fribble
4d ago
I am by virtue of marriage. I don't really count because I don't have a grudge against Mayflower.
fribble
5d ago
Come to Baltimore. Very Catholic. The kids from the nice families go to Catholic school. (The ones who aren't Jewish, that is.)
fribble
5d ago
Wouldn't you tell any creepy new comers to knock it off? Why should it matter if they're creepy towards person A vs person B?
No young people could join Ham radio clubs if they adhered to your standards. Or become masons. I hear VFW halls also run really old. And DAR meetings!
fribble
5d ago
Thank you! I will get supplies in and pick a weekend to work on this soon. Especially since I am thinking chicken pot pie and chicken and dumplings are also going to need a roux.
fribble
6d ago
The bean club folks on Facebook suggest cooking the beans in a pressure cooker (most seem to use the instant pot) to deal with hard water if you don't want to use store bought water. Maybe give that a try?
I think some of us are also just sensitive to the taste of baking soda. There are some candies that use baking soda and I find them inedible. Baking soda biscuits are ok, I think the salt helps moderate the taste.
fribble
6d ago
Heh. Now I want someone to try out dating apps by discussing beans and their bougie bean club.
fribble
7d ago
Mediocre gravy is mediocre gravy. I have never successfully made a roux. We will see how it goes!
fribble
7d ago
That sounds good. I bet it would be nice w/lemon juice as a lighter alternative to the oil, too.
fribble
8d ago
Lentil and carrot salad is awesome. It lasts days and days. And it's full of carrots and lentils!
I also made the san franciscano beans in the crock pot with just salted water. Then I sprinkle them with some cheese on top of some tortilla chips. Put in the toaster oven for a few minutes and then sprinkle with chopped lettuce. It works out really nicely. Not as convenient as the lentil & carrot salad though.
I kept some of the bean water and I am debating seeing if I can turn it into meringue like you can with garbanzo bean water. How weird would that be?
These beans are cooking up easily. Still skipping the soaking. I have about half a pound of prepared beans left, and 2 lbs of dried beans.
I may have to pause the bean experiments though because my daughter says she misses biscuits and gravy. Biscuits are no problem but my husband made the gravy. I guess between the two of us we can figure it out. But I envision a lot of X-and-mediocre-gravy meals until we get it dialed in.
fribble
11d ago
Whittling. Sharpening pencils. Cutting errant threads. Screwdriver. Letter opener. Package opener. Cutting an apple. Peeling an orange. Opening annoying plastic packaging.
fribble
11d ago
I started carrying a pocket knife when I got my first pocket knife as a kid. I didn't stop until I got a job where it was considered a weapon and prohibited. I have never stabbed anyone. My pocket knife lives in my hiking day pack now.
I also used to carry a lighter (and still do in hand warmer season) and I have never set anyone on fire.
I occasionally carry a pocket harmonica. I have committed music with it. I can understand being disinvited for that.
fribble
13d ago
I have memories of the hostage taking. It was a very large part of my childhood (constantly on the nightly news and in the - 2 daily - newspapers). In high school (in the 80s) when one of my classmates grumped about our English teacher's love of making us memorize things, the teacher retorted we would appreciate it if we were held hostage.
I have one acquaintance who feels strongly about the USS Liberty, and he's old enough that he has memory of it. I think that matters.
fribble
13d ago
I jumped through the hoops because my kid heard about it elementary school and was interested. I was in my 40's and was significantly younger than most of the women. It's the women's equivalent of Ham radio clubs, in terms of age.
fribble
15d ago
Things are pretty different. And a lot of young women don't have any comprehension of how much stronger young men are, so there wouldn't be any implication of trusting the young man if he did drive them somewhere.
fribble
18d ago
Kids are already not particularly interested in learning to drive. Uber is ubiquitous.
fribble
19d ago
My house is cleaner, more organized, and in better repair than it's been in decades and it makes me incredibly sad.
