Any Time: Monthly Poetry Group

 

 

 

Last Friday of the month is for

Monthly Poetry Group to rhyme.

Diane, Mimi, and I take turns,

Make an Appointment's 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.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any Time

"I can make you an appointment,"

it's what he'd say all day.

Running a busy law office,

most often went that way.

Later, back at home he was,

tired but happy to see,

his wife and daughter waiting,

makes him happy as can be. 

Daughter loved her nuggets,

which she {{sigh}} shared with the dog.

White Wine Mustard Chicken for him,

a taste test for wife's future blog.

"What do you do, daddy,

while I'm learning in first grade?"

"I run a busy office," he said

"boss's appointments must be made."

 

White Wine Mustard Chicken

Doing weekend yard work when

he heard his daughter say,

"I make an appointment, daddy,

so that we can run and play?"

Standing, wiping off the dirt,

he turned and looked her way,

"no appointment necessary, love,

you just made my day!"

 

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

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings

 

White Wine Mustard Chicken

                                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup stone ground mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

2 TBSP mayonnaise

Directions:

*Cut each chicken breast into 3 pieces each, of similar thickness. Place into resealable bag.

*Whisk together the wine, brown sugar, mustard, and garlic, then whisk in the mayonnaise. Seal into the bag with the chicken and make sure all of the chicken is covered with the marinade. Refrigerate for 4 hours, up to overnight, turning now and then.

*Preheat the grill to medium hot. Place the chicken on the grill and lower the heat to medium. Grill for about 7 - 8 minutes per side. Chicken must be completely cooked through.

 

Woke Up

 

You're familiar, I'm sure, with the saying "you don't know what you don't know." Well, I'm proof. It's actually kind of embarrassing to admit it, but I didn't know. The simple truth of a family in which I was a member, one of the inner circle, nestled and nurtured in its cocoon.

But I didn't know. And in some ways, the truth set me free. Opened my eyes.

I was maybe 5 years old. Relatives were over for a cookout, and while the adults were in the house doing adult things, I playing outside our house with Susan. Susan lived across the street, she knew a lot of my extended family, as I did hers.

At some point, the front door opened and Susan looked over.

Susan: Hi, Mrs. P.

Me: Mrs. P? 

Susan: Yeah, your grandmother's at the front door.

Me: That's not my grandmother, that's Aunt Rose.

Susan: Are they twins?

Me (laughing): No, they're it twins, they don't look anything alike.

Later in the day:

Me: Mom, this is funny, guess what Susan said.

Mom: What?
Me: She thought Nana and Aunt Rose were twins.

Mom: Honey, they are.

My grandmother and one of her sisters were twins. Identical twins. Who knew?

Apparently, everyone but 5 year old me. 

In retrospect, I understand why no one actually thought to sit me down, make a point of providing that information. 

Although many people (I learned) couldn't tell them apart, they looked completely different to me, my perspective based on having grown up with them, both viewed and seen as individuals.

Within my tribe, we saw them as different. From the outside looking in, they looked exactly the same. 

Family is one thing of course, our very first subculture, but as we grow there are many others with which we choose to identify. And when enmeshed, insulated in those groups, we run the risk of forgetting that there are other perspectives than those in which we've found comfort. Ones, even if we reject, we are better for just knowing. A reminder that we need each other to see the whole picture.

Our country, at this pivotal point in our existence, is moving in the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, a lot of power is in the hands of those (like, most prominently, DeSantis in Florida) who do not want us to see the whole picture. Those who are actively working to force us all to be and think and feel the same. Their same. They use their power to dictate what the whole picture can be, are manipulating access to anything outside of the lines they've drawn.

Banning books, health care, even discussion of what makes us different, rewriting our history, our access to information, our health care. One of whom (yes, DeSantis), in his march toward authoritarianism, towards creating us all in his own image, has taken to punishing companies, shipping off human beings, taking over curriculums.

They, those who see diversity and thought as a detriment to their personal vision, have named the movement to maintain our freedoms as "woke." They mock woke, use the term as an insult to bully anyone not willing to give in to their vision. 

  

When, in reality, "woke", unfettered access to information, free thought, celebration of and growth through diversity, is pragmatic, constructive, propitious to our growth as a society. 

It's not an exaggeration to say that our very existence could in the balance. It is nurtured and nourished minds that solve problems, not just in society, but on earth. Our food sources, flour, fruits, it can all be in jeopardy. 

Braided Blueberry Bread

 

If we are to grow, have the tools to meet challenges, to adapt, to thrive, we, as individuals and as a society, need to woke up.

Braided Blueberry Bread         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 (1#) loaf frozen bread dough

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1 TBSP cookie butter (speculoos)

1 TBSP brown sugar

3 TBSP blueberry preserves

2 TBSP melted butter

Directions:

*Wrap the frozen dough in a piece of greased plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or for about 6 hours).

*Mix together the cream cheese, cookie butter, brown sugar, and blueberry preserves. Set aside.

*Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

*Roll the dough on a floured surface to about a 16 X 9 rectangle. Cut into 3 strips, 16 inches long by 3 inches wide, and spread the cream cheese mixture down the center of each strip to about an inch of the top and bottom, and to about 1/4 an inch of each side.

*Roll one long side of each strip over the filling, then do the same with the other side, forming 3 ropes. Gently pinch the edges. Move the strips to the prepared baking sheet, side by side.

*Squeeze the top 1 inch of the strips together and fold under. Loosely braid the strips then squeeze the bottoms together and fold under like you did at the top.

*Grease a large piece of plastic wrap and cover the braid loosely. Set aside for 4 hours to rise.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the plastic wrap, gently brush the melted butter over the top of the braid. Bake for 30 minutes. 

 

Pitchers and Pitchers: Fly on the Wall

 

 

 

 Welcome to a monthly Fly on the Wall group post. Today 2 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 keep my cell phone turned on and beside my bed at night. If anything happened to either of the boys (and let's face it, it often does), I want them to be able to reach me.

When I get up in the morning, before I even get out of bed, I check my email to see if anything has come in over nightthat needed my attention.

The other day I woke up and although there were no new emails, when I checked my other folders, there was something in "drafts," which was strange, I had no drafts.

 

Apparently, I was busy at 3 :26 am.

 

 

I was having a tough time in the kitchen. When I come up with recipe ideas . . . let's just say that the picture in my head is quite often much prettier than the end result.

College Boy: You look unhappy, what's wrong?
Me: My cookies look like toddlers decorated them.

College Boy: I doubt that, let me see.

He looks at the cookies, then looks at me:

College Boy: Now mom, no reason to be insulting the toddlers . . .

I had made a Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream Pie. It actually came out pretty and I was confident when it came time to take my pictures.

I took them and uploaded them so I could start editing. I was both surprised and dismayed.

Me to College Boy: Is it just me? Or do you see Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer too?

He did.

I was at home, a friend was going out shopping and texted me, apparently wanting some company.

Friend: I have to go to the outlet stores, want to come with? Or are you busy.

Me: No, I was just working on some crunches.

Friend: Oh, exercise.
Me: No, Nestles.

College Boy buys and sells rare and limited edition albums. One Thursday, he found that he had misplaced his debit card. He immediately reported it missing, but was concerned about being able to make participate in a foreign drop the next day, his other credit card will often kick out foreign purchases.

I allowed him to write down my credit card info (no storing it in his cell, that's not private, Google sees all). If his card kicked out the purchase, he'd use mine.

Me: Once you finish the transaction, I want you to ball up that piece of paper and eat it.

College Boy: Eat it.

Me: Yes.

College Boy: How about I bring it home, you can season it and fry it and serve it with dinner?

Me: Deal!

And just like that, I had another taste tester for my Cordon Bleu Subs.

Cordon Bleu Subs

I could not wait for baseball season again this year. I'm not a fan of the game itself, but I'm a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan. Even watched all of the preseason games this year.

But it wasn't really looking all that good, to me anyway. The Sox had one of their worst seasons I could remember, due to poor pitching, last year. After watching some of the preseason games, my hopes weren't high this year.

Hubs: I'm heading out to work, do you need anything while I'm out?

Me: Yeah.

Hubs: OK, what do you need?
Me: A pitcher.

Hubs: Like for water?
Me: No, like for throwing.

The next day:

Hubs: I'm heading out to work, do you need anything while I'm out?

Me: Yeah.

Hubs: OK, what do you need?
Me: A pitcher.

Hubs: Like for throwing?

Me: No, like for water.

That should keep him busy . . . or confused . . . or both.

At the very end of last month, a week into spring, I woke up to see it snowing, 2 inches on the ground. I posted to the Baking In A Tornado FB page what I thought was going on with Mother Nature:

A little later, I was looking out the front door when I started to laugh.

