Making Stuff Out of This and That
Hey Deadsplinteraficianados! Hope you’ve survived the onslaught of relatives, or calories, or shopping.
Or possibly worse, the advertising, the expectations, the…
…no, no, no, let’s talk about more positive things.
Here’s a fun image I came across on the Library of Congress website, a hopeful one of men, women, and kids of all races coming together to celebrate ideals of equality under the gaze of Ulysses Grant and the recently martyred Lincoln, while Uncle Sam carves a turkey that can feed all of them.
Let’s talk about leftovers — repurposing the things we have lying around for something good.
A few weeks ago brightersideoflife had a NOT about salvage jobs and deciding when it was worth repairing things. And since this is a day when we in the US are not exactly repairing things but stripping them for spare parts that will fit in our mouth holes, I thought I’d do a bit of a followup.
What are your favorite things to do with leftovers? Got a favorite sandwich?
I love me a big ol’ sandwich of turkey, cranberries, stuffing, more turkey, maybe a bit of salad, some gravy, piled up so high I can’t even fit my mouth hole around it.
Or maybe you’re a turkey casserole type. Or maybe you just sneak lots of leftover pie. What’s your jam?
Or maybe, speaking more broadly, you’re the kind of person who uses up lots of leftovers. How do you work that?
Here’s an example — it’s an image from almost 130 years ago that’s being reused in a way that the artist couldn’t have possibly imagined. I’m sure the Liebig Company couldn’t have dreamed that their Extract of Beef advertisement might ever be seen this way.
Do you troll vintage shops for old prints to hang on your wall? Or maybe you look for classic clothes to wear in secondhand shops?
We reuse fruit peels and veggie scraps for compost, regularly dumping them in a bin out back and only on rare occasions actually pulling out the rotted material for the garden. Do you cut up jeans for rags when you change the oil? Make stuff out of scrap lumber?
Or maybe you’ve taken a bunch of old CDs, converted the two or three good tracks to mp3s, and salvaged some decent music before pitching the old jewelboxes. Turn old wine into sangria?
What are your favorite leftovers, Thanksgiving or otherwise? How do you unleash your inner Carl Weathers?
Similar to my version of the Thanksgiving Sandwich: Taking a pile of turkey meat, gravy and cranberry sauce with a touch of mayo, shoving it into a leftover bun or bread slices, on the side is reheated mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw and whatever remaining veg leftovers, with a cold Coke.
I found that the leftover turkey is only good as long as the gravy, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes are around.
A couple of pounds of leftover turkey is a gift, ten pounds is a curse.
I’m learning to make smaller portions so I have less leftovers. Except for pie, I’m all about the pie.
There’s a reason why the Three Rs of responsible consumption are ranked from one to three as Reduce, Reuse then Recycle.
But yeah, we have a third of a pie left and no regrets.
I’m a huge fan of making a casserole with leftover turkey.
That being said, I was too lazy today to actually do that and had Qdoba for dinner instead.
It seems like way too much work to make a casserole completely from scratch, but worth it when you’ve got a bunch of turkey or leftover roast veggies.
Part of the issue too is that I know a casserole makes 6 or 8 servings depending on how filling it is. And that turkey has about 5 days of life in the fridge. So I’m basically committed to eating it for lunch and dinner or making it knowing a few servings will get thrown away.
Please forgive me but all I saw in that Uncle Sam image was a Toronto Maple Leaf in the middle of it. Granted, it warranted not a comment BUT…BUT…but the following image led with the word, “PUCK” and I could not help myself from typing this comment that leads to nothing other than your utter disappointment because there is no reason whatsoever for you to read it, attempt to make sense of it, or even pretend to care to acknowledge it…even though you’ll try your damn best to get past all of that and star it in support of me anyway.
For that, you’re welcome…
…for gifting you the ability to know what it’s like to be a Leafs fan.
Here’s the late great Leafs fan John Candy talking with David Letterman about how SCTV shared a camera crew that also covered Oilers games (about 6:15 in)
OMG the legend that is John Candy! I’ll never forget his quote when asked by a TSN sideline reporter when he was part owner (with Wayne Gretzky) of the Toronto Argos what success meant to him…
(OK I lied…I forget his actual quote but it was along the lines of)…
“My success is from being nothing more than an exaggerated version of myself…these players are making their dreams come true by turning who they are into heroes.”
