One year ago, a wonderful woman passed away after a long battle with ovarian cancer. Mel was a very good friend of mine, even if we never met outside of the computer and phone calls. Her memory is always with me, and I miss her love, her silliness, her spirit and her words of comfort.
You will be remembered, always, my friend. Peace.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctzIEjjOfd4
For more information on Ovarian Cancer, please visit http://www.ovariancancerawareness.org/home.aspx
Its Friday, so it must be time for a review, right? Right!
This week’s adventure was all about the kids, and being quiet, and reading… and goldfish. I had the pleasure of watching an episode of Quiet Time Tales featuring Grandpa Read, Sparky & Wanda, Champ and some interesting illustrations. The episode reminded me a lot of when I used to watch “Reading Rainbow” on PBS, so I sat back and enjoyed the stories that Grandpa Read read in his warm and inviting, totally “grandfatherly” voice.
On a side note, my grandfather was totally not like Grandpa Read, and I couldn’t help but imagine Grandpa Reed in a shirt that said, “Raw Oysters a Must So Your Ding-Dong Don’t Rust.” That would have been absolutely incredible, yet highly inappropriate, which kind of sums up my childhood.
The episode I watched featured five stories, my favorite being Thumbelina. The illustrations were “young” enough to appeal to smaller kids, while still portraying the essence of the story.
Quiet Time tales are just that, a way to share stories with kids who may not have heard some of the older classics. It is completely different from many of the other kids’ DVDs out there, it will not impress with its flashy colors or loud music. It simply will give its viewers the serene sense of a Grandfather reading stories.
Now, don’t let the the serenity of the storytelling fool you, because at the end of the DVD is a hilarious surprise… Grandpa Read sings! He sings to his dog, Champ, and to his crazy goldfish, Sparky & Wanda, all of whom are likely singing along. There was also an accompanying music CD with the package I was sent, full of Grandpa Read’s Greatest Hits. If the stories don’t move you, just watching Grandpa Read get down should bring a smile to your face and a chuckle in your voice (and maybe a snarky snicker, but only if you were visualizing the oyster shirt).
The entire series may be seen at QuietTime.com.
Let me first preface this by saying that its almost 7pm and I’m savoring a beer. I’ve not yet eaten dinner, lunch was “hummus-on-the-run” and I’m feeling just a little overwhelmed. Mostly because I totally forgot about Enigma’s school conference today, which I realized right after a phone call from Talker’s History teacher.
Have I mentioned, yet, that The Husband is out of town? I may or may not have considered letting Talker go find magazines for his art project in The Husband’s office, because at least I could have snickered in my head as I was told Talker was expelled for bringing porn into school.
None of that matters, though, because I just got “booed” by an anonymous neighbor who clearly knew my need for tootsie rolls, candy corn and a whoopie cushion. Screw blogging, I’m going to have some “alone time.”
Ahem. Its time for Cheese Straws! Those marvelous, floury, cheesy fall delights that are perfect with hummus, filty martinis and just life itself. There is nothing better, unless its blogging about the process of making the aforementioned savory snack.
The setup… no tofu was harmed in the making of these cheese straws. I actually made “tofu bites” at the same time, but I don’t feel like blogging about them (so there). Someday, though, I may show the world my special way of pressing tofu. I’m sure to get plenty of head-shaking disbelief and people disowning my blog.
I cut the cheese!
Cheese straw dough ready to go
About two years ago, I went into mass production of cheese straws, for my own personal use (gifts, etc.). I even thought I could start selling them, because who doesn’t want gourmet cheese straws? Well, probably the people who can just buy cheese straws at the grocery store for much less than I would charge, but they’re beside the point. That whole “cheese straw maverick” idea (sorry, Linn, I had to) is actually how I came up with my Garlic & Sesame recipe. I like to experiment (read into that what you will, pervs). There were others: avocado and cheddar (oh my god, they were green and floppy) and Jack cheese with sun-dried tomatoes (they were pink… and floppy). Without a doubt, the garlic & sesame remain my favorites… probably because they actually bake into “straws.”
It was during this binge phase that I actually broke my cookie press. You see, according to Grandma, you need a cookie press for cheese straws (she had the original recipe, after all) and so, I bought one. And, it broke, because the dough is really thick. Plus, my hand was threatening to sue me for false imprisonment, and I need that hand for other… uh, important things. Whoopeeee!!
