L.L. Bean, Yogurt, Onions, Piano Teaching, and Swagbucks
Are you wondering how these things are related?
They're not.
That's why this is a miscellany post. 😉
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L.L. Bean is awesome.
On Facebook the other day, I shared that I bought a (made-in-the-USA-woo!) floor rug from L.L. Bean after putting off the purchase for a long while (our old mat was seriously worn out!). I remembered to visit Ebates first, and I searched around for a discount code to use as well, but I found nothing, and decided just to buy the rug.
Well, the day the rug arrived, I got an email saying everything on L.L. Bean's whole site was 15% off, and I was like, "Seriously?? Could my timing have been worse?"
A bunch of you suggested that I call L.L. Bean to see if they'd apply the 15% retroactively, so I gave them a ring. And the very lovely customer service person I spoke to cheerfully applied the 15% discount to my purchase in the form of a credit to my credit card.
YAY!
I love good customer service. And I love 15% discounts too.
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Yogurt, Onions, and Relief
I made a batch of yogurt the other day, which is nothing out of the ordinary.
The out of ordinary thing was the odd flavor I tasted when I opened a jar. At first, I couldn't put my finger on it, and then I realized my yogurt tasted faintly of onions.
I supposed that wouldn't be completely horrible if the yogurt was plain, but I'd made a vanilla batch.
And vanilla+onions = VeryNotGood.
I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what had made my yogurt onion-y, and I thought maybe my pot had some onion residue, or that my whisk wasn't perfectly clean.
And I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what I was going to do with a gallon of onion-tainted yogurt.
Then I picked up the lid and sniffed it. A-ha! I must have last used that lid for something very savory, because it smelled distinctly of onion.
A wave of relief washed over me as I realized since the lid was the culprit, not the pot, only one of my 5 jars was oniony. Phew!
I could always have thrown the whole batch out if it had all been oniony, but I hate to waste food, of course, and I also hated to think of wasting the time I put into making the yogurt.
What became of the onion-y jar? Well, I discovered that if you put a lot of fruit into the blender along with some of the offending yogurt, the onion taste isn't terribly apparent, especially if you are careful not to point it out to your children (who sometimes have relatively undiscerning palates). 😉
And from here on out, every yogurt lid is getting sniffed before it gets screwed on.
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Piano Teaching
It's now been a year since I stopped teaching piano (at least, teaching other people's children.) It was a super hard decision for me, but a year later, I think I can firmly say that it was the right one. I'm not saying I don't miss seeing my students, but getting those hours back in my week has definitely reduced my stress level.
(Zoe, unintentionally demonstrating very improper finger position. Curved fingers are hard.)
Plus, since I have four in-house students now, it's not like my teaching skills are collecting dust. And I did get to teach for almost 20 years, which is nothing to sneeze at.
Anyway, this is one of those times where I think it has made a lot of sense for me to choose more time over more money, and I'm super grateful to have been in a position where I had the freedom to make that choice.
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Swagbucks goodies for old and new members
I've written about Swagbucks before, and I know a bunch of you are members. So, I wanted to let you know that on Tuesday (tomorrow!), Swagbucks will be having a bunch of swag Codes - 65 in all, actually. They'll be on Swagbucks' Twitter, Facebook, and blog, so check in to get your codes.
If you haven't joined Swagbucks yet, click this link to join up. (You can read my thoughts on Swag Bucks here.)
VERY IMPORTANT: Use the code JANTASTIC during sign up - then you'll get 100 free Swag Bucks to start with instead of the usual 30.
disclosures, blah, blah: L.L. Bean has no idea who I am or that I am blogging about them. I bought my rugs with my own money. Swagbucks and Ebates links are referral links.
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Onion-y yoghurt doesn't sound great, but you could always use it in a savoury dish. Something like chicken tikka..... http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2141640/chicken-tikka-with-spiced-rice
Haha, Stacey, you took the words right out of my mouth. I have chicken marinating in a bowl of yogurt right now, and thought how nicely onion-flavored yogurt would work! I have to second you on this.
A yogurt version of ranch dip is also tasty.
If you don't mind, would you review L.L. Bean rug? I have eyeballed them often, but the price, opposed to big box store rugs seems a little much. If quality is better, it would be worth it then! Thanks
UGH! I just signed up for swagbucks yesterday and only got the 30 points for signing up!!!! But at least hubby will be using it while he searches for stuff, which is the important stuff. Anyway, I will like them on FB to get some points.
Plain yogurt also makes a great marinade for chicken 🙂 I think your oniony yogurt would work beautifully for that. Add a little seasoned salt and whatever other flavor combos you'd like (mexican, italian, greek, or just all-purpose), marinate for a few hours - not over night. It is so wonderful on the grill!
A large spoonful or two of yogurt mixed in cooked onions, mushrooms, herbs and whatever you'd like to throw in the pan makes a lovely pasta sauce. You could add chopped herbs like chives and parsley to a bowl of yogurt to have a lovely raw vegetable dip. You could use it to make quick breads as well like biscuits or soda bread.
Another tip is sprinkle jar lids with baking soda and leave on the side for a few days to a week, depending on how strong the smell is. That will usually take and smell out of them.
I just signed up for swagbucks, thanks for the tip. 🙂
I sometimes use yogurt in place of sour cream/mayo. An oniony yogurt may have worked well for chicken salad!!
