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As the Solder Burns redux

Well, here it is, Monday morning. We have water, but as I predicted, the bathroom is still in shambles. The shower is plumbed, but the wall is still not in, the lavatory is not installed and the window sill still needs paint. Oh, and don’t forget the caulking of EVERYTHING.

I did get the old water line holes under the sink repaired and painted last night and no one will even know they were there except me. They could use a little more tweaking, but I have to move on. The hole in the wall under the toilet where the old line came in has set overnight, so I must finish the spackle on that today. It was a challenge to get the mesh hole patch to adhere because of the bulge in the wall board. Fortunately I’m good with spackle, paint and caulk, so I know the project will look good when I’m done.

I totally encased the nasty rotted window sill in the shower with silicone caulk and I’m going to put 2 coats of Killz on it today. Then I’m going to use a thick oil based enamel on top of that. That bitch won’t be going anywhere until we get the money to renovate the bathroom properly. This is just a down and dirty reno, we’re reusing the plastic shower parts and leaving the window intact for now. Eventually, we’ll demo the whole bath down to the studs and redo everything.

In the meantime, the new fixtures on the sink and bath will go a LONG way towards making the bathroom more acceptable to us! Pix of all this are at Nick’s site.

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As the Solder Burns

So, here it is, Sunday noon and the damn plumber just got here. We’ve got a full day of work to do and she gets here at fucking NOON.

We spent the night at Dave’s last night and had a long shower this morning, but Nick woke up cranky and was being pissy, so that put me about halfway to Cranky Pants. Then Pam (plumber) is about 1.5 hours late and now I’m in DEFCON 1 Cranky Pants™.

I think I shall poke out their eyes with a fork.

Meroooooow. Fffffft ffffffft CK! Kitty SCRATCH!

10pm update: So, after a day of rasslin’ with pipe and solder and flux and faucets, we have water in the kitchen. The faucet at the washing machine is defective and will have to be replaced, but other than that, the kitchen is up. At least we won’t starve, right?

The shower is still nonexistant and the sink is not installed yet. It won’t be done tonite, I’d bet. ::sigh:: [it ended up being done the day after that-A]

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Let the demo begin!

Today we started the job of new plumbing here at Casa Mizgala. We’re having every last bit of galvanized CRAP removed and replaced with lovely copper. We’re also putting new fixtures in the bathroom, which required us to tear out one wall of the questionable plastic that serves as our shower. Happily, the plastic came down just fine and we’ll be able to put it back up until we get the money to completely renovate the bathroom from hell.

Pam the Plumber is doing this job for us for $3150. I know it sounds like a lot, but it’s worth every penny. Having real water pressure and a new water heater will be SO great! No more rust!

Pix of the festivites will be posted over at Nick’s site when all this is done.

It’s gonna be a loooong weekend!

Oh, shoutout to Dave for letting us crash in his spare bed for the weekend! Thanks, hon!

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Seafood Stuffed Shells

seafood stuffed shells with bechamel
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Seafood Stuffed Shells

Shells stuffed with scallops, shrimp, spinach and ricotta in a creamy parmesan sauce.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword parmesan sauce, seafood pasta, stuffed shells
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4
Author misangela

Equipment

  • 4-5 qt pot for cooking pasta
  • skillet for cooking filling
  • 2 qt pot for making sauce
  • large cooking dish for baking pasta
  • food processor or blender for processing filling
  • plastic bag for piping filling

Ingredients

  • 8 jumbo pasta shells cooked
  • 1 Tbl olive oil
  • 1 Tbl butter, salted
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 medium shallot finely diced
  • 1 cup bay scallops small scallops, frozen is fine
  • ½ cup salad shrimp frozen is fine
  • ½ cup fresh basil finely chopped
  • ½ cup frozen spinach drained and squeezed dry
  • 1 cup ricotta
  • 1 cup parmesan shredded
  • dash freshly grated nutmeg

Sauce

  • 2 Tbl butter
  • 1 Tbl flour
  • ¾ cup parmesan (preferably reggiano)
  • 1½ cup half and half
  • 2 Tbl Dry Sherry or white wine
  • 1 tsp lemon juice fresh if you have it
  • dash freshly grated nutmeg
  • S/P salt and pepper to season

Instructions

Prep

  • Prep all ingredients and hold for use. This is called "mise en place" and it will make cooking MUCH easier for you.

