Friday, October 30, 2020

Blue Bracelets and a Bath: Funny Friday

Funny Friday:a multi-blogger challenge: one picture, five captions,  | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics

Today’s post is this month’s Funny Friday, a regular feature published on the last Friday of every month. Funny Friday is a collaborative project. Each month one of the participants submits a picture, then we all write 5 captions or thoughts inspired by that month’s picture. Links to the other bloggers’ posts are below, click on them and see what they’ve come up with. I hope we bring a smile to your face as you start your weekend.



Here's today's picture. It was submitted by Me.

Funny Friday, a multi blogger picture captioning challenge | Picture taken by and property of.BakingInATornado.com | #funny #laugh



1. Louise Lobster: I don't think we're in Kansas any more.
Loretta Lobster: Actually, I don't think we're in Maine any more, I'm pretty sure we may very well be in Kansas.
Louise Lobster: Then quick, click your claws together 3 times and repeat after me "there's no place like home, there's no place like home . . ."

2. Leonard Lobster: Looks like there's nothing to worry about, guys, that nice lady seems to be preparing a bath for us.

3. Linda Lobster: I agree with Leonard, there's nothing to worry about, that nice lady even gave us these pretty blue bracelets.
Louise Lobster: I don't know, mine's a bit tight.

4. Husband (walking into the kitchen and looking at the floor): Is that dinner?
Wife (rolling her eyes): No, they just stopped by for coffee.

5. Little Boy (walking into the kitchen and looking at the floor): Mommy! You got me new pets!
Mom: Well, for the next half an hour maybe, but I wouldn't get too attached to them if I were you.


And now for something yummy. Not lobster, but if you're looking for a delicious Grilled Lobster Roll (can substitute shrimp or crab, btw) recipe, it's just a link click away:


Pear and Orange Tartlets
Pear and Orange Tartlets. These individual mini tarts featuring pears, orange, and the crunch of pecans are as delicious as they are beautiful. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #bake #dessert



Click on the link below for more smiles:

Southern Belle Charm 


Baking In A Tornado signature/logo | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics


Pear and Orange Tartlets
                                                         ©www.BakingInATornado.com


Ingredients:
1 unbaked refrigerator pie crust
1 TBSP butter
2 Bosc pears
2 TBSP brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 TBSP orange marmalade
1 tsp candied ginger, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped pecans
 
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place 12 tartlet liners onto a baking sheet. 
*Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter or a 3 inch round mouth of a glass, cut the crust into as many 3 inch circles as will fit. Roll out the remaining crust and continue to cut out circles until you have a dozen.
*Gently press each crust circle into and up the sides of each of the liners. Prick the bottoms with a fork. Bake for 5 minutes, cool completely, then remove the crust from the tartlet liners if desired (can serve in the liners).
*While the crust is cooling, core and peel the pears. Chop into small cubes.
*Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped pears. Cook and stir for about 7 minutes, just until they begin to soften. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and cook for 1 more minute.
*Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the marmalade, ginger, and pecans. Set aside to begin to cool for 15 minutes, then spoon the filling into the cooled tartlet crusts.
 

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Namaste? So You Say. Not Today.

Namaste?
So you say.
Not today. 

Namaste actually means "I bow to you." Not really a concept I'm comfortable with in general, but in the context of putting out the vibes you hope to receive, I really do get it.

But the word has taken on another connotation, one associated with the practice of yoga, that of a metaphysical search for inner peace. And that I really don't get. 

Inner peace, that is. Not the context.
 
Now anxiety, that I've got by the boat load. Some I come by genetically, some has become my organizational strategy, and some was taught to me by my older son, College Boy.

Raising him brought to light a correlation I'd never before identified between anxiety and outcome. Whenever I stressed about an upcoming situation, we'd breeze right through it. Conversely, if I didn't stress myself into a tizzy beforehand, the more manure that would invariably hit the proverbial ventilator.

"Do yoga," they said, "search for that inner peace." Search for my inner peace? Believe me, I didn't lose my inner peace, I never had it in the first place.  "And meditate, clear your mind." Yeah, right. Clear my mind? With everything that's been going on around here? I couldn't clear my mind if you gave me a bulldozer.


