Daily Outfit: Effortless with Little to No Effort

Locker room selfie!

Well, a bit over a year later, I finally have another outfit post.  I know you're all so excited!

This outfit is pretty boring but it works; it's somehow edgy for work because everything out of the absolute ordinary is edgy, and it's a bit classy, laid back, and maybe even normcore.  Yay!

This outfit is one chosen once my closet has downsized.  Which is awesome, because like I said in my last post, it means that getting dressed is not about getting stressed (oh jeez), and that basically everything in my closet goes with everything else.  My other goal is to buy used when I can.  And fair-trade/humanely made, too.  Let's not contribute to the fast fashion industrial complex (I know I've done my share of that already in my life).

I'm wearing a Burberry trench in the office because I'm cold, and it also let's them know I'm "authoritative" or something like that.  I have always wanted one, and miraculously one day a few months ago, I found one at a very good price used, that actually fit me!

Here is my outfit:

• Burberry trench in classic length and fit.  It was $200 at Crossroads Trading, and would be about $2000 new.  Supposedly made in Britain.
• Trovata blue striped oxford button-down.  It was $15 at Crossroads Trading, and would be about $200 new.  Supposedly made in California.
• Old Navy special edition skinny jeans.  They were $5 at Thrift Town and I bought them nearly two years ago now.  Not bad.
• Sabah two-tone leather shoes.  They were $200 but handmade in a fair and humane way.

And there you have it.  Trying to have less stuff and hold onto it longer, and not participate in fast fashion, is a goal of mine.  Let's keep trucking on that.

Decluttering: End of the Closet Purge Project

These represented my final project completed, and one (heirloom) dresser emptied!

A little backstory.  I guess I've talked about my closet purge project for awhile now.  The need for it started back when I was a friendless high school freshman.  My mom would give me $5 for lunch.  It was a fair amount of money to get a balanced, nutritious meal.  However, I would take $4 of that and save it up.  I would spend $1 of that on a cup o' noodles and a can of Hawaiian Punch.  It's amazing I made it out of high school as relatively healthy as I did.  Yikes.

I spent that remaining $4 on something cute at the thrift store.  I'd save it up and go on a Friday, sometimes.  The thrift store was my happy place, where all the clothes were my friends.  I later made friends who either understood my thrifting obsession or even "got it" and showed me tips and tricks!

This all translated into an overloaded closet, bedroom, and eventually boxes in the garage (when I lived at home).  My canopy bed served as an extra closet rack.  My poor closet with the 40 year-old wooden rod crashed down in the middle of the night.  I bought an extra (cute) wardrobe at Ikea to house more clothing.  It was a disease that could not be stopped.

All these clothes bought me joy.  Some weren't even my style, but were what I wanted to "be" like.  Some I bought because they were funny, others because they were cool or rare or vintage.  Most I never wore more than once.  If you think of how much money I spent over the span of twenty years (1996-2016), I could have taken some cool trips!

My poor mom!  How did she put up with this.  Only a mother could!

In 2010, when I started to move out, my mom jumped for joy at the thought of finally getting back a good portion of her garage!  I had to figure out what to do with all the crap clothes.  Storage for awhile.  Going through some for awhile.  Keeping some at my parents' for awhile (until they retired up north and said they weren't going to move my crap) (fair enough).

2011-2013 was going through all this stuff in earnest.  And the more I went through, the more I realized how little I actually wore and enjoyed. 

2014-2015 was my purge in earnest, and the discovery of "capsule wardrobes," less consumerism, and the like.

The last year or so has been my purge project in addition to our goal of downsizing.  We are hoping to move into a smaller house.  We currently have a large tract home (renting) and want to move into a smaller home that is more efficient, with less material possessions.  So, with that earnest goal in mind, the past year has been spent preparing for life in a house that was built before people had disposable fashion.  They made their own clothes and repaired items, and had quality, not quantity.

In addition to this goal and the "capsule wardrobe" movement, Kondo wrote her awesome book about Tidying Up.  I scanned it and loved what I saw.  It made perfect sense.  I'm loving the whole waste not want not, downsizing, mentality.  It frees you up for more important things.

