Blueberry Hodgepodge

Fruit salad image from Pixabay

I'm participating in Joyce's Hodgepodge (from this side of the pond) again this week, where she asks a series of interesting questions.

1. What's something you enjoy now that your younger self would never have appreciated? 

I appreciate a weekend with absolutely no social plans so I can read, exercise, watch TV, putter around on my blog, work on a puzzle, and basically do whatever I please with zero obligation to anyone else. When I was younger, I would feel anxious and lonely if I had no social plans. 

2. What was peaceful about today? 

See above! This is my third day of me-time with no social plans, and I'm enjoying every moment. I've exercised a lot, read a lot, and watched a bunch of silly movies, including Mamma Mia for the zillionth time. Now that the fireworks are over, it's quiet and lovely... I'm taking the opportunity to create more blog pages and posts to schedule for later.

3. It's National Blueberry Day (July 8). Will you celebrate?  You can have one of the following right now-a slice of blueberry pie, a warm blueberry muffin, or a stack of blueberry pancakes...which do you choose?

I celebrate blueberries every week! They're super nutritious and delicious. I usually have them plain, but for a decadent treat I mix them with a rice pudding cup. Any of the choices presented would be fine. If I had to choose, I'd probably go with the pie as it's the most blueberryish.

This or that-blueberries or raspberries? blueberries or strawberries? 

Blueberries always, thank you. I do enjoy them mixed with strawberries, banana slices, and grapes. The peaches in the image look delicious, but I find peaches, nectarines, and mangoes from the grocery store to be very hit-or-miss as far as texture/ taste. Coconut is a welcome addition to any fruit medley for me.

4. Do you need a break? From what? 

I am on a "break" until the next month-end at work, which is always super stressful lately. Until the 20th or so, everything is fine.

5. What has surprised you most about getting older? 

My complete loss of interest in dating. For several years after my divorce, I was obsessed with the idea of meeting someone new and having the "once in a lifetime" fabulous romance that I missed when younger. It didn't happen, and around 8 years ago, the desire vanished. This occurred after a totally disastrous (short) relationship that spun me into a depression for quite some time, and when the black dog slunk away, so did any longing for love (of the romantic variety). It continues to surprise and delight me that I have no interest, especially when I see people, even my age, angsting over how awful it all is. It is awful! No offense to anyone who has found their person, but searching for one when you're older is a nightmare.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The two kitties who live here (my Inky and my housemate's Autumn) had no reaction whatsoever to all the noisy fireworks last night. The booming began before sundown (seems like a waste to me, but what do I know?) and continued on for hours and hours. I went to bed around midnight, and it was still super loud outside. The cats though? Business as usual. 

Reggae Hodgepodge

 

Image from Pixabay

I'm participating in this week's Hodgepodge, which is hosted by Joyce @ From This Side of the Pond. Before I start responding to the questions, since it's Memorial Day here in the USA, I want to take a moment to express gratitude toward anyone who has served our country. RIP. I am also grateful for the local fire departments and California statewide response to the toxic chemical tank situation in Garden Grove (about 5 miles from my place). The latest update is that, due to a crack in the tank, some of the pressure has been relieved, and the temperature of the methyl methacrylate has dropped. They said that the danger of a massive explosion has been eliminated, but there still could be a smaller one, so the evacuation order remains in place. Thankfully, I am outside that zone.

1. Do you like your name? Are you named after someone (grandparent, etc.)? If you have children how did you choose their names? 

I do not like my name. I don't care for girls' names that are boys' names with an A stuck on the end. It has always annoyed me, but least it's short and easy to spell. My parents were considering Pamela as well as Paula, and I wish they'd chosen Pamela. As far as my daughters' names, Diane was always my favorite, and Sharon was my ex's pick, which I liked. My big "thing" with them was to avoid the super-popular names and also anything weird. The names we went with were slightly out of fashion, yet everyone has heard of them (and can spell them).

