Pancakes

We try to avoid making pancakes since it jacks with our blood sugar, but on a cold, snowy day there is just nothing better than a steaming stack of flap jacks.

Much to my sister-in-law's horror, my brothers and I and all of our assorted children eat peanut butter on our pancakes.  And to answer the question everyone asks, yes WITH syrup.  No, no butter, that would be excessive.  I used to eat them with peanut butter, jelly, and syrup but I have since dropped the jelly.  My husband eats them with only peanut butter and jelly.  We will also eat peanut butter on waffles and french toast, also with syrup. 

My youngest enjoys pancake days.  He delights in the goofy designs I attempt.  Over the summer I discovered a pancake mix dispenser that allows you to draw as you squirt the mixture into the skillet.  The trick is to get the cakes thick enough that you're not making crepes but not so thick the squirty hole gets clogged.  I'm still learning.  I bought this device at Walmart in the baking aisle.  It looks like two plastic cups screwed together with a frosting tip at one end.  Everyone needs one of these doohickeys.

**Because I love you I did a google search.  I didn't find the exact model but this is similar enough and in the same price range  https://slice-heaven.com/store/show/A80-4784   You could also get a mambo sized ketchup bottle - just make sure both the squirt hole and the screw top are large enough to load and dispense your mix.

One of the brilliant tips I came up with all on my own was how to keep pancakes warm while flipping enough to feed my entire family.  I know most people either offer one serving at a time not allowing for group dining or shoving the cakes in a warm oven until all are ready.  My eternal fear is that the oven will be too warm, take too long to heat up, will dry out the pancakes, or I manage to burn myself as if the stovetop wasn't dangerous enough.  I discovered using two deep plates, one inverted as a lid, will keep the pancakes hot for quite a while (as in over an hour).  If you're making a large stack, use a mixing bowl as  your lid.  The pancakes generate a lot of steamy heat so you just need to keep that trapped.  The nice thing is that this contraption can sit anywhere on your counter making it easy to flip the plate or bowl as you toss in the next pancake - no need to open and close the oven.  Do be careful because that "lid" gets mighty hot and I would caution allowing small children getting near it.

It might be PMS

Not sure but I just made a bowl of chopped bananas, caramel, and chocolate chips with a 2nd glass of wine (there isn't any ice cream in the house). This follows a day of being in a pissy mood and nearly breaking out in tears at work.

Or I just had a royally crappy day.  

I'm not really a stress eater.  On a truly bad day I would rather climb in the car and drive on the open highway with the radio blasting.  Or take a long nap.  Yet there is something about chocolate that soothes the inner monster.  Of the "necessities" I always have on hand besides flour, sugar, butter, and peanut butter, I will ALWAYS have chocolate chips.  Even my kids knew about mom's chocolate chips and they slyly snagged a few here and there but never fully depleting my stash.  It would have to be really bad for me to break down and buy a real candy bar.

Whatever it was, I hope it goes away tonight.

My Attempts to Starve a Child

Okay, I wasn't "trying" to kill the kid, but maybe in the end my plans were not nearly so well thought-out.  By the way, in the end, he lives.  Not to be a spoiler or anything, just trying to keep children services out of my basement.

Actually, all I did was agree with the dentist that he needs to have two teeth pulled.  The poor planning on my (and the dentist) part was that this wasn't a normal situation, that these two particular teeth are in the middle of his jaw not on one side or all the way in the back like wisdom teeth.  This means, five days later, he is STILL on soft food.

What looked like a cool plan up front, all of the pudding and ice cream you could possibly consume, has turned into a starving, withering teenage boy.  Yes, he is still eating his body weight in pudding and ice cream topped in mounds of cool whip, but he remains HUNGRY!

Day 1 - pudding
Day 2 - pudding, fruit cups, hot dog diced up into itty bitty pieces
Day 3 - pudding, ice cream, fruit cups, bread, cheese pizza (no crunchy crust)
Day 4 - pudding, ice cream, bread, ramen
Day 5 - OH CRAP I HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL WHAT AM I GOING TO EAT????? 

