Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Husbands’ Category

Holiday Lessons

Posted in About me, Holidays, Husbands, inspiration, Kids, Parenting, Pets, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 3, 2012| 4 Comments »

The rhythmic sounds of a tumbling clothes dryer and a snoring old dog create a soothing background of white noise as I compose my thoughts. The holidays blew through my life like a gust of wind, picking up bits and pieces of my routine and then rearranging them in chaotic order. The kids blew in, stayed awhile, and then blew out. Life provides us with opportunities to learn lessons every day and these past holidays were no exception. Mindful refresher courses came in abundance during the last few weeks. Now in the quiet of my home and my mind, I reflect on the holidays and the lessons I learned or revisited.

Priorities
No matter how much planning and preparation transpires before the holidays, I will never have enough time to do everything I want to do. With that in mind, I didn’t try to please everyone and I didn’t get together with everyone I wanted to see this holiday season. Prioritizing my time was how I stayed sane and, for me, family always comes first. There’s plenty of time during the rest of the year to bake, craft, and visit with friends. Having all of my kids under one roof is a rarity these days, so I gave myself permission to be selfish with my time.

Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks
A week ago my dog survived chocolate and alcohol poisoning due to an absent-minded husband and a gift of homemade bourbon balls. Three hours and $369.00 later, I gratefully carried my little dog back home from the emergency veterinary hospital. Will he get into chocolate, again? I hope not. I’ve learned that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but that doesn’t stop me from trying. And, in this case, I’m not referring to my dog! Adoption of new routines in our home – inspection and placement of my husband’s briefcase – will hopefully prevent any future incidents involving my sweet-seeking dog.

Don’t Sweat the Messy Stuff
Laundry baskets of dirty clothes stood in queues outside the laundry room, mystery goop stuck to the stove top, and dozens of unclaimed drinking glasses littered the house. My kids were home and it showed. For all the days my family was reunited, the house was a huge mess, but I was okay with that. Not a lot of time was wasted sweating over the messy stuff and as much time as possible was spent enjoying the mess-makers.

The Best Gifts
Driving around town admiring Christmas lights never grows old. Nor does preparing big pots of homemade soup and listening to my kids slurp them down and then, in a Charles Dickens’ way, ask for “more.” Watching their faces as they opened their presents and listening to their laughter fill the house reminded me that the best gifts aren’t on lists and have no dollar value.

Be Prepared
On Christmas Eve my oldest child complained of a bad headache and by Christmas morning his headache was accompanied by stomach pain. After sleeping most of Christmas, fever, chills, and heavy groans developed. Flu? Appendicitis? By Christmas evening we were in the hospital emergency room. Thankfully, he’s fine now, but next year, before the kids come home, I will remember to check the batteries in my digital thermometer and I will buy a fresh supply of acetaminophen.

Life is Precious
Like a thief in the night, bad news came and stole the promise of the New Year. In the middle of the night, the day after Christmas, my daughter came into my bedroom sobbing. She had just learned that a friend of hers was dead. While consoling her, we talked about Tim, a fun-loving and adventurous young man. Tim came from England, not just to study in the United States, but to fulfill his desire to see the world and to meet and befriend as many people as he could along the way. In the blink of an eye, his young life was snatched away by a drunk driver. Sad and bad things happen, even during the holidays. They are part of life. They make us wake-up, pay attention, and learn hard life lessons – like never take anyone for granted and live life to the fullest.

Growing with Gratitude
At year’s end I received an email with an annual report from my blog host. What started out as a way to share my thoughts, ideas, photos, and passions with others, has turned out to be an extraordinary experience for me. In the process of producing this blog, I’ve learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of. My children now have a journal of their mother’s sometimes quirky and sometimes serious thoughts and also a place to go to for family recipes intertwined with bits of family history. But what I’ve learned the most about while writing this blog is how small, thanks to the Internet, the world is and how large my world has grown! Finding out from the annual report that my readers come from North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, simply overwhelmed me. I am grateful for every one of you who stopped by and took the time to read What About This? Thank you so much!

