October 24, 2008

Well, I certainly hope you’re happy, LilSis!  You just had to dangle that Food Network Magazine carrot in front of me, didn’t you?  You know that I have a magazine addiction, and that I’ve been in recovery for a couple of years now and that I’m still vulnerable.  You’d probably take a platter of brownies to a Weight Watcher’s meeting, wouldn’t you?  Ok, maybe that’s a little harsh.  I’m sorry.  But you DID just MAKE me subscribe to another ding dang magazine!  Drats!  At least I get a trial issue, and if I don’t LOVE it more than Kettle Chips and Helluva Good French Onion Dip, I’m canceling the whole thing.  I’m not kidding, I’ll do it.  I mean it this time!  I’m serious!

Stop me before the whole bag is gone!

Hello, My Darling!

I did have a little problem with magazines piling up a while back.  I was taking Natural Health, Allure, InStyle and maybe one other.  Could have been Vegetarian Times or Real Simple. Just like you said, if you get behind on reading and tossing them every month, they accumulate and become a huge source of stress.  You don’t want to throw them away if you haven’t even looked at them yet… that’s wasting money!  So they go into a stack that gets bigger, and bigger and bigger until it’s the size of a middle school child.

So, when I moved from the condo in Arlington a couple of years ago, I had 3 weeks notice to move out and there was zero time for packing.  I had to get ruthless, and I did.  I took that Eiffel Tower of magazines to the dumpster and didn’t look back.  Now, I’m taking Bon Appetit (not loving it like I used to so this one won’t get renewed), Domino ( ditto), and More (loving it).  Since I just moved again and have been super busy the last few months, I must admit I have a little pile of magazines on my end table.  But I refuse to allow my past sins to be repeated, and I promise that this weekend I WILL go through them.  By Monday the little pile will be no more.  Since I’m still recuperating from the Nasty Virus, this will be a great productive project for me!

So by the time my new Food Network Magazine gets here, I won’t feel guilty.  Woo hoo!  And anyway, it’s the end of October.  It’s time to start buying all the holiday baking magazines!  😉

~BigSis

October 23, 2008

I’m terrible at being sick.  I’ve thankfully been blessed with a healthy life so far, so illness has been an oddity for me.  I hate to be sick, to talk about being sick, or to really even acknowledge that I’m sick.  And once the illness has passed, I try to charge back into my normal life as though nothing ever interrupted it.

When this Nasty Virus attacked my body the beginning of this month, however, there was no denying that I was sick.  They don’t put well people into the hospital for 4 days, do they?  Finally, after 3 full weeks, I can see recovery in the future although I can’t quite get there yet.

So this bug hit with a vengeance, caused a lot of trouble, took it’s time in leaving the building, and demanded my attention.  And this time, I can’t get back to my normal life at the speed of light.  So, as I’m recuperating, I’m thinking and I’m looking closely at this whole experience.

As a Christian, I know that God has a plan for my life and that He allowed this to happen for a reason.  I don’t believe in coincidences and I don’t believe in luck.  God either causes something to happen or He allows it.  Otherwise He isn’t God, right?  So I ask myself, what should I be learning from this?  What is the take-away?  I know there is good to glean from it because Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.  In Nasty Virus Part 2, I’ll look at some of the things I’ve learned and am still learning from this experience.

~BigSis

October 21, 2008

What the “L” is BigSis up to?

• Lunching on the new Barilla Piccolini; cute little baby bow ties that are a tasty fun way to stay on this darn bland diet.
• Leafing through the new Allure October issue with their editors’ Best of Beauty Products feature.
• Lecturing coworkers about the importance of passing Proposition 2 in California.
• Limiting my desire to hoard every last package of Mother’s Coconut Cocadas cookies since the company folded after 92 years in business.  Sniff!  You may still be able to find some Cocadas and pink sprinkly Circus Animals cookies on store shelves, but don’t dawdle!
• Lazing around watching my favorite Food Network show “Barefoot Contessa“.  This lady really cooks, and her cookbooks are fabulous!
• Loving the Green Chili and Garlic Goat cheese from La Cuesta Farm in Texas.  I bought it over the summer from the Farmer’s Market, now I have to go to Central Market for it.

