Thursday, March 8, 2018

I Believe Exhaustion May Have Overcome Me


I have felt a lot better today and since it's been clear and cool, I decided to get out in that garden and weed the rest of the swath that looked like a meadow and I did it and my left wrist is going to keep me awake half the night but I don't care. I now have a cleared-out spot to plant my tomatoes or whatever else it is I want to plant there as soon as it truly appears that we've had our last frost.
Speaking of which, we're getting one tonight, quite possibly.


I had quite a bit of company in the garden as I worked which I enjoyed, of course. Jack actually came out and joined me for a bit but he mostly just wanted me to scratch and pet him which is completely the opposite of what Maurice wants when she visits me in the garden. She prefers that I pretend she isn't there at all, which I do because I live to please that cat. 


Here she is in the mustard green jungle, stalking the neighbor chickens who, after my chickens left, came in to scratch about. See her twitching tail? 

And so that is what I did today and I am listening to yet another Outlander book; don't ask me which one because I can't count that high. But it's a pretty good one so far. I am enjoying the protagonists in their older life. They still have hot sex but not nearly as often and also, no one's been whipped in ages and ages. 
How's that for a book review? 

Okay. Let's talk about buying stuff. I am of the opinion that you do often get what you pay for and quality is something to consider in most cases. And let us not forget the pleasure factor. Not only does it feel better to sleep on good quality sheets but they will last a lot longer than crappy sheets that don't feel good to sleep on. Trying to use a cheap knife in the kitchen is a frustrating and messy experience whereas using a good knife that you can sharpen is a pleasure and actually safer and makes the preparation of meals far easier. Same for garden tools- buy a GOOD trowel if you use it a lot and no one wants a shovel whose handle and head are going to separate mid-thrust if you hit a root. 
This is not always an issue. Take the plates you eat off, for example. I myself love to find interesting dishes at thrift stores and I don't care if they match or not. And what you can buy cheap at a thrift store does not reflect the original price or quality. This is where a discerning eye comes in. 
The first espresso maker I ever bought came from a Goodwill. It looked practically brand new, was a Krups brand, and I brought it home and dang if that thing didn't work for years and years and years. I used it almost every day for my afternoon shot of caffeine. Turns out, according to Vergil, that that particular brand and model is highly sought after by home espresso-making people because it was a quality product which made a good cup of espresso as defined by people who know. I am not one of those people. I only want a shot of black stuff to drink at five o'clock to get me through the rest of the day when I am fading fast. 
Finally, however, my little Krups bit the dust and I could have bought the part I needed on eBay but it wouldn't have been new and it would have cost quite a bit and I decided just to go out and buy a new espresso maker which turned out to be far more difficult than I had thought it would be. Those suckers are expensive! And I don't need or want one that can make two shots at a time and quite frankly, the whole milk-steaming-wand thing doesn't impress me because if I want milk in mine I just heat up a little 2% in the microwave and pour that into the espresso. 
So, when I was at Publix the other day, I saw that they carried a fifty dollar Mr. Coffee espresso maker and in a weak and impulsive moment, I bought it. And as Jessie says, somehow we feel that we can rationalize anything that we can buy at Publix. 
And it works. I am not saying it doesn't. It makes a shot of the black stuff that tastes as good to me as what the Krups produced but it just feels so junky to use. And it smells weird. Like a toasting Barbie doll or something. 
Ah, whatever. 
I just wish I'd not spent the fifty bucks and waited until I found a used one at a thrift store of higher quality. 

So. Have you tried the newest ancient grain? (Oxymoron alert.)



Turns out that it is young green wheat which has been toasted and it has more protein and fiber than quinoa. I bought that box at Publix the same day I bought the Mr. Coffee machine and I am going to cook some tonight to go with our soybeans. I think I mostly wanted to get it so that I can say, "Hey! I got my freekeh on!" when I cook it. 
I'll let you know how it tastes. It is definitely the devil for those avoiding gluten because wheat pretty much IS gluten as far as I understand but I do not have Celiac disease and am of the belief that gluten is my friend so I'm not worried about that. 

All right. It seems like I had something else to talk about but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. I am in the market for a new (or used) four-quart cooking pot but that's not your problem. And of course, I want a good one. I still use my grandmother's set of Revere Ware almost every day and that stuff must be about the same age I am and again- I am proving my point. Fuck shitty cookware because you burn everything you cook in it and if it's nonstick it's going to peel eventually and it is probably poison and then you end up just throwing it out whereas with things like my iron skillets and my grandma's pans, they last so long and work so well you have to put them in your will. 

Well, Trump wasn't caught having sex with either a live goat or a dead trophy elephant in the oval office today so I guess we have to deal with him for at least one more day. Maybe tomorrow he will, though. 
We can always dream. 

Love...Ms. Moon



27 comments:

  1. You know your last paragraph was absolutely EVERYTHING (although the rest of this post was incredibly informative and entertaining and has driven me to the kitchen to make my own little cup o joe).

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    1. I still have hope, Elizabeth. Although I'm not sure that even if he were found having sexual congress with one of those two things his base would reject him. Which says more than I care to say.

