DH is on a diet

To be fair, he does need to lose some serious weight - diabetes, high blood pressure, trouble walking. So, I'm totally on board with this and hope he'll stay with it. However, it does mean I have to change how I do things.

It's one of those programs that have you eating 2 main meals and 4 prepackaged snacks every day. They sell the snacks and the dieter cooks the meals. The problem is that he doesn't cook, ever, and the timing of the meals conflicts with my work schedule. So we're already tweaking it past what the program 'allows'. The daily food is going to have to be every 3 hours, not every 2.5, or I won't be cooking for him. Even so, some evenings the 2nd main meal will be delayed till I can get home and get it ready. I have to be the one to organize all this, since he won't. If he gets frustrated, bored or feels too isolated, he'll just quit. Not good for his health and did I mention this shit is expensive? To the point where if I retired and stayed home to run the program, we couldn't afford the program.

The meals are healthy enough, but could get boring fast. A sizeable chunk-o-meat - I think their emphasis on protein might be excessive, but Americans have always worried about not getting enough protein. Healthier societies than ours go more towards the Mediterranean or Asian diet, with meat used more as a side event. But, ok. Big chunk-o-meat. This is accompanied by 1.5 to 2 cups of non-starchy veg. Everything baked or simmered, minimum fat. The only refined carbs seem to be in the processed packaged snacks.

Anyway, I now have to develop recipes to keep it tasty. Mostly, he'll use a frozen dinner mid-day when I'm not home - I found one brand that comes close to requirements, even if there's not enough veg. But I'm working on coming up with better stuff to make. Plain meat and veg simmered or baked with no interest is a recipe for cheating. If I get close enough to the specifications, I'm going to call it good, as long as it tastes like something you'd want to eat if you weren't on a diet.

My DIL gave me a spiralizer once and I've never used it. Sometime this week. I'll cook tomatoes, garlic, and onions into a sauce and cook zucchini 'pasta' in it. (I hope I can get the thing to work.). There might be a whiff of olive oil involved, but that's just another tweak. A large amount of fresh basil will be involved; half at the beginning and half to just warm up in it at the end. As far as I'm concerned, that's just as much a veg as spinach or lettuce. The chunk-o-meat (a baked chicken breast leftover from today) will be heated in it as well. That should work for one meal's requirement. I just hope it's also good - if it isn't, that idea will hit the bricks so fast...

Stuffed red bell peppers - I can use lean ground beef in it, but rice or breadcrumbs is a non-starter. I have blanched cabbage shreds in the freezer, so I'll mince them up to rice-size. That won't bind, so it's gonna need some egg, which will mean a reduction in the beef amount. Probably minced green onions, too. Bake the stuffed peppers, covered, in a dish with drained pico de gallo to cook into a sauce.

I can do a stuffed eggplant with veg and ground meat and might not have to add eggs. Broiled salmon with a little berbere spice sprinkled over it. Poached eggs on a bed of cooked spinach, or shrimp the same way. Kebabs. Lots of veggies.

We've been on this a couple days and he's already had to get an emergency breakfast bar at 3AM as his glucose alarm has gone off a couple of times. So, the PM insulin is getting dropped a little. He can nap during the day, but I have to stay awake at work. They kind of insist on that.

I'm going in on this stating at the front that I'm not the Food Police. I'm buying and cooking, but what he does with it is up to him. The only place where I will go to the wall is insisting he follow the rules about drinking enough water. For six months, this is going to be pretty short on calories and ketosis is nothing to be messed with. I was in a show once where one of the leads had crash-dieted to get ready and starved her way into a gruesome kidney infection. She had kids, so when she said that childbirth was less painful, I believed her. She rehearsed for the first week sitting in the front row next to the director, just supplying her lines and making notes about everything else. She was practically in a fetal position. We're not going there.

