Friday October 22

[Shirlv]

Morning All, sunny and cool. Next couple of weeks predicted to be below 70°. Yesterday afternoon walked the trash to the dumpster and it was a lovely day. Sat in the pavilion to enjoy the weather. A woman with a very small dog was walking by and I ask if he was a Yorkie. She said he was a mix and we talked for over an hour. You do not need a pet to start a conversation just find someone who does. Lol. The really funny part was she lives next door to me and it was the first time we met. No other news. Anne, since you ask, dinner was the 12 minute air fryer fish and fries with a salad. Lol Martha, I’m still trying to figure how to make one biscuit. I have a small thermos so might have afternoon tea in the pavilion now and then. Never know when you might see an interesting pup walk by. Be safe

[Acadianmom]

Shirl, just make a batch of biscuits and freeze them. That's about the only way I can control my eating. After a few days I kind of forget about what's in the freezer so don't eat it everyday.

The vet just called and good news about Mr. P., his kidney test doesn't show any damage and he is using the litter box. The bad news is I have to give him pills. Anyone that has ever tried to give a cat a pill knows you can push it down to their toe nails and they can hack it back up. Hopefully the pills won't be big. I will have to keep him in the big dog kennel so maybe I can put him on a diet. He is way over weight.

Sheila, you are right, it was Trudy and Molly. I followed her on Facebook for a while and she was working for Petsmart or one of those type companies. I hope your family can figure out something for your mom that doesn't involve you all the time.

It seems like I remember that someone that was once on here made Thunder Drums.

Guess I better get dressed and go feed the outside cats. I am trying to wash my sheets and blanket. Any time I wash something like a blanket or bath rug it's a fight. The washer gets unbalanced. Instead of stopping and letting me rearrange things it fills back up with water and starts over. I hate that washer. The next washer I buy is only going to have three knobs, on and off, temperature and level of water.

Martha

[Cudedog]

Anne, since you ask, dinner was the 12 minute air fryer fish and fries with a salad.

Yum!

My son gave me a really nice air fryer for Christmas last year, and the only time it has been out of the box was when he was here in August.

I don't know why the dang thing intimidates me so much. My son is a fantastic cook - LOL, my daughter not so much (funny how that is!) - and he made to-die-for french fries like you have never tasted while he was here.

It took him about 40 minutes to make a handful of these delicious fries (including peeling, cutting, pre-boiling, seasoning, then air-frying the potatoes). Maybe because I'm lazy - it takes me about half that time - about 20 minutes - to make myself my usual bland and tasteless meal - including prep, cooking, eating and wash-up.

After he left, I put the thing back in the box. Please don't tell my son.

Maybe I should get it out again and actually learn how to use it.

Anne

[OregonLuvr]

Good morning. Cloudy rain off and on kind of day so no outside work today. Have just been perusing the internet while I have my second cuppa joe. Then time to shower (I must get a walk in shower!!!) The shower in my bathroom has an oversized dumb tub with a side seat, darn good thing I have long legs and can step past it but it could be an accident waiting to happen.

So guess I will just putter around inside today. Had shrimp and a veggie egg roll last night for dinner, so will have my salmon tonite. It is almost time to make that easy potato soup again but will wait until I get home from Medford and make it next weekend. Going to cut the recipe in half tho as it made way too much, I had to share it with my neighbors LOL I like soup with a piece of Texas toast, fills me up just great. Martha glad Mr P is on the mend and good luck with the pills ha ha As for the washer I bought a super simple washer and dryer, I dont need umpteen settings. The only thing I miss is the buzzer on the dryer to let me know when things are done, so now I tell Alexa to set an alarm for 30 minutes, works out well I love that gal.

Time to get my butt in gear and get some things done around here.

[OregonLuvr]

Anne you snuck in when I was posting. The Air Fryer is my absolute favorite thing in my kitchen. I make french fries too but I just peel and cut, rinse, pat them dry with a paper towel. Spritz a little oil and bam in the air fryer they go. I cook so much in there, baked potatoes, biscuits, spring rolls, chicken. Meatballs or meatloaf, salmon and fish (I use a glass dish for those) I have a list a mile long but you get the idea. Anything you can cook in your oven you can cook in the Air fryer usually in lots less time too and you can check it every minute or two if you need to. Lots of my One Dish Cooking recipes I also make in there. Most important thing is a digital thermometer so you dont overcook stuff. Why you are intimidated I dont know because if it doesnt turn out ya just throw it away and eat something else ha ha I have had very few failures. I love baking my potatoes in there as they come out fluffy on the inside and the skin is crispy like I like it, a meal in itself. Okay so you get the picture I LOVE mine.

