Election Day Fun

Not a single moment too early, this seemingly interminable election season is finally coming to an end. I'm a very political person; I remember political statistics the way some people remember baseball stats. But even I'm worn flat out by this election and am glad to finally see a break from all the strife and vitriol.

Nothing says we can't have fun while we're waiting, though.

So here's some election day fun to pass the time:

Break out your red and blue crayons and fire up your printer! Color in each state as the votes come rolling in: DIY Electoral College Map(^)

Then pop on over to the Huffington Post for their election ad roundup: Top 60 Memorable Campaign Ads Of 2008(^) at HuffPo

First of all, a lot of these are really depressing. The only thing to celebrate is not having to see them any more ever again after Tuesday. They aren't funny (for the most part), with a few notable exceptions. My personal favorite:



If, as expected, the lines at the polling places are long, it'll be nice to have something to do. Here's a guy doing some amazing hand shadows:


If you start now, you can probably master a few by the time it's your turn to pull the lever.

Need something to dance to in line? My current song of choice is Weezer's Pork and Beans. It's a song about being an individual and doing the things that make you happy.
Embedding is disabled , so here's the tab poppin' link(^)

Rock on, voters!

Hungry? Before you leave for the polling place, pop Barack Obama's chili recipe (ran on Good Morning America) in the crock pot. It's gluten free, if it matters to you (it does to me).

Obama Family Chili Recipe

1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
Several cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey or beef
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground basil
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Several tomatoes, depending on size, chopped
1 can red kidney beans

