Just small talk

I've been ill for a few days.  I don't know why, but I've been sick more often, more intensely this year than the previous 5 years put together.  I don't know if it's my age or stress or just because it gives me something to whine about.  Anyway, I'm feeling better now.


The blogger spellcheck isn't working for me this week. If I misspell anything, it's blogger's fault.


Is it hot enough for ya?  Nobody has said that to me yet this year.  Despite temperatures soaring past 100.  I guess it just isn't funny when it gets this hot. 


I got a new tire today.  You know that tire that I always think looks flat?  I had it replaced today.  I don't know why they didn't do that the first time they fixed it back in May.  It cost less than $25 to "fix" it, but since it wasn't really fixed I could have just thrown the money out the door and got the same result.  Anyway, I called the Ford dealer this morning but they copped an attitude and told me to call them back when I knew what I wanted.  Well, what I wanted was to be treated with a little respect, so I went elsewhere. 

While I was waiting for my new tire at Goodyear, a woman came in for service.  The first thing she did when she got to the waiting area was to snatch up the TV remote control.  I thought she was going to turn on the TV which was fine with me as I was getting tired of reading my book (a text book, not a pleasure book).  However, she didn't turn on the TV.  She just hid the remote so the rest of us in the waiting area couldn't use it.  Some people are so strange.


I went to the remodeled Target store today.  It is pretty and bright and probably better organized than before, but I wore myself out trying to find where things are at.  And they raised their prices so I could help pay for the remodel. 


I've lost one of my cowboy DVD sets.  I can't find Stories of the Century anywhere and I haven't even watched them yet.  But the good news is that while I was looking under a chair for them, I found my shoes.  I had no idea that I had kicked off my shoes in the living room, much less that they were under the chair.  Heaven only knows how they got there! 

I don't know why I thought a box of DVDs would be under a chair.  It's not the most logical place to look, but I'm glad I did.  Sometimes things work out for me in strange, but simple, ways.

I think that may describe me.

Master Mixes

I collect recipes for master mixes and thought I'd share some with you.  Originally, Master Mix was a homemade baking mix - a convenient, make ahead mix of flour, baking powder, salt, dry milk powder, and shortening that you use to make fast and easy homemade muffins, cakes, quick breads, pancakes, and other good stuff.    Now "master mix" is used as a more generic term for all kinds of homemade mixes that will save you time and money. 

• Master mix recipes usually produce large amounts.  You may want to cut the recipes in half if you don't bake frequently.  (Though you may find you bake more when you have a handy mix available!)
• Always stir master mixes before using in recipes.
• If made with vegetable shortening, the master baking mix can be stored in a cool cupboard for a couple of months, but should be stored in the refrigerator where it will keep for up to 3 months.  If made with whole wheat flour, store in the refrigerator.
• I like to bake with butter so I sometimes omit the shortening from the master mix.  I then use about 2 tablespoons of butter per 1 to 1 1/2 cup of mix when I prepare one of the other recipes.

 I haven't tried all these recipes so I make no guarantees that they work, but you can usually trust extension services to have good, economical, everyday recipes.

