Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Old School Discipline

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Cookies | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #cookies

 

Old school punishments. Gone. Many with good reason.

But wait, not so fast . . .
 
Parents, most of us, do the best we can with our children. What the best is, though, changes over time, from generation to generation. And that's a good thing. As society progresses, science and psychology advance and become more accessible in the main stream, parents have more information, more options, better ways to approach parenting, behavior modification and, yes, punishment.
 
True story: My oldest is very headstrong. I won't say he got it from be but . . . OK, I'll say it, he got it from me.

When he was little, one of the behavior modification strategies I'd use would be to take away a favorite toy and put it on the top of the fridge for a finite amount of time. 

One day mom called me. I was frazzled, and she could hear my son whining in the background. Since we wanted to talk (or maybe she wanted to talk me off of the ledge) she had a suggestion:

Mom: Why don't you give him a toy to play with so we can talk?
Me: I can't.
Mom: What do you mean you can't?
Me: He doesn't have any.
Mom: Any what?
Me: Toys.
Mom: Toys? He's got thousands of them.
Me: They're all on the top of the fridge.
Mom: All of them?
Me: Pretty much.
Mom: You're having a bad day. You need to take a break. What are you doing now?
Me: Trying to figure out how to get the TV on top of the fridge.

Not a bad strategy in general, but decidedly better than some of those old school punishments. The ones used in the time of our parents, and grandparents, when the understanding of children and behavior and conformity was not what it is today.
 
But as I watch the news, I start to realize that many of those who are in the public eye are suffering from one of two things: either not being punished enough as children, or just plain never learning some very basic moral lessons.

Maybe what they need is some old school discipline.
 
 
Old School Discipline | graphic designed by, featured on, and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics #blogging


Like, who better to be sent to sit in the corner with a dunce cap than Mike Pence. 

Alex Jones absolutely needs to have his mouth washed out with soap. Hourly.

Matt Gaetz needs a good old fashioned spanking. Unless, of course, he'd like it.

Banned from TV? Kanye West. Not watching it, but being on it. "Ye" should spend less time changing his name and more time changing his rhetoric.

Putin should be forced to take out the trash, since he is trash.

Who should have had his favorite toy taken away? Has to be trump and that sharpie.

Marjorie Taylor Greene needs to be tasked with cleaning the toilets. Maybe she'll get stuck in that swirling waterspout when she flushes.
 
Clarence Thomas should be sent to bed without dessert. Make that without dinner too. Less eating, more time for reading the constitution.

 
 
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Cookies | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #cookies
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Cookies
 
 
Staying home with a babysitter while the family goes on vacation (OK, not a real punishment, I made that one up): who but Ted Cruz?

Now, if we want to move out of the realm of the home, and out into society, I think that stoning might be an appropriate punishment for the aptly named Roger Stone.
 
And I have to admit, it would do my heart good to see Moscow Mitch's head and hands sticking out of those holes in the wooden stockade on the town square. 

Bet there are a few you could add too.
 

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Cinnamon Cream Cheese Cookies        
                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cinnamon baking chips
1 stick butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
 
roasted pepitas

Directions:
*In a food processor or a clean coffee grinder, crush the baking chips to powder.
*Cream the butter, cream cheese, and crushed baking chips until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. 
*Carefully beat in the powdered sugar and flour.
*Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper.
*Roll the dough into 24 equal sized balls. Place onto the prepared baking sheets and, using a wet or greased bottom of a glass, flatten them. Top each with a few pumpkin seeds.
*Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Friday, November 25, 2022

Kindness Shelved: Monthly Poetry

 

Tortellini Dinner Casserole | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dinner

 

 

Last Friday of the month is for
Monthly Poetry Group to rhyme.
Diane, Mimi, and I take turns,
"Kindness" is the theme this time.
 
As usual, today I'll try,
a poem to write . . . or fudge.
Whether I'm successful or not,
you get to be the judge.  





 




 
 
 
 

Kindness, poetry challenge based on a theme. | Graphic property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #poetry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kindness Shelved


I remember kindness past,
seems to have died out at last.
The times we'd put ourselves aside,
and just let kindness be our guide.
 
