by Kat | Nov 22, 2021 | General, In This Moment
It’s the Monday before Thanksgiving… do you have your lists ready? Or do you just have a singular list? Or do you have no list (and just a super brain) and have no issue remembering all the things to do this week!?
Yes, I noted that I asked three rapid fire questions… this week has a sense of urgency to it, doesn’t it? As I sit here and type this I can hear the washing machine diligently working away in the basement. It sounds like it is almost done and I will need to head down to move things along down there!
But… I have my lists… yes more than one. I have the Thanksgiving Feast List/Timeline and the Things That Need to be Mailed Before Month End List. One is looming larger than the other because of the general clusterfuck that is the Post Office these days. (16 days ago I mailed a birthday card to my son in law… which has yet to arrive and his birthday was the 18th… I truly hope it gets there before he arrives home to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family!) Anyways… the Post Office is adding unnecessary stress to my life!
But… now for the REAL questions! Ha!
Question One:
What is the one thing that must be on your Thanksgiving table to make it feel like Thanksgiving?
(My answer… my nana’s ewy-gewy-rich-and chewy Sweet Potato Casserole… this year I am trying a lighter version sans marshmallows.)
Question Two:
Is there something new that you are adding to your table this year?
(In my mind this is always a dicey idea… but, I could use some controlled risk in my life this week so I am adding Bonny’s Cranberry Pie to our table this year!)
I am eagerly awaiting your answers! See you all back here on Wednesday for some Unraveling!
by Kat | Nov 8, 2021 | General, In This Moment, Uncategorized
(a weekend update, and an answer!)
Debate over the Vintage Mixer continued on Friday evening and we made a plan for Saturday morning. Our plan… if and when it became too full to move around and still maintain safe distancing that would be our key to leaving. We arrived a little after the doors opened, hoping to avoid the initial rush of opening, but we still got hung up in a bit of a line. And from roughly 10 am to noon we had a wonderful time. We looked at so much fun stuff! We people watched all the “Vintage-dressed” people! (They are just so fun!) We had a beer and some Pie Bird Potato and Leek Breakfast Pie (yes, beer for breakfast!) and we did a tiny bit of shopping before it became almost impossible to move at all. It got so busy and so full. I have to confess that the female portion of the attendee’s seemed to have major issues with keeping your mask on correctly, despite there being signs EVERYWHERE about covering your nose and mouth. The men did not seem to have this issue at all, and frankly… I was a bit outraged at the women (can you say stupid??)
I was sad that I did not see a number of vendors that had previously attended… and most notably, Rick Sebak was not there. And we only bought 2 things! But what fun things they are! We got a set of vintage cocktail glasses and a very old little cast iron pug. I have plans to put out the Dickens Village this year and I thought this little pug would be perfect companion for Fezziwig!
Last week, Patty expressed curiosity about my Cinnamon Syrup making so I thought I’d share my little concoction with you all! Years ago I found a recipe on Pinterest for Cinnamon Syrup but it was way too sweet for my taste… so I tweaked it quite a bit. My recipe: 1.5 cups of water, 1 – 8″ length cinnamon stick or 3 small sticks (note… I buy cinnamon sticks from Costco, they are larger, fresher, and less expensive that the regular grocer – but they don’t always have them in stock) and 3/4 cup brown sugar (not packed… just loose scoops). Bring the water with the cinnamon stick to a boil and once it is boiling, turn off the heat and cover the pot and let it steep for 20-30 minutes. Remove the sticks and add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Voilá, the perfect hint of cinnamon-y sweetness to add to your coffee. (And if you froth your milk and sprinkle it with a tiny bit of ground cinnamon, you have yourself an incredible treat!)
And finally… my question of the week involves those ever-present stacks of paper that live in a house. Sadly, Steve and I are both paper collectors… but different sorts of paper. I like to print out recipes because I can make notes on them, but the kitchen drawer is overflowing and so this morning, I am culling the recipe herd and only keeping the ones we really love and I will be putting them in a new recipe book. Steve’s paperwork is a bit more “all over the house” than mine – he is a receipt and coupon hoarder. He doesn’t know it, but they are all going in the trash this morning… but how long do you all keep receipts? (and I am not talking grocery or fast food receipts… and yes, he keeps those too… sigh) I am talking ‘big ticket’ items, warranty items, etc.
But really, I want to know… how do you battle the Paper War?
That’s all I have for this morning… the stacks of paper are calling!
by Kat | Nov 1, 2021 | General, In This Moment
“October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
My October ended exactly as J.K. Rowling describes…windy and so rainy! And the start of November seems to be on track for her words as well (the cold is here!!) Yes, the heat is on in my house…and I welcomed turning it on!
AND!!
