Burgle Some Turts

This week started with highs in the 70s and ended with highs in the 40s only to likely rise back up into the 70s today or tomorrow, but right now it’s a chilly Sunday morning and the coffee and tea are hot and the blankets are cozy. Let’s chat about the week that was.

The work week was short; we got out at 1:00 Wednesday afternoon. I took some pictures on my walks because I liked the way the leaves looked. At least, until the grounds crew came with their leaf blowers . . .

Be that as it may.

Sunday night we watched Welcome to Derry as we have done the past few weeks (our Sunday ttrpg sessions are on hold until after the New Year). I could have made supper, but then I would have had to decide what to make, then actually make it, eat it, and then clean up the mess I made when the kitchen had been clean since noonish. So last Sunday it was worth the $23 to me to order a pizza and garlic knots.

This Sunday the kitchen is not clean (i have made choices) but there is soup I made last night. I marinated a pound of chicken in an “herbs and wine” packet marinade, browned it with some onions, then simmered it for half an hour in four cups of chicken stock along with two cans of cream of chicken soup, two cans of mixed veggies, and generously seasoned with garlic powder, salt and black pepper, and Nature’s Seasoning. I sometimes make this with white wine, but this time I didn’t.

On Monday I made plate tacos. So what if it wasn’t Taco Tuesday? They were still good!

On Tuesday, I found myself embroiled in Pie Discourse when I saw a post online that read:

Apple pie is bad. This is not really debatable. So is key lime pie, while we’re on the topic. Pecan pie is the 🐐 tho.

I know this poster is trolling. Disparaging one of the best pies (and my personal forte) and placing pecan (of all things!) at the top? Well, all this is certainly debatable, but this poster starts from the unfortunate position of being wrong.

I just have to say that I am probably an expert when it comes to apple pie. I am a third-generation apple pie-maker and I am the undisputed best of them all. There’s so much that can and does go wrong that most folks have probably only had mediocre apple pie. Sad fact.

I have perfected my crust, my apple choices, my spices and their ratios, my baking technique.

It won’t win on aesthetics; I don’t go for lattice crusts or cute but unnecessary cutouts. You’re getting a double crust fruit pie that will be perfectly baked and balanced and it will taste divine – and those aren’t my words; that’s actually praise I consistently receive.

You will want to know how I did it and I will tell you I followed the recipe – but the recipe won’t tell you my secrets, and you’ll want to know them, and over the years I’ve given a few away (like using three kinds of apples and substituting some white sugar for brown sugar), but I won’t tell you the ratios or the little tips and tricks that I learned from my mother and my grandmother and even now continuously improve even though I’ve focused on this one dessert for over 20 years now.

You may weep or wail or cry or beg and maybe even try to bribe me but I will not give in – but if you pay me, I’ll make you your very own pie (assuming I can deliver it in person), and you may very well spend the rest of your life dreaming about said pie, as I heard from one former recipient.

All that to say: if you come around disparaging apple pie, beware: for I am its defender, and you are ill-prepared for this fight.

But I digress.

Of course, I made pie this week, too:

But not for Thanksgiving, where I was asked to bring the rolls. This pie was just for Krystal and me, since she didn’t get any of the pie I made the other week for our company potluck. The thanksgiving feast was still quite splendid:

After my Turkey Day Nap it was time for Second Dessert: a slice of chocolate cake with cookie dough ice cream and some hot apple cider – – and it was also time to begin the many rewatchings of A Christmas Story!

Friday I made the pie I mentioned earlier, as well as hitting a few Black Friday sales late in the morning. With Krystal’s work we haven’t been able to do the events like we used to, but also the “deals” are worth it to us any more either. Someone said this was a sign we’re growing old, but I reject that premise.

I also got a compliment this week! A new acquainted said they liked hearing me talk and found me interesting, and when I said that I often thought myself dull and boring, they said

I reject that statement

And so that line is now living in my head.

This week I also received three fragrances I’d ordered from Mad Labs Studios! It was supposed to be delivered on Monday but it was delayed until Tuesday. I was disappointed, but the universe knew what I needed because Tuesday turned out to be rough (not bad, just a trying day) and I arrived home right when the mail person dropped off the package and I opened it to find a kind note that got me crying before I even smelled the smells.

Wendy Torrence was a Halloween release this year, and I’m told I got the first one off the shelf! If you’ve ever wondered what you might’ve smelled like coming back into the Overlook after wandering the hedge maze, this is it. The scent has notes of chamomile tea, winter ice, burnt cedar, pine forest, old paper, and orris root and is delightfully subtle. Also, the company donates 100% of dales of this scent to PBS!

Cat-Síth has notes of sweet milk, heather, elderberry, white musk, and catnip – the purrfect blend to remember all the furry feline friends we’ve made along the way. Proceeds from this perfume go to the SPCA!

Krampus is a favorite scent of mine and is one of two scents I’ve completely finished at least once (the other being my custom MCR-inspired scent). I wear this scent when I wake up wishing I could just beat people with sticks and throw them into a basket, or on the days that I wear flannel and want to feel like I’ve just spent along day out in the autumnal woods as winter approaches. It just makes me happy.

The bell is an ornament tie-in from the 2015 film, the ornament is from Catawampus Press, and remember: Krampusnacht is December 5th!

Let’s see . . . I also made cornbread: 2 eggs, milk and oil and honey, sour cream, two boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix, and a greased cast iron pan:

And sometime this weeks I also made fettuccini Alfredo with broccoli. Oh yeah, that was the day before Thanksgiving because I realized my cheese was bad after I made the Alfredo sauce and had used up all the milk doing so and so had to go to the grocery store at 6:45 before Thanksgiving and that’s probably why I didn’t feel as bad as I might’ve about not doing Black Friday. There’s also a picture on my phone of an omelette with toast and a failed attempt at a potato cake. The potatoes were good; they just failed to brown or crisp.

But Jay! (I hear you exclaim) What about the title? What’s going on with that?

Well, for the last few weeks as I’ve been lying in bed in the mornings the phrase “time to burgle some turts” has popped into my head like Dunkin’s “time to make the donuts” commercial.

In case you’re wondering: “we’re here to burgle your turts” is a phrase spoken by Greg in Over the Garden Wall and is a silly way of saying “we’re here to steal your turtles”.

In a way it’s kind of odd that I’ve got a phrase from Greg in mind when I cosplay Wirt.

You can tell this is an older photo since I have short hair and facial hair!

But let’s get back to me, in bed, with this phrase in mind, and you know what? It’s actually motivating!

But anyway. Enough about me; what about you? How are you doing? Up to anything interesting this week?