I also found it helped to find someone who needed help moving, but had way too much stuff...  That will inspire you to get rid of your own stuff so you don't have to move it when the time comes.  In addition, what really helped for me was taking pictures of "cute" things I was getting rid of but didn't really jive with my style.  Then you have the picture.  Release the item!

Once I got rid of this, then some more bags, then that, and then another bag....  I figured why stop there?  And I made it my goal to get rid of a dresser.  That was a fun project that culminated with the two drawers you see, above.  I used to have a drawer each for:  stockings/tights, undies/bras, socks, slips, workout gear, woolens...  I combined those so they took up half the space, and this meant that finally I could get rid of my tall dresser.

The dresser is something my grandpa made by hand.  He was a hobbyist carpenter, back from a time when people had lots of talents, and he had many gifts.  I didn't get rid of it.  My mom is "holding" the dresser until either of us can find room for it.  It currently resides in her garage and my dad will probably use it for storage of some sort. 

It feels great being that much lighter, having that much less stuff.  And surprisingly, or not very, getting dressed in the morning is super easy.  I only have stuff I use!

Stupid Easy: Avocado Deviled Eggs

Aren't they pretty?  Green Eggs.

By a bit of good fortune, I have a slight problem on my hands.  I get a CSA delivery that includes a dozen eggs every week.  While my cholesterol levels are still adjusting and I'm trying to eat more oatmeal to counteract that, for the most part this is a very good thing.  Eggs are nature's perfect food!  That, and milk.  Don't think too much about it and don't talk to a vegan about it, either.  Nutrient-wise, it's a good thing.

But then (dun dun DUN), my friend's garden chickens started laying eggs like crazy.  She has more eggs than she knows what to do with.  Like five dozen a week or something (not sure).  So, I got 18 eggs in addition to the eggs from my CSA.  Of course the home ones were better, but all the eggs were yummy.  But, I can't eat like five eggs a day!  Damn genes.

Last week, with all these eggs at critical mass, my MIL invited us to a block party in their neighborhood.  It's one of those cute streets that is old-timey even in our rude and modern city.  They have little potlucks and people say hi to each other when they see them, and the houses are 80-100 years old.  It's just cute overload.

Anyway, what could I bring?  EGGS.  Yes.  Eggs.  Duh.  Do not pass go, do not collect anything, just make eggs.  Whew!  A dozen less eggs in my house.  Whew.

Deviled eggs are always a hit.  I make a pretty good batch.  I always have.  Twenty-five years strong of making a good deviled egg.  People will always say, "You should try my deviled eggs, they're the best, trust me."  I will just smile and nod.  Yes, yes, you keep believing that.  But for 75% of my life, I have been making an epic deviled egg.

It was so good that when we had to do a "how-to" demonstration in fourth grade, I of course did deviled eggs.  Duh!  Twenty-five years, I tell you!

Okay, now that I have my credentials....

I was going to make my typical "not even a recipe" deviled eggs.  But, since my husband doesn't like mayo and I don't see the need to keep it around much (and when I do, I use it once and then the remainder sits sadly in my fridge for six months until I throw it out), I had to figure something else out since I was too lazy/cheap to run to the store for mayo. 

I had an avocado (also from CSA) that had to be used before I got my next delivery.  Healthy fats!  Yayyyyyyyy.  The avocado was nice and ripe and as you can tell by the picture, a gorgeous shade of bright green.

It's not even a recipe.  Here's what I did:

1.  Hard-boil a dozen eggs using your favorite method.  Everyone has theirs.  Google for some methods--there are as many methods as there are people, it seems.  My current favorite is to get the eggs out of the fridge about half an hour before boiling them.  Bring some water to a boil and drop the eggs gently into the already-boiling water.  Ten minutes seems to be about right.  Remove them into cold water and then chill.

2.  Take the chilled eggs and peel them under running water (catch the water if you're going through a drought; the plants will love it).  Gently dry off the peeled eggs on some paper towels.

3.  Slice eggs in half "hot-dog"-wise, and pop or scoop out the yolks into a medium bowl.  Set the egg whites on a platter or other pretty dish.  Here I used a pie plate because it works well and I had to transport it.  You can put cling wrap over the plate and it won't smoosh the egg yolks.