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  2. Something has happened to coffee makers they all taste like plastic. I noticed this when I tried to replace my old old one a couple of years ago. I bought two different ones and one was kind of expensive (at least for me) both tasted plastic. I then searched out the Amazon comments on several brands and many people mentioned plastic taste so I moved to a French press which works even when we have a power outage, well if you have a gas stove.

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    1. French presses are nice but I have got to have my coffee ready when I get up which requires a programmable coffee maker. I do love my present coffee maker which is Cuisinart and I am simply hoping it lasts forever. I have an old-fashioned emergency percolater for when my power goes out. And yes- I have a gas stove and I love it.

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  3. Some day, I'll tell my percolator story...no more plastic coffeemakers, and I do have a French Press, but eyes are open for an old one from Goodwill...

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    1. When my power is out and I make coffee in my percolator we call it cowboy coffee. It's very good but it takes forever.

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  4. I love my little Bialetti Moka stove top coffee maker. Almost espresso in that it forces the water through the grounds under pressure, although not as high as true espresso. No plastic parts whatsoever. My favorite frying pan is a cast iron one that was passed on to me from the grandmother of my best friend in high school.

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    1. I got an incredibly crappy little Moka almost-espresso maker at a thrift store last week but the stuff it made just tasted like aluminum. I think a better quality one would be fine.

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  5. I use my Mama's Revere Ware that she and Dad got as a wedding gift 63 years ago (ten family members chipped in to buy the set). I wouldn't trade it for all the world!

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    1. Lucky you! The newer Revere Ware is shoddy compared to the old. I sometimes find it in Goodwill but I can tell immediately when I pick it up whether it is the old or the new. The new stuff is light and the old stuff is heavier and more solid. When I find the older ones I buy them and pass them on to my children.

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  6. Your garden looks beautiful and very well-kept. Did I ever mention that I adore mustard greens? My grandfather grew them when I was a girl along with turnips and collards, all of which I liked but mustards were my favorites. I haven't had any in years.

    I have scored an abundant source of fresh eggs! A teacher at the school has a whole lot of hens and brings me plenty of wonderful eggs! I've been meaning to tell you. ❤

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    1. How were those mustards cooked? Do you remember?
      What a great score on the fresh eggs! I bet you're enjoying them.

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    2. The mustards were cooked down like any other green, with pork, and liberally doused with hot pepper vinegar. Fried cornbread on the side. Yum!

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  7. your garden is beautiful as always, I'm envious. I haven't even prepared my raised beds yet for spring planting. Weather is still too wonky.......not sure what will happen.....but can't really plant until April 1st. Cookware........I'm still cooking with Moms Farberware pots she gave me on my 21st birthday.....and they were *very* used when she gave them to me. I think of her every time I use one (almost every day) and that only adds to their beauty and usefullness. No new pot will hold up to that
    Susan M

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    1. You are right about that. I think there are some fine pots and pans out there but the prices they get for them are staggering. I mean...WHAT?

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  8. quality is more important than price to me too- i love my 2 revere ware pieces- a 3 qt saucepan and a big frying pan! one came from a friend's family, the other we got at value world (thrift store).

    don't work yourself too hard!

    xxalainaxx

    xxalainaxx

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    1. You just never know what you're find at thrift stores. You certainly can't go shopping for anything specific and expect to find it. But when you find a treasure the pleasure is immense.

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  9. Grandma’s cast iron — nothing in the world beats it. It has fed five generations of the family.

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  10. I have never in my life heard of Freekeh. Isn't it just wheat by another name? Sounds like a marketing gimmick to me! You are absolutely right about buying better-quality stuff. At least you can use the Mr. Coffee in the short-term until you find a better machine at your local thrift store! I used to have a set of Revereware and it wasn't as good as my mom's set -- so I suspect even Revereware has diminished in quality over the years. My mom has been cooking on hers since about 1962!

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    1. It's baby green wheat which is then roasted. And in some cultures, it's been eaten for eons.
      You're right about using the Mr. Coffee until I can find a better one.
      Oh my god- Revere Ware is crap now compared to what it used to be. It's sad.

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  11. For coffee I’m a French press kind of girl with vanilla flavored brew unless I’m making the coffee of my childhood in which case it’s instant blue mountain coffee (an oxymoron) and condensed milk all the way.

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    1. There is nothing in the world better than condensed milk in coffee and if I were given a terminal diagnosis I would start drinking mine that way immediately.

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  12. never heard of the freekah but that made me laugh. and I agree about quality and discerning eye. estate sales are good for finding stuff. unfortunately quality was thrown out the window when walmart took over. lots of manufacturers don't make their quality line anymore because Americans have been trained to want only the cheapest price. and the new cast iron...you can tell the difference. the old cast iron was milled smooth, not so the new.

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    1. Yeah- what's up with that sort of iron cookware? Who can cook with that? I really don't understand.
      I should go to more estate sales. Or, any, actually.

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  13. If ever you encounter an Alessi stainless steel moka pot at a thrift store, grab it. Definitely a long term relationship item.

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