It's a match made in Heaven!!

Do y'all remember way back last fall when they came out with the lip smackers that are flavored like the Girl Scout Cookies?  And I loved them?  And they were at Claire's?

That was one of those smack-yourself-in-the-head and say why didn't *I* think of that? kind of moments.

And here we are again!!!

You are just not going to believe what a fabulous new product is out there that I MUST go get right now!

And guess what?

It's also at Claire's!!

(are you getting tired of all the !!! in this post?)  Must learn to end a sentence with a regular old period and not be all excited-exclaimmy.

Ta-Da!!

Look at that!  Peeps nail polish that leaves your nails smelling all Peep-ish!  (sorry for further excited-exclaimmy-ness)  But look!

Sorry, I will blog more later.  I am trotting right down to Claire's to get some of these.  Woot!!

Who's been a bad blogger?

Heeeee!  When I typed "bad blogger" the first time up there in the title, it came out "baG blogger".

Bag blogger?  wtf?

I am always curious when I do things like that if they are Freudian slips or if they are just clumsy fingers.

So here's the deal, I was in a training the week before last learning to be an Infant Massage Educator. And this past week at a Doula Training.  In the middle of the classes was Easter weekend and my car's breakdown.  Been a busy time at Chez Lisa Pie, is what it has been.

Can you even flipping believe that it is May?

MAY????

Already?

You know what this means, don't you?  I am already behind making my Christmas plans.  If I am going to call myself a person who makes and handcrafts all my gifts they I need to be more on the ball with the planning and creating, don't I?

So I am asking for all ideas on things I can make for gifts.  Any ideas are welcome.  My criteria is that the gifts should be things that are welcome, consumable if possible, environmentally friendly, and it would be even better if they were meaningful for the recipient.  Oh, and it should have no parts that are stamped Made in China.  I am boycotting Made in China what with their shitty faux drugs, tainted pet food and melamine (plastic) in infant formula.  Shame on them and their no-standards-selves.

Any ideas?

