Get out of the city.

My day's afternoon commitment got called off, so I spent the morning watching Deadwood and playing Stardew Valley, and the afternoon at the gym and cooking dinner. It was one of the six or seven times a year I cook meat - stovetop turkey stew with capers and saffron - and much as I like the end product, I always forget how long meat takes to cook. Especially the parts with joints and connective tissue that don't easily break down even after simmering for two hours.

I suppose it goes up to ten to twelve, counting fish, which itself includes anchovies used in tomato sauce. Not as time consuming, and still fairly expensive.

Last Saturday, on impulse, I bought myself a stewing hen. Now that I know takes most of a day to cook down. So when I get around to that, maybe in summer, I'll know to begin cooking it around lunchtime, or even ten AM, to make sure I finish cooking it in a reasonable time frame to eat it for dinner.

I swear, though, I didn't think about all the exhortations to "stock up" when I bought that hen. Or about eight pounds of onions, either.