August 17, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for August 17, 2008

I’ve only been semi-lazy today. Did some housework and yardwork, cleaned up the herb garden and brought a little of the bounty inside. Can you see the sweat on my glasses? I know you can’t see the salty crust around my eyes, but it’s there, too. We’ve got a brisk wind blowing, but it’s still crazy hot out there. After I cool down a little I’ll make my Sunday afternoon family phone calls. I’m hoping brother will be home when I call because there’s something I’ve forgotten to ask him the last few times we’ve spoken. I’m at that age when a memory upgrade could only be an improvement. Which reminds me you can see my roots, too. Ignore them. They’ll go away soon. Concentrate instead on all the nice folks who are showing their smiling faces today for Self Portrait Sunday. You can join in if you’d like. Don’t be shy!

Technorati Tags: meme, photos, self portraits

Posted by skeet @ 1:47 pm • Photos, Meme • 1 comment  

August 10, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for August 10, 2008

I spent the afternoon at Sunset on the Beach. Took about sixty photos (yes, I’ll be blogging it later, with lots of photos!) Did I have a good time? Yes, I did. Did I meet lots of interesting people? Well, yes - I did that, too. Did I overexpose myself to some of the best food in the world? Well, let’s just say I won’t be dragging out the paella pan and cooking dinner tonight! Did I feel like I was forgetting something all afternoon? Um, yeah. Got back in the car to come home & realized I’d forgotten to take a self portrait. Duh! All those lovely background possibilities, all those wonderful, willing folks, and I didn’t convert one of them into a self portrait photo op! Ah, well! Instead you’re stuck with a picture of me laughing at the silliness of it all with only my car interior for a background. I’ll do better next time. Probably.

Some of the nicest folks in the blogosphere take their self portaits each Sunday and post the links over at Cass’s place. You should join us!

Technorati Tags: meme, photos, self portraits

Posted by skeet @ 5:34 pm • Photos, Meme • 6 comments  

August 7, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #41

I managed to miss Four Foods on Friday for the last two weeks. Why? Because I can’t seem to keep track of what day it is. Honest to goodness, last week I started to write my FFoF post on Saturday, which I thought was Thursday. Today I thought all day that it was Wednesday, but I see now that it’s Thursday. I’m wondering if there’s a special name for senile dementia that only makes you lose track of time. Anyhoo, it is Thursday evening, which means there’s still time for you to play Four Foods on Friday with Val. Follow the link, put the answers to the quesitons on your blog, then let Val know you’ve played. There, see how easy that is?

The questions this week are all about food and traveling. I don’t travel, so I’ll be reaching into the dim past to try to remember what I used to do. Or making stuff up, or something. We’ll see.

#1. If you could travel anywhere to have a meal, where would you want to go and what would you want to eat.

I’m with Val on wanting to take a culinary journey to Italy. I’ve read several books over the last few years that spoke eloquently of the difference between Northern Italian and Southern Italian cuisine. I’d like to do my own comparisons, thank-you-very-much!

#2. When you go away do you make your own meals or eat out?

I’ve done both. I think I’ve always carried sandwiches, drinks and snacks, but road trips can be really tiring and drivers get weary. An hour lingering over a platter of ribs in a barbecue shack or sopping up gravy with biscuits is a necessary revival technique for keeping things on track, don’t you think?

#3. While traveling if you have to stop for a meal do you go in or do you go through the drive thru and eat in the car?

Ususally inside, because the break from the road is as important as the nutritional sustenance.

#4. Share a recipe or food related trip for people making a long trip by car.

Carry more than you think you’ll actually need. I’ve always taken a cooler full of sandwiches, veggies sticks, drinks, some sugary snacks plus lots of wipes!!

Technorati Tags: food, meme, road trips, road food, travel

August 3, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for August 3, 2008

I met a Hawaiian Santa Claus yesterday. Okay, he’s actually a Hawaiian Danny. He’s probably a futures broker or something dull like that, but he’d make a good Santa Claus, don’t you think? I met him at the Car Show that I went to right after I finished up at the
Farmer’s Market. I was wandering around ooohing and aaahing over the vintage autos (lots of photos - I’ll do a post later) when I ran into Danny-the-musician, whom I had met at the Farmer’s Market. He introduced me to Danny-Santa Claus and we spent a few minutes flirting and talking story. I wanted to use a picture of the three of us for my self portrait today but there was a raindrop on the camera lense and I once again managed to frame poorly, so I didn’t think it made a terrific self portrait. I had to show it to you though. Here’s my skeet-sandwiched-between-two-Dannys photo. Go ahead and ask me: did I have a good day, or what?



You can check out all of the Self Portrait Sunday participants over at Cass’s place. Just don’t expect to see the rest of them with a couple of hunky guys. I reserve that privilege just for me!

Technorati Tags: Dannys, friends, Hawaiian men, photos, meme, self portrait

Posted by skeet @ 9:32 am • Photos, Meme • 8 comments  

July 28, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for July 27, 2008

Yeah, it’s technically already Monday, but the picture was taken on Sunday, so there! Yeah, I know I cut Zanla half out of the picture, but I still like it a lot, so there! Zanla is the rest of the family that I showed you a month ago when his sweetheart wife and beautiful son were passing through town. He’s on his way to join them in their new home on the East Coast, but had to stop and spend a little time with his Table of Contents/BookCrossing pals on the way.

