The Werling Way

C721 Chili Cook-off 2011

2011-11-09T22:13:00.002-05:00

Tonight was the second annual Chili Cook-off for the C721 Club of which I am a member. It is a fundraiser for scholarships we give out each year. I didn't enter last year but decided to this year. I thought about just fixing Chili Soup the way I usually do, but decided this was a good opportunity to experiment when there would be help eating it.

I searched out and thought about different recipes and what I wanted to include and exclude in my chili. If you've not yet discovered www.yummly.com, you NEED to check it out. You can enter a recipe to search for, then refine it by specifying ingredients you want included, excluded, degree of sweet, savory, etc. and it refines the list of recipes for you. I searched for "Chili" and specified the inclusion of bacon, beans and....beer! I don't know why but I've always wanted to try including beer in chili. I excluded a couple things but I can't think now what those were. Anyway I finally decided on a recipe and thought I would stick to it exactly, but then cans have different amounts and rather than figure out what to do about leftovers or shortfalls I dumped it all in, except for the extra beer. After Facebooking with my friend Aaron Blaser I did a little adjustment.

Despite the disadvantage of showing up a half hour late due to a time error on the Facebook event posting, so missing the opening rush, I finished 3rd. I was asked for the recipe so here is what I ended up with:

Crockpot Beef, Bean and Bacon Chili

6 slices bacon, cut into 1/4" pieces, browned and drained
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 cup lager beer
14 ounce can beef broth
19 ounce can enchilada sauce
12 ounce bottle chili sauce
10 ounce can Rotel tomatoes with chilies
1 can* kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can* black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can* pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can* red beans, rinsed and drained
1 11-ounce can niblet corn, drained
2 tablespoons chili powder (I used Hot Mexican Chili Powder)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar

Optional garnishes:
tortilla strips, tortilla chips or corn chips
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
green onion, chopped

1. In large nonstick skillet, saute ground beef, onion, garlic and celery over medium to medium-high heat until beef is browned and crumbles (be sure not to have heat too high so you don't burn the garlic); drain fat.

2. Add ground beef mixture to a 5-quart or large slow cooker.

3. Add the bacon and the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot, except for the garnishes; mix well.

4. Cover and cook on low setting for 6-8 hours or on high setting for 3-4 hours.

5. To serve, remove bay leaf and garnish with the following: tortilla strips, tortilla chips, corn chips, shredded cheese, sour cream and/or green onions.

6. Enjoy!

*Bean can sizes vary from 15 - 16 ounces.

2010-08-08T17:28:00.004-04:00

Poor blog, I've ignored you way too much lately. I guess it's time for an update. What have I been up to lately? Same ol' same ol', throw in a couple new things, but pretty much nothing new.

My mom and I went to Alabama last month for my grandson Riley's birthday. I can't believe he's a whole year old now...make that a year and a month! Photos of his birthday weekend HERE.

I found a new weather forum I like, Chaser Update. It's for storm chasers, meteorologist and weather enthusiasts in general. I applied for an open position there and became a Support Specialist. I've since been promoted to Support Director.

I'm still volunteering at the United Way. I helped with their Tools To Teach collection. We sat up in front of Walmart a couple weekends and collected classroom supplies for the local public schools. I was in Alabama the first weekend but helped the second weekend. I think it was the hottest weekend of the year! LOL

The most exciting thing is that I now have fingernails! One day at the United Way Pamela and I were talking and I commented on my nails being so thin and soft that I couldn't grow them. Pamela fixed me up with some Avon nail strengthener. I couldn't believe how much it helped. So now I'm always looking for new polishes. Friday I was at the Dollar Tree and the only color nail polish they had was LA Colors Black Velvet, so I bought it. When I got home I polished my nails with it, then decided to put a layer of Sally So Disco over it, which is a glitter in a clear base. I got quite the surprise when it ended up looking like I'd polished my nails with a deep green glitter polish! I found the MakeUp Talk forum and I'm loving their Nail Talk section. Here's a picture of how my nails turned out.

The Flood Of 2003

2010-07-04T20:33:00.001-04:00

July 4, 2003. My husband and I were vacationing at a friend's cottage on the western shore of Lake Huron, oblivious to what was happening back home in Bluffton, Indiana. I believe it was the next day that my brother called to tell me a friend of mine's house had been destroyed in the next county over by a tornado on the evening of the 4th. Thankfully my friend and his family were not home and not injured. My brother did not tell me the rest of the weather story though. When asked about that later his reply was that he forgot I lived next to the river.

