Human Bones!!

Did I get your attention with the scary title for my Halloween entry? Well, sorry....it's not really a scary entry, but it does contain human bones!


We're part owners of some farmland in the Arkansas Delta. Earlier this month some bones were uncovered in one of the fields following some leveling work. An article from a newspaper in that area stated the operator of a land plane made the discovery. In truth, it was someone trespassing on our property (looking for arrowheads) that found them. Click on the link below if you'd like to read the full article.

Ashley County Ledger

It's a whopper!

Last weekend we attended a 90th birthday reception for my husband's aunt. It was a grand affair at her church with lots of friends and family. A real celebration! One of those in attendance was a woman who had worked for his aunt for many, many years. When she saw my husband she teased him saying he never brought her any fish like he promised. He just laughed and said he would bring them to her this week. Friday was the first chance we had to make good on his promise. Thank goodness the fish were biting!!

Here's the stringer with my catch. Notice two of them are rather large. We each use our own stringer so one of us doesn't have to miss out on fishing while stringing the other's fish! How competitive is that?!

This might be the largest fish I've ever caught. We didn't have a "de-liar" with us but I think it was five pounds or better!

I really looked rough in these photos so I cropped my head out, but you can still see my fancy rubber boots!

iPod Roulette for October

This month's spin of the wheel turned up some very mellow stuff and certainly not a good cross-section of what's on my iPod. That's okay. It all fit the mood at the time.


1. Embraceable You (Billie Holiday) - What a great voice this woman has!

2. Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain (The Cascades) - This must be something of a "one hit wonder" since I don't know of anything else they did.

3. Bushwick Blues (Delta Spirit) - A freebie from Starbucks.

4. Sweet Little Sixteen (Chuck Berry) - This makes me think of that scene from Back to the Future when Berry's "cousin" calls him after hearing Marty McFly play Johnny B. Goode

5. Shoo-Shoo Baby (John Kirby) - Big Band music.

6. Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac) - I always think of Marion when I hear Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks!

7. Lilac Wine (Jeff Beck) - This song featuring Imelda May is on the album I wrote about here.

8. Best of My Love (The Emotions) - This is on the soundtrack for the movie Boogie Nights. It's a great soundtrack!!

9. No More Lonely Nights (Paul McCartney) - Everyone is entitled to their opinion and that includes Sir Paul. However, I wish people wouldn't quote "facts" when, in fact, their facts aren't factual! Especially when they're celebrities (which for some unknown reason seems to make their opinions count for more in some people's eyes). I'll just leave it at that for now.

10. Veni Sancte Spiritus (Colin Towns) - Colin Towns did the score for the PBS Cadfael series.

11. The Wondrous Word (The Melody Boys Quartet) - Southern Gospel music.

12. The Girl is Mine (Michael Jackson) - This song features Paul McCartney. Michael Jackson might have been very weird, but he was a great musician and dancer.

13. Duke's End (Genesis) - Another track from their Duke album (which seems to pop up a lot in my roulette).

14. Head Over Heels (Tears for Fears) - Love this group and this song!

15. Fortunate Son (Credence Clearwater Revival) - My brother is probably looking at this wondering why I have any CCR in my iTunes since he knows I don't much care for them (especially Proud Mary). This just happens to be on the Forrest Gump soundtrack and I uploaded the entire thing.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I love cheese! Every so often I like to try a variety that's out of the ordinary for me. Most recently I brought home some Fontina cheese, the Danish version. Although I had an idea of what I wanted to do with it I didn't have a recipe, so I just experimented. It turned out to be delicious! I wish I'd taken a photo.


Stuffed Chicken Breasts

3 or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 or 4 shaved slices of smoked ham
sliced Fontina cheese
1 egg
seasoned bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400F.
Make a slit in the thickest part of each chicken breast. Stuff first with cheese then a slice of ham. Secure with a wooden toothpick. Lightly beat the egg into a small bowl and pour some breadcrumbs into another bowl. Dip each stuffed chicken breast into the egg before rolling in the bread crumbs. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat and lightly brown chicken breasts on both sides. Place into a glass baking dish sprayed with cooking spray and bake, uncovered, approximately 30 minutes or until done.
Be careful not to eat the toothpick!

