I made brownies from a box. Yeah, there will be no pictures. I also did massive writing work, but you know, I really need to make something I can look at.
So in the meantime, I’ll look at yours. What did you make this week?
I made brownies from a box. Yeah, there will be no pictures. I also did massive writing work, but you know, I really need to make something I can look at.
So in the meantime, I’ll look at yours. What did you make this week?
Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and co-author of twenty-three novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies. She lives in a cottage in Pennsylvania, where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.
Find out more about Jenny’s published works by visiting JennyCrusie.com
49 Responses
I managed to write a blog post, which is mostly about my need to recalibrate to get rid of some stress. It is unfortunately not full of great knitting, part of why I need to address my personal balance and get rid of stress. https://knitigatingcircumstances.com/2026/09/26/recalibrating/
Reducing stress is so hard. Good luck!
I made GF peanut butter peanut butter chip cookies and mailed them to my grandson, once I managed to get hold of his address at college. And then I spent the afternoon walking in the glorious Indian Summer sunshine.
Plan for today is a repeat of walking in the sunshine. Today I’m looking for Fringed Gentians:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CjEHSVWP9S3/?stkn=MXEzd28xbnJkanp6Yg==
They’re gorgeous!
It’s been a while since I participated; I’ve missed it.
“Show & Tell Tuesday.” 😀 What a lovely idea! I’m totally revamping my loft, and it’s in almost total disarray, but I’m looking forward to it being completed.
No show but I will tell you I made a vegetable pizza on a bleak Sunday. No tomato sauce. I sauteed frozen multicolored peppers, onions, sliced zucchini and yellow squash to lay across pizza dough with a few cherry tomatoes and dots of mozzarella cheese. Added seasonings. It was really good. What a difference without sauce.
Lately I’ve seen a lot of same recipes using Boursin cheese, chicken and orzo. Looked simple until I went to the store and priced it. I think I can do the same thing with cream cheese and dried herbs. Will give it a try.
Pesto on pizza instead of red sauce is also a nice change.
The price of everything is pretty disheartening, isn’t it? I am feeling the need to stockpile again against an uncertain future, and like I should be preserving more of the harvest while we have it, but my freezer is full and I don’t really have time to can.
Yesterday I received a letter in the mail that my trash company is raising the price of pickups due to the rising cost of diesel fuel. Vote blue!
Aldi sells a cream cheese spread with herbs and garlic that can sub for the Boursin quite nicely. It is called Gourmet spreadable cheese-garlic herb and they sell it in 6.5 oz tubs. And it costs several dollars less than than the real thing. But the store near me stocks a lot less of this flavor than the Cheddar Horeseradish flavor, so you might want to ask what day they get deliveries and look for it then.
Got another chapter written. Got a lot of outdoor work done and the fall cleanup has begun. I also got 9 loads of laundry done and dry – outside on some lines I set up across my oak and hickory trees…because my dryer took a dump with my ac over the last 3 weeks. The AC is now fixed. The whole house smells like sunshine and fresh air. The drum belt and pulley kit came in for the dryer… Let’s hope I guessed right and am still mechanically sound. Then I’ll have that done too. I have a really long list of projects to get done before snow hits… these were all unaccounted for side quests this week. However… my sister did take me for a chocolate tasting experience at our local bean to bar chocolate store…That was fun (& tastey)!
There is a new consignment style shop opening downtown in November, cheaper than the one where I currently have my little used bookshop, which i also in a different area of town. So, I am going to try it, assuming they get the renovations done on time. Lots of big plans and gloss, which makes me nervous, but not a lot of commitment as a vendor, so maybe worth a try?
I want to commit to a higher-end, artsy vibe for this one featuring a mix of 2D art and painted jackets and jeans. Which leaves me about a month to get inventory around. I don’t really want to offer items that are already listed in my etsy shop because frankly I am not organized enough to keep track of that. So despite my best efforts to pace myself, I am once again facing a time crunch. I am also still slowly preparing for a small solo show at a local restaurant in November. I stalled out a bit on serious painting but will need to get a several more pieces done.
And now that I am feeling a little better, I want to do EVERYTHING. Ideas are coming back, the urge to play with materials. Plus the need to get seasonal stuff listed to the vintage shop. I need more hours.
And I had a little half baked idea last night that it would be fun to partner with a local pizza shop to offer some sort of reading for pizza coupon to cash in on the nostalgia from old scholastic reading programs, but without me being in person at the book shop, I don’t really see how to make that workable.
