Whole wheat pasta is officially an imposter and a shady one at that. It looks like its going to taste good. But, in the end you wish you never opened the box. It's like your credit card company. All good intentions of lending you that temporary money that you need to buy that shiny new electronic, then it just pulls the rug out from under you when the bill arrives.Whole wheat pasta it's just wrong. It comes off all noble and stuff like that Aunt that you think you can trust but everything you tell her ends up getting you in trouble with your mom. Quite frankly, the only thing that makes it remotely pasta-like is its shape. It tastes nothing like pasta and its texture is most definitely not pasta like. And let me tell you, there is not enough grana padano cheese in the world to cover up whatever that aftertaste is that is left on your pallet. I would rather eat less pasta or never eat pasta again than subject my taste buds to that. The leftovers are now sitting in my fridge because I just feel guilty throwing it out. I keep looking at it thinking maybe if I try it again it will taste better, but let me tell you Whole Wheat non pasta like charlatan I'm onto you. I have 1 more box and let me tell you that is headed straight for my local food bank along with the mistake I made during the hurricane of buying Dinty More Stew...please enjoy.
Now, on to happier things, like dinner tonight. French onion soup, the champion of soups, and the only thing French that my husband will admit to liking. Actually it's his favorite. If it turns out good I'll post the recipe tomorrow. Until then onward to French Onion Soup night!
MEL
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Happy National Spaghetti Day!!!
Well you guessed it tonight is spaghetti night in our household. We have opted for the less calorie offensive whole wheat pasta which I am looking forward to trying. Haven't had the brand I bought yet. I'm not quite sure what will be going with the pasta, I'm thinking peas, mushrooms and a sour cream sauce. I think this will be delicious perhaps a bit of nutmeg added for that wintery taste. So far aside from our lack of internet at our home this year has been going swimmingly. I am very peeved at the cable internet company and for the record telling me to go on the internet to fix my problem simply doesn't work if I have no internet access.
It has finally turned colder in Virginia and though I was not happy about this a few minutes ago I have now come to the conclusion that I am happy the cold has finally found the south. I was not happy because I had a cold that was killing me in the ninth round here but I took something and for the moment have found myself in the agreeable stage of life again.
For Christmas I received alot of kitchen appliances and have been testing them over the time that I haven't been blogging. Yes I know, I should be doing this everyday but sometimes the Television just gets the better of me. I began my kitchen appliance venture with a mini pie maker. In the form of a chicken pot pie dinner. My husbands favorite. They came out really good and were delicious. I am going to try mini blueberry pies soon.
Up next for our bowl game a grand PSU disappointment, sigh, we ventured into the day of the panini. Delicious! Next time need some greens and stronger dressing but I was not disappointed and they make a really quick weeknight dinner.
Still have a cookie maker and juicer to try. I'm a bit apprehensive about the cookie maker. For some reason it just makes me nervous. Like my grandmother is going to come ask me why I am making her chocolate chip cookie recipe in something that looks like a mini george foreman grill. Grandma don't ask questions, I'm just trying it out, just like the silpat which was a great success. I will be trying the juicer next week in an attempt to get my husband to eat healthier. I will do this in a manner of, "hey do you want a drink?" (this will of course be while he is immersed in a video game and he will surely say yes please) This will be the moment that I hand him a large glass of carrot beet juice and he will unknowingly drink it without even looking....I hope!
We wives have to get healthy done you know any way that we possibly can and if it just happens that we have a window of opportunity while our husbands are playing a game I'll take it.
Happy National Spaghetti Day if I only knew you existed earlier I would have made pasta from scratch. Enjoy spaghetti anyway you like it today or any day, but especially today because its spaghetti day.
MEL
It has finally turned colder in Virginia and though I was not happy about this a few minutes ago I have now come to the conclusion that I am happy the cold has finally found the south. I was not happy because I had a cold that was killing me in the ninth round here but I took something and for the moment have found myself in the agreeable stage of life again.