Now, on to something completely different.

~~~~  The Reading of the Obits!  ~~~~


Oh, how I wish I could share some of these photos with you!  I just adore the old pics from the '40s and '50s.  Cute hair-dos and earbobs, abound!

There was an absolutely precious photo of Helen Ruth who "passed from this life into the loving arms of the Lord".

Next we come to this one: "Our Lord called Adelina to his heavenly home."

This one was really clever: "Celeste was escorted by angels to her eternal home."

I loved this one.  This man was a professional baseball player and "was known to many as the man who struck out Mickey Mantle and he was proud to let people know it with the newspaper clipping he carried in his wallet."

**How cool is that?


Ok, you will love the story told in the next obituary.  It would make a great novel or a movie.

"At the age of 14, after traveling along 19 days, on a ship from China to California, he arrived in San Antonio in 1938. He attended an American school and slo attended the Chinese school working alongside his father and brothers at Sunny Side Grocery Store. It was there that he learned his great work ethic. He eventually moved to Laredo, Texas where he managed the Shanghai Cafe and that was where he met his future wife."

**See?  Isn't that a great story?  It goes on to say that after retirement, he and his wife traveled to China, Mexico and took cruises.


Then we came to one of a man that I actually knew.  Many years ago we were in the same area and I knew of him back then.  After listing all him many civic and charitable accomplishments his family had this to say "He lived his life based on Christian principles, especially to help others in need. He exemplified honesty, integrity and a work ethic that he passed on to his children. His glass was always half full."

Best and most wonderful names belongs to the obituary of Miss Lilly Pearl who was born in Crabapple Creek.  She was married to Chester Louis and sister to Herbert.  She was an avid rose grower and a "consulting rosarian" with the San Antonio Rose Society.

**If my name were Lilly, I might have raised lillies rather than roses.


And I am sorry to do this but it has to be done.  The family that gets the You People Should Not Be Allowed to Bestow Stupid Names on Innocent Babes award includes these:

Julio Cesar

Misty

Krystal (like the burgers??)

Channce

Codie

Cash Bailey

and bringing up the rear . . .

Canyen.

This is closely followed by the Family with the Worst Nicknames:

Debbie = Booboo

John = Big Boy

Last but not least, since he was alphabetically last we come to Mr. Kenneth Wayne W. who will be dearly missed by his friends and loyal rat terrier, Clyde.

**Awwww.  No family?  Just friends and a loyal rat terrier?  How sad.  There were no services listed either.  R.I.P. Mr. Kenneth Wayne.  


I sure hope one of his friends takes Clyde and gives him a good home.

Saving Private MacPhee

There is always something going on around here.  Even days when you think it is as routine and boring as it can be, there is something that will turn interesting.

So, Saturday was shaping up to be a pretty ordinary day.  Other than the fact that I had no car, due to it being in the shop resting and awaiting diagnosis (hopefully today!), it was just a grocery shopping and waiting for my Rachel Pie day.

Finally, my Rachel Pie got here late in the evening and we were all staying up late talking and happy to have her here and I started counting heads as I am wont to do with this herd and found one missing.

And of course, it was that sneaky weasly Angus MacPhee.

I stepped out the front door and called him.  And I heard him saying "Mrowrrrr!" in the distance and thought it was from the roof.  So I went in and told Sparky to get his ass up on the roof and get that fleabag cat.  Sparky contended that if Angus got himself up there he could also get himself back down.

Back outside I go.  I call and he answers, much like a not-very-fun game of Marco Polo.  And it becomes clear that Angus MacPhee is NOT on the roof.  He is further away and lower to the ground.


He is stuck somewhere on The Colonel and Miss Betty's property!!!


If you haven't heard my tales of TC&MB, you need to read about them.  But having my cat who is MOST unwelcome on their property stuck there late at night was not going to be a good situation.

After several scouting expeditions by Mr. Big Ed, Sparky, and myself carrying a flashlight and hoping not to get shot while being mistaken for a burglar, we determined that The Colonel had set a trap next to his front door and that damn fleabag Angus MacPhee had gone and gotten himself trapped!

I was none too happy about this.  But I was to get even LESS happy with Mr. Big Ed's response which was to let him sit in the trap overnight and cry all night.

Seriously?  How can he think this was an option?  Has the man never met me?  You spend 30-odd years with someone and you think they would have a clue.  Hhmmmpph.

So I did what any sane person would do.  I called Miss Betty at the midnight hour and woke her ass up and asked her to please go release my stupid wandering cat.  She made some sort of half-assed excuse about how they are trying to trap skunks.  But truthfully, she was trying to be nice about saying "Keep that damn bird-killer at your own house".

Anyhoo, Angus MacPhee is now safe at home and he wanted to be loved and patted and stroked and talked to for HOURS afterwards.

