Gas Station Blues: Word Counters

 

 

Counting my words again. 

Today my fellow Word Counters and I are sharing our monthly group post. Each month one group member picks  a number between 12 and 50. All participating bloggers are then challenged to write something (or a few somethings, as the case may be) using that exact number of words. Today we all share what we came up with. 

This month's number is 28. 
It was chosen by Me.

As I've been doing in these Word Counters posts, I've chosen a theme and am using my word count multiple times in keeping with the theme. This month I'm talking about a short term, part time job my son's taken. I call this post Gas Station Blues.

~ College Boy stopped working during covid. He worked retail and the store closed due to safety. When called back, covid was still on the upswing, so he declined.

 

~He also totalled his car. Finding a new (used) car is an almost impossible task. While looking for a car and permanent job, he took a temporary job. 

~There's a grocery store a half mile from us, walking distance. They have a gas station in their parking lot with a small convenience store. They pay well.

~Working in the little gas station convenience store is an income for now. The stories he comes home with are eye opening, and not in a good way.

 

~Someone bought chicken in the grocery store. Leaving the parking lot, she suddenly didn't want it, and argued with my son about returning it to the gas station.

 

 

Italian Chicken Stuffed Shells

 

~A guy insisted he chose medium grade gasoline but the pump changed him to premium. He insisted that the premium be removed so he could re-pump cheaper gas.

 

~One guy was furious my son couldn't tell him how much it would cost to fill his car. Not the amount per gallon, but exactly what he'd owe.

~Someone came in just to impart wisdom: the current administration is turning us into a communist, socialist nation, and we'll never have free elections, because of gas prices.

 

~Another customer couldn't charge at the pump. He argued his options, chose to prepay $30, walked out without paying, walked back in furious that the pump didn't work.

 

~Not prepaying, a guy pumped $25.38 worth of gas, then went inside to argue that he only wanted $25 worth of gas, claiming he was owed 38 cents.

 

~Another guy insisted the pump card reader didn't work and wouldn't prepay. My son went with him to check it out, re-inserted the guy's card correctly. It worked.

 

~How are these people able to drive a car, yet be completely incapable of navigating a gas pump? Wonder what they do at the grocery self check out.

 

 

Here are links to the other Word Counters posts:

On the Border 

Messymimi’s Meanderings 

Italian Chicken Stuffed Shells        
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes about 18 - 20):

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast

salt, pepper, garlic powder

1 small (8 oz) baguette

3 TBSP olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp Italian seasoning, divided

6 oz jumbo pasta shells

15 small pepperoni slices

6 oz frozen spinach, defrosted

8 oz ricotta cheese

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella

1/3 cup grated parmesan

1 tsp sugar

1 TBSP dried parsley flakes 

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

3 cups my HOMEMADE MARINARA, or marinara of your choice 

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two baking sheets.

*Sprinkle the chicken breast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides. Place the chicken on a small baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

*Cut the baguette into about 3/4 inch thick slices. Mix the olive oil, minced garlic, and 1 tsp Italian seasoning and, using a pastry brush, lightly spread onto the bread slices. Place onto a second baking sheet.

*Once the chicken has been in the oven for 30 minutes, add the bread to the oven and bake for about another 15 minutes, until the chicken is completely cooked through and the bread starts to brown. Leave the oven on. Set the chicken and bread aside to cool.

*Boil the pasta shells to al dente (about 10 minutes). Drain and rinse a few times with cold water to stop the cooking process.

*Shred or chop the chicken. Chop the pepperoni. Drain the spinach well, pressing to get out as much of the moisture as you can. Mix the spinach, chicken, and pepperoni with the ricotta, egg, mozzarella, parmesan, sugar, parsley, remaining Italian seasoning, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.

*Carefully stuff the shells with the chicken mixture.

*Grease a baking dish (I use a quiche dish). Spread the marinara into the baking dish. Place the shells, open side up, down into the sauce. Cover with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes.

*Crush 6 of the baguette slices. After 35 minutes, carefully remove the tin foil from the shells, sprinkle with the crushed baguettes, and return to the oven, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

*Serve with the remaining baguette slices.

Holiday Pre-Prep Prep: 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:  harvest ~ bountiful ~ elite ~ food ~ machines
They were submitted by Diane of On the Border.

 

This is the time of year when we all start thinking about food, holiday food to be exact. We're thankful for the bountiful fall  harvest and anticipate sharing the flavors of favorite holiday recipes with our friends and family.

 

I'm not saying there isn't stress involved in the holidays, the planning, the shopping, the prepping, the cooking, it all takes a lot of effort. But it's balanced by the anticipation, the build up to those special days, being together as a family, sharing those favorite foods with the people we love.

 

Over these past few years, this year specifically, the stress level is higher. The unvaccinated are allowed to walk among us with impunity, and most mask mandates are a thing of the past. 

 

Last year, the concern was more about the people we were exposed to. Well, that and our . . . ahem . . . bathroom comfort needs. 

We all learned, stunned and staring at empty shelves, in the early days of Covid, that grabbing an item at the store when we needed it was no longer an option. Those toilet paper making machines were working 24/7, but it still took months before we could see toilet paper on store shelves without putting on a helmet and tackling everyone in the store between us and those coveted rolls.

