Solitary Games and Community Benefits: 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 37. It was chosen by Me!

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'm talking about Solitary Games and Community Benefits. 

~ I play word and number games. You know this if you're a frequent visitor to this blog. And my Baking In A Tornado Facebook page. I even share one I've made up myself. They serve multiple purposes.

~ They exercise the brain, especially {{ahem}} as you age. There is the satisfaction of completing a challenge, and the temporary mental respite from politics, daily mass shootings. They can also provide insight into how we approach life.

~ Strategy matters, developed over time, based on experience, specific to the game. And discipline to stick to it, when lulled into looking for an easier way when, in fact the whole picture is not yet in view.

~ But rigidity can be your enemy. If the whole picture just isn't coming into focus it's not that sticking to a strategy is always right, but acquiring the understanding of when to abandon it can be key.

~ You knew I was going to work recipes in here somewhere, right? Rigidity is required when baking. Don't follow the rules, your cake won't rise. But cooking? Go ahead and change ingredients, cooking methods, as you go.

Turkey Tenderloin Bake

~ It's exciting, especially in a math game, to uncover all the pieces. Don't be deceived, having all of the information can be limiting. These are the pieces, you can add nothing else, to make it work. 

~ Conversely (hello, parenting), getting none, or very few of the pieces can initially be discouraging. But if you look closely, not just at what you have, but what you've eliminated, there's actually a wealth of information there.

~ I share game results twice a day on my Facebook page, morning games and evening games. Other players add the results of whatever games they play to the thread, and suddenly solitary games are a shared experience.

~ The last thing I want to mention is the most important. Build (or join) communities, share strategies, applaud successes, commiserate with failures. Build others up, look to them for support. No, I'm not talking games any more. 

Here are links to the other Word Counters posts:

On the Border 

Messymimi’s Meanderings 

Turkey Tenderloin Bake       

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

about 1 1/2# turkey breast tenderloin

salt and pepper

1 bag (20 oz) frozen mixed stir fry vegetables, partially thawed

1/3 cup ranch salad dressing

1/3 cup sweet chili sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ginger paste

Directions:

*Grease a 9 X 13 baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*Slice the turkey into 1 inch slices. Season both sides with salt and pepper, and arrange in the center of the pan, leaving a border all around for the vegetables.

*Arrange the vegetables all around the turkey. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and pepper.

*Whisk together the ranch dressing, sweet chili sauce, garlic, and ginger. Set aside 1/3 cup of this sauce. Pour the remaining sauce over the turkey.

*Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Turkey must be completely cooked.

*Heat the reserved 1/3 cup of the sauce in a sauce pan or the microwave until hot (do not boil), pour over or serve beside the turkey.

 

MIschief: 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:  gold ~ kids ~ cool ~ mischief ~ challenge ~ friends
They were submitted by Jenniy of Climaxed.

                          
It's holiday time. You may be aware. It's a hectic, busy time, filled with more challenges than usual in this second year of covid precautions. So I've decided to make this a quick post. I'm using my words to share some well known quotes, sayings, and cliches and . . . well . . . critiquing them. 'Cause despite this being a short post, if there's one thing I'm never short on, it's opinions.

 

Some of these assigned words, although at first glance they may not seem it, can easily be intertwined. Like challenge, mischief, and cool. I can relate them all to kids.

 

A popular quote (in one incarnation or another) is an inspirational version of "every challenge you face today makes you stronger tomorrow" (Roy T. Bennett). You know, the fairly new "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" version of the old "rise to the challenge." But I've actually learned (through the years of cars lit on fire and broken legs) that sometimes it's best to just stay in bed and pull the covers over your head. Yes, there may be value in being stronger tomorrow, but there's also value, maybe even more value, in just making it to tomorrow.

 

Because Henry Fielding nailed it when he said "when children are doing nothing, they are doing mischief." Let me just add that when children are doing something, it's often mischief too. And sometimes it's mighty hard to keep your cool. But whatever you do, don't recommend it. Because I'm here to tell you that when you're angry, there's nothing that can make you lose your sh!t faster than someone telling you to keep your cool. 

I think Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best: "a child is a curly dimpled lunatic." Amen, Ralphy. Amen.

 

But I can't have a prompt like the word challenge and not give a quick nod to challenges. Not just because I developed and run blogging challenges, but because, as Adam Richman says "a good spicy challenge creates balance between flavor and fear." I can totally relate.

