My First Tasty Tuesday!

     Tree, over at Mother of Pearl  has her Tasty Tuesday thing going on so I thought I'd give it a whirl this week. If you want some new recipes hop on over to her site and check them out. She posted a sinful looking banana split with grilled fruit recipe that would be a perfect dessert for a barbeque!

Tasty Tuesday

I thought I'd keep with Tree's idea and post something that would be good at a barbeque. I got this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens a couple years ago and it must have been a favorite because they've reposted it at their site in March. We made it as a side dish for a July 4th barbeque and it was a big hit! It's super simple to make because you just throw everything in a pot and let it boil, make the easy sauce and you're done. It looks beautiful and colorful on a platter too. Martha Stewart would be proud!

Shrimp and Sausage Boil

1 (one)  3-oz bag shrimp or crab boil (you find this near the seafood, usually)

3 Tbspns Old Bay Seasoning

2-1/4 to 3 lbs. small new potatoes (red potatoes work well too)

4 or 5 ears corn, husked and cut in 1-1/2 to 3 inch pieces

1 2-lb spicy smoked link sausage (kielbasa or andouille), diagonally sliced in 1-inch pieces

3 to 4 lb. medium to large unpeeled shrimp (preferable heads on)

3 to 4 lemons, halved (actually, the more lemon the better!)

Snipped fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley

Garlic Mayonnaise and Cocktail sauce for dipping (recipes  below)

In a 12 to 16 quart pot bring 2 gallons water to boiling. Add shrimp or crab boil and Old Bay Seasoning; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Add potatoes, a few at a time, allowing water to continue simmering. Simmer 7 to 10 minutes, until nearly tender. Add corn; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Add sausage and shrimp. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes., until shrimp are opaque (do not overcook shrimp) and sausage is heated through; drain.

Transfer to large platter. Squeeze lemon all over the top and sprinkle with parsley. Add lots of lemon wedges for garnish. Serve hot or within 1 hour of cooking. Serve the Garlic mayonnaise and the Cocktail Sauce on the side. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Cocktail Sauce

1 cup bottled chili sauce (This is usually where the catsup is)

1/4 cup prepared horseradish

1 Tbspn fresh lemon juice

1 tspn bottled hot pepper sauce (optional)

In small bowl combine chili sauce, horseradish, lemon juice and hot pepper sauce. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Can be refrigerated and stored up to 1 week. Makes about 1 and 1/4 cups.

Garlic Mayonnaise

It's been 2 years since I made this, but I'm quite sure I did NOT make my own mayonnaise like their recipe says. It was way too time consuming. I used regular mayo and added some already diced garlic that you can buy in a jar in the produce section. I just added to taste and it was delicious. 

ENJOY!

Post Its To My Bod

Hodge Podge of Headers, Witches, and Ex's

I just love the weekends. I get to do stuff I just can't seem to find the time to do during the week. Productive stuff like working on my blog and staying up till 2 AM watching a Sex and The City marathon cleaning and organizing.

    
Ok, I didn't organize anything, I really did work on my blog. Do you like my new header? It was high time I put something up there. I originally wanted a cartoony me with a cocktail in one hand and typing on the computer with the other. Cause that's how I roll in real life.

I snagged a sexy looking cartoony girl then had hubby put my caricature head on it because he still hasn't put photo shop on my computer and wanted to use it but then couldn't figure out what to do with the rest of the header.

I like cartoon me. She's cuter than real me. And skinnier. In the end, I decided on the  empty chair on the beach header because I love the beach and somewhere there's one waiting for me to go sit on it. Maybe I'll stick cartoon me in my sidebar.

    
Speaking of sidebars, I made myself a new blog button too, so if you fancy to, feel free to snag it. I also finally actually have some links on my "links" page. I'd like to add a recipe page, but I thought I better write a post instead since my last one was....Wednesday, I think. 

    
Speaking of lack of posts - I  *gasp*  lost a follower. I don't have too many and I love you all and I'm kind of depressed I lost one. Maybe it wasn't lack of posting, but rather what I posted. Maybe I just wasn't funny enough, or relevant enough, or maybe my blog is too pink. 

    
 don't know, but whoever you are I hope you find another blog that makes you happy. Hope you don't go through too many transition blogs before you settle down with "the one" blog.

     

Hope your computer crashes.

     

Not really. I didn't mean that.

     

I'll try to move on and accept that we just weren't meant to be.

This is sort of a hodge podge post, so bear with me, dear reader, if you're still here (not you, ex-follower, I wasn't talking to you).

My 16 year old daughter worked on a school project this weekend that I just had to share because she is so clever and creative and resourceful which she gets from me.