For Christmas I received alot of kitchen appliances and have been testing them over the time that I haven't been blogging. Yes I know, I should be doing this everyday but sometimes the Television just gets the better of me. I began my kitchen appliance venture with a mini pie maker. In the form of a chicken pot pie dinner. My husbands favorite. They came out really good and were delicious. I am going to try mini blueberry pies soon.
Up next for our bowl game a grand PSU disappointment, sigh, we ventured into the day of the panini. Delicious! Next time need some greens and stronger dressing but I was not disappointed and they make a really quick weeknight dinner.
Still have a cookie maker and juicer to try. I'm a bit apprehensive about the cookie maker. For some reason it just makes me nervous. Like my grandmother is going to come ask me why I am making her chocolate chip cookie recipe in something that looks like a mini george foreman grill. Grandma don't ask questions, I'm just trying it out, just like the silpat which was a great success. I will be trying the juicer next week in an attempt to get my husband to eat healthier. I will do this in a manner of, "hey do you want a drink?" (this will of course be while he is immersed in a video game and he will surely say yes please) This will be the moment that I hand him a large glass of carrot beet juice and he will unknowingly drink it without even looking....I hope!
We wives have to get healthy done you know any way that we possibly can and if it just happens that we have a window of opportunity while our husbands are playing a game I'll take it.
Happy National Spaghetti Day if I only knew you existed earlier I would have made pasta from scratch. Enjoy spaghetti anyway you like it today or any day, but especially today because its spaghetti day.
MEL
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Chracters and other writing complications
So, today I woke up with the profound thought of actually accomplishing some writing. I know it has been a few days since I have posted. Forgive me I was traveling for the holiday. Now that I am back safe in my humble abode I can concentrate on something important to me, the written word. Why do people write? Aside from the abounding feeling to share a bit of themselves with the world, it is a need. Some are born with it, others fake it and for most it is an unconscionable, uninhibited necessity to get the words running through our veins from blood to paper. To a writer it is essential like breathing or nourishment. Explanation is difficult it is as if something burns deep within us, like a fire.
It is hard to say what fuels this fire within. There are definite things that make it grow. For each writer the spark is different for me it is music and reading the words of a fellow writer. I have never been a structured writer. Attempt to structure or speak about the forbidden word outline and you may as well have put me in a lecture on mechanical engineering. I regret to inform you that writing to me is such an organic process. There is a formula and many a writer can work that way. I am just not that type of writer. Thus, the block or giant brick wall that has smacked me directly in the face. There is nothing worse than a feeling of utter despair when writing. That feeling that no matter what I write it is just not working. My characters end up having writers block that is how acute this situation has become.
I think my problem is this; when I was in college I had my play read in a playwright series. The feedback from that was what makes this marketable to a theatre for production. The question arose why would a theatre pay to do your play instead of say a classic period piece like An Ideal Husband. Though I find this to be important; I find it more important to understand and follow through with character and story development. If these elements aren't working you might as well kiss any opportunity of your writing being looked at away. I wrote after this incident but not successfully and not very well. Needless to say, my writing has been clogged with lets make this completely different than anything anyone else has ever seen. While my ideas are valid, usable, and interesting; getting from point A to B has just been like pulling teeth. Complicated is good when done properly. When you are 35 pages into writing your book and realize that somehow the new idea has just run away from you it's painful. The most I can do at this point is begin again reading over the first three chapters and attempt to salvage something from the hours spent toiling over what in my opinion is the literary equivalent to a B movie.
The positive thing is that this blog seems to be doing its job. It's beginning to unclog something. What that is I have yet to figure out. It is all a process. The want to write it back and the story is starting to move around again. So hopefully soon something will begin to produce.
Until tomorrow...Tonight is Taco Night!