May 2012 find you happily grateful, in good health, and filled with abundant joy!

This post is dedicated to the memory of Tim Selby Barraud.
Photo of Tim soaking up the Oregon sunset – courtesy of my daughter.

Read Full Post »

Friday’s Fresh Five! ( 10/28/11)

Posted in Art and Crafts, Creativity, Entertainment, Health, Helping Others, Holidays, Husbands, inspiration, Recycling, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 28, 2011| 1 Comment »

She: “This photo is kind of gross.”
He: “What’s the photo of?”
She: “A close-up I took of a pumpkin.”
He: “What’s gross about a pumpkin and why’d you photograph it anyway?”
She: “Because it reminded me of something.”
He: “Reminded you of what?”
She: “Rolls of abdominal fat and stretchmarks . . . .”
He: “But it’s only a pumpkin!”
She: “Yeah, but it’s a pumpkin with PUMPKIN ROLLS!”
He: “No comment.”

#1 – Pumpkin Art
If you haven’t carved your pumpkin yet and you’re looking for inspiration and amazing examples of pumpkin carving, check out the galleries on the sites below. You’ll find yourself saying, “How did they do that?”

Ray Villafane and Andy Bergholtz
Pumpkin Gutter

#2 – Reuse It!
Don’t you dare throw away used aluminum foil – that is not until you’ve used it a few more times! Here are several ways to reuse aluminum foil:

Scrunch it up into a ball and use it to scrub baked-on food off of oven racks, barbecues, grills, pots and pans.

Wipe it down with soap and water and reuse it. Aluminum foil that has not been in contact with raw meat can be used to cover other foods again.

Sharpen scissors and garden shears by folding a piece into several layers and cutting through it with scissors or shears. Paper punches can be sharpened in this way as well.

Stuff clean used foil in your shoes and boots to help them keep their shape.

Deter birds, deer and other unwanted pests by hanging strips of foil around your garden.

Throw a crumbled piece of foil into the clothes dryer with your clothes to reduce static electricity.

Place some under your ironing board cover to reflect heat and iron more efficiently.

Save it for arts and craft activities: make cards, pretend jewelry for your kids; mold it into a sculpture; use it to create interesting textures in paint.

Stuff some around pipe holes to prevent rodents from entering your home.

Clean your silver by putting aluminum foil in your sink with salt, baking soda and hot water.

Wrap some around stripped screws before screwing it in for a quick, temporary fix.

Click on links to read entire articles:
Chasing Green
How to Make Silver Polishing Dip
SF Gate

#3 – Oh My Aching Back!

My lower back and hip area was stiff and achy from standing all day. I mentioned this to my husband and before I could finish my sentence, he ran out of the room to get something. A few minutes later he came back with two tennis balls duct-taped together. “Here,” he said, “Roll on this, it will really help!” I looked at him incredulously and said, “Seriously?” But he was right, after a minute or two of rolling on the tennis balls and enduring shiatsu-massage-type discomfort, my back pain significantly diminished. If you suffer from back and hip pain, don’t let the simplicity of this gadget fool you and do give tennis ball therapy a try!

#4 – Sushi Cat
Halloween conjures up images of black cats, but Sushi Cat creates FAT CATS! Sushi Cat is a fun computer game that combines pinball-like skills with eating sushi! Drop a cat from the top of your screen and watch him eat sushi as he eats his way around obstacles. He must eat the prerequisite number of sushi pieces at each level to become a FAT CAT or else you must try again!

#5 – The Simplest Words
“All the great things in life are expressed in the simplest words: friends and family; purpose and meaning; love and work; caring and community; appreciation and gratitude.” – Dan Zadra

Enjoy this last week of October!

Read Full Post »

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies

Posted in Husbands, In The Kitchen, Recipes, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on June 14, 2011| 3 Comments »

What could be better than a moist, spicy, carrot cake slathered with cream cheese frosting? Not much! But what if all that delicious goodness could be held in your hand in the form of a cookie? A portable carrot cake – how perfect! Since carrot cake is my husband’s favorite type of cake and since Father’s Day is this coming weekend, I whipped him up a batch of wholesome carrot cake cookies and sandwiched them together with a rich, not-too-sweet, cream cheese filling. After wrapping them individually in plastic wrap and freezing them, he can now have his “cake” (whenever he wants) and eat it too!

