Friday, October 11, 2019

Blueberry Overload



I put out the garden cam yesterday morning before work, to see if I could catch any of the local foxes traipsing through our patio. I haven't seen the foxes in a while, but I'm sure they're still out there. Occasionally Olga will sit bolt upright in bed, having heard some minute sound, which probably means fox.

Last night I set out a boiled egg, which we haven't done for a while, to entice the foxes for a close-up.

Unfortunately I chose a spot for the camera that wasn't very good. I angled it too far up, so it wasn't focused on the ground, and the movement of blowing foliage in the garden set it off frequently. And then it rained last night, and the foxes didn't eat the egg. Even a fox has better things to do than slink around in the rain, I suppose.

Oh well. You can enjoy a minute of blowing leaves and birdsong in the video above. I retrieved the uneaten egg, so I'll try for a fox video again today or tonight.

Dave's food-hoarding instincts have been kicking in this week. A few days ago I opened the refrigerator and we had six containers of blueberries, all past or on the verge of expiration. I told him, "Maybe you'd better make a pie -- we'll never eat all these blueberries otherwise!" He liked that idea, so he made a crumble -- which was fabulous, of course.

For dinner this week he's made cottage pie, and spaghetti, and baked salmon, and baked chicken, and goulash -- and now we've got a boatload of leftovers. I told him last night, "Don't buy any more food!" Dave isn't a fan of leftovers, but they're inevitable when he's cooking for only two people. So he's on a grocery ban until we eat what we've got.

He bought a package of fresh basil to use in the goulash, but he forgot to put it in -- and then he made spaghetti so he could use the basil, but he forgot to put it in again. And now it's in the compost bin. Oh well.

I shouldn't tease him about his shopping or cooking -- after all he's feeding me better than I could feed myself. I am eternally grateful for that!

16 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Tut tut tut! Naughty Dave! Hasn't he heard the saying, "Waste not, want not"? Saving the planet starts at home and food waste adds enormously to world carbon emissions. Mind you - it sounds like Dave is a great cook.

Steve Reed said...

YP: Well, we generally eat almost everything. It's only the rare bit of forgotten food that goes uneaten in our house. But you're right -- that basil was grown in Jordan, and when I put it out to compost I thought of all the carbon used to get it to market in London only for it to get wasted.

Edna B said...

I feel for Dave. I, too, buy somethings specifically to use in something, then I forget to use it. I also have a hard time cooking for just one (or even two}. If nothing else, the basil will enrich the compost which in turn will be good to grow other veggies. You have a very smart fox there. Hopefully, he'll eat the egg next time and you'll get him on video. Good luck with it. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B.

Ms. Moon said...

Oh, I love the sweet bird song!
If Dave and I lived together we would have to have four refrigerators. Although I've been pretty good at eating all of my leftovers lately. Perhaps the fox would rather eat goulash!

ellen abbott said...

we're pretty good about not wasting food. meat leftovers become sandwiches for lunch or if there's enough dinner the next night, vegetable leftovers go in the 'soup' container in the freezer and when full we have leftover soup for dinner. basil is so easy to grow I'm surprised you don't have it in your garden. you could start a little herb garden for Dave.

Anonymous said...

We tend not to toss out much food here. Roger eats leftovers every morning for breakfast. So, that takes care of most things. We don't eat meat and that makes things much easier.

Red said...

Yes, don't tease Dave or you might suddenly be the cook and grocery shopper.

37paddington said...

You are a lucky man, to be fed by Dave! His culinary offerings sound delectable!

Catalyst said...

If you get tired of Dave's cooking, tell him I'll be right over.

Jennifer said...

I wish someone would cook for me! I get so tired of eating my own cooking!

The Bug said...

I LOVE leftovers - no cooking! All of those meals sound pretty good to me. I'd probably be big as a barn because I don't get enough exercise.

jenny_o said...

I love leftovers - after forty-plus years of being the cook I am tired of it and leftovers are so easy! lol

Blueberry crumble sounds excellent. Then again, so does blueberry pie. And blueberry pancakes. And blueberry muffins. And . . .

Sharon said...

What a fantastic selection of weeknight meals! You are so lucky. And, blueberry crumble sounds wonderful. I loved listening to the birds and seeing the flowers blowing in the wind. I can only eat leftovers for a couple of days. After that, I've had enough.

Sue said...

I love leftovers! I'm fortunate that Pete loves to cook, so I rarely do any cooking myself anymore. I'm a good dish washer! We find that lots of foods taste even better the next day, especially anything with tomato sauce in it. Do you take leftovers to school for lunch?

Beth Reed said...

Tell Dave that he can come cook as much as he wants to in Texas for me and our family. We never have any leftovers here and if we do then it is a miracle. Right now my grandson who is 12 is looking thru the fridge as I type this still hungry. He was eating dinner tonight when my son Jonathan and granddaughter Cathy left to take me out for my Birthday dinner. We went to a Mexican place and Jonathan bought an extra Enchilada plate, a large bowl of Chicken Tortilla soup and we also had enough food for another meal to take home. My grandson and his mom ate that food and now he is rummaging thru the fridge for more. Tell Dave my almost teenage boy will love any kind of leftovers.
Steve cut up anymore herbs put them in an ice tray and fill with water and freeze them. You can always drop them in soups, goulash and other dishes.

Funny to read of your Fox. Austin has just informed the city and news media with an advisory showing several neighborhoods having issues with the foxes in our area. There were about 6 reports in one night and lots of video on cam videos of the fox jumping 6 foot fences. I think that it is awful that the city wants to catch them and euthanize them. Lots of protests over it. I am voting for the Foxes!

Have an awesome weekend... Beth

Steve Reed said...

Edna: Yeah, it's hard to cook for just one or two people -- without having leftovers, anyway. The fox will definitely be back. Stay tuned!

Ms. Moon: Ha! At least you have chickens so you can feed them your leftovers. I suppose we could give ours to Olga but supposedly people food really isn't good for dogs.

Ellen: The crazy thing is, we DO have a basil plant. It's a long story! We're not home for lunch during the week, so that deprives us of another opportunity to use the leftovers. But as I told YP above, we usually do get almost everything eaten.

Robin: That's an interesting breakfast! I think I'll stick with my cereal.

Red: True! And we'd be eating a lot of peanut butter.

37P: I am indeed lucky in that regard. Dave and I have complementary talents!

Catalyst: Ha! Maybe we should make a tour of Arizona, funded by Dave working as a private chef?

Jennifer: It is super-great to not have to think about food. I do all the cleanup, so we have a fair division of labor!

Bug: I like leftovers too! I find that some meals actually get better when they sit for a day or two.

Jenny-O: We're big blueberry fans around here. (Blackberries are still my favorites, though.)

Sharon: Yeah, you gotta have something new every few days to shake up the taste buds!

Sue: We get our lunches in the cafeteria at school for free, so there's no incentive to bring our own food.

Beth: Are the foxes causing a problem or are they dangerous for some reason? I can't imagine why the city would want to euthanize them. Unless they're rabid or something. Teenage boys are always hungry! (I remember, having been one once!)