Flashback!

I remember the days of old Nintendo NES and Super Mario Brothers - you know the old style graphics with no more than like 5 colors. haha! I even still have my old Nintendo NES - thanks to my awesome mom who didn't get rid of it! She sent it to me one year and I gave it to my son - who at the time did not have a clue as to what video games were. He loved it. Quickly, he wanted new games. I turned to Amazon and found a few NES games and quickly took to Legends of Zelda.

It's about 5 years later and my son has a Wii and nice little collection of video games. We found him a newer Legends of Zelda game for his birthday and he declared that he wanted to be Link for Halloween.

I reminisced of the "old days" as I put together his costume...



Doesn't he make a good Link?

Uh oh! Watch out Link!

Autumn's Whisper

I'm not really one for writing poetry... in fact, I think I out right stink at it. Dustin recently did a Literature unit on poetry and his teacher assigned an extra credit assignment to write a poem. He did one about his cat, but I was inspired by the gorgeous fall colors and wrote one too. I think I copied him a little with the repetition of "falling". I liked how he had incorporated it into his poem. I'm not sure it's any good but here it is...
I know, don't quit my day job right? LOL

Autumn's Whisper

Falling Falling Gold and Red

Autumn’s whisper blows through my mind

Pies, cookies, and breads warm my soul

Thankful greetings to friends and kin

For Winter slumber comes again

Grey and white cover me long

Fun times once more when green shows

Flowers come and butterflies tickle

New babies emerge from the den

And grow with summer as spring ends

Crisp veggies sowed now yield their fruits

Hot sweltering heat makes my thoughts lie

In hopes of cool once more

Falling falling gold and red

Autumn’s whisper blows again.

Homemade Green Salsa

I still have TONS of green tomatoes! What to do what to do??
I can only eat so many fried green tomatoes, so what do I do with the rest of them?!

I just whipped up some salsa - just threw in a little of this and a little of that, mix it, blend it, add a little more pepper, dip a chip, and wa-la! Yummy green salsa my son loves!

Now I just hope that I can remember what I did so that I can make it again! ha!

All Blocked Up

It was a crazy crazy day.

My son had a Dr appointment, we had to run to the bank, library, post office, then to the drug store, craft store, and finally grocery store. It was so busy, but we still took a few moments to stop at our favorite little coffee shop, Java Junkies, for a drink.

My son and I were exhausted and looked forward to getting home and into our warm fuzzy pj's and relax. As we neared our house, we were getting more and more eager to lounge, but as we rounded a curve, we noticed a train's headlight and one of the neighbor's cars in the drive. We share a driveway that crosses the train track. I had several people in a hurry behind me, also in a wicked rush to get home, so I thought I would turn into the drive and get myself as close to the neighbor's car as I could without hanging the back end of my car into the street. As soon as I turned I noticed that the train wasn't moving, and the neighbor wasn't in his car. I put on the brake, turned off the car, and waited. After all, the train was only about 50 feet from clearing the crossing. Maybe it was just...slow. But we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

The train didn't move. I've got groceries in the car that would be melting soon, and my son had to use the restroom. I can't wait and wait and wait for this train to move! I thought about crossing the track by foot and carry all the perishable foods with me, and my son, but the thought of that was terrifying! What if that train decided to move while I crossed the track? We would be dead meat, that's what.

I called my hubby, all in a tizzy...that happens when Aunt Flow is close. I screamed and cursed that this evil train was blocking my path and it was so close to clearing the crossing. I was so mad and I needed to get home...which I could see... it was right there! He said there was a sign up there with a number to call report a train on the track. Yeah right, that will take AGES! So I got out of the car and stomped up to the sign giving the engineer and evil eye that I'm certain he never saw. Sure enough, there was a phone number AND a crossing number. I ran back to the car, grabbed a pen and paper and wrote it down. I yelled at my hubby and told him to hang up so I could call the this number.

So I called. For crossing blockage press 4. I think I must have slammed on the 4 key pretty hard. Then I waited again. They appreciated my call and it was very important to them and soothed me with lovely sleepy music. Finally a lady answered. I said politely, I really did, by this point I was ready to go to a hotel. ha! I let her know there was a train blocking the crossing and I needed to get my small handicap child home. I didn't lie alright! He's got a handicap placard for the car! I told the lady that it had been there 45 minutes since I had been there, but it looked like it had been there longer because my neighbor's car was there too, and he had left his car and walked across the track. (ooooh!) Then I said, it's only 50 feet from clearing the crossing. I gave her the crossing number and engine number and she asked for my name and number.

