Lizard Droppings

Knit One, Purl What?

2011-12-26T13:34:00.001-08:00

I think I mentioned in the first Knit One post that I had decided to knit most of my Christmas gifts this year. Well, I overcame my procrastination (just a little) and persevered!

Katie, my 13 yr old niece, got a soft, fuzzy scarf in purple and black.
I think she likes it, judging from the pictures!

The 16 year old, Kristen, was gifted this scarf and hat (the first one I made) in chunky greens, blues and purples. She declined to model it, but harassed me all Christmas Day to teach her to knit.

I'm going to start teaching both of my nieces to knit in the near future....

stay tuned, as I'm sure the experience will be humorous!

See the cute little munchkin in the photo below?

This is Zackary.

He's the son of my friends, Sunshine & Brandon.

He has an affinity for beanies.

He will steal them off of his father's noggin.

Now he has his own.

The pattern called for a pom pom at the top,

but I switched it out for a big tassel.

Several folk got dishcloths, too. Plus, I'm still working on dishcloths since I ran out of time.

No! I didn't procrastinate! I swear upon my knitting needles!

I'll keep posting pictures as I finish.

And wish me luck teaching the nieces...I'll need it!

Let Them Eat Cake...Bakery

2011-11-06T16:50:00.001-08:00

I met Trinity a couple years ago when she came to me at work to order business cards and make some gift certificates for her baking business. She'd been renting kitchen space from a restaurant in town until about a year and a half ago when she and her husband Michael got a line on a small location that could be converted into a small bakery...The shop is cute and cozy and always smells good. Trinity started filling the case with a few different cupcakes and cookies, brownies, dog treats (gotta give the puppies a treat too!) and people could special ordercakes, pies and cheesecakes.

Doesn't that all look yummy?!
Come on, you know you want to call and order your holiday treats!!

Then her friend Shawn began baking and selling bread.
Her Challah is to die for and makes really tasty French Toast.

Then they decided to start doing healthy dinners 4 nights a week and call it What's For Dinner! Every Monday morning they post the menu on Facebook and through an email blast. People can call or email in their order before a certain time and then pick it up after 5.
The dinners are really yummy and priced reasonably.
It's been quite the success.

The holidays are coming.
You're gonna be busy with activities,
you're going to be too tired to cook.
You'll want a nice, healthy dinner to serve your family.
You'll need some cookies.
You'll need a pie...or two.
How about a festive pumpkin cheesecake?
Call Trinity!!!

Their hours are:

Mon thru Thurs 9:30 to 5:30
Friday 9:30 to 4:30
Saturday 11 to 2

1069 Idaho Street
775-401-6640

Stop in and say Hi to Trinity.
And you might just see her cousins Tandy & Bree,
who come down and help her out during the day.
And you can usually find me there on Saturdays.

Knit One, Purl What?

2011-11-06T14:11:00.000-08:00

Back in 2005 my Momma gave me a knitting kit for Christmas. I perused the book, grabbed the needles and yarn and started knitting a scarf.

The knit stitch is as far as I got. The purl stitch was eluding me. I looked on YouTube, knitting websites and Roomie Jeff's mom tried to show me. But it was still eluding me. I couldn't wrap my brain (& fingers) around it. So after garter stitched scarf was done, I put the knitting away.

Until this past May, when I decided to quit smoking. It would give me something to do with my hands. I picked up another knitting book, some yarn, some needles and casted on.

I loved the thick chunky yarns I chose....What a nice, warm scarf they would make. This would be my crazy sampler scarf, trying new stitches, changing between yarns. But the purling was still giving my brain & fingers trouble. Grrr!!!

Then Momma came to visit me at the end of June. She showed me how to Purl. I got it! I really really got it!

While Momma was here, we went to check out the local yarn store...Hook, Yarn & Needles, a small shop owned by the wonderful Eva (a.k.a. Crochet Queen). She has the most amazing yarns. I want them all. Eva told us about a really neat knit/crochet online community -- Ravelry. They have tons of patterns and useful info. I've gotten a bunch of projects saved to my favorites already.

I've been back to Hook, Yarn & Needles a few times since then. One of the things I love about the shop & Eva is that she gets just as exited as I do about me mastering a new stitch or technique, no matter how simple. (as a former smoker, she's also given me some of her tips for quitting, too...double bonus)

This Christmas I decided to make people handmade gifts since money would probably be tight. And people love getting gifts made with love. I found a bunch of simple and fast, yet good-looking dishcloth patterns on Ravelry, bought some cotton yarn and started knitting away.

I'd wanted to try my hand at a hat, but most of the patterns I found used double pointed needles and I was hesitant to try them. So I found one that didn't use them...

I just added the tassels to both but haven't taken a picture yet....

One day I will use double pointed needles and make lots of socks in a rainbow of colors.

One day I will make a sweater out of a luxurious skein of Malabrigo yarn.

A Morning with the Bovines

2010-04-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

Last week as I was driving out to Dad's, I saw that our family friends, the Rose's, had some of their cows and calves down in a pasture close to their house and got the idea that I wanted to take some pictures of them for my sister Stephanie. Dad mentioned it to Ranae, who said "Heck ya, come and take 'em!"

Well, I didn't make it over before they moved back up in the higher hills.

Yesterday morning at Dad's I noticed that the hillside behind his place was dotted with cattle.
I really wanted to go and take pictures but I was headed out the door to work.

When I got back to Dad's that evening, he told me that a couple of them showed up in his yard. Dad's neighborhood is surrounded on two sides by open range, so it's not an uncommon thing to see cows that close to the houses.

This morning I was determined to get out on the quad and hunt them down.
Since they were up high on the hill and I don't have alot of experience on the quad,
I was a little apprehensive about heading up a muddy dirt trail.

Yep, the top of this hill...

What if I fell off and they mistook me for a giant salt lick?

Have you ever seen a cow tongue? Gross! Bleech!!

But I had a mission.
Dammit, I was gonna get cow pictures for my Otis!
And get them I did!

Aren't they cute?
This is a "pair". A cow and her calf.
This I learned from Pioneer Woman.

"Hay Lady, what're you lookin' at?"

"Com'on Ladies, let's get outta here!"

Then it was time to head back down the muddy trail.

These Lucies are for you Stephanotis!
I risked life and limb and the threat of
cow tongues to get them for you!
But I love you more than all the cows in the world!
So it was, like, totally worth it!

