Grown-up Fun

Well, I just don't know what to tell you.  I thought I had an addiction that was mine alone.  But have you been in the Vacaville Costco on a Thursday or a Friday lately?  Everybody (no, really--everybody) has a bottle (or two or three) of Kirkland Premium Golden Margarita in their cart.  It's ready-to-drink, and it is sooo good.  Addictive, in fact.  It's tart, not too sweet (I don't care for sweet cocktails), and very, very tasty.  I would not advise stepping on the bathroom scale after a day spent by the pool, quaffing this little number.  Heaven only knows what the calorie count is. Far better, frankly, not to know.  My vices are so few, and I don't want to ruin it.  Apologies for the photo of the partially used bottle, but we seem unable to keep a new bottle unused for very long at all.  It's about the same alcohol level as wine (12.7%), but somehow it's just so much more festive!  Truly, it can't be beat as a by- or in-the-pool drink.  (Of course you know that a blow-up pool is just as good as an in-ground pool for our purposes here--the cool, blue water is the object.)  $9.99 for that great big bottle?  Not much money, and certainly well spent.  My advice:  have plenty of ice on hand, and get dinner ready BEFORE you head out to the pool with your little cocktail(s).

Father's Day Gift Idea (and a menu)

Even if your dad is not a reader, he'll read this.  Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is the amazing true story of Louis Zampirini, an Olympic runner and B-24 bombadier.  His tale of survival during World War II is nothing short of incredible and awe-inspiring.  (As a side note, may I ask why the Germans are so vocally criticized for the atrocities they committed during the war, and the Japanese are barely mentioned?  Their acts were every bit as horrific as those of the Germans.  I was just wondering....)  Boyhood delinquency, triumph in the sports arena, airplane talk, and survival against sharks, the elements, and especially the Japanese are the components of this terrific book.  Really, take a leap of faith and know that even your anti-reading father will pick this up and be immediately engrossed. And hey, it's way better than a tie.

At our house, we will be having a late lunch for our Father's Day celebration.  We are having grilled rib-eye steaks (did you know Costco now sells prime beef, the same grade sold to restaurants?), and for the first time I'm going to try making onion rings from scratch.  Spinach salad with warm bacon dressing, roasted asparagus, and garlic bread will be on deck as well (it's heavy on the veggies because someone in the group--ahem--is on a diet and wants to feel like she's not being deprived when she only gets one onion ring and no garlic bread).  For dessert, cheesecake with strawberries. And of course red wine and lots of Dos Equis amber.  Happy Father's Day!

The Costco Conundrum

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

In the checkout line in Costco in Vacaville today, I was looking around to see what was in other people's baskets (because I am nosy).  But what I noticed was kind of surprising .  There were $10 packages of biscotti, boxes of fresh ravioli, giant bottles of Maker's Mark (well now, hang on a minute--that certainly isn't a luxury item...), $200 coffee makers (the kind that uses the little pods of coffee, which seems like it would be an expensive way to go)....  And it wasn't in just a few carts--it seemed like everybody's cart looked like that.

Then as I left Costco, there was a man begging on the corner of the Costco driveway.  He certainly didn't look underfed, and I think he seemed clean, so he wasn't homeless.  But he held a sign that said he'd lost his job, had a family, and he needed help.  So which is it?  Recession or not?

We've been used to living high on the hog for a long time.  That is, until 2008.  Then we all got religion and started cutting back and buying lots of potatoes as the value of our houses plummeted.  But housing prices certainly haven't rebounded in our neck of the woods, and unemployment is as troubling as it has ever been.  I think what I witnessed today is evidence that we're bored with being poor!  I'm not sure we've got the sticking power to stay with austerity measures much longer.  We've medicated ourselves for so long with buying stuff, that we miss that high.  Shopping's fun (no, I'm serious.  It is.)!

How did people who lived through the Depression do it?  I mean, that thing went on for, what, 10 or more years?  Maybe it's because there wasn't the plethora of cheap goods available that there is now, so there wasn't so much to choose from, so much available to buy.  I don't know.  But I know that those people who grew up in the Depression spent their whole lives pinching a penny until it squeaked, because they'd seen what could happen if you used up all your money.