2.  A piece of red velvet cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a slice of blueberry pie? You can only have one...which will you choose? If you could pick any red, white, or blue dessert other than those listed here, what would you choose? 

Right now, it's pretty warm, so I'll go with the vanilla ice cream. Normally, I'm cold and would choose the RV cake and hot tea. I do love blueberry pie too. If I could choose my own patriotic-themed dessert, I'd pick strawberries and whipped cream.

3.  What's a job you'd like to try for just one day? 

None. I'm just waiting to retire from the one I have so I can blissfully ignore Outlook emails.

4. Any patriotic decor in your home currently or coming up this summer? 

No. My housemate and I don't decorate for any holidays. 

5. It's the end of May, so let's exercise our brains. Sum up your month with an acrostic using the word MAY. We can do it!!  

Migraines plagued me as usual; I've had better months, and I've had worse.
Anxiety dropped rapidly at the beginning of the month and returned for month-end work issues.
Yummy meals included a high tea luncheon in San Juan Capistrano with my friend Lisa and a veggie quesadilla in Dana Point with my daughter Diane and her husband Sam.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Today I'm going to a reggae concert with friends and am wearing reggae colors because I like themes: a long yellow tee-shirt top and beaded/ flower bracelets in yellow, black, green, and red. I'm also wearing a beaded necklace in those colors with a "queen" pendant that I fashioned out of one of the earrings that came with the accessories package. I can't wear long dangling earrings because of my paper thin earlobes, so I improvised. I saved the other earring for Lisa, but I don't know if she'll want it. 

Sweet Potato Hodgepodge

Baked sweet potato with broccoli and sunflower seeds

I’m participating in the Wednesday Hodgepodge again this week, which is hosted by Joyce @ from this side of the pond. 

1. What do you make more complicated than it needs to be? 

Hmm, pretty much everything including this question. The older I get, the fuzzier things appear (cleans glasses), and further possibilities sprout up like little forest mushrooms after a rain. I'm not talking about math, normal daily routines, or other things with clear answers (although the higher up you go in math, the fuzzier that gets too), but complex questions and new issues that require new decisions. Take Social Security, the supplement, and a drug plan, all of which I signed up for this year. OMG, how I agonized over all that! In general, I'm happy to take the advice of other people, especially my daughters, most of whom know more than I do, and ~ more importantly ~ seem confident in what they're doing.

2. What impresses you? 

Confidence, hah. Creativity, humor, kindness, empathy. 

3. On a scale of 1-10 how picky of an eater are you?  (1=extremely and 10=not at all) If you had to eat a meal made entirely of one color what color would you choose? 

This is a complicated question because on the one hand, I stick with the same basic meals and do not require nor generally desire anything fancy, but on the other hand, when I'm confronted with a list of foods many people hate, I'm fine with most of them, even if I usually don't eat them. For example, I love coconut, sushi, shrimp, oysters, mushrooms, olives, beets, eggplant, tofu, blue cheese, etc., but I don't usually eat any of that because I generally have the same boring salads and sandwiches and fruit. As I age, out of necessity I avoid a lot of fried food and other things that give me indigestion, so maybe overall I'm a 7.

I guess I would choose orange for my single-color meal because I could have cantaloupe to start, then a baked sweet potato, and uh... pumpkin pie for dessert!

4. What does balance in life mean to you? Does your life currently feel 'balanced'? 

To me, balance means that I work normal business hours, chat with my family most days (texting), hang out with friends on the weekend (a few times a month), and still have enough time for reading, writing, chores/ errands, puzzles, and loads of kitty snuggles. I am lucky in that my life feels balanced currently, though sometimes at the end of the month I have to work overtime.

