Appliance Holidays

The Gingerbread Diaries

You saw the ads this weekend, right? I mean, we don’t even have cable anymore and the streaming services we use that do have commercials were playing that Home Depot commercial into the ground!

And it worked, too! We ended up browsing French door refrigerators online for a good 20 minutes between episodes of Elementary (we’re about halfway through the season, but it’s nice to have it to look forward to when there are so few other shows to watch in the summer slump; but I digress). Granted, we’re a few months away from purchasing a new fridge (maybe by Memorial Day, another one of the Appliance Holidays), but this time last year we were grateful for those patriotic savings opportunities…

Not Everything is as it Seems…

When we moved into the Dollhouse, it was our understanding that the dishwasher, while noisy and in need of a good cleaning, ultimately worked. We knew it would most likely be the first appliance we replaced, but figured we could put up with a bit of noise for the sake of convenience for a little while.

We were wrong.

Oh, sure, it made noise, but that’s about all it did. At first we thought it might be an issue with the water line, but there didn’t appear to be anything wrong with the water line. Instead, it appeared that the machine wasn’t pulling the water into the working bit, preferring just to grind its way along doing a whole lotta nuthin’. So, about a week after we moved in, I started researching our options. Since it was around the 4th of July, we were able to get a good price (about a third off) on a very pretty stainless steel, super-quiet number with lots of options on its hidden control panel.

One Tuesday I left this eyesore sitting in the kitchen…

Goodbye broke and busted!

Goodbye broke and busted!

And came back to this….

Hello, shiny!

Hello, shiny!

And when I say it’s quiet, I mean you can barely hear it running, just the gentlest woosh woosh of the water in the tank. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished: we reward the Dollhouse with a new appliance and, in the process of installing it, the pipes under the sink practically disintegrate.

Oops!

Oops!

Thank goodness Todd is handier than the average bear!

After a year of use, we’ve only run into two issues with our Whirlpool Gold 55-Decibel Built-In Dishwasher: the “dew” it left on dishes and the musty smell it’s started to develop. The first, we found, was easily fixed by feeding it a rinse agent–something that’s pretty much a necessity of all newer machines and an easy fix. (We also learned that you can dial up or down how much rinse aid is dispensed with each wash so you’re not wasting any of it, though a single bottle has lasted us quite a while.) The other problem is fixed by running a cleaning agent through an empty cycle, but I’m still on the hunt for one that doesn’t leave a noxious, overly-chemical after-smell in its wake. First world problems, indeed.

Not the Microwave!!!

After 9 years and not quite 2 months after its 3rd move, an old friend was DNR once day when we got home. At first we thought the power had just gone out and the panel needed resetting, but it turned out the microwave was just completely kaput. Sure, it’d been giving us signals that the end was near for a while: occasionally only certain buttons would work, that sort of thing. Considering more meals than not involve vegetables steamed in the microwave (using the amazing Tupperware 3-piece steamer–so worth sitting through the party spiel), this was bad news bears for us, and we immediately headed to Lowe’s before they closed that night to find a replacement.

We had a few important requirements: large capacity, stainless steel, and good options buttons. The GE microwave we ended up with (pickings were slim and it was not an Appliance Holiday) does a really good job of being annoying if you don’t rescue your food after the first ding, but it also has an amazing potato setting that really does produce fluffy “baked” potatoes in less than 10 minutes and without heating up the surrounding area!

At first we thought it was possessed, though, because we unboxed it, plugged it in, and it turned on. And I don’t mean its display lit up and asked for the clock to be set, no–its interior light turned on and the turntable started spinning and it would not respond to any of its buttons! Must of been a loose something or other, though, because we tried it on another outlet and it worked fine. So we put it back in the designated microwave spot and it bahaved like a stainless steel gentleman.

Go figure!

One Good Whirl Deserves Another

As we were gearing up for our first Halloween (and party) in the Dollhouse, another appliance was ready to give up the ghost!

