Vanilla Bean Counter

Starved Rock October 2011

2011-10-16T11:41:00.003-05:00

Going where I've never gone before...

Seriously, I haven't used a porta potty in 20 years. Bill has never laughed so hard.

Walking Back in Time

2011-08-14T20:44:00.006-05:00

B and I went on vacation to visit his family in Michigan. At one point we walked out on a pier to see a lighthouse. Apparently, that walk took us back to our childhood selves.

I am the oldest of 3 girls and our mother's motto was safety first. She didn't want anything horrible to happen to us, and we really took to heart when she told us all the bad things that could happen if we weren't careful. To this day I have not been bitten by a rabid squirrel; thanks mom. So, I approached the pier Jon G style, marching dead center, clutching my purse, looking down to avoid tripping on cracks in the concrete, and making mental notes on how to operate the life preserver poles.

B, as the oldest of 4 boys, was raised by a mother who was clearly outnumbered. When they were younger they would try to climb the whole length of rocks without touching the pier. Oh hell no. I tried to explain to him how he would slip and fall and crack his head open. His lifeless body would float out to sea, as he would be unable to catch the life preserver I would throw. He was content to just stand on them and get his picture taken. My palms were sweating the whole time.

He then spent the next few yards trying to convince me to get my pic on the rocks. I finally agreed; I get all wild and crazy on vacation. I was very fortunate not to die. You never know when the Earth will tilt and the laws of physics will no longer apply.

I hate that dog so much...

2011-07-24T21:13:00.002-05:00

I made her a birthday cake. Actually, as with most things that turn out really well, Mandi did all the work.

Rain Delayed

2011-06-27T18:02:00.002-05:00

So what do you do to pass time during a rain delay? Why take silly pics of course. This rainy night at the ball park clued me in to the fact that I only want to go out in public with a giant umbrella from now on. It is like you are in your own little world, or you have a force field up or something. Anything that separates me from the general public I'm a fan of. I needed it Friday night when we were at the movies and the jerk behind me kept kicking my seat. He then put his bare foot on my arm rest! I jumped up and whipped around to hiss at him. It would have been so much more satisfying to shove an umbrella up his ass. Seriously, were you born in a barn? Keep your friggin shoes on and out of my personal space.

CSA pick up 2

2011-06-08T17:35:00.003-05:00

No pictures this week, I forgot before I started prepping everything for storage/eating. So what was in the bag this week? Lettuce, lettuce, and more lettuce. Literally three types. Also radishes (this time the fancy French breakfast kind that you can't get in stores), green onions, green garlic, tarragon, white turnips, and...strawberries! They were so little and cute we ended up just eating them plain before, during, and after dinner. The green onions were immediately turned into a Spicy Sesame Noodle dish, which I loved but others were not so keen on cold noodles (I'm growing Thai basil on my balcony).

Last week I was pretty successful in using up everything. Some of the green garlic and onions were tossed and ashamedly a bit of asparagus was. It got left at Mandi's house and I kept forgetting to retrieve it and they aren't veggie fans. The real hit was with a Rhubarb and Raspberry Crostata. I loved the crust; I want to try to to use it with other filling combos. I just roasted last week's radishes. I hope to give this week's a more unusual treatment.

So far, so good. I'm anxious to get out of lettuce season and on to the more substantial items, but eating seasonally is part of the game.

Eating Good in the Neighborhood

2011-05-25T18:30:00.004-05:00

In an effort to be more like my hippie Madison friends, I joined a CSA (community supported agriculture). I signed up for a half share of veggies through the Good Earth Food Alliance. Every other Tuesday for the next 20 weeks I'll go pick up a box of locally grown vegetables, herbs and occasionally fruit. My first pick up was yesterday and I'm overloaded. The haul included green onions, scallions (rare to see true scallions in the store), chives, rhubarb, asparagus, Napa cabbage, salad greens, radishes, and broccoli rabe. We grilled up the asparagus last night and tonight I downed the broccoli rabe. Can't say I loved the broccoli rabe, but that is the nature of the CSA. You just have to roll with what you get and embrace eating seasonally and being adventurous. I'm quite excited about it. Tomorrow night will be a Thai shrimp soup to use up the green onions and cabbage and there will probably be a raspberry rhubarb tart this weekend. Hopefully I can keep up this level of enthusiasm all summer :)

True Confession

2011-05-15T20:32:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I like to bury my face in the white fur on her chest. That is so gross, but she is so damn soft and lovable. Who am I?

Graduation Present

2011-03-16T22:27:00.006-05:00

So for the past 8 weeks I've been taking Intro to Therapeutic Massage at the local community college. I toyed with the idea of becoming a licensed massage therapist, so I could work nights and weekends for fun money. Turns out enrolling in the program commits you to 6 hours every Saturday for a year. Not really what I had in mind. I wish I could keep going for 3 hours a night on Wednesday for 2 years, but, alas, that track does not exist. But I definitely want to be able to give friends and family one step up from a regular back rub and showcase my new edumacation, hence my "graduation" present to myself, a real table. I love, love, love it. It is portable, well as portable as a giant table can be for a 5'1" person. Mandi got to be the first Guinea pig and she really enjoyed it. She has never had a real massage, so she has nothing to compare it to, but it was relaxing and felt good so I'll call that a success. I find the process of massaging relaxing so it was a win win. I'm taking appointments now ;)

Blizzard!!! Yay!!!

2011-02-02T10:01:00.004-06:00

So I've got a Snow Day today. Yay! Well yay for now until I have to try to drive in it tomorrow. I love walking in the snow. I can't wait until the weekend and I can go tromping through the woods. The drift in front of my front door is 33 inches. I loved busting through it. It was clear I was the first person out and about this morning and it was very eerie. I can see a main Peoria artery and the Interstate from my apartment and there weren't any cars on them. When I was scooping my car out a maintenance truck drove up and asked me if I was planning on going anywhere. I told him no, and he was like good, you won't make it past the stop light. Good to know. He thought they would have everything plowed by this afternoon. I remain skeptical.

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T19:04:00.002-06:00

Another one bites the dust. 2010 included such fun times as getting an I-pass and heading up to the suburbs, getting back to geocaching, buying a swimsuit and sitting in a hot tub for the first time in decades. It is a wild and crazy life I live kids. I've also kind of fell in love with house plants. My one aloe has turned into a collection of succulents, growing herbs under a grow light and trying to force a bulb. I also have taken a liking to winter hiking. It is so much better than hiking in the summer. I like how cold and peaceful it is, the snowier the better. I think by the end of January there'll be enough sunlight to go regularly after work. I need to soak it up while I can; I know when it warms up it will lose its appeal.

Health and Wellness wise I did a couple of cycles of P90X and Insanity. Hardest things I've done fitness wise for sure. I was in a super intense 2 a day workout cycle for a couple of months, but that just made me tired and hungry. So I've quit cardio and settled into a strength training routine using the P90X discs. Sad to say I'm still a bit gigglier than I was a year ago, gluten is the devil man. And sugar, sugar is also the devil. But on a positive note, I am wicked strong. Seriously, I can kick your ass. I can do a really nice pull up and my arms and back are jacked. Here's to 2011 including way less junk food and 30lb dumbbells.

What else is in store for 2011? A class at the local community college in massage therapy, possibly volunteering as a non skating official for the local roller derby league, and the bittersweet return to Internet dating. Lots to look forward too!

Happy Birthday To Me (Almost)

2010-10-25T20:06:00.008-05:00

So my birthday week is well underway, Wednesday I will be "almost 30" to quote my mother. Thanks a lot lady! Hey, you're almost 50. For the record, I'm turning 29 for the first time. My week started with a surprise trip from Xena from Singapore. Crazy, huh? We partied hardy at Bear and Yoshie's house Friday night and shopped till we dropped Saturday. It was super fun, a $1200 car repair bill was a bit of a mood killer, but I tried to shake it off as best I could.

I hate the dealership, those bastards. According to S I only got screwed out of $335, so that's good, I guess. Saturday night was ROLLER DERBY!!!!. I loved it so much. VIP tickets are the way to go. I would be willing to pay another couple of bucks per person if I could be guaranteed the seats that we had this time. They have try outs November 9, maybe Bear and I give it a go. Really, we just want to ride the bench in our Hot Topic costumes.

Sunday was a trip to Grandma's for a potluck and ice cream cake. S opted not to go, he had had enough of me and my family by then :)

Yesterday flowers from my mom arrived, they are purples, pinks, and blues. Gorgeous as usual. Becks does a great job. Then flowers from S arrived today. It is a very pretty fall bouquet. There are a couple of really interesting blooms and the vase is a lovely chotchkie :)I'm such a lucky gal. The fun keeps rolling on with a birthday lunch and shopping with mom and dad on tomorrow afternoon and a Here Come The Mummies concert in the evening.

Labor Day 2010

2010-09-07T18:37:00.005-05:00

A great success. Let's see if this slideshow of my day is as successful. Thanks to Bear for photo documenting the day.

Success!

2010-08-30T16:55:00.003-05:00

Sweat matted hair, no makeup, and uni-boob, one sexy look for a 4th date huh? Date 2 involved geocaching on a well-traveled walking trail. It was super successful. S is a natural and he requested doing harder ones in the future, “something more in the forest.” The fear of him raping and murdering me has passed, so into the forest we went. Geocaches are rated using a 1-5 scale for difficulty/terrain. I generally stick to 2/2s and below. Well Sunday morning we went after a 3/3. The notes online said if we came at it from the wrong direction it would be a 3/4.5.

Oh my God, we must have come at it from the wrong direction 4 times over. At one point I was on my hands and knees climbing up a muddy, basically vertical, creek bed. There were frogs. It was so hot and exhausting. We spent an hour climbing around within a tenth of a mile of the cache. We finally ended up on the right ridge and then the “distance to point” numbers on the GPS began dropping like a rock. I started squealing, “That fallen tree, that fallen tree, it has to be there,” I staggered over and collapsed on the tree. At this point I don’t really know my name, the date or the current president. I rolled over and sat up on the log , 5 seconds later he sits down next to me and puts the cache on my lap. It was stuck in the end of the log. It took us an hour and forty five minutes to trek to within 200ft and then 5 seconds to find it. We rested for 5 minutes, finished the Gatorade and then started the hike out. It was better going out, but still took another 30 minutes. I was dead, but it was a real sense of accomplishment. There is no way pre P90X and Insanity I would have been able to make it. There was so much climbing and balancing, my quads and lower back were on fire.

Post a 45 minute break to get cleaned up, we went to The Sterling Family Restaurant for breakfast. I celebrated with a gyro omelet, hash browns, rye toast, and a quarter of a sweet potato waffle. If they would have had a cinnamon roll I would have ordered that too (that was the only disappointment with Sterling Family). I’d go through it again to eat that breakfast guilt free :) Two thumbs up.

