Leo should be happy since his beloved White Sox finally made the MLB playoffs after 3 straight years of losing 100+ games.

I thought the Euro countries didn't like American tourists anymore???

Many people just don't cook these days. I find it really sad that mums don't think it's important to feed their children well. Jamie Oliver did a series a few years ago about cooking cheap, fast and healthy meals and one Mum said she had to take her child to Macdonald and had never cooked for her child. Everyone blames it on a lack of education. I don't know what it's like in Australia or the States, but in Britain, you'd have to live with your head in a bucket not to be educated about food. It's on TV all day every day.

They aren’t inherently out of style, but if they interrupt the view across your kitchen, removing them can make that sightline feel more open. I’d test the lighting before deciding: after dark, leave the pendants off and use only your existing recessed lights while you prep at the island. Check whether the countertop is bright enough and whether your head or body casts a shadow where you work. If the island still has comfortable task light, a pendant-free ceiling could be a nice, calmer choice. If not, have an electrician plan the replacement light locations and dimming rather than simply taking the pendants down; the existing cans may light the room without lighting the work surface. You can choose this based on the room and how you use it, not on whether pendants are “in.”

No, they aren’t out of style. I’m going with three simple flush mounts though as my ceilings are only 8’ and I personally find them distracting.

No clue whether they're in or out of style. Doesn't matter to me -- I don't like hanging light fixtures, so I have recessed.

When I've had a day like that, usually DH will offer to get takeout or cook dinner himself. If he doesn't, I'll just say I'm too tired to cook and we'll just have to scrounge whatever looks good from the fridge.

I just stocked up on Campbells "Chicken Gumbo Soup". It was on sale for .99cents! "0) Now...if I don't feel like cooking...I can open a can of soup! Hot and delicious! No clean up!

Roasted Eggplant Salad With Leeks and Cilantro Leaves

Adapted from “Vietnamese Home Cooking” by Charles Phan (Ten Speed Press)

TOTAL TIME

45 minutes

Ingredients

· 1/4 cup soy sauce

· 1/4 cup sugar

· 1/4 cup water

· 1 tablespoon white vinegar

· 1 tablespoon Vietnamese chile-garlic sauce (tuong ot toi) or sriracha

· 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

· 1/4 cup canola oil, plus extra for pans

· 12 baby leeks, well washed, or thick scallions

· 3 and 1/2 pounds Japanese or other thin-skinned eggplants

· Salt and black pepper

· 1 and 1/2 cups loosely packed cilantro leaves and sprigs, plus about 12 sprigs for garnish, if desired

· Chopped roasted peanuts, optional.

Preparation

1. Make the dressing: stir soy sauce, sugar, water and vinegar together until sugar dissolves. Stir in chile sauce and lime juice, taste and adjust the seasonings. There should be a good balance of sweet, salty, tangy and hot.

2. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a large baking sheet, preferably nonstick. Trim dark green tops off leeks (or scallions) and discard. Leaving stem ends intact, cut leeks in half lengthwise with the tip of a sharp knife. Place cut side down on prepared pan, drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, turning once, until soft and charred in spots, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside to soften.

3. Trim stem ends off eggplants and discard. Cut eggplants into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, toss pieces with remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Oil the baking pan again. (Use 2 if needed to prevent crowding.) Spread eggplant on pans and roast, turning pieces once or twice, until soft, browned and charred in spots, about 15 minutes total.

4. When eggplant is cool enough to handle, transfer to a serving bowl. Cut leeks crosswise into 1-inch pieces, discarding stem ends, and add to eggplant. Lightly chop cilantro and add.

5. Stir dressing and pour half over the salad, tossing gently until evenly coated. Taste and add more dressing, salt and pepper as needed. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and chopped peanuts, if using.

YIELD

6 to 8 servings.

Baked Eggplant

Some 30 years ago I tried to make ratatouille and failed. Out of frustration and a desire to eat eggplant this recipe evolved. Very simple and tasty. Warning: let them cool for at least 10 minutes after you take them out of the oven!

Cut an eggplant into 1/2" thick sections and place on a greased cooking sheet. Coat them with melted butter mixed with minced garlic. Put a slice of provolone cheese and a slice of sweet onion on each one. Put some sliced tomatoes on next. I usually use big tomatoes to get a single slice but all I had today were some Roma tomatoes. Cover with grated parmesan cheese and dust with fresh black pepper or jerk rub (these were done with pepper). Bake at 420 degrees for around 25 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown.

Thanks Trailrunner. I used to buy peanut oil in 5 gallon jugs to deep fry turkeys at Thanksgiving, but don't use it any longer because my grandson has a peanut allergy. I've heard the oil might not affect those with the allergy, but no way I'm willing to risk it. I've only used avocado or olive oil for years. I just bought some grapeseed oil to season a beautiful hand forged skillet I bought from a local artisan - his recommended oil. It looks to be a good option for high temp cooking. I really don't fry anything any more.

My must- have: the husband who cooks and has a lovely meal ready for me when I pull late nights at work. I recommend you get one of these, but they don't come cheap.

