Aunt Millena's Pizelle Recipe

Pizelle are a holiday tradition at my house.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup sweet cream butter (2 sticks - 1/2 pound)
6 large eggs (room temp)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp Anise Oil (not extract)
2 tsp baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time until creamy.
Add the oil of anise and mix well.

Sift flour and baking powder together. Add the dry mix to the cream mix in small amounts until all incorporated into a soft batter.

Heat the Pizelle Iron until the red light goes off. Spray with PAM on both sides of iron (or oil with canola or vegetable oil with paper towel.) Place a healthy teaspoonful of batter in the center portion of each side of the iron. Let batter sit for about 5 or 10 seconds to warm up and then gently close the lid and squeeze to compress. Batter will spread out to the edges of the iron. You may need to experiment to find just the right amount of batter to place on the iron. Keep lid closed until red light goes out. Then you may peak if you must but you can smell them when they are just right and lightly golden brown. Open lid, remove with large spatula and cool on wire rack or on waxed paper. You may also mold still warm pizelle over custard cups to make small dishes to fill with ice cream or roll them on dowels or cone forms to make pirouettes, cannoli or ice cream cones.



Traditional Italian anise pizelle can also be made in other flavors but we prefer the anise ones with a glass of red wine or a cup of strong coffee.


Mangia.

Manhattan by Proxy

Secretly envious of our friends, Kathleen and Anton and their holiday trip to New York City, we salute them vicariously by drinking Manhattans, straight up and mellow, in Florida.



Hope y'all are having a grand time!
Send pix.

(Damn, these are good!)
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MERRY CHRISTMAS

HOLIDAY WISHES
from FLAURELLA
and her GATORS -
Florida Style!

Farfen-Pfeffer

The holiday menus were done and the marketing lists compiled last evening. W4D volunteered to do the food shopping. As I have mentioned many times, the man loves to grocery shop. Fine by me.

I make organized grocery lists by section; produce, bakery, frozen, meats and then groceries and dry goods by aisle. Since I don't get all giddy at the thought of grocery shopping like some un-named spouses, I have a plan that gets me in and out with the least steps and the least wasted time. W4D considers a trip to the market as a joy to savor and can spend hours browsing. Me? I gotta get in, I gotta get out.

Anyway, on my list were several kinds of fancy bakery cookies since I didn't yet get time to bake. Oh, I will make some Pizelle tomorrow or Sunday and bake more next week but I wanted a few nice cookies that I could technically pass off as my own in case people stop by for coffee over the weekend before I have time to bake.

As a kid, my mother always made Pfeffernusse, those little German spicy treats with cloves, allspice, cinnamon and honey that are covered with a mountain of powdered sugar. W4D had never eaten pfeffernusse before we met. To me, they are a Christmas tradition. No time to bake - go buy me some!

This afternoon, W4D, armed with his lovely wife's perfectly organized grocery list, marched into the bakery and asked the elderly clerk where the Farfengnugen were located.

Farfenghuggen?

Yes, please, I want some Farfenguggen.

Poor confused old cookie clerk.
Eventually W4D showed her the list.

Ah, you want zee Pfeffernusse!

In other news, later in the afternoon, W4D sent me a photo of an adorable yellow and black convertible VW Bug that is for sale at our fave car dealer. It's a darling car and I've always wanted a yellow and black convertible bug but we don't need another small car and I just funded my IRA today and I don't do car payments. No yellow Beetle Bug for moi this December.


Tiny Tree sits on my desk
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Winter Solstice

On this, the shortest day of the year, Winter has officially arrived and so have the robins. There are hundreds of them chattering in my yard, gobbling all the purple berries from the camphor tree, digging for worms in the lawn, fighting over the bird bath which is now devoid of water. The robins and I are happy. It is 75 degrees and sunny outside and we're all barefoot.

Tonight, I make the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus, prepare the grocery lists and wrap presents. Wish I had a week all to myself to prepare for the holiday. I've been so busy that no cookies were baked but who says you can't bake the week AFTER Christmas? The house is a wreck but a messy house is a happy house.

