Four Twenty: 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 all share what we came up with.

 

This month's number is 42. 

It was chosen by Diane of On the Border.

 

 

 

~ This month, I'm talking about today's number. Sort of. But switching it up adding a zero, to be exact. Inspired by the number Diane chose, I'd like to discuss 420. No, not blackbirds, that's four and twenty. I love pie, but blackbirdless.

~ And I'm not talking about my anniversary, (though it is 4/20) nor how I celebrate (although spoiler alert: I don't bake bird pies and I only once spent it searching for pot, and found it, but, that's a story for another day).

 

~ You may have guessed, what I'm talking about is 420 in the context of World Weed Day. I was set on this path by two diametrically opposite political attitudes. First, Biden commuted the sentences of 75 Americans convicted of nonviolent drug crimes.

~ The other is Nebraska's governor attempting to sue Colorado over Colorado's marijuana legalization. Talk about sticking your nose in your neighbor's business. Nebraska's Ricketts has (yes, fairly recently) said that cannabis is a gateway drug, and legalization "is gonna kill your kids." 

 

 

~All of this is easily paralleled to the Covid situation. Ignorance should not trump (yes, pun intended) science, and yet it does. In both instances. There are also parallels to prohibition, which didn't end alcohol use, just made the distilling unregulated, unsafe.

 

~Fun 4/20 story: Back in the 1970s a group of California high school kids (called themselves "the Waldos") used to meet after school at 4:20 to smoke pot together. Later, according to urban legend, they'd search for a rumored deserted marijuana patch.

~ The Waldos never found it (ha, Waldo humor), but 420 became their secret code. Not for long (after all, there are no secrets in high school). AND, the brother of one of the kids in the group was friends with a musician.

~ That musician's band? The Grateful Dead. The boys shared with the band, their secret code for getting high (I can imagine the conversation, over heart shaped munchies, I'm sure). The band began using it and sharing it, and the rest is history.

 

 

 

 

Peppermint Heart Meringues

 

 

~ Like alcohol, marijuana is here to stay. The schedule one status is obsolescent, the punishment associated with it, abusively severe. Legalizing it, acknowledging this drug's therapeutic value ensures its properties can be appropriately studied, dosages scientifically developed, and medical use sales regulated.

 

~ I don't advocate everyone smoke pot. I believe that pot, including recreational, should be legal. But let's at least start with compassion, for those with chronic pain, glaucoma, anxiety . . . we cannot continue to allow an archaic unscientific stance to usurp their relief.

 

Here are links to the other Word Counters posts:

On the Border 

Messymimi’s Meanderings 

Peppermint Heart Meringues

                                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: 

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup finely crushed candy canes or starlight mint candies

3 TBSP multicolored nonpareils

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

*Beat the egg whites, on high speed until they get foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt, and continue to beat until soft peaks form. 

*Add the peppermint extract and, 1/4 cup at a time, at about 30 second intervals, add the sugar and the finely crushed mints. Continue to bear at high speed until stiff peaks hold.

*Using a pencil, draw 15 hearts on the parchment paper, about 3 inches tall each. Turn the parchment paper over. This is important, do not pipe your hearts onto the side with the pencil on it.

*Spoon about half of the meringue into a piping bag or a gallon sized plastic bag with the tip cut off. Following the lines on the other side of the parchment paper, pipe the outline of the hearts.

*Using a knife, scoop the remaining meringue into the hearts and spread to fill them. Sprinkle with the nonpareils.

*Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven off, leaving the meringues inside for another 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, allow to sit for 10 minutes, then and carefully peel off of the parchment paper.

No Knee to Stand On

 

 

 

I broke my ass.

And it's my knee's fault.

Sad thing is, it wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot.

It started with some discomfort in my left knee, sort of felt like I'd hyper-extended it. Then it felt weak, like it was going to give when I put all of my weight on it. So I started to baby it a bit.

Two days later, I got out of the shower, and when I lifted the other leg to put on my bloomers, I heard, and more terrifyingly, felt a pop. There I stood, in the bathroom, wet and naked, undies hanging off my hand, screaming.

Jury's still out as to whether no one having heard me is a good thing or a bad thing.

Downstairs, after admonishing Hubs for being 2 floors down when I needed him, at his insistence, I iced and elevated it, And tried valiantly to convince myself that all I needed was to be careful for a few days. Hobbling is sexy, right?

