So, the last time we visited the new house in progress, all the pipes were in their birthday suit, snaking around the floor and up the walls. Today, though, they have been safely tucked into some weird cement-looking stuff… they’re definitely looking very snug and cozy in there. Apparently the next step is to fill in around them, and then add another layer of very thin pipes on top that will be for the heating. Exciting!
In other news, I made chili and apple pie, for maximum winter coziness in this semi-lockdown. I figured out a good trick with chili, too. I have been feeling guilty about eating meat (I am not an excessive consumer of meat anyway, but the environment, the poor animals, etc. etc., have been tugging at my heartstrings for some time now) and I had a small revelation with this chili: you can use a little meat, for that meaty flavor, but use a way higher proportion of veggies and beans, so that the meat is almost like a mere condiment (which is exactly what our nutrition professor recommended to us in long-ago sophomore year of college). Boyfriend did not complain about this disproportionately veggified chili (he doesn’t know any better, anyway; Italians don’t know from chili!) and I felt slightly better about my meat consumption. Also, chili is delicious. My apple pie lattice crust attempts continue to be mediocre at best, but the good thing is that the pie itself is almost always scrumptious. (I was going to say, ‘can’t go wrong with apple pie’ but that is not in fact true: on one attempt last year, I forgot the cinnamon. It was inedible. Guys. Do not forget the cinnamon in apple pie.) On that note… have a good week, everyone! I did not intend this to be only a weekly blog, but the madness of daily life beckons. Ah well. At least it will be fun look back on these house-in-progress photos, I think.
Forever Straniera 