meena
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Posts posted by meena
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1 hour ago, hjffkj said:
does you library system use hoopla? It doesn't have holds on the books but you can only take so many out a month
Yes, I love this about Hoopla! And they have a special selection of items right now that don't count against your monthly borrow total. I had a hard time finding the full list on the app, so I browsed through them on their website here, then when I found something I wanted to borrow I searched for that specific title on the app.
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1 minute ago, Quill said:
I know that is the reason; they are also trying to get laptops out to kids who don’t have one and I’m sure they don’t want to give assignments until everyone has access.
But I wish the teachers would not tell the students it’s optional! I wish they would communicate that only to the parents; that way, the parents would know their kid isn’t going to be disadvantaged because they don’t have a laptop, but the smart @ssed kids like mine would not just shrug and say, “She said it’s optional.” *banging my head*
Especially for high schoolers they may expect that the student is managing their own education rather than the parents. I know when I was in high school, my mom was completely hands off--not a parenting technique I recommend but that was my reality.
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4 minutes ago, CuriousMomof3 said:
The problem with this is that it makes it seem like what kids living in poverty, or challenging circumstances, or who have disabilities need is equitable access to grades. I mean they do, but more than that they need equitable access to education! I know that providing it is challenging, but I'm seeing lots of creative solutions. On the other hand, some districts don't seem to be trying. Instead they're providing instruction, but saying it's enrichment, and acting like that absolves them of any responsibility to the most vulnerable kids.
Then, when kids go back, the gap is going to be bigger, and parents who were able to support their kids doing whatever got sent home are going to expect that the content isn't retaught.
My kids aren't in PS (we homeschool/dual enroll), but from what I've read and heard from friends the schools in my area seem to be trying to bridge the gap. An internet provider is giving free access, including installation to any students who need it, and schools are distributing Chromebooks. I'm in a large metro area, though, with plenty of resources and county tax dollars to make this happen. In poorer cities and counties with low tax bases it's not like they have huge coffers to go purchase the resources needed to equip huge numbers of students at the drop of a hat. So I wonder how much is not trying and how much is having their hands tied financially or bureaucratically.
I agree that those kids are already disadvantaged, and this situation will only widen that gap. I hope this opens people's eyes to the disparity that continues in education even when kids are in school and seeming to have equal opportunities. I was talking to my husband about this equity issue, and he couldn't believe there are kids without internet and/or a computer at home. Before I had kids I was an ELA teacher in a mostly poor, rural school so I have more of an inside view these realities; I wonder how many people are like my husband (and myself at many times) and don't realize their privilege.
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19 minutes ago, soror said:
I can understand that and wouldn't mind that so much but instead we are doing nothing at all for anyone.
If you’re looking for something structured and already put together rather than just a list of websites, have you considered doing something like Easy Peasy for now? Or if your son is capable have him take a Modern States course? That doesn’t solve the problem of courses already in progress not being continued, but it would at least allow for a sequence of learning to be in place.-
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Some schools are making assignments optional for equity reasons. In those cases significant numbers of students don’t have access to adequate technology, so rather than have graded work that only some students are able to complete schools are making this a time of non-graded, optional “enrichment” learning until they can find ways to get a larger percentage of students on board.
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I used to make the America’s Test Kitchen sandwich bread recipe that calls for bread flour with good results.
Now that I have a mill and grind my own grains, I use a different recipe that wouldn’t really help you since it calls for vital wheat gluten and probably more oil and sugar than you’d like. It’s this one from Mel‘a Kitchen Cafe if you’d like to check it out anyway.
I’ve read that if you don’t have vital wheat gluten you can just omit it and knead the dough longer. It won’t have quite the same effect, but it should help. You can get creative with the sweetener also. If you don’t have honey or sugar, maybe you could boil down juice to create a syrup. Ascorbic acids are also good for whole wheat breads, so it’s good to sub some (not all!) of the liquid for citrus juice or add a crushed Vitamin C tablet. Vinegar is a different type of acid but I’ve read of people using it to aid gluten development. You can use whey for the liquid if you have any. -
Cocoa/peanut butter/oatmeal no-bake cookies. I’ve already made two batches in the past two weeks and will probably make another tomorrow. I hadn’t made or eaten them for a few years, but once all this started I’ve had mad cravings for them
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Great Food Fast by Bob Warden is a good one for recipes that aren’t too fussy. The pot roast recipe in this book is my favorite.