It is hard to say what fuels this fire within. There are definite things that make it grow. For each writer the spark is different for me it is music and reading the words of a fellow writer. I have never been a structured writer. Attempt to structure or speak about the forbidden word outline and you may as well have put me in a lecture on mechanical engineering. I regret to inform you that writing to me is such an organic process. There is a formula and many a writer can work that way. I am just not that type of writer. Thus, the block or giant brick wall that has smacked me directly in the face. There is nothing worse than a feeling of utter despair when writing. That feeling that no matter what I write it is just not working. My characters end up having writers block that is how acute this situation has become.
I think my problem is this; when I was in college I had my play read in a playwright series. The feedback from that was what makes this marketable to a theatre for production. The question arose why would a theatre pay to do your play instead of say a classic period piece like An Ideal Husband. Though I find this to be important; I find it more important to understand and follow through with character and story development. If these elements aren't working you might as well kiss any opportunity of your writing being looked at away. I wrote after this incident but not successfully and not very well. Needless to say, my writing has been clogged with lets make this completely different than anything anyone else has ever seen. While my ideas are valid, usable, and interesting; getting from point A to B has just been like pulling teeth. Complicated is good when done properly. When you are 35 pages into writing your book and realize that somehow the new idea has just run away from you it's painful. The most I can do at this point is begin again reading over the first three chapters and attempt to salvage something from the hours spent toiling over what in my opinion is the literary equivalent to a B movie.
The positive thing is that this blog seems to be doing its job. It's beginning to unclog something. What that is I have yet to figure out. It is all a process. The want to write it back and the story is starting to move around again. So hopefully soon something will begin to produce.
Until tomorrow...Tonight is Taco Night!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Face and the Staff Who Graciously Live with Her...
When I first met my husband he prefaced our relationship by saying, "Just so you know, I have a really big problem," If he only knew the horror that commenced to run through my brain. Mind you, we had already been on a date that would rival even that of the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp and I had figured out that I had met this completely awesome, wonderful, smart guy. Now he's telling me he's got a really big problem, I knew this had all just been too lucky. So I took a deep breath and said, "What's that." He replied, "I am completely in love with my fat cat, it's kind of embarrassing how much of love her." After I had stopped laughing my immediate reaction was oh man I'm going to have to love this completely ugly fat cat cause if you love the man you have to love his cat even if it's fat.
Our cat of gorgeousness Her Grace Mcsophervonnoodleface aka Bat Cat (I'll explain later) I noticed had started to become kinder in her ripe old age of 8. Her cutting you to rubbing up against you ratio had slowly started to diminish and she was more likely to take it out on the newest member of the family Brisco than to come after us. My hand now knows how wrong I was. Note to self: don't pet Brisco while the Face is sitting within striking distance it will not end well for you.
As all of us cat owners know we do not in-fact own our cats as we thought, they own us. Our sole purpose in their life is to get them what they want, when and exactly how they want it or you'll be cut. Yes, we unconsciously most definitely signed on for a life long contract of cat staff servitude. We should have a weekly support group meeting. O.B.M.C.A: Owned By My Cat's Anonymous. Hello, My Name is Megan and I'm owned by my cat. I've been dealing with this for 4 years now, a prisoner in my own home. I should add that if my cat knew I was here she would definitely cut me. Please stop the abuse of cat owners for only 1 hour a week you can save this cat owner from harm.
In my initial introduction to Sophie it was sans knowledge of her many quirks. If Len had mentioned them I'd probably have been completely horrified and wouldn't be writing this blog right now. The annotated list of quirkiness; her acute water obsession, wildlife life taker, canned food issues, and last but not least toilet paper roll aficionado.
If you remotely have the idea that you want to take a shower or casually walk close to the bathroom, have thought of the bathroom in the past few seconds as perhaps a fleeting fancy not even connected with wanting to or being in the bathroom Sophie is already there crowding the sink, sitting in the sink, laying next to the sink and quite frankly being all about that sink. Fill it up for her and for the next four seconds she will completely forget that you are human, dog, or anything other than a cat. You're one of the gang, but WARNING do not stay too long Sophie is not responsible for her actions.
