The ABC Life Blog

Whenever we have the chance, we like to see old, classic movies that we somehow missed. This month we got the chance to see one.

New movie: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

In the mood for a totally madcap comedy? This is the one to see. Cary Grant is good at almost anything and this role, which was originally meant for Bob Hope, puts his comedic chops to the test. The plot revolves around his two spinster aunts who put a for rent sign up and, if a lonely man answers the ad, “compassionately” put him out of his loneliness by serving him a drink of elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine and cyanide, then bury him in the cellar. There are a number of other players that add complications and make this an amusing two hours of escapism.

New book: APPLE Pie and ARSENIC

Laura: While arsenic is most commonly paired with “old lace,” author C.A. Phipps paired it with a pastry in her cozy mystery “Apple Pie and Arsenic.” The first in the Maple Lane Mysteries series, this book features a cat-loving bakery owner, a dead body and, of course, our favorite poison. It’s a relatively quick read and hits all the notes that a cozy mystery typically embraces: likeable characters, a female amateur sleuth, small town or village, no graphic violence and rarely any sex. Although I’m a huge fan of mysteries, the cozy kind does not have a strong pull on my reading choices. I prefer a bit more zing and hard edges to my who-done-its. But “Apple Pie and Arsenic” moved along at a decent clip and appears to be well liked by cozy fans. Plus, it has a few easy recipes. Some of C.A. Phipps other titles include “Bagels and Blackmail”, “Cookies and Chaos” and “Doughnuts and Disaster”. She’s up to H with “Honey Cake and Homicide” and I imagine she’ll continue through Z. Gotta love someone who loves the alphabet life!

LEARNING CENTER – ARSENIC

Speaking of arsenic, did you know that water in the Atacama Desert in Argentina naturally contains up to 20 times the arsenic considered safe for humans? Over the course of thousands of years, settlers in the area have developed a resistance to arsenic – which would have come in handy for those lonely old gentlemen!

New activity: Local Theatre Performance of ALMOST MAINE

We enjoy going to the theatre and although we don’t always like what we see, we keep going because we like to support local theatres and there definitely are some gems. On Sunday we went to the Allen Contemporary Theatre to see Almost Maine by John Cariani. Talk about a gem! This play was 9 vignettes about love and loss in a small town called Almost Maine and it was funny and touching and poignant – just so enjoyable. Barb got teary-eyed at a couple of the stories. What’s more, the caliber of acting was very high. It’s too bad it was the last performance but if it ever comes back to a town near you, it’s a highly recommend from us.

New restaurant: ZIO AL’S PIZZERIA

We couldn’t let W, X, Y, Z month go by without at least one representative of  those last 3 letters so we went for lunch to Zio Al’s Pizzeria in Plano. When we pulled up, we were a little uncertain because the place looked so tiny, but we said “why not?” Boy, are looks deceiving. The menu had several pizzas that we had never heard of. We decided to try the Gyro Lovers’ Pizza since we both loved those ingredients.

Wow! It was delicious! Definitely worth a return visit. Maybe for a spinach ricotta?

New documentary: Language A to Z

Needing to finish off the alphabet, we were excited to discover the documentary Language A to Z on Kanopy. It’s a series featuring each letter of the alphabet so obviously we jumped to X, Y and Z (Sorry W, but you’ve had enough play this month). X stood for !XOO which is a “click language” originating in Africa. It has more sounds than any other language on earth, with over 100 different clicks. Y stood for Yiddish which the charming narrator says is a “dying language that is not really dying at all.” He then went on to the letter Z which is more prominent in our language than we ever realized. We love shows that teach us something and this show is chock full of information which is presented in a fun way. We’ll definitely be making our way through the alphabet with him.

Revisiting: WAXAHACHIE

Barbara: I was feeling antsy, and Laura was busy so I grabbed my guy and our friends, Pam and Steve, and revisited the town of Waxahachie. We’ve been to so many places we enjoyed in our ABC Life and are always saying to ourselves “ we have to go back” but somehow never do. My second visit to this town still found it to be a nice place to visit and reinforces my intent to revisit more.

This go round we saw a new mural that I loved because of the inscription on it that said “if I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my garden forever.” Would love to know who the artist was thinking about.

We also saw a few hearts that are part of the Hachie Heart Trail. Between the hearts and the murals there is a lot of talent here! The Ellis County Museum had several different items than those I saw the first time there, but I still am fond of the Katz Dept. Store sign as it makes me feel I have Texas roots.