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies
Recipe by Martha Stewart

Ingredients for Cookies:
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)
1 cup raisins

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined.

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir to combine. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended. Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.

3. Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough. Once cooled completely, use an offset spatula to spread about 2 teaspoons of cream-cheese filling onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Makes about 25 sandwiches

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners’ sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

Makes about 2 cups

Linnell’s Notes:
1. To make the cookies more wholesome, I used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour.
2. Because I like the smaller size of currants, I used them instead of raisins.
3. For a bit more texture and some added nutrients, I added 1 cup of chopped walnuts.
4. Although it is easier to buy a bag of grated carrots, the moisture content and fresh flavor of freshly grated carrots add much to this recipe.
5. I used a smaller ice-cream scoop for the dough and made 72 perfectly round 2 1/2-inch to 3-inch cookies.
6. These cookies spread – allow the specified 2 inches. If cookies seem to be spreading too much, chill the dough a little longer.
7. I doubled the cream cheese frosting which was the perfect amount to fill 36 cookie sandwiches.
8. These cookies absolutely have to be refrigerated! Not only because they have a cream cheese filling, but primarily because they will become too soft and will fall apart easily if left out at room temperature.
9. As mentioned in the introduction, I individually wrapped my sandwiched cookies with plastic wrap, placed them in Ziploc-type plastic bags, and froze them for future cravings.

Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Crab and Chive Puffs

Posted in About me, Holidays, Husbands, Recipes, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on February 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

He: What are you doing?
Me: Making appetizers.
He: Are we having a Super Bowl party?
Me: Nope, they’re for my Super Goal party.
He: What?
Me: My Super G-O-A-L party.
I figure I’ll get a lot of things done today while you’re glued to the T.V.
He: Okay, but why the fancy food?
Me: Why should Super Bowl fans be the only ones over-indulging?
He: Are you gonna share?
Me: Only if you help!

I’m not a big football fan and I make no apologies for it. Since I did not plan to watch the big game with my hubby, I figured I could get some things done around the house and then sneak in some R & R (reading and recipe research). Super Bowl Sunday is synonymous with big time snacking, so my “Super Goal” party deserved to have some snacks, too. But for me no ordinary chip and dip snack would do . . . I needed something special . . . and then I remembered a recipe for Crab and Chive Puffs! So for our Super Day, my husband and I made these easy and tasty treats!

Crab and Chive Puffs
From Real Simple

Ingredients:
2 sheets frozen puff pastry (17.3 ounce box), thawed
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives, more for garnish
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 pound lump crabmeat

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, cut the pastry into rounds. Place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, chives, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Fold in the crab.

4. Dividing evenly, spoon the crab mixture onto the pastry rounds (about 2 teaspoons each).

6. Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until the pastries are golden and crisp, 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with more chives, if desired. Serve hot.

Makes approximately 20.

Linnell’s Notes:
This recipe lends itself easily to variations. After step 3, I divided the crabmeat mixture into two parts. To one part, I mixed in a little curry powder. The other part was left as is. I proceeded to spoon the mixtures onto the pastry rounds as directed and baked according to directions. My favorite food taster liked the ones with a hint of curry better.

Even though the recipe is called Crab and Chive Puffs, I used green onions for the crabmeat mixture and used chives only for the garnish. The green onions I used were slender ones and not the wide, fat, almost-leek-like ones that are sold at some grocery stores!

Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch Cookies

Posted in About me, Holidays, Husbands, Recipes, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on December 20, 2010| 1 Comment »

Frankly, the holiday critters are getting to me. First there was the Thanksgiving scorpion hiding in my roasting pan and now there is a Christmas rat eating styrofoam cups out in my garage. My exhausting holiday schedule doesn’t leave me the energy to deal with them and since my husband is always yelling at me to delegate, I’ve delegated critter control to him. With him on guard and with most of the shopping and wrapping done, I can relax a bit now and get on with the holiday activities I enjoy – number one, baking cookies!