On the 7th we headed home from Michigan to be back in time for Gene to work second shift. As we got close to home we noticed there was an awful lot of water standing. AN AWFUL LOT! We came past my friend's house and followed the path of the tornado for a few miles, viewing additional damage, then headed for home.

We got to Bluffton and then headed out our street. We got about 2/10 mile from home and sat and looked at water. LOTS of water. We live next to the Wabash River and it was flooded across the street. I was driving and I said to Gene, "We can't get through that, can we?" It was a rhetorical question. The street is dead-ended between our drive and our neighbor north of us but we can come in their side and drive across the yard to get home. We went around to their side and once again sat and looked at water. We decided to go to the police station to ask when they expected the river to crest so we would know how to plan.

At the police station they said it was to crest the next morning but that the fire department could take us through the water and to our house. I said, "I don't think so!" They insisted the fire department could, that they had been taking people in and out of flooded areas all day. So, we climbed into a fire truck with the fire chief and headed for home. We drove out our street, then sat and looked at the water. The fire chief said, "The only way you're getting home is by boat."

My mom and dad lived a few miles away so we went to stay with them. Our pharmacy was kind enough to advance us prescription meds toward our next refills as it was too soon for insurance to allow refills. Based on the police department information that the river was to crest the next morning I only asked for a couple days worth of meds. Fortunately the pharmacy decided to give us more days than that. Where Gene worked it was uniform day so he was able to get his clean uniforms and have clothes for work. He had an old pair of his steel toed shoes in his locker so with a temporary card they supplied for the time clock he was set for work. I could wear the clothes I had with me to work so with my mom's washer and dryer and the use of their extra vehicle I was all set.

They kept backing off the estimated crest time of the river. We had expected to be able to get home in a couple days. In fact, we spent seven days at my parents before we were able to get home. Thankfully we had taken our parrotlet with us on vacation so he was safe and taken care of. The cats had been left home with a clean litter box and lots of extra food, enough that it lasted the whole time, so they ended up being okay here alone, just very starved for attention by the time we got home. We didn't have a dog at that time.

The flood of 2003 ended up being the second highest flood on record here. By the time the river crested on July 9th we had received 12.70 inches of rain. A lot of houses were flooded and considered total losses. The city eventually received grant money to purchase those properties. The houses were torn down and the area has been converted to a park where future major floods would not once again destroy people's homes. One life was lost in the flooding.

My husband and I had married the previous fall. He had lived here a little over 10 years at the time. I had asked him several times if he was SURE the river never gets as high as the house. He always assured me the river never got close to the house. When we were finally able to return home we found a wet garage floor. It appeared the flood had just reached the garage and seeped in a little. Fortunately the house is a couple concrete blocks higher than the garage floor so was fine. Our crawl space was flooded. Gene borrowed a sump pump and started pumping water out. Unfortunately there was a drain in the crawl space that drains into our pond. The water was so high in the pond that the water was coming back through the drain just as fast as we pumped it out. We had to turn off the pump and wait for the water level to recede on it's own. Our lawn mower and 8N Ford tractor were both in flood waters. We had to have some work done on the mower and have the starter rebuilt on the 8N. That was about the extent of our damages. We didn't even have dead fish to pick up after the water receded. Our ponds were murky and really stank that summer and it was a couple years before I would consider fishing and eating the fish out of the ponds after having the contaminated flood water in them. If you've ever been around a flood you know what all kind of contaminants get into flood waters.

Later Gene sealed off the crawl space drain. That was the only time the crawl space had ever flooded so he decided to seal it and if we ever got water we would pump it out.

It's hard to believe on those summer days when you could just about hop stones in the river bed and cross without getting your feet wet that it can do the damage it did.

How To Help Those In Haiti

2010-01-13T23:53:00.004-05:00

This information is from Pamela Beckford, Executive Director of United Way of Wells County: Wondering how you can help in Haiti? You can help people affected by the earthquake in Haiti by donating to the United Way Worldwide Disaster Fund. https://volunteer.united-e-way.org/uwwwdisaster/donate/ Gifts to the Fund support long-term recovery efforts to rebuild lives and infrastructure devastated by disaster and... to address educational, financial and health-related challenges. OR You now can text HAITI to 864833 to donate $5 to United Way Worldwide's disaster recovery fund.