Fucking legend!
He was just amazing. Like John Belushi except a nice guy.
Off on a slight bit of a tangent, but a little while ago I took the dog on a little walk and I saw a fox skittering through our alley, probably on the lookout for scraps from garbage cans. Or maybe the fox was looking for rats looking for scraps. Nature wants our leftovers too.
I’m on day #3 of my traditional Chinese-for-Thanksgiving meals😁
I ordered it from the local Chinese restaurant that does the best “meal” style food (the other restaurant does EXCELLENT “buffet-style” Chinese, but these guys have better Orange Chicken, Pork Fried Rice, and Hot & Sour Soup!), on Wednesday evening, then brought it over here to Dad’s Nursing Home, and stuck it in the “lounge fridge”
I remembered to eat, because Mom asked me if I had, when I called her a little bit ago.
I’ve been spending *most* of the day over here, the last three days, because Dad’s definitely taken a turn in the last few days.
He hasn’t been feeling well since Monday/Tuesday-ish, and has been complaining of his stomach not feeling good, and since his stomach has been a bit distended, I’ve been wondering if it’s been “slow motility”/emptying issues…
Well, today, about 60-80 minutes after he ate lunch, he began to hork… and he horked up waaaaaay more food than he’s eaten in the last three days, sooooo I’m pretty sure that IS what’s been happening🙃
Buuuut, since the vomiting began, *and* because he’s in pain (and never HAS been good about 1. Understanding when his body feels unwell & 2. *VERBALIZING* when & *how* he doesn’t feel good), AND he’s got the dementia going on, *AND-and* he’s now *also* dealing with the triple threat of pain-fogginess, morphine fuzziness, and Ativan-fogginess, he’s FINE for the nursing staff & others, but *because he feels SAFEST with me*–is TOTALLY lashing out with BULLSHIT (abusive language, general verbal cuts, condescending tone of voice, & snatching ANYTHING i hold out/gently hand him *out* of my hands–like he’s going to slap me *next* and Y’ALL, it is GETTING to me!🙃
Because I spent *most* of Wednesday night, sitting up with him.
And ALL of *last* night (until he fiiiiiinally calmed & fell asleep-asleep at close to 6 am), sitting up, taking care of him…
I KNOW it’s the fatigue, meds, dementia, and LOW Hemoglobin, doing *all of this* right now…
But it is EXHAUSTING *trying* to be calm, when he’s–frankly, being an utter DICK about *everything,* like i am *somehow* PERSONALLY inflicting all of this onto him.
It hurts, and it fucking SUCKS, and at the same time, I’m now *also* passing him off, because I’m standing UP for myself, and REFUSING to take the abuse of being his personal, verbal punching-bag.
I KNOW that it’s not 100% within his control… BUT, because he ISN’T lashing out like this at ANYONE else (ESPECIALLY not his nursing staff!), I know that SOME of this is something he has *some* control over… and while it *is* sliiiiightly i dunno… gratifying, maybe?, that he DOES trust me enough to see his WHOLE self, unmasked, it’s also just 100% BULLSHIT, that I’m the only person here who’s 100% here FOR HIS BENEFIT–no one ELSE’s, and he’s trying to take out all of the rotten things he’s feeling *ON ME,* because the man never learned to use his goddamned WORDS, and feel his feelings like an ADULT rather than simply melting down and/or throwing the temper-tantrum of an oversized CHILD.🙃😕🥴)
Yet another thing to talk about, in therapy, when this is al over, I suppose… but it frickin’ SUUUUUCKS.
