"Honor to the soldier, and Sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field, and serves, as he best can, the same cause."
My “stumbled upon you” stats prove it.
(Tossing hair aside, slightly primping) Obviously, at some point, I’ve given the impression I’m a war babe on my blog… Suh-weet. Know how long it’s been since someone has called me a babe*?!?
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It’s no secret I’m a stress eater. Come to think of it, I’m a nonstress eater too. I guess it all boils down to I lurve me some food.
Of of my favorite feel-good foods is soup; homemade vegetable soup. When Will was deployed the first time, I would make a pot on Sunday and eat it for a few days. People quit asking me what I was having for supper. It was either: soup, Big Macs or burritos from Taco Bell. I ate TB so much, they got to know my voice at the drive thru near my house so I had to start going to another one across town.
I digress…
I made a pot this past Sunday and we’ve eaten off it for a few meals so I thought I’d share my recipe. This is one of those throw it together recipes….
Veggie Soup
V8 juice (64 oz unless I’m making a small pot and then I use the 32 oz bottle)
water
Big can of crushed tomatoes in puree
2 (16 oz. each) bags of mixed veggies - the blend of your choice. I use corn, carrots, green beans, peas
salt to taste
pepper to taste
That’s it. Mucho simple. If you make the smaller batch, adjust your veggies, etc. accordingly.
Serve with warm and gooey grilled cheese sandwiches. Yummo
As an aside, it is healthy and falls well within the Weight Watchers world when you’re needing to eat but are low on points. I also use V8 as my chili starter; spicy V8.
My mom’s garden runneth over with squash and cucumbers. We haven’t had any, just tons of blooms that I’m begging to turn into a veggie so we can claim gardening success. Every day my mom comes into the office with at least a 5 gallon bucket of them for us to take what we want. Thank goodness she can’t grow brownies.
We had dinner with my parents Friday night and my dad made a yummy squash casserole and while it was delicious, I knew I couldn’t, in good conscience, make it his way at our house because he uses full fat flavor ingredients. I’ll have to find his recipe and post it because it rocked. Then I’ll modify it to make it fit into our should be healthy lifestyle.
This is my version - so totally off the cuff. I need to learn not to start making things unless I have the ingredients I want.
2-3 lbs squash (I’m purely guessing. I have no idea. I cleaned out the veggie basket)
1 small onion
1 can reduced fat cream of celery soup (Will says he’s allergic to mushrooms)
2 Tb. low fat sour cream
1 wedge Laughing Cow Light cheese
1/2 sleeve reduced fat Club crackers
shredded cheese
Melted butter (I used Parkay spray)
Mrs. Dash
salt
pepper
It was pretty good. Next time I’ll double check to make sure I have some stuffing mix on hand. I normally use Pepperidge Farm because I like the flavor. But, in a pinch and with more squash than one could possibly know what to do with, it turned out okay.
Sorry no picture.
That’s right, folks. These are the pictures that have been held hostage forever on my Dell-icious PC.
Chateau L has been dubbed The Lazy L Farm. We decided to have a small garden this year. When I say small, I mean small. 3 squash plants, 3 cucumber plants and a couple of melon plants along with our tomatoes. We hung two tomato plants and planted the rest. The hanging ones have done well.
It has been a great learning tool for Olivia and we have enjoyed sharing in her excitement.
Here are some pictures from the beginning.
Assembling tiller.
Helping Daddy hang tomato plants
Dig holes for seeds
Plant seeds
Progress pics to follow soon….
I’ve gotten several emails from folks over the past few weeks asking if things are okay with us as I’ve appeared to be distant. I have been, to some degree.
I’ve toyed with the idea of blogging about it and, at the risk of it sounding all doom and gloom, I have decided that I’m going to. So, here it goes…
Alot of you know about my breast cancer scare, which still isn’t resolved. I’ll be undergoing more follow up and testing soon. I’m optimistic, but it’s still a tad bit scary. I’ve registered to do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in October, but have hesitated to begin fund raising until some other things get resolved and I wouldn’t want to let anyone down who sponsored me.
