Tuesday Tricks and Treats: Pin yourself to a book

I took a wee hiatus from blogging for a few days so I could focus on some writing and editing work I had to get done. Sometimes unplugging, even just partially, can be a real boon for productivity.

TRICK: A college roommate used to do this and I realized how ingenious it was and started doing it too. I've been doing this for over 10 years and it saves time, money, and socks!

Inevitably, you've lost some socks in the wash. And the ones you don't lose you have to spend time putting together and folding before stashing them (unless you just give up in frustration and dump all your socks into a jumbled mess in a drawer--if that's your style, more power to you!). Instead of driving yourself batty, use a safety pin to pin your socks together before you throw them in the laundry basket. It keeps them together in the wash, the pins don't rust or anything, and when you take them out of the dryer, not only are they all there, they're already clipped to their mates and ready to be tucked away in a drawer. I haven't lost a single sock since I started doing this. This is especially handy when you have socks that are the same color but slightly different patterns or textures. Those are a real bitch to match up and fold. The pin eliminates this.

Just leave the pins in when you put them away. Then, when you put them on, stash the pin somewhere like your dresser. Repin before tossing in your laundry basket.

TREAT: I'm a bookworm. I love to read and always have. And I've always felt guilty when a book was sort of out of commission for reading, whether it was because it was damaged in some way or even just terribly bad. What to do with that book? I could never bring myself to toss them. Thankfully, there are numerous creative artists who repurpose books and give them new life as art objects.

Here are a few images of some amazing sculptures made out of books. 

My fellow blogger over at Foxtail Sun also has an entry where she shares some more images of beautiful artwork made of books.

Which is your favorite? What do you think about repurposing books to make other objects? Is it awesome or an aberration?

Tuesday Tricks and treats: A souper relationship

Caesar:
Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue shriller than all the music
Cry "Caesar!" Speak, Caesar is turn'd to hear.

Soothsayer:
Beware the ides of March.


Caesar:
What man is that?


Brutus:
A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.


Julius Caesar Act 1, scene 2, 15–19

Now that I've gotten that bit of Shakespeare out of the way (how could I not?), this week's Tricks and Treats plants us firmly in the kitchen!

TRICK: Here's a simple way to add some rich depth of flavor to your next homemade pot of soup. Saute your mirepoix in some form of fat before beginning your soup.

What's mirepoix? It's the "holy trinity" of aromatics that goes into flavoring many soups: onion, carrot, and celery, cut or diced and used as the basis of stock. Some soups just use mirepoix for creating the stock for the soup and then discards the vegetables once they've been leeched of their flavors. Other soups keep the mirepoix in them--for instance, bean or lentil soups. What does mirepoix mean? Check out the origins of this fancy French term here.

Next time you want an easy, filling, and scrumptious soup with that little extra boost of flavor, place a stock pot over medium-high heat. Once the pot is hot, add enough olive oil or melt enough butter to thinly coat the bottom of the pot and let it heat/melt. Add your mirepoix and let it sweat in the pot, stirring occasionally, until the onions get translucent and the veggies look like they've gotten heated up. I like to add a couple of minced cloves of garlic a few minutes after I put the veggies on the heat. After your veggies are sweaty, proceed with your soup recipe.

For an insanely ridonk mirepoix, saute diced bacon or pancetta until it releases its fat and gets nice and crisp. Remove the bacon to drain on paper towels, leaving the grease in the pot, and proceed as above. Crumble the bacon into your soup just before serving (or save it in a container in the fridge for a salad). Heavenly!

TREAT: Everyone knows about my unabashed and undying love for Julia Child. In my mind, she has no equal in her championing of the fact that everyone can and should cook and that everyone can and should learn classical techniques as a means for eating well and enjoying life. But I've read enough about Julia to now know how instrumental her husband Paul Child was in her life. Now I can't separate the two of them in my head--they act as a unit: Julia and Paul.

Their marriage was a true partnership, a relationship of give and take that was built upon mutual admiration, support, and affection. Paul wholeheartedly supported Julia's culinary aspirations, often washing dishes she used after her demonstration appearances. Their marriage is chronicled, warts and all, in his witty, lively style in the many letters he wrote to his twin brother, Charlie.

I recently found this charming blog post where the writer reprints a story he wrote after visiting with the Childs in the early 1980s. She cooked him a meal and he recorded some of Julia and Paul's conversation. I love how they share thoughts and complete each other's sentences. They truly share a brain--something Jeremy and I have started to notice more and more where at least once a day, often several times, one or the other of us will say something and the other will say, "I was just about to say that/I was just thinking that!" Or else we'll say the same thing at the same time. The once-a-day estimation is no exaggeration. It is one of the things that brings me the greatest joy about our partnership: that we are two individuals who very much make up a whole.

Julia and Paul's marriage is everything I aspire to in my own pending one. What other epic or noble marriages or partnerships can you think of that inspire you?

Tuesday Tricks and Treats: smells like 2 minutes of nothing

Here's my second installment of Tricks and Treats!

