Small favors in August

I understand why all of Europe goes on vacation for a month during August.  It’s absolutely miserably hot and the last thing that anyone wants to be doing is working.  Even the mosquitoes have buzzed to a pause and quit biting during the day.  Unfortunately, instead of going on a month-long vacation to the azure coast, I’m stuck in the middle of Texas heat that tries its hardest to kill you.  These are my lifesavers of late, the things that keep my sanity in the moments where I’m about to shrivel up into a strip of human jerky:

Rain - The rain, oh the rain.  Texans can recall the exact time of day that it starts raining again.  We pause outdoors, despite the deluge, to catch that welcome scent of damp earth and hot pavement when we first experience rain after a month without.  I never thought I’d be so happy to see a gray sky but here I am, dancing a sleepy little rain dance.  We’re getting rain this entire week, and it’s dropping temps into the 80s.  So we can actually venture outside without immediately becoming desiccated husks.

Ballcaps - I’ve finally fallen firmly into the ballcap camp.  I’ve never been a fan of them before, somehow unable to see how their universal utility could apply to me, unique individual that I am.  After “borrowing” an endless supply of B’s caps, I’ve gone out and purchased the most redneck baseball caps known to man - I have one from Tractor Supply, Cabela’s, and Texas Humor.  The camo one is by far my favourite, unsurprisingly, because of the obnoxious Texas-ness of it.  But it’s saved the general public from looking at my sweaty, messy hair and also saved my hair from the bird droppings at lunch the other day.  That’s a win-win situation, folks.
My New Tx Humor Cap


Pickled things - Pickle-flavoured popcorn, fried pickles, everything pickled.  I ate fried pickles and cheddar cheese waffle fries and didn’t have to eat anything else for the next two days.  I’ll have some more of that please, thanks.

Kitchen appliances - I know you guys are all thinking, how random does this list get?  I brought home my KitchenAid stand mixer that’s been living at my parents’ house and just last week, B bought a slow cooker.  We’ve been whipping up tasty treats every since (homemade oatmeal raisin cookies last night).  This weekend, I tried this balsamic mustard tri-tip slow cooker recipe.  When I stumbled into my apartment five hours later, it was as if a magical cooking fairy had prepared dinner and summoned up an enticing aroma to dance around my kitchen.

And now the interactive part of the blog experience.  Share with me your favourite ballcaps, pickled things, and slow cooker recipes in the comments below?  Please please please help save my sanity.


Comments

  1. Slow cookers are really awesome for making yourself a surprise dinner at the end of the day, lol.

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  2. We often do Irish Stew in the slow cooker during the winter - so the meat falls apart.

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  3. Cabela's has lots of cool stuff. We bought a throw from them that the family fights over every winter. It was discontinued--which is why they fight instead of just buying more.

    Favorite ballcap: from a tropical research institute in Panama
    Slow cooker recipe: Beef bone broth
    Pickled things: Sweet gerkins, but favorite non-pickle pickled thing would have to be beets (not sure when that happened)

    My apologies for making you repeat the recipe.

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  4. Welcome to the cap wearer club, Rooth:D I'm pretty simple with what I like:the baseball ones. And it's been super hot here that many are happy right now that it's been raining (not me though, coz I'm a sucker for heat heat heat!)

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  5. Just read the post before this one. OMG!! I hope you are feeling better soon. That's scary. The hottest I've ever, ever been was TX in the summer; idk how y'all stand it! I love pickles in general, so fry em up or regular-style. I did see a pickle lip balm, but I shall pass.

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  6. Too funny about the ball caps! I've never been a fan either but before we went to Florida I made sure my entire family was equppied with on to help block the sun!

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  7. Too funny about the ball caps! I've never been a fan either but before we went to Florida I made sure my entire family was equppied with on to help block the sun!

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  8. You've tried the pickled popcorn as well? I had it and loved it and then realized it was responsible for giving me heartburn so now I run past it in the store. Why is it so wrong and so good all at once? I'm about to pickle hot peppers and maybe ginger this weekend or next so I'm excited. I need a good dill pickle recipe though.

    Not exactly what you were looking for but...for slow cooker recipes, have you considered using your car to make cookies? You'd use your mixer for it and, instead of being annoyed you're getting into a boiling hot car at the end of the day, you have freshly baked cookies on your dashboard. My sister did it when she lived in Kansas and she's still alive. Crazy but alive.

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  9. I'm all for obnoxious Texas-ness, Rooth.

    As for your KitchenAid stand mixer, I've got so many KitchenAid whatnots that I might need a bigger kitchen. But the Missus loves them so it's basically a lost battle. ;)

    Hope you're doing fine.

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  10. That cap! *snicker*
    Let's see . . . I can tell you my favorite pickle: dill pickles with chilies.
    And a handy (albeit seemingly ridiculous) kitchen gadget: strawberry slicer. It's awesome--especially in the summer when you're unable to summon the energy to slice a bunch of strawberries, but you want a fruit salad. :)

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  11. Good thing you didn't lose your cooking and baking mood :D
    I hope the weather over there is getting cooler and cooler,
    and again you deserve an ice cream! xx Ice Pandora

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  12. This was my first year that I can remember outside of Arizona that the oppressive heat. I'm sure I'll need a similar list of things come January!

    7% Solution

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