I wish I had found the time to keep up with my blog this fall. Autumn is my fave time of year and now it is Christmastime already and where has the time gone? I am so tired of working 10 and 12 hours a day. Calgon, take me away.

Sure would love to put my feet up with a nice cocktail and a cigarette. I quit smoking almost 5 years ago and while I am really proud of that accomplishment, that doesn't mean I don't still want a ciggie, especially when I am stressed out and over-worked and GAWD, I WANT A CIGARETTE RIGHT NOW. Right this very second, I want a PACK of Benson and Hedges. Gimme, GIMME. Ahem. (take a deep calming breath, Flaurella, breathe deeply and slowly)

Instead, I will have a little slice of pumpkin pie and a cup of coffee. Never had time to bake pies this year but the bakery doth provide at times like this. As you can see, I like a little pie with my whipped cream.


Yum!

I still want a cigarette.

Stress be gone.
Away with you!

Hoodie Pup

I admit it.
I am guilty of dressing the dog.
After all, it is cold in this old house and he's but a puppy and needs to keep warm.



Isn't he a cutie?
Here is is standing up.



Yes, he sort of jumped out of the frame but when you see a cute puppy walking around on his hind legs, wearing a blue velour hoodie, you try to take a photo.

I also bought him a maroon and pink smoking jacket but it was too small. Now, I am searching for a raincoat for him. I don't think he will take kindly to rain booties though.

More puppy pictures located here.
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Time Passages

It has been a momentous week. Not only did our puppy learn to tripod like a big boy when he tinkles and then scratch the grass with his hind feet with gusto afterwards, the shuttle launched at night with the most beautiful display I have ever seen -- even when we were right across the nearest causeway, close up and personal. I swear it was more spectacular on a cold crisp night, 100 miles north and 40 miles inland than right there in person! The night sky turned to dawn upon launch and was all orange and glorious with the shuttle streaming NE for what seemed lke 5 minutes but must have only been a couple. We could see the Boosters fall off with absolute clarity and we watched the shuttle light reflection until it was almost to Jacksonville. No matter how many times you've seen it, what a sight! Always a thrill, we could even feel the thrust and hear the engine roar all the way to Gainesville.

In other news, it was very cold here this last week. and for three days, I had to wear real shoes, with closed toes....and closed heels. Argh! I am now actively searhing for fur-lined flip flops. All that leather wrapped around my footsies gives me the willies. Since I am not big on toe socks, I need furry flip flops. If you find some, let me know.

The other big news is I celebrated my birthday on the 11th. I think I may now offically be middle aged. I wonder exactly what middle age is now? When I was a young whippersnapper, I thought it was age 30. Who knows nowadays? It might well be 40 or 50 or 60 or greater. Regardless, I like to consider myself right in the middle of life.

Yesterday, W4D had a little cocktail party for me and some close friends and then fixed me a lovely birthday dinner. Here's the dessert. I asked for pumpkin pie. I got cannoli and cheesecake.


Beggars can't be chosers.

Too Depressed for Words

I am so totally bummed. We didn't get our tickets to the BCS National Championship game in Arizona. I think the method of selecting who eventually received tickets was fixed and I am really angry with W4D's Gator Club. We could still go out West and enjoy hanging out in the atmosphere of a Championship game but but we wouldn't get to actually be in the arena. Maybe we should use that four grand for a nice vacation or toward that RV I want to buy. I dunno. Guess we'll talk about it tonight and try to make a plan. I just cannot believe we didn't get tickets and won't get to see the Championship Game. Dammit. I am so depressed.

Options:
Fly to Vegas, watch the game on TV
Drive to Arizona and hang out anyway
Cruise to the Caribbean and watch on satellite
Plan a trip to Italy for Spring
Go buy that 2006 gunmetal 4 Runner I have had my eye on
Remain near the Swamp and have a huge party
Stay home nekked and pout and watch it on the tube

Crap. Now I will have to buy Christmas presents.
Bah humbug.


