Yay! I have enough tomatoes to start making preserves. So I boiled some up last night, & the slurry is now in my fridge, waiting until I have 16 hours to reduce it, then can it. Sadly, I could not locate the meticulously kept notes from last year, so I had to wing it - but it smells like it did last time around! I'm taking that as a good sign.
I went to the eye doctor yesterday - a new one near my house, and they're not jerks. Contrast this with the last time I went to the eye doctor - I was seriously overcharged & in the end given a pair of glasses that gave me a migraine within 3 minutes of putting them on. But I should have known that anyplace that gave me a 5 color printout of a map of the surface of my retina (???? wtf am i supposed to do with that? i just want some glasses!) would probably rip me off. That particular organization has since moved to a much trendier retail location, so I'm sure it now costs several thousand dollars to get your eyes examined.
But, my new guy is good, just did a standard eye exam. Is getting me some new type of contact to try. And I found a pair of glasses I like off the "frames provided by your insurance company" rack. Which usually only has Gary Larson-esque glasses that are hideously ugly. The ones I found actually look better than the 5 pairs I tried on from the "designer" section (which would have cost me a couple hundred dollars that I don't have). So I got free glasses, splurged for polycarbonate lenses ($30), and will pick up the tab on the contacts when they come in. I also asked about laser eye surgery (for which I am a candidate, but I'm pretty sure it would cost ~7k, and for that much money, I can think of a lot of other things I'd like instead.) I also found myself wondering if there is some physical attractiveness standard for opthalmologists. Except for last time, the ones that I've had have all been improbably cute. This guy is no exception (and the last time, that guy was old, so maybe he was really cute when he was younger?). Do they turn them away from opthalmology school if they're not attractive enough? Or do they get extensive cosmetic surgery before being allowed to practice?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
you know, where they are in a position to sell more expensive glasses than your insurance company will pay for, maybe there IS an attractiveness standard. So people will want to impress/compete with the eye guy. I love the "Gary Larsonesque" thing, I see little kids at the boys' school wearing these, it must be all that Medicaid pays for. Everyone here LOVED your tomato preserves, I hope you don't suffer any injuries(I am always afraid to can or preserve things myself, because European cookbooks always say, do this and this, and let it cool and eat it, and American cookbooks say if the barometric pressure isn't right or an eyelash falls in the pot,you and your family are all going to die.....have you noticed this?)
ahhh, I am scared of the pressure cooker myself. But - and I learned this from the 1960's canning book that D's mom lent me - high acid foods (like tomatoes, citrucy things, or anything that has a considerable amount of white vinegar (which is 5% acetic acid) can be canned with only a water bath. So the preserves has like 3 cups of vinegar in it, cooks for 16 hours or so (to reduce it to the jelly-like substance), and then you put it hot into the canning jars that have been sterilized in bowling water (this is the pain in the butt part, everything has to be washed, rinsed extensively, then boiled). Put the lids, which have been sterilized in boiling water) on top, seal them with the rings (sterilized), close the lid semi-tightly (not all the way, you'll do that after the vacuum seals), and put the whole thing in boiling water for 15-30 minutes (with decreases in pressure, you just increase the time in the water bath - but you're at sea level, so you could probly go 15 minutes). Take the stuff out, and let cool on a towel, out of the way of any breezes. Within 10 minutes or so, you'll hear pings that are the vacuum lids popping the little button in the center down. Tighten the lids down, and mark with the date, what it is, etc.
I think I'll be reducing my first batch of the year tomorrow, so canning either tomorrow night, or Sunday.
love you, & thanks for stopping by :)
Post a Comment