Getting ready for the holiday

The big thing is, I'm not religious and I'm specifically not a Christian. I went through all the rituals as a kid, but it just doesn't sing to me. So, Easter and all the other events are fine for others, but not my thing. DH is less of a 'fallen-away' Catholic than a 'leapt-away' Catholic.

However, we both recognize that everything pretty well shuts down for Christian holidays. So I prepare for us to hunker down and stay home, and we might as well have a good meal. This one's close enough to the solstice and general hope of spring.

I've ordered a ham and I'm hoping for the best. This is a double-smoked ham from a good barbecue joint. We've been so disappointed in hams for some time that I've largely given up. The last one, from a supposedly good source, lost a quarter of its weight and sat in easily a cup of water after cooking; the meat was dried out and tasted of nothing but salt. But ham used to be so good that we just can't quite give up hope. This is ham's last chance. Wish me luck.

Standard veg and sides, and I'm still working to get consistently good biscuits. I'm ashamed to buy 'whomp' biscuits, in the tube, but I do sometimes. I'm inventing a dessert - I have leftover filling for a Greek filo pastry called galaktaboureko in the freezer, and some leftover filo. The filling is a kind of custard. I don't have enough for the pastry, but I got some apples and I'm going to make a kind of custard/apple strudel with the filo. Clearing up the freezer and it should be good.

And today I finished a batch of coffee liqueur. Sort of like Kahlua, but a little more chocolate and vanilla. DH likes Black Russians, and I'm not averse to putting a little of it in some hot coffee. I brought a tester up to DH this AM to ask him if it was sweet enough - he drank it and said "Oh, my God, that's good." Here's the recipe.

500ml vodka
500ml dark rum
½ pound whole coffee beans
4oz cocoa nibs (approx.1 c.)
1 vanilla bean, split open

Later:
2 ½ c white sugar
2 c water

Mix everything but the sugar and water in a large sealable jar.
Store in a cool dark place for at least 3 weeks, shaking or stirring frequently – at least several times per week.

Strain well. (Fine strainer, possibly with cheesecloth. Or sieve first, followed by fine coffee strainer.) You will have nearly 3 cups of strong, very bitter liquor. The beans are exhausted and should be thrown out.

Melt and brown 1 c sugar in a small pan, stirring constantly till it reaches a rich dark brown, but not yet burned. This is a game of chicken – go as far as you dare, but if you burn it, throw it out and start over. Carefully add 1 c water – it will spatter. Stir till the sugar and water are dissolved together into syrup. Add the rest of the sugar and the rest of the water; boil for 5 minutes or till completely dissolved. Cool and add to the rest of the ingredients to taste – usually all of it. Add more sugar yet, if not sweet enough, but shouldn’t be too sweet. Go for bittersweet, evenly balanced.

Bottle. This will make about 1.25 liters.

Big. Brown. Bat.

We had a visitor last night. It's mid-March in Minnesota. These critters should not be out and about yet.

DH has an extreme phobia about all rodents, including flying ones. That's ok, because I hate to deal with any insect life. I will if I have to, but not happily. He's also the only one in the house not vaccinated for rabies. (Vet tech, remember?) So, I got to deal with this problem.

I'm pretty sure it was a big brown, and not a juvenile. Biggest bat I've ever seen IRL. The wingspan was noticeably over 12" and we got to see a lot of it as it went whipping around the bedroom. (Why do they always go to the bedroom? It's a big house and it's not as if we have a lot of insects in there for them to eat.) I got DH, the dog and the cat out of the room and got the door closed to at least trap him there. Called a few places, but no bat control people were answering their phones. Leave a message? Are you kidding me? Like we're going to just live like this till Monday?

DH and the non-bat animals were now shut in the office. Fast Eddie the cat didn't want to be in there - he wanted to help - but I insisted. I got dressed up in what I hoped would be largely bat-proof gear - a heavy rubber hooded raincoat and winter boots. Worst case, I could just ball up and hide any exposed skin. Crawled in and got the window and storm open, giving him free access to the outdoors. By now, he was on a wall near the ceiling and at least not flying any more. And...he just stayed put. I sat on the floor and waited.