Teacher Merit Pay

2010-01-13T20:46:00.002-05:00

Excellent blog post on teacher merit pay. http://publiceducationmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/merit-pay.html Please read it.

Pecan Fruit Cake and Cranberry Salad Recipes

2009-12-21T13:44:00.003-05:00

I've had some requests for my fruitcake and cranberry salad recipes so here they are:

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PECAN FRUITCAKE

Cream together: 1 lb. butter and 1 lb. sugar.

Add: 6 egg yolks, one at a time.

Sift together: 2 c. flour and 1 tsp. Baking Powder

Add alternately with 1 tablespoon vanilla

Coat 1 lb pecans, 1/2lb. candied cherries & 1/2lb candied pineapple (I also add 1/2 cup of golden raisins) with 2c. sifted flour. Add to above.

Then add 6 egg whites, beaten stiff.

Let set overnight in the refrigerator. Bake in greased 10" tube pan or loaf pans 3 to 3.5 hours @ 225°. Remove pans and turn upside down on foil-covered rack or board. The cake should fall out. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

I like to use half green and half red cherries. I've always baked it in my angelfood cake pan with removable bottom. After removing the cake from the pan I slide a knife between the cake and the pan bottom to loosen it. This time I baked it in two loaf pans and had problems getting it out so will line the pans if I do loaves again. I usually bake it about 4 weeks ahead and keep it in the refrigerator in Cream Sherry soaked cheesecloth letting it slowly soak in the sherry.

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The cranberry salad now requires two recipes to get it made, thanks to the fact that Indian Trail Cranberry Orange Sauce is no longer made.

Cranberry Orange Sauce

12 ounce bag fresh or frozen raw cranberries
1 orange
1/2 - 1 cup sugar

Wash cranberries and drain well. Using a vegetable parer, peel thin layers of the orange rind off the orange. Peel off and discard the white pith. Divide the orange into sections. Coarsely chop the cranberries and orange peel in food processor. Do the same with the orange. Mix cranberries, peel and orange with sugar.

I freeze it in 10 ounce portions. 1/2 lb margarine tubs work well for this. I let it set out overnight to blend flavors before freezing.

Cranberry Salad

1 large box sugar-free Strawberry Jello
10 ounce cranberry orange sauce
1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple, UNdrained
water

Dissolve jello in one cup boiling water. (The sugar-free needs a full two minutes of stirring to make sure it is totally dissolved.) Stir in cranberry orange sauce, undrained pineapple and half a pineapple can of cold water. Refrigerate until set. Before serving stir thoroughly, which gives it a more creamy texture.

Having A Little MORE Cold Coffee

2009-11-18T00:17:00.003-05:00

I have wanted a tall coffee mug for months. I don't know why I've wanted one so bad but I have. I was at Wal-mart this afternoon and walked by the Christmas things and there they were, tall Christmas mugs. I stood and looked at them. $2 and I'd finally have my tall mug. I stood and looked some more. Did I really want a mug with a snowman on it if I wanted to use my tall mug in the middle of the summer? Not really. But these were really tall mugs and I really liked the shape. So I stood and looked at them some more. Then I started to push my cart away, thinking I'd just wait until I saw some tall ones another time. As I did, I took one last glance over my shoulder..... Oh! I totally missed them but over to the side were a few that did not have snowmen on them! Red and green stripes and dots. Christmas, but yet not tied strictly to Christmas. So I got my tall mug.

This evening I was a little chilled and decided I'd fix myself a cup of instant coffee. Decaf. I'm working in the morning so trying not to stay up tooooo late. So I got my new mug and gave it a good washing out with soapy water, filled it with fresh water and popped it into the microwave. I'd checked to see how much it held compared to what I was used to using so I'd know how much coffee to use. A little more than one and a half of our normal mugs.

I sat down with my new tall mug full of decaf, took a few sips, sat it down and picked up my netbook. Half an hour later I glanced over and there sat my mug, still almost full....of cold coffee. I laughed. I hardly ever finish a cup of coffee before it gets cold and here I was with an even larger mug. I really like that tall mug though, so I guess I'll just have a little MORE cold coffee. :-)

Baker's Cookies

2009-11-15T23:36:00.006-05:00

Here's another recipe. This one by request. I remember when I was a kid and we made these cookies we had cookies all over the place. It calls for baking syrup. We used the white Karo syrup for that and our cookies were really light colored and mild flavored. When I got married my mother-in-law used the same recipe but used molasses for the syrup, so they were a dark molasses flavored cookie. Use the type syrup of your choice to get different cookies. If you've forgotten, a pint is two cups, a quart is four cups. We always used a drinking glass dipped into flour for a cookie cutter.