I went over the next day (Easter Sunday and also The Colonel's 90th birthday) and took them a basket full of lettuce, greens, Swiss chard, zucchini and green onions that Mr. Big Ed picked out of the garden to apologize for waking them in the middle of the night.

The Colonel took me out to where the trap is to show me what the deal is.  Miss Betty has this family of wrens that like to build nests in her front porch area and this year they put their nest in a giant Boston fern and they have 5 little teeny baby wrens they are trying to get grown and safe.  So I promised to keep all my stupid bird-killing machines indoors for a while to give these little guys a better chance at making it to adulthood.

For my end I think the neighborly bonds are still good.  I hope TC & MB feel the same way.  They are nice people.  And it is true what they say about not being able to pick your neighbors.  And also that good fences make good neighbors.

I am mostly grateful that I didn't get shot that night while skulking around their property.

What's on my nightstand, so to speak

Y'all remember that I was sick with the head, chest, coughing virus thing for damn near FOUR WEEKS? Do you further remember that the meds and the coughing made it impossible to sleep?  How to while away the hours while the rest of the house slept was my dilemma.

Kindle to the rescue!


Oh, how I love my Kindle.  I love me some regular hardbound books, don't get me wrong.  I hold the written word in very high esteem.

So, I have been reading.  A lot.  I finally forced myself to read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy.  I had tried and tried to start the first one, but it just wasn't striking my fancy.  Then finally, it did.

It's a crying shame that they were published posthumously.  I am sure he might have had a couple more good books in him.

Then I read this:

I can't remember who recommended this book to me, but thank you to whomever it was.  This was a really interesting read.  And then . . . .  at the end?

There's a conversation with the author and he goes into great detail about how this was one of those novels based on his very own personal family tree.  I really enjoy those historically accurate novels where you start out based in truth and then fill in the blanks with what you think would make a great story.

After that came this one:

Ok, now this book was recommended to me twice.  And when I read the little synopsis, I was immediately leary.  I thought it would be different than what it turned out to be.  So I did what any good Kindle owner would do, I got the free sample chapters to try it out.

Yea for the sample chapters!!

If they can hook you in the first couple of chapters, you are good.  If not, you've only wasted a little time and no money.

Back to Room.  This book was so clever, so intriguing and so gripping I don't even know how the author came up with this.  It does come to some good resolutions, but not so cute and "happily ever after" in a smarmy non-realistic way.

These were both really good books and I can recommend them.  After the dark subject matter of these I decided to go with a more light-hearted read and am currently reading a new Maeve Binchy.  More on it when I finish.

Oh!!  And totally off the subject of books, I got myself a new phone this weekend.  Yea!  I still like my old phone, but it was dying.  Is anyone else irritate that phones seem to be made to last 12 to 18 months while your contract is designed for 24 months?  And then you have to baby your phone along to get to the 24 month?  I am trying to get the hang of the new phone and find all new ringtones and Caller Tunes (as T-Mobile calls them).

In a couple of days it will be April Fools Day.  And that signals the beginning of all sorts of festivities around here!  Spring, wildflower sightings, Fiesta , Poteet Strawberry Festival , Easter, Earth Day , not to mention the NBA PLAYOFFS!!!  Time for our beloved Spurs to rally.  Yea!

Yep, April is a great month.  I swear to you there are at least 2 or 3 things you can find here to do every single day.  Most of them free.  If you are bored, it's because you want to be.

Every few years I update my inventory.  I do a complete inventory of everything in the house.  We have had to do this in the past because of all the international moving we did and keeping the inventory was a chore I took on and if we made a big purchase I would try to take care of entering the item right away from the invoice.  But sadly, since we have been planted for almost 6 years I have neglected my inventory.  So along with the spring cleaning mentality I get the "let's clean up the inventory list" fever. And that is my goal for the rest of this week, to work on the inventory.  Isn't that exciting?  Don't you wish you led the glamourous life I lead?  Real Housewives of SA, here I come!  Heh.

Enjoy your day.  

What to post

I have been trying all morning to decide what to talk about here.  And I was perusing previous posts and you know what?

It seems like all I ever do is promise to follow up one post with some pictures and stories that tell you the rest of the story.  And then . . . . . nothing.  wth?

I had no idea I was that big of a dingbat.  So I either need to come up with a system that tells me it is time to take some pictures and do a follow-up post, or I need to just shut the hell up and quit promising things I am clearly not capable of delivering.

