Saturday, January 15, 2022

I Feel I Was Probably A Vector Of Disease

Here's a picture of me in the overalls with the little crown pin. Obviously, I should have cleaned the mirror first. And obviously, it is not of my entire body because I am too vain to be showing that. And I could clean the mirror and try again but the whole experience was painful for me and so I will not. There you go. I have been wearing the overalls all day long and I continue to love them. Who even knew that J. Crew made overalls? 

I feel extremely guilty right now. Jessie and her family came over today so that Mr. Moon could help Vergil replace the rear brakes on Jessie's car. Mr. Moon has all the tools and equipment and space to do such things (although he had to pull the large boat out of the garage to create that space) and so this is the place to bring your vehicle for repairs. 
Dad's Auto Repair Shop, as it were. 
And I don't feel guilty about that, per se. Of course. I'm glad that the brakes were fixed. What I do feel guilty about is that I probably got way too close to the boys and to Jessie and I still have this cold thing. If I still have it on Monday I'm going to go get tested again and this time request the non-rapid results type. But whether I "just" have a cold or actually have Covid, I had no business even being around the Weatherfords and I know it. I even read some books to the boys. I told them not to cuddle up too close but come on- I was sitting right next to them and reading out loud. 
At least I made chicken and dumplings for everyone's lunch. 
Like that's going to help when they all get sick. 
I played Battle with August too. "I'm going to whip up your butt!" he told me. I laughed and laughed when he said that. And then I said, "You shouldn't talk to your Mer like that."
"Why?" he asked. And I couldn't think of one damn reason so I just laughed some more. And then he did indeed whip up my butt. 

The first thing the boys wanted when they came in the house was "butter bread." They spied some rolls I'd made a few days ago and so of course I buttered them each a half and warmed them up. 


There are few things on earth as delicious as butter bread. They liked the chicken and dumplings too. 
They played outside off and on and were pirates in the boat. 


He's such a poser.


And yes, they were wearing shorts and were barefoot but were hardly in danger of frostbite. It was in the sixties. 
When I sent them off with going-away treaties, I apologized to Jessie and Vergil for no doubt giving them whatever it is I have. 
"We made the choice," said Jessie. 
Yeah. But I shouldn't have given them one. 
Sigh. 

So have any of y'all ever heard of or made a Mississippi pot roast? I first heard of this bizarre dish on a FB post of a friend of mine. The "traditional" method of cooking it is in the slow-cooker with a packet of ranch dressing mix, a package of au jus mix, some pepperoncini, and, well, a lot of butter. 
This did not sound healthy in the least nor could I combine those flavors in my mind and come up with anything appealing. However, the NYT's cooking app came up with a very similar recipe except that you sort of making ranch dressing yourself and no au jus mix and less butter. But still the pepperoncini. 
And I have done what I always criticize and laugh at people for doing which is to completely change the recipe and see what happens. 
For one major thing, I've used venison roast. Venison has so very little fat in it that I did not feel too guilty about the butter. Also, I had no pepperoncini but of course had plenty of pickled banana peppers. And I added a little bit of Lipton's beefy onion soup mix and some actual ranch dressing made in a Hidden Valley. Somewhere. It's hidden so we don't really know. And onion and garlic. 
Since I don't really like using a slow-cooker, it simmered in a Dutch oven on the lowest setting of the Thermonster almost all day and was still not getting to the point where you could shred the meat with two forks. Easily. Or, to be truthful, at all. So now it is in a very low oven and we shall see if it is tender by supper time. 

I really can't believe I'm making such a thing. And yet I am. If there's one thing in life I have learned it's that we should never say never because we just might. At least once. And if we like it, we can do it again. And if we don't, well, that's that. Except for certain drugs which we should NEVER do and don't ask me how I know that. 

That's my bit of wisdom for today. 

Love...Ms. Moon



 

24 comments:

  1. Those boys are precious! I feel you on the vector thing and have been having some of those worries myself this week as you already know. We're all doing the best we can here, and honestly, I think everyone will probably be just fine.

    Jessie is so pretty and looks so young. August is getting really long legs, isn't he? Those little boys are growing up. I like the sounds of butter bread and could eat some of that myself! :)

    We're finishing up the very last scrapings of the pot of chili I made last weekend tonight, and then tomorrow I'm making vegetable beef soup. Winter is definitely back in South Carolina!

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  2. I am curious if the boys caught your cold! ... Did you get retested for Covid? And ... How did the venison roast turn out?

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  3. I’ve made Mississippi Pot Roast, and it’s actually better in the crockpot. I’m a cook-on-the-stove kinda girl, and just recently started roasting in the oven. But Mississippi Pot Roast is better in the pot of crocks.

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  4. I do hope the roast turned out. No reason it shouldn't.

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  5. After traveling and spending time with my niece, I have been "pretending" I have covid while around Dennis, who is in an at risk health category. Tomorrow I will do a rapid test to see if we can act normal again. I feel absolutely fine, but so many folks with omicron are symptomless. Trying times.

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  6. You are a fancy woman with your overalls and crown, adorable, you rock those overalls!
    I watched how to make
    Bulgarian moussaka yesterday but Dennis can not have potatoes , there really is no substitute for potatoes. A roasted anything meaty would be OK, I may try something like that.

