Gadgety Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Kitchen Gadgets Zmrzlina Loves I'm pretty hopeless in the kitchen. I am vegetarian and I'm usually happy just stir-frying a bunch of veggies until they are merely warm, tossing in some spice and/or soy sauce, and serving over wild rice or soba noodles with a side of seasoned tofu. But, since moving to Pittsburgh I've tried to vary things and I am starting to enjoy cooking.... just a little bit. It helps that G is willing to try whatever I cook, and often does his own experimenting in the kitchen. These are some of our favorite gadgets. 1. Rev 'n Chef Herb Chopper. I use this for herbs, but also to make quick work of dicing up small bits of onions and peppers. 2. Silicone Pinch Cups. I like having everything all measured out and ready to use before I start cooking. 3. Stainless steel hanging baskets... the old fashion kind that don't seem to be in many kitchens anymore. I keep my garlic and other non-refrigerated produce in them. 4. Glass jars, on the shelf over the sink, where I store my grains. I use lots of whole grains and like to have the out so I know exactly how much I have left with just a glance. I also store my most often used spices (cumin, curry, chili, turmeric) in small glass jars on the same shelf. 5. Silicone cooking utensils. I love these. I am getting rid of all the ugly plastic ones and getting all silicone. 6. Cooking utensil holder. I have a vintage looking container on the counter to hold all my utensils. For the first 30 years of cookinghood I had them in drawers. So much easier to have them out and ready for use. 7. Nut chopper. I like chopped nuts in my salads and this little gadget is perfect to pull out and chop a few nuts. Rinses out easy and back into the drawer. 8. Pampered Chef Wine Bottle Opener. Love how the little foil cutter takes the top off so neatly. I collect those little cut off tops. And the cork remover is pretty cool, too. 9. SiliconeZone Lid. Covers my biggest pot and skillet. Very cool for letting me see what's cooking. Just have to be careful of escaping steam and hot water when lifting lid. 10. Recipe book holder. I have a plain, stainless, no-frills holder that folds up small to slip beside the cookbook rack. Cooked for 30 years without one and now I can't imagine why. So much easier to have the book, or magazine, held open and upright in front of me! 11. Perfect Tear Paper Towel Holder. Mine is a bit different than the linked one... brushed not shiny and a nicer top. I love how the towel comes off with just a one-hand tug. 12. Hershey silicone bakeware. I don't have these, but I want them. We saw them a while back, but since we don't eat sweets and I don't ever bake, I didn't buy them. But I do want them. I don't know why, I just do. 13. Lastly, a bit more than a gadget, but indispensable, my Keurig Coffee Maker. I love the perfect cup of coffee I get and I can use my own coffee in the resusable K-cup filter assembly that I bought separately. Lately we have been finding it very hard to stay out of shops like Sur la Table. But, we don't really buy many gadgets because we have a tiny kitchen with not very much storage space. But someday.... Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. WestOfMars 2. Writing Aspirations 3. zzz

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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'rents, you gotta love 'em

It ain't easy being a parent. We all know that. Kids can be mean as hell. We can be as mean as hell. And then there are the other times. Most of the time, if you are lucky (and I am). I've received two cards in the last couple days that make me think about being a parent.

The first is from a woman in Massachusetts whose daughter got one of my random postcardx postcards. The woman wrote that her daughter always loved receiving cards, and then that her daughter had died in September. I did a quick bit of research and found the obit... 33 years old, "peacefully in her sleep," the only child. The mother's husband died a while back. I don't know if she is alone now... I hope not.

And then today I got a card from parents in Pennsylvania whose daughter had posted to postcardx that she had been "causing them a lot of grief lately." I sent a pretty snowflake postcard with something simple written on it (I don't remember what) and ended by saying "Julia loves you." I am guessing that Julia does love them, because why else would she post their names and address to a public website and ask for "beautiful things" to be sent to them? Anyway, the card I got today is signed by Julia's mother and she says she has read and reread my postcard and will keep it. She ends by saying I'm "very fine." It made my day.

Giftmas

Every year about this time I get to wondering how to explain the sort of celebration I observe come the 25th of December. I do like to give and get presents on Christmas, but I am not christian and don't think of the holiday as a religious celebration. I like the crazy shopping. I like the wrapping. I like the decorations. I have a Christmas tree. It is purple with white lights and is decorated with snowpeople and snowflakes. But, I don't like to say I celebrate Christmas. I celebrate Giftmas.

I don't like the nasty required gift giving that may come with the holiday, those gifts to people you barely know just because you can't go empty-handed to a gathering of more than two at this time of year. I don't like buying gifts for people who expect something perfect. I don't like buying gifts for office parties. But, I do like buying gifts for family and friends. I usually have no trouble at all finding gifts I want to give. And that's how I shop for gifts. I think of what would make me happy to give a particular person and it usually results in the recipient getting something that makes them very happy. Although, I have to say, it hasn't been quite the case with G. I don't have a great track rating with giving him gifts that work, though I am getting better.

