Living Beyond the Roads

Moved to a new Blog!

2008-03-02T15:09:00.000-08:00

Hi, in case you are looking for me, I've moved to http://afeatheradrift.blogspot.com
Come over and take a look. Some stuff is the same, other stuff isn't. It's a bit more open to more issues than before. It's more me! Hope you will take a look!

2008-03-01T08:47:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, sorry but I'm discontinuing this blog for now. I don't know if it will be permanent or not, but with this dial-up connection I spend virtually all day trying to get feeds downloading and pages uploading. It is just driving me crazy and I can't even read half of the stuff I put up here, since I have no time left. It's rather pointless. I have no idea at this point when I will get out to shop and thus to get mail and the DSL equipment, but I can't continue like this. If when I do get it, it fixes my problems, then I'll be back, otherwise, there would be no point. The computer age has just passed me by and I cannot keep up with what's going on when I can't even see large portions of many sites anymore. They all have video and sound. I'm not meaning to grump, I'm just tired of fighting every day to get through this, so it's lost its enjoyment and that was the point. Good luck all.

Marching to the Ides of errrr march

2008-02-29T11:31:00.000-08:00

Leap this you punky winter! The sun is blazing in epic proportions, and the wind is whistling through the trees, amazing it can be heard without leaves. I curse you OLD MAN WINTER and condemn you to months of isolation at places far removed from me. Go aggravate the Aussies and others you've neglected these many months, leave me alone now. I've braved your ice, snow, sleet and grey for too long. I've survived, though just barely at times, my eyes and heart firmly fixed upon the green horizon. You have been defeated.

All that is left now are whatever remnants tossed hither and yon which may find their way to my fair state by accident. Your snow and cold making machines will be terminated at midnight and have fail safe devices to prevent your tampering. I laugh and I dance and thumb my nose at your antics, pathetic and predictable. I look with barely veiled hatred at your ice cicles still glaring at me at the top of the window. Just wait, and see how long you can last now!

The Contrarian suggests that the dogs have had their best ever winter, all the snow making hunting an easier venture. He may be right, but I allow no winter-lovers in my house. They know better than to speak a word of their wintry delight lest I banish them to those same environs for their protection. Who will keep you warmer? They know the answer, and remain mute. Most dogs are mute you know. Cats on the other hand, are purely talking machines. I confess I've wasted many an afternoon in deep conversation with one or more of ours. The most brilliant is Calvin, brother to Hobbes. (Do you see a connection?) Calvin is, well, a mystic and a philosopher. He teaches me lots of things, but I promised not to tell.

Are you following me? No I am not paranoid, I'm just careful. On to the offerings.
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Did I ever tell you that I love rhubarb? Have since I was a kid and we used to pick it and bite off huge chunks and chew and swallow without grimacing. I don't recall there was ever a prize for the winner, but I surely won a few of these contests. Dang rabbits eat mine to death each year so we are looking for a "caged" approach this year. In the meantime, try this recipe for rhubarb, Rhubarb-Orange Pancakes.
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I've already pretty much decided to link permanently to Pioneer Woman, her blog is so very fun to read. So just go there without further ado. She, on top of everything else is writing a book? Wow, I should have such energy. Cute title too. Check it out.
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Whether to plant heirlooms or hybrids is a decision each gardener makes, and usually picks some of each. They each have their pros and their cons. I've grown a lot of heirloom tomatoes and they are better for flavor most of the time, but they are often misshapen and susceptible to more diseases so they are not so good when it comes preserving them. Having to cut around cat'facing is a pain in the rear come tomato time. I am into speed! Anyway, Homegrown Gardening has some tips and links for helping you make your choices.
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More on container gardening tips from How to Garden. As I said before, even those of us with unlimited space find that containers add interest to your various plots, and are especially nice around the doorways and on steps. They are extra work for sure, so be sure to do it right the first time and have a successful display.
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Once upon a Tart gave us this nice french bread recipe. I am not sure exactly what to call my bread, its either French or Italian, I'm not sure there is a difference in recipe so much as how the loaves are formed. Be advised, this recipe is daunting. It's the original Julia Child's recipe and makes several loaves. I never kneed by hand, but always use my Kitchen Aid. I love that girl. Her link looks like a possible keeper as well. I'll check it out after this posting.
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If you are looking for something to accompany all that wonderful french bread, then get a look at this recipe for "baked scallops." Oh gosh I am sure getting hungry for seafood, even though we had home made fish and chips for dinner today. Last of the potatoes. Sigh, I'm starting to seriously run low on a lot of stuff now. Soon we will be eating meat and bread a lot I fear with string beans from last year's garden.
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The Yarn Harlot has a funny story about her experience being "really alone" in the country. The dark always gets them for sure. Wander by and giggle a bit at her adventures. It appears she's also writing a book. I am seriously jealous! I can't even figure out a neat way to make 25 bucks a week crafting or doing anything! I can write! I can write! Who wants to pay me to write?

Gosh is there anything that annoys me more (well at this moment for sure) than women screaming for joy at some stupid gift they have received en mass at some talk show. This one was Rachel Ray. The woman drives me a tad nuts, too much exuberance is well, too much. It's another reason I stopped watching Oprah, I got so sick of the 'giveaway' shows. That is now a requirement on all shows like this. Who can top who. Stupid. Stupid snow.

Joke Joke. Just in case you didn't find it funny, you should know its a joke. I'm not so funny today, mostly depressssssssssssed. (Looks like snow nearly all next week. I can take no more)

Recently, the Psychic Hotline and Psychic Friends Network have launched hotlines for frogs. Here is the story of one frog and his discussing with his psychic.
A frog telephones the Psychic Hotline and is told, "You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you."
The frog says, "This is great! Will I meet her at a party, or what?"
"No," says the psychic. "Next semester in her biology class."

Headless Horseman?

2008-02-28T11:51:00.000-08:00

We wait, impatient once again, as you threaten further with nightmarish resoluteness. You dance and prance and strut, this your not last day. Once in four you get this extra, this ordinary day played over again, only to keep counting tidy, but you claim it as another winter day, and bluster big. The machine will soon be unplugged. Have you any more to throw at us? Some tiny tantrum that you must eject in order to return to your hibernation throughout the living months in which humans play?

I spit at you, I defy you, I laugh at you, poor weak, desperate winter. I have the upper hand now, I can smell it coming. You are running scared. That is why you wax grey again this day, because you are grey, grey as the face of the about to be departed as they slip from life into that other world. You limp away, all your strength spent in wild orgasmic displays intended only for showy panoply. You are nothing to me anymore. Once you might perchance have offered some relief from a sun over exuberant in her aliveness. But we know your ways, relief is but the tidbit you offer to suck us into your labyrinthine nest of frozen ice.

We stand a little taller, we smile a little broader, we know that life resumes in just a day and some change. Scat, silly winter, off with your head.

Hey, has class started? Am I late again?
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Sandi's Crochet Blog has a couple of free patterns for bunnies and chickens to filet crochet or even cross stitch. Cute as heck. I have to get back into filet crochet one day soon.
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I was trying to bring up Pioneer Woman's cooking site because she is supposed to have an apple dumpling recipe. I cannot do so because of the plethora of pictures. I get so depressed when I can't get up something I really like. It's just frustrating. The link will get you started to where you need to be in order to see if you like the recipe. Let me know! haha.
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Gosh, having fun today with every page loading like it was cutting through steel. I could certainly knit a sweater while I wait. Sorry, I'm rather testy today, getting pretty darn sick of being locked in this house. Anyway, Epicurious has a nice recipe for Shrimp Charmoula, a North African dish. The ingredients are common, so don't get scared off. This seems more like an appetizer to me. It's a cold dish. Nice for the summer I do believe.
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Hey It's Free has a link to a free game site. She claims it loads rapidly, and you can be playing in literally a couple of minutes. If you are a game player or you have kids who are always clamoring for a new one, check this out to see if it's appropriate. And enjoy.
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I don't know how easy it is for you to find kumquats, but if you can, here's a nice salsa made with them. I guess you could substitute oranges but obviously you would have to eliminate the pits and the membranes and use some zest I would assume. I love salsa, and the more different kinds the better. Certainly good with fish, but I think with chicken would be fine, as well as maybe fajitas? Sneak over to Simply Recipes for Kumquat Salsa. I'm dreaming of grilling now.
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Not much happening, so that's all folks, except for the humor, which follows. I'm off to quest for more good sites for you to partake in.

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I used to be a lawyer in another life, another state, and another time. Thought you might enjoy this:

A lawyer was driving his big BMW down the highway, singing to himself, "I love my BMW, I love my BMW." Focusing on his car, not his driving, he smashed into a tree. He miraculously survived, but his car was totaled. "My BMW! My BMW!" he sobbed.
A good Samaritan drove by and cried out, "Sir, sir, you're bleeding! And my god, your left arm is gone!"
The lawyer, horrified, screamed "My Rolex! My Rolex!"

Chase the Light Fantastic

2008-02-27T13:04:00.000-08:00

Where you ask was that great glowing orb of yellow that transects the sky and brings such delight to all? It was promised, but ah, she is a fickle mistress of warmth, often withdrawing her pledge to shower this earth with wanton rays of fire. I am obdurate in my demand for a southern flow of air, and know she can deliver with the soft tendrils of her wheat-colored streaks. She is as obdurate in her refusal, confining me to the glum grey where sky and hill meet and invisibly obfuscate the place of each.

