Happy Halloween!

Just a quick post today.  Things are still a bit crazy here.  Ugh.

Halloween is heaps of fun, and I LOVE to decorate for it, but for the past few years I haven't been able to do much of it except for maybe a pumpkin or purple strings of lights.  Nothing really cool, though.  This year wasn't any different - just the purple lights.  

Cleavers and knives and bloody hatchets, oh my!
Just the kind of grandmother you want for your
small children, right?

However, I made a cake for our Halloween - a RED velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.  The fun part is I'd found some Halloween cake decorations at the grocery and couldn't resist using them.  Just another manifestation of my twisted sense of humor.  It's like the game, Clue - it was me, in the kitchen, with the hatchet!

So here's my recipe for delicious homemade cream cheese frosting - so easy!

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese
1 c butter
2 t vanilla extract or lemon juice
4 c confectioner's powdered sugar

I let the cream cheese and butter sit out on the counter for half an hour before starting.  Using an electric hand-held or stand mixer makes mixing much easier and sifting the sugar unnecessary.

Start with the cream cheese and butter in the mixer bowl.  Mix at a low speed until well combined.  Add the vanilla extract or lemon juice and mix some more.  Add sugar, one cup at a time.  Turn the mixer to medium to medium-high speed and beat until smooth and creamy.  

Hello, It's Me...

Here's a leaf from our
front yard.

No, you CAN'T get rid of me.  I'm back to torture you.  Sorry.  (Not really!)

A friend texted me two months ago wondering what was going on because I hadn't posted anything here since early May.  Up to now, nothing for FIVE months.  What a slug.

That's not right, though.  It wasn't laziness, but depression, pure and simple.  It's hard enough to do the caregiving thing when it has a definite endpoint, but when it's open ended and you don't really KNOW when it will be finished, well, it wears you down.  I didn't feel much like doing anything beyond those things that absolutely MUST be done.  You know - laundry, meals, housework.  Vacuuming seemed particularly obnoxious, as was putting away clean laundry - YUCK.

Plus, there was the festive COVID pandemic.  The proverbial cherry on top.

In my last post, That Knee had once AGAIN gone septic, necessitating a trip to the emergency room and surgery to remove the "hybrid" knee replacement (a temporary prosthesis) and install yet ANOTHER antimicrobial spacer (the fourth one).  Life felt like a neverending not-so-merry-go-round.  We were back to home health care provided by ME - another six weeks of administering intravenous antibiotics, to be followed by a TENTH surgery on that same blasted knee.

We had a surgery date scheduled and went to the pre-op appointments, and the infectious disease specialist dropped a good news/bad news bombshell - six additional weeks of  IV antibiotics and no surgery until after they were finished.  The New England Journal of Medicine had published a study a couple of weeks earlier indicating that joint replacements plagued with persistent infections appear to do better with twelve, rather than six, weeks of IV antibiotics.  

Well, DUH.  What genius came up with THAT revolutionary hypothesis???  When I've had sinus infections that didn't go away with one round of antibiotics, what do they do but give me ANOTHER?  I mean, REALLY?  It's just common sense - you'd think,

I DO get it though.  I know how insurance works.  Without a published study, it won't cover a treatment that isn't part of the usual "standard of care."  So the timing was perfect for the additional round of antibiotics.

So I was still kind of tied down.  BUT...  Because the surgery was postponed for an additional ten weeks, That Knee was allowed to more fully recover from the previous surgery and build up more muscular strength again, allowing a longer time of more normal activity than after the other surgeries.

AND... We had a MONTH between the end of the antibiotics and the surgery, so we both went a little crazy trying to accomplish as much as we could, plus fit in some fun stuff before That Knee went under the knife again.

So the surgery behind us, ORAL antibiotics were prescribed for twelve weeks (the first time AFTER a surgery), and, after five weeks...so far, so good. I don't want to jinx it, but That Knee APPEARS to be healing well, and That Man says it feels better than it has in over two years.

Although in some ways it doesn't LOOK so hot - kind of like a relief map of the Grand Canyon - it WORKS, and the leg is straight - correctly aligned.  Amazing.

In the meantime, lots has happened, and I'll be catching you up on it all, but not all at once!  (I bet you're breathing a sigh of relief!)

That Darned KNEE and Another SOUP! - Tomato Cheddar Dumpling Soup (Two Ways!)

My posts have been kind of spotty lately, partly because I've been working on my so-called "home office" and just this past weekend because The Uncooperative Knee went rogue again and Somebody had to have surgery on it.  That's NINE since March of 2019.  So it's going to be back to home nursing once again.

Oh well.  It is what it is.

ANYWAY!  I thought I had already written a post about this particular soup, but I was WRONG.  So here it is!

I found this soup recipe when I was browsing the internet.  It sounded tasty and easy (two reasons to like it), so it was put into the soup rotation.  It's a pretty basic recipe - tomato soup with cheddar dumplings, and really easy, no matter which way you decide you make it.  It's just super fast and convenient one way, and not so fast the other.  Mostly common pantry staples either way.


Tomato Cheddar Dumpling Soup (Two Ways)

The Original Way

For the soup:
2 T canola or olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped red bell pepper
3 T flour
28 oz whole canned tomatoes, undrained
2 c water
2 T minced celery leaves
2 T sugar
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t dried basil

For the dumplings:
1 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 T shortening or butter
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c milk

In a 4-quart pan, heat the oil, and saute the garlic, onion, and bell pepper until fragrant.  Blend in the flour and let it cook about a minute.  Add the tomatoes and break them up.  Add the remaining soup ingredients.  While it is heating to a simmer, mix up the dumplings.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in the shortening or butter to make loose crumbs.  Add the cheese and milk and mix until all dry ingredients have been moistened.

By this time, the soup should be at a simmer.  Drop the dumpling batter into the soup by tablespoons, or use a sprayed cookie scoop.  Cover and simmer 20 minutes.


The Convenient Way

For the soup:
Use your favorite shelf-stable tomato soup and prepare enough to make about 2 quarts of soup. Heat it to a simmer.  You might want to add some garlic powder and basil.  It's up to you!

For the dumplings:
1  7.75-oz box of Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit or similar mix (Aldi has a good one)
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 T melted butter
1/2 c milk

Mix all the ingredients together, including the contents of the entire seasoning packet from the biscuit mix.  Treat the batter the same way as the Original Way, above.  By this time, the soup should be at a simmer.  Drop the dumpling batter into the soup by tablespoons, or use a sprayed cookie scoop.  Cover and simmer 20 minutes.

OR

1 c Bisquick or similar baking mix (Jiffy makes a good one)
1/2 c shredded cheddar 
1/3 c milk

Mix all the ingredients together.  Treat the batter the same way as the Original Way, above.  By this time, the soup should be at a simmer.  Drop the dumpling batter into the soup by tablespoons, or use a sprayed cookie scoop.  Cover and simmer 20 minutes.

That's all there is to it!  

Follow by Email is Being Discontinued!!! AARGH!!!!

This is a public service announcement for those of you who receive my blog posts directly in your email.  That service is being discontinued as of July 1, 2021.  

I am SO SORRY.  Because of the way Feedburner is set up, I don't have a list of subscribers' email addresses, so I can't shoot out a post via email myself.  I guess you'll all have to watch for the updates on Facebook or Twitter - of course, that can be pretty hit-or-miss.  