Saute onions, green pepper and garlic in olive oil until soft.
Add ground meat and brown.
Combine spices together into a mixture, then add to ground meat.
Add red wine vinegar.
Add tomatoes and let simmer, until tomatoes cook down.
Add kidney beans and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve over white or brown rice. Garnish with grated cheddar cheese, onions and sour cream.

~~~

I'd post a John McCain recipe, but honestly can't find one. The only recipes I can find were plagiarized from the Food Network by a McCain campaign worker(^).
Srsly.

This article at the Chicago Tribune(^) says McCain's favorite foods are shrimp, and pizza topped with pepperoni and onions, both of which are yummy choices.

So, in the name of fairness, here's:

Gluten-Free Coconut Shrimp (my own recipe)

I'm sure John McCain would like it. I'd totally cook it for him if he showed up for dinner.

1 pound of raw shrimp, caught or farmed in the United States. The antibiotics and junk in foreign shrimp are not worth the risk. Go USA!
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
(if gluten isn't an issue, omit rice flour and corn starch and use 3/4 cup of "regular" flour instead)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. onion salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup (or so) shredded unsweetened coconut. If sweetened is what you have, use it.

Oil for deep-frying (I use canola). My deep fryer uses a couple of cups; a frying pan would probably take a cup or so.

Remove shells from shrimp and de-vein if needed with a small sharp knife. Leave tails connected if you like.
Mixing the dry ingredients together (flours, baking powder, onion salt, and cayenne pepper (which yo can omit or reduce if you don't like spicy).
Mix the egg, milk, garlic and ginger together, whisk until the egg is broken up entirely.
Add the egg mixture to the flour mix, stir until mostly smooth.
Spread coconut on a plate.
Dip shrimp one by one in the batter, then dredge in the coconut. Set aside. When all of the shrimp are coated, set aside.
Heat the oil in a pan or deep fryer until it's at 375F on a deep-frying thermometer or use the setting on your deep fryer.
Add shrimp in small batches, fry 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. If cooking in a frying pan, turn half-way through.
Serves 3 as a main dish.

Serve with cocktail, tartar, or sweet and sour sauce. I add additional garlic and ginger to store bought sweet and sour sauce, or to orange marmalade if I have it.

Regardless of what you eat, color or listen to, please go and vote your little hearts out tomorrow!

Namaste

Unconscious Mutterings & A Barely Conscious Me

Unconscious Mutterings(^)

:: Contemplate :: calm


:: In the house :: safe


:: Classical :: Bach


:: Quest :: Link


:: Best friend :: JP


:: 1991 :: Gulf War I


:: Never will :: stubborn


:: Fool :: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?" Proverbs 1:22


:: Unhappy :: Sometimes.


:: Best man :: My husband. He's simply the best man I know.

I have a much longer update, but between three of us being sick for the last week, crafting for Halloween this week, and planning a party for next weekend, I won't publish 'till this evening.

Until then, please enjoy this, in honor of the conviction of Congressman Ted Stevens of Alaska, R(eprobate) on all seven counts(^). Regardless of party affiliation, we as Americans should demand more and never tolerate corruption.

It's Thursday, and I'm still here

A couple of week ago, maybe a month ago, I pulled muscles in my left lower back. My doctor (I was going for my annual check up that week anyway) gave me a muscle relaxant and something for the pain, neither of which I have taken reliably because I don't like to take those sorts of things. It's gotten somewhat better on it's own, but still hurts like the devil and makes sleeping difficult. Apparently, if you don't take those things, it takes a long time to get better because the muscles stay in spasm. Who knew?

So, sleeping hurts. Walking for too long hurts. Even a long hot bath in the tub hurts after a bit.

Then, a few days ago, the lumbering buffalo that lives in my house that claims to be a dog knocked me down as I came home. I fell backwards onto my tailbone and saw stars from the pain.

The combination of the two is making me grumpy, because now it even hurts to sit still.

On top of all the grumpy, I have a ton of stuff to do right now. Five birthdays, Halloween, and all of the regular day-to-day stuff.

And somewhere in there, I (we?) decided that everyone would be getting homemade stuff for Christmas. If you are my relative, or an in-law, stop reading now. Unless you're my husband. If you are he, keep reading - I don't mention your stuff here.

So shoo if you are in any way related to me.
Just to be safe, I'll add some of those dots that are somehow supposed to keep people from reading what's below it.
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There. All of my relatives should be gone now.