What else is there to get resolved? Today Will is having an MRI on his back. He was injured on AT and his back still isn’t better. He is under an LOD (line of duty investigation) with the Guard. He has seen a spine specialist and right now it looks like one of two things will be our outcome:
If he has to have back surgery, which we are praying with all our might he won’t, there are so many things that will change over the course of our year. If I hear, “Oh, that means he won’t have to go to Iraq” one more time, I’m going to start poking eyes out. Seriously. This is how we see it from our points of view:
I have all but given up my volunteer work. The are some other personal issues I can’t blog about, but they are pretty serious and affect my family in a lot of ways. For the past 3-1/2 years, I have looked out for other people. I have made sure that anyone who has contacted me with a need got what they needed or I found them help. Do you know, last year I shipped 219 care packages to Iraq and Afghanistan? Many of those included goodies for units made up of 39 - 150 individuals. I sent over 2000 letters, cards and well-wishes. I sent baby presents for wives at home who had babies while their husbands were deployed and they had nothing. I made homemade cookies and other goodies to send over. I don’t say that for any reason other than it breaks my heart that this year I’ve not been able to do that. I think everything has caught up with me and the issues I’m facing in my personal life have caused me to feel a bit removed and the uncertainty of the deployment, which is still on the horizon, doesn’t help. I feel like I’ve lost my zen and I can’t get it back. I’m working a tremendous amount of hours and trying to keep my homelife as stable as I can. Sadly, relationships with friends have also been affected. I don’t like to burden others with my problems and things that are going on. It’s just not me and sometimes I think they see it as me bailing on them or ignoring and it’s certainly not the case. Sometimes I need a little ”me” time and I get it whenever and however I can and many times it doesn’t involve getting together with friends. There are friends who are facing deployments we want to see so badly, but simply can’t find the time before one or both of them deploys. There are friends in the next city over I can’t get together for dinner with. It’s hard letting people down. It’s hard feeling like I’m not living up to what they’ve come to know me for.
We all go through cycles of questioning ourselves and how we can do things differently and better. I’m no different. I always strive to be the best person I can be and I don’t want to let anyone down. The time has come where I’ve had to step back from a lot of tasks and projects and, honestly, I feel like I’ve failed. I know that if I don’t take time to regroup and get myself back on track, I won’t be doing anyone any good. I know that in my mind, but my heart won’t get on board with it. It makes me think, what if everyone took the time away? Who will be there to pick up the pieces? But I’ve found myself in need of someone to help me pick up the pieces.
Part of the reason I’ve hesitated blogging about the things going on is because there are a lot of bloggy buddies who have had some pretty serious goings on of their own, many of which are way more significant than mine. I know it’s all relative to the lives we lead. I haven’t commented much on their blogs about what they are going through and facing mainly because I don’t know if what I have to say is the “right” thing. To those who read here and have had personal strife in your lives, I’ve read about them and I’ve prayed for you. I’ve also found that saying nothing can be worse than saying the wrong thing, so I forever find myself in a catch-22.
There is a lot of good going on in my life, which I try to post about, but there are some struggles, too. I’ll keep everyone updated on what’s happening.
This coming weekend we are attending the wedding of a guy in Will’s unit. It just happens to be the weekend before my birthday (I gracefully gain a year on the 15th) so we are going to make it a weekend all about me us. (yes, I’m still maintaining my sense of humor)
Well, it was a long weekend with some progress on the homefront (i.e. “that” closet). I didn’t get as much other stuff done as I had hoped, but that’s life at Chateau L.
Friday, we attended a parade in Waxhaw, NC. Olivia isn’t fond of parades. I think it’s a crowd issue more than anything else. She got up to see “soldier boys” and the Patriot Guard Riders participated in honor of Sgt. Jonathan Roberts allowing him to ride in the parade. She has gotten to love the roar of the motor cycles as we’ve attended several functions with the PGR. We were sitting at the end of the parade route, which proved to be a small blessing to us since she was absolutely miserable so we hiked the short walk back to the car. Where we parked, was where a float had emptied its riders and she was thrilled, “Look, mommy. A parade, a parade.” Will and I just looked at each other. Where was this enthusiasm when it was a manned float in the parade?! The other thing that made her tickled to be there was the train that passed us by. Go figure. So, we loaded up in the car and headed home. That evening we went to my parent’s house and had dinner, picked veggies from their garden and took Olivia to the rodeo. She loves horses, cowboys, cowboy-girls, etc. so we thought it would be the perfect event before the fireworks show. Whatever. She could have cared less. That is until we were leaving! Then she pointed out every animal and rider. Then it was off to the fireworks. The town my parents live in is little. No stop light little, but every single townsperson was there to watch the show. We chose to stay a few blocks back and watch from afar. This is the first fireworks show we’ve attended since Will returned home from Iraq as it’s the first time he’s felt comfortable going. Olivia enjoyed the first few minutes and then she was done with it. We went home. So, we got a taste of everything fun and were home by a decent hour. Can’t complain about that.