As an alternative, you can subscribe via an RSS feed.  There is a place on the full desktop site blog page to subscribe to posts and/or comments using NetVibe, MyYahoo!, or Atom.  If you click on Atom, you can choose to see the feed using MyYahoo!, Newsblur, Feedly, Inoreader, and The Old Reader.

So...I'll just keep plugging away.  If I decide I have to move to a different platform, I'll try to get the news out there to you.

Anyway, here's the notification I got a couple of weeks ago:

 FollowByEmail widget (Feedburner) is going away

You are receiving this information because your blog uses the FollowByEmail widget (Feedburner).
Recently, the Feedburner team released a system update announcement , that the email subscription service will be discontinued in July 2021.
After July 2021, your feed will still continue to work, but the automated emails to your subscribers will no longer be supported. 

Reworking Apple Jelly - Is That REALLY a Thing?

Back in December, I made a batch of apple scrap jelly.  I cooked up the apple scraps (peels and cores), strained out all the solids, and used the resulting juice for the jelly.  After letting the jars sit and cool overnight, I removed the rings and had a look at the amber goodness inside.  Perfectly transparent!  Gorgeous color!  All the lids sealed!  YAY!

However...

When I picked up a jar and tipped it a little, the "jelly" slopped to one side.  Like a liquid.

What the what???

It's not like apple jelly is difficult to make or anything like that.  I mean, apples are packed FULL of pectin, which you usually have to add to get jams and jellies to set nicely.  I always add pectin, just to be absolutely sure it jells (hence the trademarked name "Sure-Jell" for powdered pectin), but you can easily make apple jelly without adding pectin.  So what went wrong?  No clue at this point. 

What do you do with apple jelly that didn't set?  I guess you could use it for syrup, but would you?  I sure wouldn't!  HA!  I know sometimes jams don't set up right away (I've had that happen) and if you let them just sit a couple of weeks or so, they will eventually set enough to pass for jam.  Orange marmalade is like that, and you expect it.  But jelly isn't supposed to be soft like jam; it's supposed to hold its shape sort of like molded gelatin.

If you've looked at the picture closely, you will have noticed that the date on the label is 3/14/2021 - definitely NOT December, and no, I didn't throw it all out and start over.  In fact, all those jars sat on the kitchen table that whole time, while I hoped they'd firm up.  No dice.  So...

I reworked the jelly!

Inside the Sure-Jell™ package is a sheet of instructions and recipes for jams and jellies.  I've made jam or jelly often enough (I THOUGHT) that I knew the ropes well enough.  Well...hmmmm.  I'd stopped reading ALL the directions.  Not a good thing when you're dealing with something finicky like jelly.  

You're supposed to:

• make your juice - check
• measure the juice exactly per the recipe - check
• use only pure cane sugar, such as Domino or G&H - WHOOPS!!!

I had used plain old store-brand generic SUGAR.  Look at the ingredients:  "SUGAR" - no "cane" in there anywhere, which means it's probably beet sugar or a blend of beet and cane sugar.  There's nothing wrong with beet sugar for cooking or baking, but if you want your jelly or jam to set up correctly, pure cane sugar is the way to go.

The instructions are right there in the Sure-Jell™ package, so I won't go into all that.  But the "jelly" came out of the jars as mostly syrupy liquid with some partially-jelled lumps of different sizes.  You're supposed to do a small test batch to see whether it's worth your time to rework all the jelly that didn't set up.  I did, it did, and so I went ahead with the full batch.  

And...it worked!  I went out and bought a bag of Domino Pure Cane Sugar and used it for the test and the full batch.  It really did make a difference.  The reworked batch isn't quite as firm as it could be, but it's definitely JELLY now, and totally acceptable.

So I've learned my lesson (the hard way):  When making jelly, DON'T BUY CHEAP SUGAR!  

#ArtWorkLivingChallenge 2021 - Day 5 (The Final Day!)

Well, I made it through the 5-day painting challenge.  My results were...mixed.  I took too much time on
about half of my paintings, but I painted five days in a row, didn't worry about a finished product (for the most part), learned some things, and had fun!

I may redo all my paintings, but in a bigger format, just to see what difference it makes to me, and to see what I've learned about critiquing my own stuff.  Painting such small things (3.5" x 5.5") is limiting in some ways, but freeing in others.

So anyway, this is a great blue heron with a snack.

Same stats as the other Challenge paintings:

Watercolor on Canson XL 140-lb watercolor paper.

The first thing I'm going to change is the paper I use.  I really, really, REALLY like Arches cold press watercolor paper, so I'm going to stick with it instead of trying to use up the wood pulp papers I still have on hand.  I can use them for things other than watercolor.

As a reward for finishing the Challenge, I ordered some tubes of better quality watercolors, so I'll be playing with those.

I've about half finished clearing out a bedroom that I want to use for all my artsy-fartsy-craftsy stuff, and for working jigsaw puzzles (it's a cat-free zone).  It's amazing the stuff that can be shoved into a room.  But I'm far enough along that I think that in about a week I can start moving furniture in and out and around.

Woo hoo!  I'm gonna have a STUDIO!!!  It's almost real!

#ArtWorkLivingChallenge 2021 - Day Four!

Well, today's painting went beyond the time guidelines, but I was enjoying it.

This is the backyard, where my sad sailboat has been languishing for 3 years.  I've leased my dock space, but here it sits.  I THINK we'll be able to get it out this year - FINALLY.

I don't think I've said anything about the SIZE of these little challenge paintings; they're supposed to be SMALL so you can finish them quickly and not get too wound up in the details (I have a problem with that - I tend to keep painting when I should quit!), so I've been working in space just barely larger than a 3x5 index card.  

Anway, here are the stats:

Watercolor
Canson XL 140-lb watercolor paper
3/4" flat brush, 1/2" flat brush, #10 round brush, #6 round brush, #2 round brush, #4 fan brush
40 minutes
3.5" x 5.5"

#ArtWorkLivingChallenge 2021 - Day Three!

Day three DONE.  

This is forsythia from our front yard.  I brought in a few cuttings and that night it HAILED like crazy!  I was afraid all the blossoms and buds would be knocked off the bush, but no - it is still gloriously golden.

I've never attempted anything transparent before, so the jar was a challenge within the challenge!  Not bad for 18 minutes. 

Cheesecake in the Instant Pot - Say WHAT?!?!?!?

I know, I know.  I declared I couldn't think of ANYTHING dessert-y I'd want to make in the Instant Pot, but everybody in the online Instant Pot groups I belong to swoons over cheesecake.  CHEESECAKE.  Of all things.

Sad to say, I've drunk the Kool-Aid.

I made a cheesecake for Easter, and it was worth it.

I have a couple of Instant Pot cookbooks, and BOTH have cheesecake recipes in them.  People swear by both, but in the online groups, some have trouble with the cheesecake "exploding" while it's cooking.  They say it still tastes great, but isn't very pretty.  I think I know the solution - it's in one of my books.

Here's the recipe I used.  It's taken directly from The Step-by-Step Instant Pot Cookbook, by Jeffrey Eisner, the Pressure Luck Cooking guy.  He also has a website with loads of recipes.  The only change I made was 1 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs and 6 tablespoons of butter, because I have an 8-inch springform pan.