Oh my heart calls desperately, unable to sustain common civility as each day wanders into the next, all still bitterly held down by the clutches of him who battles against my flaxen queen, determined to freeze all of this sparkling orb until it shatters in shards of blue and green. I will not give in or up, I will call ever and more to my love, my fission empress, as she in oh such marked humility converts hydrogen into helium, consuming her very self in service to her children and their offspring.

Whispering softly, I return to earth, all too soon abandoning my reverie, seeing the vast expanse of white white white, a hundred words for snow the Inuit may have, I need but one, snow. It cannot be prettied, dressed up, introduced to the best of society and become anything more than it is, cold, wet, white. It's time is now limited. It cannot survive. It is determined to flex its muscles to the very last moment, before it dissolves and melts into the deep fetid depths of mantle.

Okie dokie, on to the fare of the day:

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At A forkful of spaghetti, we start with dessert, as every logical person always does. Build your meal around dessert I always say. Actually I've never said that, but I'm still waiting for the page to load to get the link and pick up the recipe for you, and hopefully me as well. This one is called "Salted Butter Caramel and Milk Chocolate Mousse." Ignore the fancy ingredients and use the obvious common equivalents here. It looks like a quickie recipe to me. I may make this tomorrow.
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I don't know about you, but we had a rather putrid pepper crop last year. We did fine with jalapenos but bell peppers for some reason did lousy. I love the multi-color red and yellow ones but hate the prices in the grocery, so growing my own is the only option. I freeze them after simply coring in plastic bags. They work just perfectly for any dish in which they are cooked. The little fledgling pepper seedling is so heartwarming. Hehe. Gosh I meant to highlight pepper crop, not putrid pepper! Oh drats. Well no doubt you are reading it anyhow.
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I love bacon, yes and I completely admit it. I also love corn, as anyone would naturally expect. So a recipe that contains both is a friend of mine. Epicurious has stripped another one from Bon Appetit called "Corn and Bacon Pie." Soon as I get some bacon, this menu is coming up. This is a quiche ladies, and Gruyere cheese is just real expensive Swiss. So buy cheaper as I certainly do.
A superb spring dinner with a nice salad.
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Hey It's Free, has free Tide with Dawn stain scrubbers, a packet lemonade, chewing tobacco (yech) today. If any of these is of interest wander over and get the details.
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Russell has another trip down memory lane as he talks about the farms of years past. Sadly so many are being sold off, divided up for subdivisions and or other commercial endeavors, and a way of life is slowly disappearing. His posts are worth the trip.
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If embroidery is your thing, try a new site, feeling stitchy, brought to us by Niki's Ventures. I have done a fair amount over the years, and would love to try some patterns for things that I can actually use. It's a keeper. Today there is a free pattern for little gnome creatures.
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I haven't used a sourdough starter in a good while. I tend to make my bread quickly. About 10 minutes in the kitchen all told. But this Amish recipe for starter sounds like a good one. It's the long developing type, taking several days to get to the right stage. But sourdough is so good its worth the wait, and if you really are a bread baker, you have to do a sourdough once in a while.
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I have to admit that German food is not my favorite, yet a do get a yen for sauerkraut now and then. This is a great recipe, authentic and perfect for those still chilly nights. Try the "spareribs and cabbage and sauerkraut" and wait for the applause.
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And finally, the Yarn Harlot explores when too much is well too much. When has a craft become an obsession? I vote for: when your husband threatens to throw it all out! Until then, you're okay. See what she has to say.

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And just a tad of humor to end the day.
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A recent survey done by marriage experts shows that the most common form of marriage proposal these days consists of the words: "You're what?!?"

There was once a wife so jealous that when her husband came home one night and she couldn't find hairs on his jackets she yelled at him, "Great, so now you're cheating on me with a bald woman!"

The winner is Algae

2008-02-26T13:05:00.000-08:00

Oh, winter, your power is waning. You have but 3 more days to strut around as the king of the hill. You couldn't drop but a puny inch upon my fair meadow and that after hours of crying at the realization of your imminent demise. I curse you maven of white and ice, and condemn you to another long wait before I consent to cast my eyes your way.

Your wildly whipping winds do not deter my assuredness of final success. Green, in a thousand different pigments, sneaks with barely audible tiptoe into place, poised to erupt on Saturday that blessed of all days. Green, green, how green is my valley, sleeves or gables? I love you with an ardent need to escape this whirling madness of white. I have become quite mad in this blizzard of whiteout. But ah, in mind's eye, green winks at me, and I rejoice, chewing the parsley with renewed vigor. I am green!

Well hello there, didn't hear you come in. Me? Oh that wasn't me. Just a phantom or phantasm of the wood lurking near. I am come to give you linkages to lands not yet discovered and wonders that will amaze and shock and raise you from the doldrums of your winter sadness. Come, follow me.
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If you have never had this treat, trust me. So good you could just die. What are I referring to? Caramelized onions! and here is a recipe that combines them with broccoli, another favorite of mine. Add some pasta and ya gotta meal, ya know what I mean? Try Broccoli with Caramelized Onions and Pasta at Coconut & Lime.
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Pioneer Woman tells us a bit about ranches versus farms, as well as enlightening us on hair color. This is one talented woman who can talk probably about anything at all and remain interesting and funny.
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I adore pancakes and make them often. And never from a box with pancakes written on it. The fallacy that these boxed creations are fast is silly, they save at best 5 minutes and most of us can spare that to make it from real food. Why our mothers gave into that "new" product back in the 50-60's and stopped cooking real food is beyond me. The taste difference is obvious. I never liked biscuits until I made my own. Now, I make them a couple a times a month. Epicurious gives us a recipe from Bon Apetit for "Whole grain pancakes with wild bluberry maple sauce."
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Today seems to be my day. I love love love hummus, and have eaten a good deal of it in authentic Greek restaurants. Here's a very good recipe that I am sure going to try. Just give me some pita bread and I can eat this until its gone! Family Style Food checks in with this recipe:
"Chickpea and sun dried tomato hummus.
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Free Sample Forager has some info on cat food and and a number of other freebies, mostly I think for Walmart. Check to be sure. Hey It's Free has a link to a free Mario game download from the internet.
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I make jams and jellies since I can't eat the commercial ones. A watermelon jelly is over at Homemade Jam and Jelly Recipes. Of course, I'll not be making this until the late summer, but wow, I am going to give this one a try for sure. This will go nicely with the crab apple jelly I'm planning to make also this late summer.
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We got dinosaurs in IOWA! Wow, Jeannelle says so. I'm excited and ready to go out lookin. I was all excited from reading the feed, and went to her site, and its, well, not a very imposing dinosaur. I'm disappointed. Well go and see it. It's another mystery photo...I think it looks like a lot of beetles lined up in a row.
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I've been running into marmalade recipes lately, and well, I get more and more intrigued with them for some reason. Elegance perhaps. I think they would work nicely with chicken dishes. This is a lemon marmalade, and calls for Meyer lemons. I don't think Walmart is that fussy, so you may have to use just regular ones. Still the recipe looks good. The directions are superb and the pictures are very helpful. Don't be afraid to try this one.
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Need an appetizer for a fancy smansy type gathering? I have just the one for you, and not a toughie either. "Golden Statue Bruschetta" is offered at the The Inadvertent Gardener." This could be nice as an Easter dinner starter!
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If you love Applebee's "Garlic Mashed Potatoes" here is the recipe stolen by The Secret Recipe Blog. Well I'm sure they didn't steal it. I've tried a few of these "stolen" recipes and they are perfect as far as I can tell. I make "cinnabuns" several times a year. And I always make Outbacks's blue-cheese dressing.
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On the other hand if marinades is what you are seeking, and you knew you were, here's an interesting one that I think I'll keep in mind for the summer grilling season. Called "Spiedie Marinade" (they will explain), it's worth a try.
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Over at the Yarn Harlot, she'll tell you all about her escapades in hooking. :) Okay, so I stole it from her, sue me! But be sure to read her post. I'm starting to wonder who her psychiatrist is, and when the book is coming out. I love this girl's blog! And by the way, she has a very useful tip about this subject.
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Since this blog is always so somber, I will include a joke so the trip is worthwhile. Ta Ta until tomorrow or the guys in the white coats and butterfly nets arrive by snowmobile. It could happen. I'm not crazy, nope, I'm quite sure of that.
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Two blondes were flying to Miami from Cleveland. Fifteen minutes into the flight, the captain announced "One of the engines has failed and the flight will be an hour longer. But don't worry we have three engines left".
Thirty minutes later, the captain announced "One more engine has failed and the flight will be two hours longer. But don't worry we have two engines left".
An hour later the captain announced "One more engine has failed and the flight will be three hours longer. But don't worry we have one engine left".
One blonde looked at the other the other blonde and said "If we lose one more engine, we'll be up here all day"

I May be Slightly Mad

2008-02-25T13:09:00.000-08:00

We wait in eager, fearful, impatience to see what this storm will bring. So far, it's still raining. The temperature hovers at that magical number of 32, holding frantically lest it lose its battle and feel the cold hands of ice clutch at its heart. (I'm kinda good ain't I?) Well, its not snowing, because I forbid it to. And apparently I have been heard. The forecasters are getting very wishy washy on exactly what we can expect, and how much. I think it evidence that weather forecasting is mostly incantations and other wishful thinking.

Still, its god-awful looking out there, though our girlie girl never seems to mind. She can lay on the porch alone during a long idle rain and well, just lay there. Apparently she remains at her core, untouched by the singularly icy beads of wetness. I'm sure on a roll with adjectival bloomings. I rather doubt it is long-lived in the literary genre however. Much blather about nothing drives readers away like a skunk with an upturned tail. (Just made that baby up too!)

Shall we tour the blogworld and examine its tidbits of succulent offerings? Follow me!

Allen sent this along today, and well, it seemed as apropos as anything can get. It's fashionable and topical. Much thanks Allen! Simply called "Iowa Poem."

It's winter in Iowa
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At twenty-five below.
Oh, how I love Iowa
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I never could never leave Iowa
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!

The Pioneer Woman has a funny take on Monday and mustangs. I surely know you will enjoy reading her often hilarious take on the world and life.
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This is one very nice post from Gardening Tips 'n Ideas about a wonderful and underused spring bulb, muscari or liriope. It is a dainty little plant, but seen in large drifts, it truly is beautiful to behold. Now this blog is from Aussie land, so maybe its a different plant, but muscari is familiar to me at least as a spring bulb that comes up year after year. I guess to be sure, find a good horticulture site and run the name liriope. That should settle the question, and give particulars about zones.
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How to Garden has more tips on container gardening, this one about drainage issues. Take it from me, being stubborn and not adequately providing good drainage will turn your lovely plant into a dead one in no time. Follow directions and you'll be a lot happier with the results.
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Even on this "could be a hellatious one" day, Russell reminds us that there is deep beauty in this cold and bleak terrain. His post today and the pictures he's shared are lovely reminders that there is awesome power even in the scant wintry landscape. Stopping by his blog is always a treat.
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For those who like the freebie things online, I just ran into another I got from Niki's Ventures. I'll add this later to the bloglist. Hope you find something you can use! It's called, Begging for Bargains.
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You may have thought that egg salad sandwiches were one of the simpler things to make. Just some hard boiled egg, mayo and a bit of salt and pepper. Well, you need to gourmet it up there girl, and blow his socks off with this recipe. Okay, its not that big a deal, still it's a very nice upgrade from the usual fare and worth a small investment in extra time to make it special.
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Okay, you thought you knew the basic mechanics of a chocolate layer cake? Well, you ain't seen this one. I had to look at it twice before I got that it is way different that any cake I've heard of . The frosting is "inside." Don't get all flustered at the measuring in grams and such. Converters are easy to find on the internet. Just run one off and tape it to the fridge for handy reference, or tape it in a cookbook or binder/recipe file. ( I think this blog is from England)

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Joke of the Day
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A drunken man staggered into a Catholic church, sat down in the Confessional and said nothing. The priest is waiting and waiting and waiting.
The priest coughs to attract the drunk man's attention, but still the man says nothing.
The priest then knocks on the wall three times in a final attempt to get the man to speak.
Finally the drunk replies, "No use knockin,' pal. There's no paper."

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Quote of the Day
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"I don't necessarily agree with everything I say." ~~ Marshall McLuhan

Sherry Knows Art when she Sees It

2008-02-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

Another sunny one. We were out doing some wood earlier, and it wasn't bad at all, temperature wise. It's at least 32 now! I don't see much melting, but a bit is leaving I am sure. We are now 90% sure of getting more snow tomorrow, still there is no claim as to how much. I defy it to land on my house or my meadow!

I had some fun watching the dogs up in the multiflora in search of a bunny. I saw one run out, but the dogs missed it, and were floundering pretty bad in the deep snow anyhow. The bunny, though certainly terrified probably was in no danger of getting caught even if they did see him. The cats are even venturing out a bit today. Hobbes, never one to get his feet cold, even stepped out, and when I went to look for him, discovered he had slipped off somewhere. Under something no doubt.

The new afghan is coming along, I've gotten nearly 6 squares done. I'm thinking about 9 squares wide and probably 12 long. Sounds like I have a lot of crocheting left to do. And of course, its no hobby for summer, so this is one that I will stop at some point and hope to pick up again in the fall. I am not one of those people who works at a craft for 4-6 hours a day. Maybe an hour, that's about all I do at one time. That's because I have a passion for NO craft, I just like a lot of them. I get bored easily. There are very very few things I never tire of, one is reading.

Oh, I guess I should mention that I've added a few new blogs in the last few days. I'm not sure people will notice, and definitely if you read me through a feed you wouldn't know. I have a couple of good ones and no doubt will be linking to them from time to time.

Well, lets see what's happening this slow Sunday afternoon.

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Just as I was talking about my efforts to get this afghan going, Sandi at Sandi's Crochet Blog has to go and tease me with a crocheted purse that looks adorable and perhaps not too hard either! Oh I really do want to try this one! Maybe I could just let the afghan wait a couple of weeks. This looks like a fast do up. LOL, I'm bargaining with myself, and crafting is supposed to be fun, so I should do exactly as I feel like doing. There, I have permission.
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With this winter being so miserable for so many of us, we are all getting mighty tired of white. Snow, ice, yuck. Time to look at what is coming soon. I felt better just looking at the photos of spring bulbs. Hope you enjoy them too.
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One of my new finds is Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. She has a nice cooking site as well, but so many pics I gave up trying to load it. When I get the DSL, I'll likely add it to the food section. She is funny, and I hope you enjoy her little vignettes. She calls her Hubby the Marboro Man. Which gets me to thinking, that Parker deserves an appellation of his own. I'll have to give it a thought. Perhaps "Contrarian." As I said, I need to let it rattle around in my head a bit more.
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I had to laugh at Jeannelle post today about taking pictures, and it seeming like coloring with crayons. I always wanted to paint, you know with real paints and a canvas. Trouble is, I cannot draw well, anything. I mean I have no natural talent at all. Now I love art, but I am rather particular about what you call art. It is art if I say it is, otherwise it's garbage. Jackson Pollack has no talent as I see it, I can throw paint around with the best of them. No art critic is gonna tell me otherwise. So anyway, what I do is "abstract" and color blending, and its art, cause I say it is. The only person my art has to satisfy is me. Come to think of it, that's all any craft has to do, satisfy me.
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Check out Simply Recipes today. I'm giving you the main link. There is a simply to die for Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup. But there is also a foodblog search link that you should bookmark. It allows you, to put in a particular recipe, or a ingredient and it gives you results from like about 1800 different food blogs. Plenty likely to turn up a recipe you like. I'm adding their search engine here, for your convenience and my own.
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I just love artichokes and have always wanted to grow my own. Trouble is they are a perennial and can't withstand my zone 5 winter. What to do? Veggie Gardening Tips offers help. They need to be started indoors THIS month, so I'm likely out of the running, but read the full article and see how easy you can raise your own and avoid those ridiculous supermarket prices.
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Joke of the Day
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The fruit cake recipe

You'll need the following: a cup of water, a cup of sugar, four large eggs, two cups of dried fruit, a teaspoon of baking soda, a teaspoon of salt, a cup of brown sugar, lemon juice, nuts, and a bottle of whisky.
Sample the whisky to check for quality.Take a large bowl. Check the whisky again. To be sure it is the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Repeat.
Turn on the electric mixer, beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar and beat again.
Make sure the whisky is still okay. Cry another tup. Turn off the mixer.
Break two leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers pry it loose with a drewscriver.
Sample the whisky to check for tonsisticity.
Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something. Who cares? Check the whisky.
Now sift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Spoon. Of sugar or something. Whatever you can find.
Grease the oven. Turn the cake tin to 350 degrees. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Throw the bowl out of the window, check the whisky again and go to bed.m [justfunnies.com]

Hey, It Really is Okay

2008-02-23T10:56:00.001-08:00

Well you can complain all you want, and I have certainly done more than my share, but it was simply beautiful this morning. A fog encompassed the meadow and all was clothed in a gossamer of white cottony delight. One completely forgot the cold and hardships thus endured and simply basked in God's glory. Magical it was, awesome, inspiring, the adjectives fail to convey what the heart feels when it soars to such heights, if even briefly.

This is why we fight to live, no matter the odds, even when it is illogical. Life strives to live for this and this alone. To feel for that transcendent moment, a oneness with God and all the universe, fleeting, and dissolving the moment it is recognized, but so real we never forget it. We store these moments in our minds, collecting hopefully many over a lifetime, and its why we can't give up. Another is worth just that much. Somehow, even a flower has that urge, though I doubt it has an idea why. It struggles through a crack in the cement in an ugly corner of an abandoned city lot. It is worth it, it knows.

It all looks quite normal now, just lovely sun creating thousands upon thousands of shadows and lights over fields of bush and tree. Even the birds sing today, as if they know as well as I that spring whispers reassurances that indeed a new color is on the horizon, green green and more green in dozens of flavors and hues.

Well, what's everyone been up to?

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There is a nice post at Gardening Tips 'n Ideas that you might like. I've always wanted a greenhouse and been too lazy to think of how I might be able to incorporate one from a home made design. Here you can get some ideas at least about how to think about such a project.
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Similarly, if you are interested in hydroponics, take a look at this How to Garden post. I've seen some amazing things done with hydroponics on TV before. This is a very interesting article, explaining how it works.
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Niki has lots of stuff today. You might want to just hit her site and check out everything. Here's a sample of what she has today: a rag rug tutorial (I tried making one a year ago, and gave up. It was much harder than I had expected, Basically, I couldn't keep it flat. (I was doing an oval and it kept going into a basket). This one is done with a crochet hook and seems quite a bit different. I bet it works a lot better too!
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Well, you knew I couldn't get too far before I had to turn to food. I found a very yummy sounding "seafood casserole" and thought it sounded just great. Though seafood is expensive, we can splurge once in a while gals, and really a few nice shrimp and some scallops aren't so bad. You can of course substitute any seafood that you especially like. I think I might throw in a few veggies, carrots especially and some peas, both cooked before baking the casserole of course.
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Joke of the Day

Why it's better to be a Woman!
1. We got off the Titanic first.
2. We get to flirt with systems support men who always return our calls, and are nice to us when we blow up our computers.
3. Our boyfriend's clothes make us look elfin & gorgeous. Guys look like complete idiots in ours.
4. We can be groupies. Male groupies are stalkers
.5. We can cry and get off speeding fines.
6. We've never lusted after a cartoon character or the central female figure in a computer game.
7. Taxis stop for us.
8. Men die earlier, so we get to cash in on the life insurance.
9. We don't look like a frog in a blender when dancing.
10. Free drinks, Free dinners, Free movies ... (you get the point).
11. We can hug our friends without wondering if she thinks we're gay.
12. We can hug our friends without wondering if WE'RE gay.
13. New lipstick gives us a whole new lease on life.
14. It's possible to live our whole lives without ever taking a group shower.
15. We don't have to fart to amuse ourselves.
16. If we forget to shave, no one has to know.
17. We can congratulate our team-mate without ever touching her butt.
18. If we have a zit, we know how to conceal it.
19. We never have to reach down every so often to make sure our privates are still there.
20. If we're dumb, some people will find it cute.
21. We don't have to memorize Caddyshack or Fletch to fit in.
22. We have the ability to dress ourselves.
23. We can talk to people of the opposite sex without having to picture them naked.
24. If we marry someone 20 years younger, we're aware that we look like an idiot.
25. Our friends won't think we're weird if we ask whether there's spinach in our teeth.
26. There are times when chocolate really can solve all your problems.
27. We'll never regret piercing our ears.
28. We can fully assess a person just by looking at their shoes.
29. We know which glass was ours by the lipstick mark.
30. We have enough sense to realize that the easiest way to get out of being lost is to ask for directions.

Who got the Pheasant?

2008-02-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

It's a truly beautiful day today, with the sun shining strongly and the snow twinkling with diamonds. It's above 20 degrees, and I surely won't quarrel with that given what we have been through. Soon, we can get perhaps a drive by and some idea of how bad the snow has locked us in, and then arrange for some plowing. I'm getting rather ansy now, eager to visit Michaels and investigate some new crafting things.

The dogs need little encouragement at this point to go on hunting forays. The quiet winds and warm sun let them leisurely inspect hither and yon. When Brandy came in for dinner today, she had feathers in her mouth, and a grin that fairly leaped from her face. So proud she was, although heaven only knows who actually caught the pheasant. Probably it was a combined effort and she was just the lucky recipient. Bear usually holds on and taunts her for a full day if he catches the prey.

Well, onward to see what's up today.

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Travel over to Sandi's Crochet Blog and learn about "Pillowghans." It's a small afghan with a pocket so that it can fold up on itself and serve as a pillow too. It's made from squares. Full instructions at the site. Have fun!
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Yikes, if speed and ease is what you look for in cooking, then check out Coconut and Lime and a recipe for "No bake peanut butter Oatmeal cookies." I'm gonna run out and make this one as soon as I finish this blog. This is just too easy not to make. And I'm out of sweet treats for this evening. Thank you Coconut people!
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Oh I should have never said that. Epicurious has a recipe from Gourmet that is chocolate. If you hadn't surmised yet, I am addicted to chocolate. It's not something I craved for most of my life, but menopause seemed to have triggered a real sugar need in me. The recipe for "double chocolate parfait" is simply lusciously yummy. This one is simple too.
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Wow, does Russell ever have a nice post about a famous Iowan woman. Lovely pictures accompany the writing. Special for those of us who live in this fine state. I think I will link this to my political blog as well, since I try to flavor it a bit with history each day. Read all about Jesseca Penn. Thanks Russell.
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Jeannelle has a cute post about weaning calves. I thought the picture was so adorable that no one could refuse them. I'm sure they are as much a pain as horses are, maybe worse. Horses can be mighty silly and annoying for sure.
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Niki from Niki's Ventures has a superb link to a quilt that I would love to make, but oh wow, its a toughie. I made a kaleidoscope quilt and that was rough but turned out perfectly. This one is not quite so hard I doubt, but its triangles and curves, never easy things to do. But don't miss the pictures for sure, and the blocks and patterns.
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I thought this was an odd chocolate muffin recipe, what with ginger and sour cherries. Even more odd was the frosting, which I just had never heard of before. Give it a look at The Chocolate Recipes.
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The Yarn Harlot continues to amaze me by the number of comments on her blog each day. I am getting mesmerized myself. I've never run into anyone who can knit like she does, and she's wonderful at it. Her chatter is addicting as well. But if you start visiting her regularly, I warn you, you will get motivated and find yourself going back each day to see what else she has to say. Yarn is a living thing to this woman.

Ya know it just figures that this year, winter of all winters, and its a leap year to boot, so it's a day longer than usual.

Joke of the Day

A professor of mathematics sent this fax to his wife:
Dear Wife,You must realize that you are 54 years old and I have certain need which you are no longer able to satisfy. I am otherwise happy with you as a wife, and I sincerely hope you will not be hurt or offended to learn that by the time you receive this letter I will be at the Grand Hotel with my 18 year old teaching assistant. I'll be home by midnight.-your husband

When he arrived at the hotel there was a faxed letter waiting for him. It read as follows:

Dear Husband,You, too are 54 years old and by the time you receive this letter I will be at the Breakwater Hotel with the 18 year old pool boy. Since you are a mathematician, you will appreciate that 18 goes into 54 more times then 54 goes into 18. Therefore don't wait up.-Your Wife

Stirfrying up some warmer temps

2008-02-21T13:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, we woke up to find that things were not nearly so cold as we expected when we went to bed last night. It was supposed to go down to at least 10 below, but instead we awoke to something like 1 above. It is fairly overcast, but at least its near about 15 degrees or so. Not bad, I'll take it.

We had a nice stir fry for dinner, made with sirloin, cabbage, carrots, celery, radishes, bamboo shoots, and the usual accoutrement's of soy, hoisin sauce, garlic and ginger. I had none of the extras like spring rolls or such, but still, it made a nice dinner and something different for a change. Not bad after not getting to the grocery store since late January.

Should you have a bougainvillea, you might like to take a look at Gardening Tips 'n Ideas, and get some help on proper care. I've never had a good place to grow vining things, so I've never tried one myself. We did try a homemade teepee type structure one year, but alas it blew over, and the plant had died anyway. These are beautiful though, and well worth some extra effort on my part.
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Want to try your hand at "moon phase" gardening? Over at How to Garden, you can get some help on learning how to garden according to this ancient practice. This may be in part akin to the return to more natural methods of gardening, without pesticides, and with a "greener" point of view. Take a look.
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I confess that one of my quick frostings is just the old powdered sugar, butter, a bit of milk and usually melted unsweetened chocolate. This one is even easier and can be flavored I think a bit easier and more broadly. I'm going to try it, next time I do a cake or cupcakes.
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I lived in Detroit for many years, and worked 2 blocks from "Greektown" where I got all the Greek pastry one could ever want. I like Baklava, but it is very very sweet, and must be eaten in very small doses. I can no longer eat it because I can't use honey, but that need not stop you. This recipe looks scrumptious and Simply Recipes will give you the particulars.
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I think yesterday we had a recipe for pear upside down cake. Today we have a "roasted pear salad." Stephen has marvelous recipes, exotic and a bit difficult but I think worth the effort. At least hide away a few for a special occasion.
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Finally, something other than food. LOL. I was beginning to think that all my crafters were busy well, crafting. Feeds for crafting stuff are weird. You really don't know what to expect. Painting cans as a craft seemed well, odd. Of course, I had to look, and well, there were exceedingly cute. Next time I paint, I guess I'll save that paint can, and make something out of it. I guess empty cans can be bought at Home Depot. There are instructions for at least one of these too.
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That's it folks! Except for:

Joke of the Day

A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn't find one big enough for her family.She asked a stock boy, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?"The stock boy replied, "No ma'am, they're dead." [justfunnies.com]

Eyes Fixed on the Prize

2008-02-20T12:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it's sunny. I believe it is ONE degree. I believe it's going to be as cold as deep space tonight. But that is the end, and warmth returns I am told by Friday. Warmth being anything that has 2 digits and has at least a 2 in it somewhere. That's enough for me. I remain focused on only Friday. I'm ignoring everything else.

Parker was his usual sweet self. He insisted I not do any real cooking today. We have curtained off the kitchen to keep the living room warmer and thus not have to go out for wood. The kitchen gets a might cold, which cuts down on how often the fridge comes on, so there are good trade-offs. Anyhoo, we had plenty of leftovers, frozen and otherwise, a bit of tamale pie, some bean soup, a cheeseburger. We made do and I was in and out of the kitchen in no time.

I worry a bit about the wildlife. The birds we feed ourselves and they are eating hearty in this cold for sure. Our flickers and woodpeckers are pounding away at suet while the chickadees, finches, juncos and various other visitors eat pieces of sunflowers and thistle. The cardinals pretty much stick to sunflowers, but in a pinch will jump on a platform and eat some thistle as well.

It's the bunnies that have me worried. I see them hopping around a good deal. Also the pheasants are flying a lot. Not sure what that means. Haven't seen deer in a while, and no coyotes have meandered by either. The dogs do a lot of sniffing.

Let's see what's on tap today.

Do you medicate your mood with food? I find that I do. This recipe sounds so good to me today. Pity I don't have any pears. A Mingling of Tastes, gives us "Pear Cornmeal Upside Down Cake."
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Epicurious always submits wonderful recipes usually from Gourmet or Bon Appetit. They do tend to be a bit more complicated and to use ingredients that are not as common as I'm used to certainly, but I do find it's fun to make them sometimes. See what you think of Chicken with Shallots, Prunes & Armagnac.
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Now I had to think twice about including this, but hey, some of us love our husbands to well, enjoy the finer things. So, if you are so inclined, you can get you hubby his own customized Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Calendar. Scroll down for more free magazine things. I'm not sure if these are single issues or whole subscriptions or not.
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I do some container gardening each year, usually parsley, cilantro, rosemary, some cherry tomatoes. Just because they are nice garnishes for salads and such and I don't have to walk to the garden. I also use some containers around the front porch in and amongst my perennials. I like annuals for hanging baskets of course. Anyway, How to Garden has tips on container gardening if you need some help.
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Niki always has some cute stuff. Today a cute little tote to make, perfect for those small excursions, and you are saving on bags don't forget. It's a "Martha" good thing! If you like to quilt, a simple baby bib with full tutorial is available. Nice gift idea for a shower. You could make up a half dozen in no time!
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Speaking of gift ideas. I think this one works for any child who is old enough to understand what money means. It's innovative, and well, thoughtful, and fun. It's a Money Book! Get the directions from Tricia at Oh So Crafty. Not a lot of directions, but any good scrapbooker will certainly have no problem with this. It's pretty simple I think.
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The Yarn Harlot has a pic of her latest sweater. What's of value to you is a link to a great button and ribbon online source. The buttons for this sweater are very cute. What amazes me over and over is the incredible following this woman has.

That's it for today. I really would like to make this site a bit prettier with pics and such, but I just run out of time it seems and energy. Perhaps when I get that DSL. Have a good one and stay warm.

Ranting in the Cold of Winter

2008-02-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

Boy another cold night. We have been shutting off the water every night when it's scheduled to go below zero. Our basement gets very cold. We cannot afford a busted pipe with no way out to get repair stuff. I'm all bundled up today and it gets tiresome too. The extra weight is annoying to carry around all day. Truth is, we tend to stay pretty well put. The upswing will come on Friday, and tomorrow will be worse than today temperature wise I believe. Nothing to do but endure.

Blogger drives me nuts some days. I've had a heck of a time getting my political blog up today, mostly because of HTML issues. I do the same thing day in and day out, but sometimes weird code gets in and screws it all up. I cannot get the spacing right, no matter what I do. The preview doesn't show what it actually looks like, and I'm just tired of messing with it. I think I'm messing it up with the drop and drag photo's . I am incapable of placing a photo down the body of a post it seems. It always screws up the format.

Well, so much for that...lol. Wish it was a bit bigger, but that's the largest size Blogger allows. Anyway, the comics come from www.gocomics.com . You can get RSS feeds.

Anyway, on to the news of the day from my window.

Coconut and Lime has a recipe, I never expected to see. Want to make your own Marshmallows? Most would probably say why? But for me, I can substitute beet sugar for cane and actually eat them. I wonder if they freeze? And she has a nice tip about where to find corn syrup without the high fructose sugar, a boon for me!

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Herbulletin has a nice post about Hawthorn Berries. Let me reinterate what she says on her blog. Her herbal information is NOT meant as medical advice. You may take it or leave it as you wish. I offer it for its decorative gardening use and culinary use. I believe that some herbs are most beneficial to health but I have no expertise and make no claims. Enough said. It's a fine specimen plant and offers food for birds and can be made into jams and jellies as well. Sounds like a good one for the perennial garden to me. Nice pic at the site.

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Jeannelle, has a mystery at her blog. See if you can guess. Take your guess.

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Carnivals are chock full of great stuff especially for crafters. Midwest Neurotica comes through again with a link to a great carnival and a long list of links to blogs for crafting. There are lots of recipes too!

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Another good recipe for this cold weather is anything like stew or soup. How about braised ox-tail? It makes a wonderful sounding sauce that would be nice over rice or noodles. I've made ox-tail soup and I can sure testify that it's wonderful.

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I seem to be having a technical glitch problem kind of day. Computer is acting stupid and half the time my pages come up empty. I hate dial-up! I'm just going to have to publish and get out and run some scans and clean out all my roadblocks I guess. Great, the spellcheck won't connect either. Not my day. Take care.

Has Anyone Heard of a Season Called Spring?

2008-02-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

Ouch, another subnormal idiotically cold day in Iowa is at hand. The snows have abated but the wind remains to tell us that its "not so fast" into spring. Spring? I'm not sure what that word is? It's sort of sunny out, but not really. Oh it's just soooo depressing. Parker went out to put some wood on the cart, and of course, it was all glued together by ice. Nice. Still we have enough we hope to avoid having to do any serious work outside for a couple of days, hopefully long enough to get by this latest assault on humanity. And the good news is that temps are going up next weekend to over the freezing mark! Oh I am content to find a silver lining in a hog's ear today.

Another good thing (Martha would be proud) is that Parker, the dear is cooking today! Always a solid treat for me. I've got a chicken brining already for tomorrow's meal. I'll be roasting that baby and then making chicken potpie for Thursday with a biscuit topping rather than pie dough.

Spencer, the demon cat decided, once we were settled into bed last night, that he should take a walk about outside, and would not quit scratching at the door. He doesn't scratch at the bedroom door any more, tired of getting hit in the head with slippers I guess. Anyway, Parker got up in disgust and ushered the brat out rather unceremoniously I would guess. I found the little tyke sitting on the front porch about 30 minutes later when I got up, plagued by "restless legs." He came in without a remark and went straight to bed with no further argument. And it was me with the restless legs, not the cat.

I thoroughly enjoyed the latest installment of Pride and Prejudice last night. Parker is pretty good about not howling with agony over having to watch my "period" pieces. He makes me watch a western or two ya know. And well, also Humphrey Bogart whom I cannot stand. So it's fair.

Well, enough of that, let's see what we can find out and about.

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I am working on a new afghan. It's a tough little pattern but so pretty, so I've decided to stay with it. I've made 2 squares so far. Sandi's Crochet Blog has a cute little pattern for a sun shaped piece and gives you some ideas of how you might use it. I think it's really pretty and very apt on a day like this.

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I love meatloaf and I've tried a ton of recipes over the years, and modified mine more times than I can count. The first recipe I posted on this blog I believe was my latest concoction. Epicurious offers us one from Gourmet Magazine, and it seemed a good thing (another Martha point for me). The best tip I ever got for meatloaf sounds strange but seems to work. Add 1 tsp. of gelatin to the uncooked mix and it will help it cook up with a firmer texture. Great if you like meatloaf sandwiches the next day. I may have given you that one before, but just in case I didn't....I dunno about the pitted prunes, but the rest of the recipe looks pretty good.

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Free Sample Forager has freebies on dog food, dog treats, and dove soap among a few others. Check it out if you will drive a mile to save a penny! It depends on my mood a lot of the time, I confess.

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I've been unabashedly against this awful war since before its inception. Most of us of course knew without a doubt it was coming and of course we were correct. Russell tells us a rather poignant story about how his uncle kept him from entering the Vietnam disaster. Too bad there weren't more "Uncle Dean's" this time around.

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Lots of nice pics over at Midlife by Farmlight today. She's captured the latest weather misery quite well. It just goes to show you that what is pretty is not always nice. Stay indoors!

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Chicken Fried Chicken with Cream Gravy. Now that is what I call comfort food for the winter blues. This Tex-Mex recipe is a standard one, but the directions are well written for novices. I know this is one recipe that Parker would love. I think I'd probably add a little spice to it myself.

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Niki's Ventures has plenty of new quilt projects for us, and I love free patterns. The first site is Quilt and gives a whole page of small quilting projects that is just the thing for someone who doesn't want to tackle a huge quilt at the moment. Probably 20 or more different patterns for your perusal. The second, also from Quilt, has a pattern for a bowtie pattern, one I've always meant to try.

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If you like your chicken a bit more refined, we have a recipe for Chicken Piccata. Simply Recipes has simply divine recipes. I just drool over the photos. This looks sooo good. I have to await another trip to the grocery before I can make it. No white wine in the house alas. Although the recipe says you can substitute chicken broth, which I do have, soooo maybe next week. I have 2 chicken recipes already on tap for this week.

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Vicki pops up at Uncommon Artistic Endeavors, has a lovely gift idea if you are in need of one. This is a hostess gift and I think it's fabulous. The idea of a fresh herb garden right now is very very enticing don't you think?

That seems to be it for today. I continue my quest to bring you a nice collection of recipes, tips, and crafts to enjoy. Stay warm and smile if you gottem.

the Winter that refused to End

2008-02-17T09:57:00.000-08:00

It's a quiet day. I think most of blogdom is in mourning for the horrible state of Iowa as it struggles to survive this impossibly nasty, ugly, mean winter. We are being hit once again in what seems a never-ending parade of storm after storm. This one started at midnight last night, and it rained and rained and rained. Finally near 8 a.m. it began to turn to sleet then snow. The wind is now whistling and the snow continues as best I can tell, since most of our windows are clogged with icy frozen snow. I can only respond by simply refusing to look at it, or think about it. We are in for something in the vicinity of 5-6 inches more.

There is not much to link you to today, and frankly I'm not particularly in a blogging mood. Parker says the cable has returned after looking somewhat questionable earlier. It seems there was too much snow in the air between us and them rather than excessive snow buildup on the satellite itself. Small victory. I'm beginning to feel like a member of the Donner party. The dogs better hide!

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Given my depressing mood, Jeannelle's post today rather lightened it a bit. Hope I guess seemed to look out at me through her words. It's an eerie story she relates, but one I've heard before. My grandmother talked of having had a couple of late night encounters with long dead relatives. I certainly don't deny such possibilities, and they are in some ways most comforting. See what you think.

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On a day like today, comfort food is a must. Midwest Neurotica gives us a list of what her favorites are, and invites us to give a list as well. Hmmm, well Mac and cheese is definitely on mine, also a bacon,tomato,macaroni and onion stew I learned from my mother years ago. Chili definitely makes the list, and meatloaf, hamburger pie. Those are a few I can think of.

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Tip Junkie has some, well tips! Several are for crafts with links for directions. There are pictures of each so you can see what you might be interested in making.

That is about all I can find today. But then, I'm not trying all that hard. Oh last rant: I've got the TV on and it has a college basketball game on. I'm just wondering: when did near men think it cool to wear culottes? I mean seriously, those pants are so silly looking they look like boys running up and down in skirts. And they are culottes. I know I've spelled that wrong. Wonder if the spellcheck can figure out what I mean?

Gardening and Food, Together

2008-02-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

Another sunny day and warmer than yesterday. We got out and Parker chumped wood and I carried, and we got plenty for the next couple of days at least. We are expecting more snow (sigh) but they are being strangely silent about how much. Whatever it is, is not of much import to us either way, we are stuck. I must say that I am starting to daydream a lot about green things and the smell of roses, and the sound of insects. The warmth of sunlight.....reverie my dear readers is a two-edged sword. It feels good at the time, but the jolt back to reality is painful.

On to what may be of use:

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Here's a tip that works. If you bake bread a lot like I do, and use a mixer to knead, (I love my Kitchen Aid almost as much as Parker) then here's a nice help. Pour a tsp of oil on a napkin and oil the dough hook before you start. The dough will not creep up the hook as it otherwise does.

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If you love cornbread slip on over to A Mingling of Tastes and read her review of a new cookbook on cornbread. And if that doesn't excite you, at least stop by and check out the recipe she includes in the post. It's for a cornbread with almonds and herbs. That sounds good to me.

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A Storybook Life has some must see "creations under glass." Frankly I had not thought about this as a craft idea. It strikes me that some really creative things could be done, and based on the pictures included in this post, I'm sure it will inspire a good many with some ideas. Don't miss taking a look. Thanks Pearl! (I'll enjoy this a whole lot more when I can get DSL!!)

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I'm going to try this recipe tomorrow morning I think. I'll have to adjust for a couple ingredients that I can't eat, but I think I can get the basics still. I'm totally intrigued for some reason with the idea of Gingerbread Pancakes. I dunno why, I'm not an especial fan of gingerbread for sure. I am going to try them. Thanks to Family-Style Food.

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I have to confess, I had never thought there was a difference about porches from a city slicker vs. country farmer point of view. I realize my error after reading Russell's musings at Iowa Grasslands. I do believe he is right. I'll have to talk to Parker and get his take. I certainly always love the great little pics Russell always attaches. They are so homey and cuddly looking. I guess I just love life you can chew on!

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Jeannelle's telling of her "seatbelt" ticket recalled my own episode with that a few years ago, coming back home from Cedar Rapids. I got caught near Robbins. The cost was a painful reminder and I've never missed wearing it again, at least until I get to the rock. Then well, not so much. Jeannelle, I'm having trouble getting on your blog and have wanted to leave a comment or two, but can't. I don't know what is the problem.

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Veggie Gardening Tips has some good information on those who don't like, want or are unable to grow seeds indoors for later transplant. Of course you can order transplants and get them delivered just in time for planting. A link to a seed/transplant grower and their blog and website is available. There are good reasons for using transplants that you order. Obviously the cost is up there and prohibitive for some, but the variety and ease can be worth it for others.

That's all I have for today. Hope you stay warm and cuddly.

Sunny frigidity and Chicken stock

2008-02-15T12:49:00.000-08:00

Afternoon friends and new visitors. The sun is shining brightly and to those who heat with wood like we do, such days are important. The sun reduces dramatically how much wood we burn to keep warm. So the sun is my friend! LOL. We didn't need to cut or haul wood today because we still have a full cart from yesterday. Such minor victories are important to rural folks.

Speaking of the weather, there are less than 2 weeks before spring, and I have yet to see anything promising when I look outside. Fields of snow confront me at every turn. I persist in my insistence that this much change, and quickly. I want bare ground come March 1.

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Sandi from Sandi's Crochet Blog has another simple pattern for a winter scarf though not a heavy duty one by any means. She also has some nice closeups with markings so those who are somewhat new to crocheting can learn what the abbreviations and actual stitches are. I know how much that can help in deciphering some pattern directions.

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I'm not sure why you would want to make chocolate fortune cookies, but if you want to Coconut and Lime has the recipe you need. Turns out they were for Valentine's Day. I'm sure you don't have to use them as "fortune" cookies.

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Homegrown Gardening gives us the reasons and know-how to raise our own perennials from seed. The storage in the frig or other suitably cold place for a couple of weeks is something missed by some. Also true of some annuals. I found that out with marigolds. You need to cool them for a couple of weeks as well to get them to germinate. Time is getting low to get organized for this. Hadn't you heard? Spring is nearly here.

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Don McKenzie at How to Garden, goes over some of our tool needs for the upcoming gardening season. If you are like me, I won't be finding most of my tools until the snow melts. I always intend to put them all away. I just don't know what happens.

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Russell has another fine memoir of winter in rural Iowa to share with you. You certainly learn how to do things differently here in the woods than you do in town. You always have to consider a different range of issues that city folk would not understand.

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I love quilts. It is an American art form like no other. Niki has another lovely quilt and directions. It's called a "Chinese Coin Quilt." I've never heard of it before.

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If you make chicken stock ( I do sometimes, always saving the backbone out of every bird and freezing it), then this is a helpful rundown of what you need to know to make it well. And of course that is the point. Personally, I use canned stock a lot, but still, I like to make it from time to time and keep some for special dishes.

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Well I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day. I sure did. I left my blogging duties in time for the usual national news and found Parker dressed in his very best red Long johns. Wow, what a sexy picture that was! He was quite proud of himself, having taken such care to be "romantic." I'm one lucky lady I tell ya!

Valentine Wishes and a craft or two

2008-02-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

Howdy and welcome to another day of pure bliss, and a Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. We just finished our wonderful special meal, and it was good. I made some croutons for a nice salad, and then baked potatoes and 2 wonderful t-bone steaks. I hardly finished half before I couldn't eat another bite. Parker did better, and the dogs got a bone a piece and were giddy with happiness. I made some truffles for later, dipped in chocolate sprinkles and almonds. They are so messy to make, but sooooo good.

Well, as long as we're here, I guess we might as well see what's going on that might be interesting.

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I don't do juice, mostly because I need the fiber and the fruit sugar is really hard on my system, so when I eat fruit which is sweet, I pay a price but at least get to eat a little. Juice would give me way too much sugar in a normal serving. But if you are into juicing, As the Garden Grows, has some links to good sites for defining what you want before you invest.

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I think I said before that I like beets. I have to say, I've never thought about this: Beet and Potatoes Mashed? I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I may be worth a try. The recipe is easy and you can find it at Coconut and Lime. Have to admit its the right color for Valentine's Day!

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And a big Happy Birthday to Jeannelle's blog. It's a year old. I hope to be around in a year for sure. Most do not make it. I cannot tell you how many great blogs I find, and then awwww, the last post was 9 months ago. She's chatty today, so get a cup of coffee before you visit her. You'll be in for the usual fun.

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Niki's Ventures has a link for a cute little pillow you can make. It's an embroidery pattern and uses some acrylic painting as well. Nice country motif.

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I feature Sandi's Crochet Blog here quite frequently. I thought you might have missed that she has terrific crochet resources, so I wanted to link you directly to her extensive list of patterns.

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Over at not martha, a long long list of craft tips is listed. Some of them I'm going to check out for sure. I keep forgetting to get back to that Metafilter place. It costs to join, but you can just read down the questions and answers for free. Don't forget to give it a look.

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Beginning quilters can find a friend at the Pattern Mart Blog where there are simple starter-patterns for crib quilts and pillows.

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If you are still willing and able to shop before preparing that special dinner tonight, for goodness sakes, stop by the Simply Recipes site and find a bunch of mouth-watering sweets and main dishes. There are 6 to die for desserts and 6 main courses to choose from. Oh, what I wouldn't give to get to a store for a few ingredients I'm lacking. Oh, and when you bring up the site, there are even more swooning recipes submitted by other bloggers. The bittersweet chocolate cake caught my eye. Or how about Cranberry Apricot Truffles?

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I fixed salmon once since Parker and I have been married. He said it made him appreciate all the other fine meals I make. Sooooo, salmon is not big on my menu lists. However, I do admit, that I adore salmon if done well. Stevencooks has what looks like a sublime recipe, complicated but the ingredients are all readily available. I may break down and make this sometime soon. Parker will just have to live with it!

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The Inadvertent Gardener reminds us that lousy and miserable as the weather is, we really do have to get busy and start ordering those seeds for the garden. Next month, many need to be started indoors for planting in May or thereabouts. We don't do a lot of this, but I'm usually starting a few things special indoors for transplanting later. Get on those catalogues and order soon.

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This final entry is just in time. I remember seeing and saving I believe a "Everyday Food" episode about brownies made with chocolate mint cookies. Uncommon Artistic Endeavors comes up with that recipe today!

That is all I got today folks. Stay warm, smile, love, kiss, and cuddle with something alive today.

Dreaming of Spring and Filling Space

2008-02-13T12:44:00.000-08:00

Well a good day today and you don't often hear that from me in the winter time. I beat Parker at Jeopardy today, final Jeopardy that is, and that is a rare occurrence. If I have to hear his advice one more time, "the answer is in the clue," I may commit a crime of some sort. Well that's overstated a bit, but it's surprisingly difficult to live with a man who is smarter than you are. It's a serious blow to the ego you know. Women are well, just smarter by gender alone no?

The other hit of the day was the tamale pie I made for dinner. I took the same recipe I linked to and just changed the chicken to venison and added some corn. It was really good on another cold afternoon. Tomorrow it's steak and something else. If the lettuce is still good, then maybe I'll make a nice salad and some homemade croutons and blue cheese dressing. Some kind of potato, yet to be decided, and well veggies are down to peas and corn, maybe some beans in the deep freeze. Probably just truffles for dessert. Anyway, enough of my random musings and on with whats out there. Maybe a better idea!

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Martha Stewart has a blog called Homegrown Gardening. Not that she writes it, but her rather mammoth corporation does. Today's article is on container gardening. Now living where I live, of course we don't need to use containers, yet its useful to keep some herbs close to the kitchen, so I grow things like rosemary and cilantro, and parsley on the front porch. I've been able to keep the rosemary and parsley going so far. The trick maybe was that I didn't transplant it, but just brought in the container. And the tip for that is fill the lower 2/3 of the container with packing peanuts and then add your dirt. The plants don't need the depth and you don't need to lug all the extra weight. I'm getting ansy to start planting something!

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Well, I'm amazed and awed at the same time. Seems Jeannelle from Midlife by Farmlight has lots of fame to spread around. Her hubby is a actor and was in a movie and she is best buddies with a famous screen star. Yep, just high tail it over to her blog and read all about how she rubs elbow with the rich and famous and well, is married to a thespian. **GRIN**

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Personally, I don't do enough craft stuff to have no use for it. But if you are addicted and make 3,000 more wreaths than you can use, Niki from Niki's Ventures has a great charity to send your delightful creations to. Let me put in a plug for KIVA, my favorite charity. It's a loan operation for poor folks who want to start up small businesses. It's so cool. When the loan is repaid, you can I assume get the money back, but of course you simply re-invest with someone else. It's a wonderful gift-giving thing we do with both Parker's brothers and wives for Christmas.

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Admittedly, its getting a bit late for any crafts for Valentine's Day. But in looking at the latest group of February 14 crafting delights at the Tip Junkie, I realized that anyone with any creativity at all, can easily adapt some of these to Easter crafts. I thought a couple of the offerings quite clever. See what you think. They are right below the "Pride and Prejudice" ones. BTW...I'm watching the Masterpiece Theatre's rendition of P&P. Got Mr. Parker watching it too! Has he ever told you about Howard's End? the movie that would never end?

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It seems the Yarn Harlot lives in Toronto and is exceedingly sick of the snow as so many of the rest of us are. Her ongoing life with knitting continues to make me chuckle. She fought between the grey sweater and multi-colored socks today, and well, see what happens next. She must have had 60 comments. Now that's a following. I'm starting to get that feeling that what she has may be catching. I hear the faint clicking sound of knitting needles in my office.

Enjoy and if you can, smile, those wrinkles are a lot nicer than frown ones when ya get old.

Mostly food, cuz I mostly eat

2008-02-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

Happiness can be measured in rather small doses in the wintertime. We avoided the bulk of the last storm now ending finally. What it added to our accumulation is a mere drop in the bucket. I was out for a short time slogging through it trying to help Parker carry in firewood. It's only about 20 feet, but it seems much further. I may be in shape by the summer if this goes on much longer.

Parker is rather pleased no doubt that the weather lets him off the hook for Valentine's Day. He usually starts making remarks about bloodthirsty diamond hunters about this time. He watched how tofu was made today, he thinks its poison. That has nothing to do with Valentine's Day, nor diamonds but well it helps understand Parker's mind if you combine them. See it's like a pinball machine in there, thoughts he has can come out at any moment, apropos of nothing, and connected to nothing. He's more fun than well, things you might traditionally consider fun. We are nearly to 9 years of wedded bliss in the meadow and I still love him. Yep, 9 years of living 24/7 with a man and he hasn't driven me either mad nor homicidal quite yet. He is quite simply the smartest man I know, and the most generous. I learn from him more than I admit.

Okay, enough of the romance, lets see what's cooking, growing, or being constructed in the world today.

I'm not big on perfume, some of it downright makes me sick to smell. Giorgio for one, that crap simply reeks to me. I tend to things like lavender and sandalwood. A Crafty Nature has a nice link to those who love it, and don't want to pay a fortune for it either.
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Sarah's Crochet Blog has more filet crochet, this time a piece that can be made into a pocket. She calls it a lily filet crochet. She also has a tutorial on site to help you learn how to do filet crochet. It's no different than regular but does take a bit of getting used to since everything is worked so small. My grandmother made so many decorative pot holders that way. Simply delightful things that looked so cute hung up on the wall as decorative. I think framing a group of them would also be nice, especially to preserve those that have sentimental value. ********************

I love tamale pie. And Coconut and Lime has a tasty looking recipe for you to try. The olives is a nice and different touch. It's the perfect meal for cold wintry days like this. A dollop of sour cream and maybe some chopped avocado and I'm in heaven. I think I have tomorrow's menu planned.
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Russell gives us another bit of nostalgia or not, depending on where you live. It's always a warm cozy feeling when I get to his blog and see what he has to offer today. Visit Iowa Grasslands with a cup of coffee. The picture alone is worth the trip!
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Well, I was carrying wood, Jeannelle was loading up steers. I think she works harder than I do. I also think she understands computers better than I, since I doubt I could figure out anything about pictures. I'm hoping to get our digital camera some batteries next time in town and maybe I can post a pic or two when I'm on DSL! She also recommends a good site, though I have to pass until that DSL since its a pic site, and I might be there for days to see!
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not martha has some nice food links today. Also scroll down to yesterday's post and see a new book about to hit the market for those who want to turn their hobby passion into a business.
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The Inadvertent Gardener has written a piece for the "Edible Iowa River Valley." I think her article is about preserving food and root cellars. Take a look and get a link to a subscription to the Magazine as well.
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If you love the Olive Garden fried mozzarella, then stop by the Secret Recipe Blog and steal it for free! I love these recipes a lot. I use the Outback Steakhouse blue cheese dressing recipe all the time now. It's good and fast to make.

It was a big pot of lentil soup with homemade deer sausage and buttermilk biscuits for dinner today. Just the right thing for the cold day. I think that Tamale pie is on the agenda for tomorrow. Have a good one, and make the world beautiful--SMILE!

Food, Nastalgia, wintery crafting

2008-02-11T13:03:00.000-08:00

Afternoon friends and new visitors! LOL...okay that's like three people. Anyway.......I can get DSL!!!! Alas, they send some "equipment" via UPS and we cannot get to our mailbox. So, after getting all the information I told the gal I would call back when we were dug out again. Darling Parker offered to walk to the road, only a mere 1/2 mile, but in places its probably more than 2 feet deep. No 57-year-old who has bad lungs from smoking since 8 is gonna do that! So we wait. At least I know that things will get better. It just takes me so long to run through my lists of blogs and newspapers every day. My political blog is getting pretty big in its roll and it just takes hours of agony. I'm constantly running disk clean-up and defrag to keep me going. But I can get DSL...yayaya. Does this mean I too can see what UTube is all about? I'm silly giddy with happiness at the mere thought!

And now back to serious things. What fun things can we find to do, eat, or plant?

Sandi's Crochet blog, has a very lovely flower crochet edging to attach to sleeves or hems. It's very delicate looking so, that would dictate the type of thing you might want to add it to. I tried one of her octagon blocks the other day, and the pattern went perfectly nicely. I'm working on about 3 different blocks to see which I like the best in anticipation of a new afghan.
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The Chocolate Gourmand has a tempting recipe for Valentine's Day. What chocolate decadence you inquire? Not chocolate at all, but a sugar cookie shaped as a heart with a nice embellishment. If you have heart-shaped cutters get to it! Now I could roll it out and cut them free form no? Seriously, this guys pictures look like they came out of a cookbook. Just excellent directions.
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I'm one of those folks who just love beets. I think its a love it or hate it veggie. Not too many fence-sitters on this one. Anyway, Coconut & Lime has a very interesting recipe called "Roasted beet and Citrus Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing." I'm thinking this sounds great as a spring salad when we can get some new beets directly from the garden, (mostly because you use the greens as well and I don't care much for the looks of the beet greens in the supermarket). It's kind of ritzy, and may be nice for a special occasion as well.
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Russell over at Iowa Grasslands had the most poignant of posts. I know my husband Parker will be reading it as I'm more than sure he can Russell had very similar tractor experiences as boys in rural Iowa. I admit to thinking of Parker's stories about being a "farmboy." Thanks Russell!
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Midwest Neurotica is a busy cook. She's posted a great looking dish called "Salsa Verde Carnitas". She got the recipe from "Simply Recipes". The recipe can be found here. I'll be adding that site to my list for sure. Much thanks to Midwest Neurotica!
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We'll be staying in for Valentine's Day no doubt, but I bought a couple of very nice T-Bones in late January when we escaped to do some grocery shopping. I've saved them for Valentine's Day. You who are free to travel about the world as you please may wish to shop and make this scrumpuous looking and sounding fare: "Fusion Flank Steak." While his recipes are a bit technically challenging, the ingredients for this are fairly easy to find at any large supermarket.
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And, well, I can only tell you that I get a hoot out of the Yarn Harlot. To say this woman is obsessed with knitting is well, well they need a new word for it. She's funny as the get out as well. Go take a look.

Well that seems to be it for now. So far, we have not been deluged with new snow, though threats of up to 6 more inches can be heard from Joe Winters on Channel 9. I'll show him a winter or two! Keeping fingers crossed in any case.

Wintery blues and Pizza and quilts

2008-02-10T11:17:00.001-08:00

Afternoon folks and it's a frigid one here in Iowa, mostly because of an intense wind. I pity those who have farm chores today. The dogs are quite content to mostly sleep curled up on their cushions and the cats have all found their nappy places as well. Parker and I are layered up and snug, having gotten enough wood in yesterday to hold through most of tomorrow at least. It's pretty, I'll give it that, the sun is shining fiercely.

Give me a prayer or two for tomorrow! I'm checking into DSL and hoping it solves my feed woes. If not, at least with the faster download I could ignore feeds and just download the sites again and again. But at this point, I'm not even sure we can get DSL. We shall soon see. Designate that prayer to the unimportant list--wouldn't want God to miss anything important while dealing with my puny issue.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll get my behind in gear and make some kind of a chocolate thingie. I'm feeling a bit chocolate deprived I think.

Over at Coconut and Lime, Rachel, who runs that blog, put up an original recipe for macaroni salad. It's a nice new version and I think I'll be trying it this summer. Not exactly what I am into on this frigid day.

Midwest Neurotica seems to be struggling with chicken. Personally, if it's a whole chicken, I'm a firm believer in brining. We did our turkey this past Thanksgiving and will never do it any other way, other than smoking which is a whole nother thing.

Some of you no doubt saw Niki's socks yesterday. Today she shows us how to make a "string quilt" though I might term it a strip quilt. It looks fun and also its a good way to use up lots of pieces of fabric that are too small for bigger works.

The Inadvertent Gardener is someone I can sure relate to! Seems she suffers from the winter blues as much as I do. She has a great idea, pesto pizza! And the pesto is homemade and frozen from the summer bounty. Boy does that sound good. And she is a fellow Iowan.

Well it's a quiet Sunday, and not much going on around the net. Take care all, and stay warm!

My kingdom for speed!

2008-02-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a crummy day. It started out just fine, but as I was working on my other blogs, my feeds started jamming as they do every day. But I have not been able to clear it up, and my computer seems to run so slow I could bake cookies while it loads a site. This is definitely not good. Monday I'm going to look into DSL, hoping that speed is my only problem.

I've never been interested in scrapbooking, but I may have been in error. I assumed it had everything to do with making nice dodads on photo albums. Since we are not really a picture taking family, I never thought I had much use for it. But I'm getting the idea that its part of a larger hobby of "paper crafts." Am I correct in this? And if so, exactly what is all involved here? I've not been able to get a very good answer so far. I guess I still hope that some day I'll wander into some craft and be totally taken and in love. LOL.

Sandi has a lovely little pattern to make some filet crochet for Valentine's Day. Sure, I know it's only a few days away, but this looks pretty quick. Much thanks to her for the free pattern.

Do you know how to "supreme" a grapefruit? Ha! I sure knew how to do the procedure but never knew it was called that! No, I'm not going to tell you. The site deserves a visit. And no, it has nothing to do with Motown.

Today might just be the day for some chowda (does that sound like New England)? Famous Recipes has one called "A-Maize-ing Chowder".

One need only look out the window to know its cold and getting more so today. We are going back into deep freeze. I may hate that even more than snow. But, its a fairly even hatred I have for both. A good pair of socks are hard to find, but the Yarn Harlot has a newly made pair you just must see. Like or dislike, it's an impressive display of skill and perseverance.

I'm getting up the urge to do some crocheting of the afghan variety, so I'm off to find something on the net in terms of a pattern. Thinking of squares this time. Catch you guys later!

Searching the Blogosphere Far and Wide

2008-02-08T10:42:00.000-08:00

If you are up for scenes of snow, there is a very beautiful blog from Iowa City, called the Iowa Garden. Always nice pics, although today, its not the usual flowers, but the devil-awful snow we got again the other day. We usually don't get the deer coming quite that close, but we saw some branches gnawed quite high up the other day, and that was within about 8 feet of our house. I say that the deer usually don't come that close because Bear and Brandy do not allow foreign critters on Peyton land. Well, except for at night when they sleep.

If on the other hand pomegranates are your thing, (nice transition yes?), Family Style Food, has some tips on juice extraction and and and, a very interesting and yummy looking recipe for Pomegranate Sorbet. Unfortunately I'm snowed in, and I'm thinking the red apple lookalikes might be a tad hard to find in Cedar Rapids this time of year. The only time I ever see them is around Christmas.

I'm unabashed in my desire to feature other Iowans on this blog. One of my very new favorites is Iowa Grasslands. Although Russell doesn't express any interest in the subjects we most often deal with here, stop by his blog and enjoy his commentaries on life and Iowa and politics. Midlife by Farmlight also has a sentimental bent today. Jeannelle is fast becoming a blogging friend. I love her posts.

I guess I should just admit it, I am unabashedly anti-Oprah, and I'm just as enthusiastically pro-Martha! Anyway, a blog entitled not martha was guaranteed to catch my eye. She has some nice pics of a sweater she is knitting, and it would appear she is a very very good knitter. You might want to add her to your bloglist. She does a great links list on all variety of things. (If you want to know why I dislike the diva of daytime, read my blog post here. Martha on the other hand, appeals to my desire for, but never realized, penchance for order and perfection.)

I am ever working to add more links to really good places. It is slow going sometimes, but I know I've been finding some really useful stuff at some. I tend to pay attention to several things when reviewing new blogs. Here there are in no particular order:

How does it look? People who put together ugly blogs usually send me packing quickly. I just don't figure you have much to say if you don't want to make it inviting.
How often do you post? I prefer people who post every day or nearly so. I realize that for crafting, cooking, and gardening, that may not be reasonable. If the information is good, I'll certainly take a blog that only posts once a week.
How long does it take to load? I recognize that crafts, food, gardening do best when pictures are shown. Too many makes the wait for me not worth it. I'm no doubt a minority, there are only 5 of us still on dialup worldwide no?
How do your resources look? The more great sites you list apropos of the subject the better. If you can be a resource for me, more the better.

Well it's time to lift my tush to the kitchen. Dinner is approaching and I think I'm expected to do the cooking. Have a good one, and somebody take this SNOW AWAY!

Just a little extra cash!

2008-02-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon! Well, all thoughts of the "prettiness" of the snow have faded, as we face the miserable reality that we are snowed in again. And as far as I can see (a week), no thaw is in the offing any time soon. Still, its cozy and pleasant indoors. It's not so cold the dogs don't stay out a good while, the wind is down, and the cats wander and sleep, eat, wander, and sleep.

I confess that I have an ulterior motive in setting up this site. It has always been my dream to make some money at home in some fashion. Yet, I am continually stymied in this regard for I have a problem. I am addicted to nothing! I can do it all, and passably well too. I can quilt, sew, knit, crochet, bead, paint, and a slew of other things. Yet I end up always getting bored. And it might be 2 years before I get excited about a particular craft again. So I tend to have lots of half-finished things. More importantly when I find something that I think would sell, I cannot bring myself to make the same thing over and over.

My hope was that with this site, I could find a cute project, make it, and offer it for sale here. I figured a dozen or so different items might work, and keep me from boredom. I'm not sure if it will work, I'm somewhat lazy as well you see. If anyone has ideas or suggestions please let me know. We could use a little extra income, living solely on Parker's disability. And I do have the room to work, if not the funds to make "fancy" things. Anyway that is my hope.

I found this little item and thought it was quite nifty. I did a kaleidoscope queen-sized quilt a couple of years ago, and so I know about triangles. This Angler 2 should shorten up the process considerably. It fits all machines and allows you to sew with the perfect angle without rulers and pencils.

Not Martha clued me onto this site. It's called MetaFilter, and apparently you just post your question about anything and people can answer if they have one. Neat idea!