Hubs: What are you laughing at?
Me: Want to see the epitome of irony?
Hubs: Huh?

Me: Look down the street.

Apparently our neighbors had their spring lawn treatment done the day before. And there was the sign . . . covered with snow.

Not funny, but spine-chilling, here's something that happened that had me wondering if I'm living in a Stephen King novel:

I enjoy living in the age of electronics and convenience, but I also feel violated by the ability of web sites to track us, hear us, and target us for marketing. We have no privacy, and I think we're in dangerous territory.

My cell phone even decides what is and isn't spam, removing from me the ability to make my own decisions.

But the other day, I really freaked out:

Hubs (calling me from his cell): Sorry I missed your call.

Me: I didn't call you.

Hubs: I have a missed call from you at 9:30 this morning, I'm just now seeing it.

Me: I didn't call you at all this morning, and I was in the shower at 9:30. Hold on a second, let me look at my call history.

Yup, my cell shows a call to my husband, which I didn't make, at a time when I wasn't near my phone.

Wonder if the next thing will be unordered groceries at my front door . . .

I had checked the news, so I had the TV on, but I was ignoring it, sitting on the couch writing a blog post. I hadn't heard my friend come in.

Lynne: Bow Wow.

Me (turning to look at her): You get a new puppy?

Lynne (nodding towards the back wall): No, Bow Wow, Bow Wow.

Me: Are you telling me you identify as a dog?

Lynne (pointing to the TV): You're watching Bow Wow, the rapper.

Me: Phew, for a minute there, I thought I was going to have to look into buying you chew toys for your birthday.

Hubs comes home, the TV is on, and I'm running in place beside the couch.

Hubs: What are you doing?
Me: Running in place.

Hubs: Why?
Me: I'm exercising, I want to lose weight.

Hubs: How long have you been doing this?
Me: I don't know, maybe 5 minutes.

Hubs: How long are you going to keep it up?
Me: Until I drop from exhaustion, maybe another 5 minutes or so.

Hubs: So, 10 minutes or so. How much weight are you hoping to lose?

Me: About 25 pounds.

Hubs (walking away): Let me know how that goes . . .

 

 

 

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

Menopausal Mother

Cordon Bleu Subs

                                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes 2 sandwiches):
2 sub rolls

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and cooled

3 TBSP mayonnaise

1 tsp sweet hot mustard

4 Ritz crackers

1 TBSP butter

2 sub rolls

6 slices meunster, provolone, and/or the cheese of your choice

8 black forest ham slices

1/2 tsp paprika

Directions:

*Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

*Chop the cooked chicken. Mix together the mayonnaise and the mustard, then add the chicken.

*Crush the crackers, melt the butter, mix together and set aside.

*Slice the cheese in half and place along the insides of the roll, covering both sides. Next, layer 4 slices of ham into the rolls, followed by the chicken. 

*Place into a baking dish, split side up. Sprinkle the cracker crumbs, then the paprika over the top.

*Cook for 20 - 25 minutes, until hot.

 

Count the Evens: Word Counters

 

 

Counting my words again. 

Today my fellow Word Counters and I are sharing our monthly group post. Each month one group member picks a number between 12 and 50. All participating bloggers are then challenged to write something (or a few somethings, as the case may be) using that exact number of words. Today we all share what we came up with. 

This month's number is 43. 

It was chosen by Diane of On the Border.

As I've been doing in these Word Counters posts, I've chosen a theme and am using my word count multiple times in keeping with the theme. This month I've chosen the theme Count the Evens.

~ I admit I've been out of sorts lately, kind of lost, untethered, down in the dumps, at odds including with myself. What to do? Make lemons into lemonade? See the glass half full? Since I'm at odds, I'm trying to count the evens.

~ Even though March madness didn't turn out as we'd all hoped, a fabulous year of Purdue basketball came to a disappointing end, Red Sox season has started. I look forward to afternoons watching the games (and second guessing the manager) with my family.

~ Even though my allergies are bad, and sure to get worse before they get better, I can't wait for the next few months of having my face in the sun, evening cocktails on the deck, and flowers growing in my long dormant pots.

~ Even though laundry is piled to the top of the chute, this is the age of convenience. Any number of stores will have packages of new underwear right at my front door in about an hour. And if that doesn't make you smile . . .

