A cooking fool!

The day after I arrived in Manitowoc, my sister, Kerry, and I went grocery shopping.  I bought a bunch of ingredients from which to make main dishes while at Mom’s house. We really stocked up, getting stuff for her pantry as well as for making our meals. The first big thing I made was Beer Cheese Soup which turned out great for my first time making it. I used the recipe Justin told me (not written down) and it was delicious. We enjoyed that during half-time of the Packer game. At some point I also made sloppy Joes for us plus enjoyed a pack of natural casing hot dogs periodically that first week there.

 

Besides the cheese soup I made chili, escalloped potatoes and ham, chicken ‘n dumplings, and slow cooker lasagna. I made good use of Mom’s slow cooker including using it for my sweet and sour meatballs on Christmas Eve. Kerry brought ham and Lori brought ring bologna that night, plus Jill’s cheese and sausage tray and Lynn’s goodies. There was also shrimp and tons of homemade cookies and candy, some of which were made my bro-in-law, Randy.

 

Yesterday morning it was bitter cold out, all schools closed in the area, and some businesses were closed or closing early.  When I got up, I made up a cylinder of cinnamon biscuits that Mom had in the fridge, warming the kitchen a bit with the oven. Later I boiled some fingerling potatoes and for dinner baked some stuffed pork chops Mom had in the freezer. Anything to have extra warmth around us! I even suggested we vacuum to get warm, that’s how cold it was. Almost like Mom’s electric baseboard heaters could not keep up. After all, it was in minus 30’s range with the wind, etc. Brrrr! Thankfully the sun was out, fooling us into thinking it was warmer. Or it tried to fool us—but I’m not buying it!