More Than Chocolate: 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,

Chocolate Milkshakes is what they chose.

Now it's up to all of us,

to put our thoughts into prose.

 

 

More Than Chocolate

 

Sitting around and chatting,

while the kids went out to play.

The topic turned to milkshakes,

on that steamy hot summer day.

 

I've written recipes for many of them,

Apple Pie Eggnog, Strawberry Shortcake, Peach Pie. 

Then there's my Strawberry Irish Cream shake,

if you like your (ahem) octane high.

Of course, for sweetness overload,

try the Mocha Butterfingers shake.

Unless coffee with your sugar might,

tend to make you shimmy and quake.

 

Then there's an all time favorite, 

to Peppermint Stick never say "nay."

Not just for the summer months,

but for Christmas and Valentine's Day.

Milkshakes are a personal thing,

each knew what we liked best.

But when it came to all the kids,

we had a theory to put to the test. 

 

They would all say "chocolate,"

that's what each of us would bet.

Gathered the kids around us, yup,

chocolate's what each of them would get.

 

"As long as we're here betting," I said

"I bet I could change their mind.

Chocolate will always be up there,

but favorite would be another kind."

 

Of course they took me up on it,

knowing each time the kids would choose,

plain old chocolate would get the win,

and then, you know, I'd lose.

 

Went home, put on my thinking cap,

and wore my chef's hat too.

How to change my kids' minds?

That's gonna take something new.

 

Caramel Brownie Milkshake

 

Next time we got together,

chocolate's not (technically) what my kids said,

Should have seen the smile I wore,

when "Caramel Brownie" was exclaimed instead! 

 

 

 

Wait!

Read more poetry, 

you're not through.

Some talented writers

are in this crew:

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings 

Mother Owl 

 

Caramel Brownie Milkshake       

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes 3 - 4): 

3 TBSP caramel sauce

1/4 cup chocolate jimmies (sprinkles)

8 brownies (about 1/3 of a 9 X 11 pan)

2 cups milk

2 cups Caramel Swirl Ice Cream

OPT: whipped cream and/or chocolate caramels for garnish

Directions:
*Pour the caramel sauce onto a small plate or saucer. Pour the chocolate jimmies onto another small plate.

*Dip the rims of 3 - 4 glasses into the sauce, then the jimmies, coating the rim of the glasses. Place in the freezer.

*Break up the brownies to crumbs, and place into a blender with the milk. Liquefy. Add the ice cream and blend until thick.

*For a thinner shake: remove the glasses from the freezer and pour the milkshake into the glasses.

*For a thicker shake: place the blender jar into the freezer for an hour before serving.

*OPT: garnish with whipped cream and/or chocolate caramels.

*Store any leftovers in the freezer.

Be My Guest: Opposites Really Do Attract

Today I've decided to give you all, my beloved readers, a bit of a break. You can thank me later (OR you can thank me by stopping by again on Friday when I'll be publishing another post. Yeah, do that second one).

It's been a while since I bribed, persuaded, cajoled, wheedled, coaxed (you get the idea) someone to write a guest post for my blog. 

Seems I'd been doing it all wrong. Instead of twisting someone's arm (College Boy, I'm looking at you), I should have been taking another approach. Entice, that's the ticket. With a little quid pro quo (a term I can now use since everyone in this country knows what that means). 

My friend Rena McDaniel was looking for a guest post for one of her three (yes, three) blogs, The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver. I'd written a piece, not about Alzheimer's specifically, but a personal account of my feelings when I lost my dad to the disease. I was happy to let her share it with her readers . . . for a price . . .

Today she's paying up. So lucky you (and lucky me for having such a great friend), I have the honor of sharing what Rena took time out from her busy day week month life to write for Baking In A Tornado.

First I want to thank Rena for taking the time to share her post today. But most of all I want to thank her for her kind words, her unconditional support and her friendship. Be sure to visit her blogs, she offers something for everyone:

Wandering Web Designer

The Blogging 911

The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver

And I'm going to let Rena introduce herself:

I'm Rena and I'm a 50 year old child in an old woman's body. I love to take long road trips, build websites and write stories about my adventures or even the latest trip to the grocery store. I'm a wife of 29 years, a mom and a grandma and I run my own web design/maintain/troubleshooting business. When I'm not creating CSS, or piled up in the passenger seat of our car, you will find me happily playing with my grand kids, reading a book, or wrapped around a cheeseburger!