~BigSis

October 20, 2008

I can’t believe it’s October already, much less 2/3 of the way through the month!  Before we know it, Thanksgiving will be here, then Christmas, then 2009!  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let’s not fast-forward to November just yet.

I’m not a Halloween-celebrater myself, but lots of people are, including Martha Stewart.  As with everything else she does, Martha covers every possible aspect of this topic: food, decorating, costumes, pumpkin carving, party ideas, anything you can imagine.  If you need help with Halloween, Martha’s your woman!

Do you have a hankering to carve a lacy design on your pumpkins?  No problem.

Are you desperate for costume ideas for the family?  No worries.

Maybe you’re dying to make a centerpiece that looks like rotten eggs and worms!  Gotcha covered.

Or perhaps you’d like to make cute decoupaged treat buckets for your little ones?  Here you go.

I think these Ladies Fingers and Men’s Toes are hilarious and if I were doing Halloween, this is the kind of thing I’d make.

And these little petit four ghosts are too cute!

People love to bash on Martha, but I for one see nothing bash-worthy about the pursuit of excellence and cuteness in the things you do!  And if you have Halloweenish things to do, check out Martha!  She’s got you covered.

~BigSis

October 17, 2008

We introduced the furkids this week, and anyone who knows me and LilSis knows that we’re big animal lovers. We always had animals growing up, and we’ve both always had animals as adults. LilSis always had dogs til TomTom sauntered into her house, and I’ve always had cats. Somehow, if there is a high-maintenance health-impaired cat to be cared for, it manages to find its way into my family. So out of necessity I have become an expert on the challenges of cleaning up feline bodily fluids (and not-so-fluids), including, but not limited to, urine, vomit, hairballs, and poop. Sorry to be graphic, but if you’re a cat lover, at some time or other you will need the straight scoop (so to speak) on dealing with these problems. However, you may want to check on what your feline creatures eat if they vomit too much because that’s not a good sign of a healthy cat. A good way to ensure that your cat eats healthy is by feeding him nutritional supplements such as the ultimate pet nutrition.

The worst problem of all in my experience is a cat who urinates outside of the litter box. It goes without saying that the first thing you need to do is get the cat to the vet to determine if there is a health issue responsible for the problem. Then you can move on to the stain and odor issue that has you googling how to clean a rug. It can be difficult because not all rugs are made from the same materials and most of them have individual care instructions attached which means there isn’t one solution that can fix-all. We understand that it can be a daunting task and you may find it easier to look for someone that does Rug Cleaning Toorak based, or whatever area you are in. I tried virtually everything over the last couple of years with Warren Bitey. He literally soaked the carpet in my last apartment, but when I moved out I got my full deposit back because there was no trace of urine left in that carpet. I kid you not. Here’s the only solution – don’t mess around with anything else, you’ll just waste your money and the peeing will continue because the odor is still there. The only product to buy is called UrineOff. You can buy it from some vets, but I found their prices to be about double the direct online price, plus they only carried the 16 ounce spray bottle and my problem was bigger than that!This stuff is not cheap – about $40 plus shipping for a gallon, but it WORKS and is worth every penny. You saturate the carpet and let the enzymatic solution work its magic. I found it works best if you let it slowly dry without a fan blowing on it. If you have a badly soiled area, it may need a couple of treatments, but don’t give up.

Hopefully, you don’t have the mega-problem of cat urine. But chances are you do have the random hairball barf, a full-blown vomit spot, a dirty hiney spot on your carpet (gross), or even a poop accident. What do you do for those stains? You won’t believe it when I tell you because I didn’t believe the professional carpet cleaner when he told me. You get a wide-mouth jar with a screw-on lid, and you fill it with the Magic Solution of 1 part white vinegar to 10 parts club soda. That’s it. To use it, get a supply of unprinted white paper towels. If there is any solid matter on the stain, remove it first. This is nasty to say, but if a hairball has dried on your carpet while you were away, you can usually just peel it off the carpet and proceed. Take a paper towel and saturate it with the Magic Solution. Dab it generously onto the stain until it’s pretty wet. Then you want to gently massage the solution into the carpet, but don’t rub. Change to a clean wet paper towel as you need to, and then switch to dry paper towels as you see the stain lifting. With the dry paper towels, dab dab dab, turning to a fresh spot of towel. Keep dabbing until the carpet is as dry as you can get it. If the stain was really heinous, it may be best to do the cleaning in 2 sessions. You don’t want to push the soil down into the pad. Let the spot dry after one session, and then come back the next day for a second try. I’ve never had a stain resist the second treatment, and I lived with 3 cats on off-white carpet for 10 years!