Instant Pot Cheesecake

4 T salted butter, melted, plus more for buttering the pan
1 c graham cracker crumbs
2 8-oz bricks cream cheese (at room temperature)
3/4 c granulated sugar
1/2 c sour cream (at room temperature)
1 T all-purpose flour
1 3.4-oz package vanilla instant pudding (it MUST be instant)
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t almond extract
2 large eggs (at room temperature)
[Any toppings you wish - optional]

You'll notice he makes it very clear to have all those refrigerated items at room temperature.  I'm pretty sure THAT'S the secret to prevent cheesecake eruptions - LOL!

Generously grease a 7" x 3" springform pan, bottom and sides.  Line the bottom with a 7" round of parchment paper, then grease the top of the parchment paper, too.

For the crust, mix together the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter in a bowl.  Place the mixture in the bottom of the pan and using the bottom of a drinking glass, flatten the crust so it's even on the bottom and climbs slightly up the sides of the pan.  Put the pan in the freezer for at least 15 minutes to set.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer (don't do it by hand - it will be a frustrating and exhausting experience), beat the cream cheese on low until smooth and creamy.  Then, while the mixer is still running, add the remaining ingredients in the order listed above (one egg at a time when you get to that point).  Keep mixing on low speed until it's "super thick" and creamy and no lumps are left, about a minute or two.

Take the pan out of the freezer (it's probably been about 15 minutes at this point).  Spoon the batter into the pan.  Smooth the top with a spatula and cover completely with aluminum foil.

Pour 2 cups of water into the bottom of the Instant Pot insert.  Place the springform pan on the trivet and use the handles to lower it into the pot.  Close and secure the lid, move the valve to the sealing position, press Manual or Pressure Cook.  Be sure the pressure is set at High.  Set the cooking time for 45 minutes.  When it's done, allow the pressure to release naturally, about another 30 minutes.

Turn off the Instant Pot, open the lid, and carefully remove the pan.  Set the trivet and pan on the counter, remove the foil, and allow to cool for 30 minutes.  The middle will be slightly jiggly when it first comes out of the pot.

Place in the refrigerator IN THE SPRINGFORM PAN, and let it sit for AT LEAST 5 HOURS.  It needs all that undisturbed time to set correctly.

When you're ready to serve, run a sharp knife around the side of the pan to separate the cake from the pan, then slowly open the latch of the springform pan.  You can transfer the cake from the bottom of the pan onto a serving plate.  Be sure to leave the parchment paper on the bottom of the cake.  When you cut it, you'll be able to remove each cake slice from the parchment paper.

Top the cheesecake with whatever topping you prefer - I like raspberry preserves!

#ArtWorkLivingChallenge 2021 - Day Two! - Simplify!

Well, here's the Day Two painting for the #ArtWorkLivingChallenge - better than Day One's, in my opinion.  I chose a simpler subject - none
of those darned TREES to get lost in!  Foliage is my kryptonite, I guess.

This is a shed we used to pass every time we'd go north to visit That Man's mom.  There's just something about the building.  I've NEVER seen the doors open or any people or machinery near it - always alone in that field, but it never seems to deteriorate.  It's a mystery to me.

If  I were "allowed" to paint this picture the way I want to (I mean for a real, finished painting - not just a quick and dirty study like this), the composition would be WAY different.  But this took me just over 15 minutes and it's an improvement over the previous day's attempt.

Just a side note:  For reference materials for the challenge, I'm using photos I've taken locally.  If you're from my area, you'd probably recognize Day One's subject.  Not so much this one, though, I bet.

#ArtWorkLivingChallenge 2021 - Day One! - Embracing Failure!

I joined a short (five-day) painting challenge, and today is the first day.  The goal is to paint a SMALL picture each day in about 15 - 20 minutes.  No more!  The point is not a great picture, but establishing a daily painting habit, and to EMBRACE FAILURE!

Well, I've certainly accomplished THAT today - LOL!

The covered bridge isn't bad, but I somehow got lost in the trees to the left.  Kind of overworked.  Oh well.  It could be worse - I think!

Anyway, for people who care about that kind of thing, this is watercolor on Canson XL 140-lb watercolor paper.  CHEAP watercolor paper (wood pulp, no cotton) that I'm trying to use up before going 100% cotton.

One of the requirements of the challenge is to post the day's picture on your blog, so here it is.  You can expect to be tortured by four more this week.  I hope they won't offend anyone's refined artistic sensibilities too much.  So...  Apologies in advance!

Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak - Remember TV Dinners?

Are you old enough to remember TV dinners?  Oh, those divided trays covered with foil, and inside, old-fashioned comfort food - fried chicken, turkey, meatloaf, and Salisbury steak - YUM!  It was a treat when Mom fixed frozen TV dinners.  My gosh, you actually got to CHOOSE what you were going to eat - just like in a RESTAURANT!  Before the advent of fast food, kids weren't really welcome in most restaurants, so the novelty of being given a choice was heady stuff.

They still make frozen dinners (notice they don't call them "TV dinners" any more), but no more aluminum trays and covers - everything has to be microwavable.

One of the most popular TV dinner at our house was Salisbury steak, which used to come with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a little sort-of-apple-cobbler dessert.  The new frozen dinner has cooked apples instead of the little "cobbler" thing, and corn instead of green beans.  I don't know what the old Salisbury steak was made of, but the new one I saw said it was "made with chicken, pork, and beef," which means mostly chicken, then pork, and lastly, beef.

I receive several different foodie emails, and lately there has been a rash of Salibury steak recipes.  I guess everyone is craving comfort food.  Upon reading the recipes, they all seemed to use some form of ground meat patty.  What I remember from my childhood was cubed steak, not hamburger, in Mom's homemade version.  Disappointment.

But a couple of weeks ago an email came that showcased "Poor Man's Steak."  Cubed steak!  An almost dump-and-go recipe!  BINGO!  

The original recipe calls for the Universal Binding Ingredient (UBI, as characterized by Thomas Pynchon in his book, Vineland), condensed cream of mushroom soup.  I'm not averse to cooking with condensed "cream of..." soups, as some people are (too much salt!  too much fat!  too processed!), but I'm not a fan of cream of mushroom soup, which makes absolutely NO sense whatever, because I'm a HUGE fan of mushrooms!

Go figure.

Anyway, I use cream of celery and cream of onion soups instead of the cream of mushroom.  The cream of onion can be difficult to find, but there's ONE nearby store that carries it (Meijer), so I've lucked out!

The original recipe also calls for an envelope of onion soup mix, which will probably also set off  cries of "too much salt!  too processed!" but you know what?  I'm talking about fast, easy, convenient, comfort food.  If those ingredients bother you, make some white sauce and add your own mushrooms and onions.  For me, this is one of those "I'm feeling lazy today, but I want a home-cooked meal" recipes.

So here it is, with my substitutions:


Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak

The classisc combination!

2-3 lb cubed steak
1-oz envelope onion soup mix (either beefy or regular)
1  10.75-oz can condensed cream of celery soup
1  10.75-oz can condensed cream of onion soup (if it's not available, just use another cream of celery)
2/3 c (or about 1/2 soup can) water
2 T Worchestershire sauce
1/2 t pepper

Place meat in a slow cooker.  Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over the meat.  Cover and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.  Mix the gravy well before serving.

How to Make My Cleaning SOLUTIONS

Remember how just a little less than a year ago there was no bleach, no antibacterial wipes, no rubbing alcohol, no toilet cleaner, no paper towels, no NOTHING in the way of cleaning supplies on store shelves.  The stores looked as if a tsunami had raged through and swept away all the cleaning and paper products, along with all the rice, beans, flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.  So many empty shelves!

