Be Careful What You Wish For: 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: genie lamp ~ movie ~ gas tank ~ elevator ~ vine
They were submitted by Dawn of Spatulas on Parade.

                          
One look at the words genie lamp, would have most people wishing, first of all, that they existed. Me? Not so much. Truth is, when you have anxiety, the most wonderful circumstances can be transformed into a traumatic experience. One thing I do, always, is overthink myself into paralyzation.

If I found one, before I could even start to think of wishes, I'd worry about using them too soon. What if something happens later in life, something serious or traumatic and I need my wishes then but had used them? I could literally convince myself to wait the rest of my life for the right time which, in a situation I'd created for myself, would never come. 

Or what if I dropped it and broke the genie? Or rubbed it the wrong way and got nightmares instead of dreams come true? 

Or what if I accidentally used them? Like the time I bought grape vines for my back yard, so excited not only to grow grapes but to have the vines cover a structure in the back that I didn't like looking at. Would I look out a those vines every day, as I did, and eventually just casually wish the vines would grow quicker (or, as it turns out, at all) and waste a precious wish? 

And then might I, standing in the kitchen covered with sugar and flour putting my precious new creation into the oven, make a little "please come out" wish as I gingerly closed the oven door?

Pineapple Toffee Cookies

Or, stuck in an elevator (probably having to pee, 'cause despite finding a genie lamp, that's my luck) would I wish the fire department would come and get us now, wasting that third wish on something that was invariably going to happen anyway?

Grape vines, food and an elevator, great waste of wishes. Too much pressure, having to go through the rest of my life with people pointing at me "there's that woman who wasted wishes, can you believe it?". I'd have to move away, change my name, get a nose job. Even then, I couldn't escape myself.

I think I'll have to take a pass on that genie lamp, thank you very much.

Hold on, hold on, on second thought, I'm already overthinking that. I can do it. Give me that thing. I want a bazillion dollars, to be a famous movie star, and an endless supply of free fuel for my gas tank. Wait, can I take that last one back? Can't take a wish back, can you? Damn. I knew I'd blow it . . .

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

Wandering Web Designer
Spatulas on Parade
The Bergham Chronicles  
On the Border
Climaxed
Part-time Working Hockey Mom

Pineapple Toffee Cookies

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe


Ingredients (makes about 3 1/2 dz):

1 stick butter, softened
1 stick margarine, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp pineapple extract
8 oz can crushed pineapple
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup toffee baking chips
1/2 cup dried pineapple, chopped

Directions:
*Reserving 2 TBSP of the juice, drain the crushed pineapple, then press dry between paper towels.
*Cream the butter, margarine and sugars. Beat in the eggs, pineapple extract and the 2 TBSP reserved pineapple juice from the can. Mix in the pineapple.
*On the lowest speed, incorporate the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix in the toffee baking chips and the chopped dried pineapple.
*Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour or up to a day.
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper.
*Using wet hands (dough will be sticky) roll dough into about 1 inch balls. Place in the baking sheets and gently flatten a bit with the heel of your hand.
*Bake 12 - 14 minutes until the edges are browning. Allow to sit on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Lazy Isn't What It Once Was: August Poetry

Another month has passed us by,

since my last dismal poetry try.

Monthly Poetry group and I,

chose Lazy as our theme {{sigh}}.

My poem's below, that much is true,

though I want to just mention to you, 

If lazy, I were to follow through,

I'd stop right now, let this much do.

But I won't (sorry).

Lazy

If Lazy is as lazy does,

and lazy were as it once was,

I'd lounge in a hammock picking belly button fuzz,

listening to bees and flies as they buzz.

But lazy's different, this I know,
kids crush relaxation like a tornado.
Responsibilities, bills we owe,
relaxation hits an all time low.

Cook and they'll refuse to eat,
bake and they'll demolish that treat.
Each day there's laundry, wash, dry, repeat,
lazy's got a permanent back seat. 

Garden Vegetable, Ham and Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Even after those kids have grown, 
they'll wait til your birthday, then break a bone.
To speeding tickets, they'll remain prone,
still blowing through your life like a damn cyclone.

 

Getting old, it truly sucks, 
more rest needed . . . and more bucks.
And now I need a few nips and tucks,  
yeah, I'm one of those poor schmucks.

But back to lazy, I'm here to say,
don't put it off, lay down and sway.
This problem and that, they're here to stay,
seems lazy can actually save the day.

Before you go, click on these links to more poetry from some of my friends:
Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Lazy No More. 
Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares Lazy. 
Diane of On the Border shares Training My Lazy.

