what's been cooking?

I've been really awful about cooking over the last few months due to everything that's happened. But I'm getting back to it. Here are some of the things I've made.

At work we have the option to participate in the local CSA (community supported agriculture). This is the first year we've been offered this service. It's not free, though. People who want to participate pay about $19 a week for a half-share and receive enough produce to feed two to three people for one week. I believe it lasts for about 18 weeks. Each week you get a variety of produce and you won't know until you receive it what you're actually getting. They give you whatever is in season. I don't participate in it, mainly because $19 a week for produce is a bit much for me to spend knowing that either I or Bob won't eat certain things or won't be able to cook it all before it goes bad. Also, they give you seasonal items. Since kale, Swiss chard, celery and celery root are in season right now, those items have been provided every week. That can get boring even if you like those items. If you don't, it's a waste of money. I have, however, been taking advantage of the fact that someone at work doesn't like those four items I mentioned. They leave them in the community kitchen each week, so I grabbed them one week. If you're interested in finding a CSA in your area, try this website: https://www.localharvest.org/csa/.

Here's what my fridge looked like after I brought the CSA items home. Those are some HUGE celery leaves! I chopped off the ends of the celery and removed the leaves, which I then froze for later use in making stock. The celery stalks were so crispy, nothing like what I get at the grocery store.

I used the red Swiss chard to make grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches. I just sautéed the chard in olive oil with some garlic, salt and pepper. I then added it to my sandwich and grilled it. I did the same thing with the kale, but added it to my egg muffins. Note to self: remove the stems before sautéing. It was a bit unpleasant to bite into tough stems when eating something soft like eggs.



This is my steak dinner on another night. The green beans are from the farm stand up the road. I boiled them, then added some butter, salt and pepper. I also fried up a container of leftover onions. I added a little butter, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.

Below is some broccoli rabe sautéed in olive oil with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I blanched it first in order to start getting it tender. From what I understand, broccoli rabe is done when it's dead. This is definitely dead. LOL  I also grilled some turkey tenderloins with some Borsari seasoned salt in Citrus flavor. I absolutely love Borsari. It makes seasoning ridiculously simple. I brought both to work for lunch last week.



And finally, I made roasted tomatoes for the first time. My boss gave us all some plum tomatoes. I put some olive oil on them, along with rosemary from my garden and some mince garlic, then roasted them according to a recipe I found online on Rachel Ray's website. I think the roasting time would have been perfect for larger plum tomatoes, but it was a bit too much for the little ones. A few got burnt. Overall, very delicious, though. And sweet!



my first Stitch Fix

So, I signed up for Stitch Fix at the suggestion of several people. It's a clothing styling service. You fill out your style profile online, pick how often you want to receive a "fix" (box of five items) and you pay $20 for each fix you receive. You can have a fix shipped to you every two to three weeks, every month, every other month, or every three months. You can even opt to schedule them manually, which is to say whenever you want one.  You get three days to decide if you want to keep anything. If so, you just go online and checkout. If not, you send them back in the postage paid envelope.  If you buy one or more of the items, that $20 goes towards your purchase. If you buy all five items, you get 25% off the total purchase.

I got my first box this weekend.  It was pretty surprising to see all the items fit in this one little box. The clothing was wrapped in paper and the box included an outfit suggestion card, along with the pricing and a Welcome note.

Here's the invoice. As you can see, the $20 "Styling Fee" is deducted from whatever you decide to keep. Shown is the total price if I keep everything. A few of the items are definitely a bit more than I'm used to spending, but others were about on par.

This is the outfit suggestion guide. As you can see, each outfit suggestion contains one of the five items.

Here's everything that was in the box, including the postage-paid return envelope.

OK, so here's what I got in my first Fix.

I got a pair of earrings ($44). They’re really not me, as they’re kind of big, but they actually look pretty good on me. That said, I’ll be sending them back, because I don’t have anything to go with them and $44 is a lot for costume jewelry (IMO). I may have kept them if I felt they were a good match for another outfit.

