Fran

Stories from Fran

Tea cooler recipe, revised and improved

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Sunday, February 1st, 2009

The last experimental batch of tea cooler was heavy on the lemon and weak on the tea for Paul's taste, so I dropped the sugar to 1-1/2 cups, the lemon juice to 3/4 cup and increased the tea bags to six for the gallon. It was an improvement, but still a bit heavy on the lemon. That was still a little too lemony. We decided to drop the lemon to only 1/4 cup for the next batch, expecting it to be too weak, in which case, I could add lemon juice a tablespoon at a time until I hit the proportion of lemon Paul likes.

Liquid soap dispenser

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Saturday, January 31st, 2009

Martha Stewart sold me on the idea of using attractive refillable containers for items you tend to keep handy on the sink or counter to avoid being constantly assaulted by advertising and unattractive products. I invested something under a dollar in a pour spout that I added to a Prussian blue liter bottle that once held mineral water or something, and I've been using that ever since for my olive oil.

Liquid soap dispenser

All about food

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
Here's a website ( tastespotting.com ) that's all about food, beautiful, picture-perfect food, with links back to recipes on other food-related websites. Great for browsing if you have time to indulge the impulse to make everything you see. I'm obsessing over the green tea cookies and would be making them right now except I'm fresh out of matcha.

Local harvest

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Monday, January 26th, 2009
Here's a map listing of local farms and CSAs, from Local Harvest.

What's in season?

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Monday, January 26th, 2009
I like the concept of buying things in season and avoiding what's out of season, but until I came across the Eat the Seasons website, I found it difficult to put into practice. Eat the Seasons is updated weekly, and there are articles on most of the items listed for the current week. And it's not just about vegetables and fruits. The site also lists fish and seafood and meat, poultry and game.

Farm Fresh Express in Lansdowne

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Monday, January 26th, 2009

Farm Fresh Express in Lansdowne offers locally, organically, sustainably grown or raised food items. Customers order online on a weekly basis (the owners deliver) or visit the store Thursdays or Fridays 4:00 to 7:00 pm, or on Saturdays 8:30 am to 2:00 pm.

Tea cooler

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Saturday, January 24th, 2009

One of Paul's staples is Swiss Farm's tea cooler, and he's kept a gallon or two in the fridge for years. We haven't kept records, so don't know how much he actually consumes, but it's at least a gallon per week, and possibly two, especially in the summer. At $2.69 a gallon, tea cooler is hardly a luxury item, but there are some other concerns. First, allthough we try to reuse, we've found no way to reuse the 50 to 100 plastic jugs that we pick up along with the tea cooler each year, so they must be recycled. Second, the quality of the product is debatable.

Bathtub trim

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
Bathtub trim

A clothesline

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Thursday, January 15th, 2009

When we were children, clothes were hung on the line to dry, and sometimes instead on a wooden rack. Automatic dryers were introduced as conveniences, but over time they have become viewed as necessities of modern life. What a shame. Dryers are expensive to operate, increase the temperature in the house, and stress fabrics, decreasing the useful life of clothes. What's more, clothes from the line smell like sunshine, something you can't fake with a detergent or fabric softener.

Coffee, staple or luxury?

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

A friend wrote to me that her brother-in-law (Matt) in Ohio has started up his own coffee roasting company, and she asked if I would be interested in purchasing some. She included this note from Matt:

Dear Friends and Family,

JustActions website

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Sunday, January 11th, 2009
Here's where Fran will add text about JustActions.com.

Pen in hand

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Saturday, January 10th, 2009

Giving up disposible pens and relearning how to write with a fountain pen is not likely to result in a great financial savings. The most obvious benefit is that I will be keeping the disposibles out of the landfill, but the greater benefit will be symbolic. Every time I take the pen in hand, I'll be reminded of my resolution to avoid disposible products wherever possible.

It's about more than the money

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Saturday, January 10th, 2009

Today I came across a blog post "Morning Lace" in which an American expatriate in Japan reminisces about a large box of lace. Before his move to Japan he had left a corporate job to pursue other interests that included a flea market table stocked with items

Tips on stocking the pantry

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

Why clutter up the pantry with pale imitations of real foods that are easy to prepare, vastly superior in taste and quality, and often less expensive? Mark Bittman's article from The New York Times takes a decidely upscale approach

NY Times photo

Fran's resignation haiku

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Monday, January 5th, 2009

It's official. After seven years at a great Center City law firm, creating and tweaking websites and online applications, I have tendered my resignation, effective February 13, 2009. Because it's a rather unconventional decision, I thought I'd take an unconventional approach -- a resignation haiku.

 

Feb. 13, '09
The Firm goes on without me.
Freedom trumps money.

 

What will I do with myself with no job? Visit this website to find out. I expect to be busier than ever.

Haverford's single-stream recycling

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Thursday, January 1st, 2009

Haverford Township begins single-stream recycling with the new year. Details are on the Township website. All plastics #1 through #7 are accepted; Earth911 has a list of which plastics are of which type.

Thursday is recycling day in our neighborhood. The only exception in 2009 is Thanksgiving Day. There's no recycling that week, but regular trash pick up will be on Monday.

Welcoming 2009 in Media, PA

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Thursday, January 1st, 2009

Once again friends gathered at the Iron Hill Brewery in Media ("Everybody's Hometown") for our annual New Year's Eve celebration. Just before midnight, we walked out onto State Street and a half a block west to Brodeur's to watch the famous ball drop.

New Year 2009

Nana and the Snowman

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Monday, December 29th, 2008

One of the highlights of our annual post-Christmas trip to visit Paul's mother in Rhode Island, was taking "Nana" to see the Christmas display at Slater Park. It was the third time in as many days that she had been to the park, but she was no less interested. On this visit we got out and walked around a bit.

Nana and Snowman

Christmas Eve 2008

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

Home for the holidays, with the exception of John, we celebrated Christmas Eve with a turkey (and salmon) dinner and gift exchange.

Christmas Eve 2008

Simple living, frugality and my pledge for 2009

By: 
Fran
Date: 
Monday, December 22nd, 2008

Frugality. I wish I had a better word. It used to be a virtue, but even when I was young I thought there was something a little unseemly about frugality. Waste not, want not. Is there a way to make frugality seem more appealing? I’ll have to work on this. In the meantime, I’ll start a frugality category ("Pennywise") for this website, because in a quest to live the simple life, frugality is essential.

My pledge for 2009: