Last night I noticed a lot of crowing outside and my cat actually ran in as if she was scared to death. When I went outside, there were swarms of crows everywhere. I couldn't even begin to describe the creepiness of it. Every roof top I could see from my back yard was covered in crows. I mean every single one. I ran in and grabbed my phone to take a picture of our friend's house to show them. Afterwards I went upstairs to look out to the front yard and all of the rooftops on the houses across the street were lined with crows too. It was like I was in the movie The Birds! In about 10 minutes, every single crow was gone. It was wheird....with an emphasis on the h - even though there is no h in weird. OMG is it 5:00 yet????
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This blog isn't about making myself look good. It's about writing what I am thinking about, how I'm feeling at the moment or just random acts of stupidity as I am about to do now. Last night was my long anticipated fantasy football draft. I had all sorts of "cheat sheets" handy and thought to myself "This year I'm going to draft smart!" How did it go you ask? See for yourself. This is going to be a long season and I already have a waiver dropping Austin Davis and adding Shaun Hill. I know...I still have so much to learn. At least there was only $50 on the line. You have to love how witty these hooligans at Yahoo are. Or are they Yahoos? Go ahead and have a laugh on me. It's almost the weekend! ~ Ames
I can hardly believe September is almost here. Wasn't it just Memorial Day? My youngest just started Sophomore year in High School, Football is right around the corner with Hockey to follow the month after. The Dodgers only have 29 games left in the regular season. WOW that was FAST!!! I'm not worried about them making it to the playoffs. I actually believe we have a really good chance to get to, and win, the World Series (Although, I attended Sunday's game where they could have swept the Mets, but they just weren't on their game AT ALL.) This is MLB's projection for probable NL West Post Season: Which brings me to recommending this site for tickets to ball games, especially last minute! Saturday afternoon we decided to go the game on Sunday. I googled "best ticket agencies" and there was a top 10 list. At the top was http://www.ticketlodge.com/ with rave reviews. I searched the available tickets and found 3 for $57 each in section 14 field level! We usually pay more than that for Upper Reserve! Once I purchased the tickets it showed that the face value was $140 each! They were GREAT seats as you can see from my view! (That's a lot of exclamation points!!!!) On another note, my fantasy football draft is tonight. Not knowing where I am in the draft pick order of 14 teams is excruciating. It's hard to have strategy in picking, not knowing. Gee...I hope I am able to get Sam Bradford in the 1st round. (Hahahahahaha....)
After realizing the epic fail of my Minestrone, I decided to make some comfort food. Earlier that day we saw someone on the Food Network making mac & cheese bites with a panko crust on the bottom. I went off of memory for the crust (which was a bad idea) and took a shortcut on the mac & cheese. My youngest son Kyle is a picky, picky, PICKY eater. He gets that from his Mama. He has eaten the Kraft Mac & Cheese in the blue box probably once a week his whole life. It's one of his favorite foods. As he got older, he grew bored with it and started to have "adult" mac & cheese in restaurants. He surprised me by having lobster mac & cheese even! So one day at the store, I saw the Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese and decided to give it a whirl. OH EM GEE. I have to tell you, this stuff is great. It comes with the pasta, cheese sauce, spice packet and bread crumb packet. All you add is butter and mik (Additional grated cheese optional - but a must for us). This is so yummy that when I make it for Kyle, I have to grab a few spoonful's for myself. I suggest the baking option. I add a layer of freshly grated cheddar & Monterey jack cheese before sprinkling the bread crumbs over the top and baking until bubbly and golden brown. Since I had these ingredients on hand, I decided to try the bites version. Kyle was all for it! Saturday was one of those days that allowed me a lot of time in the kitchen. My husband is not a fan of soup, especially in the summer and even more so as a main dish. I LOVE soup. I could eat it every single day and not get bored. I think it makes a great main dish especially when there are so many ingredients. So I tried to find a soup I never made before and one that would keep my husband from whining like a little girl because I am making soup. Minestrone! I remembered that I had saved a recipe I found after watching an episode of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. You can find the recipe here http://www.rosinesmonterey.com/News/index.cfm/ID/6.htm and my adaptation of the recipe here: (Sorry about the quality of my photos - used my ancient iphone4) Amy's Epic Fail Minestrone 4 quarts beef stock 3 pounds chuck roast, cut into bite size pieces 1 14 1/2 ounces can stewed tomatoes 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes 5 (8 ounces each) cans tomato sauce (I used 2 regular, and 3 El Pato for spice) 4 bay leaves (I forgot to add the bay leaves!) 