The Holiday Marathon: Use Your Words

Today’s post is a monthly writing challenge. If you’re new here, this is how it works: my friend Diane and I picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases to submit to each other to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once. Both posts will be unique as we each have our own set of words we're working with.

At the end of this post, you'll find the link to Diane's post, be sure to check it out, see what words I sent her and how she used them.

 
I'm using: drool ~ doodle ~ dodge ~ deem ~ dramatic




                          
Holiday time is bittersweet. While most of you reading this are still up to your eyeballs in holiday cooking and baking and buying and decorating and preparations, I'm mostly done. I will make a turkey on Christmas for Hubs and College Boy and I, but the sides will mostly be leftovers from Thanksgiving. 

But only because I had everything else crammed into two hectic weeks. I ran that holiday marathon in record time. 

And I ran it sick. Although family is a time of sharing and caring, we could have done a lot less of the sharing part. Since what we were passing around was sicknesses of various sorts and kinds.

PurDude arrived late on the Saturday night before Thanksgiving and for me, it was on. The two weeks he was here I made all of his favorite meals, along with desserts and snacks. I made College Boy's birthday dinner, Thanksgiving. And, although Hanukkah started a few days after he went back to Boulder, we celebrated that too. I mean he couldn't be deprived of Crusted Prime Rib and Air Fryer Latkes.

We had Saturday night. After that, medical chaos. And although we were desperately trying to dodge each others' symptoms, we still managed to get all of our celebrations in. We Blessings take our holidays and family time seriously. We will not be denied.

As hectic as those 2 weeks are, I still try to extend it, dodge the lightening quick passage of the limited amount of time when I have PurDude home, when we're all here. Sick or well. 

But in the blink of an eye, his final full day here comes {{sob}}.

And on that last day, just in case I can bribe tempt him to stay just a little longer, I make another drool-worthy dessert.

Peppermint Toffee Bars

But, of course, he has obligations, work, and those ski mountains are open and calling his name. {{sigh}}

Not to sound overly dramatic, but when that travel day came, I kinda felt like an online meal service as I packed up 10 frozen dinners (leftovers of all of his favorites), 3 loaves of quick breads, snacks, and desserts for him to take back to Boulder.

Now, as I sit here, absentmindedly drawing in (and doodlling not nice words in the margins of) the trump coloring book College Boy bought me to make me laugh, I'm grateful that College Boy is local, that I can see him every day. And when my mind goes to Boulder, I deem that his eating those homemade meals is a virtual dinner together. 

Because that's all I get . . . for now. 

Well, that and some much needed rest.

 

Here's the link to Diane's Use Your Words posts:

On the Border

Peppermint Toffee Bars         
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 stick margarine, softened

1/2 stick butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 1/4 cup flour

3 TBSP baking cocoa

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1 (9 oz) package Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 X 13 baking dish.

*Cream margarine, 1/2 stick butter, sugar, and egg yolk until smooth. Mix in the flour, baking cocoa, and salt until it forms a dough.

*Press into the bottom of the baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside. Leave the oven on.

*Microwave corn syrup, remaining butter, brown sugar, and cream for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir and microwave for 1 minute more until hot and bubbly. Stir in the peppermint extract, then barely swirl in the mini chocolate chips. Pour into the crust and bake for 20 minutes.

*While the toffee layer is baking, unwrap the candies and and coarsely chop.

*Remove the baking dish from oven, but leave oven on. Sprinkle the chopped candy over the toffee layer and immediately return to the oven for 1 to 2 minutes, until the kisses are melty.

*Gently swirl the melted kisses around the top of the bars, then allow to cool completely before slicing.

Eclipsed: Use Your Words

 

Today’s post is a monthly writing challenge. If you’re new here, this is how it works: my friend Diane and I picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases to submit to each other to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once. Both posts will be unique as we each have our own set of words we're working with.

At the end of this post, you'll find the link to Diane's post, be sure to check it out, see what words I sent her and how she used them.

 
I'm using:  natural ~ nice ~ nothing ~ noodle ~ neoprene


                          

I have absolutely no idea how this group of words made me think of the first time I bought myself a new car, but that's what popped into my head, so I'm going with it.

Before this time, from literally the day I got my license, my dad had always bought my cars, ones he picked out (and I loved, btw). But now I was out of school, working, and looking to buy a brand new car, chosen (yay) and funded (boo) by me.

I had my handy dandy little notebook of facts, whatever facts you could get in what was just before a time when Google was at everyone's fingertips. But before I ventured out to the car lots, I wanted more, a little insight into the process. I mean, we've all heard the stories about car salesmen being sharks, as we, the consumers, wade into their territorial waters.

