- At 17, I worked as a driver for an Encyclopedia Britannica salesman who lost his license after too many DUIs. I went inside with him and sat through all the sales pitches. That was more uncomfortable than being in the car alone with this guy.
- I just found a gray hair… in my nose! I shouldn’t have looked up there. 👀
- In 1991, I sang the national anthem at a Chicago White Sox game in Comiskey Park. As a Canadian, I didn’t know all the words and had to study them first. I don’t know if they applauded for me or just for the anthem. 🇺🇸
- As a standup comic playing clubs on the road in the 1980s, I worked with lots of other comics playing the circuit, all of us hoping to make it big, including Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Billy Crystal, Bob Saget, Larry Miller, and Brad Garrett. We all played clubs across the country, never knowing who would be on the bill until we got there. 🎤
- Every night right before bed, I eat a muffin, a glass of milk, and a small piece of dark chocolate. Then right to bed. I think that’s against the rules…🤔
- I was a contestant on The Match Game.
- When I was 11 years old, I ran away from home with an older girl – she was 13. We passed for 16 and we both worked as waitresses. They didn’t find us for a month and we only got caught because we shoplifted an iron for our uniforms.
- I’m not afraid of snakes. Only spiders.
- I’m not an adventurous eater. I’ve never had sushi, escargot, or blood sausage (did they HAVE to call it that?) or oysters. People eat them raw? Seriously? I won’t eat anything that might still be moving. 🤢
Diary
Lots of Comfort Foods This Week
My freezer’s getting full. I love to bake so all my breads and cookies are filling up the shelves. This way they are always fresh and we’re not tempted to eat too many sweets. When I say “we” I refer to myself, who is a person of discipline and standards… not the guy who also lives here! 😀❤️ Here’s what I cooked this week:
- Chicken pot pie + salad
- Deviled eggs
- Oatmeal muffins
- Salmon patties with rice and steamed Brussels sprouts
- Chicken noodle soup
- Granola bars
- Vegetable stir fry with cashews
- Turkey chili + salad
- No knead crusty rolls (for the chili)
- Buckwheat pancakes
- Vegetable soup
- Tortillas
- Broiled branzino with steamed potatoes and broccolini
- Chocolate pudding
- Taco salad
- Dark chocolate oatmeal cookies (just added as a new recipe!) Guess who already ate two!
Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
NEW RECIPE: This was an experiment that I didn’t think would turn out but… wow! They are so good! I make lots of oatmeal cookies and wondered why they can’t be chocolate cookies too, so I used my crispy oatmeal cookies recipe and made a couple of small adjustments and here it is. It’s a crispy… (I love all things crispy (except pudding 🙂) …a crispy oatmeal cookie that’s all chocolate too.
I score these cookies while they’re still warm so they can easily be split into two. Always trying to reduce sweets, 1/2 a cookie is plenty of dessert for me. My husband loves chocolate and as soon as he saw these scored cookies, he said, “Oh boy! Ice cream sandwiches!” I suggested he take 1/2 a cookie and break that into half again for his ice cream sandwich. He’s still laughing. 😍
I do the best I can around here but it’s an uphill battle. ❤️ Click here for the recipe.
Organic Flour? Maybe Not…
So here’s what happened. In my endless and wasted hours of research on making sourdough starter (yes, I’m still mad! 😖) I saw one comment saying that the starter might not work as well with organic whole wheat flour. So I bought a bag of regular whole wheat flour and it started going well for a few days and then failed, just like all my other sourdough fiascos. (…still mad…) But that comment made me wonder… would plain whole wheat flour work better in my no knead bread? I think it did.