Autumn afternoon on the River Styx
Where depressed GATORS go to
Weep over not getting BCS Tickets.
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Pig Parts Everywhere

All the Gators around Flaurel's house have little piggies in their powerful jaws. We here in The Swamp had eggs, pancakes, link sausage, sausage patties and bacon for breakfast. We practically overdosed ourselves on PORK.

We know what they are eating for breakfast in Arkansas this morning
















Congratulation to my Florida GATORS
2006 SEC Champions!
It was an exciting game.
Kudos to the Arkansas Razorbacks.
They played with talent and heart.

The GATORS are now 12 and 1 and we'll find out this evening who we'll be playing in the BCS. The Gator Nation is very excited about the possibilities. W4D has already booked a hotel in Mesa, Arizona since that's the closest accommodations he could find in the Glendale proximity. While I wanted a trip out west this year, I was thinking about March or April, not a month from now. We'll see what happens.

Those of you who bet on Arkansas will be receiving my "Sorry Hogs" Consolation Prize. I'll post a photo later this week since I don't wish to spoil the surprise you will be receiving in the mail.

Now, do we want Ham or Pork Tenderloin or BBQ Butt for supper?
It's difficult to make a choice when you have so many pig parts lying about...



FLORIDA GATORS
2006 SEC Champs!

Breakfast of Champions

Time for the SEC Championship,
6:00 PM Eastern Time, Saturday.
Should be a Rolicking Good Time!

VS.

This is what Florida GATORS will be eating for Breakfast on Sunday Morning.

Question:
What's considered a seven course, world class meal in Little Rock?

A possum and a six-pack.

'Nother Question:
Why does the Arkansan Razorback football team and their coaches go to the movie theater in groups of 18 or more?

Because 17 and under are not admitted.

Looking forward to the showdown!
Go GATORS!

Visiting the University of Arkansas

We've been researching our opponents web site in anticipation of the SEC Championship game this weekend. Here's what we've learned:

This is the Administration Building at the University of Arkansas.



And here is the Lab that is shared by the Chemistry department, the Engineering department, Home Economics and the FFA.



We didn't realize the Arkansas Athletics had such a large swimming pool and an exemplary aquatics program. Here's a great shot of some upperclassmen on their way to class and the Playmate Twins, the Hogge sisters, are all ready to head off to the big game as freshman line up for student tickets on game day. This Campus Stud is looking for a date to the SEC Championship, while out on the field, the Razorback team runs laps at football practice and Coach Nutt shows his team a good offensive route.

We know how it's going to end.
Prediction:
Noted Alumni Booster loses his head in shock over the outcome of the SEC Championship.

Go GATORS!

Drought

View of dried up lake bed.

Another below, near my house.

W4D wanted to make cornbread for supper last night.

I suggested he open some fresh baking powder.

Nah. This will do just fine.

That baking powder is old, you should use some new.

Don't need any new baking powder.

Aren't you going to add any eggs?

Nope. Don't need eggs.

Hey, it's your recipe. Make it the way you want.


Dry Pond Cornbread
Flat as a flitter.
Dry as a bone.

Tanning the Turkey

Today is our unofficial anniversary. Next week is the legal one. We always celebrate both. Mr. Man, you still rock!

Guess what we had last night? frozen precipitation, AKA little snow flurries and sleet. Of course, it melted as soon as it touched your skin or anything else but for about an hour, it felt like when you are defrosting an old freezer and all that cold frosty stuff splatters on you as you scrape. Brrr!




















There will be no tan lines on our turkey this year.
(Wish I could remember where I got this turkey babe.)

It's a good day to be inside cooking and baking. Keeps the house warm, too. I wish you and yours a warm and cozy Thanksgiving. Don't forget to say a little prayer for all who serve our country around the world. May they be safe and home soon.


From my kitchen this afternoon
Time to cook the cranberries.

