Number 13 aka "The best thing you have ever cooked for me"

This past week, I have spent a lot of time playing with the new rice maker. Iwaswrongandhewasright. Seriously, I thought that getting a rice maker was a questionable (stupid) idea. Who knew it could make so many delectable rice concoctions? I counted the curry rice as a new recipe but I ended up changing it and other flavor combinations. Boy-o loved: rice, peppers, onions, cajun spices, hot pepper sauce, black beans and corn whereas hubby and I took a fondness to: rice, onions, cumin seeds, chili powder, beans and (drained) diced tomatoes. Since these are not really recipes, I am not counting them towards my 53 new recipe goal.

I did buy a new allergy free cookbook and had Boy-o pick out the recipes he would be interested in trying. One of his choices was a breakfast pizza with a hash brown crust. Saturday for brunch, I made him a dairy free version and and one with real cheese for my husband and me. It was good but I wasn't totally happy with the results. Sunday, after my stick fighting class, I decided to stop at the local supermarket and buy a small premade pizza shell. I wanted to try the breakfast pizza again and see if I could get closer to what a local store makes. I put the shell in a fry pan and loaded on toppings (I used left over TVP, corn, peppers, onions, hot peppers). I then carefully pours Egg Beaters over the top. I covered and cooked the pizza until the egg was done and then added on cheese and cooked another minute until melted. I did not use pizza sauce because the local store doesn't on their breakfast pizza. Boy-o loved it! He did say "it is the best thing you have ever cooked for me". It was also very filling and he had leftovers which I popped in the microwave for breakfast the next day. That is a definite make again. I may try to make my own pizza shells next time.

We have been hit with storm after storm since Christmas. One week, I had two snow days from work. The weather report today used two words that I hate hearing in the same sentence - monster and storm. Yup. The forecast is for between 20 and 30 inches of snow. Where are we going to put it? Luckily, I made a quick trip to the grocery store yesterday to pick up rice. I can't wait to come up with a new flavor combination!

Enjoy and stay out of the bad weather!

An Even Dozen

Growing up, my mother made the very best chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. They were called Cowboy Cookies and they were amazingly yummy. Our cookie jar was an old metal container that someone had painted that was originally for potato chips. It had a funny contraption on top that was supposed to keep things fresh and not soggy. I am not sure if it worked or not. With 4 kids in the house, her Cowboy Cookies barely had time to make it into the cookie jar.

Boy-o has been on a real cookie kick lately but (gasp) he doesn't like cowboy cookies. Sometimes I wonder if we brought the wrong baby home from the hospital. Seriously. Anyway, since it is mid-term week at school, I decided to try a new Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe out of the KitchenAid recipe book to reward him for all of his hard work.

It was a pretty typical cookie recipe. I replaced the butter with shortening and water and used milk free chocolate chips. My buttercup yellow stand mixer did duty to mix everything together and before I could say Jack Rabbit, chocolate chip cookies were baking away in my trusty oven. They came out great. I still prefer Cowboy cookies but I will admit to eating one or two of these cookies (for breakfast).

Another successful new recipe tried and another recipe in the "make again" column.

This has been a great week for meeting my resolutions - a new recipe tried check, crockpot used (check) and stand mixer used (check). I am on a roll!

Success with the Rice Cooker - recipe #11

My son - the vegetarian - loves rice. He asked for a rice cooker for Christmas this year. As he pointed out, it is something that he can take with him to college when he leaves in less than 2 years. My big worry about him going away to college is that he won't eat enough. Needless to say, there was a rice cooker under our Christmas tree!

Lately, I have been trying to have something hot in a crockpot for when Boy-o gets home from school. These include red beans with TVP, pasta or a tortilla casserole. This morning, I decided to try a vegetable curry rice dish that I found on the same site where I got the directions for roasting the peppers. I modified the recipe by making it in the rice cooker so it would stay on warm until he got home from school and also by leaving off the almonds. I didn't have any almonds on hand and I thought they would get limp in the cooker. It smelled heavenly as I was getting ready for work. Absolutely heavenly. Boy-o and hubby tried it and both really enjoyed it. They both commented that it could use more curry so I will definitely increase that the next time I make it.

Gosh, kitchen gadgets make cooking a lot more fun!

A twofer - 10 down and 43 to go!

As I have mentioned, we have been watching Food Network a fair amount. We have been watching "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" where he goes in and challenges a restaurant in their specialty dish. My husband loves spicy food so he was interested in Bobby Flay's Sloppy Joes. I have never liked Sloppy Joes but I was willing to give it a try.

When we went shopping for the ingredients, we were unable to find the roasted peppers called for in the recipe. We bought peppers and I roasted them at home. Yup. One meal and two new recipes! I had no idea that you had to peel the roasted peppers. It was very very easy.

The sloppy joe recipe was very time consuming. Thank goodness that we weren't all that hungry when we started. My hubby flunked knife skills as he sliced his finger pretty good. Ouch. We haven't ruled out a trip to the ER later tonight.

I made a few modifications to Bobby's recipe. We felt that there was a strong enough taste of vinegar so we didn't add any at the end as instructed. Also, we decided to serve them on traditional rolls instead of on the garlic toast.

The final results, however, were outstanding. They were very tasty with a nice spice. It made a good amount and we have leftovers for lunches or another meal. I would make them again - but only if I had plenty of time. Definitely not school lunch sloppy joes!