5. If you could travel the world for a year what would be your first destination? 

I absolutely would not want to do this, no matter how much money I had. I would miss my family too much and also Inky! How could I leave Inky? I don't even like to be gone for one night.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Websites lately are so irritating, though I still find Blogger vastly preferable to WordPress (and I'm never going back). Whether it's an online store or a news site, you're bombarded with pop-ups and ads, and it's hard to even read an article anymore without being harassed. For example, I used to read People magazine to get the dish on celebs, but it's so obnoxious that I can no longer deal with it. Articles hang up before they finish loading because the ads are taking too long. On the other hand, sometimes an Instagram ad looks interesting, so I think OK let's see what this is all about. Nope. I can't even view whatever thing it is because the company would rather pester me to sign up for emails and deals than let me view the product in peace. You know what this reminds me of? In the olden days, we used to browse in meatspace stores (how quaint!), and salespeople were constantly pestering us with small talk and asking what we're looking for. We hated that then, and we hate it online!

Pi(e) Thoughts

Happy Pi Day! This is probably my favorite day of the year: I love numbers, I love circles, and I love pie. I loved the movie Life of Pi, and it was especially great in 3D. I confess that I did not read the book. 

We had our first party in this condo on Pi Day 2020, which was lots of fun. Then came the lockdowns, my roomie left to be with her elderly dad in NorCal, and I was alone with the cats for five months. What a weird time that was! I went to the office during the day, and the partners would go in separately at night or on the weekends. I didn’t see my daughters or grands, except for one “distanced” visit in Los Angeles, until Thanksgiving when I drove to NorCal so I wouldn’t be exposed to airport travel germs. TG for texting and FaceTime!

Today my daughter and SIL were going to meet me for pizza (there’s now a Slice House in Orange County), but she’s not feeling well, so we’ve postponed it. I will try to find some kind of circular food item to eat later as a consolation prize. Perhaps pie itself! 

Someone brought us a cherry pie at work to introduce themselves as our new neighbors, but no one wanted any on Thursday, so it’s in the fridge. Idk how long pie will stay tasty kept in a fridge, since generally there’s no such thing as leftover pie. 

“All pie is good pie.” ~ Glen Powell as Gary Johnson in Hit Man

Debunking Home Cooking Myths

There are benefits to home cooked meals, of course, particularly if you enjoy cooking, but there are also a bunch of myths surrounding home cooking, which is what I am blogging about today. (This is all regarding cooking for one person; if you’re cooking for two or more, this post probably won’t apply.)

The first myth is that cooking is “easy.” Have you taken a look at a recipe lately? They’re like an encyclopedia of ingredients! Not only do you have to forage for all the items (often with some being hard to find), but then you have to put them all together. Every recipe says that their dish will take “20 minutes” of prep time, but guess what? That’s a lie. And then there’s cleaning up the mess in the kitchen. All this trouble is not worth the 15 minutes of pleasure of nomming up a bowl of chili or whatever.

Second, there’s the cost factor. Now, if we’re talking about a filet mignon, then I agree it will likely be less expensive to make that at home as opposed to going to a fancy restaurant (whether it will be as delicious is a different matter). But let’s discuss something I would actually make or order. How about a salad? Restaurant salads are around $20 (plus tax and tip), and you would think it’d be cheaper to make that at home. Not really. To make a comparable salad at home, you would need to buy all the ingredients the restaurant uses, and the only way this would be cheaper than going out is if you used up the leftover ingredients to make salad every day until they were gone. But what if I don’t want the same salad every day for three or four days? Then most of the ingredients will need to be tossed, and suddenly the home salad is no bargain.

Third, there’s the health factor. I like to buy prepared meals for weekday lunches, such as Lean Cuisines, that are portion controlled. Other than the fact that prepared foods are generally too high in sodium, everything else about them works well for me. I’ve tried other options, such as making sandwiches, but bread and lunch meat and cheese and condiments are all high in sodium too, and then I am stuck eating the same type of sandwich every day for a week, which I hate. Same goes for pasta and veggies. That’s a great lunch for a couple days, but then ick no not again. (I do not have much freezer space to store piles of leftovers.) With the pre-prepped meals, I can have different pasta/rice dishes with chicken and veggies all week. No wasted food.

