Winter Daydream

This snow covered cornfield is an extension of the backyard.

The Three Amigos

Lydia, Elyse and Samantha "cooling it" on a hot summer day.

This photo was taken a few years ago and is one of my favorites. The girls are enjoying their Push-Ups so much that nothing else matters. Wouldn't it be nice to discover your "Push-Up" in life?

Queen of Editing

I'm officially declaring myself the "Queen of Editing." There is no way to know whether this blog is viewed by more than one or two people but I'm certain that even they have noticed how often I edit. And age truly doesn't matter. I will edit the life out of (I prefer into.) any post no matter how long it has been published. Is this acceptable behavior? I have no idea. Why do I do it? I'm a writer-want-to-be with little formal training and there's a lot of self-doubt. Will I continue doing it? Likely so, because, despite the risk of being labeled "wishy washy," I feel that my writing skills are improving.

Youthful Energy

House guests will be arriving Friday. And since they are the not-quite-ripened ages of five and six, I expect the noise level in the place to surge a notch or two. It will take some adjustment (especially for the cat) but that's okay. Maybe I can absorb some of their youthful energy during the stay.

I saw both of the girls for a short time yesterday. Our conversations went something like this:


Me: "Hi, Elyse."
Elyse: "Hi. You might get some teeth falling out at your house."
Me: "I sure hope my teeth don't fall out."
Elyse: "Not yours! Mine! See." (She just lost her first tooth.)


Me: "Hi, Sami. How are you?"
Sami: "I have earrings now!" (As she shows me her pierced ears.)
Me: "Oh-h-h. Those are so pretty. I love pink."
Sami: (with exuberance) "And they're real earrings too!!"
(When I told Elyse that her new earrings look like diamonds, she nonchalantly replied, "They are.")

Me: "Elyse, I bought you two books."

Elyse: "Are they chapter ones?"

Me: "Chapter ones?"

Elyse: "Yeah."

Me: "Do you mean divided into chapters?"

Elyse: "Yeah."

Me: "Yes, I think they are."

Elyse: "Good. We need more chapter ones."
Elyse: (later) "Thank you for the ten chapter book."

Sunday Morning Inspiration

I think all of us can use a little inspiration sometimes. This lovely video definitely enriched my day. I hope it will yours. It is only a few minutes long and is presented by Simple Truths. There's a little promo at the very end. 

http://www.thedashmovie.com/

An Onion a Day?

To post or not to post: that is the question. The answer came without much pause so here I write. My first thought was to post a picture of a brilliant sunrise, one that would warm the very soul. But, as I scrolled through my iPhoto library, I caught sight of onions. I decided, then, to share some information emailed to me recently. I have no idea who the original author is—or if it true or false. It is merely an article of interest. View the information by clicking on the link. 


(Note: I removed the link since it no longer worked but if you are curious about how you can use onions to fight the spread of flu, let me know.)

Life in Shorts: Seldom What You Expect

Life in Shorts?
Not exactly.

Life in Shorts is about real life occurrences that, as trivial as they may be, make you feel as if you just stepped into the "twilight zone." I'm fairly certain that I'm not the only one that has had such experiences. In fact, this morning on TV I saw Connie Chung telling a story about being in a Las Vegas hotel several years ago and falling into a bunch of potted plants, uprooting the flowers and spilling the dirt. She had been attempting to touch the flowers hanging over head to see if they were real. She got up and brushed herself off, and then looked around to see if the whole thing had been caught on security cameras. After making an attempt to get things back in order, she simply just "ran away."

Although none of these compare to Connie's Las Vegas fiasco, here are a few "Shorts" that have happened to me recently. I hope they warrant a giggle or two.

• I awoke one morning to find that the strange ripping sound I heard over and over in my dreams was actually my bed sheet being slit open by my big toe. I'm not sure how the whole thing started but whenever I stretched, my dreams got more vocal. (FYI...it had nothing to do with the length of my toenail.) 

• My ninety pound lab jumped on me one morning, nearly knocking me over, and managed to plant a slobbery kiss directly on my left eyeball. So much for the protective benefits of eyeglasses; and dog training.

• While having lunch in a well-known Mexican fast-food restaurant, my drink slid off my tray, landing upside down in front of a group of five or six young men (Ironically, I had just been thinking about what a nice looking bunch they were.). I expected to hear a snicker or two but they never came. Next time I'll pay more attention to what I'm doing rather than other people.  : )

Do you have a Life in Shorts experience you'd like to share? I'd love to hear from you.

Chicken Strata Anyone?

I was recently asked if I had a strata recipe. The answer to that question is "absolutely," and it's a tasty one at that. But, if you're watching your calories, this recipe probably isn't for you. I'm not a huge fan of using canned soup (or other processed foods for that matter) when cooking but I do make an allowance for this recipe. Yum!

Chicken Strata

Using 6 slices white bread, cube 2 slices and trim crusts from remaining 4 slices bread (cut up crusts). Place cubed bread and crusts in bottom of 8X8X2-inch baking dish (reserve bread slices for use later). Combine 2 cups diced cooked chicken, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup finely chopped celery, 1/4 cup chopped green pepper, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and dash pepper. Spoon over bread cubes. Arrange reserved bread slices atop chicken mixture.

Combine 2 beaten eggs and 1 1/2 cups milk; pour over all. Cover and chill 1 hour or overnight. Stir one 10 1/2-ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup and spoon over top. Bake in slow oven (325 degrees) about 1 hour or till set. Sprinkle 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheese over top last few minutes of baking. Makes 6 servings.

Spinach Bisque and Life in Shorts

Never let it be said that I blogged my followers to death. When I created my blog back in 2009, I was a dedicated blogger. It was a daily ritual. I wrote about whatever came to mind. That included my pets, recipes, things I'd seen on the morning news. It took me a few weeks to realize that too much of a good thing (I'm attempting to boost my self-esteem here.) is probably not a great thing so I cut back. That eventually led to eight months of nothing. It has now been close to five months since my last post and I'm back with yet another recipe. So if you're in search of an easy soup dish that easily qualifies as "comfort food," you may want to give it a try. The recipe itself is one of hundreds that I have collected over the years. Most of which never made it beyond the box they were originally placed in. I'm glad that I rediscovered this one. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Spinach Bisque

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2-1/2 cups milk

1 cup water

3/4 cup cubed process American cheese (I used Kraft Deluxe American Cheese, which comes in a one pound loaf)

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (it is important to get the water out of the spinach)

Oyster crackers, optional

In a 3-quart saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt and nutmeg until smooth (Note: It doesn't actually get "smooth." I mix these three ingredients into the onion/butter mix and then start adding water gradually, whisking to smooth it out.) Gradually whisk in remainder of water and milk. Add cheese; cook and stir over medium heat until melted. Add spinach; cover and simmer for 4-5 minutes or until heated through. Serve with oyster crackers if desired. Yield: 5-6 servings

I'd like to end this post with a couple Real Life Shorts (as in SNL Digital Shorts) but this post is getting rather lengthy. I will, instead, include them in my next post. In the meantime, think about this: Have you ever felt like there's a giant puppeteer in the sky manipulating your every move, making you do utterly ridiculous things? And when you do these things, he laughs his giant manipulating ass off? I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.