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.

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.... :)

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!

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.

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...".