Now that most things have finally reappeared, there still is NO daily shower cleaner - you know, the stuff you spray on the shower walls and door or curtain before you get out to get dried off.  I used to buy six spray bottles at a time because we have three bathrooms and I didn't want to have that on my shopping list every time I went to the store. But alas, I haven't been able to buy any for months and months.

When the final spray bottle ran dry, I got tired of not having my shower cleaner for lazy people.  I say "for lazy people" because if you truly use it DAILY, you shouldn't have to get in the shower and scrub the walls, EVER.  I know I don't.

Sooooo...

I  made my own!

It wasn't all that hard.  I still had the last bottle of my preferred daily shower cleaner, so I read the label.  Then, just to make absolutely sure, I went to the manufacturer's website, found the complete ingredients list, and got to it - put that chemistry degree back to work!

The main ingredients were water (big shock there - NOT), detergents (another non-surprise), surfactants (so things won't suds up too much), chelating agents (to tie up metals and prevent soap scum), alcohol (to dissolve oils and soap, make the solution sheet off the walls instead of forming water beads, and to make it evaporate more quickly), and some anti-mold and anti-bacterial agents.  So that was where to start.

Good ol' cheapo 
rubbing alcohol.

After comparing labels and manufacturers' websites again, it was clear that making daily shower cleaner wouldn't be all that complicated.  By that time during the pandemic, rubbing alcohol wasn't as difficult to find in the stores as it had been, so instead of ethanol (it would probably have to have been vodka - too expensive), good old isopropyl alcohol would be a good substitute.  For the anti-bacterial and anti-mold agents, I went straight to the top - Lysol!  And for the low-sudsing detergent and chelating agents, Tide HE was already in the house.  Lysol (the kind you mix for mopping floors) was still a little scarce in the stores, but CVS and Lowe's had it in stock.

But what about proportions?

Here's the Lysol I used.

Well, the Lysol has mixing directions on the back label, so I looked there for the ratios for making a hard surface spray and for adding to mop water.  For the Tide, I made an educated estimate, based on laundry usage.  For the alcohol, I flat-out guessed, figuring that the alcohol would help keep everything dissolved in the solution.

After testing it in my showers for a month, I decided I wouldn't be buying daily shower cleaner ever again, even if it DOES reappear in the stores!

Here's what I came up with:

Homemade Daily Shower Cleaner (to make 1 quart - 32 fluid ounces)

1-quart spray bottle (#2 HDPE plastic only)

1 T high efficiency (HE) laundry detergent

2 T Lysol (NOT in a spray bottle)

4 T (1/4 c) rubbing alcohol (anything 70% or higher)

Water

Make sure the spray bottle is made of number 2 (HDPE) plastic (see the recycling symbol on the bottom).  It's strong and non-reactive to most chemicals.  I bought an empty spray bottle early on to make bleach water, and the sprayer quit working after only a few batches, so I started reusing bathroom cleaner spray bottles.  You have to be sure to rinse them out COMPLETELY - that means you have to run a lot of clean water through the sprayer assembly, too.  Your sprayer trigger finger will get tired.

Fill the bottle about halfway with water.  Add the cleaners, one at a time.  Swirl the bottle around to mix.  Don't shake it; just leave the top off and swirl it.  It will be fine.  Add more water to make a quart of solution.

Here's what it looks
like when I'm done.

TO USE:  After your shower (and while you're still IN the shower), turn off the water and spray the wet walls and door/shower curtain with the solution, with the nozzle a foot or two away from the surface.  You just want to mist the surfaces, but completely.  If you have a hand-held showerhead, turn the water on about half pressure and rinse the surfaces QUICKLY.  Don't worry about getting all the cleaning solution off.  Step out of the shower.  You're done.  You don't have to do this after every single shower in a day - once is enough - but consistency is important.  Pretty soon it will just be a habit and you won't even have to think about it.

I also make my own bleach water for the kitchen counters - just like in restaurants and food laboratories!

Homemade Bleach Water (to make 1 quart - 32 fluid ounces)

1-quart spray bottle (#2 HDPE plastic only)

4 t bleach

These are basically the proportions on the back of a bleach bottle, but scaled to a 1-quart container, and in larger print!

Again, make sure the spray bottle is made of number 2 (HDPE) plastic, and rinse it out COMPLETELY - even MORE completely than for the shower cleaner.  You can't have ANY ammonia (glass cleaner) OR soap/detergent in there - they will react with the bleach and release chlorine gas - a very BAD thing.  

Fill the bottle about halfway with water.  Add the bleach.  (Notice that the measurement is in measuring TEASPOONS.)  Swirl the bottle around to mix.  Add more water to make a quart of solution.

TO USE:  Spray the solution directly on your counters and sinks.  If you want a little more control around items that may lose color from the bleach, spray the solution onto a sponge and wipe.  After hitting all the countertops, let dry.  Don't lean against them while wet or your clothes will be bleached!  I usually just rinse the sponge out well and wipe the counters one more time, then dry with a dishcloth so I don't have to wait.

As they used to say in the old DuPont ads, "Better living through chemistry!"

And just for fun, here's a parting chemistry funny:  "Old chemists never die; they just fail to react!"

[P.S. -  The day this post went live, I found my preferred daily shower cleaner IN THE STORE.  Of course, they still have limits on how many you can buy at one time (1).  Wouldn't you know it?]

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding - in the Microwave!!!

I've been going through some of my cookbooks - just browsing for ideas, you know.  I've come across some recipes I didn't even know were in them!  This is one.

When the kids were much younger, and Lazarus department store was a thing, we used to go to their second-floor restaurant for the buffet lunch when we were in the mall.  It was a great place for people watching because the windows overlooked the fountain in the very center of the mall - the busiest spot.  One of our favorites there was the bread pudding - yum!  When Lazarus was bought out by Macy's, the restaurant was no more, which, for us, meant no more bread pudding!  

I tried a couple of recipes here and there, but they were, well, meh.  Not bad, but not great.  Nothing I'd want to go to the trouble of making, especially because you had to bake it in the oven for an hour.  And if something's not all that, why bother?

Well!  I was leafing through my ancient (1984) microwave cookbook that came with my very first microwave oven and spied a recipe for bread pudding!  What?!?!?!?!?  How did I never notice that?  I mean, I use that cookbook a LOT.  There are several recipes in there I use frequently!

Oh, well.  I guess I have blinders on when I'm cooking.

Anyway, it's EASY and FAST, and because it's cooked in the microwave, it doesn't burn and requires no watching.  My kind of recipe!

I've seen bread pudding listed with recipes for breakfast, which gave me pause at the time.  But then, after thinking about it a bit, bread pudding is pretty similar to french toast casserole, except the bread is in smaller pieces.

So here it is!  The original recipe assumes a 750-watt microwave oven, but I've adapted it to a 1,100-watt oven.


Quick and Easy Bread Pudding

8 oz bread, cubed (fresh, not dried or toasted)
3/4 c dark brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/4 c raisins (optional, but they impart a deeper, more complex flavor - I prefer golden raisins)
2 c milk
1/4 c butter
2 eggs, beaten

Spread bread cubes evenly in an 8-inch, round (see NOTE below) microwave-safe dish.  Mix together brown sugar, nutmeg, and salt, then sprinkle evenly over the bread cubes, followed by the raisins.  