**And speaking of Dad...He went to Salt Lake on the 7th and came back on the 16th but his gallbladder decided to stay there. His recovery is going great!!!!!!

Dad's Gall Bladder

2010-03-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

Dad went to the VA hospital in SLC on Wednesday for a consult with the surgeons regarding his gall bladder. On Thursday the GI folks decided to do another ERCP (see previous post) to check for any more stones and possibly take out the stint that they put in back in February. Well, there were some more stones and some "sludge" in his bile duct. I talked to him shortly after the procedure and he said that this one didn't go as smoothly as the first. He was hoarse and a little incoherent from the anesthesia and intubation. Apparently he ended up with an infection after that and his temp was spiking to 104 degrees, so they had him on high grade antibiotics and hadn't transferred him back to the VA (they did the procedure at Univ of Utah Medical Center). I spoke with him on Friday, and the docs told him there was a possibility of them taking the gall bladder that day. Nope. The didn't. Also they put in a PICC line to administer the antiobiotics he's on...Cipro...Remember that stuff? It's what they gave to folks that were infected with the Anthrax virus a few years ago. So you know that's some potent crap. But he's in good spirits and I could hear him joking with the nurses while I was on the phone with him. Talked to him briefly yesterday as his cell was losing it's charge and his charger was at the VA while he was still at the U. He said they told him "maybe today". Nope!

I think he's back at the VA today as he told me he had his charger now. (I forgot to ask where he was) They want to keep him through this next week to keep an eye on him and get the infection totally cleared so they can go in and do the surgery.

I did a little research on gallstones and the causes. I don't feel like transposing it into my own words and since I am against plagiarism here's an informative link I found on the subject:

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec10/ch140/ch140b.html

My mom had her gall bladder out when I was little. Apparently it's common to get gallstones during pregnancy. Momma, sorry for giving you gallstones! I thought we only gave you gray hairs!!!

I will continue to update as I get more info. Please keep Dad in your thoughts and prayers :)

Update on Dad, Part 2

2010-02-16T06:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back in Elko. Dad is still in Salt Lake. Here's an update from the information we got on Monday morning:

The doctors came by on their rounds that morning. All very optimistic about stuff. The gallbladder does need to come out. But before they can do that, they need to make sure that the infection is all gone. So the plan is to preform another Endoscopy either Tuesday or Wednesday to check for infection and if the infection is all gone, they will remove the stint they put in on Sunday. From there, they will schedule the gallbladderectomy (ok, I didn't check WebMD for the proper term). There was also talk of doing an MRI either yesterday or Tuesday, but they need to inject contrast for the procedure and one of the effects of contrast is that it sometimes messes with the kidneys and Dad's kidney function is all screwed up from the gallbladder stuff. So they're hestitant to do that at this time. (Update on the kidney function: when I talked to Dad last night, he said that his urine was clear, of course, those of you who know our father know that those aren't the words he used!)

While I was still there, they needed to replace his iv. That was a very humorous half hour! It took 3 nurses to try and find a vein they could use! It came down to a nurse from the ICE unit who rocks at finding hard-to-find veins who had to bring in a portable doppler unit to find one. They were all getting frustrated by it and Dad was the calming presence to all of them! "Don't worry, take your time and do what ya gotta do." Success was finally achieved! Yeah Nurse Jason!!

He's in very good spirits and is very appreciative of all the well-wishes and thoughts and prayers that are being sent his way!! And he's got his cell phone with him, so if you'd like to give him a call, I'm sure he'd love to hear from those who have his number!

I'll keep posting update as I get them from him!

Update on Dad

2010-02-15T06:17:00.001-08:00

On Friday Dad called the VA nurse who handles the Veteran's in Elko (we don't have a VA facility here) to schedule his next physical. He mentioned to her that he'd been constipated for 3 days but that it had finally 'passed'. He then told her that his skin and eyes were showing signs of jaundice and she recommended that he go straight to the ER in Elko because that could be a sign for a number of things - gallstones, liver problems or a strain of hepatitis. After examination, the ER doc concluded that Dad had gallstones that were blocking the bile duct and that we 'needed to get to the VA Hospital in Salt Lake City ASAP!" They coordinated his arrival at the VA with the folks in SLC and Dad and I were on the road by 8:30 pm that night (after driving to my house so I could pack a bag then back up to his house for him to pack as well). We stopped twice - once to get gas and once at a rest area to nap for about an hour. When we got into SLC we stopped to get me checked into a hotel then headed up to the VA. When I got back up to the VA in the morning, Dad was having an ultrasound to see what they could determine from that. Dad was in good spirits, his stats were good, not running a fever, blood pressure fine, etc. When the docs palpitated his abdomen, he said he was only feeling a slight tenderness where his gallbladder was and that his only complaint of pain was hunger pain since they weren't letting him eat. later that afternoon they sent him up for an MRCP which is kind of like an MRI. Sunday they would send him out for an ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatogram), where they would go in endoscopically to remove the stones that were blocking the plumbing. Then they would schedule him to come back to have his gallbladder removed. At one point they were just going to back off of the GI consult and go straight for his gallbladder. They then decided that they were going to do the ERCP. They do this procedure over at the University of Utah Medical Center and would transfer us over there by ambulance. At about 6 pm the ambulance showed up and we got him all loaded up. The VA sent a nurse with him, too. At about 7 pm all the players were in place - the docs, the nurse from the U, the tech, the anesthesiologist (yep, I know it's not spelled right!) They told us that once they got Dad to sleep and intubated, the procedure would be about 30 - 45 minutes. Cody, the nurse from the VA and I went to the waiting room and switched on the Olympics. At about 8:30, Cody and I started to wonder why we hadn't heard anything, so we both snuck down the hall to see if we could find anything out. We ran into the nurse who told us it was almost over and that they would be taking him to recovery shortly. At about 9 the doctor came in to talk to us. When they got the stones out of the way, they discovered that there was infection sitting behind them. That was a surprise to all of us, since he didn't present with any sign of infection at all - no fever (the last one at the VA before we left was 99.1), no nausea, no pain at the sight, and his demeanor was typical Dad the jokester). They inserted a stint that would help with the drainage of the infection that would come out at a later date. They got him moved to recovery and at about 9:30 they let Cody and I back there to see him. He was in good spirits, just a little groggy. I can't remember what time the ambulance showed back up to take us back to the VA...I rode up front in the ambulance and I jokingly asked the EMT if we were gonna run with the lights on. He said "no", but indulged me by turning them on for a brief moment. Then he said I could hit the lights if I wanted to...so I did and it made me a little giddy :). Then he asked if I wanted to turn on the siren. "I am a 43 year old woman! How would that look?!" He said to think about it....So when we pulled up to an intersection with some cars ahead and behind us I said sure, lemme turn the siren on! So he showed me which button it was and away I went! He said that was one of the cool things about his job...but the the coolest was being able to run red lights legally! I thanked him for fulfilling one of my childhood dreams! We got Dad settled back into his room and after staying with him for a bit, I went back to the motel.