Better Late Than Never

Yep, I am a little slow getting up the beach pictures from last weekend. That's because I am freezing my arse off here. It's downright frigid in North Florida and looks like it will stay this way through Thanksgiving. It's windy and it's snowing in Bama and Georgia. I am hoping we make it into the 50's tomorrow. Lows in the 30's for over a week is rare this time of year. Could this be a result of global warming? Regardless, this puts me in the mood for the holiday season. It makes me want to buy everyone socks and sweaters.

Okay, go warm yourselves up by looking at my set of beach pictures from Destin last weekend. Native Floridians love the beach in the fall and winter. No tourista. Few kids. Just adults guzzling martinis, slurping oysters off the half shell and dipping shrimp.



View the whole set here.
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Uncorked

I dashed out to buy our Beaujolais Nouveau yesterday but got too tipsy on martini's during the cocktail hour to drink wine so tonight's Nouveau night at our house. I'm planning a thick Porterhouse steak (W4D eats the strip and I, the filet), baked potatoes, steamed broccoli, a crisp romaine salad with a raspberry pecan dressing, crusty Cuban bread with sweet cream butter and fresh garlic. And, lots of chilled 2006 Beaujolais Nouveau. Yum! Who cares if it's a few thousand calories? It is time to celebrate the harvest of not only food, but wine.



Beaujolais Nouveau is made from the first pressing of gamay grapes in France's Beaujolais region. It is not aged and best served nicely chilled. It is fruity and fresh, the Carson Kressley of wines. You just gotta love it! And the best part is, you must drink it before Christmas so it makes the perfect Thanksgiving wine.... if it lasts that long.



I promise to get some beach pix up soon!
Enjoy your weekend.

Hasta La Monday

I should be packing my leopard Capri's and my sexy nightie but I am sitting here drinking wine while W4D is at the Council Meeting. Gotta go pack soon but while the cat's away, the mice must play. I've already had a couple of extra dry toonies and DH has requested a cold shaker full upon his return at 11:00P.

We'll be leaving early ayem. I'll have to jool shop all the way to Pensacola to write off this trip. Oh, woe is me! I must shop for a living. It's a tough gig but someone has to do it. I will fill my afternoons, eating fresh, juicy Apalachicola Oysters and big ole pink Gulf shrimp this weekend. I am going to watch the sunset on the sugar-sand beach and drink lots of martini's and a few Mojitoes if it is warm enough.

Okay, I have already packed a picnic basket full of pistachios, caviar, smoked mussels, tasty crisps, crackers and other yummy nibbles. I've packed the toonie kit and the wine kit - oh so chic! I've packed the backgammon board but now I must go pack some clothes so cya later, Alligators.

Emerald Coast, here I come. I must remember to shave my legs.
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My Fellow Americans...

Today/Tomorrow/whenever you read this...

Tuesday is a very important day. Aside from my having a dental appointment and getting to take a legal shitload of Xanax and other meds, your resident dental phobic reminds each of you to please remember that it is not only your right and your privilege, but your duty to vote tomorrow, November 7th. Please stand up and be counted.

Just think! If 75 to 95% of our citizens made their opinions known by voting, by committing their political opinions to paper/chad/pixel, there would be much less whining about the state of politics all year long. You'd simply have to blame yourself instead of the other dude who voted when you didn't even bother.

Can you imagine what a 75 - 85 - 95% turnout would do to the political leaning of our country?

Get out there. Vote your heart.
Make a difference.

If you don't vote, the only person you can blame is yourself. For four fricken, miserable years.

Furthermore, I don't give a flip about how you vote. Just do it.
I'm sick of hearing about it.