New book: WISHFUL DRINKING

Laura: Carrie Fisher wrote several books, but in her memoir “Wishful Drinking,” she reveals some amazing stories with wit and skill. They include Bob Dylan ringing her up to get her opinion on a name for a cologne he was debating about releasing, Cary Grant becoming her drug counselor and director George Lucas not allowing her to wear a bra in her Star Wars scenes. After all, as George said, “there’s no underwear in space.” Although there are interesting tidbits like those just mentioned, I felt overall that the book wears thin. There’s a desperate quality to it. I was curious as to why “Drinking” was in the title of her book, as it was the least of her problems. She had a much stronger addiction to pills and for a short time, to hallucinogens. She definitely had a strange childhood, with two show biz parents: Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. Growing up, Carrie felt she didn’t have “a conventional sense of reality”. She suffered from bipolar disorder and had always floated from one extreme mood to another. An undercurrent of sadness rippled through this memoir, and I was a bit depressed reading her story.

Learning Center: Waffles

Since it’s been so cold lately, we’ve been eating a lot of waffles and pancakes to warm up in the mornings But did you know that, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica  “one of Nike’s early successes, the “waffle trainer” was originally conceived by pouring urethane on Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman’s home waffle maker? The appliance was ruined, but the shoes were a hit.” Hmmm…wonder who the person on their team was who dared to suggest that one!

New Series: WILD CARDS

Laura: If you’re looking for something light-hearted with lively banter and interesting story lines, try Wild Cards, a Canadian show launched in 2024. It’s not a deep, thought-provoking show, but it’s entertaining. It focuses on a demoted detective (Giacomo Gianniotti) and a spunky con woman (Vanessa Morgan) who are paired together to solve crimes and redeem themselves in the process. Overall, the premise of this show is highly unrealistic. But if you suspend belief and stop saying to yourself “that would never happen,” then you might enjoy this light, fun, escapist show.

I like it for two main reasons. First, I’m fond of the two main characters. She’s spunky and quick witted and he’s kind of stoic but starts to loosen up as his “partner” wins him over with her charm and wit. Second, I love how the crime is solved in each episode. She gathers clues and solves mysteries in totally unorthodox ways and he doesn’t always follow the rules to the letter. They make a fun pair. Plus, I discovered that the premise of Wild Cards was inspired by the 1982 film 48 Hours, where a renegade cop (Nick Nolte) teams up with a robber (Eddie Murphy) to take down criminals. And each episode of Wild Cards is actually inspired by the plot of various tv shows and/or movies, such as Fast and Furious, Yellowstone, Rear Window and Knives Out to name a few.

New restaurant: Wu Wei Din

Speaking of wild cards or “something whose qualities are uncertain” there were several untried restaurants beginning with the letter “W”, so we put their names in a hat and the wild card winner was Wu Wei Din in Plano. 

What a lucky pick! We were immediately struck by the fact that the place was much larger than it appeared and was PACKED. We looked at what some of the other patrons were eating and settled on pork and shrimp soup dumplings (be sure to dip them in the recommended sauce) and beef flat noodles. The portions were large and delicious (you need to be careful not to burn your mouth with the soup dumplings) and we will definitely be going back. 

New activity: Sampling Venezuelan Food

Eager to try some food from Venezuela to see how it compares to other Latin American cuisine we’ve tried in the past, we headed over to Todo Pasapalos on Preston Road in Dallas. We decided to try the arepas. Laura ordered the arepas with cheese, Barbara with ham and cheese. We had expected the cheese to be melted but it was like someone had just poured out a big pile of grated cheese into a bland tasting corn pocket. The ham broke up some of the taste but the all-cheese arepas was pretty much inedible. And the prices were high for what you got. We were planning to compare it to another Venezuelan restaurant in the area to see if theirs was different. However, after Barbara watched a film that took place in Venezuela and saw that the main character ate arepas for breakfast that looked exactly like the cheese one Laura had, we figured it was just something you get used to living there and not for our palettes at all.

New activity: Venezuelan film

Barbara: Pelo Malo (Bad Hair) was an interesting but somewhat sad film from Venezuela about a single mother living with her baby and her 9 year old son who inherited Afro textured hair from his father and is constantly trying to straighten it. His dream is to have straight hair like the rest of the students and become a singer; his mother is frustrated by his behavior that she sees as being unlike a “normal” boy his age. While not my favorite film, I liked it enough to stay with it and was sad for the boy throughout.

Activity: Continuing food tastings

This month we continued our ice cream search and for U we found one at Sweet Firefly in Richardson at which we’ve had nothing but delicious flavors. This was no exception. Uptown Cinnamon was quite good and the cinnamon was not overpowering as it sometimes can be.

For V we made Very Strawberry Pie from a cookbook of pies that we’ve used before. It is a no bake pie with a strawberry and pudding filling over a chocolate cookie crust. Our attempt at making this pie was, well…let’s just say Barbara is taking the cookbook to the library as a donation.   

New restaurant – UNBELIEVABOWL

We, especially Laura, love the bowl concept for a meal so we decided to try this restaurant. We expected just a small bowl with a few pieces of protein; in other words, nothing special. Fortunately, we were pleasantly surprised. The bowl was enormous and it was chock full of our protein of choice. Next time – and there will be a next time – we’ll either share one or count on having it for two meals.

