SISTER WISDOM : build a better life

#1. bestmomma’s question. If you could copy the cooking expertise and ability of one person, who would it be?

It would either the Frugal Gourmet (I don't remember his name right now. oh wait, yes I do:), Jeff Smith, or Sally Fallon who wrote "Nourishing Traditions" cookbook which is huge and has more helpful information about food, nutrition, and how to eat basic, healthy, good food than any other cook book I own.

#2. What’s the first red food that comes to your mind?

Strawberries.

#3. How do you eat your strawberries?

Plain. Oh so good. Wash and put in bowl; put bowl on table; sit; devour. My 2nd favorite way is in home made strawberry jam on a piece of toasted home made bread. Oh. Heavenly. Bliss.

#4. Share a recipe that uses cherries.

Oooh. I don't ever cook with cherries. I eat them like I eat strawberries. Oh, wait, that's not entirely true; I make scones and granola bars with dried cherries. Here's a granola bar recipe:

Home made, Not really healthy but really yummy Granola Bars

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1.) You're on a trip taking a tour through the jungle. You have a backpack with some food, some first aid supplies, a pocket knife, a flashlight and a couple bottles of water. Some how, you get separated from your group. By night fall you haven't found your group and haven't heard them looking for you. How long do you think you would be able to survive on your own?

How much food did we say was in the bag? Um, okay, probably as long as it took me to die from starvation. I think I could hide fairly well from ravenous creatures and such, but killing something to eat it would be difficult (no, I'm not a really good person, I'm just not good with setting traps made from vines and then killing my catch with a pocket knife). Now if my husband were along, we'd have a nice bungalow built in a week and be happily roasting a tiger over our rotisserie in the front yard... But that's another story.

2.) Do you think it's okay to lie to spare someone's feelings? Why?

Hmm. Lying is not good, usually ever. But keeping your mouth shut is good, much of the time. I find that many of my friends have this idea that in order to be honest with their best friend/mom/sig. other they have to tell them EVERYTHING. No. Not true. Some things are better left way, way out of sight. Some times there is no way to express yourself on a particular subject without hurting someone else. Obviously there are time when getting the truth out is more important than sparing feelings. But there are also times when "self-expression" is just a narcissistic excuse for putting others down in a subtle way.

3.) If a talking (insert your name here) doll were made, what are THREE phrases it would say?
The life-size talking Annie doll would say: "I'm hungry," "I need to pee," and "Don't be a victim." I'm pretty sure the non-pregnant version would hang on to the last phrase, but the first two would probably change...
4.) If the super power to be able to read minds at your own will were possible, do you think it would be... cool and helpful, intrusive and wrong, manipulative or maddening? Explain why you would or wouldn't want to be able to read anyone's mind at your own will.

As tempting as it is... I think, overall, it would become intrusive and manipulative. I don't think I could keep myself from really seeing what people were thinking, and then responding to that. And you know, I don't want people to know what I'm thinking all the time. Or even most of the time. I can exercise self-control over my mouth and keep from saying really stupid stuff most of the time, but me and the brain are still working it out. So I think I would judge people unfairly by what was flitting through their minds and then never be able to forget it. I'll pass on that superpower. Can we talk about laser-shooting eyes instead...?

5.) Drunk confessions, are they the things people can't bring themselves to say sober or just crazy ramblings of an influenced and intoxicated mind?

In my experience, which isn't vast, I find that drunk confessions have a definite element of truth. But as with the "reading minds" thing, when there are no inhibitions, people say what they think at the moment without considering the consequences. So there may be truth, but that doesn't mean it's the whole truth. Does that make sense?

6.) What brings out the worst in you?

Being very tired and up too late. I get really unpleasant to be around once I get past a certain point of weariness.

7.) Do you think long distance relationships work? Have you ever been in one before?

I am happily married to the result of a long distance relationship! It worked for me; however, we did live in the same place and become friends during high school. In college and after was the long-distance part, so we had some history that helped overcome the problem of really getting to know each other from 500 miles apart.

Overall, though, I think it can work. If there is commitment and some willingness to sacrifice a bit, (long drives every other weekend, anyone?), yes.

