Mumsflower’s kitchen

…is nothing like Martha Stewart’s.

But I didn’t let that stop me when H pointed me in the direction of Martha’s rhubarb crumb bar recipe.

I am still waiting to see the results, but let’s just say in the process I dirtied up every bowl I have in the house, save one — the one I am eating popcorn out of right now (sorry, DH, who is eating his popcorn straight from the bag). In fact, I switched the contents of one bowl for another three times due to size issues and the contents thereof.

Seemed to be a awful lot of work for something that got scooped into an 8×8 inch pan.

Oh yeah — I had forgotten what completely from scratch means.

However another reason to go to all this trouble is my dad:

Here he is on his Grandpa’s farm — what? maybe eight years old?

Just about the time Gone with the Wind was made.

Anyway, the crumb bars are for him — H and I are going to visit my folks this weekend — and if’n I don’t forget, the crumb bars are coming with us.

Sorry again, DH.

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NP: The dishwasher — what else?!

Where’s Soph?: looking out the window.  She was continually underfoot during the making of the crumb bars — barked at the mixer, but I didn’t chase her with it…

Next on the list: finish up my church stuff.

Pardon me…I’m just sleep-walking

Crazy time has arrived at our place. DH has been working way too many hours all week — last night it was…gee the nights all run together…I think it was after 9 PM before he came home. He had to be to work by 6 AM. I end up being on the same wake up/go to bed schedule as he is — and I am not shifting gears very well this time round.

And of course, Sophie is scratching her head over all the schedule disruption. This is a dog that likes order. If a door is open, she whines at it until it is shut. If a toy is not where it should be, she moves it.

Last night she moped in Daddee’s recliner. She misses him.

But anyway, DH does have the morning off for church, but his boss wants him to call in to see if there’s work for him to do in the afternoon.

I hope it rains.

Time’s like these make me to wonder again — why are we doing this?

Never mind. It’s a long story.

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Bright spot yesterday: Cut some asparagus for a very very late supper! And the rhubarb is coming up!

Puzzling issue yesterday: Seems some of my perennials didn’t make it through the winter… not some, really… lots. And I don’t think it’s too early to be wondering about them. Hmmm.

Not happy moment right now: Day of Discovery is no longer available on our local TV channel. At least not in its normal time slot…

Looking forward to: Eating out after church. Taking a nap this afternoon…who am I kidding? And…I might ring up Southern Cousin.

Furlough Bullets: Final Installment

Friday:

• Rearranged the CDs/DVDs/VHSs/books on the shelves in the bedroom. Got a boxful of videos to get rid of — yay!
• Had tacos for lunch…at 10:30 AM…
• Talked to J.
• Talked to Mom and Dad. They may or may not be coming for a visit this Sunday… depends on the SNOW we are supposed to get.
• Pulled out both of the under-the-bed storage containers that are full of my genealogy stuff. I sorted and threw away clippings that were in overabundance (Gee, Grandma PoPo! You had newspapers clippings of all the floods to hit P-town! I saved a representation of them, so don’t worry…) and when I was done reorganizing, I had room for more stuff!
• And of course, a perusal of my family history sent me on an internet detour… but I still don’t know who Mrs. Frank Williams is, even though she says she’s a cousin to Grandma PoPo’s husband and signed his autograph book back in 1910. Golly. Nearly a century ago. When he was seven.
• Shredded more of my life away.
• Realized I hurt my back. And knees.
• Took Sophie to the park for a walkie. Ran into B’s mom and Charlie the huge…Irish setter/wolfhound? This is a BIG dog! Made the most of this meet-and-greet (part of the Good Canine Citizenship test that Soph will be taking). Soph and Charlie were nose to nose just fine and dandy, until Soph realized Charlie had a human with him…then she did her sparkles dance (a test no-no), but after I told her to sit, B’s mom skirched her wee head and Soph was quiet and did good. Can’t wait to tell the instructor tomorrow!

It’s over

I’m done furloughing…back to work for me today.

Anyway, I think so.

Heard yesterday in church that there were further lay-offs.

So if my boss is hanging out the back door when I arrive — that’s a bad sign. I’ll get to gather up my stuff and then get escorted out the same back door.

In my wildest fantasy – yes, I’d love to be home again. I’d never be bored. Last week proved there is always something to do.

Unfortunately I don’t think I can make up the loss of income with extra budgeting creativity.

Oh well.

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Wish I finished all the shredding I had going on.

Still need to rearrange the hall closet.

All the drawers in the kitchen could use a cleaning out.

I need to rebox stuff I found upstairs that I want to keep.

REALLY need to get rid of some boxes — the beat up ones. Can’t really part with the good ones. All the moves we’ve made the last thirty years created that obsession.

Gotta figure out what to do with all the pictures…

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NP: The morning news/space heater/DH eating breakfast

Where’s Sophie? Behind or under the couch.

Saturday list

And in no particular order:

1. Dust/vacuum living room.
2. Consider removing obstacles to Sophie having a run around the perimeter, i.e. behind the couch, into the corner, and behind the sewing machine. She’s an earth dog, so “tunnels”, “tight spaces”, and mazes intrigue her active little mind. UPDATE: Done. Now she can get completely under the couch and hide…hmmmm.
3. Reorganize pantry and hall closet.
4. Figure out new fireplace decor — the poinsettias have to go!
5. Finish church stuff
6. Maybe eat lunch out.
7. Take Soph to put gas in the car. She gets to ride in the princess seat!
8. Swing by the car wash — it will be above freezing today. So it did get warm. And Blago went away. Humph.
9. Make a list for items to purchase at Penney’s in S-town — make it a Sunday afternoon drive.