I had a bad week, but I have some work booked for the upcoming week, so that will make me feel better about the world. I need to take the car in for routine service and to get the steering rack checked because something is feeling wobbly, so I hope that doesn’t end up costing more than I’ll earn for the work I have on the books. Does anyone know how much that kind of thing costs?

Cass had a good week but got a little older. You should go over to Midlife Musings and wish her a Happy Birthday, and maybe visit the other self portrait folks while you’re out and about. I’m thinking that’s what I’ll do.

Technorati Tags: friends, photos, meme, self portrait

Posted by skeet @ 1:20 am • Photos, Meme • 6 comments  

July 20, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for July 20, 2008

I’ve been trying for several days to do a flea treatment outside and give Lance a bath. Yesterday after I cleaned up his yard I leveled the gravel and sprayed it down with bleach, then rinsed it down after it had had time to do a little sanitizing. Right about that time I began to see the clouds - almost always present on the mountain tops - starting to move down into the valley. Uh-huh. Another day when it wouldnt make much sense to spray the yard, since the rain would wash the stuff away before it had a chance to do its thing. This morning the sun came up … and almost immediately hid its face in gray fluffiness. It’s been raining *all*day*long*. I had to go to the store for a few essentials, but otherwise I’ve been holed up at home.





















It was really nasty driving the couple of miles to the store and back. The entrance to my community flooded in the half-hour or so that I was gone. They’ve got the street dug up to run water lines and drainage for the new homeless transition community. There are steel plates covering much of the road and temporary patches over even wider areas. You can imagine the mess on a day like today. Huge potholes full of rusty-looing mud and water. I built up some muscles in my arms navigating the mess. Wonder if I should get myself on some legal steroids until the construction is finished and driving gets a little smoother? Anyway, I made it home safely, snapped a picture in the rain on my way in and now I think … I’ll go take a nap. Isn’t that the best way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon?



Go see whether the sun is shining on my friends today over at Midlife Musings. That’s where all the self portrait takers hang out on Sundays. When they’re not taking naps, I mean.

Shoot! I don’t know why this is messed up. I’ve been fooling with the code for half and hour and still can’t see what’s causing part of the last sentence to hide behind the flooded-street picture. I’ll try again after my nap. Maybe I’ll be seeing more clearly then, hm?

Technorati Tags: meme, photos, self portrait

Posted by skeet @ 2:49 pm • Photos, Meme • 5 comments  

July 17, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #38

This week Four Foods on Friday is all about smells - the good, the bad and the ugly. If you want to play, go to the link above. Copy the four questions, answer them in a post on your blog, then post a comment to Val letting her know you’ve played. Make sure you give her a link in your post. She’ll return the favor when she does her round-up post on Friday.

#1. Fruits and veggies. Do you prefer them peeled or not?

No choice - I can’t digest peels at all.

#2. What’s your favorite fresh fruit or vegetable smell?

Fruit: fresh, crisp apples! Vegetables: baked potatoes!

#3. What’s the worst food smell you’ve ever smelled?

Without a doubt, noni (picture above.) That stuff is just nasty. A lot of my neighbors grow it. It’s been a staple in many Polynesian diets for centuries and has a lot of medicinal uses. It’s gotten very popular in the health food industry in recent years, primarily as a juice. It’s usually mixed with grape or other strong-tasting and strong-smelling juice to disguise it’s disgusting nature. One of the neighbors gave me some noni paste to use on my foot when I had a bad burn a few years back. It did seem to speed up the healing process, but I was afraid to go around people when I had it smeared on. The smell penetrated multiple layers of bandages and was really nauseating. To make the paste, put some noni fruit in a jar and let it rot. Smash it up and keep in the jar, tightly sealed, in the fridge. Warn everyone before you open the jar - they’ll want to be far, far away! They don’t call it vomit fruit for nothing!

#4. Share the recipe for the dish that you love to smell cooking in your oven.

Tough question! My first thought was the whole Thanksgiving dinner thing. Does anything smell better than the combination of turkey, dressing, fresh veggies, pumpkin and pecan pies? I think not. But since you want a recipe, I’ll share what’s in the oven and smelling pretty good right now. It’s kind of muggy, so I didn’t want to do something that would keep me in the kitchen. I made up a meat loaf recipe that took about five minutes to mix. I’ve got the oven set at 350 degrees and the timer is set for thirty minutes. I’ve never made this before so I don’t know yet how it will taste or if it will be ready when the timer goes off. We’ll see. I think I’ll call it

Quick Italian Meatloaf

In a large mixing bowl combine:

1 &1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup bread crumbs
two eggs
1/2 cup of prepared Italian tomato sauce (I’m using Hunt’s)
1 small can of chopped mushroom
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste.

Mush it all up together with your hands until well blended. Shape into a loaf, cover with another half-cup or so of sauce and pop it in the oven. I’ll let you know later how it comes out.

