Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Wooden Nickels

With older kids you tend to spend a lot of time giving advice. And I’ve gotten my share as well. It was the casual mention of advice in the form of an old expression that got me thinking and resulted in this post.

It was recently recommended that I not “put all your eggs in one basket”, and I thought “how many baskets will I need? ‘Cause it would be much easier to just carry one”.

Somehow that innocent exchange morphed into a whole conversation (yes, in my head) about old expressions still used and whether people even understand their intent any more.

So I tried a few; on kids, friends, neighbors and family. Here’s how THAT went:


Wooden Nickels | graphic designed by and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics



Saying: Living high on the hog.
Reaction: As opposed to living low on the hog?

Saying: Screw you and the horse you rode in on.
Reaction: Not that I have one, but what did the horse do?

Saying: A stitch in time saves nine.
Reaction: I can’t sew, does that mean I’m doomed or something?

Saying: Bob’s your uncle.
Reaction: You know my Uncle?

Saying: Better than being poked in the eye with a sharp stick.
Reaction: Is there a whole lot that’s worse than being poked in the eye with a sharp stick?

Saying: I don’t know him from Adam.
Reaction: I don’t even know Adam.

Saying (a two-fer): If you’re three sheets to the wind you may need some hair of the dog that bit you.
Reaction: {blank stare}

Saying: Fit to be tied.
Reaction: Is this a sadomasochist thing?

Saying: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Reaction: A bird in the hand will get you a hand full of bird sh*t.

Saying: You look like death warmed over.
Reaction: And what does “death warmed over” look like?
Me: You, apparently.

Saying: You are what you eat.
Reaction: I’ve been called worse things than Gummy Bears and Oreo Cookies.




Spaghetti Filled Garilc Bread | www.BakingInATornado.com

Spaghetti Filled Garlic Bread


Saying: Busier than a one armed paper hanger.
Reaction: That’s just plain mean.

Saying: Raining cats and dogs.
Reaction: You know there are animal cruelty laws, right?

Saying: Go pound sand.
Reaction: Is that considered aerobic exercise? I usually just go for a fast walk.

Saying: He’s full of piss and vinegar.
Reaction: Now there’s a diet I won’t be trying.

Saying: Mind your “p”s and “q”s.
Reaction (from my son): I don’t even mind you.

Saying: She was hoisted by her own petard.
Reaction: She was what? By her what? You made that up.

And although many people have now asked me to explain some of these antiquated sayings (yes, I googled them and now know what they mean), quite honestly I think I’d rather stand on my head and spit wooden nickels.


Baking In A Tornado signature | Graphic designed by and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics


Spaghetti Filled Garlic Bread
                                         ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
¾ stick butter, softened
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 (1#) frozen bread dough, defrosted
Flour and cornmeal
8 ounces of spaghetti, cooked al dente
Approximately 1 cup of marinara (click here for my Homemade Marinara)
¼ cup parmesan, shredded
½ cup mozzarella, shredded
Pepperoni slices, cut into quarters
 
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet. Sprinkle with a small amount of cornmeal.
*Mix together the melted butter, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes.
*On your working surface, spread flour and cornmeal so your dough doesn’t stick when rolling out.
*Roll out the dough to a rectangle of about 10 inches wide by 16 inches long.
*Brush the dough gently with most of the melted butter mixture. Save some for the top.
*Mix the cooked spaghetti with the parmesan, mozzarella and pepperoni.
*Leaving a 1 inch strip at the top and the bottom, place the spaghetti mixture in a line down the center of the length of the dough.
*Slice the dough along the sides of the spaghetti into strips. Don’t cut all the way to the spaghetti, leave about ¾ of an inch between the spaghetti and the strips on both sides.
*Fold the top and bottom over the spaghetti. Starting with the top strip on one side and alternating from side to side, gently move one trip over the spaghetti at a slight downward angle, and pinch under the opposite side of the dough. The strips should be pulled over so that the ¾ inch of dough that you left between the cuts and the spaghetti are forming the sides.
*Continue alternating sides until all strips are done.
*Carefully move to the prepared baking sheet.
*Gently brush the top with the rest of the melted butter mixture.
*Bake for approximately 30 minutes until the bread browns.
 
