Cooking on Saturday

Ruth and I slept in this morning and so didn't didn't get groceries and start cooking until around 8 am. However we were very efficient and had things started really quickly. We pulled out my three-pot slow cooker and made chili, shipwreck and cabbage borscht. Then made cauliflower salad, green bean salad, and Moroccan chickpea salad. The only thing that really slowed us up was that we kept on finding that we hadn't purchased all the ingredients needed. We ended up making an additional two trips to the grocery store! However had everything done by 1:30 pm. Ate chili for lunch - it was good too. It ended up being a really huge cauliflower salad, probably close to 18 cups worth, as we filled two eight-cup plastic containers and Bram ate a generous cup full before we put the vinaigrette on it.

Then we tried on dresses (we were given a bunch of "dress-up" or dressy outfits to try) and then Ruth had to dash to work to meet with a client and I had an afternoon nap. Then I mended a pair of Walter's pants and altered a dress that one of the girls is wanting to wear to winter banquet. All in all a pretty productive day I think.

Doing Dishes

I thank the Lord for my dishwasher nearly every day. It's old (the serial number says 1967), it doesn't always get things on the top shelf clean, and it takes nearly an hour for it to go through its (single) cycle. However, it does clean everything on the bottom shelf very well, and it sterilizes the dishes. More than that, it means that I usually only have to wash the pots and pans.

Ruth and I get together Saturdays and cook. We started by making salads; we've expanded recently so that we make a soup or two as well as a casserole. We generally plan out the week's menus for both of us and then make a good stab at getting it all cooked.

This past Saturday Ruth and I made three or four salads, and a chicken casserole in one of the slow cookers. However I wasn't feeling too well, and when Ruth had to go meet with a client, I went back to bed. I phoned her bright and early Sunday, however, so that she could come and help me clean up before everyone came over. We did up those dishes, but while we were doing dishes and cleaning up, we also made up three big pans of lasagne. (Two in baking pans, one in a large crock pot). However then it was time to go to services, and we didn't get cleaned up from that.

Monday night we have The Party, and it was our week to bring the snack for it. Sunday afternoon I started the slow cooker with sloppy joes in it. In the morning I set it out on the front step to cool and freeze, and Bram brought it in after school and turned it back on high. I didn't even have time to stir it before it was time to go.

All of this cooking means that there was lots of dishes to do. So this morning I got up a half hour earlier, and got to work. I loaded the dishwasher again, and then started on the pots and pans. It only took me 40 mins. but I'm done. I think I'll get the boys to put everything away.