Decorating Season Is Here...Oh And Sorry For My Silence

I know I've been out of action so to speak...I have to claim that a total lack of inspiration is the culprit of my silence these last couple of weeks....the donut lady said I should blog about it but I couldn't think of anything to say! LOL I've been doing a little "fun" housekeeping over at my Mother site Multiply today as well as faithfully apping away you know where! LOL It's always fun this time of year...I get to "dress up" things and listen to tunes that go along with the season to come! I've got things piled up on one of my tables here and my tubs outside..well they've been waiting since last year ...one nice thing is I didn't have to lug them around the house this time...as they've been used as "tables" for piles of whatnot since we took out several old windows and replaced them with new ones. It's really a mess out there and I wish "some one" would do something with all the plunder out there! Begging hasn't seemed to help though! I've also had my nose in many great reads recently which could also be the reason behind a few cases of "dry eye". Ann Rule is one great True Crime writer! The other book that recently finished was all about the Clinton marriage...I have to say that I knew the man was a horndog of mammoth proportions but there were parts of that story where my mouth literally fell open ...and his "wife" has a mouth like a sailor when she chooses to let that part of her show. She isn't as innocent as folks think either....let me put it this way...Slick Willy wasn't the only one having his cake and eating it too. Of course she kept her daliances down to one person over many years. Got your interest peaked do I??? LOL Now that the floodgates have reopened somewhat on this Sunday....I hope there will be fewer instances of dry well in the near future!! Loveyameanit....Queenie

Standing On My Soapbox On A September Day....Never Forget!

A late afternoon on the 9th anniversary of the day that our world changed forever.. I read the lovely sentiment that our former president left this morning and there were thousands of other folks who also read it and left wonderful, glowing sentiments to his sweet words. It was heartwarming to read all the well-wishes and echos of how much people in this country thanked him for being our President during that horrible time. I have to say...and whether you agree with me or not...I am so sorry he is not in office anymore....things are going to hell in a henbasket with the current bunch of narcisstic clowns that are running the big circus up there in DC and it really angers me to see these bozos stomping all over our Constitution. Please excuse the outburst on this solemn day of rememberance...it just sticks in my craw something fierce. I hope that someday....and perhaps I'll put it on my "list" I will get to meet him face-to-face and express my thanks to him ...I just hope I could do it without blubbering and making a genuine fool of myself. It's easy to say thanks in a letter...but face to face to a solider or to this man who helped us through our darkest hour in 60 years...a patriot in his own right to me....is the best way to express something as heartfelt as that. He made us feel safe...despite our uneasiness....and we moved on from that dark day...united as a nation....but are we now....I mean look at the mess we are in....the day was somewhat marred by all the threats to burn a book and then the very idea that someone would think it was appropriate to build a mosque just a few blocks from Ground Zero...makes me feel like they are attacking us all over again. Some fellow wrote a hateful posting on Facebook this afternoon...saying "Celebrate 9/11 and death to Christians and Jews" ....it was vile and disgusting....trying to get a rise out of people on this somber day....and he did. It was under the Never Forget 9/11 status posting ....and folks responded with ugliness of their own against this man. Of course I didn't like what he said at all....but I will not be lured into a verbal exhcange with someone merely out to get attention ....I am an adult and know better. He will be judged for his statements one of these days ....that was the first thought that came to my head as I read those awful things he wrote. It was as if God spoke them in my ear to reassure me. 
I paparphrased a statement that our former President used in his remarks after 9/11....when I sent an email to one of our congressional representatives from Ga....who stated that though he didn't vote for ObamaCare he would not join the fight to repeal it....In my email back to him I told him if you are not for us you are against us....I didn't get a reply back....I guess the part I also included about packing up his office because if the voters have anything to say about this he won't have that seat after the November elections...didn't go over very well! LOL But I was serious....and I hope he does lose his seat...because if he does he will know why. We are tired and weary of the same old you know what on all the different days and on November 2nd....the voters of this country are going to put the hammer down and send some career politicians packing! Do your part and help us clean out the Capitol and in just two years....oh lord it can't get here fast enough...OUR HOUSE...the White House!! No more blinders .....the gloves are off and we will overcome this mess that we are in .....God Bless America! Loveyameanit...Queenie

Witness to Tragedy....Filmed on 9/11/01

Anticipating Inspiration ....Between The Pages Of A Library Book!

This box has been sitting here empty literally ALL afternoon waiting for some sort of inspiration to hit me over the head and make that light bulb come on....still waiting! LOL Tonight's menu is nothing special...just something quick to fill our bellies before I drop one off at band practice and head back home to lose myself in another Ann Rule book....Oh did I mention I love True Crime stories in addition to my overflowing stacks of Debbie Macomber, Sheryl Woods, and Robyn Carr novels???? I think the first book of hers I ever read was way back in the early 90's ..."A Stranger Beside Me". It was an amazing book about Ted Bundy and his horrible exploits and the fact that she and he actually worked together on some hot line at night for a while. Thankfully she wasn't his "type" or none of us who have ever read her works would be able to read her works now. Well that little thought sure got the ball rolling didn't it??? Hmmmm what next.....light bulb is getting dim....Actually I love reading all sorts of things....Maureen O'Hara's autobiography was amazing...I couldn't put it down ....I've read some great Louis L'Amour westerns too!  I remember when I was a teen and read every murder mystery I could find by Robin Cook and Stephen King....I have advised my son that two movies that were made based on his novels ....weren't worth watching as they were terrible...the books were much better!! I swear as I was reading Salem's Lot I just knew the vampires were going to come and get me....that I never read it after dark! LOL Thankfully I grew out of that phase...although seeing Kathy Bates in Misery still strikes me as a true future Thriller classic....or was that as Bobby Bouchet's mama in Waterboy I can never be sure! LOL !