If someone needed help, just ask,
we'd try to pick up any task.
Volunteers wanted? We'd apply. 
Rarely let the chance go by.
 
Need a ride to get your car?
We'll help out, be it near or far.
Struggling strangers we might see,
as a chance, good samaritan to be.
 
Neighbor isn't feeling OK,
I'll take her kids, keep them for the day.
Bring her family dinner too,
it's the kind of thing we'd always do.  

 
Tortellini Dinner Casserole | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dinner
Tortellini Dinner Casserole
 
 
 
Showing kindness we should treasure,
of our own character, it's a measure.
Doing for others lets all see,
the kind of person we've chosen to be.
 
Nowadays we're less engaged,
and this makes me just enraged,
often putting first ourself,
kindness languishing on the shelf.
 
Here's something I hate to hear,
and my answer, loud and clear:
"What's in it for me?" you say.
No, kindness doesn't work that way.





Monthly Poetry Group, a monthly group writing challenge, poetry based on a theme | graphic designed by and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics #poetry

 
Before you go, stop by these blogs for more Collections poetry:
 
 




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





 

Tortellini Dinner Casserole
                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Ingredients:
1 package (12 oz) frozen cheese tortellini
2 oz pepperoni slices
3/4 cup marinara sauce, I use my Homemade Marinara
1/2 cup half and half
1 small zucchini
6 oz x-small cooked shrimp
5 slices mozzarella cheese (can use shredded)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
 
Directions:
*Cook the tortellini, drain well, rinse a few times with cold water, drain again, and place in a mixing bowl.
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2 quart round or 8 inch square baking dish,
*Set aside 6 slices of pepperoni, chop the rest and add to the mixing bowl.
*Trim the ends of the zucchini, cut in half, then slice. Add to the mixing bowl, along with the shrimp. Mix.
*Whisk together the marinara and half and half, add to the mixing bowl, mix well, and pour into the prepared baking dish.
*Top the mozzarella, then the Italian seasoning, and the reserved pepperoni slices.
*Bake for 30 minutes.

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Spam Me or Me Spam

  

Mocha Patties, a coffee lovers’ sweet treat | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dessert

 

 I'm being picked on. Insulted. Called names. Isolated. Bullied even. 


I hate spam. We all hate spam. And the worst thing about spam is that it grows like weeds. My email is clogged, spam choking the life out of all that mail box.
 
Most of it isn't even mine. Someone, somewhere, somehow, got my son's name and associated it with my email account. No way to trace how that happened, I bet professional genetic geneologists couldn't even trace the history of this one. And we all know what happened next, whoever started this nightmare capitalized on it. Yup, they sold PurDude's name and MY email address. To everyone. And, apparently, their brother. I get at least 15 solicitations a day. And they're not even for me.
 
For the record: PurDude already has car insurance, never drank water at Camp Lejeune before he was born, doesn't need a cookwear set, doesn't have bad credit, isn't interested in gadgets that "will blow your mind", does not need to replace any windows, already has a financial advisor, and is not quite ready for medicare.
 
So, spam sucks.  

And what's worse than spam? Being called spam. And I am.

Me? Little old me? Just sitting here minding my own business writing my blog. You know, sharing a story, an opinion (OK, many opinions), a joke, a poem, a recipe . . .


Mocha Patties, a coffee lovers’ sweet treat | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dessert

Mocha Patties

And when someone is kind enough to read my blog, check out my recipe, and leave a comment, letting me know they were here, and sharing a thought? I answer. Right here on the blog. It's only polite.

Or spam.

Let me tell you here, that I have comment moderation. Since I review each comment and approve of it before it goes live on my blog, there's really no need for a comment spam folder. But far be it for me to tell Google how to run their hosting site. Lately, I've been finding (and some of my friends with blogs have had the same experience) that Google has been putting the comments of long time readers into my spam folder. Not always, it's inconsistent, I can't seem to figure out the logic (does Google operate on logic?). So I check that folder a number of times a day.

