Start Talking: Fly on the Wall

 

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 play a multitude of word games daily. I share my results twice a day on my Baking In A Tornado Facebook page. Lots of people add their scores to the thread, and we often comment on that days' games. It's fun, like we're playing together.

When players post their scores, I respond to most all of their posts. On one particular day, I made a fateful typing error. 

One friend had gotten a score of 3 on all of her games. I had commented "nothing wrong with a 3 day." Well, that's what I thought I'd said. In fact, I'd commented "nothing wrong with a 3 way." Oops.

 

 

And another one:

I was promoting a blog post on social media. It was called Sliding Past the Holidays, where I discussed the calamities that occurred over Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I was planning to say:

"Sliding Past the Holidays. Thanksgiving was a disaster. Christmas was worse. For the upcoming holidays, I'd better take a pass."

Except I apparently used the wrong vowel in the last word, publicly posting:

"Sliding Past the Holidays. Thanksgiving was a disaster. Christmas was worse. For the upcoming holidays, I'd better take a piss."

 

Worst part? The friend who let me know, didn't seem at all surprised.

PurDude and I text every day. He calls, but not as often. Sometimes it's just to check in, but other times it's when one or the other of us has something to discuss that's too long for a text.

I had asked him something about his insurance, and he said he'd call me that night. Turns out he was calling to tell me about his yearly raise, bonus, and stock options anyway.

We talked for about 10 minutes or so, then I brought my cell down to Hubs in his man cave.

And I waited, and I waited and I waited. They talked for over an hour before Hubs brought me my phone so I could say "good-bye."

Me: You like him better than me?
PurDude: What?
Me: You talked to him for over an hour.

PurDude: It was about tax stuff.

Me: Yeah, right, you owe me 55 minutes. Start talking . . .

Speaking of talking, Hubs was taking his car down to be fixed. I was going to take a quick shower when he left, but told him to call me if it was going to take some time, and I'd come get him.

I had showered and was sitting on the couch when he called.

Hubs: When you get out of the shower . . . 

Me (interrupting him): Wait a second, you think I answer the phone in the shower?

Hubs: Ummm.

Me: Start talking . . .

So he did start talking. Before I tell you what he said, a little back story . . .

I've mentioned that Hubs is semi-retired. It works out pretty well most of the time, to a great extent because I don't turn the TV on until late afternoon, so he spends a lot of time downstairs in his man-cave watching sports.

But sometimes, sorry, but I have to admit it, sometimes having him around so much just gets on my nerves.

Hubs: The car's going to take about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Me: OK, I'll come get you.

Hubs: No.

Me: No?

Hubs: I'm in a store nearby now, and there's a place where I can sit and have coffee too, so Im just going to wait.

Me: OK, call me if you change your mind. I won't be in the shower then either.

And now I'm starting to think that it may just be possible that I get on his nerves a time or two too.

Pastel Shortbreads

Hubs makes the mistake of checking the weather report every day, despite the fact that I constantly remind him that it's fake news.

At the beginning of the month, he told me that it was going to finally warm up, for the whole week. But I know better than to fall for that.

Monday it was nice out. Tuesday it was nice out, so I decided to do dinner on the grill on Wednesday.

Wednesday it was freezing cold with whipping winds. Using the grill was not fun. In fact, I had a hard time lighting it.

Thursday it was nice out again.

Me: It's a conspiracy. They're out to get me. They changed the weather for one day.

Hubs: Who is it you're holding responsible for that? Mother Nature?

Me: No, it was the Chinese weather balloons.

 

Thursday night he told me that it was going to be warm again on Friday. I told him that I'd plan to use the grill again, we were both craving salmon.

Friday it was warm. But I was not very happy with Hubs' communication skills.

Me: When you told me it was going to be warm out, and I said I'd do salmon on the grill, did you not think it was pertinent to mention that it was going to rain all day?
Hubs: Yeah, maybe I should have mentioned that . . .

 

My friend had been in the hospital and I was really worried about her. Nobody was more worried than her husband, though, who was understandably distraught.

