Random Thoughts for the Day:

My friend, Janet, sent  me these.  Oh, they are all true!!!

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer's history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Map Quest needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my damn neighborhood.
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
10. Bad decisions make good stories.
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.
13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to the ten-page paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
14.. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this -- ever.
15. I hate it when I miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!)but when I immediately call back it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
18. My 4-year old nephew once asked me, "What would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?
19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well..
20. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

Tiger Woods is such a douchebag…

Lori, over at Pugsplace nailed it today on her blog post about Tiger Woods, calling him a sleazy little a man-whore.  He is such a creep.  Drudge is reporting that a divorce would cost him $300 million dollars, the most expensive in history.  If I were his wife, I would take the money and run as fast as I could.

LC and I were having lunch today at my favorite chinese restaurant, discussing it, and I was telling him that I hope she beat the hell outta him with that golf club.  He kind of laughed when I said it, but I got him to admit that he agreed with me.

Women are coming out of the woodwork about affairs with him.  TMZ has an audio tape of him telling a woman to erase all her cellphone messages.  His poor wife, kids or no kids, how can she ever trust him?  She will always wonder when he’s on tour what he’s up to, or she’ll follow him around like a groupie trying to keep him in line.  He’s sorry for his transgressions, yeah sure thing he is, the only thing he’s sorry about is that he got caught with his hand in the nookie jar! What a jerk.  Boy, he sure had a lot of people fooled, didn’t he. 

Men Schmen, what fools they are.  They ruin their reputations and destroy their families, all for a tawdry piece of ass…

Baby Updates

Lindsay called me today to tell me that Abby is laughing out loud, and this afternoon she rolled over.  Amazing, huh.  The child is going to be a prodigy I  just know it!!!

Dang, girlfriends I have had zero computer time.  I’ve got that Christmas shopping almost finished, though.  I’m going to work on a new header, it’s time for Thanksgiving to go.

I’ll catch up on emails, and get back in the groove, pinky swear…

~ jan

Grammie , Grandpa and bebe Abby

I’m not dead, Fred….

Law-dee it’s been a whirlwind.  Having the big 60th birthday, Thanksgiving, bebe Abby, family, I haven’t had a minute for blogging.

John and Deanna brought me home, they’re leaving today, life will be back to normal.

I’ll be back soon! Pinky swear…

~ jan

Happy Thanksgiving from Grammie Jan…

 

Cheesecake update…

It’s an awesome recipe.  I still think I would cut back on the butter in the crust to 1/2 cup, since I blotted a lot of excess with paper towel.  But it’s a keeper, it was yummy!

Tonight we’re going to do the bourbon sauce with it… Healthy eating is going all to hell this week.  Scarlett will worry about it Monday…

A quick update for you…

It’s a busy day at Ryans, as we’re having Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, doing prep work today. 

We’re making Nisha’s Chicken Velvet Soup later in the week with turkey breast leftovers, she wanted me to remind you all of this great recipe.  If you want something special, ladies, this is it.  And so easy to make, too.  You’ll love this one, pinkie swear…

Here’s the click…

I’ll be around, hopefully with baby Abby pictures for you.

~ jan

It’s finally out of the oven…

Okay, here’s the scoop.  I used a 9” springform pan, instead of a 12” because I like a thick, dense cheesecake.  Well this puppy just wouldn’t get done.  I cooked it an extra 50 minutes, no that’s not a typo, 50 minutes longer than recipe called for, and it’s still pretty jiggly.  It was so thick, no wonder it took forever, but it seems like I’ve messed with it all day!

However, it smells awesome, and I think it will be great when it cools.  I did tent it for the last 15 minutes loosely with foil, because it was starting to brown.  And yep, it cracked, but I think it will be a goodie.  I’ll let you know the results when we cut into it at Ryans…

Oh, one other note, if you’re not a cheesecake baker, always take a piece of foil, I usually double it, even with heavy duty foil, and set the springform pan on it, then mold it around the outer sides of the pan.  If you don’t, the butter from the cheesecake will leak out in the bottom of your oven and you will have a mess!

If you’re confused about how long to bake it – when it is set all around the edges, and a good way into the middle, it’s done.  I never cook cheesecakes that come clean with a toothpick in the middle.  I would rather undercook it just a bit then have it dry.

~ jan

Cheesecake tweaks…

When you make a recipe for the first time, it’s a learning experience.

