Now that the cookbook is fully underway (and halfway written, thank you very much), I will be running some recipes by you, alright? Alright!

You can test them if they sound good. and please, if anything doesn’t work for you (or is just so delicious you have to shout about it) e-mail me or leave notes in comments. Oh, yes. I did delete a bunch of my notes today, by accident. That wasn’t so good. I am genius at outsmarting myself when I have more than three files up at the same time. Ouchie. But my ma can bail me out, I think. (It was photo captions. Shoot.)

* This is my sister’s recipe. I ran it a long time ago, but I did a little switch-up on it. It is quite good her way, or mine:

Curried Chickpeas and Kale

2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
3 cups chopped kale or 1 package frozen chopped spinach
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
3 cups cooked chickpeas
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste

Combine all ingredients in your crockpot and let it cook on low 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 hours.

I had to fix it in a soup pot, because I have no idea where the crockpot is. I made up my own curry mix with the mortar and pestle: garam masala, turmeric, cumin, cardamom, ginger, sugar, coriander and… I think that’s it. Oh yeah. I actually found curry powder in the cupboard and threw that in, too. I thought I used twice as much in the spice mix as I should have, but it turned out to be fairly mild and the perfect amount. Curry is good that way. (Per Nan’s instructions: Mix spices into a paste with a little water; sprinkle over onions while they saute and stir like mad so they don’t burn. Mmm…)

We served it over brown rice, and I added fresh mozzarella to mine, which almost (almost) tasted like paneer. Mmmmmmmm… paneer… My sister knows how to make it from scratch — I’ll have to get her over her to show me how.

What else? I used a package of frozen spinach since we didn’t have kale. And since Steve for no good reason (or bad reason) doesn’t like kale. This saddens me, because I love kale and could eat it every day. Especially Kale Chips, oh yum.

* Next? I realized that my poor, deprived Wacky Girl has been without homemade bread for days now. So I made the one from the breadmaker recipe book and it will be ready at approximately 10 o’clock tonight. My girl likes homemade bread.

That makes me happy. (PS there is a good bread recipe on that link, if you are interested.)

If you are in need of more breadmaker recipes, there are about 8,000 online, fyi. (Here is the homemade pizza dough recipe my extended family is nuts about. Excellent good.)

* I still have not mastered my Dear Late Granny’s Pie Crust recipe, so I used this one, instead:

SUPER-EASY PIE CRUST, WITHOUT LARD

3 cups flour
1 cup veggie oil
1/2 cup orange juice

Stir together with fork.
Separate into two equally sized balls of dough.
Roll each ball of dough out between two pieces of wax paper.

The woman who shared it with me wrote “Easy, easy, yummy, yummy” at the end of the recipe, and she was right! I didn’t have any orange juice, so I used water. (You wouldn’t want the citrus if you were using this crust for a savory pie, either.)

I stirred together a can of cherries with some sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and cornstarch. It wasn’t enough filling, but I’ll double it next time. Also, I prefer metal cake/pie pans to glass, why didn’t I use one?

Trick from Granny: Sprinkle sugar on the top crust and it will make it crunchy-brown-sugary on top.

* I wanted to do a Caprese Salad (fresh Roma tomatoes, mozzarella and basil leaves), a la the Pioneer Woman, so I thought I’d try my hand at doing a Balsamic Reduction. Well, it started to boil too much, and then when I turned it down it wasn’t boiling enough, so… it didn’t reduce as much as I would have liked. But still, it reduced by about 2/3 so good enough. Also, I realized that Caprese Salad in no way complemented Chana Sag, brown rice or the macaroni and cheese out of a box that the kids were eating.

I just wanted a Caprese Salad.

So I’ll have one tomorrow night — since the reduction is in a jar in the fridge and ready to go.

Bon appetit!

WM

Yeah, that’s right. I read Parade Magazine every week in the Sunday paper, what of it? And here is what I found this week: an interview with the sexy sexy Frenchman, Gilles Marini of the TV show “Brothers and Sisters” and his recipe for crepes. Wouldn’t you like him to come over and make some crepes for you? He won’t — his wife wouldn’t understand. But you can make some yourself!