If the trick doesn’t work, I’m afraid you would have to call in an expert Carpet Cleaning Joplin, MO (if you’re from Joplin City, Missouri) like the ones at Sharp Chem-Dry and others to get your carpet spanking clean! It might be a bit of a pocket pinch than your regular home remedies, but it will leave your carpet looking brand new.

Nevertheless, I really hope these two miracle workers will make your life with cats a little bit easier, as they have mine! Give them a try and share your results with me!

~BigSis

October 15, 2008

We’ve been posting for a couple of weeks now, and it’s high time that the furkids made their first appearance on BigSisLilSis.  I’ll be using some restraint in choosing the photos to put up first of the guys, since they are some of my favorite models and I do have a slight “Crazy Cat Lady” tendency.  I’ll start with one group photo and just one of each boy.

3 Furboys

This is one of the very few times that all three boys were in the frame at once, and they weren’t scuffling!  Or worse!

Gabriel

This is Gabriel, named for the Angel Gabriel in the Bible.  He can be a little angel but he’s usually rascally.  He’s 5 years old, and wandered up to my condo when he was only 8-10 weeks old.  HayHay was the first to spot him; a scrawny black kitten with big eyes and ears who was having so much fun playing with grass and wind and bugs and leaves that he didn’t realize the gravity of his predicament.  We never knew if he’d been orphaned or just got separated from his mom and sibs.  What we did know is that we fell in love with him in about 5 minutes and he had found his furever home.

AshyPoo

Ashton was named by the Siamese Rescue group here in Dallas, but he’s always AshyPoo to me.  He was also a street urchin like Gaby but his story took some hard twists.  He was picked up by the pound in Austin when he was a little over a year old.  He’d already lost the sight in one eye, and had a bum knee, allergies, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, and feline bartonella as we would learn later.  Siamese Rescue saved him from the pound and brought him up to Dallas, where he spent 6 months waiting for someone to overlook his problems.  Guess who was on the scene again?  HayHay, of course.  I only had one cat at the time and wanted another Siamese.  I saw Ashton on the web site, and took HayHay with me to go meet him.  I was leaning toward a Snowshoe Siamese named Peter, but HayHay took to Ashton immediately and away he went with us to his furever home.  He’s probably around 10 years old now, and is having more trouble with his asthma and arthritis in that knee now, but he’s still as thankful for his home now as he was then.  He’s the most compliant, eager-to-please cat that I’ve ever known.  Check out his pretty blue nails, as evidence of how agreeable he is!

Warren Bitey

My big Warren Bitey isn’t with us any more, but I can’t talk about the kitties without mentioning him.  He’s only been gone about 5 months, and was only a week shy of his 17th birthday when it was clearly time to let him go.  His kidneys had been failing for a while, and he was just having a horrible time with everything.  Warrie and I had a lot of good years together though – almost a third of my entire life was with him.  A friend of a friend told me about this last little kitten from an unwanted litter, who wasn’t very friendly so his person was taking him to the pound the next day if I didn’t want him.  No pressure there!  Of course I took him.  He was shy, and he went through an extended period of fearful aggression, but he came through it as a sweet cat although still aloof to some people.  He managed to get through 3 attacks of pancreatitis, and still kept his fighting weight of 18 to 19 pounds.  He was a good friend, and I hope I get to see him again some day.

So those are the furkids.  Stay tuned for “Cats in Hats” photos on Halloween!  There is nothing on this planet that is funnier to me than a cat in a cute hat!

~BigSis

October 13, 2008

Although October 12th is the “real” date that Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering America, we’re celebrating it today and we have more than the obvious reason to celebrate it. Did you know the whole mission of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria was to try to find a shorter route to the spices and silks in the Orient? True, Columbus and his crew stumbled upon a spot in the Bahamas and claimed it for Spain, but just as exciting (arguably) is that Columbus introduced the capsicum to Europe and that’s spelled “pepper” to you and me.

What would cooking be like without peppers? Without spices? I say it would be boring. Since my favorite cuisines are Mexican and Italian, I can’t imagine a New World without spice. And I can’t imagine a spicy world without Penzeys.

I talked about my love for Penzeys a little bit last week in my Sunday Supper post.  Oh how I love me some Penzeys!  Even when I’m on a bland diet and can’t be a very spicy girl, I just like to think about Penzeys and imagine the reunion we’ll have soon.  They have a retail store here in Dallas where you can wander around and smell every item they carry.  If you aren’t close to one of their stores around the country, don’t despair!  You can order online or download a catalog if you prefer to browse their products offline.  My experience is that the Penzeys products are all fresh, all high quality, and all powerful so you need to use less of them. I love that you can buy the cute little baby jars of items that you never use up, so you aren’t invested in a ginormous bottle of cloves or allspice that will get old before you need it all.

Plus, they have a huge assortment of proprietary spice blends that you can’t find anywhere else.  And they do really cute gift boxes.  What’s not to love about this spice haven!  Oh, and as a bonus they have great recipes on their web site.  I’m eying this one for Banana Bread.  It has buttermilk instead of higher-fat sour cream, plus it uses their Baking Spice which I’ve almost picked up a couple of times.  It’s one of their special blends with cinnamon, mace, anise and cardamom.  Sounds like a great fall addition to my spice cabinet.

What are my favorites?  Let me see if I can whittle the list down a little bit.

• Mexican Vanilla

• Cinnamon

• Southwest Seasoning

• Lemon Pepper

• Shallot Pepper

• Freeze Dried Shallots

• Ground Chipotle

• Toasted Granulated Onion

• Salt-Free Mural of Flavor

• Sandwich Sprinkle

That’s my Spice Hall of Fame for today, but tomorrow it may change. Hey LilSis, I know you have a different list of Penzeys loves since I turned you on to them.  What are your favorites?

~BigSis

October 12, 2008

After 4 days in the hospital, I’ve been sprung!  Woo hoo!  I’m going to post later on what I learned from this out-of-the-blue experience, but for now I have to say I’m very very happy to be home.  This episode appears to have been the result of a random virus that hopped on me when I hopped on a plane from California to Texas a couple of weeks ago. All I can say is that it was N-A-S-T-Y and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, not even the people who annoy me most in this world.

So.  This Sunday’s supper isn’t about what’s on the menu, because the menu for the next couple of weeks is supposed to be bland and easy-to-digest.  This supper is about being thankful for being home, and having my little bowl of potato soup at my little table instead of in a hospital room, and enjoying the beautiful flowers I received this last week.  Thank you to everyone who sent flowers and their well wishes and prayers.  I appreciate you!

BigSis Sunday Supper October 12

Still beautiful after almost a week

Orchid with curious Gaby in corner

~BigSis

October 5, 2008

When I was making tonight’s Sunday Supper, it occurred to me that my plate was a lot like the presidential race this year.  There are some similarities on each side, but there is a wide gap in-between the two parties and the two philosophies.  And, yes, I do have an opinion about the race.  A pretty strong opinion I would say, but no, I’m not about to say what that opinion is.  We’d all fight and argue about it, somebody would get mad, and guess what – no one’s opinion would be changed.  So I’ll keep mine to myself.

Back to the supper.  I always enjoy the edamame corn salad that you can get at Whole Foods, because it’s tasty and easy, and pretty healthy.  But it’s a tad too raw-oniony for me, and it just seems silly to pay whatever it costs per pound when it’s only corn and soybeans and a few dressing ingredients.  You can’t put together a dish for less than this little baby costs if you do it yourself.

I was craving the salad today, and decided to try two different variations of it tonight since I had the corn and edamame in the freezer.  One version is Asian-inspired, and one Southwest-inspired.  But, man (or woman) can’t lived on soy and corn alone, so I made a lettuce, tomato and avocado salad to go with it.  In the little political/salad scenario going on in my head, the two edamame corn salads are the democrats and republicans, and the LTA salad is in the gap between them.  Ok, so it’s a little goofy to compare beans and corn to the dems and the reps, but life can get too serious, right?

