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Saturday, 23 May 2009
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Currently
BBQ USA: 425 Fiery Recipes from All Across America
By Steven Raichlen
see relatedI Google Well, Very Well
Meagan's turn. It was her 14th birthday on Thursday, but we're celebrating it as a family this evening. I would have liked to have had a party for her, but she's going through that cringing when you bring up a party with friends and family in the same sentence. It's kind of hard not to involve us somehow, especially at her age. Next year the majority of her friends will be having huge 15th birthday parties called quinceañeras. See here for a description....http://www.epcc.edu/nwlibrary/borderlands/10_a_hispanic_girl's.htm
I'm sure she'll be upset to wait until her sweet 16th for a big one, but I'll be happy to wait that long.
At any rate, I made her a slideshow too. Hers is longer and I understand if you have no interest in watching it all. It's meant for me to add photos to it over the years so I have it ready for graduation or her wedding, so it will only get longer. For the mildly curious, make it through the first play of the song, then mute it if it irritates you.
More photos from tonight to follow, I'm sure.
In other news, it seems that I'm an excellent Googler, but I knew that already, as do most of my friends and family who ask me to find them this or that. I admittedly can locate recipes easily. I've done it for years and years and if I can't find it scratching the surface of Google, I know where to look otherwise after years of searches. I'm a bit addicted to an article in the local paper we get in the weekly food section that's called "Readers Ask". People write in to ask for recipes. Bam! I find them. I just can't help myself. So, I have been mentioned twice in a month, not that I was looking to be mentioned, mind you.
Here are those articles. Neither recipe would have been my particular choices, but it wasn't what I wanted, after all.Chocolate Tea Bread
(A reader was searching for a recipe that was in a magazine, but she couldn't recall which one)
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/05/06/food/groch/zb32f28a5e320fc54882575aa000f527f.txt
Vegetable Biryani
(Ironic that I have a son who's a vegetarian, huh?) Those asian style baby back ribs sound really good though!
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/05/20/food/groch/zd5e3cd60f6feeca6882575ba008092ff.txt
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This weeks recipe on TSR was for KFC's new grilled chicken, just in time for Memorial Day Weekend. You have to pay for the recipe though. www.topsecretrecipes.com
Here's a video of it.
But since we have a traditionally great weekend to grill, I will get you a bunch of marinades to tide you over the summer.
Yes, it's on Weight Watchers. What?!? We've been on WW for over two weeks, but more on that another time. Until then.
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
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Twenty Two Years of Crazy
As I mentioned yesterday, it was Joe's (my oldest) birthday. I made this for him and thought I'd share. Meagan's birthday is tomorrow. She'll be 14.
I will be catching up on the entries shortly. We have an American Idol finale party to go to this evening. These crazy San Diegans LOVE their Adam. Me? Eh. I'm not much of an AI fan. It will all be over for a while tomorrow anyway.
More soon. Enjoy Joe!
Make a Smilebox slideshow
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
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Happy Birthday to Joe
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!
We miss you so much. Come back for a special gift on here tomorrow. It's taking longer to put together than I thought.
We are getting your bass for you. If we find a good one, we'll get it. If not, we'll wait until you get here and let you pick one. Either way, you'll get to play with your brother, which is what you wanted. Enjoy what's left of your day.Happy, happy 22nd birthday son.
Saturday, 09 May 2009
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Currently
The Joy Luck Club
By Tamlyn Tomita, Rosalind Chao, Kieu Chinh, Tsai Chin, France Nuyen
see relatedOh Mama!
As I mentioned last Mother's Day, my mother has passed away. It's been almost two years now. Last year was hard, but she was was in my heart and on my mind. Her birthday is so close to Mother's Day that with the combination of the two, it's hard not to think of her then. Last year I mentioned if you no longer have a mother, please remember someone in your life that was like a mother to you and remember her. This year I read a fellow blogger's blog entry that lives in Thailand. He saw a sign in a restaurant that was of course in Thai and jotted it down, then took the time to translate it. It brought me to tears, thinking of Mom. Here it is translated.
