Friday, January 05, 2018

Turns Out I'm Old

     I must have strained my back lifting the old car battery out of the very restricted space it nearly filled.  It was certainly heavier than I would have liked and my lower back has been sore ever since.  The replacement has a handle, which was a considerable help.

     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.

  

8 comments:

waepnedmann said...

Advice from one who has spent many days on cold concrete slabs at construction sites:
Felt 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.

Countglockula said...

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.

Another yummy breakfast hint from Raz!

EdB said...

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."

Bruce H. said...

Just 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.

rickn8or said...

"This is cheating, of course, but with age comes knowing when to do so."
A variation on the "Old age and treachery" theme.

What waepnedmann and EdB said; cut a break for those who worship from afar.

Paul said...

Knowing when to cheat is good. But in cooking all the good stuff needs bad stuff so I am not sure that is cheating.

Glenn Kelley said...

2 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 .
You 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

c-90 said...

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.

C90