Example….. I found a crock-pot recipe book recently and thought I would try a recipe for pork chops in orange sauce.  It sounded good at the time, really! I thought it would be kind of Asian-like.  WRONG.  I started the recipe before working a 12 hour day and had been looking forward to dinner all day long.  What a disappointment it turned out to be!! YUCK.  Like inedible, waste-of-food.

I had taken photos of the whole process like I have been doing lately so I will post a photo of the final product but I refuse to share the awful recipe.  Looks a million times better than it tasted.

What is the worst recipe you ever made??

Vote in the poll and leave a comment with your two cents!  Which is your fave and why?

Pictured: Delicious milk chocolate chip cookies made last night by my neighbor, Denise

I thought I would highlight a variety of old material. I might even add more since this list is really old

• Ode to the 80s (what I loved)
• Introducing Annika (my first niece)
• 7 interesting things about me
• Things I’ve done (that maybe you haven’t!)
• Memoirs of a Geisha and Japanese dolls
• 7 years with Bessie (my former car)
• My pride and joy (all about my special cats)
• Sayonara (I was caught being ignorant!)
• Back from Hollywood (my brother Jeff is my guest blogger)
• Driving Tips (Every driver should read this, please!)
• My Vegas vacation ( day 2 day3)
• World’s most expensive foods
• My knee surgery (recovery,
• Counting my blessings (the time the entire front end of my car fell out)
• Madeline Island retreat & More. (weekend away with my best friends)
• History of my name
• Letter to Myth Nightclub (this night still ticks me off!)
• Meet Bianca (my 2nd niece)
• My cancer scare (that turned out to be nothing)
• My Costa Rican dream
• My 30th birthday
• Chocolate
• My first video blog (its really me!)
• My battle wound stories (yes, I am a clutz!)
• Questions answered. (Blog readers asked me questions)
• My poll about Crocs (do you love them or hate them?!)
• Prince 07-07-07
• Shout-out to my regular blog commenters
• Pictoral blog guestbook (go ahead and sign!)
• 35W Bride collapse
• A look back at my senior year of HS
• A look at how I have changed (8 years of school and profile pics)

Here are a few of the most common posts that lead people to this blog from search engines, etc

• Top 10 Hybrid Animals
• Photoshop Disasters
• Celebrity Look Alikes
• Best Friend Forever Poe
• Victory for Celtics
• Genetics and Eye Color
• Fun Sites that work with Flickr Images
• Wacipi Pow Wow
• Loose Change Conspiracy Theory
• Eating at the MN State FairAre you a Movie Buff?

A million thanks to those of you who read this blog (especially to those who actually comment!)

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1-2 serrano peppers
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 5 medium sized garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 lb medium sized raw, de-shelled shrimp

If shrimp are frozen or still have shells, set aside in water to defrost

The original pesto recipe that I followed calls for a food processor to finely chop all the fresh ingredients but since I didn’t have one, I first chopped my basil leaves very fine.  To my dismay, the large package of basil leaves was barely a half cup when all chopped up.  I would suggest making this when basil is in season so that you can buy a ton of it or grow it in your garden!

Next I toasted a small package of pine nuts until they were golden brown.

In a skillet on medium, I cooked my shrimp after seasoning them with freshly ground sea salt, garlic, and red chili flakes.

I cooked a side of penne pasta to go with this, but I think it would’ve been better with an angel hair pasta or even cheese tortellini.  You can make this low-carb by skipping the pasta.

Finally after combining basil, chopped serrano pepper, romano cheese, olive oil, toasted pine nuts and fresh garlic, I had my pesto.  (Sorry, my photo turned out terrible)

I topped penne with shrimp and then pesto.

Then tossed!

The flavor was pretty good, it would’ve been better with more basil and if it had been processed and with a different noodle.  Glad I added the serrano pepper, I would even add another next time.

Does anyone have any special pesto recipe to share with me? I’d love to improve this one!

Photo by Michelle Sauer Photography

Two.  After a three days of having my car in the shop, I now have it back.  I am sure no one wants to hear my car drama of the week but I am going to summarize it for my own records here.  A few weeks ago my speedometer quit working and simultaneously I noticed some hesitation with my transmission shifting out of 1st gear.  I made an appt to get it looked at…naive and positive me was hoping it wouldn’t cost an-arm-and-a-leg to get fixed.  Diagnostics showed that the wheel speed sensors that send signals to the speedometer and transmission (telling how fast to go) were malfunctioning.. Inspection showed the rear two were completely rusted out and corroded.  Only $330/ea for the parts. &*!$@.  Replacement of these did not completely solve the problem, I also had bad tone rings on my rear axel shafts.  Unfortunately Lexus does not sell the tone rings separately ($60/ea), but only pre-assembled on new axel shaft (for $1050 each). WHAT!! Not only that but my axel shafts were rusted into the berrings (to the extreme) and they were worried about doing more damage to get them removed.  A this point they told me it could be up to $4k to get fixed.  That is when I had a minor melt-down, and feelings of hopelessness about the dang car.  Who has an extra $4k floating around to dump into a car just to get the speedometer to work??? Not me. The good news is that my mechanic found another local place who rebuilds axel-shafts.  They were able to over-night the part I needed and get everything back together by 6pm on Wednesday.  The best news is that all repairs came in at $1300, which was the absolute best-case-scenario for everything that needed to be done.  My car runs better than ever now! It is great to drive a Lexus (until something goes wrong and then the repairs will cost you!). By the way, overall my Lexus is a great car and has been very reliable for me over the past three years.  This problem was due to damage from the terrible MN winters….salt is an absolute car killer.  Thinking about possibly leasing a car at some point in the future but want to look into it more.

Three.  My parents are driving home from Florida right now.  I have missed them!  Both of my brothers and their families (including Amanda) were all able to go down to Florida over the past few weeks to spend time with them.  My nieces have been to Florida as many times (3) as I have in our respective lifetimes.  They are 3 and 4, I am 33! Maybe next year??

Four.  I have had bad chest pains the past few days.  I do get bad indigestion and take a Rx for it, so not sure if it is related to that or just stress.  Something similar happened around this time last year and I had my heart fully tested out and I am just fine, so don’t think it is heart-related.  Unless dealing with my car almost gave me a heart attack?! Kidding. Must be the stress.

Five.  Go check out the awesome participant galleries for Photo Hunt #6.  I have a couple of Guest Judges helping me out this time around.

Six.  I am taking an online photography class right now that my SIL Michelle is teaching.  Great stuff for learning how to use my new camera! The others in the class are all in the same boat.

Seven.  No school tomorrow! It is a teacher work-day to get ready for upcoming parent-teacher conferences.

Eight.  No big plans for the weekend.  Hoping the sun stays out!

Nine.  My taxes are done and I do not have to pay in this year!

That’s all I have to say at the moment.

So I’d like to hear from everyone else….. what are your thoughts on leasing a vehicle???

If you have ever leased, please tell me what you liked or didn’t like about it.

Thanks!

1. A Romantic Tropical Vacation

2.  Practically every camera lens I ever wanted

3.  About 700 ice cream treats ~ enough to last me 10 years

4. Girls Get-Away somewhere with all my Besties

5.  A lifetime supply of shoes

6. A new wardrobe

7. Large Flat Screen TV

8.  New Mac to replace home computer

9. New carpet

10.  One-0f-a-kind Artwork

But instead I am putting it into my car.  Nothing fun about that at all.

1. A tower ~ A model from the game Warhammer

2. “Main Street” ~ Downtown White Bear Lake (early morning!)

3. Five ~ Photo Coming ASAP!

4. A dog or cat ~ My kitty Pharaoh

5. Two of a kind ~ Monkeys at Como Park Zoo

6. A clock ~ Shaman (Southwest US Native Symbol)

7. A game ~ Scrabble

8. Something sweet ~ Homemade Gelato from Al Vento Restaurant

9. B&W w/selective coloring

10. Your own reflection ~ Sitting in my car at the car wash

11. A mirror image ~ A tabletop lamp and its reflection in mirror (in my living room)

12. Night image ~ Full moon on 2-27-09

13. Something homemade ~ Hot Dago (one of my favorite dinners to make!)

14. Something pink (Stargazer Lily at Como Conservatory)

15. Something romantic ~ Lingerie, wine and candles (oo la la!)

16. A candid shot (my friend Bradie’s daughter)

17. A portrait ~ Handsome Lion at Como Park Zoo

18. A symbol of love ~ Carved wooden statue (on my shelf)

19. A landscape (frosted tree in my backyard)

20. Chocolate~ Photo coming ASAP

Isis and Dusty say Hello

Planning on getting my last few shots for the Photo Hunt today, I will be posting my results tomorrow!