I didn't dare suggest he pack a lunch lest he look like the crazy chick in Breakfast Club.  Instead of Cap'tn Crunch and Pixie Stix he would have four slices of plain bread, a hunk of cheese, and 2 pudding cups... and a woeful look on his face.  Want to spike the attention of the authorities?  Send your kid to school with THAT lunch.  So I sent him to the nurse who happens to be well-versed in dental cases returning to school and fed him a PBJ except the "PB" was actually "sun butter" made out of sunflower seeds.  My consolation that he at least likes sunflower seeds was not met with joy.  Evidently it's not the same.  AND they dared to put jelly on his sandwich - he being the only child alive that does not like jelly.

Somehow he found out (as in texting the entire student body to find the one only kid whose mother actually keeps the copy of the high school lunch menu) today is chicken soft tacos.  "I love their chicken tacos".

He might not starve after all.

Friday Fragments - December 21, 2012

Aha!  We survived the Mayan apocalypse.  So, are you disappointed or relieved?  Personally, I think we missed a golden opportunity to consume massive amounts of Mexican food.  We thought it was a grand idea at work but we had a whole buffet of food left over from the potluck the day before.  Maybe on Wednesday when we return we'll celebrate the Mayans.

Last weekend my older son got married.  It was a beautiful wedding and a very fun reception. 

After much coaxing my daughter got the teenager on the dance floor.

 

 Of course the star of the show was my grandson, the ring bearer

He promptly passed out

Daddy posing by him

Because our groom had been a ring bearer 20 years ago and also passed out at the reception

Movie suggestion for the Christmas Season - The Bishop's Wife.  I see it's scheduled to play a couple of times on TCM today (Sunday) at 7pm and midnight.  I thought it was a sweet film that captured the Christmas spirit very well.  Please make a point of looking for it.

My plan for the weekend is to make cookies!!!!  Hubby doesn't want me to go overboard, except of course, to make plenty of peanut butter.  I figured I will make the batters and probably use only half of each, freezing the rest.  Then I can have fresh baked cookies later on.  We'll see.  I might just go overboard after all.

May everyone have a very merry Christmas!

Friday Fragments - December 7 2012

How is everyone's holiday preparations?  Ours are kind of on hold as my son's wedding is next week.  I try not to think about things like this because I blow them out of proportion with anticipation.  It's really exciting but if I don't focus on it then I will be able to enjoy it even more.  The surprise of how the day will unfold will be a million times better than anything I could ever concoct in my head.  And I'm one of those people who gets disappointed if things don't go as I anticipate - so I've taught myself to stop anticipating.  It took a long time to learn that and even longer to make it happen.

Chicken strips seem to be the epitome of bad eating... hmm... maybe it's hamburgers... so chicken strips are a close second.  But I have to say I do like eating them.  What I don't like are the pressed meat variety.  I want a genuine hunk of meat, batter dipped, deep fried.  As we contemplated dinner one night I quipped I wanted chicken strips.  And that's what we did, but homemade ones.  They were fabulous and I want to make them again.  We used boneless breasts, cut into chunks, dredged and floured like regular fried chicken.  It was faster than traditional fried chicken, especially with these mutant huge chicken breasts available in the grocery store.   I feel almost brilliant for  making them.  It's the basic stuff, isn't it?

What was the last movie you watched?  It doesn't matter if it was in a theater.  In my book a movie watched in any venue counts.  Cable, online streaming, and movie rentals have opened a whole world of  entertainment to us.  For me cable is relatively new.  I didn't spend my teen years in the 80's watching MTV videos because my parents were sheer evil, denying me this basic NEED.  I do regret not seeing all of the videos my contemporaries saw, but I definitely appreciate the access now.  Instead of catching up with all of the videos from my deprived teen years, I'm now watching more movies than any civilized person should.  I'm watching the full gambit of Oscar contenders to crappy B films.  And I'm loving it.  It's only a phase which one day will pass.  Oh I will eternally love the film medium of telling a story, but this obsession with movie marathons will l eventually subside.