The SuperCat is getting felt play mats, a set of small dolls, some doll clothes and quilts, some handmade animals, and four small houses plus furnishings.

My niece is getting play mats and a doll.

My nephew is getting a wooden car and a blanket.

My mother-in-law and sister in law are getting hand-beaded necklaces with stone centerpieces.

My father-in-law and brother-in-law are getting knit scarfs in favorite team colors.

My older daughters are getting scarves and something-really-cool-but-as-yet-undetermined.

And I'm making all of it between now and December 25th.

That's a lot of sewing and knitting and beading. I have to work on it every day, even on days like today when I feel like crap and my back hurts.

And that makes me even grumpier. A perfect storm of grumpiness. But moms aren't supposed to be grumpy, and so I really do try not to show it too much. I hope I'm succeeding most of the time.

It is timely and wonderful that tomorrow the SuperCat is going to her grandparent's house for the evening and my husband and I are going to stay home and make dinner together, share a glass of wine, and enjoy each others company.

Saturday, we're going out to the range to target practice, which may sound like an odd way to spend an anniversary, but we do enjoy it.

So, I'm taking tomorrow off. No knitting, no sewing, no painting, no scissors, no thread, no cloth.

I will strive to set aside the grumpy, because my beloved deserves the very best weekend ever from his adoring wife. No matter how much my back hurts, or how much I have to do, I try to always remember than I have been blessed with the sort of man many women dream of.

I could never ask for more than he gives me every day.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Namaste

Unconscious Mutterings Wednesday

From Luna Nina(^)

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Zoo ::
San Diego, Galapagos Tortoises, Flamingos, and my dad.

2. Neighborhood ::
Mr. Rogers

3. Salute ::
My grandfather, who had a long military career.

4. Immortality ::
Vampires

5. Dominion ::
The British Empire

6. Rhonda ::
Well, Rhonda you caught my eye (caught my eye)
And I can give you lotsa reasons why
You gotta help me Ronda
Help me get her out of my heart

7. Parties ::
Politics

8. Prince of Darkness ::
Satan and Knotts Berry Farm

9. Garbage ::
Oscar the Grouch

10. Standard ::
Time

Ooooh! Ten On Tuesday Meme Thingy

This week's meme is: Ten Bands/Artists That Remind You Of High School.

In almost no particular order:

1). Blondie. Specifically Rapture(^). The first rap song many of us ever heard, unless you'd heard of the Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight(^). Which I had. So... yeah. Blondie was very popular when I was in high school. Bonus: Jean-Michel Basquiat(^) makes an appearance in the video for Rapture.
2). The Doors. Jim Morrison had been dead almost 10 years when I started high school, but The Doors were still the party music of choice for a large segment of my high school friends.
3). The Rolling Stones. I saw then at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia on 26/10/1981. Here's the set list(^). They were at their prime and it was an awesome experience. Here is Satisfaction(^), which was the kast song they played that night
4). Queen. Saw them in concert, The Game Tour(^). It remains the best concert I have ever attended. Here is Play the Game(^).
6). Lynyrd Skynyrd. If you weren't partying to the Doors, you were probably partying to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Free Bird(^) was as close to an anthem as we probably got.
7). Earth Wind & Fire. Reminds me of the guy I rode to school with. He always had this playing on the tape deck. I still love September(^).
8). Steve Forbert. Especially Romeo's Tune(^). It reminds me of a friend, and now it reminds me of my husband. Romeo's Tune is probably my favorite single song.
9). Dave Brubeck. Take Five(^) had been out for at least 20 years when I was in high school, but it still reminds me of a certain person and a special moment in time.
10). Steely Dan. Hey Nineteen(^) is particularly evocative of that time period for me. They remain my favorite musicians.

Stuff I left out: The Ramones, the Beatles, Talking Heads, Frank Sinatra, ELO, Tom Petty, The Kinks (especially Lola(^)), Supertramp, Lou Reed & the Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Jimmy Buffett, Dusty Springfield, the Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello, Parliament-Funkadelic, George Clinton, Barry White, the New York Dolls, The Who, Patti Smith, Joe Walsh, Suzi Quatro, Al Stewart, Cat Stevens, Punk music, and all of southern rock.

A food meme

This arrived in my email box, and it looked cute, so I thought I would answer the questions. At the end, a quote.

So, Allez cuisine!

1. How do you like your eggs?
Over easy, hard boiled, or scrambled with onions, garlic, and cheese. There are very few dishes than onions, garlic and cheese can't fix. When I was a kid, I liked scrambled eggs with catsup. That sort of makes me nauseous to think about now.

