household staples

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Meals for a Snowy Day (or Week)

Quick note that the giveaway for a copy of Nicole’s debut novel is open until this coming Friday. Please enter if you or a loved one need a(nother) copy of her book!

Are you having a snow day? If you are in a part of the world that is caught in a deep freeze right now, I hope you are safe and warm and that you have electricity. We are so very fortunate (so far) in that our home is warm and cozy and our larders are full of food.

I’m not actually sure what a larder is, so when I say “larders” I mean “the two refrigerator/freezers we own” and “the pantry and kitchen cupboards.”

The last time I went to the grocery store was Wednesday, but I feel like I made some pretty smart choices in terms of purchases. I am also feeling pretty smug about my slow-to-die pandemic habit of overbuying things and stuffing my freezer and pantry full of things that have lasting power.

Here’s (most, but not all of) what we have:

  • Protein: Salmon (wild and farm-raised), chicken, halibut (a Christmas gift from my brother and his wife), ground beef, steak, sausage, four shrimp, eggs, pepperoni
  • Dairy: Milk, yogurt, cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan), cream cheese, a partial container of sour cream, half and half, almond milk (not really dairy, but I’m counting it anyway), butter
  • Fresh produce: Lettuce (iceberg and a salad mix and romaine), cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, celery, onions (red and Spanish), one green pepper, green beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, one cucumber, apples, grapes, avocadoes, lemons, limes, 5/6 of a pomegranate, a mango that may be past its prime, some cilantro that may be nearing its end-of-life, scallions, one jalapeno, a quarter head of red cabbage
  • Frozen produce: Peas, corn, edamame (in the pod and half a bag of de-podded), various potato products (hash browns, diced potatoes), mango, cranberries, cherries, raspberries, ginger, garlic
  • Pantry staples: Lentils, dark red kidney beans, cannellini beans, one can of black beans, chickpeas, chicken/beef/vegetable stock, one can of coconut milk, tomato puree, noodles of various sorts (but no complete boxes of any of them), rice (basmati and brown), quinoa, farro, flour, sugar (brown, powdered, granulated), chocolate chips, oats, various nut butters, various nuts and seeds (mainly almonds), various tortillas and taco shells, various curry pastes
  • Sweets: Carla made an enormous batch of cupcakes yesterday on FaceTime with her cousin, a cookie mix, some frozen slices of apple cake from my husband’s birthday
  • Breakfast foods: A variety of cereals and frozen things (waffles, etc.), instant oatmeal, my favorite bread, and my husband’s collection of Oats Overnight
  • Condiments: A huge selection, especially of hot sauce
  • Herbs and spices: A huge selection
  • Baking necessities: Vanilla, baking powder and soda, honey, maple syrup, various oils, various vinegars, gelatin, yeast, etc.

As long as our electricity holds out, we are all set. I mean honestly, I don’t really need to go shopping again for months. Good lord, we have so much food.

Anyway, I am distracting myself from all worries by contemplating meals I can fashion out of this abundance of ingredients.