When I Get Old
When I get old, I will not be as before.
Please try to understand me,
Have a bit more patience
when I spill food on my clothes,
when I forget the way to tie my shoes.
Please remember when I used these hands
to first teach you to do these things
When I start to repeat stories you know and are bored of,
Please have just a little patience – don’t cut me off.
When you were still little, I would tirelessly tell you
the stories you loved to listen to again and again.
When I need you to help me take a bath
don’t complain at all.
Do you remember when you were still a child,
I had to persuade you when you refused to take a bath?
When I ask so many questions about new technology,
don’t laugh teasingly at me.
Do you remember when you had your endless questions of, “Why? Why?”
Each time I patiently answered your every question.
When I tire easily while walking,
please let me hold your hand for strength,
The same as when I held yours when you learned to walk
when you were still a child.
If I happen to forget our topic of conversation,
give me a moment to think.
For me, the topics themselves are not important.
If you will just listen to me,
My heart will be content.
When you see me getting old, don’t feel sorry.
Please understand me and support me,
the same as when I supported you
when you were just learning new things
Years ago, I brought you into your journey.
Now, please accompany me
as I travel to the end of my journey,
with love and patience for me.
will smile with thanks,
and in my smiles there will be
the endless love
that I give to you.
From Mother
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As promised I will post recipes for your Mother's Day. It was hard for me to decide what to post here. Everyone has different tastes. Some don't like seafood, or this or that, so what better way to post a mess of ideas, than that, right? Maybe you'll find something that intrigues you. I'll suggest breakfast in bed.
Here's my favorite cinnamon roll recipe. I used to make these the night before in a bread machine, take the dough out, roll and cut them and put in the pan, then just put in the oven to rise overnight. Take them out in the morning to preheat the oven, 20 minutes, BAM! they're ready. You can make these in a mixer with a dough hook too. Don't let the yeast thing scare you. You could even use a digital human thermometer to check the water temperature right. I used to make these years ago for Joe to take to the Jazz Band practices before school which meant he woke daily at 5AM to go to a class prior to school at 5:30AM. If you know Joe, this was no easy feat. It was a treat he'd bring on occasion and they LOVED them. It was one of my most requested recipes when he graduated.
JOE”S MOM”S CINNAMON ROLLS
***DOUGH***
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk -- room temperature
1 large egg -- beaten
1/4 cup butter -- softened
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups all purpose white flour
1/2 package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tablespoon bread machine yeast
***FILLING***
1 cup brown sugar -- packed
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter -- softened3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
***CREAM CHEESE CINNAMON FROSTING***
4 ounces cream cheese -- softened
1/4 cup butter -- softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tablespoon milk
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon. lemon zestDirections:
Dough Add the dough ingredients, in the order listed, to the bread machine and prepare using the dough setting. On a lightly floured surface, roll out to an 18" by 30" rectangle. The dough can also be handmade. If you use regular yeast, you may want to let the rolls proof for 15-30 minutes after assembly.
Filling: In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread the softened butter over the dough and evenly sprinkle on the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Starting at the long edge of the dough, roll up tightly. Mark the roll every 2 inches. With a thread cut the roll by placing the thread under the roll at your mark, crisscross over and pull to cut. Place rolls into greased 8" or 9" baking pans 2" apart. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft free place until almost double, approximately 1 hour. After rising, rolls should be touching each other and the sides of the pan. Bake at 350degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cream Cheese Cinnamon Frosting: In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, butter, vanilla and milk. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon and mix until smooth. Spread on warm rolls and serve immediately.
This recipe has been adjusted so that the dough can be prepared in your bread machine.---------------------------------------------------------------------
When we went to the Long Beach in Washington for a weekend we had plenty of seafood. One being dungeness crab. Yum! I am posting my two most favorite breakfast items, well besides eggs benedict.
Both just happen to contain crab. 
Havarti and Crab Omelet
3 eggs
¼ cup half and half, milk or water
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
½ to 1 cup havarti cheese grated
1 king crab leg, shelled and patted dry with paper towels.