New Toys

2010-07-25T09:12:00.006-05:00

When I first started The 30 Day Shred over a year ago, I didn't have shoes to wear in the house. So I just didn't wear any. Eventually I started developing callouses on the ends of my toes from doing push ups. I drug my feet (ha) on purchasing shoes because I can be really cheap if I just don't care about something. I finally bought shoes when every single toe was jacked up. I wish I hadn't waited so long, those callouses are taking forever to Ped Egg off. So when I started noticing callouses on my hands from weightlifting/pull ups, I knew not to dick around. I do not want my hands looking like my toes. Enter in these babies. The cheapest ones they had, and green, my favorite color, to boot.

Well I have come a long way from the days of The 30 Day Shred, because then I bought a heart rate monitor. I have started doing cardio interval training and apparently I need to be "in the zone." I think if I feel like I'm going to die, I must be "in the zone." But if knowing exactly how close to exploding my heart is will make this work better; I'm in. So I picked up a monitor. It has continuous monitoring. Basically that function allows me to sit on the couch and try to get my heart rate as low as possible. I feel I am not using the product as intended, but it is addictive. I hit 43 beats a minute at one point, hahaha, me and Lance Armstrong baby!

The Giant Cookie

2010-07-04T10:43:00.003-05:00

On my way home from work I pass a sign for The Giant Cookie on Knoxville Ave. It is a really nice sign, it jumps out with a great logo. A Giant Cookie smiling and wearing a chef's hat advertising homemade cookies, ice cream and ice cream cakes. I never stopped because I'm usually in a rush to get home to get P90X underway (exercise mention in a post about gorging on cookies). A few weeks ago I noticed the same sign at 2244 West Glen Avenue. It is in the strip mall just east of the intersection of Glen and War Memorial. That worked out for me to stop because I'm over there Saturday mornings. Basically The Giant Cookie rocks my face off.

The cookies are indeed giant. Family favorites include Butterfinger and Turtle. She usually has well over a dozen flavors to choose from. I think the cookies are $1.25 each, buy 6 get one free. For $5.95 you should get a "mini ice cream cake" It is essentially 2-3 cookies layered with ice cream and homemade toppings. They come in chocolate chip, praline, and peanut butter. Unfortunately they have been out of peanut butter both times I've been in. I think that will end up being Yoshie and mine's favorite. Right now Yoshie prefers chocolate chip while Bear and I love the Praline.

She also sells ice cream by the scoop, and has a few different flavors. I think you can get a Blizzard type item too. I've never done this because I'm usually getting my treats to go. I'm guessing they are probably just as delicious as everything else. One little nit-pick, there is no seating. So you would just kind of have to stand around to eat your ice cream.

I don't think the Knoxville spot is occupied anymore, but I've never asked her. I love that I've only been in there twice, a couple of weeks apart but she remembered who I was and asked if the people at the party loved the cookies. I had to lie, Bear, Yoshie, and I demolished all the cookies before said party. They didn't know what they missed. I'm a little worried that she only remembers me because she doesn't have that many customers. So I'm trying to get the word out. The Giant Cookie is a great local business.

Unrelated to the quality of the food product, I love that she loves her logo. It is embroidered on the polo she wears and she puts a sticker of it on the ice cream cake containers. It is just a really nice operation.

Green Thumb

2010-06-05T23:44:00.012-05:00

So I was inspired by my sister's garden adventures and decided to get my horticulture on. Actually, I was inspired by the guilt of keeping a 2ft across aloe plant in a 6 inch pot. That's the beauty of an aloe, you don't water it, keep it in a dark room, in a too small pot and it it just keeps on ticking.

I love succulents. They remind me of Grandma Gryp's home in Geneseo, she had a bunch of Hens and Chickens. So when I ran across a magazine picture of a bunch of succulents in a dish it caught my eye. I decided to recreate it. Bear was skeptical. In fact she was creeped out. Hens and Chickens make her skin crawl. Unfortunately I lost the picture, so I couldn't show her how cool and mod some succulents look. She was a good sport and quickly came around. She actually found me the PERFECT pot at JoAnn's, it is 17 inches across but only 8 inches deep, and a lovely slate gray. It took Bear and I 6 stops at 4 garden centers to make 3 purchases. We love a good treasure hunt. This fed our obsessive compulsive nature like none other. We got to hem and haw and drive in circles to make sure we got it just right. And we did. I give it a 10 out of 1o. Seriously, that never happens. Our life motto is, "I wish...." followed by a nit pick. No wishing here. Love It! Love it so much it got moved from its original home of my bedroom and out on to the dinner room table. Not only did the aloe get breathing room it is now going to have sunlight. Upgrade!

Happy Birthday Xena

2010-05-12T16:33:00.003-05:00

Xena, consider this a birthday present for you. So what have I been doing? Umm, not much, hence the lack of blog posts. It is day 45, the half way point of P90X for me, woot woot. Is it working? Yes. Do I look like the infomercial? No. I don't follow the recommended diet plan, so I can't complain. My thighs feel a bit firmer and my stomach does as well. I should have taken measurements and pictures before I started. There is increased definition in my arms, back, and shoulders. And there must be some general change in my torso shape, because when shopping for new clothes I can fit into small shirts about as often as mediums now. However, this is kind of a mystery because my bra size remains frustratingly static. How is that possible? Shouldn't I at least be seeing a decrease in the band size, if not the cup size? I guess I shouldn't complain too much, if the band size did decrease without a corresponding decrease in cup size, I'd be off into unknown letters of the alphabet. Seriously, my whole goal was to get The Rack down to something approaching normal and it just won't shrink. Gee I wonder if it is all the god damn peanut butter and chocolate chips I eat or that P90X is primarily a strength training program and not a weight loss program? Nah, it is because the universe hates me.

So this is the dilemma. I really like P90X because I get off on lifting heavy stuff and I hate cardio. But, if I really want to lift the ultimate heavy thing, me, then I need to lean out. That's right, I'm back to wanting to do a pull up. Problem is, according to the internets I need to drop another 25lbs for this to be realistic. It is kind of sad that I look like an elf, and it is still not enough. Is it realistic for me to get lean? Debatable. It isn't going to happen doing P90X, that is for sure. The 15lbs stuck on my chest is impervious to P90X. The internets says I should start doing the Shaun T Insanity workouts in place of the P90X cardio days to burn more calories. If you told me a couple of years ago I would be ordering exercise programs off of the TV I would have laughed in your face and said screw that I'll be getting the Ron Popiel Food Dehydrator. My sisters and I have wanted that since the early 90s:) Did you know that his daughter Lauren, the one who makes the strawberry fruit roll up with her friend in the infomercial, (she is about 12 at the time) ended up dating Justin Timberlake for a minute a few years ago. How funny is that? So yeah, to lean or not to lean, that is the question. I'm going keep on, keeping on, and at the end of 90 days we'll see where I'm at strength wise. If I don't think the strength is there, I'm not going to bother trying to get lean. If I can do the negative move (lower myself down from the bar in a controlled manner) then I'll probably dive into Insanity, how very appropriate:) So there you have it, Happy Birthday!

Jigga Whaaa?

2010-01-23T18:13:00.002-06:00

So I just read a list of 10 "Best New Romantic Getaways" According to Bon Appetit you should "Liven up your winter with a quick trip to these spots that have stellar food, a warm welcome, and a certain off-the-beaten-path appear." On that list....june in Peoria Heights....I mean I am sure it is great restaurant and I am all about the Peoria area getting some good press, but come on! What the heck about Central Illinois screams romantic getaway? I can support the off-the-beaten path aspect, but romantic getaway, ummm not so much.

Evenings with my yenta

2010-01-13T20:26:00.003-06:00

So part of the greiving process is spending every non working moment with my sister. Really, not that much different than normal. Bear and I have been working on getting back on the horse...that horse being match.com. Remember when eharmony called me an asshole? Oh, yeah I remember. So Bear has some highlights over at her blog, you should check it out.

New Year's Post

2010-01-06T16:38:00.004-06:00

So I have been inspired by Sister Bear to look back at 2009 and name my top 3 events. Suffice to say, 2009 was was real roller coaster.

1. I got unfat and Shredded. In fairness that process started in 2008, but the most intense work was done in the beginning of 2009. "Moderation" in 2008 took me from obese to overweight, but I wanted to be average. The light bulb came on, if I was going to eat in "moderation" I was always going to be moderately fat. I am 5'1", my resting pulse is 54 beats, my blood pressure is 106/62, even my breathing is slow! I have no metabolism. So 2009 started with calorie restriction (carefully monitoring fiber, protein, calcium and taking a multivitamin) which finally made the unfat goal (BMI in the average range) obtained around June of 2009. 70 lbs gone. From on my way to morbid obesity to average. Yay average! I started The 30 Day Shred. I still do it almost everyday and lost another 5lbs and gained a ton of muscle. Pretty crazy, from quickly approaching a size 20 down to a size 2 jeans by August of 2009. I don't care if that is vain, you can suck it. The world is a much nicer place when you are thin. It is unfortunate, but that is reality. I do have much more energy, my cholesterol levels are insanely awesome, and I am very strong if that makes you feel better :) Sometimes I flirt with the idea of losing the last 25lbs to get lean enough to do a pull up, but let's face it, my face would just get more hatchet-like, my butt would get flatter, and I'd still have a ginormous rack. You can't fight genetics. So I am working on maintaining, well in truthfulness getting the 5 holiday pounds back off. Goal for 2010, stay vigilant.

2. Bear moved to town in June. Yay Bear! I love her and Yoshie dearly. I can't imagine not living next to them ever again. She just provides so much companionship, support, and help. Any task I have to do, she will help and it will go more than twice as fast. Yoshie is always good for a laugh. Bear and I are high strung and his levity is good for us. I am so glad that we are growing as friends. My sister is now one of my Besties. Goal for 2010, convince Tottie to move to Peoria too :)

3. Fall of 2009, fell in love, awww. It was very fun and all encompassing and a real learning experience. Unfortunately, the beginning of 2010 has left me pondering the old question, "Is it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?" And that sucks, hardcore. I'm still in the grief stage, but life goes on. I can't let this define my 2010. Goal for 2010, find a new man. Well men, you can't stick with the rebound :)

So that's my top three. Not mentioned were getting the new apartment in October (yay), Xena moving to Singaport in August (boo), getting really good feedback at work including a raise despite a wage freeze (yay, but still boo cause they took away the 401k match and have announced more of the same in 2010). Here's hoping for more yays than boos in 2010.

For Xena in Singapatch

2009-12-27T13:36:00.012-06:00

Some pics of the semi new apartment. I love it. I should have moved eons ago. Got my first utility bill...$28, hahaha, for the whole month. I only have to pay electric. How am I ever going to buy a house? Seriously $28 and I can take as many long hot showers and keep the thermostat up as high as I want. Note: I do not waste too many resources :) When you first walk in, you face the bathroom. The laundry room (yes a whole room) is on the left and the little hall to the bedroom is on the right.

Finally I have a headboard like a real person. I love it. It is gray, velvet, and tufted. Unfortunately it looks too classy for my duvet cover. So I am on the hunt for a new one. Also the bedside table is going. I found the perfect thing at Macys online. However they won't ship to Peoria and it costs $80 to ship to Bear's Mother in Law in Springfield. Get with the times Macys, ship to store. I am sure a truck comes to Peoria put my shit on it and if the truck is already going to Springfield don't charge me $80, let me come get it at the store.Walk in closet, Yay!
Turning left and looking into the main area. Kitchen on the left, dining room table, aka junk catcher on the right. Living room straight ahead. The giant window is a slider out to a tiny balcony. It was too bright for a good pic. For the first time in 11 days the sun is shining.

Tiny kitchen, that actually is perfect sized, because of the tons of counter space, good amount of cabinets and small floor to mop. Oh that's right, I actually mop floors now. I have turned over a new non dirty leaf.

Standing with my back to the slider. There's your chair. Normally the yoga mat isn't in it, but I had just vacuumed. Oh yeah, vacuuming.

So request fulfilled. Now maybe in 2 months I will post some Christmas pics.

It is Christmas Time!

2009-11-26T20:14:00.005-06:00

So I have a new apartment. I should have moved the week after Trompy moved in 2 years ago. It is so quiet here. I am on the top floor. I am now the Tromper, and I love it. In preparation for the move, I got rid of a lot of junk. I am living much lighter in a many aspects of my life these days. However, for Christmas I need a little bit of "stuff." This is my Christmas tree. It is a little light up ceramic version that is similar to the one my Great Aunt Mildred had. I have some fond memories of her from when I was little. She always had her ceramic tree displayed with little plastic deer. Not reindeer, regular ones. So that is what I have too. Hers was set out on a cheesy, white, cotton batting roll with glitter. That is hard to find these days, so I have cheesy, white, "angel hair" instead. It is very fun. The perfect amount of Christmas.

Someday I Will Laugh About This, Just Not Today

2009-10-25T19:15:00.004-05:00

So God smoted me, karma kicked my ass, whatever it was, a large portion of my hair was burned beyond recognition late Thursday night. My straightener malfunctioned and I didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. It is pretty horrific. There is nothing to be done. You can't un denature proteins. Such is life, and it is my life for six to eight months...It can look okay from a distance if there is enough assorted gels on what is left of it, but the texture, oh the texture. What a way to start my 28th year. I am trying to get over it. I don't have The Cancer, it will grow back. But damn, it sucks. I haven't burst into tears over it in almost 24 hours, so that is progress. We will see how getting ready for work tomorrow goes. For a more humorous look at the incident head here.

Hey An Actual Post

2009-09-27T12:08:00.004-05:00

So all's been quiet on the blogging front. When the rules are no blogging about work and no bitching about people who read your blog it is easy to hit a dry spell :) But this weekend I did get in the kitchen and do something fun. Friday was couples dinner party at Yoshie and Bear's, muy divertido. I got to get my cook on and the other half of my couple got to play Gears of War 2 with Yoshie (I met him through Yoshie). It really couldn't have gone poorly. So what did I choose for the big event? Keep in mind Bear only eats chicken as the protein, Yoshie only eats meat and bread, and the other half of my couple is lactose intolerant. I avoid gluten and sugar, but for special occasions (like the month of September), I indulge (hello 5lbs). So here is the menu:

Chicken Sandwich with Caramelized Onions and Paprika Aioli

This was an excellent sandwich. Kroger didn't have sourdough rolls, so we had to use sourdough bread. Not quite as classy but I got over it. The flavored mayo was delicious. Bear is a jerk and refuses to let me buy her a grill so our chicken breasts were brined and then broiled. They stayed really moist. That was the first time I bothered to brine chicken breasts, and for broiling it was so worth it.

Roasted Fingerling With Red and Yellow Piperade

Also a big winner. The only thing I would do differently is use less oil on the pan. They were a little oily for my taste. I also went light on the parsley and basil, I didn't want to scare away the less adventurous. I didn't pour the Champagne vinegar over the potatoes because I wasn't sure how it would go over. I just left it up to the individual. I was the only one who opted too...to bad suckers it really made the dish. It didn't make them taste vinegary, just better. I had to use red potatoes because Krogers produce section blows and their fingerling potatoes were all leathery and had a sell by date of 2 days prior...Krogers produce really has been letting me down lately. The basil was all brown. The red potatoes I did get weren't the greatest. It has been like this for awhile. I think I will have to stop at Schnucks on the way home from work if this keeps up.

Since Bear and Yoshie aren't veggie people I went with what my couple wanted, "crispy green beans" basically any version of green bean that hasn't really been cooked. Pretty easy. Sauteed some garlic in olive oil. Threw the green beans in the pan, splashed in some water, clamped the lid on so they steamed for a minute to get the chill off of them. Perfectly not well done green beans.

Bear was in charge of dessert and she made some peanut butter cookies, honestly they were the hit of the party. The menfolk inhaled them. It is a good thing I get enjoyment out of the process of cooking rather than the end results, otherwise with this crowd I could set out some Chicken Helper, let Bear make cookies, and get the same end result.

Tipping Point

2009-08-09T16:32:00.002-05:00

So apparently when you are 5'1" there is a weight point when people think they can pick you up. I must have hit it around Friday since I have been picked up twice since then. Prior to that I had not been picked up since....oh first grade-ish. I am not sure how I feel about this. Yeah it nice to see that being "up in the gym just working on my fitness" (tm Fergie) has paid off. Yet, having both feet off the floor is a little disconcerting. Now I will say, these were people I care about doing the lifting, so over all it was a positive feeling. But dude, the first time some Random tries to lift my elfin self I am busting out the Shred muscles and kicking their ass.

So What Have I Been Doing?

2009-07-19T12:56:00.002-05:00

Cleaning out my closet...literally and metaphorically. Much love to Bear and Aimers for helping with the heavy lifting in its various forms. You gals are the best. Also, can I just say how much I love having matching wooden hangers? It makes me feel very zen.

Two Faced

2009-06-16T16:52:00.003-05:00

So on the left is me left to my own devices. Can you say "HATCHET FACE"? On the right is after my lovely sister intervened, channeled her inner Tyra Banks, and told me "Know your angles, chin down, and shoulders back." I think Tyra would be really proud, much less hatchety in take 2.

My Summer Vacation by Vanilla Bean Counter

2009-06-14T20:50:00.004-05:00

The Good: Gorgeous weather. Found a couple of geocaches. Circus World was pretty entertaining and everyone had a good time. Gluten Free birthday cake from The Silly Yak bakery. Glamor shots for match.com were obtained. Carefully posed and selection to make me look as fun and interesting as possible. I've decided to go the false advertising route, a little bait and switch action. Laoation is always so tasty. Sleeping on S's couch vs Aimers' (Sorry Aimers, much love for you, but not your couch. But really, I am damn near 30 years old, maybe I should spring for a hotel room). Live music on The Terrace Saturday night.

The Bad: No babies in slings sightings, none! The planks ("hash browns") at The Dairy Barn. Picking Caramel Cappuccino instead of my usual Butter Pecan. The freaking roads in Illinois. Little Puppy Maia was not along for Circus World. She will have to be photo shopped into the Christmas card. Having to watch animals perform unnatural behaviors. Elephants aren't supposed to roll on balls!

The Ugly: My legs, oh the damage the mosquitoes did. Geocaching in shorts, dumbest move I have made in awhile.

Best Laid Plans

2009-06-08T20:01:00.003-05:00

Friday was a beautiful evening in Peoria. Xena and I, in an effort to eat healthier, decided to cook tacos at her house rather than going to Jalapeno's. That was all well and good until my will power broke down and I had "just a half glass" of Cuervo already mixed Margarita. I hardly ever drink, but that Margarita was good. Xena, realizing the rarity of the event started having more as well. Before I knew it, I was like 6 half glasses gone and we were moving our party of two out to the roof top deck. There we inhaled a bag of baked Tostitos, half a jar of queso, and the entire handle of Margarita while listening to R & B/hip hop/pop hits from the late 90's early 00's. Good thing we decided to be healthy, right?

Although if we hadn't done that we would have missed the excellent fireworks show. From the deck you can see the fireworks from the baseball field, but Friday night there were additional fireworks just south of the Bob Michael Bridge. The show went on for over 20 minutes. Not just random amateurs, an actual coordinated show. I have no idea what it would have been for or who paid for it. Google fails me. Anyone local know what those fireworks were about?

I Got Nothing

2009-05-27T19:33:00.003-05:00

I am so freaking bored. I don't know if I have more energy these days or what, but man I have never been so bored in my life. Bear and Yosh will be arriving in a couple of weeks, so that will be nice. They are fun people, well Yosh is :)

In a couple of weeks I will be going to see my beloved Madison (and her inhabitants) for a long weekend. That is always a good time. Mixing things up a bit with a quick side trip to the Circus World Museum in lovely Baraboo, WI with my family. We all happen to be in Wisconsin at the same time so we thought why not meet up for some circus fun (Mom LOVES anything circus). Well Tottie and RR will not already be in Wisconsin. They have to drive from Iowa City Saturday morning; sucks to be them. But they are abandoning us for Arizona so we have already begun passive aggressively punishing them. Some people go to Disney for a week with their families; we squeeze in a Saturday in Wisconsin. Really, we see each other all the damn time, so no need for extended meet ups away from home. I am kind of bummed about missing the Farmer's Market in Madison on Saturday, no fresh cheese curds for me. Although I am looking forward to fetalicious pizza and board games upon my return. (Did you get that Aimers, make it happen).

Reflections on Tottie's Graduation

2009-05-17T19:47:00.004-05:00

1. The ASL sign for "robot,' looks like the robot dance. Seeing a chubby, middle aged woman doing the robot in the middle of a boring speech is hysterical.

2. For some jacked up reason the alphabet in Iowa ends with the letter 'G'

3. The Iowa Power Company made me miss The River Station.

4. Grandpa G kind of has a lead foot. After hour 2 in the car and hour 6 sitting on my ass in general; it was greatly appreciated.

5. There are some really shitty roads in Illinois.

6. Peoria needs a Von Maur, their bathrooms are always so clean.

Greekalicious Update

2009-05-14T21:12:00.002-05:00

The Romanian sweet was excellent, almost like a bar cookie with an apricot filling. I love apricot, it was softer too, possibly made with semolina instead of white flour. It was kind of yellowish. The spinach pie was awesome. I should have gotten the spinach pie dinner rather than the gyro dinner and one a la cart pie. The gyro was very good, but really I just love spinach pie. I could have eaten a whole tray of them. So if you are local, get over there before it is over Saturday evening.

Greekalicious

2009-05-13T20:02:00.003-05:00

If you're in Peoria, head over to All Saints Greek Orthodox Church for their delicious Greek Food Festival this weekend. Xena and I have been going for 5 years and we are always pretty pleased. This will be our last time getting to go together. Xena is leaving for Singapore at the end of the summer, sob. We will have do a celebratory shot of ouzo. Seriously they sell shots of ouzo. I think this is the first time the flier has mentioned Romanian sweets, must be a new family in the congregation :)

Bad Hippie

2009-05-02T13:33:00.002-05:00

Hypothetical question. Say you realize in the parking lot of the Hippie Grocery Store the only cloth bag you have with you is the Walmart one you were gifted by your 8 year old cousin. What is the bigger sin, carrying a Walmart bag in the Hippie Grocery Store or getting plastic? Not that this has happened to me the last two times I have been to the Hippie Grocery Store or anything.

Busted!

2009-04-29T18:54:00.002-05:00

So I am obsessive, not so much compulsive but definitely obsessive. I think about everything, get stuck in "analysis paralysis," etc. This whole online dating thing is the latest obsession. It manifests itself in frequently checking the same profiles over and over saying to myself, "See there are normal people out there. You should do this." Sending my friends my user name and password to have them log in and view profiles of "normal ones," to give an opinion. Currently my profile is hidden while I get a decent pic. But because of a glitch on my part, my profile was visible for a couple of hours Sunday morning. When I went to fix it, I noticed that when you are visible you can see who has viewed your profile. Yeah, so all the "normal ones" that I have been obsessively clicking on and having everyone and their brother clicking on using my name can totally see that. So all of the "normal ones" totally have me filed under the "not normal ones," aka potential stalker. Ooopsie.

Eharmony Says I am an Asshole

2009-04-21T20:52:00.003-05:00

"Your emphasis on personal independence and personal responsibility may seem to lack in compassion to some people. Undoubtedly you have encountered people who feel this way toward you. And some may find you to be rather selfish. You do stay focused on your own life, take responsibility for your own problems, and are not always moved by situations in which some people think some action is required. That is part of you and your basic beliefs about life. And some people will inevitably want you to be different, but that is simply not who you are."

I feel the label is going to hamper my ability to get matched with non-assholes. Guess I should fire up a match.com profile. There is no judgment over there, unless of course you have a swastika tattoo on your face.

You Snooze You Lose

2009-04-19T16:45:00.002-05:00

So the casita sold in 4 days! Seriously it was listed Tuesday and was pending Friday. I guess someone else thought it was a good deal too, only they hopped on the horn and made it happen. I hope they love her and treat her right, and don't tear down the too small, but matching garage!

Me Casa Es Su Casa?

2009-04-16T18:46:00.006-05:00

So now that Bear and Yosh are parked in West Peoria for 3 years, I have re focused my efforts on finding a home in Peoria. I am trying to lower my expectations. I know I am very particular, and really that doesn't do me many favors in life. One of the great things Peoria has going for it is its older housing stock, particularly if you love bungalows as I do. Seriously, I love bungalows like some people love orphaned children. I want to scoop them all up and give them all good homes, free of vinyl and inappropriate windows. My favorites are the dark brick Craftsmans, but there are some California and Tudor cuties too. Really what calls my name is when the garage matches the house. Love that. Guess what just just came on the market in West Peoria, this loverly Spanish Colonial Revival (I think) bungalow, very unusual. I was going to say rare, but what is really rare is that Streamline Moderne that you can see off of Sheridan. Anyway this house is kind of a gem and are you ready for it....the garage matches. Unfortunately it looks like the garage is too small to park in. But I am still very curious. It is in the 2000 block of Barker. Anybody familiar with West Peoria want to tell me what is wrong with the location. They are only asking 70,000 and that seems too good to be true.

Easter Wrap Up

2009-04-12T19:29:00.003-05:00

Easter was quite delightful. Tottie made an appearance and the food was delicious. Unfortunately the dessert I made blew. This is not good, I don't understand the 4 forks rating. The white chocolate part was okay, but the lemon mousse was odd tasting. I probably just don't like lemon curd. My trifle bowl wasn't big enough, mussing up the layers and the fruit to mousse ratio. Oh well live and learn. These were very good. They cost an arm and a leg because you can only buy crab meat in a 1 pound can at Dixon's ($33.15/can). So I don't know if I would make them again because it was a lot of filler of cream cheese, panko, etc and when you spend that much on the crab you really want it to be the star. I made these two butters to go with the roasted asparagus. I really liked the horseradish one, and it will be great on leftover ham sandwiches. The Parmesan one is just okay. I don't think I would make it again. I only had 14 bucks a pound Parmesan in the fridge and it was wasted in this. By the looks of this menu the recession hasn't hit the Vanilla Bean Counter pantry. Really, I had already been to Kroger twice on Saturday when I realized I didn't have a tub of the already grated stuff. I just couldn't will myself to go back.

My youngest cousins are farm kids. Last year they were showing only pigs. Well this year they each have a goat. Oh my gosh the goats are freakin' adorable. I kind of want a goat. I am a dumb ass and didn't get any pics. I always forget I have my camera in the car. Google "Boer Goat babies" for the visual. Their ears are so fun. They seemed to have colds, they were sneezing and kind of snot/drooling all over. I hope I didn't catch Goat Flu or rabies.

Dear Trompy's Girlfriend,

2009-04-09T20:41:00.003-05:00

I love Mariah Carey's Fantasy too. I get it, fun song to sing along to. However, I have enough sense to just stop when she gets into the whistle octave. Apparently you don't have that sense. So I am telling you shut the fuck up, you sound like a howler monkey.

There's Someone For Everyone

2009-04-08T16:53:00.000-05:00

So sometimes when I get bored I enjoy perusing the popular match making sites, to see what's out there in Peoria. Sometimes I lament being a big chicken and not just jumping right in. However, there are days like today when hanging out on the sidelines seems like a very wise choice. I would love to link to one of the potential suitors out there so you can get the visual, but frankly, I am afraid. You see this gentlemen has a loverly swastika tattooed on his face. But he would like you "not to judge" him. Seriously. Dude, YOU DID THAT TO YOURSELF. It isn't like it is some unfortunate birthmark. How can we not judge you? He does confess that his facial tattoo "rubs some people the wrong way." I feel like even klans men are like, "Ummm, we wear hoods so we can still get jobs, what angle are you working?"

Norton AntiVirus Can Suck It

2009-04-02T19:17:00.003-05:00

You "auto renewed"for shitty software that I haven't used in 2 years. Unauthorized credit card charges are not cool, especially when it takes an hour of my life to get it reversed. Even more enraging is the section on your website dedicated to trying to convince people that they should just download the software you charged them for rather than get a refund. Apparently this is your standard MO, just charge people and hope they don't notice or don't have the time to fight it out with you. You can suck it.

It is April You Fool

2009-04-01T16:53:00.000-05:00

I am the most gullible person on the face of the Earth. I know that. Every year I am fooled, many times throughout the day, even though I wake up and say "It is April 1 do not believe anything you hear, read, or see". I still get tricked. Usually it is only for a few seconds, the amount of time it takes for my mind to remember the mantra apparently. For pity's sake I always get tripped up by NPR's joke story. So please be kind to fools like me. Most of us know what day it is, we just can't help ourselves.

It is Party Time!

2009-03-28T20:20:00.006-05:00

My parents made many sacrifices so my sisters and I could go to college where ever we wanted and graduate with only medium debt as opposed to soul crushing debt. My baby sis graduates this spring so my parents are officially rollin' in the dough. Well not so much, but at least their children are done mooching off of them, and they can start losing their money in a 401k like everyone else. My dad did joke that they didn't lose their retirement savings because it is stored safely in our heads. Good luck making a withdraw on that when it is time to pay the State Home. I kid, I kid they are totally going to live in Bear's pool house; she is very patient. So as a gesture of our appreciation we are throwing them a party Sunday. What do you have at a thank you for putting your life on hold party, why the guests of honor favorite foods of course. So at this party we will be having:

Almond Shrimp via Kalofagos (subbed sorghum for wheat and added a bit more milk)
Southwestern Egg rolls (with wrapper courtesy of Gluten Free Gobsmacked)
Little Smokies with Bacon and Brown Sugar (Bear's contribution)
Hot Spinach Dip (Bear's contribution)
Cheese Ball (neufchatel cheese, Old English, Worcestershire, garlic and onion powders, so unrefined yet so delicious)
Onion Rings (soak rings in buttermilk and then toss in equal parts sorghum, tapioca, and white rice)
Chips and Santa Barbara Salsa (gotta support companies with clear gluten free labeling, Kroger's carries many of the varieties and all that I have tried have been tasty for jarred salsa)

Gluten Free Mommy's Sesame Chicken with Jasmine Rice and Broccoli
Snow Peas with Toasted Almonds

Red Velvet Cupcakes from Gluten Free Cooking School (made 1/2 batch into 12 cupcakes)
Gluten Free Mommy's Angel Food Cake (subbed in 1/2 cup of Splenda)

Bear also made a pinata shaped like a piggy bank. Tottie is bringing Little Puppy Maia. If the weather prevents me from driving up to the Quad Cities anyone local is invited over for a Sesame Chicken lunch. I cook allergy and special needs friendly.

I feel pretty, oh so pretty?

2009-03-26T17:15:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago a Macy's sale flier arrive with some perfume/cologne samples included. I love sniffing those things. Really, it could be described as huffing. Smells are a big part of my sensory issues and when they are pleasing smells I love to take it all in. Usually after a few deep inhales I toss the inserts, however this time was different. Pretty by Elizabeth Arden smelled really nice, really really nice. But I feel it might have a tinge of old lady, so I can't decide if I really want to wear it. I have been sniffing it daily for three weeks now. The paper is just about out of juice, and I am no closer to a decision.

I know this seems silly, but what I wear now, Envy by Gucci, I have worn for close to ten years. It is the only perfume I have ever worn, well aside from every woman my age's 5th grade fascination with "Malibu Musk". Back in college I would get complimented on the Envy a lot. As a real grownup there aren't a lot of places that people can tell you that you smell nice without it being creepy. Believe me, I don't want to hear I smell nice now, but I do kind of wonder if Pretty would elicit that kind of response. The smell of Envy is me, and like I said, scent is a huge part of my sensory deal. I can't imagine not smelling like it. I have actually spent time worrying about how I would react if I found out they weren't going to make it anymore. I still love how it smells, but is it possible I love Pretty more? Is it time for a change, do I not want to give up Envy because I am stuck in the past? Now a normal person would just wear both; clearly I am not normal. I like consistency and routine and I like smelling like me. So I need to make a decision, if the two people who read this blog could go get a whiff of Pretty and Envy and let me know what I should do, that would be great.

