Thursday's Things in a Row

Things in a row that begin with the letter "B".

Click to enlarge any photo.

BOWLS

BASKETS

BOLTS

BASKETS

BOTTLECAPS

BARSTOOLS

BIRDS

BALLOONS

Come join in the fun!

Signs - There Ought To Be A Law

Sign found in on a beat up old cookie sheet in Tinkertown Museum, Sandia Park, NM.

Join Lesley to see more signs.

Things....Chapter Two

It's time once again for another chapter of "Things you can and can't live without." Read the first installment here.

Things you can't live without:

The Public Toilet Survival Kit

 

Each kit includes one toilet seat cover, two antiseptic wipes and one pair of latex-free disposable gloves which should be enough to keep you safe and sanitary in even the most challenging conditions. The only thing that is missing is toilet paper. Heck, just throw some individual wipes in there and you'd be all set! (The other wipes are to clean the TOILET, not your, er, bottom!)

The Husband Chopping Board

For those PMS days, or the times when you feel like murdering him, but you don't want to go to jail. Just take out some vegetables and chop to your heart's content!

Kai Pure Komachi 2, 8-piece Knife Set

Speaking of knives, get a load of these beauties! Just look at that rainbow of colors! I bought the little red one a long time ago and it is still as sharp today as the day I bought it! And I love me a sharp knife!

Things you can live without:

A Woman Remote Control

(Click to enlarge). Uh, gentleman, I only have TWO WORDS for you.

AS IF.

or

GET REAL.

or

YOU WISH

or

F*CK YOU

Okay, maybe I got carried away on that last one. Sorry. You just go ahead and buy this little remote if you want to. Go ahead and try it at home. But let this be a warning to you: You'd better check your health insurance for coverage on removing said remote from your a$$!

Heart Gelatin Mold

When I say "heart", I literally meant HEART, not "heart-shaped"! Yucko! Who would want to eat this? Unless it's at a Halloween party or for a science project!

Tampon Flash Drive

Seriously? Who would use this? A female spy so that she could keep it openly in her purse with important data on it? (I know, I watch too many movies!)

That's it for today's edition of THINGS YOU CAN AND CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT!

Jim's Famous Egg Rolls

One of the reasons that I married my husband is that he makes a mean egg roll.

Fact.

Our son, Jason's, birthday was Saturday, and he requested egg rolls for his birthday dinner.  Usually I make a side of rice to go along with the rolls, but really, why bother? Everyone usually ignores the rice and dives right into the egg rolls.

Here are step-by-step instructions so you, too, can have people fawning over you when you make these:

DELICIOUS EGG ROLLS

ingredients:

1 - large boneless/skinless chicken breast
2 - boneless porkchops
1 - can tiny shrimp
2 - scallions
1 - bag of ready made cole slaw (or shred your own cabbage)
1 - egg
1 - package of egg roll wrappers
1/2 - tsp salt
1/2 - tsp sugar
ground pepper to taste
peanut oil (preferred but not necessary)
sweet/sour sauce for dipping
hot mustard for dipping

Drain and rinse shrimp. Set aside.

Slice up scallions and set aside.

Cut chicken and pork into bite-sized pieces.

Heat up your wok or pan, then add some oil. Wait a minute, then add 1/3 to 1/2 of the meat and stir fry. (If you add all the meat at once it will steam instead of fry.)

Yes, my pan is a little dented. Don't laugh. I think it fell out of the drainer when it was piled high with dishes and bounced off the floor. Hey - it still works!

Jim was so cute at this point of the cooking process - I was clicking away with my camera and he said, "Try to get this shot!" He was tossing up the meat with a flip of the handle on the pan, but my camera wasn't quick enough, or shall I say, that I wasn't SKILLED enough to get that shot. So the above photo was the after shot of when he was done flipping the meat. Just so you know!

Set all the cooked meat aside in a large bowl. Add a little more oil to the pan and stir fry the scallions. Then add the cabbage. Add the salt, pepper, and sugar.

Keep stirring to mix the onions into the cabbage and to cook the cabbage. When it is done, add the cooked meat and the shrimp. Stir altogether and cook a few minutes until everything is at the same temperature (about 2-3 minutes).

Pour into a bowl, cover with foil, let flavors "marry" and cool off for 1/2 hour to an hour. (We leave on the counter.)

TO WRAP:

Mix the egg in a bowl. Add a few drops of water to it. You will use this to "glue" shut the egg roll.

Egg roll wrappers are available in your grocer's produce section. This one had 18 in them; I bought 2 packages and we ended up making 26 egg rolls and throwing the rest of the wrappers out. I don't think they freeze well; you could twist them and deep fry them for appetizers and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese or powdered sugar on them.

You can see that the wrappers are a square. When you put the wrapper down on the table turn it slightly to be a diamond shape so a point faces your stomach. (I was taking the photo from the side!) Put a HEAPING tablespoon of filling onto the wrapper about 1 1/2" from bottom tip.

Bring the bottom corner up and fold over.

Fold in each side, then dab some egg wash at the top point before finishing rolling up.

Ready to be fried!

Heat oil. We do not use a thermometer. You can tell if the oil is ready by:

1) using the end of a wooden spoon. Insert the end in oil. If bubbles form around it, the oil is hot.

2) Throw a cube of bread in oil, if it browns the oil is hot.

