Scrumptious Easy Salsa

So I'm on a roll this week with HW produce. I just bought fresh vine tomatoes, cilantro, green onions, jalapenos and really fresh limes 4 for $1.00.  With all this you gotta make some salsa. All my veggies cost under $9.

6 tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

1 lime

sea salt

handful of fresh cilantro

1 jalapeno pepper

6 green onions

3/4 cup frozen corn cooked

Chop everything up.  I chucked the seeds from the jalapeno. Squeeze juice from 1 lime and add salt to taste.  Add cooked corn or not.

Really good if everything is fresh.....and cheap.

Command Start

Well I had a heebee jeebie moment this afternoon.  I parked my car in front of a store and ran in for a couple of minutes.  When I came out , I thought I saw my car running with exhaust fumes.  This is one of those moments when you see something but you don’t think it is happening.  I mean I see the exhaust, but my car can’t be running.  Well it is.  Then I look at the vehicle...doubting...  perhaps  this is not my car.  I look inside...Yup..it’s my car.....What the hell?? 

So I unlock it, and the fan is running full blast inside.  In my bewilderment,  I sit behind the wheel and put my key in the ignition and can't shut the car off.  Now I  don’t know what to do. I never touched my keys or tried to Command Start it. Generally, if I do start my car with Command  Start, and I get in the car and try to put on my windshield wipers without putting the key in the ignition, the windshield wipers won’t work until I insert the key in the ignition.  So,  I take my key out, and turn the windshield wipers on and the car is still running  and the windshield wipers work just fine.   I can’t restart the car because it is still running. When I insert the key in the ignition again,  I can’t turn it off.  So of course now,  I have no cell phone to call anyone and have no idea how long my car has been running or how long it will run.   So I think , well maybe I can just drive it...after all it is running.  So I get in, put the key in and back up...works fine..... and then drive forward and put it in Park and turn the key off and the car finally shuts off.

 This was super freakin’ wierd.

  I am assuming that  somebody in the parking lot had the same Command Start  set up as me and started two cars at once.   A car thief or an accident?

Whatever happened...this sure isn’t very safe.  Especially if your doors were carelessly unlocked.

  So much for another great idea to have a downside.

Hayley Motivated Me

Well Hayley motivated me to draw my own eye...actually this kinda looks like Hayley's eye when she was little.

Spoookeeee!

A little photoshop when you don't have a black enough pencil

Yesterday I decided that I wasn't going to let Hayley outeyeball me.  So I was gonna get up this morning and draw. My Christmas garlands are finally put away and my vacuum cleaner has been on the floor for a week...but my goal was to draw.  So I got out my sketch pads and" no pencils".  Not a pencil to be found. An art pencil that is....I ripped apart my computer room as when it was renovated, I must have put all my pencils in a place I can't remember.  Why would I have put them with all the other art supplies??? This could definitely be a prelude to a migraine with really good visionary problems. Nope...my pencil case with all my pencils is no where to be found.  So much for the artistic moment.

. I had to get dressed and go to Michal's and buy a damn pencil set, with eraser and sharpener.   Why would this be easy? So now I'm set with my new Italian CD collection and am beginning my sketch.  It's great to draw with music until the CD player skips an hundred bloody times....just enough to wreck the mood I have rebuilt since morning. I had to get another CD player upstairs to get this show on the road.  Now I'm set. Once the art pad was opened I had a pretty good flow. I actually couldn't believe how easy this fell into place.  After all.....l I haven't painted an eyeball for many, many years.  I so much enjoyed this little challenge that I just might do another one.

 Who'da thougth that Hayley would be the one to get me out of a lazy, uncreative slump in one long sufferable, shitty winter?

Hayley is still creating.

See what happens when you don't do your homework and doodle instead.

Love it!

Artwork  by Hayley.

This shows  a desire to want to see things better. Wow!

Happy Birthday BJ

Can you imagine me at 31...oooops 32?

Hayley's Eye Drawing

Free Photo Editor

We may have a Van Gogh in the family

I can still fit into the earrings I wore in high shool.

 I am  only as strong as the coffee I drink, the  hairspray I use

and I can still fit into the earrings I wore in high shool.

Fake Key Lime and a Meringue that doesn't Weep.

Since we don't have Key Limes and regular limes here are absolutely juiceless, I was forced to use lime juice in the bottle. Also zesting our limes up here in the north isn't that great either. These two limes got the boot at 79 cents each.

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham wafer crumbs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. grated lime zest
6 tbsp. melted butter

Filling
1/2 cup whipping cream
6 egg yolks
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup lime juice

Meringue
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup water
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir cracker crumbs, sugar, zest, and butter.  Press into a 9 inch pie plate.  Bake 10 minutes and cool.

