Monday, February 28, 2011
Fourth time’s a charm!!
I don’t admit a whole lot of things because I’m a firm believer in the saying,
“I’m right, you’re wrong, And there’s nothing You can DO about IT!”,
But I really have to confess one thing, and that is I am a very BAA-A-AD Gardener.
I’ve attempted to plant a garden on this dry red earth four stinkin’ times now.
Between the droughts, locust, grubs, moles, reckless neighbors on ATVs, and sheer lack of Green Thumb, I have never succeeded at growing much more than a few onions.
WOE IS ME!!!
The one thing I am good at is NOT GIVING UP! So once again I have run to the local Garden Center picked out a medley of seeds and planted them in a big tray of soil pods.
BbGirl believes in me! She helped me sow the seeds. I am hoping to put together a raised garden this year. I guess we’ll see if it works.
..And LOOKIE!! Our seedlings have sprouted this week!! Time to cross my fingers and hope for the best!!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Everyone’s asking me why I was interested in knowing what “Night Trips” was. How was I to know that “Night Trips” is (according to the establishment): “The best damn strip clubs in Oklahoma PERIOD.”? Hahaha!
So where do I begin with this story? I guess I’ll start at the beginning, on the day my sore throat mutated. It started with a wheeze which was accompanied by labored breathing, that resulted in my having to take a couple swigs out of the Benadryl bottle because I thought I was having an allergic reaction to coming in contact mildew.
All that happened on Sunday evening. Monday crept upon me and my throat started to itch, my body began to ache and I went to bed that night shivering like crazy but sweating profusely. It was an odd experience. . .
On Tuesday morning I woke up having lost my voice, my throat was burning beyond belief and my body throbbed in pain. I was in agony but I didn’t have the heart to call into work sick. I just couldn’t! I had already missed three days of work due to my youngest being diagnosed with Type B Influenza, there was no way I was going to fail my bosses now especially since I had already messaged them saying that I had planned on being at school on Tuesday. Long story short, I went to work….
Wednesday was a miserable day indeed. The virus worsened, my tonsils and the lymph nodes in my neck were swollen, it hurt to swallow, it hurt to talk, it felt like my throat was on fire. When I got off work I decided to call the appointment line to schedule a check-up. The appointment line was closed and I was transferred to the On-Call Nurse Line. *O Joy* This is where my troubles began!
I called at 3:30pm and left my call back information with the phone operator. The operator told me that the wait time to speak with a nurse was only 30-40 minutes. (………3-hrs later phone rings) I pick up the phone where I’m greeted by an Eastern Indian speaking man named, Nurse Pete”. He asked me to describe my symptoms. . .
*a-hem* clears throat… “Burning,-swollen throat, loss of voice, runny nose, upper respiratory ickiness, swollen lymph nodes, and wheezy breathing.”
Nurse Pete interrupts… “What color is your throat? Are your lips and fingertips ashy grey? Are your lymph nodes in your armpits swollen? Are you running a fever? …and what’s the highest temp? (Here’s where the questions got funky…) Have you found lumps in your breasts? How many sexual partners do you have? Are you menstruating? When were you last tested for HIV? Do you have HIV? Assuming you have multiple sleeping partners, when did you last have intercourse with them?
…….WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! STOP THE PRESSES!!!
I ask the nurse, “Nurse Petey, what do those questions have to do with my having a sore throat?
Nurse Pete asks me not to interrupt and to answer the questions because he is coming close to deciding what is wrong with me. He continues… “Where’s the laceration?”, I ask, “What laceration?” Nurse Pete continues, “The laceration that is probably located near or around the swollen lymph nodes. Where is it?”
Me: “OK PETEY, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SMOKING? I don’t have any lacerations! If I did don’t you think I’d be half way to the ER and not piddling with you and your 20 sexual questions? “
This conversation lasted until 8:08pm. ‘Ol Petey and I argued over my diagnosis until he finally insisted that I have one of two things wrong with me.
ONE: I am a raging whore who enjoys a good rendezvous with multiple partners and contracted an STD that causes sore throats; or..
TWO: There is a laceration on my neck somewhere that I can’t see but it’s there because Petey said so and that’s gotta be the reason why my throat is swollen!
By now I figured out that Nurse Petey is pretty much an idiot. I was so blown away at his diagnosis I began to laugh, and I laughed…. And I laughed until I couldn’t breathe. My laughing got Nurse Petey very nervous. He got so nervous he even asked me to hold on a minute while he flipped through his Diagnosis For Dummies book to make sure he didn’t miss any other possible ailments that could be causing my very sore throat. He became so worried that I would snap on him after my fit of laughter he asked me to seek immediate medical attention to the closest Emergency Room.
