Broken Hearted KGO

I am broken hearted to hear about the changes at KGO radio. I have tuned in all of my adult life. Even though I did not agree with some of the talk show hosts I still listened. When I could not read, the KGO talk show host would open my very tiny world to food adventures, travel, health, politics and general conversations.

The talk show host became like "friends," They would tell you about their lives, and we could tell them about ours. Now most are a part kgo history. I am angry.

I was  Gene Burns biggest fan. I just tried to listen to Gene Burns last Saturday show, and I couldn't do it. I loved his big booming voice, I love his educated way of speaking and I always wished I would have such a big vocabulary. I looked up to him as a mentor to speak correctly. I could not read, but I could listen. He is the one who taught me to say February the right way. I loved to listen to his Saturday "dining around" show. The annual cookie contest is going to be missed far and wide. I am really going to miss Gene Burns and I hope he will be back on the air soon!

It's time to say good bye, good bye, its time to say good bye, GOOD BYE KGO. My radio world has gone silent. Its time to say good bye.

Mint 54

Dixie, Karna Page and I went to "Mint 54"

http://www.54mint.com/

We started off with MOZZARELLA di BUFALA con PROSCIUTTO di PARMA-prosciutto and water buffalo mozzarella appetizer. I am in love with  buffalo mozzarella! OMGosh,  It was the very best appetizer I have ever had. It was delicious on the sour dough bread. 

Viva il rè!

Page and I had  RAVIOLI BURRO &; SALVIA-Home made ravioli with squash, amaretti cookie, nutmeg, served with butter and sage sauce. The ravioli pasta was fresh.  I was looking forward to tasting the amaretti cookie, but I could only taste it in one ravioli. The other raviolis tasted like unflavored squash. It was very bland. Sensazione di Sonnolenza!

Dixie had LASAGNA con RAGU’ di CARNE -Home made Lasagna with meat ragu. 
Dixie LOVED her lasagna. Dixie ate every last bite of it. None of us have ever seen Dixie eat everything on her plate.  That's Amore! 

Karna had  CANNELLONI di POLLO e SPINACI con RICOTTA e MOZZARELLA AFFUMICATA .  Home‐made cannelloni filled with chicken breast, ricotta & smoked mozzarella. Karna said it was very good. Sapido

For dessert I had the flourless chocolate cake YUCK, it tasted like it had prunes in it. It was dry.  Dalle Stelle alle Stalle

Karna had Tiramisu, she said it was the best she ever had. Capo d’opera Capo d’opera 

Page had the strawberry rhubarb "pie." My first thought was strawberries and rhubarb are both out of season.  It was more like strawberry rhubarb ginger bread. It seemed to be the shining star of desserts on our table. Bravissimo

I had a great time with good company! 

I want to give Mint 45 another try someday. 

Christians Stuck- Political Quandary

I hear many of my Christian friends say things like "I don't know what to do, Mitt Romney is a Mormon and a Republican, how can I vote for a Mormon"

Jesus was NOT a republican. He was NOT a Democrat either. 

You can vote for Mitt Romey if you want to.  You don't HAVE to. You can choose not to vote at all . You can vote for someone from the Green party or the Rock and Roll party. You are even allowed to vote Democrat.  You can write someone's name in. You can vote for me, the Dyslexic Reckless Quilter. That is why America is great! 

Jesus came to heal the sick, out political corruption, help women, show people it is wrong to steal from the poor or anyone else and feed the hungry. He came to save us from ourselves, despite ourselves. Jesus says "do you want to be healed?" He does not say You HAVE TO be healed.  He would not force you. I believe being a Christian is all about free choice.

To Many Christians -Have you forgotten about "Free Choice." If we don't follow God's plan won't we pay the natural consequences? I don't need you telling me, what I can and cannot think, say, do or vote for. I vote for who ever I think is best at the time, not along party lines.

I don't have to be the same as you and I can still be a Christian. I don't know how it is in other states, but in my part of California if you claim to be anything other than a republican, many Christians will tell you you are NOT a Christian. Many of my non- Republican friends are afraid to come out of the closet so to speak. They fear retribution from their church. That is ridiculous. 

I don't think the preacher should be preaching on who to vote for. That is an abuse of power. I don't follow the League of Women Voters or what the Chronicle says to vote for. I am a grown up and I can make my own educated choice.

It will be interesting to see that the die hard Christian republics will do next November if Mitt Romney is their only choice.

Crack Season

Thats right, fall and winter is crack season! At least the kind of crack I like. It comes from cows, sheep, goats and water buffalo. You guessed it, I am talking about cheeses. Cheese is good all year, but it is especially good during the fall and winter. Today I bought two cheeses I have never tried before.