I'm not saying their reputation is fact, definitely not. Truth is, one of my closest friends, Mark, bought, worked on, and sold used cars. And I had all the trust and respect in him that I did any other friend. He was genuinely a really nice guy.

At the time, Mark had many cars, but mostly drove a Javelin, a car he loved. It had a standard transmission, something I didn't know how to drive. Mark decided that he'd not only teach me, but on the Javelin.

I did fine until he had me stop going up a steep hill. When he told me to start again, I couldn't get the clutch/gas ratio right and the car kept rolling back while I both gave it too much gas and dragged the clutch. Deciding that nothing said I needed to know how to drive a standard anyway, I, without a word put the emergency brake on, got out of the car and walked up the hill.

Stunned, Mark drove up the hill and picked me up. We laughed all the way home (but were done with lessons, for now).

So, before I went to check out the two cars I had pared my list down to, I had Mark over to dinner. We talked about what I needed to know, what I wanted to look for, and what I should consider. And then he offered to go with me. 

Cheesy Spinach Pinwheels

We walked onto the first car lot the following Saturday, me doing exactly what I'd been told, act natural (meaning try to look less like a target and more like I'd done this before).

As the salesman walked towards us, Mark whispered in my ear. He knew who this guy was, he could sell a neoprene suit to a jailed politician. OK, that's not how Mark put it, but you get the idea. I needed to not get carried away by a smooth talker.

He needn't worry.

First, Gary did not even acknowledge me, he addressed Mark. Even when told why we were there, he continued to talk to Mark, asking what car he was interested in, if he'd like to take a test drive. 

Backbone now firmly in place, infuriated by the misogyny, I piped up and said that I was choosing between two cars, one at that dealership and the second we would be looking at elsewhere. Gary let me know that I could not compare those two cars, they were completely different, then proceeded to tell me what other makes were comparable to the one I was interested in on his lot.

I think Mark smirked when I told Gary that I could choose between any two cars I wanted.

In the end, Gary was actually helpful in making my decision, I wasn't buying anything from him. 

And hopefully, when I left, Gary's reputation for being able to sell a neoprene suit to a jailed politician went to that of a guy who couldn't sell a pool noodle, to a woman who spends the weekend at her family's pool.

PS: loved my new red Mitsubishi Eclipse. Thanks, Gary.

 

Here's the link to Diane's Use Your Words posts:

On the Border

Cheesy Spinach Pinwheels

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tube (8 oz) refrigerated crescent sheet

3 TBSP butter

2 tsp grated parmesan

1/2 tsp garlic powder

3/4 cup fresh, cleaned spinach

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 X 13 baking sheet.

*Unroll the crescent sheet onto a piece of parchment paper. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and roll out to a 9 inch X 15 inch rectangle. Remove plastic wrap.

*Melt the butter and mix with the parmesan and garlic powder. With a pastry brush, brush most of the butter (leave a little for the top) onto the crescent sheet, leaving about a half inch border at the two long sides.

*Chop the spinach and sprinkle onto the crescent sheet, last add the mozzarella.

*Starting with one long side, roll the dough up to create a tube shape. Brush the top with the remaining butter, and cut into about 3/4 inch slices. Place on the baking sheet, open side down. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the dough starts to brown.  

Orange is the New Eight: Use Your Words

 

Today’s post is a monthly writing challenge. If you’re new here, this is how it works: my friend Diane and I picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases to submit to each other to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once. Both posts will be unique as we each have our own set of words we're working with.

At the end of this post, you'll find the link to Diane's post, be sure to check it out, see what words I sent her and how she used them.

I'm using:  outline ~ omniprescent ~ orange ~ open ~ oops



                          

It's the middle of October, and I have to say, I think the Romans got it wrong. Because, although maybe the Romans never saw Halloween coming, there is now no doubt that is actually the month of orange. Omniprescent, ubiquitous orange.

But looking a little deeper into the meaning behind the naming of the months, it seems those Romans got it wrong for more reasons than just pumpkins and costumes. I mean, October is the 10th month, but its name comes from octo, the Roman word for the number 8.

Ummm . . . oops?

Actually, it seems October was originally the 8th month. 

Huh?

The calendar year was 10 months long, only 3o4 days, and started with Martius (March). The other 61 days, basically winter, they chose to ignore. And honestly, if you live anywhere but the south, you totally get that. Well, in the hoping that ignoring it will make it go away aspect.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to have worked.