The Welcome Wagon

2009-03-22T08:20:00.005-05:00

Last Thursday Brother in Law Bear, Yosh, who has been attending medical school in Springfield was matched with a residency program. The plan was for them to move to the Quad Cities to be near my parents. I have been looking for a job up there and would join the party as soon as the economy allowed. Yosh was matched in Peoria. They will have to live here for 3 years.

Yosh is excited because he preferred the Peoria program. Bear is not excited because she is not a Peoria fan. She is not a Peoria fan because I am not a Peoria fan. I have tainted her views. I have lived in Peoria for 5 years. I am over Peoria. When I moved here, I was wowed by the absolutely lovely older housing stock. I don't think Peorians realize how unique a lot of their housing is, and I am not talking about just The Uplands and the historic districts. The number of brick bungalows and cottages is amazing. Older brick homes are rare in the Quad Cities. I believed in the Heart of Peoria plan. I wanted to be a part of the Heart of Peoria.

5 years later, I still have not purchased a home. The first reality check was the "shot fired map". That adorable home on W Arcadia I was lusting after had way too many markers for my living alone single woman comfort. So I shifted my search north. South of War Memorial, closer to Forrest Hill, west of Knoxville. The fringes of the Heart of Peoria, but just up the street from the proposed Sheridan Triangle upgrade. The houses were more expensive, but were in a much more stable neighborhood, not so many rentals, no shots fired.

Then for 5 years the Heart Plan has been ignored, or in the most egregious cases, plainly violated and with the exception of Council Member Gary Sandberg no one with any authority in this town cares. The Sheridan triangle has gone no where. The school district is spiraling down. More money, more problems. Oh sure there are citizens who care. They devote countless hours and dollars trying to make Peoria a better place. I don't know how they keep on keeping on. This city says one thing and does the complete opposite. I am not even that invested and it frustrates me to no end. To continually do the same thing and expect different results is the definition of insanity; Peoria is insane.

I can't take it anymore. This museum nonsense has been the last straw. 40-60million dollars to move a museum we already have down to prime urban real estate is obscene. Urban renewal does not involve zero density. What a waste on so many levels. The city's schools and infrastructure crumble but we keep financing multi million dollar projects designed to attract people to the area. You know what attracts people, jobs and good schools. Beginning, middle, and end of story. Now it is the beginning, middle, and end of Bear and Yosh's story for the next three years and I have ruined the beginning. I am sorry, but at least they won't spend three years watching every one step forward result in 2 steps back.

Welcome to the neighborhood Bear and Yosh, don't buy the into the hype. Just rent, across the river.

Step Away From The GF Pizza Crust

2009-03-16T17:04:00.004-05:00

Dear Family with two adorable girls in Naturally Yours last Saturday morning,

I got the feeling you're new to this whole gluten free thing. What with the excited exclamation of "Oh there's more stuff over here," while circling around to aisle 2 of gluten free goodness. You came to the right store, Naturally Yours has a great selection of GF products and the certified gluten free oats in Dad's hands were a good start. However, the 14.99 for two pizza crusts Mom was carrying are going to seriously disappoint. You will get much better results with making your own. Trust me I know. My gluten free pizza crust recipe will rock your face off. If you are avoiding casein substitute bean flour for the whey protein isolate and use your choice of dairy free "milk". I am sorry my mother conditioned me not to talk to strangers otherwise I could have saved you that 15 bucks and told you about gluten free mommy and gluten free gobsmacked (check the achieves, they are both awaiting babies and are posting less frequently), and if you are casein free too gluten free goddess and book of yum have got you covered. These woman are my go to gluten free authorities. Living the life will suck at first, depending on what you're used to (if you are white bread and Twinkie people, it will suck especially hard), but it will be worth it. There is a lot of tasty food out there that doesn't involved the evil gluten.

Best Wishes,
The woman with the GF tarmari, spilling tapioca starch over by the bulk bins

A Rant: As requested by Xena in Singapore

2009-03-08T08:27:00.003-05:00

Who decided that all spring clothes this season should be peasant tops or tunics? You know some of us would like options with waists, and empire does not count as a waist. Also, when did starting prices get so freakin' high on dress clothes. I think with sales, coupons and waiting you can end up paying about the same, but seriously everything I touched was 89 or 79 dollars and I had no coupons. Which brings me to...

Bergners I only signed up for your credit card to get the freakin' coupons and I still don't get them. Do you know how annoying that is? To show up at the store and see everyone and their brother with coupons and I got zilch. I signed up for a Macy's card to get the coupons and they actually send coupons. But you know what, most of of the time your Macy's card is the coupon. You don't even really need the coupons they send. Bergners, you won't send coupons and your card gives me nothing. If it wasn't for Yellow Dot you would be dead to me.

Why I hate humanity.

2009-03-03T17:28:00.004-06:00

I shit you not, on the way home today, an SUV with the license plate "CURTESY" threw a cigarette butt out the window. I think there is a special place in Hell for that kind of hypocrisy and/or lack of self awareness.

Menutron 3000

2009-02-27T20:11:00.006-06:00

So I have been trying to put together a menu for a party with my immediate family. Jeez, between everyone's legitimate dietary restrictions and their just being picky, I was having a heck of a time. So I entered into the Menutron 3000 all of the parameters to determine the ideal lunch menu. Red items are actual medical conditions, yellow ones are just people being babies, and green are favorites.

Mom
Gluten (due to Celiac's),
Meat with bones, seafood, dark chocolate
Chinese, Mexican, lemon, candy

Dad
anything with spice/garlic/peppers (due to reflux)
seafood, grilled meats, potatoes

Bear
Non chicken Meat, seafood, orange, all veggies except broccoli
Chinese, Mexican, Pasta

Yosh
Chinese, Mexican, vegetables, fruit, dairy
meat, seafood, bread, onion rings

Tottie
Non chicken meat
Chicken Parmasan, spinach dip, french toast

RR lack of intel only confirmed
Chinese
Cheeseburgers

Grandma
refined sugars (due to Diabetes)
everything else in the world.

So what does the Menutron 3000 spit out? Just go to Arby's and call it a day.

E True Hollywood Story

2009-02-21T12:01:00.002-06:00

Mario Lopez? Really? I mean I love AC Slater as much as the gal, but does Mario Lopez really merit a THS special. I think not. I mean I am totally watching it right now but I don't like it one bit.

Sadness

2009-02-18T17:46:00.003-06:00

So yesterday I had to go to a funeral, but the up side was spending the afternoon with my sister Tottie. I don't see Tottie very often, she is the baby and therefore way too cool for the rest of us. But at the funeral, we totally were the coolest people there so she interacted with us. The sadness comes from the fact that Tottie confirmed she is moving to Arizona after graduation in May. Arizona is so far away. I know she doesn't love to play with us all that often, but when she does we have a really good time. It makes me sad that we will only see each other a couple of times a year. I kind of always hoped that she would eventually come around to liking us, but that is never going to happen if she is in Arizona. Even worse news, she is taking my niece puppy, Maia, with her. Sure Tottie will come home for Christmas, but Maia won't fly so she probably will never make it back to Illinois, boooo. I love that Spanador.

Weekend Round Up

2009-02-16T18:09:00.002-06:00

Saturday Xena and I went to watch her brother's track meet in Monmouth, Illinois. It was the most bizarre college campus I have ever seen. All Saturday we did not see one student walking around. It was like a ghost town, very creepy. Monmouth the town looked very nice. There were lots of old, large, well maintained house. A lot of the spiffed up houses weren't even "upgraded" to vinyl. It was very refreshing. Sunday, we ate Spanish cheese, beef tenderloin, roasted potatoes and bread. Of course the bread made me feel gross. If you stop eating most gluten, when you do eat it your GI system is like, "ummm we don't do this anymore." Someday I will learn. My latest gluten free find is Nutty Flax cereal. 3.5g of fiber for a 1 ounce serving. It tastes vaguely like graham crackers. I need to experiment using it in a crumb crust for pies.

Eureka!

2009-02-08T20:16:00.004-06:00

Xena and I went geocaching in Eureka today. And for once we actually found the treasure! The one other time we went, we couldn't find any one of the 3 we were looking for. Today we did so well, we were 3 for 3. It was quite awesome, if not a little cold. Geocaching in cemeteries is actually not as creepy as I thought it would be. It was very peaceful and you didn't have to worry about people wondering what you were doing. However, it was a little creepy when the clue, "the wife was born one year before the husband and died one year after him" lead us to a marker with Xena's name! What are the odds? I didn't get it at first, Xena was like, "Hey it is Xena" and I'm all, "oh yeah such a nice name, more people should use it" and she says "no check the dates, it is this one, it is Xena," Yikers, just a small shiver went down my spine.

25 Random Things About Me

2009-02-03T19:23:00.002-06:00

Because all the cool kids are doing it...

1. I worry about falling down a flight of stairs and knocking out my teeth.
2. I love guacamole.
3. I just bought a rice cooker and am very happy with it. I would recommend getting one.
4. I hate vacuuming. My carpet is very gross. I embarrassed, but not enough to vacuum it.
5. Every other week I make homemade pizza and eat it for 6 days straight.
6. I have been in love with Captain Jean Luc Picard since I was 8 years old.
7. Lately I have been obsessed with checking out the dogs at the Peoria Pound website.
8. My favorite color is green, but looking at my wardrobe you would think it was pink. I don't know why that happens.
9. I hate the Olive Garden, but their damn commercials featuring sausage entrees make me reconsider never going there again.
10. For someone who doesn't drink I have a huge collection of alcohol.
11. Sometimes I have violent thoughts about people at work.
12. I don't like touching wet fabric. Some days if my cuffs get wet I have to change my shirt. I don't like taking the laundry from the washer into the dryer.
13. I don't buy products that contain gluten.
14. I love caramelized onions.
15. I really like geocaching and wish I could go more often. Alas, no hiking in the woods alone.
16. I get sad when I look at my collection of torn out magazine recipes and realized I will never make them all.
17. I am reading a blog of a woman who's older sister has come to live with her family while she dies of pancreatic cancer. It made me make Bear promise that I could come live with her to die.
18. For a few weeks I have been sleeping with my head at the opposite end of the bed. I don't know why or when I will switch back.
19. I am paranoid about running out of things. I have half dozen tooth brushes, several shower curtain liners, extra dish soap, yet I only have one half used packet of toilet paper.
20. I hate most people.
21. I don't get a good night's sleep if I am not in my own bed. I never really go on vacation as a result.
22. I love Pysch. Gus, Do I have pudding on my pants?
23. The skin on my heels is so cracked and gross. I have never had dry skin in my life prior to this winter.
24. I will continue to profess my love of Chris Pureka's music.
25. My sister cuts my hair because I am cheap and lazy.