And that’s why I’ve temporarily banished *myself* to the lounge, at the end of his hallway🙃
I love him, I really DO. But he’s ALWAYS been an incredibly difficult person, and incredibly unaware of even his *own* higher-level feelings–and not particularly able to even *particularly* elucidate his own LOWER-level/more “surface-level” emotions…
So he’s ALWAYS been volatile & had a tendency to lash-out, when he’s feeling complex things… and that is SOOOOOO where we are, right now, in his Hospice & End of Life journey… he literally FORGETS, *REGULARLY,* precisely how sick he is… and it’s just one, big, goddamned MESS right now…
Because he WANTS me in there, every single minute of the day, if possible…
But it’s ALSO feeling like it’s tourniquet into almost an “emotional vampire” sumituation, too–where he WANTS me in there, to help take care of him…. but he ALSO wants me in there, to take all of the EMOTIONS and *FEELINGS* he’s feeling, too (including the physical ones like the pain, SORT THEM OUT FOR HIM, znd then hand the “finished work of that sorting *back* to him, so that HE doesn’t have to go through all that fuss & bother *himself*.🙃
I LOVE him, but 1. I CAN’T do that, because those aren’t MY emotions to feel, and 2. Because FEELING & SORTING *HIS* feelings ISN’T *my* job, as HIS child.😕
That’s extremely hard and taxing. I hope you are able to enjoy all that delicious Chinese food and take care of yourself too this weekend.
Thanks, HZ!!
It got a LOT better, after my break last night, and by the time I’d eaten, and ended up talking with both mom & my bestie, Dad was both in a much better mood, AND we were able to have a bit of a talk, that got us both back on the same page again😉
He understands that I’m here to HELP, not “take over (my) life” (something he grumbled to my auntie–his baby sister last year, at about this time😉😂), and things are going better, although he’s feeling worse again, today😕
…there’s a feeling of diminishing returns when trying to help people who seem to intentionally make it a gruelling task…but for whatever it might be worth I’ve always found the people who manage to persevere in the face of it – whether through huge reserves of compassion or empathy or preternatural good humor – to be among the most admirable folks I’ve known
…so I can to at least some extent sympathize with your situation…& hope that both you & your father find a way to have it take less of a toll on you…but I also wanted to mention the part where you have my admiration, too?
Thanks, Rip, the man frustrates the hell out of me sometimes–buuuut I know the feelings also mutual😉😄🤪💖
There are LOT of complicated feelings between the two of us–but I ALSO know that he loves me–and I DO love the hell out of him, too (AND I *am* aware that I’m going to need to fiiiinally get in with a mental health provider once this is allll over–and in the short-term, a ALREADY have the code for the 5 free sessions i can get through my work’s EAP!–in order to work THROUGH allll the crap I’ve been putting off/having to “compartmentalize” for the last *almost* decade (because I’ve had to just keep pushing THROUGH curveballs pretty regularly since Mom’s October 2013 health spin-out, annnnnd *everything* that’s had to be dealt with since🙃).
I don’t know if all of y’all around here KNOW how much I appreciate the fact that you guys’ve made this place, but SERIOUSLY–and from the absolute rock-bottom of my heart?
I am SO grateful for ALL of you, and I would be in absolute HELL right now, if Deadsplinter hadn’t been created.
I know I haven’t been on as much lately, WITH all dad’s stuff, but the fact that there IS this place, and a community of folks from the old Gawkerverse, who are as SMART as you guys, as KIND, and who honestly care about each other, is one part of what’s holding me up lately, and helping me get THROUGH all these curveball.
Because I’d be absolutely BROKEN right now, as the introvert i am, if I were trying to navigate through, without ANY of our old community. I know there’s also GT 2.0, but for me, *this place* feels a bit more like the old GT, Jez, & Gawker did–where there are “regularly scheduled posts” (but also with the occasional bit of random, like Farscy’s occasional late-night [for the US😉] posts!😁💞💖), and *that* is what I missed most when I was over on GT2, when I was there more often.
The old Gawkerverse–with ALL the mainpages, subs, and then the “hidden” subs was such an AMAZING bit of awesomeness (even though Denton was 100% a dick!), and it’d be HELL trying to get through all of the last few years, without the sense of “community” we had there, existing somehow.
So THANK you ALL, so much–because you all truly DO rock, and you’re keeping me groundee, because *at least there is ONE PLACE in my life, that is still existing as “Normal” (or, *AB*normal, since we’re alllll a bit odd, really!😉😂🤣💖💞), even when the REST of my life is chaotic.
Deadsplinter *existing* like it does, and *IN* it’s “regular mode” way, is an absolute haven right now, that I can escape to easily as needed, and feel like at least *something* is ok right now.💖💞💗💓💝
as i dont have a thanksgiving ill just go with bubble and squeak…aka leftover sunday roast/christmas dinner pan fried
https://www.rockrecipes.com/bubble-and-squeak/
no rules recipes are great