As I write this To Kill A Mockingbird is playing.  The Teenager is reading this for English class.  I suggested that if he wanted to boost his grade to ask his teacher if he can write a paper comparing Mockingbird to the Sand Lot.  He looked at me like I was crazy - more work???  He knows he needs to do some extra credit, but I added that teachers LOVE compare and contrast stuff like that.  Is that cheating?  Knowing how teachers think?  It's just bizarre enough he might do it.  We'll see...

I think this has been a fairly random post - definitely the stuff of a proper Fragmented Friday!

Preparing Menus

What are your Thanksgiving plans this year?

Are you hosting or visiting?

What are you responsible for cooking?


This year Thanksgiving day will be spent with the in-laws and I'm responsible for bringing a dessert, but not pie because someone else is covering that.  I guess I'm making Rice Krispy Treats and a cake.  On Saturday we will be gathering with my family.  We're not hosting but we will be making the turkey and a few side dishes.

Gobble gobble!  Yummy meals ahead!

Sunday In My City - Cherokee Street

Up for a little antiquing?  St. Louis is filled with all sorts of antique shops, but for the best cluster of shops packed together in one spot go to Cherokee Street.  Even the buildings are antique!  It's a great historic district and an interesting walk.

And when you're done, head over to Lemp Avenue, across from the Anheiser Busch Brewery (stop at the brewery too they have great tours with SAMPLES) and find Gus' Pretzel shop.  While there are street vendors running around selling Gus' pretzels from random corners, you really need to sample these straight from the source, hot from the oven (if you get one from a street vendor, wait to eat it at home so you can pop it into the microwave for 30 seconds).

A standard pack of pretzel sticks is three, but I forgot to take the picture before I devoured one (and some).

Friday Fragments - June 15, 2012

Yawn... I am soooooo tired.   Between late bedtimes, early rising and hormones screwing with my system, I am one exhausted woman!  What's going on?  Not much, only the same old routine.

My youngest has landed a job!  It's not a lot of hours, but it's $$$ for a kid who hadn't planned on any income this year.  Yes, he's under 16 so that means scurrying around to secure a work permit.  It actually wasn't too difficult.

Grilled Stew (batch #2) is a giant success.  We made it over the weekend, tweaking the recipe from the first round and hit it out of the park.  Even before we put the batch on to simmer the smell was divine.  It tasted absolutely fabulous.  I did post a recipe of sorts a few days ago

I should post more, I know oodles has been going on, but like I said I'm tired and I can't manage to remember anything!  Check out far more interesting people on Mrs. 4444's Friday Fragments....

Grilled Stew

We did it!  We made what I am calling "Grilled Stew"!

The idea came up a couple weeks ago as we tossed around ideas for stuff to make on the grill.  By the way you can prepare anything over an open fire, you only have to get a little creative with some of it.  I have successfully made burritos while camping, so I'm not really intimidated by the challenge.

Hubby suggested we grill stew meat and that was enough to spark my tiny brain.  The thought of a smoky flavored beef stew got my mouth watering.

We started off with a pack of stew meat.  We got ours at Sam's so it's a big pack and the first one was filled with miniature steaks.  They were beautiful pieces of beef.  The next two packages we bought weren't nearly as pretty and I would be tempted to buy steak in the future.

I didn't marinate it or anything, just plopped it on the grill.  Like I said, the pieces were big.  I've seen packages in the past holding tiny pieces of meat that would easily slip through the grill, so maybe a basket would be useful.  I tried really hard to cook the meat evenly to medium - kinda difficult with the all of the pieces on the grill and the differing sizes.

Once the meat was cooled (as in overnight in the fridge) I sliced the meat, removing globs of fat and bringing the pieces down to bite-sized.  People (husbands) get lazy in this arena and tend to leave the pieces too large.  "Bite sized" should be smaller than a spoon, maybe even two pieces fit on a spoon.

