**REVIEW* Silicone Exfoliating Face Scrubber

 Those who have read this blog for a while know how careful I am about what I use on my face. Be it makeup, cleansers, toners - whatever. I have weirdly sensitive skin. It's resilient but moody. 

Anyway.

I have these little things on my nose that always looked like blackheads. They started appearing when I hit my 50's and, because I assumed they were blackheads, I would tweeze them out. Not good. For one thing, they aren't blackheads. They are sebaceous filaments. 

If you glance at the photos in that article, you might find out that your sebaceous filaments are visible like mine. By tweezing at these things for a couple of years, I was probably just making things worse. 

Since I refuse to "exfoliate" my face with anything that's the least bit abrasive, I started using those slightly painful sticky strips on my nose area. That helped but I was worried that it wasn't the best thing for my skin overall. For one thing, my skin was always reddish and irritated afterward. And the strips are so gross to look at!

Not long ago, I saw something like this and considered giving it a try- 

-but... that seems a little aggressive. I watched a couple of video reviews and still haven't decided whether I would try one or not.

The other day someone sent me 2 of these silicone scrubbers. 

This pink & a blue one

There are a lot of them all over Amazon but mine are the Etereauty  brand. I wasn't impressed at first because I always get these kinds of things - battery-operated facial tools and the like. I once got a  couple of weird little wooden things that seem slightly occultish. I threw those out and had my apartment blessed! LOL

I was really curious about these though. I like the way the feel - very soft and pliable. I started to think that they might be gentle enough to use on my face so I gave them a try. I wet my face and applied some cleaning oil and a tiny bit of gentle soap. Then I realized I had no idea what I was doing so I looked on Amazon for tips. 

I love the grip on it because it's so easy to hold it at angles so I am only scrubbing the area I want to.

After massaging just the nose area - where I have all those nasty little filaments - I rinsed and wiped my face down with a baby wipe. And, wow. I like, I like.

Since I don't have any Before photos, I won't bother with any but there is a very noticeable improvement. A highly visible improvement. I could tell right away by rubbing my finger over the area that it was lots smoother. Those little filaments really do a number on the face.

I can still see some of the little black dots if I use my "magic mirror". (Trust me, you have to steel yourself and be in a really good mood before you use one of those mirrors.) Mine looks exactly like this one and I once made the mistake of using it when I was a little bit down. Don't do that. 

I did try using this silicone scrubber on the rest of my face and I was very light-handed with it and it still was too irritating. I can use it on my neck and that oily nose area but that's it. I would love to get a bath mitt sized one though.

Anyway, I am going to start using this on my nose once every weekend until those filaments are done with. I suppose all I will need after that is upkeep.

So, if you have wondered about these, I would say to just know your skin before you use one. I personally love it.

I got two of these in the box that was sent to me. I use the blue one on my nose and the pink one on my neck. I am already checking out some of the larger ones to use on my torso.

If I do get up the nerve to try that spatula thing, I will do a review.

Peace

--Free

Homemade: Sugared Rolls & Mozzarella Buns

 My oh my oh me oh my!

When I was telling y'all about the Rhodes Rolls recently, I didn't tell you how much you can do with them. 

I was worried about gaining weight because I have been eating so many things made with the dough from these rolls. To be honest though, I am not gaining weight. I think it's because if you eat 2 or 3 of these rolls, you are full for the rest of the day. The past few days I've been having about 3 o these rolls (made as dinner rolls or as mozzarella buns) and a piece of salmon. I can have that one meal and I am done for the day.

Anyway. Here is what you need:

• Rhodes Texas Dinner Rolls (or you can probably use the smaller yeast rolls)
• (For the sugared rolls) Powdered sugar & whatever other seasonings you like. I use a little fresh nutmeg and some Ceylon cinnamon and regular cinnamon.
• (For the mozzarella rolls) Mozzarella cheese. I prefer the large ball that I can easily chills and slice or the pre-cut logs that I can chill and cut down into smaller slices. I have not used shredded and I never use the low-fat, dry kind!
• (For the mozzarella rolls) some savory seasoning to coat either the inner cheese or the outer part of the roll. I like using Lawry's and/or some Famous Dave's (either chicken or rib) seasoning.
• A couple of baking pans to let the rolls rest/rise in prior to baking.
• Enough oil or butter to lightly coat the pans.
• Enough oil to over at least 2 to 3 inches of a skillet if you are going to fry the rolls.
• Cling wrap to cover the rolls for rest/rising.
• Something to drain the rolls after baking. I use my large splatter-guard & just lay it across a skillet for the oil to drain into.

