Biggee Size

Most Long Island Iced Teas you'll order at your favorite watering hole will be served in a tall glass of 16 or 20 ounces.  But the bad boy shown below is served in a 64-ounce pitcher with an extra-long straw to reach the bottom.  You won't find it on the menu at Jorrge's Restaurante Cantina in Kettering, but George will make you one if you ask.

Locking Total Wireless

A few weeks back, I blogged about doing a Line Lock on my Pixel 7 phone, but I was still trying to figure out how to do the same on Gourmet Chef Elaine's iPhone.  I scoured the Total Wireless website and can't find it, so I'm either blind or it's not there.  Some searching led me to look in the Total Wireless app she had installed on her iPhone, and voila (as the screenshot below shows), that's where the Line Lock option resides.  Learn more about the SIM Swapping threat at the link below.

https://www.tracfonewirelessinc.com/en/ProtectingYourMobileIdentity

Tag For Stupid People

I recently bought a pair of pajama pants, and while cutting off the excessive number of tags (I hate tags), I just had to share the tag shown below that warns to "KEEP AWAY FROM FIRE".  No s#*t, Sherlock!  You don't live very long on the planet Earth if you don't know that 100% cotton fabric will catch flame in a hurry.  If you need signs like this, your life expectancy is very short.

Today's blog is number 2,500, which I started back in 2013 and is still going strong!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J942JZ7

New Toaster

Our old toaster was fading fast, taking way too long to do its job, so we replaced it with the Elite Gourmet long slot model you see below.  Having enough space to toast four pieces of bread or English muffins will come in handy, as well as the extra-wide slots.  There is a retractable warming rack for warming pastries, buns, etc.  A real bargain at $35 and having the "Amazon's Choice" label, we bought this after seeing a similar model while visiting family in Pittsburgh.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HYW76FK

Basil Reborn

Among the plants you see below, there are three basil plants.   The one closest is much greener and has wider, healthier leaves.  The reason behind the difference is that after Gourmet Chef Elaine harvested a batch, she placed the leftover stems in a jar of water.  After a week or so, they sprouted roots and she planted those in a pot, where they took off.   It's like getting free (I love free) new plants in the middle of summer.

A Side Of Melon

The smaller-sized cantaloupe this summer has been sweet and delicious.  One of the workers at our local farmer's market stand told Gourmet Chef Elaine about the simple recipe for the side dish you see below.  You spread a layer of ricotta cheese, add cut-up cantaloupe pieces, and top with freshly torn basil leaves.  It's a match made in heaven.

AlvAnother

Our trip to Lake Loramie included a stop for a beer and pizza at The Loramie Brewing Company, also known as Loramie Brew Bank.  It opened a few years ago in a hundred-year-old building that was first a bank (hence the moniker).  My choice from the sixteen rotating taps was the AlvAnother, from Edison Brewing Company in Gahanna, Ohio.  It's a Scottish Ale with a soft, malty, and creamy body, featuring notes of caramel and butterscotch.  I liked the name, a compression of "I'll have another".  

https://www.theloramiebrewbank.com

Lake Loramie

Lake Loramie, at about 1,655 acres, is the smallest of the three principal lakes created as reservoirs for the Miami-Erie Canal.  It was constructed in 1844–45 by damming up Loramie Creek, a natural 40-mile-long tributary that rises in northern Shelby County, Ohio, and traverses southwestwardly (forming Lake Loramie), then continues southeastwardly before joining the Great Miami River in northern Miami County, near Piqua.  It's a beautiful and peaceful place to watch a sunset from a pontoon boat, as you might gather from the picture below.  More information on things to do there is at the link below.

https://ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/Lake-Loramie-State-Park

Select And Print

Here's another example of me doing things the hard way, even though an easy solution is right in front of my eyes.  I wanted to print out the highlighted text in the screenshot below.  What I've always done is copy and paste the text into a document, then print the document.  I never noticed, because I never looked, that the "Print..." menu selection is available in the drop-down list.  There is also a "Save selection to Keep" (Google's note-taking app), which will also come in handy. 

Freezer Hack

Here's an easy way to know if the items in your freezer have thawed when you've been out of town.  It's particularly difficult to know if everything refreezes.  Fill a small jar most of the way with water, let it freeze solid, and lay a coin on top.  If you come home and the coin is at the bottom of the jar, you know you've had an outage and probably need to through everything out.

A big shout-out to our friend Grace for this appliance hack!