March 25th ~ Sweet Savory Tart

By the title of this post, you thought I was going to write about some trampy woman I know, right?

Wrong! Fooled ya! It's Recipe Saturday!

STB's http://sttropezbutlersays.blogspot.com/ yummy salad recipe put me in the mood for that style of posting.

This is more of an appetizer (I can't spell Hors Douerves....see?) but it is spectacular! LisRay will vouch for it, if she reads this, right LisRay??

Ripe Pear and Crisp Apple with Bleu Cheese Topping

(EASY!)
A couple of hours before the guests arrive (or the night before): In a bowl lightly toss together:

4oz crumbled bleu cheese (I use the larger plastic tub size...I'm guessing on the oz..it might be a bit more or less.) (More is good..err on the side of more)

(These next 4 ingredients I mix together with a fork and then toss them into the blue cheese above.)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup dried parsley flakes (You can use fresh parsley...but for some reason dried turns out better.)
3 cloves of garlic crushed or finely chopped

Cover bowl and let ingredients marry for an hour or two in the fridge. (You can make this the night before if you wish. Wait...I already said that.)


Before your guests arrive take:

5 ripe fresh pears - cut in half, remove seeds and slice with skin on.

5 Granny Smith apples (or other tart apples) - cut in half, remove seeds and slice with skin on.

(Think "thick potato chips" when you are slicing them)

Drizzle fruit with a LITTLE orange or lemon juice to prevent browning, arrange slices on a platter leaving room in the center for the cheese mixture.

When ready to serve, gently re-toss cheese with a fork, drain off excess liquid (only if it is excessive...it probably won't be), and place cheese mixture directly on the platter in the middle of the sliced fruit. Eat the fruit with a little scoop of the cheese on it.

You'll love me for this recipe. :)

March 23rd ~ Touched by and angel

Read Sher's post of March 22nd..called Locks of Love.

I'm moved to tears. http://tiom.blogspot.com/

March 21st ~ Biker chick

I wish this was my ass.

Who wouldn't?

But it does lead me to a story...

So, on Sunday, hubby and our kids did a "move your body" intervention on me. I'd been under the weather for a LONGGGGGGG time, and they knew that I was stressed because I hadn't been swimming in about 3 weeks. They talked me into going on a bike ride with them.

That sounds fun and easy right?

It would be for most people, I think. However, I have very screwed up knees (a congenital defect), so riding a bike is something that I don't do often. Ok, its been a few years. Like 5 or 10.

Hubby nicely spent time making sure that my rarely ridden bike was safe and ready to go, but something had happened since the last time I sat on it: I think I shrunk. (In height, doh!) It's a man's 10-speed street bicycle .....and when I stepped over the bar....I discovered that it was jammed way up my
you-know-what....(Hmm ....if I could of installed batteries, I guess it would have been fine....but anyway...) this was not comfy.

If I had better balance, was in better shape, or was more coordinated, I could have probably just stepped on the pedals, and lifted myself onto the bicycle seat..and ridden along my merry way. However, that isn't my reality. I'm a bicycle
spazz-oid.

Hubby nicely suggested trading bikes with me. His is a sturdier moutain bike, without a high middle bar. A MUCH better solution. Except I still couldn't remember how to ride a bike.

The boys were so excited that I was going with them...that they kept riding close to me. Arghhhhh! I couldn't tell them to ride farther away....but everytime they got near me I panicked that I was going to crash. I did a few times. (Ran off the trail onto a lawn or into a tree.... la la la)

We decided to stop at the local grocery store for a couple of things. The kids played while hubby went into the store and I babysat the bikes. I didn't get off the bike.

Remember that fact...

I DIDN'T get off the bike.

So hubby comes out of the store with the groceries and gets back onto his bike and takes off towards home with the kids.

I try to turn around and follow them.

Suddenly I can't seem to figure out how to ride the bike. I slip off the seat, but keep the bike between my legs....and everything feels weird. I am wedged weirdly between the seat and the handlebars.
So, I try to get back onto the seat...but now the front point of the seat is jammed uncomfortably up my ass.....which seems impossible...and yet it was happening.

SO with my bicycle-seat-horribly-wedged-ass facing the shoppers leaving the grocery store, I try to start pedaling. Everything feels wrong.

I make it around the corner of the store and see hubby and the kids......and suddenly realize that I can't find the hand breaks.
They seem to be in the wrong place. I can't stop.....I don't know how to stop. How do I get off? Arrrrrgh......

So I yelp, "HELP!" to hubby, who turns around and sees me in a panic......and tries as hard as he can not to start laughing as he rides over trying to assist me.

I realize, finally, that I somehow have the front wheel and steering wheel turned backwards...but there isn't room to just jump off.....due to the way I wedged myself onto the bike seat....and I can't make the breaks work because they are not where my hands can grasp them in my panicked state of mind!

So I crashed into the brick wall side of the grocery store to stop myself. Hubby rode up, biting back grins, and helped me turn everything back the right way.

We all made it home safely.