Other than letting the dough rest/rise, it only takes about 1 minute for frying and about 12 minutes for baking.

If you start your dough and won't be able to fry or bake as soon as you thought, you can cover the rolls and put in the fridge to slow down the rise/proofing. This does, in my experience, make for a slightly drier bake. I notice that the bottoms of the baked goods get browner after refrigerating the dough.

Here are the ways I have been using the dough. 

For the Sugared Rolls (I couldn't think of a better name but these are like fried donut holes, sort of):

Basically, to start, you need to let the frozen rolls thaw just enough for the dough to be soft so you can cut or manipulate it. In my apartment's warm ambient temperature, that takes about 30 to 35 minutes. (You don't want the dough to start rising so you can thaw them in the fridge if your house is too warm.)

For making donut holes with the Texas rolls - which are touted to be "50% larger", you need to cut each roll into 4. Once these bad boys rise, even that will make a large roll.

Roll each piece between your palms or on a cutting board so it's as round as possible. (I have not yet figured out a non-messy way to add jelly to the centers...)

Put all the finished little balls onto a lightly oiled pan, cover with plastic wrap, and let them rise - or you could fry them without waiting. I don't know what those results are because I always let mine rise,

Fry them in hot oil (sorry, I don't know what temp; I just test a pinch of dough to check if it bobs quickly) and turn. T

Let them drain and then coat them in powdered sugar. (I use a blend of powdered sugar, a little grating of fresh nutmeg and some cinnamon in a bowl to toss & roll the dough in.)

For the Mozzarella Buns:

Same technique for prepping the dough except leave the dough whole or just cut in half - not in fourths.

I use whatever mozzarella is cheapest. I cut the cheese (see what I did there?) into small fingertip-size pieces and store in the freezer covered with wrap or in baggies. The frozen cheese is less likey to spill out during cooking. Or so I was informed by another website.

Put a little piece of the cheese in the center of a piece of dough and roll into a ball. Try pinching the dough closed first to seal in the cheese.

You can either dust the balls with seasoning (I like to use Lawry's Seasoning Salt) or you can season the cheese before you seal up the dough.

Fry the same as with the Sugared Rolls. I like to eat the "buns" dipped in Marinara sauce.

Keep in mind that the dough fries super fast! 

See how huge the sugared rolls turned out? The were the size of large marbles before I let them rise for about half an hour. Next time, I will have to make them much smaller!

I have seen a couple of recipes for making flattened fried bread using the Rhodes yeast rolls. I guess you could really get creative if you wanted to. Also, I am sure there are other brands of the dough out there, but Mama always used Rhodes.

And I am serious about these filling you up. I can have a couple of the mozzarella buns with some marinara sauce and all I will have the rest of the day is water and coffee. It's super-filling. I will be experimenting with adding some spinach and cream cheese to bake inside the rolls. Fingers crossed.

Peace

--Free

Benefits of Belief

 I usually put my Christian-themed posts on my Free & Faith blog, but I wanted to share this one here.

Recently, I published this on Free & Faith. It's basically about how people will believe in all sorts of silly and unfounded things while rejecting God. The better part of me prays for those people who reject God but... 

There is a part of my personality that is still under construction. As some people joke: God is still working on me. When I get annoyed or angry or have to deal with the supreme hatred of people, all I can think is that they better be glad that I believe in God. They better be glad that I'm not who I used to be.

Years ago, I was not a nice person. I mean, I was nice but I could go from nice to not-nice in the space of a heartbeat. I had a terrible temper and (I'm so ashamed to admit this now) I had a habit of slapping people. 

The fact that someone didn't beat my little then-narrow behind into a new reality is proof that God has always been watching over me. I was all of not quite a hundred pounds and thought that the universe revolved around my emotions. I ticked a lot of the boxes listed in Proverbs 6:16-19:

I quit counting after I hit on 4. Oh boy.