I'm getting ready to head back over to the hospital now. Want to be there when the docs come see him. So where we sit right now is scheduling him to have the stint removed and having the gall bladder taken out. I will keep everyone posted with updates when I can.

Adventures in Dentures

2009-10-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

I won't bore you or gross you out with details, but mouth issues have resulted in me getting dentures. It's a process I started on in 2005, but then the process was waylaid by vehicle issues. I went this past Friday to finish it all. 2 hours after entering the dentists chair, I was out and about with a new smile.

Ok, so I can't smile right now, but I will one day soon!

Right now, it's getting used to these things. Learning things all over again...eating, talking, swallowing...tried to whistle just now, couldn't. So for the time being, it's pudding, mashed potatoes, yogurt and jello (not that I'm complaining!). I tried to eat some bread w/butter last night, yeah, didn't work out so well. And when I took my first sip of coffee yesterday morning, I ended up wearing most of it, haha. Good luck to me...

And other updates:

Do you remember the pictures I posted of the raised bed Jeff and I built? And all the yummy vegetables I was going to plant? Didn't happen. When we replanted the veggies in the bed, we didn't realize it was still too early, so we lost them all. There's always next year...

One of the neighborhood strays apparently got under our house and had a litter of kittens. The cats kept hanging out at the heater vents (couple of times they pulled the vent out of the floor), we figured they were cold. Then the other day, Jeff heard a kitten meow, turned around and all of our cats were circled around the vent in the dining room. He looked down the vent and a little fuzzy orange face was peering up at him. Last night we were able to coax him out of the vent. he was so cute and fuzzy and purred so sweetly. Not sweet enough for us! We called Jeff's brother Beaux, told him about the kitten, he said bring him over. So Jesse took the kitten across the street to Beaux, whom the kitten did purr sweetly enough for! So the kitten has a new home! Yippee!

The breakfast we had for the balloon festival was a hit. And all my food came out great.

Other than that, it's been business as usual here at the casa.

Spaghetti for Dan

2009-09-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

About 2 years ago, one of the guys from work, Dan, fixed a problem I was having on my computer. I told him I would make him homemade spaghetti as payment.

Have I told you I'm a procrastinator? I think I've mentioned that before...

Well, I procrastinated.

Until now.

Dan's last day is Wednesday, so I thought I'd better get on it. I was going to come home from work on Tuesday night and get it going. I got all the ingredients Saturday, I was on the ball!!

I didn't go to work today (Tuesday). I spent the morning in the dentist's chair of pain having a tooth pulled. Ok, I was only in the dreaded chair for about 10 minutes. It took longer to give me the novacaine than it did to pull the tooth. I went home and took a long nap and when I woke up I didn't feel like doing anything, let alone cook. But I had made a promise to Dan last week that I would definetly make him spaghetti and I couldn't go back on my word, especially after putting it off for two years!

Browned 1 lb. ground beef with 2 chopped yellow onion and a gazillion cloves of garlic (ok, 4). Added that to a big can of crushed tomato, 2 med cans of tomato sauce, some tomato paste. Toss in some dried parsley, some thyme, basil and brown sugar. Brown sugar? Huh? It cuts some of the acidity of the tomato. Normally I would add raisins instead of the brown sugar, but most people say "ewww" when I tell them I put raisins in my sauce. Then I browned some Italian Sausage and threw that in too, along with a splash of Shiraz wine that was sitting around. I'll simmer it through the evening and turn it back on tomorrow morning while I boil the noodles. Then off to work I'll go with it!

Good luck to Dan in his new venture!!

Stay tuned cuz next week I'll be blogging about the breakfast I'm throwing for some family members during the Ruby Mtn Balloon Festival! We'll watch the balloons launch on Sunday morning while feasting on frittata, fried taters, muffins, apple skillet cake, scrambled eggs and bacon. Those last two items courtesy of Jeff for those who might not want frittata. Coffee, hot cocoa, spiced cider....

Thankful

2009-07-26T10:37:00.000-07:00

Shauna & I sat outside last night as the sun was going down. We had the new patio set all put together and were sitting at it enjoying the cool breeze and the quiet and we both proclaimed how lucky we were to live in Rural Nevada.

The sky was an inky blue, thanks to a late afternoon storm that passed over us. And the clouds...it looked as though a painter had bounced over the sky with a brush dipped in white paint, then muddled it with a pale gray. There were just a few stars in the sky, the rest wouldn't be showing themselves for a little while. The moon was a thin bright white crescent. The setting sun was casting it's orange-red glow along the Ruby Mountains, turning them a brilliant deep dark red.

The only noise was the laughter of kids playing down the street mixed with the whinnies (sp?) from neighbohood horses and Gunner from next door barking at a bird that dared to sit atop his kennel.

All mixed together, it makes for a peaceful existence. And one that I am thankful for everyday.

I get to drive to work every morning and see cattle grazing in fields green with sage and tall grass. And every once in a while, I am lucky enough to catch real cowboys and cowgirls on real horses driving cattle along the cattle path that runs next to the 'highway'. One of the horses we pass on the way to work had her foal this past week. Every morning for the past few months we've look closely to see if she's had her baby...What a nice surprise to see the cute gangly baby!

You see, Elko County is steeped in the rich tradition of ranching and farming. With names that go back to the beginnings of the area. Even with the gold mines that are hidden from view, way up in the hills, the ranchers have maintained their lands and the two have learned to coexist.

We might complain about the lack of variety as far as shopping here in Elko. We might complain that we have no Carl's Jr. But I don't miss the pollution clouding the sky, the hustle and bustle of city life nor do I miss tall buildings obscuring my views.