I figured, what the heck, I’ll go to the ER. The ER was packed with sicky people. I was finally seen by a doctor at 11:30pm. The doc and his nurse wondered why I was in the ER, seeing as how I was only suffering discomfort from a sore throat. I humored him with the story of how I was given an authorization to be seen at the ER. The doctor then hollers out to his nurse, “Hey, I need you to order a Pap smear and an STD Test, STAT!” As he walked away laughing he turns back and says “The on-call nurse must have been a perv! Did you get his name?” (“….yea”, I jeered back, “Nurse PEEEETIEEE, HA!”) The doc and nurse at this point can’t control their laughter and release me with a script to medicate my bronchial irritation. In the distance heard them still snickering. Before we were completely out of sight the doc says in between chuckles, “Are you sure you didn’t accidentally dial the wrong number and maybe called, NIGHT TRIPS?”
HA!! What a night!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Warmer weather is on its way! My Health Coach e-mailed me this super yummy main dish chicken recipe to break-in the grill.
I have just one confession to make though.... I have not purchased a new grill to replace the one I torched last summer! And with Sherry being one of the ingredients in this recipe I might as well invite the fire department over for a cookout because Lord only knows how the chicken will turn out!I'm excited for Summer to arrive! All this Oklahoma warm weather has got me eager to open our pool!
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| My Torched Grill, Yikes! |
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| Weber: My Dream Grill! |
I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Hugs 'n Kisses to all my lovely readers! Have a blessed week!
xoxo,
Orange~Ginger Chicken or Fish
1/3 cup Tamari or low sodium sauce
1/3 cup Sherry
1/3 cup Orange Juice
2 teaspoon each dried ginger & minced garlic
8 chicken breast halves or 8 grouper/red snapper fillets (3 ounces ea.)
1 can (10 ounces) mandarin oranges
- Marinade: Mix tamari, sherry, orange juice, ginger and garlic.
- Marinate chicken or fish for 6 hours (or overnight).
- Grill chicken about 10-12 minutes on indirect heat or fish about 10 minutes (depending on thickness), brushing with marinade. Flip half way through. Add mandarin oranges w/ juice half way through.
- Alternate: If you'd rather use your oven, preheat oven at 350 degrees and bake chicken for 40-45 minutes or until juices run clear (bake fish for 20-minutes)
Fat grams: 3.2 Protein: 27.4
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Tis the season for Sicky Flu Bugs (Free Printable- Fever Log)
0 comments Posted by SouthShore Chick at 9:02 PM
I keep a Fever Log when my kids are ill just in case we have to make an Urgent Care or ER visit.
....*Sigh* I never did get around to trying my hand at baking the Dainty Cinderellas today. I had to trade in my oven mitts for a stethoscope this weekend. After spending the past 4-days nursing my baby back to health I did nothing more than drag around lethargically feeling so tired I couldn't even make myself rest if I wanted to. (I'll try and bake those cookies tomorrow.)
It looks as though we are over the danger zone with this flu virus and my little one's fever has held steady not going over 101°F. today. She still has her icky cough but that's to be expected. I just hope it doesn't keep her up all night.
I was pleased that my kids let me retreat to my bedroom for a quick 2-hr nap this afternoon. The nap did me some good. It gave me enough energy to whip up dinner tonight! I think it will be safe to sleep in my room tonight. For the past 3 nights I had camped out in the family room with BbGirl at my side to have her temperature monitored.
Call me a nut but I keep a Fever Log when my kids are ill just in case we have to make an Urgent Care or ER visit. It helps to give the doctors an idea of what's been going on, and how I've been treating their symptoms before seeking medical attention. I started doing this when my oldest daughter was an infant and dealt with a series of unexplainable seizures accompanied by fevers that lasted for up to 10-days where tests could prove no trace of viruses.
I hope my daughter and I can get a full night's rest tonight. We'd like to be wide-eyed and energized for school on monday.
Below is an image of the Fever Log I use. If you CLICK HERE you can be redirected to the Printer Friendly Version. Make sure that your printer settings are set to "Landscape" before printing the document. After printing, if you'd like your log to be in Note Pad form (Like mine is, pictured above) print out 5-10 copies and cut each page down the center. Affix one staple at the top to turn into a super-cool notepad like mine!
