Happy Leap Year! I hope everyone made good use of the extra day. I spent it cooking.
What to do with 32 red, yellow, and orange bell peppers I brought home for . 25 cents each? This red pepper spread gook care of eight of them!
I also made a tofu, green bean, and pepper stir fry.
But now I’m going to need to come up with some other stuff. I might freeze some and dehydrate others. Bell peppers are a great source of vitamin C. So no one is getting scurvy on my watch!
This is a deep dish apple and rhubarb pie using the end of last year’s rhubarb from the freezer. Just in time for the new spring crop. If you haven’t tried rhubarb and apple together, you’re missing out. It also turns the apples a delicate pink. So beautiful.
Now this was interesting! Vegan ricotta made from coconut milk and agar seaweed. It works! You need to plan ahead as it needs to set like gelatin before being put through a grinder, but it is simple enough to do.
I haven’t been chewing solids since my oral surgery which went...well, yeah. Soft food for me for the foreseeable future. Good thing I like potatoes and hummus.
I’m sorry to have missed out on the pumpkin bundt cake. Most of it was finished the day it was made. The boys really went for it.
One of our better supermarkets went out of business. I went to have a look around in the last days. There wasn’t much but I did get a dozen bottles of my now discontinued vo5 conditioner that ended up being .80 cents a bottle- so that was a deal! I’ll miss Super Saver and their oddball produce bargains.
Oh boy.
Not that I was expecting to ever be able to retire but the 401k is going to be taking one hell of a hit. I guess it won’t matter because we’ll all be dead from the virus.
I’ve been working on finishing a novel ( really) but had to re-write the section including a fictional pandemic because I was giving the government response more credit than the reality we’re living through. I started this long before the current situation but it would read funny post Coronavirus. Locally people are pretty calm, but hand sanitizer is in short supply. I already had a good stock of quality masks because of allergy season coming up, so that was lucky.
Who wants to see some outfits?
The dreaded “Mom Jeans” with a high waist and boot cut leg. Look, I wear jeans so rarely I can’t be bothered with trying to be fashionable. They fit, and that’s good enough. The vintage cape has suede details, a nice combination in my opinion. I’m also wearing the Nebraska belt buckle I was given at Christmas. The handbag was thrifted a few years ago.
I’m rediscovering trousers. These have buttons up the sides like a sailor’s.
I rather like that.
The vintage windbreaker was something I bought for Danny but he quickly outgrew. It feels strange getting hand- me-downs from my child! He’s grown into a giant.
Same trousers doing a 40s look with an 80s top. I like the versatility, but I don’t really ever feel myself in slacks. I guess that’s because I rarely wore them as a young person.
But give me a dress or a skirt, and I’m good!
A cheaply thrifted 80s crepe dress can work wonders for my wardrobe. The sleeves are sheer which would be a bit much in February, so I’m wearing a shirt beneath.
Still letting the curls go wild. Probably could use a haircut but can’t be bothered. At least I won’t be running out of conditioner any time soon!
This suit has been in my collection 30 years, and it was old then!
My suit has been a more reliable presence in my life than most people! I can always count on it.
Wacky? Oh, I can do wacky clothes!
The corduroys came from the children’s department at Target around 2001. They are meant to be cropped . If I bought trousers in the adult department they would be dragging on the ground.
You’ve seen all these before, but put together differently. I rather like the coral with brown.
1980s? I’ve got that!
How about a sneak peek at the Mr. Dino dress I scored? It needs some buttons replaced and the hem tacked up but is otherwise perfect. I was so happy to find it as my collection was lacking a Mr. Dino and his stuff really is representative of the early 70s.
What’s the perfect fragrance to wear with your Mr. Dino?
There’s something so bourgeois about it! I’m not judging ( yes I am). Anyway, it is perfect with a dress my mum would have happily worn.
There’s still a few hours left to leap day, so I am off to make the most of them. Hope you enjoyed yours.
See you in March.
A novel? I was thinking about re-reading Camus' The Plague, but I'll wait for your updated take on the topic. (Besides, my French is rusty.)
ReplyDeleteLove the 40s look with hair pulled back; otherwise, the curls are THE do for you, especially when you're rockin' the Mick Aston striped sweater. This is the right ensemble for archaeological excavations in a soon to be defunct supermarket. Congratulations on the 80c conditioners: they keep for years!
I love bell peppers and any dish that contains them surely meets my approval, as does that apple and rhubarb pie. Sorry to hear that you're still unable to chew solids, and that your preferred supermarket went out of business. That's so sad isn't it, but at least you got some cheap conditioner out of it. I'm intrigued by your novel! As for your outfits, I like the look of those side-button trousers and I do prefer high waist and bootcut jeans over any other, even if I rarely wear them. My favourite of your outfits are the one with the wacky bathmat top and the embellished skirt. Can't wait to see you wearing the Mr. Dino dress! xxx
ReplyDeleteLoving that cape, the crazy towelling tunic and your classy suit. The 1980s dress and tiger blazer are a fab combo.
