Winter Again

Ok, after being teased with lovely warmth over the weekend (so much so that Ava and I scooted to the park for a short outing after dumping our luggage at home Sunday) we’re back to sleety cold.

Yesterday it rained/snowed/sleeted all day…I believe today is more of same. Cold looks more glamorous on TV at the Olympics, I've decided.

Yesterday’s reigning achievements: getting everyone back to school on time and Claire landing a dance class she really enjoyed. Mondays will find her donning a leotard for ballet and a little jazz/tap.

And more achievements: scotchies and good beef.

Remember the former: rice krispy treats only better? Cheap and cheerful too – PB, corn syrup, sugar, rice krispies. Here I top them w/ 70 percent dark chocolate so they’re truly out of this world. At least in my estimation.

Pair that with Chinese beef stir fry (well ok, the two don’t pair but who cares) and you can envision the meal at our house last night.

I scoured Waitrose for a decent piece of beef, which I vaguely remember having some time ago. Not necessarily from the grocery store here, though.

BUT I was determined yesterday to fulfill my desire for really good beef so after much perusal I found organic sirloin on sale…and you know what? It was delicious and tender and the dish a cinch. Just marinate the beef, cut up in chunks, in oyster sauce (a few tablespoons).

Saute an onion and two red peppers (or whatever color you have on hand) with some garlic in a little oil in your wok for a few minutes. Add beef, sauté some more. Throw in rice noodles, a little soy sauce and a little more oyster sauce. Meal ready. And yes, kids did eat the meat and noodles.

Today: a foray back into the turf world for me…more writing projects have re-surfaced of late, no complaints except why aren’t there more minutes in a day? No doubt all of us could use some.

I’ll leave you with this final note: confusion. Friday the owner of our humble abode here called prior to flying to the US, declaring he’s firing the handyman who’s been instrumental to us having doors that work, removing curtains so I can wash them (call me anal but who wants someone else’s filth hanging on your windows…), putting on kids’ head boards, etc.

Then today I get a call from supposedly fired handyman saying he’s coming to fix the rain-damaged walls next week, and when can he do it?

No, I did not get into “gee I thought you’d been fired;” I’ll stay out of that mess.

TBD: Alan or no Alan next week?!? Cross fingers he shows -- I have shelves that need to be mounted!