@SkagwayKim

Love your hilarious, priceless comment! Thanks for the belly laugh.

@bowjr

Thank you, Bob.

A man once told me that women with no pubs simply looked younger. Yeah, like what? Age 10.

@DenoPenno

Caitlin Moran wrote in her hilarious book, How To Be A Woman -

"I can't believe we're got to a point where it's basically costing us money to have a vagina. They're making us pay for maintenance and upkeep of our lulus, like they're a community garden. This is money we should be paying for the electric bill and cheese and berets. Instead, we're wasting it on making our Chihuahuas look like a skanky chicken breast. God DAMN you, mores of pornography that have made it into my undies. GOOD DAMN YOU.

"And, of course, it is pornography that's costing us all this money, time, and follicular pain. If you ask the question, "Why do 21st century women feel they have to remove their pubic hair?" the answer is, "Because everyone does in pornography."

I must admit that I have wondered what it would feel like to have sex with Gustave Courbet's "L'Origine du monde" (NSFW link: [musee-orsay.fr] , in French).

@anglophone

On dating sites, men in my age group are moldy leftovers.

Guys who have been rejected over-and-over.

@LiterateHiker Hmm. I do not envy you. And they wonder they keep getting reject slips? Sigh.

Yeah, she just might be kicking my ass at that. I salute you.

@LiterateHiker why do you keep going back to “dating” sites. Obviously, you’re luck is not good there. Are there no other opportunities for social interaction? Health clubs , meet up, singles touring, etc?

@Canndue

Not during the pandemic. The YMCA was closed for two years.

I go to the YMCA gym at 2:00 when it's empty. Perfect.

When Fitness Singles expires in May 2022, Poof! ... I'm gone.

@LiterateHiker I assume you are fairly rural…since easy access to beautiful hikes….have you checked out “meet up”? A chance to meet with folks with similar interests. Could start your own group if none up there. Check out pickle ball if they have any around you. Great fun sport, social aspect, and adored by folk in our age range.

@Canndue

There's a pandemic raging, in case you didn't notice.

Four years ago, the local meetup group was cancelled due to lack of participation. Too sedentary for me.

They met to play Bunko (whatever that is.) Pizza and wine that I don't like. Soporific baseball games. Fishing is severely boring to me.

@LiterateHiker ah yes, the pandemic….seems like I read something about that….

I had surgery last month and wasn't allowed to shave my legs, something I had done for my entire life (or at least from age 13 or whereabouts). It was quite interesting because I realized I had no idea what my leg hair looked like! Now that my curiosity has been satisfied, I don't intend to see it ever again.

He probably looks like Sasquatch with his clothes off.....

@Sgt_Spanky

Exactly. He's no prize.

@Moolah

Very funny! Ick and yuck.

@Canndue

On dating sites, men my age are the moldy leftovers. They have been rejected repeatedly. Refuse to change their behavior.

Three fit guys had ED and didn't have the courtesy to tell me. "I wanted to see if I could do it naturally," they shamefacedly said after I gave up. All three admitted Viagra was in their jacket pocket. FLUSH.

To top it off, I met over 50 man-children who never learned to cook. They wanted a female slave to do all of the meal planning, cooking, dishwashing, laundry housecleaning, weeding and great sex.

"You need to hire a cook, a gardener and a housecleaner," I told them. "I'm out."

@LiterateHiker all of those wants are fine if you offer others things to match it. Great sex, in my opinion, is a win-win…… if they want to sit and drink and occasionally screw, no way but if they deal with the cars and bills and repairs and snow removal and trash and clean after dinner….make some deals. No one should do it all , but working together, cool things happen.

@Canndue

Changing the car oil every six months (I go to Jiffy Lube) is NOT commensurate with planning and cooking three meals/day, dishwashing, housecleaning, laundry, etc. It's too much of a burden.

Although I'm a great cook, I am not willing to cook every day. Sometimes I fold up a piece of lettuce and eat it standing over the sink. Popcorn, a handful of nuts and I'm set.

Last Friday, my elderly friend had shoulder surgery. I started on Wednesday, simmering homemade chicken broth for five hours. Strained it and refrigerated overnight.

In the morning, I skimmed fat off surface of cold broth. Roasted four organic chicken breasts. Made soup with the broth, fresh vegetables, shredded chicken, herbs, a little soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Yum.