“They’re like the French burrito. They can be sweet, like this recipe, or done with ham and cheese and eggs, or with salmon,” sez Gilles.

Crepe Expectations
Ingredients:
2 cups milk
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup melted, unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a mixer or blender and blend until smooth.

2. In a medium-size skillet over medium-low heat, melt 1/2 tsp butter; ladle in 1/4 cup crepe batter. Swirl the skillet until you have a thin layer of batter covering the entire bottom.

3. Cook until the underside is golden brown, about 2 minutes; flip. Cook until the other side is golden brown, about 1 minute.

4. Add a filling, if desired, right after flipping. Place ingredients down the center of the crepe so you can fold in the sides like an envelope. If you aren’t using a filling, cook all the crepes, then put them on a plate in the middle of the table alongside bowls of various fillings—jams, Nutella, whipped cream, sautéed fruit, etc.—so everyone can choose their own.

5. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Gille’s Tips

• “If you have time, let the batter rest for half an hour before frying the crepes. And you can keep any unused batter covered in the fridge for one day.”

• “My secret ingredient is eau de fleur d’oranger [orange-blossom water, available in specialty food stores]. Put in only one or two drops because it’s very, very strong. But people will say, ‘Oh my God, this is delicious.’”

• “I love salmon crepes. But if you want to make the recipe savory, not sweet, you need to lose the vanilla extract and the sugar. Then you can put whatever you want inside.”

Ahhhhhh… don’t you love the way he talks? Last night, Wacky Girl made the batter, and Steve was the chef. Me? I was in charge of the Nutella, powdered sugar, fresh strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate, caramel and maple syrups.

No, we didn’t use all of them at once.

Also I was in charge of purchasing a couple of new pans, cuz all of ours were too thick for crepe-making. (The smaller skillet worked like a charm, fyi. I found a set of two at Macy’s for fifty bucks.)

Crepes. Were. So. Delicious.

Bon appetit!

— wm

That Suzanne has got me all inspired.

Would you like to write a cookbook, too? Here’s a template. I’m playing around with it right now — easy peasy. We can do it together — this will be fun. Let me know how it goes ;)

Seriously — novel is done. I’ve proofread and edited it, now I’m turning it over to the Real Editors and they can have at it. Then I’ll upload it to Kindle (via CafePress), and I’ll sell you a copy. Yes? Yes.

So I’m moving on to the next project, and it is going to be way easier than The Great American Novel was. Remember when I started working on my Dear Granny’s Life Story and Cookbook, many moons ago? Yeah, me neither. Kidding. Do you remember this post? I am so glad Steve and I shifted our priorities. It was time. I do wish I had been able to finish my Grandma’s cookbook while she was still with us. However. Honestly? Honestly — she would have hated whatever I wrote. She was a frustrated writer, herself. It would have been incredible if she would have been able to write her memoirs, or a cookbook, or a combo, like I am planning. But she didn’t type, didn’t use computers, wrote longhand on yellow pads and in small journals, and I was not patient enough to sit down and work with her on it.

She had (untreated) diabetes and was grouchy from it, most of the time. She lived on those miniature Mounds bars and the Meals on Wheels that I signed her up for. She refused to let me take her out to eat, didn’t like the food I brought over, complained about anything anyone else cooked. She loved my auntie’s teriyaki chicken, rice and macaroni salad. Whew. So that was something. And she loved the church potlucks she helped host.

She was a trip, my Granny, and I loved her dearly. But she was a complicated person.

As I said in that other post, she would tell you, “Well, that was just a situation” and then she’d clam up. She wasn’t one for discussing “feelings” or “making progress” or “monitoring her blood sugar” or “getting exercise.” Man.

“She’s a pistol!” Yep. She was. Oh my gosh, this is one of the funniest stories she ever told me.

So I am easing up a little, on myself, about not finishing her book until now.