Beat whipping cream till stiff...set aside. Whish egg yolks till smooth and add condensed milk( even use 3/4 can)until blended and add lime jiuce slowly.  Fold in whipped cream. Pour into cooled pie crust and bake for 15-20 minutes.

While filling is baking, dissolve cornstarch in water in a saucepan and on medium heat bring to a boil or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar till quite stiff and add sugar and warm cornstarch.  Beat till stiff peaks form.  Spread spoonfuls on warm pie and pop back in the oven  for 15 minutes or until meringue is as brown as you like. Best billowy meringue I ever made.

(The cornstarch stabilizes the egg whites and reduces shrinking of the meringue.
 Nothing worse than a cook weeping over her weepy meringue dripping off a lovely pie.)

Need a little Gas for the Day

I had such a craving for good ol' pork n' beans and there's nothing better than egg salad to have with them and a nice cup of coffee.

/

Budget Beef Soup

Monday is my "Make the soup of the Week Day".

 I was remembering a dinner I had in Ukraine at Zosi's.  There was a bowl of wedged boiled potatoes and just a sparse amount of beef scattered on top of the potatoes and  drizzled with a a little thin gravy.  Everybody helped themselves from this bowl.  We had perogies, sausages,bread and pickles....and of course vodka. But what amazed me the most was the small amount of meat compared to what we are used to eating here with potatoes. Money was extremely tight and this was their way of putting a meal together with a little of everything that they had. Everybody had maybe a tablespoon of beef on their potatoes.  I remembered the dish as I shopped for groceries today. I like beef soup, but I don't like a ton of stewing beef in it and I'm trying to make it cheap and different.   Old beef bones are $2 a package with not a shred of meat on them.  So I improvised a bit and  bought 3 Prime Rib Beef Back Ribs for $4.97. I didn't want cabbage and bought Bok Choy.

Glampingbaba's Budget Beef Soup

3 big Prime Rib Beef Back Ribs

10 cups water

1 tsp. salt

pepper

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp. Thyme

3 big carrots cut in chunks

4 stalks celery in big chunks

1/2 onion chunked

1 garlic clove

4 potatoes chunked

1 Bok Choy cut up in big shreds.

veggie or beef broth

Put ribs in cold water with salt, bring to a boil, skim, turn down and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, covered. Take ribs out of the pot and slice off all the meat. Put meat and bones  back in the pot.  Add all veggies and spices except for the Bok Choy. Simmer for 30 minutes till veggies are soft. I usually add a bit of beef broth mix but didn't have any so added a spoonful of veggie broth to the soup. When the veggies are done to your taste, add the Bok Choy and simmer for 10 minutes. Discard the beef bones and you have a wonderful soup without a lot of meat in it.....and money left over for dessert.



Cammie Turns 3

I'm three now!

And I'm cute!

I don't care!

I'm goin' home with my monkey and my doughnut holes!

Well maybe just  Pooh and my doughnut holes!

I'm 7 months and and I still don't care!

Day 40 - Frickin' Seven

Finally a grader came....47 days after we were promised one.

I'm so used to backing up and hitting the ice mountain that I'm still not used to an open unblocked crescent.

It's a Bug's World

I must have had a screw loose this week when I decided that the kids should go bug hunting. I hate bugs. I think the winter has been too long. I usually can't even touch a plastic, creepy, crawly, slimy bug, never mind roaches and spiders and centipedes and whatever else you have with a hundred legs.  But for a crazy moment this week I thought this might be fun for two little boys to hunt for bugs in the house.  And it was!  They threw them across the room, and slid them down the stairs and watched them fly everywhere. Roaches, spiders and centipedes.   I`d pick them up and put them away and they would scatter them all over again. I can even handle the coloured ones now.....but those awful brown two inch roaches just creep the bejesus out of me. It wasn't enough to buy bugs, we got a bag of gold coins....like a hundred.  So money was thrown in amongst the bugs everywhere.  Another insane moment! Throwing them and hiding them is one thing...picking them up and digging them out of the couch is not fun.  Lesson learned....really think your ideas through before you act on them.  And never buy brown roaches. If by chance, one gets misplaced and you forget about it and one day it reappears......it will scare the crap out of you.

Bug Hunting Binoculars
And One Scary Eyed Bug Hunter

Gogee and his Bug

Here's Lots of Them on the Stairs

Who threw the bug?  Gogee or Lukee?

Gogee!

Watch this roach slide...

Hey let's go to the top of the stairs, O.K.???

Creepy crawlers....couldn't snap a Roach

Too Ugly!!

I'm the King of Money Land and Bug World

Rings for a King!

Does the kompooter say that  bugs like apples?

Shovel, Swear and Hello Sandwich with Taco Chicken Leftovers

I knew that Taco Chicken would be great for leftovers in a Pita with Caesar Salad from the extra salad I made yesterday with a hot tea.