Measure the milk into a 1-quart microwaveable measuring cup and add the butter.  Microwave on high power for about 2 minutes, or until the butter is completely melted and the milk is warm (not hot).

Rapidly stir in the eggs with a fork and mix well, then pour over the bread cubes.

Microwave at 50% power for 10 to 11 minutes.  The center may still be slightly soft, but it will set up as the pudding cools.  Serve warm or chilled (but warm is best!).

[NOTE:  Using a ROUND dish in the microwave will allow the pudding to cook evenly, with no weird overcooked corners.]

Corned Beef for St. Patrick's Day (or Any Day!)

St. Patrick's Day is almost here, which means you'll be able to find corned beef easily in the stores.  I often buy several packages and freeze the extras to use when corned beef mania strikes.  Corned beef is SUPER easy to cook - one of the prerequisites for my culinary efforts!  


Corned Beef (with Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, and Cabbage. and Mustard Sauce) 

For Beef:
1 3- to 4-lb corned beef brisket, with spice packet
1/4 c brown sugar
2 bay leaves
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 lb baby-cut carrots
1 small to medium head cabbage, quartered
1 large onion, quartered

For Sauce:
1 1/2 c reserved corned beef cooking liquid
1 T butter
2 T flour
1 T red wine vinegar
1/2 c sour cream
2T coarse-ground Dijon mustard

Place brisket, contents of seasoning packet, brown sugar, garlic, and bay leaves in large dutch oven or stock pot; cover with water; bring to a boil, turn heat down and simmer 2 hours.

Add carrots and potatoes; return to a boil, then simmer 30-40 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Add cabbage to pot; return to a boil, then simmer about 15 minutes.

Add onion to pot; return to boil, simmer about 5-10 minutes.

Reserve 1 1/2 cup of cooking liquid for the mustard sauce.


Mustard Sauce

In a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Stir in flour until smooth; cook about 1 minute.  Stir in the cooking liquid and vinegar.  Cook, stirring frequently, until thickened.  Remove from heat and add the sour cream and mustard.  Serve over corned beef.

(I've made the sauce in the microwave before, and it worked out great!  It also freezes well.  I just microwave it to warm it up.)

More Appliance Festivities!

Yes, it's appliance replacement time AGAIN.  The past year has been a veritable appliance festival at our house.  UGH.  

If you've been reading along this past year, you'll find that we've replaced the washing machine (JUST as the pandemic shut down all appliance deliveries), the range, the dryer, the garbage disposer, and now, for the piece de resistance, the refrigerator.

Truthfully, I was sort of expecting it, since I knew it was more than ten years old, which seems to be the expiration date for appliances these days.  It's been a real champ, though, keeping things super cold without a hitch.

But last week, it seemed to be dispensing ice slowly.  Just a few half-moons at a time.  What the what?  And I'd noticed a kind of humming and sort of popping sound when I was standing near it - a lot like the sound of a pan on the stovetop just starting to come to a boil, even though nothing was on the stovetop.  Hmmmmmm...

I finally looked inside the ice bin.  It was nearly empty!  I looked at the ice maker, and there were half-moons of ice suspended, just at the point of falling into the bin, but they weren't going anywhere.  I knocked them into the bin and felt all around inside the ice maker as far I could.  No new ice.  The water dispenser did its job, so it wasn't a blockage in the water line.  

Here's the old fridge.  It doesn't
look too bad for eighteen does it?

So, I did an internet search, read articles, and watched videos.  It would appear the ice maker's motor was kaput.  I looked into parts (solenoids) and total replacement, and then That Man came in and asked what was going on.  I told him, and he asked how old the refrigerator was, and I said somewhere around eleven, but I could check the sticker inside the refrigerator compartment.

IT WAS EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD!!!  

Well!

Don't judge me (well, you can if you want to, I guess), but I decided I didn't want to play silly games with an appliance that old.  I could just see it - we'd order the parts, wait a few days to get them, go through the rigamarole of installing them, and a month or six later, the fridge would die.  Nope.  Not going there.

I ordered a new one.

Now you KNOW that we can't seem to do the appliance thing the easy way - oh no, not us!  So it came, the delivery guys hauled out the old white box and brought in the new stainless steel one, then told us that they couldn't hook up the ice maker because we had a copper water line and they weren't allowed to hook it to copper tubing.  So the new fridge sat awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen floor while we hooked it up ourselves.  

That Knee still isn't one hundred percent healed up yet, although it's doing well (YAY!).  But getting on the floor was not an option.  I was the one who got to crawl around under the sink to turn off the water to the refrigerator.  He had a hard enough time just standing between the fridge and the wall, getting the fittings on the copper tubing to join it to the ice maker hose.  Of course, it leaked at first, so the water had to be shut off AGAIN and adjustments made.

Long story short, we got it done, and it's dispensing water and making ice!  PLUS, it's keeping our food cold - HA!

And for the first time in a LO-O-O-O-O-O-O-NG time, all our kitchen appliances match - so spiffy!

Of course, I'd shoved the food from the old fridge into coolers that morning, and in the evening, I just kind of threw the food into the new refrigerator wherever it would fit, so it's all going to need rearranging.  

But that's a job for another day.

Cabbage Rolls - Old-Fashioned Slow-Cooker Comfort Food

Now and then, That Man will request something specific for dinner, and more often than not, that specific something will be cabbage rolls.  He remembers going to a friend's house, the friend's wife making cabbage rolls, and his thinking they were the greatest thing ever!  

Because tradition has it that you should eat cabbage on New Year's Day for prosperity, I usually make cabbage rolls around that time, if not on the day itself.  Honestly, it's been quite a while since I last made cabbage rolls - probably three or more years.  Somehow, the thought of dealing with the cabbage leaves seems, well, hard.  It's really not, though the thought of them is, sort of.  

Once I decide to make cabbage rolls, the actual deal with the leaves isn't bad at all.  And I get extra wife-points for fixing one of his favorites.  So worth it!

This recipe is based on one in the original edition (1975) of Crockery Cookery by Mabel Hoffman, from the time when slow cookers were the new, trendy kitchen gadget and very few had removable crocks - yikes!  But there are a lot of very good recipes in there.  Sadly, the paperback binding on my copy is disintegrating.  I expect I'll soon have to cut the pages out, punch holes in them, and put them in a three-ring binder.  Better than losing a book I use often!

No guarantee of how "Swedish"
these are, but they are delicious!

Swedish Cabbage Rolls

12 large cabbage leaves
1 beaten egg
1/4 c milk
1/4 c finely chopped onion
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1 t onion powder
1 lb lean ground beef
1 c cooked rice
12-oz bottle chili sauce (or 1 1/2 c ketchup)
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
1 T lemon juice
1 T Worchestershire sauce

There are a few ways to prepare the cabbage leaves before you fill them:

1. Immerse the leaves in a large pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes, until limp; drain.  These are the instructions in the original recipe.  That's all right for about the first 4 outer leaves, but as you proceed, the leaves get tighter and tighter on the cabbage, and it gets progressively more difficult to pry them loose without tearing them, and you want them whole.
   
   
2. Freeze the whole head of cabbage overnight, then take it out to thaw in the morning.  The leaves are supposed to release from the head easily, and they're already limp enough to work with.  I don't have any firsthand experience with this method - I've only heard of it, and it sounds like it should work, but I rarely have a cabbage-sized space available in the freezer, so I haven't tried it myself.  Maybe next time - after the turkey, ham, and corned beef brisket are gone.
   
