Month: January 2022

Happy birthday to my younger sister Nancy. Many, many more sweetling.

By high gear, I mean I am in high gear. Last night, before bed, I combined three different flours, and amounts, added eighty percent of the total volume of flour in the form of water, to form what is called an autolyse. The mixture will sit on the counter, covered, of course, overnight. It is simply the combination of flour and water, at this point. It was discovered (by someone, in the past, I have no idea when), that doing this, and waiting forty five minutes minimum, up to twelve, or fourteen hours, it made the rest of the process of sourdough bread making much easier in several ways that I will not go into at the moment. You are welcome.

In the morning, I will feed my sourdough starter its required, equal amounts of flour and water, then wait for five hours, after which time it will have at least doubled in size, and height, and be ready to use.

After said five hours, I will combine both mixtures, along with two percent salt, and begin what is called the “stretch and fold”ing of the bread dough. There is no kneading with this S&F technique.

So, besides that, I have sorted, washed, and am now soaking a kilo of black beans, to be cooked, probably, tomorrow morning/afternoon. I have washed rice, ready for tomorrow, and will be making both corn and flour tortillas, tomorrow, or the next day.

S&F is done every thirty minutes for two, up to three hours; until gluten bands are formed, and remain strong. After that, it will rest, covered on the counter, for another several hours, depending on the heat in the kitchen. After that, it is on to getting it ready for the banneton, used to shape the dough after it is formed into a circular, or, oblong loaf. By that time, it will probably be too late in the day for baking, so they will rest, contained in a plastic bag, overnight in the fridge, to be baked on the third day. I cannot wait. Fresh sourdough bread. I will post a photo, regardless of the results.

Why not? What else do I have to do? When the baby comes, that will be a completely different story. For now, I will do what I can. Until then,

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

It is the little things, I say, that can make, or break, or, as in my case, be broken.

There is a small cog at the end of the front brush of my now-five-years-old Shark ION MultiFlex DuoClean vacuum cleaner. Needless to say, the brush will not turn without said cog, therefore, said vacuum cleaner will not pick up items from the floor with the same ease of use it did before the stupid piece broke while I was cleaning it.

I got the whole vacuum spotless the other day, (it comes apart so easily), then noticed the silly cog, actually, just a small piece of said silly cog, on the floor. Not knowing what it was, much less of its importance, I did what I normally do; I threw it away.

As I was attempting to reassemble the disassembled parts, I noticed the cog was not complete. Noting the rest of the cog still on the vacuum head, I removed it, to look at it. To my chagrin, I found that it looked just like the smaller piece I found on the floor, and discarded. Well, that is just great!

Fortunately, however, I found the discarded piece, and have spent the last two days gluing my fingers to it with Gorilla Glue gel. That stuff, by the way, is amazing. Each time I tried to replace it to the roller brush, then the vacuum head, it broke; and, it broke again; then, this last time, it broke into three complete pieces, not just two.

Enough, I say. Enough.

Amazon.com.mx., as usual, is here to help. Next week, I will be delivered of a new brush head, complete with silly little cog, and two each of the three filters that need to be washed periodically. All for the low price of $598. Pesos. Ha. Gotcha. That is about $30 USD. (TYJ)

While I patiently wait for the aforementioned items, I will ask that you stay happy, stay healthy, and, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Woohoo! Ivan bought another 12” screen for my 12” iPad Pro. Remember? The one that I pushed off my tray, in the bedroom, accidentally, several months ago?

He is going to replace it with a new one. How cool is that?

I cannot wait because, for ease of use, better visualization, etc., this is a much better iPad than the 11”.

I know how that sounds; “why can’t she be happy with what she has?” I am, really. But when these two are the only means of paying bills, communicating with others, searching the www for anything, and everything, I want the better of the two; the 12”.

Ok, so I can use my phone, but, what if? What if I misplace it? Or break it? Or it is stolen? Then what?

Nothing, really. I would buy another phone. But, as none of those things is going to happen, I want him to repair the face of the iPad that I broke. He is so good with computers, it probably will not take him any time at all. He is watching multiple videos on YT to make sure he has the procedure down pat, and off we will go.