Her English class is reading The Crucible and they had to illustrate scenes from the book in any way they wanted. If you didn't know (I didn't) - The Crucible is a play about the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692 and 1693. So she decided to illustrate the hangings.

    
It's morbid which she gets from her father but see how she made a little cut-out under their feet? When you pull it, the little hand-crafted accused witch drops down and is hanged by the twine noose. Clever, right? The writing behind them in red is The Lord's Prayer because witches were thought incapable of reciting it- yet many accused did recite it as they awaited their fate.

    
What I was most impressed by in her handiwork was how she fashioned the little people. Here's a close-up of the back of one of them. Sorry it's a little blurry.

She used beads! I have this basket of beads from past craft projects and she glued several long ones together to make the body. The she used short strands of plastic pearls and shaped them for the arms. The head and feet are wooden beads. She used scraps of fabric for the clothes. Here's a close up of the front.

I thought she did a pretty terrific job!

Aside from headers and witches, I babysat my nephews for several hours Saturday night. They're 6 and 12 and after playing X-box and a couple card games we decided to find a movie to watch. Hubby got involved in the decision and our conversation went like this:

Me (saying to hubby while I was in the kitchen and he was on the couch with the remote in hand): Can you check Starz and see if there's a good movie on?

Hubby: I'll look for Up - that's supposed to be good.

Me:     Check to see if it's on a free channel

Hubby: It's on a pay channel

Me:      You already checked the free channel?

Hubby:  It wasn't on a free channel. It's on the pay channel.

Hubby goes into the kitchen while I debate between paying $4.99 for a movie or playing another hand of Go Fish. I pick up the remote to start the movie. My nephews tell me, for the fourth time, that they've already seen Up and they want to see Area 51.

Me: Here's Area 51 on the pay channel.

Hubby: Area 51 isn't as good as Up.

Me: But they've seen Up.

Hubby: Kids don't care if they see movies twice. I want to see Up. Stop pushing Area 51.

Me: I'm not pushing it. It's just that they've seen it and Up isn't in here. Up In the Air is here, but that's not the same as Up. Maybe you thought Up in the Air was Up.

Hubby: No, I know Up In the Air isn't Up. You're not in the right menu.

Me: I'm in the pay menu. You said it was in the pay menu.

Hubby: You need to go to the Starz menu

Me: That's the free channel!

Hubby: Well that's where it is.

     

At this point my daughter suggests marriage counseling. As it turns out, hubby was right - Up was a good movie and the boys didn't seem to mind watching it twice.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!

My Apologies

     I have to apologize to y'all for a couple things.

Impish Hubby

    
Firstly, my hubby. It seems he has been popping in on some of your blogs and leaving comments. Although we all welcome comments, I'm not sure Tree, over at Mother of Pearl, welcomed his opinion on the lentil sloppy joe recipe that one of her readers was kind enough to leave. His comment started with, "Lentil sloppy Joe's....seriously??" And ended with complaints of an estrogen headache and a visit to Mc Donald's.
    
Tree was only the first victim. Aussie Lori and Aladdinsane, you're on the list. So I'd like to apologize now for any mischief hubby may cause on your blogs. He's harmless....really. He's just filled with so many witty remarks and amusing anecdotes and clever puns (oh, he loves the puns) that he's run out of venues in which to spew them.
    
I've tried to get him to blog as an outlet, but he stubbornly refuses. I've even named my crusade "Get Fred To Blog". It's catchy, right? The fact that the acronym - GFTB - sounds like goof tub...is purely coincidental.
    
Probably the thing that will annoy you the most about his comments is the fact that he has no blog and no email in his google profile, for you to respond to. In an effort to remain on everyone's good side and so any disgruntled retaliation doesn't come down on moi, I've set up an email for him. Your welcome. It's hubbyfred@gmail.com. So please, direct any complaints there.

    
As a side note, I'm not immune to his cheeky comments either. He was rather miffed at my post-it Tuesday post about the broken toilet and commented accordingly. In the end, my brother ended up repairing it successfully.  Honey, if you're reading, and it's any consolation, your plumber butt crack is waaaay more appealing then my bros.
    
Now that that little business is taken care of, here's the second thing I need to apologize for. I've been sorely lacking in promptness with my American Idol posts. I'm supposed to blog about Tuesday's show on Wednesday and for the past two weeks, I haven't. Last week I was just too busy Wednesday and Thursday and by the time Friday came, well, what's the point?
    
It's hard for me to commit to posting on a specific topic at a specific time. I guess I could post at night, but my work can be so stressful that my brain is just fried at night and all I want to do is veg out. I guess I just can't commit to my blog. I have blog commitment issues. It's not you, it's me.
    