Saturday we cleaned and did lots of laundry. How is it possible three people can have so many dirty clothes? It’s not like we aren’t doing at least one load a day or every other day as it is. Thank goodness we’re in sandal season so there’s no scrounging to match socks.
Sunday Will had to work so Olivia and I chilled around the house and played. She informed me she didn’t have enough toys to play with and we needed to go buy more. Umm, think again, sister. She also told me her box of 500 crayons was “old” and she needed new ones. That’s not happening, either. She managed to pull out every single toy she owned and had a fit when it came time to put them up. After a little encouragement from me, her room was spotless and I had her move on to the living room. If she would just master clothes folding. Heh.
All in all it was a good weekend. I certainly enjoyed the days away from the office and no real schedule to follow. There are pictures and they will be posted soon, but probably not by your definition of soon.
I hope you all had a nice weekend.
You know the one. The one that has everything imaginable in it. Or so you think it does, but you don’t really know for sure because it’s overrun. The stuff it houses is the stuff you stare at in the grocery store and wonder, “do we need more trash bags?” and buy them to be on the safe side. Well, I just finished cleaning mine.
I won’t need to purchase the following items for at least 6-8 months:
These items I’m well stocked on for at least a year:
18-24 months, or possibly longer:
What did Will have to say about this? “Why did you buy so much?” Yeah, that went over well.
Happy 5th!
Happy Birthday, America!
Despite the differences and challenges we are facing, we are, hands down, living in the greatest nation in the world.
I hope your day is filled with pride for our country and those who serve(d) it.
I thanked my husband for his service to our great Nation and I extend the thanks to those who serve with him and who have served before him. I also thank those who stand by on the homefront. Our nation is full of heroes and we see them every single day. There are so many who dedicate their lives to serving, including our law enforcement and fire fighters. We are proud to live in the United States of America. We are proud to recite the words, “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.
God Bless.
The L Family
The Declaration of Independence
In Congress, July 4, 1776,
THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF
THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICAWhen in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws of Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
John Hancock, President
Attested, Charles Thomson, Secretary
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew ThorntonMassachusetts-Bay:
Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge GerryRhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William ElleryConnecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver WolcottGeorgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George WaltonMaryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of CarrolltonVirginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison,
Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter BraxtonNew York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis MorrisPennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer,
James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George RossDelaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKeanNorth Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John PennSouth Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur MiddletonNew Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson,
John Hart, Abraham Clark
We had a wonderful time with our guests and hated to see them go.
The butt? Absolutely de-lish-us.
Rubbed and rested overnight in the refrigerator.
I have an issue with measuring. My roast was too big for my crockpot whole so I had to cut it in half and shove into my cooker
After a little cooking (about 2 hours on high and 7 hours on low. Once cooker turned off, I left in crock pot for about an hour) the bone slipped right out.
I was able to pull all the fat right off and I shredded it by hand. I made my own sauce - Eastern Carolina style - and tossed it with a little of the sauce and put it in the fridge for about 3 hours until we were ready for dinner. I heated it up and served with additional sauce.
I made the Eggless Blueberry Muffins because D&T’s daughter has an egg allergy and I made chocolate dipped strawberries - some with red, white and blue sprinkles - to go along with our (indoor) July 4th picnic theme.
I did an arrangement of blue and white hydrangeas and red geraniums.
Eastern North Carolina Barbecue Sauce
1-1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1-1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce
One squeeze of yellow mustard
In a large bow, mix together cider vinegar, salt, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, brown sugar and hot pepper sauce. Stir until salt and brown sugar have dissolved. Cover and let stand at least 3 hours before using as a basting sauce or serving on meat.
