Monday, September 06, 2010

Long weekend

It's Labor Day weekend and I'm delighted to have an extra day off. We went out on Saturday and Sunday, but today is lazy housework day. In that we should be doing housework but we're too lazy. Well, speaking for myself, at least. Dave's out sweating with the lawnmower making our yard beautiful and removing pristine bug habitat with each pass of the blades. Sorry, crickets (and spiders and ticks and walking-stick-bugs and mantises and stinkbugs and ants and grasshoppers), find another yard to play in.

I finished the laundry and need to move on to vacuuming before the cat hair consolidates itself into a new cat, but the internet beckons with its warm computery glow.

Meanwhile, dinner is marinating in the fridge - pork tenderloin in a "red wine and shallot" marinade I picked up at Giant. I was going to try Mom's fantastic five-spice pork recipe, but I couldn't find the five-spice powder, even in the "Asian foods" section of the store. A trip to an Asian grocery is in my future.

I'm happy to report that the roasting pan I picked up at Costco yesterday fits in my tiny oven. I can cook a tiny turkey in there now if I want! I'm adjusting to the new kitchen, but the layout is still bugging me a little. An ideal kitchen has that fridge/sink/stove triangle going on, but in my kitchen, the fridge is along the same wall as the stove (and pretty far away) and the sink is right beside the stove. All my prep work has to happen behind me on the counter, so I'm twirling in little circles all the time as I grab ingredients to toss into my pan on the stove! Oh well. I've made a few good meals in the kitchen despite the layout, so I must be doing something right!