New Taiwanese eatery – 85ᴼ C Bakery and Café

This is kind of cheating, but we tried this dessert place on the last day of August (T month) and didn’t have time to post it so we – of course – had to return for another dessert this month. OMG. This bakery is the best! People were coming in, grabbing a tray, and loading it up with various desserts. Ever since we went with friends a few years ago to eat out lunch and a total stranger came over to every table to ask what they were having so she could decide on her choice (which we found fascinating), we have been tempted to ask a stranger how they liked the food. Barbara dared Laura and to her surprise, Laura went over to the dessert case and found someone to ask. Barbara was impressed. We split the chocolate chip bowl, a large domed shaped pastry, and it was great. Then Laura took home coconut bread and an egg tart and they were both well received. Unfortunately, this place is very close to home so the pounds might start adding up. But that will just mean a shopping spree for new clothes so win, win.

New activity: TOILET SEAT MUSEUM

There are museums for just about everything but it’s doubtful whether you would think there would be one about toilets! So when we heard there was a Toilet Seat Art Museum nearby, we naturally had to check it out. (There was also once a museum in Madison, Wisconsin about toilet paper, but it’s now defunct. Shucks!) The Toilet Seat Art Museum showcases more than 1,300 toilet seats – all of which are the life’s work of Barney Smith.

Mr. Smith was a retired master plumber and an artist who loved finding discarded objects and mounting them on toilet seats. He started displaying his work in his garage in 1992 and the public loved him and his work. Some of the seats pay tribute to historical or news events, celebrities, geographical locations – whatever caught his interest. We were amazed at the variety of toilet seat art and so impressed by this man who was still doing what he loved at the age of 98. Barney was quoted as saying that he wanted to be remembered “for how a person could save a lot of stuff that is being destroyed and for showing them it needs to be saved – maybe not on a toilet seat, but they can save what has come their way instead of destroying it. Showing that it’s worth something.” What also was worth something was visiting this museum. Definitely something different and not likely to be forgotten.

New Restaurant: T-SWIRL CREPE

Continuing the week with something different, we went to a Japanese crepe restaurant that features both sweet and savory crepes. There are 44 locations across the United States but this was our first visit. Our friend Kathy joined us and we decided we would each have a savory crepe and then follow with a sweet one. We didn’t realize how filling the crepes would be so a sweet one will just have to wait for another visit. What makes this place special is that the crepes are made with 100% gluten-free rice flour batter and the ingredients are creatively arranged into the crispy crepe like an ice cream cone – typifying the gobble on the go trend. We can vouch for the tastiness of the Chicken Teriyaki, the Okinawa Hot Dog and the Thai Chicken crepe. Overall the food was quite good, but the new experience of eating a crepe this way with these flavors made it a delightful outing.

New activity: MUM-ENTOUS EXHIBIT

We were reminiscing about our childhood the other day, especially from when we were each teenagers. All the cliques that exist, who the popular girls were, etc. So, it made sense to us to go to Garland to see what they call the “MUM-ENTOUS” Exhibition. Our high school in New York City had no football team and consequently there was no such thing as a Homecoming Dance. Laura’s kids went to high school in California and told us that there was Homecoming but no mums. Barbara’s kids went to high school in Plano, Texas, however, and boy was Homecoming the thing. Barbara was astonished to see the size of a mum as she was envisioning a small corsage. We learned that several universities argue over who can claim hosting the first homecoming. Each generation since the 60s has had critics of the mum and even a “dump the mums” which as you can imagine made them all the more popular. Here are some stats and descriptions:

This is our favorite description of this oversized corsage: “Every mum is part Christmas tree, part Disney princess gown, part wind chime, and part banquest hall centerpiece…tugging on the girl’s heart and the back of her neck.” Which one appeals to you the most?

New activity: CONTINUING WITH OUR ICE CREAM TASTING

It’s a hardship but we felt we needed to continue tasting ice cream according to the ABC Life. This month for T we had one success and one failure. At one of our favorite ice cream parlors, Handels Homemade Ice Cream in Plano, we tried the Twixter flavor. This flavor is vanilla ice cream with caramel ripple, chocolate chips, and sugar cookie gems, and a real GEM it is. We look forward to a repeat visit for it.

The non-success was a half hour drive on another day to Margaret’s Cones and Cups in far west Frisco. After driving for a half hour we had trouble finding the place so we pulled into a hotel drive and asked the two valets there. We have to mention that when we thanked one of them he responded “Always” in a very sultry voice. (Barbara smiles about that to this day 😊). We finally got there and discovered it wasn’t due to open for another 20 minutes. But the door was open so we walked in. No customers and the clerk was just setting out chairs so we thought maybe he’d accommodate two potential customers. But no. So of course, we had to get that taste out of our mouths by another Twixter trip. Day saved!