.

Obviously you can also use a turkey.

🫚 I Harvested the Ginger (Half of It)

Back in February I planted ginger in pots. This week, I harvested one pot. The other I'm bringing inside for the winter, where it will live in the basement, next to the drill press and vermiculite.

I harvested the big pot on the right. The smaller pot on the left will get planted out again in the spring. This was my first time growing ginger, and honestly-I'm thrilled. It smells like ginger. It tastes like ginger. It is ginger.

I've already made powdered ginger. If you missed it, you can see how easy it is to make powdered garlic or onion powder. Ginger powder is made the same way.

Look!

Would you like to save this stuff?

We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.

I guess because of how much I'd read about ginger being slow growing and not meant for this climate, I had low expectations. I didn't even expect to get enough to use.

One pot gave me a total of 6 ounces of ginger. As a first shot, I'm happy with that.

You'll get a full post on how to grow ginger (in cold climates) closer to planting time - February.

🪑 The Chair is Fine

This week I noticed one of the seams on the seat cushion of my flea market wingback had popped.

Not a big deal. I flipped the cushion over and congratulated myself on my problem-solving skills.

I was pleased with me.

So pleased that an hour later I took another look at my handiwork, this time taking in the big picture.

I had forgotten about Philip's Poltergeist period.

Dinner in Ten

I made homemade tortellini with roasted tomato sauce, in 10 minutes.

Topping it off with a leftover Thanksgiving dinner roll.

Both elements were in the freezer. All I had to do was boil water to cook the tortellini.

If you're looking for a weekend cooking project, making tortellini from scratch is a fun undertaking.

If you're interested, learn how to:

Make the dough
Make the filling and shape the tortellini
Serve them with roasted tomato sauce or as tortellini en brodo.

⚾ Out with the Owl, in With the Jays

I'm watching the playoffs. In fact I just finished watching the Blue Jays lose to the Seattle Mariners a half a bag of Ruffles ago. Two more games to go - in Toronto.