Alrighty, well I'm going to attempt to get some rest tonight. I've checked my BbGirl's temperature for one last time tonight and it's still sitting steady at 99.3°F. I think it would be safe to assume that I can gain a couple hours of rest before I have to wake up at 3am to recheck her temp again.
Goodnight friends and stay Healthy!
xoxo,
Friday, February 18, 2011
I love collecting cookbooks. I especially love finding vintage cookbooks that are worn and tattered!
While at the Red Rooster Antique Mall last summer, the store owner helped me dig out all his cookbooks. I only purchased the ones that looked like they were loved (i.e. stained, used/abused and left with remnants of flour dust in the the creases of each delicate page.) I took home a good handful of cookbooks that day. I will only share a few of my new books so as not to bore you.
Some of these cookbooks and cook-booklets amaze me. I found one called "Sweets" which was published in 1920 that has a small handful of candy recipes as well as advertisement for it's Vegetable Compound product for women by the Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Company. If you're interested in knowing what the heck Vegetable Compound is, CLICK HERE to be directed to Mr. John Brand's Buckaroo Leather blog. There is a complete article there that I found to be quite interesting indeed!
This lady actually "brewed" her own home remedies for ...*a-hem* "Women Complaints". I'm interested in finding out if these recipes are legitimate, and I am pleased to say that I have an entire weekend in the kitchen to try my hand at one or two of these recipes! I will use my brood of kids as my guinea pigs. They don't mind taking the responsibility of being the home chef's guinea pigs! (At least, I don't think they mind... can't say I've ever asked.)
This cookbook, "The Joy of Cooking" by Irma S. Rombauer, has definitely been through the wringer. The pages are dusted with old flour, stained with liquid ingredients and the spine looks as though it was dropped into a pot of mashed potatoes. It has definitely been loved and cherished for over 68 years!
Another book I took an interest in was "The Story of Crisco" cookbook, published in 1914. It's missing the front cover, and the back cover is ready to fall off. It's stained from Soup Verte on page 32 to Fig Fudge on page 128. It's edges are worn and pages are torn. It was loved all around and it boasts sporting "Two Hundred and Fifty Tested Recipes"!
But the most interesting cookbook of all that I found in the dusty stacks of books at the Red Rooster Antique Store was this one:
Copyright 1916
General Chemical Company
Food Department
New York
I didn't like it because it was worn and torn and stained all over. I didn't even like it because it boasted it's Tried-and-True "Dainty Cinderellas". I liked it because of what I found pasted inside the book.
Whoever owned this book clearly thought that the introduction and table of contents was rubbish.. a complete waste of space where more recipes could be displayed. For inside the book's front and back covers, as well as on the first few pages, I found newspaper and old cook-booklet clippings of recipes for Mock Chicken Pie, Spanish Omelets, He-Man's White Cake and more pasted on the pages! Thankfully not all the book's pages were covered in recipe clippings.
The store owner offered the book at a discount rate because he felt its value was depreciated due to the unfortunate destruction of its pages. I was pleased with paying $4 (I would have paid $12 but he doesn't need to know that.)
Seeing the book in the state it was in actually made me laugh to think that the cookbook's original owner used the book to store his/or her own favorite recipes by pasting them over the pages that weren't important to him/her. That's character right there, and I sure do love a book with character!
Here's a recipe taken from one of my new vintage cookbooks:
Ryzon Dainty Cinderellas
2 level teaspoonfuls Ryzon (baking powder).
2 level cupfuls (1/2 pound) flour.
1/2 cupful (1/4 pound) butter.
1 level cupful (1/2 pound) sugar.
1 egg
1/4 cupful (1/2 gill) milk.
1 teaspoonful orange or almond extract.
1 egg white.
Sift flour and Ryzon (baking powder) twice. Cream butter and sugar thoroughly together, add egg well beaten, milk, extract and flour. Mix well, turn out onto a floured baking board and roll out about one-half inch in thickness.
The Cinderellas should be cut out with fancy cake cutters in diamonds, triangles, squares, hearts, stars, and rounds. Brush tops of cakes with unbeaten white of egg and dust over with granulated sugar. Place on greased tins (i.e. baking sheets), without letting the cakes touch each other, and bake in a quick oven until nicely browned.
Sufficient for 40 cakes.
*Please note that a "Gill" is equivalent to 5-ounces. So 1/2 a Gill is half of that (2 1/2 shot glasses). Just remember that 1-ounce is 2-Tablespoons.
**Note: I think I will give this recipe a try tomorrow. My guess is that the cookies will likely require baking in a preheated oven of 350°F. for about 10-12 minutes. I will test it and see.
