shopping in america

Posted on December 5, 2020 by is there any more pie?

The week began Sunday with a hunt for lemons for Banjo Man and a visit to a fancy grocery store in downtown Westerly.  Unfortunately their lemons weren’t all that great, which was surprising.  I cut the trip short and headed home.

I’m getting all of the groceries and making my husband stay safe, remember?

This was a busy week of shopping and medical visits.  I’m glad it’s a rainy Saturday and I can stay home with my sewing machine and crock pot (potato soup is on the menu).

At the Cancer Center Thursday I was surprised to see a chubby, older gentleman in the waiting room.  He was obviously waiting for someone (his wife?) and he caught my attention because I didn’t think visitors were allowed in waiting rooms right now.

The poor man’s fly was unzipped, but his mask was on.  Priorities.

Another funny thing happened in Aldi’s, in Westerly.  At ten o’clock on a gray Tuesday morning, I roamed around Aldi’s looking for bargains.  You never know what is going to be in the “specials” freezer section and I enjoy the treasure hunt atmosphere.  It’s also a great place to save money on oyster crackers, chips, dairy products and frozen vegetables.  The store was busy, with age 65+ shoppers pushing carts.  Basically a store full of old white people looking for bargains.  I know this because I staggered around the store twice because Banjo Man called me just as I was ready to check out and wanted cheddar cheese.  I gave a woman directions to the hummus.  Another woman and I waited patiently in front of the milk while an elderly gentleman read all the ingredients labels on the bottles of juice.  It was lovely and quiet and civilized until it was time to check out.

The “six feet apart” rule has made lining up in front of a register a little confusing.  One person is in front of the cash register, the next person in line is waiting her turn at the end of the conveyor belt, and the others line up on the other side of the aisle so they don’t block traffic.

There were two registers open.  I chose one and lined up across the aisle.  Another line had formed for the other register.  When it was my turn to be in front of the register to pay, I was surprised that no one was behind me.  And then the shouting started.  People were yelling at each other about “line protocol”.

One woman had mistakenly decided to organize the shoppers into one line (not allowing them to line up behind me) and insisted that everyone had to wait their turn for a register to be available.  Other shoppers protested.  It got loud.  I was shocked and a little nervous.  Was this mask rage?  Was there going to be a geriatric throw down?

My check-out lady rolled her eyes and shouted, “There are TWO LINES.  Someone can come over here!  Make two lines!”

She was ignored.  The screaming back and forth continued, with a woman yelling, “This is AMERICA!  This is not the way we do it in AMERICA!!!!”

One old white woman yelling at another old white woman about how we do it in America.

Go figure.

I guess it’s getting harder and harder to stay sane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in food, rhode island, shopping | 3 Comments

come to mama!

Posted on December 1, 2020 by is there any more pie?

Meet the new member of my Making-Dinner family.

It’s huge.  It doesn’t look huge in this photo, but it is.

See?

This is a Gourmia 7-quart air fryer.  I ordered it from Kohls one morning before Thanksgiving.  They were having a pre-Black  Friday sale and this was one of the specials.  It was half-price, plus I had a fistful of Kohls cash and a couple of coupons and free shipping, so this monster ended up costing about $3.00.  Or something like that.

I hurriedly looked on Amazon for Gourmia reviews and didn’t find anything negative, so I ordered this baby before the deal ran out.  What I didn’t know was SEVEN QUARTS = a monster of an air fryer and is recommended for “crowds”.

Crowds?  We don’t know nothin’ ’bout no crowds.

Fact:  A 5-6 quart is considered suitable for a family of 3-4.

Last night we cooked a sliced, Panko-coated chicken breast and fresh Brussels sprouts.  And they were both delicious.  The clean-up is the bonus, though.  There’s a pull out basket with a rack inside.  And it washes quite nicely.  No pots and pans or baking sheets needed.

Banjo Man was thrilled.  Especially with the vegetables.  And the fact that the chicken was cooked in twelve minutes.

I even had an olive oil mister/sprayer on hand, which is a necessary addition.

The downside?  It takes up a lot of precious counter space in my small kitchen, so I need to do some rearranging.  Or store it on a shelf underneath the island.

Just in case anyone in my family put “air fryer” on their Christmas list, I did some research yesterday.  There are many brands out there and several review sites, such as Food Network and Good Housekeeping and Airfryer World.  I checked their top picks against actual buyer reviews on Amazon.

Here’s what I learned:

Cosori is a best seller and has its own Facebook page where users post recipes and photos of food.  It also had some fun-looking extras for baking and cooking eggs, etc.  But buyers were not happy with the steam that came from the basket and pooled on the counter.

