Funny. I didn’t think it would be so difficult to sleep without R beside me. I really have become addicted to him beside me all night. Plus, with him, I am never cold. Between the two of us, asleep at night, we shall never be cold…
Anyway…we (the dogs and I) woke up today with snow on the ground. About an inch and a half of snow. With more snow floating steadily down as I watched. I woke up too early this morning, so I got to see quite a bit of snow fall. I actually worried about going to my house to start working; the snow was coming down so thickly. I wanted to make sure the dogs ate breakfast and Shadow got enough time outside before I left.
I worked for about four hours at home, before starting to worry about the snow still falling. I needed to make a run to the grocery store—which is right up the road. Now, I should not be allowed to walk to a store, carrying big solid bag, even with the thought of ‘I only need a couple small things, plus a gallon of milk’…especially when I need things like…onions and potatoes…much less feeling decent about being sans company and just walking around to look at things….I had filled the bag before I finished … but I do feel good about things.
The weather had settled down some, with closer to two, two and a half inches on the ground. My original plan had been to run to the store and then go home, to R’s. But with the weather lightening up, no more snow, even though the wind was picking up and it was definitely not warmer, I decided to grab the girls (Kendall and princess) and run back to my house. Ken did really well in her holiday present—a new harness. I think when I walk the two girls together, though, I will leave Ken off the harness, so that Princess doesn’t get choked as much. Ken needs that drag there.
Well, when I took the girls out, Shadow was visibly upset about being left behind, which just breaks my heart, the big ole bear dog. So, I told him when we got back I’d take him (a whole OTHER story—Shadow is not a dog—his a MULE! And I mean that in a derogatory manner to boot!). The girls and I went to my house, grabbed the roast and a few other things that I didn’t take w me earlier, as I didn’t want to carry them through the store w me.
We can talk about shadow’s walk some other time.
So, let me tell you about my experiment.
Before the holidays, R and I hadn’t decided what we were having for Christmas dinner, so I bought a ham and a lamb roast. We had ham on Christmas (you have to love a man who cooks, really—not to say I did nothing at all—but he was in charge of the ham…)
Now, before we moved, there was an accident at the old house and the crock pot was broken. It has since been replaced—and has been at R’s waiting for us to figure out what we want to do w it ever since. Actually, we need to go to a butcher and get a really good (beef) roast…but we’ll get there….now is just not the right time.
Here I am. With a brand new crock pot. And a roast. I bought potatoes and onions. We have garlic and carrots on hand.
My experiment stems from the fact that I am basically dry roasting the entire thing. Usually, I make a stew of things. I love stewed veg. This time, I have chosen another route. As I haven’t made lamb in years (as in, well before I was ever married), I am not sure of how….decent this cut of meat is. We’ll see. However, in order to ensure we are not eating fat dripping over fat, I layered the bottom of the pot with onions. That way the onions soak up the fat. And I tossed in some fresh garlic as well. Then I added some potatoes. Plopped the lamb roast right in the middle of it. Added baby carrots and more potatoes. Put in roughly a ½ cup of water. Drizzled the top with olive oil. Added some spices and seasonings…although since this is R’s kitchen, even though I have added a few things to his repertoire, I kept everything minimal—which is also a part of my experiment.
And despite R’s teasing me about it, the cinnamon and nutmeg still went in…the Chinese five spice mix is at my house…so I used what we have on hand here.
Right now, the pot is in the refrigerator. I will be setting it on low heat tomorrow morning before I go to work at my house…earlier this evening I had worked on a plan of action for tomorrow. We’ll see how everything goes.
I like this crock pot. It has a rubber seal around the top of the lid. It comes with a rubber gasket thingy that you wrap around the handles in order to ensure the lid remains on while you travel with the pot itself once the meal is done. I am hoping for a steamed infusion for the herbs and spices…we’ll see. I look forward to seeing how well this roast turns out.
And that is my experiment.
Now, I think I am going to see if I can get some sleep tonight. I’ve run out of CSI reruns to ponder—as soon as this episode of SVU is done, I’m off.
Peace.