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I have an almost three year old (Mara) and a fifteen month old (Wick). They share a lot of toys, such as blocks, cars and trucks, and stuffed animals, but some toys Mars have lots of little pieces and aren't good for Wick. So I bought a bunch of $1 plastic shoeboxes and separated her "big girl" toys out. She can open the lids, but Wick can't quite figure out how. Now she can big out the box she wants to play with, and she knows that she plays with the toys in the boxes up on the table, not on the floor. She has to put one box away before she gets another out, so it also helps me not end up with a million tiny toys scattered all over the house.

Cookbook Give Away!

Win Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book, her biggest collection yet. It includes over 300 pages of 30-minute meals, dinners for one, kosher meals, vegetarian meals, appetizers, and holiday meals. Click on the image at right to go to the Give Away. All you have to do is leave a comment! Drawing on Friday, Feb. 27!

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And now for the four foods:

#1. Potato chips. Flavored? Regular, ridged or stacked?

Cheddar & Sour Cream flavored - ridged. Mmmmmm. Just had some today, actually.

#2. Cheese doodles. Yellow or white? Puffed or crunchy?

Definitely yellow. Usually puffed, but sometimes I go for the spicy crunchy kind.

#3. Pretzels? Your favorite shape? Favorite flavor?

Traditional shape is my favorite. I like buttery ones or the fresh jalapeno kind you get at the mall. With cheese dipping sauce. Yeah. That's good.

#4. Share a recipe for salsa or dip.

This is a recipe for Mississippi Sin dip: it's lusciously bad for you, with ham and cheddar cheese and cream cheese and sour cream, and it's got a nice little kick. Serve it warm in a bread bowl or with baquette slices or pita chips or hey, I think it would be great with Lay's Sour Cream and Cheddar Ridged Potato Chips. But that's just me.

Give Away:

My first ever give away, which I hope to repeat on a regular basis. Go here to enter: Win This! Rachael Ray's Big Orange Cookbook.

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Four Foods on Friday is hosted by Fun, Crafts, and Recipes blog. Someday I'm gonna be on the FFOF Regulars list. Yes. I have a dream.

#1. Are your Kitchen utensils nylon, silicone, wood or other?

Mostly wood, with a few random nylons and others in there. My favorite is the big hardwood paddle I got from Williams-Sonoma. It's a perfect stirrer/scraper/flipper, and, oh yes, paddle.

#2. Do you prefer dishes washed in a dishwasher or by hand?

I love my dishwasher.

#3. How many sets of dishes do you have?

Ohhhhh. Too many, but kind of an odd collection I guess. I have two or three boxed up in the basement (mainly wedding gifts), one set boxed up in the garage (inherited from Mom), and what we actually use on a daily basis is a combination of a set of Blue Willow - which doesn't have any bowls with it - and a couple of sets of bowls, one from Japan that my sis-in-law got me.

#4. Share a recipe that calls for only one pot or pan.

This is what I'm making for tonight. I guess technically it calls for zero pots or pans; you just need one slow cooker. I'll be gone all day, so it will be really nice to come in and actually have dinner mostly made. A batch of rice to go with, and we're set.

From AllRecipes.com: Kathy's Delicious Whole Slow Cooker Chicken

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, skin removed
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

DIRECTIONS

1. Remove skin from chicken, and empty inner cavity of contents within. Pat chicken dry with a paper towel, and place inside the slow cooker.
2. In a bowl, stir together the chicken broth, soy sauce, olive oil, honey, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, sesame oil, and minced garlic. Pour mixture over chicken, and cover.
3. Cook chicken on low setting for 8 hours, or 4 hours on high setting.

Rules (modified to be more courteous than the original):
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, you may choose 25 people to be tagged. Common courtesy dictates that you should tag the person who tagged you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people, then click publish.)

1. I secretly desire to be an amazing soccer player, which is strange since I've never actually played soccer. Sure, I've kicked a ball around a bit, but I didn't do any sports growing up and have since felt so uncomfortable participating because I just don't know that much about how to play. So I usually just watch. When it's volleyball or softball, I couldn't care less. But when it's football or soccer, I really itch to get out there and play. I just don't want to make my team lose, or myself embarrassed beyond all human reason... Although...