The day before her surgery, I brought her half of the pot of soup. "I love your soup," she texted. "It's delicious."

@LiterateHiker I agree with you, you have to make deals, and those change over time, sharing a piece of lettuce over the sink can be sexy as hell…..

@LiterateHiker you wouldn't want to share that recipe would you?...I haven't mastered a good Chicken Soup yet(mental block having grown up on a chicken farm...hated the fact we ate chicken 4 days a week)I have a pretty decent Beef Soup recipe I would trade???

@phoenixone1

Chicken Vegetable Soup by Kathleen Miller

NOTE: Have on hand one quart of organic, low sodium, chicken broth.

Freeze chicken and turkey bones in gallon Ziploc bags. When you have 1-1/2 to 2 gallons bags of bones, make soup.

Day 1: Make Broth (6 hours, mostly unattended) No salt yet.

1. Put chicken/turkey bones in a large soup pot. Fill pot with cold water until the bones are covered.

2. Chop and add: two large carrots, three celery stalks, 2-3 pale celery stems with leaves, 1/2 sweet onion, 5 whole cloves, one or two quarter-inch slices (rounds) of fresh ginger, and 1/2 tsp. each of dried, chopped Italian parsley, 2 peppercorns, 6 parsley stems, thyme, and 2 sage leaves. Add more water to cover vegetables.

3. Cover with the lid slightly ajar. Slowly bring to a boll. Reduce to low, slow simmer. Cover with the lid ajar at an angle.

4. As the broth heats, quite a heavy scum rises to the top. If a clear soup is wanted, it is imperative to skim off this foamy albuminous material before the first half hour of cooking. After the last skimming, wipe the edge of the pot at the level of the soup.

5. Simmer the broth partially covered, with the lid at an angle, for four of five hours. You want to intensify the flavor and extract all the goodness from the ingredients.

6. Strain the soup with a ladle instead of pouring. Ladle into a big mixing bowl through a fine strainer, or two layers of damp cheesecloth. Discard the bones and spent vegetables. Discard dark scum in the bottom of the pot.

7. Wash the soup pot. Carefully pour in strained broth. Cover and refrigerate broth overnight.

I keep ginger on hand by freezing.

Peel fresh ginger with a carrot peeler. Cut apart the ginger "fingers." Slice into 1/4-inch pieces. With a sheet of wax paper, place ginger rounds in a line. Fold over the wax paper to separate the ginger line. Make another line. Fold over. When you're done, twist the ends, pop into a freezer bag, and freeze.

Parchment paper doesn't work. Frozen ginger sticks to parchment paper.

@phoenixone1

Chicken Vegetable Soup by Kathleen Miller

Day 2: Make the Soup

1. Skim off fat from the surface of the cold broth. Begin heating on low heat.

Four large carrots, 4 celery stalks, two celery stems with pale leaves, 1/2 large sweet onion, 6 ripe tomatoes, 5 scrubbed red potatoes with skin, four roasted chicken breasts, one bag frozen slender green beans, 1/4 tsp. black pepper, scant 1 tsp. salt, 1/8 cup soy sauce, 1-2 cloves fresh garlic, 1 bay leaf, and 1/2. tsp. each dried chopped rosemary, Italian thyme, and parsley.

2. Roast chicken breasts at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

3. Set aside potatoes and green beans. Chop vegetables. Add the rest of the vegetables and ingredients to the pot. If you don't have enough broth to cover the vegetables, add low sodium organic chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and reduce to low simmer. Cover with the lid ajar at an angle.

4. During the first 30 minutes of cooking, skim off foamy scum. Wipe the inside of the pot at the level of the soup.

5. Slowly simmer for 4-5 hours with the lid ajar at an angle. Meanwhile, remove skin from chicken. Shred chicken into bite-sized pieces. (I learned this from Chinese restaurants.) Refrigerate chicken.

6. Check to see if the carrots and celery are done. Add diced potatoes, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Check potatoes for doneness.

7. Add the frozen green beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes until tender-crisp.

8. Remove pot from heat. Add shredded chicken. Gently warm the chicken in the hot broth for 10 minutes with the lid covered. Before serving, remove bay leaves and celery stems with leaves.

@phoenixone1

I forgot the green beans! Add frozen green beans once the potatoes are cooked. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5-7 minutes until tender crisp.

