Stuck with Luck

It's that time of the month again. Well, that might not have come out quite like I'd hoped. 

I meant to say welcome to my monthly poetry post. Still cringing? Me too. But here's the thing, I've been writing this blog for years now, we're friends, we're in this thing for the long haul, you and I, so ungrit your teeth, unclench your jaw, let your shoulders down from ear level and lets get this over with to it, shall we?

The theme for this month is Luck. Unfortunate theme, I'm afraid, considering the way mine's been going. Kinda like this:

Luck, you need to change.

Though you've got a wide range,

lately you've just been strange.

What's next? I come down with mange?

Brand new luggage is broken.

New cell phone is soakin'. 

The dishwasher's smokin'.

Swear words have been spoken.

Leprechaun, pour me a stout,

seems your good luck I doubt.

I've had a permanent pout,

recipes take 3 tries to come out.

Pistachio Soda Bread

Now I'm knocking on wood,
searching clover in my hood,
crossing fingers like I should,
under no ladders I've stood.

I can wish on a star,
hang horseshoes in my car,
follow rainbows afar,
put found pennies in a jar.


Yet . . .

With the bad I've been stuck.
Get me out of this muck.
I don't want to say f*ck.
But, luck, right now . . . 
                              . . . you suck. 

Before you go, click on these links to more real poetry by some of my friends:

Candice of Measurements of Merriment shares Lucky Poems.

Jules of The Bergham Chronicles shares Lucky Duck. 

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares Luck, Schmuck, who gives a . . . Duck?.

Robin of Someone Else's Genius shares Schlimazel.

P.S. I'm on the Huffington Post again this week with Pi Day Pie. Eleven recipe options including chocolate, fruit, and no-bake for your Pi Day (3/14) celebration. Stop by, leave me a comment and tell me which one(s) you'll be trying.

Pistachio Soda Bread

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients (makes one medium sized loaf):
2 cups flour (plus more to flour counter)
3 TBSP sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 oz unsalted pistachios, shelled
4 TBSP butter, separated
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
*Place the shelled pistachios in a food processor and pulse a few times. You want chunks, not crumbs.
*Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray. Flour a section of your counter. Melt 3 TBSP of the butter.
*Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and pistachios. Stir in the melted butter and buttermilk just until the dough comes together.
*Turn the dough onto the floured area of your counter, flour your hands and knead just 5 or 6 times. Form a circle and place onto the prepared baking sheet. With a knife, carve an "X" into the top of the loaf and allow to rest for 30 minutes. 
*While the bread rests, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and melt the other 1 TBSP butter.
*Brush the melted butter onto the loaf, place in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until brown.

Blog With Friends: Cheese Steak and Potato Pie

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends theme collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about this partnership is that it’s not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may have a recipe, sewing tutorial, crafts projects, book review and/or a technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Luck. There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here’s a peek at what we all came up with:

For my project I made a Cheese Steak and Potato Pie.

Cheese Steak and Potato Pie 

How did I get from the theme of Luck to a Cheese Steak and Potato dinner pie? Well, there are two tie-ins. First, follow me now, since it's March and the theme is luck, my mind went straight to St. Patrick's Day. When I googled foods of the holiday, mostly what came up was Corned Beef and Cabbage (I still need to post my recipe for that) and lots of beef and potato dishes, including Beef Stew served over mashed potatoes. I've already posted my recipe for Rosemary Beef Stew so that was out, and I really wanted to come up with a unique idea of my own. That's when I came up with the idea of a version of Philly Cheese Steak, casserole style, with potatoes.

There you have it, how I got from Luck to Cheese Steak and Potato Pie. And here's how I decided to make it. I started by making a hash brown crust:

 I cooked thinly sliced steak, mushrooms, peppers and onions, and mixed in a few more ingredients.

 Cheese on the bottom and cheese on the top. Sprinkle with canned french friend onions and bake.

The other tie-in to the "luck" theme? Everyone loved it. I mean, I thought for sure there would be leftovers but they ate every single bite. For a first time try at a new recipe idea, that, my friends, is luck!

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:


Robin of Someone Else's Genius shares a DIY, her Lucky Shamrock Wreath.

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares Lucky 3 Guinness Cheese Spread, who wouldn't feel lucky to enjoy this triple cheesy Guinness spread as a snack or condiment for a super burger?

 
Shannon of My Brain on Kids shares a Review of a novel, Lucky Us by Amy Bloom.

Melissa of Home on Deranged shares Seven Tips to Make Your Own Luck in Life. 

Rabia of The Lieber Family Blog shares how to make your own Lucky T-Shirts.

 Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Four Fun (easy and inexpensive) St. Patrick's Day Crafts.

P.S. I'm on the Huffington Post again this week with Pi Day Pie. Eleven recipe options including chocolate, fruit, and no-bake for your Pi Day (3/14) celebration. Stop by, leave me a comment and tell me which one(s) you'll be trying.

