Pop goes the Pyrex

Today Spouse stopped in at the Walmart located near his office on his lunch break. He picked up a few food items that are less expensive there than at our location grocery stores, and picked up a medium size round glass Pyrex bowl with a snap-on lid.

We already had 3 of the smaller round glass Pyrex bowls plus many small, medium, and large plastic bowls with snap-on lids so I inquired of him what had triggered this purchase. With me unemployed at present, this seemed an unnecessary expense, even though my Spouse loves him some kitchen gadgets.

So as Spouse was heating some 'Steamables' (frozen vegetables that steam in a bag in the microwave) he went on to explain that plastic food containers usually stain if you put tomato sauce in them and warp if you put them in the dishwasher more than once or twice. Eventually they crack, especially if frozen. He likes the glass Pyrex because they don't stain or warp. You can heat food in them in the microwave and they're dishwasher safe.

Just as he finished his thorough explanation (which was uncharacterically long for him), he opened the 'Steamables' bag and poured the perfectly steamed broccoli into the new glass Pyrex bowl and POP!!! The bowl exploded, sending shards of glass all over the counter top and kitchen floor.

He and I looked at each other, our mouths and eyes wide open in shock. Then I said "Yeah, well a plastic bowl will never do that".

After wiping the counter top and sweeping the floor I put the glass shards into a brown paper bag. Sometimes people toss broken glass into their kitchen trash can which is usually lined with a plastic bag that will easily be sliced open by the glass. Tip: put broken glass into a paper bag which is far less likely to be sliced open, then throw the paper bag into your outdoor garbage can, not your kitchen garbage can.

Since the glass Pyrex bowl was brand new and we still have the receipt, I think I'm going to take it and the surviving snap-on lid back to the store with the receipt and see if I can get the money back.

Hey, every little bit helps!

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

Tues evening Spouse & I went for a walk on the boardwalk after work. We both noted a woman walking on boardwalk talking on cell phone about nothing! Its the beach, lady. Why don't you just walk and look at the ocean and have some quiet time, instead of creating 'audio pollution' by blabbering on your cell phone about nothing.

I feel like a bad son-in-law and friend today. Spouse's mother and our friend Wendy are coming tonight and visiting with us this weekend and I really wish they weren't. I love them both and would love to have them here another time, but I am really feeling like I'd just like to have a weekend where I could go to the beach and relax. But instead, I'll be cleaning the house, washing linens, and taking care of people the whole weekend.

In a previous post I mentioned Spouse's gadget collection. This week his newest addition to the collection arrive, courtesy of HSN: a Bissell steam mop. Let's hope he puts it to immediate use and cleans the wood floors before his mom and friend arrive!

We've still not heard any news regarding the investment condo on which we put an offer. Our realtor informed us there were 2 other offers submitted the day before ours, but since the place is a foreclosure, the bank is taking its sweet time reviewing the offers. Oh well, we're in no hurry.

I saw in this article that a man died after falling into a vat of melted chocolate. Kind of gives new meaning to the dessert called "death by chocolate", huh?

There's been LOTS of visual progress on the addition this week. Look for new photos in tomorrow's post. Its curious to me that no one has asked if the construction guys were hot. I totally expected it from at least some of you!

Have a great weekend!

Crush du Jour: Christian Meier

New toy

I've mentioned before that Spouse loves him some kitchen gadgets!

Over the years we have had a bread maker, an ice cream maker, an iced tea maker, an immersion blender, a food processor, a KitchenAid stand mixer, a Nesco roaster oven, a countertop convection oven, a belgian waffle maker, an electric skillet, an electric griddle, a George Foreman electric grill, an electric knife, a stand blender, a toaster oven, a Turbo Cooker, a pizelle maker, a hand-held electric mixer, and an electric pressure cooker. To his credit, he has used every one of these gadgets, at least once. When we moved I convinced him to pair down his collection since our new house does not have a pantry, and he acquiesced.

But for quite some time now I could tell he's been jonesin' for the GT Xpress 101. He's made me watch the infomercial with Kathy Mitchell (I didn't even have to look up her name) 101 times at least, and hinted that he'd really like to have one. I, of course, gave him my famous look that, without words, says to him "Really? You really want another one-use gadget?"

But after the purchase of Big Ella I have a much harder time giving him that 'look'. I mean, why should I deny him a $30. occasional use kitchen gadget after I spent thousands on an occasional use vehicle? Mmmyeah.

So, this past weekend when he brought up his desire for the GT Xpress 101 (which he calls the XP-90), I kept my 'look' to myself and simply said "If you want it, dear..."

That was all he needed to hear. Suddenly the housecleaning, dogwalking, and everything else could wait; we were going to the kitchen gadget store, presumably before I changed my mind!
As soon as we got it home, he excitedly tried out the 'XP-90' by making us lunch. It worked fine, but only makes enough for one person to eat at a time. So we both ate a 1/2 while the 2nd batch was cooking.

Spouse was so happy with the purchase, and I believe, even happier that I didn't give him my 'look'. In an uncharacteristic moment he said "Thank you for letting me buy this", to which I replied "Letting you? You sound like I'm the evil step parent". But I knew what he meant, which was 'Thank you for not making an issue out of this, even if I only use it 3 times'.

Later that night he made part of our dinner in the 'XP-90', as well as our breakfast on Sun, and part of our dinner last night. He's already broken his typical usage pattern, so that's good.

In a way I feel like I 'let go' of something I didn't need to hold onto. My nature is to purchase and use things that have more than one purpose and that I am certain I will use regularly. But that is not Spouse's nature. He enjoys the unique purpose of individual gadgets, and that's fine. So although it is me who will need to find a place to store all the rarely used gadgets, is that really so important that I have to give him the 'look'?

No, not anymore.

So I 'let go' and let Spouse get his 'XP-90'. He's happy, and so am I.

Crush du Jour: Victor Luca