Stuck in a Thumb and Pulled Out a Plum

 

Our weather has been stubbornly summer-like, but that hasn't stopped the Italian Prune Plums (or Damson depending where you live) from arriving in our markets. Luckily, we got a bit of a break from the heat, and I was able to get started canning/preserving them for later in the year. The season is so short, and the local demand so great, that I (along with the Czech and Polish grannies) had to stake out the produce department, pestering the grocer daily as to the expected date of arrival. I don't make plum dumplings (no one likes them except me) but I do make pie filling so that when the holidays roll around, I have a time-saving shortcut. 

The pie photo is old but the filling photo below is new.
 

It cooks quickly, and makes the kitchen smell so lovely. If I don't make a pie, the filling is wonderful with yoghurt or ice cream.

I made a no-sugar added plum chutney with apples and raisins. It didn't need any additional sugar, so I didn't add it. I wouldn't go as far as calling it
"Diabetic Friendly" as it is still fruit, but a tiny bit of chutney shouldn't be a problem. It isn't something consumed in quantity.

Finally, two batches of plum sauce with ginger, anise, hot pepper. I made three pint jars for Dan, because he has Chinese food regularly, and the rest are going to be holiday hostess gifts, etc. Sometimes you need to bring something, and who doesn't love plum sauce? 

Not shown, I also made a no-sugar-added plum butter/paste. That's for baking. I don't bake as much these days, but when I do it is nice to have ingredients I made myself and have some control over the contents of. 

I am, by the way completely exhausted now, but it was worth doing. 

This was an attempt at a nice dinner with what I had already. There's a spicy tofu, faux rice made from lentils, pickled cabbage (there's always pickled cabbage, that's my best recipe) peas shoots and basil from the garden, and an egg on top. There were some carrots, ginger, and scallions too. It turned out nice, and I didn't need to go to the grocer to buy anything. 

I'm really stuck between seasons fashion wise/ I'm wearing interesting accessories instead.

Almost utilitarian skirt and blouse, but they will have to do.

Still growing my hair out, here I've pulled it up in combs

The dress isn't vintage. Made of some sort of stretch material, it is launderable but maddeningly still needs pressing.

 

 I do love green.

I really liked the look of this dress, and for a mere .98 cents, how could I say no? Looking it over, I was surprised to see it was a LuLaRoe item. If you aren't familiar with LuLaRoe, click the article for a wild read about pyramid schemes, mid level marketing, and warehouses full of terrible leggings. Maybe the dress was from before the business started falling apart, but I rather like it, and it feels like it was constructed reasonably well. I do feel terrible for all the people that were taken advantage of and lost money though. 

This is a red dress. That's about it. 

Because we have such a large part of the Midwestern population with German heritage, Oktoberfest is a big party here. It is the one time of year it feels completely appropriate to wear pretzel earrings.

I would love a pretzel (and a beer for that matter) but I know better. If asked, I will polka. I taught Dan how as a child, but I'm sure he's forgotten. At one point, he wanted to buy an accordion. I'm glad I said no to that (we already had a piano).

I love this dress so much, that when I saw it in another colourway (green and black) I bought it. 

Dress over a skirt. I will wear a mini with tights, but not in summer. My legs are mottled and full of dark bulging veins. No one needs to see that. 

So, without getting too deeply into politics, it appears someone took another attempt at the former president. The fact that someone got close enough hiding in a shrub, and poking the muzzle of a gun through the fence is wild enough.  The fact that this happened immediately following a post on his social media network that declared, "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!!!" makes me think two things. One, that's the sort of post you would expect from an eight year old, not a grown man. And Two, The Swifties were behind it😆. Seriously though, good job by the secret service agent that spotted it. I know that's what they're trained to do but on a wide-open golf course? That had to be hard. I'm no fan of the former president but someone getting within 300feet of him, especially after the first attempt is pretty terrible. The last thing we need as a country is more political violence. Gun violence is so ordinary that unless it is a political leader or celebrity we just don't notice anymore. I routinely hear gunfire in my neighbourhood (typically followed by racing engines and squealing wheels), it is the background noise of the city.

 

Look at these, candy cigarettes rebranded as, "Candy Sticks." Packaged just for the children, and in time for Halloween. I wouldn't give these out for Halloween-I could see parents getting really angry. Also, they taste like chalk. Not chalky in a pleasant Necco Wafers way, but literally like chalk. I'll bet you could write on a slate with them. Might be a useful replacement from actual chalk if someone suffered from Pica, but otherwise it is really hard to fathom why these still exist. 

 

Do I look tough like Marlon Brando or what?

Alright friends, I'll leave it here. Have a good week.