JennVT

8 hours ago, deedle7544 said:

Vermont....birthplace/helldwelling of the ex husband. That explains it all.

Hey! We aren't all assholes! LOL And isn't he in Chittenden county/Burlington area? That's where there's the highest concentration of the unlikeable.

12 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

Found this on it (Especially like the Vermont law!):

The cheese-apple pie connection is often traced back to England, which is the birthplace of Cheddar and the apple pie. Back in the 17th and 18th century, English pies were often topped with a dairy-based sauce, such as custard. Somehow along the way, Cheddar stepped in for the sauce and the rest was history.

 

AND

Though fans of apple pie with cheese exist everywhere, they seem to be concentrated in the American Midwest, New England, and parts of Canada and Britain. Vermont even has a 1999 law on the books requiring that proprietors of apple pie make a “good faith effort” to serve it with ice cream, cold milk, or “a slice of cheddar cheese weighing a minimum of 1/2 ounce.” In some circles, apple pie with cheese is tradition.

Can confirm that apple pie with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese *on the side* is a thing here in Vermont. Not on top of the pie or melted over it or those weird cheese crusts....one nice piece. Only with apple pie and no other. If you like apple pie and you like cheese I recommend you try it! I would 100% endorse apple pie and cheddar as a valid healthy meal choice!

It's common enough that both my grandmothers said the same rhyme on the subject......"Apple pie without the cheese is like a hug without the squeeze"

#don'thateittilyouateit

I'm glad folks are starting to find their stores better stocked! Things have been improving here on that front except for TP, sliced bread, and baby formula. And for some weird reason speadable butter which is the only thing I have been hoping to find....oh well we can live without it.

But today is the first of the month and here in VT that means the SNAP, Social Security, and many retirements will be disbursed. So many of our service industry folks, tourist industry, and retail workers were laid off in the past few weeks our SNAP numbers went up I'm sure. I feel for those folks who are probably running low on groceries, etc who have had to wait til the first to shop. I feel for the stores too since they get hit hard on a normal first. I know our food shelves have been asking for help. Since they have their own supply chains I sent some cash rather than a bag of canned goods....they can make a few bucks get a lot more than I can in my local store. My mom volunteers at the shelf in my hometown. Her nose is right out of joint because they won't let her come in because she fits into the vulnerable category according to the CDC. I thought I might have to ground her! 

I wonder if this will cause VT to join other states who stagger their disbursement dates?

Sid, I knew there was a reason I like you, I’ve never met an IPA I didn’t like 

DH and I made lasagna together and no one was killed LOL
I have banana bread in the oven.
Wine o’clock from a trip to a vineyard in upstate NY a year or so ago while we wait for the lasagne to cool.
Cheers Tribe!


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50 minutes ago, Slainte57 said:

Glasses have been replaced already🥳

I am celebrating a quarantine birthday today. I have received birthday wishes from Norwegian, my salon, dentist, Michigan/Indiana/Wisconsin DNR’s (from fishing license info) and a few credit cards. It sucks knowing no special dinner out or drinks😥

At 5 pm today, my girlfriends and I are having cocktails together and posting pictures. All of you are invited.

 

 

Happy Birthday!!!! Glad you are having a virtual party.....my BFF's b-day is today and my husband has been filling her facebook feed with baby shark songs and rickrolling her....so count your blessings you could be getting those! 😂

15 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Today has been a little surreal. I was recalled back to work, starting Monday. I think I mentioned that my local community centre, literally across the street from my house, was being repurposed for our homeless population that might need to be isolated. Well, today they received their first residents. Anyone interested can read about it here:

 

https://www.vancourier.com/news/first-vancouver-community-centre-opens-to-protect-homeless-from-covid-19-1.24106652?fbclid=IwAR2axmEUneZCF3xb5-xDYw4TssnJYf6eFajTmuBO96DY0GZDCOCKAc4Kh04

 

I immediately turned down the offer or work. Though the money would certainly come in handy, I just can't put myself at risk -it's just me with 2 kids and if I get sick or hospitalized, there is no one else to take care of them. So now on top of all the other emotions I'm having, I have added guilt at not being willing to help out those who need it!

 

Don't give it a second thought! If you get sick then who will take care of your kids? Just like the oxygen mask you have to keep you/your family ok first, then you can help others. If there was a way to help those folks without placing your kids in a precarious position I'm sure you'd do it!

2 minutes ago, deedle7544 said:

He glanced at the directions....10 minutes was for the OVEN....

 

We ended up throwing out the microwave. There was no coming back from that one. 

Hahaha I was able to save our's with a paste of baking soda and water....but you'd still get a whiff of burnt beans once in a while.

