hermionesviolin

I woke up around 6:20 Friday morning -- which I do sometimes, even though now I don't need to get up until around 7 -- and I hadn't been getting enough sleep (due to the whole hot weather thing) so I definitely went back to sleep. Got up to find someone was taking a shower. And soon saw OriginalRoomie waiting to take a shower as well. Dude. Almost never is anyone even up when I get up. Sigh. I actually still got to work early. My biggest complaint really was that I needed to use the toilet (and when living with near-strangers one really can't do that bathroom sharing thing I've gotten so used to from living with family).

Mary Alice and I had lunch outside again [the temp was off at a job interview]. It was hazy but a comfortable level of warm and humid. Shortly after we came back inside, there was thunder and dark skies. And it was very much raining when I left. I was very glad my sandals wrapped around the ankle 'cause I think flip flops would have slid off my feet about a million times. Sam has the entry on the weather that day, though I don't think it ever got that bad over at my end of town.

I made myself a veggie burger and french fries when I got home. I'm unused to the smell of gas. [This apartment has a gas stove, which I haven't had since we moved off of West St. the year I turned 11.]

I was feeling really tired, so around 7:30pm I lay down -- not actually really wanting to sleep much 'cause I thought that would screw up my sleep schedule (as late day naps sometimes do). I woke up around 11? I changed out of my clothes and went back to bed -- not wanting to wake myself up much. I woke up a number of times in the morning and finally got up around 8:20 I think? Yeah, apparently I needed sleep.

Saturday I went grocery shopping. Stonyfield yogurt has pectin, which I momentarily couldn't remember what it was, but I bought the yogurt anyway and whee, it's a fruit bit. "Pectin is widely used in the food industry as a gelling agent to impart a gelled texture to foods"
And they have the banilla yogurt that Smith sometimes had on the salad bar. Now if only there were yellow bananas. (The grocery store has green ones which seem to mostly skip the yellow stage on their way to brown in my kitchen.)

Sidenote: Those of you who live with people, how do you do the dishes? Every time I wash some of OriginalRoomie's dishes when I do the dishes she thanks me, and today I said that I just figure I'll wash whatever dishes are in the sink, that I'm not invested in washing only the dishes I got dirty. I'm sure I'm influenced by having lived with family for the past year -- where food, dishes, etc. are all communal -- and I'm trying not to begrudge her her method of letting the dishes pile up for a few days (and then soaking them in a sinkful of soapy water -- but not rinsing/soaking anything when she puts it in the sink originally) but I just get weirded by this compartmentalizing.

My new bag came today. So many pockets. And with actual closures (one of my big complaints about my Ten Thousand Villages bag). I still need to set up my laundry bag which arrived earlier this week. [Should probably go do that now. Edit: Oops, need a Phillips screwdriver and I already gave OriginalRoomie hers back -- and she's out now. Sigh; that's what I get for being lazy and putting this off.]

We showed the apartment again today. Sabeena(?). I was wearing my Smith: A Tradition Of Women In Exciting Positions t-shirt, so I learned that she graduated MHC 3yrs ago (B.A. in film and comp sci, now doing graduate work in comp sci at Tufts, and testing phones for Nokia). Her current sublet(?) apparently runs through the end of August, so if she did take it we would have to eat the cost of August's rent (which we would have to do anyway if we don't get anyone ... and OriginalRoomie had already mentioned to me earlier today how she can't afford that). I offered to eat the cost 'cause having lived rent-free for a year but been working full-time most of that time I can v. much afford it (and would rather eat the cost for one month knowing someone was coming after a month than eat it for an indefinite period of time). I could have sworn OtherRoomie had said she'd be moving out July 1, though, and when I talked to the landlord when I filled out the rental application back in April he had talked about a "July-July lease," so I'm confused by the idea that we would only have to cover August's rent, but honestly, I can pay for two months so whatever.
Erica, assuming this girl doesn't take it I am in all seriousness offering you the third room in my Davis Square apartment if you are at all interested.

I was realizing this afternoon that I was actually comfortable in the apartment all day (wearing t-shirt, jeans, flip-flops). Rock on.

P.S. Cat!!!
[And yes, it is all about mixing in milk -- or something like it -- while mashing the potatoes and then stirring with a fork. Thanks, y'all.]

*

executrix on the Joss' birthday screening of Serenity (which I didn't go to in my city):

I'm really excited, even though I don't even like the damn movie all that much because in our small and embattled fandom we Browncoats ("the fandom other fans are afraid of") enjoy opportunities to gather and moil about. And that is what I think capital-F Fandom is all about--as the operatic bit of As You Like It goes where they all stand around in a circle and talk about how being in love is to be all made of sighs and devotion even though they're all in love with the wrong person.

[emphasis in original]

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Yay for fluffy mashed taters!

I have no advice on the roomate situation. Josh and I have lived together for the past nine years, but obviously we're married which is a different relationship than roomie to roomie. And the other roommates I had (all at the same time in a huge house) are on my list of people I wouldn't mind if the earth swallowed and torturously gnawed on their bone for a while, so clearly I didn't handle that well. LOL

Yeah, I feel like if I were rooming with friends it would be easier (probably should have said "strangers" rather than "people" in that sentence, then).

I always have such fantasies of perfection that the amount of "settling" I did with taking this apartment is quite enough for me. I don't know what I'd do if I had awful roommates.

I do not know if you currently use this trick or not, but we have found that it works extremely well at my house for un-ripe fruit.

First and foremost: DO NOT PUT IT IN THE REFRIGERATOR!!! Refrigerators are very, very bad for ripening fruit. Very bad. Don't do it.