Anyway, this year, because I am unemployed, I am not observing Giftmas. Instead, my daughters and I will take a road trip next spring, out to Ohio to ride coasters and maybe to Hershey, PA, to ride coasters and eat bad chocolate. I would love to buy Greg something wonderful, but I can't. Once I am employed, there will be gifts, though. I know just what to get him, and this time I am not going to be wrong. Christmas weekend we will go to visit his parents in West Virginia. They aren't so into the holiday, so any gift giving will be limited to books and bags of good coffee. But, I did go up north, to New York, last month for a family gathering where we celebrated every end of the year birthday (there are lots) and a sort of Giftmas.

We had agreed that there were to be no gift exchanges between adults. Just the kids would get gifts. There are three boys, my nephews, ages 9, 10 and 11. I spent the $150 worth of Borders Rewards money (one good reason to quit working at Borders... I spent too much money there!) and my last monthly employee $30 gift card on the boys. They didn't get as much from me as in the past, but I find some good buys and I am sure they are happy with what they got. The rest of my family went nuts. It was a gift orgy. We did make the boys open presents one at a time, and made sure they acknowledged the gifter, but even so, it was a crazy scene, which I can't really capture with this image, but I don't like to have photos of people other than myself on my blog.

I don't really like the gift orgy thing so much. I would have preferred something a little less frantic, but I guess with three boys that young, frantic can't be avoided. I don't know what we will do next year, but I kind of hope there won't be any gifts at all. I'd rather do something like take a family holiday somewhere warm, or go to a show in the NYC and stay at a nice hotel. We can send gifts to the boys to open when they open all their other presents. When frantic happens and I am not in the room to observe it, then it really hasn't happened.

The Strange Sister Cult of Tom Robbins

I have three sisters, all younger. One is 12 years younger, the other two are 3 and 4 years younger. We rarely agree on anything, but years ago we discovered a common denominator, Tom Robbins. It was a surprise to learn that my sisters enjoy his books as much as I do, although my youngest sister seems to have navigated away from the cult in recent years (well, his stuff hasn't been nearly as engaging, so maybe I can't blame her... maybe). I have an idea for a book, fiction, about four sisters who read Tom Robbins, but it is still just a rough idea of a rough idea.

Anyway, years ago I bought Tom Robbins: A Critical Companion by Catherine Hoyser and Lorena Laura Stookey because I found it used somewhere (list price is too rich for my blood!). I didn't really enjoy the analysis all that much, but it did add some detail to the books, so I mentioned it to sister #2 (the second to youngest). Joyce wanted to borrow it, but knowing Joyce, I figured I'd never get it back since she moves around lots and is quite the pack rat. So, I bought it for her... new. She was thrilled, and I figured "well, at least there are two people in the world with the book."


At this year's family gathering to celebrate every end of the year holiday and birthday (we don't "do" Christmas, but we like to have a tree, or two, and give gifts) Joyce gave sister #1 (the second to oldest) a copy of the very same book (it was bought used, but in great condition). Jeannette also got the trade paperback edition of all of Tom's books, which she has been lusting after for years. I'd rather have old beat-up hardcovers. I have a hardcover Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates that is signed by Tom, to Pete. I don't know who Pete is, but the book ended up at Four Seasons Books in Shepherdstown, WV and I bought it for $6. But, Jeannette is equally thrilled to have her paperback collection, and the coveted critical companion.

It's good to know there are three people now who own the critical companion.

Maiden Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Captions from Zmrzlina's Camera 1. A Fistful of Beads To Aid Battered Women 2. Reading Legacy Trumps Hell 3. Gift Orgy 4. Quilted Love 5. Now Three People Own It 6. These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things 7. I Miss Stone Walls 8. No Smoking 9. Over the Bridge 10. Vienna in Pittsburgh 11. Is This The Little Girl I Carried 12. I Am Cat, Hear Me Roar 13. Another One Off the List! The above are captions to the most recent 13 photos in my digital camera. I plan to go back and link each list item to its photo and perhaps a separate future post. That's the plan... Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. WestOfMars 2. Writing Aspirations

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Thursday Thirteen

I have seen this "meme" on other blogs, but never did one myself. I don't think it will become a weekly event, but I am going to give it a try this week because of a list at The Scratching Post. It may take me the rest of the day, but it will go up.

Alternative Gifts

Got someone on your gift-giving list who loves to read, but has a ton of "TBR" (to be read) piled in little mountains all over the house? Bet they would love a gift that provided a literacy instructor for teaching adults to read in Haiti. Maybe your 80 year old grandmother has enough shawls and knickknacks and would love to be part of a program in Peru that aids old women in passing their stories and wisdom to others. Give a goat to your boss. Or just donate a where help is needed most. I've bought lots of gift through Alternative Gifts International. I like that I can pick the project so I know what organization is getting the money. There isn't a barrage of mail from the AltGifts, either... just the one catalog a year. Give something different this year.

Pittsburgh Plus

Pittsburgh Plus is up. Now I just have to make sure I post to it as often as possible.

Buy A Friend A Book

When I first saw the above link on WestOfMars, I thought, "Yeah... nothing new with doing that. I do it all the time." Follow the link and discover there is a bit more to it than just buying a book. Lots of rules, though not too difficult to follow. Not sure I'll get involved since finances are thin (this starving artist thing is not fun), but I like the idea. Susan (WestOfMars author) did a contest to find a new friend for the next gifting spree. Cool idea.

WrapSack!

Oh my goodness! I was shopping at Whole Foods today and at the checkout they had these cute little cloth bags to use for wrapping, an idea I have loved for a long time since they can be used again and again, however these come with a tracking number so you can send a gift, the receiver logs it at the site, then they use the bag to send a gift to another person, and so on. Like BookCrossing and Postcrossing. I bought one to send off to a random person through postcardx and plan to buy lots more. This will be fun!

Reminder of Things To Edit in Template

1. Must get rid of the big white space and line between date and title.
2. Must figure out how to edit link widget so I can annotate each link.
3. Must find a photo to put somewhere.
4. Would like to add the List widget with an activism theme

will add more as I think of them.

Thought of something else, but I think it will need its own blog. My wishlist/gift journal....

I get tons of catalogs because I shop almost exclusively online. All through the year I cut out the stuff in the catalogs that appeal to me (for myself or others) and paste them into a journal with annotations about why I like them, or who would like them, or why I hate them if I want to spend a bit of time ranting. Makes for a creative way to capture my thoughts. And when I want to buy a gift, I just look at the name index in the front of the journal and find the pages with stuff for that person that I've found throughout the year.

I also use a smaller journal to make notes about websites that have interesting stuff. I don't like buying from Amazon but I sometimes browse the stuff there for ideas.

And, when I do go out shopping, I go to the small indy stores in my city. Much more fun and I usually find lots of unusual gifts. That is what I think I should make a different blog about, indy shopping in Pittsburgh.

I Manifest My Bufflehead

This morning's batch of spam brought the above subject line, and made me giggle. That will be my mantra for the day. The second best subject line is "I Atlas to Centerpiece." Both spams are about (love Gmail's preview space!) "bestest" replica watches.

Also in my inbox is a newsletter from Giant Microbes announcing their newest cute germs, toxins and pests; Malaria, Lyme Disease, Red Tide, Krill, Sea Sparkle (Bioluminescence), House Fly, Mosquito, Heartworm, Mange, and Rabies. I've already got 4 Giant Microbes (Kissing Disease, Bookworm, Sleeping Sickness and Bed Bug), but I'd love to add a few more. They are quite dear decorating my bookshelves.

Eureka!

Just remembered my logon for this page and thought I'd get it going again.

To Abandon or Not To Abandon?

Been a very long time. I am not sure what to do with this now. I will have www.beautifulnonsense.com up very soon so this will just be another abandoned site on the Internet.

Wonder Woman

Great history of Wonder Woman in Boston University's Alumni mag, Bostonian. She is based on a real live woman and there is everything one could ask for in a story. Success over odds, family values and ménage à trois. Gosh I would love to have a Wonder Woman costumes...and all her toys.

It ain't easy being idealist. I am facing a crisis of philosophy. In the last week I have taken a verbal lashing from just about every corner, professional, academic and personal regarding my belief in non-violence, fair trade, the purposes of protest and world order. Tonight I have promised myself to write out a list of everything I believe in and see what happens from there.

Great article about a Pakistani man in Pittsburgh. "Customers bring joy to Pakistani store manager".

Try as I might, I can never really seem to get the hang of Nerve. I love sex. I love erotic literature. I love the Internet. And they all come together on Nerve. I even bought a book put out by the editors of the site one day while twiddling away the hours at an airport. But the site, and the book, just don't thrill me like I would think.

Today's article in the New York Times (linking the Yahoo article to be on the safe side) about the couple who started the company is intriquing, though. The couple is now separated and he has his new girlfriend working in the office. It seems like there is still lots of emotion hanging on and I wonder about what it must me like to work there with all this going on in the very same place (the office and his apartment are one and the same). Now I am more interested in keeping up with the site. Ah...a little real life sex opera is better than fiction.

One of today's headlines...

Trade in Honey Is Said to Provide Money and Cover for bin Laden

Title of my graduate studies thesis (still in progress)...Beekeeping in Yemen as Civil Society. I think I may need a spin doctor.

One of my continual haunts in the last weeks has been Postcard Stop, an online shop for postcards. Since I don't have a great selection of views locally and I am afraid to go into Boston (that's another story..don't want to talk publicly about that, though no one reads this anyway), I haven't got as many views to trade. So, I have ordered 100 or so at this shop. From everywhere in the US. Lots of fun picking out the views. One view I picked out was for a joke....The Corn Palace of South Dakota. Well, let me tell you...it isn't really as corny (I heard that groan!) as you might think.

A palace has been there since the late 19th century, though the current structure dates to 1926. It is redecorated every year with a mural made out of corn, grasses, flowers...sort of a Rose Bowl float gone homey. And it is used for community activities and to promote the historic significance of agriculture in the region. I really want to see this place! And I ordered 38 more cards, depicting the palace in many different years.

The things ya learn on the Internet.