Not Cool Enough: Use Your Words

Today’s post is a monthly writing challenge. If you’re new here, this is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once. All of the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the recipient will take them. Until now.

At the end of this post you’ll find links to the other blogs featuring this challenge. Check them all out, see what words they got and how they used them.
I'm using: music ~ laughter ~ kids ~ online  ~ geek
They were submitted by Diane of On the Border.

                          
What are you when you're not even cool enough to be a geek?

Actually, these days it is cool to be a geek. Thank you, Big Bang Theory.

I'm not much one for calling people names, especially when it's meant to hurt or demean them in some way, which is why I'm happy that the designation "geek" has turned into a complement. For some, anyway. I know that many true geeks (and one who I know quite well) don't like Big Bang Theory, think it stereotypes geeks and shoves the multi-shaped pegs of all very intelligent people into a very uncomfortable and ill fitting hole. 

And although I spend a lot of time online (thank you, Baking In A Tornado blog and multiple monthly writing challenges), a geek I am not. In fact, if there were a word in the dictionary for the opposite of a geek, you'd find my picture there. Files on my laptop end up in different places from where I put them and I have actually had pictures post sideways and no matter what I did I could not change it. I wrote a whole blog post about it called It's a Conspiracy. So "geek" I am not.

So what am I? I need to know. Who are my tribe? And where can I find them? Or are they hiding from me too?

I'm not easily categorized, that's for sure. For me, it's a matter of music, or so the rationalization in my head goes. I dance to the beat of a different drummer. Actually, I more jerk around than dance and that drummer actually took one look at me and left town.

I like to cook and bake. Actually, that's a lie, I don't like to cook as much, but I like to develop recipes. Turn up the music (real, not imagined), sing at the top of my lungs (some  . . . ahem . . . mean people have been known to call it screeching), jerk around the kitchen and create something new. Dinner, dessert, doesn't matter, just something new, all my own.

Blue Razz Holiday Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

have a slice:

I was doing just that one Sunday afternoon when the boys walked in. And stupid me, you'd think I'd have learned by now that, much like a lawyer in a courtroom, anyone with kids (even grown ones) shouldn't ask a question you don't know the answer to. Call me a slow learner. Oooh, maybe that's my tribe. And this conversation on that Sunday afternoon is proof:

Me: What are you when you're not even cool enough to be a geek?
College Boy and PurDude (together): Old.

No laughter here. Well, not from me anyway, but they were mighty pleased with themselves. Remind me again why I had these kids.

Here are links to all the other Use Your Words posts:

On the Border
 The Bergham Chronicles
The Blogging 911
Cognitive Script 
Climaxed 
Part-Time Working Hockey Mom 

Blue Razz Holiday Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups oil
2 eggs, room temperature
1 oz blue food coloring
1 tsp raspberry extract
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
15 Blue Raspberry Jolly Rancher hard candies, finely crushed

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 packet (.22 oz) unsweetened Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade Kool- Aid dry mix
up to 1/4 cup milk

a few drops of blue food coloring
blue and/or silver colored sugars
blue and/or white candy pearls

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans.
*Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
*In a separate large bowl beat the oil, eggs, food coloring and raspberry extract.
*Beat in half of the dry ingredients, then half of the buttermilk, the other half of the dry ingredients and finally the rest of the buttermilk followed by the crushed candies.
*Pour the batter evenly into the two pans.
*Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until the centers springs back to the touch. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and remove from the pan. Cool completely.
*Cream the cream cheese and butter together. Slowly and carefully beat in the powdered sugar and the Kool-Aid mix. Add the milk, 1 TBSP at a time until it is of frosting consistency. 
*Move 1/2 cup of frosting in a bowl and mix with a few drops of blue food coloring for decorating. Place in a piping bag and set aside.
*Place one layer of the cake on a serving platter. Frost with about 1/3 of the frosting. Place the second layer on top and use the remaining frosting to cover the top and sides. 
*Pipe decorations with reserved frosting. Decorate with blue and/or silver colored sugars and white or blue candy pearls.

Cold Days Saga: December Poetry

Desperation has won out.
Frozen solid, there's no doubt,
what December's poetry theme would be,
(though this cold weather brings no glee). 

If you happen to live south,
do me a favor, shut yo mouth,
I'm barely hanging on, you see,
and jealousy's not a good look for me.

 Cold Days Saga

December's here with its numbing freeze,
nose'll fall off if I dare to sneeze.
Just came in from getting the mail,
hands so frozen, typing cracked a nail.

Icicles don't belong on lashes,
eyebrows or even men's mustaches.
Indoors, yet still my toes are numb,
Wearing 2 pairs of socks with more to come.

Coats and gloves and boots and hat,
can barely move, I just hate that.
Sweaters, gloves and goggles on,
any thought of vanity gone.