My all-time favorite dump-and-go instant pot meal is the Creamy “Baked” Ziti from Mels Kitchen Cafe. I keep the ingredients for this on hand and it is my emergency, don’t feel like cooking meal. You can make it with or without meat. If you use meat it does add a little more work because you have to sauté it and then scrape/deglaze the pot well in order to keep from getting an error message when you start pressure cooking. Mel also has other IP recipes on her site that look pretty easy and tasty.
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One of our holiday traditions is cheeseball, crackers, and grapes. For New Years I was thinking of going with easy heat/eat foods like wings, pizza rolls, and chips/dip. At our church home group some popular appetizers have been mini tacos (from Costco) served with homemade pico and guacamole, as well as baked sliders (https://www.kingshawaiian.com/recipes/hawaiian-ham--swiss-slider).
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I've had a subscription to CookSmarts for more than a year and really like it. Every week I get an email with a meal plan for the following week. Each meal plan has the recipes, shopping list (which can be changed to reflect items already on hand, as well as ability to sync with instacart), and prep list. The true beauty of CookSmarts compared to other plans is being able to customize the meals. Each meal has 4 options: Original, Gluten-Free, Paleo, and Vegetarian. We aren't full-time Paleo or Veg, but sometimes those versions of the meal appeal to us so we'll switch to that for the one meal. You can also change serving size, which comes in handy to make more or less depending on whether everyone will be home for a meal or if we want extras for leftovers. But the absolute best is the ability to add meals from the archives. This comes in super handy when I have ingredients on hand to use up and the current week's meals don't use it but something in the archives does. It is also great because, while we don't have food allergies or restrictions, we do have preferences. We don't typically eat seafood, so if that's on the menu for the week, I'll skip it and add something from the archives instead. CookSmarts doesn't have an app, but the website works well enough and the customer service is very good. There is also an active private FaceBook group for members.
Years ago I had e-meals. I don't know how much it has changed since then, but CookSmarts works so much better for my family than e-meals ever did. It provides the structure of pre-planned meals with the ability to customize to fit our needs and preferences. CookSmarts is running a 20% off deal right now, plus I think they also have a free trial. I have a referral code if you'd like, but whether or not I get a referral I would highly recommend their site.
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I like these shoes in either the silver or cranberry. I think the pointed toe gives it a little more polished look than a standard ballet flat. Naturalizer shoes are usually pretty comfortable which is a bonus.
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I love the idea of velvet pants for a holiday party. Lands End, Madewell, and Old Navy all have different styles of them right now. I think you could do either skinny/slim leg or cropped wider leg with flats. I would dress things up with some type of sparkly accessory—necklace, earrings, or bangle bracelets and sequined or shiny shoes in either silver or deep red.
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I think the show you watched at your son’s house is My Brilliant Friend, based on the books by Elena Ferrante.
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I’m okay with the changes to the grocery side of the store, but the layout of everything else is kind of confusing and not very intuitive. I’ve started using their drive up option, though, so that eliminates the need to ever go inside to that part of the store.
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6 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:
The Food Lab by Kenji Lopez-Alt.
If you can, check out anything you are interested in at the library first. It helps save a bunch of lousy cookbook purchases.
I love Kenji (no surprise since he was one of CI’s lead recipe developers) and his book is beautiful. But it is such a brick! I borrowed it from the library and determined that if I ever bought it I would have to remove it from the binding because for me it’s too heavy and unwieldy for regular kitchen use.
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I love Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen books for recipes that are researched well and typically work as written the first time you try them. I’ve had the ATK Family Cookbook for 10+ years and used it so much the binding is falling to bits. I also love their magazines.
The former editor of Cook’s Illustrated, Christopher Kimball, has a fairly new cookbook from his new Milk Street Kitchen brand. I’m picking it up from a hold at the library today so will report back on how it looks compared to CI/ATK.
I have Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, and it does have reliable recipes for a huge variety of foods. But I don’t use it that often because the lack of pictures is kind of uninspiring for me.
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14 minutes ago, BlsdMama said:
Dominion Intrigue is NOT on this list but it IS on sale.