FYI, The Flaurella, in her long, heavily opinionated lifetime of has only missed voting twice, in two little un-earth-shattering local ballots. I make it a point to vote every single election unless I am unexpectedly out of my current precinct/state/country and that has only happened twice. But, since I will be under the influence of narcotics tomorrow, legally drugged, not at all in control of my faculties, I have recorded my ballots for the candidates and all the gnarly, sneaky, gibberish constitutional State Amendments on a faux ballot, a genuine cheat sheet. If I get time, I will write the answers on my palms but if not, I will carry and leave my cheat sheet in the booth so that perhaps I can persuade the next poor sucker who is not in control of his faculties to vote my way as well. Yeah, that's the ticket.

PS. My fave Town Councilman, after one year's service, may now be legally impeached.

I plan to start the ball rolling ASAP.

The Big Boo

Happy Halloween, freaky people of the ghoulish kind.


Kindly Vampira


CLICK HERE
to view Flaurella's Halloween slide show or click through the pix one at a time for the explanations and comments.

Unless you are a hooker or a magician, I hope you get fewer tricks than treats.

Booga, Booga.

Giant Naked Spiders

I know.
It's been a while.
I'll try to do better.

I have been too depressed to blog ever since I gave up cooking fish naked. And just so you know, I catch the fish that I cook naked, as well. In broad daylight. In the bright sunshine. Naked. I have to wear a lot of sunscreen on my lady bits. It is much more fun to catch fish naked than it is to cook fish naked. Cooking fish naked can hurt. Now that I no longer cook the fish in the nude, I have no reason to catch fish naked. It's a vicious cycle, isn't it? No wonder I am terribly depressed.

Only a few days until Halloween. Click here for some of the worst, store bought costume ideas from the past. We never bought our costumes. We always made them. I don't think I have ever worn a store bought costume.

Tuck Pup is too raucous and young to wear a costume this year so instead, I offer this one for my pal, Fang. Someone sent this pic to me via email so I don't know who the dog is or to whom to give credit but this pooch looks just like the Fangster.










Here you go, Fang, have mom make you an Affen Spider for Halloween.

We have a couple of those huge spiders so maybe next year, Tucker will be able to dress like this for Halloween, too.


Attack of the giant spider

Just posted more adorable puppy pictures.
Forgive a proud new mom and go look.
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All Dried Up

Apologies for being un-blogged for so long. Real life, work and the wee beastie boy have kept me from posting. And worse, my brain is on over-load so I can't even remember what happened yesterday to write about it.

I have been getting more spam than usual. Those crafty spammers are always coming up with ways to sneak around my filters. My fave spam emails last Friday were from:

Indiscriminate Q. Urethra
Pate H. Fabricating
Crookes R. Ourselves

(I remember only because I wrote them down.)You gotta love a crook that's so up front about it. I won't open their emails but I do giggle over the sender's pen names.

Tucker puppy just brought me a little gift. I think he found it under the love seat in the family room.


FROGGIE went belly up, then dried up.
Notice his little hands.
He was wringing them when he croaked.

Tucker was three months old yesterday.
Latest puppy pix can be viewed here.
Back to the grind.

Quick, Easy Naked Food

This is Flaurella's solution for little dribs and drabs of leftovers. If you are like me, you end up every few days with a little of this and a little of that. Here's the solution for that little bowl of marinated artichoke hearts, half a fresh tomato and some leftover grilled mushrooms from the steaks the night before.

Thinly slice a crusty baguette (French bread) or a spolette (Italian) or even some Cuban bread, although, I prefer the baguette. Sprinkle a little good olive oil in a hot skillet and add a pat of sweet cream butter. Once the foam subsides, toss in the bread rounds and then flip, coating both sides. Turn down the heat and let them toast in the pan, turning again when the golden.

Assemble all the bits and pieces of leftovers from your fridge. Some things to consider are chopped tomato, minced onions, artichokes, sautéed peppers and onions, crab meat, shrimp, feta cheese, mozzarella, smoky provolone, mushrooms, olives, pimento, capers - just about any interesting leftover that you want to put on your little toasted bread rounds. Consider what tastes good together and put that combination on your little toasts which you have now perfectly browned on both sides. Top with the cheese of your choice and if the toast is hot enough, you don't even need to pop them under the broiler. Right before serving. add some fresh herbs if you have them handy. I love shredded fresh basil on tomato bruschetta and lemon oregano on just about anything.


