Is It Time to Cut the Cable?

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Cable is so Expensive

Now that I’m one of the retired community I’ve been looking for ways to cut my expenses with the least possible impact on my lifestyle. I’m waiting patiently for the real estate world to recover from the Interest increases so that my retirement account will get healthy again. But  one of my biggest monthly expenses is cable. I have the Bundle which is supposed to save me money but it just keeps going up. Even worse is that there is nothing on TV . I watch only about 5-6 channels  and can probably do the narrations on each program since they are all re-runs. I can’t cut out those unused channels because then I would lose the package with the ones I do watch. 

Bored Girl Watching TV Stock Photo, Picture And Royalty Free Image. Image 45245634.

Stock photo

The phone is part of the package but I get so many spam calls that I shut the ringer off. When I see the message light I check it but other than that it just takes up space on my desk. We all want to remember to get the car warranty updated, right? Everyone uses my cell phone.

 

Spam call vector phone fraud and scam design Spam call vector Phone fraud and scam illustration. Hacker unknown number calling on smartphone. Fake robocall, vishing and anonymous incoming call robocall stock illustrations

stock image

Step 1

Photo credit- Deb Neumann

I started the process a couple of weeks ago when I found a sale on Roku TV’s. For $99 I was able to order a nice TV for the bedroom. I need Forensic Files on when I try to go to sleep. My old TV couldn’t stream so a new TV was needed. That worked out great. The new TV even has an easy to set sleep timer. So far it’s been working great.

Step 2

Now that I’ve figured out the new TV, I took the 2nd step. I upgraded my HULU account to add Live TV.  Then I switched back and forth between cable and Streaming to be sure the Live TV matched what was on the cable. It did! I’m going to see if I can handle streaming only for about a week. I don’t see a “guide” on the streaming platform so I’m probably just not familiar with it yet. Anyway, if it goes well I will turn off the cable and phone next week. I will keep the internet.

Step 3

So as I said, If all goes well I’ll be cable and phone free next week. Then I’ll turn in the cable boxes (That’s $20 just for the box rental) My cable company will want their modem back since it’s a phone and internet modem so I think I’ll buy my own internet modem and then the transition will be complete

Techniclor Formerly RCA TC8305C Wireless Gateway 802.11b/g/n GigaPort x 4 Port Router w/ 2-Voice Lines XFINITY/COMCAST

Image of modem

Almost There

So I’ll let everyone know how it goes. If I decide to finish the final steps it should save me about $100 a month. Hulu is $70 and includes Disney Plus which I’ve been paying extra for. I’m not sure how much internet alone costs but I’m guessing it’s probably around $80 / mo. So that’s $150/ mo. instead of the $250 per mo. I’ve been paying. That kind of savings certainly makes this experiment worthwhile.

I’ve checked the channel list on HULU and all of the channels I watch are there. Just have to figure out how to tell what’s on the schedule, I’m so used to scrolling the channel guide! 

Crepes or Pancakes

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Crepes or Pancakes

I am so proud of myself. I made crepes for the first time about a week ago. I’d never tried to make these skinny pancakes and don’t know what made me decide to try but I am happy to report they were a success. Now this comes from someone who has never, ever been able to make a decent pancake. (Unless it’s an apple pancake) 

Apple Pancake- Photo credit Deb Neumann

Pancakes are supposed to be easy right? Well I have never been successful. I finally settled on super fat (thick)  Bisquick  pancakes or a trip to IHop for my pancake fix. Then I saw an episode on Food Network about pancakes and it’s been percolating in the back of my mind. After all if I can make a successful crepe I should be able to make pancakes, right?

The Crepes

I think of crepes as a breakfast food so I made my first ones Strawberry but I think  next time I will go for savory instead of sweet. Maybe stuff them with sausage and eggs.  

Photo credit Deb Neumann

 

The recipe was very simple and easy. From Allrecipes.com

Basic Crepes

Prep time- 10 minutes

Cook time 20 minutes (Mine was less)

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup All Purpose flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 Cup milk
  • 1/2 Cup water
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons butter , melted

Directions

  1. Whisk flour and eggs together in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add in milk and water, stirring to combine. Add Salt and melted butter. Beat until smooth.
  2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle using approximately 1/4 cup of batter for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so the batter coats the surface evenly.
  3. Cook until the top of the crepe is no longer wet and the bottom has turned light brown. 1-2 minutes. Run a spatula around the edge of the crepe to loosen and flip to cook the other side. About a minute more. Serve hot.

Pancakes for One

Photo Credit Deb Neumann

Recipe from One dish kitchen

With a successful crepe experience behind me I moved on to my nemesis, pancakes. I was really brave too. I didn’t even use a mix! Pancakes from scratch coming up and wonder of wonders, they were good!

Prep Time- 5 minutes   Cook time – 10 minutes  Total time – 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 Cup Milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  • 1 Tablespoon salted butter (melted)
  • 1 teaspoon salted butter for the pan/griddle

Directions

  1. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
  2. In another bowl beat the egg and then whisk in the milk, vanilla and melted butter
  3. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Lumps are ok. If the batter is too thick add more milk a little at a time.
  4. Melt Butter in a large skillet or griddle over medium heat.
  5. Ladle about 3/4 cup of batter onto the skillet to make a pancake
  6. Cook until bubbles break the surface of the pancake and the underside is golden brown (about 3 minutes)
  7. Flip with a spatula and cook about 1 minutes more on the 2nd side.
  8. Repeat until the batter is used up.

