Sopaipillas

When I was in college, I waited tables at a Mexican restaurant. After two years, I gathered up what little self-respect and dignity I had left and quit. There's nothing that will make you lose your faith in humanity more than being a waiter/waitress. Small tips, rude commands and being on your feet for long hours--wait, I'm I still talking about being a waitress or being a mom?

One of the most popular items on the menu were the sopaipillas. Okay, so maybe they were popular because they were free with a paid meal, but still, customers would request 2 or 3 baskets extra. I came across a recipe for them in an old Taste of Home magazine and thought my boys would love them. My 5 year old loved making them with me and watching them puff up like little pillows. And although you can eat them savory by filling them up with meat, beans and salsa, I like to bite a corner off and fill it with honey. Yum!

Sopaipillas (original recipe from Taste of Home)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 TBS shortening
1/3 cup warm water
cooking oil for deep frying
honey (optional)
powdered sugar (optional)

In a bowl, combing flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Gradually add water, stirring with a fork. The dough will be crumbly. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 3 minutes or until smooth. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll out into a 12 in. x 10 in. rectangle. Cut into 12 squares. Heat oil in a deep-fat fryer and fry sopapillas for 1-2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels; keep hot in a warm oven. Serve with honey or dust with powdered sugar.

Wordless Wednesday: Vampires And Zombies

Miscellaneous Indeed

I reentered the world of Twitter a couple of months ago. When did this whole "RT" thing begin? It took me forever to learn that it meant retweet. And even longer to learn why anyone would want to RT in the first place. Anywho, I'm liking Twitter this time around. I use it mainly as a companion to my blog, posting short little brain blurbs. You can follow me here, if you'd like.

I'm thinking about joining Unknown Mami's Sundays In My City photo meme. It sounds like a great way to document life in my city. And I use the term "city" very loosely here. The population is just over 500 and there's not a whole lot to look at. I may only get about 20 Sundays under my belt and run out of stuff to shoot.

I broke my treadmill. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Recently, I mentioned my favorite ice cream in a blog post and the next thing I know Blue Bunny is offering me a free coupon to try out another flavor. I didn't take them up on their offer though because nothing can top their discontinued White Fudge Almond Divinity.

On a related note, I have 3 dogs to feed and they love PEDIGREE! I love buying PEDIGREE! I would buy PEDIGREE every day if I could. I would even eat PEDIGREE myself if it was socially acceptable! Yum! (Hint, hint)

Party Pupcakes

I always try and do a little something for my dogs whenever they have a birthday. And despite Lexie's showdowns with snakes, cats, possums, skunks and a nasty infection that left her unable to see out her right eye, she made it to her 10 birthday this month. To celebrate I whipped up a batch of Party Pupcakes. They're made with apple, oatmeal, cheddar and yogurt and all the dogs loved them. Even my youngest son--he had 2 of them!

Party Pupcakes (original recipe from Bullwrinkle.com)

1 large apple (minced)
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1/4 cup oatmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 eggs
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Frosting:
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons flour
bacon, for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix flour, oatmeal, baking powder and baking soda together. Set aside.
Mix yogurt, water, oil, honey and eggs. Stir in apple and cheese.
Add flour mixture and stir together.
Spoon into muffin tins lined with cupcake liners.
Bake 20 min.
Allow to cool, then top with frosting and crumbled bacon.

Wordless Wednesday: Pick One!

A Night In The Life

Soooo....I went to bed last night but decided against sleeping in my own bed. It was cluttered with a few of my husband's clothes and I was no longer in maid mode. Principles, people. He can hang up his own jacket, right? So I headed off to my oldest son's room and snuggled with him, eventually falling asleep. My husband woke me up a short time later--he apparently was in no mood to hang up his jacket either--and was going to sleep in Big pup's bed. After finding me there he went to our youngest son's room to sleep. Around 4 o'clock I woke up to find Little pup calling for me from my room. He had woken up and went to look for me. He didn't want to hang up daddy's jacket either so we both went back to his room and I told him a story about Santa Claus driving a big truck so he could go back to sleep. The story woke up my husband who decided that we were being too loud for him so he grabbed his pillow and stumbled his way to Big pup's room. And that's were we all stayed until it was time to get up and ready for school.

I haven't decided if having 3 bedrooms is not enough or if it's too many.

High/Low

Mondays don't get a whole of respect compared to the rest of the days of the week but I kind of like them. It's usually a busy day--I tend to pack a lot of household chores into this day. I go grocery shopping for the week, do a couple loads of laundry and clean the bathrooms. I enjoy getting the house back into a more recognizable state after a weekend of taking it easy.