I love how the recipes calls for placing the dough on greased "tins". Have a great weekend everybody!
Love to all, (xoxo)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Mama taught us how to make Apple Crisp. She'd make it for us in the cool autumn mornings or sometimes in the mid-afternoons when we came indoors from play.
Mikey's my baby brother. He was the cutest little guy, and he loved apple crisp as much as the rest of us.
Mikey learned real quick how to make our Mama's yummy Apple Crisp and became a pro at it. His crisp was so good we deemed Mikey the Apple Crisp Fixer-Upper Person and when we wanted Apple Crisp we knew It was Mikey who could make it best when Mama was busy.
I'm hungry this morning and I have a hankering for some of my baby brother's Apple Crisp. I'd make him fly his butt out here to whip me some up but he's in heaven right now and I miss him. (I pre-prepped a pan of crisp to bring to school with me. I'll throw it in the oven when I get there this morning and share it with the class!)
This is a picture of Mikey before going on stage for a performance.
(He was a lead vocalist and lead guitarist in a band.)
Here's his recipe:
Mama & Mikey's Autumn Apple Crisp
Yields 6 - 8 servings
3/4 cup Old Fashioned Oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg and cloves
4 - 6 baking apples sliced and cored. (removing the skin is optional)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly grease a 9 x 9-inch pan with a little bit of butter.
- Prepare Apples as you would a pie by slicing them thin. Place in baking pan
- Combine other ingredients, mixing with fork until large crumbs form.
- Sprinkle crumb mix over apples.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Serve warm. (Tastes awesome served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream)
Love to all! Have an excellent day everybody! xoxo
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Say "I Love You" with a Sweet Treat! (Marshmallow Treats)
0 comments Posted by SouthShore Chick at 7:42 PM
Say "I Love You" with a Sweet Treat!
Today I dared the rediculous crowds at Walmart to pick up Valentine's Day cards and goodie bags for my 8-year old daughter's classmates. While there I grabbed last minute treats for the kids and teachers in my classroom. I believe I spent a good 3-hours confined in two shopping aisles watching people fight over the last Russel Stover truffles and googly-eyed Valentine's Day cards.
It was nice to finally come home and sit down with my daughters to put all the goodie bags together. I don't think I could have gotten it done without their help!
There are 20 kids in BbGirl's classroom. Instead of the traditional Valentine's Day card, we gave everyone a novelty cup filled with pencils, balloons, and candy of course. I tied each bag with a cute ribbon!
BbGirl was hard at work practicing her cursive handwriting as she filled out each card.
After supper I went right to work at making Marshmallow Treats for the party my classroom is going to have tomorrow. I also put together three platters of these yummy treats for the school staff at my school.
Marshmallow Treats (also known as Rice Krispy Treats) are so easy to make. I remember when I was about 7-years old my Mama & big sissy taught me how to make them.
When I make my Marshmallow Treats I sprinkle the whole pan of treats with holiday sprinkles, depending on which holiday we're celebrating! Sometimes I use a few drops of food coloring to tint the marshmallow as it melts. For a little fun, I like to cut the treats into shapes, straight out of the pan, with cookie cutters! Yum!
Say "I Love You" to your child, or someone you love, with a Sweet Treat nestled in their lunch box!
Marshmallow Treats
3 Tbsp Margarine
40 Large Marshmallows
5 1/2 Cups Crispy Rice Cereal
- Melt margarine in 3-quart saucepan over low heat.
- Add marshmallows and cook, stirring constantly, until marshmallows are melted and mixture is syrupy (If tinting marshmallow, add a few drops of food coloring during this step.)
- Remove from heat immediately, add Crispy Rice cereal, and stir to coat evenly.
- Press warm mixture evenly into buttered 13" x 9" x 2" pan.
- Cool. Cut into bars or with cookie cutters.
*Tip: When pressing mixture into pan, goopy up your hands with margarine first. It helps to prevent stick fingers and burns. (This was my favorite part when I was a kid because it was just about the only time I was allowed to "play" with my food!)
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
<3 Hugs 'n Kisses from your favorite Valentine! <3
xoxo,
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Lucky for the kids we were given another snow day...
Unlucky for me, on the other hand, I should be balancing the checkbook from last week's shopping excursions but..
..instead I'm tooling around with Opa's GIANT calculator that makes the numbers look ENORMOUS!! Please pardon the mess on my dining room table. It's filled with piles of receipts from all over the place. *Ahem* (Whispers..) Half of these purchases I don't recall making.