I can’t remember where I got the recipe. I had a 12 oz. bottle of vinegar and made the whole thing so adjusted my ingredients for the extra vinegar. I made it Friday evening so it stood about 15 hours before I marinated the cooked meat in it. It’s a little spicy, but that’s how we like it. If it’s a bit too tangy, you can increase the amount of brown sugar. You can also adjust the spice by adding more than called for or decreasing. I’ve read some people use a dollop of mustard to help keep the pepper flakes from immediately sinking to the bottom; I did. Can’t taste the mustard and it certaily didn’t keep the flakes suspended for any geat length of time, so I may or may not use it next time.
I’m calling dinner a success. I think the barbecue and sauce turned out great. It is definitely a keeper and I plan on making it again. Next time with a smaller butt or a bigger cooker.
We either have fat ants at our house or the hummingbird food evaporated. I suppose it’s possible they could dine in private when we’re not home, but I’m not so sure about that.
Being a family who needs pretty quick gratification, we decided to get a regular bird feeder. Introducing Cafe de Seed
This is how the sun sets through the trees in my back yard.
You can see other PhotoHunt particpants here.
A pork butt, that is. We have company coming into town this weekend and I’m making homemade barbecue. Don’t get too excited thinking I’m all fancy and stuff; I don’t want you to be disappointed.
Will met D when he deployed to Iraq in 2005. D and his family live about three hours from us and had Will not deployed, we wouldn’t have them as a part of our lives. D came home early because T had to have surgery so it wasn’t until a few weeks after Will got home I was able to meet him and give him a hug thanking him for taking care of Will while they were gone. I could tell in his response to me and by the way he hugged back, he knew I was sincere and it was obvious he was appreciative of the relationship they had developed.
We visited with them about a month before we traveled to China for Olivia. Staying with them at their home, I realized not only are they good friends and great cooks, but they are fantastic parents. On the way home, Will and I were talking and we could not get over just how well behaved their kids were. We met the kids briefly when they came to town for a Welcome Home celebration we had, but it was at a restaurant with so much commotion, but it wasn’t until we were with them in their environment we saw their little personalities shine. E is their daughter and she is the oldest. Their son shares Will’s name, so it’s Big Will and Little Will. We decided then their kids were the type of kids we wanted to raise: well-mannered and polite. We’re doing our best.
Anyway…we have been talking for moons about turning our very unused screened porch into a playroom and D graciously offered to help us. He has been a home builder for years and Will was a builder in the reserves. Ahhhh…I love friends with benefits. This weekend they are coming to help us figure out all the stuff we need and we’ll gather the goods and he’ll trek back into town another weekend and we’ll add it on. While he’s here, we’re testing his assembly skills in finishing Olivia’s swing set. I’ll post it’s story with pictures once it’s done. Sadly, it has a story.
T is very, very pregnant so we will be doing something fun indoors; maybe a movie and some giddy girl talk while the boys are sweating their arses off working on outdoorsy stuff.
This is a new BBQ recipe I’m trying so I hope it turns out well. Nothing like making guests your guinea pigs, huh? I don’t have a smoker or anything fancy, so I’m using my crock pot.
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
(spice rub from Cooks Illustrated)
Spice Rub:
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon dried oregano
4 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons table salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground white pepper
1 bone-in pork shoulder
½ teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
2 cups barbecue sauce
1. Mix all spice rub ingredients in small bowl.
2. Massage spice rub into meat. Wrap tightly in double layer of plastic wrap; refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (For stronger flavor, the roast can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
3. Unwrap roast and place it in slow cooker liner. Add liquid smoke, if using, and ¼ cup water. Turn slow cooker to low and cook for 8-10 hours, until meat is fork-tender.
4. Transfer roast to cutting board; discard liquid in liner. “Pull” by tearing meat into thin shreds with two forks or your fingers. Discard fat.
5. Place shredded meat back in slow cooker liner; toss with 1 cup barbecue sauce, and heat on low for 30-60 minutes, until hot. Serve with additional barbecue sauce.
This rub makes a lot! I rubbed my butt (6-1/2 lbs.) last night and had quite a bit left over. I’ll be making my barbecue sauce tonight, but I haven’t decided on which one to make yet. I’ll let you know.
Keep your fingers crossed it turns out okay. Otherwise it will be PB&J.