He has replaced several faces of iPhones, before we left Iowa, and a couple of iPad mini’s, but never a 12”. They appear to be a bit more complex than the average Apple anything.

You should hear the birds singing. Just now, I heard a beautiful song, only lasting a few seconds, but it took my thoughts away from my broken screen for a moment.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Not really.

I just erased all of my northern “Take out” apps from this computer. It was awful. McDonalds, gone. Texas Roadhouse, gone. Starbucks, Olive Garden, Chili’s, Old Chicago Pizza; all gone. Burger King, and Pizza Hut we have here so they can still be used; I just have to change the site to Mexico. Chick-fil-a, gone. There were a couple more, but I cannot remember, (after about thirty seconds), what they were. Duh!

The places I will be mentioning are all places we could order from online, then pickup. Score!!!

Some of them we really enjoyed- Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom, was just up the hill from our house. We could order the best hamburgers, and fries, on line, drive up the hill, and pick them up. Brought them home, and ate them in the kitchen, at the island. We enjoyed every single bite. In fact, Juan was living with us then, when we discovered how good their burgers were, and he enjoyed them with us. (I could do real physical damage for a decent hamburger.)

Texas Roadhouse. Do I need to say anything else? Really?!

Chili’s- not the best but certainly not the worst. Quick service too, as I recall. (That should give you pause for concern 😉

Olive Garden- who can honestly say they do not enjoy the salads, shrimp scampi, the different pastas? A bit pricey for pasta that we can now make at home, but, as I was still working full time, it was a very pleasant assist.

Starbucks- woohoo, they introduced me to the unbelievable Egg Bites, while I was conferencing in New Orleans, 2018. They charged, (and still do!) $5 for two golf ball sized bites. I do not charge anywhere near that much. I make them, in my Instant Pot to this day. Change up the recipe every time I make them, depending on what is in the fridge. They are definitely worth the effort. Just watch a few videos on YT, or check out different recipe websites, and voila; egg bites in your kitchen. And much less expensive than Starbucks.

Well, so much for online food orders; here, they are a thing of the past. Oh, you can call in an order to most restaurants here, even order online, but few deliver to our area. Why? I am told that it is because we are a condo, and there are too many condos in the area; too many false calls, I suspect. It is probably best that they do not. I would never learn how to cook if food was delivered.

Now that I am learning how to make corn and flour tortillas, (not nearly as easy as you would think), I am going to try pizza soon. Also, if we can find a good grade of meat, I will venture into the realm of the burger. Juicy, flavorful, savory, textured, did I mention juicy? I already have a terrific bun recipe that I have made several times, so that is a no brained. I just have to be able to cook a decent burger on the cast iron comal. I will let you know how it is going.

While I am learning, you stay happy, and healthy, and safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

That, dear reader, is called the sun.

It is that warm, yellow light, covering us in all its warmth, with a hit of vitamin D.

Since we have been back from vacation, a week now, we have kept to ourselves, not needing to go outside for anything really. Lord knows, we have enough food to feed a small nation.

Today, however, we need to buy some perishables, so we need to go to the bank to buy some money. With the beautiful weather, we are both walking at a somewhat slower pace than normal, each enjoying the sun, and fresh air. Through our masks. Ugh!

Eggs, tomatoes, chiles, onions, and garlic are on the docket for today. Cannot cook without them. Do not want to cook without them.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

We are blessed; that is all there is to it.

We have a couple of wonderful people that we call friends, but they are more than that; they are family.

You know who they are, and a pair of more honest, loving, forgiving people we have never met.

We knew, within hours of meeting them, that they were, as I said, honest, loving, and most of all, forgiving. We are not perfect people, Ivan and me, but we are, for the most part honest, forgiving people.

No, I will not tell you that the blouse you are wearing makes you look like a lowlife; well, maybe I would tell you, but not like that. I would find another way, a different way to say it. You look like a slut comes to mind, but that probably would not be good either, would it?! No. No. Nope.

