Month: June 2022

Laundromat Diaries June 24th 2022

Posted on by jsunrain

I decided to take a half day off work. I am seeing a friend in Chicago tomorrow and it is nice to take my time and get laundry done early.

First I went to Foxtown Heritage Meats in Mequon Wisconsin. My first time there. It was beautiful and clean and the service lovely friendly. I bought some brats for over the weekend and some potato salad for lunch. Then I dropped something off at the post office. After that I stopped at home to drop off my work backpack and put the brats in the fridge. I grabbed a soda to take with me to the laundromat.

When I entered there were a couple of older women already there seeming to take up most of the washers. One was sitting on one end and the other was sitting at the other end and they both intently stared at me while I loaded the second to last washing machine available. I gave them each a quick look back and went to a table down the other aisle of the laundromat.

I sat down and ate my potato salad and caught up with social media and the politics of the day and there has sure been a lot of politics this week. But we will make this a place a refuge from said politics. All of a sudden I heard all this clambering about. It was a man collecting the coins from the machines. That reminds me, I need to make sure I have enough coins for the dry cycle. Looks like I do! Also time to change to the dryer.

I am at dryer 209. Top row, 4th from back. Not my usual dryer. I try to get the same washing machine and dryer every time. Note to self: early Friday afternoon is not the time to do laundry. I don’t know if it is this way during this time every week, but it seems a bothersome time to come. Now my clothes will be in the dryer over an hour, time to play a couple of my favorite phone games.

I was done playing my games, I had looked up the best way to cook brats. Going to try the air fryer method. After I used the bathroom I went to sit in the easy chair. At that point a mother and son came in. They are speaking a foreign language. Sounds European but I don’t really know. I am sure I have seen them here before. I love hearing foreign languages. I still have a half hour left, going to read an article I hadn’t gotten to yet.

Dryer done, not even close to being done reading the book long article, but time to go home!

First Farmers Market of 2022: what I cooked day 3, all about the beets!

Posted on by jsunrain

Today is the dreaded day. Facing my fear of beets. I don’t know if I had some traumatic day in my youth with beets, but I don’t remember it if there was. So far as I know I have never ate cooked beets before. They look gross and I have some imagined way they might taste. Now many years ago I did get a beet in one of those produce delivery boxes. I whimped out and cut raw into small dices and used then in a tossed salad the way you would a radish. It is fine raw.

This year at the farmers markets I go to I want to challenge myself to try things I never had before. This time of year at the farmers markets in Wisconsin there aren’t a lot of pickings yet, but there I was faced with beets. I wasn’t ready yet. But the vendor lady was so sweet and we started talking. She had never had a beet raw before. So we made a deal, that she would try a beet raw and I would try one cooked. She sold them in groups of three. She gave me a bunch with three different kinds. I forgot to get her name and tell here it would be two weeks before I would be back as I will be out of town this weekend. First recipe was my wimp recipe and the second one was roasting a traditional beet in the oven and eating it simply.

One friend suggested root vegetable hash. Was a lovely delicious choice, though using a variety of vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, in addition to the beets, so nothing, but maybe the white potatoes really stands out. I have no regrets. I used that little orange black tool that turns my veggies into matchsticks. The onions I thinly sliced and the beets I had to matchstick by hand. I then mixed them all in a bowl with oil and spices. After that I put them on a sheet tray and put into a 350° F oven stirring every 10 minutes for a half hour. Next time I may leave it in for 20 minutes, stir, then leave in 20 minutes. I wasn’t following a recipe. I put a serving full, maybe one cup, on the stove top (put the rest in the fridge to cook later), to finish crisping up. I then put a fried egg on top. Super good.

Now to face my ultimate fear. Eating a cooked beet. One of those one everyone eats and seems to love. I roasted it in the oven in foil for 45 minutes at 400°F. I cut it into fours to make it easier to remove the skin. It isn’t as bad as I thought but I still don’t like it. At least I tried. I am sure many will say but try it this way or that way, but for now at least, I am not motivated. Maybe we can revisit it next year. Or maybe not. But I still like the sautéed beet greens.

First Farmers Market of 2022: what I cooked day 2

Posted on by jsunrain

I am really not in a cooking mood today, but I did so much yesterday. There are still two things I cooked.

First I made toast. Not rocket science of course. But I put on it the buckwheat honey I bought yesterday. I love buckwheat pancakes, but I had never heard of buckwheat honey and didn’t know what to expect. It is so much darker. The flavor I would say is dark and bitter. I didn’t like it. I might still try it in cooking for things like almond cake or bulgogi, two places I use regular honey.

