I was scheduled to fill in for a maternity leave beginning April 6th, but the teacher had her baby early and I started teaching 8th grade English last Tuesday. Also, we spent the weekend in Effingham and just got home an hour ago, which means I'll not be posting much of anything this week.

While we were home we took Maw-Maw and Aunt Kae to dinner and then to The Lettermen concert at the Rosebud Theatre. We also got to visit a little with Jeff, Conni, Lori, and Baleigh, and then Maw-Maw and I drove over to Altamont to see Aunt Marion in the nursing home, while Bob put up a new ceiling fan in her guest bedroom. Here are the Lettermen. We debated over how many of them were original members, and decided that surely, only the old guy could possibly have been around for the long haul. We were right.

The Lettermen were very generous about having their pictures taken with fans, but we forgot to take the camera so, the night will only live on in our memories.

Yup - The sun is shining and I'm just lying here on my belly, on top of this here pic-a-nic table, eatin' all these seeds. Take as many pictures as you want. I'm just as generous as The Lettermen.

I celebrated my birthday this week with Bob and Gordon Lightfoot. Here we are after his concert. I know, Gordon looks distracted. That's because Bob has just asked him some lame question about Toronto and he's responding to it. The concert was great and his voice sounds really good, considering he's not a young guy and he almost died in 2002. He was in a coma for six weeks , had four surgeries, and a tracheotomy.

"If you could read my mind love
You'd know I'm tired and wanna go back to my hotel

And read a paperback novel
The kind the drugstores sell...

Hmmm hmm hmm hmm hmmm......

And I won't ever be set free

As long as I'm a ghost that these Hoosiers who

donate money to public television can see...."

Hmm hmm hmm

What's the Good Word? The good word this week is actually two words - brouhaha and brohaha. I was mortified to discover that I'd forgotten the u in brouhaha last week, when referring to Bob's luggage incident. After I corrected it, I stumbled across the fact that brohaha is really a word, sort of:

Brohaha: A friendly gathering of bros and only said bros: See brodeo
As in: We need to get some chicks in here because this is a serious brohaha.

Brouhaha: Hubbub, a confused disturbance - a stir or uproar

As in: Bob created a real brouhaha over paying for his luggage.

Here are photos of the cool SWAG Lindsey brought me back from Italy:

From Florence - Statue of David tissues

From Rome - Roman Military Figures

From Sorrento - a great lemon and olive bowl

From Venice - a portfolio for art work

Rob's TIPS for TET: You remember Rob of "rent your spare pair of gym shorts out for a dollar fame." Here's his tip: Go to the car wash and collect the change from the screens in the vacuum cleaners. This can be a lucrative endeavor, possibly garnering as much as thirty dollars (so says Rob) Apparently, before they could drive, he and his friend, Nate, used to ride their bikes to the gas station, get the change, and then try to persuade the clerk inside to sell them cigars. So, there you go. He says he's got a million of 'em - TIPS for TET, that is

Cartoon Maddie is giving out her five-woof congratulatory salute this week to Lindsey for getting an 82 on BEC.

Recipe of the Week: This recipe is from Cook's Country magazine. It's a good way to keep a pork roast moist and the caramelized onions and parsnips are so tasty.

Marmalade-Glazed Pork Roast with Parsnips and Onions
1 boneless pork roast 2 1/2 to 3 pounds
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup orange marmalade
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound parsnips, peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces
2 medium red onions, peeled and cut into 1-inch wedges



1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Place pork in center of a large roasting pan and season liberally with salt and pepper.

2. Combine marmalade and rosemary in a bowl. Spread half of the mixture onto the roast. Add orange juice and olive oil to remaining marmalade mixture. Toss parsnips and onions with 2 tablespoons of the mix and season with salt and pepper. Arrange vegetables around the pork. Roast until instant-read thermometer (which I don't have) registers 120 degrees, 30 to 45 minutes. Pour remaining marmalade mixture over the roast, increase the oven temp to 450 degrees and roast until thermometer registers 140 degrees, 15 to 20 more minutes.

3. Transfer the roast to a cutting board and tent with foil. Toss the veggies and juices to redistribute evenly over the bottom of the pan and roast until juices thicken and vegetables caramelize, about 10 minutes. Slice pork and serve with roasted vegetables, pouring pan juice over meat. Yum.

"Sometimes you have to be careful when selecting a nickname for yourself. For instance, let's say you have chosen the name 'Fly Head.' Normally, you would think that 'Fly Head' would mean a person who has beautiful swept-back features, as if flying through the air. But think again. Couldn't it also mean 'having a head like a fly'? I'm afraid some people might actually think that." Jack Handey

Maddie, The Amazing Barking Dog, and I walked through the cemetery this evening, and I saw my first robin of spring, well, two robins, there were actually two of them sitting on the fence. Ah, spring! Bob helped me cut some pussy willow for the vase in the living room and to put on the front door. This weekend was a nice ending to a rather, clunky week, as somebody managed to pilfer our Discover card number and was shopping up a storm online. An observant person at Best Buy caught it and called us, so the shopping spree didn't go on for very long. Apparently, Bob got into a brouhaha at the airport on Tuesday, as to whether or not he was going to have to pay for his luggage. Also, I spent some more time at the dentist's office. They finished up a root canal and then we had a consultation about what to do, down the road, about my problem area. I can either have implants or a rather lengthy bridge ( a five-toother, I believe). Anyway, it's going to cost thousands of dollars. And when I was telling this to Bob, he just sat and stared at me, so I don't know, TET.





And speaking of TET, I had some old bananas and I thought, hey, wouldn't it be a good idea to make some banana bread, you know, so I wouldn't waste the bananas. As I was making it, I started thinking about the cost of the oil, and the eggs, and, especially the walnuts, and I decided it's probably a better idea to just throw those old bananas in the trash. I know I said I would post some TIPS for TET, but I've decided that I don't really have any TIPS for TET, except turn the lights out when you leave the room, and don't eat out, unless it's at McDonald's.



From the Archives: I found this picture on a disc. It's the Trojan horse I made for this world history class I was working with. It's made from a box and a FedEx tube. I pulled it into class on the Ab Dolly. There were candy bars inside that were handed out after an Ancient Greece Jeopardy game. Good times.

Notes

1. My sister's groundhog's name is Bradford Pear Pierre, not Bartlett Pear Pierre as stated incorrectly last week in this blog. My apologies to Pierre.

2. Lindsey says "Ciao" to blog readers and she thinks that she and Brent would make a good team on The Amazing Race.

Tuesday is St. Patty's Day! We've got the corned beef and cabbage in the refrigerator, ready to go. Cartoon Stella and Little Cartoon Roxanne send their St. Patrick's Day greetings.

Recipe of the Week: Is from the Vera Bradley cookbook. "a perfect mixture of chicken, mushrooms and lemons. Very delicious." I made this for supper this evening, but forgot to take a picture.

Chicken Piccata

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup capers, drained
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons butter or margarine melted

Place the chicken between 2 large sheets of plastic wrap. Flatten the chicken to 1/4 inch thickness with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in 2 tablespoons flour in a shallow dish until coated, shaking off the excess.
Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet. Add the chicken and mushrooms. Cook the chicken for 3 minutes on each side or until the chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear. Remove the chicken to a platter and tent with foil to keep warm.
Add the wine and lemon juice to the mushrooms in the skillet. Bring to a boil. Whisk 1 1/2 tablespoons flour into the the chicken broth. Add to the mushroom mixture. Cook for two minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in the capers, butter, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over chicken and serve.


"One day one of my little nephews came up to me and asked me if the equator was a real line that went around the Earth or just an imaginary one. I had to laugh. Laugh and laugh. Because I didn't know, and I thought that maybe by laughing, he would forget what he asked me." Jack Handey

Good news. It appears that sometime last week, Hickory Hill Hans exited his hole. I haven't seen him yet, but at least I know he did spend the winter here. I gave this information to my sister and she is going to check for any activity at the residence of her groundhog, Bartlett Pear Pierre.



The squirrels didn't let Sunday's lousy weather keep them from eating. They have their own umbrellas.






What's the Good Word? The good word this week is amazing. It's an amazing word and I'm truly amazed at how freely this word is used these days. I saw the young actors from Slumdog Millionaire on some talk show and they were firing that word back and forth like nobody's business. And apparently (although I didn't see the show) that bachelor dude on The Bachelor used the word "amazing" about 40 or 50 times each episode. It seems he thought every woman who was trying to win his heart was "amazing." Amazing means "causing great wonder; astounding" The pyramids at Giza are amazing. Macchu Pichu is amazing. Doing four miles on the treadmill is not amazing, it's just a good workout. A cobb salad is not amazing either, it's just a good salad. And those twenty-five lady contestants on The Bachelor? They couldn't really all be "amazing." The fact that twenty-five women would preen and strut and scratch and claw at each other on national television just to win over this goofy guy, I guess that's pretty amazing.

