Southern Saturday

[taz_39]

Saturday. Five days to go. Or four, depending on how you look at it.

I'm having trouble sleeping, can't imagine why.
The days leading up to Jameson's appointment are crawling like molasses.
He just wants the kidney stones OUT, and to get a normal life back.
I just want to know he'll be OK if I have to leave before everything is resolved.

Before eating breakfast I poured some buttermilk into a bowl
and dropped ten chicken legs in there to soak for tonight's "southern dinner".
The banana pudding looks set, I'll hold off on adding the whipped cream until the last minute
so it doesn't deflate throughout the day.
I wanted to prep the collards now too, but that should probably wait until after lunch.

After breakfast I made a quick packing TikTok:

TikTok by @tromboneontour

Then I forced myself to SIT DOWN and address my anxiety.

I tend to worry about things that are just not worth worrying about.
I looked myself in the figurative eye and asked, "What do you still need to do before you leave?"
Here is the answer:

• Finish packing. (Can't do that yet because I'm still using a lot of stuff I'll be packing.)


• Take the covid test. (It's scheduled, stop worrying about it.)


• Clean the bathrooms. (You are saving this for Monday while Jameson is at his urology appointment so you can burn nervous energy.*)


• Weed one more time. (see above comment, re: doing this on Monday*)


• Make bagels. (You are doing this on Sunday/tomorrow and you'll have all day to do it.)


• Check luggage weight. (You've already done this and are only at 33 pounds, you'll be fine.)


• Cancel old health insurance plan. (Can't do this until Monday and it's one phone call.)


• Check in for flight. (Obviously can't do this until the day prior.)


• ...Jameson? (There's nothing you can do but wait and see.)

...I think that's it.
I don't know what I get so worked up about.
There is still plenty of time to do what I need to do.
And a lot of things are just out of my control, so there's no point worrying or feeling like I need to be doing something.

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After lunch Jameson started watching Tropic Thunder.
I didn't have any updates on my show music yet, so decided to get started on dinner prep.
First I whipped some cream, then folded it into the banana pudding mix that I made last night. It turned out looking like silky, pale banana cream goodness. Can't wait to eat it, even though that condensed milk will cause me pain!
Then I grabbed a glass bowl and layered it with Nilla Wafers, followed by a layer of sliced bananas, followed by a layer of pudding.
Repeated it twice more, and here was the result:


I put a lid on it for now but when it's served I'll top it with a little more pudding, crushed Nilla Wafers, and maybe some marachino cherries.

When that was done I made the batter blend for the KFC-knockoff air-fried chicken. It's just flour and a zillion different spices, measuring it out in advance savess me a lot of time later.

I found a recipe for "Cornbread For Two", it pretty much makes 2-4 cornbread muffins. I don't want us to have a lot of leftovers since we don't know what'll happen in coming days. Cornbread is easy, it's just a little flour, corn meal egg, milk, sugar, salt, baking powder, butter. I wrapped them in foil and will reheat them in the oven when it's dinnertime, maybe brushing them with a little maple syrup for fun.

Then it was time for the collards, which are the most time-consuming part of this meal.
While I washed and chopped the huge collard leaves, a smoked turkey wing boiled in a little water on the stove to create a broth. I added the collards along with seasoning salt, butter, sugar, a variety of spices, onion, and apple cider vinegar. They'll simmer on the stove for two hours.

By the time I was done Jameson's movie was over. Now all I have to do tonight for dinner is batter and air fry the chicken drumsticks, and crack open a can of blackeyed peas.

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Dinnertime, and most things came out "ok".


The batter for the chicken legs was not very good. If I try air fryer KFC again, I'd incorporate crushed cornflakes, or maybe something to aerate the batter more....baking powder maybe? I'm not sure. But it was floury and kinda bland.

The beans were whatever, being out of a can.
Cornbread, also "meh", kind of dry and not as good as others I've made.

But the collards...the collards!!
Oh my goodness, they were SO delicious.
Packed with smoky, rich broth flavor. Just a hint of heat from the pepper flakes. I think a Southern granny would be proud.
Even Jameson, who avoids vegetables, said he could eat the whole pot.
Making them with smoked turkey instead of ham hock made these much more healthy than usual, too.

Besides the collards, the banana pudding came out FANTASTIC.
I took two Lactaid so I could eat as much of it as possible.
Jameson said it was the best banana pudding he's ever had. Thanks Magnolia Bakery!


So, although not everything turned out as well as I would have liked, now I know I can make fantastic collards and epic banana pudding. Yay!

Tomorrow, Sunday, I'll be making my second attempt at bagels.
It'll be my last bake before going on tour.