2 out of 3 ain't bad -8 down 45 left to go

Yesterday, I was in a cooking mood so I asked Boy-o if he would be interested in homemade bagels. I had attempted these once before and the results were promising. However, there were a couple of things that I didn't like about that recipe so I went online to find a new one. I offered to make cinnamon raisin bagels. Boy-o informed me that he liked the idea of cinnamon but didn't want the raisins. That was one of my modifications to the recipe. I ended up sprinkling cinnamon on the dough before shaping them. I also used my trusty buttercup yellow stand mixer to mix and knead the dough. They came out great.

The new recipe is going onto my use again list.

I guess yesterday was my day for cooking round items with a hole in the middle because late yesterday afternoon, my husband and I made homemade donuts. My mother-in-law has been attempting donuts for the past couple of years with limited success and my husband decided to see what we could come up with. He found a recipe and we made the dough up. After letting it rest, we ended down the hill to grandma's house and rolled out the donuts. They were OK. You see, we have a donut dilemma in our house. I like the light fluffy dunkin' donuts type donuts. Hubby prefers the heavier cake style donuts. This recipe was for the heavier donuts. The donut holes we cooked were good but the actual donuts weren't really to my taste.

This morning after returning from stick class, I started on my favorite corn chowder. I realized that I didn't have enough evaporated milk so I made a quick call to Hubby who had done a longer workout and asked him to stop and pick some up. I had been scanning recipes for egg rolls so I also asked him to pick up shredded coleslaw mix and egg roll wrappers. I was feeling confident after the success with the bagels so I decided to give it a try. I can't give you a link to a recipe because I combined a bunch of recipes. This is what I did:

3 garlic gloves minced

1 onion diced

Saute in a wok in oil until translucent.

Add in one package shredded cabbage and 2 carrots shredded and saute for a couple of minutes. Add in one tsp ground ginger and enough sweet soy sauce to lightly coat the veggies. You want the mixture to remain dry. Add in a couple of small Thai chili peppers minced and saute. The veggies should be limp but not soggy.

Roll into egg rolls per the directions on the wrappers. Fry and enjoy.

This was a HUGE success. When I asked Boy-o if we should make it again, his answer was "frequently". I love it when I find food that he is excited about. :)

Thanks for reading about my journey.

5 down..... 48 to go

I have 't cooked a great deal in the last week or so. We ended up with a ton of leftovers from my last cooking binge so we finished those off instead. I did end the week with a yummy crockpot lasagna.

Yesterday, I had to make a quick trip home at lunchtime because I had forgotten to take my cell phone off the charger and I was making a trip to Portland last night. I drove for years without a cell phone (yes, I am that old) but nowadays the thought of driving 45 minutes each way without one is scary. Strange but true. Anyway, while I was home, I decided to throw something in the mini-crockpot for Boy-o to have when he got out of work last night. I put together frozen homemade ravioli with sauce, spices and (fake) cheese and set it up to be ready when he got out of home. Imagine my surprise when I made a call home at 4:45 and he informed me that he was eating his meal. I guess the raviolis were no longer frozen but I wonder how cooked they were. Yikes. The stomach of a teenage boy. He said it was good. I can't imagine and wonder if he was only trying to be nice. I told him to leave the leftovers in the crockpot until he got home from work. He packed the leftovers in a lunch for school. I can't wait to hear if that is better!

When I returned from my dinner out with my college friends, I was full of energy so I made Boy-o a black bean and corn enchilada pie to cook in the crockpot today. I have never tried it in the crockpot but I figured it was worth a try. I also modified a recipe to make one of my favorite cookies dairy free. I am counting the modification as a new recipe. It is so easy that I feel like I am cheating but hey, sometimes easy is the way to go. (PS I had a great visit with Mary Ellen last night and she is doing wonderfully!)

When I was in college with Mary Ellen and Judy, one of Mary Ellen and my favorite recipes was something called Peanut Scotch Crisps. We weren't the only ones enamored with this. Anoter student actually wrote in and asked for the recipe and they published it in the alumni magazine. It is the easiest thing to make!

Peanut Scotch Crisps

1 cup peanut butter

1 package butterscotch chips

6 cups rice krispie cereal

Combine peanut butter and chips in a large bowl. Melt in microwave in 30 second increments (it takes about 2 minutes in mine). When melted, stir together and add rice krispies a few cups at a time. Stir to coat and put in large pan (I use my lasagna pan). Put into refrigerator until solid. Cut into bars and enjoy. So easy but people love them.

Since I haven't been able to find non-dairy butterscotch chips, I modified the recipe and made:

Boy-o's Dairyfree Peanut Choco Crisps. I used semi sweet dairy free chocolate chips instead. It was a complete taste change but very good and he loved them. A smile on his face puts a smile on mine.

Have a great day everyone!

4 down - 49 to go! Thai Red Curry Mac 'n Cheese

Happy New Year, Bloggers! I hope that 2011 is happy, healthy and prosperous for you and yours.

Our family has started watching the Food Network on a regular basis. This past summer, we watched "The Next Food Network Start" for several episodes and I was quite happy when Aarti won. We make sure we DVR her show and have tried a couple of her recipes. The Bombay Sloppy Joes were good and we all enjoyed her chocolate ginger pie on Thanksgiving.

Yesterday, we decided to try her Thai Red Curry Mac N Cheese. I must confess. I have never made Mac 'n Cheese from scratch before. I am actually not a huge fan of mac 'n cheese but her recipe seemed interesting. When we announced what we were making for ourselves, Boy-o expressed an interest in having his own non-dairy version so we got to work boiling the macaroni. I didn't have enough macaroni to make some for Boy-o's so we took an old box of pasta salad mix, took out the pasta and threw out the rest of the ingredients. I also didn't have any extra red curry paste for Boy-o's so I substituted minced hot peppers and mixed those into the cooked pasta. We boiled, we whisked, we stirred, made a big mess and this is what we ended up with.