Baker's Cookies

3 1/2 pints sugar
1 1/2 pints shortening
5 small eggs (I use large eggs)
9 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 pint water
1/2 pint baking syrup
3 quarts flour

Mix all together at the same time. Roll out (not too thin) and cut. Transfer to a baking sheet

Topping

1 egg, beaten slightly
1/3 cup milk

Mix egg and milk together. Brush on tops of cookies before baking.

The recipe doesn't give a temperature or time for baking and I've never made note of what I used. I would bake them at 350° and watch them closely until you establish a time.

Is There A Fair Way To Do A Property Tax Referendum?

2009-11-03T09:13:00.005-05:00

The first thought I had when I woke up this morning was, "Isn't there any way I can vote in this referendum?" Southern Wells Community Schools have an operating fund referendum on the ballot today. If it passes it will affect property taxes in the school district.

Referendums can only be voted on by the registered voters in the voting districts involved. With a referendum affecting property taxes that means if you're a registered voter in the districts you get to vote, regardless if you own property in the districts or not. If you own property in the districts but don't live there, you can't register to vote in the districts. I fall in that second category, I own property within the Southern Wells school district but don't live there, so I can't vote.

Is it fair that the non-property owner can vote on a property tax issue? Not in my opinion. I can't see a solution that would be considered fair by everyone though.

What if only registered voters within the districts who own property can vote...still not fair to those who own property in the districts but don't live in the districts.

So maybe owners of property in the districts can vote regardless of where they live...still has problems. Then you'll have the owner of large acreage that's unhappy because the owner of a singe acre has the same vote as they do. How about a vote per acre...then the small acreage owner will complain that the large acreage owner has too much say.

No matter how you do it, it's not fair to someone.

I guess I'll just have to trust that no matter who does the voting, they'll keep the good of the kids in the Southern Wells school district at heart.

EDIT: I should add that who can vote in this referendum is determined by state law. As a News-Banner tweet just noted, it is not the Southern Wells school board that determines who votes.

Don't blink or you'll miss this!

2009-09-29T00:15:00.002-04:00

Just in case you haven't noticed, I've not been in the blogging mood lately....and I'm still not. :-)

Old Farmers Almanac by Brian Barnes

2009-09-11T21:47:00.010-04:00

With permission, I am re-posting a blog post today by Brian Barnes of STORMCHASE.com. Brian's post triggered memories I have of a farm field that would get rain at one end of the field but not the other, of a line between home and Fort Wayne where the winter weather would change from one side of the line to the other and all the old weather sayings that were, for the most part, true. I've always wondered about the accuracy and forecasting methods of The Old Farmers Almanac. Thanks Brian for allowing me to re-post your blog post.

Old Farmers Almanac

Sep 11, 2009

2009 Edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac

While at the bookstore that bares my family name the other day I picked up an interesting book that has been published annually in September since 1792 – The Old Farmer’s Almanac (OFA).

I haven’t looked at one these books since my childhood when I would spend time during the summers visiting my grandparents in Kansas. My grandfather was a Kansas farmer and like most, he used OFA for its planting charts, weather predications and there were articles in it that my grandmother would read as well such as recipes and trending items in home décor.

Like many farmers, my grandfather had a lot of weather forecasting techniques that he developed himself, based on his own observations from many years of living in the Central Plains where the weather can go from a peaceful sunny day to a violent nightmare in a matter of minutes.

I remember many times when he would see common houseflies clinging to the outside of the screen door as if they were desperately trying to get into the house and he would proudly announce – “It’s going to rain.” Sure enough, usually within the hour the cumulus clouds would start building and rain it did.

Over the years of storm chasing, I have had many opportunities to speak with like-minded rural people of the Great Plains who owned farms. I literally can’t count the number of times when I would be parked on some lonely country road while watching a storm and some old farmer would pull up next to me in his rusty pick-up truck and just ask a simple question such as – “Well, is it going to get bad?”