What about taste? I confess I am not a gourmet. Some frozen foods are kind of yuck (pizza, for example), so I avoid those, but most taste fine to me. There’s a dozen or so I like a lot, so these are in constant rotation. I also buy a salad or sandwich from a restaurant once or twice per week to break things up. Do I eat anything at home? Sure! Oatmeal, yogurt and fruit, carrots and dip, grilled cheese sandwiches, tortillas with refried beans, etc. 

Now we arrive at the most important food group of all: dessert! Obviously, I am not going to make candy or ice cream at home because that’s way too time intensive, but until recently I did bake cakes, cookies, brownies, etc. Never pie because that’s too hard, plus you can so easily find good pie out and about (all pie is good pie). I used to enjoy baking ~ I don’t now though, mainly due to so many people being on restricted diets that most of my treats go to waste. Also, goodies from the grocery store have improved so much that it isn’t worth the bother to bake. I brought Christmas cookies from the store to a friend’s house party yesterday, and they were delicious! So soft and buttery with rock crystal sugar sprinkles for texture, not to mention that these were perfectly shaped Santas and snowmen and candy canes, unlike the shapeless blobs that used to result from my pressed cookies. I do admit that I have not yet found a brownie as scrumptious as the ones I made in the past from a Ghirardelli mix plus mini M&Ms…

Well, it’s certainly a good thing I figured out that I no longer have any desire to cook or bake before I meet my next dream man. LOL

Weekend Recap

Happy last day of November. I had a fun friendsgiving, which included several board games, but my opinion of Thanksgiving food, even if perfectly prepared, remains unchanged: I don’t like it. I especially dislike turkey and do not eat any of it (chicken is fine, I like chicken, but everybody else wants turkey). Stuffing can be tasty, but only the way my mommy made it. Green beans and mashed potatoes are okay, but why bother? Now, I do enjoy a baked sweet potato with butter, but I don’t want them all syruped up in a casserole. Yuck. Then we come to the pie ~ I love pie! Why can’t I just have pie? I brought an apple crumb pie from The Flaky Apple Pie Company, baked it at the host’s house, and it was utterly delicious! Everyone loved it. Next year I’m getting cherry. Every pie they make is wonderful. If it were up to me, I would have an all-pie and only-pie Thanksgiving.

I have been trying to watch season two of A Man on the Inside, but I keep falling asleep. Maybe I shouldn’t put it on at 10pm when I am already in bed. I did watch the entirety of Red Joan, a Netflix WW2 drama about “the bomb,” starring Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson, both playing a British woman Joan Stanley at different ages. The story is loosely based on the life of a KGB spy and depicts Joan as a naive Cambridge physics student who becomes sympathetic toward communism due to her boyfriend’s influence. After graduation, she works in a nuclear research facility and passes information to the Soviets via her boyfriend’s sister. Normally I do not watch anything set in this time period, but I love Judi, and the premise sounded interesting, so I did. It was fabulous! I highly recommend it. 

I watched couple of Christmas romcoms too, which weren’t bad, but they were completely forgettable, so I can’t tell you what they were without going to my watch history… and I CBA. I am planning to see Song Sung Blue at the theater with game friends on Christmas Day and The Housemaid with book club peeps later that weekend. Looking forward to those as well as seeing my family for Chanukah. I did a puzzle on Friday; it was only 500 pieces, so I completed it in a few hours. I think I prefer those as opposed to the 1000 pieces ones, which take several days or a week. I am trying not to spend so much time reading the news and social media, except for my FB book club group, so solo games are a good distraction.

