I have posted before about we enjoy our Instapot, although I don’t actually use it. This is like when we had the bread machine and it was Hubby who could manage it. We haven’t tried the Instapot in the slow cooker mode as we have a nice slow cooker that we don’t want to feel neglected. It’s been a while since we did a roast and Sunday was the day. One of the advantages of Instapot is you can sear, then cook all in the same pot. With a slow cooker, that’s still a two-pot action and with a 3-pound-plus roast, you do have to be careful with the turning to ensure all parts of it are seared. Once you make everything happen though, it does take a few hours for the aroma to kick in. At that point, you now have another few hours until it’s ready to eat. In the case where you set it up to have the dish cook while you are out of the house and to be greeted with this wonderful smell, that’s both comforting and practical. When you’re in the house during the process though, waiting for enough time to elapse can bring on the urge for eating. That of course applies with any long-cooking dish no matter the technique used. The difference between being in the slow cooker and say a stove top situation it does seem to be easier to taste – and hmm, a little bit later maybe I should taste again. After all, maybe the seasoning isn’t quite right yet and another spoonful is needed. The one other thing about either the Instapot or slow cooker is I always add in too much liquid, especially if I will be out of the house. I envision a ruined meal no matter how often I read the recipe that calls for less liquid. On the other hand, having extra delicious sauce means it can be the base for a soup.

Or so it seems since I haven’t posted. Things have obviously not slowed down at all and at least some of it has been for fun. Not for diving unfortunately and if Mother Nature doesn’t let up on the wind, I might not make it out in March. I am keeping fingers crossed though. That’s what happened as I saved today hoping to go. Hubby had to take his student to Jules and they did have something special – a sea horse! I haven’t seen many in all the time I’ve been diving and never one around here. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some hammerheads have been hanging around in different spots. None on the more popular reefs yet so we’ll see if they head on their journey or other people have a chance to spot them. Our bud Richie Kohler and Katy were in  last week doing all really deep which is why I didn’t go with them. They did come up last Saturday along with some of their friends – one of whom we also know and two of our friends joined in. Richie had fond memories of the Redland Hotel and wanted to enjoy it again. There were nine of us which worked out pretty well other than running late for a couple of reasons. Anyway, the food was excellent and great conversation, plus the “extra” couple we met have the potential to be future companions.

On an entirely different subject, I’m making at least some headway with my father’s estate in the sense of gathering information and getting various instructions. There are certain aspects that cannot be done electronically and thus extra time will be required. I really hope to have everything done by my birthday in August – or at least have everything that involves others done. His taxes for last year and the estate taxes will mostly involve me and the lady I’ll be working with. The woman who did his taxes in 2020 is seasonal and she has referred me to one of the only staff who is year-round.

As luck would have it, an event scheduled earlier in the year was re-scheduled and they either didn’t have a choice about dates or picked this evening without realizing it was Saint Patrick’s Day. We have to cover it for the paper and even though it is at a place with a really nice restaurant that part is only open Fri-Sat this time of year. In light of what time we’ll be done, we won’t be able to get anywhere to eat until a little late and it’s not as if we have Irish pubs around. Although a couple of places are doing special dinners, they’re likely to be really crowded by the time we arrive. We decided to swap our usual Thursday pasta night and did that last night to save the lamp chops and mashed potatoes for tonight. We’ll prep everything before we go and it will be pretty quick once we get home. Granted, I normally do a nice Shepard’s pie, but things have been really hectic this week and I simply didn’t have the energy to juggle that.  I think there’s one or maybe two Guinness in the fridge and a Smithwick and I did go get a bottle of Jameson as we are almost out. Not sure yet if will go on the rocks or in Irish coffee.

A friend whom I lost track of was about as Irish as can be – Boston, former cop, and played the bag pipes. We met my first summer ROTC camp which was at Fort Riley and we overlapped for two summers. He was great fun and played the pipes well. In one of those ironic placements, his ROTC assignment was in Alcorn, MS – about as far culturally from Boston as one could be. He did have some adjustments to make for sure. I hope he’s doing well and having a great time tonight.

Yesterday was another of a couple of extra tasks thrown in when we already had multiple tasks to handle. The additional began to verge on “juggling” instead of handling, although the extra did mostly include fun.

I read about, then was told about Royd’s being open; something new for Redland, the historic agriculture area where markets pop up periodically. The individual who wrote them up in the weekly Redland View said he’d been keeping an eye on the place because he was curious as to what was going on. A family – still not sure if it’s just husband and wife or if there are two generations involved – have one of the farms and decided they wanted something more to share with people. Royd’s has a set of swinging saloon doors of The Gateway with the store front of The Jail and R l Everglades General Mechandise to the right and City Drugstore to the left; in the Western Store style. It’s actually open on three sides, but has overhead covered with picnic tables inside and the area set up with the mechanical bull. The kitchen truck (might be two) are outside and servers take orders and bring the food. It’s a breakfast and predominantly lunch place closing at 5:00 Wed-Thurs; 7:00 Fri-Sun and opening each day at 8:00. It’s a blend of American and Cuban dishes with sandwiches and full entrees plus desserts. And like most places in Redland, milkshakes are a big draw.

I had the hamburger and brought most of the fries home to Hubby and resisted ice cream. Well, I resisted asking about it because I thought the temptation might be too much. There is also supposed to be a petting zoo or at least animals to see on weekend. I’ll find out more about that when I talk with one of the principles on Monday.

As I have mentioned before, we are believers in using leftovers, preferably in a different way than the original. Since we didn’t have as many people as anticipated for New Year’s Eve and I always have too much on hand anyway, it’s been a little trickier this time. I did give away three batches, but two of those were planned as part of the “having extra” anyway.

We did shrimp Alfredo one night and two different soups were created; the one I do as a low carb and Hubby made one for him which was definitely not low carb with a southwestern flair. His used the “Cowboy Caviar” as a base which is what took him in the southwestern direction. I found the remaining jalapeno from that and will roast it tonight for a variation on the Everglades sauce for fish. The regular ingredients are shallots, capers, key lime juice, butter, oil, and rum. I’ll use shallots, roasted jalapeno, lime juice, butter, oil, and Chaca – a Brazilian liquor instead.

The bag of peppers is the final vegetable we need to use so those will also be roasted tonight for a side. We also have salami and pepperoni left from a small deli tray which will get used in a matriciana sauce for Thursday’s pasta dish after I pick up some prosciutto. The nice thing about that dish is you can use multiple different meats in it or go with just basic prosciutto. The remaining frozen garlic bread loaf will last for a while as will the last pork tenderloin. We almost always have one of those in the freezer in the same way of having certain things in the pantry. A tenderloin is so versatile you can go in multiple culinary styles depending on the mood; very much like with chicken.