Once she got home, she was exhausted but feeling better. I was checking in on her and the second morning she reported that she had slept really well the night before.

Me: I'm SO glad. I hope now that you're feeling rested, you're feeling better. And I bet your husband eels better now that you've slept well too.

I read that right after I typed it, so I added:

Me: feels, not eels.

And:

Me: I think you've got enough problems, no need to add eels into the mix . . .

The fly on the wall may have caught a glimpse of a crazy lady this month. 

Our recycle bin is in the garage, just to the side of the door to the house. That makes it really convenient, if I'm working in the kitchen and have something to recycle, I just open the door to the garage, and throw it to my right.

It was late, but we'd had pizza for dinner and I was really thirsty. I was in the kitchen, grabbing a glass of ginger ale, and trying to be quiet about it so I didn't bother anyone. I'd finished the ginger ale, opened the door to the garage and went to drop the can in the recycle bin.

I'd forgotten that the bin was out at the curb for pick up the next day. 

Which is how I ended up in the middle of the night, wearing my pajamas, whisper-shouting "shhhhh! shhhhh!" while chasing a can rolling around the garage floor.

I get that the boys come by their sarcastic sense of humor from me. And most of the time I appreciate it. But now and then . . . 

It was fairly early in the morning, I had poured myself a cup of coffee and was sitting on the couch. I was concentrating on playing a word game, and hadn't heard College Boy come down the stairs, until I felt him behind me.

Me: Jeez, you scared me.

College Boy: You should see you.

I think maybe he should STOP talking.

 

 

 

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

Menopausal Mother 

The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver

Pastel Shortbreads         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened

1/2 tsp lemon extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

about 3 oz each of 2 different pastel colored candy melts

2 different colors of sanding sugar

about 3 oz white candy melts

1/2 tsp vegetable oil

multicolored round sprinkles

Directions:
*Beat the softened butter with both extracts. On the lowest setting, beat in the powdered sugar and flour, just until it starts to come together. Using your hands, form a dough. Roll into a log, about 10 inches long, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper.

*Cut the dough, at a sharp angle, into about 24 slices, each a little less than 1/2 in thickness.

*Bake for 12 - 14 minutes, then allow to cool completely.

*Melt one color of the candy melts according to package directions and dip in one end of the cookie, about 1/3 of the way down. Sprinkle with one of the sanding sugars, and allow to set.

*Repeat with the second color on the other end of the cookies and sprinkle with the second colored sanding sugar. Allow to set.

*Partially melt the white candy melts, add the oil and melt the rest of the way. Pipe onto the middle third of the cookies. Immediately decorate with the sprinkles. Allow to set.

Baked Cinnamon Carrot Donuts: Carrots Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends themed collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about his 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 a recipe, sewing tutorial, crocheting, crafts project, book review, and/or technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Carrots.

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 Baked Cinnamon Carrot Donuts.

Baked Cinnamon Carrot Donuts

Carrots? Yay! My time has come! 

Since I add recipes to most all of my posts, when it comes to these monthly Blog With Friends theme based posts, I've often had to interpret the theme loosely. Often very, very loosely.

But carrots? OK, this is going to be the easiest theme yet.

Or . . . not so much.

See, I've featured carrot recipes on this blog, bunches (so to speak) of times. Pretty much in every way:

With an appetizer: Red Pepper and Spinach Hummus
In soup: Kielbasa Soup, Crockpot or Not
In salad: Layered Thai Shrimp Salad
In a main dish: Shrimp Pot Pie
In a side dish: Pralined Snap Peas and Carrots
In bread: Simple Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
In cookies: Cinnamon Toffee Carrot Cookies
And, of course, in cake: Carrot Cake

Jeez? What's left? 

Sometimes inspiration comes with a bit of luck and a touch of necessity. As it happens, I was pondering this in the morning, coffee was brewing, Hubs was scrounging for something to eat and College Boy was walking in the door. That's how it came to me. Donuts.

