December 31, 2018 – The cure for a rough year.

         I tore out a recent article by Liz Pryor from the Family Circle entitled, “The Cure for a Bad Year”.  All good advice especially the phrase:

Most important, reload your hope for what’s ahead.

         I read the article and tore out the page  with the intention of sending it on to someone in need of good advice. It is floating around somewhere on this desk.  [Again, my desk is a mess.]

         My husband has an extremely bad habit of putting mail on my desk and he sorts it into two piles – his and mine and mine gets spread amongst all the paper clutter of my life. [I’ve this dreadful habit of cutting out articles, or recipes or reading letters and putting them on my desk to savor again, and then there are the newspaper articles where I plan to write a rebuttal editorial and then after my steaming anger has subsided, I decide not to – that sort of clutter.] The clutter of paper sometimes gets about 3 inches deep covering three corners of my wrap around desk and then I set it right.

         Today I was starting to set it right again when lo and behold what do I find, I find a few Christmas cards that didn’t get opened amongst some junk mail.

         Is it any coincidence that someone sent me the same above captioned article?  What is even more interesting is that I had torn out the article to send it to her.  She notes that her sister sent it to her and she enclosed it in her Christmas card to me with a note: My sister found this article for me. I think it fits for you as well.  Spot on!

         So, now in turn, I am sending it to all the women I know.

         A perfect line:  “When a hell year hits hard, your goal for the next year should be to kick hard back.”  I agree fully.

         “No one get through life without a bad year, and there’s no way to weigh yours against anyone else’s.  Yet, it is so common to hear about someone else’s seemingly even worse year and think, ‘I shouldn’t complain.’  Wrong.  Complain away; you’re allowed.  Hate it, shout at it – but remember that you have weathered it, endured, prevailed.  You battled the beasts and made it to the end.” – Liz Pryor

         After I read Liz Pryor’s advice a few weeks back, I spent a few days thinking of my blessings, and also thinking of my foolish pet peeves. Example: My lovely cat jumps on my lap for a pat when I have just sat down before church in my best black pants and she fuzzes me up with gobs of cat hair.  Yes, the cat loves me, I love the cat, and I must say I love my lint roller that much more.

         There is a phrase - What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.  One day I tossed that phrase out to friend and she retorted – “I am strong enough to move mountains, but, I just can’t move my life in the right direction.”  I knew her pain – it is a universal pain. Spinning your wheels and getting nowhere, sound familiar?

         And, another time, I was commiserating with a friend while she was sorting through some old photos. We were sitting on her bedroom floor as she dug through a bottom bureau drawer.  She was recently divorced not just once, but twice, and I saw brief flickers of delight as she flipped through the treasure trove of photos from the past. I understood most of the emotions flitting across her face and mentioned – “I know there were some really good times mixed in with all the bad.”  She replied something to the effect – not everyone can understand that.

         If you need the cure for a bad year – go to the website below for Liz Pryor’s full article at: https://www.familycircle.com/family-fun/cure-bad-year/

         Me, I have a new saying I’ve polished up these last few weeks after I read Liz Pryor’s article in order to start 2019.

No one is going to tell me what to do.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Hopefully, 2019 will be an exciting new year.

         

December 30, 2018 – The end of the year wrap up.

         First, I want to say thank you to all my blog followers.  You’ve been so kind to keep returning to “slim pick in’s” when it comes to new blogs these last six months.  But, if you are new to my blog site, you’ve 462 blogs to wade through and some of that wading is a bit of fun.  I love comments . . .

         Well, I’ve done it again – I bashed my two small toes on my right foot dodging the cat running between my feet as I am carrying bed sheets to the laundry room.  I wrung it good on the leg of a chair.  Of course I am bare foot! Have I moved the chair?  Not exactly – but I have pushed it in further.  What will I do differently?  I am not certain – probably just stomp on the cat instead of busting up my toes.  I limped yesterday and today it is the ghastly shade of blue and green.  I can at least walk on it today. It has slowed me down a bit – but not stopped me like that hamstring pull did.