1. Rogue River Blue Cheese - from Oregon 

 http://www.roguecreamery.com/

      

         1. (a) I have to say is I loved, loved, loved the Rogue River blue cheese. Did I say I loved it? Oh yes. It is made out of raw cow's milk. It is creamy, pungent, goodness. This cheese is not for the faint of heart. This cheese is for the crack/cheese head like me.  I had to pretend like I wanted to share the experience with my gig a low. Oh would you like some blue cheese honey, here is ONE bite. I really hope you enjoyed it. NOW STAY AWAY! I had my cheese knife in hand just in case someone tried to sneak another bite. I started dreaming of putting large amounts of Rogue Blue Cheese in the bathtub and just rolling, and swimming in it. I made dinner but skipped it and just ate the blue cheese. The cheese maker says the cheese has a sweet woodsy pine, wild ripped berries hazelnuts, morels and pears" taste. I say it has a yummy, rich, sharp, can't stop eating it taste. Sorry no left overs on this one. 

2. Barely Buzzed Cheese - from Utah

 http://www.beehivecheese.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44&Itemid=54

         2.(a) I have to say this one is a good conversation piece. Another cows milk cheese. It is rubbed in ground coffee and lavender than aged. To me it was like eating purple. Lavender taste like it smells.  The strong taste of lavender reminded me of someone's grandmother out in the garden on a spring day.. I think it would be fun to take to a party because of it novelty. The cheese maker says it has "hints of butterscotch and carmel." I missed those tastes together. It kind of has the texture of swiss. I told my gig a low he could have all he wanted of this one. I was busy eating the last of the blue cheese.

I think my next crack hit will be of a French nature. 

UltraSond Photos - Baby Update 7:45 pm

I think its really a miracle that medical imaging can take 3d ultrasound photos of your unborn baby. Technology it is truly amazing. People post the yellowish black photos on facebook all the time. The simple fact is I don't want to look at them. The photos give me the heebie geebies. They remind me of those ugly wrinkled apple dolls, but in the creepyist kind of way. You may feel your baby is the center of the universe, but it is not. Other people do not feel the same connection to your baby as you do. Given the choice, I would prefer to look at your baby after it is born.

Update 7:45 PM

This was just on my facebook.

Soon to be Mommy Club Member "Last Monday I was < 1 cm dilated...I go back in for another check tomorrow...what's your guess on how far I've progressed? The closest person get the placenta! (EW...ok, that was even crossing the line for ME!) PAHAAHAH!" 

Ok , you are right. That is crossing the line. 

Dear Soon to be Mommy Club Member, I am sorry I am going to have to hide your facebook post from now on. Your a great person. But I can't take it anymore. I hope you can go on and talk for endless hours about the birthing process from conception until birth with all your mommy club friends.
Take care,

RQ

Now What Did I Say? PG 13

I was talking to some of my Christian friends this afternoon about the boom of jobs in North Dakota. We were discussing different ways we could go to North Dakota and make bundles of money, so we could come back to California and live a better life. One suggestion was a restaurant, or a food truck, how about a whore house. A whore house? would it be a Christian whore house? Well If I was a madam it might work. I would be a Christian Madam who has Christian Whores. No we decided that the Christian Whore house is not the right way to go and cash in, in North Dakota. 

So this evening we had bible study at church. Normally, we have the study at a group members home. At the church the acoustics are quite a bit different compared to the home we usually meet in. Bill said pastor, I thought he said BASTARD. So I repeated what I thought I heard Bill say - Bastard. (Because I have echolalia- just kidding)  I have never seen so many jaws drop all at once. What, I said seeing everyone shocked. The Pastor said are you calling me a Bastard? What? Why would I call you that? He said Bill said Pastor, Oh I See. OOPS. I heard lots of mumbles like I have never said that word in my whole life. So I commented on the mumbling. Is bastard a bad word I said, or is it a statement, like calling a female dog a bitch. More gasps. I guess is time to close my mouth. Our Pastor has a good sense of humor. I am glad. I managed to stay out of trouble for the rest of our study. I guess it was good that I did not ask for prayer for business opportunities in North Dakota. People might of fainted. 

Couture Halloween Dress

This is my Couture Halloween Dress

by world famous designer Dianne Slattery.

 

4 AM

It's 4:00 AM. I am wide awake. I still have 2 hours to sleep. I don't want to get up. Maybe if I close my eyes I can go back to sleep.  My mind is buzzing with activity. This is what happens when I try to force myself to sleep. I start thinking and making list.

What am I going to have for dinner?

1. Grilled Cheese

2. Mac n Cheese

3. Cheese

4. Bacon

5. Homemade-Tomato soup with grilled cheese and bacon - yeah, I have got that big tomato I need to use...

6. I think we will have sloppy Joes and use the big tomato in it.

Toss, turn.

House work that needs to be done:

1. empty dishwasher

2. make dinner

3. clean up dog poop outside

4. laundry

fluff pillow, toss, turn!

