A rainy Tuesday with sort of Bangers and Mash

This is what my deck looked like a week or so ago. Hail and thunder and lightning! Mother Nature put on quite a show. It is warmer today...but equally gloomy. Spring is a real tease this year. One day I am sitting on the deck working on my tan... then this happens!

I am also in a bit of a mood...due to an unforeseen BLOGGING INJURY!! I seem to have developed a sharp pain and stiffness in my upper neck and shoulders. I used to suffer from such things when I was in Fashion Design. Too much time hunched over a pattern or a cutting table or a sewing machine. I made the obligatory visit to my Chiropractor...but two weeks later it is still nagging me. I have decided the pain is related to my lack of proper desk chair! I am sitting in an old Wing back chair of my late mother's...perched on top of 2 wobbly pillows. Before blogging...this chair was just fine. Not any more!

The P-Man and I have been happily munching away on leftovers from a lovely turkey roast I did last week. Yesterday, I decided to do a proper grocery shop, as the roast is almost at it's tasty end. I always try to get some new food things when I do a shop. If I don't, I tend to make the same things over and over. Yesterday's new items included a Thai fried rice mix, some sweet chili sauce, and some canned artichoke hearts. I also bought some New Zealand lamb shanks and some fresh halibut. Today, I walked up the big hill and bought some fresh fruit and vegetables. I got some small Yukon gold potatoes, some kohlrabi, an avocado and a mango...in addition to the regular carrots, onions, apples etc.

I decided to make some scalloped potatoes. We are not much of a potato house. We much prefer pasta or brown rice. These potatoes looked so beautiful and golden and smooth...I just had to take them home. I used a mandolin to slice up the potatoes, and it only took me 20 minutes to get the potatoes ready for the oven. I used some green onion instead of regular cooking onion. I used 1% milk and some left-over low fat sour cream for the liquid, and put butter, salt and pepper between each layer. I put it in at 350 for an hour, and will check it for doneness.

Next, I did a sort of turkey sausage/Veggie fry up. I browned 6 turkey sausages in some good olive oil. I added a chopped up clove of garlic, with a sliced onion, zucchini, red pepper, and portabella mushroom. For seasoning, I used a big sprinkle of dried Oregano and some salt and pepper. I added a splash of some nice Sauvingnon Blanc the P-Man picked up on the weekend, and let it simmer or 20 minutes.
It's smelling really good...I wonder if I have time for a nice neck stretch before the P-Man gets home to eat?