What a movie!!!!

If you have the opportunity this weekend, you should seriously consider seeing Inglorious Basterds!!!!! I highly recommend this movie, if you do not like Quentin Tarantino flicks, don't bother. However, if you're a huge Tarantino fan, such as I myself, run as fast as you can to see this movie. It has it all!!!!!!!!!!

Wow!!

I have been so excited all week because I had the opportunity to meet one of my favorite authors!!!!!! Sherrilyn Kenyon was at the Barnes &Noble in Collierville last Saturday. Joey was kind enough to take off from work the evening before to ensure that we arrived early enough to get our tickets when the store opened. There were so many people outside waiting, and we managed to be number two and three in line. Meeting her has brought me more enjoyment from her books than before. I was almost frightened to meet her, thinking that maybe appearances were deceiving. I was never so happy to be wrong in my life!!!!!!!

She is so down to earth, kind, and incredibly passionate about her books. She actually answered a question of mine, and then while autographing the books I had brought my camera died, and she was sweet enough to take a picture with me with her camera and post it on her myspace

Now, I despise romance books with a passion, however I have found myself delving deeper and deeper into the "Paranormal" romance section for a while now. Sherrilyn Kenyon is by far one of the best authors I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Her characters are so compelling, that you find yourself drawn into every book. And ready to begin another book as soon as you finish one.

This is so funny!!!

I completely forgot about this picture until I was cleaning house and found it the other day, I really shouldn't be sharing this because it is embarrassing.......LOL

True, I was only 8 or 9, and I had no clue I would become a vegetarian...

WOW

It has been a chaotic couple of months, and I have found myself either not in the mood to write due to strange circumstances or running around like a crazy person. We had a death in the family(one of Joey's uncles.RIP), a sick dog, and all sorts of other drama which I will not go into. Be looking for new posts soon!!

Will it ever stop raining?

It feels as if it has been raining forever!!! I am going to go insane if it doesn't let up soon. So the strawberry pie did not work out at all. In fact all of the cornstarch that was used to thicken the mixture settled to the bottom of the Graham cracker pie crust. UGH!! I will definitely be tinkering with that recipe.

So last Tuesday in the midst of a slight reprieve from the rain, joey and I went to the zoo. He had free passes and we thought what the hell??? Now I know as a vegetarian I should be opposed to animals in captivity. But I do love going to the Memphis zoo. Compared to how bad the living conditions used to be-they have come a long way. When I was a child all of the animals lived surrounded by concrete walls and looked absolutely miserable. And some of them still do not have the best living arrangements, but they are slowly redoing the entire place. And I have to confess that I find something so calming in watching the Polar bears since they have updated their living conditions. Something about being able to stand so close as they swim by is very soothing to the soul. They are so beautiful. However I would recommend that you don't go on Tennessee day, where all Tennessee residents get in for free after one in the afternoon. The place was packed!!

I have pictures, but left my camera at my mother in laws w when I was showing her the pictures of the grandogs(lol). I hope all of the mothers out there had a great day today

With a sigh of relief.......

Hopefully things can slowly start to return to normal, oh, wait! I'm not normal, so how can things ever be normal? Anyhow. She returned home late Thursday afternoon, amidst much drama and small panic attack(she does suffer from those rather frequently these days.)

I have several pictures to post later this week, having been unable to get in the kitchen for several days I was going crazy! So when the opportunity arose I kinda went crazy playing around with some recipes.

I have had a lifelong affinity for muffaletta sandwiches mainly due to the olive salad. And have been trying to find a good recipe to make my own with Portobello mushrooms rather than the meat that normally graces these delectable delicatessen delights. I found a recipe that I like, but it's a little too soupy for my taste. Once I get to a good texture I will share pictures and the recipe.

I'm also working on a strawberry pie recipe that closely resembles Shoney's strawberry pie but without the gelatin. Several recipes have called for seven-up, so I might try that. I also have to substitute something for the red food coloring. I am thinking maybe a couple of drops of beet juice might do the trick. And, I have a cookie recipe that were supposed to be key lime cookies, but I changed mine to lemon, and they will be so easy to veganize! ! The only non-vegan ingredient is butter, if I had had some earth balance in the refrigerator I would've made it completely vegan.

Sorry

Sorry guys, I did not fall off of the earth. My mother in law has been in the hospital since last Thursday and I have not had the time to write at all. I should however have some new posts soon as it appears she will hopefully be released tomorrow hopefully.

Pics

Pictured above is the strawberry cake that I prepared, and yes I am quite aware that looks as if some of the icing swirls are sliding off, but I assure you that my icing was really thick, creamy, and damn tasty.

The other picture in the lemon ice box pie that I mentioned earlier in the week. To tell the truth I actually have another one of these sitting in my refrigerator right now, I wanted to tweak the

recipe and see if I couldn't make it a little tangier. It was just a little too sweet for my personal preference. You can find the original recipe at the following link http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Lemon-Pie/Detail.aspx

I highly recommend this recipe if you're looking for good lemon pie, and I do apologize for the horrible crumbling of the Graham cracker pie crust. L O L

Easter

So for this Easter holiday, I was in charge of cooking a meal for the family. I decided upon Turkey, dressing, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, green beans, black-eyed peas, homemade yeast rolls, strawberry cake, and lemon ice box pie.

Ambitious, yes!!!! Doable, yes!! Successful, yes!!!! I know that this sounds more like a thanksgiving menu but due to dietary restrictions I had to switch things up. I am all about making everything from scratch until it comes to my mother-in-law, and with all the medications she is currently taking, I have to be extremely careful with what I fix.

Everything on my menu was completely homemade save for the strawberry cake. I really despised having to use a cake mix, however she was concerned that a homemade cake might upset her stomach due to the seeds from strawberries. If it was a cake mix, I was informed that the seeds would not affect her. So as much as I despised having red food coloring and bleached enriched flour in a box mix, I've made it as requested. I made the icing from scratch, a yummy butter cream.

I have to post the pictures and the recipe link for the lemon ice box pie. This was the best recipe I have ever used in my life. I followed the recipe without the meringue(I hate that stuff), and instead made a homemade whipped cream with the addition of lemon zest for that extra tang. I should have made more than one considering how quickly this went. I am looking forward to trying this recipe with a key lime juice instead of lemon.

I also found a really good yeast roll recipe that I will pass along later this week along with the photos.

Ughhhhhh.

Sorry for not having any of the Easter pics up yet. My camera is in the process of recharging and I cannot access my photos right now. Needless to say I worried over nothing in regards to my own cooking skills. Besides having to reheat everything it was a good meal. And my desserts kicked ass!!!

Now on to the ughhh! Having fan of special K cereals, I was searching everywhere for special K chocolaty delight. Boy, was I ever disappointed. The cereal itself is just special K cereal with nasty, waxy, gummy tasting chocolate. All of the chocolate sinks to the bottom of the bowl, and to be quite honest just tasted like shit. It was the type of chocolate I think. I do not recommend this at all.