The wildlife obsession must run in the family only unlike Daphne, Sophie is, you guessed it, not as kind nor does she sing. Things die when she gets involved. Birds, bats, and crabs beware. So far the score is Sophie 3, Wildlife 0. Lets start with the bat shall we. Prior to me my husband lived in an attic apartment, one night Sophie was jumping all over Len while he slept and running all over his room he thought well she's probably just running around in the dark. Then he heard ninininini and he turned on the light to find blood all over his walls and there was Sophie just sitting on the floor in the middle of the room with a dead bat at her feet. The next victim, a bird, who mistakenly flew into our apartment was murdered in our bedroom as we slept the feather clean up was horrendous not to mention the dead bird at the foot of our bed. The next bird flew into our sun room was attacked by Sophie, saved by my husband, and came back to die on our steps in a fit of utter revenge or surrender. The crab incident started when we put her litter box out in the garage well next thing we know we have Sophie with what we thought was a giant spider which then turned out to be a small crab attached to the face's face while she tries to kill it in our living room. My brother in laws response was you went to college for 10 years and your telling me you got crabs from your cat.
If you come to my house and open a beer or touch my can opener I apologize in advance for the Face molesting your leg in an effort to eat anything you are handling. But unless its tuna juice she's not touching it. She could be across the house and the mere sound of it will make her run her fat pouch into the kitchen at an alarming rate which will 1 shake the whole house and 2 sound like a Clydesdale pulling a freight train. I'm completely convinced that one of these days I'm going to come home to the Face holding the dogs hostage in return for tuna juice.
So, does your cat ever moo? I've heard of cat's barking, but mooing? My house is right now littered with toilet paper rolls Sophie grabs them in her mouth and meows as loud as she possibly can while running with it in her mouth. Now because the toilet paper roll obstructs the sound coming out my cat is actually running through my house mooing as loud as catly possible. It is both disturbing and hilarious at the same time.
We're convinced that when we leave the house she ties the dogs up, throws them in the closet and proceeds to have a killer party. One time I came home from the store with multicat cat litter and my husband asks why I got it. I said it's for the Face's wild parties. You know when she stops up the garbage disposal fills up the sink and make a jacuzzi out of it. Or for those times when she sits and watches animal planet and eats dog food off her stomach pouch. In retrospect I have to say he's completely right to have a love affair with the face, though cranky, she is probably the best cat I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
For as much as my husband loves her, annoys her, and dotes on her she completely despises him. We have actually had many a dinner conversation with our friends on this very subject. Why does Sophie hate Len so much? The only thing we could come up with was he cleans her litter box. I know very weak argument.
I am sure there will be other posts of the Adventures of Bat Cat the terror that flaps in the night coming soon. But for now just know that she is out there protecting your liberty from wildlife, toilet paper rolls, and other horrors that plague our households on a daily bases.
On the Menu Tonight: Still plugging away at the Ham, pray for us it may take over.
MEL
Our cat of gorgeousness Her Grace Mcsophervonnoodleface aka Bat Cat (I'll explain later) I noticed had started to become kinder in her ripe old age of 8. Her cutting you to rubbing up against you ratio had slowly started to diminish and she was more likely to take it out on the newest member of the family Brisco than to come after us. My hand now knows how wrong I was. Note to self: don't pet Brisco while the Face is sitting within striking distance it will not end well for you.
As all of us cat owners know we do not in-fact own our cats as we thought, they own us. Our sole purpose in their life is to get them what they want, when and exactly how they want it or you'll be cut. Yes, we unconsciously most definitely signed on for a life long contract of cat staff servitude. We should have a weekly support group meeting. O.B.M.C.A: Owned By My Cat's Anonymous. Hello, My Name is Megan and I'm owned by my cat. I've been dealing with this for 4 years now, a prisoner in my own home. I should add that if my cat knew I was here she would definitely cut me. Please stop the abuse of cat owners for only 1 hour a week you can save this cat owner from harm.