Oh to be spontaneous...

2009-01-29T19:58:00.004-06:00

So my favortist singer/song writer is in my favortist town this evening.....and I am not there. I have mentioned in the past that I don't really care about music. I have never gone to see anyone play, just doesn't interest me. Then Aimers introduced me to Chris Pureka's music and I have been hooked on it ever since. I have been religiously checking her website for upcoming shows, waiting for her to make her way back to Madison. Mid December I got what I had been hoping for, a show in Madison...then I see it is a Thursday night.....in January. Worky jerky does not allow vacation in January. I was crushed. I seriously considered calling in sick and I have never called in sick in my entire life. And I don't mean just fake sick, I mean ever. People, I had perfect attendance in college, this is how foreign these thoughts were. The only thing that kept me from doing it is the recurring and intense vision of crashing my car on the way to Madison. Nothing like a little mental illness to keep me in line :) So I am at home in ye old Peoria watching America's Best Dance Crew and pouting.

FYI it just took me 20 minutes to figure out which YouTube video post. I can't even pick a favorite song! Quite a few of my favorites are really depressing break up songs, that aren't really applicable to my life at all. But that is why she is so awesome, I still feel something. Also I love her voice, it is like a lower version of Allison Krauss' haunty voice, like husky haunty, me gusta mucho.

An Actual Food Post

2009-01-26T19:15:00.002-06:00

People I can't stress to you enough how awesome Gluten Free Mommy's sesame chicken is. Spring for the San J Gluten Free tamari. You won't regret it. One thing I do kind of regret about the meal, was frying onion rings in the middle of winter. My house still reeks like deep fry, gack, but the onion rings were delicious. I used equal parts sorghum, tapioca, and white rice to toss with buttermilk soaked onions. Bear and BILB both agreed, we will definatley be making the chicken for the party. I don't know if I will be making fortune cookies though. I need more practice at that. My cookies were so gross looking and never crisped up.

So I had leftover buttermilk to make into biscuits. This time for my one cup of flour I used the following formula with a part = to 1/8 cup aka 2TBS

3 pts tapioca
2 pts white rice
1.5 pts sorghum
1.5 pts whey protein isolate
.5 tsp of xanthan

I used this recipe from Epicurious. The texture was really good, the flavor eh. I won't be making it again, but the flour mix is a keeper. I like the nutritional value of teff, but it makes things so dark. I don't mind, but sometimes when you are baking things that gluten eaters are going to eat they get freaked out if it looks weird. Then they have a bad attitude about everything gluten free. So it is good to have options.

The Blahs

2009-01-20T17:02:00.004-06:00

So I have a big case of the blahs. Nothing interesting has happened to me recently. This is the busy time at work, I actually have to work, talk about blah. I haven't been sleeping because my mind keeps turning work puzzles and Trompy has started getting up 45mins earlier. I swear his slippers are made of lead. This blog was supposed to be about gluten free cooking, but honestly I don't really eat anything interesting anymore so there isn't much cooking. My gluten free diet is all turkey, carrots, apples and Rice Chex. Good for ass shrinkage but not really blog material. I will be trying a new recipe for gluten free sesame chicken and fortune cookies this coming Sunday. Bear and Brother-in-Law Bear will be traveling through the area and I need to test these recipes for the "Yay You're Wealthy Now" party we are having for Mom in March after she makes her final payment to a university for her daughters. Moogie went back to work so we could get braces and kept working so we could go to school where ever we wanted. She is a really good lady and we love her lots. She hasn't had Chinese since going GF, most soy sauce contains wheat, so she will really love the chicken. Bear and BILB can help me taste test so I don't have to fall too far off the turkey, carrots, apples and Rice Chex wagon.

Who Signed Me Up?

2009-01-15T19:32:00.004-06:00

Dear Congressman Bill Foster,

I see from the email you sent that you just voted in support of health care for kids. That's great, who doesn't love health care for kids? However, I see that you represent the 14th district. I do not live in the 14th district. I will admit to living in the 14th district in the 90s, before I could vote. I am not sure how I got on your email list; I am not on any other political email lists. I don't give money to anything. I don't sign up for anything. I like to fly under the radar. How did you find me and why do you think I live in the 14th district?

Shake Up Any Room?

2009-01-11T12:08:00.003-06:00

According to the February issue of House Beautiful lucite will shake up any room. Ummm House Beautiful, lets keep lucite where it belongs, on stripper shoes only.

Just Another Tuesday Night

2009-01-06T18:59:00.004-06:00

So around these parts Tuesday is Rock Band night, Oh Joy. I believe I have mentioned it before. I had a bit of a respite thanks to the holidays but they are definitely going to rock out tonight. I can hear them tromping around already. This better not affect my Nip/Tuck watching tonight. You know, I can grit my teeth through your shitty ass version of Eye of the Tiger, but if you fucking ruin my McNamara Troy time.... Trompy, I will cut you.

GF Buttermilk Biscuits

2009-01-02T17:53:00.000-06:00

Had some buttermilk leftover from Christmas and really wanted to use it up. What better way than buttermilk biscuits? I have made GF buttermilk biscuits before and they were just okay. This new formulation is much better. First thing I needed to do was get over my desire to roll out the dough and use a biscuit cutter. Not happening, just let it go VBC. I did, so these are drop biscuits. Recipe is adapted from this one at Epicurious. I roughly cut it by 1/3 and got 5 decent sized biscuits.

1/4 cup teff flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
.5 teaspoon xanthun
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
.25 teaspoon salt
.5 teaspoon baking soda
4 Tablespoon frozen butter, grated
about 1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425. Sift together all the dry ingredients. Then grate your frozen butter in the same bowl. I started with a little more than 1/4 cup of buttermilk and kept adding more until I had the traditional consistency, stirring with a spatula. I am guessing I probably added about 1/2 cup. I was planning on getting 4 biscuits, but they seemed a little big. I spilt it into 5. I put them on a parchment lined baking sheet and baked for 20 minutes. I would start checking for doneness after 15 minutes. So delicious. They are dark because of the teff, but I got over that too. The flavor is great and they are more nutritious than an all rice/starch biscuit. I think even non GFers would enjoy.

Christmas Wrap Up

2008-12-28T12:55:00.002-06:00

So was it awesome? Yes and no. It was weather affected. No Christmas Eve at Grandma's house. Which is the bummer to end all bummers. However Mom loves Christmas and always does it up right, so there was a lot of other really great times. So I can't complain too much. I got some really nice presents including the Kitchen Aid pasta roller. I have already whipped out a batch of gluten free Pierogies. I love pierogies. I use this recipe from Gluten Free Gobsmacked as the dough part and fill them with mashed potatoes, bacon, onion and a little cheese. I boil them all immediately for 18 minutes and then freeze them. When I want some pierogies, I just take them out of the freezer and spritz them with oil and bake on my pizza stone until they are heated through. So delicious, you won't miss Mrs. T's.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T15:39:00.005-06:00

Last Christmas my mom got me a beautiful pink poinsettia. Much to the chagrin of Bear, I have taken care of the pointy for an entire year. Bear hates house plants. Pointy has grown quite large and is incredibly healthy so this fall I decided to try to make her change colors again. Pretty much everything I read said it was nearly impossible. They need 12 plus hours of complete darkness every night from October until December. Starting on Columbus Day, this poinsettia has gone under a large box with the seams reinforced with black electrical tape for 12+ hours. I tried to be very consistent, but there were a a few days where it didn't happen. I don't have a social life, but it is still hard to be at your home every 12 hours. She hadn't changed by early December, so I figured it was over. I kept boxing her up out of habit and about 2 weeks ago, I noticed some faint lightening of her newest leaves. I really thought was she was dying, bummer. However, a few days later I noticed the slightest tinge of blush pink on the mottled white leaves. Success! Over the past week the pink has darkened. Now this would never compare to a commercially grown poinsettia, but I am tickled pink!

Packing the Sleigh

2008-12-23T08:38:00.003-06:00

Why don't I just order all presents on line and have them shipped to my parents? Loading the car in this weather blows. It is snowing and blowing and I do not have a garage. I live in an apartment so I have to trek out two doors and down the iced over sidewalk to my car. Arrrgh, but it is done. It only took 5 trips. Too bad that is only half the battle. Tomorrow the food gets loaded...

Chirstmas is Coming

2008-12-20T09:00:00.003-06:00

For some people it is It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, or the Rudolph cartoon, you know that show you have to sit and watch if you run across it during the holidays. For me it is A Very Brady Christmas, and I just ran across it on the Family Channel. Cookie and candy making is going to be slow going for the next two hours while I soak in the cheesy goodness. The 60's split level all redecorated in the contemporary (read 80's) style cracks me up. I can't believe I just realized that Peter's soon to be fiance, oops did I just spoil that plot line for you :), played a reoccurring roll on Matlock. Seems like any show made during the 80s can be traced back to Matlock, Perry Mason or Murder She Wrote. Like the entry level Hollywood job was murderer on murder mystery show.

Christmas Love

2008-12-17T16:58:00.002-06:00

My mom sent me a Christmas arrangement! I love it. With the smell, it is like having a tree without having to have a tree. As always, Becks in Peoria did a fantastic job. Thanks Moogie!

Winter Driving

2008-12-16T20:28:00.003-06:00

I am a terrible driver. I over react; I freak out. I am tense. Winter driving dumps huge amounts of adrenaline into my system and it takes me hours to recover. My normal pulse is around 55 beats a minute, anytime it spikes up in the 80s I am jacked up for what seems like eons. I get shaky and pukey. So today's commute home took an hour (normally 25 mins) and I almost rear ended someone on the interstate. To make matters worse, my wiper blades kinda crapped out. I had to lean to see out to the passenger's side. Bad Vanilla Bean Counter, bad. You know what really makes me a dumbass? The fact that I have had new wipers ready to install since last winter. I bought them at Walmart, but couldn't figure out how to install them so I bought new ones at AutoZone where they will install them for you. In my defense the AutoZone guy said he had never had such a problem getting blades off. So I am not a total moron, I just don't have a pocket knife. I never returned the WalMart ones. Too bad my blades couldn't crap out when it is above freezing and I am able to try and install them myself. I see a visit to AutoZone in my future. This time I will not cheap out and will spring for blades that will last more than 9 months.

