Sunday, September 28, 2008

Pineapple Upside Down Cakes and Other Blogs...

I've taken to reading several blogs regularly. See the list to the left. I was reading Elaine Spallone's today about her cooking endeavors with Pineapple Upside Down Cake, which I adore. I'm not a big sweets person and don't really "do desert". I appreciate them but baking is so serious and you have to measure everything. I love to cook but baking is hard work. I guess that is why the best way to truly judge a restaurant is by the pastry chef. Good ones are rare.

Unlike Elaine, I've been cooking for over 40 years, well before I was 10 (save the calculators...I am 50) by helping my Mom, Grandmother and mostly my Dad. My first foray into cakes was in college where I tried to fix pineapple upside down cake. It would have turned out well except I forgot to put butter in the bottom of the pan and had to scrape the pineapple mixture out. Live and learn. It was like my first apple pie. I had seen a friends wife make an incredible apple pie with fresh and dried apples. I did not pay too close attention to all the steps. How hard could it be? Well, it was the worst thing I've ever fixed. Unfortunately I'd bragged about it BEFORE I cooked it so some neighbors and then had to explain what happened.

My wife still reminds me of those tragedies to this day. Humility is a good thing. Not nearly as good as a good cake or apple pie, but still good for us.

Friday, September 26, 2008

A really good burger!

My son cooked dinner last night. He is 15 and I asked him to fix dinner. He only asked what I had in mind and when I said burgers, he said OK. No whining, no complaining, just OK. He took the hamburger, fixed patties using the new burger press I got the other day. He grilled them. While this was all going on he put fries in the oven (from a bag - not fresh cut but he is just 15) and fixed some corn. He thinks corn is a veggie so you gotta hand it to him.

The burgers were awesome. He put his "special" recipe of seasonings. Not sure what they were but they were great. Really great. Everything was ready to go and we enjoyed it tremendously.

No, if we can just get him to clean up as he cooks.... :)

Monday, September 22, 2008

Joys of things simple...

I work from home. Truly a great evolution in business. IBM started doing this years ago when they realized it would save them money by doing away with office space, utilities, etc. People are happier and usually more productive. With high speed Internet, web conferencing and free long distance, it really is easy to do. Most all the people I work with (including customers) accept this as normal.

I walk to work everyday...from the bed to the desk. $4 a gallon gas is not bad when you are not buying it to commute 40+ miles daily.

Don't get me wrong. I work. I usually put in 9-10 hours over the course of a day. 7:30 to 5 and then another hour or tw0 spread over the 6-11 time period. But, I am home, I can interact with the kids earlier than otherwise since I don't drive. I usually work through lunch at the desk. But I am eating food from home! That is the treat I like. Take today for instance.

I am having Bobby Rominger tomato sandwiches with pimento cheese! Bobby is a quiet fellow that lives in the mountains of NC. He is married to my wife's cousin. He gave my mother-in-law some tomatoes, which she brought down here when she came to visit. (She is still here, that is another posting!) We are having them for lunch today! They are huge and they are awesome. Bobby does not read this blog but if he did I'd want him to know how much we are enjoying the fruits of his garden. THANKS.

When fixing them I used my salt and pepper jars that Ron Philbeck made for me. Check out his blog on the blogs I watch list. He sells his wares via Etsy. Good stuff! Now, all I need are some little mermaids to put on them and take a picture and people would think I was Elaine (check her blog out on the list, too!) I'm using a paper plate so no one will confuse me with Hannah (yeah, check out her blog, too).

Well, I need to clean up the juice from the tomatoes off my computer. Gosh these are good!

My family and PC's

What is it with my family and PC's? I just don't know. My wife is the worst followed by my daughter and then my son. They all get their PC's trashed! Tons of spy ware, viruses and their systems will just clog up! All three of them have systems that are useless right now. My wife's was so bad I had to just buy her a new one! I don't understand it. They claim they don't go to "bad" websites but something is clogging it up.

My middle child has problems but she fixes hers. She'll never ask for help. She's pretty much like me, she'll deal with it until it is hopeless then get some outside help. The other three are that way but theirs just seem to get hopeless faster and more often.

I use my PC for work and personal and don't have those kind of problems. Not sure what the problem is but hopefully it'll get better. I've installed some good software on this new one so made that will help. The others are so bad I'm taking them to get professional help.