Not only was I a sometimes-awful person but I was also occasionally naive. As mean as I could be I did have a soft side and was incredibly trusting. I don't want to think back on how many times I could have been abducted or raped or even killed because of the situations I put myself in. I was (still am) a lightweight drinker and would be falling-down drunk after a couple of moderately strong drinks. I remember times that (and yes, I am VERY ashamed to admit this) rode with drunk drivers or fell asleep passed out in the back of a car parked in front of our house. 

A few years ago, I saw this image and laughed so hard I got hoarse.

But, all kidding done with, I know that God was looking over me. I have struggled with depression all my life and there were times when I really thought about ways to end my life. I was just too chicken to die. Now that I am saved, I am not afraid to die but I always say "it's not being dead that scares me but getting dead". Before I came to Christ, I was too stupid to be afraid of being dead.

So, there are benefits to belief. There is a poem by a woman named Carol Wimmer. I know nothing about her or her definitive beliefs but I feel like her words capture perfectly what so many Christians want to convey. I thank her for the beautiful poem. I will leave you with her words and hope they give you insight into the Christians in your life.

Peace

--Free

Spammer's Delight

I don't know if spammers just think that if they submit enough comments that a blogger will think "You know what? This one is so persistent, he deserves to be noticed?"

Back in the day, I used to get a TON of comments on my blog posts, then G+ died and went away. Now I have to rely on the dreaded ~ugh~ Facebook to get any reader feedback and interaction. Once people started to get Insta-famous and Tube-fabulous, I think bloggers who didn't join the money-train lost traction. And I am okay with that. I never started blogging to monetize. I blog for my emotional health and because it's fun. I have some loyal readers and I love that part. I am not in a place in my life or abilities to deal with "monetizing" what I do for stress-relief.

Anyway.

This all is on my mind because I am SO tired of dealing with Spammy comments. It was a long time back (when a couple of those comments slipped through my net) that I started moderating all comments. It doesn't take long to glance through and see the ones that mention a product or include a link. Blogger makes it pretty easy to just run down the line and delete-delete-delete.

This latest is just one of the silly things I see via Blogger mail:

How obvious and smarmy, right? 

The thing is, I might actually be interested in some of the stuff the spammers have for sale - I mean, I do shop Amazon like someone with money... How crazy that spammers self-defeat by using this approach.

Anyway, this is to those annoying people who do this type of thing:

Back when G+ was a thing, I would have blocked and reported you. Right now, I am thinking of making a list of you all, searching you ought via Private browsing and then filling up your inbox with copies of your own comments. For now, just know that you might have something I would be interested in hearing about. It's just like stores who flood my snail-mail box with unwanted ads - I make a vow to never purchase anything from those places. 

The way I see it, if you are using spam, you must not have any product or service worth promoting in any other way.

I have gotten this kind of thing from people pitching vape products, cosmetics, household goodsm etc. I use all of those things and will consider taking a look them - but not from someone slimy enough to use spam.

So there. I just had to vent a little after rejecting about 12 spam comments and cleaning out my In-box of emails like that one.

Peace

--Free

Soothing My Emotions

 Nobody warned me about my feelings and emotions catching menopausal moments. Plenty of women warned me about hot flashes and night sweats. I was well-informed about mood swings. But mood swings are different from emotional bruising. Trust me, I am learning that now.

I am well past menopause. Mostly. I've gotten past the hot flashes and night sweats and I haven't just suddenly felt like committing the murder of innocent bystanders because of hormonal fluctuation. 

However...

My emotional swings in the past few years have been directed more inward. I can wake up feeling normal (you know, cranky without my coffee and ready for my days of the general craziness that is my life) and then, suddenly, without warning, I can feel so unloved and life-failing and bleak. For no reason. That is not a mood swing. That is a soul burp or an emotional crisis.

These random bruisings don't happen often. If they did, I might be used to them and better prepared to swim through. Nope. These nasty things creep up behind me and slap the back of my heart about once every maybe 6 to 8 months. Weird, right?

I swear, I sometimes feel like all life after 50 is one eternal crisis of self-examination. And I never pass when I get in a certain mindset.

So it was about 3 days ago that I had the latest attack of... whatever this weird sadness and soul-pain is called. I wasn't sick because I skipped my weekly injection. (It's rainy and cold and gray and I don't want to be med sick in this weather.) Because I was feeling fairly decent and my brain was in a good mood, I was cleaning and putting out laundry to do and making a grocery list for a rare actual trip to the store (instead of delivery). The rain broke for a moment and I was able to take out the garbage and scrub the kitchen floor. It was a great day. Glorious if you ignored the weather. And then, I just... I suddenly started thinking too much about the wrong things.