The top one in the cast iron skillet is the pasta with the red curry paste. It was a lovely orange color. The bottom picture was the non-dairy version. Since I hadn't planned on making him one, I used a mixture of the soy cheeses that I had in the refrigerator.

Results: Our mac n cheese had a lovely flavor. The red curry paste was a nice change of pace and I would definitely make it again. I enjoyed the crumb topping on top. The next time I make it, I will probably cut the recipe in half to better fit the needs of our family. As it is, I am going to be eating mac n cheese all week! My son said his version was ok but couldn't taste the chopped up hot peppers. He also doesn't really like the choice of cheeses that I used. We saved the leftovers and he is going to try it again today. I would try making it again and used different cheese for him. I would also make his with the red curry paste as I think he would enjoy that flavor. It was an easy recipe to make but a bit messy. Making a smaller amount should help with that. All in all, a successful experience!

3 down - 50 to go and misadventure #1

My cooking adventures continue....

Boy-o came home from work (he has a part-time job during the school year at a local library - what a cool job!) famished and dove into the from scratch Red Beans and Rice. He gave it a 4 1/2 out of 5 once he added lots of hot sauce. Strangely enough, the large onion, 6 cloves of garlic, 3 tablespoons of chili powder and 1 tablespoon of cumin weren't enough. I tasted it and had to agree. It was a little bland. Once he spiced it to his satisfaction, he enjoyed it and said it was a "make again" recipe. Yeah. He said the TVP was pretty neutral. It didn't add anything to the taste but didn't ruin it either. Since it is high in protein (important for vegetarians), I think it is a "keeper" as well.

Inspired by my successes on Monday, I decided to try another new recipe. Boy-o has suddenly decided that he wants a hot breakfast every morning before school. He loves oatmeal (yucky in my opinion) so I decided to try a breakfast oatmeal recipe in the crockp pot. I tried one before Christmas and the results were only OK. The oatmeal was a very strange consistency. It was slimy. I checked with my sister and she suggested a new type of oatmeal (steel cut oats) and assured me that it would be better. I also picked out a new recipe with more spice. I assembled the ingredients and decided to try out a new gadget that I had received in my stocking from Santa. I had read in a cookbook that you can put your crock pot on a timer delay to have it start later. The whole food safety thing was a concern but when I looked at the ingredients (oatmeal, water, spice, nuts, dried fruit), I decided to give it a try. I read the instructions (in about size 2 font) and figured out how to make it work. I programed it to turn on and happily went to bed. I woke up a few times during the night and enjoyed the smell of spice. I got up the next morning and ran down the stairs to check on my masterpiece. As I approached the crock pot, I noticed that it still looked the same as it had the night before. I touched the side and it was stone cold. I grabbed the timer gadget and looked it over. It looked like it should be working. Hmmmm. After some muttering to myself about unreliable equipment, I happened to look down at the crock pot to notice the on and off button still firmly in the off position. Ahh. Not equipment error - operator error and misadventure #1. I ended up putting the crock pot into the frig and whipping up scrambled eggs for Boy-o. Last night, I reprogrammed the timer gadget, checked, double-checked and triple-checked, the on and off button and woke up this morning to cooking oatmeal. Boy-o said it was good and gave it a 4 out of 5. He did say that the consistency was improved over my first attempt with another recipe. A little work the evening before will result in an easier morning for me.

The first 3 new recipes have all been for the benefit of my son. Last night, I did use an existing recipe and roasted my hubby and I a chicken in the crock pot. The leftover chicken will go into a chicken noodle soup for tomorrow night. I love the two for one meals!

I am still alive and 2 down, 51 to go!

Why, hello there! Yes, I am still alive. I have been suffering from bloggers' block. I thought about blogging, occasionally started to log in but couldn't think of a darn thing to say. Nada inspiration. Zilch. Zero.

However, with the new year just around the corner, I have decided to make a renewed commitment to blogging and.... drum roll please.... I have come up with a new idea. Yessir, the bloggers' block is in remission.

I mentioned that last year my New Year's resolutions was to use my crock pot at least once a week. It was a very successful resolution. Not only did I use it almost every week, on many weeks I used a crock pot (slow cooker), two or three times a week. Confession time. I have never been much of a cook. Don't get me wrong, I have never given anyone food poisoning but we tend to eat easy to prepare meals. Even planning ahead to use my crock pot on a regular basis was something that just didn't happen. My son's favorite food as a young child was chicken nuggets and that was just fine with me. I know, I know, that was why I never got the Mother of the Year Award. Anyway, my commitment to the slow cooker resulted in a new interest in cooking because I started planning my meals for the week. It also helped to know that Friday night was a guaranteed no cooking night! We started going to the local farmers market and buying fresh vegetables. I also discovered tempeh as a meat substitute for Boy-o. That was a big turning point as I started making him "from scratch" meals. Not only did he not complain, he thanked me on a regular basis! In October, one of my facebook friends mentioned her new Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and what fun she was having with it. With my newfound confidence, I decided that a buttercup yellow stand mixer would be a great addition to my kitchen. I started using that every week to whip up pizza dough, dip for holiday gatherings, meatloaf and cookies. On Thanksgiving, I tried many new recipes and the vast majority were resounding successes. I can't say I am a great cook but my cooking abilities are much more developed than they were in 2009.

Inspired by my recent cooking success and by a newspaper article about trying new recipes (written by one of my oh-so-talented cousins), I have decided that I am going to commit to trying 53 new recipes between now and 2012. I will blog about my adventures - and misadventures - in the kitchen on a regular basis. I will also blog about my adventures - and misadventures - in life. I hope you will come along for the ride.

Since today was a "snow day" for me due to the bad traveling conditions, I was able to try two new recipes today.

The first recipe was for Boy-o. It was ravioli stuffed with fake pepperoni and fake cheese. I searched online for a ravioli recipe and found one that sounded interesting on www.cook.com. My husband/sous chef and I combined all of the ingredients in the trust stand mixer and plopped the dough onto my new silicon mat. Hmmm. Question. It says to add more water if too dry and add more flour if too wet but it doesn't say what the dough is supposed to look like. I grabbed a handful of dough and squished it together. It looked just like the dough Bobby Flay used in the last "Throwdown" I watched. Never mind that he was making a Mexican dish and this was an Italian dish, if it is good enough for Bobby, it is good enough for me! After waiting 20 minutes for the dough to rest (why is it tired when I did all of the work?), we attempted to roll it out using a brand spanking new pasta roller. Hmmmm. Perhaps buying the cheap $20 model really wasn't that great of an idea. Oh no, the directions for the pasta make say no salt and my recipe had salt in it. Many false starts and a pause to watch a couple of Youtube videos on how it is done (they make it look very easy. I am considering a complaint to the FCC for false adverising - just sayin'), we finally got our first sheet rolled out. Out came the brand spanking new ravioli press (where did those darn directions end up?) and voila, we had raviolis! These steps were repeated until all of the ravioli stuffing mix was gone. We made the remaining dough into angel hair pasta. For lunch, Boy-o tried the ravioli (served with homemade sauce made in my crockpot earlier this weekend and homemade grilled french bread). He gave the pasta a 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. Not bad. The extra raviolis were frozen flat on a cookie sheet and are now stored in a ziploc bag for future meals. The angel hair pasta is in the frig for hubby and me to try. One down, 52 recipes to go.

Before I started the pasta dough this snowy morn, I started 2 cups of red kidney beans soaking to make one of Boy-o's favorite dishes, red beans and rice. We have always used a mix to make it but I decided to try to make it from scratch. When buying a special pasta flour someone recommended, I noticed a bag of TVP and picked that up. What is TVP you ask? It is a textured vegetable protein that one of my facebook friends recommended. On the back of this package, there was a recipe for red beans and rice and I decided to give it a whirl. After soaking the beans all day, I went to the next step. Hmmmm. What is it with recipes today? Another somewhat confusing direction. It said to cook the beans with a large onion, 6 cloves of garlic and 2 quarts of boiling water. I decided to boil the water in the pan and then add the other ingredients. Oh no. I just realized that after we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago and put in the smooth top stove, we never replaced our dutch oven pan. I use the largest pan we have in the cupboard and add in all of the ingredients. It is full to the brim. It says to cook for 45 minutes (boil? simmer?). It also says later in the directions that the beans and TVP (which is added later) will soak up most of the liquid. I have my fingers crossed as my pan wouldn't take one more item. I let it cook for 20 minutes and decide that it simply isn't going to soak up enough water to add the remaining ingredients. Time for plan B. We don't have a dutch oven but we do have a lobster pot*. I transfer the contents into that. A few spills but all in all, a successful transfer. After the 45 minutes, I add 2 cups of the dried TVP, 3 tablespoons of chili powder and 1 tablespoon of cumin. I cooked it for another 40 minutes and - lo and behold - most of the liquid really is gone! In the meantime, I started rice in Boy-o's new rice cooker. Everything will be ready for him when he gets home from work.I have my fingers crossed that he will like this one too.

So that is it for today. I am off to read a cookbook or two to pick out some new recipes. I also welcome your favorite recipes. Check back in and I will let you know how many stars the red beans and rice got! Happy New Year!

*Even though we are both Maine natives, my husband and I do not like lobster. Our lobster pot has actually never been used for lobster but that was the name on it when we bought it. We use it for chili and for hot chocolate for parties, etc.

Twofer Tuesday

Twofer Tuesday is where I do a quick post on two different subjects.

Since I am into numbers this Tuesday, let me just say "Four more days!". (insert happy dance here). Four more days until my evil co-worker is gone, gone, gone! Can you tell that I am happy?!?!? Beyond happy is more like it! Truth be told, most of the office is looking forward to it. Evil co-worker is a very negative person who complains all of the time. We are all thrilled that we don't have to face another holiday season filled with sighs, complaints about the music and overall negativity. Yeah. They are reorganizing my department and I will now have an assistant all-to-myself!! My assistant is the current receptionist and someone who is not negative and someone who is excited to be there. The big difference between the two women is attitude. One has an attitude of "woe is me" and "I have such bad luck" whereas the other one is full of positive energy. Ironically enough, if you compared "luck" side by side, the one with the positive attitude has faced a lot more adversity (cancer, the death of two children, a failed business) but she faces each day with a smile on her face. Definitely an inspiration to be around.

