Cheese Money and an Old Lady Purse: Use Your Words

 

Today’s post is a monthly writing challenge. If you’re new here, this is how it works: my friend Diane and I picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases to submit to each other to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once. Both posts will be unique as we each have our own set of words we're working with.

At the end of this post, you'll find the link to Diane's post, be sure to check it out, see what words I sent her and how she used them.

I'm using:  ambitious ~ ambiguous ~ anatomy ~ arc ~ anything

                          
I had a dream recently. I don't know if I don't have them often, or I just don't remember them. I haven't woken up aware of one for a very long time. This time I did, and what I could recall, was odd. To say the least. 

I've been thinking about it for a few days, trying to make sense of it. I'm not sure why it bothered me, it was a dream after all.

And yet, I really wanted to make sense of it.

I had absolutely no intention of writing about it today, but I saw these words Diane sent me and "ambiguous," "anatomy," "arc," they all brought back the dream.

I know it's ambitious, to try to analyze a dream to begin with, but especially since they are so ambiguous. Not only do we wake up without the puzzle put together, we don't even have all of the pieces.

Here's what I remember, not just what I saw in my mind's eye but what I was thinking, and my impressions, once awake, of what I hadn't been (but maybe should have) been thinking.

I had climbed up a rounded flight of stairs in a very old building. The floor below, I knew, was bustling with activity, an indoor space like at Faneuil Hall in Boston, artisan shops, florists, prepared foods, and a farmer's market.

I get the sense that I was in my late 30s, but I was dressed like an old lady. I wore a dress, belted at the waste, nylons, and sensible shoes. I was holding what I can only describe as an old lady purse. You know, black, wider in the bottom, tapering off to a smaller flat top with handles on either side. The purse was being held by the short handles, no over the shoulder option. It was flat, as though there wasn't anything in it, yet I knew I had, at least my wallet and money.

At the top of the stairs was a long thin hallway, shaped in an arc, with doors along the left side only. The hallway was just shaped like a half circle, but it arced up as well, each door higher than the last. All the way up to the middle, where the hall declined to another set of stairs, even with the ones I had climbed, going back down.

I got the sense that each door was an apartment, and I was to visit each one before heading back down the other staircase. 

On the first door, there was a picture, it looked like it was cut out of a magazine, of an arm. I wasn't curious, didn't knock, and walked right in the door to a bedroom. I chatted for a short time with the person on the bed and moved on. I was entering the third room when I became aware of a few things: all rooms were the same, inhabited by a different person, dressed, appearing healthy, unconcerned that I walked right in and willing to chat, and they all had a picture of a different part of the anatomy on the door. The pictures seemed to correlate to nothing, and were not discussed in our short superficial chats.

I walked down the second set of stairs, intending to purchase broccoli and onions for my dinner casserole at the farmer's market on the first floor.

Hash Brown Dinner Casserole

When paying, I realized I didn't have my purse. I looked over to the little wooden table where I'd sat before going upstairs. The purse wasn't there, but 3 snack size string cheese logs that I had apparently left on the table were there. I went over and grabbed the cheese, which was luckily exactly the amount I needed to pay for my groceries. I hooked the plastic bag over my wrist and started walking away from the cashier.

And woke up.

So . . . help me out here, what is my subconscious mind trying to tell me?

A) Instead of reading mysteries, I should write one: The Case of the Missing Old Lady Purse.

B) Don't spend too long in rooms with strangers unless you really want to know about that whole body parts thing.

C) I need to be buying my groceries with string cheese more often.

D) Sleep at your own risk.

E) All of the above.

Or maybe you have your own interpretation you'd like to share?

Here's the link to Diane's Use Your Words post:

On the Border

Hash Brown Dinner Casserole

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups broccoli florets, cut small

2 cups cooked chicken

1 bag (20 oz) potato shreds

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 can (10.5 oz) cream of potato soup

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne

2/3 cup crushed potato chips

3 TBSP butter, melted

1 tsp paprika

Directions:
*Steam the broccoli in the microwave for 1 minute. Chop the chicken.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 X 11 baking dish.

*In a large bowl, mix together the broccoli, chicken, potato shreds, onion, cheese, soup, sour cream, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Pour evenly into the prepared baking dish.

*Sprinkle with the crushed potato chips, drizzle with the melted butter and sprinkle with the paprika.

*Bake for 25 minutes, covered. Uncover and bake for another 20 minutes.

Moonlight Moonshine: 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,

Moonshine's what they chose.

Now it's up to all of us,

to put our thoughts into prose.

 

 

Moonlight Moonshine

They'd been together forever,

she and her handsome young man.

Surely they would marry.

someday . . . when they can.

They talked about it in general,

not seriously, not quite yet,

the economy was difficult,

with money, they'd need to be set. 

But she was getting impatient,

would it ever be the time?
She'd marry him in a minute,

didn't care if they lived on a dime.

One day he broached the subject,

at least that's what she thought.

With his words he had convinced her,

and engagement ring he'd bought.

"I have something to tell you,

a decision that I've made.

It's about our future, and I

hope you won't be afraid."

"I have dinner (and dessert) for us,

then later, by moonlight,

I've someplace special to take you,

been working to make it just right."

 

Butterscotch Biscoff Dessert (no bake)

 

Holding hands, they walked together,

through the woods on that dark night.

