I am so excited to party tonight! So excited! Yay!
I have to finish my costume. I have to make (e:zobar)'s costume, because he was going to do it today but got called in to a bunch of meetings. I have to do a lot of laundry and pull down the storm windows. I was going to re-caulk windows too but I don't think I'll have time. It's supposed to be back up in the 60s next week-- Tues and Wed-- so I'll postpone most of my winterization and gardening stuff until then, I guess.
But costume! Costume costume. Eek! Still so much to do.
I'm really excited about it all. Did I mention.
Dragonlady7's Journal
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10/31/2008 09:17 #46440
party tonight!10/29/2008 23:06 #46416
winterizingIs it actually snowing? I'm seeing little snowflakes here, but they went away. Funny, I learn about the weather after the fact from this website.
I was going to blog about the country-fried steak, but I'd have to find the cable for my camera, and I just can't face it right now. I'll blog about it when I get the pictures off and I'll be all like "Oh wow I forgot about that yeah that was awesome!"
I like to leave myself little surprises, y'see.
But. Today's blog: Winterization. What do y'all do to winterize your house?
So far, I have done nothing except close the windows. (Yes, it was not until today that I realized that the double-hung window in the guest bedroom had slipped about a quarter inch down when someone had closed the lower half of the sash, so cold air was pouring in. Am I a genius? Perhaps, but consider (e:Zobar), who sits at the desk up against this window almost every day, and seems not to have noticed the wind, er, draft, though he did complain that it was cold in that room.)
But. It is supposed to be warm on Friday, so I will seize the opportunity to embark upon several projects. A partial to-do list (not all on Friday!)
1) Close the storm windows. If any are damaged, either repair them, or do the ghetto thing and stick them down with weatherseal plastic tape.
2) Remove the screens from the doors, and replace them with the Plexiglass storm door panels.
3) Wash the windows and re-caulk the edges with silicone. Z did the living room and bedroom when we repainted them.
4) Put plastic sheeting over the windows. The large one in the dinette leaks air badly, and the north window in our bedroom is a close second. I will probably also do the one in the kitchen, which is damaged. If there's plastic left, I'll do the one in Fi's bedroom. I am debating doing the picture window in the living room-- it's just so huge, and the plastic is just so expensive. Oh yeah, I am going to have to beg the loan of a hair dryer from somewhere-- maybe Fi has one, since she's coming to visit. Speaking of which, brb-- I'm going to email her and ask. (No, i don't own a hair dryer.)
Yes, I just emailed her, for real. Multitasking!
5) Put up insulated curtains. This is ambitious. I haven't finished making them. But I am a much better seamstress than I was when I started, so I have faith that I can actually finish them. Insulated curtains are easy to make, though not inexpensive-- curtains aren't cheap unless you really luck out on material. I did OK-- picked out about $500 worth of fabric at FWS only to discover that everything was 50% off in the decorator area that day only. Awesome!!!
6) Make draft stoppers. I'm looking for a good pattern for these, but I've noticed how much cold air comes under the doors-- the door from the sunporch, the front door, and the door leading to the uninsulated attic in particular. I will look into weatherstripping for the outdoor-facing doors, but for the lower-traffic, indoor ones, I'm going to stuff wadded-up old clothing into tubes made of curtain remnants, and wedge them firmly against the cracks at the bottoms of these doors. For the attic door, I may even make an insulated curtain to cover it.
7) I'm seriously considering making insulated tapestries to hang on my walls, since I have no insulation in my plaster walls in this old house. What do y'all think-- funky, or creepy? It's just a thought for now. I've really wanted to do up (and this is Z's idea, lest he get snarky for plagiarism) Where the Wild Things Are in the style of the Bayeux Tapestry. Would that be hot or what? I'll get my needles.
Bonus*) This isn't even winter-necessary, in my house, but put insulation on your hot water pipes. If your basement isn't heated, put insulation on both hot and cold, but if it is-- pipe insulation will keep your hot water from cooling off in the pipes, so you don't have to wait so long for hot water to come out when you turn on the hot tap. It also is supposed to be beneficial to put insulation over your hot water tank, but mine is not warm to the touch, so perhaps it's already insulated and I just can't tell. I'll look into it. Anything to save a bit on the gas bill, which is likely to be crippling in this uninsulated little shoebox of a house.
I wish I could afford solar panels. My parents installed solar panels in 1980. They used them to heat our water and to give a little bit of forced-air heating to a few of the rooms of the house. They also put in a huge sliding glass door that faces directly south, and every sunny day, it raises the temperature in the living room by 5-10 degrees. They heat the house partly with oil, and partly with wood they harvest themselves from their 50-acre property. The furnace is dual-fuel, alternating between oil and wood; there is also a woodstove. They don't have a gas line, because they're too far out. They have propane in big tanks to power the stove and the dryer. They rarely use the clothes dryer, but hang clothing out whenever the temperature is above freezing.
And they've always lived like this, since before I was born.
I don't think of living like that as a sacrifice, I think of it as normal. When (e:zobar) makes fun of my Amish ways, he's just being a dick. We're not Amish. We were just both poor and educated.
Anyway. We'll see how well I winterize. What do y'all do? Have I missed anything? It's comforting, to line your nest and prepare.
I was going to blog about the country-fried steak, but I'd have to find the cable for my camera, and I just can't face it right now. I'll blog about it when I get the pictures off and I'll be all like "Oh wow I forgot about that yeah that was awesome!"
I like to leave myself little surprises, y'see.
But. Today's blog: Winterization. What do y'all do to winterize your house?
So far, I have done nothing except close the windows. (Yes, it was not until today that I realized that the double-hung window in the guest bedroom had slipped about a quarter inch down when someone had closed the lower half of the sash, so cold air was pouring in. Am I a genius? Perhaps, but consider (e:Zobar), who sits at the desk up against this window almost every day, and seems not to have noticed the wind, er, draft, though he did complain that it was cold in that room.)
But. It is supposed to be warm on Friday, so I will seize the opportunity to embark upon several projects. A partial to-do list (not all on Friday!)
1) Close the storm windows. If any are damaged, either repair them, or do the ghetto thing and stick them down with weatherseal plastic tape.
2) Remove the screens from the doors, and replace them with the Plexiglass storm door panels.
3) Wash the windows and re-caulk the edges with silicone. Z did the living room and bedroom when we repainted them.
4) Put plastic sheeting over the windows. The large one in the dinette leaks air badly, and the north window in our bedroom is a close second. I will probably also do the one in the kitchen, which is damaged. If there's plastic left, I'll do the one in Fi's bedroom. I am debating doing the picture window in the living room-- it's just so huge, and the plastic is just so expensive. Oh yeah, I am going to have to beg the loan of a hair dryer from somewhere-- maybe Fi has one, since she's coming to visit. Speaking of which, brb-- I'm going to email her and ask. (No, i don't own a hair dryer.)
Yes, I just emailed her, for real. Multitasking!
5) Put up insulated curtains. This is ambitious. I haven't finished making them. But I am a much better seamstress than I was when I started, so I have faith that I can actually finish them. Insulated curtains are easy to make, though not inexpensive-- curtains aren't cheap unless you really luck out on material. I did OK-- picked out about $500 worth of fabric at FWS only to discover that everything was 50% off in the decorator area that day only. Awesome!!!
6) Make draft stoppers. I'm looking for a good pattern for these, but I've noticed how much cold air comes under the doors-- the door from the sunporch, the front door, and the door leading to the uninsulated attic in particular. I will look into weatherstripping for the outdoor-facing doors, but for the lower-traffic, indoor ones, I'm going to stuff wadded-up old clothing into tubes made of curtain remnants, and wedge them firmly against the cracks at the bottoms of these doors. For the attic door, I may even make an insulated curtain to cover it.
7) I'm seriously considering making insulated tapestries to hang on my walls, since I have no insulation in my plaster walls in this old house. What do y'all think-- funky, or creepy? It's just a thought for now. I've really wanted to do up (and this is Z's idea, lest he get snarky for plagiarism) Where the Wild Things Are in the style of the Bayeux Tapestry. Would that be hot or what? I'll get my needles.
Bonus*) This isn't even winter-necessary, in my house, but put insulation on your hot water pipes. If your basement isn't heated, put insulation on both hot and cold, but if it is-- pipe insulation will keep your hot water from cooling off in the pipes, so you don't have to wait so long for hot water to come out when you turn on the hot tap. It also is supposed to be beneficial to put insulation over your hot water tank, but mine is not warm to the touch, so perhaps it's already insulated and I just can't tell. I'll look into it. Anything to save a bit on the gas bill, which is likely to be crippling in this uninsulated little shoebox of a house.
I wish I could afford solar panels. My parents installed solar panels in 1980. They used them to heat our water and to give a little bit of forced-air heating to a few of the rooms of the house. They also put in a huge sliding glass door that faces directly south, and every sunny day, it raises the temperature in the living room by 5-10 degrees. They heat the house partly with oil, and partly with wood they harvest themselves from their 50-acre property. The furnace is dual-fuel, alternating between oil and wood; there is also a woodstove. They don't have a gas line, because they're too far out. They have propane in big tanks to power the stove and the dryer. They rarely use the clothes dryer, but hang clothing out whenever the temperature is above freezing.
And they've always lived like this, since before I was born.
I don't think of living like that as a sacrifice, I think of it as normal. When (e:zobar) makes fun of my Amish ways, he's just being a dick. We're not Amish. We were just both poor and educated.
Anyway. We'll see how well I winterize. What do y'all do? Have I missed anything? It's comforting, to line your nest and prepare.
theecarey - 10/31/08 11:24
I kinda like the winterizing process; it is the sense of nesting and getting cozy for the next few months. I also grew up in a very thrifty household. Funny how many people have never hung their clothes/bedding out to dry.
I admire your seamstress skills. Added material to your walls for heat to cling to would certainly help, so go for it in regards to making/finding tapestries. I'm now feeling rather inspired to add insulated curtains to my regime, but ones that I buy, not make. Good luck with the curtains!