         I have already started some of my New Year’s resolutions in the last few days.

         Drum roll please . . . .

               I plan to finish all the craft projects I have half started and tucked here and there.  Once I get those complete – it will empty up storage space so that I can “breath” when I am putting things away.

               Less is more is my new mantra – and that is not in the diet or dress size quarter.  It is in the house – less plastic containers for leftovers.  I shall cook drastically less so that I don’t make left overs.  I am sick of eating leftovers and my husband turns his nose up at them.  My dress size does not require me to be a member of the “clean plate club”. So, I am done with leftovers for several reasons.  They clutter up the refrigerator and they clutter up the cabinets with those plastic containers. I tossed out all the plastic containers except for a few I have that are ½ cup size – which I find are the only ones I really use.

         And, the “green earth people” will hate me, but if I must save something for the next meal I need to just slip it into a plastic bag and “toss the dirty bag” the next day. Simple, efficient – done.

               As I go about my daily living . . . . toss out what I haven’t worn or used. Examples just today:  I have a pair of boots that I could save and use in the garden for about 1 day – but I wouldn’t be caught dead in public – and that includes wearing them to the trash dump.  I tossed them.  I felt liberated.  I bought a pair of pajama bottoms last fall – the new fabric, that soft knitted stuff.  They are so hot I can’t stand them. I can wear them about ½ hour and I then have to peel out of them.  I almost think I am allergic to the fabric.  I was putting clothes away and there that miserable pair of PJ bottoms was cluttering up my drawer. Out I tossed them and I was thrilled to the core.

               I have a bad habit of storing things in empty suitcases.  Whenever I need a suitcase for travel, I have to empty a suitcase in order to get out of town.  This morning I emptied one that held my dress making ham among other items.  Now, I am not tossing the ham . . . but the rest of the stuff – a ½ yard of this, a scrap of that, a bit of this, mostly useless stuff.  Out it went.  Suitcase is now flat and put up.  I will tackle one suitcase a day until I can nest all my empty suitcases inside each other.

               Old Christmas ornaments that have no sentimental value.  I had a collection of ornaments – nice ones – that I used on my office Christmas tree when I was out at the big title office.  Clients would drop in and I needed to “deck the halls”. I no longer have that office so I don’t need them anymore.  I have only been shuffling them around from closet to closet for the last decade.  I will box them up and donate them to next Church rummage sale. 

               As I come to a cluttered cabinet or closet – I will take the time to fix it then and there – being retired I’ve no pressing appointments. Yesterday I cleaned out and alphabetized the spice cabinet.  That felt nice.  Later in the afternoon, I was putting away a cookie sheet and I noticed that the darling husband had jammed my jellyroll pan in sideways.  I emptied the cabinet, wiped it out and jettisoned a few rarely used items.  I’m already on my second box for the church rummage and it is only day two.

               This year I will take more time to read down my library of books and then donate them to a resale bookstore.

               And the biggest New Year’s Resolution is that I am sick of not finding anything to wear in the stores. It no longer matters whether I am thin or fat – there is simply nothing I want to buy out there.  I don’t like skinny ankle pants – it makes my fat butt look the size of an armored truck.

         I hate the colors. I don’t like the clinging fabric.  You can have all this “stretch that you want” but having to constantly pull up your pants because the pants stretch too much is irritating. I hate the unflattering neck lines. I find everything is the wrong color or wrong cut or wrong type fabric – forget finding anything that fits.  The prices are ridiculous.

         But – you already see TV commercials for customized shirts for men and now customized t-shirts for men.  So, it is not just me that can’t find anything that fits – it is a universal problem and I know how to solve it.

         I have gone back to sewing clothes – haute courtier sewing.  I have already purchased the McCall’s M7279 Fitted Sheath Dress pattern.  I’ve marked every single line on white muslin and I have cut it out and hand sewed the bodice and skirt.  A friend fitted it for me and now I need to adjust the pattern in one or two places.  Now adjusted, I will create my base pattern template and then I will start to custom sew my own clothes to my sleeve length, to my hem length, to my color and, to my fabric selection.  Then, I can create an entire new wardrobe for myself as I use up the fabric I have in my fabric trunk - my colors, my styles, my necklines.

