Lazy Germophobe

  A couple days ago, I asked on Facebook whether tomato paste belonged in sauerkraut soup. Quite a few people were like, LOL, what?! Why would sauerkraut be in soup? This post is for all you haters. haha   My dilemma: I had sausage to use and was in the mood for sauerkraut, but I didn’t want it in a bun—I rely way too much on processed meat sticks in buns. Plus, this package contained only five sausages. Not enough for my gang.   Immediately I thought of putting them together in soup. Some googling turned up numerous recipes originating from Ukraine, Germany, and Poland that mostly shared the same ingredients (potatoes, carrots, celery, broth, meat, and sauerkraut). But some recipes included tomato paste and others didn’t, thus my informal FB poll.   Here’s what I ended up using.   1 to 2 pounds potatoes, cut into chunks   ½ pound baby carrots   1 pound fully cooked sausage, sliced into coins I’m going to be honest, I am no...

  A key strategy of mine as a lazy cook is to remove steps and/or ingredients one by one to achieve the most pared down recipe possible. This mac and cheese is so easy that I don’t even look up the instructions anymore. If we always have a box of macaroni in the pantry and a bag of cheese in the fridge, then this no-fail mac and cheese is always a dinner option:   Place in an electric pressure cooker (6qt size):   2 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni 3 cups water 1 teaspoon coarse salt 2 tablespoons butter   Stir to make sure macaroni is evenly distributed in the water.   Set to cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. (On my cheapskate Wal-Mart Farberware cooker, I use setting 5/Meat, but most “presets” are at the same level of pressure and therefore interchangeable.)   When it’s finished cooking, allow to sit for 3 minutes; then release remaining pressure.   Stir the cooked macaroni, then dump in an 8 oz. package (2 cups) of...

I keep trying to resurrect my blog, but it’s almost like there’s TOO MUCH to write about. How can I write about gardening or dogs with all of this *gestures wildly* going on? I feel deep despair and grief at the current state of our society. I am also experiencing heightened anxiety with a dab of situational depression. I think “heightened” understates it. My pre-existing generalized anxiety has ballooned and morphed into straight-up phobia, courtesy of the pandemic. But I don’t want to get into all of that. Today I am sharing my two favorite cucumber recipes because cucumbers are in season. Our garden cucumbers have actually grown well this summer— not decimated by cucumber beetles, and not toxically bitter this time. Yea! If you don’t grow your own, please do not buy them at a supermarket right now. I guarantee there is a farm market or stand near you where someone is unloading their bumper crop of cucumbers  three for a dollar. These...