2. How do you take your coffee/tea?
Iced tea Splenda'ed within an inch of it's life. I almost never drink coffee, but when I do, it has to have a lot of cream and artificial sweetener.

3. Favorite breakfast food?
Crisp bacon. There is nothing better than bacon. Nothing. I like oatmeal, too. But bacon is the Food of the Gods.

4. Peanut butter?
What about it? Oh, yeah. Well, I don't eat a lot of it, because I no longer eat bread and that is how I usually ate peanut butter. But, I still buy it for the kids and the hubby. Their favorite is the peanut butter at Whole Foods that comes from the grinder mixed with honey. You would not believe how good that stuff is. While we're on the subject though: if you ever get a chance, try Macadamia nut butter. You will not be disappointed.

5. What kind of dressing on your salad?
Newman's Own Lighten Up Honey Mustard Dressing. It's delicious, and has a pretty good nutrition profile(^).

6. Coke or Pepsi?
Diet Pepsi. Srsly.

7. You’re feeling lazy. What do you make?
Spam Musubi. It's basically Hawaiian Spam sushi. It's a very popular snack dish in Hawaii, so much so that Hawaiians consume the more Spam per-capita than anyone else (well, the Hawaiians along with the Guam-ish(^).
It's cool because even people who don't like or can't eat raw sushi like it.

Here's my recipe for Spam Musubi

You'll need:
1 can of Turkey or Lite Spam
1-2 sheets of Nori
1/2 cup terriyaki sauce (or make your own)

1). Prepare sushi rice according to whatever directions you prefer, or use the ones on the rice package, your choice. Either way, skip the sugar and vinegar at the end.

2). Once the rice is cooking, decant a tin of Spam(^).
Isn't it pink? Marvel at the pinky-meatiness.

We prefer Turkey Spam, but we haven't been able to find that for a while, so now we use Spam Lite. It has 50% less fat & 33% fewer calories. We don't use Armour Treet(^), because it has gluten. If gluten isn't an issue for you, and you like it, feel free.

You could use "regular" Spam, but it'll be pretty salty when you're done.

3). So, there you are with your block of Spam, marveling at it. Seems a shame to whack it up, but that's what you are going to do. Cut it into 8 or 10 equal slices with a sharp knife. I sometimes score one side of each piece lightly with a knife to make a diamond pattern. It looks pretty when it's cooked.

4). Fry the slices at medium heat with a spray or two of Pam. When it is nicely browned and crispy, flip over to cook the other side and add a half cup or so of teriyaki sauce to the pan, making sure it covers the pieces. Allow to cook for a few more minutes, and when the sauce starts to cling to the Spam and thicken, remove from heat.

(BTW: You can make teriyaki sauce yourself if you like, but I usually use LaChoy brand, which is gluten free. I make enough dishes from scratch because of Celiac Disease to appreciate the time savings of using ready made, but if you'd like to make it, the recipe follows).

5. While the spam cooks, cut the sheets of Nori into strips about an inch wide, and the length of the sheet.

6). Ding! Rice is done! If it isn't, wait. When it is, proceed. Press your rice tightly into mounds using wet, clean hands, a Musubi mold, or a large cookie cutter (we often use one in the shape of a bear or piggy head).

7). Set a piece of cooked Spam on top of each mound, and wrap with a piece of Nori, sort of like a belt. Nori is what dried seaweed for sushi is called in Japan. It is sold pretty much everywhere at this point - even Wal*Mart sells it in their little Asian section. Nori generally comes in sheets in a package of a dozen or so. Use scissors to cut it into strips.

8). Serve and enjoy!

Notes:
One can of Spam plus rice and nori is enough to feed our family (usually 4 for dinner) when we add a small salad, veggies, or cooked fruit. One thing that's fun is to cook pineapple rings in the teriyaki sauce left over in the pan. I usually throw in a bit of brown sugar. The rings will be sweet/salty and go well with the whole Hawaiian theme.

There are more ways to mold rice than I could possibly tell you about. As mentioned above, you can use a plain cookie cutter, set on the cutting board, and press the rice into it until it is perhaps half an inch high. Remove the mold and you have a base for your Spam. If you'd rather, many Asian markets carry rice molds. They run 3 or 4 dollars and you can get them in various shapes. If you are extra lucky, and have a Hawaiian market, you might even find a dedicated Musubi mold.

Some people apparently cut the bottom of the spam can out, and use it to mold the rice. It is the same size as the Spam, so it has that going for it, but the jagged edge never seemed worth the risk.

Finally, we sometimes include adding a drop or two of food coloring to the rice, for colored rice. Nothing like pink piggy shaped rice with spam on top :)

Teriyaki sauce:
16 oz soy sauce (we always use San J Gluten Free Tamari(^). Tamari is a type of soy sauce. San J's is the most like "regular" soy sauce we actually like it better)
