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.

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter Everyone!!! While I do not buy in to the commercialism of baskets filled with goodies, I do remember and appreciate the true reason for Easter, and thank God daily for the gift of salvation.

I will be preparing the meal for the first time(why did I suddenly hear alarms in my head??) and will attempt to get some decent pics.

My Clock Must Be Broken

The biological one I mean. I have grown weary of people asking when I am going to have kids or even how old my kids are(I hate assumptions). Not everyone was put on this earth to procreate. Joey and I have never wanted kids, ever. I don't want to have to find a babysitter anytime I want to go out, I don't want to hear kids screaming, I want to eat where I want too, not where the kids do, and I know that I can't handle a kid due to my own physical limitations, so why should society pressure me to have a child? So I can be like everyone else? Not me!!!

In the old days, a woman's worth was seemingly measured by how good of a mother and wife she was. Fully devoting her life to her husband and children, keeping her desires to herself to instead fulfill what society told her she had to do. Women were raised to believe this was the only life she could lead. True, some women truly enjoyed their roles as wife and mother, but others didn't.

Thank God for Women's lib!! I would have gladly burned my bra! We have come so far in so many ways as women, achieving equality among a society that prior to the Women's lib movement was based solely upon men being the providers. Not saying that things are completely even now.

My point is that I understand that as women we have the right to bear children(and arms....lol), and more power to you if you are a mother and enjoy it. But must I be hassled about not wanting them for myself? If one more person tells me I don't understand because I don't have kids, I might scream!!! I don't want to hear about how bad your kid is, because honestly I don't care. And by the way, if you cannot control your kids in public, please leave them at home.

I'm not trying to come off as a bitch, and kudos to all of you wonderful women who have kids and love them!! But if I don't harass you about having children, must you harass me about not having any?


And to be honest, I would be scared shitless of having a child in today's society. Everyday on the news it's another child missing, and it breaks my heart to think of the pain that these families are suffering. I couldn't endure that. So I think I will stick with my adorable fur babies and enjoy the fact that they actually listen when I say sit down and be quiet.

Am I the only one who feels this way?

What To Do?

I have an extreme case of Arachnophobia, stemming from a frightening overnight trip to the ER at the tender young age of sixteen. I awoke around two AM with a horrible stomach ache, decided to take a bath and blacked out. Thankfully the noise had awoken my mother, who pulled me up out of the tub and brought me too.

To make a long story short, I had to have a shot of epinephrine, because I couldn't breathe and was just ill and out of it. We tried to figure out what had caused the episode, until later that week I discovered a large spot on my leg. Turned out to be a brown recluse bite that had caused all of the drama. Ever since then I see a spider and freak out.

The weather was really warm this weekend and then dropped a good fifteen degrees. Which of course made the spiders want to fuck with me!! No kidding, I was cleaning the bathroom to look up and see a good sized brown spider right in front of my face, I run to wake Joey up to come save me, he came in, took care of it and returned to bed. I go about cleaning again, and screamed so loud my neighbors banged on the wall!! It was back!! The dogs are barking, i'm screaming, and the neighbors are knocking on the wall, and Joey sleeps right through this! I rouse him again to finish the job. Then............

I move on to the kitchen to find another one on my ceiling! I left this one alone till it was actually time for Joey to get up. Now, I know not all spiders are bad, and I know that they do a lot of good. And being a vegetarian I really feel bad killing bugs, but I just cannot see a spider without freaking out! Any suggestions?

Thanks for the suggestions and understanding!! I don't think I have the balls for the catch and release method, but I am going to try to not scream anymore!! And hope for no more spiders!

I must say that due to all of my MIL's health conditions, that it is nice how far medical technology has come. Back when she was a young woman, wife and mother they were not aware of how dangerous some of their daily habits were for their health. I feel so bad that she has to suffer the way she is, but she is one tough lady.


Back in the day people smoked on a daily basis going through God knows how many packs of cigarettes a week(or day in some cases), vitamin supplements were heard of but not recommended, the food was cooked with real lard and real butter, and nobody knew about the damage that your kidney can receive due to excessive drinking. It is quite frightening to think about everything that we know now that they didn't.


I mean, after having five kids with no calcium her bones are completely decalcified, she has suffered numerous fractures and breaks, survived skin cancer and numerous heart attacks. I feel saddened that her generation didn't know what we do now.

It begs the question of what will they know by the time our generation is in our seventies that they don't know yet?

Do You Ever Stop and Think?

About how much has changed in technological advances since you were a child? was a kid I remember having a Commodore 64(No, I am not that old, it was mid to late 80's) and I just remember playing some video game that was addictive. Cell phones were the size of footballs and were for the extremely well to do. You had your choice of either cassettes or cd's to listen to, and vcr's were "the thing to have". There was a short craze of laser disc's, which I know hardly anything about. And cameras, oh my God were they huge, I doubt that few people under the young age of 2o even know how to load film.

