Decorative Gourd Season
Everyone’s talking about the first day of fall, oh, the excitement of the crispness in the air and the leaves turning and pumpkin spice everything taking over the world like alien overlords. I don’t mean to be a curmudgeon about things but I swear, I thought it was going to snow last night. The rain had that sleety feeling and the already-changed leaves were rapidly being blown off of trees. You want crispness in the air? That’s crispness. Today is much more temperate but Winter Is Coming and also I loathe pumpkin spice. However. I do like sweaters and boots and scarves so I guess that’s something. The leaves that are still on the trees are also very pretty.
We’re Jamming
Today I really wanted to make peach jam but I didn’t have quite enough peaches. I wondered what would happen if I added pears, so I did. I was completely befuddled as to why the recipe, which I had cut in half, made over twice the amount of jam. Was it pear related? Was it some kind of jam-chemistry that I wasn’t aware of? Was I magic? Then I realized I cut the fruit in half without cutting the sugar. So I now have eight very sweet jars of jam. I am gravely disappointed in this.
How Did I Get On This Mailing List
I received a catalogue in the mail today; I don’t know why or how but I am really not the target audience for it. It is almost entirely velour capes and “country classics” and is pretty much the opposite of clothing that I wear.
There is an entire section based on Fall Leaf Motifs. As I flipped through I kept thinking wow, there are a lot of pajamas in this catalogue, but no. Those are not pajamas.
I Cannot Stop Staring At My Fridge
Yesterday I was having a conversation (HI SHARYL HI LINDA) and the words You Should See Her Fridge came up. My friend’s sister keeps her stainless steel fridge spotless, and because I am apparently Heloise, Queen of Household Hints, I immediately asked to be let in on the secret. Linda told me and I implemented within five minutes of walking in my door. People, it’s so simple, and yet so glorious. Fill your sink with very hot water and dish soap (wash the dishes later, so as to not waste it – Bonus Heloise Hint!) then scrub your fridge down with a sponge. If it’s really gross in parts, use the non-abrasive side of the sponge. Then – this is the key – dry it off with a flannelette cloth. I have a plethora of old flannelette receiving blankets I have kept since the boys were babies, and they work perfectly. They are decorated with puppies and giraffes, but they are effective.
Anyway. I must tell you that this has been life altering. For as long as I’ve had my fridge I’ve been trying things with vinegar and coconut oil and everything else, and the secret is hot water, dish soap, and drying with a flannelette cloth. I keep admiring my fridge in all its shiny glory.
Five Fictional Characters That Describe Me
There’s a little meme that’s going around on social media and I find it fascinating, what fictional characters people identify with. I have always identified with Sally Albright on so many levels, but what about the other two? I thought about this for probably longer than I should have, as I sat in traffic and exercised on the elliptical trainer and stared at the sleet on the windshield as I waited for the kids at karate. Finally, I had it! I think we can all agree, it’s perfect.
I think we are in entirely different seasons. I am wearing shorts and t-shirt today and when I settled down with a book this morning and wanted a drink, I made iced tea. I’d like fall weather to get here but I’m dreading winter, because of my snow-day neurosis.
I always wonder what mysterious force is at work when I suddenly receive a random catalogue from someplace I’ve never ordered from and clearly am never going to order from because it is so incredibly unlike me or my style. Bizarre.
I think that fridge cleaning trick just changed my life.
Ha! I only know you from the internet but I LOVE your fictional character pics. They perfectly sum up the personality you project. Great choices!
Also: I am THE WORST at remembering to reduce stuff when I’m cutting a recipe down. I can’t count how many times I have sighed and done my best to scoop out half the cup of sugar I just put in, or half the teaspoon of salt. Hope the jam is okay – sometimes it surprises me how little the many, many cooking mistakes I make actually seem to matter.
And lastly: those capes are very impressive. I had no idea such capedom was possible. I feel like we should all be wearing capes now. Imagine the dramatic entrances we could make – and how well they would hide the fact that we actually *are* wearing jammies underneath!
What, you don’t want to live a life of feminine beauty, in dresses that double easily as nightgowns because they’re basically nightgowns?
I will never, ever have a clean fridge because I can’t not stick pictures and postcards and magnets and finger puppets all over it. At least the fingerprints are hidden.
I am agog at how everyone is so brilliantly describing themselves in three fictional characters – I can’t even overthink it because my brain goes into vapour-lock. I must be afraid that they’d all be really unflattering.
Oh, and I once tried to make a healthy meatloaf with oats in it and halved the recipe except forgot to halve the oats so it was basically beefy oatmeal. Barf.