TRICK: It really sucks not having a garbage disposal. I was spoiled in the home I grew up in and my first two apartments in Boston, as they all had garbage disposals. But alas, my last and current apartments don't have disposals. I hate it, because let's face the unpleasantry: garbage can really start to smell funky, especially when it's full of food, and especially when it's warmer out. Even those odor-eliminating trash bags (which we use, and which do help some) can't cut out the funk when it's really bad.


We've devised a two-fold solution for dealing with the stink in my house. First off, save those metal cans your coffee comes in. We use ours as mini trash cans for food rubbish. The lids are tight sealing, which prevents the stink. Whenever we're cooking, say, some sort of meat or using veggies, we put the trimmings and trash into an empty coffee can, seal the lid on tight, and voila. No more funky odors emanating from the trash can. I've even had a couple of instances where I've kept a non-full can handy to toss extra trash into the next day without any stink issues.

Second, keep a small bowl filled with some white vinegar by your trash can. This really helps to absorb odors, and chances are it's already in your house. No need to buy a bunch of expensive air fresheners. This is natural, cheap, and effective. Replace the vinegar as needed (it evaporates after a while).

TREAT: Can you do nothing for two minutes? Click on this link and try it. Did you pass? Did you fail?

In our hyper-connected world, it's healthy to regularly take breaks to recharge your eyes and mind, and this website forces us to try it. Even if you don't access the site, try taking a few minutes for yourself to do nothing: no surfing the net, no texting, no to-do-list composing--NOTHING. Could you do it? How did you feel?

Trying something new: Tuesday Tricks and Treats

One of my favorite features on other blogs is when they regularly feature something--be it "Best of the Looks, Best of the Books" on my friend Jill's fashion and literature blog Looks and Books, or the amazingly cheery "Monday Montage" on my favorite wedding blog, Offbeat Bride. I thought to myself, hmm... perhaps I should start doing something similar on my blog? First off, it will add some consistency. Secondly, it builds in themes for me to regularly write about. Third, it's fun.

So today I think I'm going to start something called "Tuesday Tricks and Treats." Simple premise: I provide you with one trick--be it for cooking, domestic bliss, home ec mastery, etc.--and one treat--could be food or drink, could be a delightful book or website, could be something spa-tastic. We shall see how this goes--any comments on whether this idea flies or not would be much appreciated!

*****

TRICK: Save money, save your veggies. Don't let that bag of wilting spinach and container of quickly wrinkling grape tomatoes go to waste. Last night I found one of each of these in my fridge. Neither was bad--they were still safely eatable and not yet ventured into the land of being rotten and inedible--but neither looked crisp and fresh and appetizing as components of a salad. So I got out my wok and got creative, salvaging them into a delicious and uber-quick hearty pasta sauce dinner.

Boil a pot of salted water for your pasta--we used a package of Trader Joe's yummy gorgonzola ravioli--and prepare it as directed. While the water boils, heat up your wok or large saute pan over medium-high heat. Once it's hot (hover your hand a few inches over it to gauge the heat), add about a tablespoon of olive oil and allow that to heat for a minute or two (it will look shimmery when hot). Mince a clove or two of garlic, and if you want, chop up a bit of onion. Add the garlic and stir, allowing to heat for about 30 seconds. (Be careful so it doesn't burn!) Then add some spinach and give it a good toss-about. Spinach wilts very quickly into a very tiny amount of food, so don't worry about overcrowding your pan. Once it wilts down to some small green scraggly bits, add your grape tomatoes--I chopped mine in half--and stir again. You can add other elderly-looking veggies salvaged from the fridge: mushrooms, carrots, etc. After all the veggies have a few minutes to hang out together and get nice and flavorful, spoon in a bit of pasta sauce (you can use less than you normally would, since the veggies and oil will stretch it out) and season as desired--I added garlic salt and Italian seasoning. Heat the sauce for a couple of minutes then turn off the heat, and add the drained pasta to the pan. Gently toss and serve, garnishing with some grated Parm if desired. We had ours with some big foccacia rolls from Trader Joe's and dipped them in olive oil with Italian seasoning sprinkled in. It was hearty and filling and tasty, and as a bonus, my house smelled like an amazing little Italian trattoria.

Moral of the story: a little creativity can help you salvage a wrinkly, droopy, saggy, or otherwise not-so-pretty veggie into a tasty kitchen-sink sauce.


TREAT: Taking a break in the afternoon for tea isn't just a snobby British tradition--it's good for you. Your body naturally sags a bit in mid-afternoon, and taking a break from your work to have a little something soothing in your body is a great pick-me-up. I love a hot cup of tea in the chilly afternoons.

I love caffeine-free herbal teas, but sometimes you just want some regular old tea. I adore Earl Grey (that bergamot!), but I can't handle caffeine past midday. Twinings has thankfully solved my woes by creating a delicious decaffeinated Earl Grey. I sweeten it with just a tiny spoonful of sugar. It's lovely and indulgent without being heavy and laden with calories, and after I finish it, I feel spoiled and happy and ready to go back to work.

Moral of the story: Take time to rest and indulge in some time for yourself. You deserve it, and quite frankly, you probably really need it.