My whole wheat Dutch oven bread was always delicious but never as tall and airy as the plain white bread flour version. I already had the non-organic whole wheat flour so I decided to try it. Look at the result! ⤴ It was almost double the height of my usual loaves. And look at that crackly, crispy, crust! Maybe it’s a flook, I thought… a mere coincidence. I finished the loaf and made another one with the non-organic flour. Same thing. Beautifully big and lofty. And shouldn’t your bread reflect your goals in life? Big and lofty? 👍
It’s my belief that non-organic whole wheat flour makes a better loaf of no knead bread and that’s why I’m sharing it here. I use a lot of organic products when possible, but if the lettuce is wilted and sad and looks like it’s trying to talk, saying “I know. I wouldn’t buy me either,” then I buy non-organic. It’s the same with this bread. I wouldn’t buy my old whole wheat bread at the bakery, so I am switching to non-organic flour. If my old loaf could talk, it would say, “I’ll miss you, Jenny, but I’m not here to judge. I know in my heart that relationships don’t always last. I wish you and that non-organic whole wheat whore the best.” 😲
Then and Now
I was born in 1946. My parents were Polish refugees. They came to Canada with their own history and experiences, trying to make a new life and raise their two daughters. They were doing the best they knew how… ❤️
THEN: As children, to keep us from getting sick, my sister and I were given sugar cubes soaked in naphtha. I still remember the awful aftertaste. Naphthalene, which is highly flammable, is processed from crude oil and is used to make gasoline, solvents, and paint.
NOW: We just eat right.
THEN: One of our lunches as kids was a sugar sandwich. It was on Wonder bread of course, and here’s the recipe: Slather the bread with butter and top it with lots of sugar. What kid wouldn’t love that?
NOW: A salmon sandwich on whole wheat bread.
THEN: If we got sick, we ate a big raw clove of garlic followed by a piece of bread. I don’t know what the bread was for. Just so you know, raw garlic is hot, spicy, and burns when you eat it, nothing like when it’s cooked.
NOW: We cook with garlic for its antibiotic properties.
THEN: When we cut ourselves, the treatment was usually more painful than the cut. Mercurochrome! Yes, there’s nothing like a burning dose of mercury on an open wound! It was either mercurochrome or iodine, which was equally painful. After applying it, my mother would blow on it to cool down the burn! 🔥
NOW: Luckily, we have antibiotic creams with pain medicine added.
THEN: Zimne Nogi. ⬆ That’s Polish for “cold legs” and it was my dad’s specialty. He cooked a big pot of pigs feet and other ingredients for hours on the stove and wound up with a gelatinous glob that I could barely look at, and definitely not eat. He called it Galaretka. He loved it but I saw it as pigs in aspic and just couldn’t even try it.
NOW: Still no.
THEN: When my boobs didn’t grow by 14, my parents were not happy. They had ideas. My dad said to try ice water on my chest and to drink wine to stimulate my appetite to eat more, hoping if I gained weight, it would all go to my chest. My mother bought me falsies and ordered a Mark Eden bust developer from the back of a magazine. ⬇
NOW: “You are beautiful the way God made you.” 😍
More Good Eats
While the Super Bowl was on, I made spaghetti. Here’s what I cooked this week:
- Spaghetti & meatballs with salad and breadsticks
- Chicken noodle soup
- Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
- Vegetable stir fry with cashews (recipe coming)
- Tortillas
- Vegetable soup with cannellini beans
- 70% Dark chocolate cashew clusters
- Spinach fried rice with Asian salad
- Whole wheat bread
- Rigatoni with meat sauce + salad
- Granola bars
- Butterscotch pudding
I tried AGAIN to make sourdough starter this week. It was the fourth and LAST time. I failed every time and I am done! Please don’t tell me how easy it is because it’s not! If it actually was easy, then I’d be having sourdough bread tonight with my spaghetti. The one thing that goes well with carbs… is more carbs! 😋 I may have over estimated my abilities in the kitchen. 👨🍳
My Favorite Skincare Products
I don’t take for granted how fortunate I’ve been that I can splurge on pricey cosmetics but they’re not all expensive. Here, I’m sharing a list of my favorite products priced low to high. These are all in my medicine cabinet right now…