Namaste? So You Say. Not Today. | Graphic designed by and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #humor #MyGraphics
 
 
Exhibit #1: highlights from one single week just last month.
 
Monday: I secure and pay for PurDude's renter's insurance and it had come due. The company emailed that renewal would be at a rate that turned out to be a 30% increase, but if we did nothing, the policy would lapse. I emailed them, sent them a message on their website, PurDude tried to call them, I even tweeted them saying we want to discuss the increase. No response. So I found new insurance for him. The day his old insurance was supposed to terminate, they sent an email saying they'd renewed the policy and were charging my credit card. So began my first war of the week.
 
Tuesday: We are still having to order our groceries for pick up. If the price of an item goes up, it's the store policy to honor the price it had been when ordered. Any substitutions are made at the price of the item that was originally ordered. An item (I'd ordered 2) had gone up in price. Instead of honoring the ordered price, the store called it a substitution (for the exact same item) and added $40 to my bill. At pick up, the manager refused to come out and discuss it, sending the message that we could basically take it or leave it. So started my second war of the week.
 
Wednesday: Got a letter from the state department of revenue saying one of the formulas used in their calculations was incorrect. They'll be in touch with either a check or a bill.

Thursday:
Medical (only) marijuana petitions succeeded in getting the issue onto the upcoming ballot. I am a huge proponent of legalization in general, but especially the medical use for kids whose lives are proven to be better with it, and cruel to keep it from them. BUT opposition took it to the state supreme court whose decision it was to block the issue from the ballot, subverting the ability of the people to make a choice. That's the state I live in, and one of the many reasons I hate it.
 
Friday: This state also never closed anything due to covid (denial). There were no mask mandates until the state started being named nationally as one where cases were climbing at a dangerous rate. Even then it was just ordered in a few cities, not enforced, and the governor is suing those cities. Numbers continued to climb, but the governor announced he is lifting all restrictions (masks are the only one I know of). His stated reason is that there is ample hospital bed availability. Meaning he knows many more people will get dangerously sick, but it's OK with him because hospitals have beds for them.

Saturday: Our 7 year old kitchen fridge had stopped working a few weeks before. $200 later we find out it'll cost more to fix than we paid for it. Living with the small one in the basement has been challenging, and going up and down the stairs exhausting. We bought a new one but it was not coming in until Friday, to be delivered to us FINALLY on Saturday. On Friday, the store called to say their shipment didn't arrive and they didn't know when it would.
 
Sunday: College Boy got a flat tire AND our lawn mower's self- propel mechanism stopped working.

Namaste? Kiss my (generous) bootay.
 
Find my inner peace? My happy place? My happy place, is in the pantry. Everyone knows chocolate is the ultimate purveyor of zen. It even provides insight, the most obvious being into the existence of my aforementioned generous bootay.

And . . . now I want chocolate {{sigh}}.


Chocolate Pudding Cookie Bars are lower in fat and easy to make, using a few cheats. Mix, bake, cool and slice, it’s that quick. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #chocolate

Chocolate Pudding Cookie Bars
Chocolate Pudding Cookie Bars are lower in fat and easy to make, using a few cheats. Mix, bake, cool and slice, it’s that quick. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #chocolate
 

So back to College Boy. Yes, he did teach me about the correlation between stress and outcome (the hard way) when he was young. But not to worry, seems that kid turned out OK. As a result, yoga and meditation, even chocolate has some competition as the ultimate purveyor of zen. You see, yesterday College Boy brought me home some edibles. 
 
And so I have, at this moment, either found a bit of that inner peace. 
Or I just don't care.
 
Namaste? 
So you say. 
 
Well, maybe for today.
 

Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics



Chocolate Pudding Cookie Bars        
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 package sugar cookie mix
1 package chocolate instant pudding mix
1/2 cup butter substitute, softened
1 egg
2 TBSP water
1/3 cup multicolored sprinkles
1/4 cup chocolate sprinkles

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 X 11 baking pan.
*Mix together the cookie mix, pudding mix, butter substitute, egg and water. 
*Mix in the multicolored sprinkles, then spread into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the chocolate sprinkles over the top.
*Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until the sides start to brown and the center if firm.
*Cool completely before slicing.
 

