It appears I am quite boring, and will talk about the weather and my chickens and my cooking habits

I am going to complain about the cold for the entire winter. I really am. Tomorrow night they are forecasting 7 degrees Fahrenheit.....We were enchanted by our home, in this little art district. Its exposed brick wall and old windows being so full of character. Exposed brick walls mean it will be cold in winter and hot in summer. That 'living in an oven' effect is, unfortunately, not in effect in the winter. We are all wearing a sweatshirts and sleeping under an extra blanket. And 7 degrees is under my limit I set for my chickens. I don't think they will stress too much if I bring them inside and put them in a giant dog crate with some hay, and throw a blanket over the whole set up to let them know it is time to sleep. I can't leave them outside, not in their state of undress. Feathers are everywhere, the quills being all they have to keep them warm. 

It has been recommended by one of Mr. Parker's coworkers that I sell my baked goods. Ah, it was the bread that did it. Sometimes, my bread turns out awful, sometimes it's near perfect. I cannot figure out what it is I am doing wrong when the brad turns out not quite so great, or what it is that makes it turn out to the satisfaction of the family. When even my 'selective eater' enjoys it, I know it's a success. Anyway, this time, it was a success, I am flattered he had such a high opinion of it, since he likes to cook, too. 

I am not an orderly cook, nor do I follow recipes. Except for baked goods. Sometimes, though, I do experiment with muffins and cookies, the sweet stuff. But never the bread, unless I switch up herbs or something. 

When I cook other things, I look at what sort of seasonings are meant to be used in that particular cuisine, and then just wing it. Almost always, the food is delicious. When asked for the recipe, I can tell the person what I put into it, but never how much. So there they are, wanting to make something I have made, and I am all JUST THROW (insert list here) INTO A POT AND COOK IT UP! It's also a problem when my kids really love something I made and I cannot, no matter how hard I try, duplicate it exactly the way it was. If I were not so lazy, I would take notes as I cooked. 

I am lazy though, and I've never been able to make some dishes again. Once, I made the most fantastic spaghetti sauce I'd ever had in my life. I went out to my garden, tons of things were ready to be picked. I brought tons of stuff inside...washed it, peeled it, diced it, sauteed some stuff, then simmered it all together. At the end of the cooking, I threw in a bunch of chopped fresh herbs from the garden. Some of them, I don't even know what they were (I am not so good at labeling what I plant, overconfident in my herb identification skills at the start of spring)......So there was a perfect, quick spaghetti sauce I will never have again. I think a lot of the deliciousness came from everything being fresh picked, but I wonder at the combination/ratio of herbs and the ratio of tomatoes to onions to zucchini to eggplant to whatever else was in that pot. Haphazardness!