After yesterday’s post concerning a “fat jar,” there were some questions. And my theory is that for every one person saying, “Er…what are you talking about?” there are a dozen more thinking they would feel so silly if they asked and then it turned out it was something easy. So! Fat Jar clarifications/explanations!
We fry up a package of ground turkey about twice a week. When we do, we need to drain off the resulting fat (and probably water of the sort used to make the package weigh/cost more). That can’t go down the drain, tempting as that option may be, because then the fat solidifies against the insides of the pipes and makes for trouble later. So we spoon the fat into a (typically LIDDED) jar, which we keep in the refrigerator until it’s full, at which point we put it into the trash.
(We used to use an empty metal can. But then there’s no LID. When we’d put it into the trash, the fat would return to room temperature and pour all over the inside of the trash bag, which was not always leak-free. It only took one encounter with maggots to cause a permanent switch to lidded jars.)
We do also have a bacon-fat jar for preserving the delicious kind of fat for later cooking use. But the jar I dropped (which fortunately didn’t break, though it did bounce which may have been worse) was not that jar. It was the turkey-fat jar. Paul and I are waiting for our kitchen to smell like something (a turkey, perhaps) died.
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Now. This is a good place for a question that didn’t seem like it needed its own post and yet I have been wanting to ask it: Do you find that you almost always wear a certain few colors, and almost never wear others?
I noticed the other day that pretty much every shirt I own is in the green-blue-purple range. I also have some pink, but they’re mostly the purpley pinks like magenta. I have about ten different shades of blue, light blue to turquoise to navy. I would have a lot more green, but a bunch of my Old Navy green shirts wore out and Old Navy hasn’t had good greens to replace them with.
I have zero red, zero orange, zero yellow, zero black, zero white, zero brown, zero from the taupe/beige/clay range of neutrals.
Is your closet like this too, everything the same few colors? And if so: WHICH colors?
The color palette phenomenon is I think a sound one, as I buy into the old eighties “color me beautiful” system to the extent that I think there are flattering colors and unflattering colors for a given person. I am often complimented on the colors I wear, frequently with ‘I really don’t even care for that color at all, but it looks awesome on you!’ sort of commentary added.
For shirts I have a lot of Mustardy and sunny yellows, oranges, warm reds, browns. I also love grassy pea green colors but haven’t had a chance to restock as tall sizes usually come only in very limited Neutral colors and I have begun to resign myself to the fact that even if I find a non-tall shirt that fits, it ceases to have sufficient sleeve length upon washing a few times… Thus I also have a lot of black and grey shirts even though they are not “my colors” at all, because fit matters too. Alas.
I have a lot of orange, purple, grey, browns and turquoise. Some pink.
I never wear yellow, very rarely white or red. Blue used to be a favorite but now I barely have any.
I wear a lot of black, white, navy, brown and some green. Instead of calling them “neutrals” my mother says I “dress plain” which tickles me. She’s all about color and her hair/skin warrants that. I have red hair and find that a lot of clothing color does not go with my hair.
Blue blue blue black black black brown gray. Then there are one or two green or purple.
No red, orange, yellow. I guess I’m not a fan of the fire colors. :D
When I buy for the kids/husband I tend to choose blue first as well. When they’re wearing something that isn’t blue it’s usually something that someone else gave them.
I didn’t read the comments on the FJ post, but am I the only one who thought that the Fat Jar was metaphorical?? also Turkey is the most disgusting thing EVAR I hate the smell and everything involved. My kitchen has smelled like poop after a 4 day turkey cooking, then stock-making festival and I’m so glad that’s over with. Turkey makes better soup, and all.
all of my shirts are navy blue and black. I branched out and got an olive shirt and a brown shirt but rarely wear them. Same as you my pops of color are all the purple/magenta. I do not look good in green, I don’t think. I look awesome in magenta but it’s hard to find a nice one. When I was in college my roomate and I used to joke that I had a “blue” wash instead of white/color wash. Pretty much all my shirts were blue and all my pants were jeans.
Gah – the only time I cooked with ground turkey was the day before my morning sickness started with one of my pregnancies. Haven’t been able to touch it since. I’ll avoid your kitchen for a few days.