Cook 2-3 egg rolls at a time. They cook fast so keep a close watch on them! Turn over every few seconds so they can brown evenly! Jim is using a tool called a "spider". Available at Amazon and other kitchen gadget stores.

YUM!!

The cake

The Birthday Boy!

Here is the recipe without the photos:


DELICIOUS EGG ROLLS


ingredients:


1 - large boneless/skinless chicken breast
2 - boneless porkchops
1 - can tiny shrimp
2 - scallions
1 - bag of ready made cole slaw (or shred your own cabbage)
1 - egg
1 - package of egg roll wrappers
1/2 - tsp salt
1/2 - tsp sugar
ground pepper to taste
peanut oil (preferred but not necessary)
sweet/sour sauce for dipping
hot mustard for dipping

Drain and rinse shrimp and set aside. Chop up scallions and set aside. Chop up meat into bite-sized pieces. Stir-fry meat in a small amount of oil. (Fry half of the meat at a time.) Set meat aside in a large bowl.

Add more oil to the pan. Stir fry scallions. Add the cabbage. Add salt, pepper, sugar. Mix well and stir fry until the cabbage is done. Add the cooked meat and the shrimp. Cook a couple of minutes until everything is the same temperature. Remove from heat and pour into the large bowl. Cover with foil and let flavors marry for up to one hour.

FOR WRAP:

Mix egg with a few teaspoons of water in a bowl.

Put wrapper on table with a point towards yourself. Place one heaping teaspoon towards the bottom point, leaving about 1 1/2 inches from the edge. Bring the bottom corner up and fold over. Fold in each side, then dab some egg wash at the top point before finishing rolling up.

Heat oil. Cook 2-3 at a time. Turn every few seconds for even browning. Enjoy!

Sunday Bridges - A Capital Bridge

We were driving on Interstate 90 through Wisconsin when we came upon this bridge. Click to enlarge to see the details. It shows a photo of the capital building, as this bridge was the exit to go to Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. The bridge looks very official, doesn't it?

For more bridges, visit Louis here.

I am a BOOK WHORE

There.

I said it.

Isn't the first step admitting your problem?

If I'm a hoarder of anything, it's books.

I LOVE them.

I live and breathe them.

They are like a drug to me.

I've GOT TO HAVE THEM near me.

We cart around about 60-70 paperbacks in our trailer so I can ALWAYS have a book on hand. When we are in Arizona during the winter months, we frequent the local library so we always have a bunch of books out. When we come back to Illinois to visit family, we use my son's library card so that we can take advantage of that local library.

Which happens to be where I used to work.

It's like having a druggie work at a pharmacy.

I know.

When new books were brought into circulation, they'd have a little yellow circle sticker on their binding. All these new books would make my heart go pitter-patter. I kid you not.

I'd put books on hold that I wanted to read, and when a hold came in for me (even to this day), my eyes light up like a junkie who sees his drug of choice right in front of his eyes.

Sometimes I'd have 15 books checked out at a time. I'd spread them all out on my bed and sit there, pick each one up lovingly, put it down, pick up the next one, etc. Then I'd pile them in the order in which I needed to read them according to their due date. I would have slept with them surrounding me in my bed if it weren't for the fact that, duh, I had a husband.

I keep a running list of all the books I want to read. It's on an Excel spreadsheet, listed in alphabetical order by author's last name.

I am dead serious.

I read reviews in People magazine, Good Reads, Amazon, Book Page, and I get newsletters from the library on upcoming books.

Jim isn't too bothered by my obsession since he is a voracious reader himself. But he doesn't collect books like me. But believe me, he collects a whole lot of other crap. But that's another post.

So what's your drug of choice?

Book Exchange Tea Party

Do you love to read and find yourself picking up a paperback at the grocery or drugstore, or at the airport when you are going on a trip? Or maybe you frequent your local library, but there is a popular book out that you are dying to read but you are so far down on the list and you can't wait, so you go out and buy the book?

What do you do with all the books when you are done with them?

Why not have a Book Exchange Party with your friends?

That's exactly what my sister, Linda, did.

Now, you have to know a little bit about my sister. I call her "Linda-Martha-Stewart" because she loves to bake/cook and throw parties. As a matter of fact, when she had the Book Exchange Tea Party, it was the third party that week at her home.

I know. You can go ahead and groan. I'll wait.

Linda invited about 60 women to this tea party. She told them to bring all the books they wanted to exchange.

The menu consisted of:

Bagels with regular and strawberry creme cheese:

French Toast Casserole

cinnamon buns

Tomato herb frittata

cinnamon bundt cake

yogurt with berries and granola on top

Of course there were wine glasses for orange juice and nice china cups and saucers for tea/coffee.

Linda's backyard is always ready for parties: there are 8-9 tables with chairs that are set up all summer. Her yard is lush with plants, flowers, and bushes. She has bird feeders and wind chimes hanging from many tree branches. The highlight is the 18' x 30' pond in her backyard.

My twin sister, Pam, is the crafty one. She made up all these signs and hung them from the book tables.

The books were separated in genres. Pam made these signs, too.

There's many different ways you can go about picking the books; you can distribute numbers to everyone and then pick numbers out of a hat. The first go around each person should just pick one book so that everyone will have a chance to get the "good" ones. (You take as many books as you bring.)

My daughter, Jess, with the orange scarf, Lily (granddaughter) in purple, Taliah (great niece)

Twin sister, Pam, left, with cigarette

No one left empty-handed, even Lily!

Brooklyn (great niece), Lily