Stop Gap

I plan on stopping the gap between the bits of my sidewalk with some rocks.

The young lady that is helping me this afternoon is planning on stopping the gap between her teeth with braces.

What gaps do you have in your world and how are you going to stop it?

110 comments March 28th, 2008

Indulge Me

Since we’re over 100 comments and Wapak isn’t due to post for a few days, I thought I’d pop this one up to tide us over.

What’s your favorite guilty indulgence?  You know, the one you don’t let yourself give in to all that often, but sometimes you just have a need.  For example, I had cheesecake for supper last night, is that bad enough?  And once I was supposed to go back to work after a drs appointment but I was tired and grouchy and just couldn’t face it.  I didn’t want to go home where I’d be faced with chores that needed doing so I called in for the afternoon and spent a few hours sitting in Panera just reading and crocheting.  It was my very own mini-vacation away from everyone and everything and it was FABULOUS! 

What’s your secret, guilty pleasure?

124 comments March 25th, 2008

Chicken Marsala

Want to Bet Me that I know exactly what you thought of when you read that title?

Earlier this month I took a cooking class through the local school district’s community education services. I’ve taken several classes this way – Soups of the World (Polish Beet Soup, anyone?) and Mediterranean Cooking (fabulous spanikopita), among others – for several reasons: I love to cook, I love to eat, it sounded interesting (Polish Beet Soup, anyone?), and people say it’s a good way to meet single men.

No one told that to the single men.

Anyway, this class’s theme was Chicken Dinners, with one of the recipes being the aforementioned Chicken Marsala. You know I could not pass that one up, being both Italian and a Jenny Crusie fan.

Generally I like these classes, but this one was different in that she taught us how NOT to make dinner. She decided that, despite the class fee and the $10 per person materials fee, she would save money by buying bone-in, skin-on whole chicken breasts. Anyone who has ever had Chicken Marsala knows that is not how it’s made. But, that’s what we did. So we had two extra steps: pulling off the skins (ick), and then after pan-frying for brownness, baking the chicken to finish cooking it in slow middle-school home-ec cheap-ass ovens to make sure we didn’t die. This added 45 minutes and a lot of standing around to the process. In the end, however, it turned out fabulously yummy and I snarfed it all down.

So, knowing you are all Crusie fans and knowing you all like to share recipes and cook and eat, here is the recipe for Chicken Marsala (the correct way). (I also have recipes from this class for Chicken a la King, Almond Boneless Chicken, and Forty Garlic Clove Chicken, if anyone is interested.)

Ingredients:

Four 4-6 oz boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

one 8-oz package sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup marsala wine

linguine

Flatten the chicken breasts to 1/2-inch thickness between 2 sheets plastic wrap, using a meat mallet or hammering with a rolling pin or a can or whatever’s heavy.

Boil linguine to directions on box.

Mix flour, salt, pepper, and oregano on large plate. Coat chicken in mixture, shaking off excess.

Heat olive oil and butter in frying pan over medium-high heat. Place chicken in heated oil, do not overcrowd. Cook three minutes on each side to brown it. Remove chicken and keep warm in the oven.

Add mushrooms to the frying pan. Cook 2-3 minutes until a little browned on both sides. Add Marsala wine and stir for 1 minute, loosening brown bits from bottom of pan.

Add a pat of butter to make sauce creamy/shiny, and add salt & pepper to taste. (I cannot give you better directions than that, as another thing I didn’t like about the class was the instructor came to our stove and did this herself, to make it to her tastes, without telling us how much she added.)

Drain and plate the linguini, put chicken on top, and pour mushroom sauce over it.

Eat.

115 comments March 21st, 2008

Random Wednesday musings

So, CC is up to her elbows in Important stuff and will post later. (CC, inquiring minds want to know how it all turns out!)

But in the meantime, I have a couple of links to entertain you with.

Not only entertaining, but educational:

Cartoon character singing the Nations of the World

And another video link that is not funny at all, but you’ll want to listen to it:
Randy Pausch reprises his last lecture (on Oprah)

104 comments March 19th, 2008

I’m so excited, I just can’t hide it.

Since we were getting to 108 comments, I shall shock you all with doing something different.  I am going to post pictures of MAX! on his first birthday.   These are for you Scope!

  I am crazy about this face. Hopelessly, over the moon.     He ate and enjoyed every bite

Here’s hoping that Jenb is having a blast with her Two Grandchildren.  I’m going to have to learn how to do that. 

MAX! is having a sibling in December!  

98 comments March 15th, 2008

Just call me Pollyanna

I have a friend I see every couple of weeks.  She always has a list of complaints as long as I am tall. In the five years I’ve known her, I think she’s been happy with her life about that often - once a year.  I like her because she can have a wicked sense of humour.  When I met her things were genuinely rough in her life.  She’s never shaken that off. I’m not suggesting she shouldn’t grieve for lost loved ones. If that was her complaint I would sympathize.  But it’s petty stuff. The weather. Her job.  Her clothes. Her job. The cost of her animals.  And her job.
I, on the other hand annoy her because I always ask if everyone is healthy. Yes. Are they employed? Yes. They have a nice home. A good marriage(she doesn’t complain about him too much) good friends, wonderful relationships with her siblings, and so many other things that it’s easy to take for granted. From the outside in, her life is good.

