A Song, A Raven, and Shrimp?: 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: vile ~ well known ~ shock ~ song ~ bug ~Raven
They were submitted by Jenniy of Climaxed.

                          
Perspective is a funny thing. I took a look at my assigned words for this month and I was stuck. The reason? The order in which Jenniy submitted the words. I see that first word, vile, and in my mind I'm using that as a starting point. I don't want to write a post about vile. Well, actually, I do. I received these words, exactly 2 weeks ago today, the day the senate voted (again) to hear no witnesses and subpoena no documents. The vile way senators (I won't call them representatives because they're not) blatantly put their own political aspirations ahead of the best interest of our country (so . . . guilty of the actions they were charged with judging, how's that for irony?) really is something I could write about at length. But then so is shock, another one of my assigned words.

I'm not going there though (despite the fact that you could argue that I sort of just did, but oh how much more I have to say). I've done it before on this blog, my political viewpoints are well known here. But I just don't have it in me to get started on what I think about that mock trial. If I were to write about it, really speak my mind, I know how it would end, with the bottom line of how I feel about the state of our union, of the star-crossed hopes of anyone who values democracy:

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore".

So I'm going to change my perspective. Throw the words (well, there are only two left) into a dice shaker, roll them out again and talk about something else.

"Bug." Great, the perfect segue to sharing a new recipe . . .

Creamy Shrimp Rotini

I hope you don't mind if I move right along to song, a nice, benign, happy word. 

Or at least it should be. But thanks to some weird game app, and egged on by my words today, the song that's become today's earworm is about a bug. Technically (for the record), not a bug although (also for the record) a Raven would eat them. Nonetheless, "Eensie Weensie Spider" is circling my brain like kids playing a game of musical chairs. I was innocently playing my daily Sudoku game and when I beat it, I am always encouraged to download other game apps before my win is registered. Today's was a game where a spider is in one drain connected to a man in another. There are blockages in the drain and you are supposed to open the blockages that would allow the water at the top to drown the spider and not the man. Absurd game, in so many ways. I'd just leave all the blockages there, they're both safe and the spider's unable to get to the man. There, I win. Not much fun, but then neither would be playing the game as it's intended. 

Hence, the unwelcome (dare I say "vile") earworm of the day.

As well as the final proof that I'm not really accomplishing anything with this writing challenge {{sigh}}.

To that end, I guess I should end with an apology. Maybe two. First to Jenniy, I'm afraid I didn't do your words justice this month, I'm sorry. Second to the rest of my readers, if you look at my word count, seems I spent more time writing about why I didn't want to write about "vile" than I did saying much of anything else. Guess it's true that words are powerful, and sometimes they just won't be denied.

But there's a bright shiny object recipe. It's easy and it's delish. 

Yeah, deflection. Hope it works as well for me as well as it works for . . . 

Oh, and happy VD to you all. Wishing you love and happiness and flowers and champagne. And no spiders.

Here are links to all the other Use Your Words posts:
Spatulas on Parade 
Wandering Web Designer 
Follow Me Home
On the Border  
Part-time Working Hockey Mom 
Southern Belle Charm 
Climaxed 
Sparkly Poetic Weirdo 
Medicated Musings 

Creamy Shrimp Rotini        

                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com


Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 box (12 oz) garden rotini
1 cup spinach (uncooked)
4 TBSP butter
3 cloves minced garlic
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped red pepper
1 TBSP olive oil
24 oz raw large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 TBSP flour
1/4 cup white wine
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 milk
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

OPT: shaved or grated parmesan cheese for serving

Directions:
*In a large pot, cook the garden rotini to al dente. Drain, add the spinach to the pot and keep warm.
*In a large saute pan, melt 1 TBSP of the butter over medium heat. Add 2 cloves of the garlic, the onion and the chopped red pepper. Cook and stir until the vegetables are soft, then add them to the pot with the pasta.
*In the same saute pan, melt another 1 TBSP butter with the olive oil and the other clove of garlic. Add the shrimp and cook, turning once, until just pink. Add to the pot with the pasta.
*In the same saute pan, melt the remaining 2 TBSP butter. Whisk in the flour. Cook and whisk for 1 minute until it's thick and the flour starts to brown. Whisk in the wine, heavy cream, milk, dried pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until the sauce thickens. 
*Add the pasta mixture to the sauce and gently stir to coat the pasta, shrimp and vegetables. 
*OPT: serve with grated or shaved parmesan cheese.