ReplyDeleteThat red pepper spread looks delicious, wish peppers were that cheap here!
Funnily enough I unearthed some shares of my Dad's that I'd forgotten all about, I was about to sell them until I woke up to the news that the UK stock market is at a 10 year low.
Crazy or not, I'm ignoring all the hype about Corona. xxx
Your legs look a million miles long in those high-waisted mom jeans!
ReplyDeleteThose bell peppers look great, and what an amazing bargain they were at 25 cents apiece. I love all those outfits, especially the bold, striped tunic and corduroy pants. Can't wait to see you modeling the Mr. Dino dress. It screams "Austin Powers" and I just know you'll find the best-looking, period-specific accessories to go with it.
I bet your novel is awesome. I can't help but think it's a comedy or a satire because you're so witty on the blog, but maybe the genre is something entirely different, like a thriller set in a dystopian future. Whatever it is, it must be surreal to watch the beginnings of a pandemic in real life after writing about a fictional one.
That Mr Dino dress is divine! (And yes, very boujie chic) The sequin skirt is fab too.
ReplyDeleteA novel! Wow, I feel lazy.
I have no $ or access to any stock market, but I'd be buying up things like Tyvek, 3M, DuPont Co-Diagnostics & any other makers of masks & hazmat suits.
I am sitting over here in a land where dengue, typhoid & cholera are endemic somewhat amused at the hysteria surrounding this novel virus. The hysteria has not hit Nepal yet.Love your curls!
You do make some wonderful things, Goody. I would have scoffed the pumpkin bundt cake too - delicious!
ReplyDeleteFab outfits and accessories but utmost favourite is the towelling striped top - it's so 60s in shape and the colours are fantastic. I also loved the Mr. Dino dress and the sequinned skirt. I had a similar skirt in the early 00s.
Great bargains from your closing down supermarket. It would odd here if a supermarket closed but the clothing chain stores are going at the rate of knots...
Good luck with the novel. I always wanted to be a writer and did a short Open University Creative Writing course just before I retired. I did well on the course but I lack the imagination and the self discipline to write a novel!
xxxx
Oh lordy, your poor mouth! Living on soft food must be getting tedious. The pepper spread sounds delicious, though.
ReplyDeleteAn author called Chuck Wendig wrote a novel called Wanderers - it's only been out a few months - and a big part of that is a disease outbreak in the US. Needless to say his Twitter feed's been full of coronavirus stuff. I confess I'm worried; my mum nearly died of pneumonia a couple of years back and she's still wheezy even now. At least her oxygen levels are monitored. She's got a gadget that tracks it and can call the doc if it says she's low. It's all really concerning though. I hope you and your family will be safe.
for some reasons i can´t see your photos.....
ReplyDeletemy best and biggest health wishes to you!
xxx
The novel part was quite coincidental. But you can have an excellent reference for the rewrite. I hope to see your novel release soon. Yeah, the sanitizer companies have big-time profit these days. The stocks are fast-moving here too!! I loved all your collection , and recipes dear. Loved the wacky rainbow top, and you posed perfectly!! Great going, Goody!!
ReplyDelete@Beth
ReplyDeleteWhat a time we're living in! So far no one is panicking here, but who knows? Danny's school is still holding classes but they are off tomorrow. I'm expecting they will just call off classes and take spring break early. Me thinks it was a blessing you retired when you did!
@Ann
There's something so luxurious about peppers. They've come down in price from the days when they were imported from Holland (most of ours come from Mexico now) but they're still not inexpensive. It was such a good deal I just couldn't help myself.
@Vix
If you're reasonably healthy the Corona virus probably isn't the worst thing in the world, but if you have an immune system like mine, it can get a bit scary.
@ Emily
It is a young adult novel set in 1979. There's some sci-fi to it, and though I was thinking more of AIDS when I started writing, this has obviously forced me to go back and do some revision. I don't know where the line between strange/funny is, but if Ted Koppel as a Virgil-esque character guiding you through an alternate reality by way of a Sony Walkman sounds amusing-this might be the novel for you ;)
@Bibi
Danny is thinking of investing some money now that we're probably hitting bottom. For someone his age, that seems like a reasonable thing to do-long term investing, etc. I'm sure at some point the cruise industry will recover. I'm not sure what to make of this. I try to limit what I read, but my immune system is compromised by all the medications I'm on, so I sorta feel like I'm walking around with a bullseye on my back! Typhoid and cholera hitting the West would probably result in us loosing our collective minds.
@Veronica
I'm finding baking an excellent way to deal with stress. I've been working on the novel for a bit now, and there was a feeling of wanting to get it done with.
@Mim
I hope your mother gets through this safely! It is a little scary, but thank god you have the NHS. I don't know how we expect to control this when so much of our population can't afford to miss work, much less seek medical care.
@Beate
Thank you. Hope you stay safe and well too.
@Andrea
Remember when people were complaining about too much anti-bacterial soap on the market?! Ooops!