What am I going to do for my birthday?
That question leads to thoughts of Birthday /Christmas list for my gig a low:

1. Electric toothbrush

2. Travel pillow

3. Garbage can 

4. Slippers

5. I am forgetting one

Get up go to the bathroom, go back to bed, force my eyes closed...

Who have I offended this week? Who do I need to apologize to?  ( I know it's only Tuesday)

1. Person A

2. Person B

3. Person C

Flip over fast, now I am mad it is 4:30!

Who have I offended and I don't care?

1. Person A, scratch person A from above list.

I turn on my back and listen to my gig a low snore.

1. I need to exercise 

2. I need to exercise

But I did yesterday and the day before, cant I have a day off?

Now I am hot, I kick off the covers.

What do I have to do at work today?
1. Find the perfect parking place
2. Wonder what the boss is going to have me do today
         Plan A
or
         Plan B
I am hoping for plan B

Worry about Thanksgiving party

Now I am cold. Pull the covers back up.

It is 5:00 AM. I give up and get out of bed. Nothing much I can do at 5 AM, the guys and the doggies are sleeping. I check facebook, email, and news on the computer. Thankfully ChaCha is up so we play words with friends.
Oh man! I hope I sleep better tonight!

Saturday

Today I had a very busy day. First I went to a Mormon emergency fair. I am not sure what they are preparing for? Armageddon, earthquake, fire ??? It was not an advertised event. I had insider information this event was happening, so I decided to crash the party.

This is what I found out, the church encourages people to dry can foods in #10 tin cans. Members can foods like dried milk, rice and dry dog food. You can go to a Mormon cannery or you can check out a canner and do your canning at home. It seems to me they take the canning process pretty seriously. The tin can lady and her husband were very nice. Down a few booths in the glass jar canning and dehydration area I a received very a chilly reception. Maybe it was because I was showing a little cleavage. It was obvious I did not belong there because many of the church women looked as if they were from little house on the prairie. There were a few younger women that looked "normal."

I did get a few winks from a man church member.

Next it was on to lunch with Dahlia. I was so happy to see her. Her beloved dog died recently. I feel really bad for her. I know it was a huge loss for Dahlia and her husband. We had a good lunch, I had to run off to my next event.

I went to the local library to promote libraries being accessible to people with disabilities. (The wealthy library are accessible that is.) It was fun to watch how people at the library reacted when I asked why these programs are not in the poorer areas of the county.  I was told it was because the more affluent areas have "friends" who are willing to fork out the big bucks for the upgrades.

My job was to show the "upper class" how the local library now has high tech and low tech gadgets to help all kinds a people. I was in charge of a Kurzwell computer station. Its a great program for people with dyslexia or low vision.
http://www.kurzweiledu.com/default.html.

One of the fun new items the libraries are getting is called "roll a nater." It's a rolling walker with a basket and a seat, so elderly people can pick out books and put them in the basket. If they get tired rolling up and down the aisles they can have a sit.

Trying to drum up interest the librarians and tech guy made this choreographed dance with the rollanaters to the song BAD by Michael Jackson. It was pretty hysterical watching (what most people would consider reserved) librarians doing this crazy dance with the walkers.  Only about 6 of people showed up to watch.  Most people were inconvenienced that the library lobby had dancing librarians with walkers.

The library had all kinds of informational booths, guide dogs for the blind, even a miniature horse. No one seemed to care. The word did not get out to people with reading, vision or hearing problems.

If you or your family does not have some one struggling with disability's why would you care if the library is accessible or not? During the 2 1/2 hours I was there I only showed 4 people the kurzwele program. Most were connected with the library.

Out of the Mouths OF Babes

Shorty's  little daughter asked if they could go visit a coal mine. Shorty asked her daughter what she thought was in coal mines! RUBIES her daughter said. No, Shorty said its coal, do you know what we use coal for?
Yes, that is what Santa puts in your stocking when you are bad.

:)

Assocaite

Some people associate songs with a memory, some people smells, as for me I associate food with memories.

The other day Jasmin and I went to Costco. I bought the "Torta Sandwich Rolls" (oh my 45 carbs per roll.)
I could not hardly wait to get home and eat one. YES, I made myself wait.  The first bite took me back along memory lane.

It all started when I was very young. All the parents on Nevis Street sent us kids to day camp. We were dubbed
"The Nevis Street Gang" by the camp councilors. We were rowdy and wild. Some how me made the camp councilors like us. When I turned 12, me and my foster sister were inducted into the world of camp councilors. Two of the "Nevis Street" kids did the neighborhood proud.


The camp leaders were: Carolin, she was a hippy who did not shave her legs or arm pits. She burned her bra. Carolin was also a vegetarian. I had never heard of that before. In my mind that was just plain weird. More so then not shaving your arm pits and legs. Paula, she always had a bandanna on, Jay, was a fun and silly song leader, and Steeeeveeee. Me and my foster sister had a crush on Steve. We pretty much worship the ground he walked on. Steve played guitar and sang folk songs. He had long brown hair. Me and Steve shared a birthday, so I felt I had more ownership rights.