We made s’mores around the fire pit with my sibling and her wife on Saturday night. Oh, and I made chili on Thursday because I had the day off.
Also contributed to my mom’s semiannual redesign by hauling her 10×15 wool rug (a really beautiful, expensive rug which she didn’t want in their space anymore for reasons) up two laborious flights of stairs to the top-floor media room. The cat is still not sure about this.
Aside from that, got my reading roundup post done at the blog and otherwise nothing I’ve done can be shown.
I invented a time travel machine. I’m actually posting this from next week.
For decades, my dad said that he was working on a time machine and a teleportation device. I’m glad you were able to complete one of his projects!
Do you rent it out? Cuz I have some… stuff to do. If the zombie apocalypse starts, it wasn’t my fault.
Could you travel post mid terms and tell us what happens?
I was thinking of going back in time and maybe moving a certain someone just an iiiinnnnchhh to the left on a certain day in PA. Or you know, even farther back and doing as much damage to as many as possible. We could make a list.
I started a new cross stitch project despite having several in various stages of development.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd3378bHADz/
New is always more exciting!
Cute!
That looks like it will be fun to work on. Have fun!
I made a bag. It’s a mid-size tote bag, and it came together really quickly. It’s nice that it stands up on it’s own! I’ll be making a couple more – and technically this one isn’t quite finished as I haven’t top-stitched the top edge, but it helped fill my creative need that had been languishing for a while.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd36asaKX67/
Still working on my crochet motifs. I think I’m in the 90s now, looking forward to getting to 143 of the little suckers done.
Very pretty! I love those colors!
Looks great! Fun colors!
OOh, That’s really pretty.
This weekend I meal prepped and made a pork loin, stuffed meatloaf (mozzarella stuffed), green beans, baked beans and mashed potatoes. I won’t have to cook the rest of the week.
I hastily quilted a baby quilt. https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd4IuK1kXtl/?stkn=dmZuZHYyMWdvdnlk
I also baked a cake and currently baking a loaf of bread. I have a new crochet project going too, but that’s going to take a while.
Very sweet baby quilt!
In my continuing effort to reduce the volume of my fabric stash, I have made another quilt (my brother suggested that I already have too many –crazy!).
The latest quilt is Xmas-themed. It’s rows and rows of trees, with one of the trees replaced by a Santa. It was a good way for me to use up some of my green fabrics, though this has not made a dent in what I have.
It came out pretty cute and I used soft flannel for the backing, so it should be cozy to use. I don’t have a photo of my quilt, but here is the pattern:
https://quiltwoman.com/products/santa-in-the-trees-quilt-downloadable-pattern
Other than that, what I did this past week was present at a big conference which, though it went well, was exhausting.
Looking forward to seeing your version! And you can never have too many quilts – you make them for yourself! Every now and then, you can gift one or two, but don’t let that stop you from making! (says the woman who doesn’t have a good grasp of how many quilts she has in her house!)
It is an adorable pattern! I have quilted one that had a Sasquatch in place of one of the trees. I am also certain that your brother has an abundant amount of something from your point of view.
I made a disastrous, I mean disastrous, slow cooker pot roast recipe that I’ve made successfully dozens of times in the past. So dreadful that the faces of people taking their first bites were comical, and no doubt matched my look of horror. No clue what went wrong.
I made an apple cream torte. It was delicious.
I just met with the first of two tree guys. The Mulberry is completely out of control, and the rubber tree (Ficus elastica) is going away. It rained nearly all morning, so the courtyard was a mess, but there was no way to fix that, so late.
I still have the ingredients for Shocko Nusskutchen, but it can wait. I have lovely yarn, in graduated colors, for a shawl, and it will be cool enough to wear it here, someday. I hope I will be able to see awel enough to crochet it, then.
Applause, everyone is so productive. Me, it takes an effort to remember to watch one episode the new Great British Bake Off series that is on currently. Nigella is judging, I did however buy a new acrylic paint set this week, so will try to paint some pictures before the next show and tell or just tell in my case
I am rooting for Mo because of his cat Simba.
I made sorrel soup and a Venmo account to let me pay people doing things for my mom.
And endless text messages with my sisters who do not seem able to grasp things on the first second or third try.
Are your siblings local? My long distance siblings couldn’t understand my Mother’s condition until they spent a few days in town with her. My French brother kept saying that he talked to her every day, but he wasn’t seeing the way she would wilt at the end of his call.
