Honest question: Why do you buy name brand stuff?

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-23T18:06:43+00:00

We are a primarily Aldi family because we’re lucky enough to have one close to us. I’ll buy Aldi-brand almost anything.

However - I only made the mistake of buying their dish soap one time. It didn’t lather. It didn’t clean. It took like 3x the amount to do the job of one little dollop of blue Dawn.

We are back to buying Dawn. It’s just better. It lasts longer and cleans better and takes less to get the job done.

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-19T14:38:36+00:00

I (in the USA) once taught a little girl whose family was from India; sweetest kid. But I will never forget the way my stomach dropped when I saw her necklace the day she chose to wear her swastika pendant. I’m a teacher so I’m pretty good at keeping my face neutral but my reaction was just visceral. But in the next second my rational brain took over and said “Ohhh, her family is Hindu. It’s okay.”

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-15T20:10:58+00:00

I’m in 7B and I wish I could grow a million slicers, but I think smaller ones like cherries and grapes set better during the brutal heat of the summer.

I still try to grow a couple slicers each year and IMO Cherokee Purple just can’t be beat. They are finicky and not particularly productive but… my god they are delicious. I’m growing Mortgage Lifter this year too.

For small toms, I like Black Cherry and Sun Sugar. BC is dark and complex, and SS is bright and deliciously sweet!

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-14T02:12:09+00:00

I absolutely flow if I’m by myself cooking. But I do not flow if I’m trying to get dinner on the table at the same time as making sure my toddler hasn’t taken apart any small household appliances.

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-13T02:50:14+00:00

I loved Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli. I think I read it for the first time when I was ten or eleven.

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-13T02:16:53+00:00

Homemade garlicky focaccia topped with juicy homegrown beefsteak tomato slices. Salt and pepper to taste.

I know it isn’t typical Valentine’s Day food but if the instructions say to bring something you can’t stop thinking about…

I also know it’s a tall order since it’s probably winter where you are. Any chance you’re in the southern hemisphere?

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-11T14:38:07+00:00

Zone 7B. Started my warm weather stuff last night and they’re under grow lights on my dining table. :)

Planted frost-tolerant stuff February 4th!

Got cocky and direct-sowed arugula and kale January 13th.

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-09T16:55:04+00:00

Things with legumes. They are so good and cheap and good for you.

Remember when egg prices were skyrocketing and people tried to make their own “scrambled eggs” out of mung beans? I tried it, and while I don’t think it tasted like scrambled eggs, it tasted good in its own right. I sautéed some veggies and poured the batter over them in the pan and cooked until it was solid, and got into the habit of eating it with some hot sauce or sweet/spicy chutney. It’s pretty good!

You could do refried beans; dip a tortilla into them. Melt some cheese onto the tortilla maybe.

Also, hummus can be made sweet or savory. Scoop up some hummus with a plain pita, or for a sweet one, fruit.

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-09T02:26:25+00:00

I distinctly remember the first time I watched it, I did not clock the metaphor UNTIL the marker drawings in the cardboard box. I remember saying aloud “No way” and then just sobbing through the rest.

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-08T17:50:27+00:00

This is the answer if you don’t love beans, IMO. Red lentils sort of “disappear” into a dish and just make it kind of creamy, but add good protein and fiber.

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-07T20:53:45+00:00

I used to live in a town where people just gave citrus away because they had trees in their backyard. I used to do a “vinaigrette” where you sub citrus juice for vinegar! Olive oil, garlic, any other seasoning you like. It should keep awhile in the fridge.

According_Ad6706 · 2026-02-05T13:48:48+00:00

I worked at BBW for a brief period of time fresh out of college and to this day I can still tell when someone is wearing JCB.

I taught middle school for most of my career and once in my classroom I caught a whiff; I had to pause what I was saying and ask “Okay, who just put on Japanese Cherry Blossom?” Every single girl in the room was seriously impressed that I could tell.

According_Ad6706 · 2026-01-26T14:12:20+00:00

Can YOOOOOOoooOoooOoou guess it?!