I CANNOT wear orange. It’s horrific on me. I tend to have black, purples, and some pinks and the occasional red. So, yes, I guess I do gravitate toward certain colors. I never really though about it before.
Hmmm….no yellow around here, either….
My color pallete is grey, black, white/off white, brown and two splashes of red. Don’t know what the red means, but they’re there.
Strangely enough, I wear all colors–red, blue, purple, pink, (slightly less green, yellow, and orange, but they’re still represented). However, the only “neutral” I wear is black/dark gray. I own hardly anything in the tan-beige-brown-white-taupe category. Today is a hot pink dress and black cardigan, yesterday was a green/purple/blue plaid top with a dark gray skirt, Sunday was a pink skirt, Saturday was a green and hot pink dress.
I get compliments when I’m wearing really rich colors, like jewel tones, bright reds, and rich pinks, which makes me think those colors must go well with my skin tone. I don’t know that I’ve ever gotten a compliment on one of my yellow or orange outfits.
Jewel tones and neutrals. No pastels. No primary colors. No white. A lot of Teal, Burgandy, and deep purple.
The weird thing? My running clothes. ALL BRIGHT NEONS. I would never wear those things in real life but when I run I love the neon colors. My husband things it’s weird.
@suburban correspondant: I have a similar pregnancy/ground turkey .. incident. Maybe that’s why? But turkeys have all these weird parts chickens don’t, and way more fat!
I don’t wear yellow. I have one pink, one red, one orange, and the rest mostly black, white, blue, purple or green.
I tend to gravitate towards buying a lot of white shirts in varying styles because I always think, “oh, well that will go with SO MUCH.” But, then when I started noticing how boring that was, I started making the effort to buy color.
I too keep fat jars.
My entire closet is pretty much gray or black. I have a few blouses that incorporate color, but my uniform is usually a black shirt with jeans/skirt. My favorite POP color is the bright turquoise that’s so popular now. I have a few of those.
I do not OWN a piece of brown clothing. I used to keep brown & black slacks/shoes, but I realized I just don’t like brown, so I weeded it out.
I have NEVER worn anything yellow. I am honestly of the opinion that that color doesn’t look good on 95% of people.
I also don’t currently own anything pink.
I have kind of strong feelings about this. Heh.
Black, blue, purple, and green are pretty much what you will find in my closet. I have heavy yellow undertones in my skin so I find those colors to be the most flattering. I have a couple of pink shirts though I rarely wear them, I have one champagne silk blouse for more somber formal occasions, and I now own one orange top, though it is more of a brown orange than a red or yellow orange. I think I own a couple of red skirts, and one red shirt, but it fits funny and always makes me look like I should be going to work at Target so not so much on the use there. I think I just bought a cream colored sheer top but it is covered in purple paisley so does that really count?
I don’t own a single piece of yellow clothing. I have mostly white, grey, black. A little green, blue, and purple. But nothing red or orange other than running tees.
i *have* a decent range of colors in my closet, mainly due to some friends purging their clothes in a very beneficial-to-me way a few years ago. but when i’m buying, i almost exclusively buy a shade of blue/turquoise or a jewel tone. (or black/white.) nooooo taupe-khaki for me, if i want to look vaguely alive.
Black, gray, royal blues, turquoise, coral-ish pink. I’m staring to try to branch out but it feels odd.
We keep our fat in an old coffee can so no worries of breaking. Also I keep it under the kitchen sink it’s probably rancid as hell.
This topic has crossed my mind MANY A TIME since getting married, having kids, and spending way less time actually thinking about shopping or putting together outfits. Now it seems every time I actually go out and buy something, it’s some shade of brown, teal, or a magenta, pinky-purple color. Every single time! I think those are the colors I look best in, though, so if I’m going to spend time and money, I want to know it will flatter! For decorating, though, those are not at all my preferences. I love greens and blues the most. So far I only have a green hallway, and then plants and accents of green everywhere, but I’m hoping to paint one of the bathrooms just straight up green!
Also, thank you for explaining why people have fat jars! My MIL always has one and I thought it was the nastiest thing, but assumed she saved it for cooking with? I didn’t even know grease is bad for pipes. I’ve been washing mine down the drain my entire life. Whoops.