And I cleaned up the damn beans three times! First I had the brilliant idea of containing them in a plastic shopping bag because of the smell....glowing hot lima beans melt shopping bags if you were wondering. Then I picked them up off the floor and tossed them in the sink to cool while we ate the rest of dinner that hadn't been nuked to oblivion....after dinner I grabbed yet another shopping bag to put the beans in....tossed them into the bag.....and they went right threw the hole I hadn't seen...picked the beans up off the floor again....finally got the damn things in a bag, tied it closed, and into the garbage.  There was a lot of creative cursing during this whole process.....DH almost peed from laughing at me.....and threatens regularly to suspend my microwave privileges. 😂

6 minutes ago, deedle7544 said:

My son once put pizza rolls in the microwave for 10 minutes. Don't try this at home. 

 

That's what did the lima beans in....fat fingers hit an extra zero or two....after about 20 minutes I was like "What is that smell?!?!?"

10 minutes ago, jbhcw said:

So funny ...I'm retired from public safety...non sworn...but our go to at the station was usually a Bojangles biscuit!!  But there was a lot of night cooking done down in the kitchen on different shifts!!  

Non-sworn here too....first as a DV advocate embedded in the departments....now I instruct at the academy. I used food to lure them all into enjoying working with me. I avoided donuts at first because of the stereotype...then one of them said "But Jenn, donuts are good!" so there you are. My treasured nickname is "Ass-ache". When I got that I knew I was in....that and when my stuff was no longer off limits in practical joke wars....OC on my desk *eyeroll*

Agreed! I will always vote for donuts.....probably a side effect of my constant exposure to law enforcement. 😂👮‍♀️👮‍♂️

For those of you wanting to do bread but lacking yeast: google soda bread or quick bread recipes. Especially the soda bread recipes because you can tweak them. Like all the Irish versions with raisins or currants.....leave the fruit out and you basically have a denser white bread. Quick breads will give you a bunch of banana bread type things but if you weed through you might find gold.

King Arthur also has a flat bread recipe rather like pita/naan if you just want something that can be a sandwich or go with a meal. That one freezes great....just put some waxed paper or plastic wrap between them so you can thaw the number you want. 

9 hours ago, deedle7544 said:

I love sourdough!  How do you make the starter?

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2012/04/05/creating-your-own-sourdough-starter-the-path-to-great-bread

Sourdough starter instructions....you can start with plain white flour. You can also order a "kit" from these folks if you are so inclined. I love them and their stuff has never let me down. Employee owned too.

10 hours ago, Happy0810 said:

 

Baking causes me stress.  Heck, I burned pre-made sweet potato fries tonight. Who does that?!?!? 🤣

Don't let that stop you.....I once burned lima beans to glowing coals in the microwave.

2 hours ago, fyree39 said:

Thank you!! Just put in my order as I haven't been able to find flour lately.

 

I'm a bit surprised as the lackadaisical approach by many states' governors on the COVID-19 response. I I hope I'm worried for nothing.

Hooray! So glad you were able to get flour! 
Baking is one of my stress busters and I’m glad I’ll be able to keep the two of us in bread. And treats. 

Working from home but I feel terrible for this recruit class. This is not the best way for them to get their training and it is not the experience they signed up for! All I will say beyond that is I don't agree with decisions being made by our council.

On the upside I found King Arthur Flour's website was restocked with flour! I ordered 10 lbs of all purpose and 5 lbs of bread flour. All set for the quarantine baking!

And I picked up the items to make sausage and tortellini stew which is lovely and comforting.

Many hugs to all of you.....hang in there!

12 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

I would have to substitute the vodka for something else. Vodka does one of two things to me - makes me a sad drunk or an angry drunk. Neither one is pretty....

How are you with Tequila? Wouldn't that basically make this a frozen tequila sunrise? I'd be down for that!

Homemade croutons are super easy! Save up your bread ends, stale slices until you have enough to bother with. Cut into cubes in the size you'd like to find in your salad. Toss with olive oil. Add a little more olive oil because they should be well coated. Then shake on your seasoning. Garlic and/or onion powder? Sure! Italian seasoning or a combination of oregano and basil? Definitely! You can use whatever you like really. If you want cheesey I recommend using the green can parm and shaking it on when they come out of the oven and are still warm, not putting it on before you bake since it will burn pretty easy.