Love you Grandma, and I miss you every day.

xo

nancy

ps I can’t leave you without some of her recipes. Bon appetit.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Lemon Bundt Cake with Orange Glaze

(for your inner diabetic…) (and…)

Chow-Chow!

Sugar Cookies, Unstuffed Pepper Soup and Apple Pizza

Dear You,

Sometimes, I get so personally attached to a writer, and/or the person’s book, that I just want to hug ’em and not let go and not share them with anyone. Mine, mine, mine. Do you ever get like that? Is it just me?

Anyway, that’s how I feel about Suzanne Beecher and her delightful new memoir/cookbook, “Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life.” Mine, mine, mine. I bought a copy for my Kindle, read it on the iPad just now, and have a hard copy arriving in the mail in a few days.

Mine, mine, mine. But how can I hog her all to myself? I cannot. And so I will share this much with you:

Her book is funny, rich, inspired. Suzanne has been through a lot, and every time she ends up with lemons she just makes a pitcher of lemonade, then sells it by the glass. Her recipes are so yummy… I knew some of them from her blog, and have made several of them over the years (Crockpot Stuffing, Dolly Madison Muffins, Skunk Beans). I appreciate a girl who can cook and write, probably more than your average fan. Who knows why? Oh, wait…

I have written about her so many times here on The Blog (go search for “Suzanne” or “DearReader”), I’m like her one-woman fan club. But not. I have to share her with the nearly half a million readers who follow her book clubs. Also one time she sent me chocolate chip cookies, when I was working at Jefferson High School in beautiful Portland, Ore. I shared them with the students and some of the other teachers and staff. We took pictures of our Cooky Feast and mailed them to Suzanne. She is crazy for pictures. And her grandkids. And her bubble machine. And her pink flamingos. Also she is nuts about her husband. I’m just sayin’ — what a gal.

She is such a good writer, my Internet friend Suzanne. Inspirational and funny, poignant and assertive, business-savvy and artistic, compassionate and not-at-all-perfect. But she’s perfect to me. And if she wasn’t all the way in Florida, and I wasn’t all the way out here in Oregon, I’d go give her a big hug right now.

Only she would probably say, Honey, it’s 11:17 p.m. on a Monday night, shouldn’t you be in bed? Heehee.

Go buy her book, and buy a couple of extra copies to give as gifts. Knowing Suzanne, she will send you a free autographed bookplate and a bookmark.

Bon appetit!

Wacky Mommy

ps — private note to my son, who is very much a 9-year-old: Darling. When I tell you, Go to bed, please go to bed. Do not go stick Silly Putty in your sister’s hair, instead. That is just naughty. We had no choice but to cut it out, and now her hair is all… hunky in that spot. It’s in hunks now. Hunks of hair. Love you so much, Mommy

man. remember when i said, don’t blow anything up outside my bedroom window? what I meant to tell the neighbors was, PLEASE blow up a bunch of fancy fireworks make ’em go boom-boom-boom right outside my window.

i am not one for fireworks, but since Dear Wacky Dog has been gone for some time now, it’s not as bad. God, he had a miserable time with the fireworks. Here’s the story: the “good” fireworks are “illegal” in Oregon, but “legal!!!” in Washington. We lived in North Portland, which is, like, border town to Washington state. So everyone, but not their dogs, because their dogs frickin’ hate fireworks (and not us, because I’m too cheap. Plus I like to keep it legal, thank you) drives across the bridge, loads up on the “good,” fancy fireworks, then drives back and makes ’em go oh-oh-oh BOOM-SNAP-CRACKLE-POP.

When we moved to fancy westside suburbs, I thought, This is no border town. It’s a border town to the Wine Country, and the ocean breezes, that’s about all it’s a border town to.

“Surely people won’t bark at the moon and shoot off their guns out here, like they do in North Portland?”