4.  Take the bowl of yolks and put it in a small sandwich-sized Ziploc bag.  Add some salt to taste, you don't need to add pepper but you can, and add some dried herbs to taste (as long as you get a little granulated garlic/onion, you're good).  Put a teaspoon or two (not exact) of mustard of your choice.  I usually put Dijon but in this instance I was feeling sassy and I put some classic yellow with turmeric.  I also scooped in my WHOLE avocado.

5.  The fun part:  Close the bag.  Squeeze out air.  Mush the bag with your fingers and go "doop doop doop doop" as you do this.  Trust me.  Scientific stuff happening here.

6.  Once this is all combined, cut a small hole in a corner of the bag.  About a quarter of an inch will do.

7.  Gently work the mixture down to the hole and begin gently piping into the reserved egg whites.

8.  Add paprika on top of the finished eggs because you're fancy and it looks pretty.

9.  Serve and profit.  These were a hit.  They were gone in a few minutes.  There were no leftovers.  Good cooks, including a PROFESSIONAL BAKER OMG who makes locally-famous pies and happens to live on this street, said they were "to die for."  I don't mean to brag, but I just did.  *drops mic*

10.  Wait, you're still wondering how they'll taste?  Just make them!  It's like deviled eggs and guacamole had a love child.  Everyone knows mutts are best anyway.

Not Even a Recipe: Homemade Yogurt

This isn't my yogurt, but mine looks similar!

Store bought yogurt is not that expensive.  Maybe Fage is...  But, your average generic non-organic plain yogurt is not too bad.  What if I told you that you could have fresher, organic, made-to-your-exacting-specifications, yogurt for a FRACTION of the price of storebought?  Does it sound like some gimmick?

It's not.  It does require a few moments of your time.  Wait!  Where are you going?  Don't close the browser.  It's easy.  I promise.  In fact, it is more of a "method" than a recipe.  And you can customize it until you get yogurt so good and so in step with your preferences that you will walk past that mile-long yogurt aisle at the grocer (that gets bigger by the day because everyone is obsessed with GUT HEALTH OMG).

Which leads me to this little side-thought:  How can a country that gets more obsessed by the day with probiotics be so afraid of making their own yogurt?  My MIL even said "isn't that how you get listeria?"  The answer is:  no.  More on "hygiene" of this later.  Of course, my mom is cool with homemade yogurt but freaked out when I ate cold pizza, so maybe everyone has their own line in the sand.

Here are the simple steps to starting your yogurt making JOURNEY:

1.  Purchase some good, fresh, organic milk.  Preferably whole-fat, but any fat level (or none) will work.  You can even use non-dairy milk, but I've never tried it.  The amount depends on how much yogurt you will make.  If you want to "experiment" first, use just a quart to start.

1a.  Obtain a yogurt starter.  Get a yogurt that you like the taste of (the taste is the bacteria) (OOOO YUMMM).  If you like a bloppy one, get a bloppy yogurt, and if you like a really acidic tangy one, get a really acidic tangy yogurt.  My current starter was given birth by a Fage full fat Greek yogurt.  My prior one was from my friend, but I contaminated it (more on that later).  You don't need to purchase fancy "yogurt starters" online unless you want to be that fancy.  But it's not worth the money in my opinion.  The amount should be about 2 tablespoons to every quart, but it doesn't seem to matter much how exact you are here.

2.  Get a container that you will use as your "yogurt container" and incubator.  Mine is a plastic tub given to me from my friend who gave me some of his homemade yogurt to try, hence starting my foray into this.  You can use glass, too.  I don't see why you can't use ceramic.  Just probably don't use metal.  Make sure it is SPOTLESSLY CLEAN (as Julia Child would say).

3.  Get a nice thick-bottom (no judging!) pot/pan.  This is what you will use to heat your milk.  Your milk will probably scorch to the bottom of a thinner pan.  This happens to me every week.  I'm saving up for a Le Creuset cast iron pan, but we all have our troubles.

4.  Get a reliable, quick-read thermometer.  Preferably the best digital one you can find, preferably with a long probe so you don't slowly cook your poor little fingers as you read the temperature of the milk as you scald it.  I recommend a Thermapen MK4, of course I'm classy like that.  Any good decent one with good reviews online will do.