Our washing machine, which I’d purchased, used, along with its dryer when we moved into the Thresher house back in the winter of 2010 for a whopping $411, was having trouble completing the spin cycle to our satisfaction. We limped it along by sticking to extra small loads and wringing the heavier garments out by hand before putting them in the dryer, but it was beyond Todd’s fix-it capabilities, requiring a new motor–a part more than the machine was worth, at this point.

Thankfully, right on the heels of Halloween came another Appliance Holiday: Veteran’s Day! And, once again, for a very good deal, I left home one day from this…

The part for this came in, too. Let's just hope it works!

Traitor!

And, thanks to the happiness that is Lowe’s free haul-away, I can home to this!

Though this is a much more recent picture, I believe Todd had the new washer going by the time I got home that day, too!

Though this is a much more recent picture, I believe Todd had the new washer going by the time I got home that day, too!

No, it’s not a shiny red front-loader like I thought I wanted when they first came out all those years ago, but I’ve heard so many problematic things about them that it wasn’t really an option when we went looking. The Whirlpool 3.6 cu ft Top-Load Washer has worked like a charm since it was delivered and even getting used to the lid locking during the cycle hasn’t been much of a hardship. (There’s a button to release it, it just takes getting used to.)

So, while we aren’t looking to take advantage of the current sales *knock on wood*, we do appreciate the opportunity to window shop (lawnmower, I’m looking at you, shape up–we have no time for your shenanigans and the grass is getting tall out back!). And I wish each and every one of you, out there, that you may only need to make those big purchases during the Appliance Holidays in the future!

On The Nightstand: March 2015

Everyday Adventures

That’s a loaded title, isn’t it? When I first envisioned this website (12 years ago, ahem) I always planned for their to be a little section on the sidebar with whatever book(s) I was currently reading and linked to my thoughts on said books. I suppose I could still do that (or use the Goodreads app/plugin or some such), but I’ll be honest: I only remember to check in with Goodreads at the end of the month, I’m not sure I’d be any better with a manual sidebar feature.

Enough blathering about blathering about books, let’s get to the more direct stuff!

Book covers snagged from GoodReads

Book covers snagged from GoodReads

In addition to everything else that was going on in March, I was really ripping through some books!

First up was the Traveler’s Gate Trilogy by Will Wight. Which started out as me just having House of Blades on my Kindle because I met the author’s brother at a convention the weekend it was being released and blah blah blah supporting other creators, etc. I read the first couple of chapters and reminded myself why I don’t read high fantasy as a general rule. That was 2013.

BUT! It was next up on the oldest unread books on my Kindle list, so I dove back in, waded through the world building and character soup, and damn if I wasn’t really interested in who these people were by the mid-point in the book. And by the end? Totally checking to see if book 2 was available. Not only was it, but it was available for borrowing via Prime, so I didn’t even have to break my spending diet to get it!

Oh, another thing, I actually read House of Blades in February, but after I wrote the last book round-up, and I didn’t realize I’d devour it quite so quickly! So I borrowed Book 2 at the very end of February and was able to borrow Book 3 a few days later once the counter had reset for March. Book binge!

Here’s the short version (but no spoilers): In this world, magic-users are called Travelers. Some are born to it, others trained to it. Travelers are affiliated with Territories (usually only one, but there are exceptions) and each Territory comes with certain pros and cons. (There’s a bit of vague Norse references in some of the names and all, but nothing truly one culture or another.) Simon is our main character, ordinary poor kid in his village after his dad is killed by a Traveler and his mother tortured into mindlessness. Cheerful so far, right? It gets better (no, really, it does). Simon’s village is raided and in the scuffle Leah appears to distract the baddies and get captured instead of Simon, so he feels honor-bound to try and rescue her. Now, back when his family had that run-in with dark side of magic, another Traveler stepped in and saved him and his mom (more or less). Simon decides to go back to the spot it all happened and see if he can get the Traveler to train him so he can rescue Leah.

While Simon makes great strides in his training out of necessity, I appreciated that it was accomplished more out of abject stubbornness instead of dumb luck or some hidden ability. Simon kinda sucks at being a Traveler at times, but he’s also not a complete anti-hero or a whiny brat complaining about finding himself in a situation. I respect the character, in other words, and that made it easy to get interested in him. He also doesn’t “drink the Kool-Aide” the way another character, Alin, does when it’s discovered he’s (Alin’s) the first natural-born Traveler of super-Territory Elysia, the prophesied one, and all that. Alin would have made a far less interesting main character, but as supporting character it works better. And Leah, well, she’s got her own secrets. We’ll just leave it at that.

