You can come here, Fall...any time...
“Halloween Baking Championship” is on now. I mean, not right now. On Mondays. Check your local listings. The theme this year is a mad scientist’s (i.e. Jim Henson) la-BOR-a-tory.
I just love this show. It’s so fun and wholesome. You also get to see some amazing bakers create some pretty interesting stuff. Jiggly eyeballs, body parts, guts, bubbling cauldrons, bats, crunchy bugs, and all kinds of fun things. Every year they have a new theme for the show.
I do love a good baking show. And cooking shows. And people-eating-awesome-food shows.
Oscar is very much under the impression that if I give Kiki pets, it will mean less pets for him. Kiki comes to me frequently now to get her neck and chin rubbed. I’ve been introducing her to me running my hand down her side. When she turns to leave, I stroke her tail, which she doesn’t mind at all.
Oscar does not like this turn of events. Because Oscar is my cuddly wuddly baby with pants so when he gets in my lap (which is a lot), he is the focus of my attention. Which is how he’s come to expect it. So, if he’s in another room and Kiki comes to see me for pets, we have to be quiet. The minute Oscar hears anyone besides him getting love, he has to come break it up. Physically. Dude. I’m allowed to pet your mother.
It’s like living with a toddler.
I went to a ranch market near Mom last Sunday. I always forget how cheap they are. I wanted celery and strawberries (both of which were on sale). I’ve been having bad luck with produce this summer at my local stores, so I picked up 2 plums and 2 nectarines. They both smell good. The stuff I was getting was just dried out mush. Bleh.
There are all kinds of bougie things to get distracted by, but if you focus on the produce, you get great prices. 2 bundles of celery for a buck. 2 medium containers of strawberries for $1.50. I also got a little bit of grapes. It’s kind of hard to screw up green grapes, but some of the ones I’ve had this year were very bland. Juicy but kinda meh. I also got onions and potatoes.
Because I’m forcing myself back into the habit of cooking again. Not huge meals, but more than PB&J or cereal at the end of the day. I keep reminding myself I need both kinds of fiber and vitamins (I take Vitamin D because here in the Sonora Desert during the summer, I become a mole person. The sun is not my friend. I am very pale. Very vampire-like.)
The fact that I hiss when I have to go into the sun has nothing to do with anything.
I am so looking forward to December, when we will have an actual cool down. Mind you, my first Thanksgiving in AZ, it was 85°F. But by December, things are cooling off nicely. The desert rats panic. When it drops below 45°F, you start seeing people trudging around in parkas, scarves, and Ugg boots.
“Where is your coat?” people would exclaim when I arrived at work.
“At home. Because it’s only 45° this morning.”
“You’ll freeze!”
“I have a sweater on. Later, I will take it off because it’s going to be a lovely 65° this afternoon.”
They would pull their cardigan tighter and tuck their hands into the crooks of their elbows. They usually mumbled about how freezing cold it was and I was going to catch my death or something.
My parents have been telling me for YEARS that I will adapt to the desert. That I’ll get “thin blood”. Right now, my blood is the viscosity of ketchup. It’s not happening. I really love Winter because it does cool off so nicely here. I just don’t like how the rest of the year tries to kill me.
I just love this show. It’s so fun and wholesome. You also get to see some amazing bakers create some pretty interesting stuff. Jiggly eyeballs, body parts, guts, bubbling cauldrons, bats, crunchy bugs, and all kinds of fun things. Every year they have a new theme for the show.
I do love a good baking show. And cooking shows. And people-eating-awesome-food shows.
Oscar is very much under the impression that if I give Kiki pets, it will mean less pets for him. Kiki comes to me frequently now to get her neck and chin rubbed. I’ve been introducing her to me running my hand down her side. When she turns to leave, I stroke her tail, which she doesn’t mind at all.
Oscar does not like this turn of events. Because Oscar is my cuddly wuddly baby with pants so when he gets in my lap (which is a lot), he is the focus of my attention. Which is how he’s come to expect it. So, if he’s in another room and Kiki comes to see me for pets, we have to be quiet. The minute Oscar hears anyone besides him getting love, he has to come break it up. Physically. Dude. I’m allowed to pet your mother.
It’s like living with a toddler.
I went to a ranch market near Mom last Sunday. I always forget how cheap they are. I wanted celery and strawberries (both of which were on sale). I’ve been having bad luck with produce this summer at my local stores, so I picked up 2 plums and 2 nectarines. They both smell good. The stuff I was getting was just dried out mush. Bleh.
There are all kinds of bougie things to get distracted by, but if you focus on the produce, you get great prices. 2 bundles of celery for a buck. 2 medium containers of strawberries for $1.50. I also got a little bit of grapes. It’s kind of hard to screw up green grapes, but some of the ones I’ve had this year were very bland. Juicy but kinda meh. I also got onions and potatoes.
Because I’m forcing myself back into the habit of cooking again. Not huge meals, but more than PB&J or cereal at the end of the day. I keep reminding myself I need both kinds of fiber and vitamins (I take Vitamin D because here in the Sonora Desert during the summer, I become a mole person. The sun is not my friend. I am very pale. Very vampire-like.)
The fact that I hiss when I have to go into the sun has nothing to do with anything.
I am so looking forward to December, when we will have an actual cool down. Mind you, my first Thanksgiving in AZ, it was 85°F. But by December, things are cooling off nicely. The desert rats panic. When it drops below 45°F, you start seeing people trudging around in parkas, scarves, and Ugg boots.
“Where is your coat?” people would exclaim when I arrived at work.
“At home. Because it’s only 45° this morning.”
“You’ll freeze!”
“I have a sweater on. Later, I will take it off because it’s going to be a lovely 65° this afternoon.”
They would pull their cardigan tighter and tuck their hands into the crooks of their elbows. They usually mumbled about how freezing cold it was and I was going to catch my death or something.
My parents have been telling me for YEARS that I will adapt to the desert. That I’ll get “thin blood”. Right now, my blood is the viscosity of ketchup. It’s not happening. I really love Winter because it does cool off so nicely here. I just don’t like how the rest of the year tries to kill me.