 

 

Monday, October 26, 2020

Favorite Potables: Eight Winter Cocktails

 

Poetry Monday | graphic designed by and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #poetry #MyGraphics

Blogging schedule all worked out,
when a friend stopped by to say,
"Favourite Potables" will be the theme,
for this, Poetry Monday.

Love you Diane, my Canadian friend,
changed my schedule to join in.
But I'll spell "favorite" the correct way,
(though the words are clearly akin).
 





 
Favorite Potables
 
"Whatcha doing?" Hubby asked,
right as he walked in.
"Writing a blog post" I answered.
"Need to see which ones will win."

He saw the mess and looked at me,
face askew . . . or so I thought,
(although it was really hard to say,
since that last, quite generous, shot). 

"The entire bar's in front of you,
most bottles seem . . . quite low."
"Research," I answered smiling,
"How else am I to know?"

"What is it you're researching?
And I'd also like to hear,
how writing for your blog requires,
slurring your words, my dear."

I tried to stand, but no such luck,
so answered on my rear end,
"My favorite potables, for Diane.
Yes, I'm that good a friend." 
 

Favorite Potables: Eight Winter Cocktails | Graphic, pictures and recipe property of www.BakingInATornado.com  | #recipes #cocktails

 
Winning recipes are linked below,
I hope you'll try them all.
Maybe not all at once, like me,
unless . . . you like to fall.
 
 
 WAIT! 
Read more poetry,
you're not through.
Some talented writers,
are in this crew:
 
Diane of On the Border
Charlotte of Mother Owl


Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics




Links to the posts with the recipes featured above:        

                                                       All recipes developed by ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Friday, October 23, 2020

Miss You More: Fly on the Wall

Fly on the Wall, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics



Welcome to a monthly Fly on the Wall group post. Today 3 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house. At the end of my post you’ll find links to this month’s other participants’ posts.




Me: Do you want to have dinner with us tomorrow night? I'm making Red Curry Chicken and Snap Peas.
College Boy: I'm not sure, I'll let you know.
Me: OK, I'm going to curl up in a throw on the couch, I'm so cold.
College Boy: You're so old?
Me: I said cold. Now you have to have dinner with us.

College Boy: Why?
Me: I need something to put your arsenic in.




Fly on the Wall, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics


College Boy (walking over to where I'm watching TV): MOM! Are you watching a Hallmark movie? You really are old.
Me: It's a Hallmark mystery, not a love story.

College Boy: {{laughs}}
Me: And it takes place back home, on Martha's Vineyard.
College Boy: {{rolls his eyes and laughs}}
Me: It was created by one of my favorite authors, I read all of his books. He died years ago.

College Boy (laughing): You know you're still watching a Hallmark movie, right?


Fly on the Wall, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics



Me: It doesn't matter but I'm curious. Why did you leave your dirty breakfast dishes in the sink? You always put them in the dishwasher. 
Hubs: I forgot.
Me: Forgot?      
Hubs: I got distracted. Look, I'm old, I forget stuff.

Me: Well that's an improvement.
Hubs: What is?
Me: You calling you old instead of College Boy calling me old.

Hubs: See what just happened?
Me: What?
Hubs: We were talking about the dishes and you got distracted . . . 
Me: Are you calling me old?
Hubs: About those dishes . . .




Fly on the Wall, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics

 

My mom has sung "happy birthday" to me on my birthday every year of my life. I'm less enthusiastic about birthdays these days as that age number gets higher and higher.

This year, as usual, she called on my birthday and sang to me.

Me: Thank you.
Mom: Happy birthday.
Me: You know, some things get better with age.
Mom: Yeah.
Me: But your singing voice isn't one of them.

Fortunately, mom can take a joke.
you, Mom.



Fly on the Wall, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics


My boys have some kind of tire jinx. It started when PurDude was out with Hubs learning to drive and got a flat. When he took over the BMW from me, he got at least 1 flat during his high school years and at least 3 while in college.

