Ranting about thankfulness on HumpDay …
31 Dec 2014 4 Comments
Didn’t feel like losing it over anything on Monday, so you got a break. Love it while you can because that’s over in 4 … 3 … 2 …
So Monday was okay, as I recall. Tuesday afternoon we’re tootling along Hwy 10 when the tootle goes away.
Kim sits, hands on wheel, just long enough to assess how and why and mutter “F*ckin’ embarrassing” before he starts walking. Li’l Truck inhaled the last of the fumes about a quarter of a mile short of an exit, beyond which there is rumored (according to the sign) to be a service station, but just before Kim gets to the exit ramp somebody in a big black truck pulls over, picks him up, and drives away.
Which, after the shortest, most obscure Monday Rant you are likely ever to hear from me, brings us to Thankfulness Tuesday. Because yes, there was a service station just beyond the exit ramp. WAS. Extinct and crusty. Enter Ric, driving back to KC after the cold burial of a much-loved friend. Spots my husband strolling along the highway, hunkered against the chill, a heavy coat, stocking cap pulled over most of his face, imposing enough man that you’d notice, and of course pulls right over. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ric. Ric isn’t a big guy, but he sticks in your mind that way. He repairs heavy equipment and does pipeline work, and I’m pretty sure he isn’t afraid of much, but his kind heart is a lot bigger than all that. He insists on driving back down the 4-lane to get the Madster and me, carts us all back the other way to where the service station really IS, then west one more time where he uses his new truck to shield Kim from Highway Harm while he pours gas in the tank. And yeah, then follows us back to the same service station so he knows for sure we made it, and tells Kim to give that piece of green to somebody who’s looking for it.
But wait, there’s more. Kim’s a good mechanic, knows a lot about a lot. For instance, he’s known since he bought the truck that it needs a new sending unit for the gas gauge, and probably a new fuel pump while you have the tank dropped, but since he doesn’t have a place to do his own work anymore and hasn’t loved the estimates he’s gotten, he’s just gradually developed a little system. The system failed yesterday. But only so we could start getting acquainted with Ric, and so he could offer to replace the unit for parts at his cost, plus labor. Helps him, lets my husband win. Think it’s gonna happen.
Also it’s HumpDay AND New Year’s Eve. Do with that what you will, kids.
Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Pie
20 Dec 2014 2 Comments
Because I hung up my apron ten years ago when I married a cook, I don’t post recipes that require 37-million ingredients and tedious hours to assemble — I figure most people are as cranked about that as I am. Not all, I get that — but it’s cool for the rest of us to have a few go-tos that are within the realm of quick-ish possibility. Ergo …
From 12 Tomatoes. Check them out here: http://12tomatoes.com
Sometimes you just go ahead and dance …
16 Dec 2014 3 Comments
So I noticed a weird little goober on my lower eyelid, oh, months and months ago and when it started to resemble an expanding snot bubble I made an appointment with a specialist — I’m not one to rush into things unless it’s something I really want. Anyway, today was as much fun as a poke in the eye with a sharp needle — biopsy done and now we have the inevitable wait. But even if it’s basal cell, as Dr. Specialist surmises, it won’t be a biggie — Dr. Specialist #2 will biopsy the whole thing in layers and if I end up with a divot in my eyelid Dr. Specialist #1 will Bondo it for me and my eye will be good as new. Also basal cell carcinoma doesn’t metastasize or send out runners. Yay!
Hey, it’s Tuesday, the day we dahnce, dahlings, and I say we get on with it. Choose your libation — I’m having NZ Starborough Sauv Blanc — and distract me while the anesthetic wears off and reality hits. That’s what friends do.
Just in time …
09 Dec 2014 Leave a comment
… for the annual “War on Christmas,” a handy flow chart from Christian blogger Rachel Held Evans, who writes “The whole story of Advent is the story of how God can’t be kept out. God is present. God is with us. God shows up—not with a parade but with the whimper of a baby, not among the powerful but among the marginalized, not to the demanding but to the humble. From Advent to Easter, the story of Jesus should teach us that God doesn’t need a mention in our pledge or on our money or over the loudspeaker at the mall to be present, and when we fight like spoiled children to ‘keep’ God in those things, we are fighting for idols. We’re chasing wind.”
Whatever your take on all of that, or mine, she also says, “For a long, long time Christianity was dominant in the United States and represented the civic religion of the country. But America is about the people who are here now, and that is a much more diverse group. And that’s good! It is time to stop insisting that everything revolves around us. Instead, let’s join the wider circle of the many traditions that make up our country. Besides, any Christian knows that Christmas is not about displays in shopping malls, or capitols, or schools, it is about a spiritual event that we honor most in our families and our homes.”
Making a list …
02 Dec 2014 2 Comments
So Tuesday around here is evolving into a day for thankfulness and dancing, but will one day a week be enough? I think not! And on that note, I hope you’re making only HAPPY LISTS this winter.
The giving of the thanks …
26 Nov 2014 2 Comments
A hearty … Boy-We-Sure-Put-One-Over-on-Those-Stupid-Indians Day … to one and all!
“Fine meal, chaps. Burrrp. The corn was a nice touch. Sweet little country ya’ got here.
Be a shame if somethin’ were ta’ happen to it.”
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies!
08 Nov 2014 Leave a comment
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
1 cup sugar
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
3 oz. package of cream cheese
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk (reserve white)
2 cups all-purpose flour
Blend together sugar, margarine, cream cheese, salt, almond extract, vanilla, and egg yolk with mixer. Mix in flour until well blended.
Roll into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for two hours.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough, one third at a time, on a lightly floured surface. Using a cookie cutter dipped in flour, cut out cookies as close together as possible.
Place the cookies one inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. To prevent breaking, move cookies to and from baking sheets with a wide spatula or pancake turner.
Leave cookies plain or, if desired, brush with slightly beaten egg white and spring with colored sugar.
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies are a light golden brown. Cool completely.
{My mom always told me the most important part of making sugar cookies was to take them out as soon as they were even slightly brown on the bottom, or not at all. I took mine out before they had even browned and left them on the cookie sheet to cool. That made them extra soft and delicious.}
If desired, use the almond glaze below.
Almond Glaze:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 tsp. almond extract
2 Tb. water
4 drops of food coloring
Stir all ingredients until smooth.
Pour 1 teaspoon of glaze on each sugar cookie. Use the back of the teaspoon to spread glaze evenly over cookie. Let glaze dry.
Playing for Time 
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