Thank yous and Awards

I had some lovely ladies bestow some awards to me and I am honored and delighted. From Donna at http://mytastytreasures.blogspot.com/ I received the Friends award, and from Spryte at http://sprytesplace.blogspot.com/ and Katherine at http://smokymountaincafe.blogspot.com/ I received the Sisterhood award, and from Lettergirl over at http://notgoingpostal.com/ I received the Kreativ Blogger award. I know you already check them out, as I see a lot of you on each other's sites. We are a funny bunch, doncha think? People at work just look at me like I landed from Mars and say "You take pictures of food, put it on the Internet and look at other people's websites who do the same?" Heck yeah! These people get me; they understand that it is a creative outlet and we all have a love for a common theme. What isn't to get?

Two things:

1) I have tried to get just the names of the blogs to work doing that link button thing, and it won't work. I have just typed in the name of the blog after right clicking on the person's site and renaming it, but when I go in after my post is posted and click on it, it goes to an error page. The only time I seem to get it to work is if I use the whole addy. If anyone can give me simplistic answers on how to do it, I'm all ears. For as much computer work I used to do, it was all program based that was written my the business I worked for.

2) I know I am suppose to name 8 people and link to them. I love all of you; I can't pick and choose, so for all of you, I want you to take these awards back to your sites from me.

Have a happy April Fools day and I hope you don't get tricked too badly. But really, the awards are no trick-really, please post them on your sites :)

Cake for my Cutie

This is what it looked like outside today-pretty much matched my mood. Neither one of us slept last night, so we played Parcheesi. No, not really. We watch HGTV and Food Network until he had to get up to leave at 5:30. We watched an episode of House Hunters International with a couple from here in Minnesota. The host lady-cracked me up. This couple lives in a very nice house on Lake Minnetonka. Here in MN we pronounce it "Min-a-tonka" (where Tonka trucks used to be made-cool factory). She pronounced it "Miny-tawnka". But in her defense, if you don't live here, you probably can't correctly pronounce Shakopee, Sogn Valley or Winona either. Two people looking for a 4 to 6 bedroom house with 3 or more bathrooms and deep water access. They ended up with a 10,000 square foot house-FOR TWO PEOPLE on an island by Honduras. So, maybe I'm a little jealous. So we bought lottery tickets for Wednesday! And some tulips to dull the rainy/snow mix we got today.

While shopping the other morning after work, I asked the Dude to maybe give me some ideas of what he wants to eat. If he tells me "I would like _______" I would totally make it for him. No, I'm not a Valley Girl, but yes, I have used the word 'totally' since 1981 and won't apologize for it-or stop using it since it is ingrained in me. Wait, what were we talking about? Oh, whatever he would ask for, I would gladly make. There wasn't much on the list-mainly dairy and veggies, but he headed to the baking aisle and said "I want cake". Meaning, he wants German Chocolate with Coconut Pecan frosting. Nope, nothing from scratch-he likes the box. Since I wanted him to have a treat after his surgery, I gladly put the mix in the cart and continued on our merry way.

I just followed the directions on the box

made the cake

and frosted it

It will go to work with us tomorrow.

I made dinner while he took Drama Queen driving. I'm in such a fog today that I took picture of me making the turkey meatballs-and nothing else. I uploaded my pictures and saw that I had no finished shots with the spaghetti sauce, noodles, garlic bread. Nothing. I wasn't sure how it would go over with turkey meatballs instead of beef, but I spiced them up really well and the Dude and I thought they were great. The girls opted for noodles and a little sauce. Now I have heartburn that is practically coming out of my ears, and am off to search for my Gas-X. Our cart at Target last night looked like we were 90. Gas-X, Icy Hot gel, an ice/heat pack, a pair of arch supports for Dude's work boots and, well, we won't even talk about the last thing :)

I just want to publicly thank everyone for your kind words about my Dude. All the sweet and kind things you said really made me feel better. I know it will be torture waiting for these next two weeks to pass before he can see the next doctor, but fretting about it won't make it come any sooner or change whatever the results are going to be. We are getting together with our best friends this weekend who have been going through hell for the last year. The man of the couple was in an accident and a person died-it has been a life changing year for them and not for the good, except that it made their marriage stronger. We are going to grill out, despite what the weather will be, drink beer, play cards, listen to music and hopefully laugh all night. It has been way too long and I think it will do all four of us good. I'll bring my camera and get pics of food. I'm bringing the Poppin Bacon bread, my 2 Corn Casserole (which I will post) and a dessert that I found that is full of chocolate-y goodness (also which I will post).

I really do appreciate all of you who take time out of your day to stop by and have a look and leave a comment-it brightens my day every time. Thank you so very much.