         I’ve already made a charcoal grey soft knit dolman sleeve top with front bodice top-stitching, three quarter sleeves and it skims my body right where it should and it is “oh-so-perfect” showing off my nice square shoulders.  And, the neckline – right where I want it - up around my neck so that my necklaces look right. It feels perfect on – I don’t have to tug at it or adjust it in any way when I am wearing it.  Trust me, nothing feels better than “custom fitted” clothes.

         The plan for 2019  is to make ten custom outfits that are perfect and then I might toss out everything in my closets – we shall see.  That is a real New Year’s resolution goal!

        

December 21, 2018 – The Robitussin Bear commercial

         It is a 10 second or 15 second spot and it simply charms me and fascinates me at the same time.

         At the end, I always wonder how did they do that?  Is that a real bear that has been superimposed into the scene or maybe it is a computer generated bear?  My husband says it is a man in a bear suit – that I don’t believe – just look at the bear’s eyes.

         Even the bear's ears move when he talks . . . is that a sign that it is computer generated.  Do real bears' ears move like that?

         It is a perfect commercial – you’ve no doubt in your mind what the product is which is perfect because when you are having a flu/cold slow moving day your attention span is dulled.  Even down with a flu/cold you an eek out from your sick bed – “bring me Robitussin Honey cough syrup” – the message ‘sticks’.

         These are my biggest questions I have these days – things like how the Honey Robitussin commercial is made.  Not much of a life, huh?

         But, then, I am retired, and it has been raining since October.  Woke up this morning to a pond on my back lawn down near the Maidenhair grass.  Our ground is saturated and I’d rather think about a true-to-life bear than think about the fallen leaves an inch deep sopping wet on my lawn.  They will be hard to clean up – whereas thinking about the Robitussin bear is an easy fantasy.

         What first gets my attention is that blue gasp with a bit of lavender at the end – that is what I perceive when people are coughing around me in church – I wince and shift in my seat.  Often, I even pull my scarf up around my face to ward off the blue aspiration of germs floating through the air.  This year I vow I will rudely get up and move away from a typhoid Mary the next time I am coughed on.

         I also admire the pathetic limp hair ponytail hairdo that mimics my own “housekeeping hair” as I call it when I am just bumming around the house, cooking, cleaning, or gardening.

         But, the highlight to me is the bear's voice – spot on - by Brian McGuinness.  His voice is so enticing I almost want to trot out to the trashcans with him.  I think we’d have a honey of a conversation.



NOTES:

Website where you can watch the commercial            

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/daul/robitussin-honey-window-bear?autoplay=1

Another website where they have analyzed the commercial in detail and added a parody – fun.

https://foxsylvania.blog/2018/11/01/robitussin-honey-window-bear-commercial/

December 11, 2018 – Does grief ever end?

         Christmas number two.  Will I mentally count all my future birthdays and Christmases in A. D. format – as in two years after the death of my Mother?

         I wrote out half my Christmas cards today and I went to the Post Office to get stamps.  I bought stamps, then used the chest high postal desk where I proceeded to peel and stick stamps on each envelope of the first batch of cards.

         It was slow and pleasant work getting the stamps in the corner just so, lined-up evenly with the top of the envelope and the right side edge.  The task lasted a few minutes when I noticed an elderly men open the door – with all his strength – and walk to the counter and ask for “one stamp please”.

         That made me pause – just one stamp – he had a red envelope in his hand.  My heart ached for him – just one Christmas card to be sent?  Then I tried to put a spin on it – oh, maybe it is the special card – the one he waited until he had a large crisp bill to put in it and didn’t want it to arrive too soon or too late on the other end.

         Then, after he left, another older gent came in; he asked, “I need a stamp for this.”  I glanced up to look as I tossed the emptied stamp backing paper in the wastebasket.  The postal clerk put a large red envelope on the scale and said “that’ll be . . .” and the gent pulled a handful of change out of his pocket.