Meanwhile, back in the present… Since I tend to cook (clean, shower, sleep, eat, drive, etc.) with the laptop open, I received a message from a boy I went to elementary school with, while concocting my straws. The Boy is officially my oldest friend, because he knew me before I had real boobs (I was chubby, so what?) and was actually the first boy to feel up those boobs, in this weird hallway walk where he had to tell me he just felt me up. The Boy is now married, with kids, so fear not, the chat was entirely platonic, except for a .5 second mention of the last time we saw each other… huh huh. Ahh, to be 20 again… sigh.
Ahem. While chatting with The Boy I was tofu biting and cheese strawing to my little heart’s content.
Wanna see? Look, tofu bites!
Look, Grandma, no cookie press!
In the oven. Awwww yeah.
Then, I took a pic of myself. Blind, I continued to cook.
(Note to self: if you are blind, do not continue to cook)
Then, miraculously, the cheese straws were done and magically transported into a freezable container (because, they can be frozen and then thawed in six weeks for teacher gifts).
About this time, after being asked a few questions by The Boy (he started it by saying they were personal questions, but they really weren’t) I decided to ask him a personal question. I mean, after not speaking for 12 years, and then a three hour chat (which was probably a total of like 10 minutes of actual typing time, the rest was long pauses where we tried to think of things to say to each other and/or were actually doing other things) it seemed appropriate to dig into his brain.
Sometimes, it just takes a simple, “why are you online as much as I am?” to truly make someone speechless… never to be heard from again. I’m trying to convince myself that I’m just one of those characters in the movies who gets the stuffy man/woman to loosen up by asking thought-provoking questions… but really, I’m probably just pissing people off. He’s not spoken to me since. Another one bites the dust.
Eat a cheese straw.
Ponder wisdom of mentioning The Boy in blog.
Drink a filty martini.
The End.
Garlic & Sesame Cheese Straws
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese*
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 TBSP garlic powder
- 1 TBSP sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon salt
Mix ingredients together, roll out dough until about 1/4″ and cut into strips or straws (1/2″ to 1/4″).
I use a pizza cutter, but whatever works.
Place on baking sheet (no need for butter or unstickables)
Bake in 400 degree preheated oven for 10-15 minutes
Savor. Because, really, cheese doesn’t get any better than this (unless you pair it with a filty martini).
*The sharper the cheese, the more garlic you may want to add
I’m all alone with 700 children and 835 animals. The Husband is off on a business trip this week, then he’ll be gone again next week. Muahahahahaha. I feel like rolling around on the carpet, naked, but then I realize that not a whole lot has changed, except that now I don’t have friendly reminders for all the stuff I forget. All hail sticky notes, especially those plastered all over my house.
My craft fair was rained out on Saturday, so I’m contemplating ways to display a ton of tie dye this Saturday. Yes, that’s Halloween… the first Halloween where I, theoretically, wouldn’t have to rush to get all 700 kids costumed since its on a Saturday. But, no, it will be the same rush, since I won’t get home until 5-ish. Grrr. The bright side is that I plan to make a total fool of myself by dressing up that day, as well, to sell the dyes. Unless its supposed to be cold, then I’m going to totally wimp out. I’m a cold wuss.
Instead of the craft fair, I took the Twitches to a birthday party for their friends (more twins) that featured a clown. I’ve never actually seen a clown at a birthday party… I’d totally hire one, though. He had those kids captivated. Then, yesterday, we got our pumpkins from the Target pumpkin patch (hahaha) and I shall be roasting pumpkin seeds very, very soon. And, in the spirit of fall cooking, I even made cheese straws last night. Fear not, the whole experience was documented, and will be posted in a few days. Let me just say that they are fabulous with a filty martini. Absolutely freaking fabulous.
Costumes this year… Talker is going to be a scary man with his face slashed, if I can get his makeup done in time. Enigma wants to be a “robot cowboy” (no clue how to make it happen, but I’ll panic over that on Wednesday) and the girls let me tie dye them some princess dresses, then they glued sparklies all over them (Rainbow Princess and Pink & Purple Princess). No store-bought costumes this year! Damn the man!
In honor of the Twitches: the SOTW – “The Belly Dance Song” that my ATS teacher and her troupe danced to a few weeks back. They love Ms. Annie, even if they only met her once for 30 seconds.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l7OVtOq6XU&feature=related
Women, Communities, The Internet and Hippymom
In the first of what promises to be a hilarious un-foodie series, Melia bakes a pie… and more.
Luscious Decadence has cake, so there.
The dragon that came to LadyHawk. Amazing.
Moves in Curves speaks to us en français!
MamaBirdie’s fear is nothing but fear itself.