Being Green

I've never really thought of myself as a "green" person. Definitely not a "tree hugger" (and I'm not using the term in a derogatory fashion). I started taking stock of my life, though, and realized I'm a lot more environmentally conscious than I gave myself credit for.

We have a very energy efficient home* - double/triple glazed windows, ridge vents, ample insulation in the ceiling, water heater wraps, and reduced flow shower heads. We use CF bulbs in our fixtures, close the blinds on the sunny side of the house, and try to keep chargers unplugged when not in use. We've always recycled aluminum, paper and plastic** and have just recently started composting. I use cloth bags whenever possible when shopping and when purchasing my last car, dropped back to a better gas mileage 4 cylinder engine. These are just a few of the little things.... but they all add up.

Here are a couple of websites I ran across awhile back that you might find interesting.

Earth911

The Freecycle Network



* We originally built it this way over 20 years ago. When I was drawing house plans in college 30 years ago we were designing them using solar panels, berming, etc.!

** We live outside the city limits so this involves carting all our recycle stuff to the center ourselves rather than just putting it curbside.

Throwdown!

Bobby Flay's Throwdown! is one of my favorite Food Network programs. (Chopped is my favorite) Here's the premise in a nutshell: A regional chef/cook who is the best of the best at a particular dish is approached by FN with the offer of appearing on a show which will feature their particular dish. While filming the episode Bobby Flay shows up and challenges them to a "throwdown" between their dish and his own version that's he's created specifically for the event. Usually the opponent wins, but even when they don't they're still a winner in that they've received national recognition.

Flay put out a Throwdown! cookbook this month which includes an episode guide for the seven seasons of the show along with recipes from 51 of those episodes. Obviously they couldn't include all the episodes because many of the participants had closely guarded recipes whose secrets they wouldn't reveal.

I like the layout of the book. Each featured episode begins with Flay describing the dish in question and his approach to it in the test kitchen. His recipe and the contestant's are both included, with a notation as to which was the "winner". There are quotes from the contestants, photos from the show, and contact information for the participants (name, establishment, hometown, website, phone).

I'm looking forward to slowly making my way through the cookbook and trying some of the recipes.

(Least) Favorite Five - Pet Peeves

Admit it. We all have them. You know..... those little annoyances and irritations that get under your skin.


1. Tailgaters - I tend to drive the speed limit or a few mph over. I can't imagine why anyone thinks it's going to make me go faster if they get right on my behind. If anything, I'll drive more slowly!

2. People talking loudly on their cellphones in public - This is even worse if they're using Bluetooth. I can't count the number of times I've mistakenly thought someone was speaking to me! I really don't want to hear all about their life.

3. Unsupervised/unruly children in public - I think some of the worst offenders are at buffets. I hate seeing kids clearly younger than the specified "go it alone" age picking through the desserts after picking their nose.

4. Invasion of my personal space - There have been so many times in a checkout line I've wanted to turn to the person behind me and say "Please. I'm not through here yet. Can you wait your turn?". Of course I'm too polite to do that, but I will turn and give "the look".

5. People that enter through the "out" door - This mainly bothers me if I'm pushing a heavy cart of purchases and have to come to a complete stop to wait for them to get out of the way. It would be different if there wasn't a specific door for entering.


All pretty silly in the grand scheme of things. So, what bugs you?

An unexpected outing

We usually do most of our fishing in the Spring and early Summer. After that it just gets too darned hot. Once things cool down in the Fall it gets dark too early and we're usually busy with other stuff.

This afternoon my husband came in from doing some chores in the pasture and suggested we try our luck since he'd seen some activity in the pond. I had about an hour to spare, so I agreed. Besides, I was curious to see how the pond looked. He had mentioned earlier in the week that it was lower than he had ever seen it before.

We quickly gathered our gear and headed to the pond. He wasn't kidding!! The water level has probably dropped at least three feet! We had a couple of small storms pass through last night, but the little bit of rain they provided mostly just settled the dust. Since there were fire ants in the boat and we were pressed for time we just cast from the bank. He caught a fairly decent bass along with something that got away before he could reel it in. I managed to snag three small bass. All of them went back in the water for another time.

Not much of an adventure, but it was a pleasant change of pace. Actually, the best part of the outing was getting to wear my new rubber boots! Aren't they snazzy? They sure beat my old black ones!