Cheese Steak and Potato Pie

                                            ©www.BakingInATornado.com  

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 bag (20 oz) shredded potatoes 
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 green pepper, sliced
1/4# mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1# thinly sliced beef
1 tsp season salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup French onion dip
8 - 10 slice provolone
1/2 cup French fried onions

1/4 cup shredded lettuce
1 Roma tomato, chopped


Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10 inch pie plate or a quiche dish with non-stick spray.
*Mix together shredded potatoes, egg, salt and pepper. Press into and up the sides of the prepared baking dish to form a crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven but leave the oven on.
*While the crust is cooking, grease a skillet with non-stick spray. Add the green pepper, onion and mushrooms, cook and stir until soft. Place in a bowl.
*Add the beef, season salt, garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce to the same skillet. Stir until the beef is cooked. Drain and add to the cooked veggies. Mix in the French onion dip.
*Place 4 - 5 slices of the cheese onto the potato crust, spread the beef mixture over the cheese. Top with the rest of the cheese slices, then crush the French fried onions onto the cheese. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until hot.
*To serve, top with lettuce and tomato.

Secret Subject Swap: Straws and Balls and Weenies

Welcome to the March Secret Subject Swap. This month 14 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: Think of eleven uses for a drinking straw - except drinking!
It was submitted by: Shannon of My Brain on Kids.

Now I love you Shannon, after all these years I think you know I do. And you also know I think you're one of the funniest writers in the blogosphere. I don't pretend to understand how your brain works, if I did I'd probably steal your thoughts and be better at it myself (did I really put that in writing?) but really? Eleven? What kind of a number is eleven? You really couldn't have a little sympathy and let me stop at ten?

And uses for a drinking straw? Who do you think I am? McGyver? Yeah, I've heard of McGyver. From my grandma . . .

OK, this is supposed to be a challenge and a challenge it is. So I'm going to come up with eleven uses for drinking straws if it kills me.

Well:

1) You could use them to poke your balls and weenies. You know, in case you're out of toothpicks.

 

Fruited BBQ Meatballs, Crockpot or Stove Top

2) We've all had them. Blogging emergencies. Inspiration hits, laptop is sitting there and open, but your nails are wet. Good thing you've got your trusty friend Mr. Straw.

3) Laundry is never fun. But admit it, there are certain items we sometimes don't even want to touch. Like the underwear that's been sitting under your kid's bed for who knows how long.

4) Don't cry over spilled milk. Quick, grab those straws and contain it.

5) Emergency. You're all out of chopsticks!

6) Men: having a hard time keeping that lovely {{gag}} man-bun in place? Straw to the rescue.

7) Women: want to gouge your eyes out after seeing yet another man bun? Straw to the rescue.

What? you thought I was going to show you a picture of that?

8) You could . . . no . . . that one might be illegal.

9) "Touch your candy? No, I did not lay a single finger on your candy. And honestly, I'm offended that you'd accuse me."

10) Sitting on the couch feeling guilty for skipping the gym this morning? No problem, you can make your own barbells.

11) And finally, since it's an election year, it doesn't make sense to leave out . . .

 . . . the straw pole. Get it? No? Well blame Shannon. Told you she should have put me out of my misery at ten.

Now that, my friends, was a challenge. What would you have come up with?

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 Bergham Chronicles 

The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver 

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

 Southern Belle Charm
Not That Sarah Michelle
My Brain on Kids 
The Lieber Family Blog 
Never Ever Give Up Hope 
Someone Else's Genius 
Confessions of a part time working mom 
Spatulas on Parade 
The Angrivated Mom 
Climaxed 

Fruited BBQ Meatballs, Crockpot or Stove Top

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe 

NOTE: This recipe can be served as an appetizer or as a main course.
 
Ingredients (makes about 40):
1 1/2 cups apricot jam
1 (18 oz) bottle BBQ sauce
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried apricots
2# lean ground beef
1 egg
3 TBSP dried minced onion
2 TBSP season salt

Directions:
*Chop the dried apricots and cranberries into very small pieces.
*In crockpot on high or in a pot on the stove on medium, mix the apricot jam and the BBQ sauce and allow the jam to melt into the sauce. Stir now and then.
*In a bowl, mix the ground beef, egg, minced onion, season salt and chopped fruits. It's best to mix with your hands and don't over mix.
*Form the meat mixture into approximately 1 inch balls. Gently drop the meatballs into the sauce. Reduce heat to low for crockpot or medium low for a pot on the stove.
*STOVE: allow meatballs to simmer in the sauce for 1/3 hour, then gently move the meatballs in the bottom of the pot to the top and those that were on the top to the bottom. Simmer another 1/2 hour or until all the meatballs are fully cooked.
*CROCKPOT: allow the meatballs to simmer for 2 hours, gently move them around in the crockpot so those on the bottom move to the top. Simmer 2 more hours, m,ove the meatballs around again, then simmer up to 2 more hours or until the meatballs are fully cooked.