Aloha Friday

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day they take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would participate and take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link at An Island Life. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

TODAY’S QUESTION: Do you like your drivers license photo?

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13 pieces of positive advice


Thank you Janet and Megan for resurrecting it!

  1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
  2. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.
  3. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
  4. When you say, ‘I love you,’ mean it.
  5. When you say, ‘I’m sorry,’ look the person in the eye.
  6. Believe in love at first sight.
  7. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.
  8. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
  9. Say ‘bless you’ when you hear someone sneeze.
  10. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
  11. Remember the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.
  12. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
  13. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

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Carrots & Apricots and Baked Beets

Joy at Joy of Desserts is hosting a new meme, Vintage Recipe Thursday. I don’t have any pictures yet to go with these recipes, but I thought I’d get them submitted to help get her started. These were also old cut out pages so I’m also using them for Magazine Monday over at Ivonnes, Cream Puffs in Venice.

CARROTS & APRICOTS
1 pound fresh carrots, washed and shredded
6-8 large dried apricots, sliced into thin strips
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons water*
1 tablespoon sugar*
1 tablespoon red wine wine vinegar*

  • In a large skillet heat water and butter over a medium high heat.
  • Add carrots and apricots and saute’ for several minutes.
  • Sprinkle sugar over it all and add vinegar.
  • Stir and cook rapidly until glazed.
  • Serves 4

*you can substitute orange juice for water, but when I do this I also substitute brown sugar for the white and apple cider vinegar for the red wine vinegar.

BAKED BEETS 1

  • Wash and cut tops back about 2 inches.
  • Line a baking sheet with foil and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Bake about an hour.
  • Remove from oven, cool and then peel.
  • Serve with fresh butter.

BAKED BEETS 2

2 large beets, washed and dried
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch pepper
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Place beets in a roasting pan, cover with foil, and bake 1 to 1-1/2 hours until tender.
  • Cool until easy to handle, if you are in a real hurry you can dip them in ice water.
  • Peel. If the beets are small, serve whole; otherwise slice, dice, mash or cut into julienne strips.
  • Place in a saucepan with salt, pepper, and butter and warm, uncovered, over low heat, shaking pan gently, 2 to 3 minutes. If mashing add a bit of heavy cream to sweeten them.

Baked beets are mellower, sweeter, and nuttier than boiled.

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King Arthur and the Witch

This is another of those cute emails that crossed my desk:

Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur’s youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer; he would be put to death.

The question?…What do women really want? Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch’s proposition to have an answer by year’s end.

He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.

Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would have the answer.

But the price would be high; as the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.

The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first.

The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur’s closest friend!

Young Arthur was horrified. She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life.

He refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden; but Lancelot, learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur.

He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur’s life and the preservation of the Round Table.

Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur’s question thus:

What a woman really wants, she answered….is to be in charge of her own life.

Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur’s life would be spared.

And so it was, the neighboring monarch granted Arthur his freedom and Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding.

The honeymoon hour approached and Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But, what a sight awaited him. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen lay before him on the bed. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened.

The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, she would henceforth, be her horrible deformed self only half the time and the beautiful maiden the other half.

Which would he prefer? Beautiful during the day….or night?

Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch? Or, would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day, but by night, a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous intimate moments?

What would YOU do?

Noble Lancelot said that he would allow HER to make the choice herself.

Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.

Now….what is the moral to this story?
LOL The moral is….
If you don’t let a woman have her own way…Things are going to get ugly

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Can you have a battle of wits with an unarmed person?

I try hard not to get political here on my blog, but this email was too funny to pass up. Whether it is true or not, the examples are things similar to every day conversations I have overheard over during the years of working with the public. Some times you just have to shake your head and laugh!

These are some examples offered by a DC ticket agent of why we are in trouble in America!!!

I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn’t get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)

I got a call from a candidate’s staffer, who wanted to go to Capetown… While I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information, she interrupted me with, ”I’m not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts ” Without trying to make her look stupid, I calmly explained, ”Cape Cod is in Massachusetts , Capetown is in Africa.’ Her response – click.

A senior Vermont Congressman called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando ..
He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that is not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, ‘Don’t lie to me, I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state!” (OMG)

I got a call from a lawmaker’s wife who asked, ”Is it possible to see England from Canada ?” I said, ”No.” She said, ”But they look so close on the map. (OMG, again!)

An aide for a cabinet member once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas . When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, ”I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.” (Aghhhh)

An Illinois Congresswoman called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 a.m., and got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m. I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois , but she couldn’t understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.

A New York lawmaker called and asked, ”Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?” I said, ‘No, why do you ask?’ She replied, ”Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I’m overweight. I think that’s very rude!” After putting her on hold for a minute, while I looked into it (I was dying laughing), I came back and explained the city code for Fresno , CA is (FAT – Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.