Mooooo!

I came home from Bible study today to find a note on the counter:

"Gone to get cow food. Be home ASAP"


Something about that just made me smile. I never dreamed 30 years ago I would live in the country, enjoy hunting and fishing, and have livestock.

Life is good!

What Am I ? (#4)

1. Despite being one of the more common medical disorders, I am extremely difficult to treat.

2. Surveys show that between 5 and 15 percent of people have experienced me for six months or more in some form or fashion.

3. Ancient remedies for banishing me included everything from earthworms boiled in goose grease placed in the ear to cutting a freshly baked loaf of bread in half then binding it to the ears while still hot.

4. Doctors know that I'm caused when the flexibility of the nerve hairs in the inner ear go bad. However, I'm much more complicated than just a ringing in the ears. I'm more like a ringing across the brain! That's what makes consistently effective treatment of me so difficult.

Have you figured out what I am from my clues? * Scroll down for the answer.





















I am tinnitus!













*Facts provided by the October 2010 issue of Discover Magazine.

Favorite Five - TV Game Shows

I've rarely seen a game show I didn't like. Oh, I can think of a couple... The Gong Show, Three's a Crowd, and maybe a few others. It was a thrill when we first moved to the country and got a satellite dish to discover a channel devoted entirely to game shows. At the time Game Show Network (or GSN as it's now called) showed repeats of all my favorites from my childhood along old black and white shows from the early days. Certain months of the year I have more time available for mindless TV and in those days I always landed on GSN. These days it's more often the Food Network, but I still have a soft spot for GSN.

I seriously doubt any of you are the game show freak that I am, but surely there's at least one show you enjoyed. Here are my favorites:

1. Family Feud - Any host will do (there have been many), but my favorite was Richard Dawson.

2. Jeopardy! - I rarely watch this anymore, but there was a time when my kids were little that they knew not to disturb me during that half hour!

3. The Match Game - My younger two kids would play along with this using their dry-erase boards. I only liked the version with Gene Rayburn, who was my favorite game show host of all time.

4. The Price is Right - I found it interesting to watch some of the early B & W episodes with Bill Cullen as host. Totally different! I've only seen the newest version with Drew Carey a couple of times.

5. Password - I had the home version of this game. I never could picture Betty White married to the host, Allen Ludden. The only other version I watched was with Bert Convy as host.

Other favorites: Pyramid, Hollywood Squares (Peter Marshall version), Wheel of Fortune, Press Your Luck, Lingo, The Weakest Link... and I could go on, but I have to stop somewhere!

Quinoa

I first learned of quinoa years ago. Not a grain commonly sold at my local WalMart, I managed to find some at a local specialty store. My purchase sat on the pantry shelf for ages waiting for me to find just the right recipe for it. In time it got misplaced and eventually tossed when rediscovered well past its expiration date.

It was when I saw a recipe for quinoa at Sook's blog that I was reminded of the grain and my desire to try it. This was reinforced when I saw it featured on two different programs on the Food Network. So.... back to the specialty store for another package. This time I decided to wing it and come up with my own recipe. I prepared quinoa with black beans and sausage. My husband ate it, but felt it tasted a little too much like couscous, which he doesn't particularly care for. When my son came by the next day for leftovers, he made the same observation. In his case, that was a good thing. I'm not sure I tasted the similarity, but I thought it tasted good.

What about you? Have you eaten quinoa? If so, did you like it?

Aunt Pat's Spicy Corn Muffins

I was so pleased with the pulled pork BBQ recipe found in the back of Delicious and Suspicious by Riley Adams that I just had to try another one of her recipes. This time I made the corn muffins. I've mentioned several times here that my husband doesn't do spicy, so I left out the peppers and used a mild picante sauce. Also, I subbed canola oil for the shortening.

They turned out great and are definitely worth making again. Sorry - no photos, but here's the recipe.


Aunt Pat's Spicy Corn Muffins

2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening, melted
1 cup self-rising cornmeal
1 cup sour cream (not low fat)
1 8-ounce can creamed corn
3/4 cup picante sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno
1 cup grated extra-sharp cheddar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
Beat the eggs into the melted shortening (after it has cooled somewhat).
Stir cornmeal into egg-shortening mixture. Add sour cream, creamed corn, picante sauce, and jalapeno. Beat well.
Spoon half the batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover with remaining batter.
Bake for 30 minutes or until done.

Religious Literacy

Some of you might remember a post I had earlier in the year concerning Civic Literacy. It even included a fun quiz you could take to test your knowledge. Today's entry is about a different kind of literacy, one maybe just as important. (sorry, no fun quizzes this time)

There was an editorial by syndicated columnist Charles C. Haynes in my local paper today that I felt touched on an important issue: religious literacy. Too many people are woefully lacking in knowledge about religion... not just others' religions, but sometimes their own. I'm not sure what the reason for this is. Fear? Apathy? Who knows? I believe that now more than ever it's important for us to try and understand what others believe. It just might make a difference in how we get along with each other.

One of the devotional guides I use recently shared a link to a website that compares many of the world's religions. I don't know how accurate or detailed it is considering I've just started looking through it myself. However, if you're interested in checking it out for yourself click on the link below. Also, I've provided a link to the editorial I mentioned. Read it and see if you agree with me.

Religion Facts

"Why Religious Literacy Matters"

The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox

"After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn's for an oyster supper."

With an opening line like that, I felt The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox would make a good choice as my final book for the RIP V Challenge. That and Michael Cox's association with ghost stories. As an added bonus, it would count as my seventh book in the Typically British Challenge. So, uncertain of what I was really getting in to, I set off on a 700 page journey into Victorian England.

I wasn't sure what to expect from the varied blurbs on the cover. Cox's writing is compared to Dickens, Austen, Trollope, Wilkie Collins and the Brontes. The story itself is described as spooky, thrilling, haunting, stunning, and fascinating.

Turn out it's an easy and quite enjoyable book to read. Written in the form of a "confession", it is edited by a fictitious Cambridge professor who provides a number of informative footnotes.... some of which blurred the line between fact and fiction in keeping with the storyline. Throughout the novel we follow the life and obsessions of the narrator, Edward Glyver. And obsessions they most assuredly are: love, hate, wealth, revenge. We encounter murder, deception, mystery, and decadence.

Despite the length of this book and being a slow reader, I never once lost interest in the plot. Cox writes in a way that totally drew me in and kept me there. It was one of those rare books that kept me thinking about the characters when I had to leave their world for my own.

The crowd awaits

I got this in an e-mail recently. Fill in the blank with the person of your choice.

With breathless anticipation, the crowd awaits the unveiling of the _____ statue.

You never know

You never know what you're going to learn by reading other folk's blogs. Take Debby's blog for instance. Recently she's mentioned two interesting products I had never heard of:

Bully Sticks

and

Anti Monkey Butt Powder


Am I the only one who wasn't familiar with these products?

Fruit Filled Cupcakes

Today is our younger daughter's birthday and last night the entire family gathered here for a birthday meal.

Several years ago I tried a cupcake recipe from Simple & Delicious which made a big impression on her. This was the first birthday in quite some time that she's been able to come home to celebrate, so she specifically requested these cupcakes instead of a cake.

They are moist, delicious, and quite simple to make.

1 pkg. strawberry cake mix
2 cups (16 oz.) sour cream (I use "lite")
2 eggs
strawberry preserves
white frosting

Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds then an additional 2 minutes on medium speed. Fill 24 baking cups about half full with batter. Spoon approximately 1/2 teaspoon preserves into the center of each cup. Top with remaining batter. Bake at 350F for about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Frost when cool.

6 String Theory

I think many of the folks who don't care for Jazz have a set idea of what they believe all Jazz music sounds like in general. Now, ask a Jazz lover about their music and you'll get an entirely different attitude. There will be references to artists, instruments, styles, vocals and more. It's a huge genre with a wide variety of options within.

I recently purchased Lee Ritenour's 6 String Theory. It came out earlier in the year, but I only discovered it a few days ago. I'm amazed at the variety of music captured in the 15 tracks on this album! Consider some of the guest artists: Slash, Neal Schon, Vince Gill, Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', B.B. King, Jonny Lang, George Benson, Joey DeFrancesco... and that's less than half of them. There are Country influences, Blues, Rock and Classical, along with some acoustic work.

Lee Ritenour alone would have made the album for me. All the others just make it that much better. I have a feeling it's going to be an album I listen to over and over and over.