1. Stretch Your Time and Money with Master Mixes from West Virginia University Extension Services.  This 4-page pdf booklet contains recipes for the Master Baking Mix and muffins, biscuits, and waffles.   It also has recipes for Granola, Veggie Rice Mix, Herb Salad Dressing Mix, and Creole Seasoning Mix
2. Better Baking Mix from Washington State Extension Services. This booklet contains oats and is a little healthier, but may not be as versatile as other baking mixes.  It contains recipes for cookies and pizza as well as biscuits, muffins, and pancakes.
3. Family Nutrition Program  from Mississippi State University Extension Services.  This booklet contains recipes for the Master Mix, Lower Fat Master Mix, and Master Mix with Oil.  Recipes that use the mix include biscuits, pancakes, brownies, snacking cakes, and pizza.
4. Making and Using Master Mixes and Freezer Meals from Utah State University Extension Services; Making and Using Master Mixes is a 24 page booklet that contains recipes for dressing mixes, cookie mixes, meat mixes, soup mix, master mixes, and a lemon pie filling mix.  It's hard to believe such a little book could have so many recipes.  Freezer Meals is a "cook-once-a-month" booklet that uses master mixes.
5. Master Mix Recipes for Special Needs from Purdue State University Extension Services.  This pdf file contains recipes for Gluten Free Master Mix, Dairy Free Master Mix, Magic Mix (I  can't find recipes using this mix, but I think it's for making a lower-fat roux for white sauce and soups.  You would use about 1/3 cup of mix to about 1 1/4 cup of water or broth.  Cook and stir until thickened.)
6. Homemade Mixes from Virginia Agriculture Extension Services archives; This booklet on Master mixes was printed in 1952.  (Warning: I have found that flours have changed over time and older recipes don't always give satisfactory results when made with modern flours.  You may need to adjust the amount of mix used in some recipes.  For the most part, recipes like biscuits and quick breads are rather forgiving about such things.)
7. Master Bread Mix booklet from University of Idaho Extension Services contains recipes for 5 cups of master mix, dumplings, biscuits, muffins, pancakes, tortillas, fruit cobbler, pizza, cornbread, brownies, and snacking cakes.
8. Baking Master Mix and Milk Master Mix from North Dakota State University Extension Services.    The Baking Master Mix is a two page pdf booklet that contains a recipe for the mix plus banana bread, zuchinni bread, and pumpkin bread, muffins, and peanut butter refrigerator cookies, The Milk Master Mix creates puddings, cream soups, and white sauces. 
9. Mix It Up - Food Mixes in a Jar from North Dakota State University Extension Services. Four different mix recipes with suggestions for gift giving. You can view a slideshow about using mixes on the NDSU Cook It Quick page.
10. Food Preparation and Recipes from North Dakota State University educational materails lists several other Magic Mixes and other helpful publications.

Hot biscuits topped with creamy butter and sweet strawberry jam. 

How rich can one old lady be?

Homepage for Heroes

AOL is promoting a Homepage for Heroes.  According to their Learn More  page, "Homepage for Heroes is AOL's commitment to recognize, honor and support those that dedicate their lives to protecting and bettering ours. ... Visit Homepage for Heroes every day and you will be donating minutes by logging in, sending a message to our troops or sharing the program with your friends. Every day is a new opportunity to create a moment for our troops overseas."

Whatever

I'm at that in-between age.  I mix slang from two different centuries.  I don't really know what's in and what's out so I just say whatever I think fits the situation. 

"Cool" "Neat" Are those out or in?
"Bee's knees"  Went out way before I was in (the world).
"Later gator"  Short for "See you later, alligator" which was out before I went to school.
I like "That's just whack!"  I do know that's out, but it fits so many times.
"Jackass stupid" was probably never in, but it is used a lot in our office.

A pan-handler asked my co-worker for a "dog" the other day because he and his babe needed to get back to the 'crib".  He and his babe must have been old because crib went out with, what bell-bottomed hip huggers?  Or was it after that?  I never heard "dog" used liked that before but we thought he meant money.  However, Internet research leads me to think he meant phone.  In or out?

If, like me, you don't know what people are saying, you can look up these slang terms on the Urban Dictionary.  But, dawg, some of those jackass stupid definitions are just whack!

Curiostiy is a curious thing.

"When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do."  Walt Disney

Curiosity.  I have that in abundance.  I'm curious about most things.  I have a little knowledge about a lot of things.  I think curiosity has kept me from becoming an expert in anything.  There is too much to learn to spend much time on any one thing.  I can't live long enough to learn it all.

I know a lot of people who don't seem to be curious about anything.  They don't want to learn anything about anything.  They think I'm weird.  I think they're unfathomable.   Sometimes I wonder what they have to think about.  One thing I'm curious about is what do the little voices in their heads talk about?  Does the echo bother them much?

Managers

Is it "Aggravate the Employees Week" all over the USA this week?
Or is it just at the Dumass Corporation where I work?
I need to know.

What do managers do at manager meetings anyway?
Sit around and think up ways to annoy the staff?
I really want to know.

Do managers get paid extra for inventing rules that make us want to beat our heads on the desks?
Or do they just do it for the fun of it?
Never mind. I already know the answer to that one.