Directions-
Melt butter in pan, while whisking eggs, salt and chosen liquid in bowl. Pour into pan on medium heat. Turn egg over when cooked just enough to. Sprinkle on cheese and crab then flip one side of egg over on the other. Allow to melt and plate
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Scrambled Eggs with Crab
(you can easily half this)
12 eggs, whisked in bowl
½ cup half and half, milk or water
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
3 ounce package cream cheese (light or fat free can be used too)
8 ounces of crab crumbled
Chives
Melt butter in frying pan, then put in diced onion on medium low, while mixing in a bowl, eggs, liquid, salt and pepper. Add eggs when onion is transparent. Once eggs are cooked, add cream cheese and crab. Plate and sprinkle with minced fresh chives.
*Note- Both of these recipes are great with hashbrowns and toast. Maybe a little fresh fruit.
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The LA Times had a mess of Mother's Day Breakfast ideas. Instead of posting links to them all, I will post a link to the beginning of the recipes and pictures of them all, to give you an idea.
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-mothers-day-pg,0,676284.photogallery
Mmmm, orange chocolate scones. My mother in law would LOVE these! Hint, hint, sister in laws!
Lemon muffins.
This coffee cake may make me go off my diet....One more idea is the pancakes from a few posts back for those wonderful pancakes from www.kitchenscrapbook.com
Yeah, you remember now, right?http://kitchenscrapbook.com/category/breakfasts/ To all you mothers, have a wonderful, wonderful Mother's Day! To everyone else, hug every person that's a mother today. Tell them Happy Mothers Day. Blessings to everyone.
Wednesday, 06 May 2009
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Currently
The Best of The Proclaimers
By The Proclaimers
I Would Walk 500 Miles
see relatedThe Past Two Weekends
The weekend before last, we went to two fellow coworkers wedding above the beach in Laguna Beach. It was a beautiful wedding, but a small one. Small as it was, I can only imagine how much it cost considering the location, but it sure made for beautiful photos.
As we arrived, going down the steps to the balcony overlooking the ocean.
After the ceremony, Tom was asked by the couple to make a speech. 
The cake. (I didn't get to taste it before we left).
The gazebo for the cake cutting.
The sun going down after dinner.
First dance. 
The happy couple.
The sun's gone down. Then we headed out soon after that. The wedding was a Sunday and Tom worked the next morning and it was a long drive home. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This last weekend was the Cystic Fibrosis Walk at Dana Point. Oddly enough, pretty much the next town below Laguna Beach where the wedding was. It was at the same place as last year. To my surprise, Justin went along. Meagan went begrudgingly. I doubt I'll get them to go next year. We all got a bit sunburnt to some extent. Justin's was by far the best. He was wearing his beanie type hat and only half his forehead is red. It's separated by a horizontal line dead center of his forehead. Poor kid.
The "Not Ready For Morning Walks" Crew
Our friends
Sierra and Justin passing Doheney Beach
Doheney Beach
Entering the Harbor
The harbor
Crossing the bridge over the harbor
Looking down from the bridge
Boat leaving the harbor
Woo!
Rowing teams
Paddle SurfersI did not get as many pictures as last time, but it is hard to take pictures when you are walking a fast pace with someone always behind you. We didn't get as much donations for our team this year, but the walk raised over $100,000 all together this year! Yeah!
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This weeks recipe was a pay one and it was an older one from way back and one in his books, by the way. Here's a link to it at another site.
Chili's Boneless Shanghai Wings http://community.tasteofhome.com/forums/p/83185/83185.aspx
Pistachio Madeleines
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-sos6-2009may06,0,5224431.story
Next time Mother's Day Breakfast ideas. Take care!
socaltransplant
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- Name: socaltransplant
- Gender: Female
- Member Since: 4/11/2008
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Wife of 22 years, mother to four, 21 to 13 years. Recently moved from Washington state to the San Diego area and over-all blessed. A blog made to update my friends and family in Washington and to share our family's and found recipes to my oldest son. I garden, sew and love being artistic. Need a recipe? I probably have it!
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