Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Sous Chef and the Saladarie

Huh? You ask, what is this post about? Well, while I have been laid up these last three weeks my expert sous chef has been preparing meals, making salads and soups as is her will. I watch these goings on with some particular interest as the chef of the house and presumably the keeper of the kitchen. The division of labor is blurry at times admittedly so...as the sous chef Kelly takes all aspects of food preparation quite seriously. I do too but with somewhat less vigor I think. I have learned, over time, that she needs this creative outlet herself so that I don't get the idea that somehow I am the ONLY cook on the premises. Nooooo. So at this time she is making clam chowder, a soup, her recipe or her mother's and I am but a witness. This is definitely a sous chef job even in a professional kitchen, making delicious, nutritious soups and porridge's. I, as a chef person apparently do not posses that set of skills as she has been the only one to ever make soup under this roof that I can recall. The sous chef also has other assignments taken as her charge, ie: salad making and salad dressings. All hers...I do not meddle in greenery eaten fresh, I will cook it. The dressings are always hers as well and are uniformly delicious and properly applies to said salads. In France this division of labor is heightened as we possess no less than 2 kitchens under one roof. Thus we have her kitchen and his. I refer to her kitchen as a saladarie, a place where salads and associated foods are prepared, while my rustic, wood beamed place of cuisine is the True Kitchen. I make some of the things that she uses in the saladarie, that is true. I bake bread, roast chicken, make stocks that ultimately find their purpose under her careful eyes. Rarely does she venture into my kitchen except to be sure I've cleared all the pots and pans and dirty dishes to the saladarie where the kitchen cleanup chores are completed by the dishwasher (don't ask). I do the cleaning of all my pots and pans and put them away. Silverware is transported to the saladarie along with all dishes from the adjoining dining room and prep area. You see this is a serious undertaking this food preparation stuff and we both are quite involved much to the chagrin, sometimes, of the other. Such goes Life in France and Life in Suisun this day. The chowder smells great!

Monday, February 09, 2009

Gout Rears Its Ugly Head...again.

Yes I am one of the many that experience gout attacks. I've been on the drug Colchicine for many years and use it episodically ( a word?). It is hard to describe the pain, this time affecting the right foot nearly in it's entirety. Walking is difficult but possible by keeping on the heel so I kind of roll side to side as I hobble along. The pain is 8-9 on a scale of 10 which MUST be the pain of childbirth so I cannot compare, nonetheless it is intense and includes a fire-like sensation, deep throbbing and twinges of shooting pains. Altogether awful. I am drinking water at an increased rate and have been taking my drug right along. It's been 5 days since I felt the first pangs. I'm now online looking for more info and perhaps a study I could participate in that might help in the long run.
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I finished my upstairs sink faucet change out and tile job yesterday, it almost works...no leaks except thru the drain in the bottom of the basin as there wasn't enough room behind the basin for the lever that controls the opening and closing of the drain to operate, thus it sticks and must be re-shaped to allow it to work properly. I WAS going to do that today but frankly with this damned gout in that right foot I decline to climb the stairs right now. So maybe tomorrow. Meantime I sit and think nice thoughts about my left foot and how gout free it is THIS time.
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Upon extensive Internet search using the search term "GOUT" I found a reference to a site and once there and with a bit of reading found the following information...Cherry Juice! What? Why? What's the basis? Read more, not a lot of info but enough chat there to convince me to try this...it's about Potassium in the diet, so here's something culled from the page:

Vegetables including broccoli, peas, lima beans, tomatoes, potatoes (especially their skins), sweet potatoes, and winter squashes are all good sources of potassium.

Fruits that contain significant sources of potassium include citrus fruits, cantaloupe, bananas, kiwi, prunes, and apricots. Dried apricots contain more potassium than fresh apricots.

Milk and yogurt, as well as nuts, are also excellent sources of potassium.

So armed with this info Kelly went off to the nearby grocery to hunt down some Cherry Juice and Bananas while I waited patiently, foot up on the couch for my first dosage. Tastes kinda berry like with a texture like a thin syrup, no, it's NOT concentrate! The banana was green as they are anymore but welcome if it was going to help this ever worsening condition. Two Tylenol were thrown in for good measure as well for it's anti-inflammatory function. Then every hour or so I drank another glass of the juice and ate a banana til I fell asleep about 10:30 last night. I woke at 2am (as usual???) to pee and drink more of the stuff and yes, I ate another banana as well. When I awoke this morning...l'viola! I'm better! Not "cured" but definitely can move my aching toes and standing is not nearly as painful, I'd say I was at a 4 -5 on the pain scale. That's real progress as that means I can get around well enough with weight on that foot to do the sink faucet removal and replacement job on Kelly's sink.