Rich and refreshing – that’s the only way to describe the taste of peppermint and chocolate together. Each of these flavors on it’s own is very distinctive and bold, yet together they complement one another very nicely. Janet Taylor McCracken’s recipe for Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch Cookies from Bon Appetit is a delicious example of peppermint and chocolate sinfully combined. This recipe caught my eye because it uses bittersweet chocolate both in the cookie dough and in the drizzle. Bittersweet chocolate is my kind of chocolate. No sissy milk chocolate for me! Adding to the chocolate side of the flavor scale is cocoa powder and espresso powder. To balance that off, peppermint extract is added to the dough and crunchy peppermint candies are sprinkled on top. My daughter says, “Beware! These cookies are so rich, you’d better have a glass of milk on hand!”

Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch Cookies
Janet Taylor McCracken – Bon Appetit

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (do not exceed 61% cacao; 15 to 16 ounces), divided
1- 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 large eggs
4 candy canes or 16 red-and-white-striped hard peppermint candies, coarsely crushed

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Stir 2 cups chocolate chips in medium metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Measure 2/3 cup melted chocolate; transfer to small metal bowl and reserve for drizzling.

Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamy. Add sugar and both extracts; beat until smooth. Add eggs; beat to blend. Beat in melted chocolate from medium bowl. Add dry ingredients; beat just to blend. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Measure 1 level tablespoonful dough; roll dough between palms to form ball. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing cookies 1-1/2 inches apart.

Bake cookies until cracked all over and tester inserted into center comes out with large moist crumbs attached, 8 to 9 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment paper to racks to cool completely.

Rewarm reserved 2/3 cup chocolate over small saucepan of simmering water. Using fork, drizzle chocolate over cookies. Sprinkle crushed candy canes over, arranging some pieces with red parts showing. Chill just until chocolate sets, about 20 minutes. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 weeks ahead. Store airtight in freezer. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Ho! Ho! Yum!
Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Friday’s Fresh Five! (8/6/10)

Posted in About me, Creativity, Gardening, Health, Husbands, inspiration, Photography, Recycling, Style and fashion, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 6, 2010| 10 Comments »

” Smash it! Smash it! Smash it!!” the crowd chanted. Goaded on by his peers the bridegroom smashes a piece of wedding cake into his young bride’s face and then ducks to miss her intended aim. What you don’t see is the next frame in which the angry young bride (angry that he had the nerve to duck) grabs another handful of cake from the bottom-most tier and firmly plants it on his face. Turnabout is fair play after all, right? And thus our marriage began. Amazingly, we celebrate our 33rd year of marriage today and through the years we’ve learned the art of compromise and diplomacy, and that there’s no ducking when the cake flies!!

#1 – Two Foods
The Two Foods site offers food nutrition comparisons. In one space type in a food item and in the other space type in the other food item you want to compare it with. The site will give you the calorie, carbohydrate, fat and protein breakdown of both foods.

#2 – Running the Numbers
Okay, here’s my seemingly weekly link to a photo series. Had to pass this one along because it depicts the huge environmental impact of our “throw away” society.

#3 – Color Scheme in a Snap
In my Friday’s Fresh Five post dated 10/23/09 I wrote an entry called Simple Color Theory about determining complementary colors based on primary colors. My son, the artist, told me that this site makes a snap out of determining color schemes for projects and has almost infinite possibilities. Well maybe not infinite, but close to it!

#4 – Making Cut Flowers Last Longer
A. Cut garden flowers early in the morning, avoiding the heat of the day.
B. Remove all the leaves from the part of the stem that will be submerged under water.
C. It is better to cut the stems under water. Cut at a 45 degree angle with sharp pruners/scissors.
D. Change the water everyday to keep the bacteria level low.
E. Adding a teaspoon of sugar to the water will help refresh the flowers. Some use a crushed aspirin instead of sugar.
F. Avoid placing the flowers in direct sunlight and or in drafts.
G. At night store them in the refrigerator or in the coolest room of the house.

