The Dress-Up Dress Down

 

Groceries. You can't live with them and you can't live without them.

Well, more like you can't live with the price of them and you can't live without them.

Potato, Potahto.

Speaking of potato . . .

I learned a lesson in relinquishing control during the height of Covid. I ordered my groceries online for pick up. At first, I ordered most of my staples, but still needed to pick out the meats and fresh vegetables myself. Doing it this way meant still going into the stores, but for much less time.

Then things got worse, vaccinations were just being developed, people around here would not follow social distancing rules and didn't wear masks. I had to order all of my groceries. It was difficult for me, but when balanced with trying to stay alive, a no brainer.

Sometimes the vegetables were very close to what I would have picked out myself. Sometimes, not so much. A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post about a sweet potato in my order that would feed a small country. Just after that, fully vaccinated, I went back to shopping just for my produce and meats, I'd gotten too used to the ease of ordering everything else.

Recently, though, I started ordering more and shopping for less. Yes, you guessed it, I ordered sweet potatoes. Two, one for me and one for College Boy. Oh, I got two sweet potatoes, I also got a lesson in perspective. That one I got a few years ago? That was small compared to the two I got this time. I think 50% of my bill was sweet potato. It's a wonder I could lift them. They were the size of pumpkins. I could carve them up, put a candle in them and stick them on the front porch. 

Figuring out what to do with one was a challenge. I cooked it, shared it with College Boy at dinner, but we didn't even put a dent in it. The leftovers provided lots of recipe development inspiration. I made Ginger Snap Sweet Potato Cake, Apple Pecan Sweet Potatoes, and Sweet Potato Blinis.

Sweet Potato Blinis

 

And I still had one left. 

So, working with that whole turn it into a jack-o-lantern vibe, and in honor of today being Halloween, I decided to share. In a Halloween meets politics meets produce. In a Mr. (Sweet) Potato Head kinda way. 

For instance:

I hear Ron DeSantis likes to talk a lot about drag performers and drag shows, seems sort of obsessed, actually. I bet he'd love to be gifted his very own queen.

Or perhaps Greg border-buoy-death-trap-in-the-Rio-Grande Abbott should get a look at what those of us with a moral compass see when we look at him.

And there are at least 19 defendants in Georgia who may be drastically lowering their clothing and barber shop budgets. I could give them a helpful glimpse into their future fashion style options.

Whether you're spending this Halloween partying, giving out candy, or dressing up your vegetables, I hope you're having fun.

Probably not as much fun as I'm having. That is, unless you order your groceries online too.

Sweet Potato Blinis         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
about 2 medium sweet potatoes

2 oz cream cheese

1 packet instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal

1/4 cup quick oats

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 cup mini marshmallows, halved

3 TBSP butter

maple syrup 

Directions:

*Cook the sweet potatoes in the oven or microwave until fork tender. Discard the skin and refrigerate the rest to cool.

*While the sweet potato is cooling, allow the cream cheese to soften in a medium sized bowl.

*Once the sweet potato has cooled and the cream cheese has softened, measure out 1 1/2 cups of sweet potato and add it to the bowl with the cream cheese. Beat until smooth, then beat in the oatmeal packet, quick oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt. Add the egg and beat again. Mix in the mini marshmallows. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

*Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

*Spray a large skillet with cooking spray, melt 1 TBSP butter over medium heat. Add some of the sweet potato mixture (about 1 heaping TBSP per blini) to the hot pan. Leave space between each blini. Form into about 2 - 2 1/2 inch circles.

*Cook for 2 minutes, then lower the heat to just above low and cook until the bottoms start to brown, about 8 - 10 minutes. Flip over, pressing them down gently, and cook the other side, about another 8 minutes. Repeat this process with additional cooking spray, butter, and sweet potato mixture.

*Place the blinis on the prepared baking sheet and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

*To serve, drizzle with maple syrup. Provide more maple syrup for dipping.

Feast for the Senses: Secret Subject Swap

 

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This month 3 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: Spring is in the air. What is your favorite spring time activity?

It was submitted by: Rena of The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver.