   
3. Place the whole head of cabbage in the microwave for one minute at high power.  The next 3 or 4 leaves will release fairly easily.  This is the method I've used the last few times I've made cabbage rolls.  I just repeat until I have the number of leaves I need.  They aren't as limp as they would be with the first method, which is quite okay with me because they're going to be in the slow cooker most of the day, so I'd rather the leaves start out more on the raw side.

Combine egg, milk, onion, garlic, and seasonings.  Add meat and rice and combine well.  Place about 1/4 cup of the meat mixture in the center of each leaf.  Fold in the sides and roll ends over the meat, kind of like making a small burrito.  Place in a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker.

Combine the rest of the ingredients, and pour over the cabbage rolls.  Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours. 

I serve them with dinner rolls or french bread.

And Yet Another SOUP Recipe!

More SOUP!  Sorry, not sorry!

I'm definitely a big fan of broccoli, but I'm NOT a fan of broccoli smothered in "cheese" sauce or anything approximating that miserable excuse of a bribe to get kids to eat those wonderful mini "trees."  So, broccoli cheddar soup has not been high on the list of favorite foods.  

However...!

Again, gazing into the depths of the refrigerator, I saw that (now three-quarters) gallon of homemade chicken broth, several packages of shredded cheese, and a quart container of leftover broccoli (NAKED broccoli, that is).

I wanted something cheesy, but not TOO cheesy.  Because I'm kind of turned off by the orange color of restaurant versions of this soup, I used a cheddar/jack cheese blend.  So here's what I came up with this time!  If you like it cheesier than this, just experiment and add some more.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

1/4 c butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 c matchstick-cut carrots
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c flour
1 t salt
1/2 t white pepper
2 c chicken broth, hot (I heat it in the microwave in a Pyrex measuring cup)
2 c milk
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb broccoli florets, cooked and chopped (see NOTE, below)

In a 4-qt pan, melt the butter and saute the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic until fragrant.  Add flour, salt, and pepper, and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, then add the hot broth slowly, still stirring constantly, until the flour is incorporated and there are no lumps.  

Stir in the milk.  Heat to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the mixture thickens.  Add the remaining ingredients, bring back to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the cheese is completely melted and the broccoli is heated through.  Adjust the salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

[NOTE:  I buy a one-pound steam-in-bag package of frozen broccoli florets, microwave them per the package directions, then chop them very coarsely.]

Soup! Soup! SOUP! Yes, ANOTHER Soup Recipe!

If you've been following this blog for a while, you've surely noticed that a LOT of the recipes I post are for SOUP.  I don't know why, but I'm just not much of a sandwich-for-lunch-type person.  I'd rather have good ol' SOUP - especially in the winter!

Well, DUH.

Here's what I made the other day.  I went through all my SOUP recipes and nothing called my name, so off to the fridge to see what was in there.  I found lots of leftover roast chicken, a gallon of homemade chicken broth, the remains of a bunch of celery, some matchstick-cut carrots, and a container of leftover corn.  There were a few potatoes and a couple of onions left in the bags I bought a few weeks ago.

So here's what I came up with!


Chicken and Corn Chowder

1/2 c butter
1/2 c matchstick carrots
2 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c flour
4 c chicken broth, divided (heat 2 c to almost a boil)
2 1/2 c half-and-half
4 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 lb frozen whole kernel sweet corn
1 1/2 pounds cooked chicken (boned and skinned), cubed
1/4 t nutmeg
1 t salt
1/2 t white pepper

In a 4-qt pan, melt the butter and saute the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic until fragrant.  Add flour and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, then add the hot broth slowly, still stirring constantly, until the flour is incorporated and there are no lumps.  

Stir in the reserved broth and half-and-half.  Heat to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture thickens.  Add the remaining ingredients, bring back to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through.  Adjust the salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

The Snowblower and Me

The view from our back door.

We've had SNOW this week - Monday and Tuesday.  And not just the little stinkin' snows we usually get - you know, one or two inches (if we're lucky!) and then it warms up and melts in the afternoon and freezes overnight.  Most of the time there's not a lot of point in shoveling; it just disappears either because the sun comes out or it changes to rain and gets washed away.

Last winter, we lucked out - we didn't really get much snow, and what we did get went away pretty quickly.  A good thing, too, because That Knee wasn't up to standing and walking for any extended time, so shoveling and running the snowblower were OUT.

Well.

Monday we got dumped on.  It snowed most of the day, falling thicker and faster as the day progressed.  We were one of the areas where there was "locally heavier accumulation," plus we have some places on our property where the snow drifts badly.

I fixed an early dinner, and afterward, when it was getting dark, That Person with That Knee said maybe he should get out the snowblower and...  I squelched THAT right away.  I'm not going to allow That Knee to have ANY excuse to kick up a fuss and let the nasty little infection bacteria get a toehold again.  Not THIS winter, anyway.

So I put on my arctic Carhartts and went out to the detached garage - That Man's private domain.  He tagged along, walking gingerly in the path I broke through the snow.  I'd never used our snowblower before, delicate flower that I am (HA!), so I needed instruction in its usage.

He gassed it up, showed me all the levers, buttons, switches, and toggles, got it started, and away I went!  

I spent a little less than an hour going up and down the driveway and front walk, while the snow fell fast and furious and the wind blew like crazy.  Although it was dark, it wasn't DARK.  The snow reflected enough of what little ambient light there was that I didn't need to turn on any of the outside lights to see what I was doing.

It was kind of nice out there, just me and the snowblower.  I saw two snowmobilers early on, and a couple of cars, but everybody was huddled in their homes and the snowplows hadn't started their evening runs on our street.  They had plowed several times throughout the day, but while I was out there, the street was dead.  I finished, returned the snowblower to the garage and went back into the house.

By the time it stopped Tuesday morning, there was just about the same amount of snow that I had already removed the previous evening covering the areas I'd cleared.  So, after lunch, I put on my Carhartts, went out to the detached garage, and started up the snowblower again - alone, this time.

I spent more time on the job that second time - clearing a path to the mailbox, and clearing more of the road in front of the mailbox so the mail carrier wouldn't have trouble reaching it from his little red, white, and blue Jeep.  Also some of the bad drifts in the driveway - the places that required three or four (or more!) passes to get down to the pavement, mainly between the cars we don't drive often, but also where the garage and race car trailer form a right angle - we get some really nice drifts there!  And at the end of the driveway and in front of the mailbox, where the snowplows throw the snow from the road.  Again, it was nice out there - still quiet, no wind to speak of (YAY!), and bright sun.  I got warm enough I couldn't wear a hat or my hood, so my scalp got sunburned where the hair parts!  I can still feel it!

I was kind of tired after manhandling the snowblower two days in a row!

Today I worked on the snow packed under the attached garage's door (it wouldn't quite close all the way, and we don't need the cold air blowing in under it), chipped the snow and ice off our mailbox (we want to get our mail), and cleared the whole front porch and the steps up to it (we want to get our Amazon packages - HA!).  It must have worked because we got mail and packages about an hour later.  We didn't get ANY yesterday, and Monday was Presidents Day, so no mail delivery, even if there hadn't been all that snow.

So I'm feeling like I've accomplished a LOT this week, even though I haven't done much of my normal work around the house (to be honest, I haven't done ANY - the house is a wreck).  But that's not the end of it.  We're supposed to get another couple of inches of snow tonight.  They say about 2 inches, but who knows?!?!?