I diced carrots, celery, potatoes and onions.  The first time I diced too small and they kind of mushed along the way.  This time I sliced them larger, but still "bite sized".  Ideally I would have cooked them on the grill too, but I made the stew several days after my grill-fest so I resorted to roasting them in the oven.  Again, the first time I cooked too long, the second time aldente.

Then I made a roux from butter and flour.  The only time I ever do this is for biscuits and gravy, which oddly enough I don't eat.  I researched roux and evidently the secret is to keep stirring until it gets dark.  With batch one the roux was so-so.  On the second batch I used bacon grease, too much flour and then butter to compensate.

If you're looking for exact measurements, I'm sorry, this was all a dash here and a splash there.

I put way too much water in the first batch.  On the second one we loaded the meat and veggies in the pot and then added water until it barely reached the top of the stuff.  I stirred in the roux and we started adding seasoning.  I added more onions, not roasted, garlic, black pepper, cumin, onion salt.  After the first batch we decided we were missing tomatoes so the second batch had a can of stewed tomatoes and one of diced tomatoes in italian seasoning.

The first batch, despite the addition of the roux, was very watery.  We served the soup over rice and it was pretty good.  The second one would have been good with rice, but we were impatient.

The clue that the second batch was awesome was the smell.  It was mouth watering.  Even the picky teenager went back for seconds.

What makes this so good is the meat.  We have been using quality cuts, plus they aren't over cooked before going into the pot.  Each bite is tender and delicious.

Dinner Tragedy Averted

Finally, the massive cooking/freezing frenzy I've been on has paid off.  Last night I sliced the leftover steak for our favorite fajitas and then I realized we didn't have enough tortillas.  This was totally my mistake - we had even discussed if we needed more tortillas the day before while standing in Sam's.  Oh no, I proclaimed, we have plenty! 

Ooops

We stared at each other.  Typically this would mean a trip to fastfood land.  Nobody wanted to leave the house.  So I rummaged through the freezer and among the bags of previously cooked food was hamburger patties.  A trip to the microwave, sliced and toasted french bread, and a bag of chips - within ten minutes dinner was ready.

This wasn't quite what I had in mind when freezing all of this food, but it sure came in handy.

Now Hubby has to make a stop at the store so we can try the fajitas again tonight. 

Friday Fragments - June 1, 2012

Whew!  May is OVER.  It is such a crazy busy month with something going on in every corner of my life.  It's fun and always memorable, but damn, it's also exhausting.  June seems to blur into the other months of summer as we look forward planning our social schedules.  Already we've had to stare at the calendar for August figuring out what day Ian has to return to school.  It doesn't seem right to be talking about that so soon after school letting out just days ago.

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We've already had summer-like weather.  Until yesterday it was hot and humid, setting record highs in the 90's.  We don't normally get this type of heat until mid-June.  Then this morning it dropped to 49°!!!!  It will rebound soon enough.  Fasten your earplugs as I launch into my regular tirade of hating St. Louis weather.

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In family news, my youngest brother is looking to move back to Missouri.  He and his wife are done with their stint in North Dakota.  He has retired from the Air Force and they are feeling the pull to be closer to family (or at least that's what they're telling us).  They aren't wanting to be super duper close so St. Louis is out of the question, but nearby rural property has caught their eye.

Over Memorial weekend they breezed into town, dropped the kids with various friends and family, and took off in search of their next home.  No decisions were made, so we wait.  Cross your fingers, toes, rattle some bones, and offer a few prayers that they get something fabulous.

*****

While bro and SIL were galavanting about the wilds of Missouri, we had their two youngest over Saturday night.  Both are fabulous little boys, one incredibly energetic, both very inquisitive.  Fortunately we (okay, IAN) had enough stuff on hand to keep their minds and bodies entertained.  Bionicles are lego toys that can be built into transformer-like monsters.  That retained their interest the most.  We also blew bubbles, walked to the park, and investigated every nook and cranny of my house.


After they left on Sunday, I collapsed onto the couch and didn't move until dinner.