Then I made fried rice. I used the green beans I bought and cooked yesterday. I cut them up into smaller bite sized pieces. I also cute up some of my red scallions. I was lazy and used microwave sticky rice. Though I normally use my rice cooker with short grain rice. I cooked all the ingredients together in a mix of canola and sesame oil. I like my fried rice on the more oily side, but we all know sesame oil is delicious but strong. I also added some previously sautéed onions. When it was done I put serving in a bowl and added some fresh chopped scallion. I almost called it a day, but then realized I forgot the fried egg. The yolk sadly broke but I tried to keep it together as much as I could. I normally love a runny yolk. I can’t find my furikake which is normally a nice addition. I added instead garlic sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

I must make sure to cook the beets tomorrow. I am scared of really hating it. I have three beets. One I will roast in the oven. The other two I will use a friend’s suggestion and make a root vegetable hash. Did you know there is such a thing as beet cakes? But I don’t have enough beets for that. Maybe another time.

First Farmers Market of 2022: what I bought and what I cooked day 1

Posted on by jsunrain

I went to the first day of Fox Point Farmers Market of 2022, located in Fox Point Wisconsin. This time of year the pickings are slim, but I knew it would challenge me more. Well into “middle age” I am still picky like a five year old except I hate chicken nuggets. But I love things many adult friends don’t like; steak tartare, sushi with raw fish, and a Wisconsin tradition, cannibal sandwich! Look it up. 🙂

I am getting sidetracked. The only two not challenging foods for me today are red scallions and green beans. The challenging foods are beets and bok choy! I also picked up buckwheat honey which looked intriguing. The egg and chorizo burrito was breakfast I got there, very delicious! I am sorry I didn’t get the names of the people I bought from. I will be back in the coming weeks. I will have other farmers markets I will go to.

I will start off with the green beans and beats from one vendor. I am really scared of cooked beets. I was telling the woman I have only had beets raw, diced up and put in a salad like you would a radish. She has never had raw beets. So I promised to cook beets and she promised to try them raw. I haven’t cooked them yet. I will either roast them in the oven and/or go with a friend’s suggestion of a root vegetable hash. The vendor woman also suggested sautéing the beet greens. I did that the same way I did the bok choy below. I am not really into cooked greens in general, but this was successful. I was pleasantly surprised. I basically cooked them in oil, onion, garlic, soy sauce, a splash of water thrown in.

The green beans cooked almost the same way but they were boiled in water first. A little different for me since I usually steam them. The important thing is that in the end they are al dente. You will never want frozen or canned green beans again.

The red scallions and bok choy were from another vender. The scallions I just chopped up to use wherever. Probably salad and fried rice. I have seen bok choy cooked and look delicious. I used a Bon Appetit recipe cooking it in oil, onion, soy sauce, a touch of water. Unfortunately too bitter or something for me. I don’t think it is how I cooked it, I just don’t think I would like it regardless. But at least I tried it. Where is my gold star? 😺

The plan for tomorrow is toast with the buckwheat honey, fried rice with the scallions and green beans, and beets somehow someway. Wish me luck!

Laundromat Diaries June 17th 2022 (episode 2)

Posted on by jsunrain

Older woman in easy chair here before me reading a magazine. I put my laundry in the washer. I take a couple photos around the laundromat. There is a new tattoo machine. I post the photos to Instagram.

I settle down at one of the booth tables as I like to do. Before I can get too settled a flurry of new people come in. There is a lot of conversation by the washers on the other side of the laundromat. I don’t know who is talking to who. In the background is the worst of the 80s music. I am more Bauhaus and Siouxsie and less Billy Joel and Phil Collins. I always forget to bring headphones with me.

Tonight I finally decided to tackle a project I have been meaning to do for a while, fountain pen art. I am horrible at art but I keep trying. I have some blank spaces in my commonplace journal, time to fill them in. If you get a hand written letter from me you will always get that sun in the end.

The man I see every Friday, who comes slightly after me must have snuck past me. I just put my clothes in the dryer and all the commotion of earlier is gone. Just that guy and I minding our own business.

Now some new people for a bit. Some of my fountain pens won’t start so I squeeze the ink a bit out with the piston. I best be careful or I will have ink on my fingers and then my clean clothes. I think all my pens need a good cleaning!