1 tablespoon sweet basil 1 teaspoon oregano 1 tablespoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 3 teaspoons salt 5 teaspoons sugar 11/2 tablespoons garlic powder 1 onion, chopped 2 cups cabbage, chopped 3 cups bell peppers, chopped 2 cups carrots, diced 4 small potatoes, diced into cubes 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped 12 oz + 24 oz can kidney beans 1/2 pound small elbow macaroni (This is what I feel is the epic fail of the recipe) Add the beef stock, meat, tomatoes (break up the stewed tomatoes with fingers as you add them), tomato sauce, bay leaves, sweet basil, oregano, cumin, black pepper, salt, sugar and garlic powder. Bring to a boil. Cover and keep at a slow boil for 1 hour. Before adding vegetables, skim the surface of the soup of fat. (They don't mention this in the original recipe but I feel it is a must! Who wants greasy soup? Ew!) Just use a spoon and plop it into a bowl. Add vegetables. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Taste for flavor and adjust seasonings if necessary. I added some Cayenne Pepper and more salt. Add the pasta and beans and cook until tender.
Somewhere along the line it doesn't say "Serve Immediately!" because I would. If you let this soup simmer too long, which I did, the pasta becomes mush. It completely ruined the entire soup in my opinion. I don't know what I was thinking? Perhaps because I have had chicken noodle soup and the noodles don't ruin the soup? Perhaps because I have had Olive Garden's Minestrone and Pasta e Fagioli and the pasta isn't mush. Maybe I should have used shells? If anyone has advice please share. I ended up throwing away about 5 gallons of soup and an entire Saturday. I am on the fence about attempting this soup again. I think I'd either forego the pasta all together or add it after warming up each batch so it is still al dente. I also didn't care for the chunks beef in it, but that's what my husband liked about the soup. Anywho, I thought I'd share my experience. Maybe someone can learn from my mishaps and have good success with the soup. I'm Scandinavian. With the maiden name Skotterud, how much more Scandinavian does it get? It's in my blood and it's what makes me love the kinds of foods I love. Breads, Cheeses, Sauerkraut, Bratwurst, Rice, Shortbread, Pickles, Swedish Meatballs, Rye Crackers, etc. When I was little, my Mom used to make "Spare Ribs and Sauerkraut" often. I have always loved the comfort dish in it's simplicity. However, I also remember looking back, how bland the food we used to eat was. Fast forward to 2014. I LOVE to cook. I mean love, in the sense that if I can find a dish that will keep me in the kitchen for hours on a Sunday afternoon, I am in heaven. I also have grown to appreciate full flavors in my food. Spice is the key to every dish! My number one "special ingredient" is adding jalapeños to almost everything I make. It adds so much flavor and takes an every day dish, like Chicken Marsala for example, to a new level. It has people wanting more every time. This past week I realized I was craving Spare Ribs and Sauerkraut. It's typically a fall/wintery dish because it really warms the belly. I decided to try it in the crock pot so the time over a hot Dutch oven wouldn't be necessary. I also decided to add a few extra touches to the traditional dish to make it my own. I think it came out extraordinary! Even my oldest Son said it was very good, and he's not a big sauerkraut fan. I think the jalapeños, apple and bacon cut the tartness of the sauerkraut nicely. I also think the choice of beer complimented the dish as a whole. So if you're so inclined, perhaps pin it for the fall/winter months so you aren't sweating preparing it AND eating it if you live in 100 degree weather like I do. If you're not a fan of sauerkraut but love pork spare ribs and are willing to try something new, giving this dish a try may just change your mind forever. It's that good. Vær så god! Vel bekomme! Ingredients 1 pound fingerling potatoes 3 – 4 Jalapeños, sliced 1 medium brown onion, chopped 1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped 3-4 slices thick-sliced bacon strips, cooked and crumbled 1 jar (16 ounces) sauerkraut, undrained 2 pounds pork spareribs 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 3 tablespoons brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds 1 12 oz bottle of beer (I used Indio for its dark toasted malty flavor) Directions 1. In a large skillet, cook bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels and remove all but 1 tbsp. of the remaining bacon grease. (Side Note: Save the bacon grease for later use. It’s liquid gold when making other dishes!) 