I called hubby back and started yelling again. It's going to take forever to move that darn train! What good would it do to call!? I can't wait here all night... maybe I should cross the track... in the dark...with a handicap kid...and 15 bags of groceries. Hubby told me NEVER to cross a track, of coarse, and I knew better too, but I didn't want to wait in the car all night long. Then my phone beeped. Another call. An unfamiliar number. Was it the train people? I hung up on hubby and answered.

The lady from the train company said that she called the train driver person and asked them to move a little ways. If they hadn't moved in 10 minutes, to call her back. I thanked her and got her name, so if I had to call back, I would know who to talk to. Then I called hubby back.

Yeah yeah yeah, they said they called the train driver person, who knows how long THAT would be?! But suddenly I hear this bang, boom, and loud growl. The train was moving! YAY! Hubby asked what that noise was. I said it was a dinosaur coming to eat us. The train. Duh. He then proceeded to tell me NOT to go flying across the track until they are far far away from the crossing because they might need to back up and then pull forward again. Yeah yeah yeah.. I know all this. I was irritated and told him I wasn't going to do anything stupid like that. He really did irritate me...I'm blond, not dumb.

I'm watching the train pull slowly away from the crossing while hubby is gabbing in my ear about not crossing. It's going slow and it's about 100 feet from the crossing and if it decided to go back, I'm sure I would have had plenty of time to cross, but I waited a little bit longer. Still it pulled away. I watched the light get smaller and smaller. I started the car and waited a little more. Hubby finally asked me where it was.

I don't know, I'm already parked at home. ha!

I called the train people back and spoke with another person that wasn't the same person I spoke with earlier, and I asked if she could pass a message on for me. I wanted to thank the train company lady for her help....I wanted to leave her thinking, "Oh!! That's the nice lady with the handicap kid!" in case we have to call again. ha!

I got my groceries in and put away, but I'm still not in my warm fuzzy pjs!!

My Quest for the Perfect Fried Green Tomato

I love fried green tomatoes. I know lots of people don't like them, but I do! I don't have them often and consider them to be a rare treat mainly because you can never find green tomatoes in the store.

Well this year my garden has been abundant with tomatoes and since we have a very short growing season, the tomatoes will not have time to ripen on the vine. I have to pick them early before they freeze. Guess what that means?

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES!!!

It's been a long time since I've made them, so I had forgotten what to use, so I have been looking online for various recipes to try. This one too bland, this one too oily. I even came across a baked green tomato recipe that I tried. It wasn't so good, but I'm not ready to give up on it yet. It just needs a little tweaking.

Just now did I find my perfect fried green tomato recipe and here's what I did.

Items Needed:
Deep fryer with oil (I have a little Fry Daddy- I like to call it my Fry Baby)
A good number of tomatoes
Flour
Bread Crumbs (Italian style is great, but all I had on hand was plain)
Various seasonings - my favorites are pictured here:

Don't forget a few plates, paper towels, and something to scoop the tomatoes out of the fryer.

Layer a plate with paper towels and set aside. This is what you'll drain them on.

In a medium mixing bowl combine bread crumbs, flour, and spices and mix them well. I didn't use a measuring cup or spoon, but I had way more bread crumbs than flour. I might have only had a couple table spoons of flour.

Slice your tomatoes up. You don't want them to be too thin! Too thick and they will be hard! Mine were about 1/4 inch thick.

Now, here's the part I've been missing in other recipes. Dip the tomato slice into some water and dredge them into the bread crumb mixture. Make sure they are coated all around. Cover several tomatoes BEFORE cooking.

When you're all ready, drop 3-4 slices into the fryer. While they are cooking, take your scooper thing and flip them around in the oil. They do not take long to cook! If you over cook them, they will be soggy and full of oil... YUK! Don't cook more than 2 minutes - even that might be too long. When you take them out, poke them with a fork - if it goes in easily but has slight resistance, that's about right.

Lay them on the paper towel covered plate to drain excess oil. While they drain, do another batch of tomatoes in the fryer. Don't stack new ones on top of the ones you just put down otherwise they will soak up the oil draining off the new ones... BLEH. And don't leave them on the paper towel too long because they will soak the oil up again. Put them on another plate or paper towel.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Growing Up

I can't believe my son is going to be 13 years old this year! He's going to be a teenager! Honestly though, I still see him as my little baby boy.

This year, hubby suggested, and it was a very good suggestion, that we get him a desk for his room. That way he could have his own personal space where he could work on things - other than the floor, where he used to play.
I thought it was a good idea, but the thought of my little baby growing up made me feel...not old, but not quite young anymore, and I didn't want to. Reluctantly, I agreed.

We picked up a desk, lamp, and a few other things at the office supply store and set them up. My son loves it! He said, "Mom! I can build lego things on my desk!" Oh thank you for not growing up too fast!

Happy Birthday!