 

 

Spicy Turkey Meatballs

 
 

When it comes to gold, the phrase that first pops into my mind is "good as gold." Although I can see the value (get it . . . gold . . . value?) in that statement, I'd like to say, for the record, that I have a much better version. Good as cupcakes. Now that's a cool (see what I did there?) quote.

And finally, friends. Here are my thoughts when it comes to friends:

A boy's best friend may be his mother (Norman Bates), a dog may be man's best friend, and diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but me? I'm a little different. You see:

A friend of the devil is a friend of mine (Grateful Dead).

Why?

'Cause I've got friends in low places (Garth Brooks).

I kids you not.

 

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

On the Border 

Wandering Web Designer 

Climaxed 

What TF Sarah

Part-time Working Hockey Mom 

Spicy Turkey Meatballs

                                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup jalapeno potato chips

1# lean ground turkey

1 egg

1 green onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped red pepper

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

 

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking pan.

*Place the potato chips in a food processor and crush to crumbs.

*Gently mix together the crushed chips, ground turkey, egg, green onion, red pepper, parmesan, garlic powder, and pepper. Form into 16 equal sized balls and place into the prepared pan.

*Bake for 45 minutes. The turkey must be completely cooked through.

I Can See Clearly Now

 

 

 I can see clearly now the screen is gone.

 

Are you singing while reading it like I'm singing while writing it? 

 

Screens.

There are pros, but there are also cons. They work as a filter, but they do it, of course, without bias. They can be efficient in blocking out what we don't want. We can get used to that, which can be a detriment, even in some instances dangerous, because we often give no thought to the fact that they also filter out what we might want, what we don't even realize that we need, to see.

 

I love having the window over my kitchen sink open off and on over 3 seasons: to feel the warmth of the air in the summer, the light breezes in the spring, the change in temperature through the day in the fall. But I hate having beetles, flies, spiders, and bees as house guests. Especially in my kitchen. The screen in that window has allowed me that balance. 

A balance I'd gotten so used to, I'd never questioned it.

 

 

But I also love my view of the woods, the lush green leaves in the summer, the fresh white snow on the brown arms of those same trees in the winter. The screen dulls that view, pixelates it, hiding its true identity and its full impact.

 

Last month Hubs took that screen down. I'm not saying it hasn't been taken down before, rinsed on the lawn with the hose and replaced, because it has. I'm not really sure whether I've been in other rooms when it's been cleaned, just not looked, or that it hasn't been done on such a beautiful fall day before, but on this day I noticed.

Noticed the sun streaming into my kitchen onto the counter, the unobstructed view of the woods, the peaceful tableau: my outdoor table, the deck railing, the wood line above. Even where the stain Hubs and I had meticulously painted onto the deck over a grueling 3 day period was peeling away. The good and the bad, I saw it all. Clearly.

 

 

Once I saw, unobstructed, all I'd been missing, I knew immediately that I wanted this view. 

 

I now feel a connection to the outdoors when I do the dishes, can feel the sun streaming in as I create in this kitchen.

 

And yes, the darkness as a storm comes through is more menacing, flashes of lightning more ominous. That power too is no longer pixelated, its true identity on full and unadulterated display. 

Apple Butter Turkey Grilled Cheese

 

 

You can make correlations between the clarity achieved when filters are removed from a window, and our recent (for me, anyway) unobstructed view of our politicians, the state of our country, and our future. You and I both know that I'm fully cognizant those parallels. But I will also say this, no matter the weather outside the window, or the future of our democracy, I prefer the clear view. 

 

Only in clarity can we properly assess, prepare, strategize, and even realistically maintain a level of hope: 

 

It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright, bright sunshiny day.

Apple Butter Turkey Grilled Cheese        

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (per sandwich): 

2 slices bread

2 TBSP apple butter

1 slice provolone cheese

1 slice pepper jack cheese

4 slices deli turkey 

1/2 TBSP butter

Directions:

*Spread 1 TBSP apple butter on one slice of bread. Top with a slice of provolone cheese, the turkey, then the pepper jack cheese. 

*Spread the other 1 TBSP apple butter onto the other slice of bread and place, apple butter side down, onto the pepper jack cheese to form a sandwich.

*Heat the butter over medium heat in a small skillet. Once hot, add the sandwich. Cook, pressing down lightly now and then, until the bottom has completely browned.

*Lower the temperature a notch, flip the sandwich over and cook, pressing down lightly now and then, until the other side has browned. Serve warm.