Such questions would usually spark a conversation about how storms always come over a certain area in the farmer’s view, and why he ended up with so many bushels of crop from that field, while another nearby field would never get rain and yield fewer crops. The bottom line is – if you ever really want to know about a location’s weather, just ask a farmer. So, it would only make sense that OFA would have a lot of great information – after all it’s the longest running periodical publication in America’s history.

I flipped through its pages and landed upon an article called Hurricanes: Questions and Answers. Could this book really hold all the answers to my questions about hurricanes? Doubtful – not even all the published papers in science journals could do that – but, it was worth a read so in the words of my grandfather, “I gave it a gander.”

In a nutshell, OFA predicts that 2010 will be a wild and active hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin. But, forecasting is all about validating your forecast – and since they’ve been at this for awhile I thought I would check on their most recent past long-range hurricane forecast for the 2009 season.

According to the 2009 OFA, their readers should watch out for an active Florida season as well as a hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast and a late-August hurricane along the Atlantic Corridor.

Oops. That was a bit off I’d say. You know the people at OFA were paying very close attention to Hurricane Bill just off the Atlantic Coast in mid-August. But, the 2009 season thus far has been one of the quietest tropical seasons I’ve seen in a very long time. Well, it seems that way anyway since we’ve not seen much action in the United States directly – but in fairness, it’s been just slightly below average in terms of named tropical systems and hurricanes.

Dr. William Gray & Dr. Dr. Phillip Klotzbach, CSU

And, that’s exactly what Dr. Gray and his team of hurricane forecasts crunching nerds at Colorado State University had predicated (btw, I meant that as a compliment).

The CSU team had predicted that 2009 would include 11 name storms, five hurricanes of which two would be major (Category 3, or above) would happen in the 2009 season. Their forecast specifically stated the season would be slightly below average in terms of named systems and hurricanes.

Granted there are still about 45 days left in this season – but here is what we’ve had so far: six named storms, two hurricanes, and both of those became major hurricanes having at one time reached the threshold of a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale.

I’m pretty familiar with the forecasting techniques used by the CSU team, I was left wondering about how OFA put their forecast together. It’s interesting to also point out that OFA publishes their forecast with the time that the periodical itself is published – September. While the CSU’s team forecast generally come out in December and then are modified in April and in June, giving them a bit of advantage as issuance occurs closer to the start of the season.

OFA claims their “original formula” was created by the periodicals founder, Robert B. Thomas in the 1790s who believed that the Earth’s weather was heavily influenced by sun spots and that Thomas’ original notes were locked down in a “Black Box” in the company’s office at Dublin, NH. That sounds pretty sleuth to me. Nothing like the old marketing tactic of protecting the original formula – just ask Jay Bush about his baked beans!

However, over the years they have refined this original formula so that it’s up-to-date with modern scientific thinking – sort of. The newer method is based on solar activity, climatology and meteorology.

Here is exactly what OFA says – “We employ three scientific disciplines to make our long-range predictions: solar science, the study of sunspots and other solar activity; climatology, the study of prevailing weather patterns; and meteorology, the study of the atmosphere. We predict weather trends and events by comparing solar patterns and historical weather conditions with current solar activity.”

Altogether, that doesn’t sound half bad, but from a scientific viewpoint and techie gear-head, I’m not sure that the method compares to one that crunches zillions of weather variables on the world’s largest computer, which is more or less the method used at CSU. But even with the world’s most powerful computer at their fingertips, even CSU’s predications are only validating about 50 percent of the time.

Something else I find a bit interesting with OFA’s original formula is solar science in itself as it existed in 1792. While sunspots were first sighted centuries ago and dates back to 28 BC in ancient China, it wasn’t until 1848 that Rudolf Wolf began making systematic observations and created the “Wolf Number,” which is an expression of individual spots and spot groupings.

Also in that year, Joseph Henry was able to project an image of the Sun onto a screen and determine that sun spots were actually cooler than the rest of the Sun. So, until the mid-1800s, it was very difficult to observe and monitor sun spot activity on a continuing basis.

There is no mention from OFA that I could find in reference to Robert B. Thomas study of solar activity, or if he had a solar telescope that the rest of the world didn’t know about – or if such a solar telescope, or even a prism was inside the locked down “Black Box” that is protecting the original forecasting formula.

If comparing OFA’s forecast to CSU’s forecast in 2009 – I’d say it’s a bit of a tossup. While Dr. Gray’s team had forecasted a season that was less than average, the OFA’s forecast implied a busy season. That said, this season has been even quieter than Dr. Gray’s team had predicated (thus far, remember it’s still not over yet) – so both were wrong.