Instant Pot Vortex 4-in-1 and Vortex Plus:  Some of these had a problem with the plastic smell not going away after several uses.

Ninja:  this brand had good reviews, but the Ninja Max XL 5-quart was pricey at $200.

GoWise:  This brand had trouble with the basket handle separating from the basket.

Gourmia:  Reviewers liked the square basket (holds more) and it was rated well.

Hoepaid:  Not on the review sites, but highly rated on Amazon with positive reviews.

Yedi: on the Oprah Favorite things list, with great reviews on Amazon.

AirFryer World also recommended the Philips Premium XXL and the Tiluxbury 5.8, but I did not research these.

I don’t know if this will be one of those appliances that we use a few times and then ignore or if it will be a vital part of the kitchen just like my crock pots are.  Time will tell.

And it’s going to be a long, crowd-less winter.  So if this monster livens up dinnertime, count me in.

 

 

 

Posted in a more pie opinion, food, rhode island, shopping | 2 Comments

black friday, black saturday, etc.

Posted on November 28, 2020 by is there any more pie?

Are you shopping online more than you ever have in your life?

I am, and I thought I was pretty active online before Covid.  This past month I’ve found myself not only ordering Christmas gifts, but sewing supplies, toothpaste in packs of three, protein bars, cd’s, cleaning supplies and–of course–books.

The highly anticipated air fryer is supposed to be delivered next week.  I can’t wait.

With the demise of the last quilt shop within an hour’s drive, I’ve had to resort to ordering quilt batting, needles and thread online.  I’ve also ordered quilt backing, the extra wide fabric that makes assembling the quilt sandwich so easy when I don’t have enough fabric to sew one together (and two weeks later it still hasn’t arrived).

Quilt batting has also been very elusive.  Is it because thousands of quilters are home and making a zillion quilts while they are holing up in their sewing rooms?  Or is there a break in the cotton supply chain?

I’ve ordered Banjo Man’s vitamins, my prescriptions, a new foot for the sewing machine, makeup, Christmas gifts, and a host of other things, none of which has shown up at my door or in the mailbox yet.

I did get a pack of sewing machine needles last Monday, which was semi-exciting.

It’s very hard to keep track of everything, especially now that even Amazon can’t promise a speedy two-day delivery and many other companies warn that they are delayed at least ten days.

I’ve had to keep lists in my handy-dandy notebook so I don’t forget anything.

Verizon sent a new set top box after finally admitting–after an HOUR AND A HALF negotiating the website and four different “chats”–I needed a new box because the old one was making noises that sounded like it was going to blow itself up.  It arrived 24 hours later, a miracle!

I will keep shopping via computer, though I would love to go into Home Goods and roam around for inspiration and pretty things to give as gifts.  The truth is that I just can’t wear a mask for more than 20 minutes without getting hot and dizzy so I have to plan accordingly.  Last week I raced through Walmart to get Banjo Man’s fruits, vegetables and various health products only to end up in a very long line at the register (at 10 am!).  I finally had to pull the mask off my nose in order not to faint right there in front of the candy bars.

I don’t know what’s the matter with me, because everyone else looks perfectly comfortable (and oblivious to the lack of air) while wearing masks.  So…I’m a wimp.  A wimp who needs to breathe.

Have you bought anything–big, small, weird–online lately?  Are you avoiding stores and staying home?  Or venturing boldly through store aisles to find exactly what you need?

Or have you given up shopping altogether?

 

 

 

Posted in rhode island, shopping | Leave a comment

my 2020 turkey let me down

Posted on November 27, 2020 by is there any more pie?

My attempt at cooking a turkey breast in the crock pot was a disaster.  The breast was dry, the gravy’s flavor and consistency needed a lot of work, and it was all just so disappointing.

Fortunately there were only three of us to notice.  And two of us didn’t really care all that much.

This outcome was a surprise to me, because I’d cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot last summer.  The recipe was very, very similar to the Thanksgiving one and yet it produced the most delicious, moist, flavorful chicken we’d ever eaten.  Which is why I assumed that slow-cooking a turkey breast this way was sure to be delicious.

Nope.

I don’t know about you, but I’m at the stage of Life With Covid that when sad, stressful or disappointing events happen, I just shrug and think Whatever.

I’m beaten down.  I’m numb.  I’m just putting one foot in front of the other until the light at the end of the tunnel blinds me with its joyful brilliance.

So today I’ll slather sub-par gravy over dry turkey and call it good enough.  Because that’s how we roll in 2020.

 

 

 

Posted in food, rhode island | 1 Comment

thanksgiving 2020

Posted on November 26, 2020 by is there any more pie?

Table for three, please!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.  I’m sure yours is as abbreviated as ours, although I hope you are in a place where that is not the case.

In fifty years I have never NOT cooked something the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  But this year I stayed away from the kitchen, enjoyed brunch out with a girlfriend (yay!), ironed fabric and made toasted cheese sandwiches for dinner.  The kitchen sink was not piled high with dirty pots and pans and the refrigerator was only half full.

Weird.

But I was up early this morning to try a new recipe:  a turkey breast in the crock pot.  I tweaked the recipe a bit and will let you know how it turned out.

I am presently baking a frozen, store-bought pumpkin pie.  I can’t remember ever doing that for Thanksgiving, but…old dog, new tricks.

Rhode Island has experienced a turkey shortage.  A friend’s son went to six large grocery stores Tuesday in a panicked attempt to buy a turkey or a turkey breast.  Usually the stores are lowering prices and begging people to buy them, but not in 2020.  Why?  Because everyone needs their own turkey to cook because they are staying home.  Who knew?

Normally my friend Pat would have ordered a turkey ahead of time, but she has been in and out of the hospital (not with Covid) for the past two weeks and otherwise occupied.

Her son finally saw a new posting on Facebook and lined up half an hour early–along with many other panicked people– in front of a small local market in order to snag a turkey when they opened their doors.

I offered the other turkey breast in my freezer, but he found success at Confreda’s market.

So…our table is set and Nancy will join us for the day.  We will snack on guacamole and chips, drink wine and eventually–whenever the Crock Pot Turkey is cooked–eat dinner.  Angela told me about a wonderful movie, “My Octopus Teacher”, and we’re going to settle in on the couch to watch it after dinner.

I was a bit sentimental when setting the table this year.   The china is our wedding china.  The napkin was a gift from a much-loved and missed friend who gave me her grandmother’s set of twelve one Christmas.  The napkin rings were my mother’s.  The water goblets from my grandmother.  The gold-trimmed wine glasses were wedding gifts.

And as far as being grateful?  I’m grateful no one I know has had the virus.

I’m grateful I had the virus.

I’m grateful for the vaccines that will soon put all of our lives back to normal.

I’m very grateful for my family–all of you, near and far–and I’m so grateful for my friends who keep me smiling.

Enjoy the day–in that strange 2020 way!

 

 

 

Posted in family, food, rhode island | 2 Comments

black friday week shopping?

Posted on November 24, 2020 by is there any more pie?

How, in this time of Covid, are you shopping for Christmas?  I’d love to know.

I would like to say I am organized, but I would be telling a big fat lie.  There is a box next to my desk that holds the gifts I’ve bought.  Fortunately they are small.

One of these days I will empty the box and log the contents to see what I have purchased so far.

A few weeks ago (before the latest surge in infections) I went to a handful of brick-and-mortar stores and picked up some pretty darn good presents.  And now I am ordering online.  Kohl’s sends me two emails every day to announce sales and coupons and Kohl’s cash back, so this morning I succumbed yet again and bought myself an air fryer.

It was originally $119.00, but the sale meant that it was $50.00.  Plus I had almost $9 in Kohl’s cash to use, and yet another coupon.  Oh, the joy!  I never wanted an air fryer until I fried Chinese pot stickers on the stove last month and then had to spend the next morning cleaning oil splatters off everything within a four-foot range of the stove burner.

I think my daughter-in-law would love cooking dinner in one of these, but I’m not sure if she would agree.  Honestly, I can’t wait to try it.  Air fryers for everyone!!!

I also ordered myself a Sherpa-lined UGG blanket.  The aggravating “fleece” blankets I bought last winter move all around the bed.  They fight with the other blankets.  I can no longer stand it…and winter is coming.

So now you know what I’ve bought myself for Christmas.

My sons love Amazon gift cards.  My grandson wants nothing but SCORE football cards.  Banjo Man wants a truck (hah!).  Amber and NancyK have yet to tell me, so I need to bug them.  I have ordered gifts from Bobbie Brown, Kohl’s, Amazon, and the John Prine store.

And what do I want?  To never, ever, EVER have to wear a mask again!

Otherwise I’m all set.  I will eat mess-free Chinese dumplings, snuggle under my new warm blanket and get through the winter.

Posted in rhode island, shopping | Leave a comment

recycling treasures

Posted on November 23, 2020 by is there any more pie?

This might not look like a treasure, but it really is.  All handsewn, it has wonderful 1930’s fabrics to admire.

I like to buy old quilt tops with patterns I would never make myself.  This quilt top, found in a vintage store in Austin, is certainly one of those.

And I love looking at all of the fabrics.