  • Potato, Sausage, and Broccoli Frittata: I like a frittata, and we truly have way too many frozen potato products on hand, plus I have some frozen sausage that I will never otherwise use, so this would be perfect. I would make a half batch, in part because we do not need 8 to 10 servings of frittata, and in part because the full recipe requires 10 eggs and I might want some of those eggs for other things.
  • Creamy Vegan Pasta: I love the idea of using some white beans for a lush, garlicky pasta sauce. We would have to mix pasta shapes though, and that makes me feel uncomfortable.
  • Chickpea Curry: I love this easy, warming recipe and it would be a great way to call both chickpeas and coconut milk into service.
  • Salmon Bowls: I love a good salmon bowl, and I like how this recipe includes edamame and avocado both of which I have in abundance. I will probably skip the mango though; I have a weird aversion to pairing mango with avocado. Although I do have that ripe mango that really needs to fulfill its purpose in life… hmmm. This recipe also calls for cucumber, but I am saving my cucumber for more of this salad.
  • Lentil Soup: A warm bowl of lentil soup would really hit the spot today. I was planning to use the carrots and celery for snacking, but I could apportion some of it for mire poix. Soup would also give me a good excuse to make some bread!
  • Beef with String Beans: I have a good number of green beans left from last week (although I used some in a red curry last night), and I have a bistro fillet of steak in my freezer. Why not put them together?
  • Chipotle Lentil Stuffed Sweet Potatoes: My husband and I made this a few months ago and it was delicious. (I can send you the recipe if you can’t get beyond the paywall.) My only concern is that I don’t think I have any chipotles on hand, which is very unlike me. It’s so unlike me that I almost don’t believe it. But I did make chipotle chicken tortilla soup last week, and I used the last cube of frozen blended chipotle I had, and I didn’t see any other cans of chipotles in adobo in the cupboard, so I may have slipped up in my chipotle stocking.
  • Vegan Sticky Sesame Chickpeas: I have never tried this before, but it sounds good. If I don’t use up the broccoli in a frittata, I could use it here. Or I could add some peas instead. (It doesn’t actually even call for veggies, but I dislike plain legumes.)
  • Black Bean Burritos: This is a standby in my household. I have a partial bag of frozen Mexican style roasted corn that I can add to black beans. My husband also likes a little rice in his burritos.
  • Chicken Avocado Salad: I don’t have bacon or tomatoes, but I think I can make a nice salad that’s loosely based on this one. I have some mozzarella pearls, and I could throw in my lone green pepper and some thawed frozen corn.
  • Chickpea Salad Sandwiches: I have been meaning to make a batch of chickpea salad, but haven’t gotten around to it. Now might be the time, especially if I end up making bread.
  • Halibut with Lemon Butter Sauce: If I don’t use up the green beans for something else, I could serve them alongside the fish, perhaps with a baked potato. Or I could whip up some warm farro with peas and red onions to go alongside.
  • Steak and Caesar Salad with Potato: We have some leftover tenderloin from Christmas and I could whip up a Caesar salad. If I don’t use the potatoes for something else, I could use them here. Or I could roast up some of our plethora of diced frozen potatoes with some lemon zest, garlic and cilantro, in an homage to a dish from my favorite Lebanese restaurant.
  • Japanese Curry: This is a regular on our meal rotation, and we happen to have some golden curry cubes on hand. This can only happen if we don’t use the potatoes and sweet potatoes for something else, though. I also throw in a bunch of frozen peas, and broccoli if I have it.
  • Lettuce and Cabbage Salad: This salad is intriguing but I haven’t tried it yet.
  • Tortilla “Burgers”: I love a hamburger, but we don’t have any buns in the house. I suppose I could make some from scratch, but I also find the idea of making a “burger” with a tortilla quite appealing.
  • Roasted Chicken Fried Rice: This looks good and pretty easy.

Wow, look at all those meals I can craft without ever setting foot in the grocery store! But what about sweets??? Surely I can make something yummy for dessert from what I have on hand. Besides cookies from the cookie mix. Or instant chocolate pudding, for which I also have a mix.

If you are having a snow day (which seems like it could very easily morph into a snow week blergh), and you are in a head space that allows you to think of frivolous things like baking and cooking, what are you planning to make for today’s meals?

If you are not having a snow day (hello, Florida and California friends!!! what is your guest room situation like these days, hmm???), what do you make when you have no desire to set foot in a grocery store?

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Wednesday Randomosity: Assorted Tidbits and Updates Edition

It’s Wednesday and we are somehow nearly halfway through January. Let’s have some bullets, shall we?

Rough Return to Routine: Re-entry post holiday break has been A Challenge. In trying to leave my cozy cocoon, I have a lot of empathy for creatures who swathe themselves in gauze only to be forced, weak-limbed and light-stunned, back into the real world.

Part of the problem, of course, is that we got on a totally awful sleep schedule during the break, and that has been challenging to reverse. I like to think of myself as a morning person, but really, I’m fine staying up late and sleeping late if that’s a workable schedule. As it was for fifteen straight days. I tried, oh I tried, to ease us back into eight-thirty bedtimes and six am wakeups, but it did not stick for anyone. (On my end, I managed to get back to five-thirty wakeups, with a lot of help from the cat, but I have not managed to get to bed before midnight more than once or twice.)

The other part of the problem, in my opinion, is that there’s been no gradual reincorporation into normalcy. It’s just, like, BAM, back into it. It’s got to be even harder for my poor kid, who’s the one enduring school and all her activities; I’m just driving her around, and that’s messing me up completely. The past weekend was PACKED with stuff. Between Friday and today, my kid has had two appointments, a sleepover with her grandparents, five extra-curricular activities, one performance, and a birthday party. That doesn’t even count three days of school. We didn’t get home until after ten Monday night and when Carla had a hard time waking up yesterday morning, even though I let both of sleep in an extra forty-five minutes, I did not blame her one bit.