Doubt began to niggle at her,

this just didn't seem quite right.

"Close your eyes," he told her,

when a clearing they could see,

She knew that when she opened them,

he'd be down on one knee.

"Look, no more money worries."

Her eyes opened to what . . . a still?

"Moonshine, that's the answer," he said,

" . . . though I wouldn't drink that swill."

Shock doesn't even describe it,

this is definitely no wedding vow.

"Hand me one of those cups," she said.

"I think I need some now."

 

 

 

 

Wait!

Read more poetry, 

you're not through.

Some talented writers

are in this crew:

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings 

Mother Owl 

 

Butterscotch Biscoff Dessert (no bake)         

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe


NOTE: This dessert soft sets, so it works well served scooped out with a spoon as an option to slicing.

Ingredients:
1 box (3.5 oz) butterscotch cook and serve pudding mix

1 1/2 cups milk

5 TBSP cookie butter

2 TBSP butter

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

10 Biscoff cookies

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme

OPT: whipped cream for serving

Directions:
*Whisk together pudding mix and milk in a microwave safe medium sized bowl. Microwave on high for 6 - 8 minutes, whisking every 2 minutes, until it comes to a boil. Set aside for 20 minutes, vigorously whisking every 5 minutes.

*Crush the Biscoff cookies and set aside.

*Lightly grease an 8 X 11 baking dish.

*Melt the butter and cookie butter. Mix with the graham cracker crumbs until it holds together. Press into the bottom of the prepared dish and refrigerate.

*Lightly coat your beaters with non-stick spray. Beat together the softened cream cheese, marshmallow creme, and about 2/3 of the crushed cookies, then beat in the pudding mix. 

*Pour evenly into the crust. Sprinkle the remaining cookie crumbs around the edges of the filling. 

*Cover the pan (not touching the filling) with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before slicing or scooping to serve.

*OPT: serve topped with whipped cream. 

*Store leftovers, covered, in the refrigerator.

No Scream Lemon Blackberry Ice Cream

 

I scream, you scream . . .

Oh hell, it's August, in case you didn't notice, it's too damn hot out to scream. Or do pretty much anything else, and I'm a summer person. But being land locked has taken a whole lot of the fun out of summer. Days at the beach are not an option.

But cold dinners, frozen cocktails, and refreshing desserts, those are all great summer options.

Before I go on, I should tell you that I'm not a use every pan in the kitchen and take all day to cook or bake kind of person. Quick, easy, minimal clean up is usually the way to go.

Maybe I'm traumatized. I had a boy friend, just after college, whose mom was Italian. He didn't cook, but decided one day to make me some of her recipes, a big Italian dinner (yay). I offered to help, but he pushed me out of the kitchen, told me not to come back while he was cooking. He'd cook, if I wanted to help, I could do the dishes. OK.

Or not OK. I didn't see him for the rest of the entire day. And don't get me wrong, dinner was delicious, but the clean up? He used every pan in the kitchen and some I didn't even know I had. There was food dripping from the wall, hanging from the ceiling, covering the floor. 

I think it was about seventeen hours later (I may be exaggerating a tad), when I had my kitchen at least somewhat back to functional.  

Fine, so maybe not traumatized really, more inspired (yeah, let's go with that). 

It was at that time that there was a show on TV called Semi-Homemade Cooking. I loved the concept. I'm neither a foodie nor a snob, if there's an easier, less messy, reduced clean up way to cook, I'm in. It's not always about the process (although I admit that sometimes it is), it's about the taste.

Maybe, like me, you're someone who's taken a cake mix and enhanced it to make it your own, more moist and flavorful. You can substitute butter or milk, or add extra eggs, sour cream, yogurt, pudding, fruits, nuts, baking chips . . .

Anyway, all of this came full circle for me on one recent hot summer day. Everyone wanted ice cream after dinner, but I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. Actually, I couldn't find anything close to what I wanted.

No need to scream. 

I, like so many others, have made a number of flavors of no churn ice cream. When Little Debbie and Hudsonville collaborated to make ice cream but did not initially use my favorite snack as one of their flavors, I did it myself. My Fudge Rounds Ice Cream is still a popular recipe and family favorite.

But on this day, I was hot and tired. I didn't want to do a lot of work, create a lot of clean up, or take a whole lot of time. That's when I realized I could take inspiration from that cake mix. I didn't need to start from scratch. 

I'd enhance.

Lemon Blackberry Ice Cream

 

And that's exactly what I did. I grabbed some vanilla ice cream, that's my cake mix here. Just two other ingredients would make that base ice cream a whole new treat. Fifteen minutes to prepare, one bowl used, an hour in the freezer, and that's it. 

Delicious, if I do say so myself (and I do).

Let them eat cake? Hell, yeah, I'm all for it. But don't forget the Lemon Blackberry Ice Cream.

Lemon Blackberry Ice Cream         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 (48 oz) carton vanilla ice cream

12 lemon cream sandwich cookies

3/4 cup seedless, sugar free, blackberry jam

Directions:

*Place the ice cream in a large bowl on the counter for about 10 minutes to soften.

*Chop the cookies. Once the ice cream has started to soften, mix the cookies into the ice cream.

*Pour the jam over the ice cream and using a knife, cut the jam into the ice cream.

*Place the ice cream into the freezer for at least an hour. Store, covered, in the freezer.