Camp was 6 days a week. Five days at the park, swimming, making crafts, hanging out by the creek, going on hikes and singing.

One of the joys of being a camp councilor was that Jay would make up a song about you. We would teach the kids and they sang it everyday. Here is one of the songs "our leaders name is Steve, he always made us heave so we had to make him leave, up at the old day camp." Loved that song because it was about dreamy Steve.

Here is another song we sang by Jay. " Grandma is in the cellar, oh can't you smell her, she's cooking pancakes on a dirty stove, YUM- YUM! In her eyes there is matter and it's dripping in the batter and the  (making arm movment as if to wipe your nose) is running from her nose."

On the 6th night  we would spend the night at different state parks, camping with the "kids." Now that me and my foster sister were unofficial camp councilor we had the privilege of spending the night in "leader land." Leader land was just a about 20 feet from the "kids" but only leaders could sleep there.  Other then the pot and cigarettes nothing inappropriate happened. We would talk and laugh and eat M&Ms and have a great time.

The best part was after the camp out, when all the little kiddies were gone ( I was 12 after all not a kid any more) the camp councilors would have a party. I loved going to the party because Steve was there. Anyways, they always had "day camp sandwiches." They consisted of a sour dough roll , miracle whip,  the very cheapest lunch meat food product and cheese whiz. The ritual was to put miracle whip on the roll, next "lunch meat", cheese whiz topping, close the sandwich up, stick it in the microwave heat it up, chow down. (Caroline just put vegetables on hers.) Those were some of the happiest days of my youth.

The rolls I just bought at Costco tasted just like the rolls at the camp party. When I eat one I feel so happy.

I wonder do you have any food associations?

Picture

I took this photo the other day. It is my new favorite photo.

The Golden Calf Update 10/10

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.  They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it....

Haven't we Americans become just like the people who worshiped the calf? We worship greed.  Look at the golden bull on Wall Street. Funny in a symbolic way.

We have bowed down to Wall street greed. 99% of the people told the walls street gangsters someone has to get the short end of the stick why not us?  So we will take it, hold us over the barrel. We still naively believe we can live can  the American dream.

"Hay look what's that sound, everybody look whats going down" -Have you been watching whats going on all over the country? It started with Occupy Wall Street. People are getting mad.

People are fed up with:

• Not being able to afford health care. 
• Going bankrupt because someone in their family got sick.
• Not having a retirement.
• Not having a FREE and appropriate education K-12.
• Not being able to afford to send their kids to college.
• Students are defaulting on outrages student loans because there are no jobs when they graduate.
• Working two or three jobs and still can't make ends meat, or they can't find a job at all.
• Paying over $4 a gallon for gas, the oil companies are racking in billions of profit.
• Paying as much for a gallon of milk as it cost gas.
• Stalemate in Washington DC.
• Fighting with the home lone modifiers who got a bailout themselves.
• Big businesses getting bailed out by our government, in turn big business lay off thousands of American workers.
• Sick of being lied to by the politicians, who have lined there pockets with lobbyist who were hired by Wall Street.
• We do not want to pay $5.00 a month to spend our own money (Bank of America.)
• We do not want to pay more fees to get on a air plane then what we paid for the ticket

No I am not a socialist.

Most people I know don't want a government handout.  They want to make a honest living, but can't. People of all ages, creed and color are starting to rise up. Not just hippys and college students. Average Joes and Julies are starting to wake up and smell the 1% who have everything.

People get ready... this is an exciting time.

I would suggest a salvation prayer if you haven't already done so. If you don't know how ask your Christian friends or go to a local church. Jesus is the only true one we can trust. His word is the same yesterday, today and forever. Never changing. He can't be bought by Wall Street. Governments can't make him go away. They have tried for thousands of years without success.

To be continued as events unfold.

Text Message

It seems as though calling people on the phone or even email has become a thing of the past! People act as if they are inconvenienced when you call them on the phone. People have told me "I will never pick up my phone, don't call me, if you want me to respond text message." Have you ever got a text message the length of War and Peace? It takes 10 minutes to scroll to the bottom of the message. Text messaging has taken over the world. For the most part I hate it.

For me text messages come in handy when you have a short update - I am on my way, or lets met at 5:30, see you there, I am running a little late  kind of message.

People try to conduct business using text. They tell you the secrets of their soul using text.  They don't want to talk on the phone or even read an email. It drives me crazy. Here is the problem I have with using text for all my communication. I can't spell because I am dyslexic. My phone has a spell checker but it takes me a long time to write a text. Sometimes I cant read things that people write correctly.