So, curious, I decided to take a look at all of the months, and how they were named.

First, once, I guess, they realized they couldn't wish winter away, the late editions:

January, after Janus, the god of beginnings, transitions, and endings.

February, after Februa, the festival of purification.

the original ten:

March, after Mars, the god of war.

April, from the word aprilis a reference to spring and the opening of flowers.

May, after Maiesta, the goddess of honor.

June, after Juno, the goddess of marriage, unions, birth, childcare . . . and finance, cows, and peacocks, although I don't really get the relationship . . .

July, after Julius Caesar. 

August, after the emperor Augustus.

and here's where they lost their inspiration, or maybe just got lazy:

September, from septem, the number seven.

October, from octo, the number eight.

November, from novem, the number nine.

December, from decem, the number ten.

As long as I'm advocating a name change for October, may as well admit, there are a few other months that could use a new identity. My outline for the calendar refresh:

January, I can live with the month of a new year being named after the god of beginnings, transitions, and endings.

Freezing, because it's too cold for a festival of purification.

Magical, instead of honoring the god of war, I say we honor leprechauns.

April, I'm totally on board with celebrating when flowers open.

May, can't argue with honoring honor.

June, nor can I argue with honoring a goddess of marriage, unions, child birth and child care.

Jubilee, forget Caesar, it's America's birthday.

Aurous, forget Augustus too, I say we name this month after the golden days of summer.

Sepia, instead of naming the 9th month after the number 7, let's go with celebrating the fall leaves. 

Orange, instead of naming the 10th month after the number 8, it's orange everything for the win.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

Nourish, instead of naming the 11th month after the number 9, I choose nourish in this month of family time and Thanksgiving. 

Deplete, instead of naming the 12th month after the number 10, let's just acknowledge the year end state of our wallets.

Oh, and while we're talking about months, let me just remind you about the day. Don't cross paths with a black cat, or walk under any ladders, it's Friday the 13th. 

Hmmm, Friday . . . the names of the days of the week, wonder if they need a little updating too . . .

 

Here's the link to Diane's Use Your Words posts:

On the Border

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cream cheese baking chips

1/4 cup Speculoos cookie butter

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup sugar

3/4 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice blend 

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 baking pan.

*Crush the baking chips in a food processor or a clean coffee grinder. Set aside.

*In a large bowl, warm the Speculoos in the microwave for about 10 seconds, just until it is loose enough to whisk. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, crushed baking chips, 1 cup of the sugar and brown sugar. Once incorporated, whisk in 3 eggs.

*Mix in the flour, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Pour evenly into the prepared baking pan.

*Beat the softened cream cheese, the remaining egg, the remaining sugar and the cinnamon until fluffy. Pour onto the pumpkin batter.

*Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until cooked through. Cool completely before slicing.

Call Me Victor: Use Your Words

 

Today’s post is a monthly writing challenge. If you’re new here, this is how it works: my friend Diane and I picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases to submit to each other to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once. Both posts will be unique as we each have our own set of words we're working with.

At the end of this post, you'll find the link to Diane's post, be sure to check it out, see what words I sent her and how she used them.

 
I'm using:  super ~ silent ~ sinuous ~ snake ~ serious


                 

         
 

It was driving her mad. She was sitting at her desk but not getting a bit of work done, completely unproductive, consumed by her thoughts.

This was serious. Her super talented co-worker was to blame here. Yes, she was included in the daily break room gathering wth her colleagues this morning, talking and smiling before heading to their work stations, but that had only served to whet her appetite. Fuel her current obsession.

So, she came up with a plan.

Stealth is the key to success here. She must be silent. Follow a sinuous trail through the office. Duck into the lady's room, from there to the copy room, slip into that empty work station. And she would have to take this circuitous route, all while acting nonchalant.

Yeah, she was that far gone.

Clearly, she had no pride, she thought, finally slithering into her destination like as a snake.

But success! A classsic case of the ends justifying the means. To the victor go the spoils.

Bagel Breakfast Bake

That last piece of Bagel Breakfast Bake. It's mine!

 

Here's the link to Diane's Use Your Words posts:

On the Border

Bagel Breakfast Bake

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter, melted

1# everything seasoned bagels (5 large bagels)

3 oz Canadian Bacon slices

10 eggs

1 cup milk

1/3 cup shredded cheddar

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup chopped red pepper

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 baking pan.

*Slice the bagels in half, then chop them. In a bowl, mix the chopped bagels with the butter. Chop the Canadian Bacon and mix into the bowl.

*Arrange the ingredients from the bowl evenly into the prepared pan.

