Hello! In light of the times we are living in and since we are unable to show our movies at See-Scape at the moment, Zed Dulac and I will be launching a YouTube Channel for Killer B Cinema soon! Please subscribe to our channel as well as please share this far and wide!
The time we are living in right now, reminds me of movies and documentaries from the Great Depression, up until the 1950s when families would all be around the large radio listening to radio plays together. I’ve always loved Old Time Radio shows and plays and have been listening to them so long that I actually don’t remember when I started listening to them. I also have a first draft of a radio play I wrote a few years ago. I need to dig it out, finish it and it might be time to start recording our own!
Here is a list of some of my favourite radio plays and channels.
The Horrors (channel) https://player.fm/series/the-horror-old-time-radio
The Tell Tale Heart (episode) https://player.fm/series/the-horror-old-time-radio/the-tell-tale-heart-by-nightfall
The Wendigo (episode) https://player.fm/series/the-horror-old-time-radio/the-wendigo-by-theater-1030
The Demon Tree (episode) https://player.fm/series/the-horror-old-time-radio/the-demon-tree-by-dark-fantasy
Boxcar 711 (channel) https://player.fm/series/boxcars711-old-time-radio-pod
The Great Detectives (channel) https://player.fm/series/otr-detective-the-great-detectives-of-old-time-radio
Dragnet (I love, love, love this series) https://player.fm/series/otr-detective-the-great-detectives-of-old-time-radio/dragnet-production-7-aka-the-attempted-city-hall-bombing-jack-webb-centennial
The Man Called X https://player.fm/series/otr-detective-the-great-detectives-of-old-time-radio/the-man-called-x-the-quinine-contract-letter
Lux Radio Theatre https://player.fm/series/lux-radio-theater
Boston Blackie https://player.fm/series/otr-detective-the-great-detectives-of-old-time-radio/boston-blackie-the-professor-and-rufus-blow-a-safe
Rocky Jordan https://player.fm/series/otr-detective-the-great-detectives-of-old-time-radio/rocky-jordan-valley-of-the-dead
Relic Radio (channel) https://player.fm/series/relic-radio-old-time-radio
The Zero Hour https://player.fm/series/relic-radio-old-time-radio/the-zero-hour-and-escape
Rocky Fortune and The Avenger https://player.fm/series/relic-radio-old-time-radio/rocky-fortune-and-the-avenger
Fibber McGee and Molly https://player.fm/series/fibber-mcgee-and-molly-show-2391443
Box 13 (Channel) https://player.fm/series/thrillers-old-time-radio
Dime a Dance https://www.escape-suspense.com/2008/11/suspense-dime-a-dance.html
Fermented food is good for you and especially your gut health. Additionally, it lasts for a long time, you can make large batches of it AND if need be, you can trade your extra jars for other necessities. Plus, you are creating a living food and it’s a hell of a lot of fun!
Kimchi is a staple in our house and a lot of fun to make! I did a blog post about it here. https://wordpress.com/post/notvegannowvegan.wordpress.com/670
Here are a few other methods/recipes. https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-vegan-kimchi/
https://www.koreanbapsang.com/vegan-kimchi/
Sauerkraut is my next fermentation adventure. I love it on hot dogs and it works well as a stuffing for pirogies.
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-homemade-sauerkraut-in-a-mason-jar-193124
Sourdough Check out my recent post on breadmaking for this one! 😀 https://lizzieviolet.com/2020/04/02/stay-the-fuck-home-the-bread-making-edition/
Kombucha isn’t for everyone. My husband hates it, I however, LOVE IT!
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-kombucha-tea-at-home-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-173858
Are you going to try making any of these?
Being stuck at home, doesn’t mean that you need to spend 75% of your time on the couch and 25% of your time sleeping. Take this time to learn something new. The other day I saw a butterfly and now I’m reading up on butterflies. If you love bats, last summer I did several blog posts about going out nightly with my bat detector. You could also pick a historical figure and learn about them. Learn how to build a model plane, train or action figure. Read up on science type things. Keep your brain active! Below is are a few of the things I’m doing!
Butterflies One of the most beautiful things to see is a butterfly. It signifies hope, warmer weather and new life. Butterflies start out as caterpillars and after hibernating, because floating works of art. Below are a few links so you can also read up on them.
https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/969e-Biodiversity_ButterfliesBook-Division-Planning-And-Development.pdf
https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/
https://www.cambridgebutterfly.com/all-about-butterflies/
https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/why-butterflies-matter
Nell Shipman was a Canadian actress, author, screenwriter, producer, director, and animal activist/trainer. Her works often had autobiographical elements to them and reflected her passion for nature. Recently, we watched her movie Back to God’s Country. It was glorious. She was glorious!
Cross-stitch isn’t really a new thing for me, rather I’m relearning how to do it. I want to make art with it as well as embellish the clothing I make. Also, it’s a lot of fun!