Time passed. Saturday Night Live passed - at least DH had left the TV going. The only thing that didn't pass was the damn bat. I bounced things off the wall near him. No response. It got plenty cold in there and it finally occurred to me that the cold might be making him shut down. So, I closed the furnace vent, too. It was apparent that he was going to make me actually handle him and I wanted him docile. Rabies booster, not my favorite.

I got a ladder, but really wasn't enthused about getting up there with something to put over him. So I called DH to bring me a broom and just pressed the flat part against him (him being the bat). The bat clung to it, I stuck it out the open window and shook it. Bye, bye, bat. Screw the storm, I just got the window slammed down as fast as I could.

I'm blaming climate change. I wish I thought I'd saved his life, but it's below freezing today. Even if it wasn't, there's nothing out there for him to eat; it's too early in the year.

I like bats. Damn it, this sucks! 

The Biddy Song

Written for a small folk trio I was in, some time ago.

They’re calling me Biddy, but that’s not my name.
I was born Kathleen Óg Lynch in Cranny.
I came to this country to try to survive,
And I fear I’ll be lost ‘mongst so many.


To die in the workhouse or starve on the road
Our choice and our shame, we were taught.
Between the Free Market and God’s righteous wrath,
Our fate wasn’t really their fault
They said we deserved what we got.

There was death on all sides at that crossroads in Clare.
The ship that we sailed was no better.
They turned back the sick, so I tried to look strong.
The mother of exiles’ true daughter.
Half dead for the taste of clean water.


The rats came to meet us right there on the quay.
Preying on poor men and women.
If I’d wanted the job they were offering me,
I needn’t have left dear old Erin
I’d just shift to the alleys of Dublin.

I clawed my way out and I’ve fought my way up
This country’s not soft, but I’ll take it.
The things I’ve been called, Biddy’s hardly the worst.
At least there’s a chance here to make it.
And when I’ve a thirst, I can slake it.


They’re calling me Biddy, but that’s not my name.
I was born Kathleen Óg Lynch in Cranny.
I came to this country to try to survive,
And I fear I’ll be lost ‘mongst so many.
I fear I’ll be lost ‘mongst so many.

Happy St. Pat's!

Banshee's Bran Muffins

BANSHEE’S BRAN MUFFINS
Or Oatmeal
As always, see notes.

1/3 c sour cream, plus 2/3 c milk to equal 1 c liquid. Have more milk on hand.
1 c bran ‘twigs’ cereal (not flakes), first addition
1/4 c (2 oz) melted butter
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 scant tsp salt
1/2 c (or more) dried fruit, like dates, raisins, etc.

1 c (5 oz) unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda, sieved (Any lumps do not dissolve in liquid)
1/2 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice
1 c bran ‘twigs’ cereal, second addition.

Preheat oven to 400⁰ and grease well a 12-cup standard size muffin tin.
Mix first 7 ingredients together (including fruit) and stir well to unclump fruit and break up the twigs – they should be completely disintegrated.

Mix the dry ingredients, including 2nd cup of bran. Stir into the liquid mixture and add more liquid (milk or cold coffee) to achieve the muffin texture of slightly thick wet cement. The second addition of bran should remain whole. Portion into the muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until done.

Notes: There’s a lot of wiggle room here. If you don’t have or prefer not to use whole-fat sour cream, you can substitute low-fat, fat-free or just plain yogurt. Or substitute 1 c buttermilk for the lot. At that point, you can increase the butter to 1/3 c or just make them low-fat. Now you’ve dedicated yourself to eating them before they go stale, which they will do fairly quickly. However, this isn’t exactly a hardship.

Original recipe used old-fashioned rolled oats instead of bran, 1 cup buttermilk instead of the milk/sour cream, and soaked the first cup of oats for a full hour or more before proceeding. It used 1/3 cup butter. No spice or fruit was mentioned, but both could be added.

