Steeple Chase: 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: grass ~ totem ~ munch ~ steeple ~ hill
They were submitted by Diane of On the Border.

 

                           

When I first saw these words, a short story came to mind. I wasn't sure it was what I wanted to do with them, so I decided to spend a few days thinking about it.

Here's the thing about word prompts, once I make an association in my head, I can't seem to move on from it, it pushes itself forward every time I see the words.

So, fiction it is. It's that or let these words haunt me, and who has time for that? A little clarification before I start, though, about my story and one of the main reasons I didn't want to write it. 

 

My friend Diane is a talented writer, both on her blog and as a published author of multiple books. We both participate in 4 monthly blog challenges together, 3 of mine (including this one) and 1 of hers. Often, she writes about fairy tales, or I should say rewrites, interprets, and changes them up in hilarious form. Although the words I'm using today coincidentally came from Diane, I want to be clear that I am not copying her idea. There is, in my story, no Jack, no Jill, no pail of water, and no broken crown. Well, possibly a broken crown . . . but it's about a steeplechase, of sorts.

 

Here goes:

 

The twins, Betty and Rose, had arrived last night. School was finally out and it was late spring. Every year, as far back as they could remember (and even further), they spent the summer on grandma's farm. It was a joyous break from the city, one they looked forward to every year. 

It wasn't just the fresh air, green grass, carefree lifestyle, and time spent with their grandma, although it was definitely all of those, it was the friendships they'd come to cherish over the years. Kids from neighboring farms they'd grown up with, even if it was only for 3 months a year. The experiences they had with Al, Lou, Molly, Max, Evy, Marilyn, and Joe, were so uniquely different from any friendships they had back home. Their adventures, the way they grew up over those summer months, unlike anything they could have anywhere else. 

This year, for their first day back, grandma had planned a surprise. All of the kids were in middle school now, and grandma felt they were old enough to hike the half mile out to the swimming hole without adults. She had them put on their bathing suits under their clothes (although, really, they pretty much did that every day at grandma's), packed them a blanket and a picnic lunch, and let all of their summer friends know when to arrive.

The kids headed out through the pasture, chatting, and laughing and all talking at once. They laid the blanket out by the clear, cool stream at the bottom of the hill. At the very top of the steep hill, was an abandoned church, one the kids had explored many times over the years. Joe, the instigator among them, stood up, pointed to the steeple, called out "last one to the steeple is a rotten egg," and started to run.

 

 

 

Well, if you know anything about kids, you know that no one wants to be the rotten egg. Ever. So they all started to run. Well, all except Betty.

Betty too, of course, didn't want to be the rotten egg, but Betty, ever the thoughtful one, wasn't so sure about this. The run up the hill would be exhausting, but that wouldn't deter her, it was the steep trip down the hill. The grass was wet, really wet, and she was not going to spend the summer in a cast. The year Rose broke her leg on the farm (long story) was miserable for Rose, who pretty much made everyone else miserable. So Betty sat. And started unpacking the food.

"Rotten egg, rotten egg," the kids, laughing, taunted Betty from the top of the hill, then raced each other down.

Lou was the first one to fall. Ass over tea kettle (as they say), he came tumbling, rolling, and bouncing down the hill. Problem was, Lou was the highest one up. And with precision, rarely accomplished with a bowling ball (for these kids, anyway), he took down all the pins along the way. They landed at the bottom, stacked up like a totem pole. Lou, Al, Molly, Joe, Rose, Evy, Marilyn, and Max at the top.

Betty looked over as they all moaned and "ouch"ed, and disentangled, checking their arms and legs and yes, crowns. Sitting on the blanket, munching on one of grandma's famous Air Fryer (yes, grandma has an air fryer on the farm, it was a gift, and she loves it) Coconut Chicken Fingers, Betty calmly imparted this little nugget (get it?) of pain free wisdom: "Turns out, I would rather be a rotten egg," she told her friends, "than Humpty Dumpty." 

 

"Oh," she added, standing up, "last one in the stream is a rotten egg!"

 

 

Air Fryer Coconut Chicken Fingers 

with Sweet Hot Orange Sauce

 

PS: The kids in this story were lovingly named for my grandma, Betty, her twin sister Rose (husband Al), their sister Molly (husband, Joe), their brothers Lou (wife Evy), and Al (wife Marilyn), along with my grandpa Max. ליה השלום

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

On the Border 

The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver 

Climaxed

What TF Sarah

Part-time Working Hockey Mom

Air Fryer Coconut Chicken Fingers

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

about 2# boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 eggs

2 TBSP orange marmalade 

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper 

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs

3/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes

3 tsp paprika

olive oil

 

OPT: serve with my Sweet Hot Orange Sauce

 

Directions:
*Slice the chicken breasts into about 1 inch wide slices. Place into a gallon size plastic bag.

*Whisk the eggs, orange marmalade, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Pour into the bag with the chicken and seal. Massage to be sure all of the chicken is coated with the egg mixture. Refrigerate for at least an hour to overnight, turning the bag now and then.

*Mix together the panko bread crumbs, sweetened coconut flakes, and paprika on a plate.

*Remove the chicken fingers from the plastic back and press each into the coating, making sure the chicken is completely breaded. Place on parchment or wax paper in the refrigerator for an hour.

*Preheat air fryer to 380 degrees for 4 minutes. Grease the basket or shelves with olive oil. Add as many chicken fingers to the basket or shelves as will fit leaving room between them. You may have to work in batches.

*Spritz the top of the tenders with olive oil, place in the air fryer and cook for 5 minutes. Flip them over. If using shelves, move the shelves around to different locations within the fryer.