Enough with this bloody snow

My front entrance is usually protected from the north blow but this is what I have today and it is cold, cold, cold and heavy.

All I could do is the entrance for the mailman.....and I shovelled on Saturday to the cement.

Do I have to think about South Dakota to feel positive?

I guess this coulda been my entrance if I lived there. 

Yikes!!

Happy Birthday Curtis

Happy Birthday Curtis

Taco Chicken on Oscar Night and a Greek Salad

Well it's Oscar night and I want a ready made supper when I throw on my hot pink boa, $6 black leggings from Giant Tiger( this week) and my gold high heels,  to settle in for three hours of watching the Glamour night of the year. 

There is nothing easier than this.

Just the best!

Taco Chicken

3 -4 chicken breasts

1 can mushroom soup

1 cup medium salsa

1/2 package Taco seasoning

Crockpot

1/2 cup sour cream

Rinse out chicken breasts and cut in half and place in crockpot.  Sprinkle with taco seasoning.  Pour mushroom soup and salsa on top. Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours.  You can add 1/2 cup sour cream to mixture just before turning crockpot off, or add put a spoonful of sourcream on chicken when it's on your plate...if you're a visual person...and like a Chef's presentation. 

Being that I was home, I set the crockpot to High for 3 hours and noticed that the sauce was starting to burn along the top edges a bit, so reduced the heat to Low for 2 more hours.
Served with Greek Salad and short grain rice.

I'll never do this again without doubling the recipe because it is a great leftover food.
Sooo good.

Add a bottle of red Cabernet Sauvignon, Copper Moon, Kelowna, B.C. and the Oscars were bearly bearable. I was so bored I coulda vacuumed. 

When the Tabloid Queen has to get drunk to enjoy the Oscars...they are pretty bad.

                                    

Day 35

Mother nature just dusts my hill every week with a layer of snow because she knows the grader isn't coming.

Could Kick Myself

My shopping goal price for items is $24.99 and under. 
I was shopping a few months ago at Winners and found this hot pink sequined Betseyville bags for $24 .  Bought one and then went back and rethought about buying a few extra for gifts because I thought they were so cheap and fun and glittery and definitely a glamour bag everyone would want to have.  Thought about it, went and looked at the bag a couple of times and finally decided not to buy any that day.  I went this week and the bag caught my eye again and I went to see how much it was....

Regular $70....on sale for $40. 

Well I'm glad I bought mine anyhow.  If nothing else it's eye candy for my closet.

Glampingbaba's Bread Pudding

Soul satisfying dessert on a cold day from simple kitchen ingredients.

I take my ingredients out of my new fridge

Thanks to Rob and Brandy

Glampingbaba’s Bread Pudding

3 eggs

3 cups whole milk or half and half

¾ cup brown sugar

¼ cup butter

Dash of salt

4-5 cups old bread

1 tsp. Cinnamon

½ cup raisins(optional)

1 tsp. Vanilla

¼ tsp. Nutmeg.

Butter a casserole dish, size depending on how much bread you have.  In a medium saucepan over medium heat milk until hot but not boiling. Remove from heat and add butter, stir until melted and cool to lukewarm.  Beat eggs, salt, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla, and slowly add milk.  Place small pieces of  torn up bread and sprinkle raisins on top  into buttered 

 Calories all the way!

Babcia's Homemade Buns

I took this picture of one of Babcia's baking pans when she moved into her present senior's place.

 She won't be baking anymore.

 She used to take such pride in baking her buns.

If this pan could talk.

Yehzoos!

In this picture if you squint really hard, you can almost see dough that's buttered, rising in the pan and smell yeast.

See it was rising.



Babcia’s Buns

Old tarnished bake pans sit on the floor

Hot buns will come from these no more

Babcia’s homemade buns were her pride

Golden crusted, fluffy, with butter on the side

Robin Hood flour gently baked, lovingly with lard

Having  fresh buns on the table was hard

She fired up a wood stove in the early days

And blended into the dough her country ways

She kneaded and punched till we were fed

Those were the days when bread was bread.

Our satisfied stomachs did not give her joy

It was the “finished bun” that made her say “Yoy”

Aroma filled her tiny kitchen space as she baked

And the hard work she did never left a trace

When she brought us care packages to eat

Her homemade buns were always a treat

Garlic Sausage and dills and a couple of buns

Add a nice cold beer and we were done

Making  chleb out of her old tarnished pans

Were a gift we remember from Babcia’s hands

Grammas are supposed to bake cookies and cake

But it’s Babcia’s kids who will miss what she baked.

Day 28...still no grader

Graders are now phantoms in the city.....well actually they have always been dreamed of here so I guess they were always phantoms in our area but I remain optimistic. Not only do we still have no grader but a grader went down the main road and cleaned something... and then dropped his dump in our crescent on our snow pile on top of fresh snow so now it looks dirty. 

What the hell???