Zins and Sins

The zinfandel made me do it. 

Hubs and I like wine, he's more of the connoisseur, can tell you facts and flavors and years. I, on the other hand, just like what I like. His favorite is full bodied French reds, and although I prefer a dry white, I've come to appreciate some of his favorites, like a Chateuneuf du Pape. We used to seek out expensive wines, now we like to explore less expensive options like a Beaujolais Nouveau or even a 2-Buck Chuck. Another that we found years ago is a zinfandel, 7 Deadly Zins.

And it was late one afternoon, as I was baking a cake and doing my dinner prep that I started to think about the cousins of the glass of Zins I had in my hand, or it's namesake if you will, the actual Seven Deadly Sins. I know where I stand on the Zins. But where do I stand on the Sins?

Googling, my first thought is that I'm off the hook. The seven deadly sins are not in the bible, they are Christian teachings. Being Jewish (and slightly pickled) I figure I have nothing to lose. Let's see where I stack up.

First up, lust. Does it count that it's for a cake? 'Cause I'm kinda looking at the one I just baked and wondering if I need to make dinner after all. 

Second is gluttony. Guess I covered that one already?

Cookies and Creme Bundt Cake

Greed. I'd be in a better position to argue against this one if I had left a glass from this bottle for Hubs. But if I throw out the bottle and take out the trash.

Sloth. Oh hell, that's too much work, I could probably just hide the bottle in the bottom of the trash bag and leave it for Hubs to take out. 

Unless you're talking about Sloth the animal. If so, I'm not guilty of this one. Anyone who has worked out a life of hanging upside down from a tree is a deity in my mind.

Wrath. Do me a favor, look up the definitions of wrath and the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. It's biological, it's not my fault.

Envy. I had a friend who (OK, behind her back, but lovingly) I called Olive Oyl. She's tall and thin and eats whatever she wants. Now I admit that I eat the cake, but truth is, why not? All I have to do is look at it and gain weight, may as well enjoy. Envious of Olive Oyl? Yeah, guilty.

And lastly, Pride. Well . . . I'm proud to say I don't really care about this last sin. Mostly due to this last glass of Zins.

L'chaim, friends. 

Cookies and Creme Bundt Cake        
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix
1 box (about 4.2 oz) cookies 'n creme pudding mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup oil
1 cup chopped Oreos (about 8 - 9 cookies)

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 TBSP milk
3 - 4 TBSP chocolate syrup
1 tsp vanilla
3 - 4 TBSP French vanilla creamer
2 Oreos, crushed

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
*Beat the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, sour cream and oil for 3 minutes.
*Mix in the 1 cup of chopped Oreos and pour into prepared pan.
*Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the center springs back to the touch.
*Cool for 15 minutes in the pan before removing to serving plate. Cool completely.
*Place 3/4 cup powdered sugar into a bowl. Whisk in the milk, then the chocolate syrup one TBSP at a time until it's of a thick drizzling consistency. Place into a sandwich bag, seal, snip one corner and pipe over the cooled cake.
*Place the remaining 3/4 cup powdered sugar into another bowl. Whisk in the vanilla, then the creamer one TBSP at a time until it's of a thick drizzling consistency. Place into a sandwich bag, seal, snip one corner and pipe over the chocolate drizzle.
*Immediately sprinkle with the crushed Oreos.

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.