It’s far from a perfect story, but I really enjoyed the hell out of it and so would definitely recommend it if you can get into a story and ignore the details.

Next up was Rushed, by Brain Harmon. Modern day setting with some fantastical/supernatural elements. What it wasn’t, despite the title, was a quick-moving story. 95% or more of the book takes place during a single day. And while there are definite signs of imagination on the part of the writer, there are also so blatant pop-culture reference drops (Steven King, the Shining, Curious George, and Indiana Jones) that work in some ways but not in others. And the perceived antagonist is just referred to as the foggy man. Oookay.

Basically, this guy starts having this dream that wakes him up with this urgency to GO (as in travel, not heed nature’s call). But where and why are elusive. He resists for a couple of nights and then, finally, gives in and decides to get in his car and drive wherever and get it out of his system. His wife takes all of this in stride, almost unbelievably calm. I think this is meant to underscore their loving, trusting relationship. And, again, he’s just gone a day so, really, I suppose you could give their dynamic the benefit of the doubt, once he starts encountering weird stuff in corn fields (of course) and sending her cell phone pictures of the same, I’d expect her to be a little more concerned! In any other book their banter would have been delightful, it just didn’t seem to work for me, here.

I was reminded, more than once, of King’s Dark Tower series–a series I enjoyed, by the way, until that piss-poor ending he threw at us after waiting more than a decade for the damn series to end (apparently I’m still very. opinionated. on that point, ahem). Our main character (whose name I cannot even recall, that should tell you something) is no Roland, but we have a very similar, frustrating, oh-you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me, side-eye up on side and down the other ending in store and I was not pleased. I don’t think I’ll be reading the other two books in the series.

Now for something totally different!

The peril in downloading book and letting them sit for a while is that you might not remember why you downloaded them in the first place. When I started on Connie Brockaway’s No Place for a Dame I really wondered what I was thinking–it starts out like your typical bodice ripper! With “dame” in the title I was thinking 1920s and here I was about a century off!

While it did turn out to be a historical romance, with all the usual (dare I say formulaic) elements, the characters were engaging and the premise was pretty good. A gamekeeper’s daughter is granted the gift of education by the master of the house. She has a talent for astronomy, discovers a comet, and wants to present it to the Royal Astrological Society (yes, I know, it’s that for reasons), only one thing stands in the way: the fact that she’s a she and not a he. So she enlists the help of Lord Strand in the usual subterfuge, hilarity ensues, and they eventually succumb to the expected attraction. (I really don’t consider that a spoiler, see again: formula).

Now, I did like the way they extricated themselves from the resulting scandal-to-be. And telling would be a spoiler, but I’ll say it was inventive and funny. Turns out this is book 3 in a series, but I don’t think I’ll go back and read the others. I feel like No Place for a Dame stands alone really well and I don’t want to tempt fate with another book in a genre I’m not a big fan of.

The book club selection for the month was The Awakening, a shocking book in its day by Kate Chopin, but like a lot of the “scandalous” books from decades past, it doesn’t hold the same power when read in modern times. It’s all about a woman who realizes that she is unhappy with her life, her husband, and the strictures of Victorian society. And while I can empathize with a need to change one’s situation, her “awakening” didn’t come with any sense of responsibility or purpose, she was just as self-centered and careless in the choices she makes to extricate herself from the unhappiness as she appeared at the beginning of the book.

As is often the case, the secondary characters were far more interesting to me, and the ending of the book was disappointing, but in a different way from Rushed (though I’d still call it a cop-out). The book’s been out for more than a century so I’m going to “spoil” the ending: she kills herself. Why? Because the alternate life she drifted towards didn’t turn out the way she planned. The man she left her husband for had a shred of decency and didn’t succumb to her charms–but not because he didn’t want to, because he knew it wasn’t the right thing to do–and she runs off and ends herself. Oh, sure, she spares a momentary thought for her two young children, but it ultimately didn’t matter.

