Thursday Thoughts #1
I'm not the best housekeeper in the world, I tend to ignore as much as possible and I'm quite good at that. (Just watch out and step back when I'm in cleaning mode)
But one thing I do notice is dust bunnies. And this place has plenty of them. Of course that doesn't mean I jump up and get the vacuum every time I see one. No No No.
The thing is, the bunnies were big and bad enough when they were just dust and fluff and my hair.
Now there's cat hair in the mix!
So the bunnies are bigger. And fluffier. And underfoot.
Not to mention under every damned thing else!
Time to get out the vacuum cleaner. Sigh.
So let's talk about Saffron.
Y'all know Saffron?
No no, not Zac Effron!
Saffron. S.A.F.F.R.O.N.
Little tiny threads of stuff that cost half a week's budget and are supposed to turn rice a lovely golden colour.
I see it all the time in magazines and recipe books.
Saffron rice.
Yellow as the sun. Golden deliciousness.
Well, I don't know where they get their saffron from, because I've bought saffron several times over the years and my saffron rice has never been golden. Never. Not once.
My saffron rice is pale pink. Like a pastel baby blanket pink.
Anyone else have this trouble? Is there more than one kind of saffron? Where do I get the stuff that turns my rice golden?
While we're on the subject of meatloaf, let me tell you I had a nice surprise when clearing out the freezer the other day. I was going shopping and knew I would need freezer space, so I emptied everything out to rearrange it. Now, my freezer isn't overly large, not one of those gigantic, out in the garage, fit two full sized deer in there, jobs.
No.
My freezer is at the bottom of my fridge and has two slide out baskets with a slide out shelf above them. That's it. So you wouldn't think anything would get lost in there. Right? Well, something did.
I emptied the freezer and there at the back left corner of the bottom basket was a blue oblong lunchbox. A totally forgotten, blue oblong lunchbox.
Containing several flat packages of sliced garlic meatloaf, ready for sandwiches.
Woo-Hoo!! Lunch! Several lunches in fact. So I took out one package to thaw for my lunchtime sammich, and repacked the freezer, being sure to put that blue oblong lunchbox right at the front.
What's gotten lost and forgotten in your freezer?
But one thing I do notice is dust bunnies. And this place has plenty of them. Of course that doesn't mean I jump up and get the vacuum every time I see one. No No No.
The thing is, the bunnies were big and bad enough when they were just dust and fluff and my hair.
Now there's cat hair in the mix!
So the bunnies are bigger. And fluffier. And underfoot.
Not to mention under every damned thing else!
Time to get out the vacuum cleaner. Sigh.
So let's talk about Saffron.
Y'all know Saffron?
No no, not Zac Effron!
Saffron. S.A.F.F.R.O.N.
Little tiny threads of stuff that cost half a week's budget and are supposed to turn rice a lovely golden colour.
I see it all the time in magazines and recipe books.
Saffron rice.
Yellow as the sun. Golden deliciousness.
Well, I don't know where they get their saffron from, because I've bought saffron several times over the years and my saffron rice has never been golden. Never. Not once.
My saffron rice is pale pink. Like a pastel baby blanket pink.
Anyone else have this trouble? Is there more than one kind of saffron? Where do I get the stuff that turns my rice golden?
While we're on the subject of meatloaf, let me tell you I had a nice surprise when clearing out the freezer the other day. I was going shopping and knew I would need freezer space, so I emptied everything out to rearrange it. Now, my freezer isn't overly large, not one of those gigantic, out in the garage, fit two full sized deer in there, jobs.
No.
My freezer is at the bottom of my fridge and has two slide out baskets with a slide out shelf above them. That's it. So you wouldn't think anything would get lost in there. Right? Well, something did.
I emptied the freezer and there at the back left corner of the bottom basket was a blue oblong lunchbox. A totally forgotten, blue oblong lunchbox.
