The world, as we know it, has come to an end.

I'm speechless.

Completely befuddled.

Pigs are flying past my office window and Hell hath frozen over. I kid you not.

The world, as we know it, has come to an end.

Oh, you haven't heard?

What is causing this apocalyptic event?

My husband, Ian Blake, has joined Facebook.

Wait, let me help you up off the floor...I'm there too.

Potato Soup in a Crockpot

My husband bought a bunch of fresh parsley last week to make fish cakes (new recipe for us). All I could think is why fresh? It will go to waste in our house! So I wondered what I could make to use some. I remembered as a kid that we had parsley growing under our kitchen window...I'd go pluck some to make homemade potato soup...probably the only "from scratch" thing I knew how to make. I also have a bunch of potatoes that need to be used up...soup should be the answer to my dilemma. Problem is, I have no idea what that recipe is. Lucky for me...I have the Internet.
So I went online to find a recipe that doesn't include celery. My husband hates that stuff (I can't imagine soup without it). The one I found seemed pretty easy. Here's the original ingredients...and my substitutions.

Ingredients:

• 8 large potatoes, cubed - I used 10 potatoes because there were a few small ones.
• 1 cup chopped onion - I was going to use a whole onion but seeing that this only called for 1 cup, I opted to use a partial one I found in the fridge.
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine - I used some European butter my husband likes.
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes - we don't use bouillon cubes in our house - don't like MSG and hate reading labels on those little containers. I substituted with a 14 oz can of chicken broth.
• 2 tablespoons dry parsley flakes - fresh parsley baby!! As for measurement, I used a handful.
• 6 cup water - took it down to 4 cups because of the can of broth.
• 2 cup milk & 1/2 cup flour, mixed with water - this comes at the end of recipe...hopefully I'll remember to use them!

Stuff I added:

• Salt & pepper - no I didn't measure it out - my home economics teacher would say this is not a real recipe unless you say how much to use...but I salt & pepper to taste!
• 2 cloves of garlic - not in the picture because I thought to add them while I was peeling the potatoes!

Peel, wash & cube the potatoes into bite sizes pieces (I'm guessing they'll be mush later so make them a big bite size pieces). I got to use my new favorite knife...a birthday present from my hubby...I just love this thing! It's a Faberware santoku knife.
Of course I can't chop up potatoes and NOT slice myself some raw taters with salt & pepper to eat on the side! ;o)

Pour into the crockpot the chicken broth, water & potatoes.

I learned from Pioneer Woman that you cut an onion from root to tip & then slice & dice. Out of curiosity...and to keep my home economics teacher happy, I measured what half of a big onion is...and look, it's just over 1 cup!
Mince up the garlic & add it too (sorry no photo, didn't think you'd need one!)

Rinse, pat dry & de-stem the fresh parsley. Tear or cut in with a very sharp knife - if you use a chopper or mince it, it gets all squishy & might turn your soup a greenish color (that's what happened to our fish cakes!). From watching cooking shows I found an easy way to chop leafy stuff is to roll it up (not easy with lil leaves!) and then slice as if it were a sold object. Sorry no photo here...I had to use both hands!
Add to pot along with salt & pepper and butter.

Stir & set crock pot on high for 1 to 2 hours. Of course, as Murphy's Law would state...I got sidetracked and my errand running took a bit longer than planned & the soup was on high for 4 hours! Boy did it smell good when we got home.

I mixed the flour with a little water...it turned into a yucky paste...but I dumped it into the pot with the milk anyway. Now it's supposed to simmer for awhile longer and (hopefully) thicken.

After about a half hour I tasted it, and added some more ground pepper. Another half hour & I was too hungry to wait any longer. I made myself a bowl and sprinkled some shredded cheese on top. I read that some people also add some sour cream & chopped green onions. But I was too hungry to do anything more than add cheese!

Verdict: Flavor - Yum. Consistency - not creamy enough. Anyone got any suggestions? I have an entire crockpot full, so I can still add stuff to it to improve it.

...don't forget to click "View Original Post" to leave me a comment on my actual blog. Thanks!

Another Email Post: TWO WOLVES

TWO WOLVES

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:
"Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied,
"The one you feed."

I love a good joke...

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The florist was pleased and left the shop.

When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The cop was happy and left the shop.

The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Then a Congressman came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I can not accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The Congressman was very happy and left the shop.

The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.

And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.

Advice for a Teenage Daughter

I came across this today...I really liked it & wanted to share...