#5 – Soul Mates
“A soul mate marriage does not at all mean that you have found someone
you match up with on all the cards – on all the issues, on everything. That
would be the most deadly dull thing to even imagine. Instead, it means you’re
with someone who wants to take care of your soul – they want to make sure
your soul continues to grow, they don’t ever want to blow out that little light
inside you. And you feel the same way about them.”
Diane Sollee, NPR, The Real Life Survival Guide


All’s well that ends well . . .

Celebrate your weekend!

Read Full Post »

Quinoa Muffins

Posted in Health, Husbands, Kids, Recipes, tagged , , , , , on June 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »


My husband receives the same Father’s Day gift every year, yet he never complains about it and he always delights in it. More impressively, he thinks I planned his gift pretty darn well. So here’s what his perennial gift is – it’s our daughter! She was born on Father’s Day over two decades ago and ever since then, I just haven’t been able to top that gift!

Since my hubby already knows what his gift is and since Father’s Day is just a few weeks away, I’ve started thinking about what items I’m going to serve him to make his brunch extra special. Wanting to serve him something healthy, yet tasty, I searched my infamous stacks of clippings and came across this Martha Stewart recipe for Quinoa Muffins. Interestingly, this recipe calls for using whole cooked quinoa seeds instead of quinoa flour.

Quinoa, as you will recall from my previous Quinoa Shrimp Salad post, is a tiny Peruvian seed that is a complete food and contains a balanced set of amino acids. It is also gluten-free (however, this muffin recipe is not). It’s a staple in my pantry and I continue to search for interesting quinoa recipes. Don’t forget to rinse quinoa with clear running water prior to cooking it to remove the bitter protective coating.

Martha Stewart’s Quinoa Muffins:

Ingredients
* 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil, such as safflower, plus more for pan
* 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
* 3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup raisins**
* 3/4 cup whole milk
* 1 large egg
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

**I used 1/2 cup of mixed dried fruit: blueberries, currants, and orange-flavored craisins.

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa and 1 cup water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cover, and cook until water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender, 11 to 13 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, brush a standard 12-cup muffin pan with oil; dust with flour, tapping out excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, raisins, and 2 cups cooked quinoa; reserve any leftover quinoa for another use.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, milk, egg, and vanilla. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir just until combined; divide batter among prepared muffin cups.
4. Bake until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool muffins in pan, 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 5 days.

Makes 12.

Linnell’s Note: Despite their chicken pox appearance, these muffins were surprisingly crunchy on the outside and very moist on the inside. It’s a good basic recipe that lends itself to many possible variations. I will be making these again and will try substituting organic blue agave sweetener for the sugar, a banana for the oil, and will add some cinnamon and nutmeg. I’ll let you know how my experiments turn out. Oh, and if I’m lucky and my husband is even luckier, we’ll get our food-loving second son to make his fabulous Crab Benedict for Father’s Day brunch!

Read Full Post »

Christmas Passed – Whew!

Posted in About me, Husbands, tagged , , , on December 27, 2009| 1 Comment »

Laundry piles appear like colorful stalagmites strewn across floors, remains from indulgent holiday meals teeter on top of each other in the refrigerator, and unsent Christmas greetings are now destined to be new year’s greetings. Christmas has come and gone in its usual blur of activities. Have you ever noticed that during this time of the year there is never enough time? Einstein had his own theory on relativity, but here are a few of my perspectives on holiday time.

One thought is that the days are shorter. The winter solstice brings the shortest day – December 21st – and the longest night of the year. Plain and simple, there are just fewer daylight hours to get things accomplished.

