Sleeping on my feet, or seat

I've had trouble sleeping the last 3 or 4 nights.   I've been napping in the daytime and up half the night.  I don't even know what day it is.  I know it 8:30 in the morning because there's a clock in front of me and I see light between the blinds in the window to my right.  I think it's Sunday but it might be Saturday. 

The TV show I usually watch on Saturday nights wasn't on last night.  I think it was because PBS was having one of their bi-monthly "interrupt the programming programs" or maybe it was another of their too frequent fund raising events.  Or maybe it was because it was Friday night.

I need to find out what day it is by tomorrow morning.  It will either be a day to go to work or not.  I prefer "not". 

Something Different

I had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with the usual turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes, but we tried some different things this year that turned out pretty good.  I make horrible dressing (or stuffing, if you prefer), but this year I made it in a Crockpot and it turned out pretty good.  We also had Green Beans with Cranberries and Tropical Sweet Potatoes.  I also made Amish Pickled Beets and they were excellent.

These are the recipes in case you are interested.  They'll serve 2 or 3 people with leftovers.  I'm not a great cook and I don't follow recipes very well, but these dishes all turned out very good. 

Slow Cooker Dressing for a 1 1/2 quart CrockPot

 

6 cups cubed bread (You can cut it into cubes or just tear it with your fingers into about 1" pieces. It's about 10 - 12 slices of bread, more or less)

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon salt (depends on how salty the broth is)
1 egg, beaten
2 - 2 1/2 cups broth, AS NEEDED (depends on how dry the bread is)

1. Put bread in large bowl. 
2. Melt butter in skillet.  Add onions and celery.  Saute till just tender.   Add to bread cubes
3. Add seasonings.
4. Add 1 cup broth and beaten egg.  (don't add hot broth with the egg or you'll cook the egg)
5. Grease the slow cooker pot, then spoon in the dressing.
6. Stir every couple of hours or so and add more broth as needed - depends on how moist or dry you like it. (I like my dressing moist which is why I don't like it cooked in the oven.) 

The directions said: Cook on High for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to Low, and cook for 4 to 8 hours, but I wasn't using the adjustable Crock-pot so I cooked it about 3 hours, then put it into a greased dish and stuck it in the oven for 20 minutes while the turkey rested.  It could have stayed in the crock pot, but I had added a little too much broth.

I liked the consistency and flavor of this, but it needed more sage - I added more sage but it didn't help so I think it's the sage I have.  Also I didn't have any celery and it needed some.  Some of the recipes called for chopped fresh parsley, cooked sausage, or raisins.  I think I may make it with oysters next time. 

Green Beans with Cranberries

1 can green beans (14 - 16 oz)
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon grated orange rind
1 or 2 tablespoons fried bacon pieces (the real stuff, not artificial - Hormel & Oscar Myers are good brands to try if you don't want to fry up your own)

Simmer on stove about 10 minutes (more or less).  Serves 2 or 3, depending on what else you're having.

The original recipes I saw called for frozen or fresh green beans (I don't like frozen green beans and I didn't have fresh) and a tablespoon of honey (which I didn't have - I could have substituted a little brown sugar but I just left out the sweetener altogether).  This dish had an unexpected flavor, which was quite good and I'll make it again.  It would be a lovely Christmas dish.  You could add a 1 or 2 tablespoons slivered almonds or chopped walnuts just before serving if you're feeling a little nutty.

Tropical Sweet Potatoes

2 - 4 sweet potatoes, depending on size (about 1/2 pound per person)
1 can Tropical Fruit or Tropical Fruit Salad with juice
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon corn starch
2 - 4 tablespoons sweetened flaked or shredded coconut
Miniature marshmallows.

1. Cook sweet potatoes as desired just until fork tender (baked, microwaved, or boiled)  Peel and slice in 1 inch slices when cool enough to handle.  Place in greased baking dish,
2. Pour fruit and juices into a pan with butter, brown sugar, and corn starch (you may not need all of the fruit - depends on how you like it and how many sweet potatoes you cooked.  Add more or less butter, sugar, and cornstarch to suit yourself.  Cook and stir until it boils and thickens.  Pour over sweet potatoes.
3. Sprinkle coconut and marshmallows on top.
4. Bake at 325 - 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes until coconut and marshmallows are browned to your liking.