If you are my boss and you are trying to tell me something very important, call me on my landline or cell phone. Text messages can be misinterpreted, or not clear. How do you ask questions and clear up a misunderstanding back and forth on text?

Here is an example of why I hate text messages.

I am working on two different events. A flower show and a Thanksgiving program. I am a part of the Thanksgiving team but not part of the flower team. My friend told me we had a meeting to go to for the Thanksgiving team. I was not sure about the time so I text message  Boss "A" to enquirer about the meeting. If I wanted a response I needed to text. Dang.

Text to Boss "A" from me do we have a meeting today? 
Text from Boss "A" no, we never set a date.
Text from me Ok. 
Text from boss "A" no meeting today
Text from boss "A" there is no meeting today sorry for the confusion. We will meet next week on the 10th. ALL MARKETING DOES HOWEVER NEED TO BE COMPLETED BY THE 5th SO WE CAN SALE AT THE FLOWER SHOW.  
Text from me I have no idea what your talking about marketing at the flower show, I am on the Thanksgiving team.
Text from boss "A"  all flyer's and tickets are to be done for the flower show for marketing, yes 3 of you are on the Thanksgiving team. So is Cassandre and Ann and they are in your book club. That is why our meetings are on Mondays.
Now I am starting to get pissed off.
Text from me  Marketing has nothing to do with Thanksgiving. That is two different issues. 
Text from Boss "A"  Not two different issues. If we hold thanksgiving meetings on Tuesday,you could not attend so we have the meeting on Monday. 
W-T-FUDGE.! Ok I give up. PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL ME BECAUSE I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HEAK YOUR TALKING ABOUT.

The Day of the Un Dead

I am very excited. The Foodie sisters have invited me and my gig a low to a secular Halloween party! I bet the Foodie Sisters are going to go all out with the food! I can't wait!

I used to love Halloween. For most of my growing up life, I would start planning my costume for the following year on November 1. I won countless 1st place costume prizes. I enjoyed the wild craziness, party hopping and all that went with that.

After growing up, getting married and settling into our new house, our street would turn into the place to go in town and bring the kids. Our street became nightmare street. We would all decorate our houses and scare the daylights out of the families stopping by. Our neighborhood families would work together in a team. The house a few doors down and across the street would scare people down the sidewalk, I would hide in the bushes waiting. I would jump out the kids/families would run out into the street to make a quick retreat. When they turned around my neighbor woud be waiting for them. Everyone loved it. We had hunted houses, and friendly houses. We would have hundreds and hundreds of kids. There was not gore, or people with axes in their heads. One guy had an unhunted house were he would play scary music, get a on a loud speaker and say "come hither little children see what I am cooking" He was cooking a pot full of candy. He lost his house now it sits vacant.

Then I became a Christian. Thankfully they had "Harvest Festivals" or "Trunker Treat." I could still have a costume (just not a sexy or ghoulish one.) Over the years I have watched Halloween get darker and more gruesome. I decided that I was going to quit Halloween. So I did. Until this year. When I got the invitation from the Foodie sisters.

The other day I went into the Halloween store and I was shocked. Halloween has become even more satanic. It so blatant. Now instead of using your imagination as part of the scaring, the money makers who develop Halloween decorations have come up with bigger then life size animated dead and undead things, that walk, crawl, scream, open coffins, hold lanterns, chop at you with a knife. The creepy store had this real looking undead guy whose body had been chopped in half, he crawls along your yard (or inside your house.) As he crawls there are tendons and ligaments that wiggle, he screams. The most nauseating figurine was a life size "dead" toddler that was chewing on it's foot. The bones were protruding and it was bloody. Ok I had had enough I was getting out of there. I hope the Foodie sisters don't have any of those super scary real looking dead or undead things wondering around their house.

My next question is what is my costume going to be? Hi I am a sexy vampire Christian, some how it does not seem to work. Maybe I should be Virgin Mary. That seems wrong too. Being a hippy is boring. Toga, no. Little Red Riding hood, seems to sweet, unless I have the wolf with me. There is no way my gig a low will be a wolf. I told my gig a low he could be Slash from the rock band Guns an Roses . I could be a tattooed gothic woman. I don't know!!

I bet the Foodie Sisters are going to go all out with the food! I can't wait!

Apple a Day

Do you know where your food is coming from? The other day I was in Lucky's grocery store. I was looking for tomatoes. I checked the crates and boxes to see where the tomatoes came from. I noticed All the tomatoes that Luckys had come from Canada or Mexico. That is outrages. Why would I eat a tomato from Canada or Mexico. What the heck! California is tomato growing country. I said to the produce guy, why don't you have any tomatoes from California? He did not know, but he agreed that it was a bad policy to buy tomatoes from other countries when we have perfect tomatoes here . I left Luckys and went to Safeway.