Welcome to my new Monday format…Monday Question’s! Some weeks, I will be asking you a question or two as I seek your opinion/advice… other week’s I will highlight a question you have asked me in comments!
This week, I have a question for you! This question is a hot button issue in my house these days… it almost always instantly takes the conversation from 0 to 60 in a nanosecond. So… help!
My question this week involves recycling… or rather the recycling of a specific item… the varied assortment of cardboard boxes that arrive in this house over a two week period. Now, our “Recycling Body” (i.e. Scott Township) takes “flattened cardboard and paper” … which means to me, flatten all boxes and place them in the bin. Someone in this house thinks you can just put whole boxes in (as do my neighbors…whole cardboard boxes overflow their bin and if there is a breeze they go all over the place) The heated discussions revolve around the fact that Waste Management takes *all* the recycling from the street… flattened boxes and unflattened boxes, but I believe that things that are not in “compliance” are thrown away – defeating the purpose of recycling, imo. (And, personally this feels like a ploy to NOT break down boxes and leave them for me, just sayin’)
So…break down boxes? Or don’t?
A very small post script… I am happy to report that my pinky toe is NOT broken but I have arrived at the How Many Colors Can Your Bruise Turn Stage… but I will take multicolored bruising versus a broken toe!
Happy Monday everyone!
Photo by Olya Kobruseva from Pexels
by Kat | Jul 23, 2021 | General, In This Moment
Happy Friday as we welcome the last week of July.
The week has had the rug pulled out from under it a bit which is, sadly, going to push back our trip to Michigan… until October. I am trying to stay focused on the positive but there is not much positive in any of this… my ex has had a recurrence of a TIA incident that seems more severe than the last ones, he has had two deaths in his family, and his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. So a reshuffle of my schedule is happening and I am looking for the silver lining…or trying to look for it.
I have been thinking about what to post about today, but my brain is not offering any brilliant suggestions. But… then it occurred to me that YOU all had some great questions recently and I thought that the answers to these would be a great way to close out the week. (thanks to the question askers and to Carole and Kym for planting this questioning seed!)
So…I have answers to your questions!
Maureen asked:
“How do you have time to read?? So jealous. Sadly my reading has seriously declined now that I’ve taken up knitting. I have not mastered knitting while reading but I can knit while watching podcasts/TV. 🙂
Dear Maureen! First…WELCOME to the world of knitting! Yes, it is the best “time-suck” on the planet… well, besides reading that is! I don’t know anything about your local library… but I am extremely fortunate to live in Allegheny County PA. Why is that a good thing… The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh! I am so fortunate that they have a vast array of audio books to borrow… and I borrow LOTS of audio books. You see…knitting and reading are the best things to do together…and listening to a book allows me to knit. Listening to a book also makes the mundane tasks of daily life more palatable as well! I hope this tip will help you increase your reading as you knit!
Vera asked this:
“Looks like you’ve had another great week Kat (except maybe for that middle book…LOL). I just love your Moon Coasters – so pretty. What did you use in the center of them (for filling)? Or is it just the fabric stitched together? In either case, they are lovely.
Now, I answered Vera via email… but it occurred to me that you all might be wondering the same thing. I used a couple of scraps of cotton batting left over from some placemats I made. I inserted the batting after I stitched the side seams. I also think a piece of cotton flannel would have worked equally well (maybe even better if you do not want any “loft” in your coaster.)
and this:
“Looks like you have some fun and interesting projects for the week. The cocktail sounds interesting, but I’m not sure about the condensed milk part of it…I know it’s only a half oz or so, but man I dislike that stuff so much!!!
I love this question because I despise sweetened condensed milk as well… but there is a magical thing about it…it doesn’t curdle when you combine it with lime juice. Half and half or heavy cream will curdle… instantly, so they are non-starters for this cocktail. But still… I was skeptical of how this would taste, but even using just a couple of teaspoons of the condensed milk gives the drink the creaminess needed to counter the tang of the lime. Do not fear the condensed milk in cocktails! (at least in small quantities!)
Finally, Bonny shared this comment that I thought was necessary to talk about:
“I love your coasters and think they might be too pretty to place glasses on that will drip condensation on them! I’ve never read Beach Music, but am keeping it in my mind as a possible listen when things calm down here a bit. I think I’ll give Matthew a pass. 🙂
This…. we all need to break free of not using things that are too pretty. I am right in this camp… It’s too pretty, it will get stained…But if not now….when? Last year in my Year of Intentional Living I realized that life is short (and boy did this week put an exclamation point on that!) It makes me feel good to use a simple little coaster that I made. It tells me I am worthy. It says that I think that making things a little nicer is a very good thing.
So yes… I make things to use them in my daily life. And I celebrate that fact! I hope you do too!
That is all I have for this week… I will be back on Monday to share my July update on my word! Have a good weekend everyone!