2. I don't get embarrassed easily, but people think I do because of my complexion: fair fair skin and a tendency toward very red cheeks, especially when I am warm at all. I'm a rather hot-natured person, so I tend to be warm often, which means that I have red cheeks often, which means that people think I'm embarrassed about something, often. Of course when you try to explain that you're not actually embarrassed, people just assume moreso that you are and are trying to cover up. Sigh. The curse of the Irish. "I'm not embarrassed, but I'm starting to get ticked off..."

3. I was very, very shy as a child, and really as a teenager and in college, too. But I learned to cover it up pretty well by age 16 or so.

4. I love being in crowds, in the bustle of people, or diving (figuratively) into big new groups of people to meet and talk to. I'm usually more comfortable in large groups than in small ones.

5. In high school, my best friend J and I had a formal, public debate about the questionable message of "It's a Wonderful Life." There was no "winner" but I think it's fair to say she won by a good margin. I still don't like that movie, though...

6. I have split my head open twice, both times as a very young youngster. Once I fell off the bed and hit my head on the doll crib. My sister and I were playing "jump from bed to bed over the alligator moat" and we were supposed to be asleep. I'm sure we would have been in BIG trouble except that the copious amount of blood from my head saved us... The second time my sister and I (notice how she's involved both times? Hmmm.) were riding our trikes/bikes around the garage playing a fun game called "pull on the hose of the heavy metal spray can that's hanging on the wall while you ride by." This ended disastrously, though I think the blood saved us from punishment yet again.

7. I vote libertarian most of the time.
8. I love food. I love cooking. I love eating. I love cooking and eating food. I love eating food other people have cooked. I love cooking and serving food to people I love and eating it with them. Any combination of food + cooking + eating is great.
9. I spend 4-6 hours a day working as a freelance writer.

10. I take photos of the food I cook to use in recipes/articles that I write. This can greatly slow down the cooking process, as I'm really not a good photographer at all.

11. I don't know what to do with really serious people. I don't understand them. I try... but it's just outside my scope of reality.

12. I love climbing trees. Especially sycamores. They smell amazing.

13. I'm 6 1/2 months through my third pregnancy in 3 1/2 years, which means I've either been pregnant or nursing a baby for the last 3 1/2 years. This makes tree climbing difficult... so I'm excited about baby #3 and also excited about being neither pregnant nor nursing in the near future.

14. My favorite thing to do when I was little was swing on our tire swing and make up songs. I didn't know  that our neighbor (a very sweet old lady) would come out and listen to me sing my little songs. I remember being really embarrassed when I found out.. but I kept making up songs anyway.

15. I hate, despise, and want to annihilate all clutter. I married a man who does not like to throw anything away. God knows when we need balance!

16. Favorite poets: Gerard Manley Hopkins, Rabindranath Tagore, and George MacDonald's "Sonnets Concerning Jesus."

17. I can't ever remember band names, who sung what and when... and don't really care at all. 

18. I think that most of our cultural trends are inane and thoughtless, and I enjoy laughing at them.

19. I hate text messaging.

20. I think my true native state is Colorado. I love winter. I love snow. I hate hot weather and humidity and sweat and ew.

21. In college, my best friend K and I put out the eternal flame. But we never soaped the fountain (come on, that's SO lame).

22. I don't have a favorite movie. And I've never seen Grease 2, just for the record.

23. I've sung in a lot of wedding and I sing and play guitar on my church worship team. Because I've done so for so long, people tend to think I'm this really amazing guitarist, but my ability is strictly limited to chords and strumming. I can't do anything lead guitar-ish or really interesting by itself. I love improvising vocally.

24. Joe and I are planning two big trips that we hope will happen at some point in the next ten years: first, a major month-long cross-country drive through the U.S. Second, a long back-packing through Europe trip. Anyone want to come? We like company.

25. Joe and I like inviting random people to eat with us/stay with us/go places with us/do random things with us. We also like spontaneous road trips. Spontaneous anything, really.