My Thanksgiving Spirit
I thought I was running out the door, but it seems I have another bit of time before my visit to Winter Romance, so we will do this now, and then come home later this afternoon with no excuse not to do the House Things that need doing.
I am not a big Holiday Person. I don't like the "One Must Do This" approach, where on Thanksgiving you HAVE to have THAT meal, and eat too much and be with people you can't stand. And Fod forbid if you don't have somewhere to BE....Excuse me, but let me point out that having an entire day at the Spooky House with nowhere I have to go and nothing I have to do and that I can do whatever I want with IS a Holiday, and I don't have many like them.
And here in the Midwest, there are some really scary not in a good way food customs.....Sweet Potatoes baked with sugar and covered with Marshmallows? CANNED green beans, baked with CANNED cream of mushroom soup and topped with French's dried onion things? Pumpkin pie with made with CANNED pumpkin? Jello and fruit mold? And pistachio FLUFF?? (no idea what that one is, I fear it...) Little weenies made with Fod knows what in a crock pot with a jar of BBQ sauce???? Not to mention a Turkey AND a Ham....
Not going there. Most years anyway. But this year, I am having People for Thanksgiving. Well, a Person any way. A Guest, for Thanksgiving dinner. Miss Kitty is coming. And I have to feed her. And me. I am good with ordering Pizza, which is what we usually do when she eats here, but the pizza places will all be closed. And I feel I should Make Dinner, it being a Holiday and all.
I don't have many people over for food. A lot of people get sort of faint of heart when confronted with Bengals at dinner. You have too choices here, they eat on the table with us, or we lock them up and listen too what sounds like Armageddon, as they yowl and fling themselves at the door in an attempt to let me know there has been an ERROR and they are locked away.
I only ever tried a Dinner Party once, with my Sister and her husband. We got nearly to the point of Dinner when Boss called from the other side of the world and desperately needed an introduction transcribed and sent over ASAP, so I had to nip into work, find it, transcribe it, and by the time I got back, my sister had fallen down my steps and sprained her ankle....
(to be fair to Boss, this WAS important and he did not know about the Dinner)
This will be different. I have come down with the Thanksgiving Spirit. And I am doing it UP for my Guest. I have been pondering the WHAT I am going to make, as her plane does not come in until 6:00pm, and it is a fair drive after that, so this dinner must needs be Ready to Go when I get back. Finally figured it out, and it is perfect. No,I am not going to tell you, you will find out on Thanksgiving, Kitty reads this, and I want her Thanksgiving to be Perfect. And a Surprise.
This is what a Holiday should be. Doing something that makes you happy, with people who make you happy, in a place that you love to be.
Love and Happy,
Lorraine
posted by FabulousLorraine @ 9:12 AM
175 Comments
175 Comments:
I love your job... from a distance!
I'm sure whatever you do will be both tasty and entertaining. In my world, Thanksgiving is usually an excuse to get together with friends, spend lots of time cooking things we really like to eat that are too time-consuming to make very often, relax, do nothing as much as possible. (Leftovers enable the doing nothing part.) This year I have family commitments, so only part of that scenario will apply. Or actually, nothing except the time-consuming part, I'm afraid.
*laughing*
Okay, I am -so- with you on so many of the "traditional" foods, but do not diss the canned pumpkin. Over and over we have done blind tastings, and with what you have have to do to a whole pumpkin- the cleaning, the peeling, the cooking, mashing and then seasoning to make it taste like....canned pumpkin- well, you get the picture. Canned pumpkin usually won out on taste too.
Unless you are into churning your own butter and hewing your own wood and tapping into your Hardy Pioneer Spirit Quiche.
Thanksgiving for me will be Son+ at the paternal unit's family thing and me at home. Sometimes good, sometimes sad. This is the 3rd year.
Y'all, I just woke up. It's noon thirty here. Why do I suddenly have the sleep schedule of a teenager? That out of the way...
**SHOCK AND HORROR** at the midwest traditional Tgiving foods.
I thought that green bean thing was a horrible made-up-for-tv joke.
My favorite non-traditional thanksgiving thing is fried turkey, because it's delicious and also pyrotechnic.
No, Ms. Fab, you don't need a particular day to be thankful. :-) You seem like a thankful person just in general! You write about the things you do -- Bengels, horse, job, friends, etc. -- with such energy and happiness, and that is what I define as being thankful. For me, I like the idea of being reminded about giving thanks, because I am apt to complain, and neglect to rejoice in the good.
Plus, I love turkey. And my mom's cornbread dressing. Happy to say that our family has said no, no, a thousand times no to that green bean thing. We do blanched asparagus (should that be asparagii?) and mashed potatoes with their skins mixed in because I don't do the whole potato peeling thing. And a green salad. And three kinds of pie, including the beauty of my own pumpkin pie. And my kids and I enjoy watching the football game after we eat (must admit, I love football) and that actually helps keep the family conversation from being too awkward. And my dad is in the early stages of Alzheimer's, so anything that keeps a conversation going that doesn't require lots of continuity and thought is good. So we eat and watch some football and I try to remember how blessed I am.
But Beez, if you were closer to me, I'd escape from my family, bring some Baileys over and we'd drink coffee and Bailey's and eat turkey and pie till we slipped into a diabetic/turkey-induced coma!! *hugs*
awww, how lovely, and it will be a great day for the two of you! my daughters and I are going to Chicago, so it will be a fun road trip for the four of us (and I get to eat white castles, my favorite junk food thats not in michigan) Adri, never had a fried turkey, would love to try one, they sound good and I do like flames...oooh, Grace, can i come to beez's too???? yummmmmm
I totally agree, Quiche. My family is fine, in very small doses; they're even fine for long periods if you get them in groups of two or fewer -- but all together for hours? That just requires way too many planets to be lined up right, to go well. So a couple of years ago, I decided I was not going to go to my family's insane holidays anymore, and stayed home for Thanksgiving, making what I wanted to eat. I liked that so much that I've done it every year since.
This year, though, I will leave the house and go to Malena's, after doing some cooking at home for my best friend. It sounds like a glorious day, and I'm looking forward to it. :)
I so love Thanksgiving. I don't like Halloween but I hate to jump to Christmas. Here in Rhode Island are three radio stations who have gone strictly Jingle Bells and Santa Claus. I love to bask in the flavor (no pun intended) of Thanksgiving.
~Emily
Here is what my dad said to me a few weeks ago: "So are you guys coming out for Thanksgiving this year... Or are you going to break your mother's heart?"
Manwife and I will be going out there for Thanksgiving.
Every year I offer to bring something-- I can cook, I mean really cook-- and every year I get told to bring yams. Ho hum. I may just do something on my own this year and Surprise them.
A little butter and pepper is all a yam needs. Maybe a pinch of cinnamon if you want to get fancy. Green beans shouldn't be canned. And they should have garlic and almonds in.
Fried turkey seems dangerous to me.
Those 'traditional' foods sound awful - I'm sure what you cook will be way better. I do have a stange-food-at-thanksgiving story of my own to add but don't have time just now - just signing in to be sure I get the updated comments!
Enjoy your ride!
I have to share this with the Fiends, --- on the Boss's blog someone asked if he would have his house open to the public after his (fods forbid) death, like the Jane Austin or Bertrand Russell house. His response:
"Oh god. Does that mean I have to tidy the place up?"
I hooted, because I know who would be doing the tidying, giving up who
knows what to do it......
Ok, I think we are settled, Party at Beez's on Thanksgiving! Cool.
And Beez, I will reserve judgment them on the canned pumpkin, I have always made my pies with fresh, because I generally HAVE a lot of the little pumpkin guys, but this year we had them kind of as a Fall Display with corn stalks, and the dog peed on them, so like, no pies.
And the Mushroom soup green bean thing IS real, I have seen it in the flesh. (Only way to describe the horror)
Jess, "So are you guys coming out for Thanksgiving this year... Or are you going to break your mother's heart?"
VERY funny.....
