The General
Old Yeller
On March 29, 2023 by Speranza
I pride myself on being a decisive person but because I am also a frugal one, I cannot abide expensive mistakes. As I embark on another painting adventure (a bathroom, this time) I do not want to get the colour wrong particularly when I’ll be using a top price paint like Benjamin Moore. (Careful readers may recall my previous, joyous renovation recounted here not long ago).
I was especially rattled because this particular bathroom has remained a poisonous Cough Drop Yellow for many years instead of the pale Shortbread I had in mind. But I just couldn’t face the stress of tackling it again. (And take note, this heinous colour was from a cheap and unpleasant paint store that just happened to be closer. Never again).
Christmas
And So This was Christmas
On January 7, 2023 by Speranza
My favourite day of the holiday season is now officially December 27.
This is a wonderful day. Upon awakening there is the luxurious feeling of no responsibility whatsoever, plenty of sumptuous leftovers waiting to be re-heated for dinner and the knowledge that I may be able to actually enjoy a movie or book entirely, without getting lost in planning whatever needs to happen the next day. I can also cobble together seasonal snacks such as turkey and stuffing smeared onto a buttered croissant and cranberry sauce spooned into leftover cream before I disappear to the bath. With a marzipan chocolate!
By December 27th, I will have shrugged off the shackles of extensive to-do’s such as picking up one more stocking item, remembering to defrost something vital, replenishing potatoes because I forgot when buying everything else, stopping to buy pet food (again) and then being flooded with shame because dinner has become a desperate afterthought once more …
Anyone for fish sticks?
Cooking . Food . Hope . Recipes . The General
More Veggies Please
On July 24, 2022 by Speranza
I own more than a few cookbooks. I even maintain a small ‘vintage’ collection whose tomes often include amusing “household management” tips in the back. What is the point of this, you ask? Well, if the internet goes down, at least I will still know how best to whiten The General’s spats, while I’m jugging a few hares in the larder …
Anyway, the point is, despite all the recipes online (and a set of binders that house personal recipes!) I still struggle with how to cook with less meat. Although I really love veggies – not a huge carnivore at all – the main motivation is to do The Right Thing for our burning planet and now, frankly, my budget. But over and over by Wednesday I grow bored with tomato based dinners, anything approaching Tex-Mex or soaking cashews overnight. (I have tried, I am sorry – as a texture person I simply cannot embrace the vegan staple of “cashew cream.”) There is something about this putty-hued sludge that just makes me gag.
Anxiety . Cleaning . Frasier and Niles
A Room of One’s Own
On April 9, 2022 by Speranza
I have been redecorating my office. Disturbingly, this is something that has not happened for 27 years. I found myself looking at the inside of a door etched with the frantic nail scratching of a sweet dog, long since passed, who was frightened by thunder; paintable ‘Anaglypta‘ wallpaper now stiffly rippling with age, rising up like Japanese Wave Art across one wall; loopy, repulsive carpet when peeled back, reveals an ancient spotty underpad that always reminds me of Pimiento Loaf. (You know the one: a beige deli ‘meat’ with festive coloured bits sprinkled throughout. Spoiler: Those bits will not be maraschinos …)
Beneath the underpad is random, dirty flooring comprised of a variety of planks that likely originated from the garage of some drunken uncles who installed many years before …
There was much for me to do.
Cooking . Covid Times . Love . The General
You Can Leave your Ham On
On February 17, 2022 by Speranza
I overheard a conversation lately in which an exasperated older woman was sharing that she now avoided asking her husband any question, no matter how small, because of the endless, elaborate answers he supplied. “I mean, I just asked what time it was,” she sighed, “And he somehow started in on the history of how clocks are made …”