In The Throes of Packing

I never ever thought I would say this of myself, but I packed four (four) pairs of shoes for Vegas and I will be wearing pair #5. 

I admit that I really like shoes and have a wardrobe (?) of them suitable to many different occasions -- for instance, a visit to Texas - black cherry lizard cowboy boots.  Halloween costume:  construction boots, white socks, tan Bermuda shorts, white t-shirt, hard hat and clipboard.  I bet I could get into a bank vault wearing them, too.  No one pays any attention to construction workers with a clipboard except to avoid them.   Wooden-soled raffia clogs. What on earth was I thinking? 

But taking three pairs of topsiders and a pair of fancy pool flip flops to Vegas could be considered, well, a bit much.  You can only wear one pair at a time after all.

                             HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND, ALL!

Things Not To Worry About Today

A friend wanted to know what on earth I've been talking about for the past two days.  It was perfectly clear to me, but then again, I was doing the negotiation dance.  Which failed utterly as I learned this morning.  A friend of ours sold his Truck and had written a lovely thank you to the Truck and I wanted to run it.  He said many of the things that I love about my Truck.  (Both are nicknamed "Truck.") 

For the past 26 years, Truck has taken me safely to such as Las Vegas, Barstow, Palm Springs and all around our town without ever breaking down someplace inaccessible to help.  There have been very few times, indeed, that she's broken down -- the last time was three blocks from our house!  How's that for being accomodating? 

There are good reasons to love a vehicle and to be grateful to it.  And it's nice to be able to say "Thank you, faithful Truck."

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There is supposed to be a 50-city walkout of McDonald's employees today, and while we have three in our general area, I doubt that the employees will walk out.  This is the Beach, man!  We don't get all lathered up about stuff like "a living wage"!  Surf's up!

Day 2

Negotiations continue.  Previous offer of a shiny new wheel barrow for his garden refused.  Counter offer was a new car, color of his choice.   

Hold On!

Am in the middle of complicated negotiations with a Guest Editor who is being both coy and elusive. 

But I expect to get what I want.  Physical threats can be so persuasive...the hell with tact and diplomacy. 

Putting a Party Dress On Your House

On Saturdays, the Daily Breeze runs features on interior decorating and gardening.

Last Saturday, the entire front page of this section concerned itself with how to "stage" your home if you are selling it.  It's much like dressing a stage set for a play or movie.  Professional "stagers" visit your home and make suggestions about furniture placement, accessories like new table lamps, sofa cushions, etc.  And then you pay them and they go away again.

Suggestions are not limited to heaving the furniture around but might include painting a room or two or updating your bathroom.   This in addition to the industry-average price of $2,500 for some stranger to come in and tell you how to decorate your home.  Do you sense that I am against this practice?

I'm not the only one.  Wil Herring, president of the Inland Valleys Association of Realtors, says it isn't necessary because the real estate market is strong now because there is less inventory available to buy. 

I think you can do "staging" if you insist on doing it by yourself.

Get rid of clutter -- you're going to be moving anyhow so don't put this off.  And, getting rid of the clutter will remind you that yes, you are selling the house you are standing in.

Look seriously at the way your furniture is arranged.  Would it look better to put the sofa closer to the window?  Mess around with different placements of the chairs and lamps until it looks perfect.

Our house was not staged when we bought it; every room was empty.  (And the first thing I did was paint the shiny wood kitchen cabinet doors a lovely turquoise.)  I liked "empty" because an empty house is a blank canvas, just waiting for the artist to come and make it comfortable and interesting.  

Keep it all spotlessly clean.  Speaking for myself, the best thing we could do is deep clean thoroughly and then pack our personal items, the cats and the bird and move into a hotel.     

And Don't Forget To Crook Your Little Finger, Just So

Yesterday afternoon we had the pleasure of tea and visiting with Next Door, our former neighbors.  They were just back from a visit to his parents in the Northern England and she decided to serve us two traditional English tea foods.

First up was a plate of cucumber sandwiches.  Normally I don't eat cucumbers, but in the interests of research, I took one.  They are good!  I had to restrain myself from slinging an arm around the plate and firmly announcing, "This plate is mine."

You, too, can have one -- you'll need a quality, soft-ish white bread, crusts neatly removed and spread with thin cream cheese which is then dusted with salt and pepper and see-through thin slices of cucumber.  Fold the bread over and serve. 

Cucumber sandwiches began their popularity during the Victorian era when the upper clawss didn't have all that much to do physically so they could afford to gorge on not-so-nutritious foods at tea and other meals.  The working class ate much heartier - boiled eggs and various meats being a part of their teas.  They needed the energy.

Then along came the Edwardian age when ample supplies of coal (and cheap labor) made greenhouses popular and cucumber sandwiches became an all-year treat. 

Nest our hostess gave us individual short squat glasses that held "Fool" which is a mix of equal parts stewed seasonal fruits and whipped cream.  It is believed by some that "fool" is a derivation of the French verb "fouler" meaning "to crush."  Historians can't agree on where the word really did come from, but eaters will probably agree it doesn't matter -- just "Some more, please" does.

Tricks of the Trade

The Situation:  You're pet's collar has become pretty bedraggled.  You need to get Fido or Fluffy a new one.  "But it's such a pain to remove their ID tags," you moan mentally. "I always break a fingernail."

A Solution:   Pick up the staple remover and apply it to the crack in the key ring and slide the new object onto the old ring.  This should work with all key rings.

The Situation:  Richie and I love bacon-wrapped sea scallops with a daub of orange marmalade.  I know Trader Joe's sells a box of 12 in the frozen section.  But buying a bunch of scallops and using the bacon already in your kitchen to make your own is cheaper.   

But:  It takes forever for the bacon to cook (oven, 400 degrees) and while it's cooking it's leaving great smears of tarry black on the aluminum foil you lined the pizza pan to cook them.  The scallops stick to the foil and resist being flipped.  (And you'll have this problem with Trader Joe's, too.)

A Solution:  Take a slice of bacon, cut in half or thirds and saute it in a frying pan.  While that's going on, remove the muscle from the scallops (one of our cats loves them) and dry the scallops with a paper towel. 

When the bacon is done, set it aside to drain on a paper towel and put the scallops in the hot skillet.  Brown both sides of the scallops and put them on a serving dish.  Add about 1 T marmalade to the empty skillet and stir, then dress the scallops with the sauce.  Crumble the bacon and sprinkle over the scallops.  No muss, no fuss.