Containing several flat packages of sliced garlic meatloaf, ready for sandwiches.
Woo-Hoo!! Lunch! Several lunches in fact. So I took out one package to thaw for my lunchtime sammich, and repacked the freezer, being sure to put that blue oblong lunchbox right at the front.
What's gotten lost and forgotten in your freezer?
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I think I once put turmeric in rice to make it yellowish.
ReplyDeleteAha! I'll tell you what got lost in my freezer quite recently in fact and I could've cried when I saw it - an icecream! And I didn't see it when I was pulling the pantry and fridge apart to find something when I desperately wanted to break my diet one night! -sigh-
ReplyDeleteAs for the rice, I'm afraid I'm only a brown rice kinda girl :(
I've lost things in the freezer that I was afraid to find out what they used to be.
ReplyDeleteOh, the dust bunnies! Two long haired cats, a long haired dog and a universe that sheds the dust to bind them into bunnies.
ReplyDeleteIgnoring all the interesting things in your post I homed in on the one thing that could bring tears to my eyes....my daddy called them sammiches too.
ReplyDeleteIf only I could knit, Jazz n Jewel moult enough for me to knit another cat... There is fur on everything in this house.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, things have indeed got lost in our freezer. Too often.
Hi River,
ReplyDeleteSomewhere under our Jack Russell dog hairs is an actual carpet. Of course, the vacuum cleaner refuses to suck up said hairs. A new vacuum cleaner? That sucks!
The stuff you find in the back of freezers. A fridge too far, methinks. I found a crushed up pizza in the back of my freezer.
Gary :)
Andrew; turmeric does work but it is strongly flavoured, fine if you need flavour, but not if all you want is yellow rice.
ReplyDeleteRose~from OZ; I found an icecream in my freezer too, a pine-lime splice, which I ate immediately of course.
joeh; my daughter has things like that in her fridge.
joanne; so you know exactly what I'm talking about!
Delores; it's one of my favourite words, sammiches. I learned it here in blogland. Our family always said samwidge, and I thought that was correct until I learned sandwich.
Elephant's Child; the last thing you need is another cat. Even a knitted one is sure to shed.
klahanie; a pizza? How could you lose a whole pizza?? I imagine a new vacuum cleaner would suck.
You have one cat I have four and a dog that visits, my dust bunnies are giant hares.
ReplyDeleteI move things a lot and clean behind then, when Angus lived here I didn't move the lounge for about 8 months and the hair was oozing over the back of it but the thing was I didn't notice but one day a visitor did and pointed it out I'm more aware now.
I know what you mean about saffron, if I want yellow rice I use yellow food colouring but I like white rice.
Things would go into my fridge and would be gone but sometimes I find things that I've never seen before and no one knows where they have come from maybe the fridge is haunted.
Merle..............
Merle; a haunted fridge!
ReplyDeleteAt least your dog and four cats go outside part of the time. That must help. I don't move stuff to clean behind much anymore, there really isn't much room to be pushing things aside just for the sake of getting behind with a broom or vacuum. So I ignore it as long as I can.
HumMMM that is the weirdest colour... you should post pics. I have to wonder if other minerals got mixed up in there somehow.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried to make saffron rice so can't help you with that one.
ReplyDeleteAs for cat hair. When Phil empties the little upright cordless vacuum cleaner he always says there's enough hair in there to make another cat!!
I find the worst place is on the overhead fans. All the edges get covered and when I get the long handled duster to remove it is just very fine cat hair.
We even brush Precious every day but she still seems to shed particularly as she loses her winter coat each year.
You were lucky in finding that stored meatloaf. A wonderful find.
A book went in the mail to you yesterday. I think I maybe have another 2 or 3 and that will be it.
Happy Christine; perhaps it is cheaper saffron from a third world country? I'll have to check where it is from next time I'm in the supermarket. I haven't bought any for a long time.