 

 

 

Actually, that's a difficult question. Much more difficult than it would have been when I was living on the East Coast. Much more difficult even, than it would have been living away from the East Coast in the years before 2020. Much more difficult than it should be.

 

Growing up on the East Coast meant varying between two really fun activities, walking the beach, and spring skiing. Walking the beach required dressing a little warmer, but it was so worth it, feeling the sun on your skin for the first time in months, and smelling that salt air. Spring skiing, on the other hand, required less clothes than winter skiing, easier movement, and warmer trips up the lifts. Ahhh, spring.

 

Living here in the beachless {{sob}}, mountainless {{sigh}} Midwest, especially since 2020, has necessitated that my main spring activity be playing a robust game of "avoid the Covid spreaders." As activities go, not something that's going to make it onto my favorites list. Necessary? Yes. Fun? Not so much.

The downside of spring, rubbing my eyes and stocking up on tissues and allergy medicine isn't exactly a fun activity either.

But I do love spring, it's my favorite season. I get to move away from the heartier "warm you from the inside" meals I cook over the winter months to lighter meals. Like breakfast for dinner.

Key Lime Pancakes

(with my Blueberry Maple Syrup)

And although I know this is a lame answer to your question, since I'm really not sure what activities I'll be able to enjoy in the coming days, I can tell you what I love about spring. It's the waking up, the emergence from the long winter hibernation, the exercising of all of my senses.

Spring is a feast, and it's not just about taste. Spring is a for all of the senses. 

Sight: There is beauty in snowfall, a feel of peace as the first flakes cling, pristinely white, to the branches of the bare trees. But even then, it's brown and white.

In the spring, dark afternoons are banned and daylight replaces the dreariness of winter. Daylight in which to enjoy the colors with which Mother Nature paints the outdoors. Grass, leaves, flowers, beautiful color emerging everywhere. 

And the wildlife comes back.   

Sound: The chirping of the birds, even the sound of lawnmowers, car windows down and radios turned up, spring has its own unique sounds.

Smell: Flowers, especially the lilacs, and food cooking on grills throughout the neighborhood. Even the smell of freshly cut grass brings a smile.

Touch: It's not spring until I've got my hands deep in the dirt of my outdoor pots, and standing on the back deck, feeling the sun on my face.

Taste: Key Lime Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup, anyone?

 

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:

Climaxed

The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver 

 

Key Lime Pancakes         
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 stick butter

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup key lime juice

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 TBSP sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp lime zest

OPT: 1 - 2 tsp green food coloring

4 - 5 TBSP butter

Directions:

*Melt the 1/2 stick butter, set aside.

*Place the milk and key lime juice in a small bowl and allow to sit for 10 minutes. 

*In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and lime zest.

*After 10 minutes, whisk the melted butter, egg, and food coloring (if using) into the milk and key lime juice mixture, then mix into the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.

*Over medium heat in a small skillet, melt 1/2 TBSP of the remaining butter until hot. Add about 1/3 cup pancake mix and swirl around to form approximately a 5 inch pancake.

*Once the center starts to bubble and the edges are browning, flip the pancake over, reduce the heat slightly, and cook the other side until browned.

*Remove, keep warm, and repeat with the remaining butter and pancake batter.

Yo- Yo Mama: 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,

Yo-Yo's what they chose?

Now it's up to all of us,

to put our thoughts into prose.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yo-yo Momma

 

Yo-yos were a childhood toy,

but dangerous, I won't lie.

Best be careful round them lest

you put out someone's eye.

 

It's all about a rhythm and,

coordination is the key.

Up and down and up and down,

it's fun, don't disagree!

 

From only just a dollar to

four hundred, even more,

there's contests, tournaments and those

intent on keeping score.  

But here's a fact 'bout yo-yos,

wait, let me make my case:

kids can make a yo-yo of,

hear me out . . . their mama's face.

 

One day they like breakfast,

the next day, they may cry,

when served the same thing as before,

I'll never understand why. 

No one like your child can make,

you smile when you'd had a frown.

But just as quickly, they'll yo yo,

your smile back upside down.

 

 

Orange Nutella Pecan Pancakes

 

 

 

Wait!

Read more poetry, 

you're not through.

