This and That and This
This and That and This - September 29, 2025
And here it is another month goes by – September has been a very nice and above average temperature for most of the month. Harvest has been in full swing, with a lot of farmers getting close to finishing up. Maybe everyone will have Thanksgiving turkey at home instead of in the field.
I have spent the last few weeks catching up and getting all my previous blogs onto my website. I will do this and then tell myself “okay, let’s stay caught up now.” And as procrastination goes, I will fall behind once again. When I do get caught up it is kind of nice looking back at everything I have written and get a few good laughs once again.
I do get comments from some people about the blogs, which I always welcome. Recently, I wrote “Just Jammin”, which talked about using corn starch to thicken your jams and jellies instead of pectin (Certo / Bernardin). There are many non-believers who don’t think corn starch will work or are scared to try. I have had the opportunity to try it again just last week. And I must say, it works really well. I was able to control how much sugar and there is no after taste from using cornstarch (another concern). Yes, you have to test a little bit to make sure it thickens enough. But I have also used pectin, and jams did not jell either. So ….. your choice. Try it or don’t try it. Hahaha. And remember, so economical to use. Between the price of the berries, the sugar, the pectin – it is not cheap to make homemade jams or jellies. However, the quality and flavor just cannot be compared to store bought.
It seems like darn near every day the world around me keeps amazing me – mainly by human stupidity. I stay away from sharing my political opinion, so this is about all I have to say about that.
Are you still sleeping 2 in your bed? Or after reading my blog in August did you decide it is time to move out of the main bedroom and into your own room? If you make the step to do it, you will most likely never go back again to sleeping 2 in a bed. The calming and relaxed sleep you get from being one person in a bed is the best. I spent most of my life sharing a bed. I had 2 sisters, and we had one bedroom with one bed a lot of the time. Eventually there were 2 beds, and we would flip a coin every so often to see who would get to sleep alone. That was just the way it was. And there would be a lot of other boomers out there who shared a bedroom with a sibling and never slept alone until they left home. When I got married sleeping with my spouse seemed like the only way it would be and it would be forever. 45 years later, things had to change.
Back in 2023 I wrote the blog “Go Go Gadgets”. Since writing that blog, we have added more gadgets to our lives. My husband decided we needed a Blackstone grill. I could not imagine why. We already had a BBQ (seldom used now) and a smoker. The Blackstone grill has come in handy many times since its purchase. It is fabulous for big breakfasts. You can probably fit 40 pancakes on it. Bacon and sausages -cook so quick. Everyone can eat at the same time, and the food is fresh and hot. One of our favourite items we make on the Blackstone is smash burgers with bacon and onions, homemade buns and relish, and the rest of the trimmings. Always a good meal. It is a bit of a pain to clean; the trick is to clean it after you are done eating. For some reason, that step gets missed in this house! Not my department.
Battery operated kitchen appliances is next. About a year ago I saw an advertisement by KitchenAid advertising battery operated small kitchen appliances. I was like, hmm I don’t know. I had recently upgraded my hand mixer and immersion blender when we renovated the kitchen, not sure I need these. Then I started thinking about it. How about the carpenter tools? Dewalt, Mitsubishi, Ridgid, Craftmaster, etc. They have been using batteries in their drills, saws, screwdrivers, etc. for years. We must have 15 or 20 various sizes and types of batteries that fit into these devices. It’s about time somebody figured out the small kitchen appliances should be the same. Why am I dragging an electric cord across my cooktop, across the cupboard (cause my electrical outlet is too far away)? I have an induction cooktop, so the cord won’t start on fire, but a lot of people have the older ceran style cooktops or natural gas. An electrical shortage could occur quite quickly when being used near or on a cooktop.
It didn’t take me long to figure out I needed to have one or two cordless small kitchen appliances. KitchenAid had a special buy a 3 bundle and save 25%. Everyone loves a sale. Sign me up. I purchased the mixer, immersion blender and handheld vacuum. The battery life is impressive based on my experience. The battery is a USB C charger. And they work awesome. I can’t believe it took this many years to come up with this design for cordless appliances. Maybe they have been around for years – I just didn’t know! Everyone should have the cordless mixer as a bare minimum in their kitchen for a cordless battery-operated appliance. Note: Husbands get this on the list of things to buy your wife if she loves kitchen stuff. Pretty sure no one would go back to their plug in drill – same for a mixer!
One quick note – I am researching and going to purchase a wet / dry vacuum. Yes, a vacuum that sucks up the dirt and then mops the floor with clean water every time. I have decided on the brand Tineco – but I haven’t nailed down which model for sure. A little more research and I will be making that decision within the next 24-48 hours.
The rotator cuff shoulder surgery was successful. I no longer have pain and can use it. I golfed quite a bit this summer; my game didn’t get any better but no aches. I have decided to hang up the pickle ball racquet though. I don’t ever want to hurt like that again if I can prevent it. Given my competitive nature, it may be advisable for me to discontinue participating in pickleball, despite my genuine enjoyment of the activity. The older you get the more you hurt and the longer it takes to get over the injury.
As you can tell this blog was just a bit of a rewind – looking back and updating some information.
As for a song, I don’t know if there is much of a theme to make the choice easier. Therefore, I am going to pick a song / artist I like. (And there are many.) I am staying Canadian and going with Valdy, a folk and country musician whose solo career began in the early 70’s. Valdy was born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1945. I've enjoyed his music for years but forget to queue up his music. Too many songs, too many artists. Take time to listen to a few of his many hits. One of my favorites is Peter and Lou and was released in 1976.
Enjoy this fabulous autumn weather and Happy Thanksgiving.
And if you have time, I would love it if you subscribed to my YouTube channel: @merleleeannskitchen
Note: Parts of this blog may have been written with the help of Co-Pilot in Word (AI)