We will see what we see when we see it!

Oh FUN!

Valentine's Day Dinner - What We Ate (What I Cooked!)

We stayed home for Valentine's Day - That Knee isn't comfortable when it's not elevated for an extended time, so riding in the car and sitting at a table just aren't comfortable for it/him.  So we had a WILD evening at home.

Right.

Anyway, this week's Aldi's ad had filet mignon listed as their weekly fresh meat special, and the price per pound, although way higher than I'm generally willing to pay for meat, was, for filet, a STEAL!  The prices in the ad go into effect on Wednesday, but I didn't get there until Friday, so I figured I'd missed out.

However...

I guess lots of people don't like to pay exorbitant prices for meat either, even filet, so there were PLENTY of packages in the meat case!  SCORE!

I took them home and stuck them in the fridge next to the ribeye steaks I'd found earlier in the week at Kroger at a truly unbeatable price - more than two-thirds off!!! (It was in the "Manager's Special" meat case - my favorite place to browse.)

So I had a refrigerator full of expensive steaks.  What to do, what to do.

Dumb question, right?  It was pretty much a no-brainer - throw the ribeyes into the freezer and cook the filets for Valentine's Day.

Now, I haven't cooked a filet mignon in years (DECADES, actually), so I did some research to see how long those bad boys needed to lie under the broiler.  Other than that, I was good.  Filet mignon is super simple.

Every store seemed to have fresh asparagus on sale this week, too, so I planned to have that, plus some long grain and wild rice to round out the plate.  Easy stuff.  I didn't want to get elaborate - I wanted to ENJOY the meal myself, and not spend all night cleaning up afterward.

I should have expected what happened as each side of the filets was about done - the butter started to smoke and the smoke alarms began to scream!  Ah, me.  Annoying.  So the cats tried to find a safe space away from the terrible noises (there was none - more than one alarm was wailing), so That Man opened a couple of windows.  It was COLD out there, but it made the alarms settle down.  The windows didn't need to be open more than a few minutes - a good thing.

Anyway, the filets were amazing!  A good meal all around.


Filet Mignon

Here's an idea of how done these filets were
after a full 7 minutes on each side.

For each 8-oz filet:

1/4 t garlic powder (or to taste), divided
salt and pepper
1 or 2 slices bacon (uncooked)
2 T butter, divided
1 T minced scallion or shallot

Place the top oven rack so that the top of the meat will be about 3 inches from the broiler.  Set oven to Broil.

Sprinkle half of the garlic powder, salt, and pepper over both sides of the filet(s).  Wrap each filet with a slice of bacon (or two, if the circumference is too big!), and secure it with one or two wooden toothpicks.  Spread half of the butter over the top side of the filet(s).

Spray a broiler pan (or a rack placed inside a sheet pan with a 1-inch high rim) with non-stick spray for easy cleanup.  Place the filet(s) on the broiler pan and place the pan in the oven on the top rack in the oven.  (Disable the nearest smoke alarms, if needed!)

Let the meat cook for 5-7 minutes.  Remove from the oven, turn the filet(s) over, spread the rest of the butter on the top of the filet, and sprinkle the minced scallion or shallot over the top of the filet(s).

Return the pan to the top oven rack and continue broiling for another 5-7 minutes.  

Remove from the oven, tent with foil, and let rest while you plate the other food.

Don't forget to remove the toothpicks before eating and to re-enable the smoke detectors after - HA!


[NOTES:  I set the sealed packages of filets out on the counter for 4 hours to allow them to come to room temperature before cooking (horrors! - unsafe food handling practices!), and I still needed to cook them on the high broil setting for 7 minutes on each side.

I used Land-O-Lakes Garlic and Herb flavored butter (it comes in a small tub) for the butter.  It was easy to spread and gave the filets an extra depth of flavor.  I still used the garlic powder, too.  More Garlic = More Better!]

I Entered an Art Show!

I've been having a good time with my watercolors the past few months.  I've been watching videos on YouTube and taking some short online classes, too, and boy howdy, is there a LOT to learn!!!

The autumn leaves I find in the yard are fascinating to me - all the different shapes and colors!  I've drawn and painted a few varieties of maple leaves and some pin oak leaves.  One particular study got under my skin and I kept going back to look at it.  (Here's a link to a post that includes my first leaf study.)

Just about that time, our county parks department's newsletter showed up in the mailbox, and in it was information about an upcoming art show.  What timing!  I went to the parks department website, filled out the application, and sent it in with a JPEG file of the watercolor leaf study.  I got the acceptance email last week!  Woo hoo!!!

So, I'm a little excited.  I haven't had anything entered in an art show since the 1973 500 Festival of the Arts, a show of high school art projects from the previous year.  The show was part of the festivities leading up to the Indianapolis 500.  I'd taken ONE art class in summer school, and my teacher (Mr. Crawford, Manual High School - go Redskins!) entered one of my pictures.  It was a study in pointillism, and I didn't think it was particularly noteworthy at the time, but I did get an Honorable Mention, so that's something, since not everyone got an award.

Anyway, the upcoming show isn't juried, so to get in all you have to do is make sure your entry follows the show's theme, which is "Nature's Inspirations," a broad category that could include a world of subjects!  According to the application, "Subject matter is limited to nature, wildlife, or 'nature-scapes' in which natural objects are the primary subjects of the piece. People and/or domestic animals are not considered part of this theme."  I thought my leaf might make the cut, and it did!

The show runs Saturday, February 20, through Sunday, March 8, at the Cool Creek Nature Center,  2000 East 151st Street, Carmel, Indiana.  The hours are Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  The show's free, so if you're tired of being stuck at home, come on out and get inspired by nature!  (And vote for my picture for the People's Choice award before March 4 - HA!)

I Got Sick and Tired of My Pillows!

So I decided to buy a pair of MyPillows!  

I must be unusually rough on my pillows.  I buy them, they're great for about a month, then they start to lose both their resilience and their shapes!  No amount of fluffing and pounding, washing and drying, helps.  They just get flatter and flatter, and lumpier and lumpier, and more and more misshapen as time passes. 

I finally got fed up a couple of weeks ago and decided to take the MyPillow plunge.  I bought the original classic firm pillows.  A little pricey, but they're guaranteed for 10 years and are machine washable and dryable.  At the price I've usually paid for pillows (CHEAP!), and how often I get tired of messing with bad pillows and then go out and buy new ones, I'd spend the price of the MyPillows after only three years or less, so why not give them a try?

They came really fast, and when the package arrived, I went out on the porch to retrieve it and wondered, "What the heck is in this little box???"  Then I saw the return address - "No way!"  I had ordered two king-size pillows, and I would have had trouble getting one cheapo standard pillow jammed into this box!  Opened it up, and there they were, compressed into cylinders like big sausages in their casings.  

When I removed the outside wrappings, the pillows were pitiful looking and lumpy and flatter than flat!

(Yes, this IS the dryer featured in the previous post!)

The included paper instructed me to run them through the dryer at high heat for 15 minutes, and here's the result:

Sleeping on them is a dream (ha! pun intended!) and I have a terrible time in the morning getting out of bed because I'm SO comfortable!  ("Oh, well, maybe just another ten minutes!")  If they get out of shape, all I've had to do is punch them a few times and they're all plump and beautiful again!  

So far, so good!  I'm happy with my purchase.  I wish I hadn't waited so long, but I'm glad I didn't wait any longer!!!  