Opposites Really Do Attract

Karen and I have been friends for a few years now and even though we've never met IRL, she has seen me through some of the most painful lows and celebrated my highest highs. I love her dearly and consider her one of my very best friends BUT we are total opposites!

I absolutely love to cook, which we definitely have in common, but loving to cook and being good at it aren't always the same thing. Love definitely doesn't equal skill.

Karen can open her refrigerator, look at its contents and come up with a 10 course meal that is not only delicious but picture perfect. I can take a well written recipe and mangle it so badly it doesn't even resemble what I was trying to achieve. 

It will either be burned or undercooked. I will have injuries such as burns or cuts. The kitchen usually ends up in disaster just like whatever it is I'm attempting. I actually used to be what I'd consider a good cook, back when I had a gas stove and half a brain.

I threw dinner parties on Sundays and have served upwards of 20 people. Hell, I even cooked all of the food for my very own wedding! That was almost 30 years ago and since then my body and brain have been beaten senselessly. 

Today things like adding and subtracting doesn't come easily for me. Things like ingredients can become so overwhelming that I often just throw in what I think goes . . . mostly it doesn't. My poor sweet husband has suffered through so many bad meals that I'm surprised he doesn't have stomach issues, or asked for a divorce.

I once served my family a bloody turkey on Thanksgiving because I couldn't figure out time vs weight. I also don't understand spices. I love them, buy them all. I'm a sucker for a pretty jar but I often use too much or forget to add them altogether.

I come to Karen's site for guidance, inspiration and even to whine when things go wrong. I have made some of Karen's recipes and they were actually successful. She taught me how to make a cheese sauce that my husband begs for and would eat every single day! I also made her Marinara sauce that was well received, but these days take-out is king at my house!


Got you covered, Rena. Here's a recipe anyone can follow:

Mocha Butterfingers Milkshake 

Mocha Butterfingers Milkshake        

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (per milkshake):

1/3 cup brewed coffee

2 TBSP French vanilla creamer

1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream
1 TBSP chocolate syrup
1/2 cup finely chopped Butterfingers candies

Directions:

*Mix the creamer into the coffee. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Place the ice cream, coffee and chocolate syrup in a blender and blend until smooth. 

*Add the chopped Butterfingers and blend again until fully incorporated.

*For a thinner milkshake: blend in up to 1/4 cup of milk, a little at a time.
*For a thicker milkshake: freeze for an hour.

Remember When: Secret Subject Swap

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 7 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: Remember when
It was submitted by: P. J. of A 'lil HooHaa.

The first thing this prompt brought to mind was actually, my first prompt. I had only been blogging a few months and I had been befriended by my very first blogging friend. Shellybean was fun and funny and interesting and fiercely loyal. Blogging had become social for me and it was a whole new world.

A few months later I actually had a blogging tribe, a group of friends who supported each other and often chatted on twitter way into the night. But this was also the time that Shellybean told me she thought she might stop blogging, felt she didn't really have anything to write about. I was heartbroken. I asked if I could give her a topic and she agreed. Then I told her to wait, I had an idea.

I made my case, then begged, pleaded and cajoled the few bloggers I knew, to join in. Not only would we all write about a topic provided, but we could all submit a prompt, post at the same time, see who got our subject. It would be a one time thing. It could be fun. 

In the end there were 9 of us. My topic was "I can't believe the time I . . .".  It really was fun, and every single blogger asked to do it again. And again. So the first thing this prompt made me think of is that I remember when the Secret Subject Swap was born. It was a kinder, gentler time in the blogging world. Or maybe I just hadn't yet been exposed to it's underbelly. Either way, although most of them no longer blog (even Shellybean only sometimes) I will always remember when blogging was its most fun.

"Remember when" has an obviously nostalgic connotation. What it also brings to mind, mine anyway, is that old cliche of a grandpa telling his grandchildren about how he walked 10 miles a day, uphill, through the snow, to a one room schoolhouse. And although I'm old enough to have many "one room schoolhouse" type memories, I'm not quite that old. 

But I do remember when:

~ snow days were a good thing.

~ a fun Friday night meant watching movies sitting in your car next to a speaker on a pole.

~ you could ask a stranger if they had Prince Albert in a can without caller ID telling them who you were.