         Who carries loose change in their pockets anymore?  The answer is – the elderly gent who is going to post an overweight Christmas Card.  I rarely carry change in my purse anymore.   Hasn’t just about everyone gone debit card?  You don’t see much loose change in the parking lots anymore either, do you.

         My stack of cards now stamped, I go to open the door and the elderly gent gallantly pushes it open for me – but he is hard-pressed to hold the heavy door open for long.

         He waited until I put my bunch of cards in the outgoing mail slot before he slipped his lone card through the slot – off to his friend, family or loved one.  I noticed his eyes assessing me as I turned to leave.  He had a wistful smile. Was he thinking – you are so lucky you have that many people to send cards to . . . or did I remind him of someone.  I’ll never know, I didn’t stop to ask and now part of me thinks I should have struck up a conversation with him or at least said, “Merry Christmas.”  My Mom would have done such. Mom would have called to him, “Merry Christmas, have a nice day.”

         I am slipping, I am in a deeper funk than I thought – no it is the weekend storm, it is the Christmas tree half decorated . . . it is . . . excuses, excuses and more excuses I am making for myself.  That is what I am doing – making excuses for not moving on and getting beyond this. 

         How can I get beyond this – I can hardly unpack my Christmas ornaments – Mom is so tangibly there – in the 40 years of ornaments she sent to me, one by one over the years, or like the beautiful cloisonné bells – six in a velvet box I received only a few years back.

         On the way home I mentally celebrate ‘how nice’, I got the bird stamps so that the leftover Christmas stamps don’t look like Christmas – they look like I am living in the country where I enjoy feeding the birds, have an active life, and am in “ordinary time” when I stamp my envelopes with bird stamps.

         Why should I feel silly about using Christmas stamps in February or March of let us say August?  Why do I worry about the minutia of life that is not necessary to worry about.  In this fast-paced world – who is going to notice? 

         Well, I would notice if someone sent me a letter in August and it had a Christmas stamp on it.  I would wonder – no I would deduce – they don’t send out much correspondence – do they.  Was the Christmas stamp in the bottom of their desk drawer and they just now found it and I am the lucky one for their find?  Or possibly, do they think every day is Christmas?

         Now there is a thought – every day really is Christmas for those who believe in Christianity.  God is a part of our entire life, our every day, our every morning, noon and evening.  It is our choice to embrace him or not.

         Jesus the Lord, our God, and especially the Holy Spirit is with us every moment of our lives – we just need to “Be still and know that I am God.” PSALM 46:10

         On the ride home I am alone and I contemplate my A.D. - after Mom’s death sadness – when a shot of wisdom enters my brain, probably sent to me by the Holy Spirit himself, to think more about the before death of Mom, the happy memories and leave the sad grieving ones to melt away like day old snow on black top.

         Now I have a plan.  I shall not grieve the loss of Mom when I unwrap each sentimental ornament from the tissue paper, but remember when I first received it and how delighted I was, I will re-kindle that delight again and again, each year for all the rest of my A.D. Christmases.

        

December 4, 2018 – Furoshiki [fabric wrapping] Tiramisù and rubber band hacking.

         Trust me, these three topics will all come together in this little discussion.

         I’ve gone back to sewing and I noticed I have kept many pieces of extra fabric – purposely – for the Japanese wrapping of gifts or for transport of goods. 

         Furoshiki, the art of Japanese fabric wrapping, is said to have been founded by Minoro Takohama around 1935 or 1936.  I thought it was more ancient than that – but still, it is a handy art to learn.

         When I was sorting through my fabric, I cut the leftover fabric into squares of various sizes to wrap future presents or for carrying a couple bottles of wine or other items.  I folded these new, Furoshiki wrapping cloths neatly and tucked them away for the future.

         The future arrived this last Sunday when I needed to transport a Tiramisù to a fancy Christmas Party.  When I sent my R.S.V.P., I indicated I would be bringing a dessert – Tiramisù.

