Archive for February, 2009

Can someone please share a decent meatloaf recipe with me? I’ve tried at least 10 different recipes varying from ketchup based (too sweet), bbq based (weird), gravy based (my personal favorite, but it never tastes like grandma’s) and they are all just ok. Not terrible, but not spectacular either. Not like the mashed potatoes I made tonight with herb cheese spread instead of butter. They were beyond good. I used Alouette Garlic & Herbs flavor.

Uh oh, I just made myself sick looking at the calorie and fat facts. Ugh. Well, the potatoes were damn tasty and I’d do it again if they were special occasion potatoes.  Not to be confused with “Special Potatoes” which is my signature Christmas Eve side dish, AKA caramelized onion mashed potatoes. They take a LONG time to prepare and use a ton of butter, wine and about 5 large vidalia onions. Hence the Special Potatoes title, meaning I only make them once a year.

So back to the Alouette. I’ve been making a stuffed mushroom with this spread  too.  It’s super simple.  Remove the mushroom stem, fill the musroom cap with the cheese, roll the mushroom in an egg wash then in panko.  Bake for 35 mins at 350ish and voila.  They are a real crowd pleaser and oh so easy! Panko is my new secret weapon/best friend in the kitchen.  I’ve been using it for everything.  I made some fried chicken last week (not deep fried, I do care a little for my arteries) and it was soo crunchy and moist.

I’m going to make a horrendus literary seque right now and talk about the new cd I just purchased.  For as someone as into music as I am, how I missed the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss cd Raising Sand for the past 18 months (you know..the BLUEgrass-y one) I’m not really sure.  But in the week since I first heard of it and the 3 days since I recieved it, I’ve listened to nothing else.  It’s beautiful, different, and very entertaining. I was telling my friend Karen today that I’d use the word “soothing” to describe the overall feel of the cd.  I’ve been thinking about it more and I believe that “haunting” is a better word.   Maybe hauntingly soothing is what I’m trying to say?   If you’re interested, watch this:

Ok this was supposed to be a short blog post but I take too damn long to write.

Heading to bed.  (Stephanie, you better have bookmarked me)

Over the past 10 years, I’ve collected many items from students. A lot of notes, drawings and even some wonderfully creative items. Here are a few of my favorites. The students range in age from second grade through eighth grade.

This was from a student I taught for 5th and 6th grade at my first school. He was (is) very creative and expressive and made art out of anything. These are two sculptures he made me in 2000, one is my cat Billy (he’s suffered a few war wounds in my moves, two legs have broken off and his eyes are crooked) and the other is an eyeball.  The third item is my favorite. He made objects out of paperclips. I lost the black cat he made me, but the stingray was my favorite of all time. Creative, right?

These are a collection of thank you notes from students for our annual Read-a-thon fundraiser.  It’s quite obvious they all know of my love of eyeballs

I got this note after I achieved National Board Certification in 2007.

This is a drawing by a very talented 4th grade student.  This is definitely my kind of room: surrounded by books, a fireplace and cozy chair and a knight.

And my favorite kind of student appreciation…the wild pictures they draw of me.  I wish I could find my favorite one…where I’m standing on a table with electrocuted hair waving my hands in the air yelling “I LOVE BOOKS”.  I wasn’t aware that move was in my repertoire

Didn’t know I showed up at school looking like this….either.

And then, sometimes I get things like this one.  I had asked a class to write me a letter telling me about their favorite kinds of books.  This one still puzzles me.  I’ve shown it to everyone at school and while none of us can decipher what the student really means, it doesn’t really matter…it’s just funny.

and finally I’m going to show you something that is rarely seen…let alone photographed.  Are you ready?  The sight of this spectacle has been known to render my co-workers speechless.  Shield your eyes, peeps.

Here it is…my CLEAN and SPOTLESS desk!!!

Why…yes!  That is an eyeball frisbee-like thing behind my desk.

Here’s a close up of some of my eyeball paraphernalia.

enjoy!
Chris

I had to share a photo of my new King collection! I purchased this whole set from a relative of a friend. I’m so excited! I was just thinking about getting rid of all my paperbacks and buying some hardcovers of my collection, but I was too cheap to buy the books. Then, this amazing opportunity came up and I couldn’t resist. There are a few I haven’t read, and some that I’m looking forward to re-experiencing.

I’ll take this moment to mention my favorite Stephen King books:

Eyes of the Dragon — I completely loved this fantasy book. Rumor has it that he wrote this because he wanted his young children to be able to read something he’d written. Who cares why he wrote it, the book is fantastic. Wonderful story!

Misery — Annie, Paul, the special paper, and the axe!!  oh how I loved this book (and the movie too, surprisingly– Kim…remember waking mom up to show her the foot-smashing part? She was not nearly as amused at 3am as we were!)

Skeleton Crew has to be my favorite overall King short story collection. The first story, The Mist, creeps me out today. I was horribly disappointed in the movie (which was pretty faithful to the story up to a point then not so much.)

Night Shift — another amazing collection of short stories…especially the very spooky “Sometimes They Come Back” scary!!!

My favorite short story of all time (and one of my favorite movies, too) is “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” Most people are unaware that that movie is based on a King short story. Both are incredible.

Here’s what I’m looking forward to reading (or rereading):
Danse Macabre – a nonfiction book on the horror genre. I was always too afraid to read this, but I’m looking forward to it now.

All the stories in Different Seasons, especially Apt Pupil (I recently saw the movie, which was good and disturbing)

I think I’m ready to reread It, but I’m not sure. That book freaked me out.

Salem’s Lot -ditto on the freaking out. I used to be afraid of vampires, but I’ve gotten over that. I read this book in high school, at school. I refused to take it home and have it in my house. I would only read it during daylight hours. I know it’s strange.

The Stand – What can I say about this one?  It’s a perfect story, well written, planned and executed.

ok that’s enough of my 5 second reviews, I’m going to hug my books for a while.