Believe me, I am as big a fan of consumption as the next person.  And I'm so tired of worrying about money.  When we have a good money month at my house, and it feels almost like old times, I struggle not to overspend, at, say, Costco.  But I think we've got to keep the financial reins pulled tight, because now, we too have seen what can happen if you use up all your money.

Dishwasher Resurrection

A bit of housekeeping:  if you are unable to see all my posts, click on the "home" button above.  Now, back to business.

The water where I live in Vacaville is sooo hard!  It wreaks havoc on my electric kettle, and I can only imagine what goes on inside my water-using appliances (I prefer not to think what it does to my hair color).  Last fall my dishwasher was, basically, a mess.  It’s a nice Kitchen Aid dishwasher, maybe five to seven years old, nothing fancy, but it wasn’t cheap, either.  However, dishes were coming out of the dishwasher sludgier than they went in.  My glasses had a haze on them, and there were little bits of…stuff…on everything. The stainless steel inside was all white and kind of crusty, and little tubes of hard water deposit were sticking out of the holes in the spray arms.   It was even starting to get kind of stinky. It was icky. It was time for a new dishwasher.

Financially,  it was a lousy time to buy a new dishwasher.  But I am not a fan of hand washing dishes.  My husband doesn’t mind it—it’s sort of therapeutic for him.  For me?  Not so much. My motto is if it fits in the dishwasher it goes in the dishwasher (my other motto is that if I’m in a sleeping bag it’s not a vacation, but I guess that’s neither here nor there right now) .  So a useless dishwasher needed to be remedied.

I started poking around on line, reading about dishwashers and detergent for hard water.  And I found out some interesting things. One site talked about how many dishwashers are sold each year, and how so many of them would not be needed if people had ever heard of Dishwasher Magic (and no, it wasn’t the product website).  It is my new favorite product, and I use it once a month.  It stops hard water buildup, and even cleans off the old buildup.  It comes in a plastic bottle that you put upside down in the cutlery rack, and then you run the dishwasher empty. The first time I bought it I got two bottles and used it twice to give the dishwasher a good dosing.  I was amazed at the change!  Truly, after the first two doses, it was like a new dishwasher.  The stainless is shiny and clean again, and all the hard water buildup is gone.   I use it once a month now, to keep everything up to snuff.  I believe you can purchase it in Wal-Mart, but I buy it on Amazon.com, several bottles at a time.

Once my dishwasher was all pretty again inside, I stopped using liquid-gel dishwasher detergent. Apparently it makes the sludginess worse.  Instead, I now use Cascade Complete, which comes with a blue and green swirl of dish soap and rinse aid (I guess), as well as powder detergent, all combined into one little cube-like pac.   They are kind of expensive, but if you buy them in Costco it’s much more cost-efficient.  Again—excellent product.

The last thing that I found is by Finish (they also make dishwasher detergent that I’ve never tried), and it is called Glass Magic.  You pour about a quarter cup in the bottom of the dishwasher every so often, and it really keeps the glasses sparkly.  You can buy Glass Magic on Amazon.com, but I’ve been getting it at Pacific Hardware here in Vacaville.

Now, a new dishwasher comparable to the one I have was going to be more than $700.  That will buy an awful lot of Dishwasher Magic, Cascade Complete, and Glass Magic. Before I tried these products, I had to scrub the dishes and glasses with an SOS pad before we had company.  Every day the dishes had to be checked, front and back, as they came out of the dishwasher, and we had some nasty surprises involving lettuce. In short, it was a total pain!   I know it sounds a bit loony to be so excited about products like this, but they saved me a huge amount of annoyance and money.  Now, thanks to Dishwasher Magic, Cascade Complete, and Glass Magic, when I take the dishes out of the dishwasher they are really clean.  It’s delightful!

And, no, sadly, I am not a paid endorser.