It's Getting There: Vacation Poetry

 

  Join Poetry Monday here and there,

if my publishing schedule has room (that's rare).

Sometimes the topic's so compelling,

evokes a story that just needs telling.

 

Craziest Vacation Memory is the chosen theme,

we've all had situations that could just make you scream. 

Grateful to tell the story, of that there's no doubt.

Since Diane (and friends) have, well, yet to kick me out.

It's Getting There

Vacations are on hold these days,

In the past I've had quite a few.

Always with a traveling pal, 

local, long distance, international too.

 

Too many states to mention, 

and countries, way more than one.

Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea for work,

Israel , England, and Mexico for fun.

 

Islands are best for vacations, 

love sitting in the sun.

Nantucket, Margarita, St. Lucia,

Hawaii (two islands, not one).

My vacations tend not to be crazy.

though parasailing was risky for sure.

mountain roads in St. Lucia, hair raising.

(next time we'd be smart, do a tour). 

Craziest part of vacations?

The travel, just let me tell you.

When you're at the mercy of airlines.

Can't quite get there when you are due.

It was just after Thanksgiving.

Stuffed with turkey and leftovers too.

Sis and I scheduled a vacation.

St. Croix beaches, we're coming to you.

 

 

 

Holiday Flavors Turkey Meatloaf

 

Off we went that day to the airport,

over packed as we both always do. 

One week away yet we both had,

not one overstuffed bag but two.

First they called for volunteer passengers,

willing to take the next flight.

Sis and I, we weren't born yesterday.

For our seats we'd damn near fight.

 

The plane was a "puddle jumper"

to the island, it fit very few.

Seats weren't the only issue, though,

cargo weight was limited too.

 

Stood our ground and we were boarded,

despite the airline's bribes and pleas,

Taxiing, knew we'd made it, 

could almost feel that tropical breeze.

 

Liftoff had us smiling,

then my sister's eyes got wide.

Laughing, pointed out the window.

At my luggage, sitting outside.

 

It's true, I could have cried right then,

it's possible I may have swore.

With tears looked out the window.

You know, just to be sure.

"Don't laugh sis, you're about to,

feel just as sad and blue.

Seems my bags are in good company.

Right behind them . . . there's yours too!" 

 

Wait!

Read more poetry, 

you're not through.

Some talented writers

are in this crew:

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings 

Mother Owl 

Holiday Flavors Turkey Meatloaf     

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 green onion, chopped

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 TBSP butter or butter substitute, melted

salt and pepper to taste

paprika

1 cup cornbread stuffing mix

2 1/2# lean ground turkey

1 cup turkey gravy, divided

2 eggs

1 green onion, chopped

1/3 cup red pepper, chopped

1/3 cup cranraisins, coarsely chopped

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

*Make mashed potatoes and mix in the minced garlic, 1 chopped green onion, parmesan, melted butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

*Cover a 9 X 13 baking pan in tin foil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

*In a large bowl, place the stuffing mix, turkey, 1/4 cup of the gravy, eggs, the remaining green onion, red pepper, cranraisins, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Mix just until incorporated, don't over mix.

*Form the turkey meatloaf into a brick shape (approximately 9 inches long, 5 inches wide and 2 inches high) and place into the prepared pan leaving about 3 inches around all of the sides. Bake for 45 minutes.

*After 45 minutes, take the meatloaf out of the oven but leave the oven on. Spread the mashed potatoes onto the top and around the sides of the meatloaf. Sprinkle with paprika.

*Return to the oven for 20 minutes. Take out and check to be sure the meat is completely cooked through. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with the remaining gravy (heated).

End of the Line(age): 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: solidify ~ bridge ~ shadows ~ broom ~ coveted ~makeshift
They were submitted by Jenniy of Climaxed.
                          
When I first saw these words, and every time for a few days since, all I could think of was Hansel and Gretel. Yeah, I don't know why either, let me just say that what goes on in my head can often be inexplicable interesting.

But once you have an association in your head, whether it's logical or not, it pretty much takes up permanent residence, especially when you tell it not to. So every time I went to try to write this post, Hansel and Gretel paid me a visit. And telling myself I was going to look at those words and NOT think "Hansel and Gretel" just made those two kids dig in their heels and settle down for the duration. {{sigh}} 

Defeat not being an option, and pilfering the story of Hansel and Gretel not being an option either, I've come up with a little piece of fiction for you today. A compromise of sorts between and my brain.