Last year we were enjoying the ocean breezes, so this was our first Fourth in the new house. Man. People do it UP out here. We walked around the neighborhood and watched the little shows, then walked up the hill and could see four or five big fireworks shows from all over town. Then we figured out the best show around was right out in our backyard. The people in the cul-de-sac behind us partied all day, and once it got dark did a fireworks show that went on forever.

I finally fell asleep about midnight, hearing faint boom-boom-booms from all around. Crazy.

This morning they were out there with their leaf-blowers, cleaning up.

#suburbsareatrip.

Have a great week!

— wm

Dang, summer gets busy, doesn’t it?

Happy Sunday to y’all. And to those of you patriotic types out there, happy Fourth of July. Try not to blow up anything right outside my bedroom window, okay? OK! Hey, I know I’ve been missing in action. But I also know that you don’t read blogs anymore, cuz you’re so busy with that little hussy, Facebook. I have a whole long essay I’d like to write, re: Facebook, but they did a switch-up and made it so you can easily cancel a friend request, if you so desire. And that makes me happy because, you know. Drunk Facebooking: Why It’s Bad.

Kidding! I stopped drinking two months ago! Just booze. I still drink water and iced tea, fyi.

So I cannot blame The Booze for anything anymore. But I never could, anyway. I don’t really know where I’m going with this, but I’ve lost some weight and my blood sugars seem to be not freaking out as much, and that’s good.

Oh. Here’s a social etiquette FB question for you: Let’s say you have a friend, and your friend changes her home number, her cell number, gets a new job, doesn’t give you any of the three new numbers… OK. That’s bad enough, right?

(“Grab a fucking clue!” — my drug-addicted friend’s drug addict boyfriend, when I called her before noon one time. She hung up, then when I called back, he yelled that in the background and she hung up again. Later, this happened. (Different guy.) Uh, yeah. I used to have the sweetest friends!)

Where was I? OK, the phone number thing, then she de-friends you on FB. But keeps your husband as a friend? I think not. She’s not even real-life friends with him! We were friends from, you know, back in the day, WTF? Steve is all, Cat fight, i’m out of here. hahaha. I sent her a friend request, then thought, What am I, nuts? (Grabbing clue, canceling friend request.) The Nice Girl inside of my head keeps saying, primly, I’m sure it was all a big mistake.

Ha.

Here’s how kids cry in the suburbs: “Hu-waaaaaaaaah, hu-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, hu-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh…”

Here’s what the moms say: “If everyone can’t play together nicely, then everyone will have to go home.”

Kids: “Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!”

(verbatim dialogue from across the street.)

So my question is, I guess: Do I call her? Oh, wait… Alright, if she calls me, do I ask, WTF? Do I send her a message on FB, asking her if we’re still friends? (What am I, a teenager here?) We didn’t have a fight or anything, that I can recall. To the best of my recollection. She got pissed off about something, but that was a long time ago, and I thought we patched it up? (It wasn’t me, anyway — it was a third person, and was just lame.) (I wasn’t even there, alright? Long story, nevermind.)

(here’s some skateboarder dialogue from midnight, the other night. we live on a steep hill that the long-boarders loooooooooooooove. It’s like the Mountain Dew action tour, every frickin’ day):

SPECTACULAR CRASH, followed by:

1st skater: “Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”

2nd skater: “Dude!”

1st skater: “Dude, seriously. I just fucked up my leg.” (Thirty-second pause.) “It’s okay, it’s just fractured, not broken.”

(thoughts from Dr. Mom: Really? Without an x-ray you just diagnosed that in less than one minute? Wow, you are good!)

2nd skater: “Which direction did your board go?” (we live in the suburbs — it’s like the country out here, at night — dark and everyone asleep in the barn.)

1st skater: “That way. Aiiiiiiiiiiiiii why did I think I could pull that one off?”

Man.

What else? Steve and the kids made me the best birthday dinner last night. (The guys were out of town last week, so we had a belated celebration.) Homemade Cheese Ravioli (thank you, Wacky Girl — your pasta-making skills astound me) and Cake Poppers, a la Zoot. (Thank you, Wacky Boy, for your willingness to smush together cake and frosting and turn it into art). (More pix over here.)

