When we made our back room a 4 season room 12 years ago, we’ve called it many things from a lounge with a bar, sun room, mud room/pantry.
It’s a mélange of sorts for sure. Today, we added one for thing into the mix, the laundry room.
Last night, I went down to the basement to get my last load out of the dryer. The clothes were still wet. Dammit.
It was flashing a code which I looked up. It said to unplug the dryer for a few minutes then plug it back in and press start.
It still flashed the same code. From what I read I knew the motherboard shit the bed. Our washer and dryer are 20 years old.
Before replacing the dryer we know how things work in the Irion household, the washer would go next.
It’s always something but instead of being upset, I looked at the situation as an upgrade like I did with the whole septic issue last year.
I had a chance to think about what I wanted since Marty was out on a rescue squad call.
He’s usually quick to say no to my ideas so I had to convince him of my plan.
I wanted to get a washer-dryer combo machine. They have large capacity units even though it’s just the two of us.
I didn’t want a new unit in our dungeon of a basement anymore. I hate going up and down three flights of stairs to do laundry.
When I am having a hard time breathing on certain days I can’t carry the laundry up and down the stairs. I have to rely on Marty.
Since my lung disease, I’ve had to adjust the way I do a lot of things in my life. Doing laundry is a big one.
At first, he said it wasn’t possible when he got home. I insisted he open his German mechanical brain.
I am an animated person so he asked me to show him not tell him where I wanted to fit a washer-dryer combo machine.
He could see my idea when I physically showed him. He said, “Oh, okay.” 😀
We never pay full price for anything. Marty is a master at finding things we need at a price we can afford.
The combo machine was $1000 off since it was on sale and “out of the box.” He immediately ordered it.
While he was in Saratoga picking up the machine this morning, I took away the baker’s rack which was basically a filler for a blank space between the loveseat and the pantry shelving.
It was loaded with shit to fill it up. Nothing really needed to be there. The washer dryer combo fits perfectly in that spot.
It’s low and sleek so it doesn’t look obtrusive in the room.
People in Europe have had these kinds of machines for years stuck in all kinds of places in their homes and apartments.
After production tomorrow, Marty will run the water and electricity to the new machine. The European design is ventless which is brilliant.
I’ll let you know how it works. I’m never thrilled to do laundry in the first place, this will make it a little better.
So that little back room that serves so many purposes now, calling it a multipurpose room would be wrong.
You never know what you will stumble upon when you go to the store for a tube of BenGay.
I found this adorable princess crown at our local DG for $1.
I hobbled over to the self-checkout, which I despise, and paid for my little treasure and topical hot cold shit for my right leg.
I pulled my right glute muscle in the first dance class of 2019. It hurt for months.
When the weather gets cold, it literally kicks my ass. The pain has been pretty steady for most of February.
After leaving DG I went to dance class. I moved my right leg a little too far out and Boom! It felt like an arrow in my leg. 🎯
Needless to say, I couldn’t put any weight down on that leg but managed with a lot of pain to do upper body strength training moves and teach classes.
I was pissy on my way home and was in agony. When I got home I quickly tried on Nelly’s little crown, my heart melted and it cheered me up.
This little princess has become our magical princess that turns frowns upside down, and makes us so happy and lovey-dovey.
She is such a cuddle bug but likes to play hard. She knows how to play Marty like a fiddle which is the cutest thing ever for me to watch.
She was in her glory this weekend and I was too since my brother Dan and my 16-year-old niece Tabatha came to visit.
We had a wonderful time getting to each other better with lots of one one-on-one time.
We only met for the first time at the end of 2019 just before Covid. We still have a lot to catch up on and this was our chance.
Noah and Aja came for dinner on Friday night. Dan and Noah had a lot of stuff to chat about. It made my heart so happy!
Just as they were packing up to leave today, Sam showed up after spending time in Lake George for the weekend.
It was great they could at least talk for a few minutes before they headed back to Jersey.
It was a weekend retreat for them and me. We had lots of laughs, lots of stories to tell, and a few tears and we talked about the good and bad things we got from our father.
Father. Sperm donor. He was never a dad to his 3 children and split when Dan was 6 months old.
He never knew about me which was absolutely the best thing for me and my biological mom.
I am headed to bed with little Miss Nelly now. I know I’ll fall asleep with a smile on my face and more love in my heart. ♥️
Last Wednesday, when I was at my dance partner Kathleen’s house between belly dance classes, she showed me what she baked earlier that day.
You guessed it, butter swim biscuits. She let me smell them, and I looked at them. They made my mouth water.
Within one minute, I found a gluten-free recipe almost identical to the conventional recipe she used.
Friday morning, Marty’s birthday, I decided to make the biscuits. I failed. Dammit. I did everything correctly and knew I failed before putting them in the oven.
The dough was described in the recipe as a moist dough. I had a soupy mess. Shit. I added more flour than the recipe called for just until it came together. I proceeded with the recipe.
As they baked, I thought I saved them. I let them cool as instructed. Then I tried serving them. The insides were gooey. I was pissed. We ate one each, but eating it wasn’t pleasant, and we needed salt big time.
The next day, I went on YouTube and watched Southern cooks turn out the most glorious butter swim biscuits, and there was no fussy shit.
I watched their technique and how they measured their flour by scooping a cup into it. I used to measure flour this way, and that’s why I failed.
When I follow gluten-free baking recipes, they are always more complicated than necessary. Every gluten-free blogger tries to up the others since they compete for how many subscriptions they have.
“You must not scoop when measuring your flour; you spoon the flour into the cup.”
I follow the instructions if I want these gluten-free recipes to come out correctly. The next time I make the recipe, I cut out the bullshit extra steps and dishes.
The butter swim recipe I used had very few instructions for measuring the ingredients, followed by stirring it until a “moist dough” is formed.
There were no demo photos like most food blogs. Photos are extremely helpful, which is why I use them when I am writing a recipe.
I guess I back-seat drove the first time and measured my flour the “professional’ way. That was my mistake, silly Julz.
On Sunday morning, I needed to try making these butter whatamacallits again. Did I have to? Yes! I was still pissy; the first ones didn’t come out. I HATE wasting food and ingredients.
This time, I got to bake the way I used to, plunging the measuring cup right into the container of flour.
I added salt to the recipe, as all the Southern cooks did on YouTube. I was pleased with the outcome of the butter swim biscuits. They looked, tasted, and smelled like the ones I saw on YouTube.
After writing this, I know many people are shaking their heads and saying, “tisk tisk” at how bad these biscuits are for you since they are “swimming” in butter.
Butter swim biscuits use the same amount of butter or shortening as regular biscuits. These biscuits are a treat, not something you can eat daily unless you want to end up in a cath lab.
Scones also use the same amount of butter, so I rarely make them. I believe food and eating should be thought of as “everything in moderation.
For example, if I want to eat a scone, biscuits and gravy, or high-fat items, I’d rather eat a small amount and be satisfied than make a low-fat version. Moderation.
So would I recommend making butter swim biscuits? Absolutely! They are also the easiest biscuits to make.
We had the biscuits over three days with sausage gravy, preserves, and ham. They are so filling that you can only eat one, which helps when counting fat and cholesterol levels.
I must admit I miss the days when I could buy pop & fresh biscuits and crack open that tube, like winding a jack in the box. Pop!
So, if you like dense, crunchy, and buttery af biscuits, these are for you!
Just google butter swim biscuits, and a slew of recipes will come up, or go on YouTube and check out the southern cooks that helped me. 😊