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We declined an invitation to hang out with friends Sunday night and instead grilled at home.  I've posted in the past how we have taken up cooking nearly a week's worth of food on the grill.  Sunday I did four large steaks and a whole gob of stew meat.

The stew meat was a lark as we made our first attempt at "Grilled Stew".  We grilled the meat and then I had intentions of grilling the vegetables.  The veggies ended up getting roasted in the oven.  Overall the stew was good and we will be doing this again.  Yet, it was missing something so more tweaking is needed before I post the recipe.

For quite some time we have grilled more steaks than we can eat in one night.  I've learned to cook two of them medium rare (a tad too bloody for our tastes) to use a day or two later in fajitas.  Between refrigeration and reheating, they come up to medium well (just a smidge of pink).  The meat is tender and smoky and absolutely delicious.  Hubby doesn't like any spicy seasoning and to be honest the meat really doesn't need much sprucing up.  I slice it super thin, toss it in a skillet with onions just long enough for the onions to carmelize and the meat to warm up.  I eat mine with a few reserved uncooked onions, bell pepper, salsa and cheese.  Hubby just goes for meat and cheese.  This has been a huge hit with everyone we serve and I like it because it's quick and easy.

Meal Planning

For years I've wanted to try cooking a ton of food on Sunday to last through the week.  What's been holding me back is a general slackass procrastination that I've perfected.

To do all of that cooking, one needs to plan.  What's on the menu?  When will you go grocery shopping?  What ingredients do you need?  How will you store the cooked food?  WHERE will you store it?

That's waaaaayyy too much planning for my head, too much commitment for my moody appetite.

But then my spousal unit suggested something that made preplanned meals a reality.  I was grilling something for dinner (yes I am the grillmaster at our house - I love playing with fire) when he thought I should go ahead and grab the pork roast and toss it on the fire too.  He asked that I not cook it all the way through so he could finish it off the next day in the oven.

No longer do I feel guilty about having a perfectly good fire in my grill, wasting away because I only made hot dogs.  Now I grab all sorts of meat and cook it.  Not all of the cooked food has to be eaten immediately.  We decide what we'll have in the next day or two, the rest divvied into meal sized portions and frozen.  This is more awesome because of the vacuum seal bags allowing to store food in the freezer even longer.


It still allows me to not be in the mood for any given meal on a particular night, so no guilt when I break the schedule.  With all of the pre-cooked food waiting in the freezer we have quick answers on those nights when we're both exhausted and staring at each other wondering what the hell to make.  Seriously, how can that not sing to a slackass procrastinator's heart???

Best of all, I get the yummy grilled taste with lots of my meals and that's just... well, fabulous.

Friday Fragments - May 4, 2012

It's noon and I still haven't written anything.  Gah!

My son had a double header frisbee game on Sunday.  He turned fifteen on Wednesday.  We (I) ate pancakes twice this week when we went out to dinner - hey it's what you do when you eat at Dennys and IHOP - not HAMBURGERS, like some people.  I guess their burgers are good but I will never know since I'm a breakfast food junkie.  And, um, not much else is going on in my life.  Oh yes there is, this afternoon I'm going to happy hour.

There  you go, a quick, condensed fragmenty Friday!

Photo Challenge #3

Topic #3 for the photo challenge is LUNCH...

Friday Fragments - January... wait... February 10, 2012

I just walked through the house with an empty cup and a bowl of dry cereal.  Last night we moved everything out of the kitchen fridge into the spare refrigerator in the back sunroom so we can defrost and give it a thorough scrub down.  It's amazing how gross a refrigerator can get.  That meant my milk and fruit juice were in a different part of the house this morning.  It just felt funny walking around with dishes like that.

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I had another good laugh this morning as my brother and I joked around about the benefits of driving around in a piece-of-shit car.  His clunky van does not like the cold and has problems getting up hills so driving to work yesterday was a slow, tortuous process where he was sure old ladies was flipping him off.  Maybe one day I will list the perks of POS cars.  I certainly have plenty of experience with them, that's for sure!