A Senator’s aide called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii .. After going over all the cost info, she asked, ”Would it be cheaper to fly to California , and then take the train to Hawaii ?”

I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman who asked, “How do I know which plane to get on?” I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ”I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.”

A lady Senator called and said, ”I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola , Florida . Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?” I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola , FL on a commuter plane. She said, ”Yeah, whatever, smarty!”

A senior Senator called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China . After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him that he needed a visa. ‘ Oh, no I don’t. I’ve been to China many times and never had to have one of those.” I double checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, ”Look, I’ve been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!”

A New Mexico Congress woman called to make reservations, ”I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York.” I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, ”Are you sure that’s the name of the town?” ”Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the lady. After some searching, I came back with, ”I’m sorry, ma’am, I’ve looked up every airport code in the country and can’t find a Rhino anywhere.’ ”The lady retorted, ”Oh, don’t be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!”
So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, ”You don’t mean Buffalo , do you?” The reply? ”Whatever! I knew it was a big animal

Now you know why the Government is in the shape that it’s in! Could anyone really be this DUMB? YES, and they walk among us, are in politics, they continue to breed and worse than that they vote! Hope you got a good chuckle.

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Wish list ~ Wednesday Wishes

With so much spring cleaning and the liberation of donation this week, I haven’t been dreaming of bringing too many new things in, but here are a few that would be great.

wednesday wishes 3/25

I really want this book I found over at the Shoppe.
Love these journals over at Daily Threads Etsy shop.
Or these comfy casual couch and chair from overstock.com

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Blueberry Crumb Cake ~ Tuesdays with Dorie

Laurie of Quirky Cupcake formed Tuesdays With Dorie as a form of accountability for baking at least once a week using the cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.


This week Sihan of Befuddlement chose Blueberry Crumb Cake on pages 192-193. I sat down to read the recipe and was soooooooooo stunned. Short of the blueberries this is virtually my grandmother’s coffee cake recipe that I’ve been making since I was a kid. The differences besides the blueberries were that grandma just dumped and mixed (never could taste a difference) and that grandma always poked holes into the cake so the streusel would run down through it.

I made it Dorie’s way for here, but offer grandma’s recipe too:

GRANDMA’S STREUSEL COFFEECAKE
2 + 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 + 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 + 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 + 2/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
6 + 6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 JUMBO eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 cups blueberries

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Sift together the 2 cups flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg and orange peel in a large mixing bowl.
  • Whisk together the eggs, 6 tablespoons butter, buttermilk and vanilla.
  • Gently fold in the blueberries.
  • Pour liquid mix into flour mixture and beat until smooth with a hand mixer.
  • Pour into a prepared 9×9 pan.
  • In a small food processor process all the remaining ingredients except the walnuts until smooth.
  • Using your hands form small flat pancakes with the mixture and scatter over cake batter until well covered.
  • Poke a few holes down into the cake for the streusel to run into or run a knife through creating a swirl.
  • Scatter walnuts evenly over top.
  • Bake 1 hour.
  • Serve warm with a dab of butter melting on top of each piece.

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Cashew Chicken Stir Fry

I’ve been trying to get more and more vegetables into our diet as we approach spring and stir fry has been a great taste tempting treat for us recently.


CASHEW CHICKEN STIR FRY
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 JUMBO egg white
2 bunches green onions, sliced thin
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced thin
1 cup bean sprouts (optional)*
1 cup honey roasted cashews, whole or chopped
1/4 cup sweet cooking rice wine
1/8 cup bead molasses
1/8 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Peanut Oil

  • Whisk together the cornstarch and egg white. Coat the chicken strips and chill 1 hour before preparing the meal.
  • Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil.
  • Quickly stir fry the mushrooms, onions and bean sprouts.
  • Lift out veggies with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  • Add another tablespoon +/- of peanut oil and heat.
  • Add chicken pieces and stir fry until white and tender.
  • Whisk together the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, bead molasses, salt and sugar. Add to pan and coat chicken well and continue stir frying until most of the liquid is absorbed and chicken is glazed.
  • Add veggies back in as well as the cashews. Mix well and heat through.
  • Serve over rice or with noodles.

*You just can’t always get fresh and I don’t care for the canned.

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2 more quilt tops – ARMY & CRAZY wall quilt for Kathryn’s Room

I was able to complete a couple of quilt tops this weekend. This one is a wall quilt for Kathryn’s bedroom. I love this crazy quilt pattern. It goes together quickly and well, but looks like it took you forever. It’s ready for a border and backing which I hope to do next Sunday.

I started this one for hubby for Christmas, but was only able to get the squares completed before having to wrap it as a gift. Today I was able to get the squares all sewn together.

This one is ready for borders and backing too ~ YAY!!

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