Old Festivities

So, I just celebrated my _ _ birthday! (if you can't fill in the blanks, I'm not gonna tell you!) A few days ago, hubby asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday to which I responded, "Absolutely NOTHING!!" (No, I wasn't mad). So I cleaned house the day before, since my plan was seriously to do nothing, but sit and veg, and maybe watch some of my favorite shows, maybe even take a nap. I did feed the kids and dropped the two oldest at school.

I didn't get around to the nap, but I seriously vegged in my pj's all day, sat on the couch and talked on the phone with many well wishers! Seemed like I was on the phone all day, with some visitors in between. I was even extremely pleasantly surprised by a call from my cousin that currently resides in Europe, and hadn't talked to for years!! It seriously means so much to me to be remembered and thought of with a simple phone call or card! Thanks papi, for being the first one to remember! Thanks lil'sista for the cake and the "gift card"(you do realize you're supporting my habit!?).

Well, it was a pretty good day, even if I am a year older. I have to say that sometimes, NOTHING, is the best thing to DO. I should DO NOTHING more often!

Red Pepper Craze

I enjoy watching cooking shows. Not so much the ones that call for extremely weird ingredients, or the whole fish with head and all...But once in a while I will learn something useful.

Over the past several years my hubby has become quite familiar with these 6 little words: "We need to get a freezer" The side by side type doesn't leave much room for any extras. I have for several years thought of making meals ahead of time and freezing them to have ready on those days when I just don't feel like cooking, when our days are pretty filled up, or when I just don't want to make a mess of the barely cleaned up kitchen! Also when there's a good sale on an item, I could actually stock up! Well, either my husband got tired of hearing the same little phrase, I finally picked one out, or both. Might be silly but I was actually very excited to get an upright freezer! I've already put it to great use. I didn't go as overboard as "Lucy"(I didn't buy two sides of beef), but I was able to stock up on steak and chicken. I spent about an hour cooking a bunch of chicken, cutting it in cubes, and storing it in a freezer bag. Just doing that has saved me time and energy! My husband might now get used to me saying "you know why I was able to make this meal so quickly?"

For Father's Day, I wanted to make Olive Garden's Steak Gorgonzola (It is soooo yummy and fairly simple to make. I got the recipe online), but I hadn't gone grocery shopping last week, so I was relying on what I had on hand. It calls for sweet red bell peppers, I thought I had some for sure, since we have been using them a lot more after we discovered Olive Garden's Tuscan Garlic Chicken recipe (no, I do not work for Olive Garden, nor am I in competition with them) I previously posted about. The peppers keep great in the freezer. I only had yellow and plenty of the green, since I use them for my homemade spaghetti sauce. I used yellow peppers. My husband was a little skeptical, but sure enough he said "Triumph, my dear. Another triumph!", in a British accent. (I think it might be a line from the movie "A Christmas Carol"). Obviously he's joking- not about it being tasty though. But it brings a smile to my face when he says that!

Well sure enough the red peppers were on sale 2 for $1. Not bad. I can actually stock up now. So I did. I think I got half of what they had. I was tempted to get more, but I might have already gotten strange looks from fellow shoppers. We should have red peppers for a while anyway.

(Note: I had more peppers than in actual picture.)

So this is a tip I learned from watching many of those cooking shows. . .

How to cut a pepper, for slicing dicing, or even storing in the freezer! :

Cut off the top. The stem easily pulls out.

Cut off the bottom.

Slice open, and cut along the pepper, easily removing the seeds.

Now you have perfect little sections, ready to slice evenly, dice, or store just like that!

If you just read this, hope it was useful! If not, too bad, you probably already read it anyway!

PAST-afrola

This weekend I had the chance to see some longtime family friends. Some of which I hadn't seen for over 17 years! They are closer in age with my older brother and sister. I was the little one of the bunch. They've known me since I was 3 years-old when we lived in the Southern Hemisphere. We used to see each other on many Sundays. We would play upstairs, while the parents stayed downstairs and chatted. Due to certain circumstances, they were passing through the northern part of the world, and stopped at my brother's house for a last minute, short, mini reunion.

