Sunday, August 28, 2011

today is sunday. yesterday was saturday. and so was the day before.

no, i'm not  channeling rebecca black, just realizing how i typically approach each day of the week (or weekend at least) with a particular mindset or attitude. and this week, it was different. because i took friday off.  so friday was like my saturday. and saturday was like a bonus day! and i took full advantage.
you see, in our house, saturday is "chore day". it's when we make up for all the time lost during the week and try to get the house back in order and the laundry caught up. our kids imagine the rest of the world understands the term "saturday chores" as much as they do "monday night football" (please don't tell them otherwise).  so time for getting creative or proactive on projects around the house is difficult at best, because by the time we get through the chores, everyone just wants to relax and veg out for a while. 
imagine my delight, when this weekend i got a REAL saturday - my second saturday. 

friday (my first saturday) was spent doing all of the necessary catch up. i even threw in some homemade buttermilk pancakes (sans maple syrup - shame on this vermonter) for breakfast. the kids wondered what had gotten into me....

my FIRST SATURDAY:

a pancake breakfast (easily the best pancakes i have ever made (or consumed). want the recipe? :
some of the ingredients:



followed by CHORES (no pictures available) where i (as opposed to the kids) attempted to make up for the neglect the house and garden had seen during the week. i gave it 5 solid hours while the kids were at school, ran a few errands (finally got the paint for our bedroom AND found the perfect fabric to cover the cushions for those mid-century lounge chairs i scored on ebay) and cleaned out the car before calling it a day...not feeling like i'd gotten as much done as i'd have liked, but hey, i still had another saturday ahead of me to do just that....

my SECOND SATURDAY:
with the chores done, i was free to focus on something a bit more proactive and creative, which led me to this.....

a piece that my folks bought back in the late 70s up near clark's trading post in lincoln nh (a frequent stopping spot on our treks to visit grammy and gramps camp on peacham pond). it's an old washstand (we called it a commode)...with the mirror missing. 
anyway...it needed a facelift. and i was ready.
here you can see step one. the "botox" injections (elmer's wood filler).

and then while that dried, i headed to the kitchen and whipped up a batch of fresh tomato sauce for our supper (we had some tomatoes from the garden that needed to get used SOON.)



while the sauce simmered, i headed back out to sand and prime the commode (kilz is the bomb), then back inside for supper's final prep - cook pasta, grate cheese....

 and serve:



now that everyone was fed and happy, i could head back outside to apply two coats of "map yellow" paint....wait a bit before installing new hardware....wait some more....then put the piece back in its spot in the corner of the cubbie. 




all in all a pretty good saturday(s)....


3 comments:

  1. did i miss something? where's that pancake recipe that--yes-- i want?

    ReplyDelete
  2. 3 c flour
    3 T sugar
    3 t baking powder
    1 1/2 t baking soda
    3/4 t salt
    3 c buttermilk
    1/2 c milk
    3 eggs
    5 T butter, melted

    whisk or sift dry ingredients together in large bowl.
    mix together remaining ingredients and add to dry ingredients, just barely blending (batter will have large lumps in it still).

    heat 1 T oil in cast iron skillet and add batter in 1/2 c increments.
    cook 3-4 minutes per side.

    i think the success of this recipe was due in part to the fact that i used WHOLE buttermilk (found at Whole Foods - the kind that comes in the glass bottles). it's nearly as thick as greek yogurt, and oh so yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. So confused....the jar labeled penne doesn't have penne, but rather....angelhair. my ocd issues will nag at me all the live long day. Oh well, it looks delish.

    ReplyDelete