I got two blouses. This one is kind of a light grey with a lighter grey and yellow pattern ($54). It has a neck tie and fluttery sleeves. I didn’t like it when I pulled it out of the box, and it looks awful on me. It’s going back. Bob said it looks "old."

The other one is sleeveless, navy blue with a golden yellow pattern, and also has a neck tie ($44), though it's not as obnoxious as the one above. I think it would look better on me if it was a Misses XL rather than a Women’s 1X. It’s slightly big around the middle, but not swimmingly so. I may exchange it. If they don’t have XL then I'll have to decide if I'm keeping it or not. I was pleasantly surprised by this one, as I kind of cringed when I pulled it out of the box.

I received a pair of jean leggings that on the checkout page they call “skinny jeans” and they’re $78. The fit and length is perfect. Given that I’m 5’11”, that’s impressive! The color is too dark, though (I lightened the picture a bit so you can at least see them). I have a lot of cats I don’t want something that has to constantly be lint-rolled. I won’t be keeping them, both because of the price and the color. Sorry, but I’m not willing to spend $78 on jeans at the moment. If I had no jeans or was struggling to find ones that fit and look good, then I might do it. But that's not the case right now.

I got a long duster-length cardigan in light tan, though the color looks a little off here due to the lighting in the room. I was surprised at getting a XXL, but when I put it on I realized that it’s close-fitting. It’s lightweight and has a hood. I really like it and plan to keep it. It’s $58, but since I paid $20 for the box already, it will just be an additional $38.

To wrap up, I ended up keeping the blue blouse and the cardigan.  They didn't have a Misses size for the blouse; however, I decided that it's not so big that it looks terrible or doesn't fit well in other areas.

Here's what I liked:

• It gave me inspiration and ideas when going to the store this weekend. I tried on a few sleeveless blouses that are a departure from what I would normally give a second look at. 
• It's shipped to me for free. Also, return shipping is free.
• I can edit my profile any time I want so items are customized better for me. I also like that I can share my Pinterest board so the stylist can see they kinds of things I like. I created a category just for this and then shared the URL on my Stitch Fix profile.

What I didn’t like:

• Although they provided a card with outfit suggestions and the items *seem* to all go together (I think–I suck at matching colors and such), it showed only one piece along with a bunch of different items I don’t have to make an outfit. I would have preferred a card showing at least two of the items together so I know that, yes, these things do all match and look good together. It’s probably not an issue for a lot of women and is maybe nit picky, but I struggle and always have to check with my sister or a friend as to whether colors match or pieces look good together. 
• The time frame to make a decision is a bit short--only three days. 
• Once you go through checkout, it doesn't seem as though you can review your past orders; however, this was my first time and I didn't devote much time to poking around the website like I normally would.

I will definitely try it a few more times, though. I’ll make sure to give really detailed feedback so the choices get better. From what I understand in talking to others who use this service, detailed, specific, brutally honest feedback is crucial to getting what you like and will wear.

funny cat story

This story is back from when we moved to the new house in July 2014. I told the story recently, and thought you'd all find it just as funny as I do; I still laugh every time I tell it. (And I need a good laugh after the last several months...)

I moved a few years ago, 45 minutes away from the old house. My sister and I transported my 12 (at the time) cats using two vehicles and nine cat carriers. One carrier held two sisters, Thelma and Louise, and another held the two brothers, Max and Bailey. They travelled in her car.

When we got to my new house, my sister complained that 10 minutes after we left it started to stink really bad in her car. Since this was July, she alternated every 10 minutes or so between closing the windows to enjoy the AC and get relief from the heat, and opening them because she couldn't stand the stench.