I have turned into a cooking fool lately. This weekend, I took a chicken enchilada recipe and modified it to meet my son's dietary wishes. Out went the cheese and in came soy cheese because of his dairy allergy. Out went the chicken and in came the black beans and corn because of his vegetarian lifestyle. I tried a small portion of it and it was yummy. Last weekend, I made his a huge batch of faux chicken noodle soup. He loved it. The vegan corn chowder, one the other hand, was not a huge hit. My husband and I made Shrimp Po'Boys for supper last night with a food network recipe. Definitely on my "make again" list. We watched "The Next Food Network Star" this summer and this was one of the winner's creation. This is the second recipe from Aarti that we have tried. My resolution to use my crockpot at least once per week has changed me in many many ways!

Here's to Tuesdays! What's on your mind today?

Where have I been.....

I can't believe that it has been 1 1/2 months since my last post! I wish I could say that I have been off on a grand adventure but, alas, that would be a big fat lie. What I have been doing, however, is living life. In the past six weeks:

1)I have gone away for a Girl's Weekend with Mary Ellen and Judy. Judy has a wonderful lake house and she graciously invited Mary Ellen and me to visit. We talked, we laughed, we relaxed and we enjoyed each other's company. I am so lucky to have them as part of my life. I have also enjoyed a dinner out with them.

2) I have found a new doctor and started to feel a little better. I still have hip pain but between the new doctor and the new physical therapist, it seems to be going away.

3) I have started a Zumba class.

4) I have been a vocal advocate for our local high school. A few (very few) loud individuals want to close our high school and send them to the next town over. The majority of the residents don't support this idea but it just won't go away. I have been organizing people, ordering t-shirts and speaking at town meetings.

5) I got a wonderful birthday present when my evil co-worker gave her notice. Yup, right on my birthday! I literally danced out of the president's office when he told me. He was quite relieved by the resignation as well. The resignation was yesterday. I am wondering if she is going to even show up today.

6) I was sad - but also somewhat relieved - when the other high maintenance co-worker was let go a couple of weeks ago. Now, both Negative Nellies are gone (or will be gone shortly). The office morale is going to skyrocket now that we don't have to hear complaints from morning until night.

7) I have turned into a cooking fool. I have been going to a farmer's market on Saturday morning and buying fresh veggies. On Sunday morning, I have been getting up and cooking up a storm. Right now, I am on a corn chowder kick. Yummy!

8) I have been letting go a little bit and giving Boy-o a bit more freedom to go here and there. Him having a driver's license has been a bittersweet experience for me. On one hand, it is great that he can now get himself to his new library job or to the school for a meeting but on the other hand, I miss the time in the car.

That is what my past six weeks has been. What have YOU been up to?

Twofer Tuesday

Twofer Tuesday is a quick post where I focus on two subjects.

Usually by this point in the summer, I am ready for it all to be over and for fall. This year, however, the weather here in Maine has been so glorious all summer that I want it to go on and on and on and on. I can't believe that in a few short weeks, school starts and we will be back in the thick of meetings, concerts, conferences, open houses, etc. Maybe the fact that Boy-o will be a junior this year is part of my hesitation for the school year. If we delay junior year, that means that senior year and graduation are delayed as well. Yup, if truth be told, that might be why I am feeling this way. Where has the time gone?

I have been playing Family Feud on facebook. It is very similar to the television show except you play as a team of one except for the bonus round. Because of typographical errors and regional differences in language, they have a program set up to recognize answers that might not match exactly. For example, in this part of the country, we call carbonated beverages "soda" whereas in other parts of the country it is called "pop" or something else. If I answer soda, it recognizes that my answer is correct and gives me credit for it. Sometimes, however, the computer "recognizes" answers that do not make sense. For example, last night I typed in "machine operator". It matched me to "surgeon". One time I put in "wool pants" and it matched me to "sweater" and another time I put in "family" and it matched me to "love life" but then told me I had already used the answer when I typed "health". On the other hand, I didn't get a match when I put "Fourth of July" and the answer was "Independence Day" and I didn't get a match when I put "No One Laughs" and the answer was "No Laughter". I haven't decided if I think that the answer choices are done by someone in another country who doesn't know our language, etc. or if it is a bunch of computer geeks entertaining themselves by knowing that they are driving people crazy!

That's all that I have for this warm Tuesday. I hope things are great in your part of the world.

Here's to short posts!

What are YOU thankful for today?

Thankful Thursday is where I ask everyone to stop and think about the good things that are happening. Even during those weeks that stretch out more than the truth in a political campaign, there are always things that we can appreciate. This week, I am thankful for (in no particular order):

1) I am thankful for Tempeh. This soy bean creation is turning out to be a great meat substitute for Boy-o. I discovered it on Saturday at a farmer's market and have used it in an omelet, lasagna and sloppy joes.

2) I am thankful for the beautiful weather in Maine. After our summer of rain last year, I am really enjoying the sunny weather.

3) I am thankful that my husband and I have a loving and stable relationship. Watching the drama with some of the people at work is unbelieveable.

4) I am thankful for fellow employees who were happy that I decided to stay in my current job. I am also thankful for a boss who was even happier!

5) I am thankful for good friends and girls' night outs. I have had two of those in the past two weeks! (For those of you wondering, yes, I saw the one, the only, the incredible Mary Ellen. She is doing well. )

6) I am thankful for a son who asked to go get a haircut and who can drive himself there!

7) I am thankful for the pulled pork that is cooking in my crockpot right now. My husband and I will have an easy but yummy supper after karate tonight.

8) I am thankful for farmers' markets.

9) I am thankful that it is Thursday and this long long week is drawing to an end. As a bonus, my boss is out today and all next week!

10)I am thankful for the bloggers who read my blog and take the time to comment.

Here's to appreciation!

