Take Your Swing: 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 share what we all came up with.

 This month's number is 31. 
It was chosen by Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings.

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 Take Your Swing.

~ I've been playing the lottery. A lot. If you follow this blog's facebook page (if not, stop by and join us), you've probably seen the memes I've posted. About my losses {{sob}}.

~ Actually, it's Hubs who plays, on my behalf. I had chosen some numbers many years ago, ones that have meaning to me. Numbers I associated with luck, like dates of birth.

~ Hubs must have those numbers because every now and then in the past, but regularly lately as the pot approaches a billion dollars, he comes home and hands me a ticket.

~ Some say playing is foolish, chances of winning are one in a bazillion. But . . . two dollars isn't a hit to the budget, someone ultimately wins, and the lesser prizes are great.

~ Try a new recipe, or eat the same old things. Sometimes we take our chances. Because this I know, odds are meaningless if you don't play. To win, you gotta play.

Orange Everything Chicken

~ I know people, even now, who say similar things about voting: there are over a hundred million Americans registered to vote, what are my chances of affecting the win?

~ I'm a huge Red Sox fan, so let me say this: step up to the plate (ballot box) and swing for the fences. We can't win if we don't all play. 

Here are links to the other Word Counters posts:

On the Border 

Messymimi’s Meanderings 

Orange Everything Chicken         
                                                ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

2/3 cup orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

1 tsp Everything Bagel Seasoning, my recipe HERE

Directions:

*Cut each chicken breast half into 3 - 4 pieces of similar thickness.

*Mix together the orange juice, orange zest, and Everything Bagel Seasoning. Place the chicken pieces into a resealable bag and pour the marinade into the bag with the chicken. Refrigerate for 4 hours, turning the bag now and then to be sure all of the chicken pieces are coated.

*Preheat your grill to medium, about 350 degrees. Place the chicken pieces on the grill and discard the remaining marinade. How long you need to grill your chicken will depend on the thickness of the pieces and the heat of your grill, approximately 7 - 10 minutes per side, until the chicken is completely cooked all the way through.

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.

 

It's a Hit

 

"Happy Mother's Day" is probably the last thing I expected to hear in early April. I'm willing to bet you'd agree.

Nor, I'm willing to bet, do you think it might be a good idea to use "sports app" and "Mother's Day gift" in the same sentence.

On that one, you'd be wrong.

 

We had finished dinner, the dishwasher was running and I was just settling down on the couch to see what was on TV when my cell rang. I took a quick look at it and saw it was PurDude calling. My teeth clenched and my stomach rolled.

I'm sure that's not the kind of response one would expect to have when their son calls home, but when he was away at college I had so many heart wrenching phone calls from him, it's (sadly) sort of a Pavlov's dog type reaction. I learned that when everything was fine, he'd text. But when he broke his leg, when a friend died, when he had been taken by ambulance to the hospital, when he had a his second flat tire in a week, when he really needed me, those were predominantly the times my phone rang.

Now that he's working 8 hours away in the other direction, I'm trying hard to stop that automatic reaction to his calls. We text once a day, just to check in, and he still calls when there are problems, but they have been few and far between. And he does call every week or so, so we can have a conversation without my fat fingers trying to hit the right letters on the cell phone keyboard.

But on this night, I was worried. It was Wednesday night, April 6th, and I was worried because he'd just gotten back from a vacation with his high school friends on Sunday. He'd called to fill us in on his vacation, so I'd just talked to him 3 days earlier.

 

And we'd just texted that morning, him informing me, and both of us complaining, about the Red Sox season opener the next day against our arch rivals the Yankees being postponed. 

 

I picked up the phone and gingerly said "hello." I knew immediately from the tone of his "hi, ma," that everything was fine. Phew.

PurDude: Happy Mother's Day!

Me (rushing to look at the calendar in a panic, I hadn't sent cards to my mom and step mother): Mother's Day?

PurDude: Mother's Day. It's a holiday. You know, Mother's Day? A day for mothers?

Me: A day for mothers a month from now.

PurDude: Well, I bought you a Mother's Day present.

Me (as confused as only a family member can make me): A present? In April? Over the phone?

Let me just say here, that there are ways to express love, and then there are soul crushing no-nos. You know what I'm talking about, gifts from the heart that show you know the person you're buying for, those are the best. Then there are the more common gifts, flowers, dinner out, chocolates, champagne . . .