Earlier this week I was going to make Pastafrola (a South American pastry/tart type of treat, usually made with Quince [Membrillo] jam). I had sifted all the dry ingredients, and noticed I was out of margarine. So the bowl of dry ingredients sat on my counter for a few days. I wasn't fond of quince jam growing up, so I didn't care for Pastafrola when I was young. It wasn't until we moved north and my mom made Pastafrola with homemade quince jam that I acquired the taste for it. An elderly couple that we knew had a Quince Tree in their backyard, so my mom made this jam from scratch. Now that quince jam is readily available in specialty stores, (I'm not even going to attempt to make it from scratch) and I've acquired the taste for even the store bought kind, I can make Pastafrola.

When my brother called to tell me about the mini reunion, and I now had margarine, I thought it would be an appropriate treat to make and bring it to share. It was fun reminiscing about the past, and the games we used to play. Now it was us doing the chatting, and our kids doing the playing.

I left my brother's house with an empty Pastafrola dish, but I was full of wonderful, happy childhood memories. We have since all grown a bit older, a bit wiser, with perhaps an acquired palate for Pastafrola, but one thing that hasn't changed is our childhood past. I thought, someday my kids will be all grown up. I hope they are now living what will someday be many good, and happy memories of their own, because you take them with you wherever you go.

OCD (Obsessive Classifieds Disorder)

Causes

The cause of OCD (Obsessive Classifieds Disorder) is unknown. Some studies suggest that it may be psychologically theory based. Purchasing the first piece of furniture via online classifieds, with or without the intent of changing it's physical appearance may contribute to the onset of Obsessive Classifieds Disorder.

(The Cause)

I first purchased this when I had a smaller craft room. Then when my oldest daughter took over my craft room, I took over the playroom which is bigger. It doesn't have as big of a closet, so I needed extra storage. .

Signs and Symptoms

The patient's history may include but not be limited to:
-Browsing through the online classifieds anytime connected to the Internet.
-Browsing for items such as chairs, dressers, tables, etc. with or without the need of such items.
-Storing one or more said items in the garage, previously purchased through the online classifieds, with or without the intent to give said items a new physical appearance.
-Compulsive purchasing of tables, dressers, chairs, not knowing exactly where they will be placed in patient's home, but simply can't be passed up because patient feels a connection with something that exhibits so much potential.
-Patient or their significant other (which is usually the case) driving all over the city and beyond to pick up previously mentioned items.
-Patient's significant other often sees patient browsing through the online classifieds.
-Husband tells his wife, she's obsessed!

(Signs)

. . . about a year later when I was looking for a dresser for my oldest daughter, I found an exact dresser as the one I already had, as well as a tall dresser, and a corner desk. Needless to say I still needed to find a dresser for my oldest daughter.

I now had quite the little set up, but only had one chair that was falling apart. So I now needed chairs. I found the perfect ones, so I thought, until I saw these beauties, and well the other chairs that were once going to be in my craft room, will have their own place...

All they needed was a fresh coat of paint in one of my favorite colors.

About a year after finding the dressers, and desk, I found the perfect little end table, or so I thought, until I saw this:

No painting needed, (for now), perfectly antiquey the way it is. As for the other little end table, it will have it's own place. . .

Diagnosis

The Diagnosis for Obsessive Classifieds Disorder is made when patient's signs and symptoms meet the established criteria.

It is usually diagnosed by a loved one, such as patient's significant other. At some point, the patient recognizes their OCD behavior, but will usually deny it.

Treatment

Although treatment has not yet been recorded, one or a combination of the following treatment options are available:

-Cancelling online provider services.

-Getting rid of the computer.
- Not paying power bill.
-Joining an Amish Community.

As for the other little end table, it will have it's own place. . .just not in my craft room.

Do I have OCD? I guess not. No problem ; no treatment required. On to my next project.