Oops!

At some point I am done though the page is not near filled. Thankfully I am not too princess precious about my commonplace journal. I am sure throughout the years I will look back and laugh, and that has a lot of value too!

I go and wash my hands. Seems the new family is sticking around while their clothes get washed. I have about 45 minutes to play games on my phone while I wait for my clothes to dry.

I decided to get some of those tattoos. The one machine wasn’t working so I got three from the other side! They are hilarious but you won’t see me wearing them. 🙂

The one man that comes after me leaves before me, but I like my clothes bone dry, I leave them to dry for over an hour. Finally a song I like comes on. Joan Jett “I love Rock n Roll”! I take my backpack with my notebooks and pens out to the car and come back in and wait for my clothes to dry. I am finally by myself. But there are plenty of washers and dryers going waiting for their people to return to them!

Getting Out of a Funk

Posted on by jsunrain

Last couple of days I have been feeling bedraggled, for lack of a better word. I am not physically unwell. I could blame superficial things, but those aren’t really the problem. I think sometimes we all have days where, for no reason, we just feel down and exhausted.

So I have been trying to think what can I do to lift myself up. I never been one into massages or manicures. I have almost been taking too many naps lately. Somehow strawberries were the first word in my mind. And I’m like hmmmm…. Maybe buy some strawberries, angel food cake, and whip cream. Lately I have developed a great love for fountain pens. What I love most are the inks! I am sort of tired of writing quotes and working on my handwriting. This could backfire, but I want to try and make art. I completely suck at making art, and when I feel up for trying I am usually more stressed than before, but I feel like giving it a go!

Written later:

I am home now and the strawberries, waffles, and whip cream were lovely! I went with waffles instead of angel food cake. A Facebook friend wondered if there were any married couples on the Andy Griffith Show (while it was called that, not after it was renamed). That was a fun conversation and as best we know there were not. I no longer feel the need to potentially stress myself out trying art. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I am going to spend the rest of the evening watching the YouTube channel AlmazanKitchen. Outdoor ASMR cooking at its best!

https://youtube.com/c/AlmazanKitchen

What simple things do you do to get out of a funk?

Achieving 10,000 Steps

Posted on by jsunrain

In 2013 I worked my way up to running 4 miles. I was as slow as a turtle, but I could still run 4 miles. Then I strained my hamstring (I don’t think running was the cause of that), so I stopped running for a couple months, fell back into bad habits, never picked it up again.

A few months ago I tried to get back into running and it wasn’t happening. Maybe something to do with being 8 years older, who knows. So recently I switched my focus to 10,000 steps a day. Turns out it was a number chosen by a Japanese company in the 1960s who created a pedometer. The 10,000 steps caught on as a goal that should be achieved. Research has been done since them and it seems if you do 5,000-7,500 steps a day, that is good enough. I guess that will make me feel less guilty if I don’t get 10,000 steps, but 10,000 steps is still my goal. After this last week it seems I can make my goal 11,000 steps.

https://theconversation.com/do-we-really-need-to-walk-10-000-steps-a-day-153765

It seems getting my steps in at work is fairly easy. My workplace building used to be an industrial building then turned into an office building. There is a lap you can do inside the building that is shy of a quarter mile. So when I use the bathroom I do a couple laps afterwards, unless work is really intense. But if I can spare the time, it is really nice to get away from the desk and just breathe a bit. If I can’t get all my steps in during the day I have two options. I can either go on the treadmill in the gym in the basement at work, or I can go on the nearby bike trail after work. I bought the bag to take with me so I can store my phone and keys and water and not have to take my purse and work backpack with me.

The real challenge for me is getting 10,000 steps on my days off. Unless I have errands to run, I can be pretty lazy, staying home in my PJs watching TV, knitting, and maybe cooking. After a usually stressful week at work I feel I deserve it. But I am obese and diabetic and what better time to try to get 10,000 steps in.

I have tried this two ways. One is just go for a long walk first thing in the morning (I am a morning person) and get it all done right away. Nice to have the rest of the day not to think about it, but it is very wearing on the body. Today I tried to do a laps around my four building apartment complex. One lap is .3 miles. 4 laps was 1.24 miles. The idea is to do it again a couple of hours later. Problem is, I didn’t feel like it. I really had to force myself. So I did and I just kept walking laps until 10,000 steps was achieved. So I think I prefer to get it done in one walk even though it is hard on my legs. Doing stretches afterwards are a delightful necessity. Stretching feels good.