The crust recipe called for 2/3 cup butter, that’s a LOT of butter, I usually use 1/3 cup in a crust, but I followed her recipe, baked it for 10 minutes, and it was super oily.  So I took paper towel and blotted the excess, next time I will use less, maybe cut it back to at least 1/2 cup.

The recipe also calls to do to it in a water bath, but my cheesecake pan won’t fit in a 9x13 pan, and my jellyroll pan is one of those air kind, so I was afraid if I used it the bottom wouldn’t cook, so I just put it directly in the oven.  That’s what I always do, it may crack a bit, they do sometimes, but that’s no biggie.  I will watch it tho, and if I think it’s getting too brown before the center is no longer jiggly, i’ll loosely tent it with aluminum foil.

I tasted that batter, it was excellent, I’m thinking this is going to be a great recipe.

I’ll update you on how it cooks, not going to cut it until Monday or Tuesday, though…

I always watch FoodTV while I’m cooking, and today Paula Deen’s cousin was on her show, the lady owns a bakery so she should be a good cook.  Paula said her pumpkin pie recipe was the best she’s ever eaten.  Great reviews for it online.  Check it out here….

I’m not running the show this year…

We’re going to Ryan and Lindsay’s this year for turkey day.  We went last year as well.  Before that I made Thanksgiving dinner every year since LC and I have been married, well except for one year when we went out, and John threw such a hissy because he hated the food and didn’t have leftovers that I never tried that again.  I was an only child, so was hubby, no siblings to trade off holidays with, it was all up to me. 

Well, girlfriends, the times they are a changin’ and I couldn’t be happier.  I’m tired of cooking all that food!  Oh, I’ll still be in the kitchen working alongside the family, but if I want to take time out and rock sweet bebe Abby, I can…

Ryan has a big kitchen with a big working center island, it’s so much easier this way. 

And today, I’m making the pumpkin cheesecake.  I decided to make the one from Susan Branch, here’s the click again in case you missed it when I posted it a few days ago.  That’s the good thing about cheesecake, it’s better after it ages for a few days. I’m also making another batch of caramel corn, the family can’t seem to get enough of it this year.  I made a batch last week when Charlie and Nish were here, he loved it, so she made it yesterday. Yeah, here’s the link for it, I know you want to look at it, too.

We’re also going to try the pumpkin streusel rolls for Thanksgiving morning.  Carlene sent me this recipe last week, and I was intrigued, as our family loves cinnamon rolls, it will be interesting to see how these turn out.  It’s a recipe from Cooking Light, only 214 calories per bun and rave reviews.  Here’s your click….

Okay, I’m outta here, I got work to do girlies…

Salsa Dancing Dog

This is possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.  I want this dog!!!

 

Thanks for sending this to me, Carlene, I’m in awe….

Hey Aldi snobs, you’re missing out….

I know some of you think Aldi’s food is “inferior” and I have to laugh, because at one time I thought the same thing.

But, oh are you wrong if you think that way.  I tried their Kona Coffee today, $3.99 for a 12 ounce bag, and omg, it was an awesome, awesome, coffee.  Premium quality, full bodied, wonderful, rich tasting coffee.

I also picked up fresh cranberries for $1.00 a bag.  None were mushy, I didn’t have to throw out any of them.  Made then like my buddy V does, a cup of sugar, but I used Splenda instead, a cup of water, boil for 5 minutes, take off the burner and squeeze in an orange.

Sooooo, good – 30 calories for a half a cup of cranberries, too.  Works for me.

They also have a special buy right now, 28 ounce cans of Priano Crushed Tomatoes for $.89.  They are the best I’ve ever had.  Forget  Hunts, these are so much better, so good in fact, that I went back and bought a case of them… 

So all you hard sell people, go outside your box this week and just try a couple of things from Aldi’s.  You just might be surprised, and you will save 50% over supermarket prices.  Pinky swear…

~ jan

Farewell, old friend….

John had to say goodbye to his best friend, yesterday.  He had Oreo for  fifteen years, and she was a sight to behold to the very end. 

You’ve never seen a feistier, prettier dog than his little Oreo.  She was a wild child, tearing around the house, playing in the yard, and in her last years, doing her perimeter check in the back yard hourly, as John had installed a doggie door to his fenced yard, and she was totally enthralled with the freedom it gave her to go in and out at her will. When people came to visit, especially little children, she was absolutely estatic.  She loved people, and was irresistible to everyone, she was quite the charmer…

He built a fishpond in his backyard just last year, and she supervised every rock that was put into place.  Then she would stand on the rocks, drinking from the pond, watching the fish, and more than once falling in.  Nothing deterred her, nothing, she was totally fearless.

John got “O” when he was in graduate school.  He had just moved to Lafayette, didn’t know anybody and decided he needed a dog. She was just this little bundle of puppy fur, and oh was she a cutie.   He would come home to visit, buckling her in a seatbelt, she would ride the entire trip, three hours, buckled in beside him.

They traveled a lot of miles together in the last fifteen years, and were quite a team.  He was a great doggy dad to her, loved her dearly, and spoiled her daily.  It was more difficult than words can say to have to say goodbye to this dog, but she’s soaring with the angels now.

Godspeed, sweet girl, we will miss you greatly, but you will always live on forever in our hearts…

Johnny Depp, Sexiest Man Alive! What’s wrong with me???

My buddy, V, has always been a huge Johnny Depp fan.  She thinks he is just awesome, and I just don’t get it.  Now People Magazine says he’s the sexiest man alive.  Johnny Depp?  Huh? For real, they do.

I just don’t understand.  And I think the underlying factor is that he just appears to me to be the type of guy, ummmm, how do I say this politely?  Oh hell, there is no way to say this politely, he just looks to me like he would have a really small penis!

And that is definitely NOT sexy, IMO.  Bad girl, bad girl, shame, shame, shame on you Jan, such impure thoughts from an old broad….

Rules for Thanksgiving….

A bit of what we do year, after year, after year, after year…

Rule #1:  We always buy at least an 18 pound turkey,  some years it’s even been an  20-22 lb. one.  We don’t even like turkey all that much, but we always buy a big bird. Turkey soup is a must the weekend following Thanksgiving.

Rule #2: Always check the carcass for the paper packet with the neck, liver and gizzard inside.  Yes, I baked the damn things in the turkey one year, and nobody has ever forgotten!

Rule #3: A double batch of broccoli casserole,  just for Ryan.  We all complain about being tired of it, because we’ve had it so many times,  but do we eat it?  You’re darn tootin’ we do!  Ry can always be found in the kitchen after dinner shoveling copious amounts of the stuff in his mouth with a serving spoon.

Rule #4:  Don’t burn the sweet potatoes.  They have to be watched carefully, very, very carefully, and guess who’s job that is these days.  Oh joy.

Rule #5:  Some sort of cranberry concoction is the rule of the day.  Ryan swears that no man ever liked cranberries, and I do believe he may be on to something, but the girls love them, it was Deanna’s specific request this year.   Lindsay’s family recipe  is the best,  it’s awesome!

Rule #6:  Never, ever even suggest using Pillsbury Already Piecrust for the pies.  Don’t even go there.  I’m so lucky that Lindsay makes the world’s best piecrust.  This year, I’ll hold Cuppycake while her mommy rolls the dough. :~)

Rule #7:  When putting the pumpkin pie in the oven, look straight ahead, never look at the pie, if you look at the pie you tilt it and it dumps on the oven floor.  Isn’t that right, John?

Rule #8: Turnips for LC are a  must have.  The man adores turnips, the rest of the family not so much, but we always have them for him. 

Rule #9:  Regardless of what yeast roll recipe we use, we  always think that we can do better next year, so every year we try a new one, and we’re never satisfied.  John and I always make the rolls together, it’s what we do…

Rule #10:  Always, always after Thanksgiving dinner, both of my sons will be found lying on the floor, stretched out to their full 6’+ length, writhing and moaning in agony because they ate too much. And do we feel sorry for them, not!  And yes, I have pictures to prove it.

Rule #11: Always be thankful for another year together, especially this year with the birth of our little Abby.  Reminisce about years gone by and the people and pets we loved who are no longer with us.  Families are a wonderful thing, and the older I get, the more I appreciate how lucky I am to have this wonderful cast of colorful characters that are my family…

About that soup…

It was really good!  I’m not a rosemary fan, but it was subtle, it worked.  It would have been better with homemade bread, but I have no willpower with the bread.

And speaking of food, which is what we do around Thanksgiving, I have a husband that adores turnips, so when I saw this recipe earlier today on Simply Recipes for Turnip Gratin, I just had to share.  Interesting, huh? 

Here’s the click…

I made Tuscan Bean Soup this morning…

A one pound bag of great northern beans, a can of diced tomatoes, chopped onion, carrots, garlic, fresh herbs from the garden, thyme, rosemary, and lots of sage.  Then I added 6 cups of chicken broth, just one slice of thick pepper bacon, a teaspoon of fresh cracked pepper, and now it’s in my pressure cooker for an hour and fifteen minutes.  I’ll update you and let you know if it’s good…  I’m actually productive today, laundry is going, housework is finished, life is smooth… Just the way I like it!