I don't particularly like overly sweet casseroles made with mashed sweet potatoes so I usually make pineapple and sweet potatoes (a recipe I created after having Jamaican sweet potatoes at the farmer's market in Nashville, TN), but I was inadvertently out of pineapple so I used the tropical fruit and I had just happened to buy coconut for the first time in a long time so I decided to add that.  The coconut and sweet potato combination is really good. 

You can:

• leave out the marshmallows if you like; I only used them because it was Thanksgiving and people expect them on their sweet potatoes. 
• omit the coconut   If you aren't using coconut or marshmallows, there's not need to put them in the oven.  Just put sweet potatoes in pan with fruit and sauce to heat. 
• add some pecans to the coconut if you want.  That sounds good. 
• use pineapple only, if you prefer
• add a little cinnamon or ginger or Bourbon or rum
• use canned sweet potatoes
• add 1/4 - 1/2 cup pineapple or orange juice with 1/4 - 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch if you want more sauce.

Some Other Recipes:
Gayle Wagner's Slow Cooker Stuffing
Busy Cooks Traditional Crockpot Stuffing
Food.com's Crockpot Cornbread Dressing
Food.com's Homemade Poultry Seasoning

Betty Crocker's Holiday Beans and Cranberries
OSU Green Beans, Cranberries, and Nuts

Taste of Home Pineapple Coconut Potatoes

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

In the United States, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. Historically, we like to say it was first celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621, but they called it a Harvest Festival.  It is a day to be with family and friends, to eat a big dinner (turkey and pumpkin pie are traditional), and to give thanks. 

I hope all you have many blessings for which to be thankful.  I know that sometimes it's hard to see them between the trials and tribulations of everyday life so take time today to remember the people that bless your world.  And find an opportunity between now and the new year to tell them so.

Readers, even though we've never met, you're a part of my life and I thank you for reading the words I write.  You bless my world.

Bless: to confer happiness, well-being, or prosperity upon; to make better
Blessing: a person or thing that promotes happiness, well-being or prosperity; a person or thing who enriches your life

How to observe Thanksgiving

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes;

Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;

Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;

Count on God instead of yourself.

~~Author Unknown~~

What's up?

Have you heard about the protest by a Target employee who wants to spend Thanksgiving with his family, not getting ready to work a midnight shift?  (Target is opening at midnight Thursday to get a jump on Black Friday.)

I can understand why Target feels the need to start the mad Black Friday sales earlier than ever when another large discount company is also starting at midnight and another one is open on Thanksgiving day. 

I used to work in a hospital so I know there are some people who have to work on Thanksgiving.  It's not about making money, it's about the needs of other people.

That being said, I support Seth's protest.  (I wouldn't go into a store on Black Friday if they were giving the stuff away so it's rather easy for me to say that.) 

The workers of this country need to unite and stand up for themselves before the fat cats of corporate America take away everything - our 40 hour weeks, weekends off, paid holidays, paid vacations and reasonably priced health insurance.  Have you noticed the erosion of workers' rights in the past few decades?  It's time it stopped. 

Go, Seth, go!

The B word

I work with two project managers at the Dumass Company that are bullies (that's the B word for today but the one you were thinking I meant would also be appropriate.)  They successfully intimidate younger, less experienced staff.  Me - they just annoy, irritate, tick off, frustrate, get up my nose, and make me cuss like a drunken sailor.

Thankfully, I don't actually work with them like they are my team mates or like they are in my office, but I'm in meetings and on projects with them way more than I would like and for some reason the occasions have increased dramatically this year.  Maybe because the nice project manager moved on to other things.  (He probably couldn't stand to work with them either.)

Unfortunately, they aren't even in the same state as me.  I don't know where they are located, but it's not in my state.  We're known for being nice and they wouldn't fit in.

