Oven Problems and the Little Chill

 

It is cold today! There are frost warnings out for tonight! A matter of hours ago, it was 80 degrees here, then tornadoes, then rain, and now frost warnings? So this dark day has felt like a throwback to winter again. Add to that my oven has been throwing fits for months. It is not that old, but is just being wild about when it wants to heat. Two new thermostats later, DH decided yesterday to dig deeper. All day long that oven laughed at him and refused to NOT not work so he could not tell what was going on.

 

 

 

This morning I turned it on; it worked again. So I hustled like crazy to bake and freeze while I could. It was gluten free blueberry muffins, sugar free brownies, bacon ahead (I do bacon in the oven), and a double batch of mac and cheese made with cream (shame on me) and white cheddar from Ireland. Yum, good!

I also made a German potato salad and a lentil soup…yes, soup weather again. This is a favorite lentil soup recipe, but today I made it with some black lentils from The Hill in St. Louis and tossed in a little browned ground turkey. This will be supper.

This afternoon I decided to read, but was greatly disappointed in the Picoult novel. Picoult writes great stories, but this is an earlier one and lacks the pizazz she has developed over time. Titled Picture Perfect it is about a movie star who is abusive to his wife. It is too much like a soap opera for me. I am skimming, longing for a the end so I can move to something better.

While I am waiting for a good book, I am also waiting for that lovely sun to return. I am so grateful to have been spared from the tornadoes on Sunday. They were in my “backyard” so to speak. In Joplin, the skyline is still clean and desolate enough from the F5 in 2011 so that the Galena and Baxter Springs funnels could be seen. And then there is Quapaw, Oklahoma….not far away at all. And.. one touched north of Ft. Scott…a favorite haunt of ours only about 60 miles from here.

So in light of the big picture...a petulant oven, a dark and ugly day, frost in the forecast...well, it could be worse. I will practice gratitude along with prayers for the victims from Mother Nature's last tirade.