But upon reflection, it seems to me this frustration with lack of time has more to do with gender. Every holiday season, in an attempt to gain control over holiday preparations, I delegate duties to my hubby. Two people can accomplish twice as much as one, right? Not so! As hard as my husband tries, he can only do about one-tenth of what I usually do. Plus, he needs direct supervision and constant reminding of his little holiday “to do” list. In all fairness, I just move faster, think ahead, don’t sleep, and most importantly, don’t watch sports on the television. I think, in general, men just don’t sweat the holiday details like women do. An example of this, my husband was in charge of putting up our exterior Christmas lights. This year only two little tiny bushes got lit and instead of searching for where he stored last year’s lights, he went out and bought new lights. This happens every year! I’m sure after he and I pass away, our kids are going to find nests of Christmas lights all over the house and in the garage! And while I’m on the subject of delegating chores out to men, why is it they always have to ask, “What needs to be done?” Can’t they just look around at the chaos and make an educated guess?

Along the same thought line, I think women tend to be the keeper of their family’s holiday spirit. That’s a lot of pressure. They set the images that will be remembered for a lifetime. They decorate the house, brainstorm for thoughtful presents, reach out to friends in correspondence and at gatherings, plan menus, and try to give back to the community. When my kids look back on the Christmases of their youth, they better have sparkles in their eyes!

Admittedly, I am a holiday overachiever. The holidays are a difficult season for me because I can easily get carried away with creative ideas. Over the years I’ve worked on becoming a more “go with the flow” holiday person. My decorations this year reflected a minimalist’s attitude and there were no visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. Next year, I vow to start my holiday preparations earlier, prioritize my creative projects, and delegate twice as much to my husband, but be more willing to accept the fact that his standard is different than mine. I have a rubber stamp that reads, “Once upon a time . . . there was more time.” That sentiment may be true, but next year I will again strive to balance my time and let myself enjoy all the wonders of the holidays.

Hope yours were merry.

Read Full Post »

Doing the Tivo Tango

Posted in About me, Husbands, Recipes, tagged , , , , on October 27, 2009| 2 Comments »

P1090183_1

Every couple of nights my husband and I do the Tivo Tango. It is a well orchestrated dance that consists of fancy footwork, television, and our dog. There are certain evenings of the week were several of our favorite television shows are scheduled for the same time slot. My husband sets the Tivo (digital video recorder) to record the conflicting show on one television set and we sit and watch another show on a different television set. When that show is over, we race upstairs to another room and watch the show that we missed, but was recorded. The neat thing about recording shows is that we can advance right through all of the commercials. On occasion we have been known to run back downstairs to the first television set to watch a third show that was recorded while we were upstairs watching the second show. Confused, yet? The dog doesn’t understand it either, but he follows us from room to room, because he’s just happy to be with us. Doing the Tivo Tango makes it sound like we are television addicts, which we are most certainly not, but being empty nesters now, we finally have complete control of the television remotes, which means we can watch anything we want, any time we want!

Of course, having the stamina to watch all this television requires some fuel. I have been searching for a good kettle corn recipe for some time now and found this one by Scott Hargrove. My husband is the popcorn maker in the family and does not take this title lightly. Just today he went online to buy a crank-type popcorn maker that will make our kettle corn more authentic! I will keep searching for the best kettle corn recipe and after we receive the crank-type popcorn maker, I am going to try a recipe that includes pulverized Heath Bars! It’s got to be good!

Here’s my husband’s adaptation of Scott Hargrove’s kettle corn recipe:
1/4 cup vegetable oil (peanut oil or canola oil works too)
1/2 cup good quality popcorn kernels such as Orville Redenbacher
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 TBS white granulated sugar
1 TBS brown sugar
Coarse salt (to taste)