I can whine and complain about my life. And have far too often over the last couple of years for my own peace of mine. I strive for Inner Peach.

While life is not always sweet and ripe, it’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing on how hard the peach is, how few blossoms or in my case how darn much snow there is at the base of the tree.  Yet for every cloud there is another way to look at it. Happy or annoyed, my mood  cannot alter certain facts of life. My car needs a lot of repair. My mood can affect how well I feel, how petty I let things become, how much energy I devote to that instead of the things I enjoy.  So I choose to be grateful that I can afford to pay for it. I won’t allow it to interfere with Oregon. I’m going west, baby.

Some people like my friend think that’s a ridiculous attitude. Her husband in fact called me an idiot for choosing to focus on the positive. I am well aware of all the bad/sad/horrible/terrifying/miserable/painful/evil crap in the world. I don’t want to dwell on it .

I’ve made a conscious effort the last few weeks to find a positive spin on things. I’ll admit I haven’t perfected it yet but I’m working on it.  It’s just as easy to enjoy life as to rail against its injustices. Who knows how long we each have on this ride?  It’s a choice. Be miserable or not.  Pollyanna’s sunny disposition is just what we need to brighten up the winter doldrums.

Why does that positive attitude offend other people so much?  How can it possibly impact them if I want to celebrate life and all the good in it?  When did Pollyanna become a negative role model, one held up to ridicule and disdain?

The CBs have been my little rays of sunshine for the last two years. Even when times have been tough, everyone has gathered round and found the good in everything. Even the need for shovels.

Besides this blog, and books ’cause we all seem to love books, what helps you appreciate the good in your life?

113 comments March 12th, 2008

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time did three   embark on a great quest. 

Verily did these three friends travel vast distances and overcome great obstancles in their amazing journey to that land known only as  .

Whereupon did they encounter amazing beasts.  First did they come upon

  and did wonder at her great size. 

And also did they gaze upon      and did wonder at two such different beasts that did but exist in such close harmony, and never did harm come to either, though the great green one was of such great size and the small pink one so small and pink.

Even more distance did the three travel until such time as they did stop for their at evening.

Until at last did they come to that place where their journey did conclude.

   The end.

75 comments March 10th, 2008

Reading Down Memory Lane

I’ve been thinking recently about the first books that I remember reading. Not books that I was read, but the first books I remember actively seeking out. The first books I coveted. After all, my reading addiction started somewhere.

Aside from my passion for dinosaurs in 2nd grade, which led me read every book about dinosaurs in both our school and public library, the first books I remember coveting are the Encyclopedia Brown novels, in which Leroy “Encyclopedia” Brown and his friend Sally Kimball solved crimes that stumped the police. Sally was also a tomboy, which I could relate to.

Then came Nancy Drew! Oh I remember being obsessed with reading and owning Nancy Drew mysteries. I know that I asked for them for Christmas and birthdays. And as much as I loved to read about a smart, beautiful, young woman solving crime, let face it. I was really reading for those rare glimpses we were given of Ned, Nancy’s boyfriend, and their interactions together. Yes, even then it was the romance I lived for.

About the same time as Nancy Drew, I was reading Trixie Belden books. Again, smart kids solving crime. Go kids outdoing the adults!!

 The first books that I remember that were just wrenching and really made me cry buckets are the novels about the wild ponies of Chincoteague, Misty of Chincoteague and Stormy, Misty’s Foal. When one of the horses died, I just sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.

Where am I going with this? Well, for one the trip down memory lane is kind of fun. It took me a while to remember what the Encyclopedia Brown novels were called. What books to you remember wanting to read when you were a child? It also gives some insight into the kinds of books I most enjoy now. Books with a bit of mystery, a hint (or more) of romance, and relationships between characters that I can really sink into, that make me feel. Oh, and smart, strong, kick-butt female characters never hurt either.

94 comments March 6th, 2008

Kitty puzzle filler

Just a filler post here.  Oooh, look at the cute kitties!  It’s the puzzle Mom and I did in the evenings during my parents visit.  Sadly, they are flying back home tomorrow, and it’s back to work for me.

GP - I’m scheduled to post on Wednesday, so this should tide us over until then.

115 comments March 3rd, 2008

Wish You Were Here

 So, okay, Dee, RSS and I have decided to use the Bail Fund to purchase property on the SC coast.  Dee says the men here are ever so nice and she thinks we can do a really nice place for $102 and a smile.  Hey what happens in SC stays in SC.Going to try to include a picture here. 

The view we drank coffee to this morning. 

 You are all here in spirit.  Wish you were all here in fact.  Maybe next year.  GP, BCB, and JenB … we’ll see you tomorrow.

82 comments March 1st, 2008