Category: Food

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Today’s Burlap

It seems that burlap is making a come-back, in a big way. I have never been a big fan of burlap, but today’s burlap is being used in so many pretty cool ways. I was looking at http://www.burlap-tablecloth.com and see that tablecloths, overlays, table runners, isle runners, burlap table toppers, fitted tablecloths, chair covers, sashes. napkins, drapes and a whole lot more is being made with burlap.

Check it out. I just might be using some of the gift cards that I received for Christmas at this site.

table top burlap
Burlap Table Items
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Ditching the Carbonated Beverages

My dentist has just told me that I need to quit drinking sodas or that I will start having serious problems with tooth decay. I’ve been drinking Pepsi my whole life and that is my beverage of choice in the morning to start my day – instead of coffee or tea.I am pretty bummed out right now.

I like my morning Pepsi so much that I am a complete grouch if someone drinks the last Pepsi and leaves me without one in the morning when I wake up. The last time that happened I went postal on the whole family and threw such a fit that I can pretty much guarantee that will never happen again. But, just in case, I keep a bottle of Pepsi in my nightstand drawer as a backup.

But now my dentist says that the sugary drinks that I’ve enjoyed my whole life have been eroding the enamel on my teeth. He says that I am facing root canals in every molar is I don’t start taking better care of my teeth and also change my diet. That is pretty scary – I had one root canal already and it was not fun. Plus, root canals cost a whole lot of money that I don’t want to spend on my teeth if I can help it.

So, regretfully, I am no longer ordering a carbonated beverage with my lunch or dinner. I will be drinking either tea, lemonade or just water. I can’t stand to drink milk, so that’s out. But I will not give up my morning Pepsi. I hope that dropping sodas from the rest of my days and nights will be enough sacrifice to put off dealing with root canals.

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Searching for Zucchini Recipes

My neighbor just brought me a basket full of yellow squash and zucchini from his garden. That was so thoughtful of him and I’m glad his garden is doing so well that he can share his overabundance of fresh vegetables. I do not normally buy squash at the grocery store and only have one memory of my mother cooking yellow squash for our family dinners.

During the summer months when yellow squash was so plentiful, my mother would cut a small piece off each end of the squash and then slice it in half longwise. Then she would drop both halves into a pot of boiling water and let them boil until tender – very much like you prepare boiled white potatoes. Then she would drain off the water and plate the squash. While it was still teaming hot, she would put a big dab of butter on it, then sprinkle each half with salt, pepper and about a tablespoon of granulated sugar.

As far as I can remember, my mother never bought or cooked zucchini. So I need some help with finding a recipe or two for preparing this green squash that looks a lot like a cucumber but tastes nothing like cucumbers. At the moment, the only thing I have seen is a lot of references to zucchini nut bread. But I want to serve it with dinner as a side vegetable, not nut bread.

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Ladies Night Out

Once in a blue moon I’ll go out with some friends to a bar/restaurant for dinner and drinks. I can’t afford to go out as often as I would like to, but we are all experiencing hard times at this point with the economy in crisis and all. I’m trying to save as much money as possible, when ever I can, so when we do head out we try and make it on a Ladies Night, where the drinks are  more affordable for all us.

Last week we decided it was due time for a ladies night out and we went to our favorite “hole in the wall” and had a blast. We had a designated driver and all went well. No fights broke out, no one got so drunk that they ended up throwing up in the ladies room or the parking lot and each of us were able to go to work the next morning without a hitch.

We really enjoy going to this “hole in the wall” bar/restaurant. The waitresses are always nice and the owners are really great people that are just trying to keep their doors open with the rising costs that they are having to deal with. So we don’t mind throwing our business to them, when we are able to. The only problem is that they don’t have any foot rails for the patrons that end up sitting at the bar, so much of the night was discussing the issue with the owners. I think we made our point, they have consented to looking into the matter for us. So the next time we go I hope that they will have found some that they can afford to have installed and we all should be happy!

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Once A Month Is Enough For Me

It seems that there are a large amount of people that are suffering from digestive issues, what a drag. I know a lot of people that are dealing with stomach issues, mainly IBS, that are always looking for new products to help them ease the discomfort that goes along with this imbalance issue.

One of the ladies at work is trying the product of threelac that she found online. It is a natural solution for digestion candida and yeast imbalance control. She misses a couple of days a month due to her stomach woes, I can really feel for her. OMG once a month my gut is on fire for three to five days, I can’t imagine dealing with pain any more than that whole period deal.

As far as thrush goes, that’s a whole different story to share at a later time, ugh……

 

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Safeguarding The Public’s Food

This peanut butter recall has been going on for a couple of weeks now and I keep hearing about how more and more people are getting sick from food poisoning and at last count I think I read that 18 have died from complications. All because a crappy manufacturing plant has been getting away with unsanitary conditions for months and selling contaminated peanuts and peanut paste to people who used it for hundreds of different products. All those products are now suspect and being pulled from the shelves. Who knows what is safe to eat now?

There is a recall list on the Government’s FDA site, but it keeps growing longer and the story continues to worsen. I can’t take any chances on tainted food, so I’ve thrown out anything in my pantry that has peanuts or peanut products in it. That was like $60 worth of food wasted – and I despise wasting food. But I can’t afford to get food poisoning and die from peanut butter. Now I heard that there is a second crappy plant in Texas that has been doing the same thing. This is outrageous and one more example of the failure of both the FDA and the state health departments to inspect facilities and safeguard the public.