Advice for a Teenage Daughter I Will Never Have

Even if you have just been shot with a tranquilizer dart for elephants, don't sleep in your makeup. Or contact lenses.

What separates a professional eyebrow arch from the amateurs is scissor-trimming. This is the least important item on this list, but It took me 38 years to find out, and I have to pass it onto somebody.

Wear the bikini every chance you can, and use the sunscreen.

Every year you can possibly delay having sex will ultimately make sex that much better. Think of it as the difference between spending every allowance on cheap shoes that don't last, or saving up for some really fabulous Jimmy Choos. Not that you have to go without even touching a pair of shoes in the meantime. Or marry your first pair of Jimmy Choos. Don't tell your mom I said that.

As long as you are in your teens, avoid dating anyone more than three years older than you. At your age, a romantic relationship with an older man is actually neither romantic or a relationship.
You look ugly when you gossip.

Throwing up drunk is not a good look for you.

Save this for later: the person you are now is not the way you behaved then.

Someday, a girl who is horrible to you now will request to be your Facebook friend. And though your cursor will linger a long and delicious moment above the "ignore" button, you will click on "accept" instead, and know that you have grown up.

Go to your prom. Wear the corsage. Stand under the arch. Get the pictures. Really.

Don't waste youth and resiliency. Have adventures. It will never be more appropriate for you to be inappropriate, and society will never be more forgiving. But avoid risks that will narrow your future. Skinny-dipping: yes. Filmed skinny-dipping: no.

Most importantly, hang around for womanhood. I promise, the best is yet to come.

If you liked it as much as I did, jump over to Kyran's blog and tell her!

It's the little things that annoy me...

Okay, so I just need to let.it.go. I know, I know, get on with it. Don't let it get to me. Well, isn't that what a journal is for? Write about it & then get over it. So I'll share it with you...the blog that no one is reading (LOL...I'm laughing alone here, I know).

So today I receive in the mail a membership drive packet for an association for which I am a member. Not only that, I serve on the board. Not only that, I designed some of the original documents for last year's drive. The printing looks great. The color is good. The concept works. The design is screwy.

Okay, so I'm a stickler for detail...I'm picky about layout & design...alright, I'll admit it, I'm anal (that always looks so much worse in print than it does when you say it out loud).

You see, my eye is automatically drawn to typos (not my own of course) and layout flow. So on the very first page I see a bulleted list that isn't set correctly. Okay, so I designed this thing in the latest MS Word (.docx) and the new person needed old Word (.doc). So someone did a save-as for them (I knew it shoulda been me!) and they obviously didn't know how to format bullets.

Okay, breathe Shelly, it's okay, no big deal, let.it.go.

Next page, whew, not one of mine. Oh ick! It's a survey page and they used spaces instead of tabs to line things up, oh ick, they put the answer lines at the END of the sentences! Okay, visual needed here...imagine this...

Survey question number one.      _ _ _ _ _
Survey question number is longer.       _ _ _ _ _
Question for the survey.                _ _ _ _ _

Well, you get the picture. And why put them at the end? Never mind that they used some weird dotted line thingie - why not put them at the beginning of each sentence? ugh.

Okay, last "marketing" page is the application. This one WAS mine (& by "was" I mean it no longer is because someone else made changes to it). All of my check boxes were changed to some weird character (that I later learn is a Euro money symbol). So rather than checking the boxes for your interests, or for your payment choices, etc., you're supposed to what, circle your choice?

Oh the horror of layout and design!

Okay, I'm feeling much better now. Thank you for listening...er reading...er, who am I kidding, I'm alone out here! Well, if it weren't for the whole Facebook thingie, my blog would never get read...so thanks to all my FB peeps....but if you feel compelled to leave a comment, please click on the "View Original Post" link & put it on my blog. It would make me feel more loved. I'm just kidding folks! No really, I'm serious......Okay, I really need a fresh cup of tea now.

How will they improve it

I've been condition to believe medicine won't make me well unless it tastes nasty. My kids enjoy tasty medicine.

We looked forward to days off of school so we could do nothing. My kids want to know what I'm going to do to entertain them.

McDonalds was a once a month treat, my kids don't understand why I refuse to only let them eat that once a week at the most (and we didn't get happy meals either!).

So many things that as kids we wished we had, so when we grew up we made it happen for our kids. What will they improve? What else did we improve?

And yes, I did walk a mile in the snow to school, up-hill, both ways...with plastic breadbags for boots! ;-)

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