5.  Get a clean dishtowel and set aside.  This will be important later.

6.  Google "homemade yogurt" and the top searches of the day will come up.  You can see that there are many methods to doing this.  I read a few and did what worked for me.  The two key parts are:  scald milk, incubate at a constant temperature.  The rest is up to you.

7.  To begin, pour your quart of milk into the pan and heat slowly and steadily to 185*F.  I've seen it as high as 200*F and that's fine too.  You probably don't want to go higher than that, and probably don't boil it unless you want to make something closer to cheese, which is fine, but not yogurt.  Read more and dork out about milk proteins or just trust me on this.

8.  It'll take around 20 min.  Monitor the heat.  Every so often, dip your thermometer in to read...  Be patient and it will hit 185*F.  Remove from heat.

9.  Now, cool down to 100*F to 115*F.  It needs to be cool enough to not kill the yogurt you're about to add.  You want the good bacteria to go to town on the now-"clean" milk (the scalding killed any rogue buddies in there).  The best way to get this cool fast is to take the hot pot (with lid on) and submerge it in ice water, and stir it around.  A cold tile/granite countertop works well, too.  So does having it watch a Wes Anderson or Lena Dunham movie (just kidding).

10.  Once your handy dandy thermometer reads in the "lukewarm but not hot" range mentioned in Step 9, mix a little of the warm milk in with your yogurt starter (you can have this in a clean bowl waiting).  Then mix that slurry into the warm milk in the pot.  Mix around.

11.  Get your CLEAN yogurt tub or container (etc.) and quickly pour the warm inoculated yogurt into the container.  Quickly wrap the container in your clean dishtowel and put somewhere that will have a constant temperature of about 110*F so the yogurt bacteria can do their thing and transform your milk into yogurt!

12.  The best thing for a warm place is probably your oven with the light on (but oven off!).  However, sadly, my oven light is out even though we have a new oven.  So, I did something I haven't found online but it really worked:  I put the yogurt in my microwave and rigged a little paper towel into the door so the door remained closed but light remained on (like a really low grade Easy Bake oven!).  This worked splendidly.  I've done it a few times now.  Another option is to google other people's ideas--this includes putting it in a cooler, for a similar effect.

13.  Now, just let it sit undisturbed for anywhere from 4 to 12 hours.  I've done it overnight a few times and it worked to get a good texture.  I sat it last time for only 5 hours and it had a mild, almost "crema" tang to it, which was lovely.  You want a nice custard texture.  You might want it runnier than I do, in which case you can have it slightly cooler (on the 100*F end) or stir it when it's DONE inoculating.

14.  Chill the "cultured" yogurt (by now, it will be talking about kale and bragging about some new art gallery opening in SOMA) for at least 2 hours before eating (not sure why this is a thing but it works for the texture to set more).

15.  Eat and enjoy!  I like mine with some fruit and no sweetener.  You might like it with jam; maybe add some peanut butter too!  Yum.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

Google "homemade yogurt troubleshooting" to find out what could possibly go wrong and how to fix it.  I found making yogurt very easy but I did run into a slightly rare problem:

My first two tries had my yogurt taste and feel like SNOT.

Gross, right?  I never said I was perfect.

I didn't die but I didn't eat more than a serving of each batch.

The whey looked like runny snot, and if you scooped it up, it had a "string", and it was just not a good mouthfeel.

Don't let this discourage you from making yogurt!

Just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, throw out that old yogurt, and start all over again!

You see, this problem was due to me feeding my sourdough starter at the same time I was culturing the yogurt in our kitchen.  Or I had just baked it, or both.  The little yeasties floated in with the yogurt and contaminated the batch.  So sad.  But if you're a DIY person, you probably have this or some beer or kimchi floating around.  Just remember to keep them far away from each other, and keep the yogurt covered, especially in the cooling-off phase when you are tempted to keep it open to speed the cooling.  Keep all your utensils and tools and containers really clean.  Don't use an old sponge to clean them.  Use the dishwasher or scrub with a paper towel or very clean sponge.  That's my warning to you.

Otherwise, it's stupid-easy and a great way to feel like you made something from scratch, you're healthy, and you're super folksy too!

Remember, like sourdough, there are a few methods and things to remember, but people did this who couldn't read and had ten babies clinging to their skirt, with no running water or refrigeration.  If they could do this (as humans have for eons), you can, too!  :-)