Did any of you notice that I do this?  If not, never mind.

But!  I do have something awesome to show you.

This is actually courtesy of Mr. Big Ed.  Follow the link here to the Washington Post and see this slide show.  I tried and tried to capture each photo and post them individually here and could not make it happen.  I also have no idea how to imbed this slide show here.  So please, click over to the Washington Post and scope this out.

If you have been here for any length of time you already know about my love of Peeps.  And did you know that you can go to the Peeps website and have loads of fun??  When you are in the Peeps site, click on the general store and there are gift tags, coloring pages, wallpaper, all sorts of fun things you can print up.  Not to mention recipes using Peeps!  Love the Peeps!!

Since St. Patrick's Day I have been listening to my Irish Drinking Music and I finally had my fill of The Clancy Brothers and switched today to my 70's Soul Music.  This is my go-to play list.  What could be any better than a couple hours worth of Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Teddy Pendergrass, Barry White, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Isley Bros.?

I got sucked into a 30 minute long infomercial the other night by Smokey Robinson.  It was all Time-Life DVDs of Soul Train.  And do you know it took the the whole 30 minutes to figure out that the Soul Train DVDs in question were in fact . . . . DVDs???

The whole flipping time I was thinking that it was going to be cds to listen to, not watch.  What a goober!  Anyhoo, if you haven't seen old Soul Train episodes in a long, long time you are probably like me and didn't remember how epic the outfits and the hair was!  O.M.G. Indeed!

I am probably going to have to go to the Time-Life site and order the damn set.  Oh!  And the DVDs are supposed to include the old Afro-Sheen and Ultra-Sheen cosmetics commercials.  Woot!

I really didn't like being a boring white person without an afro in the 1970's.  I could have rocked a nice big afro and carried a pick in my back pocket.  But no, sadly I am just a generic Irish-German white person.

It is only a month till Easter.  Time to start making my plans.  It's not like I have that much to do with grown kidlets and no grandbabies yet.  Pretty much it's just a few decorations, and planning the Easter menu.  And that has become entirely too easy since we have settled on our very traditional Easter paella. I mean paella is a big one dish meal with some salad and bread.  I still boil and color eggs so that we can have deviled eggs, egg salad and such afterwards.

Enough rambling from me.  Let me hear from you!  And I hope it's a great day for you.  Thanks for stopping by.

T.V. shows 2010 Part 4

Wasn't yesterday's April Fool's post about Jesse James funny?  I don't normally like to laugh at someone else's misfortune, but let's face it, he deserves it.  What a douche.

On to t.v. updates!

Survivor - OMG I am soooooo pissed.  That idiot Evil Villains Tribe is decimating themselves and who will be left standing?  Cockroaches and Evil Russell, that's who.  Poor Boston Rob, he thought he knew where everyone stood regarding alliances, etc.  But no.  Well, now he can go home and be with Amber and their new baby.  I wonder if they get some sort of psychological counseling before they re-enter society?  Meanwhile over at the Heroes camp, way to step it up Colby!  I love that guy.  He is really an honorable person, isn't he?

AR - I was truly sad to see Jeff & Jordan go.  Especially going BEFORE that idiot Caite and her boyfriend!  Those two are so dumb and so mean to each other!  And our poor little cowboys are now in last place.  Come on cowboys!  You can do it!

Saving Grace - You could have knocked me over with a feather when I looked at my dvr list and there was a brand new Saving Grace episode.  I had no idea that it was starting back right now.  I had read somewhere that they are going to wrap things up this season and finish it.  And the way Grace is going it sure looks to be that way.  I have really enjoyed this series.  Way to go Holly Hunter!  Go out on a high note!

Real World DC - They finished up yet another boring season of RW.  Even though this was the typical young people acting like fools, drinking too much, hooking up too much, NEVER CLEANING!, etc, they stepped out a bit by showing them doing some good work at non-profits and trying to pursue some career avenues.  And I loved the ending where they showed a lot of photos of them in the house and around town. That was really nice.

Now let me back track for just one minute.  What is the deal with the non-cleaning?  There are eight people living under one roof and they are all slobs?  Not one of them want to clean up after themselves.  Not one of them think they should take out the garbage.  They are getting to live in a fabulous house that they would otherwise never get to see, much less live in and the best they can do is trash it and act like fools?  Shame on them.  I bet their mamas are all embarrassed.

Castle - Wow.  Just wow.  They are really getting interesting on this show.  It is so good.  And I love that Nathan Fillian (sp???) He is a doll!  His mama and his daughter are wonderful.  It is a great show.

Modern Family - Hands down, this is the best new show on t.v.  Hysterical.  Love, love, love it!