I also need to mention that I respond to comments the day they are made. I approve the comment, I see it post on my blog, and I respond right then and there, noting that my own response has been published before I leave the page.

But I noticed, in the beginning of October, a response to a comment I'd made on my blog back in September was suddenly in my spam file. My own comment. From at least a week before. It had been on my blog when I published it, hadn't been in the spam folder in the week since, but suddenly it had picked up and moved.
 
 
Spam Me or Me Spam | graphic designed by, featured on, and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics #blogging

 

Weird. A fluke.

And then it happened again. And again.

You see what's happening here, right? I'm being picked on. Insulted. Called names. Isolated. Bullied even.
 
Google is calling me spam. 
 
And what, exactly are my options? There's got to be a way to stop this misidentification, regain my good name.
 
Maybe I should contact Melania. Wasn't she supposed to be using her bully pulpit (not to be confused with her bully "husband") to stop internet bullying (seriously, how absurd is that)?
 
But, of course, that's not an option, turns out Melania was too busy destroying Jackie's rose garden.  

There has to be some way to make Google stop calling me spam.
 
Oh, I know, I'll Google it.
 

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



 
Mocha Patties        
                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: 
3/4 cup espresso baking chips
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 oz semi sweet chocolate
4 oz chocolate candy melts or chocolate bark

Directions:
*Melt the espresso baking chips in the microwave, at 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth.
*Whisk in the cream cheese and vanilla. Mix in 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Once incorporated, begin mixing the remaining 3/4 cup powdered sugar in, then move to the counter and knead until completely incorporated.
*Roll the dough into 24 evenly sized balls. Flatten between the palms of your hands, place onto a tray and refrigerate for 1 hour.
*Melt together the semi sweet chocolate and the candy melts or bark until smooth. 
*Remove the patties from the refrigerator. Place each, individually, onto a fork, dip into the melted chocolate and place on parchment paper to set.



 

Friday, November 18, 2022

Dinner Betting and Sneeze Mowing: Fly on the Wall

Cinnamon Orange Coffee, a hot drink for a cold winter day | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #drink



 

 

 

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.





I'm sure you're aware that it was Halloween a few weeks ago. Hubs went downstairs to watch football and I was in the den giving out candy to the kids. About ten minutes before the game started, Hubs came upstairs.

Hubs: I'll give out candy for a while, I want to see some of the cute kids.

I sit down on the couch, and a few minutes later, the doorbell rings, Hubs jumps up, grabs the candy, and goes to the door.

Hubs (opening up the door): Trick or treat!

He hands out the candy, and comes back.

Me: I think we need to talk.
Hubs: OK.
Me: I'm not sure you get how this works.
Hubs: Huh?
Me: You're actually not the one who's supposed to say "Trick or Treat." 
 

Fly on the Wall, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics
 
 
One little boy came alone to the door. I opened the door, and in a sing song voice, he looks at me and says:

Trick or treat
give me something good to eat
or you'll have to smell my farts.

I'm thinking my husband isn't the only one who doesn't understand how this whole halloween door decorum is supposed to work.


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

 

Next a whole bunch of older kids came to the door, one by one I gave them candy, and one by one they wished me well.

First kid: Merry Christmas.
Second kid: Happy Thanksgiving.
Third kid: Happy Hanukkah.
Forth kid: Happy New Year.
Fifth kid: Happy . . . umm . . . happy birthday!

What happened to Happy Halloween?


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

 

A few things as back story. First, Hubs is semi retired, goes to work a few days a week. Second, I'd hurt my knee, so was walking as little as possible, and third, we have woodpeckers who peck holes in the siding of our house, causing about a thousand dollars of damage each year.

On Monday I could hear the woodpecker on the side of the house and, since I was babying my knee, called to Hubs, who went out and scared it off.

The next day Hubs was at work and the woodpecker was back so I had to go out there and yell at it myself.

Wednesday, Hubs was home so I once again sent him out. 

Me (as Hubs came in from outside): What is your schedule this week? Are you working tomorrow?
Hubs: I'm trying to decide.
Me: You can stay home and yell at woodpeckers.
Hubs: Well, those are words I never thought I'd hear . . .
Me: Funny, those are words I never thought I'd say.