Yes, sometimes I miss the smell of the sea air wafting over the Redwood trees of my hometown in California. And living in a house that's surrounded by the mighty giants of trees. But when I get a hankerin' for the smell of redwood, I head to Home Depot and stand in front of the redwood planks and take deep breaths. And when I long for the smells of the beach, I open up the container of sand from Capitola, CA that Jessica brought me from her vacation last year.

What are you thankful for about where you live?

Good Buy

2009-07-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is the picnic table that we've been using

for the past few years.

It was left here by the previous tenants

& we just kind of took it over.

It's weather-beaten from the elements,

but still served it's purpose.

Well, OK, Jesse and his cousin Shawn were

really the only people who sat at it to eat.

It did make a good gardening bench for Shauna & me;

and the outdoor cat, Little Boy, liked to lounge on it

in the early morning hours before the sun hit it's peak.

When Shauna & I were doing the grocery shopping at Smith's

a couple weekends ago, a patio set caught our eyes.

"Wouldn't this look nice on the back porch?", said Shauna

as we plopped down in the chairs

"Yep, it would", said I, "but it's $450."

"I would even sit outside & eat at this table", said Shauna,

who is fair-skinned and overheats in the sunshine.

Then we continued on with our shopping.

Thursday morning when I pulled into the parking lot at work,

I saw that Smith's had all their patio furniture outside with

big signs screaming:

50% off!!!

Then Friday at lunch, I poked around

the selection that they had out,

but couldn't find the one that we had looked at.

When I told Shauna that they didn't have it, she said

"Just pick out one that you like."

When I went on my weekly grocery trip Saturday,

I poked around some more and found ours!

Yeah Liz!!

It went home with me.

As Jeff and his brother Beaux took

Jesse and Shawn camping that morning,

it was up to Shauna & I to put the thing together.

It took us about 2 1/2 hours,

but we kicked ass!

This is the umbrella that goes with it.

But they didn't have anymore of the bases,

so we either have to find one somewhere else

or make our own.

Here's to many a fun evening bbq'ing

and enjoying the cool nights.

Until it starts to snow again....

The Mixer Saga

2009-07-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

For the longest time I have wanted a KitchenAid stand mixer. I yearn for one. I would give my left pinky finger for one. I would sell my nieces for one, but I don't think Jessica would like that (or maybe she would).

Enter my dear friend Pioneer Woman. Ok, so I've never met her, I just read her blog(s). PDub has been holding giveway contests where the prize is a...

wait for it...

KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer!

Oh joy! I have a chance to win one!!

This week, she gave away this one:

But I didn't win. And I have a theory on that.

KitchenAid is against me due to an incident from the 70's involving a certain white KA mixer,

my sister Stephanie and myself.

We were two kids with nothing to do. For some reason we took the aforementioned mixer down to the carport where we had previously gotten white paint on one of the workbenches. I don't know which of us did it, but the mixer ended up sitting in a glob of paint and forgotten for a few hours. The paint dried to the bottom of the mixer. The parents were not happy with us, but Momma still used the mixer.

So I guess I am doomed to life without this:

But a girl can dream....

Blog Name Contest Winners!

2009-07-13T06:50:00.000-07:00

Yah, I know, I said the winner would be announced last Monday. But hey, I told you I'm a procrastinator, didn't I?! All of the entries were great, but a couple really stood out.

Anywho, the decision has been handed down and the winner of the contest was Stephanie Bauer with her entry of "Lizard Droppings"! Stephanie wins a 12 month personalized calendar! All she needs to do is pick 13 photos and email them to me along with special dates she wants on the calendar!

There was another entry that really caught the judges eye, so Francais is being awarded with an honorale mention prize of an academic planner! Frankie-Moo, send me a couple pictures for the front of your planner! Oh, you want to know her entry? "Dust in the Desert: A Lizard's Tail".

The other entries were:

Leaping Lizards, Auntie Janet
Liz Out Loud, Auntie Diane
First Daughter, Dad
The Wonderful World of Lizzy, Leslie L.
Lizard's Creek, Jessica R.
2009: A Liz Odyssey, Sunshine M.

Thank you to those who entered, the judges said they had a hard time deciding!

Stephanie and Francais can email their photos to lizzybeth167@gmail.com!

Spring Creek 4th of July Parade

2009-07-04T17:32:00.000-07:00

My 4th started out with the Spring Creek Parade.

The day started out a little dark & rainy,

but the blue sky emerged for the event.

We watched the parade from Sunshine & Brandon's driveway.

Here are some of the images we captured:

The parades in Elko County are always led by the local chapter of the POW*MIA Association.

This was a very powerful image and brought tears.

These horses were absolutely beautiful.

You can't have a parade in a ranching community without the Pony Club or tractors.

Although I don't know how a gorilla fits into that.

More beautiful equines and a local 4-H chapter.

Our Nevada Division of Forestry and BLM firefighters also joined in on the action.

The yellow BLM truck sprayed the crowd with it's water cannon thing on the front.

This was the float from Baily Construction.

They were raffling off the playhouse.

This bike was cute! It even had hydraulics that raised & lowered the front end!

Do they threw candy at your parades? They do at ours.

This float had a candy cannon that showered sweets at the parade goers.

Oh yeah, it started to rain as we got in the car to head home....

A Contest!

2009-06-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

OK, I am having a block as to what to name my blog.

"Lizzybeth!" is just not doin' it for me.

So I'm going to let you folks use your brainpower

To come up with a fabulous name for it!

The judging will be done by the independent firm of JSJ Consulting.

(Jeff, Shauna & Jesse)

The prize...

a personalized 12 month calendar from OfficeMax*.

So everyone (all 6 of you viewing my blog) put on their thinking caps

and come up with a kickass name for my blog!

Just add your suggestion to the comments or email it to me at lizzybeth167@gmail.com

Contest will end next Sunday, 7/5, at 8 a.m.

and is open to anyone**!

Happy Pondering!!

*OfficeMax is not sponsoring nor endorsing this contest.

**Employees of JSJ consulting are not eligible.

Important Notice:

Just a couple of things...

1. Winner will not be chosen by JSJ Consulting as I realized if they chose Sunshine's entry it might be construed as conflict of interest or favoritism. Winner will now be chosen by the firm of A&E Consulting. (A&E is comprised of Annie & Eric, my two employees over at the copy center)

2. Only one entry per person

Potpurri of Stuff

2009-06-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe for Cheese Muffins on Pioneer Women's site...

simple to make and quite tasty.