Put your seasoned bread cubes in a pan so they are a shallow layer and that you can stir the cubes around. Cookies sheets will work but it makes it hard to stir things up. Bake @300 until a nice deep brown. I shut the oven off and let them cool down in there for extra crunch. You want them to be dry all the way through. Once cool to room temp store in an airtight container. They will last a good while but not as long as store bought since they won't be full of preservatives. Consider that permission to eat them directly from the container so they won't go to waste! 🙂 

Bread crumbs are also easy. I just put the plain ends and pieces right on the oven rack and let them dry in a low (200 degree-ish) oven until hard. Blitz in the food processor or blender. Or you can put them in a ziploc and beat them with a rolling pin. These can be stored in and airtight container in the freezer for a very long time.

16 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

That's a really nice idea. My sister did something like that for a Christmas gift--she has a color printer and made a whole album with text commentary for him of pictures of her family, her home, the place in the 1000 islands (that his grandfather bought), etc. He really enjoyed it! Maybe I will see if that works with some of ny cruise photos so he can see his two sistah-daughters having fun!

 

There are places online that will print a hardcover book with your photos and text then post it to the recipient. Snapfish always seems to have coupons if you google. Heck for about 3 months they were one of the coupons that printed out with your grocery receipt here....for a free book! Wish I had saved them so I could send them to you ladies! One day the poor kid ringing us out had about 6 of them and was lamenting that no one seemed to want them.

Last week Vermont amended the liquor regs to allow take out and deliver booze. I may try for a bucket of something curbside later on in the week.

Ugh so sorry to hear about the lay offs!

Deedle ***** do they mean not until you aren't earning money?

I saw something for the first time in my rural "city"....someone who was working Doordash. As all of our restaurants can only offer takeout or delivery this is brilliant! Perhaps this kind of gig job is an option for folks when their regular job is on hiatus.

Several of our distilleries are making hand sanitizer now....and many are giving it away or donating to our first responders. Guess there my liquor money will be spent once I drink what I have!

16 hours ago, cruisin*tigger said:

Greetings all~

usually lurking, but thought I would ask due to today's crazy world and sitting inside...any recommendations for binge watching?   Or a good movie.  I live in Amazon Prime, so anything there - I like shows like the 'law' shows (Good Wife, Boston Legal, etc.) most scifi (yes I'm a Trekkie, but no Star Wars)  Actually just finished Six Feet Under - loved it!  Tried watching Downton Abbey, but hate when I have a hard time understanding them. lol

 

Also a Survivor fan, its interesting this season with the older players vs recent players.  I love that they have stayed in Fiji - it really is as gorgeous as it looks.  

 

anyway...guess I should make lunch.  TIA!

I agree with Sid...Dexter is awesome. I also liked "The Boys" which is a spin on the superhero genre. If you have Netflix try Longmire. Its a law show but kind of western but modern. I was surprised at how much I liked it! I'm looking forward to watching Hunters but we are trying to get through The Punisher on Netflix first. True Blood from HBO was one I liked.....murder mystery/drama/romance with vampires.....fair amount of nudity/sex if that matters to you. I see that they have Kidding until the end of the month.....Jim Carrey's latest series. We love it and it is definitely not what you would expect from him.  Watching Monk seems appropriate right now.....a PI who has OCD and is a germaohobe....though you may find yourself jealous at the amount of clorox wipes he has access to! 

26 minutes ago, deedle7544 said:

My son just lost his job. 

Double post

23 minutes ago, deedle7544 said:

My son just lost his job. 

Well crap! Have him apply for unemployment today. Here in VT if you lost your job because of Covid I'm hearing that they have waived the 2 week waiting period. Hopefully other stats are following suit!

Yesterday was an interesting day. I got called into work as I was fever free despite my probable exposure. When I got there the building was locked down so I had to keycard in, then my co-worker met me at my office and sent me directly to wash my hands. Then a temperature check . We have two classes in session, one for level II police officers that is 2 weeks long followed by a bunch of inservice classes they have a year to complete. The other group is for level III officers that is the 16 week residential program. 3 of that group had fevers and "symptoms" *eek* After a long crazy day of phone calls our Academy for the first time in our history suspended training. We sent both classes home. Now we are scrambling to see what we can do to keep at least the 16 week kids training while we are closed. They are certainly not going to graduate on time. Agencies are freaking out a bit since most are chronically short staffed. We are working mostly from home for at least the next 2 weeks but more likely 3-4. Some folks are telling us "just put the training online" with no idea what it takes to make online training. It is a hot mess but still we are better off than lots of folks!

So I'm working from home and baking bread today.

Sid I'm so glad you all will still get paid. I had been hoping with fingers crossed that would be the case. And I hope that at least a few people will decide they need to buy a super fancy rug ASAP to keep you guys getting paid.

Happy Wednesday Tribe!