RBWells

I use plastic produce bags to cover rising sourdough.

Always use the peels of the pineapple to make tepache!

Well it's dry July and I am having a strawberry lemonade - strawberry syrup, fresh lemon juice, the end of the strawberry kvass, and filtered water.

Strawberry kvass - cut strawberries tops off generously, save the strawberries for something else. Mix the tops with lots of sugar and boiled and cooled (or really filtered like lifestraw filtered) and any spices you want. Let this sit loosely covered until it's fizzy, then strain and bottle.

Strawberry syrup - lots of ways to make this. I did cook down strawberries in sugar and water then strained it. Tossed the mush of sweet strawberry gook into the kvass pitcher based on this recipe she doesn't use the tops for some reason but I always make the fruit fermented drinks with the peels, tops, ends - one of the reasons to do it in the first place is to divert waste!

I do 1:1 by volume most of the time. That I can save in the fridge, and people here use it for iced coffee too. Any other variation (rich, vanilla, etc) I label to specify. If no label it's the 1:1 simple.

It's possible our sugar is sweeter now than in the past too - I know that sounds strange but plants get bred for more sweetness and processing changes.

I looked at my paycheck (US) vs. one of our Swedish colleagues when I was doing our payroll, and yes, the tax was about 45%, my federal withholding is much less but once you add in the deductions for 401k (unsecured pension scheme) and health insurance (that doesn't cover anything except annual wellness until we pay in 8,000 USD) and social security (the fed pension being paid now to old people, and their healthcare) my deductions also leave about 55% of my pay for net pay.

The part I object to most in terms of cost here is the healthcare - my deductions may mirror the Swede but I don't think they also have to cover the first 8k of cost out of pocket.

(Edit - it was Sweden not Denmark)

I don't mind really, just wish it was used for more things that helped society. And it needs to be a little more progressive, though it is the most progressive of the taxes we have here.

My ex MIL, who literally used WIC and welfare when she was a single mom, and leveraged that into a nursing degree, rails against welfare now and doesn't want her taxes going to that, doesn't want to pay. Not even in a pull the ladder up after herself way, she just refuses to admit she benefited from it.

Just don't let them upsell you - some of these outfits are cults. Stay alert and leave when you are done with this round.

Yes, the height of black and white men averages close to 5'10" here, and the height of black and white women around 5'5" I think, we do just have a lot of everyone here, except apparently not Dutch?

My husband & I are both about 5'9" and he says he feels dead average because sometimes he goes out and is taller than all the guys he passes, and sometimes goes out and is shorter than all the guys he passes, but usually doesn't notice, I feel tall because I don't notice if all the women I pass are shorter than me but really notice if many are taller than me.

Same, some things I just do by hand because it's not so much more work, or leads to a better end result. Moka pot, big knife, iron skillet, some tools are so amazing and low tech. I can't refrigerate by hand though. We got a monster of a big fridge for the pantry, not hooked up to water, just a cavernous fridge/freezer thing and I LOVE it - it's like the TARDIS, will look full but if I shove things at I can add two loaves of bread dough, a cabbage, dozen eggs, so far it's never run out of space even around Thanksgiving with two turkeys in there. I am hoping that because there are fewer moving parts it will last.

And my Honda? I want it to live forever. 6 speed Accord Sport, stealth fun car in a mom car costume.

What a nice tail your cock has!

I had a Scottish boyfriend, he visited me in Florida in the summer and I remember him saying "mind you, the heat does make ya horny, don't it?' (about himself) so I guess I buy it.

No, political wife is not what I signed up for. Unless I was too afraid to leave, in which case I would try to secretly work against him. Which is also terrifying but at least useful.

I don't get this. Not even high school girls find high school boys attractive. How could a grown woman? And what's with the language, the word is raped or sexually abused/assaulted, 16 year old here is assumed unable to consent to sex with any adult.