Please feel free to share your experiences with driving crappy cars.  I'll try to make that my Monday post (so come back and see what I whip up, okay?)

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There is another post coming together.  A former co-worker promises to send me her email exchange with a guy from online dating.  She knows of my really cool talent where I can take a man's email and dice it to pieces, pulling out what the phrases REALLY mean.  This was about the only thing I gained from my dating years.  For example, "I am bilingual" means "I frequently speak bullshit."

Well, her email hasn't arrived yet so maybe I'll just need a friendly reader to share dating posts they've come across.

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A very scary thing happened this week, the kids' house had a fire!  I've joked that only my daughter could manage to catch a kitchen sink on fire, but actually the garbage disposal shorted out and started an electrical fire.

This seriously could have had horrible consequences. 

Fortunately it happened in the early evening when everyone was awake, not in the middle of the night.  The fire was caught very early and they were able to call 911 so that the damage was contained to only the kitchen.  The house has been declared uninhabitable, but my daughter had the foresight to get renter's insurance.  All of their stuff is getting cleaned and will be packed and moved to their new residence.  Oh yeah, that had already been arranged too because they were all planning on moving out by the end of the month anyway.

This might be a good thing for my former mother-in-law, the owner of the house, as the insurance money she gets from the fire might be enough to make other repairs so she can prepare the house for sale.

Well, like I said, they were very lucky.

******

Friday Fragments - January 27, 2012

Good morning Blogosphere!  Oh how our lives can change over a week...

Remember last spring how I agreed to keep my brother's dogs for "a few weeks" while he got his life back together in Florida and then three months later finally retrieved them?  Well they're back along with my brother... for "just a few weeks."  It sounds dramatic and a pain in the ass, but it's not.  We're all cozy and getting along very well.

Now, retrieving my brother, his dogs, and all of his crap is a whole 'nuther story.  We had to drive to southern Missouri where he had been staying since Christmas.  It was a hovel of the lowest sort, every bit what you would picture as a rural home in the wilds of Missouri - drooping roof, moss-laden gutters pulling from the house, a dryer sitting on the back porch, boards missing from the front porch.  Folks, there was even an OUTHOUSE laying in the backyard.  Yes, LAYING.  As in tipped over, hole covered over, wood rotting.  We didn't question if the puddle of water further out was an actual pond for the horses to refresh themselves or a long standing septic issue.  Either way I'm sure it was a mosquito nest.

We loaded up our pick-up truck and the damn thing got stuck in the mud in the front yard.  We ripped up whatever "yard" was left and eventually had to have a neighbor with a tow truck pull us out.  I managed to slip in the mud so I was filthy - oh so great when I had to dash into a gas station bathroom (after waiting 20 minutes for the previous occupant to leave... *faint*).

As my brother pieces his finances back together he's already planning his escape back to Florida.  In the meantime he's helping my hubby at our consignment shop.  He's taken over several tasks that I had to do after work, so that has been really nice.

****

My daughter posted on Facebook that she cut her bangs.  The picture she posted DID NOT LOOK LIKE HER!   Both her father and I claimed that was someone else.  How sad is that when your own parents don't recognize you?  I asked her to post a second picture from a different angle and THEN I saw my girl.  Crazy.  It's a cute cut and I think it was a rather small change overall, but quite significant in outcome.  I need a similar transformation.

****

We cleaned out our freezer last week.  Fortunately not much was tossed out.  I came across the fruits and veggies I had put back last fall.  It looks like I'm going to have to make pie.  DARN.  Not sure when I'll get the time to work on it, but it's burning in the back of my head, so it will happen soon.

Have a groovy week and make sure to check out everyone else's frags:

How I Spent Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve I made my mom's refrigerator rolls.  I was nervous because they weren't rising properly.  Overall they turned out okay, except it was clear I was short on the salt.

