I laughed my head off. I hope you enjoy.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
New recipes
Georgia has been suffering under a weather emergency for the last week. Sunday a week ago, it snowed hard. We received about 7 inches of snow here and then on Monday it all turned to ice. In an unusual situation, the temperatures did not rise above freezing all week, preventing the snow and ice from melting in the roadways. With no plows to clear off the back roads, we have been out of school all this time.
With a week of snow days plus two weekends tacked on (and one of those weekends a long weekend due to MLK Day), I've eaten at home for ten straight days, three meals a day. I haven't gone out, I haven't skipped any as I sometimes do at school. I haven't eaten over at a friend's house, and I haven't shared a meal with someone at work. I've been rolling along here for meal after meal, uninterrupted. After thirty meals in a row at home, I have exhausted my small repertoire of recipes I like to cook. It's time to broaden it.
Last night I dug out several of my old favorite cookbooks. These are the ones that fall open to splattered pages they are used so frequently. These are the ones like old friends. They are the ones you turn to when you need to cook something comforting. I love my old friends! It's so fun to rad through recipes, deciding "I can make that," or skipping because "That's too complicated." I renewed my interest in peanut soup and using pumpkin. I remembered past cooking conquests, and sought out a few more. Reading old recipes reminded me of the times when I cooked them and the people who were around me then and the meals I've shared at the table with who are gone from my life now.
I decided on green bean casserole for starters. Whenever I eat this dish, (usually at a Baptist function, lol) I enjoy it, but I have never made it myself. I also decided on squash casserole because I like casseroles and I happen to have squash on hand. Another recipe I'll try is "creamy tofu salad". The tag line says "It's like egg salad". The local small grocery store has just started carrying tofu, which is great because I like tofu, but I need to expand my cache of recipes for how to make it tasty. And finally, salmon-potato cakes will be added to the list. I have canned salmon on hand and I'm always looking for ways to make a protein-based dish that does not include meat.
I often make granola bars. This recipe is soooo easy and uses just a few ingredients, two criteria that steer my decision making. They make a perfect snack or dessert. They're not too sweet and they're hearty and filling. I wish I could find another recipe that is similar. I try not to bake cookies or cake. The closest I'll go is cobbler, but even that is too sweet to make often. Maybe I can substitute a Chex-type mix. I'll keep looking.
Anyway, I've made my list and I'll head to the grocery store and pick up the items that I need to make these things. I'll happily spend the rest of the day cooking, which in fact is really a preparation for the work-week. Sigh, the long unexpected vacation is over and it's time to get back to the grind.
With a week of snow days plus two weekends tacked on (and one of those weekends a long weekend due to MLK Day), I've eaten at home for ten straight days, three meals a day. I haven't gone out, I haven't skipped any as I sometimes do at school. I haven't eaten over at a friend's house, and I haven't shared a meal with someone at work. I've been rolling along here for meal after meal, uninterrupted. After thirty meals in a row at home, I have exhausted my small repertoire of recipes I like to cook. It's time to broaden it.
Last night I dug out several of my old favorite cookbooks. These are the ones that fall open to splattered pages they are used so frequently. These are the ones like old friends. They are the ones you turn to when you need to cook something comforting. I love my old friends! It's so fun to rad through recipes, deciding "I can make that," or skipping because "That's too complicated." I renewed my interest in peanut soup and using pumpkin. I remembered past cooking conquests, and sought out a few more. Reading old recipes reminded me of the times when I cooked them and the people who were around me then and the meals I've shared at the table with who are gone from my life now.
I decided on green bean casserole for starters. Whenever I eat this dish, (usually at a Baptist function, lol) I enjoy it, but I have never made it myself. I also decided on squash casserole because I like casseroles and I happen to have squash on hand. Another recipe I'll try is "creamy tofu salad". The tag line says "It's like egg salad". The local small grocery store has just started carrying tofu, which is great because I like tofu, but I need to expand my cache of recipes for how to make it tasty. And finally, salmon-potato cakes will be added to the list. I have canned salmon on hand and I'm always looking for ways to make a protein-based dish that does not include meat.
I often make granola bars. This recipe is soooo easy and uses just a few ingredients, two criteria that steer my decision making. They make a perfect snack or dessert. They're not too sweet and they're hearty and filling. I wish I could find another recipe that is similar. I try not to bake cookies or cake. The closest I'll go is cobbler, but even that is too sweet to make often. Maybe I can substitute a Chex-type mix. I'll keep looking.
Anyway, I've made my list and I'll head to the grocery store and pick up the items that I need to make these things. I'll happily spend the rest of the day cooking, which in fact is really a preparation for the work-week. Sigh, the long unexpected vacation is over and it's time to get back to the grind.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Snow day 2011
The ever-popular photo of the piled-up snow on my bird feeder
Looks like roughly five inches!
Weighed down branches at the START of the storm, before the ice, is not a good thing
Looking south toward Comer from my front yard
Looking north at neighbor's house
Snow-berries!
The middle of the yard, almost 6 inches
Hunkered down squirrel probably wondering "what is going on???"
Looking north toward Danielsville from my front yard. The red neon sign is the school's. Needless to say, no school today!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Happy New Year
Boy this year flew by, and now I have to learn to write another date on my check. I wonder how many mistakes I'll make writing '2011' until it flows easily from my pen.