Even with this scaled down recipe there was more batter than I needed for just me. I made two pancakes for me and probably had enough batter left for 3 or 4 more. 

So which one do you want to try first?

 

Enjoy- They are yummy!

Monsterland Massachusetts

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Monsterland!

Did you know there is a place called Monsterland in Massachusetts? It’s located in Leominster, MA in the state forest. Here you can look for Bigfoot and other strange activity.  Legend has it that the activity goes back to the 1800’s. Leominster is not alone with a reputation for strange happenings. We’ve also got the Bridgewater Triangle and New Hampshire has the Betty and Barney Hill Alien abduction. 

Sasquatch Sighting bigfoot stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images

Bigfoot in the forest- Internet

Ronny LeBlanc

Ronny LeBlanc is a Native of Leominster who has made it to the little screen in the Travel Channels’ series “Expedition Bigfoot.”  LeBlanc tells of an experience in Leominster state forest when he was a boy that has impacted his whole life. He was 11 years old when he experienced his first Bigfoot.

“Within seconds the forest erupted in front of me. Trees and shrubs were moving. I started to feel these reverberations in the soles of my feet of something walking.”

“The experience of seeing that impression in the ground, six footprints. Something I’ve seen in a lot of books of the pacific northwest and here we are in Massachusetts.”
spuren im watt

Stock photo

Bigfoot In the Berkshires

In the 1980’s  4 friends were having a cook out on the shore of Lake Felton near the small town of Washington, MA.  Apparently their BBQ had attracted something large. They could hear trees moving and branches snapping. When 2 of the friends decided to investigate.  “It stood on two legs, silhouetted on the trail in the moonlight, and it was huge.” One of the friends  told the Berkshire Eagle a few days later, “I don’t scare easily, but it scared me.” 

The Whitehall Bigfoot

But Western Massachusetts isn’t the only Bigfoot Hotspot.  For years there have been reports of Bigfoot in Whitehall NY. Whitehall isn’t that far from the Western MA border so some speculate that the Bigfoots have a migration trail that runs through Whitehall, NY and into Massachusetts.  I’m feeling kind of left out. I grew up very close to Whitehall in the Adirondacks and now I live in Massachusetts but I’ve never run into one of the hairy monsters myself. But then again, I am not sure I want to. 

 

Thoughts About Cornbread

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Some Thoughts on Cornbread

 

May be an image of text that says 'The North thinks it knows how to make corn bread, but this is a gross SuPerstition. Perhaps no bread in the world is quite as good as Southern corn bread, and Perhaps no bread in the world is quite as bad as the Northern imitation of it. Mark Twain Sonthern THE Voice'

 

 

 

 

I think Mark Twain got this right. I don’t think I’ve ever had true Southern Cornbread but I’ve had some pretty awful cornbread here in the North. Maybe my sister in law and I should have a cornbread bake off. My sister-in -law is from Charleston, South Carolina and is one of the most fun people I know.  But I digress.

Cornbread is something I don’t eat very often but every once in a while I get a craving for it. When I was working I’d buy the little mix packages that were just add water. Although easy and quick to make the result was  this dry, crumbly stuff that was really pretty bad.  Still bad cornbread is better than no corn bread so I kept doing that until someone gave me a recipe for Boston Market Cornbread. I’m always looking for ways to improve my cooking skills.

Boston Market Cornbread

Boston Market cornbread is a very moist, very sweet, cornbread that is served as a mini loaf.

No photo description available.

Photo credit- Boston Market

I think they are great but is it cornbread? 

When I got the “Imposter” recipe I could see why it’s so cake like. It uses a box of Butter Cake mix as a base. It makes a ton of these little loaves and they also freeze well. I used to make a batch for the office and we’d put them in the freezer so my co-workers and I could have them whenever we wanted.  

Cast Iron Skillet Corn Bread

Boston Market cornbread aside, I still think there is nothing like cornbread that’s baked in a cast iron skillet. You get such a beautiful crust when you bake your cornbread this way. So  I set out to see if I could make a decent cornbread even though I am a Northerner. I think my effort was pretty successful. Here’s the result. 

Photo credit Deb Neumann

 

 

Photo Credit- Deb Neumann

 

Photo credit- Deb Neumann

Cast Iron Skillet Corn Bread Recipe

(Food Network)

 

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teas. kosher salt
  • 2 teas. baking powder
  • 1/2 teas. baking soda
  • 1/3 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
  • 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, Melted

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F, and place a 9 inch cast iron skillet inside to heat while you make the batter.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt baking powder and baking soda. Whisk in the milk, buttermilk, and eggs. Lastly whisk in all of the melted butter, reserving about 1 tablespoon for the skillet later on.
  3. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and reduce the oven temp to 375. Coat bottom and sides of the hot skillet with the remaining butter. Pour the batter into the skillet and place it in the center of the oven. Bake until the center is firm and tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  (25-30 minutes) Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving. 

Enjoy!