What I most hope to achieve is improving my energy. I have really only been steady at this for a week. Yes, one day I didn’t get there, but close enough. I think it is too soon to talk about the difference it is making for me. I have a community of other people doing the same thing which is nice. The one screenshot is from the Virgin Pulse app which my work uses. I am in the middle. The one person on the top has a job that keeps him moving around more, but he also makes the effort to get more steps in. I also have family and friends outside of work doing the same thing. When you have that, it is even more motivating. I still hope to get back into running, but I will need to take baby steps. I remember how meditative it was!

Below are some photos from my walk. See more photos on Instagram @ rainysaturdaycreative

Bon Appetit time of the Month

Posted on by jsunrain

I have been subscribing to Bon Appetit for a few years now. I don’t subscribe to magazines so much anymore, so I get super excited when Bon Appetit comes in. I don’t ever cook as much as I think I will, but it is still eye candy!

I received the June/July 2022 issue on Friday. On Saturday I made the curried tomato sandwich on page 56. Today I made the grilled corn with chaat masala on page 54 and tomato salad with jalapeño ranch on page 53.

The curried tomato sandwich was super easy. You are basically toasting bread on the stove top in oil and curry spice. Then you make your tomato sandwich as usual. I did like the recipe and just used mayo and tomatoes, but it would be good with additions like lettuce, bacon, or avocado. However you like your sandwich. You can also use your favorite spice if curry isn’t your thing.

I had to make some adjustments to the grilled corn with chaat masala. The first being that chaat masala has too much of a licorice taste I don’t like. I used Chana masala instead. I also don’t have a grill. I used two frozen mini ears of corn, wrapped them in wet paper towel and microwaved them for five minutes. Separately I combined the butter and Chana masala. Seemed like too much spice to the amount of butter, so I added more butter. Then I heated some oil in a pan on the stove so I could get that charring. Then on the plate I rubbed the corn in the Chana masala butter and added some shredded Mexican queso cheese, I couldn’t immediately find cotija cheese. It was all really good. I will save the Chana masala butter for when I make it again. I am sure I can use it for other things.

One might argue I did not make the tomato salad with jalapeño ranch. I didn’t use jalapeño and I didn’t have any chives. I forgot to add them to the shopping list. So I added more onion spices. I also didn’t rub the tomatoes with oil and garlic. I am sure that is delicious, but I like tomatoes as is too. I used the ranch as a dip. To be honest I think it is kind of weird to throw them on top. It is really good. Maybe next time I will make it more proper, but still leaving out the jalapeño.

Maybe next weekend I will make the Bloody Mary salmorejo on page 52.

Laundromat Diaries June 3rd 2022

Posted on by jsunrain

I went to the laundromat right after work on Friday. I was the only one there and it seemed like it was freshly cleaned. I love taking photos at the laundromat. I usually use filters for fun, but I loved the photo below as it was. So I took the photo and then loaded up two washers. Normally I stay in the laundromat during the half hour wash cycle and run errands during the one hour dry cycle. If I don’t have errands I may stay the whole time. I read, catch up with social media, or play phone games. This time I only had one quick errand, so I did that during the wash cycle and hung out in the laundromat during the dry cycle.

When I came back to put my clothes in the dryer, there was another man there. He must come every Friday. You see him silhouetted in the photo I took on a Friday night a few weeks ago. Before sitting at another booth, I put my clothes in the dryer and then I settled in. I forgot my phone (I had it during the wash cycle, but left it at home accidentally before returning for the dry cycle), but I had my newest Bon Appetit magazine with me, a notebook, and the book A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold. I didn’t need my phone. I started with Bon Appetit making note of recipes I want to make and ingredients I need. I then finished reading the February chapter of the Aldo Leopold book.

Not long after I settled, a young mom came in with her young son. She had a lot of loads of laundry. Her young son, who was maybe 4 years old, was running around the laundromat. He reminded me a lot of myself when I went to the laundromat with my mom when I was 5. It was always an adventure for me! Seeing this little boy made me happy. Shortly after that a mom and her daughter loaded the washers with their clothes. The daughter was probably mid teens to early adult. Once both families finished loading the washers they left to return later.

By the time my clothes were dry, even the other man was done and had left before me. So I was once again by myself, putting my clean towels and clothes in my laundry bag, which I also washed. As I was going back to my car the young mom and her son were returning for their dry cycle.