Plated and ready to serve

Please don't mispronounce the name. Say it like this:
"Bruce-SKETT-ahh."

Don't say "broosh-SHET-ah." That is incorrect. When you have the world's best way to use up those little bowls and plastic keepers of bits and tads of leftovers and produce, you should pronounce what you made correctly.


Closer View. Click photo for notes.

Quick and easy, versatile Bruschetta is one of our favorite appetizers. Don't be afraid to experiment. I often buy extra baguettes and cut them into shorter pieces and put them in large ziplocks in the freezer so that I always have a little bread ready to slice, fry and top with leftover goodies, Italian style.

And before you ask: yes, I cook this stuff in my kitchen and yes, I take a quick picture before we chow down. No, I probably won't ever share pictures of me cooking these topless. Mangia!
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Aging Pervert

It's early evening, about 7:45. We still haven't eaten because we have a new puppy and dinner is running late. It's almost dark but not quite.

W4D is standing near the Hoosier cabinet, like a statue, staring at the wall or maybe the window or at some canned tomatoes in the Hoosier. Hard to tell.

I watched him for about 30 seconds and he didn't move. He was trance-like and it worried me.

"What's wrong? Why are you standing there, like that?"

After about a 10 second pause, he finally answered me.
"I was just thinking."

"Thinking? THINKING? You were just thinking? Good Lord, I thought you might be having a stroke or something."

"I'll show you the kind of stroke I was thinking about."

"Pervert."


Some pervert. obviously enjoying himself with
a naked lady who has duct tape around her waist
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Tommy Tucker, Furball

Too busy to write. We got a puppy yesterday!

Meet Tommy T. Tucker, age 10 weeks.


Here's Tucker

He's very smart and very sweet. He kept us up all night but we didn't even mind. Tucker misses snuggling with his sister and other playmates so we gave him the stuffed Georgia bulldog that W4D hangs from the flag pole every year for the Florida Georgia game. I wish I had a play pen to keep Tuck from trying to chew the electrical cords. I have to keep an eye on him every second and learn to watch under my feet. He's a little charmer and slept in the bed with us on his first night here. Well, he didn't really sleep, he played all night. That's okay. He's only a puppy for a little while.


What a cutie!

Wish I could get him to hold still long enough for some good pictures but there's a recent few snaps on my FLICKR page. I know you'll want to see them all.

Pet Nostalgia

It's been 5 months since we lost our best buddy and we plan to start looking for puppies tomorrow. We're not in a hurry but it's time to start looking. Nothing else to write about on the last day of summer (yaye!) so watch this cute old 1951 Warner Brother's cartoon and have a dandy weekend.

Key Lime Pie in a Glass

In my never-ending quest to slurp down more martini's than anyone in North Florida, I have come up with my own variation for the Key Lime Pie martini. There's a lot of recipes out there for Key Lime Pie libations but I tend to mix up whatever I have on hand and it usually turns out pretty tasty. Here's how I make my Key Lime Toonie:

First, you must make the graham cracker crumbs to rim the glass. I had plain graham crackers on hand since I don't like sugared ones so I pulverized a few graham crackers and added a little ground cinnamon and a little bit of sugar. I rimmed the glasses with lime and then dipped the rims into the graham, cinnamon and sugar crumb mix.

Into your biggest shaker that is filled about 2/3 of the way with ice add a 12 count of vanilla flavored vodka. I do a three count ounce so that's 4 ounces of vanilla vodka. Add the juice of 1/2 large lime (about 2 -3 ounces). Strain it through a little strainer so you don't get any seeds in the shaker. I didn't have any key limes on hand so I just used a regular lime. Key limes are small so if you use them you may need more than one. For good measure, I also added a splash of Rose's Lime, about an ounce. Now, add a half a small can of Coco Lopez sweetened real coconut cream, about 4 ounces. Put the lid on that shaker and rock and rattle until your husband comes rushing into the room to see what's shakin.'