My favorite part of the day, though, is what happens after I drop the boys off at school. I head to McDonald's, pick up a cappuccino, make my way to Walmart and spend a few minutes in the parking lot putting together a grocery list while listening to NPR. It's nice. The morning sun coming through the windows, the smell of coffee, going through coupons with talk radio in the background...very nice. It's my high for the day.

My low? Realizing that the highlight of my day is sitting in a parking lot trying to figure out what to fix for dinner.

Green Stuff

I think the correct name of this popular dish is called Green Jello Cottage Cheese Pineapple Salad. My family has always called it green stuff. It's one of those recipes where the ingredient list leaves you questioning if it's going to be edible. And it is. Trust me, it's delicious. My mom and grandma eat it as a side dish, my sister saves it for dessert and I think I could it eat as the main meal.

1 lb cottage cheese
1 3 oz pkg lime jello
1 6 oz can crushed pineapple
1 8 oz container whipped topping

Mix cottage cheese and jello together. Add pineapple and stir. Fold in whipped topping and store in fridge.

Wordless Wednesday: Because My 7 Year Old Thinks That Even A Worm Deserves A Funeral

Just Don't Drop Them!

I have a small collection of Barbie dolls that I acquired before I had children. Back then, I always imagined that one day I would walk into my room and find that my daughters had torn open all the boxes. Scarlett O'Hara would be wearing the leopard fur hat from Winter in Montreal while Scully and Mulder interrogate the lovely Mademoiselle Isabelle.

But then I had children. BOY children. My Barbie dolls were safe.

My collection of 1:64 scale diecast Elliott Sadler cars, on the other hand, were not.

Oh, well. Can't win 'em all.

Ummm...Can I Get That In Paperback?

The big news in Nobel Prize winning today is that President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

BUT the literary world is all hot and bothered over yesterday's announcement that the Nobel Prize for Literature went to the German writer Herta Muller. Some say the committee is too Euro-centric, some say the winners are too obscure, some say what about Stephanie Meyer, hmmm? But I'm okay with their choice. The 56 year old, Romanian born Muller sounds like a great choice. Her tales mostly deal with oppression and suffering under Communist dictatorship. Actually, I'm kind of in to that now that I just finished reading Jung Chang's account of living in Mao's Communist China. Heavy stuff but very interesting.

I'm not quite sure how to get a hold of one her books, though, as Barnes and Noble is currently sold out of her novels. However, they are offering a used hardcover copy of one of her most well known works The Land of Green Plums, for $599, in case you're interested.

And I'm interested. But not $599 interested.

Wordless Wednesday: Please Send Cold Medicine And A Maid

June Revisted

When Little pup brought home his "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" paper from school all he had written was: We went to two museums and it caught on fire from cigarettes in seven minutes.

I don't blame him for having that stick out in his mind because that presentation at the Fire Museum was scary, even for me. But we did so much more while we were in Memphis! I'm finally getting around to posting vacation pics from Mud Island, the Speedway, The Children's Museum and the traumatizing Fire Museum.

See the pictures on the upper left and lower left? That was a kid-sized grocery store and the boys were in there for an hour! I'm surprised that Little pup didn't list this on his school paper because it was their favorite activity by far. So much more fun than watching someone's living room go up in flames, that's for sure.

10/2/79. EIGHTEEN Seventy Nine, That Is.

Nope, it's not snowing here yet. It's a beautiful, breezy 70 degrees here today. I just thought I would post this old picture of my boys and their snowman after I learned that it's Wallace Stevens' birthday. One of the late poet's most famous poems is called The Snow Man and I think that this picture represents the poem perfectly.

There's Big Pup, on the left, taking a human perspective of snow: cold, miserable, unhappy, pessimistic, negative, etc. Little Pup, on the right, views the snow from nature's perspective: comfortable,beautiful, happy, optimistic, positive, etc. He is the snowman. He is nature regarding humanity as nothing while the "listener," the "human," regards nature as nothing. We are all nothing. And nothing is all.

Or something like that.

The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Pesto!

My first experience with growing my own basil was a success! Since the weather is starting to change and temperatures are beginning to drop, I plan on bringing it indoors so I can make pesto year 'round. Man, I love pesto. I think I could eat it with a spoon. Scratch that, I know I could eat with a spoon. I have. Some people say that it's not pesto without pine nuts but I never have any pine nuts around. I do have basil, parmesan and olive oil, though, and that's enough to make a yummy and simple pesto.

Pesto

1 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts, if you have any, and I never do
1 clove garlic, if you have any, and sometimes I do

Put everything in a blender--minus the oil. Mix everything together while drizzling the oil into the blender. And that's it!