         Once my husband cleared out of the house Saturday morning and I had the kitchen all to myself – I laid out all the items for the making in stages so that it would go together with less fuss.

         Over the years, I have received many copies of Cook’s Illustrated and I’ve tried and kept many of the recipes.  Below are links to the recipe I am mentioning.  As I believe, their recipes have copyright as noted by the “must subscribe” page that pops up – I first apologize that I cannot set out the recipe herein, as I don’t want to be sued by a major corporation.  I will leave it up to you on obtaining the recipe.

         What I loved about this article and most of Cook’s Illustrated articles is the in-depth discussion on what they tried and what failed.  I use the fresh ladyfingers from the bakery – not the hard ones – as I couldn’t locate any of the latter.  I also use the cooked egg yolk version – I just prefer to know that I won’t poison anyone when it comes to cooking with raw eggs vs. cooked eggs. That is just a personal phobia of mine.

         I usually make it in a fancy glass 9 x 9 square dish – it is taller, uses less ladyfingers, makes a richer filling volume and presents better at the table.  But, this time I used the 13 x 9 glass dish [lasagna type dish] because I was taking it to a Christmas Party where there would be a crowd and I thought it would serve more people.

         The original recipe goes into a discussion that Mascarpone is a must and also discusses the strength of the coffee or espresso and the brandy, whiskey or dark rum.  I use Myers original dark rum – I like the flavor.

         This is one of the few recipes I use a double boiler – so that the egg yolk, cream and sugar mixture comes to 160 degrees without scorching, however, if you don’t have one, you can improvise with a metal bowl over a saucepan.

         Work on your extra strong coffee first so that it can cool to room temperature.  Second, do the egg yolk dance – cracking the eggs and keeping the yolks and letting the whites pour into another bowl.  Then do the double boiler part of the recipe.  Once that is done and while it is cooling get all the rest of the ingredients out and about.

         Put a small deep mixing bowl for the cream in the refrigerator with the beaters to chill for the next to last step.

         I set a small sifter to the side with the Dutch powder mixture divided into two small cups.

         Pre-plan the ladyfingers.  Break them apart and see how many you will need for two layers in your 13 x 9 dish – put them in, move them around to check their fit. Then, set them aside for later. 

         Once my final mixture is ready to assemble – then I quickly do the wetting of the ladyfinger cakes and assemble. [I do this part sitting down at the kitchen table – easier for me.] 

         I don’t dip the store bought lady fingers as they fall to pieces.  I use a basting brush dipped in the coffee rum mixture and paint the bottom, then the top, then place in the 13 x 9 dish.  I paint the bottom holding each ladyfinger, then turn it over onto two fingers and paint the top so that the liquid drips off over the coffee rum mixture bowl, then place each in the bottom of the dish for layer number one.  You don’t want any extra liquid sloshing around in the bottom of the dish.

         Neatness counts on this project. You don’t want to slop the filling up the sides of the dish.  Spoon it in and smooth it gently to the sides over the soaked ladyfingers – then dust with the cocoa and on to layer two of the ladyfingers.

         You assemble this quickly.

         The hacking part of rubber bands comes into play at this stage.  I have a bag of assorted rubber bands and you often get some that are 8 to 10 inches in diameter.  Grab two of those and slide them over each end of the casserole dish and place them at 1/3 from the end over the top of the Tiramisù so that the cling wrap doesn’t drop down and destroy the smooth top.  [Me, I am too cheap to buy one of those 13 x 9 glass dishes with the snap on top . . . so I have to hack my way through life to save money.]  If you have such a dish with a cover – lucky you.

         Next the Furoshiki [fabric wrapping] technique.  Not only am I too cheap to buy one of those covered dishes, I also ruined my last casserole carrier due to spilling some chowder in my carrier that wouldn’t launder out and I never replaced it.  Now I use the Furoshiki technique.