The players may change . . .

They had a lot to talk about as they sat on their back patio. They had left their grandmother at the family real estate office and come right home. Not a word was said between them on the ride home. Shock can do that to you.

The grill was going and they each had a beer. It was unlike her to drink beer, afraid it would fatten her up, but when he handed it to her, his sister took it. He could have handed her a snake, he thought to himself, and she would have taken it. She was deep in thought, trying to process the story their sweet grandmother had told them about their names, their lineage, and their ties to that other family. More than that though, his sister was, just as he was, fighting to come to grips with what Gram had asked them to do. Murder.

He flipped the Sweet Chili Turkey Burgers that would be their dinner and looked around. This house, their family home, sat on a beautiful, lush piece of land. Not where either of them expected to be living when in their thirties, but his sister had never married, and he needed a peaceful place to recover from his recent divorce. The quaint wooden bridge over the slow-moving brook was the of epitome serenity. And although not in the woods exactly, he loved being surrounded by mature trees, which also provided the seclusion that allowed them to begin their conversation there in the open. Considering the significance of the task, it would have been shocking to anyone else just how effortlessly they accepted their familial responsibility, their Gram's bidding. Through the evening, still sitting in that same spot, their strategy began to solidify.

Sweet Chili Turkey Burgers

. . . but the game remains the same. 

Gram said that she recognized the woman immediately, when she walked into their family real estate office. Not a coincidence at all, they were the only realtors in this small village. She was looking for a house, Gram later told them, and that meant it was going to start again. Something they could not allow. 

The family home, Gram explained, met enough of the criteria of the woman's coveted house be an enticement. Quaint, secluded, with a state-of-the-art kitchen and lots of storage, those were the parameters. Of course they were.

Grandmother and grandchildren spoke of it just once again, to agree on a course of action. A "for sale" sign would go in the yard of the family home. Gram would show the woman pictures of the house and the property, but she would not be there for the showing, her grandchildren insisted on it. They all had their roles. Gram would entice her, the grandson would get her in, and the granddaughter would be the closer.

"There it is," the woman in question thought on the day of her appointment, eyeing the Victorian cottage with the gingerbread trim in front of her. This may not be exactly what she had been seeking but, though explicitly described in family lore, her great, great, great, great grandmother's house was long gone. Until she could make some adjustments, embellish the outside to sweeten the look, this could easily be her makeshift home. 

Just as this was not exactly her ancestors' home, she wasn't exactly the witch her predecessors had been either, no broom for her, but the blood ran through her veins, the hunger inherited, the practices carefully passed on through the generations, albeit in the shadows. 

When the bell rang, brother and sister looked at each other with resolve. This was it.

He kept up a narrative as they toured the house together, deliberately saving the kitchen for last.

"I think this is just what you were looking for," he said as the woman's eyes lit up. "It's a chef's kitchen, pot filler over the stove, and just look at the size of this oven," he smiled as he opened the door, "so big you could fit inside," he encouraged, as she bent to get a good look.

His job was to get her in, which he accomplished by giving that witch an aggressive push. And, as Hansel turned on the heat, Gretel did her part. She closed it.

And if this witch was the last in her line(age)? 

Game over.

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

Wandering Web Designer
On the Border
The Crazy Mama Llama
Climaxed  
Part-time Working Hockey Mom 

Sweet Chili Turkey Burgers

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/4# lean ground turkey (I use 97% lean)
2/3 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 green onion, chopped
2 TBSP yellow pepper, chopped 
5 slices smoked provolone cheese
5 toasted rolls or English muffins
OPT: mayonnaise or mustard, lettuce and/or tomato

Directions:
*In a large bowl, mix together the turkey, bread crumbs, egg, sweet chili sauce, salt, pepper, green onion and yellow pepper. Form into 5 burgers, wrap individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
*Preheat grill to medium heat. Place the burgers on the grill, close the lid and allow to cook for 14 - 18 minutes, carefully turning halfway through. 
*NOTE: turkey must be cooked completely. Internal temperature must be 165 degrees and juices should run clear. My burgers were about an inch thick, I kept the heat on the grill at a pretty even 400 degrees and they took 9 minutes per side.
*Once the burgers are cooked, place a slice of cheese on each, shut off the grill, close the lid again and leave on the grill for one minute.
*Place each burger in a toasted bun with your choice of condiments. 
*OPT: These can be cooked indoors in a hot pan with a little olive oil.