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  7. you look fabulous in your new overalls with the crown pin! Fabulous! I think I would have made the same changes to the recipe as you did......except for the venison LOL! I hope it turns out well....and I also hope you feel better and that Jessie's family remains well...you likely are not contagious any more at this point?
    Susan M

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  8. i see 20% of the kids in my school in class and another 20% in the halls/ at lunch. i told tony i was the vector... i hope it's a cold. we got put back on virtual because of the high number of cases here (including at home tests estimates are close to 50% positivity).

    xxalainaxx

    xxalainax

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  9. The recipe sounds very good with your changes. Not a lot like the original, better.

    Try not to feel guilty about the virus. As she said, they chose to be around you,with the boys. You really can't be be responsible for other adults' decisions!

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  10. Ranch dressing? In a potroast? I brown mine in a little oil after cutting off most of the fat, then it gets simmered in a mix of water, tomato sauce (ketchup), tomato paste and worcestershire sauce. On a low temperature until the liquid is nothing but a sludge in the bottom of the pan, about four hours, but turning the meat over after a couple of hours. It shreds so easily after that.
    I hope you are all virus free still.

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  11. P.S. stove top cooking with a lid on the pan, no oven or crockpot.
    Nice overalls and I like the crown pin.

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  12. Love the crown pin! Thanks for the picture! I wouldn't feel too bad about the cold or whatever. Stuff is just going around out there and as far as you know you're Covid-negative, and all you can do is operate with the knowledge you have, right? And as Jessie said they made their own decisions. This is the brave new world.

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  13. I've made the Mississippi pot roast and used about half the butter. It is delicious. The boys are precious. Gail

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  14. That Little Poser couldn't be any more Adorable, such a Photogenic Child! Thanks for the Overall and Crown Pin pix we requested, you look good in it and Overalls are so comfortable and practical to wear doing anything and everything. I do Hope you're not a vector of disease, but it is a tough call when we're not feeling 100% during a Pandemic and don't know for sure what we might have. I'm in that position too myself, waiting on our Test Results, knowing I have Pneumonia but Docs weren't conclusive about what kind of Pneumonia and I suppose there is a COVID kind now, Holy Hell, as if regular Pneumonia isn't bad enough, Right?! We have a houseful so I'm trying to ask them all to distance from me but I still feel as tho' my Germs might just be everywhere no matter how much we Sanitize and the N95 Masks are so damned uncomfortable I can't wear them for Hours on end without freaking out Mentally and wanting to rip it off. I do Hope you feel better soon, there's so much going around and at least you had one Neg Test Result. The Rapid Tests here they're extorting $200 a person for, what a Racket, the 24-48 Test was Free that we took, but now it's past 48 Hours and no Results... Le Sigh.

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  15. Okay. My sister just sent me a version of this recipe YESTERDAY! She did not use the peppers.

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  16. I don't think you have to feel guilty about spreading germs to the little men because, as I recall, they had the germs first a couple of weeks ago and probably spread it to you so they may be immune to it all by now. Anyway, looks like a fun day and I like your new overalls with your fancy jeweled pin!

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  17. Hello, new here... Love your stories...the house and its history...the warmth of Florida seeming to float straight over to Texas! lolol
    Enjoy your day and hope you are feeling better now.
    Donna

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  18. Well, I guess we are all vectors of disease at one time or another. I was at my daughter's last Sunday and the following Wednesday I learned my grandson who lives there tested positive for covid on Monday. I felt fine and went to yoga anyway and didn't wear a mask. But big building and only a few of us and I was at least 10' away from the nearest person. Triple vaxxed and still feel fine. Have not been tested. Did that make me a bad person?

    I made stew the other night in a different order. Usually I cut up the stuff, sear the meat, remove it, then saute the onions and garlic in the same pan, meat back in, add water and tomato stuff and let it simmer away. This time I seared the meat, added the water and tomato stuff and started it simmering. Then chopped the onions and garlic, sauteed that and added it to the simmering meat. Then I prepared the potatoes and carrots and sauteed some mushrooms for adding later. So essentially the meat simmered longer. Think I'll do it like that from now on.

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  19. I think it's madness NOT to change a recipe if it doesn't suit you. It took my quite some time to realize that but running out to shop for something you don't have just because a recipe calls for it is crazy. And I'm sure it tasted wonderful. Fingers crossed that Jessie and the boys are fine!

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  20. I have made the recipe but used the slow cooker. The first time I followed it exactly,the second time I used less butter. I used the NYT recipe. It was delicious both times!

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  21. Just wanted to say that I think the picture of you in your overalls is great, it is one of the best I've seen!!! xo

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  22. I made the Mississippi roast the original way but in a the Instapot, and it was delicious.

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  23. Oh, and you look so beautiful in that picture!

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  24. I'm catching up on your posts in reverse order and I noticed that ultra cool crown pin immediately. Also how I love seeing your beautiful face and the overalls are pretty cool too. How tall August us getting and how awesome to have a boat to climb and play on. As for your cold, it maybe only that. I am noticing a trend however, which is that people seem to have multiple negative tests these days before turning turning up positive. What can we do really? This thing is wily.

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