I found my copy of "My Life In France" and I plan to reread it because it is an amazing story...I loved it the first time I read it about this time last year I think it was while I anxiously awaited the movie that I have seen countless times but still adore (Julie & Julia) to come out on DVD. Personally without the inclusion of this story immersed with Julie Powell cooking her way through THE BOOK, the movie wouldn't have been as good....Powell's book was a good read though....and I did read the next book she wrote but I was expecting more of the same as before and it seemed like a got more of Eat, Pray, Love ...which I couldn't get past page 96 because I got so disgusted at the main character and all of her whining and fits of crying on the floor of her bathroom....just really bad. The worst part is I really tried to read further because I have stood by my rule that once you start a book you have to finish it...well I am not going to finish this one I'm afraid! As for Cleaving, I did finish this one...came away with the feeling that I really didn't want to hear about her indiscretions etc....as some folks say it was TOO MUCH INFORMATION.....so I doubt we'll be seeing this little gem on the big screen. I might give the novel she's writing a try though...I wonder if this novel is the one she wrote half of and never finished...claimed no one wanted to publish it at the time.....LOL Oh who knows the next book might be great I shouldn't be so hard on the gal! So I guess today's thoughts were more about books than beef and what else is for supper huh? Loveyameanit...Queenie

Remembering A September Day And Waiting For November....To Take America Back!

 

I was driving in to pick up yesterday afternoon and as I got further into town I saw it....a car that had one of those flags you slip between the door and the window ....it wasn't a college sports team banner that flew in the hot breeze as it made the turn to wherever it was going...but an American flag. It was worn a bit but the fact that I saw it this week with the date looming on the calendar to remind us what happened nine years ago on that beautiful September day caused me to feel a bit sad yet at the same time I was proud that this car crossed my path ....I thought to myself...He or she hasn't forgotten. Yes we have gone on with out lives after our little bubble that we had been living in was suddenly burst when those planes hit those buildings that morning....we have not spent the last nine years in fear....because that would mean that evil had prevailed. We move on and do what we have always done...but I wonder if we have gotten jaded to it all since then....we've tucked our flags, and shirts, and other patriotic paraphrenalia away...sort feels like the upsurge is over with and there is no need to bother until July 4th like we did before. With elections looming...America is angry because folks who are supposed to be representing us aren't...and haven't been for a long time..and now for some reason we are finally waking up and realizing that if we don't stand up and do something and make our VOTES heard loud and clear in two months we will truly be in a mess and the founding fathers and others before us who fought and died for the things we take truly for granted and don't appreciate until we think we might just lose them one by one will truly be spinning in their graves wondering what in the world these folks are thinking and giving anything to be able to stand in the presence of these so-called "representatives" and shake their finger in the faces of those who seem to want to bring it all down into a pile of rubble...and remind them what this country was built on. Nine years ago 19 men brought down two buildings and damaged a third...thankfully the fourth plane didn't reach its destination because heroes on that flight said NO! and did something about it even knowing that they would not live to see their families again. Let's all band together this year and take our country back to what it is supposed to be and get the weasels and chicken hawks out of the henhouses and make double sure that nothing like what is going on now happens again on our watch...United We Stand??? Time will tell. I won't sit idly by and watch my country crumble like those towers did that day that our world as we know it changed forever....will you? Loveyameanit....Queenie

Cooking and Crying Over A Good Book....What I Did Over Labor Day Weekend

It's the last day of a blissfully long weekend and like I said to my cyberbuddy Bren a few minutes ago..I am soaking up every precious drop! Travel-free days are cherished during the school year...especially during football season. In about an hour or so I will begin preparing Paula's Farmer's Pork Chops....this recipe is from her very first "The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook". As I mentioned in a previous posting I am so thankful to this dear Southern treasure...as she, like Julia, has really helped me in the culinary department over the last few months. Honestly the recipes that I have tried so far in both Julia's Bible and Paula's ....have been "YUM"! Lord I better hush as I feel I am starting to repeat myself!

