Yardsailing! A Lesson in Nebraska Yard Sales

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brands, California, clothes, consignment, designer, different, Florida, garage sale, haggling, jeans, Nebraska, pricing, shopping, Threadflip, Urban Outfitters, Walmart, yard sale, yardsailor

On Saturday, a friend hosted a yard sale with multiple sellers. I didn’t have all that much to sell, but there were a couple of items that I needed to get rid of, so I joined in. It had been a long time since I’d been to a yard sale, but growing up in California and Florida, it was common knowledge that everyone overprices things a little bit and that haggling is every bit expected.

Apparently not here in Nebraska.

While a few people did haggle, I quickly noticed that most people just looked at the price and if they thought it was too expensive, they put it down. And so I quickly relabeled everything. By and large I didn’t care if most of my items sold, so they were still priced at reasonable prices. I definitely couldn’t compete with some of the other sellers though, who very much wanted to sell a lot of their things (a lot of 25c or 50c).

This non-haggling turn of events also brought up another itty-bitty problem: brand blindness. One lady rudely scoffed at me for pricing a long tunic at $8, telling me she could get that new at the store for the same price. Um…..maybe at Walmart. How do you explain to people who have never been to an Urban Outfitters that no, you can’t get that for $8, that it’s more like $70? Or that the pair of jeans priced at $4 retails for $188 because it’s designer? I guess you don’t.

But that’s okay because there are folks who do understand. I use Threadflip for everything that isn’t appreciated at yard sales.

What are yard sales like where you live? Let me know and feel free to check out my closet! (Click below)

Journalist with a Granola Problem

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addiction, breakfast, dried fruit, food, French baguette, granola, healthy, homemade, homemade granola, nuts, oatmeal, problem, recipe, Sunbelt Bakery

I’ve got a granola problem. Similar to my French baguette problem (yes, I ate one today), once I get my hands on good granola I just can’t stop eating it. Because of that, I try to buy granola only every once in a while. But the other day I picked up a box of Sunbelt Bakery’s granola…and then another….

And so I decided I should probably make my own to save some money. After all, I have a bunch of old-fashioned oats (and I don’t really like oatmeal) and random nuts and dried fruits. And the great thing about homemade granola is that you can mix and match whatever grains, nuts, and dried fruits you’ve got on hand, although I’d limit the mix to one type of nuts and up to two types of dried fruits (if they’re complementary).

Here’s what I just made tonight!

Homemade Granola

(makes enough to fill about 2 of those tall Ball glass jars) Edit: That’s apparently about 5 cups.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cup of old-fashioned oats
• 2 tablespoons of dried black sesame seeds
• 1/4 packed cup of sweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup of chopped dried Turkish apricots
• 1 cup of raw almonds, chopped or sliced
• 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of canola oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of pure honey
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Mix together the oats, sesame seeds, coconut flakes, apricots, almonds, and cinnamon.
2. In a mixing cup, stir together the sugar, oil, honey, vanilla extract, and salt until well-blended.
3. Drizzle the honey mix over the dried ingredients and mix well so that as much is coated as possible.
4. At this point, turn on the oven and preheat it to 325 F degrees.
5. Spread the mixture in thin and even layers on two regular-sized baking trays.
6. Bake for 7-10 minutes and then stir and redistribute so it doesn’t burn.
7. Then bake for another 20 minutes or so, checking every few minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Let cool completely before storing and serving.

Enjoy, granola fanatics!

We’re All Mental: Why the DSM-5 is Crap

Tags

American Psychiatric Association, big pharma, caffeine, diagnoses, disorder, DSM-5, mental illness, over-diagnosis, pharmaceuticals, pills, psychiatrist, psychiatry, psychology

This week the holy bible of psychiatry came out with its latest edition, the DSM-5, and it evoked a nauseous reaction in me.

Even though I only have basic education in psychology and psychiatry, it’s an area I’ve always been interested in. I’ve been known to flip through the DSM-IV from time to time, and I’ve helped friends through their struggles. So I was very interested in what was new in this edition. When I saw the additions and changes, I almost puked.

Caffeine withdrawal is among the new additions in the DSM-5. That makes half the American workforce and 90% of reporters mental. Eating excessively more than 12 times in 3 months now is labeled binge eating disorder. Let’s institutionalize the entire collegiate population who have late nights studying or partying. These are just the examples I found the most ridiculous; some of the others raise an eyebrow as well.

Mental illness is absolutely real, and all the DSM-5 has done is make it all a big joke. The U.S. has become a society of over-diagnosing. Some behaviors are just normal occurrences in childhood, adolescence, post-divorce, in old age, etc., others have plenty of “nurture” alternatives, and not all illnesses require popping pills. A lot of this has to do with pressure from big pharma, and it’s interesting to note how many people involved with producing the DSM-5 had big pharma ties.

For me, the DSM has lost all credibility with its latest publication. I’d glad to hear that many influential psychiatrists agree. We do need to continually progress forward in treating mental illness, but the DSM-5 is not that tool.