I made Paula Deen's Corn Casserole for Shauna to take to work with her on Tuesday.

My sis Jessica made it for Christmas dinner and I feel in love.

It's become a favorite of Shauna and me.

Jeff won't eat it cuz it's not brussel sprouts.

Jesse won't eat it cuz he's Jesse the Picky.

That's ok.

Just means more leftovers for the girls of the house!

On Friday, I took these...

...and made this...

...don't berate me because I used a jarred sauce, please!

I let it simmer for about 10 minutes so that

the sauce soaked into the pasta.

Add garlic bread and a green salad.

Ok, so I didn't throw together a salad...

...I forgot to get the greens at the store.

Props to my dad for this recipe!

Saturday was roof patching day at our house.

I tried to take some pics of it,

but each shot was of someone's butt.

This was a funny one...

It looks like Jesse is trying to poke Jeff in his backside with his screwdriver,

while Beaux is ready to whack Jesse with his hammer.

Bring on the rain!

Let's test this patch job out!

Rumble in the Rubies

2009-06-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

The barriers and pylons are stacked and ready for placement in the parking corridor.

People can be seen washing their rides, polishing their chrome.

In the next few days, the roar of motorcycle engines will increase.

Vendors will be arriving with an abundance of wares.

Ranging from t-shirts to custom painted helmets,

funnel cakes to beer soaked bratwurst.

That can only mean one thing....

It's time for Rumble in the Rubies!

The Elko Motorcycle Jamboree!

My sister and her hubby (Jess & Gus) will be there as their alter ego's Spinner & Mumbles to support Snake River Brothers Motorcycle Club of which they are members. Spinner will spend some of her time bouncing in front of the Silver Dollar Saloon. She's quite good at it, despite the fact that she's only 5'4". Not afraid to tell a huge, scary lookin' biker that he can't come in unless he show's her his I.D. and stand her ground when he argues with her. I guess being a mom prepared her for that! I have to remember to take my I.D. cuz even though she knows how old I am, she will make me follow the same rules.

We will need to polish my dad's Victory, charge the battery and make a "for sale" flyer for it. Gus will ride it down & park it in front of the Dollar and with any luck, someone will gasp and say "Beautiful bike man, I gotta have it!" Ka-khing!

We will walk around the corridor, checking out the wares. Maybe the man who paints using spray paint, paper plates, tin cans and protractors will be there again. Maybe we'll get there early enough to get commemorative pins, we missed out last year. Maybe we'll go to the free concert on Saturday night...both female tribute bands that I've heard are really good. Hell's Belles (AC/DC) and Zepperella (Zeppelin). The main concert, Friday night at the fairgrounds, will be LA Guns, Great White and Molly Hatchet. That one ya gotta pay for, so no, we won't be in attendance. Maybe we'll check out the BMX exhibition. We'll definetly get ourselves a funnel cake and Jeff will indulge himself with a deep-fried Twinkie.

I'll have a photo-filled blog after it's over. Note to self - buy new rechargable batteries!

The World's Pickiest Eater

2009-06-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

This is Jesse.

He's the son of my roomies Shauna & Jeff.

If you look in the dictionary for the

definition of "picky eater"

you will see his picture.

We bought this off the Internet a couple weeks ago after seeing the infomercial: It's the Express RediSetGo. And it came with a bunch of recipes. One of which was for personal pizzas. So yesterday I made the recipe for the pizza dough that was included.

Sure, I could have bought pre-made dough.

But I am trying to be more self-sufficient and stay away from processed, boxed foodstuff.

The recipe made 12 little balls of dough which could be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. I thought that if Jesse liked the first one, he would be able to make himself pizza for lunch during the week this summer.

I showed him how to roll out the dough and then he built himself his pizza.

The pizza was done in 7 minutes, the crust was perfect and was really yummy.

More important was that Jesse the Picky loved it! That brings the count up to 2 items that I cook that he will eat. #1 being stuffed chicken breasts.

This is the pizza that I made for myself...

Pepperoni, zucchini, crushed red pepper, Colby jack cheese (we forgot to by mozzarella) and Parmesan cheese.

YUM!

Love in the Grocery Aisle

2009-06-08T05:02:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a container of dipping spice.

The dipping spice was lonely. All he did was sit on the shelf with

his other lonely dipping spice buddies.

On the shelf below him sat Ms. EVOO. She too, was lonely and spent her days wondering why no one took her home. "Does no one understand the goodness that will come with purchasing me?"

Well, one day two ladies were shopping and their eyes caught sight of Mr. Dip & Ms. EVOO and said "YUM!" while tossing them both in the cart next to the Twinkies and microwave popcorn.

The ladies discovered that when mixed together, they created a wonderful melange of flavor.
And then the ladies dipped a fine artisan bread chunk into the bowl and were transported to heaven!

**This was so yummy! We tried to get Jeff and Jesse to try it, but were unsuccessful. But Jeff's brother Brandon stopped by and he had a taste and it made him want to go home and make spaghetti. Did he make you spaghetti Sunshine?!?!

An Elephant in the Backyard

2009-06-02T06:39:00.000-07:00

The most difficult aspect of my job is not dealing with difficult customers -either those who don't have a clue of what they want or are just plain cranky. It's when I have customers who come in to have memorial cards made for a funeral.

You see, I am an emotional person. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I cry at the Folger's Coffee commercials (you know the ones - where the son surprises everyone at Christmas). I bawled through pretty much all of Steel Magnolia's. Extreme Home Makeover, yep, that'll get the ol' tear ducts a'flowin too! And not just at sad movies, but I've been known to cry at comedies and action/adventure movies, too.

So when I am sitting with customers at my computer at work, designing these little cards that boil someone's life down to a couple of paragraphs, it's very hard for me to remain stoic. But I do. I see certain little glimpses into the family. The smiles as they remember a fun time, the grief at a life taken unexpectantly, sometimes the relief that their loved one is no longer in pain.

I did some cards yesterday for a family. This time it was extremely hard for me to remain emotionally detached, I felt that any moment I would start crying and racked my brain trying to figure out why. Was I thinking about TaTia, my dad's aunt who is in the hospital right now after having two strokes? Yes, she was on my mind. Was it because I'm PMS'ing? Still don't know. But when they left, I lost it and just started bawling. It only lasted a minute or two and my co-worker Annie gave me a little hug and I was fine.