Safeway had big signs with bold letters that said
"GROWN LOCALLY" at the tomatoes bin. So I inquired about where "locally" was. The produce guy said Reeding California. Reeding is in the other half of the state. So I guess Safeway figures local means California. I am ok with that.

I have a hard time understanding why people don't care where their food comes from. I am not just saying fruit and veggies. Don't you want to know where your beef, chicken or fish came from? Do you know about the conditions your food is raised in. Do you even care? Do you care if your meat and fish are full of hormones ? Do you care if your fruits and vegetable are sprayed with pesticides? People wonder why is the cancer rate so high? or why do girls develop so early now. I say take a look at your food source.

Concerning pesticides on fruits and veggies: Most people I know say they would rather eat pesticide then find a worm in their apple. Americans are squeamish over little worms or bugs. For many people around the world worms and bugs are a food source. Spoiled whining Americans.

In the last few days we have been hearing about a Listeria outbreak coming from cantaloupe. The Center for Disease control says that 72 people are ill and 13 have died.
http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/index.html

If people knew their cantaloupe came from Colorado they would throw it away, so they don't get sick. Many worry that there will be more illness and death because people do not know where there food comes from.

The poor farmer of the cantaloupe has no idea how the bacteria invaded his cantaloupe. The Food and Drug Administration can't figure it out either.

Today I am hearing that a bag lettuce company from California is recalling lettuce. The pre package lettuce has been shipped to other states like Oregon, Washington and Idaho. They are concerned about Listeria.

Do you remember when pre packaged lettuce started showing up in local grocery stores? Do you remember how exciting and amazed we were with this new product that would save so much time, and it is already washed to boot! How convenient. I don't buy pre packaged lettuce anymore. I have come to love the smell of fresh romaine lettuce that I wash and cut myself. Cutting and chopping is a great stress reliever!

My gig a low says he knows his food source, it's me. :)

10 4

It's Saturday night...I am board...just sitting here in front of my computer and listening to the police scanner. I have had the flu. It keeps hang on, I want it to stop it now, stop it now.. it keeps hanging on..

I wonder about my readers, like how did you hear about my blog? Why do you read it? (I am happy you do, I am just perplexed ) What is your religious beliefs, what kind of food do you like? No matter, what food is something we all have in common with one another.

Speaking of food, I just tried water buffalo mozzarella cheese. I am gaining a new appreciation for mozzarella. It is yummy.

I hate it when the cops use their cell phones. You cant hear what is going on. Transient compliant.
Even the police scanner is boring tonight.

This morning I was talking to a catholic friend. My friend admitted that she had not been to confession for years. I teased her about it, she said she confessed without a priests. I told her it was good enough, she did not have to see the priest. I felt convicted about teasing my friend, when was the last time I confessed any sin??? I have plenty to confess.

Bacon Grease

My gig a low has gone bonkers. Yes thats right, recently. It all started the other day when I made BLT's for dinner. I used brandy wine tomato, heritage bacon, fresh romaine lettuce, and whole wheat bread. I fried the bacon crisp. We also had corn on the cob, and watermelon. Perfect for a hot September evening. ( Not sure if the weather was my own or it really was hot outside. I digress. )

Anyways my gig a lows job is to do the dishes. Later that evening I went out to the kitchen and noticed a glass jar full of bacon grease. I said to my gig a low, why did you put that bacon grease in the jar? He said I thought you might like to save it . I knew than my gig a low had forgotten this is 2011, he had drifted back to 1960 something. Why would I want to save it I said? Well I thought you might want to make something out of it because the bacon was so good. (I was right) What do you think I should make out of the bacon grease? I like it on toast he said, with a little butter. Bacon grease and butter.. What do you think I should tell the cardiologist, I asked him. 

All this bacon grease talk took me on a trip down memory lane when my mother used to use grease/fat to cook everything. When she was done cooking bacon or anything greasy she would put it in a coffee can, put the lid on it and keep it under the sink until she was ready to re use it. Recycling at it's best. We thought nothing of it.

Did your mother have "bad grease" and "good grease"?  I don't remember how they were different. I think in the year 2011 all grease is bad grease.

Today I bought a old cookbook. "The Presley Family Cookbook" By Uncle Vester (Elvis's uncle) and the long time maid and cook Nancy Rooks. Signed by Uncle Vester himself. I love this cookbook! One recipe title "Country Rabbit with Sweet Potatoes" says first boil the rabbit, than pour the juice over the opossum. Ooopps!! This cookbook could have a section just on bacon grease. Perfect!

Do I really want to get started cooking with bacon grease? No, because I might just like it.

Harvest Festival Art and Crafts Show

Today I went with S-quilter and The Neighborhood Hero to the "Harvest Festival Art and Crafts Show." It cost $8.00 to park and $9.00 to get in. I only had to pay $7.00 because I brought a can of food for the food bank. Still, I don't feel you should have to pay to get into a crafts fair.