When I get in these - let's call them mental conniption fits - I immediately lose all energy and joy.

This sad state of - whatever - stayed with me for a full day and a half. I was tired but didn't want to sleep. I thought I might be hungry but didn't want to eat anything. I tried to read the Bible but just didn't have the strength. And then I even started having a moment of wondering why God doesn't love me. (Maybe I should have spent the past several days reading the Book of Job as part of my yearly reading plan?)

This morning, the fit finally broke. It left as fast as it came on. I woke up and make coffee and stripped the bed (because I never got around to all my laundry before) and was thinking about when I would do my morning Bible reading session and... I realized that I was not feeling like I had been during the downpour of sadness. Yeah. It was just like that.

I tell you what, I am so glad that I finished reading Job. I don't know if that had anything to do with it but maybe? Reading about Job's trials and sadness (no one expresses sadness like Job does!) made me think so much of my late sister and all she went through.

Anyway, I am better today. I am taking a break from housework and getting ready to eat something because I am really hungry now. Tonight, I will do more Bible reading (thank goodness Job is finished and I hope it's not wrong to say that) and then I will sit in the living room for a while with my fake fireplace.

Let me tell you about my "fireplace"!

Laugh if you want, you snobs, but I love this. I can turn off all the lights and turn up the sound to hear the crackling of the "fire" and almost feel warmer. I'm not for watching TV but I am so into this.

If you want a YouTube fire, the one I use is 10 hours long and is found here. I get my comfort where I can find it.

Peace

--Free

Them Dinner Rolls!

 Yes, I said, "Them dinner rolls". Aren't those bad boys just beautiful? 

There is a funny story about these rolls. Well, not the rolls in this photo. I made those rolls tonight but...

Years ago, every Thanksgiving and Christmas, my mother would make dinner rolls from scratch. They were the best rolls ever - all soft and salty-buttery on the inside and a nice brown top. So good. Mama would start making those rolls early the day before she wanted to serve them. At night, she would set the rolls up on top of a high cabinet to rise overnight. When we baked those rolls, neighbors a couple of houses down could smell them. My mother was family-famous for those rolls.

When mama started developing mild arthritis in her hands, my sister and I worried that she wouldn't be making dough from scratch anymore. She didn't make any more bread either except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We still had those delicious dinner rolls. 

Now, my mother didn't really like anyone in the kitchen when she was fixing a big dinner. My sister and I and some of our female friends would do a lot of the prep - cutting up and hulling vegetables, peeling potatoes, and doing late-night store runs. But at a certain point, Mom would kick everyone out of the kitchen. She did a lot of her pies and bread early in the morning or late at night when everyone else was sleeping.

One year, Mama wasn't feeling well but she still did a lot of the cooking. That was the year that she started letting my sister in the kitchen with her all night and morning. I wasn't jealous then because I really wasn't interested in cooking. Those were my too-cute years. 

After Mama passed away, my sister took over all the major meal preparations. My nieces and their friends were old enough by then to help out with the odd duties. I never did get promoted to sous chef but I could wash dishes and clean a destroyed kitchen like nobody's business. Just like when Mama had been around, every year, we had those delicious dinner rolls. I was a little bit jealous that my sister had gotten that recipe... Not long after that, I did get the recipe. Seriously. This is how I was able to turn out that pan of the rolls tonight.

When the nieces were old enough to be cooking in their own homes, they still came around for some of the holiday meals. One of my nieces brought a long-time friend (just like a niece to us) to one of these dinners. The friend kept talking about how she had sure missed "Grammy's dinner rolls" and she told my sister that she wanted her to teach her how to make them one day. 

This girl ate a roll buttered. She ate one plain. She made a turkey and dressing sandwich with a roll. And she just would not stop talking about those rolls. After she ate almost a whole pan by herself, she just about begged my sister for the recipe.

My sister looked at me and I looked at her and she got up to get the recipe.