2. In a 6-qt. slow cooker, place the potatoes, jalapeños, onion, apple, bacon and sauerkraut, liquid and all, to the slow cooker. 3. Cut spareribs into serving-size portions; sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat the tbsp. of bacon grease over medium-high heat; brown ribs in batches. Transfer to slow cooker; sprinkle with brown sugar and caraway seeds. 4. Pour in beer. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until ribs are tender. 5. (Optional) During the last hour, mix all of the ribs in with the rest of the ingredients to meld the flavors before serving. Last night I finished watching Breaking Bad. Just as I felt after the last episode of Dexter, LOST, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Seinfeld, Cheers, Sex and The City, and too many other shows that consume my life, I feel empty. Walter White, Jesse Pinkman, Saul Goodman and even Hank are going to haunt my dreams until I can find my next addictive series. Right now I am at the beginning stages of withdrawal. "Those people" who say "Oh I don't watch TV" are not normal. They are the ones playing sports, exercising, have hobbies, spend their time outdoors and wouldn't succumb to the prison of a television series. Who does that??? Here are some of my favorite lines from Breaking Bad. I am going to miss hearing them. Yo, especially from Jesse. Bitch!!! 1. "FUCK YOU BOGDAN! AND YOUR EYEBROWS!" – Walter White 2. "Look, Skyler, I just haven’t quite been myself lately. I haven’t been myself lately, but I love you. Nothing about that has changed, and nothing ever will. So right now, what I need is for you to climb down out of my ass. Can you do that? Will you do that for me, honey? Will you please, just once, get off my ass. You know, I’d appreciate it. I really would.” – Walter White 3. "Yo, Gatorade me, bitch" – Jesse Pinkman 4. (to Walt and Jesse) "If I ever get anal polyps I know what I'm gonna call them' Jesse 'Magnets!" – Saul Goodman 5. "Ah, like I came to you, begging to cook meth. Oh, hey, nerdiest old dude I know, you wanna come cook crystal? Please. I’d ask my diaper-wearing granny, but her wheelchair wouldn’t fit in the RV." – Jesse Pinkman 6. "This is my own private domicile and I will not be harassed…bitch!" – Jesse Pinkman 7. "Yeah Bitch! Magnets" – Jesse Pinkman 8. “You clearly don’t know who you’re talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No! I am the one who knocks!” – Walter White 9. Oh well, heil Hitler, bitch. And let me tell you something else. We flipped a coin, okay? You and me. You and me! Coin flip is sacred! Your job is waiting for you in that basement, as per the coin!" – Jesse Pinkman 10. “Some straight like you, giant stick up his ass, age what- 60? He’s just gonna break bad?” – Jesse Pinkman I found a new avatar creator: http://jeuxcool.com/jeux/plus/semi-realistic-avatar-creator/ and experimented with different facial features, hair styles, colors, etc. After I made these three I realized they are all part of my persona. I wish I could change my looks this easy, but each one is a part of how I see myself.
The top left is the rebel in me. I love the edgy look of her sassy red short hair, the studded choker, the dainty nose piercing. Yet, she's still made up with just the right touch of make-up to accentuate her eyes. I see her as a smart, no-nonsense independent woman. This is the part of me most repressed. I'm working on it. The middle one is probably the most relatable part of me. I long for the perfectly messy, yet elegant hair. The kind of hair that looks amazing whether she tries or rolls out of bed. Her casual style is what suits me in my mind, even though I pretty much wear dresses on a daily basis. I see her as a mother, a career woman, a friend and a genuinely normal person. If you look closely, she has double pierced earrings on one ear - her way of being who she is without too much attention. She wears sweet lilac colors on her eyes to match her clothing giving a soft feel to match her personality. The final one is the girlie-girl in me. She looks like a Princess with her flowing blonde hair, her big doe-eyed blue eyes with ruby red lips. Her gown is a steel blue to accent her eyes and there is a look of innocence in them. The details of the bow on her dress and heart earrings depict her desire to be loved and to love. If I put these three all together, I can see me. Part rebel, part every day woman, part Princess. Ames, The Warrior Princess Mom! |
AuthorFinding therapy through writing, self-reflection and the pursuit of what defines me. Categories
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