Some talented writers

are in this crew:

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings 

Mother Owl 

 

Orange Nutella Pecan Pancakes      

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup chopped pecans

3 Cara Cara oranges, peeled, remove seeds, if any

up to 1/4 cup orange juice, if needed

2 TBSP brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup Nutella

4 TBSP butter, divided

Directions:

*Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pecans. Set aside.

*Remove as much of the pith as you can from the oranges. Separate the segments, and cut them in half. Place into a food processor and pulse until they start to break up. Add the brown sugar, and pulse until it's a puree. 

*Measure the orange puree, you need 1 1/4 cups. If you have more, remove some, if you have less, add orange juice until you have 1 1/4 cups.

*Whisk together the orange puree, egg, and Nutella, then add to the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated, don't over mix.

*In a small skillet over medium heat, melt 1/2 TBSP butter, scoop just 1/3 of the pancake batter into the pan and move around to form a 5 inch circle.

*Cook until the edges are brown, flip the pancake over, reduce heat just a notch, and cook the other side. Remove from the pan and keep warm while repeating with the remaining butter and batter. Makes 7 - 8 large pancakes.

 

 

Gas and Gaslighting: Secret Subject Swap

 

 

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This month 5 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: So, the gas prices . . .

It was submitted by: Tamara of Part-time Working Hockey Mom. 
 

 

Why do I hate this prompt? Because, for me, due to where I live, it's a trigger. My blood pressure is rising just thinking about it.

 

Gas prices are rising, and honestly, it doesn't affect me directly as much as it does many people. I've mentioned that I live in a Covid denier state, where few are vaccinated and when there is the need for mask mandates, they're ignored. In fact, if you put a mask on, it's like putting a target on your back around here. So I don't go out much. Hubs is semi-retired, going to work only twice a week. Due to the lack of used car availability, College Boy hasn't been able to replace the car that he totaled over a year ago. PurDude is still on our gas card, so most of the gas we pay for is his. He only goes into the office a few days a week, but he does take long car trips back here, to KC for a weekend with friends, and he frequents ski mountains. Still, taking the other 3 of us out of the equation, we're not directly affected by what happens at the pumps as so many people are.

But, despite the fact that our gas consumption is way lower than it ever was, I'm not saying that I don't care that the prices are rising. Gas is the start of a ripple effect of rising prices, as it directly affects the transportation of goods.

 

Therefore, the price of everything is rising. Food shortages, and rising prices began with and are continuing to be affected by Covid. But now, adding gas prices into the mix, I look at my grocery list and wonder if I'm going to have to take out a second mortgage on the house to afford a head of lettuce. With necessities replacing splurges, things like cookie butter may soon be a thing of the past {{gasp}}.

Cookie Butter Pancakes

But what directly affects me more than the rise in gas prices, in all prices, is two things. First, sincere compassion for those who were already living economically marginalized lives who literally may not be able to afford food, and especially healthy foods. It's difficult to think of people trying to get ahead in this country being forced into (or further into) food insecurity. The results this has on the physical, mental, and emotional growth of these children is something that we, as a society, will be left to deal with and are morally obliged to address.

 

And I am infuriated by the blatant, ignorant politicization of the rise in gas prices. The gaslighters are now gaslighting gas. 

 

 

It is an everyday occurrence around here to hear people (wasting gas driving around just to show off their pro-trump and don't-tread-on-me flags, btw) yelling about how Biden raised gas prices. This from people (including in my neighborhood) who had "impeach Biden" signs on their lawn even before his inauguration. This from people who are happy to contribute to the death toll of Americans by refusing to take any covid safety measures. 

 

Running around in an oversized gas guzzler is a priority. The sanctity of life? Not so much.

 

Look, there are a lot of reasons why gas prices are high, and Biden has little to do with it. Covid is a factor (trump made it worse, Biden is fighting to mitigate it). Bankruptcies 15 years ago (way before Biden) which, to a great extent, turned the lending community off of investment in oil had an impact. And the Russian aggression against Ukraine (I don't believe Putin consulted Biden) is in the immediate mix. The ban on the import of Russian oil to the US, part of a humanitarian strategy meant to squeeze a blood-thirsty dictator, was, in fact, implemented by Biden. We are not dependent on Russian oil, but are impacted nonetheless due to the fact that oil trade is global.