Then, remove the pot from heat. Add roasted, shredded chicken. Stir. Warm the chicken in the hot soup for 10 minutes.

@LiterateHiker Wow...far more and better than I ever expected. I am very grateful for this. My recipe will not be as sophosticated and I am sure you can tweek it better. Give me a day to get it typed up as I just had my other eye operated on(cataracts and new lens...I can drive without glasses again...not since mid 90's ). Thank you so much...the recipe looks basically like a reduction?

@phoenixone1

You're welcome. I improved the soup over the years.

Each summer, I grow Italian parsley in a pot. I freeze the stems for soup.

Cut down and dry parsley in door frames (see photo). Hanging bunches of herbs get moldy. Air must circulate between the leaves.

Also for split pea and bean soups, I cut off and freeze the hard rinds of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. It adds delicious flavor.

@phoenixone1

Just copy and paste the recipes onto a document. Edit (add the green beans. )

@phoenixone1

I assume you know to occasionally stir soup while it's cooking.

@LiterateHiker well this string certainly took a turn...nice tip with the cheese. I am 1/4 Italian so there is ALWAYS some sort of Italian Cheese in this house...would it be OK to message you with the Beef Soup Recipe...?

@phoenixone1

Thanks, but I don't eat beef.

When I was 24, my dad died of colon cancer. Immediately I stopped eating beef and cancer-causing processed and preserved meats. Don't miss it.

@LiterateHiker sorry for your loss ... I understand. Thanks for the Chicken Soup Recipe though. I have a Turkey and Roaster Chicken in the Freezer I will be doing over the Holidays so I can't wait to try this.

@Wangobango3

Spoken like a man.

Think of it as an adventure.

@Wangobango3 You’re correct. Not all encounters have to go in a romantic direction, but try telling that to someone who fancies you!

Me, too.
I'm good with it.

@KKGator me too! Just fine being on my own.

@KKGator

Well said. Thank you.

Most guys are selfish, lousy lovers, yet absurdly picky about women.

I feel lucky to have had 5-6 outstanding lovers in my lifetime. Ooo la la!

Ma'am, I like your style.

@LiterateHiker Same.
There have been far more that thought they were better than they were.
Once you've actually had good sex, it's impossible to settle for mediocre or bad sex.
Most of the men my age are such a disappointment, it's best just to take care of myself.

@KKGator Ben Shapiro "W.A.P. is a myth. Ask my wife."
He really said this.

@LiterateHiker You have been a lucky lady. Some of us men have the same problem . I can for myself, not all of us men are selfish . Some of us love to please our partners.

@BufftonBeotch Ben Shapiro is a myth.

@DenoPenno

Loved: "You make me laugh and I love your posts." Thank you!

I have never understood any man's obsession with anybody else's body hair.

@anglophone

Most men expect women to have pre-pubescent skin smoothness. It has been this way for eons. Native American women removed body hair with sharpened clamshells.

@LiterateHiker I must be an outlier in that case. Thanks for the tip about Native American women.

Whenever I hear arguments like “men this” or “men that”, That’s a signal to go elsewhere. You can change “men” to black or brown or yellow or Jew or Muslim etc. It’s the same poisonous prejudice.

Reality is there are worthless bitchy women out there, but the vast majority are awesome, when you get a chance to know them. Same with men.

@Canndue

Have some empathy for women: what we go through with men. Beatings, rape, meanness, killing, abuse, forcing us to have unwanted children... the list goes on.

My daughter's abusive husband nearly killed her. They are divorced, thank goodness. Claire is getting treatment for PTSD.

@LiterateHiker I am sorry to hear that about Claire. I cannot understand what drives anybody to behave the way her husband did.

@anglophone

Thank you.

@LiterateHiker OUCH

@Buck

Twat (dictionary.com)

noun Slang: Vulgar.

1. vulva.

@LiterateHiker Yes, thank you kindly for the anatomy lesson!! However I was unaware a Vulva had hair follicles.....never felt any with my tongue before.....

I think Beavus may be mistaken.....

@Buck

For humor, I wrote "twat" and "wanker" instead of anatomical terms.

@LiterateHiker Ya know, if I go down on you, and you call it a vulva and not a pussy, that would be a deal breaker…. Vulva is for dinner conversation….just saying