Peace,

Tami

He's the love of my life

I haven't been posting much this last week, not only due to painting, cleaning and working, but also because the Dude is having a few health issues. Tomorrow he has to go get some cancer cut out of his ear. He burned it quite badly a few years ago while doing some welding and the burn turned cancerous. His old dermatologist cut it off a few times, but it kept coming back. We got a referral to a specialist and they do a different procedure. He has to stay all day and they cut out a little at a time and biopsy it until they get a clean read. I have every confidence that it will be taken care of this time.

We also visited the doctor tonight as the problem that I posted about right after Valentine's Day has reoccurred. The swelling isn't there, but a lot of pain and pressure. She referred him to a urologist (sp) but he isn't able to get in for 2 weeks. She didn't want to speculate on what it could be as she does general medicine and specializes in asthma (my problem). It could be a hernia, it could be something with his prostrate, it could be a host of things.

I'm a pretty strong person. Whenever we have run into bad luck or when I have been the one with health issues, I just kind of dig my feet in and say 'okay, well it can only get better from here. What is our next step.' Now I'm not feeling too strong. Whenever I think of the things I want to do or try or places I want to go, I think as 'we' not 'me'. And while I'm sure the doctor will find nothing that can't be fixed or solved, there is that little annoying twitch in the back of my head that says 'what if?' What if it is something big? What if something happens and I'm left here alone? What happens with our plans of grand vacations when we are empty nesters and the smaller house in town we want to buy?

What happens isn't up to me and I have to have a little more faith, but right now-for this few minutes, I'm scared and feeling a little sorry for myself.

Thanks for indulging me and my little pity party.

I'll have food tomorrow. He'll be gone all day, the kids will be at school so it will be the perfect day to take out a little angst in the kitchen.

And on a lighter note, one of our friends fell in love with a stripper on his trip to Mexico last week. Oh honey-c'mon. I know a nice Lutheran girl who can save your life if you are in a car accident and keeps her clothes on for a good portion of the day!

She Passed

7 questions wrong
$12
Passport and Social Security card
Picture (but no smile-Homeland Security rules!!??)
Talked me into letting her drive home
2 rum and cokes under my belt (after pulling in the driveway)
Betty Ford-hold my spot, I'm sure I'll need it after the next six months of behind the wheel until she can get the license.


Way to go Booger-I'm proud of you.

Footnote-Boog was excited to see a post about her and that people commented on it. Thanks-you made her day. Also, as I look at yesterday's post and my grumbling about the teenage drama, please know that I totally am not one of those moms who say 'my kid never does anything wrong'. I know too many people like that and it has come back to bite them in the arss. If Boog had done something wrong, she would have been totally punished. She said she got everyone to apologize to each other (herself included) that there were misunderstandings between all of them. teenage girls who, sigh, are teenage girls keep giving me greys. I'll have a bald spot soon. Just keeping it real :)

Casey's Guac

Here is Casey's recipe. Well, she says it is a guideline basically. Depending on how big the avocados are, etc. It turned out very well. I ate a couple tablespoonfuls with some chips. I then decided that I should eat something substantial. I steamed some potatoes and made a loaf of bread in the bread machine. I love bread, especially bread baking. Yum-I ate three thin slices along with the spuds. I had batch cooked some chicken earlier in the night and made some rice to go with the rice for the kids. I wasn't in the mood, so it was spuds and bread for me-a nice carb overload. And dealing with teenage drama. I am sooo tired of teenage drama. It involves my youngest, her BFF, some stupid videos they made in my daughter's room and other people talking about the videos, but basically lying about what is in them. My question? Watch the videos and see that they are teenage girls making up stupid stuff and laughing at themselves and that it isn't about your daughter. Ugh. How them dressing up in old prom dresses and talking about their favorite bands turned into 'they are picking on my daughter', I don't understand. Remember when I said we live in a small town and still are treated as outsiders? This is prime example. Apparently if your apple doesn't marry the apple from the next tree, you are non-essential in this town. I digress.

Guacamole-people love it or hate it. I happen to love it. Casey's version is very fresh and flavorful. It reminds me of the resort we stay at in Mazatlan, where they make it fresh all day long at the pool. Ahhh, after days of 60 we dipped back to about 35 today with a wintry mix. I could so use a Mai Tai, a ham and cheese and some guac!

Casey's Guac

2 avocados
half a lime
1 tsp minced garlic (Casey used jarred, so I used jarred)
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
half a teaspoon of cumin
salt and pepper
about half a tablespoon of cilantro, minced

Cut open avocados and scoop out flesh. I used my handy-dandy slicer the Dude gave me for Christmas.

Slightly mash in bowl.

Roll lime on counter to get juice flowing. Cut in half and squeeze half over the mashed flesh.


Finely chop the red onion and drop in bowl.



Dump in the garlic,



the cumin and a good pinch of salt and a couple twists of fresh ground pepper.



Top with the cilantro and use fork to stir together.