The cat has NOT been happy with all these shifting schedules, let me tell you. He doesn’t seem to be finding as much interest in his normal suite of toys and playing. His eating schedule is all out of whack. He – who is normally a pretty silent cat – has been wandering around mewing plaintively, and then flopping at my feet, and then either purring when I pet him or biting my hand (usually he just lies there contentedly while I pet him). Is he sick? Is he hurt? Is he bored? Is he confused about where the other two humans have disappeared to? Is he depressed? Or is he just complaining about the lack of a steady, reliable schedule?

What I’m Reading: I did not mean to vague post the other day, when I mentioned the book I was considering DNFing. It was, indeed, Heart the Lover (bookshop.org / amazon). But I soldiered on and as soon as I got to page 20, I hit my stride and then I couldn’t put it down. It felt, in some ways, very similar to The Goldfinch (bookshop.org / amazon) – where bloomed, out of a perfectly readable and engaging story, an epiphany that felt life-changing. Now I have the difficult task of finding a book to follow that one. Any suggestions? I feel like the next one is bound to pale in comparison, so maybe I will just pick up a book I don’t have high hopes for.

I am listening to The Long Night by Christian White (bookshop.org / amazon) (I love the rhythm of the title and author pairing, and the unintentional rhyme) and it’s an excellent fast-paced thriller. I recall reading a few reviews that criticized it for being confusing, and I have reached the point where I understand what all the complaints are about; yesterday, I paused the audiobook and stood in my kitchen, knife poised over a half-sliced cucumber, trying to get everything straight in my head. I think I understand? Well, we’ll see.

Things I’ve Bought Lately: I did a mini refresh of kitchen staples: new pot holders, new trivets, new spatulas, new whisk. It is quite pleasing to retrieve a hot pan from the oven with a fresh pot holder, free of holes and stains and burn marks. I also went a little wild and replaced my microplane… and my new one is so much better I am kicking myself for not replacing it earlier. The only kitchen refreshments I have left to buy are a new kitchen mat and new cutting boards. The cutting boards are throwing me for a loop. I don’t think I want plastic ones, but I definitely want cutting boards I can throw in the dishwasher. Instagram has recently been serving me all sorts of content about titanium cutting boards, but I’m suspicious. Perhaps I want these paper composite boards instead?

In non-kitchen purchases, I bought myself a new foot file.

It works great.

But. It reminds me a little too much of my new microplane. Worry not; I am storing them in separate rooms of the house.

Resolution in Progress: One of my New Year’s resolutions is to appear in more photos this year. At an event earlier this week, I tried to gamely follow through. I forced my husband to take a couple selfies (ussies?) of the two of us. I forced someone’s husband to take a picture of a bunch of the women together. The one of me and my husband resides safely on his phone, where I may one day in several months revisit it with kinder eyes. However, I cannot bring myself to send the group photo to any of the other women because I hate my image so fiercely. I need to. I am going to. The other women all look darling. And I can kind of talk myself into thinking that I look so terrible in large part because of where I am in the group – on the side, right up at the edge of the photo – and also I am holding two bulky jackets and that just doesn’t look cute at all. But I think I need A Plan for appearing in photos in such a way as to encourage additional photo taking. Perhaps I need to study up on photo poses and push past my fear of annoying people to request specific angles and multiple options from whichever poor soul winds up being my photographer of the moment.

Things I’ve Done in 2026 That I Haven’t Done Before: I got bangs! This is a very recent development, so it’s possible that the excitement will fade. But right now, I love them. It was extremely gratifying to pick up Carla from school and have her immediately crow, “You got bangs! They are so cute!” and then fervently wish that she could have bangs. Also extremely gratifying was my husband’s reaction, which was smiling and intense scrutiny for a few minutes until he said, “The bangs look really good!” The last time I had bangs was in… fourth grade? Fifth? I am not counting the over-hairsprayed swoop of side bangs I wore all through middle school.

Special Projects: My dad and I installed a new light fixture in the cat’s litter box room. It took us three separate tries (Day 1: not enough wire connectors; no switch. Day 2: drill didn’t work. Day 3: finished!) but we installed it together and I did a good bit of the work. I’m not saying that I could install a light fixture on my own, but… maybe I could? I did get pretty good at wiring a switch. Things I will need if I ever want to do this by myself: electrician’s pliers, wire stripper/crimping tool, and a voltage tester.

Things I’m Eating Lately: Family friends had us over for dinner recently, and they served us this cucumber salad alongside roasted salmon, and it was so good I immediately bought a cucumber so I could make it myself. My friend omitted the toasted sesame seeds, so I did as well. I’m otherwise in kind of a food rut these days, so we’re doing a lot of Ham Sandwich for dinner around here. Ham Sandwich with a side of cucumber salad.