What? It’s not your birthday?

Frances (from “A Birthday for Frances”): “That is how it is, Alice. Your birthday is always the one that is not now.”

i (heart) my family for a lot of reasons, and especially because they always make my birthday special.

Now they’re at a family barbecue, and I am not. Which means I need to get back to editing, already.

hugs and kisses, little fishes,
xoxoxo

me

Chicken Meatball and Tortellini Noodle Soup
(from Tyler Florence)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Take a large mixing bowl and add loose ground chicken meat (discard cases if using sausages), breadcrumbs, milk, egg, parsley and 1/4 cup of grated parmesan. Season with salt and pepper then mix until fully combined. Using an ice cream scoop, make balls and set out on a roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a little grated parmesan. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and caramelised.

While the meatballs are cooking make the soup. Set a large stock pot over medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic and thyme and gently sauté until fragrant – about 2 minutes. Add carrots, onion and celery, season with salt and cook for 5-7 minutes. Pour in chicken broth and add peppercorns, parsley and bay leaf. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.

Once meatballs are cooked, scrape into the pot of chicken soup and add tortellini so everything is back in the pot. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes to allow the flavors to come together. Give it a final season with salt and peper and serve in shallow bowls with a small shower of parsley and grated parmesan. Garnish with a parsley stem and serve with some torn pieces of crusty bread.

(so good. wm)

Roasted Fruit a la Martha
We roast vegetables all the time (the asparagus has been soooooooo good this year, but we’re avoiding the frittatas, mmmmmmm frittatas…) but I never roast fruit. This is on my to-do list, after seeing them do it up on Everyday Food:

Chop into hunks and mix up: nectarines, plums, peaches (or apples and pears).

Sprinkle with two or three tablespoons of sugar (more if fruit isn’t very ripe); cube a couple of tablespoons of butter and dab it on top; add springs of rosemary; squeeze some lime juice over.

Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or so. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or creme fraiche.

Bon appetit!

ps if you’re looking for a great “how-to” guide for roasting vegetables, click here.

WM

You know why I still subscribe to the newspaper? (We take three, actually — west side paper, Street Roots (homeless guys’ newspaper) and Thee Oregonian.) Four reasons: 1) Page One of the funny papers. 2) Page Two of the funny papers 3) obits (“hatched, matched and thatched,” as my dear departed Granny said of the birth, wedding and death notices) and 4) the FoodDay section.

I am sucker for recipes, y’all who have been reading me for awhile know that. Today, along comes this cute hippie guy, making some vegetarian burritos for himself and his girlfriend. Awwwwwwww… just like Stevie and me! So I had to make some for lunch and some to put in the freezer. Of course I only had the burrito-size tortillas, and no sweet potatoes. And I was too lazy to fry up some new potatoes. And I wanted to add rice, anyway, so forget about the spuds.

Also, I used some El Pato and tomato sauce, and did them enchilada-style.

What else? I subbed collards for kale, due to the fact that we had no kale in the fridge. But Steve’s not crazy about kale, anyway, so it’s all good! (As the hippies say. “It’s all good hemp!”)

Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. So there you go. Steve had a nice, home-cooked lunch, and we have a pan of enchilada/burritos in the freezer. This working from home thing rocks. I have had a hard time with it, in the past, keeping on a schedule, getting the writing/editing done, paying enough attention to laundry/cleaning/reading/bread-baking/gardening/bill-paying/kids/everything else. (No, not in that order. The bread-baking comes in second place, right after the kiddos.) (Probably helps that they’re in school most of the day, my little darlins. But with as many days as we have off? It’s not that different from when they were babies.) (No diapers though!!!!! Right on!!! Right on!!!)

(speaking of… Lelo posted some dynamite salad dressing recipes. Don’t get too skinny, girl! I like ’em curvy ;)

I also went all crazy and made the MAC Club’s Bran Muffins, from a recipe I cut out of the paper about two decades ago. So of course it’s not online. OregonLive barely has stuff that’s two weeks old online. I’ll type it up later, I promise.

