The Empty Cabinets of my Mind

Backed into a Corner Again!

My friend has a shed out back full of canned food that seriously is not meant to last forever.  So I'm holding this big can of corn and wondering what the heck to do with it.  Being a fresh food nut, I'm just not used to eating out of cans. Then I remember that it has been quite a few years since the dormitory served up quartered cockroach in the corn casserole, and how before that incident I used to really love corn casserole.

"That's it!" I exclaimed, and thought that today's what-R-we-going-to-have-for-dinner problem was solved.  The first recipe I googled up sounded delish, but then I realized that there is no such thing as a box of Jiffy Mix in my friend's cupboard.  No corn meal either.  But something in the Empty Cabinets of My Mind suggested that the stuff I make tortillas out of is corn.  Masa. Hmmm.  Another keyword search and this came up:

Alana's Blog

What a find! 

Alana's recipe is an adaption from one she found in the book  Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass. 

Oh, and while we're on the subject, here is a link to the recipe Chevy's restaurant uses for their Sweet Corn Tamalitos, courtesy Miss Erin:  Combine the masa with sugar?!  Sounds tasty, but I was hoping to save the sugar for desert.   OK, one more: VegWeb and now I will read all these again and see what I can come up with using ingredients on hand:

I sauteed 1/2 of a sweet onion and then added crumbled hamburger meat to an oven-proof skillet.  When cooked, then I poured red enchilada sauce over the meat and onion mixture to warm it.  Meanwhile I added 1/2 tsp of baking powder and a pinch of baking soda to 2/3 cup of masa (dry tamale dough mix), cut in 3T of butter and a little olive oil, and then stirred in a blended can of drained corn (mixed with 2 tablespoons of the juice from the can and 1 teaspoon of birch sugar), adding enough milk to make the dough moist (a few tablespons).  I poured the dough over the top of the meat sauce and baked 20 minutes (until the top turned golden brown) in my NuWave countertop overn and then spread a layer of grated cheddar over the top and put it back in the oven long enough to melt the cheese. 

This was good, but even better when rewarmed in the microwave the second day.   Yes, I broke down and put in a little bit of sugar. 

 

 

An Easy Put

I'm getting more balls up on the green now that I've started using my 37°hybrid loft wedge for just about anything within 100 yards of the hole. 

Tonight we took a ride in the cart over to a pond on the 7th hole and we saw a lone night heron.  We had seen the heron before, but never in action, and this time we stayed watching the pond until the stars came out and that is when the night heron went to work catching fish.  The ducks were up late, too.

Speaking of quacking...is that redundant?...while looking for the html code to make the degree sign (°), I stumbled across a cool site called Quackit:  HTML Tables

I had to try making a table:

Golf Score Card	Par 29
Hole 1	Hole 2	Hole 3
Hole 4	Hole 5	Hole 6
Hole 7	Hole 8	Hole 9

KEWL!

Not a Kid Anymore

My friend explained that he doesn't know much about goats.  "They are smelly, right?" he asked, undoubtedly trying to get my goat.  "Well, no, they are not," I replied as sweetly as possible:

 

When I was a kid, there were two kinds of farm kids:  human kids, and goat kids.  Little pigs were piglets, little chickens were chicks, little ducks were ducklings...you get the drift? 

So I identified with the little goats.  We had something in common.  Now, in some circles, it is considered impolite to call a human child a kid.  But, hey, I am still a kid at heart.

My Favorite Kind of Call

Last night my neighbor, yes, the same one who carves beautiful pumpkins with a butter knife, called to say he wished I would help myself to some of the roses he grows alongside his border:

So we have armloads of them in vases all over.

He grows them in all sizes and many colors, including pink, red, yellow, orange, and variegated.

They smell so good!

THANKS!

Something New on my Sidebar

I have a new "badge" in the left sidebar, and here is some text in connection with it:

My blog has recently been added to Personal Blogs, which is part of one of the largest networks of blog directories on the Web. Please visit my blog's personal page to vote for my blog and comment to other blog users.

This is not a paid post.

Another Amazing Kid!

Maybe it is because I have absolutely no musical ability that I love to watch videos of kids who can put on remarkable music performances:

Amazing rendition from Don Quixote

I was going to embed it, but haven't time today.

This is a photo my brother took of one of his cats:

 

I don't have any cats, partly because I travel too much.  It wouldn't be feasible.

But every cat I encounter is a photo op, or if somebody else took the picture, eye candy for me. 

A Piece of Cake

Some people in my community are "foodies" that love to eat communally, and they bake cakes for the whole neighbourhood, but they buy their pies from an expensive pie shop.  Not me.   I don't enjoy making cakes,  but since I'm rather fussy about the quality of pies, it is better to make them than to buy them and then grumble about how much better mine are.   If I want to impress somebody with a cake, I buy one at an reputable bakery. 

We once lived near a cake shop that specialized in decorating with edible flowers. They made birthday cakes for men  but a fair few of their designs were more like what might go for bridal showers or tea parties. Myself, I prefer bold designs, like a locomotive or an airplane.

Special occasion cakes ought to be special, so if one of my friends caught a big fish, then he should get a cake with a fishing theme.  Once I threw caution to the wind and made a cake shaped like a fish.  That one was fun to decorate.  If someone is going into the army, then I can imagine a cake with a military theme.  The possibilities are endless. 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Paid to Write Program

I just published my first article on Experts Column.  In case you want to take a look it is here:  Uncommon Sparrows

I don't know yet, but several people has told me that they pay more than Triond, and that it is OK to republish items you have first posted through Triond as long as you use the same name on each site (mine is drAnn) and as long as you credit the source at the end of your article. 

If you like to write and are interested in having another income stream, my referral link is below:

Write for ExpertsColumn

 

 

 

 

Almost Time for a Fill

 

Sally's had some of the Gelish nail colors on sale for 1/2 off, and although the color looked nice on the indicator, one of bottles once opened was found to contain a hideously bright orange, so I mixed it with a little leftover Sheek White and one of the translucent sparkly colors. 

Not just tolerable, I actually like the result.  

I have been using this system since October and haven't chipped or broken a nail the whole time.  My nails grow fast, so I have applied the gels and/or fill-ins 11 times now by myself at home.  I usually do the French Manicure because I love white tips and also, with the neutral color at the base it is not as obvious when it is time to do a fill-in.