For a Friend: 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:  pretty ~ peaceful ~ perforated~ punctual ~ pip
They were submitted by Diane of On the Border.

                          
These words inspired a little bit of fiction today. Although, sadly, for many of us it will have a haunting ring of truth.

She was punctual for the appointment, all five of the women arrived within minutes of each other.

But it went downhill from there. 

Not that the expectation had been for a peaceful afternoon, not when you have 5 women shopping for the same thing at the same time. Agreement would be impossible, but if nothing else, the afternoon would be full of laughter and friendship. They were, after all, a happy, boisterous, fun-loving group, forever friends. With, really, the same individual goal, everyone wants to look pretty, after all. 

So in the next hour a decision would be made. It would have to be. And the hope was it would be a decision all could (at the very least) live with.

Because, in the end, although tastes and opinions, and perspectives would be voiced, it would not be a democracy. One voice would rise above the rest, that was a given.

As is the case with these things, expectations were not met.

She looked in the mirror at the dress she had on. It was aqua colored. With navy piping and a white collar. She looked like a life preserver someone might throw in the water. Hard pass.

But no matter how many objections she voiced, they fell on deaf ears. Penelope was just going to have to admit that it was Piper's wedding. And she, as the Maid of Honor, was going to have to walk down the aisle in front of 200 people, looking like a nautical accessory.

Unless she came down with a perforated appendix that day. It could happen . . . 

"Somebody buy me a drink, she thought.

Black Raspberry Martini

"On second thought, someone grab a life preserver, I may need a boatload."

 

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

On the Border 

Climaxed

Black Raspberry Martini

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes 2):

2 oz Blue Raspberry Vodka

4 oz Chambord

7 oz black raspberry sparkling juice, divided

red or blue sanding sugar

6 raspberries

Directions:

*Refrigerate the black raspberry sparkling juice. Mix together the vodka and Chambord. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.

*Add 6 oz of the black raspberry sparkling juice to the liquor and set aside.

*Pour the remaining sparkling juice into a saucer, and he colored sugar onto a plate. Dip just the rim of each martini glass into the juice in the saucer, then into the sugar to rim the edge of the glasses. 

*Place 3 of the raspberries into the bottom of each glass. Stir the martinis, then pour into the glasses, avoiding the rim.

Love and Smoothies: Poetry Monday

 

 

 

Poetry Monday's once a week.

I bet you know which day.

I don't participate every time,

But today I've come out to play.

My friends assign each week a theme,

Frozen Yogurt's, what they chose.

Now it's up to all of us,

to put our thoughts into prose.

 

 

Love and Smoothies

 

Valentine's Day rhyming,

I was all set.

But our theme's frozen yogurt?

So here's what you get . . .

 

Roses are red,

violets are blue.

I like frozen yogurt,

well, don't you? 

Roses are yellow,

and violets are purple.

Frozen yogurt in the blender,

I watch it circle.

 

Violets are lavender,

and roses can be pink.

Frozen yogurt can make,

such a yummy drink.

 

Violets are violet,

and roses are white.

A frozen yogurt smoothie,

for Valentine's night?

Pear Ginger Smoothie

 

Violets are mauve,

roses can be peach.

Made frozen yogurt smoothies,

one for us each.

 

Violets are amethyst,

roses can even be black.

If you don't drink that smoothie,

I may take it back. 

 

 

 

Wait!

Read more poetry, 

you're not through.

Some talented writers

are in this crew:

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings 

Mother Owl 

 

 

Pear Ginger Smoothie Smoothie         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: 

2 cups vanilla yogurt

2 medium sized ripe pears

1/2 cup spinach

1 tsp ginger paste

3 TBSP honey

Directions:

*At least 2 hours before blending, cover a small baking pan (toaster oven size) with a lip so the yogurt doesn't leak out, with parchment paper. Spread the yogurt onto the pan and lay flat in the freezer.

*Peel, core, and chop the pears.