Our fat jar is a styrofoam cup we keep in the freezer door. When it gets full we just toss the whole thing.
TURQUOISE. I have so many turquoise shirts! Now that I can wear jeans whenever I want to work, I’ve bought a lot more brightly colored shirts: pinks and purples and corals and reds.
I have very little green, although that is because I cannot find ANYTHING in that shade this season, and I am dying to buy kicky green shoes, which seemingly do not exist.
(I donated that icky yellow sweater that was so pretty but made me feel bad, so I have zero items in yellow.)
(Also, my winter clothing is definitely less colorful and bright.)
I wear SO MUCH BLACK. I actually just went out and got three new black and three new white v-neck t-shirts because those are almost always what I want to wear and I only had one of each. When I’m not in black or white, I’m in pink (usually a hot pink) or purple, or peacock blue.
I almost never wear gray or navy or red. And I never-ever wear yellow, I just can’t pull it off. I do have some orange but they’re all old college t-shirt (I’m a Hokie, so I have a lot of maroon and orange t-shirts for football season).
I have no pastels and no browns. I tend to wear bold shades of colours. Pink, red, blue, purple and green.
I knew about the Fat Jar, as we have one as well. And I cringed in horror at the thought of dropping it.
I have a lot of shirts in black, as I like to wear colourful scarves and I need non-colourful shirts to go with them. I have two groups of shirts, though, if you eliminate the black: a red/orange/couple of deep purples section and a blue & green section. I do not own pink, yellow, white, light purple/violet, or taupe/beige.
I really really don’t like pink, although having a daughter I was given lots of bright pinks for her. My MIL told me one day that she thinks I’d look great in pink and she could tell because when I held my pink clad girl up by my face, the pink really made me look pretty. So maybe next time I go shopping I should force myself to buy something pink!
My husband wears nothing but beige/taupe/olive green/stone/mocha…you get the picture. He’s monotone. I keep wanting to buy him some clothes in a COLOUR, but it would be a waste of money as he wouldn’t wear them. *sigh*
(I know others have mentioned this too, but what is this fresh aitch-eee-double-hockey stick of a captcha that’s a photo?)
I have a lot of neutral pants and jackets for work, but tops and shoes and casual stuff is in various colors. I definitely lean towards the blue/green family because pink and red make me look too pink and the yellow family of colors just make me look ill.
Like Zoot though I’ve noticed that all of my work out tops are in BRIGHT colors and many of my bottoms as well. Unconsciously I seem to have been buying bright work out wear for years.
Fat jar? We haz. Hope you have survived that nightmare.
As for colors… black, grey, all shades of blue are the primary colors in my closet. I try to branch out with tops to pink, greens, red (in a pattern only). I can not pull off any yellow color ever. Oh, and I have some orange accent pieces but I work at a university and the colors are brown and orange. And I never, ever wear white. I’m much too clumsy for that.
Yes! No black or navy blue (too much pet hair), no pink or yellow (looks horrible with my coloring), but mostly greens, browns, gray, purples, reds.
For twenty years I have had a wardrobe comprised mainly of red, pink and turquoise tops with black pants. Over the past few months, however, I have branched out into purple.
My mom used to have a fat jar, and I found it so gross as a kid, that in my adulthood, I just use a papertowel to sop up the fat instead and throw it away. Which actually works really well!
My wardrobe is almost entirely black, grey and navy blue with jeans. I rarely branch out into colors, and I will not wear yellow, ever.
I always have a fat jar going, I assumed that everyone else did too. Where do people pour off the fat from meat? Please tell me it’s not directly into the sink!
I realized a long time ago that blues and browns mean that many more shoes / purses / belts / accessories, so my entire wardrobe is based on black, white, and grays. For pops of colors I prefer bright pinks, plummy purples, and mustardy yellows. I will occasionally wear teal but it doesn’t feel as “me”. I would literally wear a black liz lange maternity t shirt (what? they’re long!) and jeans every day if that was socially acceptable.
Uh, I put fat down the garbage disposal? Just for the record I run super hot water when doing this. This is a bad thing I take it? yikes.