Garden Vegetable, Ham and Twice Baked Potato Casserole

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: 

1 TBSP olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large zucchini, rinsed, dried, ends removed and sliced
1 large yellow squash, rinsed, dried, ends removed and sliced
2 beefsteak tomatoes, rinsed, dried, cored cut in half and then sliced
salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder
2 TBSP seasoned bread crumbs 
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1# cooked breakfast ham steak, chopped  3 potatoes
4 TBSP butter
1/4 cup half and half
salt and pepper to taste
1 green onion, chopped
paprika

NOTE: I often make this recipe in smaller baking dishes for individual servings 

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8 X 10 casserole dish.
*Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, zucchini and summer squash. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to taste. Cook and stir until they are still crisp but start to soften. Add the tomato and cook one more minute. Remove from heat, drain the pan, then mix in the bread crumbs.
*Place the vegetables evenly into the bottom of your casserole dish. Top with the mozarella cheese, then sprinkle with the chopped ham. 
*Rinse the potatoes and pat dry. Pierce multiple times with a fork, place on microwave safe plate and cook for 5 minutes. Turn potato over and microwave for 5 more minutes. Pierce to be sure they're soft and if not, return to microwave and cook at 2 minute intervals until they are. Remove from microwave and slice in half.
*Protecting your hands, remove the potato from the skin and discard skin. Mash the potato with the butter, half and half, salt and pepper. Mix in the green onion. Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the ham in the casserole dish. Sprinkle with paprika to taste.
*Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until hot and the potatoes are browning.

Strawberry Pink Lemonade Ice Cream: Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends themed collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about his 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 a recipe, sewing tutorial, crocheting, crafts project, book review, and/or technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Ice Cream.

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:

I made Strawberry Pink Lemonade Ice Cream.

Strawberry Pink Lemonade Ice Cream

You'd think that choosing a food theme would be pretty exciting for someone who develops recipes, wouldn't you? You'd think it would be so much easier than trying to tie a recipe to a theme having nothing to do with food, wouldn't you? Well, not so much. For the first time I was really stumped. 

I mean, I'd made a Chocolate Ice Cream Cake in the past, and a Lemon Raspberry Ice Cream Cake as well as sundae toppings, and just last year for another Blog With Friends post I'd made a Giant Party Bowl Ice Cream Sundae. So the challenge was what I could do that's new. 

I know that all over the interwebs all the rage now is no-churn ice cream. I'd never made one. I don't know whether the taste or the consistency would be close enough to churned ice cream (which, btw, I've never made before either, but I'm damn good at picking out flavors from the grocery store freezer).

I started doing some research, and at the same time I asked my friends and followers (you're one, right?) on my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page what flavors they like. Good news: there were a myriad of great choices. Bad news: I wasn't going to be able to make them all. I found what looks like a base recipe that most people start with, then (marrying a few suggestions from my friend Dawn of Spatulas on Parade) chose my flavors. Now just to try it out and see if I had a delicious dessert or a (not so) funny disaster story to tell (wouldn't be the first).

Success! And it was really easy too.

Start with your ingredients, it doesn't take many.

I chose to place a long strip of plastic wrap in my pan, figuring it would not only help me take it out of the pan if I chose to slice it, but would also fold over the top for storage once it was frozen.

I prepared the different components before putting it all together. I mixed the lemonade with the sweetened condensed milk, chopped the strawberries really small, then mixed the jam with the lemon juice and whipped the heavy cream.

Mix the strawberries into the condensed milk mixture.

Then fold in the whipped cream.

I didn't want to mix the jam in, so I swirled it, doing that in 3 layers until the entire mixture was ready to go into the freezer for at least 6 hours. Pretty, isn't it?

Well, it was as delicious as it was pretty. 

Definitely going to make a homemade no churn ice cream again. The flavor options are endless.

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:

 



Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Non-Food Rewards.









Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares Ice Cream. 






 





Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares her recipe for Tropical Sugar Free Ice Cream.





 




Kia of The Ground Beneath my Feet shares Dondurma - Now You Have it, Now You Don't, Buying Ice Cream in Istanbul. 




 


Tamara of Part-time Working Hockey Mom shares Ice Cream and Psychology.

Strawberry Pink Lemonade Ice Cream

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup of concentrate from a can of pink lemonade concentrate
1/2# fresh strawberries
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 TBSP lemon juice 

2 cups heavy cream

Directions:
*Place the lemonade on the counter for about 10 minutes.
*Using a long piece of plastic wrap, line a 9 X 5 loaf pan so the plastic wrap lines the inside of the pan and hangs over both sides. Place in the freezer.
*Whisk together the strawberry jam and lemon juice. Set aside.
*Rinse, pat dry, hull and chop the strawberries into small pieces. Set aside.
*In a large bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 cup of the lemonade concentrate. Mix in the chopped strawberries.
*Beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks hold. Fold the whipped cream into the condensed milk mixture.
*Remove the loaf pan from the freezer. Pour approximately 1/3 of the ice cream mixture into the pan. Drizzle about 1/3 of the jam mixture over the top and, using a toothpick, swirl into the the ice cream. Repeat two more times.
*Freeze for about 6 - 8 hours (best if left overnight). Once your ice cream is completely frozen, store in the pan with the long ends of the plastic wrap folded over the top.