And then there are the tragic mistakes. You've heard of them, like don't buy your wife a vacuum cleaner for your anniversary, or a scale for her birthday . . .

 

or a sports app for your mom for Mother's Day . . .

As I said, you'd be wrong.

I've mentioned many times on this blog that I'm a Bostonian, stuck in the Midwest. I miss a lot of things, like skiing, going to the beach, fresh seafood, and sports. Not just professional sports in general, but my teams. Especially the Red Sox. I grew up a Red Sox lover, got it from my grandpa, and I've passed it on to PurDude. I used to love watching the games with him. Well, when we could get them, which, even though I have the MLB channel, is still rare.

I have a Red Sox throw on my couch, a Red Sox clock in the kitchen (and a Patriots mug), all gifts from my family.

And now, PurDude bought me a subscription to stream the Red Sox on the MLB app. I can watch any game. Not just any game, I can watch all of them.

 

Maybe he's a month early for Mother's Day, but as far as I'm concerned, this kid just hit a home run.

 

 

Peanut Butter Nutella Bars

 

I might just have to bake him a treat, something using his favorite pairing, peanut butter and chocolate. I'll ship it to him, and wish him a happy birthday.

 

It'll only be 10 months early.

But I bet it'll be a hit!

 

Peanut Butter Nutella Bars         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened

1/2 cup cookie butter

1 egg, room temperature

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup Rice Krispies

1 cup mini chocolate peanut butter cups

1/4 cup Reese's pieces

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup Nutella

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 X 11 baking pan.

*Beat together the butter and cookie butter until smooth, beat in the egg. Slowly at first, beat in the salt, cinnamon, powdered sugar, and flour until it comes together to form a dough.

*Press into the bottom and 3/4 of the way up the sides of the pan.

*Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, but leave the oven on.

*Sprinkle the Rice Krispies, mini peanut butter cups, and Reese's pieces evenly over the crust.

*Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and Nutella, pour over the top.

*Return to oven and bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Dirty Deeds

It's that time of year, time to get your hands dirty. And I couldn't be happier.

I always plant my outdoor pots the first weekend in May. I start looking forward to it in March, when we're in that limbo between winter and spring. You know what I mean, the snow is pretty much gone the days are warming up just a bit and it's even lighter out past the early afternoon. There's that hope that spring is right around the corner. BUT, not quite. There could still be a day when a few of those white flakes fall from the sky. And those short sleeve shirts will have to stay in the drawers.

March turns into April and the slow walk towards spring continues. But then April ends and we finally hit that first weekend of May. It was well known, in this part of the country, that once we hit the first weekend in May we were out of jeopardy of there being a frost. So that first weekend, for me, it's full on flower time.

This year I wasn't so sure. We had a week of warm weather in the end of April but then suddenly it was so cold I had to turn the heat back on. On top of that, we were expecting rain for 5 days straight starting on Friday of that first weekend. I'd bought all of my flower but reluctantly stored them in the garage. This may be the first year I'd have to wait. 

Friday came and it warmed up. We had a few rain drops. Saturday came and it was the same, cloudy but no real rain. Sunday morning I baked. Then the sun came out, the air warmed up and that was it. Time to get my hands dirty.

I played in that dirt like I hadn't done it in a year. My fingernails were packed with dirt and my nail beds were crusted in it, but I haven't been this happy since the first weekend in May last year. And when I was done with my dirty little deed? I smiled. Welcome Spring.

on the back deck

between the garage doors

at the front entrance

Another dirty little deed of a completely different sort is also going to make me smile. It starts with potholes. Actually it starts years ago when my boys were in elementary school, and it ends with potholes.

When the boys were in school, it became clear that PurDude had challenges. I was trying to get him help for the tremor and visual spatial issue that resulted in, among other things, his handwriting never having progressed since kindergarden. The school refused to help him, he was so intelligent that his grades actually raised their averages. Why spend money on him?

In my years of fighting to get him the help he needed, one of the things I did was write a letter appealing to each member of the school board. One responded, left a supportive message on my answering machine. Thinking I'd found a partner, I found her number and called her back. She told me that she didn't actually want to talk to me, cutting the conversation short by telling me she was too busy to hear me out, she was having her kitchen remodeled. 

A few years later this same woman had actually been elected mayor of the city. I lived just outside city limits, our area had not been annexed into the city and therefore I could not vote against her.