Being the PC guy in a house full of failing PC's has made me need professional help, too. My cache has been flushed!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Hurt and disappointed...

Being part of a family is tough. When it is good, it is real good. But when it is bad it really hurts. Today was one of the bad ones. My niece was married today. When she decided to get married she asked my daughter (her cousin) to be in her wedding, a bridesmaid. My daughter said yes and was glad to be part of her cousins happy event.

Then I hear from my sister that she is only having ONE bridesmaid. She was asking her brother's girlfriend to be the one. OK, fine. If you are only having one, you do what you gotta do. My niece never called my daughter and told her, she heard it all from me via my sister. Not the best way to handle things, but OK. My daughter has been a good cousin and friend to my niece. She has introduced her to her friends, been there for her and tried to be supportive. My niece has "hung her out to dry" before but my daughter has forgiven her and tried to be supportive.

Both of my daughters considered not going to the wedding over this but did the right thing and went with us. We've tried to be supportive of my sister and what she is going through in putting on the wedding. The pig pickin' was all part of that (see previous post) and all of us pitched in to help with the cooking.

Today at the wedding there were TWO bridesmaids. It really hurt my daughter's feelings and it made the other one furious! She felt hurt and betrayed and on top of that being lied to was the worst. Her sister was furious that they would treat her this way. It was not that she expected to be or felt she deserved to be a bridesmaid. It is how it was handled and the seemingly callous regard for people's feelings. I've tried to teach my kids you don't do these things. You expect more from family.

They were polite, they held their tongue but did not stay for the reception. I don't blame them. Being part of a family is tough. I'm not sure I want this part of it.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Ants, spiders, creepy crawlies and a trunk full of water...

My daughter tickles me to no end! She is so tough and has a very high pain threshold. I've seen her play a whole game of soccer, in goal, with a broken wrist on 2 occasions! Yet, let her see a bug of any kind and she goes totally "girlie" on you.

A couple of weeks ago her car was full of ants. Seems her brother left some candy in the car and when it was parked under a tree at school....BOOM! full of ants. We cleaned it out, sprayed it with Raid and took it to a car wash for detailing. Problem fixed....we thought. Then just the other day...BOOM! again full of ants. Seems her sister left some candy in it when she borrowed it. This time they were in the trunk, too. When we took everything out I also lifted the spare cover and WOW were they everywhere. And not just ants, spiders and other crawlies.

It seems she has a leak with her gaskets, too since the spare wheel well was FULL of water! Nasty! She had to go to class so she left. I emptied the water, dried everything and greased the jack (it had rusted from the water). We then sprayed everything really well. I got some silicone sealer and adhesive. Took off the gasket and resealed it completely.

Seems she is ant and crawly free now. We have yet to check the trunk after the latest rain. We'll do that tonight. Hopefully it is dry and the water problem is solved. If not, Dad has to start all over again. But, it is just another opportunity to spend time with her!

Turn your head and cough...

I like doctors, generally. My wife is a nurse so we tend to see good doctors since she knows them. Her requirements are simple: They have to be very good at what they do and they have to be nice people. Not always easy to find in any occupation but she finds them.

My doc is great and his staff is awesome. I posted previously about a visit. Well, I had to go in for a physical. Been a while since last I had one. I hate them! You gotta love the words "turn and cough" and "bend over and put your arms on the bed". Never fun but you get through it. I will say one thing for the staff, they made it as good as it could get. My appt. was for 1:30 but when they called to remind me they encouraged me to come in early to have the blood drawn so I did not have to go without food all day before the 1:30 appt. Very nice of them. The ladies in the lab were great. Gentle, fast and full of character. They liked talking to you and know how to laugh, which makes me more comfortable. If I ever "win the lottery" they are on the list.

When I went in for the physical, the nurse took me back, did the usual blood pressure, pulse rate, etc. Then she proceeded to get things out he'd need. When she took out the glove she waved it back and forth and said "I'm taking out the glllllooooovvvvve!" How funny is that! The worst part of the exam and she is joking with me about it! I got tickled right there and we shared a laugh.

I wasn't laughing a few minutes later when he said "turn your head and cough...".

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Grand Slam!

OK, I am now ready for winter. It is official. I got my winter Crocs today. They are black (it is after labor day) and they do not have holes. This is my fifth pair of Crocs, the greatest shoe ever made. I love them!