The truth is I go for the food and not the crafts. I spent most of my time drinking and tasting olive oils and vinegars. I like to drink it straight, not mess around with bread that will distract my taste buds. I ask the vendors 3 simple questions before I will even consider buying from them.

1. Where do you get your balsamic vinegar? 
2. How long is it aged?
3. Where do you get your olives for your olive oil?

Today I was shocked to hear a vendor get insulted and said he had no idea how long the vinegar was aged. Shouldn't you know the product your selling??

One vendor had chocolate balsamic vinegar. EWWWWWW.

I like balsamic vinegar that has aged from 15 to 25 years.  The Balsamic's from the craft show averaged 11 to 12 years. Thats ok.

This is what I bought:

• Lemon Splash Vinaigrette
• Valencia Splash Vinaigrette

I bought these two vinaigrette's because they had this cute 20 something cowboy with a 10 gallon cowboy hat selling them. How could I resist? 

http://www.tresclassique.com/index.html

• Very Berry Ginger Balsamic 

 http://www.tresclassique.com/index.html

• Pomegranate Grenadine
• Pomegranate Fruit Spread
• Pomegranate Balsamic Grill Sauce 

http://www.skylakeranch.com/

• Garlic Garni 

http://www.garlicfestival.com/detail.php?prodid=GS-GA2.8

I loved hanging out with S-quilter and the Neighborhood Hero! Anyways, when I got home the first thing I did was make a pomegranate"mixed" drink. I used 7-up, pomegranate grenadine and ice. Put it in the blender and make it into a slushy! YUM YUM GOOD!

I enjoyed my day!

Rhymes with Bucket

The other day I was talking to my big brother. He said that he was watching the comedy channel show with a stand up comedian.  The comedian said he does not have a bucket list, he has a F*** it list. Things he will never ever do in his lifetime. I found this hilarious. I started thinking, one could have a F*** it daily list, and a F*** it life time list. My F*** it list might look like this:

Today on my F*** it list :

• The laundry
• Making the bed
• Water the plants
• Making dinner
• Worrying about the stock market

My life time F*** it list would be something like this:

• Jumping out of an airplane for fun
• Bungee jumping of any kind
• Go to a nudist beach
• Going under water to see Great White sharks in a shark cage
• Trying to make another quilt

What would be on your F*** list ?

Beach Bliss 5 Tea Time (last in the series)

Our last day in Aptos, how sad. Time to go home and back to reality. The only thing that could possibly make me feel better would be to have tea! Me and my gig a low stopped by Bloomsbury Tearoom in Capitola.

http://www.bloomsburytearoom.com/

This tea room is a gem.

I could not believe they sat us in the Alice in Wonderland room. Could they just tell by looking at me,  that me and Alice go way back ?

Other rooms in the tea house

They let you pick out a tea cup and a hat to ware.

The cup I picked

The cup my gig a low picked

I must say my gig a low looked very dapper in is trilby plaid hat. I looked like I was ready to go to Churchill Downs in my black wide brimmed hat with a  big red rose on the front.

We orderd our tea first. I had "Mothers Bouquet Tea," my gig a low had "Irish Breakfast Tea"

I ordered the "Full Tea"

Tea, artichoke soup, tea sandwiches (cucumber, tomato, chicken, egg) fresh fruit, scones
Lemon Curd & Clotted Cream, Desserts (caramelized bread pudding, strawberry pie cup, key lime cheesecake.)
I think the photos speak for themselves. 

My gig a low had "Bloomsbury Tea"

Crab quiche, two tea sandwiches, scones, lemon curd & clotted cream
Marilee’s strawberry delight, fresh fruit garnish

This was the best teahouse I have ever been to. My gig a low says it was "exceptional." He even admitted it was a fun experience (although he does not want to do it again! LOL)

I give Bloomsbury Tearoom 5 out of 5 tea cups!

Beach Biss 4 Dahlia's Rental Condo

This is Dehlia's beach condo in Aptos, Ca. Dehlia has very good taste, it shows in her decorations. Unfortunately my photos do not do justice to the beautiful colors. The condo is relaxing and charming! This is a great place for couples, girls weekend, family vacations!

Location, Location, Location! Aptos is next to Capitola and Santa Cruz. It is close enough to Monterey that you could go down there for a day trip.

Here is a look at Dehlia's the cozy beach condo.

 Dehlia's condo is on the top right. In this photo her condo looks like it is under the tall trees.
                                                                                                          

Upstairs bedroom

The bed was very comfortable!

This sliding door leads to a street view balcony
Great place to sunbath, or hang out.
My photo of the bathroom upstairs did not turn out.

Looking from the upstairs bedroom to the living room.
For my quilting friends Dahlia made a quilt curtain that is beautiful.
In this photo it is blowing in the sea breeze.