Large pot with lid

Directions:
1. Place the large pot on stove and turn the heat on high, add the oil to the pot. Heat oil till it gets very hot (not smoking). Ripples will start to appear in the oil.
2. When the oil is hot, add the popcorn kernels then cover with lid.
3. Watch for kernels to pop, once they start popping, turn the heat down to medium.
4. Carefully shake the pot occasionally to shake any unpopped kernels to the bottom of the pot (where they can get hot enough to pop). This also helps prevent the popcorn from scorching.
5. When the popcorn stops popping, remove pot from heat.
6. Carefully remove the lid so you don’t get hit with hot popping popcorn.
7. Pour the powdered sugar over top. Cover with lid and give the pot a shake to distribute the sugar.
8. Remove lid, add the both the brown and white sugars to the popcorn, cover with lid and shake it up again.
9. Put pot on stove again, low heat, to melt the sugar a bit, shake for about 30 seconds.
10. Take off heat and stir gently with spoon to coat the popped kernels with the sugar syrup.
11. Sprinkle with 3-5 pinches of coarse salt or to taste and stir again. At this point you can also add ancho or chipotle chili powder if you like popcorn with a little kick!
12. Pour popcorn into large serving bowl and watch your show.

If you have a great popcorn recipe you’d like to share, I’d love to give it a try!

Read Full Post »

Not Just Another Health Book

Posted in About me, Health, Husbands, Organization, Records, tagged , on October 20, 2009| 7 Comments »

P1080966_1

Tingling extremities, abdominal pain, and nausea were symptoms that stopped me in my tracks. The catch is, my husband was complaining of these symptoms, not me. He’s a relatively healthy guy, but he does have high cholesterol and glucose numbers that place him into the “almost” diabetic category. Listening to him describe these symptoms, the only thing I could say was, “We’re going to the emergency room.” He denied it was anything serious and mumbled he just wanted to rest. I’m not a doctor or a nurse, but I knew if he was having a heart attack, we didn’t have precious minutes to sit and rest. I gathered up a few things and shoved him out the door. When the emergency room doctor questioned my husband about his symptoms and his health history, he couldn’t remember exact dates or details. That’s when I jumped into the conversation, since I had most of the answers in the binder on my lap. Thankfully, one of the items I thought to bring from home was my husband’s health binder. Documentation of his medications and corresponding dosages, recent lab reports, date and results of his last physical, and names of specialists he’d seen were all neatly filed away in this binder. Okay, maybe not neatly, but nonetheless, filed.

The visit to the emergency room revealed two things: First, my husband has a sound heart. Second, having his health information at our fingertips saved valuable time and reduced the stress of having to accurately recall pertinent information from memory at a critical time. With that said, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of organized medical records.

Request copies of reports each time you have a procedure done. All lab work, diagnostic exams, pathology reports, test results, hospital visits, and other significant documents should be filed. Save copies of referral slips and prescription information. Bring immunization cards to physicals for updates. You think you’ll never forget certain dates or physical conditions you’ve had, but you will. Even though your doctor has everything documented in your patient chart at his office, he may not be around if there’s an emergency.

There are many ways to approach this type of project, but the following way seems to me to be the easiest method to organize and access the information:

1. Purchase a binder for each member of the family and label it with his/her name.

2. Purchase binder dividers with tabs. You might need a dozen per family member; usually younger family members need fewer dividers, because they see fewer specialists. Label the tabs with the following categories and file documents with most recent on top:

Diagnostics – Any diagnostic report such as x-rays, mammograms, scans, MRIs, CTs, ultrasounds, biopsy and pathology reports, etc.

Health History – All documents from previous doctors. Each time you change physicians, get copies of your records. You may have to pay to have copies made, but it’s well worth it.

Labs – All lab work reports go here.

Immunizations – Immunization cards, TB test results, flu shot records, vaccine information, etc.

Name of Your Primary Care Physician – Under my PCP’s divider, I keep notes I make while in his office. If I’ve asked questions and written down his answers, I file that paper. I also keep a copy of any patient information forms I’ve filled out or signed.

Specialists – Each specialist you see should have his own divider. Examples of specialist dividers might be: ob-gyn, dermatology, cardiology, physical therapy, allergy, podiatry, endocrinology, and gastroenterology.

Prescriptions – File prescription information forms you receive from the pharmacy. Besides the name of the medication, these forms should include dose, instructions, and side effects. If you’ve been on a medication for years, always keep the first form received and the most current form in your binder. That way you’ll know how long you’ve been on any particular medication.

Vision and Dental – These categories are optional for inclusion.

For health’s sake, get organized!

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts