76. Kitchen Duties

Dear London Fire Snake Scorpio,

Sometimes, when I start my engine, it is hard to stop it. I am not sure if it is still medication adjustments, or the drugged state the sun gets me in summer — but I am possessed.

I believe I wrote to you on Friday morning. It was quite a day. I have been struggling with sleep again for the past week, so I woke a little wonky and sat in front of the computer. I decided long ago that I am not working on Fridays, too much to do in the house, but I just couldn’t avoid it.

I wrote to you, planned my day, dealt with emails, doctors, and schools. Readproofed one article for the business blog and then started dealing with the kitchen. I baked 2 smaller bread loaves in the bread maker and 2 massive ones (6 cups flour each!) to freeze. Here, shot you a pic:

The bread machine loaves I made with flavours. Dill and garlic for Stallion’s request, and white pepper, thyme, rosemary and garlic per Wolfy’s. I was supposed to make a spinach one too, but by the time the bread machine finished the second one, I turned into a pumpkin. Yes, a Cinderella reference. Sue me.

I set the bread for proofing — those two massive loaves — and went to pick up the girls from school almost 45 minutes early. The proofing time would have made it impossible to pick them up on time and not set them in the oven, and you know, burn the house down. lol.

That morning, the girls asked for their bikes, so it took quite a long time to get back to the house (Piggy’s bike was almost completely deflated, and I hadn’t had a chance to pump it up yet). So, on the way back, Piggy crashed into one of our neighbours’ grass lanterns and broke it. Sigh. Had to leave a note apologizing and requesting that they contact me so I can reimburse them.

As all Canadians I came in contact with here, the neighbour called me later that night and was super gracious. She said it is no big deal and to forget about it. I said, “My daughter feels awful, she will bake you a cake.” She goes, “No, no. Really, there is no need.” — “Of course, there is a need,” I tell her, “You are helping me raise a decent human.” Which reminds me that I need to bake that cake tomorrow, lol. Just couldn’t get to it today.

So after dropping the note at the neighbour and barking at the kids because Piggy refuses to wait even for a second, I started working on the turkey kebabs. We received 3 kg of ground turkey from a food bank, and I have been defrosting it for a few days.

I wanted to wait until the blender arrived so I could make an onion-and-carrot puree to add to the meat, but the turkey started bleeding in the fridge. I used 2 packs of dry taco seasoning, 2 bags of wet taco seasoning, matzah crumbs, cocoa powder and some eggs and for the puree — because I was too tired to do it in any other way — I just opened a can of pumpkin puree. The result was so damn good, the kids devoured it.

And because at the end I had around 9kg of batter, we ended up with quite a few boxes for freezing. All in all, I stuffed the freezer downstairs with precooked meals so I will have ready meals after surgery. With the lasagnas and the tuna patties I made, we are set pretty well. The best part was that they were soft, just spicy enough, and did not smell like turkey at all (the cocoa is magic).

Next, I heated up the potatoes I made in foil a few days ago, got a box of those delicious kebabs, made tahini spread, the lentil mandarin salad Drago loves, and the tomato pesto one Wolfy and Piggy always fight about. I put on the table some Shifka peppers, Sauerkraut, and Mexican salad (even though I didn’t have peppers or avocado in it, unfortunately).

I opened a can of filled vine leaves and tried a new salad of canned pears, olives and black beans. That one was not a big success, not surprisingly, lol. Either way, I did not bake Challah, so we used leftover naan for the blessing. I was beyond beat at the end of the weekly dinner.

The kids asked for ice cream at the end, and I gave it to them. We have a bit. It was so funny, you would enjoy this. Full to the brim and high on sugar, sitting with the kids at the table as they were finishing the ice cream was like sitting with a bunch of stoned people.

They were laughing hysterically about nothing, messing with words and admiring the table — it was fun. I missed you there for sure.

I finished the evening with the kitchen spotless, both sinks empty, the dishwasher running, the kids showered and in bed and even mopped the kitchen floor. Boom.

But maybe over-exhausted, I had a problem falling asleep on Friday too, and, unfortunately, fell into old habits and played with my AI some sex scenes. I can always tell when something is bothering me. Because my fantasies change. When I feel helpless or angry, the fantasies become unrealistically brutal and extreme.

But I was so very tired that I could not bring myself to discuss those heavy feelings in a more constructive way. The result was that I went to sleep around 24:30–01:00, and, of course, that did not help my patience or stress levels the next day.

Saturday morning, the kids had a feast. After weeks and weeks of barely having anything to eat in the morning except a little hummus and PBJ, thanks to the shopping I did, they had salted margarine, unsalted vegan butter and cream cheese. (I wonder — do they add so much gelatin in cream cheese in the UK too? It’s so artificial, I hate it.)

We also had “all-in” bagels, and the kids were very happy.

The blender came in, and I made hummus. It came out a little runny. Because I cook with my senses and not recipes, new appliances are always tricky. But the taste is amazing. And because I finally had a proper capacity, I made around 700mg, which is awesome. We eat a lot of hummus, Stallion and I.

I also took the soy beans I have been cooking in a crock pot for 48 hours, now finally turning into a puree when crushed between my fingers (soy beans are “crunchy” when they are cooked and need some serious abuse to get to this point) and blended them in the blender with aquafaba, spinach, Shifka pepper, salt, olive oil and a tad of lemon.

The idea I had was to recreate, or rather create a healthier version of, my childhood food.

See, as a “key kid” as they used to call us in the early 2000’s — a name for a kid whose parents were working at 14:00 when school was over — I had 3 meals I ate all the time as soon as I came home: A personal tiny pizza circle (about a saucer’s size) that I would heat in the microwave (yes, it is as bad as it sounds, lol), a chicken schnitzel with hummus and ketchup on top, and a corn schnitzel — which is kind of a vegetarian alternative in the warland.

So I added flour to this concoction and frozen corn, shaped them into little “nugget”- size pieces, dipped them in matzah crumbs, and put them in the oven. The soy beans didn’t need much flavour enhancer after being cooked to F for 2 days, lol, and the result was amazing. The little ones complained about the corn; of course, they had to complain about something, or the world would stop spinning. But all in all, it was another successful adventure.

By the time I was done, I was so tired that I did not take a pic to show you. Besides, they were greenish from the spinach. I will make them again in a few days, after Piggy’s birthday on the 4th, and then I will show you.

I also sewed a pillowcase for the wedgy pillow and did laundry for my sheets. I missed sewing really — but I punctured my fingers pretty mercilessly almost immediately to a pulp, lol.

These were my kitchen adventures over the weekend.

I miss you, lover, beyond what words can express.
We’ll talk again tomorrow, yes?
Always yours, 
Oxy. 
May 31, 2026

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