~ Saturdays were spent with jump ropes and hoola hoops and bicycles and skates with Mr. Potato Head and the entire neighborhood in your driveway.

~ it was a treat for Mom to drive us up to the penny candy store for a milkshake and a bag of candy that actually . . . you know . . . cost a penny. 

Peppermint Stick Milkshake

But not everything about the past was so great and the present worse. I also remember when:

~ the internet did not exist. Now information, even something as simple as the answer to a random question, is at my fingertips. We have all become more inquisitive because we know those questions are easily answered and I love that I have the instrument to learning anything I want sitting right in my pocket.
  ~ there were no cell phones. If something happened like an accident you had to hope there was a phone nearby. I love that when my boys got their licenses I sent them out with a car and a cell phone.
  ~ I was told I was infertile, in vitro was in its infancy, not many doctors even did the procedure and even then there was only a 10 - 20% chance per try. I beat the odds. Twice. I love that the success rate is now around 40%.


The old days were full of good times, but the present is pretty great too. 

It's strange though, to know that these present times are the ones our kids will be describing to their kids in sentences starting with "I remember when . . ."


Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Spatulas on Parade 
Wandering Web Designer 
Part-time Working Hockey Mom 
A 'lil HooHaa 
Climaxed 
Southern Belle Charm 

Peppermint Stick Milkshake

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe


Ingredients:

5 Red and White peppermint hard candies
2 cups Peppermint Ice Cream (I used my homemade Peppermint Chocolate Swirl NO CHURN Ice Cream)
1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream
1 cup milk
1 cup whipped cream
OPT: 1/4 - 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
OPT: 2 - 3 drops red food coloring

Directions:
*Put the hard candies in a food processor and finely crush.
*Spoon the peppermint ice cream, vanilla ice cream, milk, whipped cream and candies into a blender and blend until well smooth. 
*Taste. If you want more peppermint flavor, add the extract, 1/4 tsp at a time and blend. 
*If you want a darker pink flavor, add a few drops of red food coloring and blend.
*For a thin milkshake, serve immediately. For a thicker milkshake, freeze for an hour.
 

The Placeholder:

Just like the zero is a placeholder in math, I told him, so have all of these interviews been the placeholder in your search. 

Of course I didn't say this to him initially. Not ever during the process. Never, in fact, until it was all finished, locked down and cleared to start. Because with all of the uncertainty, anxiety (mine, not his), need to constantly be "on", never knowing when the next phone call could be his future calling, well, it just wasn't the time. Now, however, it is. It's the time to tell him that we were right, not just to know that something belonged in that spot, but to hold out for something valuable.

In school I learned (yes, there are a few things I can still remember back that far) that in math a zero is a placeholder. Meaning that it has no worth in its own right, yet impacts the value of the numbers around it. That's how I've come to look at all the time and energy my youngest, PurDude, spent looking for a job this summer. Each time he went through the process, on the phone, in video chats that lasted hours, being flown to other states, driving 8 hours round trip, technical tests, personality tests . . . all culminating with either no offer or one he turned down (and even one we just didn't understand), was just a placeholder. For the right job, for the most important interview, for the best location, benefits, room for growth, overall opportunity.


Waiting for it, knowing it would come, believing in himself, not jumping at the first thing, that took guts. And paid off. This zero, as it turned out, actually had great worth. It held him in place so he could be where he needed to be when all the stars aligned.

We talked about it, laughed even at the fact that when it was all over and he left for work, we'd regret not making the most of his time off, possibly the last time he'd ever live with us. Oh, we had our moments this summer, he and I, time spent together. I had my taste tester and picture assistant back home and I took full advantage of it. He loved this Strawberry Shortcake Milkshake and I was so glad I developed this recipe just the day before everything changed for him. 

Strawberry Shortcake Milkshake

And yet despite those moments, most of the time he'd been here was spent working at job hunting, wondering, worrying, even questioning past choices and positions turned down.

"In terms of your whole life", I'd tell him, just for perspective, "this may be stressful, but it's not like you'll never find the right job, never ever work". And he'd smile. "Besides", I'd say, "I'll hire you. You can always live with us, come with me while I do my errands, you can walk behind me and carry my purse. Doesn't that sound great?" 

No smile for that one. Because we both know that it's not "a", it's "the". 