Katy, the wonder dog

Like most dogs, Katy makes it pretty clear what she wants. She has can let me know if she is hungry, if she needs to go out or if she thinks it is time to go to bed. Last night, however, she was very out of sorts after we went to bed and we couldn’t figure out what was wrong. She was pacing and the clickety click of her nails on the laminate floor was quite loud. All I could hear was click, click, whine, whine. There was no “I need to go outside” bark. We were mystified. Every so often, either my husband or I would tell her to settle down and she would relax for a few minutes. However, she would quickly jump up and start clicking and whining and whining and clicking. There wasn’t a lot of sleeping going on. At about 2:45 am, I decided to see if she wanted to go outside. I didn’t think that she did but I figured if she went out, it might settle her down. I opened the bedroom door and she streaked down the hallway towards Boy-o’s room. His door was partially closed and before I could even take a step she picked up her paw and whapped it against the door to open it all the way. She started racing back and forth in his room. Since Boy-o was still asleep, I turned on the hall light to peer in. I quickly realized that Katy was chasing a bat. Since I hate, hate, hate bats, I did the only thing I could think of. I ran back down the hallway and called for my husband to come. He told me to stay in our bedroom with the door closed and he and Katy rounded up two bats and got them outside. Apparently, Katy has a herding instinct because she rounded up one bat and chased it out of Evan’s bedroom and into the hallway where my husband was able to capture it. Boy-o finally woke up when all 85 pounds of canine landed on top of him when Katy was attempting to catch one of the bats. After my husband and Katy successfully removed both bats from the house, my husband returned to bed. Katy wandered the house for a few moments checking to make sure that her job was done. She collapsed at the top of the stairs in the hallway so she could make sure that no one else tried to invade HER house and promptly fell asleep. Being a wonder dog is hard work, you know.

Friday Fragments

TGIFF! Thank Goodness It's Friday Fragments! Today is the day where we take all of the bits and pieces of randomness and mash them up, mix them up and throw in a few spices and create one clutter-clearing post. Think of it a mental hash! Please join me in thanking Mrs. 4444 for being the head chef of this randomness.

Lots of stuff going on in our small part of Maine lately. First of all, the big news! Boy-o is now a licensed driver! Yup. He passed his test the first try. You would be proud of me. He drove me from the testing site to our local hospital and dropped me off. No, contrary to what people might think, I wasn't having a heart attack at the thought of a teen age driver. I simply needed to have some x-rays. I sent him on an errand so he dropped me off and drove off ALL-BY-HIMSELF. I cheerfully waved and didn't even hesitate or shed a tear. I can hardly believe it myself.

I came closer to shedding a tear when I got the quote for the car insurance, however. The good news is that his kind grandparents gave him a car. The bad news is that his grandparents gave him a car and gave us a big insurance bill. Oy. Someone (cough, cough) told her son years ago that if he "was on the honor roll, I would pay for his insurance". Boy-o is on the honor roll AND apparently has a very good memory for some things. Luckily, I work in an insurance agency and got my agent to quote a different company and we got the premium down by several hundred dollars. Still costs a small fortune, however.

Things have been going better at work lately. I asked to be moved away from my co-worker who complains all the time and I have never ever been so caught up. It is a great feeling! Of course, with things going better, what should happen but a new job opportunity. I did interview for a new position and entertained an offer. When it came down to it, however, there just wasn't enough of a reason to make a change. Sometimes the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence. It is nice to be wanted, however. I did discuss the offer with my current boss and it is nice to know that he was thrilled when I told him that I had decided to stay.

I have five weeks vacation at my job now and I have been taking a few random days off since my husband only gets 2 weeks. Today was one of those days. I came up with the brilliant idea of taking my son to get his photo taken for his permanent license. What should happen but we get into a car accident. Yup. He has had his license for 9 days and now has an accident under his belt! For a bad thing, however, it really couldn't have been much better. No one was hurt, it wasn't his fault, the man who hit us was an off duty police officer and couldn't have been nicer and I had a call from his insurance company on my answering machine by the time I got home. My son's car is a 2006 and was in perfect shape EXCEPT for a small scratch on the rear bumper. Since we were rearended, he is going to get a new rear bumper and the scratch will be gone! Can you tell I try to look at things on the positive side?

Last night, I had a Girls' Night Out with a friend. We have season tickets for our local repertory theater. We usually go to the same restaurant before the show to catch up. Last night, we decided to try a new place. Oh my. What a wonderful place! Great atomosphere and amazing food. Sorry old restaurant. You have been replaced in our affections for the new place in town. We have been going to shows on and off for 16 years. The production we saw last night of "All Shook Up" was definitely one of the top two shows we have ever seen. It was such a wonderful evening.

I have been reading up a storm lately. I am facebook friends with my high school English teacher and read a book she recommended "Sarah's Key". It is about France's round-up of Jews during World War II. Very enjoyable book. I am currently reading "Eat, Pray, Love" because of a friend's recommendation. I am thru the first part of her journey and am enjoying that book as well.

That is all I have for today. Have a great weekend and don't forget to check out everyone else who is participating in Friday Fragments!

Here's to summer!

Lunchtime stroll

Whenever possible, I like to walk during my lunch break at work. I find it helps clear my mind and it gets me away from my sometimes crazy workplace. The office is located in the center of a relatively small village and in the summertime the traffic zooms by. My walking place of choice is the cemetery that is located a few feet away. Let me be clear. I am very respectful while I am walking. If I see a service in progress, I stay far away and I also detour when I see someone visiting a grave site. If I play music or an audible book, I only do it with earphones on. Sometimes I walk with purpose and sometimes I wander and look at the various grave markers.