In my initial introduction to Sophie it was sans knowledge of her many quirks. If Len had mentioned them I'd probably have been completely horrified and wouldn't be writing this blog right now. The annotated list of quirkiness; her acute water obsession, wildlife life taker, canned food issues, and last but not least toilet paper roll aficionado.
If you remotely have the idea that you want to take a shower or casually walk close to the bathroom, have thought of the bathroom in the past few seconds as perhaps a fleeting fancy not even connected with wanting to or being in the bathroom Sophie is already there crowding the sink, sitting in the sink, laying next to the sink and quite frankly being all about that sink. Fill it up for her and for the next four seconds she will completely forget that you are human, dog, or anything other than a cat. You're one of the gang, but WARNING do not stay too long Sophie is not responsible for her actions.
The wildlife obsession must run in the family only unlike Daphne, Sophie is, you guessed it, not as kind nor does she sing. Things die when she gets involved. Birds, bats, and crabs beware. So far the score is Sophie 3, Wildlife 0. Lets start with the bat shall we. Prior to me my husband lived in an attic apartment, one night Sophie was jumping all over Len while he slept and running all over his room he thought well she's probably just running around in the dark. Then he heard ninininini and he turned on the light to find blood all over his walls and there was Sophie just sitting on the floor in the middle of the room with a dead bat at her feet. The next victim, a bird, who mistakenly flew into our apartment was murdered in our bedroom as we slept the feather clean up was horrendous not to mention the dead bird at the foot of our bed. The next bird flew into our sun room was attacked by Sophie, saved by my husband, and came back to die on our steps in a fit of utter revenge or surrender. The crab incident started when we put her litter box out in the garage well next thing we know we have Sophie with what we thought was a giant spider which then turned out to be a small crab attached to the face's face while she tries to kill it in our living room. My brother in laws response was you went to college for 10 years and your telling me you got crabs from your cat.
If you come to my house and open a beer or touch my can opener I apologize in advance for the Face molesting your leg in an effort to eat anything you are handling. But unless its tuna juice she's not touching it. She could be across the house and the mere sound of it will make her run her fat pouch into the kitchen at an alarming rate which will 1 shake the whole house and 2 sound like a Clydesdale pulling a freight train. I'm completely convinced that one of these days I'm going to come home to the Face holding the dogs hostage in return for tuna juice.
So, does your cat ever moo? I've heard of cat's barking, but mooing? My house is right now littered with toilet paper rolls Sophie grabs them in her mouth and meows as loud as she possibly can while running with it in her mouth. Now because the toilet paper roll obstructs the sound coming out my cat is actually running through my house mooing as loud as catly possible. It is both disturbing and hilarious at the same time.
We're convinced that when we leave the house she ties the dogs up, throws them in the closet and proceeds to have a killer party. One time I came home from the store with multicat cat litter and my husband asks why I got it. I said it's for the Face's wild parties. You know when she stops up the garbage disposal fills up the sink and make a jacuzzi out of it. Or for those times when she sits and watches animal planet and eats dog food off her stomach pouch. In retrospect I have to say he's completely right to have a love affair with the face, though cranky, she is probably the best cat I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
For as much as my husband loves her, annoys her, and dotes on her she completely despises him. We have actually had many a dinner conversation with our friends on this very subject. Why does Sophie hate Len so much? The only thing we could come up with was he cleans her litter box. I know very weak argument.
I am sure there will be other posts of the Adventures of Bat Cat the terror that flaps in the night coming soon. But for now just know that she is out there protecting your liberty from wildlife, toilet paper rolls, and other horrors that plague our households on a daily bases.
On the Menu Tonight: Still plugging away at the Ham, pray for us it may take over.