When I got home last night, Shauna told me that our friend (and her sister in law) Sunshine's dad was not doing well, his organs were starting to shut down. Bill has been battling with MS for a very long time. He's been confined to a wheelchair for the last few years and pretty much home-bound. I've only met Bill once and that was when he was toolin' around the neighborhood in his electric scooter, stopping to shoot the shit with anyone he saw. My sister Jessica and I happened to be some of those people a couple of years ago (Bill & his wife Trish live a block away from my sister). He rolled up into the driveway and we introduced ourselves and just chit chatted. He told us about living in Las Vegas, working as an OSHA inspector. Then he started telling what we believed to be tall-tales. I made mental notes to ask Sunshine what was true and what was false. Did he really come home from Vegas with an elephant that he traded a truck for? That turned out to be false. But I will always laugh when I think of Bill, just because of the elephant. Jessica & I still chuckle at that one..

Bill passed away about an hour ago. He's no longer in pain. My thoughts are with Sunshine and her family. And Jessica and I will take care of the elephant.

Beautiful Dirt-Filled Sunday

2009-05-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a nice day, it wasn't too hot and it looked like we might even get a little rain. So we took advantage of the day and spent some time working in the yard. We started pulling the dandelions from the grass, planted the Aspen tree sapling that my dad gave us last summer and worked on getting the flower bed weeded. Shauna & I bought a bunch of flowers at Home Depot on Saturday & I'll get them planted on Monday evening when I get home from work. We also picked up another Jiffy container & some flower seed and planted those that evening.

These little purple Pansies have showed themselves for the past three years. They'll look a little better once they're not choked by the dandelions.

This is another of my projects. That big brown spot there, it's not dirt. It's a fine layer of little pokey burrs. So my plan is to dig the burrs up and work the dirt. Then I'll take the cinder blocks, stack them (we have more), fill 'em with potting soil and plant in 'em. I envision plants that will drape down the sides of the cinder blocks, creating a littel flowering wall. What does everyone think? Sound like a good idea? I'm open to suggestions...

Here's our little Aspen sapling that my dad gave us last summer. It sat out on the back patio while we tried to figure out where in the yard we wanted to put it. We didn't think it survived the winter, but little green leaves appeared. So I stood in the front yard with everyone and said "Pick a place for the tree! Hurry!" Now it has a new home and hopefully will be very happy there!

Things are popping out all over...

2009-05-29T08:57:00.001-07:00

...well maybe not all over, but in my jiffy pots they are!

The 'greenhouse' has been living in the shed since I planted them.

Since I just planted them on Sunday I wasn't expecting anything.

I got a surprise when I lifted the lid off.

Look! Little green specks!

We have a couple of cucumbers sprouting.

And four of the basils are popping out, too!

What I really can't wait for is the zucchini. I see steamed zuch, fried zuch (yeah, I know, not healthy, but yummy), and zucchini bread.

LOTS of zucchini bread!

Useless Trivial Information

2009-05-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day of school here in Elko County and the day that both Elko H.S. and Spring Creek H.S. are graduating their seniors.

As thousands of graduates are preparing to walk down the aisle and accept their diplomas to the tune of Pomp and Circumstance, I googled P&C and came up with these little known factoids:

The composer was Sir Edward Elgar of Liverpool, England
Although Elgar composed concertos for violin and cello, he is best known for his 5 P&C marches.
It was first performed on October 19, 1901
Elgar was a mostly self-taught musician
He was knighted in 1904 and appointed Master of the King's Music in 1924
He was the first major composer to record his works for the phonograph

*culled from the website http://www.brownielocks.com/graduation.html

Wishing all grads and their families a memorable and safe graduation season.

Rainbow Connection

2009-05-26T06:50:00.001-07:00

We had a brief thunderstorm on Sunday evening.

It left this behind:

A double rainbow!

You can't really tell from the photo,

but you could see the whole spectrum of colors.

It was awe-inspiring.

Double Shot of Home Depot

2009-05-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I stopped at Home Depot to get plants.

I couldn't find the veggies.

I didn't look hard enough.

So I bought some seeds and set of jiffy pots.

But I forgot something important.

I forgot the potting soil.

So Sunday I made another trip to town.

Not just for potting soil,

I met my dad, sis and her family for a very tasty breakfast at Toki Ona's.

After my hunger was quenched, Dad and I headed to HD.

I found the veggie plants.

Picked up some strawberries, a Thai basil and an onion chive.

Here's the onion chive.

And the Thai basil. It's really pungent.

And the strawberries.

The empty pot is not empty.

There were lettuce seeds in Shauna's Kraft magazine.

So that's lettuce.

I got the Jiffy Pots started yesterday, too.

Banana Peppers, Cheyenne Peppers, Carrots, Zucchini, Cucumbers and basil.

Cross you fingers.

Useless Trivial Information

2009-05-22T06:52:00.000-07:00

In honor of Memorial Day Weekend, today's piece of Useless Trivial Info is about hot dogs, the original mystery meat!

I found a website ( http://whatscookingamerica.net ) that had all kinds of facts, trivia and legends about these weenies:

Movie actress Marlene Dietrich once said that hot dogs and champagne were her favorite meal.
It is said that legendary baseball player Babe Ruth once downed 24 hot dogs between games of a double header.
Hot dogs are primarily regarded as a fun, summertime food, and most are eaten between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Jayne Mansfield was Miss Hot Dog Ambassador in 1950.

There are many combinations of condiments that folks use on their dogs. Catsup, mustard, relish, onions, sauerkraut, etc.

People also like them cooked many ways: Bbq'd, broiled, boiled or on a stick. And there's a restaurant somewhere that deep fries them!

Personally, I like 'em bbq'd almost to the point of being burnt. The outside is crispy and the inside is moist. On a bun with mustard and catsup. My bro in law Gus, he makes me the meanest dogs on the planet! Oh, and after tasting a Hebrew National brand dog, it's the only kind I'll eat. Most hot dogs seem really oily, not these.

Now I want you to share with me how you like your dogs. Or if you're not a hot dog eater, what's your favorite substitute.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend :)

More Dirt for the Garden

2009-05-22T05:31:00.000-07:00

Roomie Jeff found us more dirt for the garden.

From the Fairgrounds.

Dirt, horse poop and hay/alfalfa.

Instant compost!

Jeff & Jesse did the bulk of the work unloading it.