Edit: It was pretty tasty! I’ll use half the oregano and basil next time to let the meat flavor come through better. Cooking time depends on the size of your dish or pan. I used a small, oblong casserole dish, so the loaf was pretty condensed - about three inches thick. I needed a full hour to cook it.

So - not my best creation, but good, moist, flavorful. A few adjustments and it will be better next time.

Technorati Tags: food, meatloaf, meatloaf recipe, noni, recipe

July 14, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for July 13, 2008

I took my picture yesterday, honest! Something was wrong with my cable connection and I couldn’t stay online long enough to post. This wasn’t the usual weekend craziness, where the connection (and sometimes my electricity, too) goes out completely because some drunk takes out a few utility poles on the highway. That’s understnadable and I don’t blame the cable company for that. What was happening yesterday is that the connection would come … and go … and come … and go. Now that’s annoying! It’s like being in my favorite restaurant, seeing someone at the next table eating my favorite chocolate dessert and then finding that it’s just sold out. Oh, so close, but I can’t have it! Like when you shop in furniture stores and they always have the displays set up with the most perfect accessories. You find something you love, but the store doesn’t carry it - they bought it for their display. Oh, so annoying! Anyway, my new jammies aren’t annoying and I know Cass loves jammies, so I modeled them for her yesterday. Turns out she was modeling something new, too, but she made her own instead of buying it at Walmart, lol! Since I’ve got her page open over at Midlife Musings I think I’ll go visit the other Self Portrait Sunday participants right now - well, as soon as I get back from pouring my second Monday morning cup! Hope you have a great week, y’all!

Technorati Tags: meme, photos, self portrait

Posted by skeet @ 7:22 am • Photos, Meme • 2 comments  

July 11, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #37

This week hass been so crazy that I forgot about Four Foods on Friday! I think there’s still time to submit, so I’m going to do just that. This week Val is asking about entertaining. I haven’t done that in years. I had a party for the office gang in my old rented condo before I bought the house. I think that was the last time, and I’ve been in the house for over twelve years. I’ll rely on old memories to answer the qestions this week.

#1. Cake. Buttercream, whipped cream or ice cream?

Cake must have frosting! Adding whipped cream and ice cream is optional, but always a winner. Hey, desserts are why diet pills were invented!

#2. When entertaining do you use real, paper, plastic or styrofoam dishes?

Depends on the crowd. For kids parties I always bought the party packs of paper plates. For adults, real dishes if we’re eating inside, plastic or styrofoam for al fresco. I had some rattan plate holders for paper/plastic plates, but I haven’t seen them lately, so maybe they’ve gone away.

The ex and I, sharing an al fesco afternoon back in the eighties, at a pest control association picnic.

#3. When hosting a party do you cook, have it catered or go to a restaurant?

Trick question, right? What’s the catch? I cook!

#4. Share a recipe that you frequently serve when having a party.

This is so easy and so good that your friends will call you a kitchen goddess:

Center a block of cream cheese on a plate (it’s prettier if you buy the tub instead of a block, and the lite version of the spread works fine.) Cover with Pickapeppa Sauce. Lay a knife or spreader on the edge of the plate and put it on the table next to a platter or bowl of crackers. I especially like it spread on a Ritz. Prepare for a lot of “gee whiz” questions and compliments.

Technorati Tags: blogs, entertaining, food, food blogs, party recipe

July 6, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for July 6, 2008

I’ve hung out in the house all day. The first time I went outside was just now - around 7:30 p.m. - to take my portrait. I got some laundry done, cleaned the kitchen and putzed a little online. Had a nice long conversation with my son. The rest of the day was spent shuffling papers. Remember a while back my origanizing frenzy drove me to organize files in my office? That would have been a good time to take everything to the tax acocuntant and get myself in a righteous state with the state, so to speak. Procrastination being a primary character trait, I … um … didn’t. My professional license was due for renewal last week. One condition of renewal is a tax clearance certificate, which is pretty easy to get when you’re up-to-date on your taxes. I took last week off to finally get everything ready and should have all of the paperwork in order and taxes paid by now so that I can do inspections tomorrow. Unfortunately, my tax accountant also took last week off. Since I couldn’t go see him I delayed some more on getting everything in order. I should be done shortly. My tax guy will see me tomorrow. As soon as I’m though with him I’ll head to the tax office, then the licensing office. I might even have time to get over to the North Shore for an inspection. Might not, since every license for every trade and profession in the state was due last week and I’m not the only procrastinator around. If I get out of there before they’re ready to close for the day I’ll consider myself lucky. I’m just hoping I can get it all done tomorrow so I can play catch-up on Tuesday. Having just had a whole week off for the first time in years, I feel like I need a vacation. Maybe I should check out Hilton Head rentals and take some real time off soon?

I’ll probably wait until I get home tomorrow to see who else did a self portrait today. You’re probably caught up on your taxes, so you can go over to Midlife Musings now and look at all the pretty people.

Technorati Tags: friends, meme, self portrait, taxes

Posted by skeet @ 8:31 pm • Photos, Meme • 2 comments