Tool Academy - Praise the Lord!  Ding Dong the witch is dead!!  Hooray that nasty Jennavecia is gone! I don't like her.  I didn't ever believe a word that came out of her mouth.  I never trusted her motives for being there.  And the longer I watched it the more I was concerned about Kyle's sanity and good sense.  I think that boy might not be right.  What could he possibly be thinking?  Run, Kyle, Run!!!

Breaking Bad - the new season has come back with a vengeance!  You just can never tell what is going to happen next.

United States of Tara - new season just started back up.  And after several months of no alters showing themselves, Buck is back!  And Buck has the hots for Joey Lauren Adams!  Poor Tara just "thinks" she has never had sex with a woman before.  She might not have, but Buck is certainly getting busy and using her body!

Biggest Loser - No real surprises on who goes home.  However . . . .   Can you even believe that they brought back that Evil Woman from Texas?  Gawd, how it shames me that Melissa is from Texas!  There's another one that makes me question Lance's sanity.  She is just Bad News Bears, is what she is.

I know I am forgetting something really good.  But my brain is just only retaining a certain amount of information.  This is mostly due to 1/2 of it being pre-occupied with Ernest T. Bass and his continual barking at The Colonel!  If he doesn't STFU I am going to squirt him in the face with the water bottle!  Ye Gads!  Shut Up Ernest T.!  Flea bag dog.

Now that I said something negative about Ernest T, I have to say a positive to even out the karma.  My friend Debra has a cute little dog named Ronald who goes by the name of Ronnie.  Anyhoo, she takes Ronnie to classes on Saturday to learn agility and stuff that keeps his little brain occupied so that he doesn't get into trouble.  That's how it is with these overly smart dogs.  So she was showing me that Ronnie can twirl and "touch".  This is what you do when you want them to learn to touch your hand with their nose.  Then you can gradually move up to putting your hand on light switches and having them turn them on and off.  Things of that nature.

So yesterday I decided that Ernest T. is certainly smart enough to learn to do that.  I don't think he would like to learn to twirl, but he could do "touch".  We sat down with a box full of small treats and I showed him what I wanted him to do.  For 30 minutes he resisted (like he always does because he is the most stubborn dog on the planet) and then all the sudden the light bulb went on and he touched my hand. I moved my hand higher and higher and he still does it just right.  We switch back and forth between "Shake" and "touch" and he never misses.  Isn't he the most clever boy you ever heard of?  Clever and a bark-aholic, but still very clever.  : )

Today is Good Friday and I wish you all a very happy Easter weekend filled with the joy of the holiday and lots of family to share it with.  Oh, and some eggs and some Peeps!!

Easter, Peeps, Tra La La!!

OMG!!!!   Have you been HERE??  All the Peep stuff you could ever want!  I immediately signed up for the Peep fan club and printed up Peep gift tags and looked at the "Recipes".  These are "Recipes" only in the sense that you are putting a few ingredients together.  But the Peeps!  So exciting.  I do love the Peeps! My children are big fat wieners who will not eat a Peep.  No Peeps, no way, no how.  And have you seen the stuffed plushy Peeps?  Just a cute little fat Peep to keep for always!  How awesome is that?

On to other Easter stuff.  A couple years ago we decided to make a big paella for Easter dinner rather than the whole ham or lamb thing with 5 Brazillian side dishes.  And we have happily continued that tradition.  This year we will do the same.  We are hosting a couple of vegetarians (technically they are pescatarians, but whatever.  The point is: they eat fish and seafood) so I will be making not one, but TWO big pans of paella.  Because I just couldn't do without the smoked pork, ham, chicken, and chorizo in my paella. So I am willing to make two pans.  Which means I am going to trot right on down and buy another paella pan! I know, not exactly Compacty, is it?  But I love the idea of being able to now make different paellas for the same meal instead of always just one big pan.  Now we can try two smaller more regular sized recipes at the same time.

So, I went online and scoped out Seafood Paella recipes.  You would not even believe how many Seafood Paella recipes contain chicken, chicken stock, ham, chorizo and various other meat products. When you put meat in something it ceases to be a Seafood dish, people!

Look at what I found:

Saffron-Scented Lobster Paella

Mushroom Paella

Express Paella (made in a pressure cooker in like 15 minutes)

Chili & Scallop Paella

Vegetarian Paella

and finally Simple Paella.

Each of these recipes had something wonderful about it, and that is why I thought "why not get a second paella pan?"

It's almost like my fondue pot.  If I had a second one, we would be trying out recipes two at a time.  Or at least one good cheese fondue and then a great chocolate one for dessert.  I actually do have two fondue pots.  One good large one and one tiny one for chocolate.  I tend to use the tiny one for little smoky sausages and barbecue sauce also.  Everything does double duty over here at Casa Lisa Pie!

Has your family developed some fun, interesting, and different holiday traditions or meals over the years?  Please share!  And if you have any Peeps, by all means think of me when you scarf them down!

Sweet Pea Soup with Lemon-Pepper Cream

Time for another recipe!  I got this recipe from McCall's magazine, April 1997 issue.  It's actually from the Easter dinner menu and I made the whole thing that year.  Everything was delicious and beautiful.  All the dishes had such distinct flavors and colors.  It was stunning visually.  I was able to use my china which is a white on white pattern so all the food took center stage.

Here is the menu as presented:

Sweet Pea Soup with Lemon-Pepper Cream
Mimosa Beet Salad
Rosemary Leg of Lamb with Roasted Tomato Compote
Risotto Primavera
Parsleyed Baby Carrots
Strawberry Shortcake Sundaes

If you are interested in the rest of the recipes from this menu, let me know.  I am happy to post them as well.  Can you just picture all those colors?  Bright green soup, followed by the ruby beet color in the salad, and then the orange carrots and bright red strawberries.  Gorgeous!

This recipe is for the soup course and it was so good.  I think it was my first experience with fresh thyme and I have been loving it every since!

Sweet Pea Soup with Lemon-Pepper Cream

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 (10-oz) russet potato, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 (10-oz) firm ripe pear, peeled, cored, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 (10-oz) pkg. frozen peas
1 bunch watercress, rinsed, 8 small sprigs reserved for garnish
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper

Lemon-Pepper Cream

1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

In a 4 quart Dutch oven, melt butter. Add potato, pear and onion; cook, covered, over low heat, stirring often, 20 minutes, until potato is tender.

Add chicken broth and thyme; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover; simmer 8 minutes.

Add peas and watercress; bring back to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 3 minutes. In blender, puree in batches. Add salt and pepper.

For the Lemon-Pepper Cream: whish together ingredients.

To serve: Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls. Serve hot, at room temp or chilled. Drizzle with Lemon-Pepper Cream. Garnish with reserved watercress.

Makes 8 servings. Per serving: 172 calories, 10 g fat, 21 mg cholesterol, 818 mg sodium

***My notes:  I don't eat onion, so I didn't put it in.  Most likely I did use a bit of garlic or some chives.
Also, if you use a good thick Greek yogurt rather than sour cream you can cut out some calories.  If you make your own chicken stock and skim the fat, there's another savings on fat and sodium.  You might could try half the butter and half olive oil as well.  Personally, I think a good squeeze of lemon juice would make up for the salt and cut out some of the sodium.  And none of these changes will skimp on flavor.

Lent is over, Easter is upon us, how have you fared?

I couldn't start this with Happy Easter, Hallelujah, Christ is Risen or any other Easter phrase because technically it is Saturday and not yet Easter. Yes, I am being nit-picky about that, but that's okay.

Lent started with me intending to make Left-Over Soup once a week and using the savings from the meal I didn't make to give more to the homeless I encounter on a daily basis. What ACTUALLY happened is this: I pre-bought a big of mixed apples and oranges and some small bags of granola stuff and some nuts, bottles of water and brown paper bags. Then I typed up nice little affirmation things like "You are Loved", "You are a child of God", "Smile, and pass it on". I put one of each in a brown paper bag and rolled them tightly closed (because I found out if they are NOT tightly closed, they open when I brake and something will roll right under my feet and gas pedal, not good!). I carry about 2 or 3 of these every time I leave the house.

So I pre-spent the money I was going to save during Lent by making the soup. And several times the Left-Over Soup turned into some other Left-Over meal rather than soup. Some things just don't lend themselves to broth!! But I have to say here, my homeless crew loved their bags. They really loved their bags. Most especially, they loved getting a bottle of water. I hope they liked the fruit and nuts and the messages.

What I am taking from this Lenten season is that it is SO much better to give than to receive. And that it takes a very small effort on my part to make a difference in someone's day. I have a "station" on my kitchen counter next to the fruit bowl where I have the little strips of paper affirmations, the box with the little bags of nuts and the paper bags. When I leave the house in the mornings I just open a bag and put one of each in and then grab a bottle of water and then remember to roll it closed tightly! I found the nuts and granola in the clearance aisle at Target, the bags cost very little, the fruit is inexpensive and while I haven't figured out the exact cost of each, I know it wasn't very much.

My husband has started carrying extra bottles of water with him to give out as well.

I am calling my Lenten project a success even if it didn't go exactly as planned, but then again what really does?

Have a very happy and blessed Easter with your loved ones. Be well and don't forget to eat some Peeps!!