The first thing you notice this time of the year when you enter the cemetery is all of the flags. A local organization puts out flags on graves of the veterans. In addition, the fire department puts out their flags on their fallen comrades. It is wonderful to look around and see how many flags there are gently flapping in the breeze. A sense of peacefulness envelopes me in just a few steps.

On Friday, I took a stroll around the cemetery and stopped and looked at many graves. The cemetery has grave sites that are new and grave sites that are from the 1800s. Sometimes, I know the story of a particular person and sometimes I don't. Sometimes, I can only wonder and sometimes, I use my imagination.

One grave marker is very heart wrenching is the one that marks the grave of 6 children who were killed in a house fire in the 1940s. The family also lost a daughter a few years before that. However, I also see some positives reflected at that grave. The marker was donated to the parents by workers in our local navy yard. I imagine that the community rallied around these parents and gave them financial and (hopefully) emotional support. It also makes me happy to see that both parents are buried there. They both lived long lives and it appears that this immense tragedy did not break them up. This grave shows both sadness and strength to me.

Another marker that makes me grin when I walk by is from the 1800s. It lists a man, his first wife, Jane and his second wife, Jane. I also pause when I pass the marker for the man who was named after the Vice President from Maine, Hannibal Hamlin (insert last name here). Somehow, I don't think many babies are being named Joseph Biden (insert last name here). These two graves show how times have changed.

I stopped by and visited the grave site of a distant cousin of my husband's. I knew the parents but never knew their son who was killed in Vietnam. I get a sense that the parents and the son have been reunited.

Some grave markers make me shake my head in sadness as I go by because I do know stories behind them. I see the marker for the 16 year old who snuck out one winter evening to go to a party and never made it home. Her mother was sick in bed and didn't know her daughter had left until the police showed up on her doorstep. I see markers for people who lost the battle to drug addiction and wonder (as their parents must) what if.

I walk by the marker for a young girl who fought - but lost - a valiant battle against cancer. There were many fund raisers for her and her parents were dedicated to her and to the fight against cancer. This story has some happiness in it too. Shortly after her death, her mother discovered that she was pregnant. It wasn't a planned pregnancy but the new baby was born on the first anniversary of the older one's death. It makes you wonder if a higher power was involved in that one!

There is one marker that makes me wonder. It is a relatively new one and it lists the woman's name and "beloved daughter, wife and mother". I probably wouldn't even think twice about that except that I know that she was killed in a car accident when she was with her boyfriend who was drunk. I always wonder what her husband thinks when he sees the wife part on the marker. They had young children and I imagine he brings them to visit.

There are two large markers that don't have names on them. One says "Mom" and one says "Dad". The mother is deceased and she does have an individual flat marker with her name on it. In between these two marker is the market for a young sailor. This grave is several years old but is always well tended. It also has a plastic boat in front of it. The man who oversees the cemetery says that the boat has been there for years. It is against the cemetery rules but he looks in the other direction in many cases. He said it amazes him that the boat never gets blown away or taken by someone.

Of course, the children's markers are all very sad. Once gravestone has the picture of a young boy in a Little League uniform etched on it. The flat marker is white marble shaped like home plate and there are usually baseballs scattered around the big marker. There is also a plaque outlining his accomplishments in Little League. He was quite the player. I don't know what happen to him as he passed away just a few short months after a very successful baseball season.

As I walk, I also think about my parents. I live quite a few miles away from where they are buried and I rarely get to visit their gravesite.

I return to the office a little subdued but with a sense of peace and a sense of what is really important in life. Many markers say "Beloved Wife and Mother" but none say "Beloved Insurance Agent".

Here's to lunchtime strolls.

Feelin' Better Friday Fragments

I woke up this morning with a headache and stuffed up sinuses. I immediately realized what the problem was. I haven't participated in Friday Fragments in a while. All of the random thoughts must be backed up in my brain. No wonder I am not feeling 100% today! Please join me in thanking Mrs. 4444 for encouraging us to take all of those little bits and pieces of thoughts and assembling them into one post. Join in the fun and you will feel better too!

This has been an eventful week in our household. On Tuesday, my boy-o returned home from a trip to Germany, Switzerland and Austria. He and ten other classmates and five brave adults were gone for 8 days. He had a great time. We got a few facebook messages from him while he was gone which was a nice surprise.

On Thursday, boy-o celebrated his sixteenth birthday. Where has the time gone? Birthdays are not nearly as much fun as they used to be, however. I loved the days of birthday parties and the gifts that made him so excited (Red Sox tickets or a Gameboy). All he wanted was money this year and the birthday party went by the wayside a couple of years ago. Part of me would love to go back to the when he was younger. However, my cousin summed it up when she said that she misses her kids when they were younger but she wouldn't go back because there were some young adults that she would miss way too much. I feel the same way.

As of 4:30 pm, I am officially on vacation for a week. For the first time in several years, we are doing a staycation. We already had a nice cruise vacation so this time we are staying close by and doing some day trips. Even though we lived in Maine (AKA Vacationland), most of our day trips are planned for out of state. How ironic is that? Revised - my boss just told us that we are closing early today. The vacation begins at 3:00 pm!