So, I apologize for being a flakey blogger. That's all I have to say about that.
   
It's only Thursday, so let's talk Idol for a minute. Big Mike is gone. I'm sad. I liked Big Mike. If I had to pick someone to leave, it would have been a tough choice, but I wouldn't have picked Mike. I think I would have picked Casey, as cute as he is. For me, he hasn't been as consistently good as Mike.
    
It's a moot point now - they'll all have CDs out in the near future and then no matter who wins, their success is up to themselves.
    
The best performances last night were the duets. (Videos were here but they are gone from You Tube now.)

Ok, forget what I said above about Casey - I can look at him for a few more shows.
    
So we're down to Crystal, Lee, and Casey. If Lee and Casey bring it with good song choices, unique twists, and strong connections to their songs, the talented Miss Crystal may have some stiff competition.

Either way, next week promises to be a good show. have a great weekend y'all!

*Butt crack photo courtesy of badbootywear

Stick Em Up!

Mother's Day Laughs

When my kids were small, I used to collect comics that I could relate to. Here are a few of my favorites for all you mothers out there to enjoy!

And my all time favorite: 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL!

Wakes, Rakes and Steaks

     We had a wake at our house this past weekend.  Is that what they call it when someone dies and everyone gets together and eats and drinks and reminisces? 

Or is it only a wake when the departed's ashes or body is there - in which case our little shindig would not qualify as a wake. 

Maybe it was just a big barbeque. Nonetheless, it was in honor of our friend who passed and even more so, in honor of her family.
    
My brother and sister and I grew up with the Bromley family. We lived in the middle of a little street called Hiawatha in the Northwest part of Las Vegas.  Our cousins lived next door to us and the five Bromley kids and their cousins lived just down the street.  We played together, worshipped and celebrated together, and laughed and loved together.     

The loving part caused a few rifts. My brother, at 17, began boinking dating the second to youngest Bromley. This provoked her older brother to punch my brother square in the jaw.
I
 have to hand it to my brother though - he knew what was coming and just stood there in front of the much larger Bromley, and took it like a man.

A year later my brother married her and they had two beautiful kids. Their marriage didn't last, but they both went on to find happiness in other marriages and despite the break up, our tie to the Bromleys remained.

    
Everyone moved away from the old neighborhood over the years, but the Bromley's house remained the Bromley's house until just a few months ago when their father died and their house was sold.  Our little childhood stomping grounds just doesn't feel the same knowing they don't live there anymore.

Carol Bromley

    
Last week it was the oldest of the Bromley girls that died. She was only in her early 50's and sadly it was just bad life choices that caused her death.

She had two grown sons. They held a very private, very small remembrance for her to express their love and share their grief.    
    
The thing about death is that it brings the living together. It was the second time in 7 months that the Bromleys gathered to mourn.

Some still lived in Vegas, but others came from New Mexico and Idaho. My brother mentioned to his ex-wife that if the family were up for it, while everyone was still in town, we would love to have them come over for a barbeque. And so they came. And their kids came, and their kid's kids, and their cousins, and our cousins, and both sides of cousin's kids.
    
The thing about bringing the living together is that if they are coming together at my house, then the living who are living in my house better get their living arses outside and do the ever-living yardwork! You may remember how very uncooperative my family can be when it comes to yardwork.

While our front yard is presentable (thanks to homeowner's association rules) our backyard was another story. A scary story. Since we didn't know for sure we were hosting the shindig until the night before, there wasn't much time to transform it.
    
Fortunately, hubby works better under pressure. What two months of nagging couldn't do, a last minute invitation to 30 people could. He and my brother had the yard looking fabulous in a few hours.

I'm thinking I can keep it looking nice if I just have a last minute barbeque for a bunch of people once a month. If I tell hubby that everyone will have to go upstairs for the entertainment, I wonder if I can finally get the baseboards done in our bedroom?  I better take another look at the stripper pole idea of his that I nixed.

    
Yardwork wasn't the only thing gained by our soiree.  Friends who hadn't seen each other in 35 years had a chance to reconnect and reminisce.

One family grudge was mended and another had begun to heal. New friendships were formed over hamburgers, homemade macaroni salad, and sweet tea.

Old friendships were strengthened over beer and shots of whiskey raised in toasts to loved ones departed.

Even the kids begged to stay longer as they alternated between playing Rockband and playing air hockey on the dilapidated air hockey table that we had been meaning to get rid of.
    
The reason for the event was sad, but everyone was happy. That made me happy. It made me feel really good that our home was the hub for the past and present to come together. It was another reminder that a home is people, not a place.
    
I'll stop with the cliches now and just say - To the Bromleys - May Tom and Carol rest in peace.