Strain into large rimmed martini glasses,
garnish with a chunk of lime and enjoy.


Key Lime Pie Martini

Notes:
* Flavored rum would be good instead of vanilla vodka. But you do need a vanilla flavor so if you don't have vanilla vodka or you decide to use rum, add a little - maybe a 1/4 teaspoon, of vanilla extract.
* Don't skip the graham cracker crumbs on the rim of the glass. That's what makes it taste just like Key Lime pie.
* We liked this cocktail but found it too sweet for the cocktail hour. Save it for an after dinner drink.

Tomato Infusion

Sitting here watching the rain on a gloomy day. This weather is going to bring us our first cool weather of autumn. It cannot arrive soon enough.

Getting ready to make a nice crisp salad and some cheese ravioli for supper. I'll coarsely chop the tomatoes and add some sliced fresh mushrooms and black olives to a bowl, adding plenty of fresh basil and cracked pepper (no salt!) and then liberally cover with my best extra virgin olive oil and let it sit for an hour or two, stirring once in a while. The veggies and oil will meld and make a nice topping for a big bowl of fresh romaine lettuce. I'll rub the salad bowl with a fresh clove of garlic and add a little red wine vinegar when I toss the salad. The veggie infused oil and added vinegar becomes the dressing.


Vine Ripe

I am looking more forward to the salad than the ravioli which is fresh but :::gasp::: store bought. Even The Flaurella is sometimes too busy to cook from scratch.
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Cooler Car

The Lubricator has informed me of what he wants for Christmas.


Click catalog item to view larger photo

It's a clever idea from Grill Lovers but I plan to remind Mr. Man that he already has an expensive tractor and a choice of 6 coolers in various sizes and colors. I'll just put a couple of Bungees in his stocking instead.

Rock My World

Yes, we had a 6.0 earthquake in Florida on Sunday.

No, I didn't even notice it.

People from Louisiana to South Florida to North Carolina felt it. People who live very near us were all talking about the rocking and rolling that lasted almost 20 seconds. It was big news, yet we never felt a thing.

I'm disappointed that I missed it. I can't even blame a martini since the earthquake happened a couple of minutes before 11:00AM on Sunday morning and I was sitting right here at the computer desk, sober as a judge.

We had a previous earthquake from the same epicenter last February. I didn't notice that one either. Florida has had earthquakes before but I may never get to feel the action. I think living in a 123 year old house that is elevated above the ground on piers with huge old beams must absorb the motion better than a house on a slab foundation. All I know is I never felt a thing. Bummer.


Drats. I missed it.
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9-11-2001

It's been 5 years and my memory of
this September morning will not fade.


World Trade Center Twin Towers

I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive
those responsible for the 9/11 attacks.


The Pentagon

I will keep trying to forgive.


Flight 93, Shanksville, PA.

But I will never forget.


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How to Get Rid of Crabs ...

The Lubricator gave me crabs last night.

Here's a big bouquet of crab legs.

Crab legs look nice served in
an ice bucket or even a fish bowl.

Here are the sides to go with the crabs,
grilled asparagus and baked potatoes.

Grilled asparagus is one of my fave foods. Just coat it with some good olive oil, sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper and toss on the hot grill for a couple of minutes until it begins to char.Give it a half roll, cook another couple of minutes and serve immediately.

We always eat crabs on the kitchen island.


A newspaper table cover makes it
easy to roll up the carnage.


... And that is how you get rid of the crabs.
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Summer Bounty

I'm tired of all this healthy summer food.












All these fresh veggies are making me grumpy.


I am starting to crave pot roast and potatoes and pie and chili and roasted chickens.












I wouldn't want to get too healthy.



That's why I asked W4D to bring home a couple of cheesy, greasy, pepperoni pizzas for supper tonight.

Okay, I will eat a salad but absolutely nothing else healthy for at least the next 24 hours.

Summer, be damned.