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



It was a Saturday morning and we were looking forward to the Purdue football game.
 
Hubs: My prediction is that Purdue will win by 10.
Me: That's a pretty bold prediction, the teams are fairly equal.
Hubs: I still think Purdue will win by 10.
Me: How about a little wager?
Hubs: OK. What?
Me: If Purdue doesn't win by 10, you cook dinner for the rest of the month.
Hubs: No.
Me: Not so sure now, are you?
Hubs: Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure we don't want to starve to death.
 
He has a point. But we could always drink dinner . . .


 
Cinnamon Orange Coffee, a hot drink for a cold winter day | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #drink
 Cinnamon Orange Coffee


Hubs, College Boy, and I had all gotten our booster shots. I knew PurDude had an appointment, and was anxious to hear he'd gotten his.

On the day he was scheduled to go, I texted him:

Me: Did you have your shit today?

And as much as I'd like to blame autocorrect, I doubt autocorrect changed "shot" to "shit," so I'm thinking I'm going to have to own this one.

 


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

 

This one actually was autocorrect.

I was texting with him later in the month and telling him that Hubs' car tire had a leak. He took it to the tire place, who said they had good news and bad news.

The good news was that there was a nail in the tire and it could be patched. The bad news, when they went to take the tire off, their machine ripped the sidewall.

PurDude: Well they shouldn't be taking his tire off in the street with an excavator.
Me: Street? Excavator? Huh?
PurDude: Well, you said their machine ripped the sidewalk.

And looking back at the text, yes, that's exactly what I'd said to him.

 


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

 
 
I came home and noticed that College Boy was there. Walking through the kitchen, I notice something sitting on the counter that I hadn't bought:
 
Please Don't | picture taken by, featured on, and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #blogging

 
 
And all I could think was "I really hope he's thinking of cooking something, and not, you know, hinting at his future plans."
 
I'll let you know how that goes.
 

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

 
 
Hard to believe that the first few days of this month Hubs had to mow the lawn one last time. Also hard to believe we were still suffering from fall allergies.
 
I was standing on the deck, talking to a friend on the phone:
 
Katy: What am I hearing?
Me: I'm out on the deck, Hubs is mowing, you hear the lawnmower.
Katy: But what's that other noise?
Me: Oh, he's sneeze mowing.
Katy: Sneeze mowing?
Me: Yeah, and that's just the first act.
Katy: First act? What's the next act?
Me: Sneeze showering.
 
Poor guy. But at least he's done. Well, until spring.

 

Fly on the Wall, a multi-blogger writing challenge | developed and run by www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics
 
 
If there's one thing I will not stand for, it's flies in my kitchen. I cannot even think about them landing in my food. So we're pretty careful about keeping them out of the house. Not, of course, the proverbial Fly on the Wall, we're talking about the real thing here.
 
Mid November, it's usually too cold to have to worry about flies in the house, but I was preparing dinner and caught one buzzing around the food.
I shooed it away and it headed to the window by the dinner table. I grabbed a fly swatter and followed. I saw it on the floor but it was laying upside down. Do flies play dead? I nudged it with the fly swatter and, nothing.
 
Me: Decoy!
Hubs (walking into the room): What's going on?
Me: There was a fly in the kitchen when I was making dinner and I was trying to kill it.
Hubs: Looks like you did.
Me: No, this was just a decoy.
Hubs: Umm . . . decoy?
Me: Yes, damn fly tried to fool me with a decoy.
Hubs (backing carefully away): OK. Good talk . . .

 

 

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

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







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Cinnamon Orange Coffee        
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com


Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes 2): 
3 cups brewed coffee, hot
1 tsp powdered French Vanilla creamer
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP speculoos (cookie butter)
3 oz orange liqueur

whipped cream
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
*Mix together the brewed coffee, creamer and sugar.
*Vigorously whisk in the speculoos and orange liqueur until completely incorporated.
*Divide into mugs, top each with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon.