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Spice Dump Time
8/30/2024 Every fall, I like to prepare for the pending holiday season by a nice pantry purge and this time I added a spice purge too. Spices do age, and they lose their potency. I had so much stuff crammed in my spice cabinet, it was ridiculous, so I flew into action.
Remembering Doug - The Ride to Remember
6/20/2024This is an article I wrote after losing my closest friend of all time recently. We were friends since we were 13 years old and it was an honor to have such a friendship with such an amazing person for almost 50 years. This article is a rememberance and a tribute. More to come, I'm sure, as I gather up memories, photos, writings, and the like.
Restoration Project: 1930-31 Royal Typewriter - Model 10
4/10/2024I found this typewriter at a yard sale in San Jose in 1994. I believe the price tag was $40 and George was going to work on a guy's mountain bike to pay for it. I've had it since, and haven't done anything with it, and something inspired me to start a restoration on it. Why not?
Read Restoration Project: 1930-31 Royal Typewriter - Model 10
Honey Champagne Mustard Copycat = SUCCESS!
3/24/2024Honeybaked Ham Company evidently changed ownership sometime between Easter and Christmas of 2023. In doing so, they dropped their old, tried and true Honey Champagne mustard recipe. I found this on Christmas when I served up the ham. What a rude awakening that was!
A kitty with no hair...
2/11/2024I have been a rabid cat lover for years! I had my first cat in 1984 and the rest is history! I had met a sphynx about 15 years ago at a cat show and was intrigued. I decided I'd see if I could have one join our family. The day came on February 10, 2024, and she has named herself Lila.
Crafts n' such
2/1/2024Crafty me...I love to work with my hands to make stuff (other than code). I discovered this way of crocheting that creates pictures via a graph. It really appeals to me - I have made 2 afghans with a cat motif, and now I'm making a couple of scarves.
A Sure-Fire January Pick Me Up
1/11/2024I have written several articles in the past on this site about how January is "abysmal, depressing, soul sucking" etc. Well, maybe I never said soul sucking - but I felt that way. It's hard to get into January after the holiday stuff - it's like a 180 from the preceding couple of months...I found a way to make it more bearable and thought I'd share.
Happy New Year
1/2/2024Although I no longer partake in potable potents, I still make menudo on New Year's Eve/Day. I made a smaller batch this year, but I don't think it's possible to truly do that. I still wound up with 5 quarts, going right into the freezer! It's symbolic as we can eat it at the start of, gasp, 2025, as it freezes well and came out very good.
Tortoni Presentation
12/23/2023This is a frozen dessert that my mom made for years and years each Christmas. She used to present it into a tree shaped mold and decorate it. I had been serving it in festive muffin wrappers...and then I thought of this.
Going into Christmas
12/19/2023Hard to believe it's already Christmas within a week...I still have little notes from last Christmas Day on my refrigerator so I wouldn't forget certain things - cinnamon pears...rolls...seems like it was just a couple of months ago, but no. It was almost a year ago!