Put whatever fruit it is that you would like to ripen into a brown paper bag. Be sure to crinkle/roll the top of it shut and set it on the kitchen counter, but not in direct sunlight (use a closet if you must, but make sure that the space you use is a warm-ish space versus a cool space). Also, if you're concerned that roommates will think your bag is trash and will--in their thoughtfulness--throw it out, put said bag into a basket. Leave it undisturbed for at least one night (and one full day is better), then peek in and check on your fruit. If it's done, take it out of the bag and put it into the counter basket (again, not the refrigerator). This will let people know that basket on the counter is "the fruit basket" not just another thing taking up space (baskets that hang from the underside of cabinets or from the ceiling would work as well, just continue to avoid direct sunlight). If your fruit is not yet at the ripeness you want it to be, leave it in the paper bag to be checked again later (after work or tomorrow morning).
This trick works on: peaches, plums, nectarines, pears, bananas, cantaloupe, honeydew, kiwi, and some apples. You can try other kinds of fruit, but I don't recommend using it on citrus, berries, or grapes (and I've not tried it on tomatoes, so I'm not sure what the results would be).
Also, don't wash the fruit beforehand unless you feel it's ripening too quickly (which may be the issue with your bananas). When some fruits are shipped, a ripening agent is put onto the plastic the fruit is wrapped in (bananas are a prime example) so that the fruit is picked unripe but it ought to be ripe by the time it reaches its destination. If the fruit isn't removed from the plastic wrapping when it arrives, it will go bad very quickly (as in: within 8 to 12 hours). With the plastic off of the fruit, the ripening agent dissipates (and washing will, of course, get rid of the residual agent), but if you're wanting to further ripen your fruit, keeping it in the paper bag with the residual agent on it will help your cause (you just have to check on it every day or two).

Do refrigerate berries and grapes right after you get them (they will be better for it) or at least wash them and let them air dry before leaving them in a basket (and don't leave them out in a basket for more than a few days because they tend to go bad quickly).

NEVER REFRIGERATE BANANAS

I grew up with my dad singing the Chiquita banana jingle, so I v. much know that bananas do not go in the refrigerator. I also remember my dad keeping them out of the sun, so I've been keeping them on a shelf out of direct sunlight. I'd forgotten about the paper bag thing.

I don't know that I've ever heard the Chiquita banana jingle, but I *am* very glad to hear that you know better than to put bananas into the refrigerator (you'd be surprised at the dumb things that people--even people in food service--do with food).

And yes, the paper bag thing works quite well for ripening fruit--particularly if you're buying groceries that you're planning to use later on in the week (buying a perfect peach that you're going to eat tomorrow is all well and good, but three or so days later you're going to want to turn it into a fruit smoothie if you want to save it at all). And growing up in a family of six that did the majority of our grocery shopping every other week... well, we learned a lot of great tricks.

Bananas *can* be stored in the freezer, by the way. Not whole and in the skins--at least I don't think my mom ever did it that way--but if your bananas *do* happen to go brown before you can eat them and you're at all interested in making yourself some banana baked goods, you can store overripe bananas (or stewed pumpkin or whatever) in the freezer until you've gathered enough to make a decent-sized batch (my mother being a baker, a decent-sized batch of banana bread was about four to six large loaves of it). And certain grocery chains--Cub Foods being one of them--will sell their iffy-to-overly-ripe fruits and vegetables in bulk for about a dollar or so per bag (that is how you cater a breakfast where you need a whole lotta banana bread/muffins for a *very* low price).

*laughs* I feel like I should be using the standard Food Network line. "Need more ideas? Check us out on the web at www.foodnetwork.com!"

Now of course I have to Google :)

I'm Chiquita banana and I've come to say
Bananas have to ripen in a certain way
[...]
But, bananas like the climate of the very, very tropical equator
So you should never put bananas in the refrigerator.

http://chiquita.com/discover/osjingle.asp
http://www.tvacres.com/admascots_misschiquita.htm
http://www.thedesignencyclopedia.org/chiquita
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1185494
http://members.aol.com/BananaWeb/downloads.html

Who knew that in 1944 bananas were an unfamiliar food for Americans?

Who knew that in 1944 bananas were an unfamiliar food for Americans?

Makes sense. Shipping was slower then and bananas aren't a food that would travel well. I'm guessing that bananas didn't make it much past the tropics and Florida until shipping by plane became a more common occurrence.

There are still fruits that I have yet to see in person--dragon-fruit comes to mind--that I know I've tried the flavor of in a drink or something. Funny how such things work (but then, it took until I was about 16 before I saw a whole pomegranate).

Yeah, that makes sense. I tend to forget how recent all this modern transportation we now take for granted is. Bananas are just so common now that it's weird to think they didn't use to be. I never paid much attention so I couldn't tell you whether the fruits section of our local supermarkets had pomegranates, but I don't _remember_ ever seeing one until one of my English professors brought one to class sophomore year of college.

It's easy to forget how much has happened in such a relatively short period of time, isn't it? I mean, I didn't own a CD until I was in junior high (and I didn't own my own CD player until I was in high school--possibly in college. I stuck to tapes or used my parents' stereo system). I distinctly remember *asking* what a CD was when I was in the fifth grade.

Internet? Totally confusing in high school (1996-2000).

Color television isn't much older than my dad and all-day programming didn't happen until relatively recently either.

Technology has changed a lot in even just our lifetimes, Elizabeth. Including our experiences at the supermarket.

I always do whatever dishes are there, and we just rotate. Whoever gets up the energy to do dishes does them all.

That seems to me a sensible way to do it.

crash

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Yellow bananas

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