I am with Agaila tho, the Be Thankful thing gets a little lost. I think as long as you are Happy, whatever you are doing is fine, or more to the point, you should be doing what makes you happy, and not what is Expected.
Marjoie, we will need to hear this Strange Food Story, (and anyone else with strange food stories, we will be fodder for Foodporn.com)
Now, as to Thanksgiving traditions. We did the whole thing, but you forgot the canned cranberry sauce, pickles, olives and most importantly, the celery sticks. Pa actually called his mother the one time Ma forgot the celery sticks. We laugh about that every year.
In the old days, when I was a child, the recipie for green bean casserole didn't exist, but we'd have some kind of vegetable. We always had apple salad (apples, celery [a theme here] marshmallows, grapes [a treat in the old days when grapes weren't available 365 days a year], pecans, and whipped cream [real, not out of a carton]) and rolls. Usually, we had the rolls for dessert, because Ma would forget to put them in the oven to bake until dinner was ready.
While we were never the Waltons, or a Norman Rockwell painting, it was always a happy family occasion for us, so I miss the whole event. It will be Pa and me on Thursday, at his place of residence, where the dinning room staff does an excellent job. We'll be joined by Friend Bernie, if she is out of the hospital by then - I spent about an hour with her today, and while she's better (DVT) the doctor isn't promising she'll get out.
Now, off to read the 80+ comments on the last post - my, but you all talk alot at night....
Quiche, you're description of the food has almost made me glad we don't do thanksgiving. *shudders* marshmallows should be eaten toasted over a fire or in hot choccy.
Bailey's sounds much better.
Siri, giggle, go that right. Which will especially funny if I pre-decease him and have to come back from the grave to do it...
Oh, riding was lovely. Everyone loved the matching purple helmet and hair. They are making plans to get me a purple saddle blanket, and leg wraps.
Take THAT snoots!!!!!
(So far there are no snoots at this stable. I ride with the cool kids.
And you will have to come back, Lorraine, you know you will.
Pictures?? Do we have pictures of said helmet????
Sweet potatoes do not need more sweet. They ARE sweet. A little (ok, I lie, douse 'em) butter, with salt and pepper, and they rock.
We have weirder food, wait until Xmas and I talk about Lutefisk.
Ah, we do not yet have pictures of this helmet. This can be fixed. Didn't take any today, I barely made myself get up and go to the stable, I was SO tired, and staying home was looking REALLY good, but I did it!
I had two horse friends there, one with a blue hat and one with a green, and they said they should get extensions too, we would start a new fashion. Little do they know, I have a bunch left over that Malena and I used to sell at shows, and I am going to bring them some....
And Rommegrot? Do you know about Rommegrot?
Rommegrot????? Noooooo......
When you talk about Lutefisk, I'll talk about Rommegrot....
Fried turkey is delicious, but quite a production. In Louisiana we do them outside with our crawfish boiling kit-- propane tank, open flame burner, and huge stainless steel pot. In MOST cases, lowering the turkey into the pot of oil results in splash over, the oil hits the open burner, and what you get is a PILLAR OF FLAME. It's dinner and a show!
Jess-- totally agree on the sweet potatoes. I like'em plain or with a bit of thyme.
Likely menu at my family gathering: Turkey (oven roasted), ham (pineapple glazed and burnt, b/c my grandmother always burns it!), cornbread dressing, oyster dressing, rice dressing, baked macaroni and cheddar, fresh green salad, cranberry sauce, english peas, fresh bread, baked sweet potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts with pecans, and lots and lots of wine.
Oh, and celery sticks-- but only in the tranditonal bloody mary breakfast. ^^
I'm going to write up my dinner party menu and recipes sometime today, too. I love food :D :D :D
Siri, Deal!
Adri, PILLAR OF FLAME! Dinner and I show, Fods I am laughing...
I am off to the grocery, and then bakc home to Bengals, and all those chores I mentioned WOULD get done since I used the I have to blog excuse earlier. Sigh.
Have had that same midwest meal, a meal made from ingredients that each have a bunch of ingredients. Anything made from scratch is viewed with great suspicion; "Is that Eye-tal-yun, dear?"
Poor pumpkins! Sad to lose a whole crop to dog pee.
Family Thanksgivings have been generally pleasant. That said, one of my favorite Thanksgivings was one spent with grad school friends inner-tubing on a ski slope all morning, then piling into someone's apartment for a potluck feast, achy and bruised but laughing.
Wishing all a week of happy gatherings.
Now laughing at Adri's Pillar of Flame.
And the matching hair extensions and riding helmets. I once died my hair magenta, but hadn't thought ahead to the fact that I word a dayglow orange helmet and vest at a construction site every day for work. Not. Good.
That's the problem with hair colour sometimes na, it just doesn't match your wardrobe.
Okay... I have to finish this project I am working on right now.
(Actually it is fun I am making up tasks to help teach some people how to use a video annotation tool and using some fun stuff from YouTube -- some things that some people here would be familiar with. Not sure why I procrastinated on this as it is really fun work. Anyway...)
I just had to stop to defend the much maligned green bean casserole. When I make it... yes, I have made this... when I make it I use frozen beans, not canned and I use high quality mushroom and garlic soup, albeit from a can or box, and sometimes add a few other yummy things. Anyway I like it. So there. :-P
;-)
That said my dear departed aunt's jello mold salad with shredded carrots, raisins and orange jello was a bit much.
Oh and I sometimes make yummy sweet potato pie rather than pumpkin. Yummy.
And rutabagas. In my family we must have rutabagas.
Okay back to work for me!
Ok, dinner party menu and main course recipe posted here on my little-used blog.
Between this and all of the thanksgiving talk, I'm hungry again!
Na, I am laughing, about the magenta hair and orange. You worked construcion? That's actually really cool.
Aleta, no one here would ever diss you for likeing anything LOL, as we all live in glass houses cluinary wise and would never dream of throwing stornes...(but you did make me laugh, and the jello, he-hee)
Laughing is good. I am home now and am GOING to do the things I had planed form my bed this morning.
Uh-huh.
New water fountains for the Bengals, water ALL the plants, clean the sunroom, and rake the leaves out of my dinning room.
(no, not my yard, they can lie where they fall, it is the ficas that is shedding leaves like fleas off a dog...)
I am hungry too Adri, maybe I should eat before starting all these projects....
Lorraine, you're lucky that lutefisk season is only at christmas for you-- it starts in early november for my family, and ends in january. Oh, lord, the smell...
On the other hand, it does mean we get rommegrot, lefse, krumkakke, etc.
So I guess it evens out in the end. I have to admit I love most of the "traditional" thanksgiving foods we often have, even though my family usually tries to make something new each year, like crab cakes or cornish game hens. Best of both worlds, I guess.
SOunds like you get the best of both worlds, El!
Here's news! L Leopard was OUT on his cat tree when I went in a moment ago!!! We were both pretty nervous but Italked showed him his cheese and went very slow and put it on his dish and backed away...
I think this is good!
YAY! Very good news for Le Leopard, indeed!
Oh, a Leopard sighting, how wonderful!
I have given up on doing anything else useful today and am sprawled on the couch getting ready to watch Dr Who. I've never seen any of the new stuff, and am looking forward to it. I think; Tom Baker is the archetypical Doctor.
Yes this is good! For the first time really, we have a visual! And he is beyond beautiful!!!!!!
I am with you on Tom Baker, Mistress, tho I am no Dr WHo expert, for years didn't like it as every time I saw it , I saw the same Darlek episode....
I am done for the day too! Up with couches!
I too am giving up on the being useful thing. Just bone tired, with a cold to boot. I have homework, yes, but nothing due until Friday (on-line submission). Then exams the first week in December. Oh yeah, and my real job, yes. But tonight? Just blowing my nose, drinking tea, and feeling brainless which I'm used to feeling. :-)
And I may stoop to a jello based thing for Thanksgiving, but mine involves cranberries, pecans, sour cream, and nutmeg in that strawberry jello and I just have to admit that I love it... ah, bad food. It has its place in life, doesn't it??