Let's see here:
Walmart (Storm was coming..Supplies included: Symphony Bars, Hot Tamales, Jalapeno Chips..)
Gordman's (Who can go wrong with a new pair of shoes?)
Academy (..Track spikes to take up new hobby. Maybe..)
Ross (well because I had to have these new cookbooks)
Walmart (because the recipe called for more MARSHMALLOWS!)
Walmart (Don't make me justify my boredom!)
um.. Some place called "Aloha Gardens".. (awkward..)
Ross (but-but..Baby Girl HAD TO HAVE a new apron!)
Aldi (love that place! Milk $2.40/gal, Oranges $1.39/3lb bag, Wheat Bread $0.69/loaf)
Walmart...(AGAIN!...)
Oooh Yummy ORANGE LEAF!!
Ross (Wow, walked out with nothing! They need to restock their little pretties!)
Williams-Sonoma (My favorite all time store to shop at!!)
Walmart (I had to have that cute pair of stretchy jeans.)
Taco Bell (I tried their newest Fruitista Flavor called Pomegranite Berry!)
Blue Sky Cafe (never heard of the joint but.. ok)
Hobby Lobby (thought I'd change things up a bit.)
Can you believe that's just a scant list from the pile of receipts pictured to the right of the above image? I don't believe I made all these purchases.
I PLEAD THE 5TH AMENDMENT!!
Somebody save me from myself! I think my head is about to spin off into oblivion!!
Ooh, I just found this very sharp pencil in the pencil cup! It's got a very fine point! I love freshly sharpened pencils. It makes writing in checkbook registers more fun because my handwriting looks more neat and tidy.
I am forming a love hate relationship with this perfectly sharpened pencil.
Pencil
I love
that
you are
ACUMINATE.
I hate
that
you
make me
PROCRASTINATE.
-TheEnd
Well........
I suppose I shall return to my work and continue to plug away at this super cool Enormous calculator that makes my numbers look huger than they really are.
It's like I'm richer than I really am because the numbers are HUGER!
I love this dusty 'ol Calculator!
BACK TO THE DRAWRING BOARD FOR ME...
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
That blizzard was interesting...
I went stir crazy at about 9:30 p.m. last night and decided I wanted to make fudge!! I got a little carried away with the nuts because, well, I wanted my fudge to resemble the state of mind my kids were in after being held against their will inside the house and forced to tidy up. I'm pretty sure they were on the brink of insanity because it was much too cold (6°F. /windchill of -20°F.) to go outdoors and enjoy the fresh fallen snow.
This recipe is extremely easy to make. It takes maybe 10-minutes, at most, to whip it together and another 30-minutes in the fridge to set.
Enjoy!
ROCKY ROAD FUDGE
Ingredients:
- Cooking spray, or Canola oil for greasing pan
- 3 1/2 cups Miniature Marshmallows
- 1 1/2 cups Pecans (or walnuts), coarsely chopped, optional
- 2 cups Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 14-oz can Sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla extract
- For easy handling and super easy clean-up, Line a 9-by-9 inch square baking pan with foil (be sure to let the foil hang over the outside edges of pan) and coat with cooking spray.
- Set aside 1/2 cup of marshmallows and 1/2 cup pecans.
- In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, microwave 2-cups chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk on HIGH for 1-minute.
- Stir with rubber spatula. If chocolate chips are not fully melted heat in microwave for another 30 seconds to a minute. Do not overheat.
- Stir in vanilla extract
- With your rubber spatula gently fold-in 3-cups of marshmallows and 1-cup of pecans.
- Pour mixture into prepared baking pan making sure to spread evenly to the edges of the pan.
- Sprinkle the top of fudge with reserved marshmallows and pecans.
- With your hands press the marshmallows and nuts into fudge.
- Cover baking pan with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or until it is firm.
- When fudge is ready to serve, lift the foil to remove the fudge out of the pan.
- Pull foil away from sides of fudge and slice into about 24 pieces.
Yay Fudge!!
Video: How to Clone Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake - with a 2-year-old!
0 comments Posted by SouthShore Chick at 8:28 AM
Todd Wilbur (Author of Top Secret Recipes) is one of my top favorite cookbook authors. His cookbooks were actually my saving grace when we were stationed in Okinawa, Japan for three years. Living overseas for three years we were limited to certain grocery food items, as well as a lot of our favorite restaurants.
Thank you Mr. Wilbur, you are definitely the Kitchen Clone King!
;;
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