Indiana

2008-12-14T13:49:00.003-06:00

I visited Indiana for the first time ever yesterday. When Illinois goes belly up, Wisconsin and Iowa are still preferable for relocation. West Lafayette wasn't really wowing me. They need bigger street signs. Actually, first they need stop light poles. Most all the stop lights were hung from wires. It looked really junky and necessitated placing the street name signs off to the side and lower to the ground. It was really hard to read and frustrating. Really, driving "on campus" any where is frustrating. I was having trouble being a new urbanist yesterday. Most of my thoughts were along the lines of, "Why can't she get married at some mega church out in cornfield with an ocean of parking like everyone else." And, "What the hell, get out of my way you freaking pedestrians, seriously tuba player I will run your ass over." I did get a chuckle that the Illinois welcome signs still say Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor at the bottom. I wonder if Pat Quinn already has new ones on order.

Merry Fitzmas!

2008-12-09T17:33:00.002-06:00

Here's hopin' for an impeachy New Year. Check out capfax for all the lastest.

Bummed Out

2008-12-08T20:04:00.003-06:00

My front, driver's side tire has a leak. It has never been quite right. It always looks low to me. I use the pressure gauge thingy and it says it is fine, but I can see that it rides lower than the others. And I think the gauge thing is broken or I am just not using it properly. When I get an oil change they never say anything, and tire pressure is supposed to be one of the 16 point checks. So I am convinced I am crazy. Last time at the dealership I got the $100 rotation, balancing whatever whatever and no mention of a low tire. Must all be in my head. Yeah except tonight, after work, I see that it has clearly gone down. Back to the dealership I go. Arrrgh.

You know what really bums me out, this feeling of ground hog's day. Almost exactly two years ago, I had a tire with a slow leak. I ended up getting 4 new tires because they all were cracked or something, and I am a stupid woman who will fall for anything blah blah blah. A month later Stephanie Torman failed to yield on circle green left turn at the intersection of Knoxville and War Memorial and ran her car right into my beloved Lucy totaling her, with her brand new tires. Somebody at the junk yard got a really good deal. $500 right down the crapper. Luckily I was just bruised; it could have been much worse. I was going 40mph and she just drove right into me. A seat belt saved me from eating the steering wheel. One month later, 5 days after picking up my new Malibu, in crappy weather, going 10 mph I slid off an interstate on ramp doing $8,000 of damage to my new car. Worst day of my life. I had gone 10 years without any auto accidents and then had my first two with two months. I can't take that again. This air coming slowly out of my tire is like a harbinger of auto catastrophe.

Sunday Morning TV Musing

2008-12-07T12:21:00.005-06:00

So on Sunday mornings you can catch Gladiators 2000 on the CW. This makes me very happy; I love all things American Gladiators. Gladiators 2000 is a 90's children's version. The most awesome thing about it is the host, none other than Ryan Seacrest. It is hysterical to see him pre-American Idol. One thing that jumps out at me is how white the white people are, including Mr. Seacrest. Mystic Tan wasn't around in the 90's. While his skin is white, his teeth are just medium white as opposed to blinding white veneers. It is so jarring to see him as he was when your picuture of his current "normal," is all sorts of abnormal. It is kind of like whenever I catch the movie Selena on TV and think, "Damn, J-Lo is fat." She isn't fat at all, but when you see Jennifer Lopez pre J-Lo and she is a size 10, it is startling. It is all very odd. There is no real point to this, but now I need to get on IMDB to see what Jon Seda is up to these days. I loved him.

Dear Asshole Who Lives Above Me Part 2

2008-12-03T17:26:00.003-06:00

So where we left off last night, I was braless and fuming. Shortly after making the post I finally cracked. I put on a bra, stormed up the stairs, gave 3 good raps police style and......nothing. He wouldn't answer the mother fucking door! So now what? An hour later I tried again, still no answer. Dude, I know you are in there. I can hear you walking around, I refer to you as Trompy for a reason. So I didn't get much sleep due to being so amped up. I don't do confrontation well and apparently I don't do non confrontation-confrontation well either. Called the apartment people in the morning and they seemed concerned enough, but said in the future I should call the police. Ummm, I am fairly certain the Peoria Police have more pressing issues than the Tuesday night Rock Band party at Casa de Trompy. How about you just tell him no more Rock Band or to turn it down when the neighbors start banging on the door.

Dear Asshole Who Lives Above Me

2008-12-02T20:55:00.003-06:00

Turn it down. You are making the glasses in my cupboard vibrate. Not cool. I am this close to putting on a bra and coming up there and telling you what is up. I really don't want to put on a bra.

No More Messing Around

2008-11-29T18:10:00.005-06:00

I will not have saggy diaper style wrapping jobs this year. There will be crisp corners. There will be no piecing in. My presents will not be frumpy, well at least the wrapping paper application won't be. If you aren't using a Carpenter's Square you aren't trying.

Thanksgiving Prep

2008-11-28T15:55:00.002-06:00

I really wanted to have a bunch of pics of all the tasty food I made, but when you are only one person you can't really shoot and cook at the same time. So you will have to take my word for it. It was all delicious. I do have this pic of the turkey cooking at my grandma's. I come from a long line of people afraid of food born illness. You can never have enough thermometers.

Thanksgiving Prep

2008-11-23T20:40:00.004-06:00

So you are looking at $7.00 of waste. Lindt you are dead to me. I really don't think that milk chocolate needs barley malt extract. I haven't made a gluten mistake like this in a while. I am usually pretty careful about label checking. I guess I was under the impression that Lindt was a better chocolate, therefore they wouldn't resort to adding unnecessary ingredients. Jez, even the walmart chocolate chips are GF. Fortunately I have some Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips in the fridge so I won't have to run to the store. Hopefully using the chips won't totally jack up my milk chocolate ice cream (recipe from The Perfect Scoop). Oh who am I kidding, I will probably stop at the store and see if I can get my hands on some Ghirardelli squares.

Thanksgiving Prep

2008-11-23T13:08:00.004-06:00

FYI people, buy your pineapples at Kroger. They are a penny cheaper and much more fragrant than the ones at Walmart. Learn from my mistakes. Although, now there will be twice as much of this on Thursday. Kroger pineapple on the left.

Mmmm Tasty

2008-11-18T19:46:00.004-06:00

I usually take note of the recent searches on epicurious. Sometimes it is fun to laugh at people who search for "FoodNetwork chef Sandra Lee" on epicurious. Today I saw something even more frightening than Chef Sandra Lee. Dude I just wanted some chocolate cake, now I have lost my appetite. Thanks epicurious. Click to enlarge...probably not the best use of that phrase...

Thanksgiving Prep

2008-11-17T19:44:00.001-06:00

Today the Spanish Chorizo arrived! I plan on making this stuffing from November 2008 Gourmet. The cornbread is naturally gluten free, so that is very fun. In Peoria I could only find Mexican Chorizo, which is not cured and needs cooked like Italian sausage. Spanish Chorizo is akin to pepperoni or summer sausage. I ordered it from Amazon. If anyone in Peoria knows where I can get Spanish Chorizo locally, I would love to hear about it in the comments. It would save me 7 bucks. There are quite a few recipes that I have run across that call for it. Since it was the holidays, and Mom's first GF Thanksgiving I splurged for the real deal, but it would be nice to be able to get it locally in the future.

Something Else I Love

2008-11-16T16:45:00.005-06:00

I love getting flowers. I know it is wasteful. I know they die in a week. I don't care; I love it. I usually get flowers twice a year, for my birthday and Christmas from my mom. Thanks to a surprise delivery earlier this week I am on track to get flowers 3 times this year!

My parents' computer had a virus and needed to be wiped clean. No biggie, my dad really only uses it to surf the net. My mom is very computer illiterate and only wants to use the computer to print things for her scrapbook projects. Well after the wipe clean we went to install her Scrapbook CD and it had gone missing. My aunt sent an updated version of the program, but it needed some Microsoft file to run. So I talked my mom through downloading it. It took almost 2 hours (only 7 minutes to actually download; she can't type). But it was okay, I had my patience hat on. Then she goes to start the new scrapbook program and it needs another Microsoft file. No biggie, she has the hang of it now; we will get it. Don't be bummed out mom. Ummmm wait, the estimate to download the new file for dial up, almost 11 hours. Ouch, she is sad that she wasted my time. I am sad she doesn't have her old scrapbook CD, because really she would have to learn how to do everything over. I am sure version 16 is a lot different than version 2. It was terrible. So I after I hung up with her I got on Ebay and bought the old version and had it shipped to her as a surprise. Turns out she ordered me flowers. We both felt so bad we bought each other presents :) The card says, "If the accounting thing doesn't work out, you can teach senior citizens computer skills..."

GF Pizza Crust

2008-11-14T18:39:00.000-06:00

This is my favorite version of gf pizza crust. It makes 3 servings of thin crust. It makes a tastey thicker crust too, but I press it out pretty thin to get more servings in these lean economic times ;) The recipe is based on this one at Epicurious. I do not like chickpea flour. To me, it tastes like metal. I can taste it on things even after they have been washed. I can smell it in the sink after the water has been drained. Sure it is all probably in my head, but I can't handle it. The idea for replacing the chickpea flour with Whey Protein Isolate is from this post. The idea is that chickpea is a high protein flour so you should replace it with a high protein substitute. I use whole milk in my gluten free baking. I like to think that the extra fat helps. Really, recipes converted to gluten free start off behind the eight ball. So any extra help they can get, I try to give. Also really important in getting a good crust is a pizza stone. I got mine right around the time I switched to gluten free cookery. It is fabulous, even if you aren't gluten free, get one. I keep mine in the oven all the time. I cook everything on it, either in a regular pan or directly on the stone. On to the recipe.

3/8 cup tapioca flour
2/8 cup white rice flour
2T + 2t Whey Protein Isolate
2T + 2t sorghum flour
.5 teaspoon xanthum gum
.5 teaspoon salt
1t Italian seasoning
1/4 cup whole milk
2T water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 large egg white
1 T olive oil
2/8 cup flax meal
parchment paper

Heat up the pizza stone in a 500 degree oven. Sift the first 7 dry ingredients together in the bowl of your electric mixer. Add 1T of olive oil and 1 egg white to the dry ingredients. Combine the water, milk, sugar and yeast together (liquids at 110 degrees) and let it bubble for a couple of minutes before putting it in the mixing bowl too. Beat for about 4 minutes. Add in the 2/8 cup of flax meal and beat another 2 minutes. Turn the oven down to 425 degrees. Turn the batter out on to the parchment. Use a wet spatula or wet finger tips to press out thinly. I work on a parchment sheet that is the size of a quarter sheet pan. I spread the batter within an inch of the edges. Place the parchment papered crust directly on the stone and bake for about 5 min until lightly browned. Pull it out and top it as desired. Stick it back in the oven for a couple more minutes. The pizza in the pic is Gorgonzola, cream cheese, caramelized onion, and bacon and it rocked my face off.

