Alessandra
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Posts posted by Alessandra
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Hello to everybody. I will not do the group texts, but will be thinking of everyone and looking forward to updates once the boards are back.
It's a beautiful spring day, at last, even though the ground is covered with snow. Home this evening, at last. Dinner is chicken tenders, just supermarket ones. Tomorrow will be our last corned beef, with red cabbage and apples.
Order lamb for Easter and get some decent candy for same. Figure out something for Easter dessert. We've been doing a Nigella Lawson chocolate cake with whipped cream and Cadbury eggs on top (like a birds nest), but I don't love it. I am wondering about Russian paska and kulich.
We will dye eggs with ordinary food coloring. I have been through the Martha Stewart thing with natural dyes. The only reason I'd do that again would be if I had an Instagram and wanted to show off a bit, lol. We also have a supply of egg wraps, which are shrink wraps that go around eggs and look a bit like Ukrainian painted eggs.
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Had an early start this morning, trip to city, had to shovel driveway first. We kept on top of yesterday's snow -- I did my last shovel after midnight, lol. The snow makes everything so bright that it was almost like daytime -- not too cold, no wind, gentle falling flakes -- beautiful!
Out tonight, but kids have leftover meatloaf for dinner. I make Ina Garten's recipe, but with more meat (about 3 1/2 lbs beef/pork), so enough for leftovers.
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Do you mean it’s hot smoked salmon vs cold smoked salmon? Because both are actual salmon. 🤣
http://www.finecooking.com/article/smoked-salmon-hot-vs-cold
Cold smoked salmon is salt cured first, which is a preservative.
Neither kind would last in my fridge for 2-3 weeks though. If I have smoked salmon I am saving for something, I have to hide it from my sons.
I prefer lox and cold smoked salmon but hot smoked salmon is good too.
Bad fish smell will overpower the smoky smell. So long as it’s within the timeframe and doesn’t seem off, it’s more than likely ok to eat.
I hide my smoked salmon in the vegetable bin, where Ds never looks.
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Is there a name for a minor disappointment post? Dang it?
I got the buying price list from Replacements -- a plate they sell for $119 is only worth $17 if I sell it them. And lesser priced items hardly worth the trouble. Similar very low offers across the board.
I may keep a few things, less than a box full, until after AP exams and take up Ds on his offer to sell them and keep the money for himself. Now I am thinking it would be a good experience, and he could probably get a few hundred dollars. He takes good photos, likes online things in general, and wants to make money.
ETA
Ds asked about a commission. I told him he could keep any and all monies. Smiles!
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Not looking forward to this day. Snow, again, another nor'easter. Heavy, wet snow, 12-18 inches predicted, beginning this morning. NYC schools will be closed, not a good sign as this hardly ever happens.
I find it hard to concentrate when I am in the midst of a snowstorm.
I have plenty of food.
ETA
Selkie, this is for you, vegetarian recipes today on kitchn.com
https://www.thekitchn.com/20-light-and-comforting-vegan-weeknight-dinners-226110
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Oh bless, how awful. I am sure that didn't go well for them in the end.
Here's the case
The documentary was called Rotten. On Netflix or Amazon recently.
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Thanks, I will check it out. Ethnic food is great because it usually involves rice (GF) but unless it states that it is gluten free, I can't trust the sauce. Sauces often include soy sauce (wheat) or are thickened with flour. It is trickier than just avoiding breading, unfortunately :crying:
Oh, I figured out flour-thickened sauces, but I had not realized about soy.
I saw an episode on a Netflix food video about a place in England that lied about its ingredients and almost killed a child. (It was a nut allergy.)
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Those are definitely better prices. I would need to think through if it could work gluten free?
Check the Bangladeshi place I added above too.
I am sorry to be so ignorant about gluten free. But I do know you can eat cheaply in NYC.
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Well, I picked this at random.I hoped to keep it lower before I started looking at prices. Man, NYC is expensive.