*In the same bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, cheese, salt, pepper, green onions, and red pepper. Pour evenly over the bagels.

*Bake for 40 minutes. 

Cheese Money and an Old Lady Purse: Use Your Words

 

Today’s post is a monthly writing challenge. If you’re new here, this is how it works: my friend Diane and I picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases to submit to each other to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once. Both posts will be unique as we each have our own set of words we're working with.

At the end of this post, you'll find the link to Diane's post, be sure to check it out, see what words I sent her and how she used them.

I'm using:  ambitious ~ ambiguous ~ anatomy ~ arc ~ anything

                          
I had a dream recently. I don't know if I don't have them often, or I just don't remember them. I haven't woken up aware of one for a very long time. This time I did, and what I could recall, was odd. To say the least. 

I've been thinking about it for a few days, trying to make sense of it. I'm not sure why it bothered me, it was a dream after all.

And yet, I really wanted to make sense of it.

I had absolutely no intention of writing about it today, but I saw these words Diane sent me and "ambiguous," "anatomy," "arc," they all brought back the dream.

I know it's ambitious, to try to analyze a dream to begin with, but especially since they are so ambiguous. Not only do we wake up without the puzzle put together, we don't even have all of the pieces.

Here's what I remember, not just what I saw in my mind's eye but what I was thinking, and my impressions, once awake, of what I hadn't been (but maybe should have) been thinking.

I had climbed up a rounded flight of stairs in a very old building. The floor below, I knew, was bustling with activity, an indoor space like at Faneuil Hall in Boston, artisan shops, florists, prepared foods, and a farmer's market.

I get the sense that I was in my late 30s, but I was dressed like an old lady. I wore a dress, belted at the waste, nylons, and sensible shoes. I was holding what I can only describe as an old lady purse. You know, black, wider in the bottom, tapering off to a smaller flat top with handles on either side. The purse was being held by the short handles, no over the shoulder option. It was flat, as though there wasn't anything in it, yet I knew I had, at least my wallet and money.

At the top of the stairs was a long thin hallway, shaped in an arc, with doors along the left side only. The hallway was just shaped like a half circle, but it arced up as well, each door higher than the last. All the way up to the middle, where the hall declined to another set of stairs, even with the ones I had climbed, going back down.

I got the sense that each door was an apartment, and I was to visit each one before heading back down the other staircase. 

On the first door, there was a picture, it looked like it was cut out of a magazine, of an arm. I wasn't curious, didn't knock, and walked right in the door to a bedroom. I chatted for a short time with the person on the bed and moved on. I was entering the third room when I became aware of a few things: all rooms were the same, inhabited by a different person, dressed, appearing healthy, unconcerned that I walked right in and willing to chat, and they all had a picture of a different part of the anatomy on the door. The pictures seemed to correlate to nothing, and were not discussed in our short superficial chats.

I walked down the second set of stairs, intending to purchase broccoli and onions for my dinner casserole at the farmer's market on the first floor.

Hash Brown Dinner Casserole

When paying, I realized I didn't have my purse. I looked over to the little wooden table where I'd sat before going upstairs. The purse wasn't there, but 3 snack size string cheese logs that I had apparently left on the table were there. I went over and grabbed the cheese, which was luckily exactly the amount I needed to pay for my groceries. I hooked the plastic bag over my wrist and started walking away from the cashier.

And woke up.

So . . . help me out here, what is my subconscious mind trying to tell me?

A) Instead of reading mysteries, I should write one: The Case of the Missing Old Lady Purse.

B) Don't spend too long in rooms with strangers unless you really want to know about that whole body parts thing.

C) I need to be buying my groceries with string cheese more often.

D) Sleep at your own risk.

E) All of the above.

Or maybe you have your own interpretation you'd like to share?

Here's the link to Diane's Use Your Words post:

On the Border

Hash Brown Dinner Casserole

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups broccoli florets, cut small

2 cups cooked chicken

1 bag (20 oz) potato shreds

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 can (10.5 oz) cream of potato soup

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne

2/3 cup crushed potato chips

3 TBSP butter, melted

1 tsp paprika

Directions:
*Steam the broccoli in the microwave for 1 minute. Chop the chicken.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 X 11 baking dish.

*In a large bowl, mix together the broccoli, chicken, potato shreds, onion, cheese, soup, sour cream, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Pour evenly into the prepared baking dish.

*Sprinkle with the crushed potato chips, drizzle with the melted butter and sprinkle with the paprika.

*Bake for 25 minutes, covered. Uncover and bake for another 20 minutes.