ZZZzzzzz...

Besides being the last day of February, today is... are you ready?... Public Sleeping Day!

Need an extra 20 winks? Well today is the day to grab 'em and get away with it. Find yourself a quiet park, an empty bench, and lay your weary head down. Or maybe a beach blanket on a soft pile of sand. Or even a desk top. 'Course if you fall asleep on the job, you probably do so at your own risk.

Anyway, sweet dreams... enjoy your snooze. ZZZzzzzzz!

Oh my...

... the memories he engenders. I saw Tom Jones on The View this morning and for a dude pushing 70, he's still not bad atall... gray hair notwithstanding!

Back in the day, when he first came on the U.S. scene, oh.my.heart.and.soul! It wasn't the face so much (but oh, those bedroom eyes!) as it was that sexy voice and those lovely tight pants that left precious little to the imagination. What a powerful voice and oh, could the man move that hunka-hunk of a body! Oh yes!

I can't remember how many times my girlfriend Ruthie and I saw him in concert. We rarely missed a show when he appeared at the Shady Grove Theater in Montgomery County MD. With it's circular stage, we could see all angles of his, uhmmm... manliness... as he moved about the stage, dodging the panties and keys that got thrown up there with him. Fun times!

Of course the critics were ready to pounce, and said he'd never be a career singer. Claimed that powerful voice wouldn't last because of its raw raucousness and he'd never make it long term. Ha! well, I guess he showed them!

For sure, his voice is not as powerful as it was 40-some years ago, but whose is? And okay, he's put a bit of paunch and pounds onto that sexy bod and had some face work done (which is why he wears the goatee,) but hey, you wouldn't catch me beating him off with a stick!

And then, there was also Englebert Humperdinck. Totally different style... more romantic and elegant ... but uh huh, yes -- what a voice. And another set of those eyes. *sigh*

Veggie soup

Here's the easy peasy veggie soup recipe Sue asked for, compliments of my sister. (one of these days, when I take a photo, it'll make it over to my kitchen blog.) :)



Country Vegetable Noodle Soup

1 cup sliced celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 cups (2 quarts) chicken broth
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (16 oz) pkg frozen mixed vegetables
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 (16 oz) pkg fine egg noodles, uncooked

In a 6-quart saucepan or dutch oven, over medium heat, cook celery, onion and garlic in oil until tender; add remaining ingredients except noodles. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add noodles. Cover and simmer 5 minutes or until noodles are tender. Enjoy!

Note: while the recipe doesn't call for salt, I added a bit for the noodles.

To bean or not to bean...

You know what? I don't like frozen green beans. Actually, I can't stand frozen green beans! They're tough, taste like dirty grass, and are just plain nasty. I like fresh green beans. I like canned green beans. I like most veggies, frozen or otherwise. But, I don't like frozen green beans... and I'm not ever going to eat them again!

What prompted this little outburst? Well, I have several recipes that call for mixed veggies, most recently one I got from my sister for vegetable noodle soup (very tasty, big "E.") Now, most bags of frozen mixed veggies usually contain, at the minimum, green beans, peas, carrots, and corn. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you'll find some that include lima beans. I'm one of those people who like limas. I prefer them canned, but tolerate them frozen. A lot better than I tolerate those other frozen green things. Anyway, whenever I do use frozen mixed veggies, I always eat the stupid green beans first just to get them out of my way so I can enjoy the rest of whatever I'm eating. Silly, huh?

So, I have decided. Frozen veggies are on special this week and I'm getting me a bunch of bags of peas, carrots, corn AND limas and I'm going to mix and freeze my own veggies... without any nasty green beans!

And that's the truth!

Procrastination pays

Sometimes it's not such a bad thing to wait. In last week's sale insert, Safeway had asparagus for $1.99/lb. Whoa, great price! So, we got a pound, which were delicious, and I told Lew we really should get more to freeze since they were such a good deal.

Well, as things usually happen around here, one thing led to another and that idea got pushed back until yesterday. Which, was the last day for the sale. I figured they probably wouldn't have any left, but what the hey, Lew made a quick trip to the store anyway and boy, did that work out! Not only did they still have some but they were also marked down to $1.68/lb! Don'tcha just love when that happens?

So, slicing, blanching, and chilling were the first thing on the agenda this AM and we've now got five bags of asparagus freezing.

Either my domesticity is working overtime lately or I'm more concerned about the economy than I thought!!

Pickles & pineapple

Ewww, what a combination, huh? Not to worry, not some strange concoction I've dreamed up, just finishing up a couple of food prep jobs to clear the kitchen counter -- but thought it'd make an interesting post title! ;)

Got my first Dole gold of the season peeled, cored, chunked, and chilling in the fridge. Soooo sweet and juicy. Also got a plain, ol' jar of dills in there chilling and after a little doctoring, transforming themselves into sweet dill slices. Hmmm... is there a sweet theme here??

That's it, I'm done in the kitchen for the weekend.

A little of this, a little of that...

First of all...
Hope you're having a loving he♥rt day!


Okay, I did my part to stimulate the economy... I spent some money. Not quite $20, but hey, times are tight, ya know! LOL I finally broke down and bought a little something I've been wanting for years -- a cake stand with cover.

Isn't it silly how we deprive ourselves... well, deprive is pretty strong, but you know what I mean. It hasn't been any great sacrifice to go without a cake stand, but why do we wait so long to do such goofy little things? I could have parted with $20 a long time ago, but this was one of those "ah, one of these days" things. Anyhoo, I finally did it.

Today was another fixin's for the freezer day. We had crockpot sticky chicken Thursday and today I picked through what was left of it to use for casseroles. Ended up with 3 cups of chicken so went ahead and made up a Country Casserole that was enough to fill seven individual baking dishes. Wheee!