Without the fruit, you get smaller or fewer muffins. This is ok too, but adjust the baking time if the muffins are smaller.

I like dates because the dog can’t have raisins and DH likes to share. I like mixed spice because I do some Irish, Scottish and British baking and we have it around.

Banshee was a rescue cat who’d suffered some serious physical abuse. He developed into a weird, eccentric, sweet creature in a cat suit and I miss him greatly. He only accepted a particular brand of dry cat food and would never eat anything else, so I got into the habit of leaving the baking out to cool.

Then we had a feral kitten, not yet weaned, dropped at our apartment door. Actually, she wasn’t dropped so much as thrust at us with the words “If you don’t take her, we’re putting her outside.” Then they continued their midnight move, leaving the landlord with the bill for several months rent. Also a furniture rental place, since they absconded with the goods. Nice folk.

Pooka got weaned by me and adopted by the Bansh, who allowed her to suckle (he was male) and taught her about things like play and cat box etiquette. However, she listened to nobody else and did her best to run things. Not easy when you weigh well under a pound, but major main character syndrome with sociopathic tendencies helped a lot.

As far as I can tell, one night she convinced Banshee to join her in a raid on bran muffins, cooling on the counter. She couldn’t have jumped up there, but Bansh’s kitten got whatever she wanted. I got up in the morning to every muffin on the floor with at least one bite out of each and two missing entirely. I couldn’t even scold them – it’s the one and only time I’ve ever seen two cats willingly share a litter pan.

Pooka ended up home’d at a rural house; not a farm, but lots of other cats around. I might have kept her, but by that time she’d decided DH had to die. I firmly believe she ended her days organizing the other cats into a union; I suspect her leadership owed more to Jimmy Hoffa than to Cesar Chavez.

And Banshee could never be trusted around baked goods again. He was obsessed.

Ok, let's go there. Somebody ask Trump when his father died.

How about his mother? His brother? I'm not sure he could tell you when Ivana died.

Hell, this is a man who can't remember that the Revolutionary War didn't involve airports. Or who he's running against. Or when he was president. Let alone whether there were terroristic attacks during that period, or when the pandemic happened.

And that's not even getting into what he hasn't forgotten because he never knew. The history of Pearl Harbor. How the economy affects people who aren't invested in the stock market. The meaning of most complicated words. How to behave like a human being.

So, just to be clear - I should vote against somebody who might not be able to come up with some details on the spur of the moment, but should vote for somebody who believes he's above the law, specifically plans to be a fascist dictator and has said so? Just because he's a bit younger?

Yes, Biden's old. But he has advisors whose job it is to keep him informed and he has the strength to utilize them. Trump does not. And, worst case scenario, Biden has a VP whose job it is to take over if needed, and he's made sure she's qualified to do it. Do you think Trump has the strength to do that? He's the weakest man I've ever seen. No strength, no brains, all ego with nothing to back it up.

He's not qualified. Biden is.

Leggings aren't going according to plan

which I kind of expected. I'm using the big piece of fleece-backed knit I bought and the sleep shirt went well enough. The keyhole neckline came out a little wonky, but it's just for sleeping. So are this first pair of leggings.

This is also the first new pattern I've had to buy since KwikSew went under. If you use the same pattern company all the time, you get used to how to alter their patterns to fit you - they use the same 'theoretical body model' for everything. I know KwikSew and Folkwear's models. Simplicity, not so much.

The legs are much too long. Ok, I can shorten them. The 5/8" seam allowance on a non-fraying knit is ridiculous; it needs to be 1/4". And the pattern said the waistline was designed to sit below the waist, so that isn't completely blame-able on the body model. However, these take low-rise to a limit that it was never meant to approach. Nobody wants to see that, especially on me. There's a panel on the top that I'll have to recut twice as high in order to avoid plumber's butt. Oh, well, this one's going to be under the shirt.