The Dress Hunt Persists: I am still seeking dresses for two upcoming fancy events. My husband (who was a little leery of me ordering a bunch of dresses online and returning the ones that didn’t work) and I went to An Actual Mall the other day, so I could try on dresses in department stores. That was… awful. The selection was awful, the sizing was awful. I hate trying things on in department stores. Everything about it was demoralizing.

So I finally ordered some dresses, which was my original plan all along. Two have already arrived and they fit and they are fine. The magenta one is better; I like the sleeves and the back is cute and the hem falls at a nicer place on my leg. But the silver and black one is also fine, if a tad bit too long. It should be okay if I can persuade my feet to endure heels for a night. Two others are on the way: this one, which I shared with you back in December, and this one, which I think looks fun and pretty. We’ll see, but at least I have two acceptable options, which is a huge relief.

Skin Sitch: My skin situation seems to have calmed down. My guess is that it was entirely hormonal. I have normal monthly fluctuations in my skin, but once in a while, everything seems to be so much worse than usual. Fortunately, it’s returned to normal.

Speaking of skin, I am loving my current skincare regimen, which consists of a twice-daily peptide serum, a twice-daily application of moisturizer, plus hydrating face sunscreen serum each morning, and a retinol / hyaluronic acid serum at night. (Why is everything a serum all of a sudden?) My skin feels SO SOFT when I wash my face in the mornings, and I have had two people comment on my skin in recent months. The compliments both came via salespeople in department store perfume counters, and were likely sales motivators rather than the truth, but, wow, did those women know exactly how to make me preen. (I did not buy anything from either of them; that’ll teach you to be nice, salespeople.)

My Cat, Still Catting: My cat remains a daily delight.

Okay that seems to be a good round-up of what’s going on around here. What’s going on with you?

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Blustery Tuesday Blah Blah

I am sitting in a dark house, staring out at a brooding sky and wind-tossed trees. It is deliciously quiet right now. Thanks to your powerful not-Covid thoughts, Carla is Covid negative and back at school. Hooray!

We were very productive yesterday: in addition to going to the doctor, I did four loads of laundry – INCLUDING folding – and have a last load waiting for me to put it in the washer (I have been trying to see a load through from hamper to folding before I start a new load; reduces the pile up). We also cleaned out Carla’s desk, which had an entire trash bag’s worth of junk in it, and we listened to Project Hail Mary (which I listened to based on Jaida’s excellent recommendation and loved so much that I explained it to Carla, and my enthusiasm made her want to listen to it also), and we watched a very long video of someone who gives makeovers to OMG dolls. Carla subsequently added “liquid latex” and “heat gun” to her list of must-have crafting items. It was nice to have a little extra time with my kid, but she has another day off coming up and I am very glad she is back at school.

After I dropped Carla off, I went to the grocery store and spent all our savings on food. I have not been noticing a huge number of shortages… things seem to have leveled off, a bit. (Although at Costco this weekend, there was no Kirkland-brand toilet paper, and both toilet paper and paper towels were one-per-customer.) Plenty of staples – beans, pasta, flour, sugar, pepperoni. Even Lunchables are available again. A thing that I do find concerning is that Target now has “only X left” on pretty much anything I try to order online. This is true whether I choose “pick-up” or “shipping” as my delivery option. It could simply be marketers playing to the scarcity strategy, but whatever it is, it definitely cues my panic response.

You know a thing that I find unnecessarily anxiety-provoking? When someone can’t hear what you’re saying. The checker at the grocery store had a hard time hearing me, and was really frustrated-acting about it. Which I get! It must be frustrating, to not hear someone! And I am sure that she has to deal with this same situation multiple times per day, what with people wearing masks, and her being stuck behind a plexiglass shield and all. But she did that thing where she shook her head and closed her eyes in an “I am counting to ten” kind of way, and, her tone said “this is entirely YOUR fault” and I felt helpless and defensive and equally frustrated that I couldn’t make myself heard and ugh. I just hate that. Makes me feel shaky and tearful when it should be a simple exchange of, “Oh, sorry! I will speak up!” and “Thank you! That’s better!” instead of disgusted dismissive shrugging like I am purposefully being a jerk.