It might help if they were located closer to the office.  I think it's easier to face down a bully face-to-face if you know what I mean.  When one tries to put a bully in her place via email, it's often the victim who just ends up looking snarky.  If we were in the same state, I'd jump in my little Ford and hunt them down.  I mean I'd go speak to them personally - personnally and firmly, but politely.  More or less politely.

I don't know why I always have to be the polite one.

Misplaced, displaced, out of place

Today is my nephew's birthday.  His 42nd birthday.  Dang, is he getting old, or what?  One of my nieces had a birthday at the end of October and another one will be another year older at the end of this month.
Another nephew had a birthday a few days after mine last month and almost two weeks after his uncle's. And my oldest brother will be having a birthday in 3 days.

Everybody's getting older. 

Maybe that explains why when I look in the mirror some days it's not me looking back.  It's a reflection of  the kind of face that makes you say, "That face looks familiar, but I just can't place it."  

11/11/11

Veteran's Day

Today let us honor the men and women who have served our country and the world in the Armed Forces.  Pray for our veterans and their families as you pray for an end to the evils that create the need for wars. 

Tonight's the night.

Saturday, November 4th. 

Tonight's the night that time goes back to natural time and we won't have artificial (DST)  time again till next spring. 

My inner clock is vacillating between "oh,whoopee" and WHOOPEE!

For at least a week, probably a month, babies and old ladies are going to be crankier than usual.

Deal with it.

(I bet you thought I forgot, didn't you?  I remembered, it's just that I got distracted re-setting all the clocks and forgot to post this.)

Today's Topic Is........

We have a choice of topics today.
1) Old people
2) The Dumassers that work for the Dumass Company

We'll start with # 1 and see how far that gets us.  Tip: you might want to fix a plate of cheese and crackers at this point because there's going to be a lot of whine before we get done here.

Old people,

Let's start with Andy Rooney who died Friday night at the age of 92 just a month after he retired. I don't usually watch "60 Minutes".  I think they have a slant to their shows that sometimes is more entertainment than truth.  However, I made a point to watch Mr. Rooney's last broadcast.   I think his 90 was the same as some people's 60. 

Let's move on to the old people that were at Kroger's Saturday morning.  Most of them probably don't have jobs. (They were older than even me.)  Why were they shopping on a Saturday?  The sales last all week.  They should go on Tuesday afternoon when I'm at work.  But if they have to go shopping on the weekend, here are some rules they should follow to make the shopping experience more satisfying for all of us:

1. Don't stop in front of the door to ponder the wonders of the universe. 
2. Don't stop in front of the carts to check your coupons.
3. Don't leave your cart in the middle of the aisle. Especially if you're going to walk to the end of the aisle, pick up a can of beans, walk back to your cart, and then push it past the bean cans. 
4. If you want to spend 5 or 10 minutes deciding on red beans or kidney beans, no problem.  Just don't park your cart in the middle of the aisle.
5. Don't park your cart in the middle of the aisle with your purse gaping wide open.  (At your age you should know better.)
6. Don't try the pumpkin eggnog if they're giving out free samples.

Now we can discuss my favorite old person - ME!

I feel my age more than I should.  I have more aches and pains, more windiness, poorer vision, increased timidity, and I think my teeth just slipped saying timidity even though I don't wear dentures. I wheeze like a pack-a-day-smoker even though I haven't smoked 1/2 pack in my entire life.
Heaven knows I'm crankier and grouchier than I use to be so it's probably a self-defense mechanism that I'm more timid.  If I said what I was thinking half the time, I'd probably get decked a fourth of the time. 

I kicked a box in the dark Thursday night and my right knee bent backwards (more or less, mostly less).  I thought I might not be able to walk Friday, but it was fine.  However, my left leg started bothering me more than usual, then by the time I left work, the right knee was hurting and it's hurting today.  I think it's swollen and tender.  Of course, it could be tender because I keep pressing it to see if it's swollen.  The worst part is that I'm not sure which leg I'm supposed to limp on.

Well, girls and boys, we're not going to make it to the second topic today.  I have got to go get something to eat to get this pumpkin eggnog taste out of my mouth.