Another random
I can't remember if I've eaten at either of these, but I have been to similar ones in same area.
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That's a more generous budget than I had imagined. There are zillions of quick food places in east 50's used by office workers, commuters. Restaurant Row in west 40's has bargain price dinners after 8 pm, when theater goers are gone.
Lenwich is a chain ds likes, he happens to use one in Greenwich Village. They make salads and hot things to order quickly. You can choose what is included.
NYC is actually not that expensive to eat out in. Apartments are so small that people eat out a lot, so competition. I know this is not a gluten free example, but a bagel with cream cheese is cheaper at Lenwich than it is in a similar sit down place here in NJ.
Find a place where there are lots of restaurants together, like Indian restaurants in East Village -- I think they are still there on 6th street -- so the restaurants are competing with each other.
There is also a wide variety of inexpensive ethnic cuisine in Queens, easy subway from midtown. so worth checking if you have an adventurous palate.
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Paperwork, finances, etc is the theme of the day.
I also plan to finish putting away glassware, make a trip to Goodwill, and see if Replacements wants any of the better things I want to get rid of. I have some usual big name things, but I was surprised when I checked a more obscure set -- plates about $60 each. I'd be happy with a fraction of that, so I pulled them out of the Goodwill bag.
Dinner for dd is boxed Mac and cheese, which she likes. Ds will get a pizza. Evening event, have to leave early. I suppose I should get my old crockpot out of the basement and figure out a crockpot meal. Not really my thing. Or maybe I could put together a meatloaf and put it in the oven?
Forgive me, I am using this post to think aloud.
Ok, make meatloaf. Buy meatloaf meat. And other stock up, snow predicted -- a nor'easter, again -- for tomorrow.
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Is hummus gluten-free? If it is, you might try one of the many hummus restaurants. Dishes are usually very low priced.
There is s Korean mall in the east 30's with reasonably priced food. Is Korean barbecue gluten-free?
Pardon my ignorance about avoiding gluten. Not my particular problem, but I do commiserate at how frustrating it can be to eat out when you are trying to avoid particular foods.
ETA
https://www.timeout.com/newyork/manhattan/koreatown-nyc-neighborhood-guide
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Attolia
I just saw this article about services that let you check your luggage in major cities, so that you can go sightseeing hands free.
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Well, unpacking all my boxes of glass wasn't as bad as had thought it would be. A number of the boxes had other fragile stuff, like glass serving bowls and plates, ornamental china thingamabobs, etc. I found a pretty desk set, china with roses, that I had been looking for to put in dd's room. Everything is heaped about, every flat surface is covered with glasses, but it is all categorized, and I am making an inventory.
I added to the Goodwill pile and washed all the glasses and vases I am donating. How nuts is that?
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I went with the Toto Drake Elongated.
Here's a link:
Thank you!
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Dh told me I need to order a new toilet for the main floor bath, so I've spent most of the morning reading online toilet reviews. Some of which contain TMI. :huh: Ended up ordering a Toto, since it was very highly recommended.
First of three loads of hay has been delivered.
Two loads laundry done.
I want to replace a toilet after I sort out things. Toto does get the best reviews. Which models did you like?
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This is a week with evening activities every night Monday - Thursday, some requiring a longish drive. So, no dinner for three of those nights. ðŸ™
Today, I have been doing more sorting out. Over the past weeks, I went over china, rearranging shelves, putting some in nice Container Store padded dish cases, so they are out of the way, but more accessible than if they were wrapped in bubble wrap. I am hoping to sell a few things to Replacements, but keeping most of it, as I love china.
This weekend, I brought about twenty (yes, 20, lol) boxes of glasses to the living room. I've never actively collected glass, but I find I have some truly beautiful inherited pieces. Bless my parents for getting things in sets of 24, lol. Even with breakage over time, that is a lot of glass. I am sorting and re-packing into boxes with dividers so that I can actually use the stuff that does not fit into the limited space in my kitchen.