I kinda like the winterizing process; it is the sense of nesting and getting cozy for the next few months. I also grew up in a very thrifty household. Funny how many people have never hung their clothes/bedding out to dry.
I admire your seamstress skills. Added material to your walls for heat to cling to would certainly help, so go for it in regards to making/finding tapestries. I'm now feeling rather inspired to add insulated curtains to my regime, but ones that I buy, not make. Good luck with the curtains!
dragonlady7 - 10/30/08 09:46
@(e:jenks): I need to get another blanket for this bed, for sure. Dang it, that's what I should've asked for for Christmas.
@(e:paul): I bet it's a pain to winterize that house. Do you plastic the windows? Maybe you should get more airtight storm windows-- my dad made ones for their house that fit snugly over the outside of the window frame, and have well-sealed glass, so that they're nearly airtight, and since they're one piece, they don't leak at all. So they don't have to use plastic over most of their windows. And of course every window has insulated drapes. Oy.
@(e:lilho): I actually like winter, for the most part. I've never lived anywhere that didn't get cold, and while I don't like being cold if I can't get warm, I don't mind a little cold for a while. I've discovered that I need it to snow for a while so that I can enjoy spring.
@(e:tinypliny): (e:zobar) watches the Colbert Report so I'll have to ask him. I have always lived somewhere it was necessary to winterize, and my parents were exceptionally thrifty. Some people don't do much. I should ask my sister how much she has to winterize in Georgia-- it does get below freezing there. (Her neighbors all think she's crazy because she insists on actually opening her house windows anytime it's between 60 and 85 F, instead of just trusting to her climate-control system to maintain the house temperature.)
I am using a sewing machine-- I have an antique one that was (e:zobar)'s great aunt's. Which saves a lot of time.
Fabric is sold in yards, and while you can get the curtain lining for like $8 a yard or even less, the decorator fabric that you buy to match your walls and furniture and to look pretty is hard to find for less than $15 a yard (and is often twice that), and you need a lot of yards to cover a big window. Curtains should hang in folds, so you need at least the width of the window plus about half extra. And some extra to go in the seams. Thicker fabric will be more opaque, and is often more expensive. At least, for clothes I'm a natural fibers snob, but for curtains it doesn't matter, so I can save some money buying rayon and polyester instead of silk and linen!
So my $500 got me the sheer fabric for undercurtains at the front window, a whole bolt of white flannel interlining, plus a bolt of thermal fabric, plus enough fashion fabric for two small windows and one absolutely ginormous window. That's really not that much, when you think of it, but I should be able to do the kitchen and remaining bedroom for only about $150 more, since their windows are small and I already have the lining and interlining.
@(e:jenks): I need to get another blanket for this bed, for sure. Dang it, that's what I should've asked for for Christmas.
@(e:paul): I bet it's a pain to winterize that house. Do you plastic the windows? Maybe you should get more airtight storm windows-- my dad made ones for their house that fit snugly over the outside of the window frame, and have well-sealed glass, so that they're nearly airtight, and since they're one piece, they don't leak at all. So they don't have to use plastic over most of their windows. And of course every window has insulated drapes. Oy.
@(e:lilho): I actually like winter, for the most part. I've never lived anywhere that didn't get cold, and while I don't like being cold if I can't get warm, I don't mind a little cold for a while. I've discovered that I need it to snow for a while so that I can enjoy spring.
@(e:tinypliny): (e:zobar) watches the Colbert Report so I'll have to ask him. I have always lived somewhere it was necessary to winterize, and my parents were exceptionally thrifty. Some people don't do much. I should ask my sister how much she has to winterize in Georgia-- it does get below freezing there. (Her neighbors all think she's crazy because she insists on actually opening her house windows anytime it's between 60 and 85 F, instead of just trusting to her climate-control system to maintain the house temperature.)
I am using a sewing machine-- I have an antique one that was (e:zobar)'s great aunt's. Which saves a lot of time.
Fabric is sold in yards, and while you can get the curtain lining for like $8 a yard or even less, the decorator fabric that you buy to match your walls and furniture and to look pretty is hard to find for less than $15 a yard (and is often twice that), and you need a lot of yards to cover a big window. Curtains should hang in folds, so you need at least the width of the window plus about half extra. And some extra to go in the seams. Thicker fabric will be more opaque, and is often more expensive. At least, for clothes I'm a natural fibers snob, but for curtains it doesn't matter, so I can save some money buying rayon and polyester instead of silk and linen!
So my $500 got me the sheer fabric for undercurtains at the front window, a whole bolt of white flannel interlining, plus a bolt of thermal fabric, plus enough fashion fabric for two small windows and one absolutely ginormous window. That's really not that much, when you think of it, but I should be able to do the kitchen and remaining bedroom for only about $150 more, since their windows are small and I already have the lining and interlining.
tinypliny - 10/30/08 06:36
Just out of curiosity, how much fabric does $500 buy? A zillion bales?!
