House Spouse

As a compulsive list writer I was immediately drawn to this: 101 things to do in 1001 days.

1001 days is about 3 1/2 years.  Totally doable.  What are you waiting for?

Cobblers are still out there. Until a few weeks ago I never would have considered getting my shoes repaired, but the timing of wearing a hole in the sole of my shoe a week before Christmas made me really reluctant to just run out and buy new shoes (you know, because there’s not much expendable cash around then — what with the gifts and the travel, etc.). When a co-worker suggested a cobbler to me it seemed the perfect solution. So after consulting Yelp I took my shoes to a place only a few blocks from our apartment and it was a dream from there. He finished them in two days, and now they’re good as new. And it only cost me about a third of what a new pair of shoes would. Viva la cobbler!

The Kitchn’s baking themed week has been full of fantastic and informative posts like this one, which lists five items to keep stocked in your pantry: flour, sugar, yeast, baking powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla extract. I know that’s seven, but they consider the yeast, powder and soda as one essential because they’re all leavening agents, i.e. they make your breads and cakes rise.

The Moosewood Cooks at Home cookbook also includes a pantry list in its back pages, but it’s far more extensive and at times laughable. For example under grains they recommend keeping the following on hand: bulghur, couscous, millet, rice (Arborio, basmati, brown, white), buckwheat groats, grits, quinoa and cornmeal.

Not to rain on the hippy parade (I have all those grains in my cupboard right now–except for the buckwheat groats and millet), but most of my friends feel proud of themselves when they actually consume whole grains a few times a week.