 

That afternoon I was working in the kitchen and forgot to hobble. Fell flat on the floor. And broke the aforementioned ass. Or at least it felt like it. Hubs, who was directly below the kitchen in the man cave heard me fall and came up to yell at me for not being careful.

 

Because yelling helps.

It was tough sleeping that night, Tylenol and Advil were my constant companions. The next day was actually a little better. I had to be careful of the knee, but I wasn't in constant pain.

 

That afternoon I successfully navigated standing in the kitchen and made dinner. I decided to take Thanksgiving flavors as inspiration, since who knows where I'll be by Thanksgiving. Probably in traction.

  

 

Cornbread Pumpkin Pork Roulade

 

 

It was after dinner, Hubs was back in the man cave and I was on the couch when the doorbell rang. My knee and my ass told me to stay put. But the second time it rang, I thought it might be important. Note to self: ignore your head, listen to your ass. 

 

I gingerly got off the couch and was run hobbling through the kitchen to the laundry room where I had a sweatshirt. Needed, since I couldn't answer the door sans bra (TMI, I know, but I have to explain the whole "run hobbling through the kitchen thing").

 

Anyway, my knee gave out (of course it did). I slammed to the floor smacking my hip and my chin.

 

 

 

 

In fact, I realized once I was finally vertical again, I smacked them so hard I could no longer feel any pain in my knee.

 

I may be onto something. Although I have to admit, agony as a viable medical strategy for knee pain management probably won't end up being a thing.

Now Hubs, up again from the man cave, has been having a little bit of trouble with his hearing. He doesn't admit it, but as a result he talks louder. So I'm sure his suggestion that I be committed was something he thought he'd said under his breath.

It wasn't.

College Boy's suggestion, spoken loud and proud, that he go out and get me some edibles, however, now that proposal had legs (see what I did there?).

Maybe it was time to call it a day. Go upstairs, get into bed and pull the covers up over my head.

Think I made it upstairs in one piece?

Ha, I did. Bet you didn't see that coming.

 

Although I do admit, once I got there, I had quite a few issues. 

Like, learning from this morning's bloomers debacle, I was going to have to take my pants off sitting down. Unfortunately, my ass was currently unavailable as a seating venue.

And then, since my front, side, and back were out of the running, seems the only way I might be able to sleep would be suspended from the ceiling.

All while praying that a meteor wouldn't be headed my way. I really don't have many body parts still in working order, I'd like the ceiling not to cave in on the ones I've still got.

Now I'm no doctor, don't even play one on TV, but just from personal experience, here's my advice: if you ever find yourself in a situation where you've pulled your knee, broken your ass, bruised your hip and banged your chin, here's what you should do:

Take 2 edibles and call me in the morning.

 

Oh, and whatever you do, don't sneeze. 

But that may be a story for another day.

 

Cornbread Pumpkin Pork Roulade        

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: 

2 - 2 1/2# pork tenderloin

2 TBSP butter

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 1/4 tsp salt, divided

3/4 tsp pepper, divided

8 oz cornbread stuffing mix

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

2 TBSP chicken broth

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup Russian salad dressing

1 can (14 oz) jellied cranberry sauce

Directions:
*NOTE: you can make the stuffing ahead, wrap tightly and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature when ready to prepare the dish.

*Trim and butterfly the tenderloin, then pound to about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle the pork with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9 X 13 baking pan with nonstick spray.

*Melt the butter in a saute pan. Add the onion. Cook and stir until soft, about 3 minutes.

*Place the cornbread stuffing in a large bowl. Mix in the onion, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, thyme, rosemary, and chicken broth. Last, mix in the pumpkin puree and dried cranberries.

*Spread the center of the pork with the stuffing, not going all the way out to the sides, then roll into a log, rolling with the long side.

*Secure with cooking twine (you can use toothpicks along the seam) and place, seam side down, into the pan.

*Any leftover stuffing can be wrapped in tin foil and baked in the oven when cooking the roulade.

*Whisk together the salad dressing and cranberry sauce. Remove 1 cup and set aside. Pour the rest of the sauce over the roulade. Sprinkle the top with the remaining salt and pepper.

*Bake, making sure that the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees, for about 45 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup of the reserved sauce over the top and move to a cutting board. Allow to rest for 5 minutes removing the twine or toothpicks before slicing. *Serve with the remaining 1/2 cup of sauce.