Same tune, different verse

Today and tomorrow, the heat wave and drought will continue.  Thank God for air conditioning, which we never had until thirteen years ago when we moved back behind the barn to the trailer house.  I don't like the cost of it, but it probably doesn't take as much of our money as propane will take this winter for heating; when gasoline goes up in price, so does propane.   And thanks to the Covid pandemic, everything is going up in price; I've never seen prices rise as fast and as far as they are doing now.  

But enough complaining.  So far, our combined Social Security income pays our bills, and we can cut back on spending quite a bit if it comes to that.  I'm thankful we have a place to live with no house payment, rent, or taxes, and a kitchen full of much more food than necessary.  I probably spend as much on my dog and cat as some people do on groceries, what with grooming for Gabe and prescriptions to keep my pets free from fleas and heartworms.  The cat is outside most of the time, so the vet said I'd do well just to get him wormed once a year, because outside cats always have worms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm back from the kitchen and garden.  I had a roast to get ready to cook in the InstaPot, and some other things to do for dinner, not to mention washing the dishes and cleaning off the stovetop.  I found plenty of okra in the garden today, and picked more than enough to make smothered okra.  I'm so glad I found out about this way of using okra, because the only other method I had for cooking it was fried okra, which we love... but how many times do we want to eat it?  Not every meal, that's for sure.  Now I actually have a healthy dish that uses okra.  I assume smothered okra is what my mom was talking about years ago when she told me she didn't like okra-and-tomatoes.  Mother liked almost any food, especially vegetables; but she curled her nose up when she talked about that dish.  Now I'm wondering why, because Cliff and I are crazy about it.  I can't wait to eat!

• 1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
• 1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 8 ounces whole okra, cut into 1/2inch pieces (2 cups), or 2 cups frozen cut okra, thawed
• 2 cups chopped, peeled tomato (2 large)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 2 slices bacon, crisp-cooked, drained, and crumbled (optional)
• In a large skillet cook and stir onion, sweet pepper, and garlic in hot butter over medium heat about 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in okra, tomato, salt, pepper, and, if desired, cayenne pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes for fresh okra (10 minutes for thawed okra) or until okra is very tender. If desired, sprinkle with bacon.

The Perseid meteor shower is going to peak tonight through Friday night, from midnight till before dawn.  I'm always up well before dawn, so I'm hoping I have some luck catching the show in the heavens.  Look to the northeast, according to the news, and it will be possible to see as many as one hundred meteors an hour.  Here's hoping.