Just out of curiosity, how much fabric does $500 buy? A zillion bales?!
tinypliny - 10/30/08 06:34
That is some winterizing detail! I have no idea about 70% of the things you are talking about. And it all reminds me of the "winterizing" sketch that Stephen Colbert did on his show some days back. It was hilarious. I can't find the clip now... shoot. We really don't winterize back home because winter is 3 months long and there is no snow. Here, I shut my windows, and bring out the quilt and my little hair-dryer sized heater.
Your parents have such a cool energy-efficient way to live!
I am IN AWE of your seamstressing skills! You are stitching all the curtain and thingies! I cannot comprehend how much of sewing that all is. Are you using a sewing machine or is this all hand-hemming?
That is some winterizing detail! I have no idea about 70% of the things you are talking about. And it all reminds me of the "winterizing" sketch that Stephen Colbert did on his show some days back. It was hilarious. I can't find the clip now... shoot. We really don't winterize back home because winter is 3 months long and there is no snow. Here, I shut my windows, and bring out the quilt and my little hair-dryer sized heater.
Your parents have such a cool energy-efficient way to live!
I am IN AWE of your seamstressing skills! You are stitching all the curtain and thingies! I cannot comprehend how much of sewing that all is. Are you using a sewing machine or is this all hand-hemming?
lilho - 10/30/08 01:31
all that crap is exactly why i no longer live there. being cold is the worst possible feeling. and it is still hot here. when i think of winter i get angry. all those years of near frostbite did me in!
all that crap is exactly why i no longer live there. being cold is the worst possible feeling. and it is still hot here. when i think of winter i get angry. all those years of near frostbite did me in!
paul - 10/29/08 23:24
Its such a pain to winterize our house. We have like 10 million giant windows. I am not looking forward to it. I think I am just going to do it after the party.
Its such a pain to winterize our house. We have like 10 million giant windows. I am not looking forward to it. I think I am just going to do it after the party.
jenks - 10/29/08 23:13
I: shut my storm windows and put a quilt on my bed.
I: shut my storm windows and put a quilt on my bed.
10/28/2008 18:03 #46392
temperatureHow did I never notice that above every blog entry, the temperature it was when it was posted is listed?
I am (e:retarded).
Or should that be (e:tarded)?
I am (e:retarded).
Or should that be (e:tarded)?
tinypliny - 10/30/08 07:02
I am just wondering... what kind of analysis can you possibly do with this? Link up moods to temperature?
I am just wondering... what kind of analysis can you possibly do with this? Link up moods to temperature?
jenks - 10/29/08 15:34
AwwWWww!! Thanks. :)
AwwWWww!! Thanks. :)
dragonlady7 - 10/29/08 00:21
It is interesting!! Now I remember noticing before that you can sort the frequency of blog postings by temperature. I just didn't realize it was displayed by everyone's posts.
It's funny because everyone always talks about how awful Buffalo's weather is, so having the temperature there is pretty funny.
I dunno, I've seen it, and noticed it before, but it just somehow never really sank in until today.
It is interesting!! Now I remember noticing before that you can sort the frequency of blog postings by temperature. I just didn't realize it was displayed by everyone's posts.
It's funny because everyone always talks about how awful Buffalo's weather is, so having the temperature there is pretty funny.
I dunno, I've seen it, and noticed it before, but it just somehow never really sank in until today.
paul - 10/29/08 00:00
I have been collecting that data for years. Someday it will make for some really interesting data mining.
I have been collecting that data for years. Someday it will make for some really interesting data mining.
dragonlady7 - 10/28/08 23:58
@(e:jenks)-- Ha! You're totally right.
Also welcome back and I'm totally psyched you got the 25,000th journal. That's so rad. It was perfect for it too, with all the right emotional bits-- the sad thwarted love story angst, the work stress, exciting birth story, and baby pictures!! It was like, the perfect blog entry. Like if they had a class on how to keep an awesome blog, that would be one of the examples.
@(e:jenks)-- Ha! You're totally right.
Also welcome back and I'm totally psyched you got the 25,000th journal. That's so rad. It was perfect for it too, with all the right emotional bits-- the sad thwarted love story angst, the work stress, exciting birth story, and baby pictures!! It was like, the perfect blog entry. Like if they had a class on how to keep an awesome blog, that would be one of the examples.
jenks - 10/28/08 21:07
maybe re:tarded. ;)
maybe re:tarded. ;)
metalpeter - 10/28/08 18:15
I'll admit I never page attention to temp thing on the journal, that being said if you click on the little thing that says stats one of then does have to do with posts at different temps so you might want to check that out.
I'll admit I never page attention to temp thing on the journal, that being said if you click on the little thing that says stats one of then does have to do with posts at different temps so you might want to check that out.
dragonlady7 - 10/28/08 18:13
I think 38 degrees Fahrenheit (was it really that cold today??) hardly counts as a hot flash.
I think 38 degrees Fahrenheit (was it really that cold today??) hardly counts as a hot flash.
mrmike - 10/28/08 18:08
You were having a hot flash?
You were having a hot flash?