NOTE: I didn’t develop the idea for this recipe. I found a version quite a while ago and interpreted it to fit the tastes of my family.

26 comments:

  1. ROFLOL!! You have some of the BEST ideas!!!!
    I was talking to my dad about 2 weeks ago and he told me to tell the kids not to take any wooden nickels. They were completely lost. LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know. So many of these funny old sayings are just going away.

      Delete
  2. Your son's reply was the best! I literally LoL'd at that one!

    My mom is full of funny old sayings...some of which I can't post here, but one of my favorites is "You have more (insert item here) than Carter's got liver pills!" Or, in terms of food, like, say, steak... "That's tougher than a mother-in-law's heart!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those are good ones too. I'd heard of the first one but not the mother-in-law one.

      Delete
  3. These are SO FUNNY!!! I now most of them already, but I prefer your new spin on them. Here's one: "That cost a pretty penny." My mom always said it, so I said it too, growing up. No wonder I had such a hard time making friends in school...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that's a great one too, I remember that one. I love that people are bringing up more of these. There must be tons of them out there.

      Delete
  4. LMAO!!! These are some snappy replies to age old sayings. I still hear some of them nowadays.

    Still, in these days when I am fit to be tied it's in the bedroom only!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I still hear some of them too, but less and less. And I found through this post that most people don't know of most of them.

      Delete
  5. I'm sorry but I totally love their replies...I would be laughing all the time. though everyone thinks my hubby is funny and I just wnat to stab him, LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, the responses were very funny. People really didn't know what I was talking about. Too bad I didn't do a vlog, their facial expressions were priceless.

      Delete
  6. I totally love the replies, and must admit that there were only a few of these I have ever even heard.
    Kimbra @ Mommys Rambles

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you haven't heard of most of them, maybe I should have interviewed you. Wonder what you would have answered.

      Delete
  7. I've got tears streaming down my cheeks...SO flipping funny!! I'll never forget the day my dad told my 7 year old brother that he was full of piss and vinegar. Teddy's reply: "I haven't eaten anything, Daddy, I promise! "

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just love that answer. So funny. It seems like all of us have heard at least a few of these in our lives, but those of my kids' generation really haven't heard them.

      Delete
  8. I think I'm going to have to try out some of these on the kids, see what they say. Probly a lot of "ok mom, whatever"s.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So cute. I cringe when I hear some of these, but I have been guilty of using them once or twice...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know. Every now and then one or two creep into my vocabulary too.

      Delete
  10. Bahaha .. I love the one about pounding sand and three sheets to the wind! You need a syndicated advice column! That is all.

    ¤´¨)
    ¸.•*´
    (¸¤ Lanaya | xoxo
    Raising-Reagan.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure anyone would take my advice, considering I'm someone who apparently puts all her eggs in one basket.

      Delete
  11. I loved the reactions to these saying, this is really cute. And your recipe sounds really yummy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I got some interesting responses. Most people didn't really have any idea what I was talking about.

      Delete
  12. Hahaha!! My kids would probably say the same to these. Sometimes I occasionally call things groovy to really weird them out.

    Mmmmm, that garlic bread looks fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I need to start doing that, saying stuff just to weird them out. I mean, they certainly say stuff to weird me out.

      Delete
  13. Love these. I've heard most, but never thought about actually deciphering them. I always loved "staying up til the cows come home" or "burning the candle at both ends." Who does that anyway?
    The spaghetti/garlic bread would be a huge hit here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Two more good ones. I remember both of those, heard them growing up. But all these old sayings really are dying out.

      Delete

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