This year the potholes in the city were . PurDude not only ended up with a flat tire due to the road conditions, but a week later ended up with a bent rim. The city's streets were so bad and the mayor's solution so absurd (in some places dig out the asphalt and leave the roads with just gravel) that there was actually a New York Times article written about it. Oh, and something else, a grassroots movement to impeach the mayor. Yes that same woman who on the board of education didn't care about kids, as the mayor doesn't care about infrastructure.

And guess what this woman did, just two months ago? Yup, she annexed our area into the city proper. Know what that means? 

The group has organized, filed the paperwork, set up a public meeting and have petitions ready. Let me tell you that I cannot sign on the dotted line fast enough. In fact, I'll even bring treats. As I said, before I planted, I baked.

Strawberry Milkshake Shortbreads

The last dirty deed? Staying a Red Sox fan. I am so excited about how the Celtics are doing. And the Bruins. I'd like to say it's an exciting time of year to be a die-hard Boston fan. But then there's the Red Sox and let me just say right now that watching them is excruciating. The good news? They're finally out of last place in the American League East. Last place? My beloved World Series winners had been languishing in last place. I'm a fan, a huge fan, always have been. Grew up with box seats at Fenway Park. 

But this year? Let's just say I'm being sorely tested. In fact, you could say that lately I've been standing on that dirt warning track of Red Sox fandom.

Strawberry Milkshake Shortbreads       
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe


Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup strawberry Nesquick powder

1 1/2 tsp strawberry extract

2 cups flour

red colored sugar

Directions:

*Cream 2 sticks of butter until smooth. Mix in the powdered sugar and strawberry Nesquick powder until just incorporated, then beat in the strawberry extract. Mix in the flour and form into a dough with your hands. Roll into a log, about 14 inches long, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

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

*Remove cookie dough from fridge and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Sprinkle with red colored sugar. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely.

I ❤ the Red Sox

I ❤ the Red Sox.  If you don’t, or if you like the Yankees (ouch), we’re gonna have to just agree to disagree.  You’re wrong, but I won’t hold it against you.  I’m a fan of all Boston sports, but especially the Red Sox.  I get this from my Grandfather who loved them too, had Season Box Seats.  My brother-in-law, takes my kids when we’re home so they’ve enjoyed games with their cousins, too.  He once treated us to a luxury box including a visit from the Big Green Monster mascot, the opportunity to try on a World Series ring and a Red Sox welcome to the kids by name on the Jumbo-Tron!
 
Red Sox fandom is not for the faint-of-heart.  Frequently they start out great, then spend some time making sure you’re not feeling too secure, then suck you back into feeling confident right up to the end:  which could go either way in any given year.  Win or lose, it really doesn’t matter, I’ll be right back next year screaming “WoooooHooooo” at the TV in my living room (to my kids’ embarrassment and dismay, an added bonus).
 
Players have to learn the game.  It takes years.  They take steps up the ladder in their sport and if they’re exceptionally good (with, I’d imagine, some part luck), they may get a chance to play professionally.
 
Fans have a learning curve as well.  If you want to enjoy the game you have to learn the rules, learn about the players, the stats.  If you want the true experience, go to a game, there’s nothing like it.

The cousins watching a game from the Luxury Box

But here’s the hardest thing of all.  You cannot impact that game.  They are on the field and you are in the stands.  You can scream and yell and “WoooooHooooo” all you want.  Every step forward or step back that your team takes in the standings has nothing to do with how loud you yell or how badly you want them to win.  They are on the field doing their job.  You are in the stands eating peanuts.
 
Sometimes it just has to be OK to be the spectator.  To trust that the team has been coached well, to hope that the players are healthy and that they have a good day.  But you know that even if they don’t you’ll be back for another game, as soon and as often as you can.  Because you are a fan.
 
When my kids are out driving, in friends’ cars, at the lake, the mall, bonfires, I’m here being their fan.  I have to trust that they have been coached well, are healthy, and will have a good day.  And when it comes right down to it, during those (more and more frequent) times that I’m not with them, I’d rather they see me as their fan than as their Big Green Monster.

My Big Green Monster, on the back deck

P.S.  Thank you ❤Juls ❤ for teaching me emoticons, especially the ❤.


 
 

My Big Green Monster

                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

 

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 ounces Midori melon liquer
1 ounce Amaretto liquer
2 ounces orange juice
2 ounces pineapple juice
 
Directions:
*Mix all ingredients and refrigerate till cold.  Serve over ice.