Tips https://www.buzzfeed.com/elizabethlilly/cross-stitching-tips-every-beginner-should-know
Free patterns https://www.dmc.com/us/free-patterns-5041/free-patterns-5042/free-cross-stitch-patterns-5044.html
https://www.tinymodernist.com/pages/cross-stitch-basics
Aloha Wanderwell was a sassy young woman and an inspiration! https://www.alohawanderwell.com/
Container gardening is a great way to grow your own food, especially if you live in an apartment with a balcony. When I had a balcony I great a bunch of my own veggies and herbs. I loved planting them in the spring and watching them grow. Considering everything going on, learning how to grow your own food is a great asset and skill to have.
https://www.almanac.com/content/container-gardening-vegetables
Soapmaking is a great way to make your own bath products, but a fun thing to do with your kids as well. Once upon a time I ran a small business that made bath products and bars of soap was one of the products. Again, this is a skill I am relearning.
With or without Lye — https://wellnessmama.com/60992/how-to-make-soap/
Drawing Lessons After years of not drawing, (I used to sketch and draw everyday) I picked up the pencils again about a year ago. Recently, I did a 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge and man o man do I need to relearn a lot! I’ve been doing a few online tutorials to help me get better again.
https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-learn-to-draw-stage-one-manual-skills–cms-23304
https://www.creativebloq.com/features/how-to-draw-animals-people-landscapes
Silk Screening is another skill I need to relearn for both art projects and to make merchandise! I used to make my own t-shirts for a feminist website I used to run in the late 90s and it’s time to get back at silk screening.
https://lifehacker.com/a-simple-guide-to-screen-printing-your-own-shirts-5886483
What new skills do you want to learn or who are you reading about?
Along with toilet paper, one of the first things to disappear from the shelves in grocery stores was nut butter and milk. For many years now, I’ve been making my own nut butters and when in need I will also make my own oat or cashew milk. Heck I’ve even made my own soy milk. All of these things are really easy to make AND a lot cheaper cost wise than buying the store bought versions. To make nut butters you will need either a food processor or a blender, though I strongly suggest a food processor, only because it is easier to get the nut butter out of the container. For plant-based milk you will need a blender.
Below are some YouTube videos and recipe links.
Nut Butters
Minimalist Baker https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-nut-butter/
Simply Quinoa
Skinny Taste https://www.skinnytaste.com/how-to-make-nut-butter/
Downshiftology
How to make almond butter.
And if you want to change it up, here is a video on how to make Nutella!
Plant-based Milk
Sustainably Vegan
Simply Vegan Blog https://simpleveganblog.com/9-easy-plant-milk-recipes/
One Green Planet https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/make-creamy-nutritious-plant-based-milk-home-ingredients/
The Green Creator
The Edgy Veg
The Whole Food Plant-based Cooking Show
Many are beginning to go a bit stir crazy now that we are 3 weeks into this pandemic, especially for you extroverts! I personally, am doing ok. I’m an introvert and have always been ok with spending time at home. There are things I do miss, I do enjoy being outside in the big blue room, over the last few years I’ve come to realize that my little goth heart actually does need some sunshine. Along with continuing to do creative and household things to stay busy, I’ve started creating a list of the things I want to do once we are on the other side of this thing.
See friends and family One of things I do miss is seeing my friends up close and personal. These friends are also considered my family. We have been having virtual phone dates, but it isn’t quite the same. One of the first things I hope we can do is get together for dinner and drinks!
Buy fabric! In order to keep busy, I’ve been finally finishing off a few sewing projects I had started, along with continuing with the Sew A Vintage Dress A Month Challenge. By the time this is all over, I will have sewn through my entire fabric stash. I’m actually getting close to the end of it, as I write this. I know I can order online, but I need to see and touch the fabric before I buy it.
Yoga in the park Last summer when we were walking through High Park, I noticed that there was a large group of people doing yoga. It is a weekly event. I have googled it and unfortunately can’t find any info, but as soon as the park opens again, I’m sure they will be back at it. Once I find out more, I can add it info here.
Eat out at my favourite places I have a bunch of places in our hood and around the city that I love to eat at. Some of my absolute favourites in my hood are See-Scape, Curry Twist, La Rev, Whelan’s and Thai by the Park. Close to me is the Skyline. In the west end of Bloomers, Machino Donuts and Discgraceland. I can’t wait to get back out and support them!
Killer B Cinema We’ve really been missing hosting our monthly event at See-Scape! In the meantime we are working on launching a YouTube Channel.
Walk through High Park I love that we are only minutes away from this park. In summer I love walk there, sitting somewhere to write or sketch, have lunch at the restaurant or take photos of all of its beauty. I’m also determined to go swimming in the pool this year.
Silent Movies I miss going to the monthly Silent Revue at The Revue and was looking forward to The Silent Film Festival that was happening in April. It’s ok though, all of these things have been rescheduled.
Long Walks through the city I love going on long walks. I love going on long walks through Toronto, stopping for lunch and taking in the hustle and bustle of the streets. Once we are able to, we will be taking the longest walk we have yet!
