A Day To Myself

Every so often a day comes along that I have nothing on my calendar. Nothing. It’s rare, I’ll admit, but it does happen. One would think that being retired I would have all the time in the world to fritter away every day. With two writing classes a week, a women’s group once a week,  a granddaughter to cook for, a memoir I’m writing, as well as a novel set in Kauai, a friend that needs a ride to the doctor or grocery shopping, and working part-time as a reference librarian, well, as I said, it’s rare. But here it is; a day to myself. What shall I do?
    For starters, I had a leisurely read of the paper this morning. Congratulations Giants and my new hero, Mad Bumgarner!! Then I did the crossword puzzle, as I do every day. When I had caught up on my email and Facebook I played a quick game of Candy Crush. I’m on level 125; have been for a while now. I can usually figure out the trick to crushing all the candy and jellies but not this time. Oh well, on to other things. A load of towels went into the washing machine and it was almost lunch time.
    The tail end of a lovely loaf of Pain Rustique I bought to go with my soup last week was still sitting there on my counter, daring me to use it up. I’ll keep it simple, I thought. I managed to cut four small slices from what was left, buttered them lightly on both sides and filled them with slices of a good cheddar and a dash of mustard. Into a medium hot pan they went, buttered side down. I wanted to make sure the cheese really got melty so I covered the two sandwiches with aluminum foil and placed a jar of Irish tea bags on top to weigh them down. I told you the sandwiches were small. When they were golden and crispy I flipped them over until the other sides were as nutty brown as a chestnut and the cheese was liquid gold.
    The two little grilled cheese sandwiches, a sliced Asian Persimmon from a friend’s tree, a mug of hot Irish Breakfast tea, and a cracking good mystery set in Ireland, and I had myself a lovely lunch.

My lovely lunch.

After lunch I sat down on the couch and phoned my friend Pat. We never seem to run out of things to talk about. As usual, it was a long, satisfying conversation.  Since it was a gloomy day the first thing that came to mind for dinner was...soup. I put a pound of navy beans to soak for an hour for Navy Bean soup. I make mine much like my mother did with a couple of exceptions. Navy bean soup can look a little pale so I like to add the color (and flavor) of  carrots and tomatoes. Mom won’t care. She’s making her own version up in Heaven.

Ready to add the water

    While I was waiting for the beans to soak I thawed out the other half of turkey Kielbasa I had used for the vegetable soup last week. Since I didn’t have any ham, that would have to do. I sliced it and then chopped half a large onion, one carrot, and two cloves of garlic.  An hour later I drained the beans, added them to the pot with the vegetables and sausage, a bouquet garni of fresh thyme and bay leaves, and the water. Diced tomatoes would be added later. If you add them before the beans are tender the acid in the tomatoes keeps the beans from cooking completely.  It was time to sit down and read my book.

Finally, it's soup

                                                     Mom’s Navy Bean Soup (Almost)

1 pound navy beans, picked over, rinsed and drained
Water to cover

2 sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary
1 bay leaf
2 large smoked ham hocks, about 1-1/2 pounds or 6-oz. Polish Kielbasa
Half large onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
7 cups of cold water
1  15-oz can diced tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place beans in a large saucepan and cover with water, about two inches. Bring to a rolling boil then lower heat and simmer for 2-5 minutes. Drain and return beans to pot. Add the ham or sausage, the onion, garlic, carrot, bouquet garni, and 8 cups water. Bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer, cover, and cook until beans are tender, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours, then add tomatoes and simmer a few minutes more. Remove bouquet garni. If using ham hock, remove ham hock, cool slightly and remove skin, bone and fat. Cut meat into small cubes and return to beans. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. For thicker soup, remove about 2 cups beans, puree them in blender or with immersion blender and return to pot. Serve with a green salad and hot cornbread.