I have to find or buy a drill bit that drills the right size holes for shelf supports, so I can add more shelves to a cupboard. Then rearrange.
I have been starting some boxes for Goodwill. So far, nondescript and/or overly large flower vases, extra martini glasses, English pub style beer mugs -- btw, I haven't had a cocktail in about 20 years and have never liked beer. I will add some cute cookie jars and whatever else I don't want. Ds saw and said he'd like to make money by selling stuff on eBay. Not in a million years would I want that -- I already have more than enough to nag about.
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She's hoping she can do it with a small backpack (as her personal bag) and a carry on. She wants to browse pinterest for ideas. I am so hopeful this doesn't end up bad for her. It ended up leading to an interesting conversation about adult life and the balance between risk and cost (insurance companies, etc). These calls aren't always easy to make.
One idea -- Ds has a top loading pack that squashes down when not full. For going through the gate, he can remove a sweater and/or coat from it, put on the article of clothing, squash down the pack to make it smaller, and then restuff the pack once he has boarded. Hay way, the pack doesn't count as a carry on.
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Oh, dear, I have so little to contribute. But I read somewhere that dryer sheets are good for shining stainless steel, like kitchen faucets. I tried it, and it works.
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I think you are starting a lovely custom. A friend of mine said, after her mother died, that one thing she remembered most fondly was family meals, especially at holidays. Her mother celebrated every possible holiday. My friend said she thought at the time that the decorations were corny, but now she does exactly the same thing herself, lol, and loves it.
So, in that spirit, I'd suggest taking some time to decorate your table, however simply. I've been taking a bit of extra trouble (just a few minutes really) to make our table pretty, because I realize my children are growing up fast and I want them to have nice memories.
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Thanks. I hate feeling invisible and some people have a magic way of making me feel like that. Every year, I vow to not let this stuff bother me- but every year it does.
Jen, I missed what happened, but sorry anyway.
Today, mostly relaxing. It's in low 30's, but sunny, so a walk would be nice. Trip to public library.
Dinner tonight will be leftovers -- corned beef, colcannon, cake -- from last night. I will have to secure rest of corned beef somehow so that Ds does not eat it all as a snack, lol. The table looked nice last night -- green place mats, homemade green napkin rings on white napkins, green bows at the base of white candles, soft yellow-green alstroemeria with our still-thriving white daisies from last week -- enough green, but not so much as to be utterly tacky.
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Ds fits an amazing amount in his carry on by using a packing system. I got Eagle Creek compression folder like this, plus other packing accessories.
I was happy buying at Contsiner Store, because I brought home a lot of stuff. We could see what fit and return the rest without hassle of packing and shipping.
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LL Bean has lots of clothing like that. I think they call it 'shaped.'
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Happy Birthday, Jen!
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Organizing Paperwork?
in The Chat Board
Posted · Edited by Alessandra
I can give you a perspective from someone who is older, been around for many years, and accumulated a *lot* of papers. Some can be noted and discarded, but others -- taxes, mortgages, investments, legal documents -- may be ones that you want to keep. No matter how neatly you file, it adds up to a lot of file cabinets. I ended up sorting out older documents that I wanted to keep into 1" and 1 1/2" inexpensive vue binders from Amazon and putting those into bankers boxes. Very, very organized, but still too much. I started scanning things on s Canon printer with document feed. Much better, time-consuming, but a good way to go. I ended up getting a dedicated document scanner, fast, but $$$, and not the way most people would go, IMO, though it works for me.
I agree with Regentrude that, if you can start by getting as much as possible digitally, that is a good way to go.
A good book on papers is Nolo's Getting It Together.
Wirecutter had some good reviews of electronic backup systems. I'll find and link.
ETA
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/how-to-back-up-your-computer/
ETA again
I have found the app Scanner Pro to be a lifesaver. It was set an iPhone or iPad camera to create PDFs of documents. I often use it for shorter documents, especially when I am out of the house.