But now I need to re-draw the pattern. I want to be able to make actually useable sets of long johns, including bottoms. The way I work (and why I can use patterns over and over) is that I don't cut up the original pattern. I trace it out, including alterations, on tracing paper. I have a big roll of the stuff. Once I have a perfected pattern that fits me, I can just whip it out, slap it down on the fabric and start cutting. Even pieces that are supposed to be 'cut on a fold' are traced out fully, which helps me tell whether I have enough fabric before I start cutting. And if I need to make a different size, or longer/shorter, or any other changes, I still have the original pattern to work with.

So - 2" off the leg bottoms and re-draw the leg lines. The ankle seams are going to be straight vertical for about 4", to make hemming easier. It's a stretch fabric made into a garment with 'negative ease'. There's no good reason to angle it down all the way to the bottom. Add 3" at the top of the legs, so the panel that goes from there to the waistline can go back to being a reasonable size, instead of looking like a pregnancy panel. It's still going to be below my natural waist, but at least it won't be below my navel.

I don't think I'm cool enough for athleisure. I just want to be warm.

Oiche Nollaig Shona Duit!!!

I'm just finishing my last PTO for the year

I wasn't very productive, but I got a little sewing done, anyway. I had 2 projects to complete before I can start working with the fleece-backed knit I just got.

First was to use up the leftover fabric from the shawl collar shirt. I thought I was doing a sleeveless undershirt for the deep freeze that is my workplace. When the narrow binding for the neck turned out wonky, I just thought "who's going to see it?" and kept going. But it turned out, in all other ways, good enough that it seems I've made a nice summer top. This created 2 problems. First, I'm going to have to wear it with a bra, as it's form-fitting enough to make boobage position a factor. And second, I had to rip out and do the neck right. There might have been some language involved. However, it's done and the leftover scraps from both projects can be balled up and held in one hand, before throwing in the trash. The fabric rack is too full for minor scraps.

Second, my work has suddenly decided that 'patterned scrubs are Not Professional'. I don't have a lot of solids, but I have black scrub pants and leftover black shirt-weight denim from the Dublin jacket. I now have a black scrub top to match the pants. Again, there might have been some language involved.

On to the next adventure. Maybe during the holidays - I'm back to a 40 hour week.

I swear, stuff is wearing out faster than I can replace it. And I hate the internet.

To be fair, a lot of it is decades old. But I'm obviously at the end of a wear cycle.

The latest is a Pendleton wool bathrobe. It was originally bought by my mom for my older sister's first husband. Mom bought gifts throughout the year and hid them away till Christmas. Unfortunately, due to the number of distractions in her life, she often forgot where she put them. December was an ongoing scavenger hunt and the closer it got to Christmas, the more it looked like a nut hunt by squirrels on crack. The last week was often spent buying a few replacements for the things she never did find. The bathrobe turned up when they moved, by which time my sister was on her third husband, who was not at all the same size. She held it up at Christmas and said "Who wants this?". And it was mine for 25 years.

I loved it, but the back is more hole than wool. Nothing to scavenge, even; it's in the garbage. I went online (I know, but the stores near me stock mainly acrylic fleece) and got some relatively inexpensive fleece-lined cotton terry knit. It claimed to be medium-heavy in weight.

It just arrived. It's light weight. On the one hand, I like it as fabric - the knit side is a coffee-chocolate brown and the fleece side is a brownish greyish taupe. It'll make some lovely long underwear. What it won't make is a bathrobe.

So I'm theorizing, designing in my head. If I pull out the raglan sweatshirt base pattern yet again, lengthen it to mid-thigh, make a keyhole neckline with a simple button and just flip extended sleeves to the right side to make fleece-side 3" contrast cuffs and also use the fleece side to bind the neckline, add patch pockets (not contrast) and a slightly curved hem, I'd have a nice sleep shirt. Maybe with matching pants. Or lengthen it further to make a full caftan.

And the rest can be long underwear. I got 5 yards of 72" wide, so there's lots to play with. Maybe I can get along without a bathrobe...