Hope Amidst Tragedy – #PrayForOklahoma

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#PrayForOklahoma, blogging, bombing, Boston, fundraiser, Grand Island, hope, human, interconnectedness, journalism, kindness, marathon, media, miracle, Nebraska, Oklahoma, tornado, tragedy, United States

I’ve never disappeared for two months before, but due to some personal reasons, blogging hasn’t been something I’ve really been able to sit down and do. It’s finally time to come back though.

Tragedy after tragedy seems to have impacted the U.S. this past year. In the past month or so, we’ve had the Boston Marathon bombings and the Moore, Oklahoma tornado. One man-made, one a force of nature; both deadly and both drawing national and international attention.

As a member of the media during these national tragedies, what has been amazing to me is just how interconnected we all are. I live in Grand Island, Nebraska, which most people have never heard of. (It’s okay, I hadn’t either before I moved here.) It has a population of about 55,000, and many people probably can’t even figure out where it should be on a map. Yet both the Boston Marathon and the Moore tornado had direct ties to locals here.

Hours after the explosions in Boston, we got in contact with Grand Island resident Tom Osterbuhr, one of the many marathon runners from central Nebraska that we spoke to that day. He was less than a 100 yards away from the finish line. Another runner from a town just south of here was one of the last runners to officially finish the marathon.

Then yesterday, in the aftermath of the EF-5 tornado that hit Moore on Monday, I spoke with Grand Island native Joseph Ahlers as well as his mother, grandmother, and uncle. Ahler’s daughter, along with her mother, were inside one of the elementary schools destroyed by the tornado.

The miracle in all of this? None of these individuals suffered anything more than a few bruises and scratches. (Psychological trauma is a whole different topic.)

Small world after all, isn’t it?

—

The world may seem to be a downtrodden place to face right now, but amidst it all, there’s hope. Hope that arises from the strength of communities and the kindness of strangers.

Just this morning a photographer from Los Angeles emailed me through my website. He had seen my story on the Ahlers and wanted to reach out to them to see if they could benefit from the photography fundraiser he’s started to organize. And he’s just one of many who are using their talents and capabilities to help people they’ll probably never meet.

So perhaps it’s not such a bad world after all.

I leave you with a photo I took that embodies hope to me.

Wind-whipped and struggling, but still standing and always optimistically looking upward.

#PrayForOklahoma.

Put the Lime in the Coconut…and A Quip About the New Pope

Tags

Argentina, Argentine Tango, baking, Catholic, coconut, creation, dance, food, food blog, Francis I, Harry Nilsson, Key lime pie, Pi Day, pie, Pope, religion, song, tango

I’ve made an egregious error for anyone who blogs about food: I didn’t take a photo of my latest creation. For that, I’m terribly sorry. I guess you’ll just have to read on and try the recipe for yourself to see what it looks like.

Anyway, the other day I wanted to make a pie for Pi Day and decided I was going to make Harry Nilsson’s iconic “Coconut” song into a pie (you know, “she put the lime in the coconut and she drank ‘em both up”….). Turned out better than I expected, and my co-workers ate ‘em all up.

Lime in the Coconut Pie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of sweetened coconut flakes
• 3/4 cup of flour
• 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons of powdered/confectioners sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 7 tablespoons of cold butter
• 1 can (14-oz) of sweetened condensed milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon of lime zest
• 2/3 cup of fresh or bottled Key lime juice (I squeezed 2 fresh ones and then used bottled for the rest)

Directions:

1. Spread coconut flakes on an oven-safe plate and toast at 350 degrees F. Watch carefully as baking time will depend on your oven and can take anywhere between 4 to 10 minutes. Again, pay careful attention that it doesn’t burn. My first batch went straight into the trash can. Allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, powdered/confectioners sugar, and salt.
3. Then cut the butter into tiny bits and work it into the flour mixture until the ingredients come together.
4. Stir in the coconut flakes and continue mixing until the butter is holding the dough together.
5. Press the dough onto the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate. You may need to flour your fingers so the dough doesn’t stick to your fingers.
6. Freeze for about 10-15 minutes, until firm.
7. Then bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove and let cool.
8. Meanwhile, carefully separate four egg yolks from the whites.
9. Add the sweetened condensed milk into the bowl with the egg yolks and mix well.
10. Then add in the lime zest and lime juice, stirring until evenly spread out.
11. Once the coconut crust has cooled to the touch, pour in the lime filling, spreading it out evenly.
12. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.
13. Let cool completely and then cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight (or about 7-9 hours).
14. Serve plain or with whipped cream or fresh lime slices and maybe with “Coconut” playing in the background.

Now a little side quip about the new pope.

I’m not Catholic, so I won’t comment on Francis I’s views in the religious realm. I just know I like him already because like any other good Argentinean, the Pope tangos.

Is it still appropriate to ask him for a dance now that he’s Pope? My shoes are ready when he is.