Even the way she ended it was thoughless and self-centered. She arrives at the resort the frequent each summer unannounced, in the off-season, sending the few people on the island into a tizzy trying to make up a room and meal for her, while she heads off to the beach. She refused offers from friends for help (including a kind doctor that actually seemed to have a clue about what she was going through and appeared ready to listen and talk without judging her thoughts or actions). Even taking into consideration the mores of the day and the narrow roles women could fill, she was weak and lacked character. And that just makes for a frustrating end of a story.

Thank goodness the next book was more my style, featured a strong female lead, and included enough humor to keep things light but without cheapening the suspense of who was really responsible for the death of a student in the admiralty law professor’s office. Long Knives, by Charles Rosenberg, is a pretty interesting legal thriller. There’s sunken treasure ships (or at least the rumor of them), university politics, condo board scheming, and so on and so forth.

I was stymied for most of the book what the title had to do with anything. Again, I had no memory of the book’s description and was expecting something adverture-y, and then maybe pirate-adjacent when the sunken treasure because a plot point. But, no, it’s apparently a metaphor for treachery (a quick search reveals that it dates to the 12th century–guess I missed that one during my SCA days) and was finally mentioned by one of the antagonists during an informal academic hearing that ultimately revealed whodoneit.

Nothing about the book blew me away, but it was an enjoyable read. If there are more novels featuring Jenna James (the lawyer-turned-professor protagonist), I’d probably give them a try. (Oh, looks like this might have actually been a sequel. There’s a lot of history between some of the characters, history that apparently is fully discussed in Death on a High Floor.)

Just one more to go! Even though I finished Back on Murder in April, I’m liable to forget about it by the end of the month, so I’ll go ahead and cover it, now. It’s your basic police procedural starring a fallen-from-grace homicide cop, March, who really wants to get back on the regular rotation but it seems like he’s on his way out, not up. At first I was worried that he was going to be another anti-hero, but I discovered I like him well-enough by the end.

There’s a shoot-out at a drug house and Marsh, trying to make himself useful, actually discovers something at the scene that suggests there was another person there, definitely injured, possibly dead, but why is the body not there? Then there’s a fair haired do-gooder that goes missing, and March is convinced there’s a connection, as incongruous as it seems, and pins his hopes on it being the case that redeems him in the eyes of the department. Things don’t go as planned (it’d have been a short book if they had!) and another couple of opportunities present themself that also seem to fizzle (hope that doesn’t give too much away).

The fact that this is #1 is a series of March mysteries tells you right off that something eventually goes right, but it was pretty damn touch-and-go for a good long while. Would I read the rest of his series? Maybe. Once I catch up on all the other books still in my backlog I’ll consider it.

According to GoodReads I’m 2 books behind schedule my goal of 75 books read this year. Guess I need to step things up a bit more, huh?

Tuesday Reviews-Day: Totes Amaze! by Amanda McKittrick

Tuesday Revews-Day

totesamazecover

It’s no surprise to anyone who’s been reading here for a while that I like to make things. While making stuff just for fun is all well and good, I especially love it when my hands-on time is spent making something useful as well as nice to look at. And even though a lot of my handmade projects are intended for others, every now and then I will make something for myself, too. Which is why I was more than happy to take a look at Totes Amaze! 25 bags to make for every occasion by Amanda McKittrick.

A tote is, at its most basic, a simple rectangle of fabric folded in half, sewn on two sides and with handles attached. But why stop there when you can add linings, pockets, gussets for bags to sit flat, draw strings, zippers, and curved bottoms instead of square? That’s where Totes Amaze! comes in handy with creative combinations of the basic elements, many of which you don’t even need a pattern for.

When something outside of an easily-measured square or rectangle is needed, there is a sheet of pattern pieces tucked into a pocket on the inside back cover.

