Wednesday Food Randoms, A List for Glowie

1. I love crusty garlic bread. Not that butter-laden dreck where you slice into a loaf of Italian bread, slather on butter and sprinkle with garlic salt. I’m talking about that bread where multiple cloves of roasted garlic are gently folded into the bread before it’s baked. Simple perfection. Crispy, just-baked crust, with a clove of creamy garlic somewhere in just about every slice. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

2. Spanikopita is my new favorite appetizer. Delicate puff pastry wrapped around spinach leaves and feta cheese, then baked. Again, perfection.

3. Why do we feed our children Meals Ready To Eat? Are we preparing them for the military? When offered a choice between homemade soup and/or a nice sandwich – your average 6 y.o. will pick something called a ‘Lunchable’ every time. Why?

4. Last night I served franks and beans, in honor of the Wall Street crisis in progress. You know, in case we were suddenly broke or something. But Tom says we’re okay. Whew! ‘Cause I hate franks and beans!

5. Samoas are still the best Girl Scout Cookie.

6. Why is it that every time I buy nice stir-fry veggies I forget to make stir-fry until the zucchini get wrinkly?

7. I will have an Everything Bagel for breakfast this morning, in case you were wondering.

8. My DD makes excellent chicken taco filling. She uses boneless frozen chicken breasts, cooks them in the slow cooker until they are fall-apart tender, then forks them apart, turns up the heat and adds green pepper, corn and black beans along with her special sauce. Freakin good!

9. These are the spices I have in my spice cabinet:
Allspice, Basil, Black Pepper, Cardamon, Celery Salt, Chef Paul Magic Fish Fry, Chili Powder, Chinese 5-Spice, Cinnamon, Clove, Coriander, Cream Of Tartar, Cumin, Curry, Dill, Fennel, Fennugrek, Garam Masala, Garlic Powder, Ginger, “Italian” Mix, Jerk, McCormick 1-Step, McCormick Salad Supreme, Montreal Steak Seasoning, Mustard Seed, Nutmeg, Oregano, Paprika, Red Pepper, Rosemary, Rubs (various), Safflower, Saffron, Sage, Salt-Free All-Purpose (great on Georged fish), Seasoned Pepper, Seasoned Salt, Sesame Seed, Spike, Tamarind, Tandoori, Thyme, Tikka Masala, Turmeric. (Some of these I have in both whole-seed and powdered form.)

10. I don’t do tens

Hats off to Parents

I forgot how much time a six year old takes, lol. She's a very sweet and well-behaved little girl I have this week - but I have to keep doing stuff. The good news is that I still know how to draw and color like a professional mom. The downside is that kid lives and goes to morning KG about an hour away - so I have to spend a huge chunk of each day driving.

One thing. Books for this age of kid (at least the ones her mom approves of) don't seem to have villians or any real conflicts. Everything is happy, cooperative squirrels and bear cubs building snowmen together - stuff like that. I think kids need morality tales, and stories with a bit more "tooth". How else to learn about life?

Winter Tradition

Like most snowbelt communities, we have a tradition which dictates that when a snow storm is coming, everyone runs to the grocery store to buy milk and bread. You know, just in case.

This weekend we are supposed to have our first big snowstorm in about 8 years. So friday at noon I went to the grocery store. While there I saw a grown woman shopping in her pajamas! I couldn't believe it! It was noon on a friday, she was about 50 years old, a little bit chubby.

In disbelief I circled her. She was wearing wrinkled baggy, shapeless pants. Baby blue with a tiny little print of clouds and sheep. The top was a matching pullover print. With dark boots and a navy blue nylon parka. What kind of moron adult woman goes to the grocery store in obviously slept-in pajamas and boots!?!

I'm still laughing over this one!

And still waiting for the snow too. We have barely an inch so far.

If You Give A Kid A Bankers Box Full Of My Little Ponies

They will play happily for the longest time. Bonus? Two trolls hiding in the bottom of the box.

Also, Graycie is learning to play "fetch" cat-style. Kid throws the little squishy ball, cat runs and gets the little squishy ball, then cat tries to hide with it. So far nothing has broken. I forgot how useful it is to think of games where the kid has to run up and down the stairs 25 times in a row.

Eventually, we will play cards.

More Reading. Less Blogging.

That's what I'm up to these days. I blame the dentist and Tom, and - well - myself. I had to buy 4 books at B&N last week because I always go to B&N after the dentist. Then on Monday Tom wanted to cruise around town and we wound up at a Borders which had all kind of good stuff on their Bargains table. Six more books. Then yesterday I received 4 books I ordered from Amazon the day before we went to Borders.

So I'm reading Jeffery Deaver's latest right now, with F. Paul Wilson waiting on the tarmac. I love Repairman Jack!

Also, I was kind of conned into watching a friend's KG kid because her regular daycare person had surgery and friend couldn't find anyone else. April will help with the babysitting too. I pick the kid up from school at 11:45 and we have her until about 6 p.m.

At least we are out of the deep freeze, with daytime temps in the 20s and 30s!

Grumpy Steve's

This is my favorite place to get coffee, in Stillwater MN.

Besides really good coffee the coolest thing about this place is their restroom in a cave! The old brick building that houses the coffee shop is built up against the river bluff, which backs onto a limestone cliff that is riddled with caves. The caves near town were used to either grow mushrooms or store beer while it cured. This building stored beer. I just think it is so cool to go pee in a cave (in a toilet of course!)

Steve, of Grumpy Steve's fame got all grumpy because he loves coffee, built his whole life and livelihood around coffee - then had to give up caffeine on his doctor's orders. Something about a bad heart & dying & stuff. So all day long he has to brew his wonderful coffee, which he can't drink anymore. Poor Steve.

*sips her coffee*

I'm Kinda Out For A Bit

Tom has the day off today. Since he couldn't get home before 8 to 10 p.m. all this week, we are going to just spend the day together. So far the plan is to have dinner at India Palace, see Pan's Labyrinth, and also go grocery shopping. I like to take Tom grocery shopping because he is so good at packing the darn bags and then schlepping them out to the car and into the kitchen.

Right now he is still sleeping, poor baby. I hope he sleeps until noon because he is sorely sleep-deprived. I may start reading some of those books I bought at B&N which I listed somewhere below.

Still no snow to mention here, with temps hovering around zero. I'd rather have snow because that warms things up!

Shades of the Westminister Dog Show

Yesterday I watched most of the Westminister Dog Show, which has inspired me to post photos of my dogs through the years. Well - the ones I have photos of, anyway.

The first dog I can remember was called Big Red. He was an Irish setter that my family adopted after our neighbour saw a car stop on the highway near our house, open the car door and boot the dog out. Red was gorgeous, and perfectly trained. I'm not sure how long we had him or what his final fate was. I think he got sick and died. I remember lots of vet trips with him.

This is Tuxedo, a Springer Spaniel who was "my" first dog because I got to pick him. He was kind of barky but a very sweet pet. I had fun teaching him the usual tricks.


This is Squiggle, a beagle that my evil sister Carole picked out and was "her" dog because it was her turn to pick a dog or something. Anyway, Squiggle was a nice dog but spent his life tied in the backyard. He was a runner and we did not have a fenced yard, so if he wasn't inside he had to be tied.


Then we had a mixed-breed black dog who looked like a Flat Coated Retreiver, all black. I don't have any photos of Leilani because she was a dog with absolutely no brains and a need to chew on priceless antigues. My mom got rid of her pretty quick.

This is Ginger, my favorite childhood dog. I bought her from the back of a pick-up truck for $2.00 while my parents were Christmas shopping in a mall in Hamilton. Boy, were the folks mad! Dad took me to return her but the truck was no longer there. Anyway, Ginger was the best dog we ever had! She could do any trick in the book. Climb a stepladder and jump off the top through a hoop? No problem. Ginger could do it. She slept on my bed, the only dog ever allowed to do that. She read my mind. Such a wonderful little dog!


This was my first collie, Vega. Best dog I ever had. So beautiful! Utterly reliable. Man, I loved that dog and my first husband hated her. I wound up giving her away to an acquaintance when she was about 5 years old, in one of my many attempts to make that marriage work. In retropect I should have ditched the husband a few years earlier and kept the dog. I would have been much happier. I could write paragraphs about this dog! She was the perfect dog for me.


This is Daisy, a dog I got after I divorced the idiot. I wanted to get Vega back, but the acquaintance had moved - probably to avoid giving my dog back. She thought Vega was the best dog in the world too! Daisy was a nice dog but rather scatterbrained. She's the dog I had when I met Tom, so I remember her fondly for that..


This is Midnight Sonata on the day we got her. Tom and I were newlyweds and getting another tricolor collie was such a healing thing for me. Midnight was another good dog. She is the first dog I ever got who was already an adult dog. Her breeder had kept her for a show prospect until she was one year old, then decided she didn't quite have the right stuff for a show dog. She did, however, have the right stuff to be a great family pet.