10/29/2008 00:16 #46402
more specialSo I got home from practice and was really stinky. Stinky stinky gross. And a bit sore-- I'm breaking in new skates and they gave me some blisters on my instep. And we did a lot of hitting so I have a lot of sore places that will probably not come up in bruises because my skin doesn't bruise easily so I always look like a slacker compared to my teammates. (I did have one really satisfying moment where I planted my shoulder in a girl a hundred pounds lighter than me, then threw her with my hip. But I digress.)
Anyway. I got home all stinky, and took a shower. And I got out of the shower, and sat in bed for a while, decompressing. I had a Reese's peanut butter cup when I got home, and a big thing of water, but I was still unsatisified.
I mentioned this to (e:zobar), who said, "I had a sandwich, a little while ago. There's enough left for half of another sandwich. Roast beef and some cheese."
"Oo!" I said. "That sounds really... no, I don't need it." I still sometimes fall into these I-don't-deserve-food things. Not seriously enough to get eating-disordered, but enough that I still get confused and can't tell if I'm actually hungry or just want to be "rewarded"-- which is fucked-up, if you consider it. It's like saying, "I'm going to breathe extra today, because I deserve it!" That doesn't help; you don't need to breathe extra. So you don't need to eat extra. It's dumb. But it's even more stupid, and dangerous, and ridiculous, to breathe less, to deny yourself air that your body needs to oxygenate your tissues, because you've arbitrarily decided you don't "deserve" it. How stupid is that? It's completely stupid.
Food's pretty much the same way, only we're more aware of the pleasure of ingesting tasty food than we are of breathing clean air. And "tasty" is not always as simply good as "clean" is. (Though when you think of chemical "air fresheners" that simply mask possibly-toxic scents with actually-toxic ones, perhaps the comparison is easier.)
Anyway.
I pondered the sandwich for a moment, trying to decide whether I was really hungry or just wanted a "treat", and then said, "Could you make it for me?"
"You know how to make a damn sandwich," Z said.
"But you make them better than me, and it would be more special if you made it." It's true-- he really does. He just takes more care over sandwiches. When I was a kid I hated sandwiches because they were always cheap pepperoni or peanut butter and jelly, and my Mom almost always bought weird bread, and I just always preferred other foods. But (e:zobar) does things like... spreads the mayo, then grinds a little black pepper on it... sometimes shakes a little oregano on the cheese... aligns the meat just so, so it's even all the way around... folds the cheese neatly...
It's just way more special when he makes them.
Also, I've done all the cooking and fed him twice, sometimes three times, a day for the last month or so, while he's been busy and I haven't been so much. I haven't minded, though I've let the dishes pile up a bit. (Whoops.) (I do mind doing all the grocery shopping, a bit. I asked him what kind of olives he likes and he gave me a half-hour treatise on their relative merits. I know I'll just blank out next time I'm at the shop, and just dump some of each in there like I always do. Oh well.)
So I had this perfect sandwich in my mind, made by this perfect sandwich master. Really. Seriously. He makes a good sandwich.
But he wouldn't make it for me, and wouldn't acknowledge that it is more special to have food prepared for you by someone special than to just make it your damn self.
But am I crazy? Am I just being the typical controlling-whiny-bitch female here, to think that it would have been way more special that way?
I made myself the sandwich because I decided that I don't care about my fat ass or my new stretchmarks, and I hadn't had much protein today (actually, I was vegetarian all day up to that point! Well, meat's expensive, lately, so we don't eat as much as we used to), so I was going to have the damn sandwich. Also there wasn't enough to have for lunch tomorrow or anything like that. (I don't know what I'll make. I was going to finish up the leftover curry but Z said he didn't want it a third day in a row, so I'll have to think of something else. Boo, I don't want to go shopping.)
And I ate it. And it was okay. And I did feel better once I ate it, and hadn't realized I didn't feel great, so obviously my body did want it after all.
But it would've been way more special if he'd made it. I swear I'm not being crazy.
Am I being crazy? Is food more special when someone else makes it?
Anyway. I got home all stinky, and took a shower. And I got out of the shower, and sat in bed for a while, decompressing. I had a Reese's peanut butter cup when I got home, and a big thing of water, but I was still unsatisified.
I mentioned this to (e:zobar), who said, "I had a sandwich, a little while ago. There's enough left for half of another sandwich. Roast beef and some cheese."
"Oo!" I said. "That sounds really... no, I don't need it." I still sometimes fall into these I-don't-deserve-food things. Not seriously enough to get eating-disordered, but enough that I still get confused and can't tell if I'm actually hungry or just want to be "rewarded"-- which is fucked-up, if you consider it. It's like saying, "I'm going to breathe extra today, because I deserve it!" That doesn't help; you don't need to breathe extra. So you don't need to eat extra. It's dumb. But it's even more stupid, and dangerous, and ridiculous, to breathe less, to deny yourself air that your body needs to oxygenate your tissues, because you've arbitrarily decided you don't "deserve" it. How stupid is that? It's completely stupid.
Food's pretty much the same way, only we're more aware of the pleasure of ingesting tasty food than we are of breathing clean air. And "tasty" is not always as simply good as "clean" is. (Though when you think of chemical "air fresheners" that simply mask possibly-toxic scents with actually-toxic ones, perhaps the comparison is easier.)