ReplyDeleteMimsie; Most of the fluff under the bed and couch is cat hair, occasionally I find strands of really long hairs from Angel's tail.
Thanks for all the books, my son is enjoying them too and passing them to his workmates.
With the amount of under coat that Jack sheds (even with copious brushing), I have rolls of spinifex tumbling across the floors every time a door is opened.
ReplyDeleteAfter five German Shepherds, a Rottweiler, three horses, two rabbits, two cats, four goats, two orphan kangaroos, a huge Merino sheep, two geese, myriad hens, chicks and roosters and many poddy calves, I'm used to furballs and massive dust bunnies of all colours and textures, lol.
And, I trained myself a long time ago to not be OCD about cleaning - less stress when living in the country.
I once tried saffron, it was not the gold I expected. I was told that there are different varieties depending on country of origin that give better colour - but one has to pay for it. I'll pass.
My freezer, above our medium sized fridge, is quite small, so nothing goes amiss - it's usually filled with Jack's homemade, frozen meals and pastry sheets. And, ice cream - and I can tell you, I never forget that's in there :)
When my kids were little they used to eat those icees, tubes of flavored ice. Every singe time I clean out my fridge I find one or two hiding somewhere.
ReplyDeleteDid you crush the saffron with a pinch of salt with the pestle and mortar to release the yellow colour before adding the mixture to the rice?
ReplyDeleteAfter crushing the saffron with salt , add some boiling water and steep for 30 min. Then add the mixture to the rice.
ReplyDeleteRiver, Never made saffron rice, but just bought some saffron (marked down at Home Goods). I think I'll try mm's directions above.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I relate to dust bunnies. In this house they remind me of tumbleweed sometimes!
Vickie
Ha! I smiled all the way through this. I have tons of dust bunnies, too, because of good, old Vern! And the biggest problem is that I hardly ever see them...therefore I forget that they're even there! Why do I not see them? Both the carpet and the ceramic floors in this townhouse are the same color as VERN!! :)
ReplyDeleteI bought a funny contraption that is really nothing but a large lint roller...for floors! It's called a Lola Rola Sticky Mop! :)
And it works great!! I "roll" the couch, the bedspreads, and sometimes the kitchen floor!!
OH, and yes, I've found things in my freezer I forgot I had...but nothing that looked salvageable!
Vicki; did you have those animals all at once? inside? what am I saying...of course you didn't keep a horse inside! I used to have such clean surfaces a person could eat off them, but since I stopped working I've got fairly slack.
ReplyDeleteI try to brush Angel, but he will only take a few minutes of it and I can't brush his belly at all.
My freezer is mostly filled with homemade meals too, I have a cooking weekend coming up starting tomorrow.
Karen BakingInATornado; I remember those Icees, over here they are called super doopers and my kids had them every summer.
mm; crush the saffron? pinch of salt? boiling water? NONE of this is ever mentioned in recipes I read. they all say "add a pinch of saffron" and that's it. How annoying. Thanks for the tip.
Musings, Tea and Me; let me know how the saffron goes, if it turns golden, let me know what brand you bought. Then I can search for it here. Tumbleweeds is a good name for dust bunnies.
Becky; that's very handy having a cat the same colour as your floors! You could stomp down on those dust bunnies until they mat and form an extra warm layer.
I think I'll search for a Lola Rola Sticky Mop. I'd like to get the hairs off my bed at least.
I had most of the above animals all at one time - feeding time took ages!
ReplyDeleteOf course, the bigger guys (horses, sheep, goats) had to live outside.
One of my horses, Nina, would come inside to the back room and stand there watching me paint. I think she thought that room was her own personal stable :)
I miss the country and all my brood. I'd love to own a farmlet and have milking goats again.
The more expensive the saffron the better the flavour and colour but you do have to steep it in hot water first.
ReplyDeleteI have given up calling them dust bunnies and with a white cat shedding as a hobby, I just tell everyone my dark dresses are cashmere.