After Midnight, we had a huge Newfoundland Retreiver I named Lord Simcoe. (I can't find a scanned photo of him.) He was a nice dog, but super-dominant. I had to dominate him every day in every way to get him to obey me, which was way more effort than I was expecting. It kind of took the fun out of having him.

Now I only have cats. I have lost too many dogs. Tuxedo, Squiggle and Ginger were all run over by cars. Vega I had to give away. Midnight and Simcoe I had to put down when they were at the end of their lives. I hate putting dogs down! It's just too hard.

Three More Things

1. Porn. My son with autism is not allowed to watch porn even though he just turned 21. It's just better that way IMO. At home he likes to watch the History Channel, Food Network and Cartoon Network - when he's not listening to Sirius radio or watching videos. I have always been aware that DISH had all these PPV channels way up on the listings but I never watch, don't pay attention to them, and thus never put that parental control lock thingie on them.

So imagine my surprise when I walked by the TV room on saturday and found him watching porn. DS had subscribed to a PPV channel. I said "ack!" and called Tom because he's the resident geek. Tom, of course was immediately transfixed by the porn and stopped in his tracks, watching.

Me: We have to put that parental lock thing on.

Tom: Uh-huh.

Me: We have to do it now, Tom.

Tom (in his best wheedling voice): But. It's porn!

Me: Tom, we agreed it is not in Max's best interest to see hard-core stuff.

Tom: But. It's girl on girl action! Oo look they're licking pussy!

Me: *rolls eyes*

At that point DS got bored with all the pussy licking and switched back to CN. And we now have parental controls in place for all PPV channels.

Sheesh. What is it with men and porn? I mean it's not like Tom is porn-deprived or anything. He has his favorite on-line sites bookmarked under 'financials' or somesuch. It was like that Friends ep - he just didn't want to turn the porn off.


2. When I went to the dentist last week she found a little spot that needed to be filled, so I have to go back this morning. I hate getting drilled. Afterwards, I will have to shop at the Barnes & Noble across the street until I feel better.

3. I got my Valentine's card and gift early! I got a bunch of dark chocolates and a nice little stone, horse-head shaped incense stick holder with some incense sticks. Unfortunately, Tom has a city council meeting on Wednesday so he will be home late. Oh well. DD and I have a date to watch The Descent on DVD.

Three Things

1. We can't find the vial of kidney stones. All that pain of delivery and we misplaced the children. lol.

2. Yesterday, diamonds fell from the sky. It was so beautiful. Sometimes when the temps are very cold and the air is very still a very rare kind of large snowflake forms. Instead of being composed of multiple small ice crystals the 'flakes' are composed of just a few very large crystals. When the sun hits them, they look like diamonds falling gently from the sky. I'm a cold climate person and I'm old - but I've only seen diamond-fall 2 or 3 times. (For other winter people: I'm not talking about falling glitter - that's not rare. But great diamonds? That's rare to me!)

3. Also yesterday I thought I missed the premiere episode of TAR. Most Sundays I try to do a quick review of my DISH recording schedule. For some reason DISH's on-screen guide called the 2/18 episode 'episode 2'. So I was in full WTF panic for about 10 minutes until I realized that I had not actually missed the premiere. Jeesh. I love that show!

Yay For DH !!!

He was off work on Friday because he thought he had a nasty kidney stone. Went to the doc and got an exam, an x-ray & some pain pills. Yep - they saw a spot that could be a stone.

He has had an occasional kidney stone for the past almost 10 years. So far he has avoided surgery - altho one time we were sitting in the hospital waiting room early one morning actually waiting for them to call him for pre-surgery admission when he went to the men's room and finally passed the sucker.

At 6:30 this morning, Mr. Swami passed his latest stone. It was a pretty uniform 3 mm in diameter. So another crisis is averted. Yay for Mr Swami!

We have a little vial of collected kidney stones. The biggest one is always called 'Mick'. This stone? Is not Mick.

Go Ahead. Laugh.,

I just bought a Barry Manilow album. Scratch that - I just bought the Ultimate Manilow



Twenty songs! All of them sung by Barry! I'm listening to Mandy right now. I have to wait for Copacabana until track 13.

*wonders if Coco will listen with me*

Oh Mandy,
Well you came and you gave without taking
But I sent you away.
Oh Mandy,
Well you kissed me and stopped me from shaking
And I need you today!
Oh, Mandy.

Vacuum Update & Stuff

Well, I went to Target and Loew's looking for a new vac. Both of them had a huge row of bagless models, and one token bagged model. I did not like the reviews I had read of some of the models and had never heard of some models. (The limits of online research are obvious once you are in the store, which does not carry the items they actually say are in-store on their website.) I refuse to pay for shipping on a vac that I haven't been able to evaluate by touching - so back we went to our downtown hotelier supply store. We bought a replacement canvas bag for our existing vac - a heavy duty, commercial grade Sanitaire and also bought a small System_Pro Sanitaire cannister vac to just keep upstairs. That's where I wanted the cannister attachments anyway. So for $160 I have one and a half new vacs. I am content.

Today I am off to the dentist. Hopefully she will pronounce my teeth healthy after the cleaning. I hate those rare odd times when she decides to break out an electrical torture device.

I like that I get a very thorough oral checkup. She feels all the nodes in my neck (which drain the mouth area I guess) and then wraps a gauze around my tongue and pulls it out so she can really inspect under it and all around my mouth and into my throat. She's the only dentist I've ever had who does that as a regular, preventive measure. Feels weird, but nice weird. Kind of dominating too. I likey.

Okay. I've babbled long enough.

When I Grow Old, I Can't Wear Diapers

Because I have all that stuff in my car and then some. I also have a folding saw and a folding shovel. Add to that my 6" knife, rope, tarp, bungee cords, blanket, folded garbage bags, and assorted maps - and you have a recipe for murder. I don't know how my coffee can with matches, candles, granola bars & Milky Way Darks will figure into the plot. Perhaps a cannibalism kit?

I am so sick of hearing about this astronaut. She is one of the few young adult women in America trained to wear diapers while on a mission. In a way it sounds kind of practical. Drink all the coffee you want on the road and never have to deal with scuzzy public toilets.

Lots of people wear panti-liners regularly. Why not take the next step and tuck a superabsorbant stick-on diaper (with or without wings) into your panties?

RIP Big Red

My vacuum cleaner, aka Big Red, has died. She still sucks, but all the crapiola dirt & dust combo winds up roaming free in the attached big red bag - not going into the properly connected dispo bag. This is not acceptable. That superfine dirt that looks like powdered mica makes me itch and if I get it in my eyes the whites of my eyes swell, which is super scarey.

So I need a new vac. Any recommendations? I like a floor vac, but quick & easy on-board tools are very useful. Also, are Dysons really worth the big bucks? (DH will be a hard sell.) If you use a vacuum without a dispo bag how much contact do you have with the superfine dirt when you empty it? Because I don't want to have to shower after I vacuum!

My Bag

My Bag.


My stuff.


Any questions?

My Superbowl Plans

1. Record the show.
2. Fast forward through the stupid ball-playing parts and just watch the commercial parts.
3. Eat BBQ chicken wings with bean dip and Tostito scoopers.

Colts. Bears.
Who cares?

*sigh* In reality we'll probably watch the show. Tom will focus on the football parts; I'll mentally tune in during the commercial parts, and we'll both watch hometown boy Prince at halftime. I like Prince.

Isn't Billy Joel singing the anthem? I half-saw him being asked about it on TV but didn't realize who he was until the end of the interview snippit. Man, is he old and grizzly looking!

I Have Drunk The Koolaide

Edited to add an appropriate pic.

It was Strawberry-Kiwi, with a slight aftertaste. But the tube they stuck down my nose was kind of uncomfortable. *sigh*
It's a brave new world and I will learn to embrace the change. Adapt or die. Lol, it's just a fucking blog format!

In other news it is -20' freaking fahrenheit degrees out there! I need to go grocery shopping and worse yet - get gas. I hate standing by the pump when it's -20 below! Hate it!

How Will The End Come? And a dryer update.

How will the end come when Blogger dumps the old blogger files?

Will we all just wake up switched?
Will we get a message: Switch now or lose your blog contents forever. (We're not kidding!)?
Will we be connected to endless error screens forever?

I wonder because this morning when I tried to enter Coco's blog Blogger told me to go bX-vjhbsj myself. It was kinda rude. Then I got in on my second try and everything looked New Bloggerish to me.

Don't they know that I'm old and change is difficult for me?


On the dryer front, my guy just called and said he should get the needed part by 1 p.m. tomorrow - so I still have hopes of laundry over the weekend. I'm tired of building wet forts.