wacky wednesday - tomato, tomahto

Our North Carolina sweethearts and their parents are coming to visit us this summer. When I asked if there was anything special they would like me to make while they are here, our daughter immediately requested an old family favorite... manicotti... and her husband quickly agreed.

The recipe has been handed down from generation to generation. I got it from Nona (you remember my mother-in-law, right?) who got it from her mother-in-law (my husband's grandmother whom I never had the pleasure of meeting) who got it from her mother. It may have gone back farther but Nona only knew for certain it went back to her grandma-in-law. So my grandchildren will be eating manicotti made from a recipe from their great-great-great-grandma. Wow!

Nona and I made manicotti together at least a half dozen times. It took that many times for me to get a written recipe with accurate measurements rather than "some of this" and "a little of that."

Nona wrote the recipe on a piece of paper one time we made them. Although I keep a typed copy on my computer, I always use the hand-written one when I make manicotti - it's like she's with me.

Many people buy dried manicotti tubes in the pasta section of their grocery store, cook them and then fill them. Our family recipe starts with making the pasta which is really more like a crepe when it's cooked.

After years of practice I can get my "crepes" to be almost circular. But that was not always the case. At first some were long and skinny and others had a thin, finger-like projection coming out of them. Seriously, it's not as easy as it looks! But Nona never laughed, she just said, "Try again, you'll get it soon!"

I have many happy memories of us working and laughing together so it is only natural that I would think of her every time I make them. As I was making the "crepes" I remembered Nona, who was Jewish, telling me she learned to make blintzes - which are essentially crepes - from her mother. Hmmm. Before long I had made 38 "crepes" - about a third of what I will eventually need this summer.

Once the "crepes" had cooled, it was time to fill them. This process takes over my entire counter as I portion out the filling and then readjust if I run short or have extra left over. As I filled them, I was reminded of making enchiladas - a very similar concept and process. And, really, isn't a corn tortilla similar to a crepe or a blintz?

I could almost taste the gooey, stringy deliciousness these will become once they are cooked and covered with sauce!

The final step is rolling the "crepes" creating a tube-like pasta that is already filled. This step reminded me of Chinese Spring Rolls because the trick is to "make them snug but not so snug they tear!" Have you ever gotten a Spring Roll that split?

After they are rolled, they get stacked between sheets of waxed paper on a tray, wrapped with plastic wrap and then put in the freezer for a day or two. After they are completely frozen, I put them in a ziploc bag and pop them back in the freezer. I can then pull out as many or as few as I need at a time.

As I was cleaning up (you can imagine the mess on my counter!) I began thinking about ethnicities and food. It seems ethnicities and cultures, although very different in many ways,  have commonality in some of their foods. A Jewish blintz, French crepe, Italian manicotti, Mexican enchilada and Chinese spring roll are all basically a flat starchy substance rolled with a filling in the center and served with a sauce of some sort. The flavors are very different, but the concept is the same. 

You say potato, I say patahto.

wacky wednesday - breakfast with sweetheart number 4

When we were in North Carolina in December, we took each of the boys to breakfast one by one. (breakfast with the boys) I visited the sweethearts a couple of weeks ago and it was Lexie's turn to go to breakfast.

Part of the fun is the anticipation and deciding where to go. Every time I talked to Lexie on the phone in the weeks leading up to my visit, we talked about going to breakfast. And every time we talked about it, her restaurant choice changed. I couldn't wait to find out the final answer!

Lexie (age 7) chose Dunkin' Donuts for her breakfast outing. She was so excited that the first words out of her mouth when she woke up were, "Can we go to breakfast NOW?????" After getting dressed and getting directions, we were off. On the drive there, I asked her how many donuts she wanted. Her quick, no hesitation response was "THREE!" And she also wanted coffee.

I convinced her to start with two donuts with the promise that she could get another one if she wanted it after she ate the first two. The woman at the counter took our order and made Lexie "special coffee" (a little coffee with warm milk and sugar).

She chose a bar-height table and we sat down to eat breakfast and chat. She read all the signs on the walls and windows to me. Then we got down to business. She likes playing with her friends and reading the best at school. Frozen is her favorite movie and it's Elsa over Anna all the way because "she sings the good songs and she's so pretty!"

By this time Lexie had finished her two donuts and wanted a third. I encouraged her to go up and order her donut herself but she wanted me to do it. As I watched her sitting at the table while I went up to the counter, she reminded me very much of her mother as a child - kicking her legs against the chair and smiling at the other customers. Sigh. They grow up so fast.

