So quick bright things come to confusion

My favorite day of the year, March 15th, is quickly approaching. I know it may seem silly for my favorite day to be chosen just because of an old English pseudonym, but alas, fair cousin, 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of public ridicule than to bare arms against a sea of people who have their own little quirks, and by opposing, end them. Soooooooooo yeah, I like me some Ides of March and all the thou arts that go along with it. And yes, even my offspring find it a bit odd, although I think Nate may have received a slight nibble from the touch of Shakespeare fairy (must've been whilst reading A Midsummer Night's Dream, har har har).

Every year about this time I start to get a little over zealous with my Shakespeare (if you couldn't tell) and tend to throw it into everyday situations as often and as unexpected as possible. The quotes and nods grow stronger each day until finally it erupts into a Volcano of "Et tu Brute?"'s after every other sentence. Imagine it in the likes of the "That's what she said" silliness. for example:

Brave friend #1: "I really liked that movie, it made me feel warm inside."
Me: "Et tu Brute?"
Brave friend #1: "What??"
Me: "Et tu Bruteeeeeee?" (said with the trailing voice of death)
Brave friend #1: "Ummmm, are you feeling ok? Maybe I should take you home."
Me: "Et tu Brute?!" (now including the dramatic shaking of fist in the air)
Brave friend #1: "Dude, seriously, I think I need to get you home and into bed."
Me: "That's what she said!" (honestly, who could pass that one up?)

So there you have it, the muddled, fuddled, wacky pack world of my brain cells. Hold on tight, we're going into the great unknown, Horatio and it's going to get bumpy!

Peace Ho!

Long time No see

Cough, cough, hack, hack! Dang it's dusty in here. Someone should really keep up with this place better, the cyber dust is grueling!

Well blogity world how the heck have ya been? Been a little crazy on my side of the monitor, which is why I disappeared for so long and also what has brought me back. This place started out as my way of venting some of the millions of things that run though my head and as those "things" started to get a little difficult, I found myself trapped. It was as if my fingers were wrapped in the duct tape of censorship for fear of the wrong person reading it and creating an avalanche of more problems.

Now my corner of cyberville has been stagnant long enough and situations have changed to the point that the air is once again free. Ahhhhh, free air smells good! A touch dusty, but good nonetheless.

You know, it's strange, but just having reclaimed my hunk of electrons has released quite a bit of tension and I actually feel relaxed enough to finally go to bed.

Soooo, I'm going to bed!

Sorry for the odd post about nothing terribly interesting. I will be back to discuss more later, but for now, please grab a chair and talk amongst yourselves.

Goodnight sweet dusty electrons!

Just some cool stuff

Bad Attitudes and Hot Cellists

Well things have been a bit icky pewy yuck and due to not really having anything nice to say, I haven't spent much time here. As much as I'd love to just write it all down and let the pieces fall where they may, I realize that it would just drive wedges between people I care about. So, I'm going to ask that you bare with me as I muddle through biting my tongue in effort not to offend while still allowing some self expression to seep out the release valve. Meanwhile, here's a loverly song that sums up my general crummy attitude.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO IS A BIT RISQUE, DARK, AND CREEPY


Apocalyptica - I Don't Care Featuring Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace (Official Music Video)

Bitter Chocolates

Well here it is, what used to be one of my favorite days, Valentine's Day. I remember being a wee lass filled with bubbly giggles just thinking about Valentine's Day. I didn't even mind having to write the annual English report on the history of Valentine's Day, as a matter of fact I loved it. The beautiful story behind all these nifty heart shaped goodies that lovers exchange just made my heart smile. Then I married my husband, who although a great guy, is about as romantic as a colonoscopy. He even told me before we got married that he doesn't do holidays and felt that Valentine's Day was nothing more than a commercial rip off. So here in honor of my husband are your Anti Valentine's Day candy, card, and flowers. Enjoy!





FYI: I still wouldn't trade him for a box of chocolates, unless of course they're Godiva Chocolates or maybe even a really, really, large box of Ferrero Rocher. Oh and if you've been lucky enough to marry an anti-romance man like I have, just take his credit card and buy yourself something pretty, then have a girl's night out with your BFF.

Anyone Have Some Spare Prozac?

