In which Poppy reminds me to keep writing. Also: a menu plan.

02/06/2017 Nichole

I have written exactly one post here at Butterscotch Sundae since inauguration day, which you might through the process of inference take to mean that I am one of those liberal “snowflakes”[ref]Sidebar: Who in the world would consider “snowflake” an insult? I thought admiration of a beautiful snowy vista was one thing we all actually agreed on.[/ref] who is very upset about the state of the world. To which I would say “Congratulations on your powers of deduction,” because that’s exactly why I haven’t been writing.

What I have been doing is reading[ref]”The Hobbit” and “Lovecraft Country.” Working on “Born to Run.” May have abandoned “The Romanovs.”[/ref] and cooking a lot of things in the pressure cooker[ref]Not an Instant Pot but the same general idea.[/ref] and going to soccer tournaments[ref]They won 1 game and tied 2.[/ref] and watching movies[ref]”Moonlight,” “La La Land” and “Arrival” for our annual anniversary film-a-thon.[/ref] and folding laundry[ref]Always.[/ref]. So just like normal.

Except for telephone calls.

I’ve also been calling senators and other governmental offices. I hate talking on the phone, and here I am calling strangers every single day to talk about Cabinet appointees. I don’t know that my phone calls are going to make a difference, but I decided I couldn’t keep doing nothing at all.

Poppy asked me this weekend why I haven’t been writing, and I told her it was because I don’t feel like I have anything important to say. “Well you should do it anyway,” she said, and she’s right. This blog is primarily for her and her brother, and if they want me to keep writing about chicken casseroles and science homework that’s what I’m going to do.

So let’s do this. Let’s talk about something mundane. Like, for example, this week’s menu plan:

Monday: Breakfast for dinner: I made a bunch of hardboiled eggs for deviled eggs in the pressure cooker this weekend, and they were a thing of beauty. Now I’m going to try to figure out the right timing for a perfect soft-boiled egg. (I told you this was going to be mundane.)

Tuesday: Ina’s Lemon Chicken: The hardest thing about this recipe is finding boneless chicken breast with the skin still on. Fortunately, we have a great local butcher who will prep them that way for me. Which reminds me: I need to call them to place my chicken order.

Wednesday: Spaghetti & meatballs

Thursday: ???: It’s Poppy’s choice night, but she hasn’t made a decision yet. Odds are it’ll involve cheese.

Friday: Pizza

menu plan Monday

A menu plan after a pretty good weekend

01/23/2017 Nichole 1 Comment

This weekend Poppy and I went to our local Women’s March, my sushi bazooka arrived, I took a nap, I witnessed a grown man screaming into his phone in the toilet aisle at the hardware store — “Those disgusting women should Get Over It! He’s the president! Get A Job!” — and I rearranged some of the kitchen cabinets. Despite the angry man, it was a good and productive weekend.

Here’s what we’ll be enjoying for dinner this week:

Monday: Poppyseed chicken: It was Pete’s pick.

Tuesday: Francis Mallmann’s Salt-Crust Chicken: We’ve been watching “Chef’s Table” on Netflix, and every week I try to find a recipe from that week’s featured chef. This week calls for a ton of salt and a very hot oven!

Wednesday: Sandwiches: We’ll be busy, busy, busy on Wednesday, so dinner is going to be easy, easy, easy.

Thursday: Spaghetti: Ditto.

Friday: Pizza: We’ve done frozen pizzas for pizza night a few times recently. I think I’m going to spring for the expensive but wonderful local pizza place this week.