 

Life is more difficult now for all of us, and gas prices are only a part of it. People who are callously indifferent to, and are directly accountable for, the continued danger and even death of Americans are far more responsible than Biden. And their gaslighting is now, and will remain, a detriment to prices, to society, to our way of life, to humanity.

 

Pass the blood pressure cuff . . . 

 

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:

The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver 

Climaxed

Part-time Working Hockey Mom 

What TF Sarah

 

Cookie Butter Pancakes

                                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1/3 cup cookie butter

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 TBSP brown sugar

4 - 5 TBSP butter for pan frying, divided

Directions:
*Whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and cookie butter. It won't be completely smooth, just well incorporated. Set aside.

*In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and brown sugar.

*Add the buttermilk mixture to the large bowl and mix, just until incorporated.

*For each pancake, heat about 1/2 TBSP butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Scoop just under 1/3 cup of pancake batter into the pan and form about a 5 inch circle.

*When the edges get brown and crispy, flip the pancake over and cook the other side. Reduce heat to just below medium and cook the other side until browned.

*Repeat until all the batter has been used. Makes 8 - 10 pancakes.

Gotta Have Pancakes: 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 told a few stories in last month's Fly on the Wall about me becoming a bit forgetful. It's not all the time, but it's here and there and I do get frustrated by it.

 

I had read something recently that said that if you brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand, it helps support connections in your brain. OK, maybe true, maybe not, but what have I got to lose?

 

So, I started brushing my teeth with my left hand. And, ah, the power of suggestion, but I could feel myself getting brighter, more alert.

 

One morning I was in a rush and just brushed my teeth with my dominant hand. Later that day:

Hubs: Did you go out into the garage?
Me: Yes, why?

Hubs: You forgot to turn the light off out there.

Me: That's because I didn't brush my teeth with my left hand.

Hubs: {{blink, blink}}.

 

I did eventually explain to Hubs that I had read that brushing my teeth with my left hand was supposed to help my memory. I don't think he quite got the point.

A few days later:

Me: Did you forget to stop and get the mail on the way home?
Hubs: I did. So, I guess that brain theory doesn't work, I've been brushing my teeth with my left hand.

Me: But you're left-handed.

 

I was standing at the kitchen slider watching the leaves dropping from the trees along the wood line behind my house when I started singing. I didn't realize that College Boy was in the house.

Me (singing Moondance): "And all the leaves on the trees are falling, to the sound of the breezes that blow."

College Boy: You know why so many of them are falling like that right?
Me: The breezes?
College Boy: No, they're trying to escape your singing.

Now that's just mean. Possibly true, but definitely mean.

 

College Boy had come in through the garage, put his shoes in his locker in the laundry room and was headed upstairs when I thought I caught a glimpse of something.

Me: Let me see the bottom of your foot. Are you wearing socks with holes in them?

College Boy (holding up his foot, with no shame, btw): Yeah.

 

 

Me: That's more hole than sock. Throw that out.

College Boy: Want to see the other sock? It doesn't have one single hole.

Me: Well, that's good.

College Boy (holding up the other foot): It has two!

As a mother I need to ask, why do we even bother trying?

College Boy (calling down from upstairs): Are you making pancakes?

Me: No. 

College Boy: What do I smell?
Me: I'm baking a cake.

College Boy: Why do I smell pancakes?

Me: I don't know, all I'm baking right now is a cake.

College Boy: Is it pancake flavored?
Me: No.

College Boy: Well, now I want pancakes.

Me: I've got cake . . .

But damn that power of suggestion. Now I, too, just had to have pancakes.

Pecan Oatmeal Pancakes

I wrote a few weeks ago about PurDude surprising me on my birthday. While he was here, I guess I inadvertently chipped away at his view of his mom. I was sitting in the den when a friend sent in some word prompts for the Use Your Words challenge I run. 

 

Me (to myself): Hmmm.

PurDude: What?
Me: Oh, I was looking at the words a friend sent me and I've never heard this one before.

PurDude: What do you mean?
Me: I have to Google this word, I don't know it.

PurDude: But you know all the words.