She also seemed mad at me that I asked her to re-scan my apples. I bought Jonagold apples because a) I can’t remember the last time I ate a Jonagold apple, and cannot remember how they taste and b) because they looked so beautiful and shiny and red. I purposely avoided the Honeycrisp apples because a) they were $0.50 per pound more expensive and b) also looked pale and bloated. So I pointed out that they had rung up as the wrong apple – which she had me repeat twice – and then she said in an angry way, “Well, they come up as Honeycrisp when I type in the number on the tag.” Which. Okay. Either some Honeycrisp apples migrated into the Jonagold section or the tag was incorrect or the computer was reading them incorrectly or she typed the number into the computer incorrectly or I blacked out in the apple section and got Honeycrisp instead of Jonagold… I don’t know, but it didn’t seem to me that I had been BLAMING her for doing something WRONG when that is clearly how it came across. She is never as friendly as some of the checkers, but she sure drank some curdled milk this morning or something.

A package of M&Ms classic mix (M&Ms, peanut M&Ms, and peanut butter M&Ms all in a single bag) caught my eye at the checkout, but I neglected to act on my impulse and buy it. I wavered because I don’t really like plain M&Ms. But I am regretting my inaction now.

We got the bill for the exterminator, and it was MUCH higher than indicated in our previous infuriating and elliptical conversation. And I can’t decide whether I need to simply pay it and find a new exterminator service or if I should email him back and request an explanation. And I KNOW that prices are rising and costs are increasing, so there could be a reasonable explanation for the discrepancy. But I want to KNOW. I don’t want to just pay whatever he says the price is, willy nilly. We got a nice letter from our snowplow service saying – in advance – that they had a lot of increased costs and so our bill would go up, and I really appreciate that kind of up-front transparency. We will gladly pay the increase. Part of me wants to email the exterminator, just to see what he says. Although I am afraid he will then call me.

My root canal takes place next week. My husband took the day off from work and will drive me to and from the appointment and presumably ensure I don’t die afterward. I am not looking forward to it. But it will be nice to no longer have severe pain in my jaw. (Although I have heard plenty of stories about root canals not “taking” and needing to be repeated. Arrrrggghhhhh.)

This past Sunday, because Carla wasn’t going to school the following day, the three of us watched Cruella, with Emmas Stone and Thompson. There were some men in it, too, but the Emmas were the real stars. It was a decent movie, although it made Cruella a little too sympathetic, and I still am not quite sure I can make the narrative jump to her wanting to skin and wear a bunch of a Dalmatians as a coat. Also, the whole nature-vs-nurture theme of the movie could have done with a little more thinking through, but I suppose what do you want from a children’s storybook villain origin story. Carla was quite taken with her and has resumed speaking with a semi-British accent.

This is a bit of a delicate topic, maybe. But… do you shave your face? I had not done any sort of facial hair removal until a couple of months ago, aside from an occasional plucking of a stray eyebrow hair, or pulling out the hair that insists on sprouting witchily from the mole on my chin. But now I am completely obsessed with these Tinkle razors. I think I have used these enough times now to be able to recommend them with confidence. A little back story: an acquaintance mentioned these to me over the summer, and said she’d gotten a couple extra and she would give them to me. Note that she did not ask if I wanted them. Then the next couple of times we ran into each other, she’d slap her thigh and say, “Oh darn, I forgot to bring them for you!” As you might imagine, after each of these exchanges, I would spend long minutes with my face pressed up against the mirror, trying to determine whether my peach fuzz had graduated into full on facial shrubbery. Surely, my furry outer layer was so evident that this person felt COMPELLED to get me to take action. So when she finally pressed a couple into my hands, I was ready to give them a try. I had never tried any sort of facial hair removal options before because my mother had always given me stern and strenuous warnings about how the hair would grow back thicker and darker than before. A mother’s admonitions are a hard thing to get past, even when one is in her fifth decade of life. So far, I have not noticed this to be the case with the Tinkle razors. There is a period during which the face feels a teeny bit rougher than normal, but then the hair goes back to its normal downy state, and I haven’t noticed any change in color whatsoever. Anyway, these are very easy to use and I LOVE THEM and I am not going back and if you are looking for a facial hair solution I recommend you give these a go.

What are we supposed to be watching on TV these days? My husband and I watched Midnight Mass (interesting and thoughtful concept; Hamish Linklater; too many long-winded monologues) and Squid Game (VERY stressful but impossible to stop once we started) and are of course watching the latest season of Great British Baking Show. But we need something new. I want to watch that murder comedy with Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building) and my husband wants to watch Succession and neither of us is particularly excited about the other’s choice. What have you watched recently and loved?

I looked up the person who does the OMG doll makeovers and she apparently makes somewhere around $14,000 a month.