And how did I not notice the leopard siting? How cool!! "getting to know you, getting to know all about you..."
Hee-he, bad food does indeed have it's place. I am resisting the urge to go back in and see him more....
Slowly we go getting to know you..
Yay for the leopard siting!
Re: the construction work, I was a Paleontological Monitor, which means as the big machines moved earth, I walked in to check for fossils, and the vest and hat were to make me as visible as possible. That particular hair color sure helped for a while.
I just remembered a hilarious bit about that job - another of the paleo monitors was also a makeup artist, for movies and at a funeral home. The car he drove onto the construction site every day was an old hearse. Really freaked out all those Macho machine drivers.
I'm lucky, the last few years my mom has been convinced (mainly by her grandkids) that green bean casserole is nasty. Now if we can just get her to stop putting the giblets in the stuffing, I'll be happy.
I think hubs and I will have a turkey breast and garlic mashed potatoes, and sourdough rolls if I remember to feed the starter. Simple, basic, starchy, just the way I like it!
And, Lorraine, have you found any glittery skull stickers for the Purple Helmet of DOOM yet??
oh grace that jello sounds decadent and yummy. i am now parked on the couch too, with kleenex box in hand, lemon laced tea and really don't know what to watch on tv. i have to get up and get at least some of the accounting done as it's due at the bank tomorrow. so that's my chore when i get done writing this. leopard sighting! cool! That's a positive sign!
One of our thanksgiving staples involves rice, broccoli (usually frozen, my sis makes this) and, uh, velveeta, which is Not the healthiest of cheeses, but good!. I do love unhealthy food (and yes, the green bean casserole too, um, even with canned beans - I made that alot when we had some tough finanacial years.) We're doing turkey, and all the trimmings, tho when I was a kid it was always pheasant or duck, really dry. I'm bringing a chinese salad tho, to spice the meal up a bit, and we usually do our sweet potatoes with butter and bacon. pie will be dessert, tho i am not much a pie fan, give me a cookie any day. oh sigh, i need to stop writing and get up.....get up......
Dude; the Bengals at dinner sounds divine! I nearly died laughing; sounds like my house; and it's perfect. I'm so glad you're doing something fun & that makes YOU happy on that drop dead bird day. As you may remember; we're going to Kingman, AZ to visit my grandma for her 90th. Make no mistake; this is NOT your ordinary grandma; this is the matriarch of our exceedingly Italian family; from Tuscany. I prefer our Irish side; but my grampa died many years ago and he was one of my best friends.
We would yell at each other and laugh all the time.
I won't be able to read and catch up till we get back on Friday. :( I so need one of those 'email on the road' things.
Na, that's so ever COOLER! I so wanted to do that growing up, I was nuts fo rfossils..
Welcome Datagodess! No stickers yet, I feel I want to lead them gently....
paleo monitor! what a cool job!
and hello datagoddess and welcome, if you have posted before i have missed it, this blog moves at the speed of light!
now off to the Desk
I made such a good healing dinner I almost wish I were sick-- chicken noodle soup with greens and roasted garlic. I'll freeze most of it for conference season, which will no doubt bring con crud, airplane flu, and other associated traveling-too-much-sleeping-too-little nasties.
I'm totally wiht everyone who's given up on productivity. I'm curled up on the couch with a down blanket and my laptop, reading. It's lovely.
Ue, stay on the couch, stay with us....
Have fun Stacy! It sounds wondeful as does your Grandmother!
safe travels stacy, hope your day goes well - tho 90! what a hallmark! does your gathering include fantastic italian dishes?
Now i am going.
You forgot to mention how many Bengals, Adri....
I heard from the Gentleman who has my fosters today, he is giving me their cat tree they love, and bothlitter boxes and such, which is cool, I feel bad for him as he did try really hard with these guys....His e-mails sound good.
Oh; and if y'all are done dissin the trad. foods I have one thing to say! phooey! I love making my own cranberry sauce. I love making sweet potatoes; but I make mine with red hots (way hot cinnamon candies) in them. The marshmallows are toasted on top. You can keep that disgusting crap that you first stuff in the bird then remove from bird that looks like your dog horked it up in the backyard thank you! I don't care how much gravy you put on it; and who in their right minds puts oysters in that melange of maleficence anyway??? Surely it's Satan's own. I've never been sure of jello molds or jello fluffy things; but pumpkin pie is hands down the best part of the meal for me. Topped with that stuff called Cool Whip that no one has any idea what it's actually made of and frankly; I don't care. I could eat the entire tub with a spoon right from the freezer.
*sigh* the family thing; this will be the first time in forever that all of us will be there; I give us about an hour before anyone goes Jerry Springer. We may be driving back sooner than expected. LOL
Stacy LOL! Stuffing and dressing are different! Dressing you bake in its own pan. Oyster Dressing is a traditional Southern Louisiana holiday dish.
Lorraine, your question made me realize... my couch and, indeed, my living room are remarkably bengal-free. Things are quiet. I think I'd better go investigate! Who knows what they are planning.
Here's the unfair thing - if I want to curl up in the big comfy chair, there's no computer access (techno-loser - no laptop or cell phone with access) (do you have to pay for each email on your cell phone?) and when I want to chat, I'm away from all the other entertainments (TV, comfy chair, fireplace).
Neighbor lady playing her organ. Why does she wait till I'm home - I'm gone 11 hours most days, and was gone 7 hours today (on a Sunday???) and she never plays until I'm home and want quite. It wouldn't be bad but all I hear is the low bass notes, which just sound annoying when you can't hear the tune. At least she's doing it now, rather than 10 tonight. Grrr
(I know, I'm not supporting the arts.)
Who else hates writing checks/paying bills?
Stacy, Cool Whip is the only allowable topping on my pumpkin pies (made with canned pumpkin puree, not that "pumpkin pie" filling stuff). And not the nasty fat free version my mom bought once *GAG*. Thanksgiving is not the day to think about fat, dagnabit!!
And I'm ensconced on the sofa for the evening, working on a sock for the 6-year-old son of a friend. But not working hard, believe me.
Oh, a fellow knitter! Hi, DataGoddess. Based solely on the name and the knitting, you and I may have a lot in common. *grin*
The pumpkin pie may be made with canned pumpkin, the kind that is only pumpkin, and topped with Cool Whip. Or whipped cream. Green bean casserole is ick, and cranberries do not come out of a can. Of course, Nick likes cranberries from a can, and many of my relations like the green bean thing, so it's all there.
Nick has the horrible cold (how can there be another internet virus ALREADY?), and I'm trying not to catch it. If I come down with it in the next couple days, I won't be able to travel for Thanksgiving. (Of course, if I come down with it in the next couple days, I won't have to travel for Thanksgiving...) My grandfather's 90th birthday was this month, and the big celebration was planned for Thanksgiving so as many as possible could go, so I really want to be there. But not if I come with the Thanksgiving present of nasty viruses.
I am spoiled: the laptop provides Fiends, and email, and Doctor Who. That means I can lay here with a dog on my feet and a cat draped across my shins (very warm) and have all the entertainment a girl could want. I finished the (purely medicinal) scotch already, though.
I did three dozen sourdough rolls today, for a work potluck. Nick claims that only _two_ dozen are really necessary, and the rest could stay home. Or else I could make more tomorrow. (MMMmmmm.... fresh sourdough roll, still warm, drizzled with good local honey. Q, you need to learn to bake, since your honey has got to be even better! Or I could come bake you some. *grin*)
Siri -- I do not have to pay anything extra for email or any data stuff on my iPhone. I did not buy unlimited text msg so I do have to pay for each of those. I don't text much so that is okay.
I am sitting in my living room in my comfy chair with my feet up and my laptop on my lap. The TV is on (Amazing Race. What!) I sorta live in this chair.
My family has sort of given up on the big holiday things. As each generation dies off it seems that the ties that bind us have become pretty frayed. I have to admit I sort of miss it, but as I am not willing to host at this point I really can't complain. On the other hand there is something nice about the lack of obligation. Like most things in life it has both an up side and a down side I guess.
Oh Stacy, you doake me laugh!!!!!
Adri, it was quiet...Too quiet...When you cannot see or hear Bengals, Something is going on...
I am spoiled here too, TV, laptop , tea and kitties AND fire....
Mistress, no more internet virus's!
And Stacy, you need to get together with your neighbour so you can hear ALL the music, not just the bass,irritating..
Watching Top Chef, this season's chef's in comparison to previous ones, seem kind of full...
You win, Q. I don't have a fire. Grew up heating with wood, no great desire to repeat the experience, though one of those little gas fires would be lovely.
I do have a wolfie on my feet, though, and I'm sure that counts for something.
OOps, that was Siri and the Mad Organ Lady, not Stacy....
Paying per e-mail sounds kind of weird. My e-mail is a flat $10 a month. I don't have internet as the times I am awat from Laptop and computer are rare, and e-mail is enough.
Phiala, yay, another knitter! I do hang out quite a bit on Ravelry, I saw that you're there, too. The Datagoddess nickname is because I beat large storage arrays into submission.
The best use I ever found for cranberries was last year when I made cranberry sorbet with fresh berries when they were in season. OMG, so yummy. I'm not big on cranberry relish or that can-shaped stuff Mom puts in the cut-glass blue bowl.
I love reading about everyone's animals, because with husband's allergies we can't have ANY. Which makes me sad, because since I'm home all the time (I telecommute) I would love to have a warm furry body to keep me company and not just when hubs is home ;-)
DataGoddess, I sort of figured it was something like that. :) I'm a "government research scientist" - meaning I study plants that cows eat - and do both data management and writing statistical software (for R).
Cranberry cheesecake is also very yummy, but I like the fresh cranberry relish with oranges in it. Especially on leftover turkey sandwiches.
Ah, sounds like dinner time with a male Maine Coon Cat..."mama, I want what's on your plate, and your lap is so warm, nicer than the chair I've been hogging....nom nom nom, you were finished with that, weren't you? well, you are now.... nom nom nom nom"
I love to cook but am busy nowdays and have learned that a lot of good, wholesome cooking is pretty easy. Like, a roasted chicken with herbs, garlic cloves and lemon bits, lots of good cooked veggies simply done, and wild and brown rice tossed with sauteed 'shrooms. Not too hard, healthy and tasty. Let not the green jello of yore scare you (though my beloved late grandma made a mean lime jello/cottage cheese/whipped cream/pineapple/maraschino cherry/sliced almond molded "thing" at the holidays and I miss her and it).
I always make my pies with fresh pumpkin, and it does make for a wetter and looser filling, but a milder and tastier one too. Innovate and be merry.
Datagoddess, not to beat a topic into the ground but many people with allergies have NO problems with Bengals...I'd be happy to see if there were any in fostering in your area, if you wanted to see if they would work...
Hi Marla, and welocme! We are SO on th esame page for cooking, I make that a few ties a week it seems, at work.
I love cranberries and cranberry sorbet sounds great!!!!!
I have located two of three cats, and they are now cuddling with me on the couch. I've checked on top of cabinets, appliances, and closet shelves and my baby bengal, named Zanizbar, but called Monster, isn't findable. Normally, I'd be panicking, but since we haven't opened the door at all in the past two days, I know he's here somewhere. I suspect under the bed.
My favorite local ice cream place has cranberry sorbet right now. It's VERY tart!
Also, hooray for telcommuters! I love working at home.
Drat! Blogger just ate my very long and very funny tale of my own Maine Coon boy and dinner tonight.
*grumble*grumble*
Short version:
stole my spot, ignored the cheese, tried to eat all my sourdough bread.
Long version: much funnier, but not going to rewrite it.
Harrumph.
I'd be worried, hee-hee, look up...Look up and watch your back!
Drat Blogger!!!!!!! Eatng posts!!!
Oh, Marla, I meant to say I love Maine Coons nearly as much as Bengals. Wonderful cats FULL of personality and smarts....I do get allergies tho, one of the reasons Kali is going with Kitty...
Blogger demands a sacrifice!
Blogger must be fed!
Blogger will eat your post now.
Not the infamous Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise?
Bolcom song
!!!!! Rubius !!!!!!! It worked!!!!! My link Worked!!!!!
Thanks so much - I'll become a linking fool....
SLG
My repertoire of cooking is very limited, but Phiala inspired me to try today.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32192813@N08/
My Apple Cake was a success - thank you Phiala.
All of the talk of food and family made me realize how happy I am with the family I have living with and around me. My Thanksgivings are usually very relaxed, with good food and good company. I look forward to the long weekend as well.
Now if only they won't ban wood burning on the holiday (we have a new "spare the air" law) , I'll be the happiest person around.
Looks yummy, Ticia. I'm glad you like the recipe. :)
Thought we would be hearing from you soon Dan!
Hurrah for link making! I so need to learn the easy way to do it...
Although it's early here in the Midwest, I'll be the first to say good night. Morning was early today, and comes early tomorrow - however, only 2 mornings of early and then 5 glorious non-work days!! Woo...
Night, Fiends.
I am pretending it's cold here and having hot chocolate with bourbon and whipped cream. Hopefully this replacement for an afternoon tea will help me get back on a grown up sleeping schedule, as I have a company meeting at 10am!
Today has been an interesting experiment, since my main computer has been tied up converting and encoding and burning dvds, I haven't really had access to my instant messenger. I'm missing my almost telepathic levels of communication with people, but at the same time, it's been nice to be very within myself today.
I am SO happy Le Leopard was out! That is wonderful. I also agree with the sentiment about the maine coon cats. We have one that lives at work and he is a Fod-send! (He hates it when I bring my dog in, but he suffers through!)
Well, I will bid you all adieu. I have laundry to tame and then the last "True Blood" of the season as a reward!
I know I am late with the Thanksgiving meal comments but had to tell you about my most interesting Thanksgiving. After growing up with the very traditional Thanksgiving menu including green bean casserole, shaped like a can cranberry sauce, canned pumpkin pie with Cool Whip, which I loved btw except the Cool Whip, I spent the holiday with my to-be husband's family. Things looked similar at first, the green bean casserole was there but didn't taste good at all, still not sure why. Then the stuffing, one taste and I realized it had turkey GUTS, otherwise known as giblets in it - yuk. Then my first taste of cranberry sauce was actually beets - who in the world eats beets anyway. The jello salads were so so but one of them also had beets in it. Gravy was greasy and evidently was spared any salt as it was tasteless. Thank FOD for the olives, home-made rolls, and later the pie. Oh and I forgot they had pork and beans cold out of the can. I have never been one to try new foods, I still prefer my food not to touch each other on my plate unless it is a casserole, so this meal was pretty horrible. But these were nice people whom I just met and I liked their son, brother, nephew, you get the picture.
Lorraine or Ms Magic as I think of her saved me big time by agreeing to foster the royal pair. We are still full to incoming cats but these two were orginally adopted by us in February and just not working out for their owner. So again MM thank you.
Hee-hee Janet, fine story! Tho I have to stand by my claim that I can change anyones mind about Beets. Mostpeople know nothing of them except horrid canned or over grown grocery store ones...
I am looking forward to Queen Mab and King Lear! And am always happy to help.
It is my belief that when Someone has to do Something,if that Someone can be you, and YOU can make a difference, then DO IT.
If you hear of a Bengal that needs help, you must tell us. I know we are at full for foster homes, but if you hear of one, needing help, I can't believe amonst us, that we can't find a way....
Greetings, DataGoddess!
::smiling innocently:: Do you like to play?
I must admit, I haven't gotten sucked into Ravelry. I spend far too much time here. ;)
Ticia! Love the poem from last night! Makes me wish I had a photo of Tangwyn as a teenage mutant vampire kitty.
I happen to like sweet potatoes, cooked with brown sugar and cinnamon, mashed then topped with large marshmallows and baked until the marshmallows are toasted. I like green bean casserole, too. Deep fried turkey is wonderful, but you really is best immediately after frying, nor is it the least bit greasy. My dad used to fry turkeys for many people, and he rarely had a flare up, but he did learn it from Louisianans.
We'll have baked turkey, homemade honey whole wheat bread, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, cornbread dressing, giblet gravy, relish tray, deviled eggs, iced tea, and Ma's Cheese Dish. My mother used to always have ham and roast as well as turkey. Then we'll probably have pumpkin and pecan pies. I love Cool Whip, but RediWhip is good, too. Who knows, we might even whip some cream ourselves.
Now I just have to get the turkey out of the freezer.
oh fun comments while i was paying bills. this is my reward - sitting with my laptop, watching weather on abc and we are getting more snow which i am already sick of. and a bit worried as lake effect snow is called for on friday, when i need to get home from chicago. the bend around benton harbor is notoriously bad - i have been caught there about 6 times and it is no fun. my daughter has to work on saturday tho so we will need to get home, oh ick i know it can change alot between now and friday, but i hate driving in lake effect snow.
cranberries? cranberry bread - so good! though after my mom died, for a number of years my sister and i would include a cranberry sauce straight from the can at every holiday meal - Ma always did that and it became a way of including her with the holiday meal. cranberry sauce in a can still makes me smile, and miss my parents.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. We always bought a can of cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving when I was growing up. It usually stayed in the pantry on Thanksgiving Day as Mom hated cranberry sauce and, honestly, forgot about it until afterward.
Yay! for Le Leopard!
yeah my mom hated cranberry sauce too, and would throw it on a plate in its jiggly canlike splendor at the last minute. makes me laugh to think that all those years, never eaten, thrown away and yet still appeared year after year.
Whew..I just finally caught up.
Disappeared down a wormhole called "sewing" for a couple of days there. Had to get a cossie together for our local International Festival, which was great fun, but now I'm all for the couch.;)
Going to travel to the family homestead for Thanksgiving, where we will have turkey and dressing (we don't put ours IN the bird OR put oysters in it..ick.), smashed potatoes with a little garlic and sour cream, gravy, the dreaded green bean casserole (I'm with Aleta on this one;), seven layer salad, sweet potatoes (meh), cranberry sauce from a can (for my Dad, who is the ONLY one who'll eat it), rolls, deviled eggs, and a relish tray. (Whew..run on sentence much;). Oh, and pie. Or I should say pies..pumpkin, apple, and sour cherry.
Cranberry relish with orange sounds good though..and so does cranberry sorbet.
Heehee..purple helmet..I SO called that one.;) And a bengal siting! YAY!
Time for more apple cider now, methinks..
Yum - all these good recipes. I still have time to create a feast list and shop for thanksgiving meal. (We're in Canada, so no sweat shopping for Turkey Etc. this late.) Hmmm.
Not having the cozy weekend - wrestling with some work, and my All-in-One printer/scanner/copier thing which has decided to take all my scrap art and scan it sideways. I so don't understand this machine. Suppose I ought to look at the manual?
Wheee! Love Maine coons. My folks had a mutt-kitty that we realized was mostly Maine coon. I love the ruff and the fur between the toes. And how he sort of puddled when he lay down.
And this seems the right place to ask - suppose a gal has never seen much Dr Who, where would one start? I mean, hasn't it been on for decades?
Happy to report the commissioned piece is in the hands of the friend for final delivery. She loved it. I hope the receiver will be pleased.
It's up on my blog. Some of you indicated you'd like to see it so that's why I'm letting you know :)
We leave Wednesday morning for our road trip. I love road trips with my daughter; THAT is the real benefit and best part of these 4 & 5 hour journey's.
Peace out!
na-- Doctor Who the series turned 45 years old last week, I think, but they 'rebooted' it four seasons ago with a big modern tv show budget and high production values, so it's easy to start there, with the Ninth Doctor.
Last I saw, it was available to watch 'on demand' with Netflix. (which is how I consumed that entire 'first' season in a day. >_>)
Adri - thanks much for the Dr. Who scoop. Four seasons' worth doesn't seem so daunting. :)
I see some Cool Whip mentions here. I love to make as much food from scratch as possible, and I LOVE beets, and can't do green beans in any form... but mostly my family sees the pumpkin pie is an excuse to eat Cool Whip.
na, prepare to become addicted to Dr Who. Seriously addicted.
Sally - thanks for the warning. ;) I have seen a handful of episodes, and wanted to see more, but never managed it. Loooove me some Netflix...
Sally's not kidding about the addiction. I've always been involved in fandom on the internet for as log as that's been possible, starting with BBSes in the 90s, and Doctor Who is the first thing I've ever done RL fan things* for (I'm a member of the local DW fanclub. Monthly screenings of eps at a local cinema!).
It's fantastic!
* I am planning on going to Discworldcon North America next year, too. And I guess I might do DragonCon and/or ComicCon for work next year.
Can I sleep in the room with Leopard?
and Sue,(i mean Ivenotime) i love the canned cranberry sauce, love seeing the tiny ribs from the can....
Quichey, whatever your secret plan, i wouldn't object to a bite of that.
fireworks are going off outside, wha?
is it because TURE BOOD just ended?
Okay adri, I am totally jealous. all those cons.
Sally, my favorite work con is the Game Dev Con, which is a week in February in San Francisco. In addition to that, this year, I've been to seven conferences on two continents.
It's fun, but exhausting. I'd love to take the time to go to fancons more as well, but there just really isn't time/energy.
I like cons - most feel like a homecoming. But not seen one in years. There's something in Calgary this spring to which I am determined to drag the whole family, though.
Have now wrangled the scanner into submission.
And to sleep now. 'Night Fiends.
One of my dreams - go to a con where James Marsters ♥ is there, and sit and drool...and get autograph and photo of course
Thanksgiving=FOOD!!
Besides that, I'm frankly just happy to be spending any holiday here at home....wherever home may be...as opposed to thousands of miles away and with nice enough people who all just dress way too much alike. *g*
right, allusions done. And LUTEFISK!! OMF!!!
I've just come home a few hours ago from having some 37,000 Snow Geese, 4000 plus Sandhill Cranes and random other birds fly directly over my head on their way to evening billets (much arguing ensues, of course, as to territorial rights.)
So....you can be overwhelmed anywhere, wherever you are.
That is the life lesson splatted upon me today.
(there were really a LOT of birds over head.
There was much splatting, all told.
With that much splattering Lys, you must be having some luck coming up.
Sally - I'm with you re: James Marsters. (Currently watching the last of Angel, another show I'd not seen all of before.)
Speaking of addictive, so is this bright glowing spot on the Web.
But just a wee fix this morning, looks like. Maybe fiends do sleep sometimes?
Work beckons, anyway.
Lysander, hope you have some wonderful shampoo at hand. Splatting or no, a gorgeous image.
just checking in. i haven't jumped out the window with boy's mom and brother staying with us in the 1 bedroom apartment.
I feel like i need to be the defender of thanksgiving dinner for some reason.
first, greenbeen casarole does not have to be made with canned beans. my mom made it with frozen beans which actually have texture. we always did the frozen veggies in my house (ohio, midwest enough)
second, the sugar in the yams carmaelizes, and you don't use a ton of sugar, you use brown sugar, and my dad uses orange juice which gives the nice citrus flavor and is delightful.
how did cranberry sauce get on the light of awful thanksgiving foods? forgive me i saw it int he comments, but forget from whom. i MAKE my cranberry sauce and it is devine. i add soem apple during the cooking process and then smush it all through a metal strainer so the sauce cones out the consistency of apple sauce.
and for my guilty pleasure thanksgiving food i present the cornbread casarole. it's absolutely awful for you, but delicious and easy. i always bring it for potlucks at work. for potlucks i bring the ingredients an then mix it all in the crockpot and bake on high for a few hours. stays more pudding like in the crockpot, becomes more cornbreaddy in the oven.
