Episode five: maple mint juleps
Welcome back friends!
Lady Jupiter Podcast is the audio accompaniment to ladyJupiter.com a lifestyle blog where I talk about military life, travel, home, and very casual fashion. I’m happy that you’re here with me.
We’ll start today with an update on our life as affected by the military, follow on with a little blog talk, then we’ll wrap up with my most recent domestic diversion.
So this week in our military affected life there have been no significant changes.
PCS season is coming up, this initialism is short for permanent change of station. But as most of us are aware the changes are anything but permanent. Right now we are lucky, we have been in our current home for almost 12 entire months. Our last two moves we barely made it to 11 months before we were packing up and moving to a different state again. So After three consecutive years of telling everybody goodbye in the middle of the summer and leaving, it will be interesting to stay put. So to all of you PCSers this season, may your packing crew be honest, and may your parts box arrive with the rest of your household goods. Cheers!
Otherwise Kid Jupiter and I went to the commissary for the first time in two months. I was disappointed that my re-usable shopping bags were not welcome. Then the suddenly single-directional aisles caused a mental hiccup. When I shop I only visit the aisles that I need, because I don’t want to spend all day zig zagging…so I spent the afternoon zig zagging the commissary to pick up the two things I needed in every other aisle. Luckily the kid had a blast. He was happy to get out of the house, he was happy to hold on to various products that we bought, and amazingly he didn’t try to take off my face mask - he treated it like any old normal thing that doesn’t require extra attention.
Now, for a bit of blog talk.
Since last week I published two new posts; titled Five Favorites in Downtown Chicago, and My Key Spouse Folio Version Two. Then I added more photos to two existing photo-heavy posts; Outfits of the Day Spring 2020 and Closet Progress Photos.
The post about downtown Chicago was a nice excuse to reminisce for the evening. We were in town for a wedding, and had an absolute blast. Chicago is very high on our list of domestic vacation destinations because we love museums and food -and Chicago is pretty famous for both- so now we just need the time to go!
My Key Spouse Folio Version Two is about information management. Specifically interactions with squadron families as a Key Spouse. I created Version one after looking online for other Key Spouses sharing their contact management strategies, but couldn’t find any - so I started somewhere knowing that It wasn’t going to be perfect and would change. The first post is still up - and will always be available even though it has already been superseded. Version one may be perfect for someone else, or for a different purpose. So for those searching for analog options in a digital world - I got you. If nothing else, I like sharing these changes with the people who search and find me. Oh - and I made a free printable PDF of the spreadsheet that I print and use - I’ll put a link in the show notes at lady jupiter.com/podcast - scroll down for episode FIVE.
Now I won’t talk about the photos that I added earlier, because those are for your eyes, and this episode is for your ears. But while we’re here I’ll share a list of countries again because I think it’s interesting. So yesterday ladyjupiter.com was visited by readers in United States, United Kingdom, France, South Africa, China, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Philippines, India, and Malaysia. As usual I suspect errant clicks, proxy servers, and VPNs - but I’m sure that a lot of the anglophones are actual readers. Plus I have several photo-heavy posts, so there’s always the chance that non-english speakers are just coming in to look at my closet, that is just fine and totally welcome.
And now for my most recent domestic diversion.
Today’s pile of laundry is brought to you by maple syrup. Last week Mister Jupiter got a sudden thirst for a cocktail classic - the mint julep. It’s one that I haven’t made it a really long time so I had to look up recipes. I read an interesting variation, we tried it, and we loved it. I thought about keeping this a secret, but like most things that I think are delicious, I must talk about it. The change in the mint julep recipe is that instead of using simple syrup, you use maple syrup (but not a 1:1 ratio - more like half, so two ounces simple syrup is instead one ounce maple syrup). We also learned by not buying cocktail specific cups, that widemouth canning jars are excellent for these drinks (link in the show notes!). The wide base allows for easy muddling, and the glass gets nice and frosty after filling with ice. Best part is that glass canning jars don’t need polishing and can be used for other many other things. Julep cups are charming, but they don’t have the same range of use as a widemouth canning jar.
I wish it was my idea to use maple syrup, but it wasn’t. I read it on several blogs so it’s a thing. And rightfully so maple and bourbon just belong together so it felt like my duty to have this perfect pairing in the kitchen often. We have already shared these minty maple juleps with some neighbors, and the feedback has been very positive.
Otherwise the house doesn’t look like a total disaster right now. I’ve started doing this thing where once a week I clean for one hour in a panic. I think of it as high intensity interval cleaning…HIIC. It’s forcing me to clean things that I’ve been putting off all quarantine, and I’m starting to look forward to it because I exclude laundry, and in each session I focus on cleaning one neglected thing AND tidying up the previously cleaned areas. Usually I do this while something magical cooks in the instant pot - so when Mister Jupiter gets home from work the house is freshly cleaned, dinner is ready…and it only took one hour of panic.
And that’s the show! Thanks for joining me this week - I’ll be back next week with a new batch of miscellaneous updates and thoughts. Until then I wanted to quickly plug my patreon page. For a few bucks you can show your support - and in return I will proudly tell the world that you helped make this show possible. the next tier includes that shoutout and a postcard from me to you - both options are under ten dollars. Patreon.com/ladyjupiter - regardless, I will be back next week because I need to share stuff with you.
Take care, and if you make a few dozen maple mint juleps - please take the usual responsible adult precautions. Don’t drink and drive, do share with a friend. Talk to you later - bye!
