These dark October days of rain, wind and cooler temperatures continue to urge for comfort food to be served at dinnertime. Yesterday it occurred to me that we hadn't had a souffle in a while, so a cheese souffle it was. I used two cheeses, three if you add the souffle pan preparation, first buttered, then sprinkled with Parmesan. I grated Gouda, and then extra-old Cheddar to add to the choux base; heavier on the Gouda, less Cheddar.

I don't think of vegetable salads as comfort food, just good-tasting and nutritious and that's what we had for our first course. I allowed the souffle to bake a little longer to produce a firmer product than usual and the results were good. And this time I also added a quarter-cup of sour cream after I had made the base; 3  tbsp.each of butter and flour, a grinding of peppercorns, and a half-teaspoon of dry mustard. It's also quicker if the milk is heated first in the microwave for a minute before adding it to the butter/flour to thicken. 

That's the point at which the beaten egg yolks are gradually introduced, with some of the thickened hot base added first to the yolks, then stirring them rapidly into the milk base until it's fully thickened and smoothly lemon-coloured. And then the cheese is stirred in, and the sour cream. I've read that adding a small amount of baking powder works well, but I felt the cream of tartar was enough when I whipped up the egg whites, folded it gradually into the hot mixture, then dolloped it all into the waiting souffle dish. A half hour in a 350F oven, and we were enjoying the hot miracle of a light, fluffy souffle for dinner.

Cold in that black night, and raining steadily. Which had dashed my hope to be able to begin planting the spring bulbs that are crying out to be placed in the soil so they can take advantage of the rain, settling themselves in, growing some roots in preparation of spring productivity. Even the work on the street that had commenced months ago in the greater community and was now in process of digging through our lawns and driveways to lay updated fibre-optic communications cables had to stop operations thanks to the rain.

And today? Well, take a guess ... heavy rain from morning right into the night hours. Too cold, too wet, too dismal to embark on even a short foray into the forest with the puppies. That much rain, even with their rainjackets would leave them drenched, cold and miserable. We ducked into the backyard several times with them, and that was the extent of our outdoor activities of the day.

But we had to go out ourselves, since it was grocery shopping day. Another nasty wrench for the puppies; not only were they cheated out of their usual traipse through the forest trails, they were also abandoned for hours, alone and bereft in a house that they had to themselves but took no pleasure in. They experience separation anxiety, even though they're together and can indulge in their little play routines, and we experience it on the opposite end, concerned that they're upset until our return.

We dropped into two dollar stores before the supermarket. The supermarket has a full extent of household products and specifically hygiene and bathroom products, but nothing resembling that indispensable bathroom tool, nail brushes. We'd always bought ours, in any event, at a dollar store, vacuum packed, two to a package. But now they're nowhere to be seen. Which is unbelievable, ordinary, everyday hygiene-specific nailbrushes suddenly absent from store shelves. Manufacturers can't make nailbrushes because they're so busy producing COVID masks? What explains the plethora of junk posing as hair ornaments and cosmetics and unguents and nailfiles and nail varnishes, but no nailbrushes?

Foiled at our usual expectation for a pleasant and restful ramble through the ravine has made me cranky. Jackie and Jillie have adjusted well. On our return while Irving was cutting away excess from the cauliflower we bought, our puppies were gnawing happily on parts of the stem they were offered. Then given doggie treats to celebrate their good behaviour. And finally, bell pepper, cucumber and grape tomatoes cut into little salads; they may have had to miss their romp through the ravine, but provision of their daily salad is sacrosanct.