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Another tough day...
Aug. 29th, 2006 09:16 pmI crammed the Ford full with two loads of stuff during the day, as most of the items in the store will require help to move. Galina called some movers, who will show up at 8 am on Thursday; I hope they're efficient.
On the other tentacle, I filled up the dumpster I had started to fill the other day and halfway filled its twin. I felt kind of bad throwing away so much stuff, but I feel even worse about keeping the stuff that I've elected to keep. There's hardly any room to store it at the house!
I ran by the market before coming home, intending to pick up some bread and faux butter for breakfast, and bought some baby asparagus and a portion of salmon as well. When we got home, the place was filled with the aroma of drying mushrooms, which I find to be a very satisfying smell.
I've often wondered if my senses of smell and taste are less sharp than they might be. I get this impression reading and listening to descriptions of various smells and tastes (e.g., wine) where I am completely at a loss to understand how someone can distinguish all the listed nuances. Feht tells me there's nothing wrong with my senses, and that people who describe tastes and smells for a living fudge a lot of their descriptions. I don't know...
Anyway, in the course of preparing the boletes for drying since Sunday, during which I've had to throw out some of my harvest owing to discoloration and some very hardy insects, I've become acutely aware that I've got some lobster mushrooms in the fridge, so I decided to whip up a quick meal with the materials on hand.
I cleaned and sliced the mushrooms, throwing out about half of the mass that wasn't any good to begin with owing to insects burrowing up the stem of the mushroom. I then added them to a frying pan with some sliced Vidalia onion and set them to cook on low heat. The salmon was lightly seasoned and placed in a second frying pan. I trimmed the asparagus and set it cooking in a steamer.
Before I knew it, the onion and mushrooms were done, as was the asparagus, but the fish was still raw in the middle. So, I threw the fish in the microwave for a couple of minutes, during which I added some sour cream to the onions and mushrooms. As I reached for the plates, my eye fell on an avocado that had hit the peak of ripeness, so I paused for a moment and prepared it as well.
I don't usually photograph food, much less food that I've cooked, but this dinner came together so smoothly and naturally, and the result looked so good, I couldn't help myself. Here's the result:
Galina pronounced the dinner to be excellent, and I'm proud of the fact that I was able to limit our portions. What normally would have been a dinner for two ended up being a dinner for two and a lunch leftover for one.
The USPS auditor is scheduled to come tomorrow morning, and the part of his job where he checks our money order and stamp stock is going to be fairly easy: we have no more money orders and our stamp stock is below $10. It may very well be, however, that after he's finished with us, we'll formally no longer be a postal contract station, and an era of sorts will have come to a close.
I just hope there are no unpleasant surprises in store; Galina said that she'd been told by folks downtown that there were some discrepancies that needed to be addresssed. I guess I'll find out tomorrow; I can at least comfort myself with the knowledge that we've never done anything wrong.
Two down, two to go.
Cheers...
On the other tentacle, I filled up the dumpster I had started to fill the other day and halfway filled its twin. I felt kind of bad throwing away so much stuff, but I feel even worse about keeping the stuff that I've elected to keep. There's hardly any room to store it at the house!
I ran by the market before coming home, intending to pick up some bread and faux butter for breakfast, and bought some baby asparagus and a portion of salmon as well. When we got home, the place was filled with the aroma of drying mushrooms, which I find to be a very satisfying smell.
I've often wondered if my senses of smell and taste are less sharp than they might be. I get this impression reading and listening to descriptions of various smells and tastes (e.g., wine) where I am completely at a loss to understand how someone can distinguish all the listed nuances. Feht tells me there's nothing wrong with my senses, and that people who describe tastes and smells for a living fudge a lot of their descriptions. I don't know...
Anyway, in the course of preparing the boletes for drying since Sunday, during which I've had to throw out some of my harvest owing to discoloration and some very hardy insects, I've become acutely aware that I've got some lobster mushrooms in the fridge, so I decided to whip up a quick meal with the materials on hand.
I cleaned and sliced the mushrooms, throwing out about half of the mass that wasn't any good to begin with owing to insects burrowing up the stem of the mushroom. I then added them to a frying pan with some sliced Vidalia onion and set them to cook on low heat. The salmon was lightly seasoned and placed in a second frying pan. I trimmed the asparagus and set it cooking in a steamer.
Before I knew it, the onion and mushrooms were done, as was the asparagus, but the fish was still raw in the middle. So, I threw the fish in the microwave for a couple of minutes, during which I added some sour cream to the onions and mushrooms. As I reached for the plates, my eye fell on an avocado that had hit the peak of ripeness, so I paused for a moment and prepared it as well.
I don't usually photograph food, much less food that I've cooked, but this dinner came together so smoothly and naturally, and the result looked so good, I couldn't help myself. Here's the result:
Galina pronounced the dinner to be excellent, and I'm proud of the fact that I was able to limit our portions. What normally would have been a dinner for two ended up being a dinner for two and a lunch leftover for one.
The USPS auditor is scheduled to come tomorrow morning, and the part of his job where he checks our money order and stamp stock is going to be fairly easy: we have no more money orders and our stamp stock is below $10. It may very well be, however, that after he's finished with us, we'll formally no longer be a postal contract station, and an era of sorts will have come to a close.
I just hope there are no unpleasant surprises in store; Galina said that she'd been told by folks downtown that there were some discrepancies that needed to be addresssed. I guess I'll find out tomorrow; I can at least comfort myself with the knowledge that we've never done anything wrong.
Two down, two to go.
Cheers...