I quickly put together a recipe in my head based on a basic baked donut recipe, what ingredients I had on hand, and what would go with carrots. 

I started by finely chopping the carrots in my food processor and the cinnamon baking chips in a clean coffee grinder. If you don't have cinnamon baking chips, you should look for them wherever you go shopping, I love them, but for this recipe you can just increase the cinnamon in the dough.

This is an easy recipe. Mix the dry ingredients, whisk the wet, mix them together briefly, 

fill the pans 

and bake.

I could have chosen any topping for these, something with cream cheese would go beautifully, but I chose a simple cinnamon sugar topping, and I'm glad I did. 

Breakfast is served:

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:

Tamara of Part-time working Hockey Mom shares Carrot Muffins. 

 






Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares her recipe for Apple Carrot Salad. 


 




Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Make Your Own Scavenger Hunt. 

 





Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares Spreading Easter Joy. 

 






P. J. of A 'lil HooHaa shares Carrots from the Eyes of a Mischievous Youngster.

 

Baked Cinnamon Carrot Donuts

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes 12 donuts):
1/4 cup cinnamon baking chips, finely ground (I use a clean coffee grinder), if you cannot find cinnamon baking chips, see note in the directions below
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup finely chopped carrots 
1/4 cup milk
3 TBSP butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 egg

6 TBSP butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
*NOTE: If you cannot find cinnamon baking chips, you can omit but increase the cinnamon in the batter recipe to 1 tsp.
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 12 donut pan cups.
*Mix together the flour, 2/3 cup sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or 1 tsp if not using baking chips) and the ground cinnamon baking chips.
*Whisk together the milk and egg. Add to the flour mixture, along with the carrots and melted butter and mix just until incorporated.
*Spoon evenly into the prepared donut pans. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the center springs back to the touch and the tops start to brown. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing.
*Mix together the 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon on a plate. Melt the remaining butter in a bowl. Dip the donut tops first in the butter, then in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Allow to set, dipped side up.

Renew: April Poetry

I love this monthly poetry group. I know you're surprised that I'd say that since I suck at poetry and readily admit it (pretty much on a monthly basis). But it does challenge me, and the older I get the more I understand the value of really exercising my brain. Including in ways that push me past my comfort zone.

So in the best interest of my health, lets make a deal. I'll keep fighting to put out a monthly poem and you'll keep trying to keep your breakfast down while you read these attempts What's in it for you, you ask? I may need to get back to you on that.

Anyhoooo . . . the theme this month is Renew. Grab your antiemetic (medicine that helps stop nausea and vomiting) and read on:

April Fools day tricks we do,
Passover (blech) and Easter too.
We celebrate. We overdo.

April brings to me and you,
red eyes, allergy meds, box of tissue,
hide and go seek with internal revenue.

Don't dispair, spring's sprung anew. 
Listen, birdies chirp and coo,
flowers bloom in every hue.

And look, the sun, it's deja-vu!
Shorts and t-shirts, flip-flop shoe,
sunglasses act to enhance the view.

Longer days we look forward to.
Swim and sunbathe and canoe,
Outdoor fun we all purse.

Exchange crockpots for barbecue.
Yay, Grilled Portobellos, no more stew.
And trade in the cocoa for sangria too!

 Grilled Marinated Portobello Sandwiches

Bid winter a not-so-fond adieu.
Somehow we've all made it through.
It's Spring, the best time to renew.

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

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares Renew. 

Sarah of Not That Sarah Michelle shares Rebirth. 

Diane of On the Border shares Parent Pioneers.