Yes sump pumps come with their own issues like when DH ran up against the plug when removing the hose reels from storage-basement flooded....we've never had two pumps but we do now have an alarm on it so we know if it doesn't function. Outside is always the place to begin when fighting water, but I am assuming you have. It's no easier or cheaper to regrade a yard...and frankly the french drain and sump take all the guess work out of it. If you have an unfinished basement it's the way to go. If it mean trashing a living space...I would start with the outside work. We have found keeping the downspouts properly functioning can made a huge differance.

In our house in St. Louis we had intermittent trouble with basement damp and the sump pump. When we sold the house we told prospective buyers we were putting in a french drain along three walls but only AFTER we moved out and before they moved in. We did not want to turn the house over to a new owner with a huge potential problem. We paid for the work in advance and had a rider on the contract that the house could not be moved into until the work was completed. I think it was scheduled to take four days. Two couples tried to talk us out of it bc they wanted the house at a lower price (minus the waterproofing work) but we stuck to it. The work came with a lifetime guarantee for the owner at the time the work was completed. An appreciative architect bought the house.

I just got out of the shower and wss able to recall and sing the entire song. As I remember we sang “ shout down my rain barrel, slide down my cellar door”. Good thing I live alone.

This will now be the soundtrack of my day.

I'm not familiar with her but it sounds like she was a lovely person. Our relationships with "strangers" on the internet are very complicated, as evidenced right in this tiny part of it!

Fun, I wasn’t aware of this blog before your post, so went over to take a look. I wish I had known of it; I like the topics and beautiful photos and Mary was clearly very gracious and lovely.

I’m sorry for her loved ones and readers. I remember being so shocked and sad when I heard Joni of Cote de Texas passed a few years ago, so understand how it feels. Those early blogs were such a different internet time and I really miss the connections and inspiration from them.

Hugs. 🤍

I used to listen to an early morning radio program hosted by a favourite radio personality whose drive program I had previously enjoyed. The host was relatively young (56) and a really, really nice person, always kind to his callers and guests, spearheading many charity drives, I've never heard anyone say a bad word about him.

Then one morning I turned the radio on in the car and heard the then drive presenter's voice. He announced with great sadness that the morning presenter had passed away in his sleep. I cried all the way to work and I'm tearing up now as I type, even though it was four years ago. I haven't listened to early morning radio much since then.

@cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA) I have tended about a 3 ft strip on their side of the fence for years. I don’t ask I just do it. Weed eating, cardboard with mulch on top , Brush Killer. One neighbor is glad I do it the other ( huge red brick mansion) isn’t on speaking terms anymore but fortunately no one likes him so none of us regret that he doesn’t speak to us 😂.

I have planted Tall Joe Pye which is very happy back there and 6 ft tall and Cup Flowers. I let everything set seed! Hopefully they will take over in time.

At almost 76 I can keep up pretty well.I am fortunate that heavy lifting and sweating are things I love to do. ❤️🤞

Out of lemons you’re making some pretty nice lemonade, C. At our ages (I turned 78 last month) every day i can do what I do in the garden is a blessing. My knees (2 ACL replacements, one now with arthritis, a broken trochanter with a rod in my femur, and various other aches, I can still out-lift most of the younger ones I work out with. They are jealous of my upper back and shoulders.

All that being said, today I hired some guys to remove 3 hydrangeas, 5 other shrubs i no longer loved, and a dead one, plus mulched all the beds around the house, which I never got around to before the heat hit us this year. It was worth it. While they worked, DH took down 2 medium sized sweet gums off to the side of our driveway and cut them for the burn pile. There is another large one and a 3rd medium one he will take down tomorrow. He’s 80.

This is my new blank slate where there were 3 Endless Summer hydrangeas. I havent decided what to plant here next. The main part of the bed is in part shade due to a japanese maple to the immediate right, and the porch wall you’re looking at. I am taking the photo facing east. The daylilies do great because they get a lot of afternoon sun.

@cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA) I have heard that about claiming it lol. DH says we have enough already lol.

@OutsidePlaying you go girl! I saw your gym picture last year 👍. I have my Mom’s arms, shoulders and back and so does DD and now DGD. A good thing to have when ” shouldering the load ”. ❤️

My china is plain ivory with a small gold band on the rim. I can dress it for every occasion I need it.

I have a GE W/D set. The dryer is ok except it's too hot on most settings. The washer is a top loader and the lid locks and spins at such a speed it moves itself across the floor. At times I think it almost could become airborne, lol. Appliance selection and satisfaction is a mystery. I'm not sure anymore where to get an honest, objective evaluation of these things.

Back to the LG song…ours guves us a little giggle every time so we keep it on. It sounds so happy when it finishes a load.

I have washer-dryer sets in ALL the rentals and extra ones waiting to be installed I keep in the garage that I occasionally wash greasy rags in. Having said THAT....I DO have an LG set that works perfectly, it's 10 years old. My husband does ALL our appliance repairs, I buy the parts he needs. I got a FREE Samsung top load fancy washer with the clear lid & tons of electronic extras: it needed new suspension rods, it did the same thing your LG is doing.