The only diners at my hummingbird feeder.
I’m absolutely disgusted over this.
I reentered the link above, but here’s the address if the link doesn’t work: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/seate/s_573477.html
If his wife didn’t already have his balls hanging from her rear-view mirror, I’d go for them. Obviously she has them, why else would he have ”… sat through not one, but two, chick flicks with my wife in as many weekends”?
I don’t even know what my rational response is right now because the response I started to him went a little something like this:
Asshole.
I dare anyone to tell me face to face my child is less deserving of a home than any other child in the world, especially some classless, nadless asshole who doesn’t have a f-ing clue. I. Dare. You.
And as far as him being a journalist? You can put kittens in the oven, but it doesn’t make them biscuits.
I googled this columnist’s name last night and it appears this is his style. His bigotry and racism spreads far and wide, which he pawns off as “jokes.”
Last night I also thought about my initial reaction to what he wrote and I was somewhat ashamed of myself. I thought about deleting my post, but then I decided not to. It was my initial reaction and, while I’m not proud of it, it is still my reaction. Some things chap me and this is one of them. Maybe I’m being thin-skinned, maybe I’m not.
So, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that he’s found a new since of self in being proactive with children who need forever families. I’ll be looking for his follow up article talking about fostering and adopting some of these children he is so concerned about. Oh, yeah. What about the white kids who are in the foster care system? I guess only black, biracial and Latino children are the ones special enough to make his list of domestic ”must haves.” What? Surely you don’t think he would cast stones if he wasn’t already working on becoming an adoptive parent himself.
Pompous jerk.
I had a vendor rep stop in to say “Hi” since she was in our “neighborhood.” BTW, she “loves passing through our part of the state.” She showed up with a dozen half-frozen cupcakes from the local grocery store disappointed she couldn’t find a doughnut place. I laughed. There isn’t one. For many, many miles…maybe 40. But, remember, she loves passing through our neighborhood. After talking with her and listening to her fumbling with small-town city names and such, she’s never been in our neighborhood or even to surrounding ‘hoods. Anyway, how could I deny myself the CHOCOLATE cupcakes with the bright orange, blue and pink icing? I couldn’t.
I went to Wendeez for lunch today and ordered a burger and substituted my fries for a side salad with fat free dressing and had my usual Diet Coke. They gave me fries, too. How could I deny myself the warm, salty goodness of fries? I couldn’t. What goes better with burger, fries and salad than a cupcake? Nothing.
Can’t wait to see what saboteur is hiding in the bushes for this afternoon.
Signed,
No Willpower
For years I’ve read the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box for shortcake, but I never made it. I did tonight.
1 pint strawberries (sliced)
1/4 cup sugar (I used much less than this; the berries I had were pretty sweet)
***********
1 cup Heart Smart Bisquick
1/3 cup skim milk
2 T sugar
Whipped topping
Mix strawberries with sugar and set aside.
Preheat oven to 425*
Mix Bisquick, sugar and milk together until soft dough forms. Drop by four spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until done.
Split and serve with strawberries and whipped topping.
Was pretty good. Think I’ll make it again. Next time I’m going to roll my dough and make pretty shortcakes.
Today’s photo hunt them by TN Chick is water.
We took Olivia to the little waterpark at the aquatic center in town. This was the first time we’ve been there since it opened who knows how many years ago. Seeing how we pay for the gym, but don’t ever go, we figured this was easily an $800 waterpark visit. heh.
I took our little pocket digi camera and because of the glare from the sun and not being able to see, pictures weren’t good.
The slide? She didn’t go down it. You know why? “It’s wet.”
Trying has started a cookie swap blog thingy where she has asked some of her readers to post their favorite cookie recipes on their blogs. Well, as much as I love to cook, I’ve never been a baker with the exception of a special occasion cake here and there or banana pudding. A couple of weeks ago, I posted her Eggless Blueberry Muffin recipe and it’s been made at least 4 times since then with variations including strawberry, which Will says are better on day two. I wouldn’t know; he took them all to work. My favorite version is mixed berry with blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. This idea of hers has had me in the kitchen trying out some new stuff I’ve had recipes for, but haven’t made for one reason or another.
Here is the Eggless Blueberry Muffin recipe again. This time I made it in a square pan instead of muffins.