Blinged

2008-11-10T21:17:00.009-06:00

Ms. PH has gifted me some bling. How fun and exciting is that? Well it would be more fun if Kreativ was spelled properly, but hey that isn't Ms. PH's fault and she has the good sense to be annoyed by it :)

So, apparently, here are the rules:

(1) List six things that make you happy
(2) Pass the award on to 6 more kreativ bloggers
(3) Link back to the person who gave you the award
(4) Link to the people you are passing it on to and leave them a comment to let them know.
(5) Request scantily clad photos of your blogger friends of the opposite sex.

So Six things that make me happy, can do.

When the numbers 10 and 27 make an appearance together, as in the date of my birth. Gas pumped equals 27.10. Glance at the clock and it is 10:27. My current address involves those digits, how serendipitous is that? My employee number is 1028, it makes me sad, so close.

Madison, WI in general makes me happy. I could make a list of things about Madison that I love. But if I have to choose one, I will go with the view when I come in to town on the beltway and cross over the water. Only 5 minutes to Aimers and all the fun Madison has to offer.

Singing along loudly to Chris Pureka's music in the car. I am not a music person. I don't know jack about music. I don't really care about music. Aimers made some CDs for me for background noise at work. Those CDs included 3 of Chris's songs and I kept playing them over and over. I didn't even really realize they were all by the same person at first. They just got in my head and I never got sick of them. 3 months later, still not sick of the semi-twangy angsty goodness.

I love putzing around in the kitchen. I wish I had more people to cook for. And I wish the people who I do cook for were more adventurous. Mom's inability to eat gluten is way less annoying than her refusal of seafood, dark chocolate, and meat with bones.

My sisters make me happy. Bear and Tottie are both very funny people and we have that whole shared experiences thing linking us together. Even if little Tottie wishes she wasn't linked to us most of the time.

My bed makes me happy. I have one of those feather bed things, down pillows and 2 heavy down comforters. I am almost smothered to death every night. I love it. You know sometimes having sensory issues is a biatch and sometimes it works out just fine :)

I will link to my two blogger buddies.

Little Morning Glory
Mandi's Musings

Oh Puppy

2008-11-10T20:06:00.004-06:00

Me: So I talked to Tottie today. She wants a new black or brown purse for Christmas, Maia chewed hers.

Bear: Oh that Maia.

Me: So we know two Maia stories and they both involve destruction of property.

Bear: Yeah I wonder what of Mom's she is going to chew up at Christmas.

Me: I was thinking about that; I hope it is those ugly ass end tables. I might just rub some peanut butter on the legs. Oh bad Maia, you are a naughty doggie, hahaha.

Bad Baby Names File

2008-11-09T12:58:00.004-06:00

Overheard at work.

A: This is my new nephew, his name is Lincoln. That is his parents' favorite president, hahaha. They just really like him a lot.

Me in my head: Their favorite president, really? In order to have a favorite president they have to know the name of more than one. And even if I give them the benefit of the doubt, what the hell is wrong with Abraham? They just picked Lincoln because it is cool and trendy just like all the other morons out there who name their kid Lincoln. Quit trying to give a reason other than the truth, that they are soooo unique just like everyone else. Well at least little Lincoln is a boy and not a girl.

Inside Out Enchilada Suizas

2008-11-05T18:13:00.007-06:00

So last Sunday I made a pork butt for company. Consequently I had pounds of leftover pork. I was pondering what to do with all my pork. I was considering just being lazy and eating it with a little bbq sauce, possibly slapping it on a pizza crust. When it came to me, Enchiladas Suizas!

One of my favorite local restaurants is Jalapenos. I usually get the Enchiladas Suizas. Basically cheese enchiladas topped with shredded pork and green sauce. I love pork. I love cheese. Enchiladas Suizas is divine. And because the planets were in alignment, I also happen to have enchilada verde sauce and jack cheese waiting to be used up in the fridge!

If I have any GF readers out there, I don't know if Jalapenos can accommodate special requests. I am not GF out of the house and my mother isn't super sensitive and risks it at Mexican places. So if you are "glutened" very easily be sure to ask! Most of the servers speak English pretty well and are very nice (I usually go to the one in the Metro Center).

Inside Out Enchilada Suizas
4 corn tortillas
4 oz shredded pork
1/2 cup verde sauce
1 oz shredded jack cheese
oil for frying

Fry your tortillas for 15 seconds and then blot them off. I haven't tried it yet, but microwaving them in a damp paper towel is supposed to achieve the same results. It just makes the tortilla more pliable and not so raw tasting. Into the tortilla goes 1 oz of pork and 1/8 oz of cheese. Put 2TB of the sauce in the bottom of a 5.5 x 7.5 glass baking dish. Lay the 4 enchiladas
in the dish and cover with the rest of the sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. The edges get crispy, which I like. You could cover with foil if that isn't your thing.

I Voted

2008-11-04T21:24:00.003-06:00

Voting was interesting. There was a 45 minute wait at 6pm in ye old north Peoria, but I had my patient hat on. It really chapped my ass that there was no flier containing neutral language for the constitutional convention. I will be filling out this form. Just to add insult to injury, a poll worker announced, "The first 4 pages is about changing the constitution, so if you already know what you want you can save some time." Ummm no, it isn't voting to change the constitution. It is just so aggravating; nothing in this state is going to change until we limit the number of years someone can hold a leadership position (speaker, president, minority leader, etc) and change the gerrymandered districts. Krupa/Gordon, who the hell really cares? It doesn't matter; a trained monkey can go and be told how to vote by party leadership. That's the system we have now, only a change to the constitution will fix that. Step One, convene a constitution convention.

Office Funny

2008-11-03T20:51:00.006-06:00

FYI if you would like Brinks to deliver your deposits to the bank you need to clear it ahead of time with the Bank (so they can charge you for the convince, naturally). If you don't, the bank won't take the money. So your bags of money are stuck in the Brinks' truck, perpetually looping the Bank's parking lot.

GF Pumpkin Muffins

2008-10-29T18:28:00.005-05:00

This recipe is based on this recipe by Ellie Krieger on the Food Network. I used one less tablespoon of molasses and skipped the pumpkin seeds. For the two cups of flour in the recipe I used equal parts, brown rice, sorghum, tapioca, and teff flours along with 1.5t of xanthan. I think that blend is originally attributed to the Gluten-Free Girl. I love it! I am so excited to try it in other recipes. The muffins seemed totally "normal." They are best the day of, they do keep in the fridge but become slightly damp. Zapping them in the microwave gets rid of that. I bet they would freeze well. It made 60 teaspoon sized mini muffins or 20 Tablespoon sized regular muffins.

Maple Shade Dentistry

2008-10-29T18:16:00.003-05:00

Maple Shade Dentistry in Peoria can suck it. This morning I called to make an appointment to have my teeth cleaned. I was informed that since it had been a year and 4 months since my last cleaning I was now considered a new patient and would have to have an exam and x-rays. The person who called me at home 4 months ago asking if I would like to schedule an appointment could have mentioned this deadline. Because your practice doesn't have early morning, evening or weekend hours, scheduling an appointment can't be done at home on the fly. Your failure to mention this one year deadline is the difference between $100 and over $200 to me. You know what Maple Shade Dentistry, I only picked you in the first place 3 years ago because you are a block from my house. I vividly remember my first new patient appointment. It was scheduled for 8am and I was finally sent on my way after 10am! Time that was actually spent on my mouth, about 30 mins. But you know what, I gave you another chance. I went back a year later, this time for an ordinary cleaning, and I was still stuck in your office for over an hour, actual time of cleaning, 15 mins. Unacceptable. I went a third time because I am very lazy and didn't want to get jacked with a new patient fee at a new dentist. Now that you are the one trying to jack me, bite me.

GF Peanut Butter Tart

2008-10-26T14:51:00.004-05:00

Birthday Brunch preparations are underway. On tap for dessert tomorrow, Peanut Butter Tart from the October 2001 issue of Martha Stewart Living. I have had this recipe for 7 years and I am just now getting around to making it. That makes me a little sad. I have dozens of recipes that I will probably never make, schniff. These days Casa de Vanilla Bean Counter does not support the use of a graham cracker crust, as it is from the devil, or rather the family Triticeae. Crust substitute comes from Simply Gluten Free and her Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie. I made my tart in a 9in spring form pan. All was well except my ganache never really set up, but I just popped it in the freezer before spreading on the peanut butter mousse. All beaters that I licked were delicious. I think everyone will enjoy it tomorrow. It is very rich so there should be plenty of leftovers to send home to Brother in Law Bear, who loves chocolate and peanut butter almost as much as I do.

Who knew?

2008-10-23T20:43:00.004-05:00

Bear: So have you turned on your heat yet?

Me: No, it isn't that bad right now. I have short sleeves on and I'm fine. But last night was a little chilly. But really, I like sleeping under two down comforters. I like the weight on top of me.

Bear: Because sometimes you are on the [autism] spectrum.

Me: Huh, really. I didn't realize two comforters was a sign.

Bear: Yeah sometimes the kiddos wear weighted vests for some sensory feedback. Maybe I will make you a vest. Then you can feel good and you will burn more calories because it is weighted!

Me: So I take it this isn't one of your special needs too.

Bear: No

Me: It isn't quite as funny when we don't share symptoms.

Pre Birthday Fun Begins

2008-10-20T17:32:00.004-05:00

My mom sent some loverly flowers, as she does every year. All members of the family were on the card, including my brother in law and my youngest sister's new puppy. This follows last year's ugly scene where the sisters were unceremoniously booted off the family card without their knowledge. Apparently their cheap asses petitioned to get back on. You can't really see it, but there is a gold bow around the vase. One more week until my Golden Birthday. Oh 27 on the 27th, I never really thought you would be here.

I need to send some love to Beck's Florist. They do an excellent job. My mom is in the flower biz and has very high standards and we have both been very happy with their arrangements for the money. I love the ritual of calling Mom as soon as the flowers arrive and describing what they sent and if I think she got her money's worth. The one year in Champaign when I had to tell her $30 bucks got her 6 lame carnations in an ugly green vase about killed us both. Too bad I don't remember the name of that florist I could do my first internet slam. They would deserve it. Seriously 6 carnations.

Better late than never

2008-10-16T18:13:00.004-05:00

I am happy to report that Rizzi's is no longer printing your whole credit card number on the merchant copy. It is about damn time.

Testing, testing, is this thing on?

2008-10-15T21:25:00.002-05:00

Finally settled on a blog name. I am going to use this space primarily to keep track of my adventures in gluten free baking. A little about general life and Peoria will probably sneak in. But really in the end it is, Viva la sorghum!