LET'S HAVE COFFEE

Luckily the weather is holding out in my little corner of the world.  The mornings are perfect for coffee on the patio ... almost chilly in fact.  It's worth it however, for the peace and quiet ... well except for the garbage trucks that run an early morning route  ... and the train tracks one mile away that sound like they are 50 feet from my back door ... and the Air Force based turned into a UPS hub with huge planes taking off at 3:30 every morning.  Okay, so it's not so quiet after all!!

So when one of my bingo cashiers said let's have coffee ... which she has said probably 35 times and I always said no ... I finally agreed.  Grannies Pantry was the destination.

As you know I'm not a coffee person.  I arrived first and was instantly met with a huge cup of the strong stuff.  CREAM PLEASE.  Let's face it ... I don't get out much any more.  I could not find the sugar to save me.  I went through a bucket of six different kinds, all fake sugar.  Give me the REAL stuff please!  I need to make this as close to my fake coffee as I can.  

Suddenly it dawned on me ... that big container of white stuff is the sugar.  No, I don't get out often at all!

That's when they brought the menu.  I thought I might have a little breakfast until I read it.  Are you kidding me?  Breakfast was over $20 for two eggs, two pieces of bacon, hash browns and toast.  YIKES!!  When did THAT happen?  I finally settled for ONE ENGLISH MUFFIN to the tune of $5.75.  I can buy SIX for that!!  No kidding, I was really shocked.  This is a small town hangout of regulars.  I guess that's why when I came in there were six empty tables when normally on a Saturday you would wait for an hour to get a table.  The lunch menu wasn't any cheaper!

Anyway, we talked all things Bingo and how to remedy the current situation.  My only thought at this point is to quit the bingo kitchen, right behind my friend who wanted to quit yesterday!!  It's a dilemma I won't go in to.

Once home two hours later, the wind came up like gangbusters.  That made it cool enough to hang out on the patio for a while trying to change my skin color a bit.  Let me just say that TANNED OLD skin doesn't look much better than WHITE old skin.  What a revelation for someone who spent hours at the lake getting that perfect tan.

Of course Miss Kitters had to bother me the entire time. Meow meow meow ... purr purr purr!

Here's the bad news of the day.  I woke up with a scratchy throat and a runny nose yesterday.  It's not as bad this morning, so maybe it was the REAL coffee, but I was sure feeling like a cold was coming on.  So instead of heading out on a shopping spree for new summer clothes, which can only be found around here in the winter, I stayed home and did some bookwork of my own.  

I paid some bills ... my oh my how the prices of things have gone up ... and lamented over the three tops I bought from Amazon that were as thin as paper and were all too big.  Return, return, return!!  My 20 year old truck insurance is now as high as it was when I bought the thing.  I won't even mention the VAN insurance.  All I can say is thank God I have a good retirement or I would be selling stuff right and left, including the van.

I kept Mr. Cooper company on the couch and watched a little rodeo until dinner time.  I planned three trips, even going so far as to almost hit the reservation button, but I know Cooper won't be comfortable and I'm afraid of more damage to his leg, which by the way seems to be getting better, although slowly.  The rugs on the floor have made all the difference.

In no time, dinner rolled around.  I don't know why I keep trying to make pizza.  I suppose it's because I have the ingredients and it's a challenge.  I pulled the last frozen dough piece out of the fridge where it had thawed overnight.  Oh my Great Aunt Suzie ... something was certainly wrong the second I opened the package.  I can't even explain the smell.  It was so acrid and BAD that I immediately threw it in the trash can just so I could breathe.  What the heck happened to that??

Now what?? I remembered a recipe online for 15 minute pizza crust.  Okay, I'll bite.  I was thinking this wasn't going to be good at all ... and I was right.

Here's the problem.  I used amazing Miss Terry's recommendation for putting down provolone cheese first to keep the crust from getting soggy.  I then smothered it with sauce, more cheese and toppings.  After ten minutes in the oven, I looked in to see cheese melting and pepperonis floating off the top down onto the heating element.  Flames erupted!!  I think maybe I used too much baking powder.  The crust was almost an inch thick in the middle.

NOOOOO!!  I pulled it out, pushed all the cheese back up on top, placed it in another pan and stuck it back in.  That burned pepperoni smell will go away, I'm sure.  

So here's the final product.  It doesn't look all that bad, but a quick check of the bottom and I was sure it wasn't fully cooked.  Oh heck ... I'll just scrape off the toppings and eat that!!  Actually it turned out not to be TOO terrible, since the crust did get pretty much cooked, just not browned.  I instantly threw that recipe in the trash.  

I'm going to eat it because it has a lot of expensive cheese on top, but I'll reheat it in the air fryer.  That should make it MUCH better!!  On the other hand, I've given up.  There will never be another homemade pizza in my house EVER!  Ummm but I did see a recipe using tortillas ...........

And so ended another day as the three of us headed off to bed.  I'm trying all my homemade cold recipes today, though my throat is not sore at all.  We shall see how far I get!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!