Big Mama Smurf

Guess what? I get to be a small Roxi!

I guess it all depends on who's doing the selling.

This is Big Mama Smurf, my new dress form. It is a size small in Dritz's new Simple Fit forms. I hadn't even considered this one, because Amazon doesn't stock it. I happened to be in Jo-Ann Fabrics a couple of days ago, using my 40% off coupon to buy a quilting ruler, when I saw that they had these dress forms on sale at $100 off regular retail. But I had already seen a Dritz product up close and wasn't impressed. It was an older Dritz My Double form offered on Craigslist for $30. It was incredibly flimsy, which was what the online reviews had warned. I made up my mind to order that red Singer form from Amazon. And I nearly did. Until I saw that Amazon was going to charge me sales tax on it. And I'd still have to wait a week or more for it to arrive. What if it was damaged in transit? That would be a hassle to deal with. And I was never overly enthused about the red color. Besides, I would have to buy a size medium in the Singer (and lose at least an inch for it to work). The measurements on the small Simple Fit from Dritz work better for me. I still have to crank it all the way open but it sounds better, psychologically, to be a large SMALL rather than a large MEDIUM.

I couldn't find any reviews on this particular form but decided to go ahead and buy one from Jo-Anns. If I didn't like it, I could take it back. But I have to say, I love it. This new incarnation of the Dritz form feels much more substantial. I don't find it a bit wobbly. The center pole has 2 wing nuts that hold it securely. It adjusts for length at the waist and also has 12 dials for adjusting the waist, bust and hips. There is a little pin cushion on top, and a hem marker below. It even came with a lint brush. One of the complaints on the Dritz forms was that they didn't have enough padding to pin to. This one is still not overly padded but I can definitely pin to it. Perhaps Dritz has listened to their customers and fixed the issues. I think this is a very nice dress form for the money, especially if you get it on sale. Just an FYI, Jo-Anns, by the Tacoma Mall has them in stock (and on sale) right now.

I've Got A Beef With Safeway

About their ground beef. I have always known they add water to their meats. But the problem has increased dramatically. I like to fry my ground beef, not boil it. Today I stopped by Safeway to pick up some groceries to make tacos. I purchased a small package of their ground beef. 1.37 pounds at $3.69 per pound. I paid $4.51. I was shocked when I went to brown the ground beef before adding my seasonings. There was so much water in the meat, that it began to boil. In this picture I have pushed the meat to the left side of the pan. What remains on the right side is water. And you can't tell by the photo but it is literally boiling.

By the time it dawned on me to take this picture it had already been boiling for a while and I'm sure a lot of it evaporated. But even so, this is how much water remained once I'd drained the meat and skimmed the fat.

That is all water. I had let the fat cool and congeal. It was then skimmed off. This is what remained. 3 ounces of added water (I'm sure it was even more, since some had already evaporated). Safeway charged me over $.70 for that water. What a rip off. I will never purchase meat at Safeway again. If I want water, I'll turn on my tap.