It's been almost 6 months since my husband died and I have spent the time doing. It was hard to get things done before because he was the guy and if there was a task and I started doing it he would feel guilty that he wasn't doing it (ADHD is a bear) and I didn't want him to feel guilty so I would bring things up instead of just doing them and he would be all oh yeah I will do that and then ADHD. Now I can just, do it.
There's still a ton to do. So many things. I think I need to replace the steps on my deck (steps end directly on dirt and things have shifted over the years). I know nothing about rebuilding steps on a deck but I can dig holes and buy stringers and pour concrete and screw down boards. So I probably won't make things worse. And one more thing will be knocked off the to do list making the house more pleasant to be in. Because it's easier when I am not working around my spouse's ADHD. And boy doesn't that make me a jerk.
fribble
19d ago
I cooked the second cup of Good Mother Stallard beans in the crockpot. Several hours on low worked well. I tossed mirepoix, salt, and a bay leaf in. Added the beans and a few cups of water. They were ready when I finished mowing the lawn & fighting with the weeds.
They're nice. I am thinking of a carrot lentil salad for the lentils. There is a sweet carrot salad I like (carrots, raisins, lemon juice, cinnamon) and I am curious if I would like a savory take.
I do think sauteing the mirepoix makes a difference.
fribble
19d ago
I eat oatmeal, beans, rice, apples, frozen broccoli & cauliflower. My apples are expensive and now my beans are expensive, but you can go cheap on them.
Go to food banks. They exist to help people eat.
fribble
25d ago
Mick Herron's Slough House series. I keep falling back into comfort reads (Trollope) but I started this for some reason and I feel almost normal reading it. The combination of plot, character development, and occasionally just lovely writing is engrossing.
fribble
25d ago
The bean chronicles have been on hold because my AC has been fumbling all its rolls vs heat. I will be pulling out the slow cooker (this weekend) for the next batch.
I will also try to stick to Wellness Wednesday to make it easier to find/skip as desired!
fribble
29d ago
I am asserting a much smaller thing - that people who do nothing but complain while they have the means to do something don't care.
I guess those UNICEF boxes I grew up with did something to me. Maybe they lied, but I thought the portion of my baby sitting money I was donating was beneficial. And I thought the helping older folks in the neighborhood with their lawn work/whatever was helpful. But perhaps they were just being kind. My baby sitting money didn't solve hunger. My youngster energy didn't solve aging. Maybe I should have just yelled about it.
fribble
29d ago
I don't think a single person could solve the problem but yes, if someone argues that it's a Terrible Thing that Nothing is Being Done I expect them to do something besides whine.
You do what you can about things you feel strongly about or you're just posturing and I don't take you seriously. I feed a few homeless guys. I am not solving homelessness. But I am solving hunger for a few folks for right now. That's more useful than whining the government/church/aliens aren't doing anything. And when I work with larger concerns on the issues I care most about I have skin in the game and I have hopefully learned some stuff from my own small efforts.
I decided to get a plumber to evaluate my sump pump situation. The guy who came is the best tradesman I have dealt with in forever.
First, he didn't insist everything be brought up to code if he were going to touch it.
Second, he offered multiple options ranging from "you pay me to make sure your minimum viable solution is in fact viable" to "perfect repair."
Third, he answered every one of my questions thoroughly and made sure I felt my question had been answered.
And most importantly, he let me dither over the various options, including me talking myself from the cheapest to the most complete, and insisted I take the time to review each bid before deciding, which he emailed that evening.
If his work is half as good as his estimate process I will be pleased.
I managed to do the deck repairs. Now I need to seal the wood. Next up will probably be deciding if I will replace the broken glass panes in my windows myself. And replace the cords that are broken. And reglaze them. And remove the paint from the ones that have been painted to return to the pretty stained wood. All because if I replaced our wooden windows with aluminum or whatever they are now made of, my husband would return from the dead and throttle me. Fortunately I can check out a variable temp heat gun from the library.
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