Sorting things out....

What does this ranchwife do in January?
Sorts things out.

This month I'm planning to clean, weed, and sort out my kitchen cabinets and deep clean my main room which includes the kitchen, dining, living, and an office. You see, in my profession, spring cleaning is not an option because those are the months that we are busy with the baby calves and lambs. In summer we're breeding cows and making hay and other things besides cleaning. Besides, there are lots of flies and millers in the summer that don't stop making their specks all over everything just because I cleaned. So......



I save the "Spring Cleaning" for January and February. There's not much going on outdoors during these frigid winter months anyway.



I created a little spice drawer next to my baking center. It's just a block of cabinets and drawers where I've put all the things I need to bake. I have always wanted a spice drawer, but my main drawers had 25 lbs. of flour and 25 lbs. of sugar in each so there was no where to put the table linens. Well, since our family is growing smaller and I don't need quite that much flour and sugar at my fingertips, I did away with one drawer, combining the flour and sugar into one. I made one into a linen drawer and put the spices in this narrow drawer. It's not perfect, but it's good enough for me.

"Perfect is the enemy of good enough." ~General Patton


Tortellini Soup with grated mozerella

One afternoon after sorting and cleaning, I decided to make one of our favorite soups, Tortellini Soup. I like to make it with homemade beef broth, but I didn't have time for that, so I made it in a Hurry-Up Fashion instead. Here's how.

Tortellini Soup

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 a chopped onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 stalks chopped celery
1 chopped red pepper (or your choice)
salt & pepper
oregano
basil

In a large pot, brown all these ingredients together.

Add:
4 t. beef bouillon (to taste)
6 c. boiled water
1 - 15 oz. can of tomato sauce (or diced tomatoes)

Bring this up to a boil and reduce heat.
Add:
1 - 8oz. package of dried cheese tortellini (may add more)

Simmer about 15 minutes until tortellini is done and floats to the top.
Serve in bowls and top with shredded mozzarella cheese or grated Parmesan (or both).
*You may use the spices as you like according to your tastes.
*Adjust measurements to your liking. This is not an exact recipe.

Serves approximately 6 large servings.

On a day of dark swift-falling rain (or snow ~J.), there are a good many things not to do. Washing windows is futile, they fog up instantly. Polishing furniture is hopeless - the damp surface seem soapy. No use to clean floors, for Teddy and Tiki and Sister will be in shortly, small earnest fountains. The best occupation, we find, is cleaning drawers. Nobody is going to wade in, so everything can be spread all over the house. And it gives me a hopeful feeling to find the long-lost key to the front door in with a box of paper clips and my membership in the Bristol Obedience Club.
~Gladys Taber

What are you sorting out?