Another Great Recipe - 3 Ingredients and No Cooking!

I love cooking shows and find most of them on PBS since we don't have cable. Yesterday I was watching Joanne Weir's Cooking Confidence and saw a really easy dessert - fresh pineapple chunks drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with Maldon sea salt. I've learned how to cut up fresh pineapple, but if you need help with it, watch this clip. Supposedly, the olive oil cuts the acidity of the pineapple and the flaky salt brings out the flavor. Now to get some Maldon salt.......

Extended Warranties - a Reluctant Fan

Last week, my 10-year-old Kenmore washer died in the middle of the 4th load on my wash day. I fished out a couple of sheets and dialed around until I got a spin cycle to try to get the water out. All was well until I got to within 2 inches of the bottom of the tub, then a horrible clanking and a bad smell told me to shut the thing off immediately. Fortunately, we found out that the extended warranty we bought from Sears a few years ago was still in effect! We have argued a lot about whether or not to get them lately. I've been reading that they are a waste of money and an easy source of upgrades for appliance stores.

Today, the repairman came out, replaced a timer, and then talked us into a new warranty on the washer AND the dryer that will last until 2015. We are either big-time suckers or brilliant.

Chicago Garbage Trucks vs. Flooded Basements

 

 So here is the mighty garbage truck in Chicago. Today I went for a walk in my neighborhood and saw that a few people just got around to cleaning out their basement from the flooding last week and stacked the ruined items on the curb for pickup today. Carpets, furniture, black bags (heavy with damp stuff) - it all gets eaten by the garbage truck. I got to watch as my neighbor's huge pile of mildewed debris was fed into the maw by the two regular workers, PLUS the driver, who actually got out of the truck and put on work gloves! (I've never seen the driver do anything but sit and look bored.) Within a minute, a van drove up and another guy got out, putting on gloves to help the other three. The best part was seeing a big, overstuffed sofa get mangled, then swallowed whole by the truck's compactor (see above) - truly amazing! They cleaned it all up in less than 5 minutes.

In other news, I've given up on Chrome for Blogger posts - now it's Firefox once again. At least I can add photos that way. Now to see if I can update my reading list. Good to be back!

Another Google problem!

Guess it wasn't bad enough that Google Reader is on life support. Now I can't update my reading list - forums say that other Google gadgets are also not working. Depressing news.

Google Reader Alternative Needed

Here I thought Google stuff would be around forever - silly me. Now I've got until July 1 to come up with something to take its place. Anybody have a good candidate?

Encyclopedia of Chicago - fini!

 - -

On May 20, 2005, I bought a print copy of the Encyclopedia of Chicago, pub. 2004, for my husband and had it autographed by Ann Durkin Keating, one of the editors. Her mother is a neighborhood acquaintance of mine, so the book has more than one significance for me.

Even though my husband is a lifelong Chicagoan, I was more interested in the book than he was. I began reading one column at a time nearly every day, even the Chicago business histories at the end of the A-Z articles. After almost 8 years, I finished the last business entry, Zenith Radio Corp. It seemed fitting to read that Zenith filed for Chapter 11 in the late 90s and then went into further decline - like so many of the other Chicago businesses in the list.

I've now lived in Chicago longer than any other place. Before that, my family moved about every 4 years on average, so it feels good to know that I've been here for 40 odd years and can call it home. It's so big, though, that I don't have personal knowledge of large parts of the city or all the different kinds of people who live here. That's where the book comes in handy. Take a look at the online version. You can read about everything Chicagoan, from birthing practices to vaudeville.

I'm going to miss spending time with the book on my lap, but it was great reading!

Bridge and Euchre

My dad's parents played Bridge, my parents play Bridge, and I killed time as a commuter in college by playing with other students waiting for their car pools to assemble. Later, I realized I had married a guy who has no card sense, and joined a neighborhood club for young moms who didn't really care about the game, but wanted to get out on their own once a month. That club eventually crumbled and I was left to play bridge against a CD-ROM, which I did faithfully just on the weekends, since I had taken a job.

Now that I'm retired, I decided to test the waters of real person play again by signing up as a sub in a local club. I didn't humiliate myself in playing, but it was pretty embarrassing to realize I had lost all skills handling actual cards. I looked like a 5th grader trying to shuffle and deal. Despite that, it must have been decided that I was good enough to get another call, so I'm going to play again next week.

Enter daughter and fiance who like to play Euchre and wanted us to try it last week. As soon as I saw that it involved bidding, trump cards, and taking tricks, I started to get worried. Is it possible to keep rules and strategies for two such similar games separate in your head??? Anyone know somebody who can?