*Clean the spinach and pat dry.
*Once the yogurt is frozen, remove from the parchment paper, chop,and place in a food processor with the chopped pear, spinach, ginger, and honey. Blend, then scrape the sides down, blend, scrape the sides down, and continue until smooth.

 

Dinner Betting and Sneeze Mowing: 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'm sure you're aware that it was Halloween a few weeks ago. Hubs went downstairs to watch football and I was in the den giving out candy to the kids. About ten minutes before the game started, Hubs came upstairs.

Hubs: I'll give out candy for a while, I want to see some of the cute kids.

I sit down on the couch, and a few minutes later, the doorbell rings, Hubs jumps up, grabs the candy, and goes to the door.

Hubs (opening up the door): Trick or treat!

He hands out the candy, and comes back.

Me: I think we need to talk.

Hubs: OK.

Me: I'm not sure you get how this works.

Hubs: Huh?

Me: You're actually not the one who's supposed to say "Trick or Treat." 

 

 

 

One little boy came alone to the door. I opened the door, and in a sing song voice, he looks at me and says:

Trick or treat

give me something good to eat

or you'll have to smell my farts.

I'm thinking my husband isn't the only one who doesn't understand how this whole halloween door decorum is supposed to work.

 

Next a whole bunch of older kids came to the door, one by one I gave them candy, and one by one they wished me well.

First kid: Merry Christmas.

Second kid: Happy Thanksgiving.

Third kid: Happy Hanukkah.

Forth kid: Happy New Year.

Fifth kid: Happy . . . umm . . . happy birthday!

What happened to Happy Halloween?

 

A few things as back story. First, Hubs is semi retired, goes to work a few days a week. Second, I'd hurt my knee, so was walking as little as possible, and third, we have woodpeckers who peck holes in the siding of our house, causing about a thousand dollars of damage each year.

On Monday I could hear the woodpecker on the side of the house and, since I was babying my knee, called to Hubs, who went out and scared it off.

The next day Hubs was at work and the woodpecker was back so I had to go out there and yell at it myself.

Wednesday, Hubs was home so I once again sent him out. 

Me (as Hubs came in from outside): What is your schedule this week? Are you working tomorrow?

Hubs: I'm trying to decide.

Me: You can stay home and yell at woodpeckers.

Hubs: Well, those are words I never thought I'd hear . . .

Me: Funny, those are words I never thought I'd say.

It was a Saturday morning and we were looking forward to the Purdue football game.

 

Hubs: My prediction is that Purdue will win by 10.

Me: That's a pretty bold prediction, the teams are fairly equal.

Hubs: I still think Purdue will win by 10.

Me: How about a little wager?
Hubs: OK. What?
Me: If Purdue doesn't win by 10, you cook dinner for the rest of the month.

Hubs: No.

Me: Not so sure now, are you?
Hubs: Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure we don't want to starve to death.

 

He has a point. But we could always drink dinner . . .

 

 Cinnamon Orange Coffee

Hubs, College Boy, and I had all gotten our booster shots. I knew PurDude had an appointment, and was anxious to hear he'd gotten his.

On the day he was scheduled to go, I texted him:

Me: Did you have your shit today?

And as much as I'd like to blame autocorrect, I doubt autocorrect changed "shot" to "shit," so I'm thinking I'm going to have to own this one.

 

 

This one actually was autocorrect.

I was texting with him later in the month and telling him that Hubs' car tire had a leak. He took it to the tire place, who said they had good news and bad news.

The good news was that there was a nail in the tire and it could be patched. The bad news, when they went to take the tire off, their machine ripped the sidewall.

PurDude: Well they shouldn't be taking his tire off in the street with an excavator.
Me: Street? Excavator? Huh?

PurDude: Well, you said their machine ripped the sidewalk.

And looking back at the text, yes, that's exactly what I'd said to him.

 

 

 

I came home and noticed that College Boy was there. Walking through the kitchen, I notice something sitting on the counter that I hadn't bought:

 

 

 

And all I could think was "I really hope he's thinking of cooking something, and not, you know, hinting at his future plans."