No. I’m in the DC area, they are in NY, mom is in Mass. They have seen her and I am going up soon. But the problem is with their understanding simple emails about her care. Or the care of her dog. The number of emails about ordering her more clothes, for example, or who will call the nurses to find out what is going on with mom’s hearing aids, or organizing ordering new lenses for her glasses and getting them paid and picked up. Everything is endless.
I’m sorry, Debbie. I often have similar issues with my sister when I as her to take on a task.
Could you share your recipe for sorrel soup, Debbie?
Sure. But I’m trying to get what I do right —I’ve done it so much I kind of do it by instinct. And I can’t find a recipe like mine on line . They all use many more ingredients.
This is for one gallon bag of sorrel loosely packed.
Rinse the sorrel and put it in a sauce pan. Cover with chicken or vegetable broth. Simmer just until it all turns dull green about 15 min. Cool enough to not burn you. ( You can refrigerate at this stage and finish another day if you want.)
Purée in batches in blender or food processor. If the stems were thick, pour through a sieve.
The rest of this assumes 1 quart of broth and will make a modestly thick soup. Adjust quantity of roux depending on amount of fluid and how thick you want it to be.
In a separate saucepan, melt four tablespoons of butter over medium low heat . Add four tablespoons of flour and cook about 2-3 minutes to make a roux. Add one ladle of broth and mix to get rid of lumps; continue to add one or two ladles of broth at a time until you have about an inch of fluid in the sauce pan and then you can add larger quantities. Bring to a simmering boil for a few minutes and turn off the heat. When the soup is cool enough that it won’t curdle the cream , add a half cup or more of light cream. Serve warm or chilled.
Sometimes I just drink the puréed broth as a tangy drink without doing the roux and cream.
I made a vegan birthday dinner for my husband and five family/friends – seitan piccatta cutlets with a lemony capers and olives sauce on mashed potatoes with a side of asparagus. Yummy.
Haven’t made anything, not even plans. Maybe next week.
Not sure if that counts but I made dinner yesterday… Over Covid, my husband took over cooking. His way of fun/chilling out after a long day at work. Less fun for us – while he’s a good chef, he tends to take his time and kiddo and I really hate our late dinner times. So kiddo set up a cooking schedule. Yesterday, it was my turn for the first time. Only got out of the office at 6 pm and had to get my stuff, so dinner wasn’t ready before 7:30 pm. Kiddo’s verdict “it’s edible” (short for “quite yummy” in our parts of the world). My very chaotic and creative Gnocchi Auflauf also was huge enought that the left-overs that will be lunch for at least one of us.
I could also do with less on my plate (non food wise). This year was crap. Well, my summer vacation was crap and totally useless when it comes to relaxation. So I feel stressed. Not good.
My stomach bug is much improved but still not gone, and I feel wiped out, so little or no work is getting done today, which may be upsetting things down the line, especially since when in recovery mode to make a big push to catch up is to ask for a relapse. Oh, well. I’m trying to roll with it.
I am the unofficial cook in our house of five now that my kids and granddaughter have moved in with us while their new house is being built. I made a basic chicken soup (which I don’t eat, but everyone else enjoys). Even though it has only five ingredients it is tasty- 4 Chicken thighs browned first, mirepoix ( 1 onion, two celery stalks, 3 carrots), noodles & or potatoes. I add 4 quatrs of water and Salt to taste. The trick is the salt it has a sharp bell curve between bland and salty. You have to add it after one hour of it boiling.
I also made Rice and pidgeon peas, this has more ingredients and yummy. We are still taking care of my granddaughter but only two days a week tomorrow is our last day, she will go full time next week. We can start resting and traveling soon!
I haven’t made anything photographable, but I did write a draft (for discussion) of a FAQ about my rare disorder that I’ve been meaning to do since January.
It struck me that we’ve got access to a lot of really basic info (memes, really) about my rare disease, and a lot of deep-in-the-scientific-weeds journal articles about it (of interest only to specialists who see a lot of this particular disease, of which there are perhaps twenty in North America!), but nothing for the primary care providers who are supposed to coordinate our care and need more than memes, but less than twenty-page articles they don’t have time to read for one patient and that are so complicated they require a glossary, even for the specialists!
I’m hoping my draft will start the conversation, to make more practical resources available to PCPs, and to patients who can then share them with their PCPs, with footnotes to the journal articles for when the PCPs don’t believe what patients say.
Gin, It sounds as if with luck when it goes live your FAQ could serve as a model for other communities of folks with rare disorders.