*Spritz the top of the tenders with olive oil again, and cook for another 5 minutes. Check to be sure they are fully cooked through, with no pink in the center and the juices running clear. Continue to cook at 1 minute intervals if not done. Keep warm and repeat with the remaining chicken fingers.

*OPT: serve with my Sweet Hot Orange Sauce.

 

Yo- Yo Mama: 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,

Yo-Yo's what they chose?

Now it's up to all of us,

to put our thoughts into prose.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yo-yo Momma

 

Yo-yos were a childhood toy,

but dangerous, I won't lie.

Best be careful round them lest

you put out someone's eye.

 

It's all about a rhythm and,

coordination is the key.

Up and down and up and down,

it's fun, don't disagree!

 

From only just a dollar to

four hundred, even more,

there's contests, tournaments and those

intent on keeping score.  

But here's a fact 'bout yo-yos,

wait, let me make my case:

kids can make a yo-yo of,

hear me out . . . their mama's face.

 

One day they like breakfast,

the next day, they may cry,

when served the same thing as before,

I'll never understand why. 

No one like your child can make,

you smile when you'd had a frown.

But just as quickly, they'll yo yo,

your smile back upside down.

 

 

Orange Nutella Pecan Pancakes

 

 

 

Wait!

Read more poetry, 

you're not through.

Some talented writers

are in this crew:

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings 

Mother Owl 

 

Orange Nutella Pecan Pancakes      

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup chopped pecans

3 Cara Cara oranges, peeled, remove seeds, if any

up to 1/4 cup orange juice, if needed

2 TBSP brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup Nutella

4 TBSP butter, divided

Directions:

*Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pecans. Set aside.

*Remove as much of the pith as you can from the oranges. Separate the segments, and cut them in half. Place into a food processor and pulse until they start to break up. Add the brown sugar, and pulse until it's a puree. 

*Measure the orange puree, you need 1 1/4 cups. If you have more, remove some, if you have less, add orange juice until you have 1 1/4 cups.

*Whisk together the orange puree, egg, and Nutella, then add to the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated, don't over mix.

*In a small skillet over medium heat, melt 1/2 TBSP butter, scoop just 1/3 of the pancake batter into the pan and move around to form a 5 inch circle.

*Cook until the edges are brown, flip the pancake over, reduce heat just a notch, and cook the other side. Remove from the pan and keep warm while repeating with the remaining butter and batter. Makes 7 - 8 large pancakes.

 

 

Fairest of All: Secret Subject Swap

 

 

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This month 5 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: What is your favorite flower, and why?
It was submitted by: Rena of The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver.

I've talked about, and shared pictures of, flowers before. In Flower Power 2.0, I talk about how flowers can make me smile, their beauty can impact my mood. I've also mentioned, in the time of Covid, the lengths I went to in order to have them to plant in my outdoor pots. Some things, many things, changed when Covid hit, making the impact of an art show put on by nature even more significant.

 

I have not, however, in all the times I've mentioned flowers, picked a favorite. So I'm taking that on as my challenge for today.

 

There are so many kinds of flowers, so much to consider here. There are flowers you grow in the yard, flowers you plant in outdoor pots, and those you are gifted. That's a lot to choose from.

 

There's another kind of flower, the symbolic one, used in a truism that makes the rounds now and then, and is especially salient in this age of Covid. I may have added another line to the end there, not that I'm affected by the current political climate or anything . . .

 

 

 

 

So back to actual flowers . . .

 

There is, when gifted flowers, the added value of them being a gift. Choosing a favorite, however, depends on the occasion, the meaning assigned to certain flowers, like roses, and even to the color of the roses.

My mom loves Alstroemerias. They're delicate, multicolored flowers that mom almost always has in a vase on her kitchen counter. I love them because of what they've come to represent: don't wait for others, surround yourself with beauty, make yourself smile, buy yourself flowers. Always.

Also because of their meaning, there are flowers that hold a special place in my heart. I grew up with a line of rhododendrons just outside our front door, irises by the back door, a few lilacs in the side yard, and forsythia along our property line. I remember, just at the very start of spring, when the forsythia were the first to bud, her trimming big stalks and putting them in a tall vase and watching over the next few days, those buds opening into delicate yellow flowers letting us know that winter is officially gone.

I tried growing many of those childhood favorites here in the Midwest without much success. In fact, it was soul crushing having to remove the dead plants from the yard. I did make some adaptations, though. I have lilac shrubs along one side of our house. Instead of iris, I have a plethera of day lillies, and in place of rhododendrons I have azaleas.

  

But if I had to choose, really had to sit down, think it through and make a choice? There's one that is a frequent companion of mine, keeps me busy, and nurtures my creativity. Although rarely seen outside (well, in its pre-arranged form), I brought it out to my back deck so I could take a picture for you. See it there, just below this year's pot of planted flowers?

 

Isn't it beautiful?

 

 

 

Apple Pecan Monkey Bread

 

 

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 Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver 

Climaxed

What TF Sarah

Part-time Working Hockey Mom

Apple Pecan Monkey Bread       

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
4 TBSP butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 TBSP apple juice

2 apples, peeled, cored, chopped

1/3 cup chopped pecans 

1 can (8 biscuits) refrigerator buttermilk biscuits

 

Directions:
*Grease a 10 inch deep dish pie plate. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

*Melt the butter. Whisk in the brown sugar, cinnamon, and apple juice. Mix in the chopped apples and chopped pecans.

*Peel the top half of the layers of the biscuits off so you have 16 biscuits, half the size of the originals. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with 6 of the biscuit halves. 

*Dollop 1/3 of the apple mixture onto the biscuits in the dish and spread around. Top with 5 more of the biscuit halves, another 1/3 of the apple mixture, then the remaining biscuits and the remaining apple mixture.
*Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.