Anyway.
I pondered the sandwich for a moment, trying to decide whether I was really hungry or just wanted a "treat", and then said, "Could you make it for me?"
"You know how to make a damn sandwich," Z said.
"But you make them better than me, and it would be more special if you made it." It's true-- he really does. He just takes more care over sandwiches. When I was a kid I hated sandwiches because they were always cheap pepperoni or peanut butter and jelly, and my Mom almost always bought weird bread, and I just always preferred other foods. But (e:zobar) does things like... spreads the mayo, then grinds a little black pepper on it... sometimes shakes a little oregano on the cheese... aligns the meat just so, so it's even all the way around... folds the cheese neatly...
It's just way more special when he makes them.
Also, I've done all the cooking and fed him twice, sometimes three times, a day for the last month or so, while he's been busy and I haven't been so much. I haven't minded, though I've let the dishes pile up a bit. (Whoops.) (I do mind doing all the grocery shopping, a bit. I asked him what kind of olives he likes and he gave me a half-hour treatise on their relative merits. I know I'll just blank out next time I'm at the shop, and just dump some of each in there like I always do. Oh well.)
So I had this perfect sandwich in my mind, made by this perfect sandwich master. Really. Seriously. He makes a good sandwich.
But he wouldn't make it for me, and wouldn't acknowledge that it is more special to have food prepared for you by someone special than to just make it your damn self.
But am I crazy? Am I just being the typical controlling-whiny-bitch female here, to think that it would have been way more special that way?
I made myself the sandwich because I decided that I don't care about my fat ass or my new stretchmarks, and I hadn't had much protein today (actually, I was vegetarian all day up to that point! Well, meat's expensive, lately, so we don't eat as much as we used to), so I was going to have the damn sandwich. Also there wasn't enough to have for lunch tomorrow or anything like that. (I don't know what I'll make. I was going to finish up the leftover curry but Z said he didn't want it a third day in a row, so I'll have to think of something else. Boo, I don't want to go shopping.)
And I ate it. And it was okay. And I did feel better once I ate it, and hadn't realized I didn't feel great, so obviously my body did want it after all.
But it would've been way more special if he'd made it. I swear I'm not being crazy.
Am I being crazy? Is food more special when someone else makes it?
dragonlady7 - 10/30/08 09:34
Aw, I miss my mum too. She is a good cook too. More frustratingly, I have all her recipes and make them regularly and they're just not as good when I make them, even if I am way more careful and particular about them than she is. I can't win.
Aw, I miss my mum too. She is a good cook too. More frustratingly, I have all her recipes and make them regularly and they're just not as good when I make them, even if I am way more careful and particular about them than she is. I can't win.
tinypliny - 10/30/08 07:00
ABSOLUTELY!! I agree completely. Food is WAAAAAAYYY more satisfying made by someone who is a special-er cook!!
I miss mum so much somedays that I actually get heartache. She is the best cook in the universe!
ABSOLUTELY!! I agree completely. Food is WAAAAAAYYY more satisfying made by someone who is a special-er cook!!
I miss mum so much somedays that I actually get heartache. She is the best cook in the universe!
hodown - 10/29/08 09:04
I'm a huge believer of cooking for someone and how that is a sign of caring/love. I think it's one of the most special things you can do. Corny- but true.
I'm a huge believer of cooking for someone and how that is a sign of caring/love. I think it's one of the most special things you can do. Corny- but true.
heidi - 10/29/08 00:31
Food is absolutely more special if someone else makes it for you!!! A makes me food and it's always wonderful but when I make the same things they're bland and ordinary and boring. So, whiny? maybe, but not crazy!
Food is absolutely more special if someone else makes it for you!!! A makes me food and it's always wonderful but when I make the same things they're bland and ordinary and boring. So, whiny? maybe, but not crazy!
10/28/2008 14:22 #46386
cauliflower curryI forgot, I was going to blog this last night. i didn't get a photo, though.
The link to the original recipe is here:
This is a great recipe to make when you're in the doldrums of a lingering autumn cold. Fresh veggies have vitamins, right? And the spice kicks you in the nose and breaks up some of the congestion. Even if you're not sick, this is wonderful comfort food.
Put on a pot of rice to cook. For extra nutrition points, use brown rice, or as we do, half-and-half brown and white. (Start the brown rice according to directions. Cook half the cooking time specified. Add white rice, and some extra water. Bring back up to boil and cook according to directions. Voila!)
Then, here are her directions:
Microwave a whole head of cauliflower, leaves and core discarded, in two cups of water for 5 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile, warm a large pan, preferably one with a cover, and add the following ingredients:
3 tbsps vegetable oil
4 minced cloves of garlic
1 tsp grated fresh ginger, or 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
2 tbsps curry powder
1 tbsp turmeric
2 tsps whole coriander seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion, minced
1 hot pepper, minced (optional)
Sweat until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the cauliflower, including the water it was cooked in, and:
2 cups chopped tomato (fresh or canned according to season)
Stir well, coating the cauliflower with the other ingredients. It will break up into smaller florets as it cooks. Reduce to a steady simmer and let it cook, covered, for 15 minutes.