Sorry about falling off the face of the blogosphere for a bit. I'm still fighting with that "Life is way too hectic monster" that keeps nipping at me heels. I'm glad to report that I am still here even though my ankles are a bit bloody. Ewww, that was kinda icky. My bad.

I'm actually quite tired and am trying to keep myself from crawling into bed like an old worn out dog. Maybe if I SPRUNG into bed like a young spirited pup, that wouldn't be so bad, but Alas, I crawl. Anyhoo, tonight was CORN (Clean.Out.Refridgerator.Now) night and I scored the last of the Chinese food. Yeaaaaaah baby! So I get everything all ready and grabbed a fork and napkin. It was at this moment when I had a flash of all my freakish little habits. Actually, I shouldn't say ALL because they wouldn't all fit in a mere "flash", so we'll just go with some of them.

The first of which is my NEED to have a napkin when I eat. If I don't have a napkin, I feel oddly out of place and unable to actually enjoy whatever it is that I'm eating. This is even for things like cookies. As a matter of fact, I usually have an emergency napkin at my desk, just in case I decide to do a little techno noshing and need to blot my fingertips. I think maybe it started from my teaching the boys proper etiquette. They always had to have their napkins across their lap before we could start eating and if I ever caught them starting without one, I'd ask "how can you be eating if you don't have a napkin?". Nothing better than self inflicted psycho compulsions.

Another is my weirdness about having to eat with a fork. I realize that this is going to sound so very wrong to many of you, but I eat pizza, french fries, & fried chicken with a fork. Oh you should see me in action with that fried chicken, it's like a little poultry ballet (or so I tell myself, being as "ballet" sounds much better than "loony bin").

Then there's my germaphobe tendencies about washing your hands. I can't stand to have dirty hands. I don't mean like when you're doing hard work in the yard or fixing a car or something, but in your every day life. After you've turned the nob on six doors, or pulled your hair back in a pony tail, or blown your nose, or used someone else's keyboard, or gone to the bathroom for goodness sake WASH YOUR HANDS! Oh and in the kitchen I'm an uber freak! First, before I do anything, I wash my hands, then I get the required mixing bowls and utensils, wash my hands, get the food out of the fridge, wash my hands, open a cabinet to get spices, wash my hands, crack an egg, wash my hands, put item into cooking container, wash my hands, put it in oven/on stove wash my hands, remove item from oven/stove, wash my hands. Rather exhausting eh?

Lastly is hair and food. Seriously, am I the only person who gets grossed out by the thought of hair in my food? If you have long hair (meaning past your chin) and your are going to be within 5 feet of food in my kitchen then you WILL have your hair tied back or CUT OFF!!!!! This is one of the main reasons that I don't have my own show in Rachel Ray's time slot. I can't stand to watch those TV chef's cooking away with their hair just flouncing about. UUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH. THAT IS SO NASTY! We're talking so nasty that it has to call Janet by "Miss Jackson". Wow did I really make that 80's song reference? Guess I've been married to Dan for too long, or maybe that's why he married me in the first place. Hmmm, I should go to the top of a loverly mountain and ponder that, but first I should wash my hands.

Snow Chicks and Toast

We woke up this morning and peeked out the window to see lots of snow. For those of you who've never had the joy of an Oklahoma snow, never, and I mean NEVER get into a snowball fight here. You see, Oklahoma snow isn't what the rest of the world knows as light fluffy snow, it's sleet cleverly disguised as snow. One pelt upside the head from an Oklahoma snowball could very likely send little cartoon birdies spinning around your head and leave you with a whelp the size of Utah.

Speaking of birdies, with the ground being all frosted over I tossed a loverly batch of rolls out for the birds and squirrels, just to make sure they had a little snack. One little squirrel sprinted over, snatched up a roll and raced back up the tree before the birds could hog it all. I just loved how he was using his fluffy tail as an umbrella.


After watching all the birds nibble on their bread, Miss Danielle said that she wanted to be a birdie and have snow and toast for breakfast and there was no way I could resist such a cutie patootie request. Being as our loverly old house leaks some serious cold air from under the cabinets, I wanted out of the kitchen as soon as possible so let me share with you my cheating version of cinnamon toast sticks.

First, cut the bread into strips with a pair of kitchen scissors. Please note that the quality of the pictures decreases as we go along due to my frozen toes wanting to get out quick!