We actually had to entertain ourselves rather than technology entertaining us. I was and still am a huge reader, looking forward to weekly trips to the library. I was also in the kitchen alot. I should have known that I would always enjoy cooking and baking. I was ambitious enough to be making cream puffs and fried apple pies by 11 or 12 years of age. (Hey I had a thing for sweets!) And I never left home without my portable cd player.

Hell, eleven years ago when I was first married, we had to go to my brother in law's to use the computer, I didn't have an e-mail account, and blogs where unheard of!

Now however I would lose my mind without my MP3 player, internet access and digital camera. Cell phonee, I don't live for, in fact mine is only for emergencies. DVD's are so much better than video tapes.

So while I am enjoying some of the advances, doesn't it seem as if due to some of them we have opened ourselves to a whole new set of problems? With sexting(hate that term), and obssesive texting, okay so maybe it's just cell phones I have a problem with. There is nothing quite like having the guy standing next to you telling whomever he's on the phone with that he just came from the doctor's office with a bad case of strep throat, or the lady bitching at her husband for being drunk so early in the afternoon, or the people who are not paying attention while driving and cause numerous wrecks.

I wouldn't trade the good just to be rid of the bad, just ask for peoplee to be more responsible for their own actions, instead of living in a society that passes the blame to anyone but themselves.

Anything anyone else remembers that have changed drastically?

Foods I used to Hate!!!

I was pondering the other day foods I refused to eat before becoming a vegetarian, and was surprised at how much my tastes have changed.

1.Black Beans: Hated the smell, taste and texture! Though some of that hatred could stem from having dumped a whole cambro upon myself when I was serving at Chili's. You think? Now however I adore them and eat them frequently.

2. Hummus: I just thought it looked and smelled funny, till I tasted it and then it was another story.

3. Bell Peppers:This I cannot fathom!! I still don't know where I began that hatred. Now I have them on hand at all times.

4.Soy Milk: Let me explain that when I was a child, my mother had us using soy milk and I hated it. Then again this was during the late 80's early 90's before soy milk had been nearly perfected.

Now I have realized the error of my ways and enjoy all of the above foods on a regular basis. And continue too experiment. I think becoming vegetarian expands your mind and taste buds as well. Anyone else have foods they hated and now love?

B+++

That would be my score for the scones. While being tasty, I know I could do a better job from scratch. Not very much kick at all. I wanted more of the spices to shine through the pumpkin taste. Great on texture though.

Scrumptious Scones

I had finally began to quit the left-over from the cold coughing, while the weather was nice and warm, just to be surrounded by a thick blanket of snow. Though I am not complaining, it is so beautiful! And something we don't see so deep that often.

I had purchased a bag of pumpkin scone mix at an extremely great price at World Market, during their going out of business sale. (Sniff-sniff, I LOVE that place)And thought that hot coffee and a scone sounded really good to awaken to tomorrow. I prefer everything from scratch, but still recovering, I didn't mind a mix so much.



I absolutely adore crystallized ginger and add it to almost anything dessert wise, or those in which ginger is a great complement. And yes I confess, I hate to just make a dull mix. I always have to add my own touches. So I diced up about 3 TBS. and threw it in along with some fresh nutmeg.

Though it's not the neatest looking picture, below is the dough pre-cutting.

Post-cutting and pre-baking.

Finished product, on the upper portion, you can actually see the chunks of the diced ginger. I just sprinkled a little confectioners sugar for tonight, and had to sample one just to make sure it didn't taste shit. And it didn't. I might glaze them later, but have not decided yet. I like the texture and I love the kick to the taste buds from the ginger, but I will know if I like them if it blends well with the coffee. =)

I'm Still Here

I have been suffering from the cold that never ends! Every time I thought I was over it, I would wake up sicker. I guess that's what happens when the weather goes from really cold to really warm overnight!

Nice Surprise

Since Joey and I eloped so close to Valentine's day, we don't generally buy in to all of the hype. I mean, do people actually know the real story behind the holiday? It has basically become a commercial extravaganza. I mean depending on which history story you rest your opinions upon, it's not all romantic. I am of the opinion that it is rather lame if you need one day of the year to show people how much you care for them.

Since we have been married for eleven years now, I figured I would surprise Joey with a nice Valentine's dinner to change things up. He asked me to wait, because he wanted to cook for me. I was a little put off, since I had picked up the ingredients already, but agreed so as not to be rude.

Boy, did he ever surprise me!! He sleeps during the day since he has an overnight shift. I woke up, fixed some coffee and looked up to find a box of candy and a card. I may be a nonconformist, but I am a sucker for cards!!! I pick the card up to discover a jewelry box hidden beneath the card.

Now he knows that I dislike typical jewelry and pendants, so he got me a black diamond heart pendant!! I have never been a big gem person, but black diamonds are gorgeous. And then he prepared me some great grilled portabellas and a baked potato. I'm cooking his valentine's dinner later this week, and not complaining about not preparing it on Valentine's day!!