Geezy Pete, what a mess…

This new Droid phone is going to be the death of me yet, I swear it is!  Earlier this week I was complaining about misdialing people constantly.  Well that was nothing compared to tonight.

I had been reading online about voice to text, an app you download, then all you do is talk into the phone and it converts it to text and then you send it to whatever contact you want.  Sounds pretty cool, huh, no typing, just talking.  WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!

First of all, when I tried to download the app earlier in the week, it wouldn’t work.  So I emailed the guy who wrote the program, he said he was still “tweaking” it for the Droid and that he would email me when it became available.

Well tonight was the night, I got the email, I coughed up my $.99 for it.  Yes, just a measly dollar, this stuff is cheap…

And I started talking into my phone.  OMG, you wouldn’t believe all the stuff that came up.  It wasn’t recognizing  my voice at all, and was making up crazy phrases.  But I was sending stuff out anyway, to Ang and to Hooterville, and to the kids, and all of a sudden I got this “No Comprende” text from my cousin. 

When I checked my messages, I discovered that I had sent her eighteen messages.  Everything I was sending to people wasn’t going to them at all, it was going to her!!!!

Holy Schmoly, when I reread what I sent, it sounded absolutely STUPID.  It made no sense at all, she must have wondered what was going on.  So I have now sent her numerous email messages explaining what I did in an effort to not look like a complete dodo.

And the guy that wrote the program? He now tells me he is having issues with the Droid, he doesn’t actually have that phone himself, so it’s tricky.

Tricky?  TRICKY? You got that right, dude!  Oh, what a mess, what a mess!!!

The key to dying happy…

The following article is a reprint from Zen Habits, a daily blog I read.  This guy really makes you stop and think about what your life is about, and how you can make it better, he’s really thought provoking.  I thought this article was especially enlightening.  Take a minute and read it, it’s such a simple little thing to do, and it just might make you a better person.

And what’s my life purpose, here’s a start.  I want to be…

• A safe haven from the storms of life for my family to come to. I may not always be able to help, but I will always be able to listen, give them a hug and tell them how much they mean to me.
• A loyal and thoughtful friend.  I’m blessed with such good women in my life, and I treasure their friendships.
• A non-judgmental, dependable and  loving  grammie that Abby can trust and always depend on
• And most of all, and this is the hard one, I want to be true to myself and live my life with the daily goal of achieving  inner peace and contentment with a few giggles thrown in to spice it up a bit.  I want to do it my way.

Ahhhh, such deep thoughts from your usually ditzy blogging buddy. 

~ jan

Live With Purpose — A How-to Guide
If you want to live a life of purpose, here’s a method for doing so (you were wondering when the list would come!):

• Your purpose. Start by taking 10 minutes out of your life to find some quiet space, and to close your eyes, and to think. Ask yourself: How do I want to be remembered? What do I want people to say about me at my funeral? Think about that for 10 minutes, then write down your answers. There may be a few different things, or 10, or just one.
• Write it down. Put your purpose — how you want to be remembered — on a sheet of paper. Type it out, or write it lovingly with a Magic Marker — it doesn’t matter. Put it in nice, big letters. This is your life mission. Post it up somewhere visible, or make it your desktop background. Be reminded of it every day.
• Morning ritual. Every morning, rise with the sun (or at the crack of noon, it doesn’t matter), and look at your purpose. Read it out loud, and give it some thought. Ask yourself: what can I do today to help fulfill my purpose? Now write that down on your to-do list — even if it’s something simple, like “Smile at my co-workers” or “Give my kids a hug”.
• Align your actions. As much as possible, make your actions move your toward your purpose. Keep that purpose in mind throughout the day. If it helps, send yourself email reminders. After awhile, it’ll become a part of your nature.
• Evening ritual. Take a few minutes before you go to bed to look back on your day, on your actions, on what you accomplished. Perhaps write about it in a journal (this is best, but it’s up to you). Look at your purpose again, and think about how you could have lived today differently. Then figure out how you can live your purpose better tomorrow.

These simple actions aren’t that hard to do. They might take some energy and focus in the beginning to make it a habit, but with focus, you can make it happen. And your life will be filled with purpose, and you will live your life with happiness, and eventually, with a little luck, die happy. May your life be blessed.

Read the article in it’s entirety here…