Take some plastic wrap and set right on top of the dip. Squish down so it covers the entire dip. This will help delay browning. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors mingle.




Serve with chips.



Use the other half of the lime to jazz up your rum and cola or float one in your Mexican beer!







I loved this bag of chips as it reminds me of Mazatlan. During happy hour, it is 2 for 1, but down there, they say it opposite of us-it is 'one for two?'. We always opt for '4 for 8' but that is just how we roll. It just made me laugh that it says "$2only" (all one word). It is the small things.

Man, I hope I don't have to go to the principals office tomorrow. Plus, she takes her Driver's Ed test and has been studying all night. Pass that wine......



Pss-look at this pheasant that was sprinting around my yard today. He was darting all over the place. I never got to get my zoom lens on the couple times I saw him (I was using my camera for other stuff too) so these are the best ones I got. He was big.

Poppin' Bacon Bread

I had mentioned the other day that I made an appetizer along with dessert for our girls movie night at my friend Casey's. Cathy at Noble Pig had a recipe from her contest for bacon pull apart bread, but it had peppers in it I think. I love the flavor of peppers, but not so much like to eat chunks of them. I found an old recipe that I had cut out of a Taste of Home magazine many years ago, and it made bacon bread with bread dough and ranch dressing. I pulled some parts out of each and came up with Poppin' Bacon Bread.


Poppin' Bacon Bread

1/2 pound bacon, cooked, cooled and chopped

2 cans Grands biscuits (I had the store brand on hand)

1/2 stick of butter, melted

2 TBSP dry ranch dressing mix

1 cup shredded cheddar (not shown)

mmmmm, bacon

Grease a 2 quart casserole dish. Open both cans of biscuits. Cut each biscuit into four pieces. Layer the biscuit pieces in the bottom of the dish, sprinkle with bacon pieces. Mix the dressing mix into the butter and stir well. Pour a little of the butter over the bread, then toss about a third of a cup of cheese over the top. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used. Cover top of dish with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes, removing foil the last 10.

My friends loved it and so did the Dude. My first attempt was good, however I did learn a few things. I only cooked my dish for 30 minutes uncovered. It got all golden and crispy on top, but once we ate the top layer, it was doughy in the middle. We popped it back in the oven and all was fine, but I would definitely do the foil and bake it longer. It may be that my dish was small in circumference, but pretty deep.

Oh, how do you know that you drive an old person kind of car? When the 80 year old 'cart boy' at the grocery store says "sweet ride!"

A) How does the 80 year old man even know "sweet ride"

B) Why does the 80 year old man have to push carts at his age, for goodness sake?

Thanks for flirting dude, but I'm married and I'm not giving up the Caddy~

Let them eat cake

It was another beautiful spring day here in southern MN. I didn't spend much time outside as I was baking, cooking and painting. I'm really tired of painting, but I still have to finish my laundry room-that no one will see. I painted the bathroom yellow also. The Dude is a little sick of my yellow obsession. He told me to buy a quart as our bathroom is pretty small, plus we have wainscoting on half of it. I didn't listen and bought a gallon. Yep over half left. Live and learn. Now I need to get a new shower curtain; I'm not digging the purple pansies right now. While pansies are still my favorite flower (planted, cut would be tulips), I'm needing a change.

I tried Donna's (My Tasty Treasures) StepGrandma's cake today. The recipe can be found http://mytastytreasures.blogspot.com/2009/01/stepgrandmas-4-layer-cake-omg.html. I did make a few changes, only because I'm not a fan of coconut unless it is Malibu rum and in my cocktail, and I didn't have time to split the two layers into 4 since I was painting up until 5 and our dinner party started at 5:30, so I barely got that sucker frosted. High praise Donna-they loved it. Megan thought the frosting was great as it was light and not too sweet, so it didn't detract from the cake flavor. It was moist and delectable. Here are some photos of the cake and of Casey giving Megan a lesson on making guacamole. It was so good. We just nibbled on appy's all night. I made a Poppin' Bacon bread, which I basically combined two different recipes into something that would work for me. I used a part of the Bacon Pull apart bread that Cathy at Noble Pig had as one of the finalists in her Superbowl giveaway, and part of a recipe I found in an old Taste of Home magazine. I will post that later this week.


Here is the cake








And here are Casey and Megan making some awesome guac!






Meg showing off her mad new knife skills!


It was nice spending a quiet night with friends. We sat around the kitchen table and talked about movies and kidded each other on what each other hasn't seen (Megan hasn't seen Top Gun!!)
We then watched "The Bucket List" and decided that the next movie night would be "Brokeback Mountain". Since my friends live in the city and get cable, they have DVR and can record movies. We on the other hand have a big 'ole satellite dish since we can't get cable out in the country and I don't even know if Tivo would work out here. Plus, if I had the ability to tape all my favorite shows and movies, I probably wouldn't have time to work or blog, so maybe that is a good thing!