Under $25:
- Fresh Sugar Advanced Lip Therapy
- Fresh Face Vitamin Nectar Face Mist
- LaRoche-Posay Toleraine Double Repair Face Moisturizer
- Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream
- Gold Bond Age Renew Retinol Overnight Body & Face Lotion (I use for the body)
Under $50:
- Dr. Hauschka Rose Day Cream Light
- SkinCeuticals Micro-Exfoliating Scrub
- EltaMD UV Sheer SPF 50+ Sunscreen
- Avene Tolerance Extremely Gentle Cleanser
Under $100:
- Dr. Dennis Gross Advanced Retinol + Ferulic Overnight Wrinkle Treatment Serum
- Dr. Dennis Gross Advanced Retinol + Ferulic Intense Wrinkle Cream
- Natura Bisse C+C Vitamin Splash Face Mist
Over $100:
- SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore Moisturizer
- SkinMedica TNS Recovery Complex
- Natura Bisse Diamond Extreme (it’s best to be seated when checking this price! 😳)
p.s. I took that flower photo last year. 🌺
😋 A Week’s Worth of Good Food 😋
I am not an adventurous eater and have a problem with squishy food. That includes mushrooms. I love the flavor but not the squish factor so I always chop them up small. Here’s what I cooked this week:
- Chicken & mushrooms with steamed carrots + cucumber slices
- No knead whole wheat bread
- Chicken stock
- Dark chocolate fudge/walnut brownies
- Vegetable fried rice with Asian salad
- Tortillas
- Custard pudding
- Chicken & spinach skillet pasta with steamed yellow beets
- Lemon blueberry loaf cake
- Sweet & sour cabbage soup
- Taco casserole the lots of tomatoes and shredded iceberg lettuce
- Dark chocolate dipped coconut macaroons
We love beets! Whenever I make borscht, my husband always says, “You can’t beet soup!” 😀
My Skincare Routine
Cheap washcloths? Check ✓
Hygrometer? Check. ✓
Sunscreen? Check. ✓
I’m not sure how helpful my skincare notes will be since I don’t really do a lot, but I’m consistent so that makes a difference. Anyway, here I go with my first skincare notes:
MORNING: First thing I do after brushing my teeth is apply lip balm and spray my face with a facial spray. The cool blast helps me wake up and provides a little immediate moisture while I have my green tea.
Ready to start the day, I wash my face using an unscented cream cleanser and a warm (cheap) washcloth. For years I used Cetaphil cleanser but they changed the formula and now I use Avene because it’s similar and unscented. I am bothered by perfumes and scents – an allergy I think – so all my home cleaning and laundry products are “free and clear.” (Windex makes me gag but that’s for another time! 🤢) Anyway, back to the face. I let the cleanser “melt’ for a minute and then run a washcloth under warm, not hot water. At 79, my skin is thinner and drier and hot water strips the skin’s natural oils. I wipe off the cleanser with the washcloth and let the skin dry for a minute.
Cheap washcloths are my preference. Mine come in a stack at Target and they are anything but soft and that’s the point. Every time I wash my face, I get a very gentle exfoliating from these “grainy” washcloths. After many many uses, they soften up so I buy a new stack and keep the old, soft ones for cleaning.
When my face is dry, I apply a serum and let it set for a couple of minutes. I follow that with a moisturizer on my face and neck. I wait a bit for the moisturizer to absorb and follow with sunscreen on my face, neck, and the back of my hands.
THROUGHOUT THE DAY: There is water and lip balm everywhere – at my desk, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, by the sofa, and in my car. My skin benefits greatly from sipping water all day long. I drink before I get thirsty because if you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. At 79, our lips get dry easily so I apply lip balm whenever needed.
NIGHTTIME: My face washing is the same, using the cleanser and washcloth, but about every 3rd day, I use a gentle scrub instead of the cleanser. Mature skin doesn’t need harsh grainy scrubs so I use a very fine, gentle exfoliating scrub, using that warm washcloth to remove it. Once the skin is dry, I apply a serum, let it set for a couple of minutes and follow with a moisturizer.
BRANDS I LIKE: Avene, EltaMD (sunscreen), Laroche-Posay, Dr. Dennis Gross, SkinCeuticals, SkinMedica, Rilastil, and Natura Bissa ⬅ Sticker Shock on this one! 💰💰 (I never do paid endorsements – just sharing here in case someone is interested.)
