Splashing in the kitchen is always worrisome, so looked over and there was Meep balancing his front paws on the edge of the dogs’ water dish, putting in first one paw, then the other – repeatedly.  Once he walked (stalked?) away I got up and checked the bowl – nasty lint and other crap on the bottom.  He was giving himself a foot bath at the dogs’ expense!

First chicken actually went into the pot for soup, but it’s on the back porch and has to finish cooking (ran out of veggies yesterday).  Here’s the chicken dish that used up those veggies – a Mediterranean herb blend with a touch of dry red wine, cooked for a couple of hours in a low oven.  Onions, carrots, celery; mashed potatoes later.  Looks much better in person, not washed out (looks warmer on the phone, too).  Such a bad photographer I should get a job at the DMV.

We got two inserts in this week’s paper (1/17), but I forgot all about posting the coupons 🙂  If you’re still on the fence about picking up one or multiples (please wait until Monday for DT), check them out.  Remember not all papers carry the same coupons or values.

SmartSource

2000 Flushes Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner .55/1 (4/18)
2000 Flushes Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner $1/2 (4/18)
Acuvue Contact Lens Solution 10oz $5/1 (3/3)
Acuvue Revitalens Contact Lens Solution 20oz $7/1 (3/3)
Alka Seltzer Plus Power Fast Fizz Effervescent Tablets $2/1 (2/14)
Alka Seltzer Plus 10ct+ $1/1 (2/14)
Blink Contacts or Blink and Clean Drops $3/1 (3/3)
Blink Tears or Blink Gel Tears Lubricating Eye Drops $3/1 (3/3)
Colgate Adult or Kids Manual Toothbrushes (exc. Colgate Plus, Colgate Extra Clean or Colgate Classic Clean) .50/1 (1/30)
Colgate Adult or Kids Manual Toothbrushes (exc. Colgate Plus, Colgate Extra Clean or Colgate Classic Clean) $1/2 (1/30)
Colgate Toothpastes 3oz+ (exc. 2.5oz Bonus and ETS) .50/1 (1/30)
Colgate Toothpastes 3oz+ (exc. 2.5oz Bonus and ETS) $1/2 (1/30)
Cottonelle Bath Tissue Rolls 6pk+ $1/1 (2/13)
Florastor Product $6/1 (1/31)
Florastor Product $4/1 (3/1)
Frigo Cheese Heads Products $1/2 (2/28)
Good Culture Sour Cream Tub 16oz $1/1 (2/28)
Good Culture Simply or Organic Cottage Cheese Cups 5oz – 5.3oz $1/2 (2/28)
Good Culture Simply or Organic Good Culture Cottage Cheese Tub 16oz $1/1 (2/28)
Irish Spring or Softsoap Body Wash 18oz+ .75/1 (1/30)
Irish Spring or Softsoap Body Wash 18oz+ $1/2 (1/30)
Jolly Time Microwave Pop Corn Boxes .75/1
Jolly Time Microwave Pop Corn Boxes $1/2
Palmolive Ultra Dish Liquid 18oz+ .50/1 (1/30)
Palmolive Ultra Dish Liquid 18oz+ $1/2 (1/30)
Russell Stover Eggs or Hearts 1oz – 2oz – Buy FOUR, Get ONE FREE (DND) B4G1 (2/1)
Scott Bath Tissue Rolls 6pk+ .50/1 (2/13)
Scott Bath Tissue Rolls 12pk+ $1/1 (2/13)
Simply Organic or Good Culture Cottage Cheese Cups 5oz – 5.3oz $1/2 (2/28)
Simply Organic or Good Culture Cottage Cheese Tub 16oz $1/1 (2/28)
Speed Stick Lady Antiperspirants/Deodorants 2.3oz+ .50/1 (2/6)
Speed Stick Lady Antiperspirants/Deodorants 2.3oz+ $1/2 (2/6)
Speed Stick Men’s Antiperspirants/Deodorants 2.7oz+ .50/1 (2/6)
Speed Stick Men’s Antiperspirants/Deodorants 2.7oz+ $1/2 (2/6)
Spot Shot Instant Carpet Stain Remover $1/1 (4/18)
Texas Pete Sauces 12oz+ $1/2 (3/10)