In fact, I may even buy more of them...!

Laundry Festivities - Part 2

Well, last spring (and about `6 months before that) we had washer and dryer difficulties (see here and here) and ended up replacing them, one at a time.  When the washer went, the delivery guy hooked it up, as usually expected.  But when the dryer went bad just a very few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, and I had a hard time getting one DELIVERED, let alone INSTALLED.  Because of That Knee That Hasn't Cooperated YET, I got the super-festive job of installing the new pigtail (the plate that came with it to keep the pigtail from being rubbed and frayed didn't fit correctly - FUN hammering it into an appropriate shape), while That Boy (I guess I should change that to "That Young Man") took care of the vent duct assembly.

ANYWAY...  After all that hoo-haw getting the dryer and setting it up, one day in late December, after That Young Man used it, he complained that it wasn't drying his clothes.  Long story short, not only was it not drying the clothes, it wouldn't even TRY.  Oh it would turn on and the lights would flash, and you could choose a cycle and all the settings, but when you pushed START, there would be a click, and then nothing more.  It would just sit there and flash its lights at you.  No error code.  No nothing.

So we had an eight-month-old dryer that wouldn't dry with a BIG load of wet clothes sitting in it.  Oh, me.

I called the manufacturer (it was under warranty, thank you) JUST after customer service hours ended.  All righty, then.  So I hauled everything out of the dryer and headed to the laundromat.  There's only one in our city, and, if I understand it, only two in the whole COUNTY!  Good grief.  There used to be another one in our city, but it's been closed for a few years.

Well.

I hadn't used a laundromat in DECADES.  Luckily, I had a roll of quarters I'd been meaning to deposit at the bank, so I grabbed it, the laundry basket of wet clothes, and my knitting bag and headed into the cold, cold world outside.

I was pleasantly surprised.  The last time I'd used a laundromat, it was a pretty seedy place - dirty floors, several machines with yellowed "Out of Order" signs on them, and a lot of questionable characters hanging around.  This was different!  Although not one of the new "hip" laundromats with a coffee bar, mobile charging stations, and counters with stools so you can work on your laptop, it was clean and comfortable, had plenty of machines, the clientele wasn't scary, and I only spent $1.75 on the dryer.  Not bad!  I made some progress on the sock I was knitting, too!  A fun Friday evening at the laundromat.

Anyway, I called the manufacturer the next day, and the guy walked me through a couple of troubleshooting exercises (while his dog barked in the background - working from home).  We got a couple of error codes.  He was going to transfer me to a tech team but it was Saturday, and they don't work on the weekends.  UGH.  

Monday I called yet AGAIN, went through all the rigamarole of being on hold for a half hour, explaining my problem, and telling them I'd already talked to somebody there and I needed to talk to a technician, then being transferred over there.  All this person did was set an appointment with a technician - when did I want it?  Well, ASAP, obviously!  Did I prefer morning or afternoon?  YES!  Whenever!  Just send someone, please!  How about 2 1/2 weeks from now?  What?!?!?!?!?!?  Is that the soonest available date?  Yes.  Well, then fine!

All I can say is that it was a good thing that that load I took to the laundromat was the very last load of dirty clothes - all the hampers were EMPTY.  But try to organize your underwear for 2 1/2 weeks with no laundry service.  OH MY!

We made it through, the technician came to look at it, and fixed it without needing any parts.  SOMEONE (ahem - That Young Man! - cough!) had overloaded the dryer with either too many clothes, or with clothes that were too went and heavy, and the belt had slipped off the drum.  The idler arm pulley was also misaligned with the drive pulley, which made it easier for the belt to come off.  So he realigned the pulley, tightened its screws all the way, put the belt back where it belonged, put the drum back into the cabinet, closed up the panels, tightened all those screws, and voila!  The dryer worked!

...And has been for a couple of weeks, now.  It took a while to get caught back up with the mountains of laundry waiting for me, but as of right now, there's about a half load of whites in the hamper, and that's all.  YAY!

I should have taken a picture of the dryer's innards when the technician had the drum removed from the cabinet.  Now that so much of the control functions are run by electronics, the cabinet was pretty empty.  There just aren't many parts any more, but oh, if that electronic control panel goes bad...OUCH!  It's expensive!  You'd probably be better off just replacing the whole thing.

Hopefully, that's the last of the appliance woes for a while.

Unless the refrigerator...!!!

I Ran Out of Refrigerator and Freezer Space!

Just a quick post today!

It's COLD out!  When it's cold and dreary like this, I like to make a BIG pot of my Confetti Bean Soup.  Well, I did, and when there are only two people to eat it, there are LOADS of leftovers.  Usually, I just divide up the soup among a bunch of 1-quart containers and either freeze them or put them in the fridge and eat on it until it's gone.

Well, I made the soup, we ate the soup, and I looked in the refrigerator - FULL.  No problem!  I checked the freezers - FULL.  Hmmmmmm...  This was quite the dilemma.  What to do, what to do?

CAN IT!

Now, I had never, ever, canned bean soup before, so I was wading into unknown waters.  I was confident it was possible to pressure can it, but I just didn't know the headspace, pressure, or time required.  I rummaged through my shelf of canning books, and in the third one I pulled out, there was a recipe for 10-bean soup that's similar to mine.

It's just the normal pressure canning process with these specifics:

1" headspace

10 lbs pressure

90 minutes

I ended up with SEVEN quarts (a full capacity load for the canner) of soup, plus almost another quart I stuck in the refrigerator.  Now the guys won't get tired of eating bean soup every day for a week, and I can have it whenever it strikes my fancy, with no real effort (say hello to Mr. Microwave!).

And now I have to find some shelf space in the pantry...oh me.

I Didn't Read 100 Books (or Even 40!) in 2020

 Those of you who know me know that I LOVE to read, and the past few years I've tried to read at least 100 books.  Well, this past year, what with That Knee That Won't Cooperate (not mine), COVID-19 and its related inconveniences, appliances dying, and election woes, I gave up.  I wasn't driving much, so even listening to audiobooks didn't happen, and I was in a total funk by the end of the year (that's why no posts between Thanksgiving and New Year's), so I just gave up.  I hardly read anything.

Except...the Bible!  I started a year-long Bible study in APRIL, and I actually finished it mid-December.  It is a chronological reading plan, which means you read the Bible in the chronological order that it was written, to the best of scholars' knowledge.  So sometimes you skip around, reading different parts of different books and then going back to a book you started earlier - Psalms were sprinkled throughout the Old Testament, for example.  You have an overview of each book when you begin it.  After each day's reading, you have a more in-depth explanation of what happened.  It reminds me of a class I took as a Junior in high school, Histlish - a double-credit combination of United States History and American Literature.  You studied some period of U.S. history and connected it to the literature written during that same time frame.  The Bible study is one of the plans (The Bible Recap) offered in the YouVersion Bible app and on the website.

Anyway, other than the Bible, I read only thirty books, which is pretty pitiable for me.  I just couldn't.  I actually did pretty well to begin with - before the pandemic crisis.  Most of the books were fluff, but that's what I craved.

Just a few required any brain cells, and I recommend all of them:

• The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity - Julia Cameron (she used to be married to Martin Scorcese)
• Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman - James Gleick
• Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century - Jessica Bruder
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones - James Clear
• The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure - Jonathan Haidt, Greg Lukianoff

If you want to see the full list, click here.