I have a lot of social plans coming up, the idea of which stresses me out a bit, even when I deliberately set it all in motion. To ease my anxiety, I spent too much money on Black Friday sales as well as other stuff I “needed.” Now I’m stressed about that instead. I console myself with the thought that I could have spent even more but didn’t. The nice thing is that most of my stuff will be arriving in separate packages, so I will have several fun mail-opening events, woohoo. 

As far as books, I guess I took a little break ~ the last book I read was on November 26. That was What She Saw by Mary Burton, a solid mystery novel, to which I awarded four stars. Yesterday I began a John Grisham novel, The Brethren, which is mildly intriguing, and I will probably finish it. I have several of his in my TBR pile. I’m trying to understand why I don’t fling this book into my DNF donation bag as opposed to all the romances and thrillers that have been so flung, and I guess it’s simply because he’s a better writer. His characters in this book are not likable, but they hold my attention regardless, and the plot threads make me wanna find out what happens and how they tie together. Is it worth noting that Grisham narrates in third person past tense, which is how books should be written, instead of the first person head hopping present tense atrocities we keep seeing in new fiction? Yes, there are exceptions, and I have enjoyed some FPHHPT novels, but that’s despite the FPHHPT not because of it. 

Tomorrow is weigh-in day for Inky and me!

Pop, and Other Palindromes

The other week some friends and I were thinking of palindrome names, such as Bob and Pip and Otto. Eve, Ana, Elle, Nan, Ada. Then there’s Mom and Pop. Sis. Race car. Taco cat. It’s really hard to come up with a whole sentence. Madam, I’m Adam. Able was I ere I saw Elba. Do geese see god? Etc. (I googled these.)

It’s unfortunate that the word “palindrome” is not one.

I say soda, not pop, for a generic carbonated beverage. That answer marks me as someone from back east on the geographical language quizzes. 

I used to love Pop-Tarts, but lately they aren’t worth the calories. They’re pretty bland and dry. I’d rather have a couple of cookies. In fact, these days I prefer cookies to most other desserts even cake/ cupcakes. That’s weird! Who even am I anymore? I also am a big fan of pie, especially contrasting flavors in a pie, such as key lime with a graham cracker crust. My coworker made mini KLPs for us this week, and they were delicious. The ratio of crust to filling is higher in a mini, and I liked that. Same goes for mini PB cups. I had a Reese’s tree the other week, and I have to say that the ratio of PB to chocolate was too high. YMMV.

I’ve been thinking about contrasts a bunch lately. You can’t truly appreciate something until you experience its opposite. That’s my theory anyway.

~*~

Inspired by Stream of Consciousness Saturday (pop). Don’t worry, I am not going to start bombarding you with a ton of prompt crap like I did back on my WP blog, but if the mood strikes me, I think it’s OK once in a while.

Pumpkin Spice Thoughts

The internet has turned (allegedly) normal adults into toddlers. A perfect example of this is the kerfuffle around pumpkin spice. Why should there even be an issue? If you like pumpkin spice, then yay there are a lot of products to choose from. If you hate pumpkin spice, then don't order any of these products. Maybe I missed the PS evangelist gang kidnapping peeps and forcing them to drink PS lattes? That's a possibility, since there is so much news it's hard to keep up. In the absence of someone forcing a PS hater to consume PS however, why are the haters so obsessed with hating on it? This is typical toddler behavior, and what do we say to cranky tots? Don't yuck my yum. To each their own. If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all. Etc.

I love some pumpkin/ pumpkin spice foods: lattes, cookies, cake, pie, and (surprisingly) tortilla chips from Trader Joe's. I'm neutral on others, and I particularly dislike the oatmeal and granola I tried. But instead of making a nasty meme about PS cereals, I simply have gone on to live my life without them. Other people enjoy the cereals, or they wouldn't continue to sell, and this has zero effect on my life. You could say the same thing about other food items I avoid, such as escargot, beef jerky, licorice, etc. I don't feel the need to insert an "eww" every time someone mentions them on socials. Every September however, without fail, the PS haters appear on social media with their mockery memes, and I just don't understand it.

