Yesterday I spent a fair amount of time in a room with no real heat -- it shares an air-handler loop with an electrical room, which is in the return leg and can usually supply enough heat to keep the space at 65 F or warmer. When the outside temperature is in the single digits or lower, that doesn't work. I wore heavy motorcycle boots most of the day to keep the floor slab from stealing all the warmth from my feet, and that wasn't especially successful, either. Now my ankles have become painful and uncertain.
* * *
One way to fix the distinct lack of taste or mouthfeel of fat-free soup is to add some real meat. A cased chorizo sausage, snipped into discs, browned in a little olive oil and well drained afterward works very nicely for this, especially when you warm the soup in the pan you browned the sausage in and deglaze it with the soup. This is cheating, of course, but with age comes knowing when to do so.
Advice from one who has spent many days on cold concrete slabs at construction sites:
ReplyDeleteFelt insoles.
About $7 at Amazon.
I guarantee a huge difference.
If you set up a Wish List thingy for Amazon caring people might send you stuff to make life a little easier.
PS: "...I'm old." I feel ya sister.
Chorizo is a miracle worker for waking up otherwise forgettable soups, stews and casserole dishes. I personally prefer it fried to a gentle mush, drained, and then with three eggs added, make up a spicy scramble to use as tortilla filling, along with shredded cheese and maybe a dab of sour cream, onions optional.
ReplyDeleteAnother yummy breakfast hint from Raz!
waepnedmann - what he said... "If you set up a Wish List thingy for Amazon caring people might send you stuff to make life a little easier."
ReplyDeleteJust recently I used a can of soup that I had bought out of the markdown bin at the grocery store. It was labeled fat free and I said, "What was I thinking? To heck with that noise." So I mixed it with whole milk instead of the water specified on the instructions and added a tablespoon of butter.
ReplyDelete"This is cheating, of course, but with age comes knowing when to do so."
ReplyDeleteA variation on the "Old age and treachery" theme.
What waepnedmann and EdB said; cut a break for those who worship from afar.
Knowing when to cheat is good. But in cooking all the good stuff needs bad stuff so I am not sure that is cheating.
ReplyDelete2 sets of insoles and change them every day . The extra set lives on the heat register . Wool can hold up to 30% of its weight in moisture and won't feel damp .
ReplyDeleteYou can get away with one set but if you forget to pull them to dry out the next day will be no fun .
No cotton socks they won't keep your feet warm .
Glenn
For those cold winter days, when your hands and back feel it. Hunters hand warmers in your front jacket pockets, and maybe an alteration to the back of the coat with a couple of outside flap pockets for a pair of hand warmers on either kidney.
ReplyDeleteC90