         Just before I left for the party, I folded a large square of fabric – 41 inch square is a traditional size – in half into a triangle so that the showy side of the fabric facing each other.  You then take one of the points at the folded end and gather it into a point half the length of the unfolded portion to the point.  You tie a simple knot.  You do the same to the other point.  Turn this inside out so that the knots flop inside – this creates the bottom.  Once turned inside out you spread these knots to the sides and flatten the area in between.  [If these instructions make no sense – just look at the directions or videos noted at the bottom of this blog.]

         This is where you will place your casserole dish or items.  I fold a dishtowel in thirds and place over the top of these two knots so that the tails are centered underneath for cushioning.  I then place the casserole dish on top of these and bring up the sides.  You then take the final points of the triangle and tie off a knot about half way down to the dish. 

         TA-DA – you have an instant casserole carrier that is STYLISH as well as useful. If you feel unsafe with only one knot, you can go to the trouble of tying the tail ends below the handle knot to make a double knot.

         At your destination, you simply untie the handle knot(s) and you access your casserole.

         But me, the show-off type – I untie all the knots and very carefully fold the Furoshiki completely flat and flap it over my purse.  Later when I need to take my dish to leave, I go through the folding and knotting process again and many people pay attention – and they all learn the subtle art of Furoshiki without being told by “show off” me.

         “Where did you learn that?”

         “I’ve been around.”

         The two wine bottles with the 41 inch Furoshiki is another delightful trick that gets attention – the men like that one.  Very useful for stepping onto a pontoon boat or into a canoe – the twin wine bottles over your shoulder securely.

         So, you didn’t believe me that I’d tie all three items together in the end –  gotcha!

         If you want to be clever at wrapping anything – below are additional links to Furoshiki – the art of Japanese fabric wrapping.

Tiramisù:

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/3917-tiramisu

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/3918-tiramisu-without-raw-eggs

Furoshiki:

Book by Etsuko Yamada entitled: Wrapping with Fabric – Your complete guide to Furoshiki – the Japanese Art of Wrapping

https://www.1millionwomen.com.au/blog/how-furoshiki-fabric-wrapping/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F74Dwe2BDFw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl9pl-iinlk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC7MH3EzBWM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufPwy-7jCxg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk6UUL3VTSI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlLru9dGjBA

https://makenter.com/blog/how-wrap-bottle-japanese-furoshiki

December 3, 2018 – “ . . . the kindness of strangers.”

         I pulled a Blanche DuBois yesterday evening at the BI-LO grocery story in Chesnee. [Reference to the Southern Belle sister in the play and movie entitled Street Car Named Desire.]

         I had just driven in from a fancy Christmas party west of Greenville, South Carolina, on a beautiful lake, at a swanky clubhouse.  During that 3-hour drive each way I noticed the gas was down to $1.89 near Clemson.  That alone took my breath away – but I was in congested traffic and didn’t stop to fill up until I got to Spartanburg, South Carolina, and paid $1.99 a gallon. Here in North Carolina, we are about $2.49, [last fill up].

         I digress, but I am still on the “savings track” of this little story.

         Years ago, I quit shopping at the BI-LO’s grocery store because they would advertise in the weekly newspaper flyer a large discount on cat food every few weeks, and I would grab a bag and bring it to the cash register.  They would ring up the higher price. When I pointed out the flyer price, I quibbled and I lost. 

         Granted, I let this situation pass once, then twice, but the third time in a matter of six months, I asked to speak with the manager.  I walked him to the cat food aisle and pointed out that what was marked on the shelf matched the lower price in the sales flyer and he made up several excuses and said something to the effect, “If it is not in the computer, we can’t change the price.”  That day, I left the unpurchased cat food at the cash register, paid for the rest of my groceries and mentally vowed I wouldn’t darken the door to a BI-LO grocery store for the rest of my life.

         That was about 15 years ago, until last night.  Coming home in the dark after a long drive, I opted for convenience, rather than holding a decade or more grudge.  I pulled into the Chesnee BI-LO and walked directly to the meat case.  If I could whistle, I would have when I noticed the difference in discount card price and regular price.

         I knew exactly what I was going to do, as soon as I saw the price tag of $9.06 with bonus card or $14.42 without the card – which is a whopping $5.36 difference.  OUCH!