RetailMeNot

Amberen Menopause Relief $7/1 (2/15)
Amberen Peri Menopause Relief $7/1 (2/15)
Gain Flings 24-35 ct or Gain Ultra Flings 18ct or Gain Liquid 45ld+ or Essential Oils 42oz+ $2/1 (2/13)
Gain Flings 37ct+ or Ultra Flings 21ct+ or Fireworks In Scent Wash Boosters 20.1oz+ $3/1 (2/13)
Gain Flings 12-20 ct or Gain Liquid Laundry Detergent 25-32 ld or Gain Essential Oils Laundry Detergent 16oz or Gain Liquid Fabric Softener 48-60 ld or Gain Fireworks In-Wash Scent Boosters 5.7-7.2 oz or Gain Sheets 105ct To 160ct or Gain Powder Laundry Detergent (exc. Gain Ultra Flings, Gain Flings 9ct or less and ETS) $1/1 (2/13)
L’Oreal Paris Elvive Haircare or Advanced Hairsyle Products (exc. 1oz, 3oz Shampoo + Conditioner, Twin Packs or Valuepacks) $4/2 (1/30)
L’Oreal Paris Superior Preference, Excellence or Feria Haircolor $5/2 (1/30)
L’Oreal Paris Superior Preference, Excellence or Feria Haircolor $2/1 (1/30)
L’Oreal Paris Root Precision or Magic Root Coverup Product $2/1 (1/30)
Mederma Advanced Scar Gel 20g or Quick Dry Oil 60ml $5/1
Mederma Product (exc. Advanced Scar Gel 20g and AG Skin Care Products) $7/1
Mrs T’s Pierogies $1/3 (2/20)
Mrs T’s Pierogies $1/2 (2/20)
Persil ProClean Laundry Detergent (ETS) $2/1 (1/31)
Persil ProClean Laundry Detergent Discs 38ct or Liquid 100oz+ (exc. 100oz/38ct or less) $3/1 (1/31)
Purina Bella Dry Dog Food Bag 3lb+ $2/1 (2/17)
Purina Bella Wet Dog Food Package 12ct $3/1 (2/17)
SheaMoisture Products (exc. Bar Soap, Lip Balm, Single-Use Packettes and ETS) $6/2 (1/30)
Sudafed or Sudafed Children’s Product $1/1 (2/13)
Superpretzel Soft Pretzel $1/1 (2/21)
Tide Simply Laundry Detergent 50oz+ or Tide Simply PODS Laundry Detergent 20ct+ (exc. Tide Detergent and Tide PODS and ETS) $1/1 (2/13)
Tide Simply Laundry Detergent 34oz or less or Tide Simply PODS Laundry Detergent 13ct or Downy Liquid Fabric Conditioner 40ld or Bounce/Downy Sheets 40-60 ct or Downy Unstopables In-Wash Scent Boosters 4.3oz (exc. Downy Libre Enjuage, Bounce/Downy WrinkleGuard, Bounce Pet Hair & Lint Guard, Gain Fireworks, Tide Detergent, Tide PODS and ETS) .50/1 (2/13)

I always say three flakes in the air means snowplows will be out, not so much plowing as resurfacing – asphalt dermabrasion.  Truck just backed down the street and is playing the waiting game.  Not complaining, mind you, because I’ve seen pictures of Chicago streets where being snowed in is a literal term.  Considering I only have three houses on each side of my street, it’s actually pretty awesome.