Forgiving. Let us look, briefly, to that. Recently, we were, to our shame, asses to them, but what did they do? They came down here, talked to us, got to the heart of what was the problem, and, when we thought they would leave us, hate us, no, they forgave us. They agreed that what had transpired between us was not good, however, as family, they still loved us, and, even better, as I said, they forgave us.

Happy days.

Please, take care of yourselves, and your loved ones. Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

We talked about this ladies; I know we did. And, I know it upset some of you. Please. Read on.

This is what happens when you are born to Western European parents. Try gettin a beautifully smooth makeup look with this.

I knew it was bad, I just did not realize how bad. I saw this photo the other day, and could not believe what I saw. When you were far enough away from me, or in a less lighted area, it probably was not so apparent. Yet, I saw it everyday. I just did not think there was anything I could do about it.

I certainly did not want to shave, like my husband, stroking upwards with a razor. Or, even worse, putting shaving cream on my face. What was I supposed to do?

As I have gotten older, you may be interested to know, it has gotten only a bit worse; now, I also have those confounded chin hairs.

Those I got because, in my teens, I laughed at my Gramma Manda, (Dad’s mom, who lived with us), when I saw her tweezing her chin hairs one night; by the light of the standing lamp in her bedroom, holding a small, multi-magnified mirror. She, in essence, cursed me, my own grandmother, telling me that someday I too would have chin hairs, and, someday my granddaughter would laugh at me.

Thanks, Gramma Manda. Could you not have cursed me with an eternal girlish figure, excess energy, multiple millions? No. Chin hairs. It had to be chin hairs.

As a matter of fact, a funny thing happened one night, many years ago; our first granddaughter was sleeping next to me, in our bed. She rolled over, onto her side, brushed her hand over my chin, sat bolt upright in bed, and exclaimed “Abuelita, what it that”? That, dear reader, was chin hairs.

So, now, dutifully, I shave weekly, using my “hand held skin abrazar”, (read razor), and tweeze the damn chin hairs hairs that laser epilation will not touch, (they have to be black, mine are, of course, white), in order to live with nice, healthy, smooth facial skin.

Never, will I ever curse one of my female relations to such a fate. My female blood relations all carry some of my same genes, plus, some have a Mexican heritage thrown in, just for effect. Stock up on blades girls. You are going to need them.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Post script: a very happy day to our son and daughter-in-law on their eleventh wedding anniversary. We hope for you both a lifelong commitment of happiness and joy.

I sit, in front of the West facing window of our new bedroom, with the sun on my neck, and, a breeze at my back.

The fresh air, blowing gently through the window, brings such a wonderful smell with it, that I try to think of other things, but, cannot. The air is too enticing. It calls to me with such an intense pull; it makes me think of……. springtime.

It is the fifth of January, however; several weeks to go before spring comes.

We have spent the last seven days in paradise, and, gosh, did I score big?!

That, good people, is what we call verdolagas, here, and, purslane in the States. It is one of the most nutrient dense plants on the planet, but is considered a weed, only by the US. Come on people; wake up.

There is a similar looking plant that is indeed, not only a weed, but, actually poisonous. This one, however, can feed the masses.

Here it is after having the leaves removed from the stems, and, having been soaked in disinfectant water all night. (I use the lid of the washing machine for multiple uses.)

I plan on freezing some, drying some, and using some fresh. This will be used to thicken soups, and stews for the coming year, most likely. When dried, I can pulverize some, and add it to whatever I want, to thicken it. When used fresh, however, it is added close to the end of the cooking time, so you get all of the benefits of the plant, but with little thickening. Frozen, it preserves the plant, but loses the structure, leaving only the nutrients, and thickening potential.

I cannot wait to try this! We had a moment of opportunity to buy some huauzontle while we were vacationing, but, unfortunately, were unable to take advantage of it. Next time perhaps.

Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands,cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

We have been able to get away for a week. The first time since before I retired, in 2019.

It has been marvelous, so far. The scenery is beautiful; the food extraordinary; the people could not be friendlier. The weather has been idyllic, with blue skies, puffy white clouds, children playing, and everyone happily enjoying the holiday season.

There was no snow to shovel.

We should be home by the time you read this. We have no idea when, or if, we will be able to do anything like this again. It was worth every dime.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.