Thrift Stores. A retail store of new to you items just waiting for the right bargain hunter. I love a good thrift store. Finding some unique clothing with minimal wear. Thank you people who wear my size with similar taste. You have given me quite a few nice pieces over the years.
We all have some things in our closets we would not miss. At some point you loved it, but maybe it no longer fits, or maybe it was a trend, that has fallen out of fashion. Taking it to a thrift store gives your old items a chance to be reused and repurposed. Today might be a good day to go check out your local thrift store.
Planners. We are all familiar with planners and have had varying degrees of success with them. Planners range from as simple as a month view to as detailed as your day broken down hour by hour view. The important part is finding what will work for you. I suppose most have moved to an all digital experience, but I still additionally like a hard copy.
Guinea Pigs. Native to the Andes Mountains, the first guinea pigs were domesticated in 5,000 B.C. The domesticated guinea pig has 13 different breeds with varying coat lengths and varying coat textures. Moving down to Frisco came with many changes including living with a free range guinea pig named Joseph.
I still do not think I speak guinea pig, but I think Joseph is getting to know me. He loves greens of all kinds and is pretty shy, but every once in a while he will tolerate a cuddle. He absolutely freak out hates being dressed up by the way, not that I have tried or anything. His newest trick is telling us he does not need a human. The video below shows him deciding it was time to eat!
Video games. As a kid, it is like being in a movie. You have the lights, the intense music, and you are in control. You, are player one. Video games sure have changed in a lot of ways over the years. I think my first introduction to video games were pinball machines at Hungry Hermans.
Mom and I would go to Hungry Hermans in College Park, Maryland. You walked in and they had pinball machines up one side and down the other. They were all clanging or flashing, calling my attention in one way or another. We would get cheesesteaks, fries, and play pinball games. To little me under ten, this was ahhhhmazing.
A few months ago, Frisco has the Texas Pinball Festival. I was lucky enough to get Mom out for a visit and we went. Definitely stimulation overload. There were machines all over the place. Older machines. Antique machines. Newer games. The new new games. So many lights and blinks and bells and whistles.
There were booths with people selling repair parts for the pinball machines. There were booths of people selling video game inspired merchandise. There were even some vendors who brought vintage machines. It was all pretty incredible.
When you found an open game you just hopped on and played. It was fun. The newer and more popular games had a bit of a line. You can tell Mom’s done this before: purse tucked up under the arm, staggered stance, pure focus, pinball professional.
Postal Workers. I do not think the average person thinks about their mail person these days. For many their mail box is essentially a P.O. Box in a central location where they live. Rarely would you see a letter carrier, probably only sporadically when you had to go to the Post Office.
Growing up my Mom was a letter carrier, a mail lady, a mail ma’am. She worked her buns off to provide for us. She delivered mail in her Post Office truck. When you do that, you are essentially working outside all day. She worked in sweltering heat, heavy snows, and torrential rain.
Mom in her Post Office truck and little me looking at all the mail she had to deliver.
In the 90s people sent more mail, social medias had not reached everyone yet. People sent letters with pictures, or money, or long notes for all types of occasions. Packages of all shapes and sizes as it was also pre Amazon prime days. Shipping was much more affordable then.
Mom knew a ton of people on her route. Back then couriers had set routes. It worked out for me when Halloween came because she knew where to get the good candy. Maybe try to get to know your mail person. Think about writing them a thank you. Something about a hand written note still has an effect on us all. When you read this, “I love you, Mom! Thank you for all you did!!”
Ceviche. Fresh, raw fish cured in a citrus herb marinate. As the acid from the lemon or lime ‘cooks’ the fish it leaves a fresh flavor and a buttery texture. Ceviche has been integrated into may cultures and cuisines so today you will find a vast variety in how it can be prepared.
At Bulla Gastrobar, the Ceviche de Jalapeño is shrimp, fish, roasted jalapeño, fresh lime & orange served with plantain chips.
Pineapple!! The definition of tropical, pineapple is sweet, tart, juicy, refreshing, it is amazing. High in vitamin C and antioxidants, pineapple also aids in digestion. Eat it on its own, grilled, or cooked into something, however you do it have some pineapple!
Pineapple Jalapeño Agua FrescaThe whole loaf and a slice of Luscious Luau Bread. It has crushed pineapple, shredded coconut, purple carrot, and macadamia nuts.Pineapple Upside-down Cake
Peaches & cream. This will always be my first thought when I think peaches & cream. I think this was a 90s kid staple. Between early mornings for school and camping trips I had many a pack of instant oatmeal. I remember getting the brown sugar variety pack more often, but sometimes we got this one. The peaches & cream was the best, hands down.
Peanut butter cookies. This salty, sweet, nutty, buttery treat is a classic. I used to think of the homemade peanut butter cookies; always a little oily but oh so delicious. Second I used to think of Nutter Butters; peanut-shaped peanut butter cookies w a peanut butter cream filling.
Since getting Jesse Szewczyk’s book Cookies: The New Classics, the only peanut butter cookies for me are the PB&J Crème Pies. These are out of this world amazing: the soft texture of a crème pie with all the nostalgia of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I can not recommend this book enough! Everything I have made so far is delicious.
Bees! After your initial fear of getting stung subsides, your mind will probably go to honey: the honey bee. These little fuzzy black and yellow pollen goblins are not native to North America. Honey bees are a species originally from Eurasia. Over the years they have been shipped to farmers and honey enthusiasts around the world.
Beyond the honey bee there are over 20,000 species of bees with about 4,000 species native to North America. I had always thought the honey bee was the miracle worker behind our food chain. It would seem the unsung, solitary hero of our agricultural ability is the native blue orchard bee.
Honey bees tend to stick to lemons, almonds, and wild flowers. Blue orchard bees pollinate tomatoes, squash, and most stone fruit trees. Peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines, apricots, mangoes, raspberries, and olives are a few of my favorite stone fruits.
Blue orchard bees are a type of mason (or masonry) bee. Mason bees, rather than living large hives are more solitary, burrowing smaller tunnels or holes for their brood. They seal the entrance with clay or mud.
One of the easiest ways to help them is to get a house like this. This is a house created for mason bees. While they do not live in large hives, mason bees do like to be neighbors. The tunnels in the house provides a ready to move in commune, then the bees seal the entrance with mud.
Enriching the Community * Harvesting Home Ownership 