HUMIDITY: I run humidifiers in the winter. Even in California, when the heat comes on, it dries the air and that is bad for your skin. (Dry air also increases your chances of getting sick but that’s for another time.) We have two humidifiers that need constant filling and occasional cleaning but I do the work because it’s worth it. I keep hygrometers around and can see that with the humidifier tanks running constantly, the humidity stays above 40%. If you get sparks when you touch things, your air it too dry – and so is your skin and cuticles, too. When I’m someplace else where the air is really dry, I use lots of hand cream and I put Vaseline in my nose.👃
NO MAKEUP: I don’t wear makeup. That may be why my skin glows because the pores don’t get clogged up with foundation and the skin can breathe. I had to wear lots of makeup on TV with even more touchups between shows, and I couldn’t wait to wash it off as soon as I could. It felt like a heavy mask but now I’m free so… no makeup!
NO FACIALS: I stopped doing facials years ago after I got better at my skincare. The last time I did my own facial (about 15 years ago) I did not see any improvement because my skin was in such good condition already.
6 THINGS TO AVOID FOR BEAUTIFUL SKIN: Smoking, alcohol, hot water, the sun, dehydration, and sleep deprivation.
HONORABLE MENTION: With everything above being important, I still believe my diet… what I’m eating/drinking and not eating/drinking… is the biggest contributor to my healthy skin.
Well I hope this is helpful.🙂 Once when my sister was visiting, I convinced her one night to stop wearing (matte!) makeup and just scrub and moisturize, and the next morning at breakfast, her skin was glowing! I remember it to this day. It was an immediate improvement that even I wasn’t expecting. We were both surprised. ❤️ I hope you find yourself pleasantly surprised, too.
Exercise – Ugh!
I hate it but I do it. I exercise religiously every single day and that is a lie. 🙂 The truth is I do the best I can. What I can’t do is set aside time every day for a 10 or 15 minute workout. I’d rather clean my oven. But the good news is… cleaning your oven counts as exercise! So does vacuuming, dusting, doing laundry, cleaning floors, and gardening… all of which I’d rather be doing than taking laundry off the treadmill to walk on it! By the way, underwear and socks dry beautifully on the treadmill. 🧦🧦🧦🧦 So am I using a treadmill? Yes. 😉 For laundry.
I do walk pretty much every day but to me, it’s fun. I get to see birds and flowers and clouds, and sometimes other people walking, but using headphones and not enjoying nature. I am motivated to walk because there’s always something to experience. You never know when you might see somebody walking a cute dog or teaching a child to ride a bike. So I’m all in on walking.
Here is the best I can do with “exercising.” I work things into my busy day so it doesn’t feel like a chore. I exercise mostly when I’m waiting for something. I do pushups against the kitchen counter while waiting for water to boil. I do reverse pushups on the counter while steeping tea. I do squats while on hold with the phone company – there’s always A LOT of time for squats! I also do reverse lunges, which I highly recommend – that’s gas company time! ⏰ I’ve even done my standing alternate arm & leg raises while waiting for the doctor to come in. I do that for my back.
I’ll get more specific about those few things I do, some with weights, but for now these are some basic details. Being active all day is how I have always lived. These days I’m up at 8 and on the go until 8 or 9:00 pm and almost always moving… from cooking, baking, washing dishes, grocery shopping, loading groceries, running errands, walking around Target (that counts), taking out the trash – I believe all that activity is beneficial if only because it’s time not spent sitting down. I walk up and down stairs and escalators. I park far away and walk to my car. We have to move! I told my husband we have to move and he said, “Okay, I’ll start packing boxes!” (more about the funny man I live with later ❤️)
My system is not for everyone but for someone who really does not like to exercise, it works for me. I like being busy so I’m also using my brain all day long. I can barely sit through an hour of television so I am the farthest thing from sedentary. I just find ways to insert some weight-bearing moves throughout my day. I also stretch every night before bed (more on that later). I do not, however, participate in any activity that requires a helmet or getting on the floor. I am NOT getting on the floor! If I do, I’m staying there until help arrives. 😀