20 years on

Today is our 20th wedding anniversary! It doesn't seem like 20 years, because actually it's closer to 30 that we have been together. We dated for 8 years before we married (wouldn't want to rush into anything, you know!)
Look how handsome Mr. Ose looks! This was taken at the Como Conservatory. I am wearing my family's Swedish wedding crown. Paul freaked when we first showed it too him because he mistakenly thought we were going to try to make HIM wear it! I still giggle when I imagine that.

It's good to know somebody has your back. I've been riding the ragged edge of panic ever since I went back to school. When my education prof assigned a powerpoint presentation I went right over the edge and down into the pit of the overwhelmed. I don't know how to do that! Even though Paul and both boys assured me that it was no big deal, it was just too much. Paul sat right next to me and walked me through it and then moved it to my thumb drive. THAT'S why I love him! (Also, he's way cute!) This week my other prof also assigned a powerpoint! What's up with that?

So, I'm thankful for my Ose. I'm also thankful for my blog readers. Julie Powell (who wrote "Julie & Julia" about her blogging on cooking Julia Child's whole cookbook) calls her blog readers, "bleaders" (blog plus reader). EEWW! I would never do that. I love my readers (both of you!).

I have found out since last week that those of us who like Glee are called "Gleeks". I resemble that remark!

This is an easy recipe that would be good for using up leftover turkey.

Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup picante sauce
2 tsp chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (or turkey)
1/2 cup (or more) shredded monteray jack cheese
6 flour tortillas
1 small tomato, chopped
1 green onion, chopped

Stir the soup, sour cream, picante sauce, and chili powder together. Mix 1 cup soup mixture with chicken and cheese. Divide the chicken stuff among the tortillas. Roll them up and put them in a shallow baking dish. Pour the rest of the soup mixture over the top, cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until bubbling. top with tomato and onion. (1/2 cup black beans can be added to chicken mixture)

Get Your Orange on!

Last weekend my boys went deer hunting for the first time! They didn't see hide nor hair of any deer, but they had a good time anyway. They were amazed by how noisy the woods are when you sit there a while. Mice make an surprising amount of ruckus in the leaf litter and birds have an active and LOUD social life. I love that they can appreciate that and aren't so focused on venison that they can see the big picture. Paul is a good teacher and very safety conscious, so I wasn't too worried about accidents. I can see by the above photo, however, that we are going to have to have another talk about how milk is perishable and needs refrigeration.
If they wanted to see deer, they should have stayed home. This is Peter the pumpkin-eater (he also eats my green beans) who regularly raids my garden. He is very fond of the apple tree.

While the guys were up north I was toiling in the vineyards of the Lord. Ok, I was selling baked goods at the church bazaar. Friday we packaged, Saturday and Sunday we sold.

The Lord owes me a weekend.
This is what I made for the bake sale. It didn't sell on Saturday (the other 3 I made did sell) so I bought it back on Sunday so I could see if it tasted as good as it looked. It's apple oatmeal bread, with apple slices stuck in the top. This is a very hearty bread, good with cheddar cheese or cream cheese (everything's good with cream cheese, though). Keep it in the frig, those baked apples get nasty quick. This photo is only half the loaf, you put the apples down the loaf the long way. Gotta go, "Glee" is on and I LOVE that show! (Probably because I'm a former choir geek).

Apple Breakfast Bread

2 cups flour
1/2 cup quick rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 large egg whites (or 3 whole eggs)
3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Rome Beauty or other red baking apple

Grease a loaf pan. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, heat oven to 325 degrees. Beat eggs in a mixer with brown sugar for 2 minutes, add applesauce. Mix vanilla with buttermilk, add to egg mixture alternately with dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Put into greased pan. Quarter and core apple (do not peel, the peel is the pretty part) cut each quarter into 5 slices. Arrange slices, 1/8 inch apart, in a row on top (sticking down into) batter, peel side up. Bake 55-65 minutes until cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes then cool on rack. Sift powdered sugar over the top to serve.

Dicks at the Gym

I've been hitting the gym a lot, (not that you can tell). It's probably doing some good, just inside where it doesn't show. I know I'm shallow, but I'd rather have a smaller butt. Anyway, I have been witnessing some rude behavior at the gym. Worse than not wiping off the machines is loudly chatting on your bluetooth right next to me all through my workout. How am I supposed to hear General Hospital?
I love the steam room, but last month a woman came in, and proceeded to slap and rub herself (I guess to get her circulation going) and blow her nose a lot ON HER TOWEL! EEWW! There are signs every two feet saying not to use your cell phone in the locker-room. This is to prevent people from taking nekkid photos of each other. I , for one, am in favor of this rule. I don't need my butt showing up on u-tube. This does not stop some people. Last week, a very entitled woman (who had taken up half the bench with her stuff, and left her locker door open so people had to duck around it before jumping over the rest of her stuff on the floor) talked for a very long time about how clever she is. She had to go over by the tanning beds to talk because I kept turning on the blow dryer every time she came near me. (I could teach a class on passive-agressive annoyingness). She was using three towels, too! The gym asks that you only use one. I admit that I use two, because I have long hair and don't like to have it drip all over, or to walk back to my locker naked. People are thankful for this.
Here is more rude behavior. Now the attendants have to undo the towel from this key, because
whoever put it here couldn't be bothered to. (Yeah, I know, I used my phone in the locker room! TO TAKE PICTURES! I was alone in the locker room at the time.)

Paul says the guys' locker room is worse. One guy (we call him "junk man") likes to plop his, um, totally shaved JUNK on the counter so he can admire it while he brushes his teeth. Another fellow blow-dries his unit, for a long time.