My favorite of ALL the washer dryers is the front load Samsung set. They're over sized. I have one Samsung dryer that needs "rollers", it's unbalanced....also an over sized front load. It's about $27 for parts, to fix this problem...but...buying a brand NEW set...this shouldn't be happening. Your LG sounds defective from the manufacturer. JMO

Have a fantastic time! Funny story about Balmoral encounters- an American couple once met the late Queen and her equerry out walking. The couple clearly did not recognise the Queen, who was dressed quite simply in a raincoat and head scarf. They asked her if she had ever met the Queen. She replied with a smile, "I haven't, but my friend here has several times." I bet they had a good giggle about that when they got back to Balmoral :-) When the tourists got home and showed friends the pictures they had taken, the friends pointed out the Queen in the pictures.

We were there last August. No rain, no midges were fought while we hiked and toured, it was an unusual year! Each night as he dropped us off our tour guide would say "Tomorrow come dressed for RAIN ya never get two days, three days, four days in Scotland without rain." WE DID!! We timed our trip to see the 75th Royal Tattoo. In 75 years it has only been cancelled once due to weather --and our night to go was the ONE night!!!! (due to WIND) #2 DD is a piper and was devastated. We sat in our quaint Airbnb FLAT sipping wine and watching the previous year on TV. DD got her Sporran, and other accoutrements for her uniform in Edinburgh. We were on our own for meals and the advise to have reservations is not just a suggestion. Our tours often got back too late to hit our reservations and it was a lot of walking to find a place to eat!!

Rocking fox - folded paper circle rocks back & forth when standing upright 🙂

It's practically a bargain compared to her other Pyrex listing!

And I think I have things to get rid of? I can only imagine the task of their downsizing. Definielty an estate sale or something like that.

I feel there is so much to look at, one doesn't know where to start.

I would go completely mad in under 10 minutes in that place.

I don't care what number is showing or the size of the flame. I just look to see what's happening in the pan!

The best thing is a simple wipe clean after. Love induction. Mine only makes a noise if the pan isn't in the middle.

@plllog, thank you for more good tips. I tried the magnet test on all of my copper bottomed cookware and one small skillet is highly magnetic, but the rest are not magnetic at all. They are mostly the same brand, but clearly made of different materials.

I don't know of anyone who would want my old cookware, but I'll donate it to the local charity that helps women get a new start.

I don't know why it must be cool to have soup, but that's how I do it too. It just doesn't sound good when it's hot and I don't like any of the cold soups, so soup waits until fall. Today it was 65 here and rainy and I had pot roast which was left over from earlier in the week.

I prefer the Silver Palate recipe, I'm not a big fan of all those tomatoes in Ina's. Of course I also don't like wine, so I just sub beef stock and it's all good.

Annie

I have both a slowcooker and an instant pot, and use them both a lot. I love pot roast and stew, and navy bean and split pea soups. Sometimes yellow split pea soup is good too.

This weeks deal at the local grocier was a regular sized bag of store brand chips for 29 cents with ten dollar purchase. Bacon was two for ten bucks, a BOGO- it's usually ten bucks each now.

There is a good scratch and dent place down the road too. I get great deals there on the regular. They have a regular stable stock section and another that is all just things they get and may or may not be able to get them again. Recently I got a 5 pound block of paneer cheese for seven bucks, a large wheel of brie for five bucks. AUGA curry packets were a buck fifty, but they have unopened cases, and there is 15% off if you do that. So it was a buck thirty five each for a dozen of them. I've seen them priced online at 4-5 bucks each, but most places are out of stock on them.

I buy yogurt, but NEVER pay $4 for a little 5oz container....that's what Safeway wants for Cocojune Yogurt. Now...if it's on sale because of an over stock situation...for .49cents...I'll try it. It's delicious! Or...$1.99 boneless-skinless chicken breasts....THAT'S on my list...and half price! ❤️ I LOVE herb tea....but I NEVER buy anything except mint or peppermint....unless it's FREE...then I'll try it! Same with Almond milk or oat milk...I'm curious...but I'm NOT Paying to try it....but...if it's FREE...then I'll try it. I do like trying NEW things...some things....like a drink with 190 calories....I'll donate to a food bank....they also take egg cartons I save for them....It's on my way too....

Carbon steel wok is best. There are online directions for how to season it nd keep it nice so that it essentially has a non-stick surface.

I hope your mate cooks and isn’t too fussy. I feel bad(ly) for spouses who have to cook two separate meals. If I were in that situation, one non-cooking spice meal would end up being canned or frozen ;)

DH has gotten to be a pretty good cook — he makes great from scratch buckwheat pancakes, rice, steak, cabbage rolls, bran muffins, lots of things, including great spaghetti and meatballs. Yesterday, I was going to make Chinese chicken with broccoli but was so sleep. He’d never made it but watched Bill’s video at The Woks of Life. It was really good.

Sometimes you can ”cheat” and Chinesify parts of certain meals. For example, Bake his chicken and yours, then maybe add some Chinese sort of sauce and a side of quick stir fry veggy to yours.