Friday Feast #178

I have not participate in a FF for several weeks... The questions have been too hard for me to dwell on and I just said "pfft, not going to do it." This week's q's are very nice and superficial (a good thing for me lately), so here goes:

Appetizer
What is your favorite kind of cereal?

I do love cereal, but it does not like me. I've got sensitive teeth and the milk is COLD, and I think I'm a smidgeon intolerant of lactose.

Wheat Chex
Special K with red berries
Cocoa Puffs

Soup
When was the last time you purchased something for your home, what was it, and in which room did it go?

In November we bought a tree. It's an evergreen elm (click the link to see one). They are beautiful trees, fast growing and they give great shade. We planted it right beside our brick patio because the summer heat makes the patio unuseable during 3 months of the year (unless you're baking a pizza). I hope it becomes a shade monster!

Salad
What is the funniest commercial you’ve ever seen?

This has got to be it:




Main Course
Make up a name for a company by using a spice and an animal (example: Cinnamon Monkey).

turemic turtle
anise fleas
Bay bee
chipotle chihuahua
garlic gnu
minty maltese
mustard mustang
vanilla chinchilla

I could go on, but it's past my bedtime. =)

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I haven’t ______ since ______.

I'm not good at these. *pass*


***Go to Friday's Feast to learn more or to do your own spread.***

Special of the day

The other day I was browsing the recipe section of a women's forum I go to. My friend who will remain nameless unless she just really wants me to link back to her with this info, said she was making a "Mammogram Special" for supper. I asked why it was called that, did she pound the chicken flat?

She said, "Just baking chicken and serving it with summer squash. I made it up in honor of the mammogram I probably need to schedule."

My dense nature had kicked in and suddenly the word picture of it hit me, "Oh I get it....with summer SQuASH on the side...yes, that makes it more mamogrammish."

By the way, have you had yours?

Kelsey at Holy Mama! has a monthly prize drawing for ladies who do their BSE. Just go to her blog on the 17th of every month, its called, Club 17, and leave a comment that you've done your BSE and be put in a drawing for the prize.

And hey, the real prize could be finding something early and living a longer, healthier life with your family. Think about it.

Free rice....very nice

Please! Go over to Shannon's blog, Windscraps, and see the average weekly groceries for families (actual pictures of real families) from around the world. It is fascinating.

And then go to Free Rice to improve your vocabulary as you help donate rice for this world hunger organization. All you have to do is play the game.

Oh and I didn't forget the turkey today. Instead of a huge 20 pound raw turkey in my fridge, I've got a gallon container full of roasted meat to use up!

It's as plain as the turkey in front of your face!

So this afternoon, I pulled out some stew meat to make my locally (meaning my house) famous Irish beef stew. I put the hunka meat in the microwave to defrost it. I set it to 11 minutes on defrost, then took the dog outside. When I heard the 'ding' and came back, it had cooked for 11 minutes on high! It was almost cooked through. I put it in the pot with water, some broth and went to the fridge to get the worchestershire sauce and swigged some in. And while it was swigging, I noticed that it didn't smell like worchestershire sauce. That is because it was soy sauce. I ended up making an oriental stew and threw in onions, garlic, baby carrots, yellow bell pepper and sliced cabbage with the little chunks of beef. Then I added more soy sauce and served it over rice.

It was niiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Oh yeah, I forgot to add that I've had a turkey...huge 20 pounder....thawing since Friday. I was going to cook it today but totally forgot about it! I was even looking through the fridge to find something to cook and it was right there!!! (probably rolling it's little turkey eyes at me) A huge 20 pound bird....and I'm like, "Hmmmm, what should I make?" DUH

I hope I remember tomorrow. Maybe I should leave out a can of cranberry sauce as a reminder or

.....leave a trail of yams to the fridge
.....make pumpkin muffins for breakfast
.....dress like a pilgrim
*lightbulb goes on*
.....ask Charles to 'fix' it. Anyway, it is always his job to unwrap, wash, empty out the weird things inside and put it in the pan. (The big oval roasting pan in the garage honey! Thanks!)