I also made what we call "Grandmother's Dessert" or "Nana's Dessert".  This has been made for every family event since my mom was a little girl, maybe since grandma was a little girl.  It was her mother's specialty.  I have since found the recipe online as "Woolworth's Cheesecake", a depression era recipe that has NO CHEESE.  It uses whipped evaporated milk and jello.  Sounds weird, but it's fabulous.

 
And of course, we watched "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas"

Friday Fragments - December 30, 2011

Hey all!  Did you miss me?  I took a vacation - both virtual and real.  Hubby and I traveled to North Carolina visiting his sister.  That is a TWELVE HOUR drive from St. Louis.  Good thing I like driving... a lot... and think roadtrips are awesome.  We had a splendid time and I will be posting pictures on Sunday.

Well... okay... here...

Friday night dinner - a fish fry!  The last time we visited we were treated to fish, shrimp and chicken deep fried and it was yummy.  So this was our big request for this trip.  Yeah, we make our own every so often, but not all three at once and we never do shrimp.  Quite the treat.

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So a few years ago my daughter encouraged me to join Facebook if for no other reason than it was an easy way to exchange pictures.  And I did.  And she has regretted that suggestion every day since.  You would think she would learn.  The little idiot (wave hi - she's a frequent lurker) sent me an invitation to Pinterest.  At first I was sort of "eh" about it but then several other people started up on it.  Again, I'm pretty sure my daughter regrets the suggestion.  I've gone full tilt and am always finding more crap to post.

Oh, you're not familiar with Pinterest?  It's a website where you post pictures of stuff you like.  There are a ton of pins posted by other people that you can grab for your own, like funny sayings you see plastered all over Facebook or all of the elements you like when planning your wedding.  You can also grab pictures off the internet or upload your own.  It's not "stealing" pictures, just posting that you like it.  You could pin that fried shrimp picture above.  It will link back to this blog and actually increase traffic here - so yeah, pin it!

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Who is missing the snow?  Evidently there was a little splatter sometime on Monday but I wasn't here to savor it.  If you'll all remember, I was NOT among those last year bitching about the white fluffy stuff - I like it.  I do find it funny that everyone is bemoaning the lack of winter.

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Happy New Year!  Stay safe and I'll see you on the flip side!

Friday Fragments - Dec 9, 2011

When the pudding cup is filled with liquid that sloshes back and forth, it's just a guess that maybe you shouldn't eat it.  ~count this as a friendly, helpful tip~  So I didn't open the buldging top and just tossed it right into the trash.

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 I really hate the news stations.  I watch both local and national news.  They always glom onto a set of few topics and drive them into the ground.  St. Louis news is all atwitter over Albert Pujohls accepting LA's bigass contract  (baseball, in case you don't know/care).  They are so worked up they can barely squeeze in the weather report.  It's going to be huge news here for a while.

I just watched my recorded sunday morning shows and saw a quick, barely 3 second report about a WWII mine found in the Rhine River.   THAT is interesting.  Who cares if it isn't something unfolding on our soil?  Give me more information.  I think they said something about evacuating the town so they can detonate it.  This is huge.  And yet I'm getting play by play of anything Kardashian - WHO THE HELL CARES?  And for those who do care, there are plenty of ways to fulfill the last three minutes of their lives.  Ugh.

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 My Nashville trip has been postponed yet again.  Bummer.  But that's okay, I have plenty of other things to fill my time.  I'm a little frustrated because no one really took the lead in getting this trip put together so I was patting myself on the back for coordinating everything instead of waiting until the last minute as would have happened if the other participants had stepped up.  So instead, nearly in the last hour, it was decided for reasons beyond our preparation to hold off.  Maddening.

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 I saw Santa Claus walking out of Burger King last night.  Red suit and all.  He lingered around a pickup truck and then crossed the lot.  I bet he was waiting for his ride to swoop down from the roof of Bed Bath and Beyond.  Just guessing.

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Words With Friends.   OMG.  1) I wondered how I hadn't sought out this incredibly popular game  2) oh yeah, my easily-addicted-to-games personality.  Oh holy shit, I'm having fun.  I might have to download it on one of my other facebook accounts... er, my husband's account.  Did I mention how easily I get addicted to games?  Yeah, this girl?  Totally mastered Zelda.  Twice.  Zelda One AND Zelda Two... twice.