My closet is chuck full of navy, gray, white, and I love that gorgeous shade of aqua blue (the lighter one)!!
I always wear the same colors! Mostly black or a shade of blue. I have some purple as well as peach shirts, but the that’s the extent of my wardrobe color exploration.
Seriously – freeze the fat jar! It’s so much less messy that way. And if you are putting it in a material that doesn’t freeze well, I recommend an empty metal can :)
My wardrobe is almost entirely blue, green and grey with the occasional Pink! Item! thrown in there when I realize that I only own blue, green and grey. But hey, I like those colors, and they’re flattering, and business-appropriate. Everyone wins!
I find it’s a lot easier to convince myself to buy bright accessories (earrings, scarves, rainboots) because I can always take those off if I end up in public feeling ridiculous. A bright dress or top, not so much.
Aha! Two fat jars! Here I was, envisioning my lovely little jar filled with delicious bacon fat lovingly culled from multiple baconings, and fearing that you had lost your OWN bacon fat jar. I mean, that just means eating extra bacon to replenish the jar, which isn’t BAD, but still.
Of course, dropped fat is still dropped fat.
Anyway, the “perhaps a turkey” bit made me giggle.
I am the same way with colors. Sometimes I pack for a trip and end up in my destination looking at seven variations on Teal Shirt and chiding myself for not having any color variety in my wardrobe. The colors I do not own are orange, taupe/beige/tan, or lime green. I have very few yellow, red, pink, and brown shirts. I have a LOT of black and varying shades of blue and green and blue/green.
Yes. I wear almost exclusively black or charcoal or grey. I’m a colourful girl!
what does everyone else do with their fat if they don’t have a jar??????
I wear vibrant colours, mostly fuschia, purples, turquoise, some yellow and green and I love wearing white. I used to think I picked vibrant colours because I was pale and I feel like they brighten my complexion but my sister who has completely opposite colouring wears the exact same colours. So I think there must be some kind of genetic preference. But I wear those ones because I believe (rightly or wrongly) that they look the best on me.
I’m probably the worst home owner ever, but I just run the water really hot while I pour the fat down it, and let it run a minute or two after. I read that it keeps the fat in liquid form so it doesnt solidify down your drain. Plus, I figure the next dishwasher load of scalding hot draining water would get any remnants if any DID solidify. In almost 10 yrs of living alone and doing this, I’ve never had an issue, ever.
I typically wear blues, greens, and whites. I wish I had more colors, but I usually buy what strikes my fancy or is on sale, so my choices end up limited.
Oh, but I too, have a bacon fat jar of glorious, glorious heaven that stays in a lidded jar on the door. I scoop a heaping spoonful of it when I roast vegetables sometimes.
I also keep my fat jar in the freezer. If there’s only a little fat to drain, I run it down the sink with lots of hot water, but if there’s a lot I use the jar.
My wardrobe has a ton of shirts in a few specific shades: plummy purple, pumpkin orange, red, and olive green. I was told as a teenager that I was an “autumn,” and I stuck pretty religiously to that color palette for over a decade. Recently I’ve been branching out a little more with some blues, pinks, and yellows. Overall, though, I must have twice as many shirts in the red half of the color wheel (red, orange, and purple) as any other colors.
My mom used to keep a coffee can of fat on the counter by the stove. I always thought it was absolutely disgusting. Now I refuse to let my husband “save” his bacon grease like that. We wait until it cools enough to not burn through a plastic bag and scrape it into the trash.
I mostly wear black or gray, sometimes beige bottoms with a colored top. The tops are mostly white, black, blue or purplish, the colors that I think suit me best. A green tee, a light yellow sweater and a few reds are in there, too. I wear a lot of deep vee necks, so I also own a lot of camis, where I take my color risks with bright yellow, fuschia and teal in addition to the ever-reliable white and black. Also, in a recent fit of daring, I bought an orange skirt and a pink dress.
I wear mostly all denim and black if I can. Why? I am not a goth, don’t look particularly awesome in those colors, etc., BUT it is cheap and easy to have just a few pairs of BLACK shoes to always be matching. So – cheap and easy! Woo to the hoo :). Sigh. But it works, and I always match, which is better than nothing.