[box type=”tick” style=”rounded” border=”full”]Tip #1 Even though the pattern pieces are printed on heavy-weight paper, reinforcing your patterns before you use them will help them last longer. I suggest clear shelf paper (such as the Con-Tact brand) adhered to one or both sides before cutting out the paper patterns. This way, when your friend sees you with your new tote, you’ll be able to whip up another one without worrying that your pattern might be too tattered for the job.[/box]

Alas, I have yet to clear the time in my schedule to actually make one of the bags, myself, but I have several marked for as soon as I can. I’m desperately in need of a new overnight bag with all these back-and-forths to the Dollhouse so the Classic Carryall Tote on page 50 is top of the list. After that, you know I couldn’t possible resist the Wine Bottle Tote on page 66, and the Six-Pocket Gardening Tote on page 38 will be perfect for crafting on the go (you guys know I can’t keep plants alive to save my life). With a simple lengthening of the main pattern piece, I think The Man Tote (page 114) would be the perfect custom answer to my widescreen laptop-carrying needs!

If you’re still a novice with needle and thread, McKittrick’s got you covered with some basic techniques in the beginning of the book and even a list of basic Sewing Kit items you’ll need to make anything in the book. After that it’s just a quick trip to your local fabric store and you’ll be all set! Each of the projects in Totes Amaze! feature detailed instructions and plenty of helpful illustrations to help you understand how things should look along the way. The book is full of bright colors and patterns that make it fun to flip through for inspiration.

[box type=”tick” style=”rounded” border=”full”]Tip #2 Even though the enjoyment is in the making, if you’re like me you still want to feel like you’re getting a bargain by making your own anything instead of buying it ready-made. Good fabric is the key to a great tote, especially the simpler the pattern design, but good fabric can cost a mint. Since totes don’t need a lot of yardage, check out the remnants bin each time you’re in the shop. Frequently these end-of-bolt pieces are marked down 50% or more, making it easier to splurge on a good handle for the same bag and still come in well under retail.[/box]

I picked up a full yard of caramel-colored faux suede for less than $10 that will make an amazing overnight bag and some sturdy, striped canvas on my last trip to JoAnn Fabrics that are set aside especially for the projects in this book. I also found a smaller cut of lighter-colored faux suede that I’ll use to make my own handles for this one (there are instructions in the book for that, too) and save the webbing for more heavy-duty projects.

I was provided a copy of Totes Amaze! for purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Tuesday Reviews-Day: The Fondue Bible

Tuesday Revews-Day

fonduebiblecover

Whether for Girl’s Night Out, birthday, anniversary or New Year’s Eve, there’s nothing that carries the same feel of anticipation than heading to the local fondue restaurant for a several-hour dinner. Fondue is the ultimate communal meal–instead of everyone concentrating on their own plates, there’s a mutual point of interest about what’s in the pot, and the waiting for each item to cook (or cool down enough to bite into) invites both conversation and relaxation.

Back in the 60s, the fondue set became a standby of housewarming and wedding gifts, and with many people fascinated with kitsch and mid-century throw-backs, I think the fondue pot is making a comeback for home use. I received one a few years ago as a Christmas present, but admit that it hasn’t seen the heat of a flame very often and spends more time in it’s box that on the table.

Getting the chance to review The Fondue Bible, though, gave me the chance to dust off the fondue set and give it a place of prominence on the table for a couple of gatherings and a relaxed mid-week supper.

jvanderbeek_fonduebible_1

Because it lends itself so well to party grazing, I started off with a cheese fondue for one of our local game nights. The Edam Tarragon Fondue (p. 32) was a nice combination of the more traditional cheeses with the almost sweet tarragon, especially with the grainy mustard added. It went excellent with sausage puffs, chicken breasts, apples and carrots. As for the leftovers, those were fabulous as an impromptu quesadilla filling when melted inside of tortillas.

jvanderbeek_fonduebible_2

Another night we went for the sweet with a cocktail-inspired B-52 Chocolate Fondue (p. 198). In addition to the dark chocolate, Kahlua, Cointreau, and Irish Cream I used coconut milk thinned with a bit of lactose-free 2% in place of the heavy cream and it worked fabulously. Into this we dipped strawberries, fresh-cut pineapple chunks, and cubes of homemade (gluten free) pound cake. Some of our guests also went for the salty-sweet combo by dipping rice crackers and salty popcorn into the gooey chocolate.

With my current fondue pot I usually use sterno-style gel fuel but it tends to get way too hot for cheese and chocolate fondues. Behold, the power of the humble tea light as this is plenty to keep a couple cups of melted cheese of chocolate liquid enough for dipping without risking scorching the whole pot (the center does tend to get a little stuck, but at least that’s easy to clean up).

jvanderbeek_fonduebible-3

The gel fuel worked wonderfully for the Quick Asian Hot Pot (p. 138), though, doing an excellent job of keeping the broth (I made lamb broth since I had some lamb ribs on hand from a different meal) steaming hot for the duration of our dinner. While it looks like a lot of work, there really wasn’t much more to it than the prep for any stew or soup–the bits and pieces were just laid out prettily on a platter instead of tossed into the soup pot. And the remaining portions were tossed together on the stove to prepare soup for lunch the next day.

We didn’t dip into the oil fondues–that many forks in boiling oil makes me a little nervous, truth be told–but maybe I’ll get braver as they do look just as delectable as the book’s other options. The Fondue Bible includes 200 recipes, loads of gorgeous photographs, and plenty of pairing ideas as well as dips and sauces that could easily go with any other meal, not just your fondue fest. I have a feeling my fondue set is going to be getting much more use, now, with so much inspiration at hand!

A Tale of Two Vodkas: The Taste-Off

Tuesday Revews-Day

When it come to clear spirits, vodka is not my go-to. I enjoy a drink’s flavor, after all, and the hallmark of a good vodka is more-or-less the absence of flavor. (Not that good vodka tastes like nothing, it’s just subtle notes that you really have to taste for–most days I just don’t want to have to work that hard!) But as much as I like gin, a good vodka comes in handy when gin’s herbaceousness would be out of sync with the rest of a drink. Which is why I agreed to participate in tasting challenge Purity Vodka posed to self-proclaimed “world’s best tasting vodka,” Grey Goose.

Premium vodkas are distilled to within an inch of their cogeners; Purity Vodka is distilled 34 times (compared to a single column-distillation of Grey Goose). 34 sounds like excess–can you really taste the difference? Could I?

There was also a flash drive with some more information and the whole thing was tied up in a purple bow. I thought it was a wedding present, at first, it was so nicely presented. And we know I'm a sucker for good presentation.

There was also a flash drive with some more information and the whole thing was tied up in a purple bow. I thought it was a wedding present, at first, it was so nicely presented. And we know I’m a sucker for good presentation.

Purity sent me this really spiffy tasting kit with faux calla lilies and lined with a purple cloth, with two petite tasting glasses and an airline bottle of each Purity and Grey Goose vodkas. The Swedish-made Purity is obviously confident in their quality to send not only their own samples but that of the competitor as well. And while many people prefer their vodka ice-cold, Purity encourages this tasting be done at room temperature, so that’s what I did.

I started with the Grey Goose, and when you’re tasting spirits it’s important not to judge based on that first sip as the alcohol is interacting with whatever you last tasted. So wait until that second sip to make any decisions about whether you like it or not. What I noticed about the Grey Goose was that it had some definite hard edges, a slight burning at the back of my mouth, and a thin, angular mouth-feel.

Prepare to be tasted!

Prepare to be tasted!

The Purity, on the other hand, really impressed me with how smooth and round it feels in the mouth and while there’s a bit of tingle under my tongue, there’s no burn at the back of my mouth. I’m still not sold enough on either of them to switch my mixed-drink preferences to vodka, neat, but I can see the Purity vodka making for a better base spirit in many cocktails where you the flavors of the drink to flow easily around.

Granted, Grey Goose might still make for a bracing martini, but I’d use Purity over GG to make my layered cocktails in a heartbeat.

If it wasn’t obvious, I was sent the sample of Purity Vodka for the purpose of review. A while ago (the original event was last summer)–it got lost in the wedding shuffle, so my apologies for that. Nonetheless, all opinions expressed are my own as well as any factual errors there might be. We here at Scraps of Life encourage everyone to drink responsibly and never drink and drive.