Adventures in Cooking

So the Chicken Sausage Okra Gumbo turned out a tasty dish. The execution could have been better, and the dish would have been a lot less slimy, had I read through the entire recipe BEFORE I began putting ingredients together. Had I done so, I would have learned that, when instructions said to add vegetable to the roo, that did not include the okra, which was to be added last and later.

Fortunately, I don’t mind slimy, so the dish wasn’t ruined for me; but I’ll know how to make it correctly next time.

Yesterday I noticed that the two residents flooded out of their units, when the underground water main broke, were back. Turns out neither one had renter’s insurance, so there’s the loss of furniture to cope with. On the flip side, they’ve got nice almost new units with new carpet, updated new flooring, new paint job. Looks like they’ve even got new blinds.

I remember when I was a kid, the way we’d clean the kitchen floor was to run the water hose through the kitchen door, turn the water on and have at it.

And no, we didn’t live in the country -- though my mom was from the country and was probably just passing on to us kids what she was taught. It was the city and quite an effective way to get behind and under the stove and fridge.

I don’t remember how we dried the floor after, but I’m assuming we used a mop to finish it off. (I later remembered ... it was a broom. We swept the water out with a broom.)

I don’t remember what we put on the living room floor – it wasn’t water from the hose, but I do remember we’d wear thick socks and skate around to polish it.

Does any of this resonate with your childhood memories or was it just us?

I’ve since learned that, in the history of this complex, it is not the first time water mains have broken, flooding out first floor units. It’s happened three times before, on the opposite side of the complex.

I personally am attributing it to the earthquakes. On a fault line, we experience tremors here ALL the time.

At any rate, I’ve since changed my mind about moving to a downstairs unit when I become too old to climb or if and when I relocate. I’ll stick to second floor or higher units. As a single woman, I feel higher floors are safer, and I’d rather struggle up the stairs than have to deal with the threat of water main breaks.

On tap for today?

I haven’t a clue.

It’s a good day to be out, weather-wise, so I’m trying to talk myself into killing two birds with one stone – log in some walking miles AND entertainment, by attending the Route 66 Cruisin’ Reunion!

Before I had to relocate to Long Beach to help a relative out of distress, I lived in a senior complex one block from where the event is located. Now that I’d have to drive, deal with traffic and parking, I’m not feeling the hassle, so we’ll see.