College Boy bought a new car last January. In this first week he got a flat. Just a few weeks ago, Hubs came into the kitchen where I was on my laptop.
 

Hubs: What are you doing so intently?   
Me: Researching tires. 
Hubs: Oh no, which kid this time?
Me: College Boy again.
Hubs: You're looking for the best price for him?
Me: No.
Hubs: No? Then what are you doing?
Me: Trying to find out whether we can buy stock in a tire company.

Orange Spice Cookies (make ahead, slice and bake) are perfect for any occasion, just change the color of the sprinkles along the edges. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #cookies
 
Orange Spice Cookies (make ahead, slice and bake)
 
Orange Spice Cookies (make ahead, slice and bake) are perfect for any occasion, just change the color of the sprinkles along the edges. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #cookies


It had been raining for days, dark and cold and gloomy and miserable. I'd had enough. But I got a good laugh when a tease for upcoming the local news came on, featuring the weatherman. I guess he was trying to be positive but . . .
 
Weatherman: More rain for the next few days, but there's sun in the forecast, when it comes.
 
So the sun will be back when it gets here? Wonder what that guy makes for a living, 'cause I definitely could have predicted that.
 
And now I can't stop singing "here comes the sun, doo doo doo doo . . ."


Fly on the Wall, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics

 
When I cook on the grill, after I'm done I call to Hubs, who comes and cleans it.
 
Me (calling down to the man-cave): Do you want to get the grill?
 
I went back to the kitchen and waited and waited and waited. He didn't seem to be coming and that's not like him. I walk back towards the stairs and I see him coming in the front door.
 
Me: Where did you go?
Hubs: You asked me to get the mail.
Me: No, I asked you to get the grill.
Hubs: You didn't ask me to get the mail?
Me: Only if it's on the grill.
 

Fly on the Wall, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics

 
We had been trying for a month to replace our fridge. If you follow my Baking In A Tornado facebook page, you may have laughed at my poem about ongoing appliance woes.
 
After the store where we had placed an order put us off twice, I found the one we wanted in a different store. Hubs went in and placed an order. When he got home, we were talking about whether he was able to social distance in the store.
 
Hubs: Yes. Actually usually when you walk into a department, every sales person there is hitting on you in the first minute.
Me: Well, they aren't actually hitting on you.
Hubs (turning red and sputtering): Well, ah, they weren't, ah, hitting on me, ah, you know.
 
Honestly, life would be so much less amusing if he had a sense of humor. Maybe sarcasm isn't dead after all.


Fly on the Wall, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics

 
College Boy: I'm working a 12 hour day today. Try not to miss me too much.

Me: That'll be hard, you know I like you best when you're not here.


Fly on the Wall, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics

 
I often write about my miscommunications in these monthly posts. Many times, in my defense, the unfortunate error can be blamed on autocorrect. Not this one, though.

I was creating a pinterst pin for a recipe I called Baked Garlic Shrimp (no butter). I created the pin with care, uploaded a picture, added the title, description and a link to the blog post. I published the pin, then went to view it in order to get the link. And there it was, a pin for Baked Garlic Shrimp (no bitter). 
 
Because every recipe developer wants to be sure to advertise that their creations aren't bitter, right? 
 

Now click on the links below for a peek into some other homes:

Never Ever Give Up Hope  
Menopausal Mother 




Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics






Orange Spice Cookies
                                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Ingredients:
3 TBSP canola oil
1/2 stick butter, softened
2 TBSP orange juice
3 TBSP orange marmalade
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 12 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/3 cup colored sprinkles

Directions:
*Beat the canola oil, butter, orange juice, orange marmalade, brown sugar and egg.
*Mix in the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and ground cloves.
*Spray a piece of plastic wrap with nonstick spray. Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
*Place the sprinkles on another piece of plastic wrap about 14 inches long and set aside.
*Remove the dough from the plastic wrap, roll into a log about 12 inches long, then roll in the sprinkles on the second piece of plastic wrap. Close the dough log into the wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to a few days.
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place parchment paper on cookie sheets.
*Slice the dough log (either round or on the bias for longer cookies) into about 30 cookies approximately 1/3 inch wide. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes before removing to cool completely.