Dorothy, I should mail you a box of matches, I had to buy a bundled set of three and that is a lifetime supply here.

The beans came out great and I emptied several fridge containers with things that went into the recipe. It's like making soup when you have veggies in the fridge that need using (see Mrrzy's post in the "long recipe" thread). Five servings are in jars in the freezer and several servings are left in a container in the fridge. I expect I'll be sending a container home with the ex one of these days—the recipe I've been modifying originally came from his mother. I did a much better job on the sofrito seasonings than usual because I prepared it ahead while the beans did the boil for two minutes then soak for an hour gig.

There was a bag of red beets in the fridge forever, but they were still in good shape and have now simmered for an hour to be soft enough to peel and dice. I keep a variety of fruits and vegetables in my diet, for general health but also for the fiber, and find in general that oranges are the best for keeping the gut regular. I've given up on oranges out of season and lately have gone back to a bowl of raisin bran and it does as well. Now, can I find some bran to add to the oatmeal when I make that for breakfast? I don't see why not. Or I could add ground flax, I have some of that here.

Trash goes out on Monday and I emptied the shredding bin contents this morning. I've been doing more shredding lately, not the kind of stuff that needs burning but it can't go to the curb intact. The files are looking better.

A friend made a remark today in an email that I found thought provoking - he said he's going to stop taking the New York Times back to bed to read in the morning, he's going to "follow my mother's dictum - no reading till work is done." I read all day, I start the day with a cuppa tea and email, then into social media and online newspapers. That would completely turn my day on its head but it seems like an interesting experiment at least.