Toilet paper nirvana once again achieved, this year our issue is the food chain. And bountiful is a word that just might be obsolete, in jeopardy of being wiped from the dictionary. Both food availability and affordable prices are a thing of the past. 

At different times I've been unable to find for weeks at a time: bone in chicken breast, chicken wingettes, canned chilis, ramen soup packets, ginger ale, butter, and eggs.

 

I actually anticipated that there might be an issue with holiday foods, so I was strategic, did some holiday pre-prep prep, I bought a turkey last December when they were marked way down. And just a few months ago, in August and September, I started buying my Thanksgiving ingredients. I bought cans of pumpkin, stuffing ingredients, anything I could buy ahead and store in the pantry or freezer, I bought both when I could find them, and when, although the prices were already climbing, it turns out they cost almost half of what they are now.

And let me tell you, the price of food has become an issue too. They aren't creeping up, they're climbing like a monkey let loose in a banana plantation. 

I was thinking about creating a new recipe using spaghetti squash. Nope. Seems a spaghetti squash now costs what a steak used to cost. And a steak? That now costs about the price of a used car. And don't get me off on a tangent about used cars, College Boy's been looking for almost a year . . .

When the starving peasants couldn't even get bread back in the days of the French revolution, Marie Antoinette's "let them eat cake," is referred to as a classic example of the insensitivity of the elite to the plight of the masses. 

 

But let me tell you, these days, a box of cake mix at the price of about 95 cents, makes cake just about the only affordable thing out there.

 

Now that's some epic irony. 

 

 

Triple Chocolate Dome Cake

 

Wishing you all successful Thanksgiving shopping. And as you venture out in preparation for that special day, I have another famous quote to share with you. In the words of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus, "let's be careful out there."

 

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

On the Border 

Wandering Web Designer 

Climaxed 

What TF Sarah 

Part-time Working Hockey Mom 

 

Triple Chocolate Dome Cake

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 box (15.25 oz) chocolate cake mix

1 box (3.9 oz) chocolate pudding mix

1 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

4 eggs

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, divided

up to 4 TBSP milk

2 drops red food coloring

2 drops green food coloring

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 3 quart round oven safe glass dish.

*Beat the cake mix, pudding mix, 1 cup milk, oil, eggs, and mini chocolate chips for 2 minutes. Spread evenly into the prepared glass dish.

*Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until the center of the top springs back to the touch. Cool for 10 minutes.

*Gently run a knife around the edges of the glass dish and invert the cake onto a serving plate. Cool completely.

*Place 3/4 cup powdered sugar into a small bowl. Mix up to 2 TBSP milk it to form a thick drizzling consistency. Pour over and around the top of the cake. Refrigerate for a few minutes to set.

*Place 1/2 cup powdered sugar each into 2 other small bowls. Mix in, a tsp at a time, enough milk to bring to drizzling consistency. Add 2 drops red food coloring into one bowl, and 2 drops of green food coloring into the other.

*Drizzle the red and the green toppings over the white. Refrigerate for a few minutes to set.

Guns, Buns, and Puns

 

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,

Puns is what they chose.

Now it's up to all of us,

to put our thoughts into prose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guns, Buns, and Puns

 

This bakery doesn't do savory,

so just to let you know,

you never need to worry that, 

there's doe used in our dough.

 

Now fruits are fun for baking,

a pair of pears we'll use.

Better, I'm sure that you'd agree,

than a pair of . . . you know . . . ewes. 

Headphones on, I'm dancing,

while dyeing velvet cake red,

but the beets I use for color are,

best not put on my head.

Have some cake but you must sit,

on stools, those smaller ones.

Back into that counter and,

you'll be sitting on MY buns.

 

Dark Cherry Apricot Cake

You can guess who exercises,

and who snacks watching reruns.

Like I can tell that cop works out,

just by looking at his guns.

We do see him on Sunday, though,

eats sweets that one day solely.

Justifies it by telling us,

our donuts are known to be holey. 

Where's the fun in writing this?

Well, let me tell you honey,

people always tend to laugh,

whenever we get pun-ny.

 

 

 

Wait!

Read more poetry, 

you're not through.

Some talented writers

are in this crew:

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings 

Mother Owl 

 

Dark Chocolate Apricot Cake

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: 

10 frozen dark sweet cherries

1 TBSP flour

5 dried apricots
1/4 cup blackberry jam

1 box white cake mix

1 1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup oil

4 egg whites 

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 TBSP Chambord (can substitute milk)

Directions:
*Defrost the cherries. Cut into quarters. Pat dry as much as possible, coat with the 1 TBSP flour and set aside. Chop the apricots, set aside. Vigorously whisk the jam, set aside.

*Grease and flour a bundt pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*Beat the cake mix, milk, oil, and egg whites for 2 minutes. Mix in the cherries, apricots, and dark chocolate chips. Add the jam and just swirl 2 - 3 times, don't mix in fully.
*Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 40 - 45 minutes, until the center springs back to the touch. Remove from oven, leaving the oven on, and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan.

*Spread the sliced almonds onto a small baking sheet and place in the hot oven for about 4 minutes, just until they begin to brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

*Once the cake has sat in the pan for 10 minutes, gently run a knife around the edges and remove. Allow to cool completely.

*Once the cake has cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar and Chambord (or milk). Drizzle over the cooled cake, sprinkle with the toasted almonds.