BigSis Supper October 5

Both of the salads started with sauteed red onion and garlic. The asian variety added toasted sesame oil, olive oil, rice vinegar, lemon juice, garlic chili sauce, and salt, plus cilantro, wasabi powder, and shallot pepper all from Penzey’s.  The southwest version had lemon juice, cider vinegar, olive oil, and salt, with more Penzey’s specialties: shallot pepper, lemon pepper, and  Southwest seasoning.  I have to say both were really good, although I expect they will morph a little bit as they sit overnight.  The flavors will blend, and my lunch experience tomorrow may be a tad different story than my dinner tonight.  I’m slightly fearful that the wasabi powder will rear it’s ugly little green head overnight and come back to bite me in the fanny tomorrow.

And just in case you’re wondering, yes, that whole ding dang plate of food was just for one person! You may have heard that vegetarians eat like birds, so let me dispel that myth right here and now.  We eat!   I ate the whole thing!  My tummy was full to the top, but it was a guilt-free full.  This meal was vegan except for Newman’s Own Caesar Dressing.  It was full of fiber and protein, and a plethora of antioxidants and other goodies for my bod. I eat this way a lot of the time.  I’m not a twig by any means, but I’m not overweight either.  I try to eat for health and energy and fuel most of the time, and don’t worry about a big plate of vittles if it’s good stuff.  Which isn’t to say that I don’t have my crazed Kettle potato chip episodes, because I do!  Life’s about balance, right? Eat well most of the time, and then don’t freak out about your little splurge!

On a serious note, can I just say thank you to Paul Newman for so many wonderful high-quality organic products? And for living a life with a purpose, and apparently without scandal? God bless you, Paul; rest in peace.

~BigSis

October 4, 2008

The battle against cellulite is never-ending, isn’t it?  Since we didn’t get SisMama’s cellulite-free genes, we’ll always be looking for the new best cure for the dimply little problem.

I really did like the FatGirlSlim.  I used it for quite a while.  It smelled nice, the cream soaked into the skin well without leaving any stickiness, and it really did seem to give the appearance of smoother skin, thanks to the caffeine in it.

BTW, why does topical caffeine reduce cellulite and eye puffiness, but eating or drinking caffeine-laced products is thought to make it worse?  I don’t get it.  Anyway, I bought it several times at $25 for a 6 ounce jar, then it went to $27 and I kept buying it.  What’s 2 more dollars in the search for smooth thighs?  But when it went to $29, I was out.  The jar doesn’t last very long, and I had reached my budget threshhold.

I searched around on the reviews on MakeUpAlley, and found recommendations for a couple of products.  Neither was too pricey, so I gave them a whirl.  Loreal’s Sublime Slim is another caffeine-containing product.  It’s more of a gel consistency, and again soaked in well, and did make my skin feel smooth.  At a price point of only around $15, it seemed well worth it.  However, I did get to the point where I wanted to eliminate caffeine from my life for health reasons, so my Sublime Slim had to go.   Bummer.

Next, I tried Weleda’s Birch Cellulite Oil.  It comes in a 3.4 ounce glass bottle, which wouldn’t be my packaging preference since it is an oil and your hands get slippery.  You can usually find it for between $15 and $20.  I have to admit it’s a little hard to get used to at first.  It’s an all natural green oil with a very strong herbal aroma, which comes from birch and rosemary.  You don’t need much of it, maybe a nickel-sized amount, so the bottle lasts a long time.  It does a good job of moisturizing, and I like that it gives your skin a warm feeling when you massage it in.  I’m not sure how much of a tightening effect I see, the jury is still out on that.  I’m using it now, and alternating it with the Forever Spring kit that LilSis talked about.

I like the Forever Spring Body Smoother kit fine, but I’m not sold on it yet.  The soap smells nice and the loofah does what it’s supposed to do – exfoliate, but I have a little bit of a hard time getting much lather from the soap since it’s encased in the loofah.  The Firm-It gel reminds me of an aloe vera gel, it feels nice and cool, but I’m not sure how much smoothing I’m seeing, and it seems a tad stickier that the Sublime Slim gel.  The lotion in the kit seems to be a nice standard body lotion.  The kit costs $38.50, but you can buy the loofah soaps separately.

So.  I’ve eliminated the products that I think are most effective since they containe caffeine.  I’m going to keep using the Weleda Cellulite Oil and the Forever Spring kit since they’re my best options right now.  Maybe something new and cool will come along meanwhile.

~BigSis