National Months - May

 It's my favorite time.  Interesting National Month celebrations in May.  

Here we go!

National Correct Your Posture Month

This month encourages us to take a long look at how we align our bodies in our everyday activities.  Poor posture can cause bone and joint issues and lead to headaches, injury and circulatory issues.  How to celebrate?  If you work at a desk all day, make sure you get up and move every thirty minutes.  Oh and make sure to strengthen your core muscles.  (I'm trying to sit up straight as I type this post)

National Moving Month

May happens to be the busiest month for moving.  Home sales are up during this time and people are on the move.  I'm hoping to be one of those people.....someday.

National Military Appreciation Month

The month celebrates active duty, guard and reserve members and veteran service members.  Several holidays honoring our men and women in uniform are in May.  Loyalty Day, VE Day, Armed Forces Day, Military Spouses Day and Memorial Day.  How to observe #MilitaryAppreciationMonth?  Thank military personnel and veterans for their service.  Share your experience in the military.  Support veteran causes like Honor Flights and Disabled American Veterans.

 National Mediterranean Diet Month

The Mediterranean diet consists of vegetables, fruit, whole grains and healthy oils.  Throw in some fish or chicken to the menu and limit red meat to a couple times a month.  An occasional glass of red wine and lots of exercise.  This sounds so familiar.  I think I grew up on this diet?

National Salsa Month

Salsa means sauce in Spanish.  While we think of tomato, onion, pepper and cilantro as salsa, fruits and other vegetables can also be made into salsas.  This is a chance to step out of your comfort zone and make some new and exciting salsas this month.

National Recommitment Month

Gives us the opportunity to evaluate the important areas of our life and to refocus.  We make goals throughout our life and sometimes we get off track.  This is the time to sit down and see how we are doing.  Make adjustments in our life or maybe change our goals.

National Date Your Mate Month

You have thirty one days this month, why not use them to add a little spark to your relationship.  Remember what attracted you in the first place?  Revisit the spot where you had your first date.  Maybe plan a picnic.  Try something new together (karaoke, hang gliding).   Use #DateYourMate on Social media.

Looks like a fun month ahead!  How will you participate?

National Tea Day

Today is National Tea Day in the United Kingdom.  A day for Britain to celebrate it's love for this hot, steeped beverage. It's so loved that they consume over 60 billion cups of tea a year!  That's a lot of tea!

Every year, the Britains host a "Fes-Tea-Val" where they showcase new teas, bringing together tea drinkers, servers and the entire tea industry.  This year's slogan is, "Brew more. Do more." 

How to celebrate #NationalTeaDay: 

Host an afternoon tea (it is National Afternoon Tea month, after all)

Visit the festival.

Learn proper tea decorum (in case you get invited to afternoon tea with King Charles)

Here are some tea etiquette tips, in case you find yourself with tea royalty.

Dispensing the tea:

The host should pour the tea for every guest.  Make sure to leave the teapot on the table with the spout facing the host.

Dunking:

Dunking a biscuit in your tea is not appropriate.

Food:

A tiered cake stand is the appropriate serving piece.  The upper tier is filled with scones, the middle has sandwiches and the bottom has treats and pastries.  Food must be eaten in this order: sandwiches, scones and then desserts.

I'm grateful that I am not in Boston on this day.  I think I'll go make myself a cup of tea!

How will you celebrate today?

Don't Cry Over Broken Dishes

 I have an interesting collection of dishes, glasses and bowls.  Some of them match, with a few odd pieces.  I like the mixed selection.  It brings me joy.  Included in this set are the eight blue bowls I had to purchase because bowls were mysteriously breaking (I don't think I wrote about that nightmare). These bowls were thrifted because I refused to pay a lot for bowls that might somehow be broken by my children.  Of course, no bowls were broken after that purchase, and I now have a million quite a few on hand.

I have an assortment of plates, including a Christmas design.  A few of the plates are from Yiayia's (my grandmother) collection.  

The other day, I went to grab a bowl from my large assortment and instead of putting it on the counter, it fell to the floor.  Now, I think I have had these bowls (there were a total of six) for over twenty years.  They aren't the most beautiful bowls, but the memories that they hold.  I was shocked and sad.  I looked around and there was no one home.  I was looking for sympathy and possibly consolement.  I realize that they are just things, and all things can be replaced.  As I relived the memories in my head, I cleaned up pieces of the ceramic off the floor and discarded it into the trash.

The memories will live on forever in my mind, even when the actual piece has died and gone to another place.

Χριστός Ανέστη

Happy Easter!  Καλό Πάσχα!

We are celebrating Greek Orthodox Easter at our house.

Xristos anesti

ek nekron,

thanato thanaton patisas,

ke tis en tis mnimasin zoin xarisamenos

Christ is risen

from the dead,

having beaten Death by [his own] death

and having given the gift of life to those in the graves.