Wooden Nickels

With older kids you tend to spend a lot of time giving advice. And I’ve gotten my share as well. It was the casual mention of advice in the form of an old expression that got me thinking and resulted in this post.

It was recently recommended that I not “put all your eggs in one basket”, and I thought “how many baskets will I need? ‘Cause it would be much easier to just carry one”.

Somehow that innocent exchange morphed into a whole conversation (yes, in my head) about old expressions still used and whether people even understand their intent any more.

So I tried a few; on kids, friends, neighbors and family. Here’s how THAT went:

Saying: Living high on the hog.
Reaction: As opposed to living low on the hog?

Saying: Screw you and the horse you rode in on.
Reaction: Not that I have one, but what did the horse do?

Saying: A stitch in time saves nine.
Reaction: I can’t sew, does that mean I’m doomed or something?

Saying: Bob’s your uncle.
Reaction: You know my Uncle?

Saying: Better than being poked in the eye with a sharp stick.
Reaction: Is there a whole lot that’s worse than being poked in the eye with a sharp stick?

Saying: I don’t know him from Adam.
Reaction: I don’t even know Adam.

Saying (a two-fer): If you’re three sheets to the wind you may need some hair of the dog that bit you.
Reaction: {blank stare}

Saying: Fit to be tied.
Reaction: Is this a sadomasochist thing?

Saying: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Reaction: A bird in the hand will get you a hand full of bird sh*t.

Saying: You look like death warmed over.
Reaction: And what does “death warmed over” look like?
Me: You, apparently.

Saying: You are what you eat.
Reaction: I’ve been called worse things than Gummy Bears and Oreo Cookies.

Spaghetti Filled Garlic Bread

Saying: Busier than a one armed paper hanger.
Reaction: That’s just plain mean.

Saying: Raining cats and dogs.
Reaction: You know there are animal cruelty laws, right?

Saying: Go pound sand.
Reaction: Is that considered aerobic exercise? I usually just go for a fast walk.

Saying: He’s full of piss and vinegar.
Reaction: Now there’s a diet I won’t be trying.

Saying: Mind your “p”s and “q”s.
Reaction (from my son): I don’t even mind you.

Saying: She was hoisted by her own petard.
Reaction: She was what? By her what? You made that up.

And although many people have now asked me to explain some of these antiquated sayings (yes, I googled them and now know what they mean), quite honestly I think I’d rather stand on my head and spit wooden nickels.

Spaghetti Filled Garlic Bread

                                         ©www.BakingInATornado.com

 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
¾ stick butter, softened
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 (1#) frozen bread dough, defrosted
Flour and cornmeal
8 ounces of spaghetti, cooked al dente
Approximately 1 cup of marinara (click here for my Homemade Marinara)
¼ cup parmesan, shredded
½ cup mozzarella, shredded
Pepperoni slices, cut into quarters
 
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet. Sprinkle with a small amount of cornmeal.
*Mix together the melted butter, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes.
*On your working surface, spread flour and cornmeal so your dough doesn’t stick when rolling out.
*Roll out the dough to a rectangle of about 10 inches wide by 16 inches long.
*Brush the dough gently with most of the melted butter mixture. Save some for the top.
*Mix the cooked spaghetti with the parmesan, mozzarella and pepperoni.
*Leaving a 1 inch strip at the top and the bottom, place the spaghetti mixture in a line down the center of the length of the dough.
*Slice the dough along the sides of the spaghetti into strips. Don’t cut all the way to the spaghetti, leave about ¾ of an inch between the spaghetti and the strips on both sides.
*Fold the top and bottom over the spaghetti. Starting with the top strip on one side and alternating from side to side, gently move one trip over the spaghetti at a slight downward angle, and pinch under the opposite side of the dough. The strips should be pulled over so that the ¾ inch of dough that you left between the cuts and the spaghetti are forming the sides.
*Continue alternating sides until all strips are done.
*Carefully move to the prepared baking sheet.
*Gently brush the top with the rest of the melted butter mixture.
*Bake for approximately 30 minutes until the bread browns.
 
NOTE: I didn’t develop the idea for this recipe. I found a version quite a while ago and interpreted it to fit the tastes of my family.