Cornbread casserole -
preheat oven 350
1 stick of melted butter (i generally use the land0lakes half butter half margarine)
2 eggs
1 can (15-20 oz.) whole kennel corn - drained
1 can ( 15- 20 oz. ) cream corn
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
8 oz. sour cream (i use fat free and it works fine)
----------------------------
mix all ingredients in a small casserole dish
bake 1 hour
for double recipe use 13" x 9" dish
I'm off to possibly vanish for thanksgiving since i have visitors, but i hope you all have a fiendishly good holiday. I thank fod for fiends.* have lovely dinners, what ever you make, and be safe, don't turkey and drive.
*did i use fod correctly in a sentence?
Morning FIeds! Looks like you had a fun night all in all.
Kitty, I don't think you should sleep with the Leopard, not that I am telling you what to do or anything, but I don't know that it is SAFE, exactly, and more to the point there is no bed. You can sleep with your Kali, she will lick your lovley face not rip it apart.
Oh FODS!!!!!! Knew I smelled something, kept thinking it ainn't ME I showered, and I am true to my do the litter boxes while the tea is brewing schedule...
Yeah, Mom pooped her cat wheel again. I am SO getting rid of that!!!!!!
Right.
I can imagine Lys, that being home would be so wonderful, after being gone so long....
(KItty wants a can of cranberry sauce???? I like making it, but the can??? Ok, I can do this. What does it go with???)
the "new" dr who is a bit addictive. i will admit i have become addicted to david tennant, his facial expressions as just so adorable and amusing.
the way i make links here is to put an "a" in the "<>" brackets and the a "/a" in the "<>" after the link. i haven't tried to be all fancy by hiding the link behind text yet. http://www.flickr.com/photos/vampiress144/sets/72157609851688652/ bunny cuteness overload.
Vampi, I think you did use Fod corerctly, but it's such a versatile word & concept that I thik you can put it wherever you like without gong wrong. Alos, its still uite shiny and new, as words go, so if you use it often and confidently ebnoguht you can probably define your own 'correct usage' and the rest of us will fall in line.
If I could rememebr who the Official Fiends Lexicographer is I'd ask for a definative answer!
Cranberry Sausce - I've only ever had it out of a jar, and wasn't impressed - I would guess like a lot of things the home made variety is like a totally different foodstuff...
It's very quiet around here - Is everyone very busy, or is it just earlier in the morning for most of you than I think? I've got to nearlly 4 p.m. and my brain is turning into mush. I have to read a report on Pension Sharing. Then I have to understadn it and explain it to my client. So far, I have turned over a page and seem to have mislaid £5,000. I don't think that can be right. *sigh*
Ooh. I took so long to type my comment I'm number 100. !
Q - good morning, and sorry to hear about the kitty mess. Hope the rest of the day goes better :-)
Er, but that doesn't make a link, it just looks like a link. At least in Firefox, and in the comments as emailed to me. The a in brackets does all sorts of things, so you need to tell the dumb computer which of those things you mean.
It looks like this, and you can just copy this line into a file on your computer and save it for when you need it - all you have to change are the link and the text you want:
<a href="http://www.stringpage.com">Using my page as an example</a>
The link part goes in the quotes with href="link"
The text part goes after the >, and the text ends with </a>
The point of all the funny brackets and stuff is to tell the stupid computer that something is different about that text, whether you want it to be bold or italic, to be a link, or an email address, or whatever.
Count me in as one who likes the green bean cassorole, made with canned mushy beans. I'm also fond of the cranberry sauce out of the can, I love it and its canned shaped gloriousness, so nummy. Pumpkin pie has to be made with the canned pumpkin. Our stuffing is Stove Top, and doesn't get added to the bird.
I'll have nothing to do with sweet potatoes cooked with sugar/marshmallows. Good thing its just Not Done in my family.
I can't do Cool Whip, unless its used as an ingredient in something. On top of pie or just eaten...it tastes like the oil its made out of. Fortunately, we usually have real cream we've whipped on holidays, as a treat.
I need to see some Dr. Who at some point. I'm working my way through Torchwood right now. I know...I watch the spin-off before the actual show. =)
You did use Fod correctly, Vampi!
And let me state too for the record, I am not DISSING any traditions that people have, nor would I look down on anyone doing anything.
Well, maybe, but not in regards to food and thanksgiving.
I had a pretty wacky family and it scattered as soon as it was able.
I remember when I was about 7, my mom told me "my grandparents were coming as a surprise for thanksgiving, and don't tell your little sisters, we want them to be surprised, you're the oldest so you can know."
I remember thinking how much better it would have been as a surprise.
And then, I love this one, could have resulted in YEARS of therapy, had I not figured them out fast...
We are at dinner and my grandma says "Do you like white meat or dark better?"
White, says I..
Well says grandma, I like dark better, don't you want to be like me? Don't you love me????
Huh??????????????? Apparently, I thought we are not talking turkey here.
I said "How do you feel about cranberry sauce"
This Fiend never has much to say before coffee #2, despite being up for hours. My early-morning conversations are so not scintillating -- more like 'Nrrgh,' 'mrfle,' and 'huh?'
More coffee now.
Arwen is keeping track of such things for us, all the words, but I think Marjorie is right, you can do pretty much anything with them.
Can't think about links, not enough tea yet, and I am a bit late for work...Lots going on today all over the place!
At least that's reasonably civil grunting, Val. Usually the best my long-suffering manwife can get out of me before the second cup of coffee is a ratehr gruff "What?!" :D
Nothing like a giant, spinning Wheel-o-Poop for a happy Monday morning. Bleah! Poor Quiche!
I suspect Le Leopard wouldn't tear Kitty's face off (bit hard, that, without claws), but she might not get any sleep for all the growling and hissing. I suspect he would mainly, Hide, Growl, and Hiss if she attempted to sleep in Leopard Land. Plus it would be plasticy, what with all the plastic everywhere. Crunch crunch crackle, eh what?
Hope everyone's having a good day. It's too grey! Needs more sunlight.
Ahem. "Rather." Not "ratehr."
Nrrgh. Mrfle. What?!
Yep, the Lorraine Lexicon is alive and well.
Fod, like much fiend-speak was a typo...Malena intended to type "God" (or did she, maybe she was trying to gift us with a new word?) the word stuck and has blossomed into OMF (oh my fod), for the love of fod, fod-speed, etc.
On the subject of canned cranberry sauce, my mother had a silver cranberry server (wedding present), with a little tray where you'd put the cranberry sauce and a round server to slice it. My family never used the thing (being fond of fresh cranberries), but my sister-in-law has it now. I just looked online and couldn't find one anywhere.
(apparently today is a good day for parenthesis)
Huh?
;)
Buhh. Rrgle.
oh crazy, the < a >thing works as clickable links for me, but i'm using firefox on a mac, so maybe there is some crazy steve jobs-fu going on there making it work for me. i know hte a href coding because of work and it didn't want to let me post, kept telling me i was using forbidden html.
:) i know you weren't dissing people's traditions, i just had fun defending them. i'm the thanksgiving apologist. we do eat some dreadful things in the name of holidays. i need to dredge up my nana's butter cookie recipe. it puts the BUTT in butter.
marjorie, i use the recipe for cranberry sauc on the back of the bag, pretty much 1 cup water one cup sugar and a bag of cran. i peel and cut some apple to add some texture and flavor and then smoosh it through a metal tight knit strainer with a metal spoon. that step sucks and takes a while, but it makes such a smooth cranberry sauce. i usually divide the batch and add back in some skins to one half because i really like that sour bite from the skins. i have converted people who "hate" cranberry sauce form a can to being lovers of cranberry sauce. it is eally easy to make and tastes so much better than from a can.
you really can't knock stovetop, they make stuffing easy to make and quite tasty. it's good year round.
boy's brother is a cook and is taking over my kitchen.
I'm in my morning meeting, totally got out of bed 8 minutes before. NNG.
Zombie zombie zombie... where's my coffee?
vampi - Keep passing the open windows. ;)
(that's from a John Irving book)
Mmrf? I so need caffeine..and the old fashioned radiators have made my apartment into a roaster, so no hot drinks for me.
Ack, a Wheel of Dung is nothing to wake up to..*shudder*
Up early (for me) to pack stuff so I can head north after work.
Ooh..maybe they refilled the coke machine downstairs? Need caffeine so I can be coherent.
Na - I've just realised. According to your avatar photo, you are a Bardiche.
Cool! :)
If I was a pole weapon, I'd be a Naginata.
murgh it lost my comment. i can't see everyone's neat pictures unless i actually go to write a comment of my own. weird.
thanks na. i'll keep that in mind. new mantra. will come in handy at work too.
Thanks Phiala for how to make a link - someone posted this a long while back and I didn't save it then, but did now. Vampi, the cornbread casserole sounds yummy - i may try that when i get back from chicago. Kitty, i love the ribs on cranberry sauce too, i think that's the only food i know of that does that. Hope you get to see the leopard, he sounds magnificent but a bit scary! can't wait to hear what your surprise is!
poowheel = no fun in the a.m., major yuch, hope your day is going better? does she poo while running? or poo, then run? very unusual...
Actually I am glad to know I am not the only one with a bengal that poops on her cat wheel. Ours is also put away, the foster cats can use since Lacey likes to go faster and faster and faster and then she gets scared and poops. I happened to look over once and saw the poop balls going round and round and land one by one in a pile on the carpet, grrrr. Tightening the wheel helps but it becomes loose again so we finally just put it away.
Oh, Janet! I shouldn't laugh, but it's funny. Aieee! I can't stop! Drop ballast! Drop ballast! :D
I'm just thankful she has the kind of poop that rolls rather than just stays on the wheel if you know what I mean. Still have to scrub the wheel and clean the carpet though. But it is rather funny, especially now that she can't do it any more. Marilyn (www.thecatcoach.com) finally figured out that Lacey was an adrenaline junkie and would get it really moving until it finally scared her enough that she had a "release". Tightening the wheel did help so she could go full out. I tried everything prior to Marilyn's help, adding litterboxes, moving a box next to the wheel. Nothing I tried worked.
I certainly did not feel dissed in any way. I love the discussion. I think it is interesting how these traditions go back and forth from loved to lothed in my life. Interesting stuff.
Wow. This whole going so fast that it scares the s*** out of the Bengal is *fascinating*! I like to scare myself now and then but not to that point! LOL
The joys of sharing one's life with a beastie…
AletaMay, how do you every know just how much to scare yourself? Lacey just doesn't stop soon enough!
:snort:
Maybe there is some biological imperative or greater fear of embarrassment that overrides the thrill of adrenaline in most humans?
Biological imperative, clothing, and having to clean up after oneself :)
You fiends are making me snort at work! :-D
Keep up the great work!
A bit of trivia from http://www.myshrink.com/scared-to-death.php
Trivia
During states of high fear, we will "lighten" the load to make it easier for us to run and get away.
This "wired-in" propensity to defecate when we're scared is recognized by all cultures.
The phrase, "scared shitless"1 or its equivalent can be found in every language. Take a look:
peur shitless - French
angst shitless - German
害怕shitless - Chinese
miedo shitless - Spanish
paura shitless - Italian
испытывая чувство shitless - Russian
死ぬほどおびえて - Japanese공포
shitless - Korean
assustado shitless - Portuguese
zesrac sie ze strachu - Polish
A challenge. to make Ticia snort at work. Sorry to say I don't have uch to offer, unless you want to go here and mock at my recent car related troubles...
vampi - I have used that as a mantra as well. It is good.
Jess - ssshhhiiiiingg
I have to admit, that particular version of a bardiche is lifted from Slayer memorabilia. A girl needs a Scythe. ;) I was trying to upload a picture of me, but clicked on that one accidentally, and it seemed a poetic accident at that, so I left it in. But I do like a good bardiche.
FabLo and invenotime - The paleo monitoring job was interesting (my big find was part of a many-thousand-year-old camel, which ended up displayed in the John Wayne Airport for a while), though tedious, too. The best! was the occasional huge landslide, and the dump trucks larger than houses.
And I just read that Boss and Cabal are wearing bright orange these days - thought, good thing neither is likely to dye their hair magenta.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fiends, thank you for the laughs! Between getting-ready-to-go-out-of town (and leave my cats for the week!) and work stress, I needed that this afternoon!
Oh, so many comments I've caught up on.
Vampi - I LOVE your rabbit.
Now, I can't remember who said the rest.
Torchwood = pure love.
Devid Tennant = pure love
Buffy & Angel also, and Bones and Supernatural
*sigh* They have been my tv addictions this year. catching up on Pushing Daisies and True Blood
Oh, Kali - photos?
Oooh, I love Torchwood. So much delicious eye candy. I mean, serious plots >_>
yes. those serious plots. And James Marsters. Thats why I watch it too.
Oh! James Marsters is on Torchwood?!? I am so out of it. (No cable for years.) Yay - another show I've been meaning to add to the mail-rental list. Won't delay any longer. :) Gotta finish catching up on Angel and Heroes first, though. Oh, and Dr Who - think I'm set for a year or so.
I was nigh cackling over the "scared shitless" list there. Oh, needed that.
I like the german "angst shitless." That'd be a good name for a techno group. Knien geborgen, arme gestrecht, ra ra ra.
Ssshhhhinnnggg! :D
I know it was my cat scaring herself shitless that started this, but I do love the way you take something and run with it, FIends!!!!!
I'm home now!!!!! Nothing destroyed in my absence, but there seems to be a ficas climbing sessin about to begin.
Wow. Busy comment day.
Off to read :)
Das ist die ganze Sache.*
(*Looked up lyrics on internets; doesn't actually speak German)
Noooo not the ficus! Bad kitties! Go run in the poowheel!
You know, this blog is like crack cocaine! I used to do other things when I got home: clean, laundry, walk dog, now I rush in and check comments! I REALLY don't have the spare time for this. :-D
What a wonderful, non-caloric (well, as long as I just read your recipes) addiction.... I'm a fiend addict! (the first step is admitting you have a problem.) :-D
The poowheel!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, Fods, I am laughing!!!!
I tried to catch up w/the comments, reading too fast, and rolled (as it were) the running wheel poopy issues with the hot man candy comments....
So what I read was
Scared Shirtless
Liked that image better :)
The Korean (Hangul) word on the list is actually the strong word for fear.
The literal translation of "scared shitless" is pretty Foddin' hilarious:
위협된 대변이 나오지 않을 정도
" The degree where the feces which is threatened will not come out."
Heee!
Thank you, fellow Fiends, for providing the comic relief a day so often needs. :)
I reorganized the office closet today; here's a picture of Zanzibar helping.
No poowheels in this house! Only poo everything else thanks to my (nonbengal) boy with litterbox anxiety. He needs us to go with him to the box every time and reassure him everything is ok. There's nothing physically wrong with him, though!
BTW, Kali...what's a cossie?
just wonderin'
Folks catching up on Dr Who, if I may:
Take a look at the Tom Baker episodes! I don't know them well enough to tell you which ones in particular, I just know that he is the Dr who (little pun there :))got me hooked in the first place. Formative years, and all that. Yah, they are pretty low budget and all....but still....
Zanzibar!! So cute AND so helpful
darn felines.....
It may interest you to know, Lys, that the actual degree where the feces which is threatened will not come out is inversely proportional to the terminal velocity of the poowheel, such that x is the trajectory of the poo in the wheel and y is the wall on the opposite side of the room.
Or I may just be talking a load of old bollocks. It's not like I have a math degree or anything.
Helpful Zanzibar is helpful! :)
Speaking of Tom Baker, I learned of the existence of this 50-minute documentary from 1990 today, featuring Douglas Adams and our Fourth Doctor talking about hypertext and the internet! \o/ Fascinating stuff.
Hello fiends!
I am loving the Doctor Who love going on around here! It's one of those shows that always just makes me starry-eyed with adoration, even when intellectually I know it can be low-budget and silly.
I... am afraid to know about the poowheel. Methinks I need to catch up on reading comments.
I'm just sittin' here watchin' the wheel go 'round and 'round.
and
Big wheel keep on turnin'
Are now in my head for the night.
Jess, you KILL me.
I am SO glad the wineglass wasn't in my hand or anywhere near my mouth (OR nose :)) when reading that.
Isn't there some word for that kind of synchronicity?
hermm.....
used to know it......
A cossie, is, at least in this house, something you put onto a teapot to keep the tea warm, she says refuseing to be drawn into any more poo despite intruducing the topic...
Lys - I was laughing at the German definition as well.
The translation was no where near as funny as yours though!
Shit in German is "sheisse" and "angst" means fear, so I was laughing at the weird German/English amalgam.
And I just have to say that I have been a Dr. Who fan for years/decades (YAY for Tom Baker) and I HATE Torchwood. There, it's been said... What a load off my chest.
;-D
When I met Himself (AKA, the Boss) in St. Paul, my question was If the Tardis landed in your back yard, which Doctor would it be, and when/when would you go. We only had time to discuss the 1st part, and He said your favorite Doctor is the one after the first regeneration you "live" through. The emotion of that ties you to that Doctor.
I can't stand Tom Baker! Love Peter Davison. Also Christopher Eccelson, in this decade, although David Tennant is right up there. Our PBS station showed them all from the beginning, starting back in the 70s, so I've seen most of them. Could never grow to love the arrogance of Baker, and that stupid scarf (she typed, setting herself up for scarf abuse....) (Be kind fiends - I had a reaalllly bad day.....)
Lys - Great minds, etc.; i.e., you're drinking, but I'm feeling it. Which I guess would be a sort of telepathy.
Aleta, pfft! :D I'll never hear Tina Turner the same way again.
I loved loved loved Christopher Eccleston. He was more of a hooligan than any other doctor has been!
That being said, I love David Tennent.
And I think I love Tom Baker best because he was the one that pulled me into Dr. Who... I could never look at Peter Davidson without thinking of "All Creatures Great and Small"
Siri...
well, I like you well enough.
But we will NEVER be evol twins.
sniffle.
No love for the SCARF????!!!!
how could you.....(well, the pain is lessened by my wine. And by the fact that my decades of attempts still have not achieved even six feet (um, under two meters for you Others :)) of scarf.
hugs anyway!!
Lying in the Gutter (comics rumor site) has just called 'very likely' on a new new new Doctor casting rumor!
Ninth Doctor may be my favorite, though it's hard to say.
I've only seen a few Classic Who episodes, with Tom Baker and Sarah Jane (hooray!). The Scarf is... um... wow. I still want a TARDIS on a string so I can do the special effects just like the BBC, though!
Oh, right. Ok. All of that having been said, must go do pre-vacation chores. Back later, Fiends, though if you see me up past Midnight or so CST, send me off to bed. Plane to catch in the morning!
I liked Peter Davison. I was mad when he turned into Colin Baker. Christopher Eccleston was ace, though. And eeeeee, David Tennant! Eeeee!
Tom was the best, though. Tom and his scarf. (Siri. ;P )
sniff....I knew that I should have kept that dark secret to myself....I'll be forever shunned in Fiendom (not to be confused with Pooville) for not liking That Doctor.
My only consolation is Himself's favorite Doctor was Patrick Troughton, not TBaker.
forgive me, Lys for my choice of doctor.......I do envy you your "37,000 Snow Geese, 4000 plus Sandhill Cranes and random other birds ". One of these days I'm going to make it to Nebraska during migration season....
Jess--oh, I can be your Val when need be! Unless I will be needing to drive (of course) will happily be your ale, wine or gin consumer.
although, I'm something of a lightweight.... :)
OMF!!! Albert Finney is going to be on DR. Who in a 2009 special as Winston Churchill!!!!!
I was just IMDBing and I ran across the info.!
Siri-
I think Tom Baker was one of those love 'em or hate 'em kind of Doctors. I won't shame you for hating the scarf, though! These things happen sometimes.
Christopher Eccleston was my first doctor, so I imprinted on him, I think. But I've gone back and watched some of the older series and I have a weird little crush on William Hartnell, too. It puts me in a minority of people, to be sure.
And Siri - Tom Baker hated the scarf as well. You're in good company.
I'm sorry you had a really bad day. ((hugs))
Fods! A girl goes to take a few pictures, chatty Fiends!
I wish I knew more about Dr WHo, I am increably ignorant on this...
But I am working on a new post, where you can enlighten me on Dr Who to your hearts delight!
You know how work places go in cycles, where everyone is cheery and all is well, and then all of a lump everyone is cranky and all isn't well? That's where we are....new computers with XP on 'em, and we are upgrading to Windows 2007 (right on the edge are we...) and I'm the de facto PC coordinator for my group of 10 women, who still think they can start WWIII by pushing a wrong button. Tomorrow is another day, and then I'm off for 5 days, so that's the good stuff...
Thanks for the hugs, Ticia - this is where Fiends come for soothing stuff on bad days - crack cocaine, indeed!
Siri...
Oh, my sympathies. Especially since your "powers that be" are just as likely to decide to shift back in a month.
Oh well.
Ah Siri, I do know about Those Days...And Windows to boot, (Says the Mac Girl) if you hurry , you can be #1 on the new post, a post with nothng to stress anyone out....
(well, maybee ME, I live in the Spooky House, but I hope you will find it fun..)
weeeell.....
about that first post thingie....
(OOOOHHHH, LOOK! Fresh Snow!!)
OMF. poowheels.
as a small child, I absolutely loved Dr Who, but it scared me shitless. (even with the cheap props. My imagination has always been,um active)
Our vacuum cleaner of the time lived under my bed, and to my 4 year old mind it looked exactly like and therefor was a Dalek. I was petrified if I had to get out of bed during the night. Of course the brother I shared the room with (3 years older) did the exterminate, exterminate thing all the time.
And there was one episode where all this goo (an alien) came out of the loos and pipes, and made me petrified to go to the loo for ages.
ahhh memories
Siri, hang in there. I've done my stint as sole tech support for people who think that the cd tray is a coaster (no, no I am NOT kidding). Remember, always check the physical layer first; and if that doesn't work, use sage. If even that doesn't work, use blood.
I love Doctor Who. I wanted to be the Doctor when I grew up, mainly because my father was a physicist, and so were nearly all his friends (except the mathematicians). I thought every adult man was a scientist, and so this just sort of set my template for how grownups were. I have never quite gotten over my four-year-old self's hero worship of Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor. There's a part of me that's been in love with him all my life. Other Doctors may be cuter; most of them younger; certainly nearly all of them much hipper and cooler -- but none of them had Romana or Leela as companions. Two very kickass women; one intellectual, the other very physical. And dude, who could not adore Mary Tamm and Louise Jameson? It was the one show my parents would let me watch as much of as I wanted, because it wasn't violent, and it had smart, strong women. So from the age of four on, I absorbed that show like a little sponge.
The more I think about it, the more I see just how much I've integrated all three of those characters into my personality. Which is a bit frightening, really.
Oh wow, your dad being a physicist would have given an extra dimension to Dr Who. Being on a farm, it was pure frightening alternate universe. I'll always have a soft spot for Tom Baker too.
Peter Davidson will always be a country vet to me; I watched many hours of All Creatures before he ever became Doctor Who, and that just wasn't right.
In much better casting decisions, there's a very old Narnia movie of The Silver Chair, with Tom Baker as Puddleglum the Marshwiggle, and it was FANTASTIC (him in that role, I mean).
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