Here's what I said to friends and family on Facebook:

"It's not about getting A job, it's about getting THE job. Know your worth and don't back down.

Some background: PurDude was one of 425 students who started the Computer Science program at Purdue together. He was one of about 125 to successfully complete it in 4 years, graduating with a 3.2 GPA with both the CS major and a minor in Organizational Leadership Skills.

His first job offer came while he was still in school. It was a good offer but not the right fit and he had the guts to turn it down. Second offer, not as good, came this summer and he turned it down. The summer flew by in an endless stream of interviews on the phone, video chats, long drives and being flown here and there for on-site interviews. Another offer, another "no".

Then in the end of July, and ON THE SAME DAY (of course) he got two GREAT offers. He had to choose between a fairly new and quickly growing company in Denver or an even better offer from a well-established company, one not easy to get in to.

Funny to look at one of the last pictures we took at Purdue. It was of him standing beside the official school mascot, a locomotive called The Boilermaker Special. I wonder if it was some kind of a prediction.

Because yesterday, which coincidentally would have been his first day of school if he were still at Purdue, he started his career at the corporate offices of UP (Union Pacific)."

Congratulations, PurDude. It's a mom's job to believe in her child. It's this mom's pure joy to watch you prove that you believe in yourself.

Strawberry Shortcake Milkshakes        

                                                        ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes about 3 large milkshakes:

8 ripe fresh strawberries
2 cups milk
24 oz strawberry swirl ice cream
3 strawberry cheesecake ice cream bars
1/3 cup + 1 TBSP strawberry syrup, divided
1/2 cup multicolored sprinkles
whipped cream 

Directions:
*Remove the ice cream and ice cream bars from the freezer for 10 minutes to soften. Remove the sticks from the ice cream bars and discard.
*On a small plate, place 1 TBSP strawberry syrup and place the sprinkles on a separate small plate.
*Hull and chop the strawberries. Put into a blender with 1 cup milk. Blend until smooth.
*Add the ice cream, ice cream bars, remaining 1 cup of milk and 1/3 cup of strawberry syrup to the blender and blend until smooth. 
*Dip the rims of your glasses into the strawberry syrup that you've placed on the small plate. Twirl the rims around in the sprinkles until they are coated. Pour the milkshake into the glasses and top with whipped cream.

Never Have I Ever

You've seen them, haven't you? Even played along? I know I have. They're all over facebook, those lists of daring activities and life experiences turned into a game. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? Been arrested? You give yourself a point for each one you've never done. Add up your points then do the comparison to your friends. Who's more daring? More interesting? 

More honest?

Been sky diving? Have tatoos? Forget all that, lets play "never have I ever", mom style. Give yourself a point for any situation you have not been in. No cheating.

Never have I ever:

* Cleaned food off the ceiling.
* Pushed the clock an hour ahead to bedtime.
* Pretended to listen.
* Repeated "I will not cringe, I will not cringe" to yourself while your child was singing.
* Said if they didn't stop  --> insert behavior here <--  the police would arrest them.

* Faked being on the phone.
* Taken credit for something that dad actually did.
* Hidden snacks.
* Secretly stolen candy from one kid's Halloween bag to give to the other because you know they're going to count, and they damn well better be even.
* Lied about whether they were going to get a shot so they wouldn't scream and cry until we actually got to the doctor's office. 
* Tried to sell cleaning up as a fun game.
* Gagged while changing a diaper.
* Blamed the dog (even when you don't have one).
* "Lost" a loud toy.
* Threatened to kill Barney.
* Told the kids that McDonald's is closed on Tuesdays. 
* Hidden vegetables in a favorite meal.
* Refused to go back home until calling the babysitter to be sure the kids were asleep.
* Claimed to have made something that was bought.
* Drank alone during their nap time.

Holiday Snowflake Cocktail

Zero? You too? I'm shocked. Just shocked (not!).

Moms rule.

Holiday Snowflake Cocktail       
                                    ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes 4 - 6):
1 1/2 quarts vanilla bean ice cream
2 TBSP white chocolate cocoa powder
1/4 cup whipped cream flavored rum
1/4 cup vanilla flavored rum
3/4 cup white chocolate liqueur

Directions:
*Place the ice cream, white chocolate cocoa powder, rums and liqueur in a blender. Whip until smooth. 
*Place the blender in the freezer for at least an hour. Scoop the drink into 4 to 6 glasses.