~ Even though it's cold and cloudy, I'll take that as a sign to go bake something chocolate. Possibly while wearing (new) underwear. With a sugar rush, I may even start some laundry. Then, just to show Mother Nature who's boss, I'm grilling dinner. 

Grilled Skirt Steak

~ Even though bigotry and bullying has reached an all time high, right out there in public, even though it's devastatingly loud and proud, (including a recent shocking example from my own family member), I look for, and find, proof of humanity. Every day. 

~ Even though I have only one fresh lemon (note to self: add lemons to the shopping list), I'll try making lemonade. Even though the glass may be half empty, I'll try filling it. Because it's only through counting the evens that we change the odds. 

Here are links to the other Word Counters posts:

On the Border 

Messymimi’s Meanderings 

Grilled Skirt Steak         
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
about 1 1/2# skirt steak

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 TBSP molasses 

2 TBSP cider vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ginger paste

2 TBSP brown sugar

1 green onion, chopped

Directions:
*To make the marinade: whisk together all of the ingredients except the steak.

*Place the steak into a resealable gallon bag, cover with the marinade, close the bag and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but I like to marinate for 24 - 36 hours. Turn the bag now and then.

*Preheat the grill to about 425 degrees. Remove the steak from the marinade and place on the grill. Cook for 1 minute, flip the steak over and cook for 1 minute on the other side.

*Reduce the heat to madium and cook for about 5 - 7 minutes per side, flipping once halfway through. Watch the steak, how long it will take depends on the thickness of your steak, the heat of your grill, and your preference for how well you want it done.

*Allow the steak to rest for 5 minutes. Slice against the grain.

The A LIst: 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:  anyways ~ autumn ~ anchovies ~ anger ~ atrium ~ almost
They were submitted by Diane of On the Border.

                          
I was inspired, a few months ago, when my assigned words came in all starting with the letter "F." In the spirit of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," I went with it. The result was a post I thoroughly enjoyed writing, called Use Your F Words. I had so much fun, in fact, that I almost repeated it with today's post. Almost.

I took a look at today's words, and shuddered when I got to the third one. Usually, when someone uses the word anchovies, it's preceded by "no," and followed with "thanks." I mean, greasy and hairy are not really optimal words to describe food, in my estimation. 

Now, chocolatey, sweet, creamy, decadent . . . all of those work.

Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream Pie

Anyways . . . 

I used to reside firmly in the "no anchovies, please" camp. I remember growing up, that mom liked them. She always got outvoted when it came to pizza, but lucked out when they came on a salad. Everyone else at the table, expressing anger that our first course had been tainted, collectively held our noses and passed ours her way. 

Now, although I still don't eat them whole, I do admit that they are a key ingredient in the flavor of a Caesar salad. Mashed into the dressing only, though.

Which is good because, turns out those ugly little fishies are healthy. Figures, doesn't it? I guess whatever doesn't kill you does, in fact, make you stronger. And if the looks of an anchovy sitting on your lovely food doesn't kill you, the smell could.

And yet, those slimy little fillets are packed with vitamins, minerals, and omega 3 fatty acids, promoting brain, atrium, (well, and ventricle too, I assume) health. 

But, like Scarlett, I'll think about that tomorrow. Well, maybe in 162 more tomorrows. Then it'll be autumn, when the cold weather makes your heart work harder. I've got another 162 days before that occurs. 

For now, it's spring, heading towards summer. And although not necessarily backed up by scientific data, I submit that Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream Pie is good for the heart too. And the taste buds.

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

On the Border 

Climaxed

 

Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream Pie

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups vanilla bean ice cream

14 chocolate filled Oreo cookies, divided

1/2 cup + 2 TBSP raspberry jam, divided

1 cup heavy cream

1 TBSP powdered sugar

1 (9 inch) Oreo or chocolate graham cracker pie crust

Directions:
*Place the ice cream in a large bowl on the counter for 15 - 20 minutes to soften.

*Cut 6 of the cookies in half and set aside for garnish. Place the remaining cookies into a food processor and crush. 

*Cut the crushed cookies and 1/2 cup of raspberry jam into the softened ice cream.

*Beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 2 TBSP of the raspberry jam and the powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks hold. Place about 1/3 cup of this whipped cream into a piping bag and refrigerate for garnish.

*Fold the remaining whipped cream into the ice cream. Pour evenly into the crust and freeze for 1/2 hour.

*Decorate with reserved whipped cream and cookie halves, then freeze another hour before serving. Cover leftovers and store in the freezer.