~Jenny in MD
Also! When draining the grease from browned hamburger, I try to plan on cooking a can of vegetables so that I can dump the veggies into a pot and pour the grease into the can, then throw that in the trash once cooled.
That backfired on me one evening, though, when my husband didn’t realize it was grease and not canning juice (Why would he think I’d do that? I don’t know.) and poured it straight down the drain. He had to buy some horrible smelling stuff to clear the clog because regular drain cleaner would. not. work.
I second what anonymous says above – while my husband likes to save the fat in jars, I much prefer my dad’s method of pouring it into an aluminum can and then tossing. Or letting it solidify and wiping into a paper towel and tossing. You can see I harbor no sweet sentiment for rendered fat.
Our family eats like we’re vegetarians, because my husband is and he does the cooking, so no fat jar for me!
Re: clothes – YES. For tees, I have mostly berry colors (pink, purple, navy), plus teal and black. I look good in green but can’t seem to find the right shade lately so that would normally be in the mix, too.
Yellows look not-so-good on me (maybe because I’m blonde and pale?) which makes me sad as I love a good mustard yellow. I am also through with buying anything red or brown, because as soon as I do, I realize I never wear it because I have nothing that matches. I don’t own any pastels or white shirts.
In short, I make sure stuff I buy goes with either black or navy so I don’t get frustrated when dressing.
I’m an ” Autumn”, as are my two daughters and my husband (all redheads). So, the same colors look best on all of us (I think!) — darker greens, brown, some blues, burgundy, gray (esp dark), and black. We can look fine in other colors, but those are the ones that make me think “wow”, esp. on my teenage girls.
I thought everyone had a fat jar!
I really have to force myself not to by something that is a pretty teal, rusty orange, or brown. I am so boring.
I shall go buy something in purple, in honor of you, Swistle!
Most of my clothes are black, grey & green.
Fat Jar – when we have fat (we don’t eat a lot of meats), it just goes right into the countertop (covered) food waste container.
I used to put it down the drains and follow with hot water – how terrible is that?!
I used to wear mostly neutrals (black, white, the occasional grey) until I ran across this site: http://galadarling.com/advice/fashion-help-for-recovering-goths (not that I was ever a goth.) Now I wear a lot of red, ice blue, raspberry pink, emerald, brown, and royal blue. I haven’t found this go wrong for me yet, but then again I haven’t tried the yellow, which I’m scared of.
I did wonder about the fat jar, so thanks for the clarification.
I wear mostly pink and purple, along with some red and a bit of blue. Well, that’s these days. In the colder months, I tend mostly toward red, purple, and black.
My work pants are charcoal grey, and most of my work/dress shirts are all shades of purple, but against my will! I’ve found that the past few years plus-sized retailers have pushed a lot of purple and since my choices are limited I’m stuck wearing it. I tend to choose green and brown for casual clothes though.
From 4th grade through high school, practically every picture taken of me has me wearing a red shirt. I don’t think I owned much else.
Yes! I wear these colors: white, blue (in every shade), pinky red (like a coral color?), red and black and gray. I have only one shirt in brown or purple, and no yellow or orange or green.
I have a lot of black, purple, green, and teal, but I’ve been trying to branch out lately so I’ve added some corals and pinks and bright blues. I’m also looking for a few good reds, but haven’t found them yet…
I wear a lot of dresses in the summer, and those tend to be blue/green/black. I’m trying to branch out there, too. I’m a redhead, so I’m not “supposed” to wear certain things, but I’m feeling rebellious lately. I didn’t make up the stupid clothes rules, and I have no intention of following them.
I used to wear mostly blues, greys and black … until I moved to West Africa, and now I wear just about any colour … with just about any other colour! The brighter the better, and how liberated I feel!
Jenny, thanks for that Recovering Goths link.
The whole season thing always confused me, but that post made it so easy! I always thought I was probably an autumn and recently began suspecting I might be more of a summer. According to this, I am indeed a summer, or light summer, and the colors listed are indeed what I feel are most flattering on me.
We pour the fat down the drain. A plumber said we can just pour boiling water down the drain every so often to get the fat out. But, we also only cook ground meat about twice a month I think.
I have a lot of pink, turquoise, aqua, green and black shirts. And a couple white. No red, orange, yellow, or beige. Those colors are mostly not flattering on me. I do have one red tank top, mainly for layering.
I was surprised by my own answer, as I used to have an entire wardrobe built around pink / blue / chocolate brown.
My favorite four shirts are light green, light purple, navy with a red print, and light blue. I have three nicer / newer shirts that I never wear because I think “That’s my NICE one!” – they are light purple, navy, black. Since 2 of my 4 favorites are really starting to wear out, I bought 2 others recently, one navy with a pink / purple print and one brown with a multicolored print. So apparently I’m all over the map these days!
I have other shirts – a closet FULL – but somehow these are the only ones I wear regularly. I also have uniform shirts for work, so that simplifies / reduces shirt wearage.
I finally got to do the clothing switch from winter to summer so your timing is perfect for this question.
I have lots of black (of course), then blue and then a surprising amount of purple.
I’m not sure where my red & green shirts went. I need to go shopping!
I didn’t get a chance to comment yesterday, but I had particular sympathy and horror for the fat jar story because I did a similar thing last week. My husband roasted chickens in his smoker, then transferred the fat to a jar. Only it was a jar we’d lost the lid to, so we were kind of stuck. The fat looked pretty solid to me, so I decided to transfer it to a used styrofoam takeout container and verrrrry carefully put it in the trash.
I turned the jar over enthusiastically, to get the solid fat moving, and… It wasn’t solid. At all. I ended up pouring it all over our counter, where it dripped down the cabinets and to the floor. Then, I carefully put the container with the (very liquid) fat in the trash and warned my husband REPEATEDLY the trash can must not tip at all and must be transferred very carefully into the trash pickup bin on trash day.
You can see where this is going. Our counter, floor, inside trash can, and outside trash bin all smell like rotting chickens.
I nearly always wear brown shirts. Usually dark brown. I’m drawn to them (ie, I think they’re the best looking on the rack) and think they go well with my coloring. I also wear some black and navy blue. I wear a lot of khaki/light colored pants to balance out the dark shirts.
We also use a lidded jar for the Fat Jar.
I was just reading somewhere updating your wardrobe, but looking for colors you DO normally carry as chances are, you’ve pegged the ones that look best on you. Or something like that. Anyway, I have a lot of red, but I also have a lot of fall colors: rusty orange, dark browns, greens, etc.
I LOVE color! My favorites are greens and yellows but as (apparently) not many people like them (I don’t get it), it’s hard to find good options in those colors unless they happen to be the “it” color and then it’s hard finding quality…
ANYWAY, my #1 criteria for clothing is that it MUST fit well. The only colors I actively avoid are the light kakhis, sea foam greens, pastely-turquoisey blues etc that tend to travel in packs because they make me look either orange or deathly ill. I’ll wear anything else. My closet currently has pink, red, purple, dark blue, teal, medium blue, green, orange, brown, black, and white.
We keep our fat jar in the freezer too, and toss it when it is full. What I understand is that it isn’t so much of a problem for your house pipes, but it is a problem for the neighborhood pipes-the combined grease poured down the drains creates quite a big problem farther down the line.
I just recently forced myself to buy some colored clothes, and I regret it. I like dark browns, blacks navys and such. I two toddlers and an infant, lightly colored clothes don’t last. I had a white shirt that lasted one single wearing and got stained. I feel odd in bright colors.
I’m working my way *backwards* through the archive, and I had to comment…
We have a “fat can”, usually an empty canned tomatoes can, in the freezer door, where it stays until garbage day, so no chance of reliquidizing, or stinking. We just add another can next to, if needed.
I lost a fair amount of weight/clothes sizes (on purpose) a few years ago, and had to buy a whole new wardrobe (hello thrift stores and Walmart!) I bought black/gray/purple pants and blue jeans, white/black/purple/lilac tops and sweaters. I wear purple pants with black or white tops, black/gray pants with purple or lilac tops. Everything co-ordinates. I have no other colors. I used to have the addition of blue, red, green & orange, before.