My son got a package in the mail yesterday from a friend of his. They had a disagreement a short while ago and she wanted to apologize. She went out and bought a children's book called "Do you want to be my friend?" and made a few minor modifications. For example, she amended the back of the book where it said from ages 3 to 6 so it read from 3 to 16 and she circled the name of another book by the same author called "The Secret Birthday Message". Finally, she wrote a message on a blank page to ask forgiveness. She got his mailing address somehow and make sure that it would arrive on his birhtday. What a classy young lady and what a cool way to apologize.

That is is for today, folks. Happy Independence Day to my American readers! May sure you go check out Mrs. 4444 and the rest of the folks clearing out brain clutter today.

Life is good....

I got to see Mary Ellen last night at a Girls' Night Out along with her college roommate Judy. They roomed together for 4 years at college. I feel so fortunate that they allow me to tag along! Seriously, I treasure both of them. They are wise, accomplished and loving women who enrich my life.

My son comes home from his trip today. I can't wait to see him! From the few messages I got while he was gone, it looks like he had a fantastic time. We paid for the trip and he provided the spending money. He took a travel visa card - and apparently didn't spend any money beyond the cash he had in his pocket. The chaperones had talked to the parents at a meeting about sitting down with the students and discussing spending. They were concerned about the students spending too much money! I guess I should have had the conversation with boy-o that spending money was OK. I imagine he came home with more money than everyone else. Perhaps as much money as the rest of the students combined! Yes, cheap describes my son pretty well.

I got my t-shirt yesterday from Heather. I can't wait for casual Friday to wear it to work. She makes it so easy to order and it came lickety split. I will wear it and think of her and her battle.

We have been working on opening the swimming pool because it has been very warm in Maine this year. Last summer, it rained all summer long and we never bothered to open the pool. It looks so inviting! I can't wait to get in it tonight!

I have next week off. We don't have any real plans beyond enjoying the great State of Maine. Normally we try to go away for vacation but we need to stay close for to get boy-o to work. We are planning a day trip to Boston, a day cruise out of Portsmouth (NH) Harbor and maybe, just maybe, I will get my upstairs bathroom painted.

My boss is buying us lunch today. Once a month, he treats the staff to sandwiches from a local restaurant. Yummy!

I am off to work to finish things up so I can take next week off. Here is to enjoying life!

I am back....

Wow! The end of school madness did me in this year... and boy-o is (was?) only a sophomore! I can't even think what it will be like in two years when he is graduating. Note to all. You might want to consider buying stock in Kleenex. I anticipate a big bump in sales in about two years. Just sayin'.

The social studies department at my son's high school does an event called the "History Extravaganza" instead of having a final. The students write a paper and then do a tri-fold and presentation one evening. All social studies students in the school participate. I skipped karate one night to go see my son. I walked into the gym to where my son's class had their posters set up. He came over and told me that he hadn't presented yet and he would prefer that I not be there. I ended up going out into the main lobby and giving directions to other parents. I did manage to sneak back into the gym a few times to look around and see what his classmates were doing. Apparently after I spoke to one classmate, he went over to see what I talked to her about. He was concerned that I might have said something embarrassing. Who? Me? Can you imagine?

Last week, I received my green belt in karate. I had to write a paper on the history of karate (8 pages, thank you very much) and also had a test where I had to show my stuff as they say. I will admit that I worked very hard on my katas. I will never be the most skilled martial artist but for an out of shape over-weight old lady, I do OK.

My son left Monday afternoon for his (delayed) school trip to Germany. When we dropped them off in April for the trip that ended up being cancelled, the parents and students were all pretty incredulous and stressed. We wondered if the trip would leave or if it left, if they would get stranded somewhere. This time, everyone was much more relaxed. The general consensus from all the parents was that we wanted to leave them home and go instead! It is great to see the opportunities that our children have to travel.

How does my dog know it is summer vacation? During the school year, she bounds out of bed and pesters me until we take boy-o to school. She is practically running laps in excitement. Once summer vacation comes, however, it is all I can do to drag her out of bed to make her go outside before I leave for work. I would understand it if she was hopeful for a week or so and figured it out but, somehow, every year, she figures it out from the first day of summer vacation. She also gets up with great excitement the first day of school. How-on-earth-does-she-know? She is going to be disappointed next year, however, when boy-o drives himself to school. Yup. He will probably get his license this summer. On the day of his last final this year, I commented that it was probably my last day of driving him to school. Needless to say, my reaction and his reaction to that news was a bit different.

That is it for today. Here's to having a bit more time in the mornings.

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday is where I ask everyone to stop and think about the good things that are happening. Sometimes it is hard to see the rainbow behind the rain clouds but we know that it is there. This week, I am thankful for (in no particular order):

1) That the school year is winding down. I think we all need a break from the running around.

2) That I have a long weekend coming up and very few plans.

3) That the weather has been glorious here in my neck of the woods.

4) That I have good health insurance and I don't have to make a choice between going to the doctor's and buying groceries like some people.

5) That I have a wonderful fan in my bedroom that cools the room off so I can sleep at night.

6) That I have a doctor's office that I can call late in the afternoon and get an appointment early the next morning.

7) That scientists invented the drugs that I am anticipating will make me feel better after I visit said doctor.

8) That my son was inducted into National Honor Society this week. I am particularly impressed that the entire ceremony was handled by students. Not one word was uttered by the faculty advisors. I am also thankful that when the person slated to induct my son was unable to do so, two other students immediately stepped up to offer. They ended up doing rock, paper, scissors to decide!

9) That the Red Sox swept the Rays.

10) That I got a Girls' Night Out this week. It is so good for the soul.

What are you thankful for?

Here's to appreciation and rainbows.