Lexie celebrated her seventh birthday the week before our breakfast. She insisted she felt "older" when she woke up on her birthday and she might even be a little taller. But other than that, being seven was about the same as being six. I asked her old she thought I was and she said, with absolute certainty, "39!" YES!!!

The donuts and coffee were gone and it was time to go. As we drove home I was already looking forward to the next time she and I will go to breakfast, wondering what things we'll talk about then. One thing I know for certain - kids like to talk, especially when someone is listening.

wacky wednesday - should we or shouldn't we?

For the past six or seven years I have wanted a gas-burning fire pit for our patio. It would be relaxing to sit with my sweet husband around the fire pit gazing at the stars as we talk about our day. It would be fun to invite friends over for Happy Hour around the fire pit. We could make s'mores. The sweethearts could roast hotdogs on a stick.

But no matter what idyllic scene I conjured up, my sweet husband put the kibosh on it. It would just take up room. We wouldn't use it (remember the stationary bike?). Propane ones are expensive. It's too hot for one most of the year.

But I am not one to give up so easily.

I found directions for making one on Pinterest (that plethora of ideas and directions or huge time-waster, depending on your point of view!) and purchased the supplies. Total cost - $15 and change.
It took me less than half an hour to put it together.

And voila, we had a fire pit!

Okay, it's small (only about eight inches by six inches) and sits on a table. But it roasts marshmallows for s'mores. And provides great ambiance. It doesn't take up much space and is easily portable. The cost was certainly not "expensive." We can use it year-round, even in the hot summer after a night-time swim.

Problem solved.

wacky wednesday - how the times change

In the course of living life, everyone experiences stress. The car breaks down, the babysitter gets sick, the boss is unreasonable, kids are ... well, kids.

In days of yore (that would be the 1960's), advertisers convinced us a warm, relaxing bath would get rid of all our stress. Remember "Calgon, take me away?" (You can view the commercial here.) For less than two bucks you could purchase enough Calgon bubble bath for a dozen or so de-stressing soaks. I remember people thinking that was a splurge - you don't need bubbles to take a bath.

Fast forward a "few" decades to the present time. During a recent flight, as I was perusing the Skymall Magazine, I read about a device designed as an "escape to a world of serenity and slumber" ... the serenity pod.

The description continues with "(its) elliptical exterior blocks 90% of outside noise while the interior amplifies the sound inside. The wireless sound system gently rocks you to sleep with vibration while the LEDs change colors wirelessly from an app on your smartphone or tablet."

And for only $10,000 it can be yours. Yes, that was TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. And while you are at it, order a smaller one for your dog or cat for a mere $1000. Seriously, just how stressed do you think your pet is? 

I don't know about you but if I spent $10,000 on my bed or $1000 on Fido's bed, I would be anything but serene. 

wacky wednesday - you might be in arizona if...

I am almost a native Arizonan (my family moved here when I was five days old). I have briefly lived other places, never longer than a year, and always return "home" to Arizona. Over the course of many years, I have noticed certain... um, peculiarities... about the great state of Arizona.

You might be in Arizona if ...

1.  Mileage markers on the freeway are in kilometers, not miles. Interstate 19 (I-19), a freeway of just over 63 miles that runs from Mexico to Tucson, is the country's ONLY highway that lists distances in kilometers instead of miles. The Carter Administration orchestrated it to make the interstate more accessible to tourists coming from Mexico and also to introduce the metric system to Americans. As we all know, the metric system never caught on here but businesses don't want the signage changed. However, speed limit signs have always been in mph, not kph.

2.  You find spent cartridge cases ("desert shells") on a roadside picnic table. Arizonans love their guns. I think it goes back to our "Wild West" roots. It is not uncommon to see folks walking around town with a gun holstered on their side. There are at least two gun ranges within ten miles of our house. Finding a deserted area in the desert for some target practice is a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. 

3.  You see rivers with no water. It is not uncommon to drive over bridges with nothing but a dry riverbed beneath them (often with vegetation growing in the bottom!) and a sign identifying the "river." The photo below is the Gila River!

4.  You see saguaro cactus. Arizona is the only place in the United States where saguaro cactus grow. And they grow abundantly! These majestic cacti often look like they are beckoning to us, telling us to "c'mon over!"

5. You see a handicapped parking place with a ramp to the picnic table at a roadside (not a "rest area") picnic area. Arizonans are friendly and welcoming to visitors and "new transplants." Many of our winter visitors are disabled or have difficulty walking, especially on uneven terrain, and roadside stops like this one make it easier for them.