I really appreciate all the work that those 2 are

putting into this little garden effort of mine.

You see, they don't like most veggies.

Jeff, he'll eat brussel sprouts (blech!)

and Jesse will eat raw onion on occassion.

So now the bed is ready for planting.

Finally!

I'll pick up the plants today after work

and get them into the ground.

We'll get this veggie party started!

We had alot of dirt left over, so we used it

to fill in the hole left from having the

septic tank pumped last year.

Jeff also took a wheelbarrow load

across the street to his brother's house.

Cake Pops & Cake Balls!

2009-05-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

My sister Stephanie found the recipe for these cute little cake pops on Bakerella's blog http://bakerella.blogspot.com

My roommate Shauna and I bought the stuff to make these little bundles of sweetness weeks ago.
This morning I decided today was the day we would try our hands at Cake Pops and Cake Balls

The brown candy melts had a better consistency than the blue after melting. Our first attempts at dipping in the blue resulted in a gloppy mess. So Shauna put some of it into a baggie and used it to decorate the brown pops.

We used a cake mix with pudding in the mix. That was a mistake. After adding the frosting to the crumbled cake, it was just way too moist. I guess that's what baking is all about, huh? Learning as we go...

Six Degrees of Seperation...Elko Version

2009-05-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

My little sister Jessica works at a Sinclair gas station.
One of the owners is Mike, our mayor.
Jessica's husband Gus works for the city street department, so his boss is also Mayor Mike.
One of Gus's co-workers is Rich S.
Rich's wife Susie is one of the co-owners of Ruby Dome Construction.
Ruby Dome did the foundation for my dad's house.
Dad worked for Ruby Dome when he first moved to Elko back in the 80's.

Ok, so that's 7.

Useless Trivial Information

2009-05-15T05:17:00.000-07:00

It's once again Friday and that means it's time for Useless Trivial Information!

Roomie Jeff collects Hot Wheels. He's got ALOT of Hot Wheels. The den in our house is a shrine to little metal cars. And he's turned one of our sheds into what Roomie Shauna and I call Hot Wheel Hell, where he spends many an evening in the warmer months customizing Hot Wheels for his fellow HW buddies.

Jeff's younger brothers, Brandon and Beaux are also involved in collecting. And when they are together, the conversation will always turn to Hot Wheels. Beaux and his family live across the street from us and it's not unusal for him to call here at 8:30 at night and say "Let's go hunting!"

In honor of the little metal cars that have brought these brothers together, here's a bit of trivia about them:

1968 - The first sixteen Hot Wheels cars were introduced into the market. They featured redline tires, spectraflame paint, a metal collector button, and some had roofs painted black to look like vinyl. The public saw the Hot Wheels Custom Corvette first before the actual car was introduced by GM.

Enjoy you weekend, people!

A Garden Update

2009-05-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

Friday I made a trip to Home Depot to pick up

the material I needed for our raised veggie bed.

Here's the first section. Roomie Jeff and I built it on the patio

and carried it over to the spot that we cleared.

Here's Roomie Jeff & Roomie Shauna's son Jesse clearing the weeds that he and Jeff weedeated. And a picture of the finished box. Can't you just see the zuchini and other yummy green goodness spilling over the edge?

Farmer Jeff is hauling dirt from the driveway to the bed.

We need a little bit more dirt then I can start planting my

yummy veggies!

Today I think I will work a little bit on the flower beds in the front of the house.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Useless Trivial Information

2009-05-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

I have a brain that stores mass quantities of useless information that will probably only serve me well if I was picked to be a contestant on Jeopardy. For instance, while playing Trivial Pursuit with the gang one evening, someone asked me the question "Who won the first gold medal in Women's Pole Vaulting at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney?"

"Stacey Dragila!" I blurted out...

...I was right.

I won the game.

Ha!

So now I've decided that every Friday I will share with you some Useless Trivial Information.

In honor of the opening of the new Star Trek movie:

Chris Pine, who is playing a young James T. Kirk, is the son of character actor Richard Pine.

Most of you are probably saying "Richard Who?"

Richard Pine played Sgt. Getraer, Ponch and John's boss on CHiPs. Now I bet you're all saying "oh I remember him!"

Does anyone else hum the theme from CHiPs when they see Highway Patrol Officers? I do.

And speaking of humming theme songs...here's a funny little story:

A couple of years ago, my housemates son went to church with his Aunt & Uncle. When the acolytes (don't know if this is the proper term in LDS speak) walked up the aisle looking so serious, Jesse started humming, ever so quietly, the Imperial March from Star Wars! Too funny!

Garden and other updates

2009-05-05T06:52:00.000-07:00

Got dirt yesterday. Good dirt. Already has mulch and some other nutrients or whatever in it.

Here's my dirt. Don't ya just wanna take your shoes off and stick your toes in it? Now all I have to do it buy the materials for the raised bed. Home Depot here I come!

In other news:

Dexie the cat is still M.I.A. Roomie Shauna went to the animal shelter to see if she got picked up, but no luck.

Frick & Frack went to the vet yesterday to get fixed. (Yipee! 2 down, a gazillion to go!)

I went to feed my dad's horse, Tank, yesterday morning. He tried to eat my hair.

That's about all I have for you now...

Lost

2009-05-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

Our cats decided to break out of the house early Saturday morning. Three of them - Fearless, Frack and Dexie - pulled the spacer out from between the window mount air conditioner and the window sill and took off. I discovered it right before I left for work at 5:30 a.m. When I went outside, I found Fearless & Frack right away, but there was no sign of Dexie. Walked around the house calling her name, but nothing.

There's still no sign of her. My roomies and their son have walked the neighborhood and Jesse has combed the fields around the house. We keep hoping that she's going to show up meowing at the door.

Hopefully she's suffering from a burst of wanderlust and will be home soon...

The Garden...The Offender

2009-04-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

Mom asked for some pictures of the noxious weeds that have

invaded the flower bed in the back of the house....

Here are the offenders:

And a good note on the garden front...My friends Ken and Judie have a small landscaping company and are currently relocating their tree nursery. They've offered me a load of already prepared soil to put in my veggie garden! For free! Ok, not really for free, but in payment of designing their business cards. The soil gives me more incentive to build the raised bed this weekend.

Let me also introduce you to some of my neighbors:

This is Gunner. He's the English Spaniel belonging to Tracy and Phil next door.