I find L.L. Bean to be very accommodating no matter what you ask for! With no shipping fees and great customer service you can't go wrong. I just wish that more of their products were made in America!
Me too! But I do love that their waterhog rugs are made in the U.S.!
Love the pianist photo - such cute hands . . .
J x
That's good to know about L.L.Bean. I've had similar good luck with customer service at Lands' End. My thinking is it never hurts to ask. And it's especially easy to do the asking over the phone. The worst that will happen is they'll say "no", and I'll move on with my day.
I've had store managers and customer service be flexible with policies and rules, as they want to keep my business. With BOGO sales, I'll ask the manager if I can just buy one at half price, and about half the time they say "sure".
I've found milk in the dairy case just a day or two away from expiry, I'll find someone to ask if they'll mark it down, and they often say "yes". When they say "no", I just say,"well thank you anyways", and move on.
I used to get terribly embarrassed asking for something like this. I'm a people pleaser and I don't like to make waves. Now I just try to remember that it's "just business". Anyone else ever feel embarrassed to ask for something like this?
I used to work as a grocery checker... you would be amazed at all the stuff people ask for. Don't hesitate. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I don't know if it would have made a differance with your oniony lid or not but I reuse plastic peanutbutter jar lids on my yogurt. No rust, and only one piece ( not ring & lid) easily washed in the dishwasher. Just a suggestion:)
Oh, I hadn't thought to check and see if those fit. Do they fit on the narrow-mouth jars? I mostly use wide-mouth.
Taziki!!!! Or Jajiki, depending on how you want to say it. Its a greek yogurt herb dip stuff with cucumbers and onions, and my all time favorite! I love it with gyro meat on a salad or as a sandwich with pita bread. Or use in any type of dish that can use yogurt or sour cream and onions.
A couple of my favorite things...I love Swagbucks..and homemade yogurt. Also the Aldi post below..I love the Little Salad Bar Salsa, we put it in Chili and it is delicious!
Onion yogurt ... yeah, this is why onions aren't allowed in my kitchen at all (I'm allergic.)
Anyway, you could've also made a dip out of it. I would've strained it for more of a Greek style, though.
I had the EXACT same problem with a canning lid. Every Sunday I chop an onion really fine and store it in a glass canning jar so that I can grab a spoonful of chopped onions to add to my eggs in the morning. That lid NEVER lost its oniony smell.
I came up with two ideas, and I regularly use the second (though it's a little wasteful, but not too much since I recycle the foil).
1. Mark that lid and ONLY use it for onions (I couldn't come up with a marking that would survive multiple washings).
2. Use the canning ring to secure a double layer of foil on the top of the jar as a makeshift lid. The canning ring holds the foil taut and tight so that it keeps the jar well sealed, and I just ball up the foil and recycle it when I'm done.
Remember that most canning jar lids have some BPA plastic. Try not to pack your jars so full that the lid is in physical contact with the food.
I've had that same style of door rug from Bean's for over ten years. You can't kill them! Two kids, two dogs and two adults cruise over that rug. Vacuum it, knock some more dirt off, hose it off and voila - good as new.
I'm a loyal LL Bean customer, and I've noticed over the past year or so that they tend to do 15% off deals on holiday weekends, e.g. Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, now Martin Luther King Day. So if you're considering a purchase, there will probably be another 15% off deal for Presidents' Day weekend.
I too have a question about the LL Bean rug. I have been needing to purchase a rug as well and, after reading the comments, I went to the website and read the reviews. From the reviews it seems most people aren't satisfied with the indoor waterhogs, but very satisfied with the exterior ones. They are the same price so I was wondering which one you purchased. I'm thinking the only difference may be one is thicker than the other?
Thanks for your time.
Hmm, that's interesting. What do people not like about the indoor ones? The only complaint I have is that the bottom seems to lose a bit of its rubbery grip over time.
If something like that happens again you can always use the yogurt in breadmaking. My favorite bread recipe uses leftover cooked grains and yogurt. It's perfect for really strong old yogurt or something oddly flavored. You can always add more seasoning to your bread if you feel that the vanilla will be too dominant.
Yogurt + onions seems like it could make a nice sauce for gyros or sandwiches maybe?
I'm going to look at LLBean for a new rug right now.
I had a similar wonderful experience with L.L. Bean. I needed (really needed - we live in Central New York) new boots and picked out one of their pairs. I waited for a 20% off sale right before Christmas....but then one day the next week, all boots were 10% off as part of their Daily Deals in December! I called, and they gave me the additional $8.40 off!
You can use the onion flavored yogurt to make Greek Tzatziki sauce for Gyros or over meat, yogurt, cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, salt, blend in food processor. Onion add on top of gyro sandwiches so the onion flavor would be just fine.
You could also use oniony yogurt for savory baked goods, like biscuits or scones. 🙂
I realize I'm about the third or fourth one to say this... but yogurt makes a great marinade for chicken! I like to use yogurt + lemon juice to marinade my chicken for just about anything, but it's great for Indian like chicken tikka masala or Thai, my favorite is coconut/panang curry. In general, yogurt moistens chicken beautifully. So don't worry if it happens again, there are much better solutions than hopeful smoothie disguises!
What color LL Bean rug is pictured?
We have the waterhog mats in khaki.
Okay, thank you! I just ordered one for my house.