My oldest daughter told me about a Croc outlet in Smithfield so we went there today! What a great place! Lots of colors, styles, etc. I was hoping to score a pair of All Terrain ones but they did not have my size, except in Orange. A little brighter than I wanted so I'll wait and just go back again.

We hit all the stores or at least it seemed like all of them. After Saturday I was tired so I ran out of juice pretty quick. I sat in the last store while she tried on clothes. We had a ball. We were able to "see a man about a dog" (previous post) while there and shared a banana split. In addition to the Crocs I picked up a cool hamburger press. Made to press large 6 oz. burgers! Perfect. Been looking for one and most all I've seen are "small" presses. I like a large patty and I knew this was it when I saw it.

Yeah, I know, it is strange to get so excited about a burger press. You should have seen me drool over the knives. I love mine but it is always fun to see others.

Came home and watched the game on television. Got to go out with my daughter, a new pair of Crocs, "saw a man about a dog, AND the Panthers won today. Now tell me, is that a Grand Slam or what?

Pig Pickin'

Saturday was pig pickin' day at my sister's. My niece is getting married on the 20th and my sister threw a pig pickin' for family, friends, etc. Mostly for the groom and his family but as these things tend to go, there were tons of people there!

She asked me to cook the pig. I have a pig cooker, love to cook and usually do a decent job. I was up at 6, pig was loaded into the car by 7:15, and I was at my sister's by 7:45ish. Pig was on and cooking by 8.

In addition to the pig cooker I took my propane burner and big pot over as well. We cooked 25 lbs of potatoes for potato salad. It was a tub (literally) full. The most I've ever made. I fixed baked beans on the grill, made 4 gallons of tea (3 sweet and 1 for the "great unwashed".) Oh, and we cooked some chicken in case (like we should care) anyone did not want (blasphemy) barbeque! Busy day but these things usually are.

Lots of people I have not seen for a while, got to meet the groom's family from Kansas (no, they don't know Dorothy).

I'll try to get some pictures up soon of the cool cake, pig, and the fixin's. We did all the cooking outside. We used the pig cooker, big burner, grill and burner on the grill. Keeping the cooking outside kept the heat out of the house and given that it was 90+ degrees that was a good thing.

Not sure what my niece thought of the day. Never heard her say anything much. Guess she was nervous or something.

My sister needed me and that was the thing for me. I know she was stressed about the party and about the wedding with so much to do. Helping her out, taking some of the load was what being a brother is all about. It was fun to just do what I could and make it easier for her.

Time to brag on my kids a little. My son had taken the grill, propane tanks (2) over on Friday and set it all up. He got the grill in a totally out of the way place. He also helped unload chairs, tables, etc. He never complains, just does what needs doing and goes on.

My daughter (middle one) helped her aunt cook Friday afternoon, too. She made a coconut cake and did some other stuff. All for family.

After the party, my two daughters worked in my oldest's classroom all night (till 10) to get it ready. They had to move some furniture, put some together, etc. But, they did that late at night so they could be at the party.

Nothing funny or quirky about this post. Wait for the pictures!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Fish with No Gills and Doesn't Permanently Live in Water....


My college daughter and I were chatting via phone last night. Seems she went to a dorm meeting and in reading the Do's and Don't's found that the only pet she could have was "a fish that has gills and permanently lives in water". Her questions was what kind of fish doesn't have gills or live permanently in water?

We had a good laugh over this. She then came up (with some help and encouragement?) to put posters up on the bulletin boards saying: "LOST: My Pet Fish. No Gills and does not live permanently in water. Please call if you find it!" She is not going to put her number or name. I am sure someone will say "how do we call her if we don't have a name or number?" I just don't know where she gets these ideas from!

Had a beer with my friend Mona today. We've been buds for ages, about 20 years. She is great and I adore her. We work at keeping in touch and getting together. Her family is great, too. Her daughter is precious and her husband is one of my favorite people. I always smile when I think of them. It is great to hang with her. We just talk about everything and if we disagree we don't care or let it get between us. She made me try fried pickles. Seems they take dill slices, batter them and fry them. They provide ranch dressing for dipping. Not bad. My question was "how does someone come up with this idea". What would make someone ever think to fry dill slices.

I wonder if my daughter has ever been to this restaurant? She has gone missing for hours at a time in the past and it is close to our house....