Me: What?

PurDude: You know all the words.

Me: I don't know this one.

PurDude: What else have I believed that's actually untrue?
Me: Huh?

PurDude: That's great, now I'm going to have to reevaluate my entire childhood.

 

The time came, all to fast, when he had to make the drive back to Boulder. We had a conversation that's become pretty standard for us.

 

PurDude: I'm going to go back home tomorrow.

Me: No.

PurDude: Yeah, I have to.

Me: No.

PurDude: You knew I wasn't staying forever, right?
Me: No.

PurDude: I have my weekly food service package coming Sunday morning and I have to work on Monday.

Me: No.

PurDude: Based on this conversation, I think I need to apologize for every conversation we had when I was a toddler.

 

College Boy was in the kitchen early, and loudly banging around getting out a bowl, spoon, and glass for his breakfast.

Me: You're making an awful lot of noise.

College Boy: I'm just getting my breakfast.

Me: Stop being obstreperous.

College Boy: What's that?
Me: Google it, I had to. And I ended up ruining your brother's whole childhood.

College Boy: Ruined his childhood?

Me: Yeah, he thought I was perfect, now he knows I'm not.

College Boy: Well you won't ruin my childhood, I already know you're not perfect.

Me: Thanks. Or not.

 

 

I was working on a recipe for my Triple Chocolate Dome Cake and wasn't sure what size the bowl was that I planned to use. I Googled "pyrex bowl sizes," knowing I could figure it out from there. The first thing that came up was "bong joint sizes."

Me: Hmm, that's weird.

College Boy: What?
Me: I was googling bowl sizes and the first thing that came up was something about there being 3 bong joint sizes. I thought you either smoked a bong or a joint, but I've never heard of a bong joint.

College Boy: There are bongs that can accommodate joints.

Me: Well, I guess I learned something new today.

College Boy: There are actually joint menorahs, you light all the joint candles at once.

Me: OK. More information that I needed. But I guess I'm now well prepared if the subject ever comes up on Jeopardy.

College Boy went to college nearby, just an hour away. In his locker in the laundry room I'd keep a bag and fill it with supplies for him that he'd take back to school after a visit.

 

PurDude, as you know, went to school 9 hours away. He couldn't stop by for visits, we'd have to fly him home. I'd always tell him not to pack toiletries, I'd have them here for him and he could take them back with him. I'm not sure why I felt bad about not supplementing his basics on a more regular basis since his budget while away was that I had access to his bank account and whenever it started to get depleted, I transferred money in and built it back up.

 

He's been out of college for years, but after that first year he moved 8 hours away in the other direction. Whenever he comes home I tell him the same thing, don't bring toiletries, I'll have a fresh supply here and he can take them with him.

 

While PurDude was home for my birthday, I gathered up supplies for him, but 10 days later when he was packing to leave, I notice he'd not packed the deodorant.  

Me: Don't forget to take the deodorant.

PurDude: I don't need it.

Me: Just put it in your cabinet at home and you'll have an extra there.

PurDude: Not necessary.

Me: Why not?

PurDude: I'm still working on the supply of deodorant from you during my college days!

 

 

 

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

Menopausal Mother 

Wandering Web Designer 

 

Pecan Oatmeal Pancakes

                                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes 6 - 8 pancakes):

2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup quick oats

2 TBSP brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup chopped pecans

5.3 oz container of Greek yogurt, plain or the flavor of your choice, I used toasted coconut flavor 

1/3 cup milk

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 egg

6 TBSP butter, divided

 

Directions:
*Melt 2 TBSP butter and set aside.

*Place the quick oats in a food processor and process until fine.

*Whisk together the flour, crushed oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pecans in a large bowl.

*Add the melted butter to the dry ingredients, along with the yogurt, milk, almond extract, and egg. Mix just until incorporated, do not over mix.

*Heat 1/2 TBSP butter in a saute pan over medium heat. When hot, add a little less than 1/4 cup pancake batter and spread from the center to a circle about 4 inches in diameter.

*Once the batter starts to bubble, flip the pancake over and lower the temperature a little. Cook until browned, about 2 minutes. Remove from pan, keep warm, and repeat with the remaining butter and batter.