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Reputable Surgeons at Realistic Prices in the U.K.

As I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions here, I have been experiencing a weight issue all my life. I have heard some great stories about some of the procedures that are now available for folks like myself and have decided to start doing a bit of research on Cosmetic Surgery. A few of my friends and co workers have had the lap band surgery that is all the rage, I don’t think that I would be a good candidate for that particular procedure, but I do think that I might possibly be a good candidate for some good old liposuction.

People are going over seas for a lot of their cosmetic surgery these days. You can get much better prices in the U.K., and I’d have no problem taking a quick trip over there myself. I have some relatives over there that have issued me an open door invitation that I could take advantage of, so I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. I would love to see them and be able to see where they live and take care of my weight issue once and for all. Something that I definitely want and need to look into possibly after the holiday season is over and done with.

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Love Me Some Kitchenaid

Not very often do I get what I call “good mail” since the majority of mail that finds its way into my mailbox is a bill or advertisement, neither of which do I enjoy receiving and dealing with. It used to be that once in a while a card or a letter could be found waiting for me to open, those days are long gone compliments of the Internet. LOL! The days are pretty much gone that I would get dozens of Christmas cards in the mail. I think last year I received a total of 3, with the majority of my Season’s Greetings being said and done online.

But today I got a piece of “good mail” not only was it a Christmas card but it had a healthy VISA gift card included in it that just about floored me when I opened the card and saw the amount clearly written on it. My Great Aunt Pearl, bless her heart, was feeling very generous this year and it didn’t take me long to figure out what I want to do with this particular blessing. Check out this sweet looking kitchenaid artisan mixer – candy apple 90th anniversary edition with free glass bowl that I think I will order when the weekend rolls around again.

KitchenAid Artisan Mixer
KitchenAid Artisan Mixer – Candy Apple – Low Res

I plan on spending a good part of this up and coming weekend online. While I’m at it I think I’ll be keeping my eyes open for the parts for the saucepan racks that I need to get that all installed and out of the way as well as trying to find a great deal on some lion sabatier stainless steel knives to complete the set that I’ve been working on for several years now. My kitchen is always a work in progress and I’m always wanting/needing something or another, but I do spend a good amount of time in there so my kitchen is important to me.

Thanks Aunt Pearl, you’re a doll!

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Pop Stars and Their Demands Backstage

I found this list of backstage demands of Pop Stars on Yahoo and thought them to be so very outrageous and had to share them here.

• Keith Richards: A guitar strap. Chicken sandwiches. Diet Coke. Cigarettes.

• Nirvana: Macaroni cheese.

• Marilyn Manson: Air-conditioning always on full. Gummi bears. Doritos. Microwave popcorn. Bottle of Absinthe. A bald hooker with no teeth.

• Prince: A physician. All food to be covered in clear plastic wrap.

• Frank Sinatra: An ear, nose and throat specialist with the anti-inflammatory drug Decadron.

• Motley Crue: Mayonnaise. Grey Poupon Dijon mustard. Creamy peanut butter. A 12ft-long boa constrictor. A sub-machine gun. Local Alcoholics’ Anonymous meeting schedules.

• David Hasselhoff: Life-size cut-out of David Hasselhoff.

• Sammy Davis Jr: Assortment of groovy chicks.

• Britney Spears: Two boxes of Pop Tarts. Fruit Loops. Cable television. Two 6ft sofas. Odor-free carpet. A phone line.

• Led Zeppellin: Iron. Ironing board.

• Janet Jackson: Chaise lounge. Ten black roses. Male catering staff.

• Beyonce: Pepsi products only. Honey Nut Cheerios. Ginger root. A two-man love seat. Toilet scrubbed with disinfectant. No sweets, chocolate or chips in dressing room.

• Barbra Streisand: Rose petals in toilet.

• Madonna: A new toilet seat. 25 cases of Kabbalah water.

• James Blunt: 120 bottles of beer. 12 bottles of Magners cider. 4 bottles of vodka. 3 bottles of white wine. 2 bottles of champagne.

• Jennifer Lopez: White flowers. White tablecloths. White curtains. White candles. White couches. Low watt light bulbs. Coffee to be stirred counter-clockwise. Skittles.

• Elton John: 74 towels. Flowers (NO chrysanthemums, lilies, carnations or daisies).

• P Diddy: 204 towels. 20 bars of soap. Two bottles of Hennessy cognac. Two bottles of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio. Two bottles of Veuve Clicquot. A bottle of Dom Perignon. Grey Goose vodka. Boom box. Bouquet of white flowers. Cheddar cheese and sour-cream chips. Sweet Tarts. A $300,000 bullet-proof Maybach.

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Blackberry Wine

The first year that we moved into the  house, a good buddy of mine brought a cutting of blackberry vine, it immediately got planted into the ground and has been thriving brilliantly ever since. The best part is that it is the variety of black berries that don’t have those horrible thorns all through out the vines. The past couple of years it has been producing the most wonderful berries that I now eagerly pick twice a week, eating them by the hand fulls along the way. I usually end up giving a good amount of them away to friends and neighbors and also freeze a large quantity for my own personal use and enjoyment.

In return for the original cutting that started all of this, my buddy is allowed to come at any time and pick his fill, in which he turns around and makes a great batch of wine out of them. And in the end, I end up with a couple of very nice tasting home made wine, from these delicious berries that come from my own back yard. How about that!