Go to the Island It’s been TWO YEARS since I have been to the island. Spring/Summer flooding has stopped most of use from going there. I’m hoping when all of this is over, the island will be an option for us this year!
Visit my parents My usual spring visit to my parents has to be put off due to the pandemic. Every few months I try to get up to their place and stay for a week. Am hoping by summer I can actually do this.
Picnic I’ve been craving a picnic! Anywhere!
Finally wear all of the lovely clothing I’ve been making As I’ve mentioned a few times in the blog, I’ve been sewing and knitting up a storm. I can’t wait to finally wear all of these lovely garments.
Have a BBQ with friends Last but not least, once we are out of this, we will be having friends over for a BBQ! Oh yes we will!
We all have those items in our pantry that we bought ages ago and forgot about. A can of palm of hearts, a box of chana masala mix, that box of gluten free macaroni, that spice mix that you were going to make a dish with… and you can’t remember what it was, the can of pineapple rings about to expire… you all get it. A few of us will also have a few staples such as rice, few cans of beans, tomatoes and some tomato paste. Heck there might even be some flour in there.
I am trying to keep our grocery shopping to a minimum. Because of that we will be shopping our pantry, fridge and freezer to stretch all of what we have to hopefully keep us fed for the next couple weeks. The less we are out, the less likely we will catch COVID-19.
Below are some links to fun YouTube videos on how to shop your own pantry or make recipes with what you have in your fridge. Enjoy and share your yummy dishes with me!
During times like this, it is handy to have certain skills, we’ve covered breadmaking and now this post will have some links on how to can/preserve food. Many of us will have grandparents who lived through the Depression and knowing how to be creative with food staples was part of what helped them survive. One thing that helped was stretching out fresh produce, by canning them. It’s a skill we need to bring back. That way, when food hoarding begins, we will already have our own stockpile of foods we prepared ourselves.
Below are some links that will show you how easy it is to preserve your own food.
Beans, beans, beans, beans! Beans, beans, beans, beans!
You know you want to sing the song!
Beans, beans, the musical fruit
The more you eat, the more you toot [or “poot”]
The more you toot, the better you feel
So we have beans at every meal!1
or
Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart
The more you eat, the more you fart
The more you fart, the happier/better you feel
So let’s eat beans with every meal1
or
Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart
The more you eat, the more you fart
The more you fart, the more you eat
The more you sit on the toilet seat
or
Beans, beans, they give you gas
They make you fart, and burn your ass
The more you eat, the more it hurts
So slow down your eating to stop the squirts
Beans, beans, the magical fruit the more you eat the more you toot 1This line can also be replaced with: “So eat them beans at every meal”
or
Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart
the more you eat the more you fart
the more you fart the better you feel
Come on! Beans are good for you! They are heart-healthy and full of protein! Most of all, they can be really easy to make! On top of that, they are shelf stable and really inexpensive!
Here are a few videos that show you how to make them. I’ve included stove top, Instant Pot and slow cooker methods. Don’t forget to pre-soak them. They will be easier to digest and that means less farting.
When this all began, there was a wave of panic shopping that cleared the shelves of toilet paper, disinfectant everything and bread. We didn’t participate in any of the chaos. In fact I stood back, shaking my head in confusion, wondering why the fuck are you hoarding toilet paper? Shouldn’t you be buying non-perishable or shelf-stable foods? Our cupboards are always full of staples and canned goods. I have lots of flours and dried beans. I also grew up with a mother and grandmothers who practiced buying 2 of something when it’s on sale. They also knew how to preserve food and bake bread. Thankfully, I paid attention. Over the next few posts I am going to have helpful information on how to bake bread, cook dried beans and preserve. A series of homesteading posts if you will.
Currently, one of my favourite channels on YouTube is Glen & Friends. This channel focuses on easy to follow recipes and on Sunday’s post Depression Era recipes. Currently Glen is posting Pandemic focuses recipes, where the content focuses on using what you have in your cupboards and fridge. Glen also has several videos on how to make bread, including no knead bread. This type of recipe is for those who are new to bread making. Below is a link to that video.
If you are a little more adventurous and want to learn how to make your own sour dough starter I have written a blog post about that and the process of making sour dough bread. Click here.
Sour dough can be a time consuming process. If you want the shorter version, Glen & Friends also have a video for that.
If you want to get extra fancy, this channel has a play list you will like.
I go back and forth between using a bread machine and making sourdough from scratch. I gotta tell you, two of the things, I am really grateful that I own right now are three appliances, my breadmaker, Instant Pot and the pasta maker. Once people clued in that they couldn’t eat toilet paper, they started hoarding dried pasta as well. Below are a few breadmaker recipes, for those who have or who are going to buy a bread maker.
You can also do sour dough in the breadmaker.
Heck you can even make dessert breads in a breadmaker.
And pizza dough and doughs for rolls.
Plant Foods Made Fun^^
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