Sale ends today, seats start at only $39 each way.  21 day advance purchase required. Continental U.S. travel valid January 29 through May 26, 2021. Travel continental U.S. to/from Hawaii valid January 29 through May 20, 2021. Travel to/from San Juan, Puerto Rico valid January 29 through May 20, 2021. International travel valid January 29 through May 20, 2021.

So this must be how coupon disputes escalate in the age of COVID-19.

A Florida man said to be angry he was unable to use a coupon for fish fingers, has been arrested for assault and other offenses, after he allegedly pulled down his face mask and coughed in a fellow customer’s face before storming out of the store.  Actually, he did more than cough, so be careful of those security cameras!  Here’s the entire article from Coupons in the News.

Oh my, turn up the fan!  I’d read about the Netflix Bridgerton series ad nauseam, so read the first book in the series, The Duke and I, upon which the series is based.  Pita and I just watched the first episode and let me tell you, there’s a lot of artistic license going around here.  Sets and costumes are beautiful (think BBC), but so many additional characters and naked butts it’s rather startling 🙂 Startling, but not unwelcome, if you catch my meaning …

Yup, Pita bought a couple of spaghetti squash and since I’d always heard how similar it was to pasta, decided to give it a shot.  By the time you bake (well, that’s the easy part) the squash, let it cool and fork it out, you’ve earned a pint of ice cream.  Tastes fine, but it’s squash and no one should have to work this hard for a vegetable, imo.  Told her to stick to acorn squash if she gets a hankering.  Or maybe I’ll do something savory with those cans of pumpkin puree in the basement…

Watch enough Bake Off shows and your brain wonders why this country doesn’t offer more food options – 25 brands of the same old pasta sauce or canned soup doesn’t cut it for me anymore.  So naturally I decided to make clotted cream, something they’re always dishing out on scones and the like.

Only problem is the traditional method involves time – lots and lots and lots of time.  You are only pouring heavy cream into a container and letting it cook in an slow oven (about 175°), but it’s for 10-12 hours and then you end up with what I call scabbed cream, where the top is golden and there’s lots of liquid underneath to pour out before you can cover and refrigerate for another set of hours.  Don’t want to hear about how it’s fine to eat the crust – I don’t think it’s particularly appealing, but then maybe you ate scabs as a kid.

So I searched and searched for other ways because, let’s face it, traditional means before the age of modern appliances and do we really want to trade our stand mixers for a set of whisks?  Slow cookers, multi cookers, rice cookers – so many ways and yet not what I wanted.  In the end I decided to play around with my microwave since there were plenty of those recipes out there, too!  Eliminate all the nonsense and this is how it goes down:

Pour heavy cream into a microwave safe container (duh).  Traditional recipes say you can’t use ultra-pasturized cream, but that’s BS; traditionally you’d probably also keep a cow in the yard.  I poured a quart into the Pyrex container shown.

Originally I had the top covered with a dishtowel to prevent splatter, but tried it without and found that running a few minutes at a time meant no splatter.  I used 3 minute increments, stirring in between (careful for intense boiling action here).

Since so much depends on quantity of cream, size of container and power of your microwave, I’ll just say to run the above scenario a few times until the cream starts thickening; eventually you should be able to tell when there’s only a slight jiggle and then it’s done.  Remove to cool on the counter (I put a dishtowel on top – cats, you know) and once cool, placed in the refrigerator for a number of hours – shoot for overnight. I put a dishtowel on top and then the Pyrex cover, just to catch any moisture.

What you’ll end up with is a product that looks and spreads exactly like butter but tastes slightly different.  When you make butter you have lots of whey which we’re all told to reserve and save for future baking … har, har.  Here any extra liquid must have been nuked away because it’s completely solid and my next step will be to put into a food storage container.  This is the bee’s knees, folks and I will definitely be making it again since the higher butterfat content is much closer to European butter.

Had I microwaved it slightly less, I would have had a “looser” product, much closer in consistency to clotted cream, but that’s for my next attempt.  This one is very, very good and very, very easy.