**Overuse of the word "amazing" does not apply to people who have Amazing Barking Dogs.



Speaking of dogs, some of our other family dogs have made it into cartoon form. My niece, an elementary school teacher, who knows her way through a book, is thinking about using them in a story, as crime fighters, maybe, or, at the very least, problem solvers.

















I am working on Oliver, a wiry little dog, and a Puppa Sade.

The dogs have a money saving tip that will help you in your struggle against TET (tough economic times, remember?)








Recipe of the Week: These yummy poppy seed mini-loaves were the favors one year at our Tuesday Club guest luncheon. They were accompanied by the recipe. I think it's the glaze that makes them so tasty, and the almond, butter, and vanilla flavorings.
*Another "Even Rob likes these" entry




Almond Poppy Seed Bread
3 eggs
2 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/8cup oil
1 tsp butter flavoring
1 tsp almond flavoring
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 1/2 cups milk

Cream together eggs, sugar, oil, and flavorings. Mix together dry ingredients and add alternately to the mixture with the milk. Spray pans with Baker's Joy. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool ten minutes, then pour glaze over the top.

Glaze:
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring



"I hope they never find out that lightning has a lot of vitamins in it because, do you hide from it or not?" Jack Handey

Driving Miss Stormy. That's what we did this weekend. Stormy, who last week was lounging on a yacht in the Caribbean, flew to Indiana for thirty hours so that she could surprise her former boss at his 50th birthday party in Fort Wayne. I picked her up about noon on Saturday. Lindsey met me and the three of us had lunch at Qdoba. We drove her back down to Indy on Sunday. We dropped Bob off at Brent and Lindsey's, did a little Keystone shopping, and then deposited Stormy back at the airport. Here she is with Bob and a storage bag of fresh Melt in Your Mouth Yeast Rolls to take back to Wilkes Barre.

This weekend also gave us the opportunity to spend some time with granddog number 2, Bonnie the Barbarian. She's so funny and wild. A regular little "terrierist."


During the weekend, our conversation kept turning to the country's economic woes and how we are all coping with the struggling economy. Stormy is tired of saying "Tough Economic Times," so we decided to use the acronym TET instead - (having nothing to do with the 1968 Vietnam War TET Offensive, of course). Feel free to incorporate our acronym into your daily lives. You have our permission. In the future, this blog will feature some TET recipes and TIPS for TET.




The Book Babes met last Wednesday to discuss The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. 661 pages. We liked the book. It was very entertaining and somewhat spicy. You have to keep in mind, when reading, that it is historical fiction. We did all decide, though, that being part of the king's court must have been stressful, and that you would fare better if you never caught the king's eye. A girl could lose her head!




From the Archives: This seems appropriate. Here I am on the stairs of the Beauchamp Tower at the Tower of London in 2005. Hey, it's a scary place, and London's humidity is hard on the hair.

Maddie, the Amazing Barking Dog went to the groomer last week. There was an added charge this time, of eight dollars for "tangles." Eight more dollars - bringing the total cost to $58.00, which because of TET, makes me think, maybe we should just do this ourselves at home. Maddie hates going to the groomer. It upsets her, sometimes to the point of extreme diarrhea. Anyway, Cartoon Maddie is not afraid of TET. In fact, she says, bring them on.

"I can see why it would be prohibited to throw most things off the top of the Empire State Building, but what's wrong with little bits of cheese? They would probably break down into their various gases before they even hit." Jack Handey

Cartoon Maddie brings up a good point. Why doesn't Billy Crystal host the Oscar's anymore? Oh, it's not that we have anything against Hugh Jackman. He did an okay job, it's just that we really like Billy Crystal and always looked forward to his annual "Oscar, Oscar" opening number. In honor of Oscar night, I gave Bob the assignment of choosing his top ten favorite Best Picture winners. I was surprised to see that Forrest Gump has surpassed Patton on his list, and also surprised that he didn't mention In the Heat of the Night, since that picture was filmed in his home town of Sparta, and he got to watch some of the filming, plus his friend, Dog Frailey's dad's backhoe appears in the movie. Here's his top list:

10. The Bridge Over the River Kwai

9. Lawrence of Arabia

8. Platoon

7. Crash

6. Schindler's List

5. Casablanca

4. Gone With the Wind

3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

2. Patton

1. Forrest Gump

Here's my list:

10. Rebecca

9. Crash

8. The Sound of Music

7. The Best Years of Our Lives

6. Gone With the Wind

5. The Sting

4. Forrest Gump

3. Driving Miss Daisy

2. Schindler's List

1. Casablanca

What's the Good Word? The good word this week is carcass. Carcass can mean The human body, living or dead: scornful or humorous usage, as in "Bob did not drag his sorry carcass home from Wisconsin until midnight Saturday night." (Oops, forget you read that) It can also mean: The dead body of an animal - as in "Let's boil that turkey carcass and make some soup." or - "Bonnie the Barbarian has been dragging small pieces of an animal carcass into Brent and Lindsey's house." She's finding little bones and organs in their sandbox and bringing them right inside. Brent and Lindsey suspect this must be the handiwork of neighbor kitties, Einstein, Bob Buttons and Crazy Cat. Bonnie has also been bringing in chunks of dried pooh as well.

From the Archives: Since we're talking about the Oscars, how about a photo of Oscar winner, Clint Eastwood, taken in 1982 at Pebble Beach. He was very cordial, even though he was really struggling on this hole.

Recipe of the Week: These are really yummy, so good that I've made them two Sunday afternoons in a row. Hope you enjoy them too.

Melt in Your Mouth Yeast Rolls

1 package of yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup warm milk

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup butter (no margarine) softened

5 to 5 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve the yeast in warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. Scald the milk and remove from the stove. Add milk, eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and softened butter to the yeast mixture. Add flour to form a stiff dough. Turn out and knead until smooth and elastic (4 to 5 minutes). Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled. Divide into thirds and roll each third into a 12-inch circle. Brush with melted butter, then cut the circle into 8 wedges and roll up, starting with wide end and place pointed side down 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until double. Bake at 375 degrees 9 to 10 minutes or until just slightly brown on the edges. Makes 24 rolls.

Cartoon Maddie, The Amazing Barking Dog, a new addition to this blog, is giving out her famous five-woof salute this week, on account of Valentine's Day, and for Ashley and Andrew, in honor of the birth of their beautiful daughter, Audrey, born last Wednesday morning - 9 pounds, 2 ounces. Congratulations!

What's the Good Word? The good word this week is "spiffy." The President recently announced, that "Air Force One is one spiffy ride." I like this word. I also like to say "all spiffed-up," but I do not believe spiffed is actually a word - although spiffiness is. So, I might say I was all puffed up with my spiffiness. Webster's says spiffy means: Fine looking - smart.

This squirrel lives in Miami and is said to be the world's best dressed squirrel. I realize we're treading on crazy ferret territory here, but you do have to admit, she looks good. Spiffy, in fact. I'd say she's all puffed up with her squirrely spiffiness.

At my creme brulee/baklava class last Tuesday night, I learned that apparently people have a fear of phyllo, which I didn't know. I always suspected they were afraid of pie crusts, and at the pie baking class last fall, I posed that very question, but they all said "no, they were not afraid of pie crusts."

"Hmmm, okay, good," I said. But in my head I was thinking "Then why ain't you makin' pies and why are you here?"

So, Tuesday, I find out they ARE afraid of phyllo, and they appreciated being able to overcome this hurdle. You can manhandle the phyllo, well, a little, and you have some time before it starts drying out. You can just fold over the sheet if it doesn't exactly fit in your pan, and don't worry about any little tears. Remember, slathering on enough butter can fix anything. You do need to keep the sheets covered with a moist kitchen towel most of the time, when you're working with it. Anyway, baklava is the recipe of the week. This is not my baklava, as I forgot to take a picture of it, but I do want you to see how it should be cut.

Baklava

4 cups walnuts, finely chopped

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 pound phyllo dough

1 cup butter, melted

1 - 12 ounce jar honey

Grease a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. In large bowl, combine nuts, sugar and cinnamon. Cut phyllo into 9 X 13 inch rectangles. (They have changed the packaging, and it's very close to this size now, anyway) In baking dish, place 1 sheet of phyllo and brush with butter. Repeat to make 5 more layers. Sprinkle with one cup of the nut mixture.

Place one sheet of phyllo over the nut mixture and brush with butter. Repeat to make at least 6 layers, overlapping any small strips of phyllo to make rectangles. Repeat the process. Place remaining phyllo on top of last cup of nut mixture. With a sharp knife, cut just halfway through the layers in triangle patterns to make 24 servings. Bake in 300 degree oven for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until top is golden brown.

In small saucepan, over medium heat, heat honey until just hot, but not boiling. Remove baklava from the oven and spoon honey over the top. Cool. Cover at room temperature.

From the Archives: Cherubs take a bubble bath -1990

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." Winnie the Pooh