Backyard Frozen Food...And This And That!

       The backyard looks all calm, and just like it does every day, doesn't it?!...until you look at it close! We're in the midst of a kind of storm, of sorts, that's dropping freezing rain all over the place...

      I feel bad for the little birdies! They're gonna have to chip their little beaks to death this morning, piercing through the frozen food (suet)...

       I have to say though, it sure looks pretty close up! :-] ...

     Hubby got such good shots of the little frozen droplets on the tree branch, didn't he?! :-)

      Speaking of frozen...I'm thinking about the parents, teachers and first responders in Newtown Connecticut this morning. I'm sure their lives are feeling a little frozen in time today, with the first burials of the little Sandy Hook Elementary School students happening...Six year olds! :-(

       Do you remember being six?!!...

(Photo/Sticker Calendars from ComfyCozyKeepsakes)

      I was recently reading a child development tracker on the PBS Parents website about what you can generally expect when your kids are six...It's hard to think that twenty children's creative and wide-eyed development was just snuffed out in an instant of a crazy morning...My thoughts go out to all of the relatives, friends, acquaintances, and all of those affected...especially the teachers...

(Adult T-Shirt from PersonalTouchShirts)

      In completely other news...something to smile about :-) ...my husband spent the weekend cooking! ^_^ He made homemade chilli with beans...spaghetti with hamburger...a chicken sautee' with celery and butter...lemon squares....and a cheesecake!! :-)

      Most of it you don't wanna see...trust me on that one! LOL There's nothing photogenic about beans and chilli or sauteed chicken and celery!! ^_^ And lemon squares aren't that much better!....but I tried with them!...

       See what I mean?! O_O

       But when they came out of the pan, and were actually cut up into squares...even though hubby had forgotten to get powdered sugar to dust over the top of them, they looked pretty good! :-)

      We puckered our way through a couple of them ^_^ but I think we're done! *smack! smack!*...They were sooooo lemon-y that even hubby wasn't impressed with his own cooking! LOL...Not of the lemon squares anyway!

     He was highly impressed with everything else!...including the half pineapple/half cherry cheesecake he made! :-) ...

    ...although photographing it didn't go so well! LOL...Uhhhh....I think he needs to stick to frozen droplets on tree branches! :-)

      I did have some other stuff to share with you, but I'll wait until tomorrow. My stomach is growling at me! ^_^ Have a good day, everybody. Take a moment today to remember being little...and six.

When Jeff Was A Boy

He had an orange bicycle
that he rode all over town;
A banana-seated 'Stingray',
and its handle grips were brown.

At 12, to make some cash,
he had a great big paper route.
He'd either walk or ride his bike.
Come rain or shine, he would go out.

He had a fast-red wagon
he pretended was a car.
He hauled everything in sight,
from sister's dolls to dirt-filled jars.

He played little league football,
basketball, kick soccer too.
Despite his having asthma
(which his coaches never knew).

He had lots of toys to play with-
matchbox cars and small 'Hot Wheels',
'Pick-up Sticks' and building blocks,
and model planes, which gave him thrills.

All his responsibility
was to take 'Skippy' out to run.
That's all his dog and him would do.
This made his childhood lots of fun!

Now he's older, likes to stroll,
and grow his garden in the yard;
Doesn't hanker for his boyhood.
Doesn't wanna play that hard! 

More Than Just A Simple Rutabaga Story - PART 1

(THEBUTLER by micklish)

       What is 'The Butler' you ask?! :-) Well, 'The Butler' is what today's blog post was "suppose" to be about!...I saw it on the front page of Etsy and fell in love!...It's a wall mounted place to put a wallet, your keys, your glasses, and all your other personal items that you find yourself looking for like a crazy person every time you're in a hurry to leave the house!..."Yeah, I'm talking to YOU, hubby!" ^_^ ...What a great idea 'The Butler' is, huh?!!! 

        It even has a routed out section in the backside, where you can put your charger or extension cord in case your mounting area on the wall is not next to an outlet! (You can see it's other uses in the description in the shop)...How cool!...Hubby is forever looking for his keys and saying: "Where did I leave my wallet?" If he had 'TheButler' maybe he wouldn't have to think about that anymore!...Although, for me and my hubby, 'The Butler' might have to come with a reminder to actually put the keys and wallet IN or ON it!! ^_^ Our memory chips aren't performing like they used to when we were young 'whippersnappers'! LOL

       ANYWHO!...My story today is not really about a wall mounted personal butler. My story is about a rutabaga, and a man...a cooking man....'MY' cooking man! :-]...Here Goes!...Hubby had never made rutabagas before...

 (Botanical Lithograph Illustration from SurrenderDorothy)

      You do know what rutabagas are, right?!...The rutabaga is a 'root vegetable that originated as a cross between the turnip and the cabbage', says Wikipedia. They can be cooked and used in all kinds of ways. My favorite being to cut off the skin, chop it up, boil it in broth, add seasonings and butter, and mash it up like mashed potatoes.  YUM!

      I hadn't had them for a while, so I asked hubby to pick one up from the store. He did...I was expecting him to come back with two or three that looked sorta like this...

(American Purple Rutabaga Seeds from CheapSeeds)

      ...but instead he came back with one HUGE rutabaga, the size of a soccer ball!! O_O...Organic produce!!...Anyway, I had to cut it up for him. Well, I didn't HAVE to...but I had visions in my head of a 3-fingered man, blood running down his arm, and a fast dash to the emergency room!...and I decided to avoid that whole fiasco, and cut it up for him! ^_^

       He washed the chopped up rutabaga, got a big pot...sorta like the size of this one...