Swimming suddenly holds MUCH more appeal than ever before. (BTW, the corned beef and cabbage St. Patrick's Day Party last Friday night was a success. We had a great time! :) )

I was thinking of titling this post "Erin Go Braless"....and then got the bright idea of looking that up on the web! lol Voi La! Damn! Once again my originality has been usurped!

So, anyway. I'm a crazy Irish person. Ok, perhaps my Irish blood isn't pure, but my great grandparents were born in Ireland, so I'm "of the body", so to speak.

The craziness comes into play when I decided to have a St. Patrick's Day dinner party this year. On Friday. THIS Friday. 2 DAYS from NOW! I've known this was coming. I've been looking forward to it. But I've been under the weather for 25 days now! Arghhhh! Oh well. I'm better than I was. I should be fine by Friday.

SO I'm trying to figure how to make Corned Beef for 22 people. If you've ever made corned beef, you KNOW how much they shrink when cooking! lol Half of those people are kids, so I'll have to have an alternative food source for some of them. It'll be something mindless and easy.

And my house looks like a tornado went through it! I'm not the world's best housekeeper, but I'm obsessive/compulsive about anyone seeing that flaw....so somehow by Friday order will be restored. I'd just rather blog than clean. Go figure.

And we don't normally eat meat on Friday's during Lent...but I decided since St. Patrick's Day is in honor of a Saint....what the hell...we're covered under the "Saint's Exception Rule" that I made up! lol Unfortunately, hubby and I are the only ones who enjoy Guinness....so we'll have wine too (even though that's
anti-Irish on St. Paddy's Day). I'm thinking white. I know, red goes with beef, BUT, corned beef and cabbage just doesn't seem like a red wine meal to me. Any opinions?

I dream of going to Ireland. I have to make that a reality. SOON.

March 13th ~ Peace on Earth

"The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses." She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'You want a piece of me?' " Robin Williams (Supposedly his T-shirt says "I love New York" in Arabic.)

March 11th ~ My eye for a Mai Tai

For recipe Saturday I thought my all time favorite to die for cocktail would be nice. (Hopefully I haven't already posted this! lol)

1 Tall glass with ice

1 big shot glass of dark rum (or dark rum to taste...if you're scared)

a nice splash of Grenadine (to taste)

1/2 C pineapple/orange juice

1/4 C straight orange juice

Drizzle Bacardi 151 over the top of the drink.

Garnish with a cherry and slice of orange

Enjoy (You'll love me for this one.)

March 9th ~ Idol fluff

Ok....there are too many huge world issues and family issues swirling in my mind.....so in an effort to think calm thoughts....can we discuss American Idol? It's not that I'm shallow......just enjoying an air pocket for a moment.

First of all....of the men: Taylor Hicks is #1. I thought I had the hots for Ace for a moment.....but now he seems to be playing it up to the camera and it comes off as insincere to me. Taylor on the other hand is a doll.....and a riot.....and I LOVE his jerky, odd, dance moves. They just make me happy. I love his grey hair. The guy is OBVIOUSLY having a blast. And Bucky....he is very "real".....unusual.....but real and true to himself. Good voice. And then the bald guy....I love his voice....but he doesn't get under my skin. (Thus I can't remember his name.)

As to the girls: I hope Simon stops messing with the little blonde Kellie Pickler. Simon calling her a "Naughty little minx" just seemed inappropriate. She's too innocent and sweet and untarnished to be played with in that way. (Now had Simon called ME that.....well.....that'd be a whole different thing! lol) I'm also a fan of Katherine McPhee (the tall brunette with the mom as a vocal coach), Mandisa the classy, beautiful larger woman with a stunning voice (my daughter says "Mommy she looks cuddly like you!" lol), and Lisa Tucker, the 16 year old with such poise, presence, and the voice of an angel.

Anyway, I know this was fluff......but I needed a bit of fluff today. Have a wonderful day every0ne.

March 8th ~ Changes in choice

Along with the rest of our country, I've been watching the happenings in South Dakota regarding abortion with great interest. This topic is so heated and so important to people on both sides of the arguement, that I've been having a hard time trying to articulate my own feelings on the subject. This is such a deeply personal issue.

This morning I read the blog post of my friend Gina on this topic....and felt like she somehow put words to my thoughts. I couldn't have expressed it better. She is a wonderful writer. If you'd like to read her post, go to:

http://findingmygroove.blog-city.com/

March 7th ~ Awww :( Superwoman

Dana Reeve
1961 - 2006

Rest in peace

March 4th ~ Cornflake Chicken

In honor of "Recipe Saturday" here is one of my favorites. It's healthy, EASY, SO delicious, and I was able to calculate it into Weight Watchers points!

Cornflake Chicken

4 chicken thighs (boneless/skinless) (It works with breasts too)
1/2 cup yogurt (fat free plain)
1/4 tsp each, salt and pepper
Pinch cayenne (or to taste)
1 1/2 cups crushed corn flakes
1/4 C freshly grated parmesan cheese



In one dish mix yogurt ,thyme, salt, pepper and cayenne. In another mix corn flakes and cheese. Spread out the chicken thigh and dip in yogurt mixture and then roll in the corn flake mixture. Spray bottom of baking pan with PAM.
Bake for 45 minutes at 350
6 Weight Watchers points per thigh