 

I'll let you know how that goes.

 

 

 

Hard to believe that the first few days of this month Hubs had to mow the lawn one last time. Also hard to believe we were still suffering from fall allergies.

 

I was standing on the deck, talking to a friend on the phone:

 

Katy: What am I hearing?
Me: I'm out on the deck, Hubs is mowing, you hear the lawnmower.

Katy: But what's that other noise?
Me: Oh, he's sneeze mowing.

Katy: Sneeze mowing?

Me: Yeah, and that's just the first act.

Katy: First act? What's the next act?
Me: Sneeze showering.

 

Poor guy. But at least he's done. Well, until spring.

 

 

 

If there's one thing I will not stand for, it's flies in my kitchen. I cannot even think about them landing in my food. So we're pretty careful about keeping them out of the house. Not, of course, the proverbial Fly on the Wall, we're talking about the real thing here.

 

Mid November, it's usually too cold to have to worry about flies in the house, but I was preparing dinner and caught one buzzing around the food.

I shooed it away and it headed to the window by the dinner table. I grabbed a fly swatter and followed. I saw it on the floor but it was laying upside down. Do flies play dead? I nudged it with the fly swatter and, nothing.

 

Me: Decoy!

Hubs (walking into the room): What's going on?
Me: There was a fly in the kitchen when I was making dinner and I was trying to kill it.

Hubs: Looks like you did.

Me: No, this was just a decoy.

Hubs: Umm . . . decoy?

Me: Yes, damn fly tried to fool me with a decoy.

Hubs (backing carefully away): OK. Good talk . . .

 

 

 

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

Menopausal Mother 

The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver

 

Cinnamon Orange Coffee        
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes 2): 

3 cups brewed coffee, hot

1 tsp powdered French Vanilla creamer

1 TBSP sugar

1 TBSP speculoos (cookie butter)

3 oz orange liqueur

whipped cream

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
*Mix together the brewed coffee, creamer and sugar.

*Vigorously whisk in the speculoos and orange liqueur until completely incorporated.

*Divide into mugs, top each with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon.

Pick Your Pumpkin: 23 Fall Recipes

 

Sorry. Not sorry. Really, really not sorry. I like pumpkin. There, I said it. Again. My October mantra.

 

I don't tend to eat pumpkin, or even use it in cooking or baking for most of the year. I'm not someone who pulls out pumpkin recipes, or puts on my pumpkin recipe development thinking cap in August. But come October, the leaves are turning, the air is crisping, it's been a year since I've made anything pumpkin, and I am ready.

 

Out come the pumpkin recipes from years past. I'm picking and choosing and making decisions as to which ones to cook and bake this year.

 

Some of those decisions are actually long ago decided, baked into the October cake, so to speak. There will be Harvest Soup and Peanut Butter Pepita Muffins for dinner on Halloween night. Pumpkin Pie Hot Apple Cider is a must for a cold October weekend sitting by the fire.

But others, well, let me just say that it was so much easier when I had a house full of kids. I could make ALL of the pumpkin desserts, and never worry about making more than can be consumed. Because kids, if there's one thing we all know they can do, it's consume.

This year, like the past few, I have no kids around. Some of the recipes will make their appearance next month. There will be Cinnamon Cranraisin Pumpkin Bread in the bread basket on my Thanksgiving table (and an extra loaf for PurDude to take back to Colorado with him). And, with PurDude home, there will have to be THE Best Pumpkin Pie or Espresso Pumpkin Pie for dessert (wonder which one he'll choose).

 

But for now, I'll have to lay out all the recipes and make some decisions.

 

And since this is my first October post this year, I'm officially calling it pumpkin season, and I'm ready to share. Some of these recipes have pumpkin in them, some don't use pumpkin per se, but I've used pepitas, and a few just look like pumpkins, especially fun if you have kids around.