Then scoot all the pieces together and give them a coat of butter flavored non stick spray and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Hey, everyone else got to stay home from work for a snow day, I think I'm allowed to slack a bit in the nutrition arena. Don't be hatin'.


Toss them into a 400F preheated oven and then turn off the heat while you cook the eggs (about 10 mins).


Pair them up with bacon pieces to make a nest for the egg yolk birdies to stay warm from the egg white snowflakes.

To make the birdies and snowflakes, I separated the egg yolks and whites and cooked them up omelet style. Once they were done I simply cut them with cookie cutters.

Freaky Friday - Revenge of the Pachyderms

Great googaly moogaly what the heck is wrong with people?! I think little baby elephants are unbelievably cute, but when some freakish person puts them into baby clothes it just makes them look a little....well....freakish. Look into those eyes. Oh sure they may seem cute at first, but then you pan out a bit and realize those eyes belong to some half elephant, half baby DNA mutation that could trample you while you're sleeping. The best part is that she comes with a pacifier that "fits right into the tip of her trunk". TRUNK???? Since when do pacifiers belong up one's nose? I'm not sure what kind of whacked out version of "Animal Planet" they're watching over there at The Ashton-Drake Galleries, but someone needs to send in an intervention STAT!

Just in case one of you has a secret mutated elephant/baby fetish here's the link so you can bring "Claire" home to be part of your family:

www.collectiblestoday.com

While we're talking about freaky elephant things. Here's a nice nightmare inducing clip to share with all the little ones in your life. My therapist thanks you Disney!

Life's For Sharing

This is just cool.

Insert Chicken-ish Title Here or Here Or Over There

It seems that I had one of those brain farts at the store before Christmas and bought some phyllo dough. Seriously, I have no idea why I bought this stuff. Don't get me wrong, it's wonderfully loverly stuff that is great for getting your blood flow pumping from trying to keep it from drying out as you frantically throw your dish together. I just don't have the patients to work with this stuff on a normal bases. So I've been trying to come up with ideas as to what to do with it. I also was looking for something exciting to do with a wee bit of cheese left from the block and a few pieces of cooked bacon that needed to be used and so Chicken Rolls were born {insert owooos and ahhhhhs here}.

First tip O'the day is instead of brushing melted butter between each sheet of phyllo, put the melted butter in a spray bottle and just spritz it on. Yes, I realize this little "ah ha" moment will change your life for the better and you just heard angelic horns blowing and the sun just separated the clouds and is now shining a rainbow through your front window. Feel free to name your first born after me.

Let's see...yes, Chicken Rolls. Take 3 lbs of chicken, toss in pot with a smidgen of your favorite herbs, fill with water just to cover chicken and boil for an hour or two, until the chicken is no longer pink and the bones are easily removed.

Strain chicken, while saving cooking water. Remove bones, toss back into cooking water and place back on stove to simmer for another hour. Strain bones from water (which is now broth) and freeze in 1 cup portions. Cut up cooked chicken and separate into 3 Ziploc baggies. Place 2 in the freezer and keep one for making the chicken rolls.

You can also cheat and buy 2 cups worth of caned/pouched cooked chicken and forget I ever said anything about putting chicken in a pot. I promise not to judge(or tell).

Now throw the cooked chicken in a big bowl. Add cooked bacon, chopped fresh spinach, shredded cheese and ranch dressing. Stir it all together while you pray that you're able to get the phyllo dough to roll up.

Place 1 sheet of phyllo dough on rolling surface, spritz with butter, top with another sheet of phyllo dough, spritz, repeat with one more sheet of dough. Now you have your rolling dough made from 3 sheets of phyllo. Was anyone else taken back to elementary school worded math problems?

Put a couple of large spoonfuls of the chicken mixture on the short end of the phyllo dough, fold long sides over mixture and then roll up like an egg roll. Put on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for about 25 mins.

CHICKEN ROLLS

• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
• 1/4 cup crumbled bacon
• 1/3 cup ranch dressing
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• pkg phyllo dough

1. Mix all ingredients, except phyllo dough together in large bowl.
2. Stack phyllo dough in sets of 3 spritzing melted butter between each layer.
3. Place a couple of large spoonfuls of chicken mix on short end of phyllo dough.
4. Fold ends over and roll up like an egg roll.
5. Bake for abou5 25 minutes at 350 degrees F.