Method

  • Fill large pot 2/3 with water for pasta and set on high heat to boil.
  • Melt butter and olive oil in skillet over medium high heat. When melted, add garlic and shallots. Turn down heat to medium and sweat (do not brown) until translucent.
  • Add in scallops and shrimp to shallots and gently cook until they are opaque. 3-4 minutes. Hold.
  • While seafood cooks, add spinach and parmesan to food processor. Pulse 2-3 times to break up spinach and incorporate parmesan.
  • Season pasta water (which should be at the boil by now) with 2 Tbl of salt and add shells. Moderate heat to a boil, but not boiling over. Cook pasta until al dente - use package instructions for time.
  • Add seafood and all pan drippings to spinach in food processor and pulse until incorporated, but NOT a paste. You want to have chunks of seafood here. Add ricotta and nutmeg and pulse once or twice to combine. Check seasoning.
  • Check shells for doneness and when finished, drain and rinse with cold water.
  • Put mixture from processor into a large plastic bag. Cut off one corner (about ¾ inch from tip) to make a piping bag. Spray baking dish with food release spray and put a few swirls of olive oil in the bottom. Pipe filling into shells and place into baking dish. Set aside. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  • This is a bechamel sauce. Melt sauce butter in a sauce pan over medium high heat. When butter is bubbly, add flour and stir for a minute or so to make roux. Add half and half and bring to boil, stirring constantly to incorporate roux. Turn down heat to medium and add parmesan, stirring constantly (use a whisk if you have one). Add nutmeg. You should have a thick, cheesy sauce. If it's too thick, add a little water. If it's too thin, add more parmesan. When you've got the consistency right, turn off heat and check seasoning.
  • Pour bechamel sauce over pasta and bake at 375°F for about 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and has browned a little. Let rest 5 minutes before you serve.
  • Serve with crusty bread or a green salad.
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This is the problem!

You can’t legislate morality, people. NO. You can’t. I can’t believe the moronic divorce law changes that are sliding right on through the GA legislature with nary a raised eyebrow. WTF?

When did this country slide completely off the track like this? Who are the people pushing for this Nazi agenda that wants to legislate every tiny aspect of everyone’s lives? It’s ridiculous!!

Is it the Boomers? Is it sinister sleeper cells left over from the Pinko commie days that have finally crept all the way to Washington? Is it rabid Southern rednecks who think it should be their way or the highway? Who?

I want to round up the culprits and toss them out of this country. OUT!! It would probably be a good idea to toss them all the way out of the gene pool while we’re at it, but I think it’d be easier to just toss them into the Middle East so they can LIVE in a theocracy and see what they are trying to do to this country.

You can’t tell a woman what to do with her OWN body. You can’t tell a couple that they cannot divorce if they damn well feel like it. You can’t stop people from doing whatever the hell they want to in their bedrooms. You can’t tell people that they can’t smoke. You can’t offer civil unions to only one set of people.

You just can’t!!! It’s NOT the government’s job to regulate morality! When did the idea that it was come into vogue?

This country was founded to get away from oppression and restrictions on free speech! It was founded on separation of church and state! This is NOT a theocracy!!

Goddammit, why doesn’t anyone seem to understand this? Why doesn’t anyone seem to give a rat’s ass if our liberties are eroded and our lives legislated?

It’s not just the South, it’s this whole country, I know. I am flummoxed by this odd attitude from people who used to value freedom. Hell, this country was the poster child for freedom. What happened?

This is the insidious problem that lurks in our government. The desire to impose more and more and more rules about how you should live your life. It’s disturbing.

Just damn.