Just FYI for those interested, Intrigue is no longer a standalone game. It's now an expansion so you need the original Dominion base game to play. We have just the original, and it's a lot of fun.
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The base game of Saboteur needed to play the Saboteur 2 expansion is on sale at Walmart for $9.99 with free store pickup.
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17 minutes ago, EmseB said:
AA says that I'm eligible to change my flight, but I don't know how to see if one has been canceled.
I really don't know what to do. My family is grieving and can't make decisions well right now. If I call and ask them what to do it's going to cause a thing. So I feel like I'm stuck flying in and just doing my best to get home when I get to that bridge. The problematic thing is that DH has a business trip to leave for on Sunday so I'm supposed to be home for that which doesn't seem likely. I don't know how they are going to have a funeral service during a hurricane. It's a mess. And my grandma was the best, my grandpa just lost his wife of 65 years...and there's a hurricane. I'm waiting for the 11p.m. update to post right now to see if it makes things any clearer.
I’m so sorry that you are having to deal with the hurricane along with the loss of your grandma.
I don’t think American has canceled any flights yet.
You can check your flight status and sign up for alerts for changes to the status here: https://www.aa.com/travelInformation/flights/status
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We had one dog. He tolerated other dogs but didn't love them. Then we had a relative live with us who had a very social dog, and our dog seemed to move from toleration to enjoyment of another dog around. After that relative moved out we adopted a shelter dog. Our original dog is very patient with our second dog, but she is terrible to him. She is very jealous and has anxiety that manifests at odd times and in odd ways, which she tends to take out on our other dog. She would do much better in a one dog house.
I guess my takeaway is that all dogs are different. If you have an opportunity to do a trial run to see how two particular dogs get along, I'd highly advise it. I'd also advise that trial be at least a week. Our second dog was very timid the first couple days and avoided our other dog, which isn't at all her true behavior pattern once she got used to our home.
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And if you want totally fluffy cozy mysteries, I'm currently reading through the Library Lover's Mystery series by Jenn McKinlay and the Ashton Corners Book Club mysteries by Erika Chase. They are easy reads, so good for a relaxing read before bedtime. Like a cup of warm tea for my brain :)
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The Dry by Jane Harper is a fairly new release, and I believe is being expanded into a series. It is set in modern-day rural Australia during a drought, with the setting described so well it almost functions as its own character. It was one of my top reads so far this year.
I am probably the only person in the reading world who has not loved Louise Penny's Three Pines series. I love the inside view into a small town in Quebec, even more so since my family drove through the province, got stuck in the snow in the middle of the countryside at night, and was rescued by the friendliest group of French-speaking teens. Penny's characters are a little too eccentric to me--they seem more like caricatures than real people. Also, the mysteries of the books I've read so far (books 1 & 2) are less than compelling. I'm hoping it gets better as I read further into the series.
I liked In the Woods by Tana French. It's probably one of my favorite mysteries ever. The main character is amazing. The next of the series, The Likeness, wasn't as good to me but still enjoyable. I started the third but felt a little burned out and didn't love the main character, but may pick it up later.
The Spellman series from Lisa Lutz is a fun series with unusual characters.
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You can look at Trulia's crime "temperature" map to see where more crimes occur in a given area: https://www.trulia.com/local/pinellas-park-fl/tiles:1|points:1_crime
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I would avoid staying in Pinellas Park. You might look in Seminole (to the west) or Feather Sound (to the north). To rent a 2-bedroom in a decent area is probably at minimum $1200/month, maybe more if you aren't signing a year lease.
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Is Splash-Less bleach worthless?
in The Chat Board
Posted
I don't use much bleach, and when I do it's usually for laundry when one of us is ill. I was almost out a couple weeks ago, so I bought a small jug of the splashless kind since that was the only non-scented kind left. I figured there was a difference since it didn't say "disinfectant" on the bottle like normal bleach does. I'm not looking to disinfect or kill off every little germ, so it's fine for my purposes. I used it today to do a deeper cleaning in my bathroom, which I try to do quarterly. I prefer to do my regular cleaning with other products that don't irritate my respiratory system. I have all the windows open and there's a nice breeze blowing through, and the bleach fumes are still pretty strong.