Oh, yeah, I assume you know what I'm talking about, but maybe you've been hiding like I was.  Scrabble.  AWESOME!  It's not a timed game so you can play a word and then go brush your teeth, work 8 hours, fix dinner, eat it and then hope your opponent played their word so you get your turn.    I was playing it on my iPhone but it was draining the battery something fierce.  My brilliant son suggested I find if there's an app for our iPad.  TA DA!  AND it's easier for my squinty eyes to read.

PS.  If I gave birth to you and you happen to be reading this, PLAY WITH ME.  I know you own an iPad, be nice to your old mom, let me kick your arse with triple point words containing V.

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There you go, a truly fragmented post (sorry I wasn't very fragmenty for the past several Fridays).  Check out all of the other fragmenters...

 

Friday Fragments - Thanksgiving Wrap Up

It's Black Friday - the crazy day to go out shopping and land incredible deals.  We slept in.  I do need to hit a certain store this morning, but I'm not rushing out to beat the crowds.  My husband got me to do the 4am stand in line thing a couple of times and actually it was fun.  We had a plan, each with a loaded list of must-have deals plotted out.  We'll do it again in the future, I'm sure.  Today, though, we will be retailers and I need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed, not groggy and bitchy from being awake since 3am.

On Wednesday I "surprised" my mom by bringing a birthday cake to her dance group at the mall (they meet every week for a little line dancing exercise).  I say "surprise" because she suggested this several months ago and then she acted surprised when I showed up.  To be honest, I've been so occupied with work and the shop that it never dawned on me to do anything special for her 70th birthday this year.  I feel bad that I didn't come up with this on my own, so the very least I could do is comply with her less than suble request.

Tuesday night I baked her cake - a pineapple upside-down cake, isn't it pretty?

Wednesday night I baked the rest of the stuff for Thanksgiving dinner...

Spiced apples from a recipe my son found online Monday

 -Slice and core several apples (I used up the ones left from last month's CSA box and they were getting soft).  2 cups water, 2 cups sugar, grated lemon rind,  juice from 1 lemon, 1 cinnamon stick (I didn't have one so I just used several teaspoons of ground cinnamon) and I added a teaspoon or two of ground cloves.  VERY yummy and VERY easy.

We had a second birthday to celebrate besides my mom, so I made a requested yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

Unfortuantely I didn't have any chocolate frosting on hand, so I made it from scratch.  I think it needed more chocolate.

Pumpkin Pie!  I love using Pillsbury pie crusts - they're easy and already rolled out AND they bake beautifully.  It's taken a bit for me to master crimping the edges, but it does look homemade.

And finally, my famous baked beans.  Even my kids who never eat anything with a bean in it, dig into this stuff.  It's incredibly sweet and could easily sit on the dessert table.

 -chopped onions, crumbled bacon (I used three strips in this batch), about two cups brown sugar, 2 cans of pork and beans (the brand doesn't matter, just don't mix brands - I've made that mistake), 1 teaspoon of barbeque sauce, 2 teaspoons of mustard, 3 or 4 tablespoons of ketchup, and several shakes of chili powder.

And finally, a little alcohol.  It didn't get added to anything, although it would be fabulous in the spiced apples.  I felt more than a little like Julia Childs with my glass in hand.  I had a tickle in my throat warning a cold was brewing so I battled it with my own brew.  Usually I seek out vodka mixed with fruit juice, but I only had a drop left so I found this in the back of the fridge.  Cured me up just fine!

We made two stops for Thanksgiving - my mom's house and my mother-in-law's house.  Usually I'm pretty good about taking enough small portions that I don't feel like I'm rolling out of the house,  but I royally failed yesterday.  Last night required a dose of Tums before I could go to sleep.

We do have some awesome leftovers for today.  I don't make anything special out of leftovers, just warm up and eat.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!