PICTURES OF THE WEEK
I went for a walk along the coast this weekend. I learned that whale watching is December - April (a few weeks left!) and Pacifica has lizards all over the place, I also really liked the nook in this barrier. There was about a 1 inch square opening in the concrete, which was enough room for a succulent to start up. Nature always finds a way...
One Good Churn Deserves Another
Or, when life gives the lactose-avoidant butter, make ghee!
Planning ahead is usually one of my strengths, but in this particular situation, it didn’t exactly pan out.
As I mentioned I accidentally quit coffee and dairy. (I’m still having some issues getting motivated/focused, my morning rituals are off and I still feel a pang for an old vice when I pass an espresso machine. But that is all getting easier. )
But my quitting came at a bit of an awkward time: earlier that week I thought I was going to be doing a lot of cooking at home, went to Costco and got milk (2 gallons) and butter (8 sticks). I also had a bunch of tea and coffee. I couldn’t let it go to waste! But, um, I also wanted the temptation out of the house...
The milk went to N.N. - who said they were going to make yogurt with one of the gallons, and the other was going to a coworker who’s family cereal habit has them going through gallons of milk every 3 days. Another friend stopped by, and left with a bag full of PG Tips, Barrys, several green teas, & some cans of coffee.
All that was left was the butter. Which for some reason, felt even weirder to pawn off on someone then two gallons of milk. I’ve heard that ghee was okay even for diets that restrict dairy, so I looked in to it: here, another and another. A quick search for “ghee + slow cooker” lead to some good insights, so I decided to try it out.
In sum, you turn a slow cooker on high, put in your sticks of butter and wait about three hours. Your house fills with the aroma of warm butter. You skim off the bubbles on top. Your pour the hot liquid through a strainer, and that liquid solidified in to ghee. The 8 sticks of butter were about 2 quart sized mason jars. Odd thing: I used salted butter, and it’s not salty at all….
This reminds me of a quote I refer to often as someone who plans things for a living:
A plan is nothing, planning is everything.
While preparing for the situation as you understand it is important, staying nimble when situations change, not getting too tied to one plan, and being able to make the most of the hand one is dealt, and knowing when and how to diverge from the plan, can be all the difference. The “learning experience” element can be great! (At least it gives you something to write about… Heh...)
The dog stuffed animal I an working on as practice is coming along! My hand stitching is getting better!
Someone did a fantastic job of putting a new coat of paint on the turn around at Ocean Beach….