Had a couple of pounds of baby carrots that needed blanching, so got those done and ended up with 4 two-cup bags of those. Along with the crockpot full of ginger/cinnamon glazed carrots I made last week, we're set for carrots for awhile. (you may have guessed... carrots were on sale last week!)

Not much else going on, just the usual nuts and bolts of everyday life here in the cornfields of MD. I've walked on the treadmill every day so far this year (yay for me!) and in the past couple of weeks have added more and more time on the stationary bike. My goal is to do at least an hour and half between the two every day, plus whatever time I get in on my aerobic step and 2lb weights. I absolutely must lose some of this weight I'm collecting from inactivity!

And on a final note, I've recently added more fiber to my diet. In the form of ground flax seed. They say just sprinkle it on your oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, etc. Add some to your meatloaf or other dishes. It's supposed to be real good for you... Omega 3 oils and all that jazz... and you hardly notice it's there. True, you hardly do. However, I have made one very important discovery... crunchy yogurt is extremely unappetizing. Jes' saying'.

… if you love somebody, tell them.
Rod McKuen

First Saturday

On the First Saturday of every month, downtown Frederick offers a different main street activity from 5:00 - 9:00 pm. Today's was Fire in Ice, an exhibit of more than 30 ice sculptures, along with an ice carving demonstration, several marshmallow roasting stations, music, and free hot cocoa.

We decided to join in the fun before dinner and made our way down to Shab Row and Everedy Square. With temperatures hovering at 60 degrees all day, it wasn't surprising to see the sculptures doing a slow drip, drip, drip when we got there. We walked around a bit, took some pictures, drove around to see a bit more, and then came on home. We didn't partake of any of the goodies, but it was a fun excursion!




Lew's Pics has a few more ice shots.

One spoiled feline!

Last month Giant had precooked, frozen crab legs on sale. Thinking that might be another way to get my crab leg fix, we bought some and put them in the freezer. Whereupon I promptly forgot about them. In this week's flyer, I noticed they had crab legs on sale and mentioned it to Lew, who was quick to remind me that we already had some that needed eating. Duh! These senior moments are disconcerting!

So, anyway, we decided to have the legs for dinner tonight (so we can get more tomorrow) and made preparations for our mini, wintery crab feast. Newspaper on the kitchen table - check. Paper towels - check. Shell bowl and shell crackers - check. Butter warmers - check. Cat begging at the table - check. Legs being heated in the oven (per a reheating method I read about) - check. Wait, wait -- back up. Cat at the table? Oh yes, there she sat, on a vacant chair, all ready for (and expecting!) her share.

Now, generally speaking, and except for hubby and grandkids if I'm feeling extremely generous, I don't share my crablegs with anyone. As in pick it and give it away! Oh no, I go about the serious business of picking my own crab, and eating every single morsel all by myself. I'm greedy that way. This night, however, I had this pair of big, luminous slate-blue eyes silently boring a hole through me and a furry little paw occasionally batting at my fingers whenever I wiped them. Sucker that I am for blue eyes, I finally caved. Not only did she get some crab meat, but she got some of the very best part from that part of the claw closest to the body. The beast has nooooo idea how spoiled she is!!

The house smells like a fishing boat but it sure was worth it -- cat paws and all.

Rabbit ears get reprieve...

Ah, jeez! Just do it already! Haven't we had years to get ready for this questionable analog to digital decision anyway? Now we have to endure those obnoxious "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" commercials for another 4 months!

Aarrgh!

The day the music died...

It's been 50 years today since Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper died in that airplane crash in an Iowa cornfield. Unbelievable. How can it be so long ago?

I'm a huge fan of real rock 'n' roll, the music that started it all back in the 50's. The 2000+ version? Eh, not so much.

My rock 'n' roll, the one that included the above three and many more like them, got me through my teenage years. LIke scores of other teenagers, I collected the records of my favorites and danced and sang along to the music that our parents loved to hate. Many's the time I would hole up in my parent's bedroom (in our one-bedroom apartment) with the door closed to deaden the "noise," and lose myself in the lyrics and melodies of Sam Cooke, The Everly Brothers, The Platters and the like. I still have my original editions of Holly's "Maybe Baby" and "Oh Boy," and Valen's "La Bamba" in my cherished 45 rpm collection.

We've lost a lot of really great talent prematurely over the years... and what a loss it has been.

Rats!

Or should I say "Rodents!" Seems the chubby one up on Gobblers Knob poked his furry little groundhog head out of his burrow and declared:

"As I look around me,

a bright sky I see,
and a shadow beside me.
Six more weeks of winter it will be!"

Oh well, can't be all bad -- at least the sun is shining.

Simple pleasures

A little tennis, a little football, a little snack food, and a chubby purring lap kitty on a lazy, chilly Sunday. It doesn't get much better than that.

Since today's ESPN showing of the men's final of the Australian Open had the potential to conflict with the Super Bowl this evening, I recorded the 3:30 am tennis showing before I went to bed last night so I could watch it before the foootball game tonight. Have to get my weekend sports fix, ya know.

Then, I got all efficient and did some pre-preparations for tonight's snacking menu which included spinach dip, pigs in a blanket w/honey mustard dipping sauce, and a carmelized onion and roasted red pepper cheese puff recipe I created.

All that was left to do was curl up in my comfy chair, snuggle under my flannel throw, and entice my beastie boy Buster to come up and get cozy on my lap. We then watched the tennis match together. Well, I watched -- he purred, slept and kept me warm.

When football time came, Lew joined me and we settled in for more TV. We've munched heartily, enjoyed Bruce rocking on at halftime, and the Steelers are winning as I type. All in all, a good day of simple pleasures.