I just used Shazam to discover Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. http://shz.am/t44192992

Memorial Day 2012

I asked the Darling Husband (DH) what he wanted to have today for Lunch/Dinner he asked me to make my mom's sloppy Joe's.  So I bring you Pani Wala's Sloppy Joe's

1 LB lean ground beef
1 small sweet onion
1 small green bell pepper
1/2 a jar of Open Pit BBQ Sauce

Chop the onion and place in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil and cook until transparent.  Add the green pepper cook another five minutes.  Add the ground beef and cook until brown.  Be sure to break up the ground beef. Add the 1/2 jar of Open Pit BBQ Sauce and lit it simmer for about 15 minutes. 
Serve on top of hamburger buns.  Put a slice of American Cheese on the bottom half of the bun, then the Sloppy Joe's, place a few bread and butter pickles on top, and cover the top of the bun with mayo.  

May the 4th be with you!

This is what my cube looked like when I got to work today!

Sookie

  She is similar but different than Xena.  She is more of a clown and makes  us laugh.  She is not vocal at all and does not swim like Xena.  But she loves being in the water and tries to jump in the pool on her own if we let her.  She is on the hunt for that squirrel, she's treed a possum, she barks at all the birds, and will try to catch butterflies

I still knit and am currently working on a pair of socks for myself.  Right now wok is very stressful. We went from 5 people to 3 in one month.  They left on their own because they found better jobs.  I celebrated my 5 year anniversary with the company.

Oh I found Pintarest and am possessed.  I have started have joined my niece in her 14 Foodies blog and you will see some cross posts. 

Our April 2012 Challenge was Thomas Keller's book, "ad hoc at home"  We are to take one recipe out of the book cook it and discuss what worked what didn't what we did different,.  Well I did it a little different I invited friends over and prepared a dinner 

Our Menu

Brined Pork Tenderloin

Braised Buttered Kohlrabi, Easter Radishes and Brussels Sprouts

Lemon Bars with Meringue 

Brined Pork Tenderloin

Brined Pork Tenderloin

For more information on the Brined Pork Tenderloin, you will have to go to 14 Foodies

Butter Braised Turnips, Easter Radishes and Brussels Sprouts

Wait Yes I did say Turnips, originally the recipe called for Kohlrabi, but since I could not find Kohlrabi I substituted turnips. This dish was delish, flavorful, colorful. I will make it again.

Lemon Bars with Meringue  

Yes another substitution! I was too tired to make a sugar syrup to make the meringue for the bars, so the darling husband rescued me and took out a can of squishy cream.  I think you could actually make this with lime juice.  And no I did not have freshly squeezed lemon juice, the juice came out of the bottle quite naturally.  

So there you have the Thomas Keller "ad hoc at home" challenge.  

I wonder what May will bring.

Kilts could be misconstrued as cross dressing?

I saw this article it was in the AP.

Utah school forces student to change out of kilt

Sun May 17, 3:52 pm ET
WEST HAVEN, Utah – The principal of a Utah middle school has been asked to apologize for forcing a kilt-wearing student to change his clothes.
Weber School District spokesman Nate Taggart says Craig Jessop has been asked to extend an apology to 14-year-old student Gavin McFarland of Hooper after the school official's comments Wednesday.
Gavin says he wore the kilt twice in the past two weeks to Rocky Mountain Junior High as a prop for an art project. Jessop told the boy that the outfit could be misconstrued as cross-dressing.
Taggart says the district recognizes the kilt as an expression of the boy's Scottish heritage and that the kilt was not inappropriate.
Kilts are traditional Scottish apparel generally worn by men for formal or special occasions.

I was outraged! Craig Jessop you need to do some research on Scotland and Kilts you need apologize no only to Gavin McFarland, but to all the Scots and to cross dressers. I am a firm believer of people wearing what they feel comfortable in and not being dictated to by fashion.

Silence

Xena the Warrior Corgi

It may seem odd to us what normal sounds are around us especially when one of those sounds is taken away. My home now in silence... so silent it's almost deafening. Gone is the sound of little paws hitting the floor. Gone is the "Ellllooooh" that greeted us when we came home, now 6:00 comes and there is no one to tell us it's here and gone. Gone is the barking at the thunder gods and the cold wet nose that followed because she needed protecting from their noise. I will have to fend off the evil vacuum cleaner when it comes out of it's closet, I will no longer have my protector that will attack it.

Gone the is my sweet baby girl.

She was 12 1/2 yrs old when the faeiries called her back to their land.

It all happened so quickly. We left to go work on Thursday, she was fine, she assumed her position in the living room as we left. When we got home from work she looked and acted like she had a tummy ache. We kept checking on her all evening, and agreed that if she is not any better in the morning we would take her to the vet and pick her up when we were coming home. Friday morning she had not eaten nor had she had any water to drink.

Vet time.

Good ole Doc Cooper and Doc Parker ... they were her docs since the first check up.

Doc Parker was headed into surgery but when he saw Xena he examined her immediately. Words that I remember from that conversation

perinea hernia

intestines in chest cavity

Surgery

Specialist in Dallas

No guarantee

Age

We thanked him because he knew we needed time to absorb and process, into the surgery he had scheduled. We began to look at pros vs cons,

she may not survive the surgery

possible complications after surgery

may need additional surgeries

So a difficult decision was made, a responsible adult decision was made, we talked to her held her while she went to sleep. She enriched our lives so much, she gave us so much we owed it to her to give her dignity at the end. We will meet her one day across the rainbow bridge, she'll be smiling and give us a "elllooh" once again.

Victorian Diamond Lace Socks by Susan Lawrence

I tried to do this last year but well failed because I lost the first finished sock. So this year I attempted it again.At the end of the year, I knit a pair of socks that I will wear on new years eve and into new years day. While knitting it I think about what I have done the past year, ask forgiveness for those I may have hurt or harmed through thought or action, I focus on new goals for the coming year, not only knitting but personal and/or professional. It reminds me somewhat of grandmother making prayer ties.
The pattern was originally available through knit picks. It’s my attempt at lace yes there are mistakes in it, but they are going on my feet, no one is going to see them under my pants and the only person that close to my feet is my husband when he’s massaging them.The only change to the pattern I made was to carry the yarn over down the foot until the toes. The yarn is Louet Gems . The color is called cloud, it’s mainly gray but in certain lights it has a slight purple tint to it.