Oh, Oregonian… Sorry I was hating on you so much awhile back. (Internet can’t see my fingers crossed behind my back.) I’m sorry! I feel so bad every time I think about you! OK, I’m not sorry.

Bon appetit!

Wacky Mommy

and… here’s the recipe. My changes (they all worked well): I subbed two real eggs for the egg substitute; dark molasses for light; soymilk with a tablespoon of lemon added instead of buttermilk (this is also a trick I use with real milk if I don’t have buttermilk in the house; and I added a little extra milk — maybe should have used three eggs? Yeah, I added a little honey, too, cuz sticky bran muffins = heaven.

And I left out the pineapple. My daughter wants me to add bananas next time. I think blueberries would be good, too. We’re anti-raisins and nuts over here, but you may feel differently. Also, I mixed it all up in one damn bowl because life is too short to mess with separate bowls.

We all four like this recipe. And even though I filled the muffin tins right up to the edge (muffin tops!! the good kind) it still made enough for lunches and snacks, plus some for the freezer. Done!

MAC Bran Muffins

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 cups wheat bran
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup liquid egg substitute
1 tablespoon light molasses
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 15 1/4 oz. can juice-packed crushed pineapple, drained

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, soda, baking powder and wheat bran until uniformly mixed. In a separate bowl, mix oil, egg substitute, molasses and buttermilk. Add egg mixture and pineapple to flour mixture all at once. Stir until all of flour is wet, but do not overmix.

Fill lightly greased muffin tins (or paper-lined tins) 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes approximately 2 dozen.

it was good that i stopped drinking, I’m telling ya. three weeks today, wooooooooooo-hoooooooooo. I feel better, lighter, my skin looks less blotchy, all good.

booze = crutch, but for me, the bigger issue is booze = health problems. (diabetes on both sides of family, alcoholism on both sides of family, my heart thing, weight, on and on.) And i’m sorry, i really don’t mean to be all preachy here, but when you’re turning to “mommy needs a little drinkie” every time you’re stressed out, it’s a bad example for the kids. I haven’t been doing anybody any goddamn favors, especially not myself. And the cost! Booze is so expensive, damn. So there is no good reason for me to drink, and a whole lot of bad reasons to do it.

there are different, better ways to cope. i’ve been working out every day, even if it’s just a weigh-in with the WiiFit and a fast walk, and getting enough sleep (what???) and, yeah. It feels good. It feels like a big weight lifted off my shoulders. We’re surrounded by booze, references to booze, “I got so drunk last night!” all over Facebook, and yadda yadda. We are cocktail nation.

I’m sticking with the virgin mojitos and virgin pina coladas this summer — looking forward to it. I’ve already confounded 2 bartenders by ordering virgin bloody marys at restaurants. (hint: you leave out the wodka is all, so easy!) “What? What? You mean… like with the olives and everything, and just tomato juice?” omg.

I’m in it for the olives, okay? and the celery, and pickled asparagus. Just no more pickling of the liver.

anyway. eating healthy is something we’re always striving for at Chez Wacky. Compared to the rest of Americans, we’re doing pretty well (vegetarian for Steve and the kids, mostly veggie for me, limited fast/junk food, limited processed foods, eating locally, in season, buying in bulk, blah blah blah). However. We have a long way to go.

here’s a good start:

Ultimate Detox Recipe: Easy Wilted Garlic-Sesame Salad

Toss dark green leafy vegetables in hot, garlicky oil for a cleansing — and delicious — dish.

4 servings, about 65 calories each

1 tsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb. spinach, stemmed,
or 1 lb. Swiss chard, stems sliced, leaves torn
or 1 lb. mixture of spinach and watercress
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tsp. sesame seeds for garnish

Warm oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir until lightly browned, about 45 seconds. Add greens (do in two batches if necessary) and toss until just wilted, 2 to 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Find more healthy recipes with the RealAge Recipe Finder.