Laughing at Danny

Charles ordered 3 dvds from Amazon with some reward bucks. He did well this time, ordering three Danny Kaye movies! We watched Court Jester tonight. It's so silly, but we end up laughing hysterically ever time we watch it.

Here is a clip from Hans Christian Andersen. It's been my favorite scene ever since I saw it on tv as a child. For a couple of years after seeing it, I would scan the tv guide every week to see if it was going to be on again. Charles also got this one and Inspector General.

Traveling to the Edge....from my couch

While I've been prolifically typing away here, I've been watching a really good show on PBS. With an HD receiver, we now get 5 PBS channels, one is all classical music with scenery backdrops, one is cooking and creating (how to's, crafting, sewing), two of them are regular public television channels with kids' shows and BBC productions and one is full of travel and scientific shows. Tonight a show on photography caught my attention and I have been watching one episode after another called Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe. I have not seen such fine, artistic, creative photography in a long time. I especially loved his work on photographing the wild grizzly bears in Patagonia. Art Wolfe Photography.

Awaken with care....it's a teenager

Yesterday was Beth's birthday. She is 18! So nice to have another grown up around the house. ;)

Maggie went to the piano at 7:15 am and began plunking out the tune to Happy Birthday to You and by the third time through, she was really doing a good job. On the fourth time through, there came an answer from the den of the sleeping teenager:

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want to came blasting back at us from her iTunes.

Such a snarky kid.

Happy birthday Bethany!!!

Feelin groovy

I felt really good for the first time in two weeks today. I went through the house, getting things done that have been bothering me for weeks! (like mopping the floor!) Then we sat out on the patio for a long time and talked and enjoyed the warm sun. Once the sun went out of range for shining on us, it got chilly quick and we went in the house. Charles has picked up the dreadful virus I had last week and it looks like it might take just as long to get through with it.

A nice, quiet day was just what we needed. There was a youth retreat this weekend, so the teens were gone. And Maggie went to her cousin's house and spent time harvesting oranges from their trees. When I pulled up to their house to pick her up, Maggie was standing under an orange tree on the side of the house. I had no sooner wondered where her cousin was, then she plopped out of the tree to the ground, like a ripe orange. =)

I came home with Maggie and a bag of oranges...Valencia oranges...yum. The other day we were sitting outside and I spied a lemon on our lemon tree. Just one. Last year we got exactly twelve. It was the year we planted it so it was not mature yet. A late freeze last winter killed the blossoms, so not many people have lemons this year. It was a nice surprise and it was a good one too! I've been enjoying wedges of it in my water each day.

A groovy day, man.

The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
Simon & Garfunkel

Slow down, you move too fast
You've got to make the morning last
Just kickin' down the cobble stones
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy!
(La,la,la,la,la,la, feelin' groovy)

Hello, lamp post, whatcha knowing?
I've come to watch your flowers growing
Ain't ya got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' doo-doo, feelin' groovy!
(La,la,la,la,la,la, feelin' groovy)

Got no deeds to do, no promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you, all is groovy!
(La,la,la,la,la,la, feelin' groovy)
(La,la,la,la,la,la, feelin' groovy)

Wordless Wednesday: Up, up and awaaaaaaay...

.....on my bouncy trampoline...





***To see more entries or to join in and do your own, go to Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom.***

Sick in the head

I'm under my electric blankie this morning with the vaporizer blowing mist into the air by the window. I took Sudafed, Advil and assorted vitamins. Still my head is pounding. And there's no one here to talk to (except the dog) so I am being quiet.

The laryngitis has been getting a little better since I started taking some Claritan allergy medicine. I think the laryngitis was sparked by an allergic reaction on Wednesday when I cleaned some mildew from under my kitchen sink. There is a slow drip under there (which will be fixed in the next couple of weeks....til then there is a bowl catching the drips) and I got a big whiff of mildew. That evening I got a burning, dry, itchy cough and by bedtime I sounded like Rachael Ray. (no offense to Rach, but she always sounds hoarse) By the next morning it was full blown laryngitis. So for the past 3 days, when I talk it mostly comes out as a hiss of air or a squeak.

Bethany is singing a special this morning with Charles and Jesse. And I'm not there.

Wah wah wah......squeak.