Christos Anesti. (Χριστός Ανέστη)  (Christ has Risen)

Alithos Anesti.  ( Aληθώς ανέστη!)  (He has risen indeed)

Kalo Pascha!

Retail Problems

 I've learned a lot about humans and their behavior in the wild by working retail.  And, working in a grocery store, you come in contact with all sorts of people.

When I first started this job, I noticed how people interact with me.  I got a lot of people who would grunt when I asked them questions.  Some people won't talk to me at all.  And, of course, there are those that talk during the entire transaction.  Some people are angry shoppers.  While others are just plain crabby (maybe they are hungry?).

We have regulars that shop weekly.  And we have "regulars" that shop every single day.  Not sure why they don't just stock up a little.  Maybe we are their daily entertainment.

I do know that most of our customers are friendly.

We do have "those" customers.  Customer:  "I don't want to give Jeff Bezos any more money."  Yet, here you are shopping......

Another favorite customer is the guy who pays his order with all singles.  He says, "It's my stripper money!"   I think he is a hairstylist, but I like stripper money better.

And, finally, I had a customer in my line tell the customer I was waiting on that she left her packaged meat on the shelf.  She said, "It isn't mine."  When it was his turn, he said that he saw her place it there.  Then he said, "I bet you see a lot of weird stuff."  

Yes I do......Yes I do.

My Weird Dog

 As I mentioned in previous posts, we participated in spring break.  This vacation did not include my weird dog Pippen.  Pippen was able to stay home and have Alex take care of him.  The lucky dog even got daily visits and treats from his favorite uncle.   I had it all planned out so he could have trips outside to do his business and have a little social time too. You imagine him living his best life.

The first message I received (within a day), Pippen was sad.  Then its, "He won't go outside."  I received a picture of the floor and, "How is he this messy?"  Ok, that last one I can explain.  Pippen takes bites of food and chews with his mouth open.  He then turns or walks away from his bowl.  Some food drops out of his mouth.  I find pieces throughout the main floor (yes, RT is a saint for putting up with all of this craziness).

One night, while we were away, some thunderstorms came through the area.  Pippen decided to wake up make a nightly three am visit.  His jiggling of the door handle in the middle of the night brings chills and scares the pants off you.  Alex was not a fan.

I might have to find another baby sitter dog sitter.  Anyone interested?

Toothbrush

 Recently celebrated participated in spring break on the east coast.  On the first leg of our trip, RT decided that he needed a new toothbrush.  Yes, we had plenty of time to prepare for our trip.  I think when you start to relax, or maybe when you go on vacation you start pondering your life's choices.  For example, your current choice of toothbrush.  At least that is what I am telling myself.  Who knows why a new toothbrush was needed at this time?  With all that we wanted to see and do, we now had to add, "search for a new toothbrush" to our list.

I am happy to report that our search was a success. A toothbrush was found and everyone seems to be quite happy with this purchase.

National No Housework Day

A day that we should celebrate every month!  Why is this only once a year? I think I will celebrate this day by doing something fun.  You know, maybe do a little cleaning.

That Guy

 Took an airplane ride recently.  Had the pleasure to be near "that guy."  You know, the one who recites statistics of dying on an airplane.  He also mentioned that most accidents happen on take off or landing.  "Planes don't just fall out of the sky."

Thanks for the uplifting words.  Good thing I'm not afraid of flying.  You might want to check on the passenger in 28C, though.  She doesn't look too good.

Homemade Hummus

 I posted this recipe quite a while ago and thought it was time to give it a little update.

My family enjoys eating hummus as much as I enjoy making it.  The one thing I found with my original recipe was the consistency.  It just wasn't very smooth no matter how much time it spent in the food processor.  With a little research and a few tweaks, I think I have finally nailed a smooth hummus.  The key?  Eliminate the oil and use the aquafaba (juice from the can of chickpeas) in place of the water.  Oh, and a little extra garlic is always acceptable.

Well, enough chatter from me.  Here is the recipe:

Classic Hummus

Ingredients:
1 15oz can chick peas, rinsed and drained
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
3 TBSP tahini
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup aquafaba or more if needed

*optional topping ideas:  extra drizzle of olive oil, chopped fresh parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, toasted pine nuts, chopped roasted red peppers, basil pesto

directions:
Add first six ingredients to food processor, and blend until smooth.  You might want to scrape down the sides.  Add in the aquafaba and continue blending until the hummus reaches your desired consistency.  Add additional aquafaba if needed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

For something different, I like to chop up a jalapeño and make jalapeño hummus.  I add this at the beginning, before the aquafaba.  

You can also chop up chipotle peppers and make a spicy chipotle pepper hummus.  

If you make this classic hummus, let me know what you think in the comments below.

Enjoy!