Unfortunately, this was–at one time–loosely handstitched to a batting and backing.  Someone dismantled it and left a gazillion thick green threads behind.  I pluck them out with tweezers and will be doing that this week while watching a lot of television.

(Speaking of television, we’re in the middle of a new mystery series from New Zealand called “The Sounds”.)

Btw, it’s very strange not having anything to do to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner.  Hence the extra hours for sewing projects.

It’s a great way to keep busy, but I’d rather be making a spinach casserole, cooking up a vat of cream cheese potatoes, and selecting china for the tables.

I retrieved this quilt top and two others from a basement bin marked “Old Quilts”.  I’d always intended to finish each one.  And I don’t even know how long they have been sitting on a basement shelf.

And now?  Covid.  Quilting keeps me relatively sane.  And the fact that I am emptying plastic containers makes Banjo Man delirious with joy, despite my having insisted he stay home and no longer grocery shop.  He doesn’t mind that he can’t use the kitchen island (there is always a quilt top spread over it) or that most nights he is on his own for dinner (although I did make a shrimp corn chowder yesterday) because I find it hard to tear myself away from my sewing machine once I get going.

This is Day 5 on this project.  I’m praying I don’t run out of blue thread.

 

I think I made it in 2018, so it’s a relatively new finish for me.  It was a “mystery quilt” from Bonnie Hunter, so there are hundreds of pieces to outline with thread.

Happy Monday, everyone.  If you’re not cooking for Thanksgiving, what are you doing this week?

 

 

Posted in quilting, rhode island, secondhand stuff | 2 Comments

you have to laugh

Posted on November 22, 2020 by is there any more pie?

Posted in family, food, rhode island | 1 Comment

happy birthday Son#1

Posted on November 21, 2020 by is there any more pie?

Ben is 48 today.  I can’t believe how fast the years have gone, but so they have.  As they do.

The night before he was born I was in the city at a hockey game with my father.   We’d gone out to dinner on Federal Hill.  I proudly wore a new winter coat.  I was seven and a half months pregnant when I went into labor between the second and third periods of the game.

My father cut this photo out of the newspaper the next day, when Ben was born.  The following day our tiny baby was rushed to a “preemie” intensive care unit in a Providence hospital and would stay there for six weeks.

I’ve never been so frightened in my life.

But here he is, such a wonderful man!  The phrase I hear so often about Ben is he is “such a good guy”.

That pretty much sums it up.  We are so lucky.

Last year at the New England Patriots Hall of Fame. Ben loves football!!!

This afternoon Nebraska plays Illinois.  I hope that Ben gets to celebrate his birthday with a Nebraska win.  They are few and far between these days and it would be fun to hear Ben’s reaction and joy when we talk to him after the game.

So, Happy Birthday, Big Guy!  See you in a few weeks!

GO BIG RED!!!

 

Posted in family | 2 Comments

another holiday bites the dust

Posted on November 20, 2020 by is there any more pie?

Covid strikes again.

I type this with a weary sigh. 

For thirty-two years we’ve celebrated Thanksgiving with our family, family friends and extended family members.  For the past two years we’ve had four generations gathered around the four tables.

I cannot even describe how much fun it was.

We’ll see you in 2021!

Last weekend we all sadly decided to skip the festivities.  There would have been only seven of us (the “senior” guests, along with daughter Nancy), but we all knew it was safer to stay home as the virus surges in Rhode Island and hospital beds are once again filling up.

Yesterday the governor laid out more restrictions, including advising (begging) people to stay home for Thanksgiving and to limit the celebration to the people who live in the house with you.

So…okay.

I’ve been prepared for the worst for some time now.  Weeks ago I went to Aldi’s and bought a frozen turkey breast, a little frozen squash casserole, a pumpkin cheesecake, a pumpkin pie, and a couple of those Bob Evans mashed potato containers.

There will be gravy.  

Banjo Man and I will not go hungry, but it’s going to be hard.  Thanksgiving is the best “food” holiday by far and this year I had so looked forward to being with the people who hadn’t been allowed to attend my mother’s funeral due to the painful five-person limit last April.

I had intended to drink wine and hug everyone.  But that will have to wait until Easter, when we–filled with Covid vaccines–plan to gather at last.

In the meantime?  I am grateful for those scientists who have worked so hard to develop vaccines.  We should all say a collective “thank you” to everyone in the laboratories.

And to everyone in the healthcare industry who have kept all of us and our loved ones safe?  My heart is full of gratitude.

And now?  A new recipe.  I can’t wait to try it next Thursday morning because you know that crock pots make me happy.

Slow Cooker Turkey with No-Fuss Gravy

 

Posted in family, friends, rhode island | 2 Comments