I just don't know what the world is coming to. Fish without gills and fried pickles. I feel like a twilight zone movie sometimes. Like all the other posts, this one is "submitted for your approval".

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Burnt Bagels

You're gonna have to pay attention to this one. Hope I don't lose you.

In the last post I talked about character. Well, today I was enjoying some quiet time at the house and decided to have a whole grain cereal (with honey and nuts) and a bagel with some European butter (more on the butter thing later). I fixed the cereal and then split the bagel and put the butter on the bagel and put it in the oven on broil.

Now, I know I have a problem with paying attention. Total ADD thing going on with me (gotta love your genes). I should have done the bagel first and then the cereal and maybe the bagel would have been ready and no burning. I've been through this a lot over the years. Can't tell you how many bagels I've burned.

I put the bagel in the oven, took the cereal to the table and started eating it while reading Elaine Spallone's blog (see my list of blogs for a link) and then proceeded to leave her a comment! She caused me to burn my bagels!

Smoke was coming out of the oven. Here are my results. Not very pretty. And not very tasty.

I'm on the second half of the bagel as I write this. Yes, I'm eating it. No, it is not to increase my carbon footprint (get it, burnt bagel is carbon, carbon footprint...). I screwed up and have to learn a lesson. I think that if I eat the burnt bagel it'll teach me a lesson and maybe next time I'll pay more attention. I am thinking about the post from yesterday about character. I am also realizing that I've burned a lot of bagels and eaten a lot of burnt bagels over the years. What does this say about me?
  • I don't learn lessons.
  • I stick to the rules.
  • Starting tomorrow bagels will go in the toaster!
My kids will think I am a few bagels short of a dozen for this. But you know, I hold them to a high standard and I have to follow the rules. (No, I'd not make them eat a burnt bagel...I don't think?) My wife says life is too short to eat burnt bagels.

There is always the possibility I like them that way.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Character...What you do when no one makes you or is watching

I wrote about Hanna coming through in the previous blog. I talked about the good things she brought. This is about something I saw and how wonderful it was.

When the tree fell (see previous post) it made a big booming sound and shook the ground. All the neighbors went out to see what it was. My kids all jumped up and came out after me. All the neighbors just stood and watched the mess. It was across the road and was blocking the street. We live on a cul-de-sac so it prevented us from getting out.

I went out to the street and started moving the limbs and logs. All three of my kids jumped to help me without asking! None of the neighbors moved a muscle. No complaints. Not a big mess and this is NOT about them. It is about my kids and how they just jumped in to help. No asking, no begging, no forcing. They just did it as if was natural and what you are supposed to do.

Character is sometimes defined as what you do when no one looks. I like to think it is also what you do naturally without thinking. I know my kids are characters and I knew they had character. Today was just another example of them proving it. I love them so much and they make me so proud.

Hanna...Thanks!

Been watching the storms lately. Hanna, Ike and Josephine. Thought they were lined up for us! But, only Hanna came through and that was a tropical storm and not a hurricane. Ike seems to be aiming for N.O. and Josephine is expected to dissipate. Guess I don't need a generator, at least for now.

Gifts from Hanna:


Rain and we needed it. Lake levels are up a foot and growing! Good news! The last column shows the level.


Tree down. This was a dead, very dead, pine tree and it was begging for a reason to fall. When it fell it was a big boom! All the neighbors went out to see what it hit. Fortunately it missed everything. Fell perfectly to not hit anything but the yard and the road. Missed cars, mailboxes and houses!
So, we are hunkered down in the house while it rains today. No plans to go anywhere. Blessings come in many ways. Hannah brought us water we need, took down a tree that could have hurt someone and when it fell the kids woke up and we all had breakfast together and talked around the table. A rarity for mornings!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Best Ice Cream in the world...

Everybody has their favorite ice cream. Butter Pecan, Rocky Road, Mango Sorbet, Chocolate, Chocolate with sprinkles or even Bubble Gum! Seems like you take 10 people and you'll get 12 favorite flavors and all of them different.

I had the best ice cream in the world tonight. It was perfect! I loved everything about it. The place is just across the street from Meredith College. Not very big. I hadn't seen my baby girl in 2 days so I needed a daughter "fix". I called and asked if she'd hang out with me for a while and she jumped at the chance. So, I rode over and picked her up. I love spending time with her. We talk about a lot of things. She listens, I listen and we just enjoy the time together. She always makes me feel the world is going to be in good hands with the next generation. But then, all my kids make me feel that way.