And this is Gunner's buddy, Buddy, the German Wirehair. He's too rambunctous

to stay still long enough to have his picture taken.

That's all for today!

The Garden

2009-04-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

I am yearning to start my gardening, but Mother Nature is just not cooperating with me...I think she must be screening her calls. Our weather here in Elko has been a mish-mash of sunshine, rain and snow. And since it's still dropping down into the 30's at night, I know that everything that I plant now will just freeze. That happened to me a couple years ago.

I got started on weeding out the flowerbeds in the front and back of the house this weekend. Surprisingly, some of last years plants survived being covered with snow most of the winter and are greening up already. I also ended up disturbing the home of some red ants, they weren't very happy with me and I now am sporting ant bites on the top of my foot and on my ankle. There's also some kind of noxious weed growing in the back bed that has taken over. It resembles rhubarb, but has a really thick root system that has worked it's way under the concrete walkway. I think I'm gonna have to talk to somebody at the BLM to find out what it is and how to get rid of it.

We also picked a place in the backyard for the vegetable garden and next weekend are going to build a raised bed there. I want to plant zuchini, peppers, pole beans, cucumbers, some onions and maybe some lettuce.

I'll keep everyone posted on the progress of the garden as it grows (hopefully).

Humberto and the Dinosaur

2009-04-27T05:34:00.000-07:00

**I wrote this story about a year ago for a friend of mine on MySpace who needed a good laugh.

Once upon a time there was a monkey. He was a cute little tan monkey with sad little eyes like most monkeys have. I guess they have sad eyes because they're thinking of all their little monkey friends who have been captured and now live in zoos. Anyway, the little monkey, who's name was Humberto (did I mention he lived in the Amazon?) was walking through the rainforest one afternoon when he came upon a GIANT dinasaur. The dinosaur ROARED at Humberto! It was loud enough to make Humberto stop in his tracks and pee his pants. (Well, I guess he didn't pee his pants, he's a monkey, they don't wear pants!) Humberto was very scared but suddenly became a brave monkey and started to grab handfuls of rocks and started throwing them at the dinasaur (who's name was Rocco). Rocco was being pelted by the rocks and it was hurting him, one hit him square in the eye and his eye fell out! "Help me! Anyone help me! A mean monkey is throwing stones at me!" He's holding one of his paws over his eye to try and stop the bleeding. Meanwhile, Humberto picks the eyeball up off the ground and pretends that he's playing marbles, flicking it with his finger in the dirt. He soon bores himself with it, blows the dirt off and pops it in his mouth! "Yum! Dinosaur eyeballs are quite tasty", he says, "I wonder where I can get some more?". Humberto leers deviously at Rocco, who is crying and bleeding, picks up another rock and throws the rock up at Rocco and hits him right in the other eye. This time the eyeball doesn't fall out. Little Humberto is so sad. For all he wants is another tasty dinosaur eyeball! Is that too much to ask, he thinks to himself? Suddenly, from out of nowhere flies Mike, Humberto's parrot friend! Mike asks Humberto what's going on and Humberto tells him the story of Rocco and the rocks and the tasty eyeball.

Mike stares at the bloody mess of a crying dinosaur and tells Humberto "Well, if you promise to climb the trees and get me nuts for one year, I will peck out his other eyeball for you." Humberto thinks about this for a moment and replies "That sounds like an awful lot of work for just one eyeball. How about if you collect me eyeballs for one year in return for the nuts?" Mike agrees to this and goes about pecking Rocco's eyeball out. Humberto takes the eyeball out of Mike's hand and pops it in his mouth "YUM!", says Humberto. Then Humberto climbs up the nearest tree and gathers up some Brazil nuts and drops them down to Mike, who gobbles them up. Rocco is sitting on the ground crying and trying to figure out how he is going to get through life now that he is blind. Humberto and Mike listen to Rocco's lamentings and start to feel pangs of guilt. So they lead Rocco to the jungles urgent care clinic where he is examined by the local doctor, a tiger named Abdul. Dr. Abdul tells them all that Rocco can live a long, somewhat normal life, especially if he had the help of a seeing eye monkey. Monkeys make very good guides for the blind, he tells them. Humberto agrees to be Rocco's seeing eye monkey, afterall, it is his fault that Rocco is blind. The three of them-Rocco, Mike and Humberto go off together and live happily ever after. They spend their days eating nuts and playing marbles (but not with eyeballs!).

The End

Now you're probably asking yourself some questions about this story....What is a dinosaur doing in the Amazon? They've been extinct for a few million years. I don't know. How did a tiger become a doctor? And wouldn't he be a veterenarian since he treats animals? I don't know. And why would anyone in their right mind want to eat an eyeball? I mean, they're probably all gloopy and splurt wierd goo in your mouth when you bite into them. Anyway, back to our story....The SCPA and PETA should be happy to know that no actual animals were harmed in the writing of this story. The names and events are fictional, so nothing has been changed to protect the innocent.

Sausage Balls

2009-04-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

My roommate Shauna got this recipe for Sausage Balls from one of the ladies that she works with, who got it from Paula Deen. Y'all should try them, they're yummy and easy!

3 cups Bisquick

1 lb. sausage

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Pay no attention to the messy countertop!

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Now wash your hands, throw the ingredients in a bowl and smush it all together. It took me about 5 minutes to get it all mixed together.

I know at this point it doesn't look too appetizing, but just you wait!

Grease your cookie sheet. Grab small hunks of the mixture and roll into 1" balls and place on you cookie sheet, keeping about 2" of space between them.

Stick your sausage balls into the oven for about 18-20 minutes. The recipe makes roughly 4-5 dozen.

I made an easy mayo-mustard dipping sauce for mine, but a couple more options might be a country style gravy or a honey mustard.

You could probably even use turkey sausage instead of the pork sausage. Personally, I'd like to try them with linguica for a spicy adventure!

The Procrastinator Finally Follows Through

2009-04-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to start a blog for the longest time. But I am a procrastinator, I get it from my father (love you, Daddy!). It's not the bad kind of procrastination that leads to bills being unpaid or not shaving my legs until there's enough to braid or waiting until the last minute to do my taxes, just enough of a procrastinator that leads to disorganization and not starting things that I say I'm going to do.

But since my little sis, Stephanie, started her blog to keep in touch with our family members, I thought "I should do that, too, but I'll start tomorrow." See, procrastination!