Egg less Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour ( I’ve been trying to use more whole wheat flour so I use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup regular)
1 cup sugar, plus 2 tsp. more
4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
3 Tbs. melted butter
1 cup fresh blueberries
Heat oven to 350. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Combine flour, sugar and baking powder in a medium-size bowl. Stir in milk by hand and melted butter. Fold in blueberries. Fill each cup 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
Last night I set out on my quest for a new recipe, which she happened to do, too. Ahhh, great minds think alike. However, I’m much more impressed with her since she made hers from scratch. Mine? Out of a box. I’m going to try hers one day.
Pumpkin Spice Cookies
One box of Spice Cake Mix
One can of pumpkin - not pie mix, but pumpkin
Mix them together. Throw in some chocolate chips or raisins, if you want, and bake at 350* for about 18-20 minutes. I used chocolate chips, but Will and I both think raisins would be better. They have more of a muffin top consistency and a bit chewy. Yummo.
The second baked item last night was a recipe for brownies. With the new things I’ve been trying, we have implemented the rule Will can’t ask what’s in it until he tells me if he likes it or not.
Black Bean Brownies
For this recipe, do not follow the ingredients list on your brownie box. You are only using 1 can of beans and 1 box of mix. Only use the oven temp. and baking times listed on the box.
1 Box brownie mix
1 can black beans
Preheat oven to per brownie box.
Drain and rinse black beans well. Put back into can and fill with water until beans are just covered. Puree in blender or food processor.
Mix with dry brownie mix.
Cook according to brownie package directions.
Notes: Be sure to process good….you don’t want to end up with a sliver of bean skin in between your teeth. You really can’t taste the beans. Will had no clue and neither did the folks he works with. They were the consistency of a cross between fudge and a chewy brownie. I’ll definitely make them again. It’s a way to get in a veggie and some fiber!
Finally, tonight’s delight….
Eggless Banana Bread
3 ripe bananas
1/4 c. vegetable oil (I used 1/4 c. applesauce instead)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 c. sugar
2 c. flour (I used 1 c. all purpose and 1 c. whole wheat)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans (I didn’t use nuts - didn’t have any)
Mash bananas (overripe make the best bread). Add oil, vanilla and sugar. Mix well. Sift flour, salt and soda together and add to banana mixture with walnuts if using. Mix until flour is blended in but do not overmix.
Put into loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees F. for 45-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove to rack to cool completely before cutting.
Notes: My substitutions are in blue. I made muffins vs. bread and baked about 20 minutes until my knife came out clean. I think next time I’ll make the bread. They turned out pretty delish.
(By the way…the pics aren’t with my new camera…no CF card reader and too lazy to hook it up to the laptop)
This is the chicken I bought to keep in my kitchen that I wrote about in my post on Granny H.
If you ask Olivia, “Who brings prezzies?” She squeals with delight, “BROWN!” Yes, that is UPS. Well, today Brown brought me a prezzie at work. What is it? It’s one of these. 
I’ve had a Nikon D50 for a couple of years, but have wanted something more. After seeing the pictures Sandra and Mary-Mia have taken with their D300, Will immediately said okay. What? That was way too easy and we’ve been talking about it for a while. He was gung ho. I, on the other hand, was spellbound by sticker shock.
I decided I would go middle of the road - get a step up but not all the way to the top of the mountain. After all, I’m an auto mode picture taker, at least until I take some classes. I knew that even though the Nikon D80 was a step up, it wasn’t a step up enough that I would enjoy having the camera. So, after making the little guy at Wolf Camera pink with frustration with all my questions (some several times), I decided to go with the Canon. I loved my D50 the first time I held it in my hands. I’ve loved it for two years. I’m afraid to fall in love just yet with this one. Of course, my new CF card is at home and the camera is here with me so I can’t really play with it to get the warm fuzzies having a new camera brings with it. Yes, my lenses would have worked with the D300, but I only have two, which are kit lenses and a 3rd thrown in for good measure, but I simply couldn’t bring myself to spend that much money. I’m wanting to be giddy. I’m wanting to be giddy so badly, but I just can’t. Not yet, anyway.
It’s smiling at me from across my office as it’s battery charges knowing pictures will be taken this evening and I’ll be smitten by bedtime.
