Fri-Yay #21

It's Friday!! yay!!

I had the busiest week. I got my second Covid shot and in two more weeks, I'll be fully vaccinated! I also had a bunch of work that I managed to get caught up on! Success!!

Cooking

I gave Smitten Kitchen's Perfect Margarita a whirl for the household of retired folks staying with me. They said it was amazing. I'm not a tequila person so I tend to avoid margaritas (unless it's a mango margarita slushy, but that's another story). The seasoning seems to be the huge winner to this drink's success. It's called Tajin chili powder (I even put a tiny amount into some of the margaritas for those with spicy taste buds (like, a dash). She always has great recipes. 

I think my next drink (other than Mint Juleps that I drink before and after the Derby) will be the classic Mary Pickford. 

Listening
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I discovered that Samin Nosrat teamed up with Hrishikesh Hirway to produce a Covid-era cooking podcast called Home Cooking. Hrishi has another podcast about music but he's friends with Samin and they take cooking questions (Well, he does lots of podcasts). Samin is a world-renowned, James Beard winning, chef (author, writer, media personality, etc.) who wrote a book titled Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. There's also a show on Netflix with the same title that follows Samin as she explores the four things that create good food. I adore her. 

Some of these questions asked on the show are hilarious. My favorite was the guy who wanted to cook a white cake for his pregnant wife...but he pretty much had zero of the ingredients so he just started listing stuff in his pantry. It sent Samin into giggles. Other questions are from children, adults of all ages, and from all over the globe. Hrishi's father even makes appearances!

I like cooking but I mostly listen because Samin and Hrishi are comforting. They're funny (Hrishi with all the great puns and dad jokes!) and Samin has the BEST laugh. It's like listening to friends. It was supposed to be a four part mini-series, but they've come back and added more episodes. So that's been a comforting listen. 

I've tried a few more podcasts but haven't clicked with them. Some have really poor sound quality, which I'm sure it's expensive to get correct but it was impossible to hear without turning my sound all the way up (so the advertisements would blast out). No bueno. 

I've started a newer crime podcast, so we shall see. 

Watching
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Well, I tried to get into Real Housewives of New Jersey, it's been my longest watched real housewives series but I can't with this season. I didn't like the beginning with the Teresa and Jackie fight because it seemed so producer driven and just not enjoyable. It managed to break my connection so now I just have Atlanta and Beverly Hills (and I guess NYC...but eh)…and really, those are on threads. I might be able to get away from the franchises! 

I don't watch any of the newer Bravo shows (Summer House or whatever they do). 

Also, all the shows I was watching (like Single Parents) got canceled, probably due to Covid. So...there's nothing I'm watching currently. I've gotten to the point that I only watch comedies and all the shows are so dramatic and not fun. Where are all my blue-sky shows?

One of my penpals suggested Kim's Convenience, so that's something I'll try to look into. 

Buying
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I know I mentioned it, but I bought the Bissell Pet Vac. It's the Little Green Proheat model, if you order from Bissell, they have a 10% coupon on the website. I got mine from Target on a whim. Well, it wasn't quite a whim, the older vacuum I had punked out and when I passed it at Target I went "better replace it because I need it!"

I used it on my carpet on spilled foundation. White carpet. It took the stain out. That stain had been there awhile. I used it all over the house (it came with some formula). I filled the tank a few times. My carpet looks amazing. All my rugs look amazing. 

Now, something to know. Carpet cleaner is a known migraine trigger. I've somehow managed to not know that because it didn't bother me when I was younger and every time my carpets were cleaned when I was older, I was not in the house. So I was totally unprepared for the migraine the hit. I had my medicine but it was a rough one. So, the next time I use it, I'm going to mask up and open a window and hope that works. 

Reading 
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I'm still chugging through the Stephanie Plum series (written by Janet Evanovich). I had stopped after the series reached the twenties and there was a random giraffe running around. There's also a really chill love triangle, which bothers me more and more. I hate love triangles. 

Anyways, she changed publisher, so I'm catching up to see if the series is going to stay about the same or is going to have more growth. There's nothing wrong with staying the same, but I'm not going to buy them. Anyways, I'm on book 25. Some have been sparkling with fun while others have not been great. It's strange to  me. I haven't connected to her other series. We shall see. 

I also picked up The Art of Taking It Easy from Dr. Brian King. It's part of the Big Library Read and I thought, "why not?" I have no idea how it's going to go, but I'm going to read it tonight. It's about little stress (not massive stress), so hopefully I enjoy it.