We started unpacking the carriers and found that the two brothers had both had an accident. Bailey was facing one way and Max the other way, so basically each cat's head was next to the other's butt. Well, apparently Max had an accident...diarrhea...and Bailey threw up, presumably because his head was Right There next to the muck and he couldn't handle it. Or maybe he was just car sick. So, we had to clean them off, clean out the carrier, and spray some air freshener in the car. And that particular carrier was, of course, one I'd borrowed from the rescue I volunteer with and I had to be back down there that afternoon to do some volunteer work. Thankfully the water had already been turned on so I could hose it out and disinfect.

Max's new nickname (which I still use)? Poopers.

Although I know the ride wasn't fun for my sister or the two cats, to this day I can't help but laugh my ass off every time I think about it. Sorry, sis!

a year of loss

Unfortunately, I have yet another sad blog post to write.

It's been a year of loss for me.  Since October I've lost three cats, my father, and now my brother, Chuck.

My brother was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer last November. At that time he was given three to six months to live if he didn't do any treatment. Nine to 24 months with treatment.  Chemo was initially successful in slowing the spread and growth of the cancer; however, the side effects were rough. He then switched to a different treatment, which, unfortunately, was not successful and the cancer spread and grew quickly.  Although he underwent treatment, he ultimately lost his battle this past week. He was 60.

Towards the end, I mailed my brother a card to let him know I'm thinking of him and to share with him the life lessons he taught me:

• "Don't get caught!" Anyone who knows him and his past will understand this one without another word.
• "The Walking Dead is an awesome show!" It's not about zombies, but survival and rebuilding after most human life is wiped out by disease.
• "Top 40 music sucks!" When I was growing up he would ask me what kind of music I was into at the time and when I would say Madonna or something similar, he would tell me Top 40 music sucks and that I should be listening to bands like Metallica. It took me awhile, but I got there. I now appreciate bands like Five Finger Death Punch and Iron Maiden.
• "Get off the couch and LIVE!" This is the biggest and most important one. During the last nine months it dawned on me that he's done more living in the past 13 years than I have in my entire life. While I was sitting on my ass on the couch watching TV, he was kayaking. While I was playing around on the computer, he was travelling.

(BTW, I challenge you to find a card that is suitable for this type of thing (terminal cancer) and doesn't imply or state outright that everything will be OK; it wasn't easy. I finally found one, but it wasn't what I really wanted.)

I'm very thankful that he found a woman, Barbara (above), who loved him for who he was. Through her, he experienced many new things, gained six stepchildren, and 14 grandchildren. He traveled to Alaska, Maine, and Wisconsin, all places he had never been before. He also learned to take great pictures, as his wife is an avid photographer. They would have been married 10 years next month.

So, what can I say about my brother? Given the large age gap and other factors, we didn't grow up together; however, I know he was the kind of person that welcomed everyone with open arms. It didn't matter who you were, you were welcome.  He was opinionated and had no filter most of the time. He told it like it was, whether you liked it or not. Although it could be cringe-worthy at times, I really admired that about him. He was always open to trying new things.  I never thought I'd see him kayaking or developing a love for bird watching (he can name many of them on sight)!  Also, he loved kids and animals, and they were absolutely drawn to him. We always joked that he was a kid, chick, and animal magnet.  He also loved fireworks, especially firecrackers--he was a big kid at heart. We gave him a big sendoff the night of his memorial service with a fireworks display (they're legal in his state).

Through the years he fed my love for reading. Whenever I wanted to read something new, he would recommend books or authors, which I then promptly devoured in short time. Authors such as:  Ken Follett, David Baldacci, Stephen King, Douglas Preston, and Lincoln Child, among others. I'm going to miss getting my book recommendations, but every time I read a book I'll think of him.

With that, I say farewell to my big brother. You're now with mom and dad again.  Although your time and our time together was much too short, I love you, I'll miss you, and I'm glad I got to know you.

Here he is with my dad, cruising the Connecticut River in Vermont/New Hampshire on my parents' boat, about 12 years ago.