Bejeweled, Vajazzled and Bewildered

I'm a gamer. Not really. A gamer is a big fan of video games. I like to play "Bejeweled", and Mahjong on my computer. My kids tell me these don't count as video games. I also buy $5 computer games at Half Price Books. I usually get $5 worth of fun out of them. Sometimes these involve searching for objects hidden in the pictures. I know that doesn't sound like huge amounts of fun, but when I play this sort of game, the kids come and sit by me on the couch and help look. It's teenager bait! I'll take what I can get.

I bought a game called "Keepsake" for $5. It took 3 disks to install and large amounts of memory, but it was months of fun for me. (If I had more than an hour a week to play it I probably would have finished it sooner.) It had terrific graphics and an interesting story about a young woman trying to solve a mystery in an abandoned school of magic. Apparently you can play it more than once, but I don't know why you'd want to.

Have you heard of "Vajazzling"? This has become a topic of interest since Jenny Love-Hewitt (star of "Ghost Whisperer") brought it up on a talk show. She has a new book out in which she tells of cheering herself up after a bad breakup by decorating her "lady parts" with stick-on rhinestones. It seems her body really is a wonderland!

I own stick-on rhinestones, but it has never occurred to me to stick them on anything but paper. My little preschool girls sometimes wear these for earrings, though. Quilters are adding glue-on rhinestones to quilts these days, too.









This is how I use the jewels. I use them to decorate scrapbook pages. (That is a picture from Yellowstone). If you want to see some masterful use of stick-on jewels, click on Gretchen's blog "Happiness is..." over there on the list of blogs I follow. Gretchen makes absolutely gorgeous cards that have ribbons and stamps and jewels on them. Making cards is very difficult (at least for me) but she makes it look easy. She has links to buy whatever you need for cardmaking. I get my jewels in the dollar bin at Michaels.



Back to "Vajazzling". The word is a combination of "Bedazzling" (a craft in which rhinestones are attached to fabric) and vagina, which is misleading, since the rhinestones are not actually anywhere near that particular lady part. I had to look this up since I could not believe that it would be possible to install these in or on a vah-jayjay. (That's a reference from "Grey's Anatomy", aren't I the pop culture queen?)

Indeed, the jewels are installed in the groin area. If you would like to see this, click here for a link to see a reporter having it done. My big problem with this would be the preparation of the site to be decorated. One must have a "Brazilian" bikini wax for vajazzling to work. Brazilian means completely bare. Waxing means ripping out. Um, no thank you.

The only thing "Brazilian" I'm interested in would be the Caipirinha, the national cocktail of Brazil. This is made by mixing lemon or lime juice, sugar, ice and cachaca, the Brazilian national liquor. Rum or vodka may be substituted (with vodka it is a "caiproska") although I'm told it is not the same. We are basically talking a vodka-lemonade here. I'm in! I also like brazil nuts, come to think of it.

You may be hearing more about vajazzling in the next few days, as Kathy Griffin has had it done. The new season of her show is starting and as a way of generating hype she is having a pap smear done poolside. I think the vajazzling is to make it interesting for the gynecologist.

Today's recipe is for bejeweled pork. Pomegranate seeds really are jewel-like, but are only available here in the northland for 1 month a year. The rest of the time try grapes or fresh currents.

Bejeweled Pork Medallions

1 pork tenderloin (1 1/4 lbs) boneless pork chops are also good
butter and olive oil to prevent sticking
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbs ketchup
1/4 cup dried cherries or cranberries
1 cup small grapes or 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
chopped chives for garnish

Slice the tenderloin into 1 inch slices and saute on high (in the butter/oil) until almost done (still pink inside, they will finish cooking while resting) don't over cook the nice pork. Keep meat warm while making sauce.
Put juice and stock in the pan you used to cook the pork with the pork juices. Reduce liquid for 4-5 minutes. Add ketchup and dried fruit. Put pork on plates, drizzle sauce over meat, sprinkle grapes/pomegranate seeds over sauce and garnish with chopped chives. Serves 4

Vinnie's Party/Grand old day

We went to Fargo for my nephew Vinnie's high school graduation party on Saturday.
Here is the graduate in the plaid shirt. His brother Jessi is wearing the white shirt and black hat. The taller girl is Vinnie's girlfriend. She had nice shoes.

See the smile on Vinnie? He was smiling like that all day! He was so happy and so full of promise that it almost hurt to look at him. Do you have younger relatives that you love like that?

The whole day was full of love and no drama. Since my Nate will graduate next year, I was taking careful notes of all the nice touches at this party, like photos of Vinnie on the water bottles, School color M&M's, the computer slide show. I asked Nate what ideas he thought we could use. "Plastic silverware would be good", he said! Party planning is not his thing.

This is Vinnie holding the quilt I made for him. I like to give graduates a quilt. It's my best thing, and I want to honor their effort with an effort of my own.
















My mom and I with my three brothers, Erik, Gene and Chris. My sister couldn't make it, so the Spartan helmet represents her.











I went to Grand Old Day on Sunday with my BFF Reenie. We used to go to this when we were kids and wander down the street and buy junky trinkets. It's a little different now. There were not so many merchandise booths, just food booths, although I did buy a "GO-Girl". This is a funnel for girls so we can pee standing up. (There goes my resolution to keep down the "earthy" blog content!) The go-girl's inventor suggests that one practice in the shower BEFORE taking to the woods. We are going fishing this summer and I think this will come in handy in the boat. (The children are mortified). I will let you know how it works!
This is a picture of one of the street bands, they had a ghost thing going on. The people watching was amazing. Am I the only person in America without a tattoo? I seem to be the only woman who didn't think high heels were needed to walk for miles down Grand Avenue!


There was good food (but so expensive) at Grand Old Day. Gyros are always tasty. I made these last week and the kids loved them, although they wouldn't use the tzatziki sauce.

Chicken Gyros
Ingredients:
For the tzatziki sauce:
16 oz. plain yogurt (not nonfat, if possible)
1/2 hothouse cucumber or 1 regular cucumber, peeled and seeded
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press (or finely minced)
Salt and pepper

For the chicken:
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping tbsp. plain yogurt
1 tbsp. dried oregano
Salt and pepper
1 1/4 lbs. chicken pieces (I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts)

To assemble:
Pita bread
Fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced
Red onion, sliced thin

Directions:
To make the tzatziki sauce, strain the yogurt using cheesecloth over a bowl. Let strain for several hours or overnight, if possible, to remove as much moisture as possible. You can skip this step, especially if you use greek-style yogurt, or if you don't mind the sauce a little runny.

Shred the cucumber. Wrap in a towel a squeeze to remove as much water as possible. Mix together the strained yogurt, shredded cucumber, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.

To prepare the chicken, combine the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, yogurt, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Cook the chicken as desired, either in the skillet or with the broiler. (I butterflied the chicken breasts and then cooked them under the broiler.) Once the chicken is completely cooked through, transfer to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into strips.

Heat pitas. Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, diced tomatoes and sliced onions. Serve immediately.