 (Vintage Enamel Steamer Pot from bmegdesigns)

           ...and put the rutabagas on to boil....at full steam! He was a cooking fool! You could have called him 'Chef Rutabaga'! :-))

(Chef Inspired Original Watercolor by CharleneFreemanArt)

        A few minutes later, with the rutabagas still boiling away, he decided to warm up the rest of the dinner in the microwave, so that everything would be nice and hot together. But therein lies the problem...You see, our stove and microwave set up is like this...

        O_O Can you see what the problem might have been?!....Next thing I knew, hubby ran into the bedroom where I was on the computer updating something in my shop, and said: "Uh Oh! We have a problem!" O_O

        Oh how I hate those words!...Come to find out the microwave was smoking, and the smell of plastic or something burning was wafting all through the house....*sigh* O_O

(ACEO Print Art Trading Card from 3crows)

        I felt like cat when crow cooked him dinner!! O_O ...It was a harrowing experience!...Thankfully the microwave was unplugged immediately, the fans were employed to pull the smoke out of the house, a call was made to repair people, and after a little coughing and so forth....we're still alive!! :-)

    But UNFORTUNATELY that's not the end of the story...*sigh...Part 2 of the story tomorrow...and it's not a fun part 2! O_O In fact, it's freaking me out a bit!!.....Tomorrow, People! Have a good rest of this one!

 For all the Mondays

For all the Mondays that come around,
and all the Fall leaves gently falling down;
For all the wet soil, caked and brown,
and all the worms it must have drowned;

For all the honking, and chatty sound
from all the folks scurrying round the town;
For aching feet and hearts that pound;
and lists and nerves to be unwound;

For bags and keys that hit the ground,
when well-tired bodies fall in a mound;
For deals and prices that do astound,
and all well worth it, pound for pound;

For all the Mondays that come around,
and all the weekends gone with a frown;
For adjectives needed, not just a noun,
Much thanks to Mondays that come around.

It Was A Kitchen Take-Over!!

      I know it's early, but I just had to show you! My hubby outdid himself yesterday. This was ONE of the things he made after he took over the kitchen...a chocolate pecan sheet cake...for ME! :-) ... I'd love to share it with you, but since I can't I'll just have to figure out something to do with the leftover part...I'm sure I'll think of something! LOL
      As I said though, this cake was only ONE of the things he made! He started with a stew in the crock pot. I was enlisted as resident potato peeler. :-) I would've shown you some pictures of that too, but by the time it got done...I was 'done' too!...done taking pictures! :-))
      It was loaded with veggies...potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, green and red peppers, celery, stew beef chunks, and seasonings...Ater it was on, he made some potato salad...and Oh Yeah, I got pictures of that!...It was his first time making it EVER! And it was sooooo good!...

         ...He even made a pan of homemade corn bread!!!...Why the kitchen take-over you ask?!...I don't know exactly. I think it had something to do with the weather though.
      He had plans to clean and take pictures of his car that he wants to sell. It was his dad's car, but his dad is in the facility now, so his mom gave it to him. It's just been sitting in the yard all this time. The other day he went over and changed a flat tire, bought a battery for it, and washed it. Now he's trying to decide whether to keep it or sell it. It's a 2001 Chevy Trailblazer...in case anybody's interested! ^_^ The blue book price on it is about $5,000 in great condition. But because it's been sitting in the yard all this time, and needs a little work on the brakes...and a tune up...he's only asking for $3,000.
      Anyway!...He couldn't do anything with the car yesterday because it was raining off and on all day, so he spent his time as 'Chef Jeff' in the Wug kitchen. :-) ... After he put the stew on he was off to the cake baking races! He made my chocolate pecan sheet cake....AND...a lemon pound cake with cream cheese frosting for himself!...

      ...he made it in a bundt pan...Let me be honest, it didn't look that good when it came outta there!...but sometimes the 'ugliest' things come out the best, because I'm here to tell you it was DE-licious!!! :-)
      Today, thanks to a break in the weather...rain-wise...he'll be off to take care of the car, do some job hunting, and a few other errands. No worries though...I've got enough food around here now to keep my strength up while he's gone! ^_^
      Speaking of things to do while he's gone, while he was in the kitchen yesterday...except for a short potato peeling stint...I was in here crocheting my fool head off! :-)

         And when my fingers started aching too much to crochet anymore, I looked around on etsy for inspiration for future projects.....and look at what I saw!...

       It's an orange crocheted brooch...being used as an accent NOT on a man's lapel!, but on a woman's top! :-) ... Why didn't I think of this?!!!...Way to go WhimsyTimeStudio!!!...Any new place to put a crocheted flower...I'M IN!!! :-)
       And as to blog posts for today...I'M OUT!! LOL Have a good one today, Everybody!! And if you need a piece of cake or a bowl of stew....holla at me!! ^_^
      But for those of you who are wondering why I felt the need to share my food with you...

Why Do You Have To Share?

I know you're probably wondering:
"Why does she feel the need to share?"
I'll tell you. It's no secret!
It's because...Oh Well...YOU'RE THERE!

Why should I suffer this alone
when I can whine right in your ear?
And, after all, you came to visit,
and you still are sitting there!

Why should I keep it to myself...
this so-called 'Too Much Information'?
If you leave it up to me
there'll be a 'Listen To Me' nation!

I like to share my good and bad.
I've done it for so many years.
But you don't really have to listen.
You could amputate your ears!