[JudyJB]

Barbie and Beth, I also have had trouble getting to sleep early all my life. As a child, everyone thought it was funny to try to wake me up and said I was lazy, in spite of the fact that I did work late at night. Why are people who sleep in lazy and those who go to bed early NOT lazy?? I even went to a sleep specialist several times, and he said I should just try to adjust my working hours. Ford had what they called core hours from 9-3, so I could go in at 9 am and stay until 5:30 pm, which worked out better for me. Sleeping pills gave me horrible nightmares, so could not keep taking those.

Martha, my Ohio family has one of those extremely fancy front-loading machines that you cannot restart without going through the entire cycle, and I HATE it! I had a terrible time washing a rug in it, and it was not even a big rug. When I had my condo, I bought one of those very simple machines you are talking about--two or three cycles, two load levels, and only three water temps, and you can start it over anywhere. This campground has one of those huge top-loading machines like the one my cousin has. His wife and daughter have trouble reaching into the bottom, it is so big. In this one at the campground, however, I was able to put two 30x40" rugs in this one here, and it did not get out of alignment! I am going to wash my bed comforter before I leave here.

October is turning out to be a great month to be in northern Florida--not too hot or too cold. I was here this time of year in 2016, however, and got evicted from the state park because of Hurricane Matthew, so you do have to have a Plan B. So far, not even a tropical storm in sight, luckily. Yesterday, I spent an hour washing and cleaning my bike and bike rack, so went for a ride down to the fort and visitor center. Then I went through my front storage area that is over the propane tanks. It is very deep, like it goes maybe 6' and then dead ends, so some stuff gets abandoned in there. I tossed some old extra parts and a lawn chair I never use and do not like. Ditto for some old narrow boards I use for leveling because my son got me some wider ones and cut them into 2' lengths.

[Shirlv]

Anne, my name is Shirlv-lazy cook. I don’t peel and cut potatoes I let Alexia do the sweet potato fries and who ever does white, they are both seasoned and available at Walmart dirt cheap. I put a little oil in the basket, throw in a handful of fries set temperature and time, push start. If smoke starts billowing, pull the plug. Lol. Just kidding. If you search on line you will find someone who will tell you how to cook anything in an airfryer. Try it. Does Joe like French fries, do it for him.

[MandysMom]

Air fryer is easy. I'll post tips in cooking section.
I'm heading to Curves soon. Eye Dr confirmed 20/20 right and very slightly less 20/25 left. All parameters including pressure, retinas, and corneas perfect. She agreed Wednesday Opthalmic migraine was weird fluke but looked extra long to make sure it wasn't pointing to some issue. Good to go, perfect vision another year.
Got 0.73 in rain past 24 hours. More to come.
Handyman put up my new LED lights in my room last night and it was like turning on the sun after 32 years with the old fluorescents we installed when we built this addition. Today he will take down old (new I had raised about 10 inches so light better clears my big headboard), and start repair where old lights were. one thing at a time.
Came home from eye Dr yesterday and was looking for Mandy, when I noticed a suspicious lump in middle of bed. Moved closer and leaned in and called her and she answered to warn me not to sit on her. You know it's finally fall here, when Mandy crawls under covers on her own for her mid day nap!
Have a good day all!
Velda

[BarbaraRose]

Martha, glad Mr P is better. I know exactly what you mean about giving them pills! When Lola was so sick the vet at the emergency clinic gave me prescriptions for 6 meds for her! Apparently, he has never owned a cat! I picked out the two most important ones and it was a battle to just give those to her! I would bleed to death before I could get 6 pills down her throat!

I have an air fryer I have never used either. (I am a really lazy cook too!). I really want to try it tho. I bought a "cheat sheet" booklet for air fryers that give the time and temp for basic foods (meat, veggies, etc) and it has a magnet on the back to put on your fridge. I loaned it to my coworker and now she doesn't remember I did that so will probably have to order another one. But here is the link to it on Amazon. I think it will make it a little less intimidating to try the air fryer. I have some frozen hash brown patties I am thinking of trying in mine for starters.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07 ... UTF8&psc=1

For those who don't know what a Thunder Drum gourd is, here is a link to a video of one...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCzrwH9hAII

I must have a sensitivity to something I am using at work because my eyes were really itchy and red last night and puffy and watery this morning. I need to get some allergy drops to use. I tried wearing my reading glasses while working to keep some of the dust out but they fog up because I am wearing a mask.

Judy, sounds like you found your piece of paradise for a couple weeks!

[Shirlv]

Anne and Barbie, Most air fryers on Amazon have an video on how to use. Some air fryer instructions contain a website to view a video. Search “how to use my xyz airfryer video. Have fun

[MandysMom]

Do not Pay money for a "cheat sheet magnet" for an Aif Fryer. Complete waste of money because every air fryer is slightly different as to temp and time! Go to YouTube and search "name of your AF" how to cook steak or fries or whatever. There are thousands of great videos available. OR google item you want to cook and Air Fry. Example: frozen hash brown patties in air fryer or hamburger in air fryer. Once you are somewhat familiar (less intimidated) with your model, then you can google or you tube search the food and Air Fryer , you will know from experience how to adjust temp and time from their directions and model to work with yours.
And I Promise, if you get lazy and don't keep up with the very easy quick cleaning, either we will never hear you mention AF again or you will say, they are horrible , they smoke and are hard to clean and I threw it out or gave it away. If you take the 5 min for cleaning and learn by trying how your AF works, you will Love it! I put off buying one for several years. Once I actually started using it, after watching several (maybe many) videos, and actually tried a few things, it became my most used appliance even beating out toaster oven and Instant Pot.
Velda
PSbi keep a cheat sheet in notes in my phone on my most AF cooked items where I mark adjustments I made such as increase or decrease temp and time. Easily could be done in a small note book kept in kitchen.

[OregonLuvr]

My Air fryer experiences have been mostly by trial and error. I used to spend a lot of time checking by visual. Now I just use my digital thermometer and it is all good now. Some things are still visual but I mostly just learned by doing. Sometimes googled how long to cook something in the AF but like Velda said so many models, makes, and variants with them.

Velda I love those frozen hashbrown patties too LOL They are as good as McD's.

I have this one because it has a probe, I can use it anywhere, oven, Air Fryer, NuWave etc
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07 ... UTF8&psc=1

I have this one also. Can use it on the BBQ, or in the pan, etc
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07 ... =UTF8&th=1

[Shirlv]

Thanks Karen, just ordered thermometer with cable. I might get even more adventurous. I do have a sheet of paper hanging on the side of the fridge with cooking times and temps for my small Chefman.

[OregonLuvr]

Shirl I use that one the most, even when I cook meatloaf in the oven, it is magnetic and just attaches wherever it needs to be.

[Acadianmom]

My air fryer is probably the smallest one they make. The basket is only 6 1/2 inches across. Just big enough for one hamburger patty, one pork chop or a piece of steak. I never have tried to cook more than meat and left over french fries. I might have cooked one of the frozen hash brown patties, don't remember. I really like the way it cooks meat and only takes about 6 minutes for each side. I need to get some frozen sweet potato fries and try them.

I might have lucked out on Mr. P's medicine. It's all 3 liquid. The vet told me to spread them out and give one in the morning, one at noon and one in the afternoon. We'll see how that goes. I won't be getting very far from home for 10 days and the noon one will be finished.

Judy, I have been a night owl for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I would try to hide under the covers and read with a flash light or sit in my closet until I was about to smother. I wrote a research paper in college on sleep and I would never take a sleeping pill. Wish I still had that paper but it burned in my in-law's house fire.

My washing machine is so deep I have to stand on my toes to reach the bottom. I bought it from a local store because they have always been good about fixing things. They only had 3 washers in the store when my old one went out. Come to find out that the store had changed hands. If I had know that I would have gone to Lowe's. The two guys that came to deliver my washer earned their money that day. My old set was stacked and my utility room is just big enough for a washer and dryer side by side. I had wanted them stacked so I could put a litter box in there. I had to put the litter box somewhere else.

Martha