Living room

Balcony off the living room - You can see all the way to the ends of the earth.
I could of stayed here all day just watching the pelicans and the ocean. Dehlia
says whales and dolphins are common in the area.

Cute kitchen

I loved sitting at this table. 

Downstairs bedroom 1

Downstairs bedroom 2

Bathroom between the downstairs bedrooms
This bathroom has great light for putting on makeup.

Me and my gig a low sat on the ocean side balcony and watched the fog roll in. We brain stormed on how to come up our first 5 million so we could move down there permanently. For 5 million you could get a decent house, housekeeper and gardener. Do you think I could sell 5 million $$ worth of dog treats? Or maybe my gig a low could make 5 million on commentary style Utube videos. We hated to leave.

I give this place 5 out of 5 starfish on the location, view, comfort of the bed and emulating the colors of the ocean and sky. Highly recommended!

You can read more on this condo, or maybe you would like to rent it, see below link. 

http://www.vrbo.com/274752

Or you can contact me!

Beach Bliss 3 Gayle

I insisted we stop by Gayle's Bakery in Capitola.  I needed a mid day snack after a long car hike in the woods. I had heard that locals complain that Gayle's is a tourists-trap. I didn't care. Here are some fun facts about Gayle's Bakery.

• They have been open for 23 years
• They use REAL butter
• They use 2 tons of REAL butter per month
• They make over 250 homemade items every day
• They use 1 ton of chocolate per month
• They use 38,000 eggs per month
• They have a deli 
• They have a coffee bar

Even though the place was packed, they were very organized. You get a number, they have at least 10 employees, who like a well oiled machine call each number within minutes. The employees were friendly even though I was having a very hard time making up my mind. Everything looked so good...

I had the lemon chiffon cake with whipped cream something or other.  It was fresh, fluffy and zesty! My gig a low had a scone. Tourist trap or not, both were fantastic! I bought dinner rolls, flaky, buttery croissants and cheese sticks made out of the croissants. The cheese sticks were my favorite. I wish I could order them on line. It would be worth the drive just to get more cheese sticks. I think Gayle's is a great mid day stop! I give them 5 out of 5 chocolate chip cookies!

http://www.gaylesbakery.com/

Beach Bliss Part 2 The Forest of Nisene Marks

The great thing about this part of the central coast, it has something for everyone. My gig a low and I love the redwood trees! He suggested we take a hike...ok, but are we just a tad out of shape I thought to myself. My gig a low still sees himself as the young strapping buck he once was at 25. We have already been to Big Basin, and Henry Cowell park. This time we decided to go to The Forest of Nisene Marks. It was beautiful.

This forest was clear cut from 1883 - 1923. Once the loggers were gone, the forest healed, and once again has become a place of majesty. My gig a low and I thought it would be a good idea to take the 1.5 mile loope to see the old trees that remain. Someone had stolen the trail markings so we ended up going down this steep embankment down into a ravine. At the bottom there was a clear peaceful creek, and a lovely bridge to stand on to admire Gods handiwork. It was stunning.

I could of stood there for a very long time, maybe all day. My gig a low said we had to go climb out of the ravine. When we made it to the top, we both were just a little short of breath...So we made a plan to do car hiking for the rest of our journey. Driving through the forest along a meandering gravel road on a car hike was perfect. We would stop and take photos, do a little exploring, get back in the car and start again. We found a bridge to stop at.

Sidenote: How many times do you see people who get off the beaten path fall or get stuck and have to be rescued? In the bay area it happens offen because we have mountains and beaches and deltas. I ALWAYS think, look those idiots who don't follow the rules, now we have to spend our tax payer money to save their dumb asses.

photo of the underside of the bridge

So I start looking to see if there is a way to get under the bridge...yes.. it looks kind of perpendicular...but I think I can do it....why not? I start down the vigorous path to get under the bridge. I fall flat on my butt and start sliding down the hill. OH SHOOT I AM GOING TO BE ONE OF THOSE DUMB ASSES. I manage to save myself and get back to my feet. I made it under the bridge, my gig a low no where to be found. Humm, how am I going to get out of here??? I started to climb out. I was grabbing tree roots, vines, pebbles anything  to help me get out. Nothing was working. I started praying, please GOD I promise never to be a dumbass again and go off the trail, please help me get out of here! I carefully tiptoed to the other side of the bridge. I assessed the situation and thought oh my I am in big trouble. Somehow I managed to climb out. I was little dirty but very happy to be topside again. My gig a low said where have you been? Under the bridge, WHAT, yes thats right I went under the bridge, Why, good question. I did not answer. It was time to car hike out of the park and get ready for a snack. We took our time driving along the dusty road. I hated to leave. But a I knew another adventure was right around the corner.

East Coast

I wanted to let the people on the east coast know that your in our thoughts and prayers.