Wine Wine and More Wine

I could literally have a party with 100 people and still have enough wine and spirits to make everyone happy.

Last night we decided to try a different restaurant and have wild game for dinner. I had buffalo (bison) and my husband had Elk. Both were pretty darn good.

I plan on buying only organic beef and vegetables. Any factory farm today IMO is full of GMO processed “stuff” that is devoid of nutrients. I’m firmly convinced our obesity epidemic has something to do with the chemicals in our food, our air and our water.

Not to get off on a tangent, but after we left the restaurant we decided to go to a few places on our way home. As we approach the first stop we saw the security drive around. I knew he was on his way around the back. I don’t think he would care, but I usually avoid security guards like the plague. I don’t want them to see me back there and begin to recognize my face or my car.

Well we got some good stuff. Vodka, Cognac, Orange Liqueur and many many bottles of wine. White wine is good to make your own sangria with.

Now with the some of the vodka a few months ago I found I made my own vodka infusions with fresh fruits. One batch was a lemon liqueur that I made. It can be used as shots OR mixed with tonic or seltzer water.

The second infusion I made was with fresh pineapples. Vodka, sugar and fresh pineapples steeped for several months. You can use any fruit for these recipes. The pineapple one turned out really good. Liqueurs last forever so they’re a good long term storage liquid. You can use them in drinks or some food or dessert recipes.

Wine and more we found this week

Quality not quantity

Went out tonight for Mexican food. Got an early morning tomorrow morning so we decided to have some Mexican food and a mango margarita, a strawberry one for my hubby.

There are some foreclosed homes on the corner, abandoned properties, but full of fruit trees. There were quite a bit of lemons and tangerines on the ground, I took them home. Sent them out today to my MIL who’s in a colder climate. She loves fresh fruit so this will make her day, it’s a total surprise.

We do spend money, but wisely. After leaving the liquor store where we bought my husband’s new favorite drink which is Drambuie I had a hunch to go back behind the dumpster again. It was empty about a half hour earlier. I’m glad we did. We found a box of 9 bottles of Bodega Sangria. Looks good, the packaging is pretty. All bottles intact, not a piece of broken glass or unopened bottles. We of course took them home and will use them on down the road.

Sometimes honoring your intuition is a good thing. When you get a strong hunch, act on it.

Since we have so much stuff now, I’m only aiming for quality, not quantity. We’ve got plenty of “stuff”. Unless it’s something we can really use, I won’t take it. If it’s something really good that we really can’t use, we’ll put it by the dumpster so another diver came come by and pick it up.

Cat Food, Dog Food and Crazy Critters

Retrieved a big bag of dog food, 2 dozen cans of cat food and about a half a dozen bags of cat food last night, along with a few miscellaneous items. My husband and I were both too tired to do any more hard core diving. It’s been very humid here in South FL and the humidity is something I’m still not used to yet. I need to just keep my head in the freezer.

I thought OK I’ll feed the cats. My neighbor told me they’re bottomless pits.

Well cats are not the only things eating the cat food. It’s big ole raccoons! Big ones!

About 3am this morning I heard something scratch around my carport. I’m thinking ruh roh, burglar. I stood on my step bench to look out my window. 2 huge raccoons eating the food. No problem, I go back to bed.

About 6am I wake up and there is serious noise on my carport. I had put the rest of the food in a big sealed plastic bucket (that I’d found diving as well). I go outside and the 2 raccoons are DRAGGING THE bucket towards the fence. I couldn’t see anything behind it, so I’m thinking OK this is not a ghost dragging the bucket, there is something behind it. I flashed the big flashlight and they’re dragging it to the fence to feed them and their little raccoons.

Little stinkers.

It was actually quite funny and cute. The momma and daddy raccoon looked at me as if to say, I’m sowy, I just wanna feed my family!

So the bucket is going inside the house tonight before I lock my doors.

The only thing outside tonight is a bowl of cat food and a can of loose cat food. I hope I’m not awakened to a fight between cats and raccoons.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Out of the muck of opened makeup and hair care products, I found a brand new makeup mirror. Retail value about $60. What a score. Brand new, not one scratch on it. Funny, I’d been wanting one for a while and just didn’t feel like paying that much money for it.

Retrieved several big bags of cat food. Between me and my neighbors there are about 6 cats who are strays who are wandering around the neighborhood with no home. Since the both of us have such big yards, the cats are constantly running free in both yards. I’ve heard a couple of cat fights the other night fighting over the food. I may have to put out a second bowl.

Next we found a box full of brand new paperback books. These books were intact and didn’t have the cover torn off. Good! Also in that bin was a brand new water bottle, many bookmarks, a cozy for my coke cans and a few good shopping bags. I usually use shopping bags as I hate using the plastic ones in the store. It does nothing but sit in the land fill and rot for many years.

I have a question for you all. How did you find this blog? I’m curious to know what traffic is driving here.

And are any of you still finding good finds?

Men’s Clothes, New Belts, Kitchen Items and More Makeup

Went out on a dumpster mission yesterday. I’m always afraid of attracting too much attention and sometimes I don’t dig in the dumpster enough to find what is actually there.

Place No. 1 – at the bottom were three big bags. Inside those bags included facial cleanser and makeup. I tallied about $300 worth of perfectly good makeup thrown out. Great. More for me, my friends and any other woman who needs it.

Place No. 2 – an entire trash bag full of kitchen items, one of those grills you put on your stovetop, measuring cups, candles and food bag clips (all brand new, unopened).

Place No. 3 – 2 huge bags of men’s clothes. Way too big for my husband for new clothes nonetheless. About 2 dozen pairs of dress pants, shirts and polo type shirts, all new. I’m taking them to the goodwill tomorrow or will resell them at a garage sale.

At place #3 we found about 2 dozen brand new belts. Brand new, never been worn.The only thing I can think of is that the man lost a lot of weight and just didn’t think of donating the stash.

Just the night before my husband had been looking for a new belt. Couldn’t find one he liked. He finally found one at this particular store that was really neat looking so he bought it. The VERY NEXT DAY we find over a dozen belts (nice ones).

That boys and girls is manifestation at work. When the universe, God, Krishna or whatever you believe in (IMO) knows you’re doing the right thing and living right, he rewards you. Pure and simple. Those who live with grace, equanimity, generosity and humbleness are always rewarded on down the road.

Happy Hour

My husband didn’t want to go out diving last night. I insisted we go. We found some good stuff last night.

1 bottle of vodka (very good for steeping liquers and tinctures).
5 bottles of root beer
1 bottle of shirley temple drink
2 bottles of lime juice (love lime juice in my diet coke). Also good for a Cuba Libre which I use Malibu Rum, Coke Zero and a swig of lime juice.

Our first dumpster was full of makeup, lotion, shower gel and shampoo. Unfortunately this time, an employee dumped all the products into the box, soaking the box, thereby rendering it useless for anyone to use. Now dumped into a landfill for nothing. That really drives me nuts.

Did some curbside recycling today. Unfortunately in this economy there are many foreclosures and evictions. Most of the time the landlords will throw the stuff out on the curb for the garbage company to pick up later. We stopped by an eviction today and retrieved a beautiful glass platter (had fruit designs), a fairly new cutting board and a desk organizer (for the inside) with some cool stuff in it. A bookmark (made with a paperclip on a metal clip), a couple of good scissors (the good sturdy ones made years ago, not just some cheap China crap) and a few paper clips.

Curbside recycling is a good start for those who want to start diving without skulking behind an alley. You’d be amazed at the stuff you’ll find.