Last week in the parking lot, I saw a truck with testicles. I was so astounded, I forgot to take a picture, so I got this one from a website that would like to sell you some for your car or truck. They can be purchased in many colors (I almost said they come in many colors!) which apparently enhances one's manliness.
They can be purchased in a light-up version as well (google brake-nutz). I will never understand the male mind. Neither will these women: Truck-Neuter

Today's recipe is for Spotted Dick, which is a British steamed pudding. The name is not meant to refer to the male member at all, wiki says it may be an old corruption of the word "pudding". OK.
I like that this can be boiled in the crockpot, because I don't have time to boil a spotted dick for 3 hours otherwise.

Spotted Dick

| Edit...

My Notes:

My Notes

ONLY YOU see your private notes, and they print with the recipe.

Recipe #72087 | 3¼ hours | 10 min prep

Your review has been submitted for approval and will appear shortly.

Change to: spotted dick US Metric

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

clear stars

Write a Review! (optional)

Ingredients

• 4 ounces plain flour
• 4 ounces suet
• water, to mix
• 4 ounces raisins or sultanas

Directions

1. 1

   Mix the flour, currants and grated suet (it should have the general consistency of mouse droppings) very lightly by hand.

2. 2

   Moisten with a couple of tablespoons of cold water, enough to give a dryish pastry texture.

3. 3

   DO NOT RUB, only stir enough to bind the ingredients together.

4. 4

   The mixture can be put into a buttered basin and covered with first a layer of foil, then a cloth (tied on with string), but the usual way is to make a thick roll shape, and wrap it in buttered greaseproof (waxed?) paper, and tie into a cloth.

5. 5

   Boil in a lot of water for two to three hours on top of the stove, or all day if using a crock pot.

6. 6

   To serve, slice it into 1" thick chunks while still hot.

7. 7

   Some people serve it with egg custard, but others consider serving spotted dick with moist brown sugar and a large spoonful of salted butter a must.

8. 8

   Use both if you like.

Men love a hot bread product!

This is half of my bread machine collection. Um, yes, I own six of them. I didn't mean to! It was an accident! I received one as a gift 15 years ago and literally wore it out. I replaced the pan once and kept using it until I wore through the internal metal parts. I needed a replacement!

New bread machines are spendy, luckily they are cheap and plentiful at garage sales. I found an exact duplicate (never used, but without the manual) for $5. I also picked up a spare, in case it happened again. Then I saw a better one, it also made quick breads! So I bought that, too. I had thrown away the broken one, so now I was up to 3.

I tried to give one to Reen (my BFF) but she travels light and insisted on trading me hers (she wanted a smaller one and I had a selection to choose from). I was right to need an extra because the one I was using broke a belt. Somehow, 2 more appeared, I don't really remember how. They may be breeding in the garage. (Keeping track? We're up to 5 - one of which is broken).

The day of Nick's confirmation my mother showed up with one her neighbor was giving away. It seems I am now running a foundling home for unwanted bread machines! Please come and adopt one for yourself. Seriously, come and get one, I really only need 2 (one that works and a spare).

I love to make bread. It smells and tastes sooo good, and I like controlling what goes in our bread. No preservatives, more whole grain, etc. I make sandwich bread, pizza dough, sweet rolls, dinner rolls, crescents and french bread. My new favorite machine (the one from Reen) makes quick breads AND jam! I can set the delay and wake up to, or come home to, fresh hot bread.

My guys love this! They think I am a bread making goddess. They are too totally spoiled for commercial bread. Paul says he can smell the chemicals. I can serve a very mediocre dinner, but if there is hot bread......then it's a feast! Make bread bowls to serve with stew and they'll think you are Martha Freakin' Stewart.

Also, in my defense, the rule is, "If you have three or more of something, then it is a COLLECTION." This legitimizes lots of crap. Makes it more of a museum exhibit and less of a useless dust collector. Case in point:

You will remember the golf cart-driving frog from earlier this summer when I issued my "What is the freakiest thing at a garage sale or store" challenge. He was alone, which made him an anomaly. Over the summer I bought him 2 friends (5 and 10 cents, respectively) so now this is a collection! The "weird little animals made of shells" collection. See? You have a new respect for Mr. Frog, don't you? I have lots of "collections" including my newest one, "Christmas houses that don't belong to the same village". (I may need to stop sharing now, or my husband will have me locked up. Or he'll clean out the garage. I always have to inspect the garbage cans after he cleans, he throws away all my good stuff!)

I am happy to announce the winner of the freakiest thing contest: Laura P.! Laura has won with her entry, "The really hideous jar covered in huge shells". Note that the maker took care to make a flower on the side out of the pink shells. Laura cleverly didn't buy this, she took a photo in a junk shop. Good work, Laura!

And here's your prize: A beautiful pink fan made of plastic forks and lace! I'm not sure if this goes with your decor, (Hopefully NOT) but if you get 2 more, then it's collection and it will go with everything!


This recipe came with one of the bread machines. They are all a little different so you may have to tweak it a little, if it over-rises use cold water instead of warm and so on. Lock your doors when you make this, people may come in off the streets when they smell it baking. You can make it even if you don't have a bread machine, of course, but don't you want one? For free? Call me!
(I may have to start leaving them on doorsteps, or plant flowers in them.)

Buttermilk Bread (1 1/2 lbs)

1 1/4 cups buttermilk, warmed to room temperature
3 Tbls soft butter or margarine
3 Tbls honey
3 1/4 cups bread flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Put in bread machine in the order your machine specifies (mine likes liquids first) and set it for basic bread. Whoever puts in the ingredients gets the top crust (I don't make the rules, I just report them.) (OK, I did make up that one).