Grilled Marinated Portobello Sandwiches

                                                                         ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

 
Ingredients (makes 6):
6 Portobello mushroom caps, cleaned and stem removed
1 red pepper, cleaned, seeded and cut into 6 pieces
6 slices smoked provolone cheese 
6 rolls
6 TBSP butter, softened
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 TBSP olive oil 
1 green onion, sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes

Opt: your choice of toppings: lettuce, tomato, spinach, ketchup

Directions:
*Place the mushrooms and red pepper pieces in a large sealable plastic bag.
*Mix together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, green onion, garlic and red pepper flakes. Pour into the bag. Gently turn the bag a few times to distribute the marinate but be careful not to break the mushrooms.
*Place in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours. Gently turn over now and then.
*Heat grill. Butter the rolls.
*Place the rolls, butter side down and the red pepper pieces on the hot grill. Remove the rolls when they brown. 
*Turn the red peppers over and add the mushrooms to the grill, gills down. Cook for about 8 minutes. Carefully, using a spatula, turn the mushrooms over. Place a red pepper in the center of each mushroom and cover with a slice of cheese. 
*Cook another 1 - 2 minutes. Remove from the grill and construct your sandwich as is or adding your choice of toppings.

Springtime Waffles: Starting Fresh, 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 Starting Fresh.

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 love this theme. Every month there are a number of theme discussions but this one, suggested by Lydia, was unanimous immediately. What I like so much about it is that it's specific and at the same time open to wide interpretation. For me, Spring comes immediately to mind when you say "starting fresh" at this time of year, but as a mom there was another connection as well. With kids, no matter what may have happened the day before we love seeing their beautiful sleepy faces in the morning. Yesterday is gone, each day we sit down to breakfast and start fresh. So I combined these two thoughts and made Springtime Waffles:

Springtime Waffles

I wanted to make these waffles fun as well as flavorful, more colorful than an everyday waffle. I had to be careful, adding just touches of sweet so those peeps are just for presentation, they're not in the waffles.

I decided to add crushed berry flavored cereal to the batter. Pretty, isn't it?

I cut berry flavored jelly candies in half and put them aside. I then sprinkled them onto each waffle individually once in the waffle iron. By not adding them to the batter and sprinkling them on top, you can control how many candies you add each time you make a waffle.

I love how you can see little bits of color in the finished waffles.

Sprinkle with multicolored jimmies (sprinkles for you non-New Englanders) for more color. This would be perfect for a birthday breakfast or for any celebratory brunch.

Don't forget the maple syrup! And, of course, for Easter add a Peep.

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:

Eileen of Eileen's Perpetually Busy shares A Fresh Start for the Kitchen for Under $100.

 Minette of Southern Belle Charm shares a Dollar Tree Wreath for Spring.

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares the recipe for Garlic Honey Rubbed Pork Tenderloin in Life Lessons - Starting Fresh.

Tamara of Confessions of a part time working mom shares My Journey from (former) Couch Potato to (wannabe) Fitness Buff.

Kia of Think in English shares Seven Fresh Ideas Straight from the 2017 TESOL Convention in Seattle.

Rabia of The Lieber Family blog shares Starting Fresh: Tips and Thoughts on Moving.

Kristin of Little Mama Jama shares How to Start Fresh Each Day with Your Autistic Child. 

Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares a Handmade Gift Bag DIY.

Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Daily Devotions to Start Your Day.

                   

Springtime Waffles

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
3/4 cup Cap'n Crunch All Berries cereal
1 3/4 cups flour
1 TBSP brown sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup French Vanilla flavored  creamer
about 35 jellybeans or jellybean type candies (I used Mike and Ike Berry Blast candies), cut in half

OPT: multicolored sprinkles for serving
OPT: warm maple syrup for serving

Directions:
*Melt butter and set aside to cool a bit.
*In a food processor, pulse the cereal to large crumbs but not to a powder.
*Whisk together the cereal, flour, cereal crumbs, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.
*Separately, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the milk and creamer, finally the butter.
*Grease your waffle iron. Heat according to manufacturer's directions.
*While the waffle iron is heating, whisk the dry ingredients into the wet.
*When the iron is hot, scoop about 3/4 cup of the batter into the center. Sprinkle a few of the candies over the batter. Close and allow to cook.
*When the waffle iron indicates it's done, check to be sure the waffle has browned. If not, allow to cook for about another minute before removing to a plate. Keep warm.
*Repeat with the rest of the batter. Be sure to liberally grease the waffle iron each time before adding more batter.