And, as far as OFA’s forecast for a hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast during August, it didn’t happen – And while, there was Hurricane Bill along the Atlantic Corridor, he stayed off-shore as a high pressure ridge pushed him to the east. Had the Bermuda High decided to move a bit west, it could have been a different story – and they (OFA) would have been able to claim success. But, since forecasting is about validation – their forecast didn’t completely validate.

OFA claims their forecast are based on solar activity such as sun spots.

And, it might sound as if I am being pretty hard and critical of OFA and the fact is – I am. While I enjoy a great read and fondly recall enjoying reading through OFA during my childhood summers while visiting my grandparents – it’s also a matter that the weather affects all our lives on a daily basis and such things as badly issued seasonal forecast affect us more than we might realize.

For example, it’s not a known secret that the insurance industry uses Dr. Gray’s hurricane forecast to try and mitigate and leverage their hurricane cost, as well as possible damage by in-land flooding. Florida’s insurance industry is in shambles (Florida home owners know exactly what I’m talking about).

To my knowledge no insurance company is basing any of their premiums upon the forecast predications published by OFA, since OFA isn’t a well-respected house of science (but they are respected in the publishing industry). But, it is the insurance industry after all and I trust them about as far as I can throw them (another borrowed one-liner used well by my grandfather). Badly issued forecast, while sometimes “fun,” could have a hard-impact on people – in fact, it could have a harder financial impact than if a storm actually did hit their home.

My harsh criticism wouldn’t come if I could find a disclaimer in the book that specifically mentioned that their forecast was not based on the latest available scientific knowledge or state-of-the-art technology, but in fact I find just the opposite with this – “Over the years, we have refined and enhanced that (original 1792) formula with state-of-the-art technology and modern scientific calculations.”

To me, that implies that OFA wants to be taken very seriously as a source of scientific forecasting.

Evacuation Help For Animals Needed In California

2009-09-02T17:22:00.001-04:00

The Gabriel Foundation CALIFORNIA FRIENDS - PLEASE REPOST!!! WILDLIFE WAYSTATION NEEDS HELP EVACUATING ANIMALS!!! Need flatbed trucks NOW!!! 14831 Little Tujunga Canyon Rd Sylmar, CA 91342 (818) 899-5021

Trip To The Sleep Disorder Doctor

2009-09-01T22:52:00.002-04:00

I had my followup appointment with my sleep disorder doctor yesterday from my sleep study. I didn't realize until yesterday that he was investigating my Pulmonary Hypertension I was diagnosed with a few months ago. He is also a pulmonologist. He had gotten the info from my catheterization from my cardiologist. It ruled out causes but didn't determine a cause. One of the possible causes is sleep apnea. When I had my sleep study it showed I needed the pressure of my CPAP machine adjusted. Yesterday I had a test of lung function and capacity and it was good, ruled out as a PH cause. Now I need to get a chest xray. If it is good he said that rules out everything and leaves the sleep apnea as the cause.

Maybe I should quit complaining about the length of time I sit from appointment time until I actual see him!

Cabbage Relish

2009-08-20T21:41:00.002-04:00

Once upon a time...well it was waaaay back when I was still in high school so it must be a fairy tale, right? One of my friends gave me a jar of Cabbage Relish her mom had made. I didn't even know what to do with it. She told me to eat it on hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. I had my doubts, but it was good! It keeps in the refrigerator, no canning involved. Since cabbage, onions and green peppers are available year round you can make it anytime so you don't have to make a bunch and have it take up your refrigerator space. I just finished making a batch. I haven't made it for quite a while so I'm feeling impatient for it to be ready...it has to set in the refrigerator for a couple days for the flavor to permeate it. Saturday I'll be having hot dogs with Cabbage Relish on them!

Here's the recipe:

Cabbage Relish

2 quarts shredded cabbage (I used 2 pounds)
2 green peppers, chopped fine
1 medium onion, chopped

Boil the following ingredients one minute:
2 cups vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons tumeric
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon salt

Pour boiling ingredients over cabbage, green peppers and onion; let cool. Store in refrigerator for at least 30 hours before using to set ingredients. May be kept in refrigerator in a jar for one year.

NOTE: I use enough cabbage so that after the hot vinegar mixture has wilted it down I still have enough to fill two quart jars.

My Hurricane Question On Twitter

2009-08-19T14:38:00.004-04:00

My Twitter question was: "Question for the weather enthusiasts. Is a powerful hurricane just as exciting to you if it does NOT threaten land?"

Tornado chasing, you actually see the physical happenings. With a hurricane at sea, you watch the the stats and maps but if it stays far from land you don't physically see much of it. I was curious how that affected the interests of the people who follow those kinds of things.

Here are the replies:

twnstar2: Even more so for me. A chance to admire the beauty & power with minimal threat to safety, life and property.

csweather: Oh yeah, for sure! In fact makes me just as excited if it never hits land

What Else Is In My Zucchini Squares?

2009-08-17T21:26:00.002-04:00

Zucchini Squares

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
2 teaspoons maple flavoring
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup nuts
2 cups diced zucchini squash, raw, peeled

Combine the ingredients, fold in the zucchini last. Spread on greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Drizzle with powdered sugar frosting.

Runza Casserole

2009-08-10T19:21:00.005-04:00

Runzas are a type of "sandwich" that seems to be pretty much limited to Nebraska. Runza casserole uses basically the same ingredients in casserole form. Much easier than making Runzas.

Runza Casserole

1 pound hamburger
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 head cabbage, shredded
salt & pepper to taste
6 slices swiss cheese (may use sliced or shredded mozzarella or cheddar)
1 tube refrigerated crescent roll dough

Brown hamburger and onion with salt and pepper, (drain if using greasy hamburger), stir in cabbage and more salt and pepper, cover and allow to steam until cabbage is wilted down and crisp tender.

Line bottom of greased 8x8-inch pan or baking dish with 1/2 of crescent roll dough, pinching edges together to seal. Cover with hamburger/cabbage mixture. Cover with cheese. Top with remaining crescent roll dough.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until dough is golden brown.

Tweet-up At Bummie's, July 31st

2009-08-01T17:40:00.011-04:00

Friday, July 31st, some of the Bluffton area Twitter users gathered at Bummie's for a Tweet-up. Bummie's famous Spanish Dogs and Onion Rings were enjoyed by most. The big question, is one of these people the REAL @mswiftpi, world famous private investigator? Present, L to R, 1st photo: @pamela984 (aka @UnitedWayWells), @libraritarian59, @coffeepink. 2nd photo: @ScLoHo, @jerrybattiste (from @newsbanner), @dylanmcintosh. Not pictured @Mar_sha (that's me).

"You're a free woman."

2009-08-01T16:45:00.004-04:00

"You're a free woman." That's what my surgeon told me yesterday. I said, "Finally!" It was a much longer road than I expected. Surgery on November 21st was supposed to mean 5 days hospitalized, unless there were complications. I had my surgery, plus two additional surgeries, and spent over a month hospitalized. Must have been complications! After I was out of the hospital a place in the incision line decided to open up, 10cm deep, and an artery decided to bleed resulting in stitches to the artery and an overnight stay in the hospital. Then two more places decided to open, minor compared to the first one. A change in surgeons came about because I could never believe what the original surgeon would tell me. Packings twice a day. The deep opening got switched to a vacuum dressing which only had to be changed three times a week. Rashes resulted in finding ways to do packings without tape and occasionally temporarily discontinuing the vaccum dressing. Insurance mandated I be homebound as long as I had home health care. Finally I was healed enough the vacuum dressing had to be discontinued. At that point home health care could be discontinued because I could do regular packings myself. I went to Alabama for my grandson's birth still doing a packing twice a day. Finally it is healed and I got released from the surgeon, after eight months. Now on with life. I wonder what God has in mind for me next? I'm still here so he still has something for me to do.

There's A Story Behind That!

2009-07-30T20:30:00.003-04:00

A couple days ago I was tweeting with someone, who I don't recall, but I remember telling them something and then saying, "There's a story behind that. I should put it on my blog." The problem is I can't remember what it is we were talking about. Here are some other "There's a story behind that" stories though.

Sereptajane
Sereptajane is my User ID or Login name on a lot of the places I have to sign in to on the internet. What's the story behind Sereptajane? Serepta Jane Simons Brown was my great great grandmother. She was gone long before my time so I never knew her. I love her name though! No one else in the family seems to care for it and apparently she didn't either because she didn't go by it. Since I liked it so much I decided to use it. So that's the story behind my username of Sereptajane.

Princess Nevermind
Somewhere waaaaay back in the family tree on my Dad's side of the family, someone was born the child of a prince, at least I think it was a prince, and his concubine. That birth did not fall in the line of succession to the throne. I figure I got gypped out of being a princess. In one of the forums I used to go to there were about three of us claiming to be a princess of one sort or another and two Queenies. I always seemed to be saying "nevermind" about something so one day I decided I was Princess Nevermind. I even have an email address that is princessnevermind@xxxxx.com.

Fluffy Dean
I used to have a cat named Fluffy. My ex had a job that took him all over the state and sometimes out of state. He took off one rainy Monday morning for Fairmount, Indiana and was to be gone all week. Shortly after arriving at the fertilizer plant in Fairmount the employees there asked him if a soaking wet cat that had just appeared there was his. He looked at it and told them no. She was a long haired cat and after she started to dry out he realized it WAS our Fluffy. Apparently she had rode all the way from the southern part of Wells County to Fairmount on the frame rail of his service truck. He wasn't able to bring her back home and I wasn't able to go get her either. They kept her in their warehouse and took care of her until I could go pick her up on Friday. I decided that if she wanted to go to the hometown of James Dean so badly that she would ride all the way there on the frame rail with water getting thrown on her by the tires, then she at least deserved to share his name. From then on she was known as Fluffy Dean.

Those are just some of my "There's a story behind that" stories. Maybe I'll tell you some more later. Maybe I'll remember the one I WANTED to tell you about later!

Part Time With the United Way

2009-07-28T22:50:00.003-04:00

I have a new part time volunteer job and I'm really enjoying it. I'm helping out in the office at the United Way of Wells County. Today was my second time there. I'm really enjoying it. For the most part I had no idea what the United Way was all about so it's a real educational experience for me.

Last week my first educational experience there was learning to transfer phone calls without hanging up on the caller. My apologies to that first caller. Fortunately she called back. Most of that first afternoon was free time so I started reading through the 211 guide. I am amazed at the help resources available for people in the area...and saddened that we have the need for them.

Today I learned to check inside my clothes before leaving home. I didn't learn it until I was at the United Way though. I was standing in by the copy machine and put my hand on my hip. What was that lump? Uh...okay, what was that sock doing in my slacks? LOL

The other big thing I learned today was how to enter children into the Imagination Library database and send out the welcome letters to their families. The Imagination Library is a really neat program. It is free to all children from birth to age five. They receive an age appropriate book every month. United Way of Wells County is the Wells County affiliate. If you live in other areas you can find your local affiliate on the Imagination Library website at http://www.dollysimaginationlibrary.com. If you have a child age birth to five years of age I urge you to sign them up for the Imagination Library program!

Trying to figure out what subspecies of parrotlet Opie is

2009-07-24T16:44:00.014-04:00

EDIT: With the help of parrotletparrot and the site http://shadypines.com/descgr.htm we've decided that Opie is probably Forpus passerinus viridissimus.

My pic on The Weather Channel!

2009-07-24T08:35:00.006-04:00

I LOVE Mike Bettes from The Weather Channel. During the Vortex 2 tornado project he live streamed video every day at noon and I watched him as often as I could. Of course I'm a nut anyway for watching the different storm chasers. Usually I'm asleep and don't see him and Stephanie (their Twitter ID is abramsandbettes) when they're on in the morning. This morning I was (still) up and caught their tweet to send in your weather pictures or videos. It was foggy so I thought I'd take a picture of the fog over our pond. Surprise surprise, when I went to take the picture there was some guy out there fishing! I don't know who he is, maybe the neighbors' son, but he was just on national TV! I videoed it on the TV.

Small version of the original picture.

Letter From The Boss

2009-07-23T03:15:00.003-04:00

This guy's got it right!

LETTER FROM THE BOSS:

As the Ceo of this organization, I have resigned myself to the fact that Barrack Obama is our President and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way... To compensate for these increases, our prices would have to increase by about 10%. But since we cannot increase our prices right now due to the dismal state of the economy, we will have to lay off sixty of our employees instead. This has really been bothering me, since I believe we are family here and I didn't know how to choose who would have to go. So, this is what I did. I walked through our parking lots and found sixty 'Obama' bumper stickers on our employees' cars and have decided these folks will be the ones to let go. I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem. They voted for change, I gave it to them. I will see the rest of you at the annual company picnic.

Here's grandson Riley at 9 days old

2009-07-20T01:48:00.001-04:00