"Pointless" Sunshine

 A good description of weather this winter.  There are a number of storms moving across the country with various amounts of rain, snow and ice depending on your location.  I'm not sure we are getting any "weather" but I am very sure it is going to be colder than ever here in Maine.  And, as of now, we aren't having any of the "pointless" sunshine today.  It's cold, grey and dismal.

Pointless because it provides no warmth.

I am thinking of starting some seeds today.  Onions, fennel, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, sugar snap peas. Putting them on the heating mat to germinate. I am also going to be working on gluing carrot and beet seeds to toilet paper strips--making my own "seed tapes" in other words.  I am using a paste made of flour and water.  And a small paint brush to dab a bit of paste on the tip, pick up a single seed, and then dab it on the toilet paper.   I guess you could use an inexpensive paper towel if you wanted.  Square paper gardening.   Why?  It saves on having to thin the seedlings when they sprout.   I had wanted to buy "pelleted" carrot seeds but I think I waited too long to send in my order.   I will glue basil and parsley seeds to TP later in the season.  Those seeds are very tiny, as well.  In fact, G has offered to do most of the seed pasting for me.  We can make the strips, let them dry completely and store them until it's time for planting--- which at this point seems like forever in the future.

I stopped in at Walmart yesterday to purchase those shiny foil "emergency blankets" that we should all have in our cars this winter.  You can wrap yourself in the thin foil "blanket" and retain body heat if you should be stuck in a winter disaster.  They are good to pack on hiking trips as well, in case you get lost or injured.  Less than $3 and they weigh nothing.

I will be using the emergency blanket to wrap my germinated seedlings (on their shelving).  The blanket will help retain heat from the grow lights as well as reflect the light produced back onto the seedlings.  Boosting the light they need to grow strong and sturdy.  As is well known to all pot growers.

The pasta I made on Friday was a combo of onions, roasted red peppers and smoky bacon.  It needed just a touch of something to make it really good but I was working without a recipe and afraid to add unknowns to the sauce.  I am not a good enough cook to know what the "missing" something was.  But the pasta was tasty enough and we enjoyed it.   On Saturday, G followed a recipe he found on the internet and made Asian Spareribs.  They were tender, tasty, sweet and sticky.  Very good.  He gets an A plus and he used a large number of "new" to him ingredients (he went shopping) and techniques.

What are your favorite things to make when you want to use what's already in the house and not go out shopping?