We always kept the recipe close at hand and in the freezer around the holidays. Here it is:

The girl and my niece's mouths fell open. They remembered Mama's homemade rolls and couldn't believe that the frozen ones tasted so good. They felt like we had been tricking them for a long time. Honestly, though, Rhodes Texas Rolls are the closest thing to Mama's homemade rolls. Mama's were always a bit larger and a smidge saltier but we remedy that by brushing a little salted butter on the frozen tops when we set them out to rise.

These in this red package rise up large and there are some in, I believe, a yellow package that is "regular" sized. We always try to match the size of Mama's homemade rolls so we get this red package.

These are so easy to make. You literally put them in an oiled pan (I use a 9-inch round cake pan); lightly baste the tops with butter (optional); cover them lightly with cling wrap that you have sprayed with a little oil; set them out of the way where they can rise (I set mine on a high cabinet where heat rises); they rise in as little as 4 hours in a warm house; then you pop them in an oven at 350 and they will take anywhere from 10 to 12 minutes to bake. If you do butter the tops, they will brown faster so let them stay in a bit longer to be completely done.

Best. Rolls. Ever. Well, other than Mama's from-scratch rolls. 

Now that the girls have the "recipe" they can have the rolls any time. I will get in a mood for them, like I did this time, and bake up a pan of 8 that might last a couple of 3 days. The best thing is, they keep well in a sealed baggie after they are cool. They stay soft and fresh-tasting for the next meal. I love to eat mine with butter and honey or with some gravy or just warm and plain.

Man, I miss that old-fashioned from-scratch cooking and baking but thanks to Rhodes Rolls, I can almost remember Mama's dinner rolls.

Peace

--Free

Mercari or Poshmark?

 I don't know why I am writing this post just now. It's been weeks since I've shopped either Mercari or Poshmark. See, I figured out the secret to not going broke on those sites and that is to only go near them when you have something very specific in mind to shop. Never, ever randomly browse a marketplace like Poshmark, Mercari, or eBay. Trust me, it's trouble, my friends.

If you already use those sites, I would love to know your impressions. If you don't, I am warning you that they can be an impulse shopper's dream or nightmare, depending on your finances...

Now if you are looking for a certain thing - clothes, a purse, some fragrance, etc - and are trying to find good prices, include those "social commerce" sites in with the better-known online retailers. My latest buy was from Mercari and it was an amazing find. I don't know if you remember me talking about this foundation from Lancome but I have never been able to afford it since. I can finally wear it because it balances out with the humid air here in Iowa. Well, instead of paying 40 to 50 bucks, I got an unopened, authentic bottle for $20.65 (shipping & taxes included). 

When I got the purses for my SIL and myself, I thought I might be addicted to the sites but I have managed to control myself. Still, I will make sure to check them when I am looking for things I need around the house. I have to say though that, while I like the organization of Poshmark, I prefer the shipping costs of Mercari.

If I find a great buy on Poshmark (like the $3.80 silver ring), that buy is not so great with the basic shipping of $7.11. The only way to knock that down is to bargain with the seller or wait for them to see your "like" and offer lower shipping - usually $4.99. 

Mercari has plenty of "free shipping" items to sort through. Also, the basic shipping is $4.99. For this reason, I will always go for Mercari if it has items similar to something on Poshmark - or I just won't get it at all. Before I reigned myself in from browsing Poshmark, I probably saved fifty dollars just by skipping out on things because of the shipping.

Poshmark is, however, a lot more organized than Mercari, in my opinion. 

It's so tedious on Mercari to have to specify that you are looking only for items still "for sale". I don't know why else I would be looking! Also, Poshmark has better overall search functions. It's a little like going into a nice, neat store with things stacked and organized vs rummaging through a garage sale table.

Since I started this post, more than a month has gone by. I have not been back over to either site because I don't want to get sucked in. I did want to add though that I am surprised at just how much variety there is at both sites. Mecari has a much wider variety. I checked over there not long after I started this post to see if there was any Tomoe River paper for sale. Tomoe River paper is supposed to be great for fountain pens. I personally was looking for something similar to the paper Bibles are printed on. I want to be able to take notes and slip them into my Bible and would like to have the same kind of paper texture. Yeah, I know. At any rate, there was Tomoe paper and other similar types available. I didn't buy any because, well, bills and other priorities. 

So, again, I would love to know what odd and interesting things anyone has found on one of these sites. Just don't tell me about anything that I will want to run over and grab. Bills, remember?

Peace

--Free