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NP: Nothing at all. Weird. I hear the furnace running and the clock on the piano ticking — that’s all.

Next on hulu: Burn Notice and Battlestar Galactica

Where’s Sophie? After a vigorous indoor game of “Get it! Bring it! Drop it!” with a couple tennis balls, Sophie is taking an early morning nap. Not this particular nap time, but a similar one in her crate:

So terribly spoiled rotten…

And why would that be?

Well, Southern Cousin, H and I are going to a Gordon Lightfoot concert in March.

Then this past Sunday, DH and I were surprised with tickets to RIVERDANCE in April.

Not exactly being my DH’s cup o’ tea, H gets to be the beneficiary of the second ticket. These tickets are down front and center — we are sure not to miss a thing!

H said we’d have to dress up for a change.

Hmmm.

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I am so hoping this particular Sunday surprise  is God’s way of saying things will be okay, considering how the other Sunday surprise went around here.

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NP: The local news.

What’s for supper? Bangers and mash…yum…

Where’s Sophie? She’s watching the cook, DH, veerrryy carefully.

Tonight’s TV view to include: 24

Sophie, the Snowphinator

Perspective is a bit off on this photo — Sophie really isn’t this big.

We played in the snow twice today! Really made a dent in the cabin fever she was going through.

Isn’t she a cutie?

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NP: Chicago Bulls vs…hmm…don’t know this team…Oklahoma Thunder?

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Where’s Sophie?:  She’s here in the living room, working over a Dingo bone. She’s trying to get to the meat in the middle…

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What’s left do to tonight? All my church stuff.  If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done…gotta go!

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Saturday To-Do’s

In no special order:

1. Go to Ace for those bookshelves and storage bins.
2. Figure out music for church and work on slideshows.
3. Put away Christmas decor and replace with who-knows-what.
4. Go back to Ace because I forgot to look for new doormats.
5. Laundry.
6. Work on 2009 budget, read it and weep.
7. Buy more kleenex…yes, folks, I now have a cold.
8. Help DH haul the water softener salt and ice melt stuff out of the Grand Am — all two hundred pounds of it. Bet that was good on the old gas mileage…
9. Watch another episode of Bramwell.
10. Go back to bed.

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NP: The humidifier. (11. Go back to Ace again because you need a new filter for it.)

Where’s Sophie? In the living room, chewing on her Kong. (12. Get Soph another Kong just for treats. 13. Buy more Ziggys.)

14. Pull out my Cook genealogy for that fellow who might be interested.

Blizzard report

…blizzard…yeah.

Haven’t really had one of those in O-town in recent memory.

Now, when we lived our “little parsonage in a very little prairie town” lives, we had blizzards more often.

I remember one Thanksgiving, piling two very little girls in the car and making an attempt to go to DH’s home in Southern IL — in a blizzard. Never mind it was a two hour trip in good weather. We managed, oh, was it three miles on the two-lane before turning back? Did we have any clue whatsoever? Didn’t the snow blowing horizontally past our front window give us any indication how bad it was?

Then there was the time we piled two very small girls into the car to make an attempt to reach my folks for Christmas in Northern IL in near blizzard conditions. This was an over two hour drive time in good weather — we made it that time.

Stupid stupid stupid.

So this morning, in a much bigger town and rather sheltered from the whiteout conditions, I am hoping that folks who have to travel to church just stay home today. They have little ones. And yes, we were supposed to have a Christmas program, but really… just stay home safe and not stupid.

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Where’s Sophie? In the living room with me, chewing on her sheep. And whining again…oh, her tether was wrapped around the piano leg…excuse me whilst I untangle her. No folks, we don’t let her roam around free what with all the Christmas presents on the floor.

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NP:  Catholic mass…waiting for Day of Discovery and In Touch to come on the telly. Oh…and the dryer is buzzing.

Mid-life food crisis

I was rather aghast in finding out today that our church was having a sandwich and salad lunch after services tomorrow.

Oh egads.

I am so not motivated to get geared up for all that.

Shocking, eh? Really poor form? Yeah.

Having major mood problem again? I guess.

Must.Get.Motivated.

I will make cream puffs. In fact, I’d love me some homemade cream puffs.

I used to be able to make them — oh, twenty years or so ago. They were yummy. Made the filling to go in them too.

Then all of a sudden I lost the knack. Took them off my diet or something — I don’t know — and I didn’t make them for a while. Talk about not using it and losing it.  I set about making them again and had nothing but trouble. Them little puffs would not puff no matter what.

I gave up.

But today was gonna be different.

Hunted up a recipe on the internet, bought more eggs and flour…and she’s off!

What an adventure.

To make the puffs, in a saucepan combine the butter, the 1 cup water and salt and bring mixture to a boil. Add all the flour and stir vigorously. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until it forms a ball which does not separate.

Stirring vigorously here…real vigorously…

Forming ball?…um, not so much. Beat beat beat stir stir stir…

No ball was forming.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Well… it was becoming ball-ish. And my arm was spaghetti.

Next came the eight eggs beaten in one at a time.

I used the mixer and the batter seemed to be settling down…ah, a good sign!

I plopped them on the parchment paper covered cookie sheet and into the oven they went.

They got oh so puffy and shiny and simply lovely.

I poked a hole in each “to help them dry out” and baked them a bit more.

Out of the oven and onto the cooling racks they fell flatter than a flither.

Skipping to the end.

I wore two blisters on my beating hand.

Whilst making the filling, a bit of the egg yolk cooked … so I got bits of egg in my otherwise tasty filling.

…and the puffs taste good too. They just are so flat.

I made chocolate chip cookies.

DH will have cream puffs in his lunch all next week. Such a lucky guy.