Porch Postscript Volume 1.4

I feel like winter is longer than usual this time of year.  It's been unseasonably warm this winter, but it's still been dark.  Yes, yes, I know we're going daylight now that we're past Winter solstice, but it's still way too many hours of dark.  I'm ready to play in the greenhouse and plant a garden.  Patience is really a virtue this time of year.  

This is last Friday's sunset at 4pm.  It rare that I capture a sunset up here, as I don't spend much time outside in the winter and there are no sunsets in the summer.  We also live in a very treed area, so I'd have to plan to leave the house to capture a stunning sunset with the horizon in play.  

Hubby made an observation last weekend, this is probably the longest we've gone without eating out regularly.   The reason isn't what you might be thinking, it has nothing to do with COVID  or restrictions.  The less than a handful of restaurants we have in our small town are all very mediocre at best, and we honestly don't enjoy paying Alaska prices for meals that aren't worth talking about.  I honestly make better food at home than any of these places.  What have we been eating you ask?

Snacks included these delicious Peanut Butter Oat Balls with mini chocolate chips.  I use quick oats when I make these rather than the rolled oats called for because that's what I have in the pantry.  These little balls make for a quick snack or little hit of sweet.  I make and store them in the fridge.  They don't last long in general, as we're both peanut butter lovers.

The beans from the previous week made an appearance in a burrito bowl with a broiled chicken breast, rice, pico, and tortillas.  Before you ask, no I didn't make the tortillas.  This was the first time I'd broiled a boneless skinless chicken breast.  I've done cuts with skin on, but never the naked meat.  Turned out great.  I seasoned with some SPG (salt, pepper, garlic) and turned the meat halfway through.  

The knishes I talked about in Tuesday's recipe review.  You can read all about that here.  These were kind of a meal in themselves so we opted to add a side of fruit to balance out the meal.  Nothing fancy.

The reverse sear steak that Hubby made over the past weekend.  With salad and one of our giant homegrown potatoes from last summer.  Seriously, this is half of the potato I baked.  It was totally big enough to split.  Hubby and I also usually share a ribeye steak, as I'm not much of a steak eater.  

I took my shawl, which I started three weeks ago, off the needles this past weekend.  I really love how the self-striping yarn worked into this pattern.  I need to wash and block it, but will probably wear it before I do any of that.  I'm not very good about the blocking part of my patterns, probably because I don't usually make things that would be affected by blocking.

We also rearranged our family room so that we can set up a grow light system to start our seeds this year.  We are planning for a more successful garden this year and hoping that the weather cooperates and the moose stay away.  Laugh if you will, but the moose are a serious pain and one moose can be very detrimental to a garden.  They aren't easily deterred by fencing or all of the usual hacks that keep deer away.  

How was your week?