Lately I have learned the culinary joys of ketchup on my home fries. I am a late bloomer, I know.
I learned that my house will never be as clean as a southern lady's, but that's OK.
We collide around in our own little worlds, but we truly have a bigger impact on people around us than we think, and people have a bigger impact on us than we imagine. Be kind, it makes a difference. A small moment of kindness goes a long way, and a smile goes even further.
I hope your 2011 is filled with peace and prosperity, that your needs will be met and that you spend each day in pursuit of good.
Lately I have learned the culinary joys of ketchup on my home fries. I am a late bloomer, I know.
I learned that my house will never be as clean as a southern lady's, but that's OK.
We collide around in our own little worlds, but we truly have a bigger impact on people around us than we think, and people have a bigger impact on us than we imagine. Be kind, it makes a difference. A small moment of kindness goes a long way, and a smile goes even further.
I hope your 2011 is filled with peace and prosperity, that your needs will be met and that you spend each day in pursuit of good.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Cold outside, it's a two kitten night
The title is a riff on the well-known 'three dog night'. The legend goes, shepherds would sleep outside and curl up next to a dog if it was cold. Two dogs if it was really cold and three dogs if it was freezing.
I've been on vacation this week and in the evenings I spend some time on the couch, something I don't do during the work-week. Then, I usually just read and study at the kitchen table and if I was not too tired, I'd head to the couch at around 9 pm for a half hour or hour before bed. On vacation, I settle over there after supper, around 7. I bring the computer with me and continue to browse, but also watch some tv. My cats love this. They hear the creak of the couch frame and zoom over from wherever they were within a heartbeat. Nosing under the lap blanket, they curl up, veritably pinning me to the spot. With laptop on my lap, a kitten next to me and one on my legs, I am stuck! But happily so. I'm thrilled that they get along with each other, and with me, so well.
It has been cold though. The temps lately have been 5 to 15 degrees below normal. Highs of thirty degrees are supposed to be overnight lows. Nights have been in the teens. Oh, well, we have only warmth in store as the sun climbs ever higher after the solstice.
The Christmas day snow we received here is just about all gone. On the way home yesterday I passed a sweet looking snowman. In the high sun he looked intoxicated in the extreme. Lopped way over, like he was doing aerobics at the waist, he was definitely doomed. I thought about taking a photo but I left the melting guy in peace, his sloshy dignity intact. I suppose by today he was all gone, his all too brief foray in the world of humans but a melted memory. I'm so happy that snow here lasts only a day or two.
I bought a ginormous bag of turnip greens on sale for 99 cents. It is a good deal. I hope I like turnip greens.
I've been on vacation this week and in the evenings I spend some time on the couch, something I don't do during the work-week. Then, I usually just read and study at the kitchen table and if I was not too tired, I'd head to the couch at around 9 pm for a half hour or hour before bed. On vacation, I settle over there after supper, around 7. I bring the computer with me and continue to browse, but also watch some tv. My cats love this. They hear the creak of the couch frame and zoom over from wherever they were within a heartbeat. Nosing under the lap blanket, they curl up, veritably pinning me to the spot. With laptop on my lap, a kitten next to me and one on my legs, I am stuck! But happily so. I'm thrilled that they get along with each other, and with me, so well.
It has been cold though. The temps lately have been 5 to 15 degrees below normal. Highs of thirty degrees are supposed to be overnight lows. Nights have been in the teens. Oh, well, we have only warmth in store as the sun climbs ever higher after the solstice.
The Christmas day snow we received here is just about all gone. On the way home yesterday I passed a sweet looking snowman. In the high sun he looked intoxicated in the extreme. Lopped way over, like he was doing aerobics at the waist, he was definitely doomed. I thought about taking a photo but I left the melting guy in peace, his sloshy dignity intact. I suppose by today he was all gone, his all too brief foray in the world of humans but a melted memory. I'm so happy that snow here lasts only a day or two.
I bought a ginormous bag of turnip greens on sale for 99 cents. It is a good deal. I hope I like turnip greens.
Monday, December 27, 2010
I'm in a new demographic, now!
So the new year is coming and I take stock of the last year. It goes by soooo fast. Faster and faster as you age. There is a mathematical reason for this but I forget its complexities so I'll just say that "time goes fast." Not an original thought, I know. It's even in the bible, with James saying, "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (James 4:14)I noticed something this week. The television shows I prefer to watch all seem to target a demographic that needs corn remover pads, walk in showers, and nursing home insurance. Where did the Mountain Dew athletes go? Where did the busy mom needs Tide laundry ads go? I get the Clapper and Medicare.
Actually, I noticed something else. I have developed a corn. I had to look up what it was on my toe, but sure enough, it's a corn. So the next time the corn removal pad commercial came on, I listened. I don't need to buy a new tennis racket, I don't need an iPhone with killer apps, I now need Dr. Scholl's medicated pads for actual corns on my feet.
Oh, incidentally, I turned 50 this month. LOL!
I snapped some photos of the snow and icicles on this bright, bright sunny day:
What a great, great photo!
Tells the story, doesnt it! From Portland Press Herald today, credit and link at bottom.
Portlander Chester Bishop smiles as he snowblows a fire hydrant in front of his Pitt St. home as he and all Mainers start to dig out from the largest snowstorm of this season so far. Portland area is expecting 12 to 18 inches. Credit John Patriquin/Portland Pres Herald Staff Photographer
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