We went across the street to the coffee shop but they were having a meeting there so we went next door to the ice cream place. Like I said, best ice cream in the world. I don't know the name of the place or what I had or even what it tasted like. Just being with my daughter made it the best ice cream in the world. I think I'll go back there. I just need to stop and pick someone up first!

Dentist

I like my dentist and I adore my hygienist. My wife and I went to school with our dentist. Great guy and he does awesome work. Not the cheapest but well worth what he delivers. He takes care of the whole family.

I suppose it is not normal to like going to the dentist but I do. I wish I'd taken better care of my teeth when I was younger. Live and learn. I really push this with my kids and they are better than I was. But, I still have most all mine (OK, 2 crowns) so that is good.

I was talking to the hygienist and she was telling me that dentists are finding older people are having a problem with abraded teeth. It seems that toothpaste is pretty rough on teeth and now that people are keeping them later in life they are finding there are new problems. She told me that using mouthwash with the brush and not toothpaste was just fine. Brushing removes the food and plaque and that paste was just for fluoride and freshness. Go figure.

I've done this when I ran out of toothpaste but never knew it might actually be good for you!
Learned something new today. She still gave me two little tubes and a new brush. Wonder when they'll start giving bottles of Listerine instead?

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Doctors and Pharmacies...

Just read that :
”The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers who filled prescriptions at The Medicine Shoppe pharmacies located at 8035A Liberty Road and 5900 Reisterstown Road in Baltimore that they may have received drugs that were either expired or suspected counterfeit. The FDA is particularly concerned because a number of the drugs are for serious diseases and could have an adverse effect on treatment.”

Scary!

Went to the doctor today. I had gained some weight since last year. Not good. We discussed my meds, got some refills and changed some others. Nothing major. I like my doctor. He sits with me, takes time to answer my questions and treats me as a real person. I adore his staff, too. They are always nice, considerate and personable. I took them a dozen donuts today. Not sure how often someone says to them "thanks for what you do" but I know I appreciate it. Look around and think of the people you interact with. Maybe they could use a thank you, too. Random acts of kindness are great habits to form!

Of course, I bought the donuts on the way into the office BEFORE I got on the scales. Next time, maybe a fruit basket will be in order...

Monday, September 1, 2008

Seeing a man about a dog...

This is a term we use in the south and although not overly common, it is know well by those that use it. I've mostly heard it used by rural men and maybe you'll understand as we go along.

Every once in a while I just need to get away. You know, get out of the house, get away from chores, get away because you need to cool off or you just need an excuse to get some ice cream. Well, whenever those situations come up I just tell the family "I need to see a man about a dog". Then I take off for an hour or two and get my ice cream or whatever. I think the term came up in the south when men needed to "get away". So they'd say they needed to see a man about a dog. A hunting dog. Hunting with dogs is big in the south. With me so far?

Now, to really understand this, we have 4 dogs. No, they don't hunt unless you call begging for food hunting. Well, we did have a cock-a-poo-terrier that hunted moles in the yard, but that was a long time ago. Anyway, stay with me. Actually, four of us have 1 dog each and my wife has 4. In reality, we have all of them together. So, you can see that telling the family you are "going to see a man about a dog" might stir things up. And it did. That is how the true meaning of the phrase got discovered. I used it once too often and did not come home with a dog.

Well, questions arose, dodging did not work, "what kind of dog, daddy?", "when do we get him, daddy?", "how many dogs, daddy?"... well it just would not end. Nothing I said would matter. It got so bad I thought I was going to have to "go see a man about a dog" and I did not know if it was for real or not.

So, I had to come clean. Now they all know what we mean when we say "we have to see a man about a dog". All of us use it, but not often. In fact sometimes my wife suggests that I "go see a man about a dog." She must really love me!

To day, I needed to get out for a while. I just looked at my son and he said "Dad, I think we need to go see a man about a dog." So off we went. Somehow, he did not get the whole story or something went wrong because he literally saw a man about a dog! Ice cream was not good enough, although we had that. No, he had to see a man about a dog.

They put too much mustard on it but he ate it any way. I guess an old dog can learn new tricks. I think I like this version of "seeing a man about a dog."