I’m telling you, if it wasn’t for Facebook and all the goofiness over there, I might run out of ideas for my blog. (that’s where I found that recipe, thank you… Kris? I think :) Please go “like” Wacky Mommy if you haven’t already!!! pretty please?

what else? we gardened yesterday, it’s coming along. and went to the farmers market, which was kicking and in full-force. Oregon strawberries, tasty and sweet; sticky, addictive kettlecorn; monster-sized collard greens; more sticky icky kettlecorn; leafy parsley; dark purple new potatoes, just dug the day before and still wet from their wash… good day. Always nice to see our friends, and the vendors. Our favorite is the bug guy — we bought another praying mantis pod (will hatch 200 mantises, most likely) and 1,500 little lady bugs! I am hoping they stick around in the yard and don’t just fly away home. Make this home, girls! Get those aphids off my roses!

Now, to write. Cleaning up spelling errors still, tenses, all that. I don’t mind the tinkering and tightening up, it’s kinda fun. And it’s done!!! I am reveling in that. Damn. Happy Sunday, y’all.

xoxoxo

wm

Sun is out again today, it’s fantastic. A guy came by to look at our floors — hardwoods, here we come! (I miss the oak hardwoods from our old house, but that’s about all that I miss.) The carpets, the cats who shed about two pounds of fur per day — allergies, asthma. Enough. We’re getting the bids and I can’t wait until we get the project started. (Make that “finished.” heehee.)

We just got our new copy of the “National Geographic Kids Almanac 2012” in the mail, yay! (Free copy for review, so here’s my disclaimer. Again.) My kids really enjoy these almanacs, they’re jam-packed full of fun stuff.

And another disclaimer… now that I’m retired and working from home again (wait… I thought I was retired? OK, writing = not really retired, eh?), I’m going to check out the marketing sites a little more often, BzzAgent and Vocalpoint, for starters. So if I am reviewing products (that I’ve received gratis) I will let you know. I also highly recommend signing up for some of the marketing sites, if you like to check out new products, or if you (like I do) have kids at home who love getting freebies in the mail.

For example, I just wrote this, then went to check the mail. Voila! There’s a coffee cup (paper, wrapped in plastic) that says, “take a break from aftertaste.” OK. I open it up, and there we have… chocolate! No. Damn. Coupons! For Breve Creme — one free pint, on them. And a string of cents-off coupons. I would have rather had a free cup of coffee. It’s the middle of the afternoon and I could use a jolt. But this is all right, too. So there you have it. Breve Creme.

Just remember, I never promote something just for the hell of it, even though I know that sounded like it (Breve Creme… mmmm Breve Creme) and I’m going to continue to give you my honest opinions on stuff. (Even though you’ve never, you know, asked me for ’em.) Or I will, anyway, once I try out this creamer. Dammit, maybe I should stop by Starbucks after I get the kid from school. So no buy-offs here, got it? Got it. Good luck getting any book reviews out of me, though… so busy writing that I’m not able to read as much as I’d like lately. Ah, well.

Here’s a magical recipe from the Sweet Suzanne (go buy her book, too! She worked hard on it):

Baby Reds with a Sprinkle of Magic

Ingredients

2 pounds small red skin potatoes, halved or quartered
1 tablespoon, extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Salt (if you want) and pepper (I used seasoned pepper)
2 tablespoons, 3 or 4 sprigs, fresh thyme, leaves stripped and
chopped

Directions

Fill a skillet 1/2 full of water and bring water to a boil. Add
potatoes, simmer 13 minutes until fork tender. Drain potatoes in a
colander. In the pan you cooked the potatoes in, heat over med-high
heat, the extra-virgin olive oil and butter. When butter melts add
potatoes. Season potatoes with salt, pepper and chopped thyme. Coat
and brown the potatoes, turning occasionally, 7 or 8 minutes.

QOTD
“What am I doing? Nothing. I am letting life rain upon me.” — Rahel Varnhagen