Arizona is well-known for a lot of things - the Grand Canyon, our mild winter weather, our blisteringly hot summers, a sheriff who makes inmates wear pink underwear and copper, to name a few. I have to admit I love both the little and the big things that make Arizona different. There is no other place I would rather live. I hope you feel that way about the place you live - it is a wonderful feeling!

wacky wednesday - truth or fiction?

State legislatures have a lot on their plates right now. Education issues. Health care. State budgets. School vaccination requirements. Prison reform. Illegal immigration. So I was deeply puzzled about Oklahoma's state legislature spending valuable time deciding whether or not they should repeal a law they passed in 2007 declaring the watermelon their state vegetable.

That's right. Oklahoma legislators passed a bill, and the governor signed it, designating the watermelon their state VEGETABLE and now some lawmakers think they should repeal that law because, well, a watermelon is a fruit. I couldn't help but wonder if they just now realized that. Or was there more to the story?

Rush Springs, OK is home to the state's annual watermelon festival and the self-proclaimed watermelon capital of the world. The people of Rush Springs felt the watermelon should be honored with official status. One of their legislators agreed but the strawberry had already been named Oklahoma's official state fruit in 2005. He found a "scientist" who was willing to say that, while technically a fruit, the watermelon is also a vegetable since it is an edible plant. Using that logic, wheat and rice are also vegetables. This flawed logic allowed the legislator to introduce a bill, which passed and became law, naming the watermelon the official state vegetable of Oklahoma.

I agree with the legislator trying to repeal the law. Questionable or out-dated laws make a mockery of our legislative process. They could make the watermelon the official state melon thereby eliminating the "confusion" and making everyone happy.

Unfortunately, the hours and days spent debating frivolous topics in state legislatures is not rare. For example, in 2014, New York legislators passed a bill naming yogurt the state's official snack after hours and hours of debate addressing such important questions as "Should the official status be limited to low-sugar, low-fat yogurt?" and "Since many people can't consume dairy products should they designate a lactose and non-lactose state snack?" And in 2011,  Arizona's legislature passed a bill designating the Colt Single Action Army Revolver, a gun popular in the 1800's as the Wild West was being settled, the  official state gun after spending days debating the pros (it preserves a piece of Arizona's history) and cons (it was a gun that killed many Native Americans in the Wild West) of such an action. And the list goes on and on.

Some legal commentators have suggested that frivolous topics for legislative debate are necessary - that they add a little humor to the workplace and help "destress" the body of legislators before they go on to more hot button topics.

I say if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

In the meantime, roll up your sleeves and tackle the important issues. If there is time left in the session after ALL the essential concerns are taken care of, then go ahead and debate which silverware pattern should be the official state one (Kentucky chose Old Kentucky Blue Grass - The Georgetown Pattern in 1996) or whether "silly haircuts" should be allowed on children (several states have laws prohibiting "silly haircuts").

wacky wednesday - midnight marauders

One Saturday night about midnight, just as I getting up from my chair to go to bed, my sweet hubby announced that a new geocache 1.2 miles from our house had just been posted. We immediately sprang into action.

For a geocacher, one of the most fun things is being able to write "FTF" (First To Find) on the log. Many caches are posted on the website late at night or in the early morning and it amazes me that people are out hunting at 3:00am. And now we were about to join the ranks of the midnight marauders.

We quickly gathered the bare necessities for geocaching (a smartphone, a pen and some gloves) and drove to the area where the cache was. Urban geocaches are sometimes tricky because you need to be aware of muggles (non-geocachers who might take or vandalize the caches). I often take my camera just to provide some "cover" for us walking around and getting into awkward positions as we look for the cache. But at 12:30am I was pretty sure there wouldn't be too many muggles around the industrial park area we were searching.

Boy, oh boy,  was I wrong!

When we arrived, two police cars were parked in a Circle K parking lot at the major intersection about a quarter of a mile away. Soon a third one joined them, all with their lights flashing. We wondered if they could see our flashlight beams dancing around and discussed which of our friends we would call to bail us out of jail.

We watched the same pick-up truck leave one of the businesses carrying some firewood in its bed and return empty four or five times. I wonder if they were as curious about what we were doing as we were about what they were doing. Who gets firewood delivered in the middle of the night?

A little after 1:00am a sedan came careening into the parking lot where we were and made a fast turn in the opposite direction going around the building. Hmm... that was kind of curious. We never saw them leave.

Around 1:30am a couple of cars drove down the street into the industrial park areas and a little while later returned to exit onto the main road.

Throughout all this activity we tried to be as inconspicuous as possible and still search for a "micro"  cache in the dark. After we had searched the same area at least a dozen times, I finally found it's hiding spot.

Oh what fun to be midnight marauders AND put FTF on the log!!