         I don’t know about you, but I simply hate all those key tag things that clutter up your key chain – Food Lion, Ingles, BI-LO and now the drug stores have gotten into the act, Rite Aid, etc.  I even have one for Ollie’s and Sally’s.  I hate them – I find them tacky and I do not keep any of them on my key chain because they take up too much room.  I opt for keeping the little key cards in a compartment of my charge card carrier and pull them out when I need them.

         But, I haven’t had a BI-LO’s discount card for years and I was thinking frugal.  Ahh, yes, often when I am in Food Lion or Ingles grocery store and someone doesn’t have a discount card they loudly ask for one and I, just like most people, hand over my card for their temporary use. Why not – we are gaining points to purchase discount gas at Ingles.

         As I walked to the front of the store, I started to locate my target – yes target.  I needed to find just the right person to play act my total helplessness so that I, like, Blanche DuBois, could depend on the kindness of strangers.

         I sighted two targets.  A tall fella was to the right with a basket full of groceries, and a paunch that reflected the basket.  He had a shock of white hair and a nice countenance. He looked like a soft touch, but I was put off by the full basket of groceries, I didn’t want to wait that long to check out and get back on the road.

         Then, I noticed a wiry man, about 35, in jeans, work boots, three-day-old beard, handful of groceries loaded on one arm and in is right hand he’d hooked fingers in two six packs, one coke and one beer.  He was my type of man, a quick in and out grocery shopper.  Side note: If you buy beer here in the south, you had better have all the grocery store discount cards – or you are paying way too much for your beer. A much better target.

         As he was putting down his assorted groceries I advanced, gave him a flashing smile as I sidled up behind him.

         “Excuse me, do you have one of those discount cards?” 

         I had his attention as he did the typical tip to toe look and a smile broadened on his face.

         “Could you zap me when you are done? I left my thingy on my other key chain.” I said in a husky voice, as I was within a foot of him holding my package of chicken so that he could read the label easily.

         “Sure,” he said as he glanced down at my purchase.  Then he chuckled adding, “Yeah, five bucks is five bucks.”  I surmised he was thinking that five bucks would pay for another six-pack – or close to pay for it.

         I smiled demurely at him and as his groceries were rung up, I let my mind wander off to imaginary land, thinking, ‘Yes, my other key chain, the one with the De Beers diamond fob in the shape of a heart that keeps the keys to the vintage Jaguar and the 60-foot sailing sloop. . . . ”

         I came back from my reverie, when the total stranger turned and handed his key chain to the grocery clerk where it was “zapped” for my discount.

         “Thank you so much. How kind of you,” I said softly in Blanche DuBois style.

         “Anytime,” he said as he nodded to me retrieving his massive key ring.



        

         I haven’t yet gotten to the helpless state of Vivien Leigh’s character in Street Car Named desire, where she says:

“Whoever you are, I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers.”

         But, I can be a great actress when I want to save $5 bucks.

        

November 21, 2018 – I’m a food snob about cranberry relish.

         I was born in Massachusetts.  As a kid, my parents took me and my siblings to the Ocean Spray place one time. Back then, I think it was merely a gift shop on a busy road on Cape Cod.  But, it was cool that cranberries were grown in Massachusetts and I sure am a proud Massachusetts-ite all these years telling people where they are grown and by whom.

         But, when it comes to Thanksgiving Day – I require, I must have, or the world will come to an end – if I don’t have fresh Ocean Spray cranberries.  I am a 100 percent Ocean Spray cranberry snob.

         This trait was imprinted on my culinary soul as a youngster by just one little stop to the Ocean Spray place in Cape Cod – who would have thought it.

         Add this adult life snobbery of the cranberry jelly out of a can that my Mom used to buy and chill for Thanksgiving Day my entire childhood into my teens seems so bizarre to tell it.  My job, even as a small tike – when I could carry dishes and silverware to the table, was to set the table for the Thanksgiving Day guests.

         As I aged, I took on the full table setting including the tablecloth, the silverware, the dishes, the pickles and olives in their own special “split” dish.  The antique saltcellars and the crisp celery chilled in an upright container.