(I would put that in the quote tag but it makes it huge, so that's not easy to read.)
About 4-5 minutes before the end, she recommends mashing a tablespoon of butter with a tablespoon of flour, and mixing that paste into the sauce of the cooking veggies.
Last night I did one better, and in a separate pan, I combined a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of flour, and about half a cup of heavy cream. (I have too much heavy cream in the house. don't ask why. Regular milk would have worked fine.) I then added several cups of the sauce to this mix, just to see if it would curdle. It didn't, so I brought it up to nearly a boil to thicken it a little, then dumped it into the cauliflower mixture.
Since I'd added a hot pepper, it was spicy-- I grew the peppers myself and they turned out to be Peppers Of Fiery Doom, for some reason, this year. I never know, when I grow hot peppers, how they'll turn out. So the cream sweetened it and cooled it down a little.
Serve the cauliflower stuff atop the rice, and it's a wonderful hot vegetarian (vegan, if you don't do the butter-cream thing), very filling, very warming dinner. (e:zobar) loves it, and so do I. I have leftovers! Mmmm.
It's kind of bright green from the turmeric. Mmmm. It stained two of my fingernails when I fished out a piece of cauliflower to taste-test.
It's even kind of good if you eat it cold. What? No, I'm not at all cheating on dinner by eating it cold straight out of the fridge.
Mmmmm.
The link to the original recipe is here:
This is a great recipe to make when you're in the doldrums of a lingering autumn cold. Fresh veggies have vitamins, right? And the spice kicks you in the nose and breaks up some of the congestion. Even if you're not sick, this is wonderful comfort food.
Put on a pot of rice to cook. For extra nutrition points, use brown rice, or as we do, half-and-half brown and white. (Start the brown rice according to directions. Cook half the cooking time specified. Add white rice, and some extra water. Bring back up to boil and cook according to directions. Voila!)
Then, here are her directions:
Microwave a whole head of cauliflower, leaves and core discarded, in two cups of water for 5 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile, warm a large pan, preferably one with a cover, and add the following ingredients:
3 tbsps vegetable oil
4 minced cloves of garlic
1 tsp grated fresh ginger, or 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
2 tbsps curry powder
1 tbsp turmeric
2 tsps whole coriander seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion, minced
1 hot pepper, minced (optional)
Sweat until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the cauliflower, including the water it was cooked in, and:
2 cups chopped tomato (fresh or canned according to season)
Stir well, coating the cauliflower with the other ingredients. It will break up into smaller florets as it cooks. Reduce to a steady simmer and let it cook, covered, for 15 minutes.
(I would put that in the quote tag but it makes it huge, so that's not easy to read.)
About 4-5 minutes before the end, she recommends mashing a tablespoon of butter with a tablespoon of flour, and mixing that paste into the sauce of the cooking veggies.
Last night I did one better, and in a separate pan, I combined a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of flour, and about half a cup of heavy cream. (I have too much heavy cream in the house. don't ask why. Regular milk would have worked fine.) I then added several cups of the sauce to this mix, just to see if it would curdle. It didn't, so I brought it up to nearly a boil to thicken it a little, then dumped it into the cauliflower mixture.
Since I'd added a hot pepper, it was spicy-- I grew the peppers myself and they turned out to be Peppers Of Fiery Doom, for some reason, this year. I never know, when I grow hot peppers, how they'll turn out. So the cream sweetened it and cooled it down a little.
Serve the cauliflower stuff atop the rice, and it's a wonderful hot vegetarian (vegan, if you don't do the butter-cream thing), very filling, very warming dinner. (e:zobar) loves it, and so do I. I have leftovers! Mmmm.
It's kind of bright green from the turmeric. Mmmm. It stained two of my fingernails when I fished out a piece of cauliflower to taste-test.
It's even kind of good if you eat it cold. What? No, I'm not at all cheating on dinner by eating it cold straight out of the fridge.
Mmmmm.
dragonlady7 - 10/30/08 09:57
I am woefully ignorant about India and Indians. My roommate freshman year of college was from Madras, and I learned pretty much immediately that I knew nothing. She was one of only two people at our university who spoke her native tongue, which was Tamil, and insisted that it was totally different from Hindi, which she taught herself in like the first week, and then she picked up Urdu in like half an hour, because I guess it's not that different? There were all kinds of Indians who hung out in my room at all hours (claiming to be on Desi Standard Time), and I kept trying to figure them all out but it eluded me. (Also tricky were the fact that many of them were Pakistani, and a few from Bangladesh, but most of them had been raised in other places, like Kenya or Saudi Arabia, because of course, these are not average Indians, they are the wealthy sort who can be educated as undergraduates at a private university in upstate New York.)