MEL
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Welcome
Hello and Welcome to Wife, Cook, Writer and Menagerie Wrangler. This blog is for the writer, the wife, the home cook and for anyone who has dogs, cats, fish, or backyard wildlife. Let me introduce myself. My name is Megan. I am a research assistant during the day and for as long as I live I am a wife, writer, cook, cat's staff, dog wrangler and I'm hoping to add mother to that list in the future.
My husband Len and I live on a very nice corner lot off an inlet of the Chesapeake bay in Virginia. Both of us being from the North, namely the Jersey area, moving here was a little bit of a culture shock. Things are a bit more laid back here and the terrain is far less mountainous but we are loving every minute of our life here.
The best part is probably playing host to all matter of wildlife, fish, cranes, ducks, frogs, turtles, you name it it has probably been in our backyard at some point. These animals only add to our menagerie of domesticated animals we have collected over the years. Our oldest: Sophie, or as my husband has affectionately named her Her Grace the Dutchess McSophervonnoodleface aka bat cat the destructor we call her face for short she's a tabby cat with an attitude the size of Antarctica. After the Face, comes Daphne a three year old Chocolate Lab who is more concerned with singing to the squirrels in our yard than actually doing important things like eating; the only things which distracts her from this passion is my husband whom she enjoys staring at for completely no reason and Brisco our 19 month old terror of a yellow lab who also enjoys staring at us. More on the menagerie later.
Now, for the important part: I started this blog for two reasons first, in the hopes that people could share their love of dogs, cooking, and life in general. I wanted to create a community for people to enjoy each other and the hobbies and life experiences that we all have. Second, this is a purely selfish reason, I have had the most annoying case of writers block I have ever had. I thought perhaps this would jog something and quite frankly, so far, this is the most I have written in quite a while.
So welcome, not that I actually think people will ever read this but if someone does I hope you will share whatever you like; be it writing, recipes, or life experiences. I will try my best to post daily and all of my posts will include a what's for dinner tonight section.
On Tonights Menu: Lentil soup with Ham and spinach. A new recipe to try and get rid of the overwhelming amount of leftover ham from our pre-christmas Christmas dinner.
MEL
My husband Len and I live on a very nice corner lot off an inlet of the Chesapeake bay in Virginia. Both of us being from the North, namely the Jersey area, moving here was a little bit of a culture shock. Things are a bit more laid back here and the terrain is far less mountainous but we are loving every minute of our life here.
The best part is probably playing host to all matter of wildlife, fish, cranes, ducks, frogs, turtles, you name it it has probably been in our backyard at some point. These animals only add to our menagerie of domesticated animals we have collected over the years. Our oldest: Sophie, or as my husband has affectionately named her Her Grace the Dutchess McSophervonnoodleface aka bat cat the destructor we call her face for short she's a tabby cat with an attitude the size of Antarctica. After the Face, comes Daphne a three year old Chocolate Lab who is more concerned with singing to the squirrels in our yard than actually doing important things like eating; the only things which distracts her from this passion is my husband whom she enjoys staring at for completely no reason and Brisco our 19 month old terror of a yellow lab who also enjoys staring at us. More on the menagerie later.
Now, for the important part: I started this blog for two reasons first, in the hopes that people could share their love of dogs, cooking, and life in general. I wanted to create a community for people to enjoy each other and the hobbies and life experiences that we all have. Second, this is a purely selfish reason, I have had the most annoying case of writers block I have ever had. I thought perhaps this would jog something and quite frankly, so far, this is the most I have written in quite a while.
So welcome, not that I actually think people will ever read this but if someone does I hope you will share whatever you like; be it writing, recipes, or life experiences. I will try my best to post daily and all of my posts will include a what's for dinner tonight section.
On Tonights Menu: Lentil soup with Ham and spinach. A new recipe to try and get rid of the overwhelming amount of leftover ham from our pre-christmas Christmas dinner.
MEL
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