Saturday I attended a pretty successful meeting of DAV Chapter 23 (West Seattle). After a year or two of hanging out and contributing to the discussion as an outsider, I finally took the plunge, signed up for the Auxiliary, and got my temporary membership card. It's a good community.
At this meeting were a few newcomers, including the two guys who organized the Veterans Fair at the Tacoma Done a couple months ago. We'd been vaguely aware of each other and generally approving, but it was nice to have the chance to chat in person.
Also present was a new member from Wisconsin, a healthy-looking redhead whose political and organizational views were completely in tune with mine. We exchanged cards and I confess without embarrassment that I was enjoying the conversation without keeping in mind that, literally, this person was young enough to be my daughter. In my heart, I'm still aged about 22.
Tito joined us and the conversation got even livelier; we're all having a good time and swapping great stories and tips. She talks about some issues with a veterans' group she'd worked with in the Midwest, and said that one problem is that it was stuck on being run by crusty old guys. We all nodded understandingly, and then she looked at me and said, "Not that I have anything against crusty old guys."
Inside, I cringed and then laughed. I had been greyzoned!
I am after all 59, and that's a good time of life, but I'm not age-appropriate, and that's the way it is. I'm not complaining (...lord knows there are plenty of very interesting women in my age range; I am just out of the market until I get my act together...) but something about this interaction made me laugh.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Friday, November 14, 2014
Facing Up to The #CTWW Challenge Of Our Rival Brand Crock-Pot
There's more to this challenge, but this first part touches on one of my favorite things: the crock pot."This week, opt for products which come with no unnecessary additions. For example, rather than buy processed foods (like canned soup) which contain added salt, preservatives, etc., make your own using whole foods. ..."
I have sat a crock pot on my counter for ages. It is an easy way to convert food waste into food. Whenever I have a bone - chicken, beef, whatever - it goes into a baggie in the freezer. About once a week, I empty the baggie into the crockpot with a little water, and start it up. Within an hour, the comforting smell of homemade broth begins to waft. While hours pass on the clock as the cooking goes on, my actual work time is perhaps a minute, plus another minute extracting the bones when I'm done.
But that's just the beginning! At some point, I'll usually drop in some beans; these cost very little money and when well cooked add a lot of substance to the soup. When they're almost ready, in goes all the veggie tag-ends: celery bits, withered carrots, whatever I bought last week and didn't quite finish off. They still have some nutrition - fiber at least - and I like the somewhat random character of the resulting soup.
Finishing it off I might add some more intentional ingredients - perhaps a couple of eggs to make eggdrop.
Did you notice that throughout this entire process, there's an absolute minimum of processing and no preservatives?
The one downside to all this is that the result tastes so much like real food that canned soup just doesn't cut it anymore. Even restaurant soups taste thin and oversalted. If you are not prepared to spoil yourself while saving money and cutting waste, stay away from your crockpot!
CatWeightDay Defined ...
I don't mind cleaning up after cats, but I'd like to be more systematic about it.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Washington Soldiers Home - A Visit
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| Washington Soldiers' Home in Ortin |
Read More About Its History
Sunday, November 09, 2014
4freeCLE: Free Continuing Legal Education! November 9, 2014
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