So I learned just enough to know that I know absolutely nothing. The previous year I'd spent in the UK, where Indian food is like a combination of Chinese food and pizza-- ubiquitous, and cheap, and simply what you eat after hours when you're drunk. So I miss it, and have ever since been trying to find Indian recipes, only to realize how freaking useless a generalization that is. It's not some little nation, it's a whole subcontinent with like four thousand regional dialects and a whole ocean of "cuisine" studded with distinctive little regional islands that bear no resemblance to one another at all.
(e:zobar) is no help-- his cousin was married, for a while, to an Indian who was also a chef, and their wedding was this incredible buffet of super-authentic "Indian" (again, for those of us who don't know the differences, the details slip through the cracks and we're helpless to be more fine-grained in our taxonomy) cuisine. As he retells it, about 50% of the dishes (unlabeled, of course) were absolutely glorious, 35% were pretty tasty, and 15% made him want to scrape his tongue with sandpaper. He has no recollection of which is which, and so is terrified whenever we go to Indian restaurants-- it's like Russian roulette when you have no idea what anything's called. (I have convinced him that the scrub-your-tongue-with-sandpaper ones probably aren't offered in the fairly Americanized restaurants, and if they were, the staff would probably warn you that they were likely to be an acquired taste, but he remains gun-shy.)
I had meant to put peas in it, now that you mention it. I did add carrots. And the cream-- I know that normally one uses coconut cream, or at least I have before in other recipes, but I didn't have any, and I did have heavy cream.
And I didn't put the full amount of tomatoes in it. I only had Italian-spiced tomatoes and I didn't really want that.
I am woefully ignorant about India and Indians. My roommate freshman year of college was from Madras, and I learned pretty much immediately that I knew nothing. She was one of only two people at our university who spoke her native tongue, which was Tamil, and insisted that it was totally different from Hindi, which she taught herself in like the first week, and then she picked up Urdu in like half an hour, because I guess it's not that different? There were all kinds of Indians who hung out in my room at all hours (claiming to be on Desi Standard Time), and I kept trying to figure them all out but it eluded me. (Also tricky were the fact that many of them were Pakistani, and a few from Bangladesh, but most of them had been raised in other places, like Kenya or Saudi Arabia, because of course, these are not average Indians, they are the wealthy sort who can be educated as undergraduates at a private university in upstate New York.)
So I learned just enough to know that I know absolutely nothing. The previous year I'd spent in the UK, where Indian food is like a combination of Chinese food and pizza-- ubiquitous, and cheap, and simply what you eat after hours when you're drunk. So I miss it, and have ever since been trying to find Indian recipes, only to realize how freaking useless a generalization that is. It's not some little nation, it's a whole subcontinent with like four thousand regional dialects and a whole ocean of "cuisine" studded with distinctive little regional islands that bear no resemblance to one another at all.
(e:zobar) is no help-- his cousin was married, for a while, to an Indian who was also a chef, and their wedding was this incredible buffet of super-authentic "Indian" (again, for those of us who don't know the differences, the details slip through the cracks and we're helpless to be more fine-grained in our taxonomy) cuisine. As he retells it, about 50% of the dishes (unlabeled, of course) were absolutely glorious, 35% were pretty tasty, and 15% made him want to scrape his tongue with sandpaper. He has no recollection of which is which, and so is terrified whenever we go to Indian restaurants-- it's like Russian roulette when you have no idea what anything's called. (I have convinced him that the scrub-your-tongue-with-sandpaper ones probably aren't offered in the fairly Americanized restaurants, and if they were, the staff would probably warn you that they were likely to be an acquired taste, but he remains gun-shy.)
I had meant to put peas in it, now that you mention it. I did add carrots. And the cream-- I know that normally one uses coconut cream, or at least I have before in other recipes, but I didn't have any, and I did have heavy cream.
And I didn't put the full amount of tomatoes in it. I only had Italian-spiced tomatoes and I didn't really want that.
tinypliny - 10/30/08 07:08
That sounds classic north Indian. :) If it were me cooking, I would totally be inclined to skimp on the oil. I never have had butter or cream at home so they don't come into the picture.
So the interesting part is - I wouldn't have used the tomato and made it liquidy. This dish would taste awesome with rice even without the tomatoes - like a cauliflower vegetable pilaf. I would add peas to it.
That sounds classic north Indian. :) If it were me cooking, I would totally be inclined to skimp on the oil. I never have had butter or cream at home so they don't come into the picture.
So the interesting part is - I wouldn't have used the tomato and made it liquidy. This dish would taste awesome with rice even without the tomatoes - like a cauliflower vegetable pilaf. I would add peas to it.
I actually bought it at Target today as part of a set of 4 cloth cocktail napkins. Who uses cloth cocktail napkins? I don't know, but I decided I needed them.
And quite interestingly, I can't find it anymore - maybe its still at (e:pmt)'s. That sure is a gypsy kerchief with the crossbones and works.
I might now need to check it for MRSA.
LOL
Ah, I was wondering if I managed to get them all home. Ah well-- I didn't blow my nose on it, if that's what you were wondering!
That costume rocked, and I have one of your pirate handkerchiefs as a souvenir. Hehehe :D
I don't think I'm capable of a costume that isn't.
Is it going to be super-busty?