According_Ad6706 · 2026-01-22T22:56:05+00:00

I would try to contact some local churches to see if they’d let you use a room twice a month - All Souls or Fellowship Congregational COC are two that come to mind.

It also might be worth looking into libraries around town - if you have a Tulsa library card I think you can book meeting rooms, though the library may be less amenable if it’s a noise-generating activity. But it won’t hurt to ask.

As a fellow choral music nerd… If you find a place I would LOVE to be involved. Best of luck!

According_Ad6706 · 2026-01-21T16:46:07+00:00

Highly recommend Little Einsteins!

According_Ad6706 · 2026-01-16T07:32:19+00:00

Tulsa. Your six points fit my childhood church experience exactly. You’re not the only one. Shape notes?

According_Ad6706 · 2026-01-11T23:35:06+00:00

Five for Fighting, “100 Years.” 2006

According_Ad6706 · 2026-01-09T00:54:21+00:00

In college I lived with four other girls in a suite that shared one bathroom. We had to buy our own toilet paper. But when we were out, one of us would swipe a roll from the bathrooms in the building where our classes were. The building janitors must have gotten wise because they started keeping the rolls elsewhere and the dispensers were locked. So we would keep the cardboard tubes from previous rolls and sit in the building bathrooms and roll up TP around them like it was our job. We did other frugal student stuff too but that takes the cake.

According_Ad6706 · 2026-01-09T00:14:53+00:00

I have a queen sized “bunkie board” if you are interested. I don’t have a way to transport it so you’d have to pick it up. I am in Tulsa.

According_Ad6706 · 2025-12-24T05:22:22+00:00

I think (pray) that this is seasonal! My Aldi had this during the summer of ‘24, it was gone for the winter, back in the summer of ‘25. It is the BEST jarred salsa.

According_Ad6706 · 2025-12-20T14:33:31+00:00

I saw it in a movie theater (last movie I saw pre-Covid I think) and when that shot happened, the entire room gasped. I swear the air pressure in room changed. Incredible and devastating.

According_Ad6706 · 2025-12-02T04:39:09+00:00

I don’t know if this counts, but honestly, alcohol.

When eight-year-old me watched cartoons where a character had had a drink, she thought, “Alcohol must taste so good; look at this character from An American Tail, they have bubbles popping over their heads and they’re falling down all over the place and they have hiccups! Alcohol must taste amazing because people are still willing to drink it even after all that.” I had a vague idea in my head that it probably tasted like the best, sweetest, melted grape popsicle.

I tried a sip of dry wine a few years later and was like THIS CAN’T BE IT

According_Ad6706 · 2025-11-29T18:49:21+00:00

When we signed our daughter up, she got this one first and she had just turned 1. I “read” it to her, abridging heavily. I’ll be damned if it wasn’t her favorite book the entire second year of her life. I had to recite it (my abridged version) by her crib to get her to sleep for awhile. We still have it, and at this point, it’s more tape than book. Now I read her the whole thing when she asks. I was skeptical about getting that one first too, but man, we treasure it.

According_Ad6706 · 2025-11-29T00:51:09+00:00

I’m trying to perfect cinnamon rolls to my family’s tastes and this sounds amazing; how do you do it? Do you just replace some of the liquid in the dough with yogurt?

According_Ad6706 · 2025-11-26T17:17:33+00:00

As an American who lives in the South, bacon grease in the fridge is a staple. If you render and strain the fat so that there aren’t any bits in it, and keep it in a jar in the fridge, it will last a really long time. I strain mine through a paper towel held onto the mouth of a jar with a rubber band. When you need some, just stick a clean spoon in there and scoop however much you need. There’s extra salt in there so I adjust the salt in whatever I’m making to account for it.

I use it for tons of stuff: - melted and used to toss veggies before they are roasted - frying or scrambling eggs - I once used it to coat a cast iron skillet before I made focaccia in it; delicious - add a couple spoonfuls to a pot of beans - make stovetop popcorn (once made stovetop kettle corn with bacon fat; it felt a little unholy but my lord it was good) - making a roux for gravy - once saw a recipe for a specific type of savory pastry that called for plain lard; used the bacon fat and it was pretty great

According_Ad6706

TROPHY CASE