         Then, when my Grandma and Grandpa Nixon arrived, it was time for me run out and greet them.  I got their hugs and kisses and then as I opened the door for them into the kitchen, Grandma would present the homemade mincemeat pie to Dad.  It was his favorite, and Grandpa would put his grey felt, black banned fedora on my head.  I felt so classy in his hat every year. 

         I’d take their coats to my parents room and lay them out on the bed, just so, and after admiring myself in the bureau mirror of how excellent the fedora looked on me, I’d place it on the bed pillows.

         Returning to the living room set up for dinning, Mom would have me open the chilled can of cranberry jelly [both ends] so that it would slide out on to a crystal plate. I would slice it once from top to bottom, and then into 3/4^th inch slices creating half-moon shapes then add the spoon and set it on the table.  Within moments, we would be ready to sit down as Father carved the turkey at the table – just like a Norman Rockwell painting.

         “You’ve come a long way baby . . .” as the Virginia Slims commercial used to say – yes I have from that last Thanksgiving Dinner at my parents’ house as a teenager to my first solo performance at cooking my first turkey when I set up housekeeping.

         That first Thanksgiving, I read the back of the fresh Ocean Spray cranberry package and followed the instructions for making cranberry sauce. Came out perfect and I never looked back at the canned cranberry jelly.

         Over the years, I always make homemade cranberry sauce and have for over 40+ years. Today was no exception.  In the past I’ve made if for ham, roast beef, turkey of course, and one Thanksgiving I actually served scallops.  I have it as a side dish.  It is pretty, it is tart-sweet, it is a taste of “home”, that was never like “the home” I had as a kid – but it my tradition.

         In the last few days, one of the news channels was bantering about a recipe for Cointreau Cranberry Relish.  I still had a splash left of Cointreau in the liquor cabinet and that recipe sounded like it would have a “bright” taste.  I prowled around the internet and ended up on a very simple recipe at:

https//www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ted-allen/cointrea-cranberry-relish-recipe-219365.recipePrint

I changed the recipe up a little bit [**] to suit me:

Into a saucepan I combined one 12-ounce bag of Ocean Spray cranberries [washed of course]

1 peeled and diced apple

Two knobs of fresh ginger peeled and diced fine **

1 cup sugar

Zest from one large lemon**I cooked it in

The juice from the large lemon** instead of the water

¼ teaspoon of allspice** instead of cinnamon

¼ teaspoon of ground cloves

- after it cools – ½ cup of Cointreau

I brought it to a simmer and then a slow boil – stirring so that it did not scorch for about 10 minutes.  I scraped the sides of the pan and allowed it to cool a bit before I added the ½ cup of Cointreau.

Still warm, I spooned it into a glass crock that has a clamp lid and the 3 or 4 tablespoons that wouldn’t fit – into a navy blue ramekin for the culinary cook, Moi.

         Later when it was cool, I popped the jar into the refrigerator for tomorrow and my little ramekin – cool enough to taste – I plied a small spoonful on my husband and he said – “hmmmm” [passing muster].  And, me, I savored the leftover ½ a spoonful at a time melting on to my tongue.  Sheer Nirvana.  The Cointreau simply “does it” – Perfection.

         I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

        

November 20, 2018.  It is getting to be a lot like Christmas . . .

          I saw the Energizer Bunny on TV today.  It is a simple little 15 second spot that makes me smile as the drum is being beaten by a candy cane that shatters a bit and at the end the bunny tips his head back and looks at the camera for a closeup.  Those 15 seconds transform me into a little kid for a few moments. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecctpF0Nf8c

          Christmas is on its way when this pink bunny commercial comes on and I hear the Christmas music in the grocery stores.  Then, yesterday, the tree arrived at the White house . . . a 19.5 foot live Mountain Top Fraser Fur tree from Newland, North Carolina.  How nice – for our state.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_2SxA_-xf8

          The next thing I need to do is start on the Christmas cards.

          I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving day and weekend.