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp. ginger, minced
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup dry sherry

Mix all together in a non-reactive pan, heating until the sugar is melted. Remove from heat and store in a clean glass jar.

OK, back to the quizzy/meme thing:

8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order?
I usually don't, because there aren't any to-go places that serve gluten-free pizza. Except wait a minute! What's this? I was reading a local GF list and someone mentioned tht a new chain opened that served gluten free pizza. So I usually make a Chebe bread (GF-bread mix) pizza crust, with pepperoni and olives on top.

9. You feel like cooking. What do you make?
Usually Vietnamese Summer Rolls (recipe later) or Vietnamese Bun Bowls. I almost always have cooked chicken & veggies in the house, and they are easy and quick to throw together.

10. Do any foods bring back good memories?
Yes. Fried shrimp remind me of my dad. Orange creme truffles remind me of Halloween. Slices of bananas on 'Nilla wafers with cold milk remind me of my dad coming home from work late. He and I would lay out the wafers, put the banana slices on them, pour the milk, then sit down and eat and talk.

11. Do any foods bring back bad memories?
Not really. None that I can think of. So, unless I have suppressed something awful, I can't think of anything.

12. Do any foods remind you of someone?
See above. Fried shrimp reminds me of my dad. Eclairs remind me of my grandmother. Divinity fudge reminds me of my dad. Hot anything reminds me of my husband.

13. Is there a food you refuse to eat?
Boiled Brussels Sprouts, aka Devil Cabbages. Mushy, icky, squishy, stinky gross. I won't eat them, I won't serve them, I refuse to acknowledge their right to exist.

14. What was your favorite food as a child?
Fried shrimp with cocktail sauce.

15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like?
No, I was pretty good about eating whatever I was served when I was a kid.

16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate?
I don't hate them, but I used to love Lima beans. I don't love them anymore. No idea why.

17. Favorite fruit and vegetable?
Fresh strawberries and fried okra.

18. Favorite junk food?
Anything chocolate.
Except ice cream.
I don't really like ice cream.

19. Favorite between meal snack:
Chex Mix. I think it is my favorite non-chocolate food. After I was diagnosed with Celiac, I couldn't have it anymore, but a few months ago, the good people at General Mills made Rice Chex gluten-free(^), so I make it with Rice Chex only now and it is delicious. And yes, Rice Chex had gluten. Corn Chex still does. Rice Krispies still has it. The gluten is hidden in the barley malt, which is a natural flavoring. Bless the good people at General Mills.

20. Do you have any weird food habits?
Depends. Is bananas, mayonnaise and peanut butter sandwiches weird? How about green banana sliced on Nacho Cheese Doritos? Ok, the second one is weird even to me.

21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on?
Salads. Rice cakes.

22. You’re off your diet. Now what would you like?
A nice aged steak. Medium rare, but more toward the rare than the medium.
Lobster with drawn butter.
Butter chicken and rice.
White chocolate mousse. Regular chocolate anything.

23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai?
How hot can they make it?

24. Can I get you a drink?
Sure.Gin and Tonic, please. Or a nice single malt scotch.

25. Red or White Wine?
Red. White gives me a horrid headache. My husband is the same way.

26. Favorite dessert?
Pecan pie.

27. The perfect nightcap?
Bailey's Irish Cream and a kiss from my sweetheart.

Namaste.
=^..^=

The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese. ~ G.K. Chesterton

My Baby Just Cares For Me

Our anniversary is next weekend, and we're going to... well, we don't know yet.
We may go to Denver(^) and stay somewhere fancy, go out to eat, and enjoy being alone, which is a rarity.
We may stay home and cook together (which we both love to do).
Or we might go out to dinner- perhaps to the place we had our incredible rehearsal dinner(^).
Regardless of what we do or where we go, I feel blessed every single day to simply know my husband; I can't possibly describe how I feel to have been married to him for almost five years now.

I have two things to share right now. Both remind me of how very much I adore my darling husband:

This was the recessional music at our wedding:



We didn't want anything "usual", rather we both wanted something that came close to describing how we felt about each other that day. Five years later, I love him more than ever, more deeply than ever, and the song is even more perfect now than it was then.

And this was our wedding cake. Yes, it was blue fondant with white Cornelli lace. Each layer was a different flavor. Chocolate with raspberry jam, hazelnut with hazelnut icing, and carrot cake. I made the little bride and groom jackalopes for the top. The hydrangeas matched those in my bouquet.