I AM NOT A HOARDER. I AM NOT A HOARDER. I AM NOT A HOARDER. I am a collector with impeccable taste, and I collect a wide variety of treasures. Wide variety being the most important words! My carefully selected collections include: glassware, china, silverware, candle holders, old prints, vintage fabrics, oak and walnut furniture, books, boxes that were used to hold gloves and hats and handkerchiefs, flower vases, scarves, fruit bowls, birds made out of a variety of materials, and unusual metal objects and rocks. Yes, I have paid good money for rocks (and I don’t mean gem stones). I suppose I should have included vintage holiday decorations and candles. Some of my stuff isn’t easy to classify like that large metal Eiffel Tower that is in my rock garden.
My husband has tried to stop my shopping habits using warnings about the attic floor, which is the ceiling of our bedroom, falling down on us because of the weight of all the objects stored in our walk-in attic. So far that has not yet happened. He tried to shame me by making me watch Hoarders on television. Really, Jim, I don’t save old pizza boxes. We do not have to move in paths through the rooms in our house. True, the rooms do seem small because of all the furniture, but it is all refinished and often dusted. His latest technique included a minor compromise on my part. The deal was that for every new item that I brought into the house I would take one out and sell or donate. He insisted that he would inspect every box I packed just to ensure that I was not throwing away a valuable item. We could not agree on the definition of “valuable item” so some of those boxes went back to the attic. Very little progress was made.
I suggested that when we sell our house we include all the furnishings in and out of the attic and the basement and the main living area. He is still considering this idea. Another is we deed our house as a gift to a friend or relative, and they sort all of our collections and sell, donate, or keep them. Who knows what the future will bring?
In my defense, my husband is also a collector of original art work, books, stoneware, crocks, vintage kitchen tools such as coffee grinders, butter churns, wooden butter molds, wooden utensils, meat grinders; and he also collects canes and cast iron frying pans. His most recent collection includes large salt and pepper shakers and grease jars and flour and sugar and spice containers. Our house would be quite uncluttered, uncrowded and very sparse without HIS collections. I rest my case!
My husband does appreciate my large collection of cookbooks and several file folders filled with recipes that I have clipped from magazines and newspapers. I have a collection of recipe boxes, both wood and metal, filled with other recipes written on recipe cards. We are both happy about this because I love cooking, and he loves eating. Sad but true: “Kissing don’t last, but cooking do.” Jim adores tacos whether soft or hard shelled, taco salads, and now this taco casserole!
Taco Casserole
1 lb. ground chuck
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1 cup water
1 8 oz. jar of salsa
1 16 oz. can of kidney beans, drained
1/2 cup crushed corn chips
1 1/2 -2 cups shredded medium sharp cheddar cheese
Brown meat and onion, drain. Stir in taco seasoning and 1 cup water. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Add salsa and kidney beans. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spread half of the chips in a sprayed 9 x 13 pan. Layer with 1/2 of the meat mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Layer with remaining chips, meat mixture and cheese. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, black olives, and more salsa.
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