I finished Laura Bush's memoirs yesterday and I have to say it was pretty good. The section about September 11th was particularly moving as I found my eyes blurred with tears and had to stop reading for a little bit and wipe my eyes...just knowing someone would wander in for something and ask "What's wrong with you?" When I read memoirs like that I often come away learning so much more than I knew before...I felt that way when I read the Reagan Diaries last summer. I was really sorry to be finished with that one. It was an amazing read let me tell you. I've only come away wiping my eyes twice when I read a book...last summer when I read "Honky Tonk Angel"...about Patsy Cline ...and our former first lady's "Straight From THe Heart". I'm not sure how I ventured from cooking to crying over pages in a book but it happened. Shoot when Dale Jr. drove the Wrangler number 3 car to victory lane at Daytona back in July with his Daddy's old paint scheme I had tears rolling down my cheeks....I've always been pretty tenderhearted I guess...let me rephrase that...a crybaby at times...but even though I have toughened up a lot since my nightmarish school days...there are just some things that really touch me ...and if someone is reading this I'm sure you have your moments when that giant lump forms in your throat and emotions and tears spill to the surface. Events and images...and even words on a page can do it.

The house is coming alive with noises of various decibel levels now...soft at one end and I would have to say at a volume level somewhere in the mid-30's on the television in the living room....and the urge to holler..."Turn it down!" is getting harder to squash...or maybe I'll just turn on my iPod to drown it out...LOL since the person who is watching is way over 21...and there is a pretty good chance that that something that his folks have done in the last three years...that really got to him when visiting...he is doing now too although I know he wouldn't admit that just now. So let's go fix some pork chops how about it?? Loveyameanit...Queenie

A Long Weekend And A Soup Recipe

Saturday morning of a long weekend is sheer bliss!!! You can wander around your little piece of heaven on earth and not have to worry about looking presentable. That thought came to me a little while ago as I was making my way to the clothesline ....there is a nice breeze out there and yes it will probably wind up blazing hot out after lunch but I don't care. Thinking about what I can get accomplished over this mini-vacation I know without a doubt I will be right here wandering around cyberspace perhaps sending occasional thoughts out into the void...laundry goes without saying so I don't bother including that! I'd like to get some reading in ...I am reading two at a time right now...can't help it...one is Debbie Macomber's latest Cedar Cove novel that just came out this week and the other is a library book. I know I will be cooking of course....Paula's Farmers pork chops will be on the menu on Monday...and spill over to Tuesday. Lord the morning is practically gone and here I still sit....LOL Oh well. Here is the recipe per request...for Potage Parmentier (Leek or Onion and Potato Soup).  This is a great soup base according to Julia...you can add other vegetables to it like broccoli, carrots, cauliflower...but alone it is YUM!

According to Julia you need:

A 3 to 4 qt. saucepan
3 to 4 cups of peeled potatoes, sliced or diced
3 cups of thinly sliced leeks or yellow onions...if using leeks include the tender green
2 qts of water
1 Tb salt.

Now Julia says:

Simmer the vegetables, water, and salt together, partially covered, for 40 to 50 minutes until the vegetables are tender; if you use a pressure cooker cook them under 15 pounds of pressure for 5 minutes, release the pressure, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Mash the vegetables with a fork, or run them through a food mill ( probably could use a food processor here). Correct the seasoning...set aside uncovered until just before serving..then reheat to the simmer.

Now you will need:

4 to 6 Tb. whipping cream or 3 Tb of softened butter
2-3 Tb. minced parsley or chives

Julia says:

Off the heat and just before you serve stir in the cream or butter by spoonfuls.  Pour into bowls and decorate with herbs.

YUM!

That's all there is to it...according to Julia! Enjoy! Loveyameanit...Queenie

I Just Love, Love, Love Wednesdays...Especially During Football Season!

Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays are my three favorite days of the week during football season...Saturday and Sunday are easy...I don't have to go anywhere at all...I can sit here on my throne and putter around the house and yard to my heart's content....but Wednesdays...ahhh! During football season this day of the week is very very nice.....I only have to go to town TWICE once to drop off and once to pick up...and then it is home, home, home!!! I love to cook...but it is nice to know that I can just fix myself something of whatever I might be in the mood for on a day other than Friday. It's just the boys and me for supper and then once everyone is all shiny clean sheer bliss...for the rest of the night...not that other nights aren't sheer bliss...but this week there is an away game..which translates to a two hour ride one way on a school bus to get there and then a two hour ride home ..on that same school bus and hubby dragging himself out of bed post-midnight to retrieve one band member back home. Long night! So I really like Wednesdays!!! LOL

I was watching Julia on DVD last night and she was making Quiches...this afternoon I ran to THE BOOK and have decided that I am going to make at least two of her quiche recipes ...they are simple to do and sound YUM!!!! Considering a back to school trip to the library before the week ends...I'm running low on bathtub reading material! Regarding my finding two new recipes to prepare out of THE BOOK....I better be careful or I might find myself cooking through the book...skipping aspics of course! LOL Maybe when I feel the first real nip in the air I'll make me another batch of that delicious onion and potato soup again!!! It was SO good!!! I found out that just like in the scene in Julie and Julia where she is at her kitchen table cutting up that mountain of onions to practice her speed and technique...you really can smell those things before you walk in the room where they are! LOL I cut up the onions for the soup before leaving to go to town on a WEDNESDAY to pick up the boys from school and when I got back....Great jumpin' gosh a-mighty the onion smell was THICK!!! Thankfully there were no tears!LOL So Happy Wednesday ...Loveyameanit...Queenie