And keep your salads, sandwiches too,
chips and dip, crackers with cheese blue.
Give me food that's hot and hearty,
at least my stomach can have a party.

Mushroom Chicken and Rice

Errands to do and the car won't start,
with more money, we'll have to part.
Bumper cars once on the road,
another new bill, you just got towed.


Breaking our butt blowing driveway snow.
Damn plows'll just put it back, we know. 
Trash cans sliding down the street on ice,
I'll buy new ones, chase them? No dice.

Cold days, bold days,
how I hate thee, count the ways.
98 long days till Spring,
to this sliver of hope I'll cling.   

Before you go, click on these links to more poetry from some of my friends: 

 Diane of On the Border shares Winter Depths.
Dawn of Cognitive Script shares Ccccold Days.
Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Cold Days.

Mushroom Chicken and Rice

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package dry cream of mushroom soup mix
2 1/4 cups brown rice
1 TBSP oil
1 TBSP butter
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
6 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves minced garlic
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp garlic powder 
1 TBSP dried parsley

Directions:
*In a large bowl, mix together the dried soup mix and the rice. Pour in 2 cups water. Microwave for 10 - 12 minutes until the rice is cooked and the water absorbed into the rice.
*While the rice is cooking, melt the butter in the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion, red pepper, mushrooms and garlic. Cook and stir until the vegetables are soft.
*Slice the chicken breasts and add to the skillet. Sprinkle with the garlic powder. Cook and stir until the chicken is completely cooked through. Drain.
*Add the cooked rice to the skillet. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Sprinkle with the dried parsley.

Elf Snacks: Jolly Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends theme collaborations. Each month a group  of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about this partnership is that it’s not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may have a recipe, sewing tutorial, crafts projects, book review and/or a technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Jolly.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here’s a peek at what we all came up with:

I made Elf Snacks.

Elf Snacks

I decided on this recipe for three reasons. First, I think they're a good option for the theme. Second, these really are every bit as much a family craft as they are a recipe. And they are no-bake. I don't know about you but my ovens run on overtime through the months of November and December, I love having a treat to make that is no bake. The third reason is that they really are versatile, you can stick them on the counter for a casual after school snack or they can add some whimsy to your holiday dessert selections.
 
Although this is not a difficult project, there are a few steps. As always, prepare by having all of your ingredients handy. 

Start by making the hats. Yes, they look like Christmas trees at this point, but in the end they'll be elf hats.

The second place we'll use candy melts are for the marshmallows themselves. Prepare the marshmallows by pushing half of a pretzel stick into each of them, we'll put those hats on here later. Melt the white candy melts and dip the marshmallows.

Just before they set, roll them in the crushed candy canes:

and then use more candy melts to attach the facial features. Don't be surprised if you have to hold them on for a minute or two so they stick and start to set.

Add your hat to the top (you can spread a little of the white bark onto the bottom of the hat with a knife if you want it to stick to the top instead of just sitting there). Cute, aren't they?

And you can always stack them and make a snowman, too!

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares her recipe for No Bake Goodies, perfect for the holidays. 

Tamara of Part-time Working Hockey Mom shares her recipe for Magical Cupcakes. 

Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Use What You Have, crafts and decor using stuff you already have.

Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares Make Christmas Jolly with Handmade Creations.

Jules of The Bergham Chronicles shares ten easy ways to Spread the Jolly.

Elf Snacks

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
6 candy canes
10 Bugle snacks
2 oz green candy melts
20 Red Hots candies
5 thin pretzel sticks
10 marshmallows
3 oz white baking bark or white candy melts
20 candy eyes

Directions:
*Completely crush the candy canes. Set aside on a small dish.
*Break a very small piece off of the point of each Bugle snack.
*Melt the green candy melts until completely smooth when stirred. Using a knife, "paint" each bugle green and place on a piece of parchment paper. Once set, dip 10 of the Red Hots into the green melted candy and stick to the top of each of the Bugles. You will have to hold them gently in place for a minute to be sure they start to set and stick.
*Break each pretzel stick in half and press a half down into the center of a flat side of each marshmallow. Some of the pretzel stick must still be above the marshmallow. This will be the top.
*Melt the white bark or white candy melts until smooth when stirred. Holding onto the piece of pretzel sticking up, dip each marshmallow into the melted white bark and place onto parchment paper.
*While still wet, before they set, roll the rounded sides of the marshmallows into the crushed candy canes and place back onto the parchment paper. Allow to set completely.
*Tip the marshmallows onto their side so one side that's dipped in crushed mints is facing up. Dip the back of the candy eyes in the remaining melted bark and attach to the crushed mints. You may need to gently hold them there for a minute to be sure they start to set and stick. Do the same with the remaining Red Hots, one onto each marshmallow below the eyes. Allow to set completely before standing back up with the pretzel sticking out of the top.
*Place the green Bugle hats onto the pretzels to complete your elf.