Perhaps it's a way of bonding: nothing brings people together like a common hatred. There even used to be a dating site themed on this concept ~ apparently Hater Dater has morphed into a typical advice blog. It makes sense though ~ common dislikes are sometimes more important in assessing compatibility than common likes. For example, when I used to date (or try to), it didn't really matter that a man matched with me on liking rock music, kitties, and sushi. Someone truly in sync with me didn't enjoy watching sports all weekend, traveling extensively, or going to massively loud/ crowded events. Of course, shared must-haves are crucial in certain areas, such as whether one requires a monogamous relationship.

Speaking of (not) dating, I was chatting with friends yesterday during a pumpkin spice themed rock painting party, and I mentioned that at a certain point, sometime between 2011 (breakup with boyfriend of 2.5 years) and 2016 (ghosted by man after 2.5 months), I just said eff it and began doing whatever I pleased without worry that it wouldn't mesh with some hypothetical future beau. My current lifestyle would most likely be a total turnoff to any man, with my focus on cats, crafts, puzzles, romance novels, and romcoms. I also play a lot of board games, which some men are into, but that's just a coincidence. The gals and I have planned another couple events during October: more rock painting but combined with a swimming and BBQ party, and a visit to the pumpkin patch where we will act like silly little kids again. I'm excited! I'll post my painted rocks on IG ~ I really like my cute avo.

My autumn agenda includes more books, more movies, more fun with friends, and more pumpkin spice. I will be avoiding as much stress and drama as I can, which means less and less social media. Btw, I have read plenty of books since my last review, but there hasn't been anything interesting to say about them. I also finished the first season of The Morning Show, and it turns out that only S1 is available on Prime (it's disappearing soon in any case); supposedly, I have Apple TV through a friend, but I can't get it to work, so I probably won't be watching more. I thought S1 was very good. Tonight I plan to watch Swiped, the docu about Bumble, only because it stars Lily James.

Happy Pi Day

Did you do anything to celebrate 3.14? I didn’t; I just worked all day. I ate a round tortilla with peanut butter and honey, which I think counts a bit, but I would have been happier with real pie. I didn’t see the eclipse of the moon last night either. Or maybe it was this morning. I don’t know. I work, I sleep, I exercise, I read fiction, I scroll social media, and I play solitaire on my phone… that’s my life Monday through Friday. I don’t like to go out after work because Gatsby has been alone all day, and I want to spend time with him. 

This week I read a book I had been looking forward to: Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (it ticked the multiple authors requirement on my 2025 Reading Challenge). Crusie used to be one of my fave romance writers, and a while ago she paired up with Mayer for more action-oriented novels so he could write the tough guy characters. This was the first one of theirs that I read cover to cover. Blech! It was about an amusement park in Ohio that served as a demon prison, and a select group of humans with special powers had been tasked with keeping the demons contained. There was also a bad human who wanted to let the demons out for his own nefarious purposes. Except for the hot sex, which there wasn’t that much of, the story seemed like young adult fantasy silliness with a plot full of holes, and I didn’t care about any of the characters. Oh well. Two stars. 

Even though I hadn’t read Crusie in years, I realized that I was tired of her writing style. She has this tedious pattern of internal monologue for her characters, which quickly gets on my nerves, and then I remembered it had begun to annoy me 20 years ago. I suppose at one point I found it fresh and amusing, but now it’s grating. Not to mention that if you’re going to create a world with supernatural elements, please make it make sense, be consistent rather than turning the magic off and on for convenience, and give the motivation an adult level of sophistication. Grrrr!

I decided tonight that I want to put a bird in my cherry blossom painting, so it’s not ready for the ‘gram yet. I will paint the bird this weekend and probably start a new painting too. It rained all week, which makes me crabbier than usual, so I’m hoping for a nice sunny day tomorrow.