 

Recipe links are below the graphic, click on the link, then go to the bottom of the page it takes you to, you'll find the recipe there. Or you can just pin them to your Pinterest board, I've added links for that too.

So take a look, pick your pumpkin(s). And happy October!

 

 

top row:

 

Espresso Pumpkin Pie: A classic holiday dessert gets an upgrade. Silky pumpkin pie is infused with a coffee flavored boost.  

--> PIN IT

 

Pumpkin Boston Cream Poke Cake: A seasonal pumpkin poke cake with a Boston Cream Pie twist. 

--> PIN IT

 

Apple Pumpkin S'more Bars: Fall flavors mixed with marshmallows, baked onto a shortbread crust. --> PIN IT

 

White Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares: This moist cake starts with a mix for ease. The cake is pumpkin and spice flavored, with white chocolate chips and a cream cheese frosting.

--> PIN IT 

 

bottom row:

 

Whipped Pumpkin Poke Cake: A moist white cake studded with pumpkin whipped cream. Perfect for Halloween or Thanksgiving, easy enough to make any day.

--> PIN IT 

Pumpkin Pecan Crostata: A flaky tart with a creamy pumpkin filling and crunchy pecans. Don't forget this one for Thanksgiving, too.

--> PIN IT 

Holiday Trifle: Pumpkin Bread, Eggnog, and gingersnap cookies, this dessert is holiday flavors in a bowl.

--> PIN IT

THE Best Pumpkin Pie: Our family's tried and true favorite classic pumpkin pie recipe ever!

--> PIN IT

 

top row:

Vegetable Rotini with Chicken in Pumpkin Cream Sauce: Chicken and pasta tossed in a creamy sauce with a hint of pumpkin.

--> PIN IT 

 

Harvest Soup: This thick creamy soup features squash, pumpkin, and apple. 

--> PIN IT 

 

Pumpkin Pie Hot Apple Cider: Apple, pumpkin, and Fall spices make this warm drink perfect for sitting by the fire on a cold day.

--> PIN IT  

 

Cinnamon Cranraisin Pumpkin Bread: Mix and bake, that's how easy this pumpkin bread is.

--> PIN IT

bottom row:

 

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Pumpkin Thyme Sauce: Crunchy pecan crusted chicken served with a savory seasonal sauce.

--> PIN IT 

 

Apple Pumpkin Sweet Rolls: A favorite breakfast treat with added seasonal flavors.

--> PIN IT 

 

Cinnamon Pumpkin French Toast with Cranberry Sauce: Start your holiday mornings off with Cinnamon Pumpkin Bread coated, pan fried, and topped with maple cranberry syrup.

--> PIN IT 

 

Peanut Butter Pepita Muffins: Peanut butter flavored muffins with a hint of honey and the crunch of pepitas. For breakfast or an afternoon snack.

--> PIN IT 

 

 

 

top row:

Pepita Harvest Bars: An interpretation of the classic seven layer bars featuring both pumpkin puree and pumpkin seeds.

--> PIN IT 

 

Jack-O-Lantern Treat Bowls: These cute bowls are easy to make, and so much fun to fill and share.

--> PIN IT 

 

Maple Pumpkin Snack Crackers: A great fall treat, share them by the campfire, tailgating, or serve them with a fall vegetable soup.

--> PIN IT 

 

Fall Harvest Crack: No cooking required, this vanilla and chocolate bark features dried fruits and pumpkin seeds.

--> PIN IT

bottom row:

Candy Pumpkins: These fun treats are more a craft project than a recipe. No pumpkin in this recipe, just little bite sized candies shaped like pumpkins.

--> PIN IT 

 

Spice Thumbprints with Pumpkin Filling: A Fall interpretation of the classic thumbprint cookies.

--> PIN IT 

 

Witch-O-Lanters: No cooking required, just melting, assembling, and, of course, snacking.

--> PIN IT 

 

 

As always, if you make any of my recipes and want to share, stop by my Baking In A Tornado Facebook page and share your pictures.