What Were We Thinking?

This is what comes of too much TV. Monster Ballad Music Compilations. Unwanted time travel treks. What does it mean that I know every song... that I once liked all these songs... that I thought it perfectly normal for musicians to have big hair... that I've seen five of these bands perform?

Disc 1
01 Heaven -- Warrant
02 I Remember You -- Skid Row
03 When The Children Cry -- White Lion
04 Headed For A Heartbreak -- Winger
05 High Enough -- Damn Yankees
06 Love Of A Lifetime -- Firehouse
07 To Be With You -- Mr. Big
08 Don't Close Your Eyes -- Kix
09 When I See You Smile -- Bad English
10 Carrie -- Europe
11 Fly High Michelle -- Enuff Znuff
12 Love Is On The Way -- Saigon Kick
13 The Flame -- Cheap Trick
14 House of Pain -- Faster Pussycat
15 Miles Away -- Winger
16 If You Needed Somebody -- Bad Company

Disc 2

01 Every Rose Has It's Thorn -- Poison
02 Don't Know What You Got Til It's Gone -- Cinderella
03 Fly To The Angels -- Slaughter
04 Silent Lucidity -- Queensryche
05 Love Song -- Tesla
06 Is This Love -- Whitesnake
07 Forever -- Kiss
08 I'll Never Let You Go -- Steelheart
09 Only Time Will Tell -- Nelson
10 Winds of Change -- Scorpions
11 Angel Song -- Great White
12 I'll See You In My Dreams -- Giant
13 More Than Words -- Extreme
14 When I'm With You -- Sheriff
15 Ballad Of Jayne -- L.A. Guns
16 Honestly -- Stryper

Good Job, HP..... This Girl is Pleased....

I just changed my ink cartridges in my printer and this was a new thing for me.. a little prepaid envelope that unfolds to return your used ink cartridges for recycling... Woo Hoo! Could it get any easier? I love that Hewlet Packard is doing this. Thank you, HP!!!

Merry Christmas!

Our Pooch and his Presents

.... How lovely are your fake branches....

Well, once I finally got a tree I was too exhausted to actually decorate it so that waited until tonight when I was able to recruit the help of a dear friend and we actually made a real occasion of it. I guess waiting paid off after all. I have a second little tree too that has all my special porcelain ornaments on it... a sort of family tradition as my grandma and a couple aunts also collect Belleek ornaments. One year when I had several roommates we had one giant REAL tree and several fake ones all throughout the house.. it was so fun and Christmasy... This year it's close. I can think of only one or two things that might make it better!

O Christmas Tree... O Christmas Tree...

I had a decorating window Thanksgiving weekend... motivation too, as I was entertaining in my apt the following Tuesday by hosting book club. However, I foolishly thought "why rush this lovely holiday process..." and so I didn't. Weeks have passed and Christmas would be over before I got my tree up. First I had to clean my storage closet so I could walk in it... find my winter coats (a more pressing need, really)... and eventually make my way to the Christmas decorations. I lovingly spread out all my pretty things and began to sort out where this wreath should go... this stocking... this wall hanging... and finally I was ready for the tree.. I pulled out the lights.. untangled them and plugged them in. With working lights and a plastic tub of decorations I was ready. Then I scoured my boxes for that one with the tree in it. Somehow none of them seemed big enough.. Perhaps I'd missed it in the closet.. I found my tent, but no tree... As I was fruitlessly searching it hit me and I stopped in shame to realize I no longer owned a tree. My smallish fake tree I'd used the past few years had met its end last Christmas because of a broken plastic stand. I glued it again and again and still my tree collapsed a couple times and so when it was undecorated it was in the dumpster. Unfortunately I didn't think to purchase another one... say at the after-Christmas clearance sales...

Now with one week before the holiday I had to find an inexpensive replacement tree. I wanted a bigger and better one but I also didn't have the money that buys bigger and better. So I looked for the next best thing... something under $50.00. I scored big at Target. Not only were they selling theirs for 30% off... but the one I chose (a smallish little number.. 6' tall but skinnier than me... ) was the last one so they sold me the display model for an additional 10% off... I spent $11.00 on my tree. Whoopee!

Here's a pic of me and the tough assembly I had to do once I got home...

Fundraising Frenzy -- Lefse Lovin'

Part of my job description as yearbook advisor at my school involves fundraising. I am not good at this. If I was good at raising money I would have much more money of my own. Hmmmph. This year, we have been trying to come up with novel ways to earn some cash--things that involve little work and lots of reward... We decided once that bake sales were out because we spent nearly as much as we made in creating the homemade goodies. However, this year we tried something new. In Norwegian land where everyone has heard of lefse and most have their own lefse grills.... I am somewhat surprised at how willing people are to buy the stuff. In my mind it's the sort of thing that ends up on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter tables and I guess that's what we were thinking in embarking on this task..... With the holidays coming we were sure to sell a few packages.. What we sold were three rounds in a ziploc package for $5.00.... And we sold every piece and more if we'd make it! Amazing. What was also amazing was the fact that with all our materials donated (50 lbs. of potatoes, 25 lbs of flour to name a few items) we made solid profit. (If you don't take back-breaking labor into consideration.) We worked peeling those potatoes for hours after school.... worked all day Saturday-a good 12 hours and then Sunday came back for a few more. On my 101 list, I mentioned I wanted to learn how to make lefse and believe me... after 17 batches... I now know how! And after the labor and special equipment involved I understand a bit more why people are willing to buy it rather than make it themselves.

Here's the recipe--it's good and it's not "top secret"

Ingredients:
5 cups potatoes
1 cup cream
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
pinch salt (1/4 tsp)

flour ½ cup to every cup of potatoes.

Special Equipment:
potato ricer
lefse grill
lefse turner
flour sifter
corrugated rolling pin and rolling pin sleeves
pastry cloth covered board
muslin lefse cozies

Directions:

1. Peel and cook potatoes – DO NOT OVERCOOK.

2. Mash potatoes (we used a mixer). Add cream, butter, sugar, and salt.

3. Beat until light and then rice the potatoes and let cool. (typically do this step the night before and let cool until the next day)

4. When cool, measure potatoes and add 1/2 flour to every cup of potatoes to make a stiff dough.

5. Roll dough into a "log" and slice off individual portions and place on a cookie sheet or tray. Cover with wax paper and store in a cool place. (Cool dough is important to prevent it from getting sticky.)

6. Roll thin like pie crust using corrugated lefse rolling pin (the rolling pin is also covered with thin fabric covering that slips over the roller) and a pastry cloth. Be sure to dust the pastry cloth with flour between each round and sprinkle some on the rolling pin too to prevent sticking.

7. Bake on lefse grill on both sides taking care not to burn or bake too crisp. Watch for bubbles and a slight browning from the underside. This happens quickly. Use a lefse turner to handle both the dough and the grilled lefse.

8. When baked wrap in a cloth to keep soft. My mom has created something she calls the "lefse cozy" and she stacks the warm pieces in there to keep them from drying out until she is ready to package them by folding them twice and placing the lefse in airtight ziplocs or in clear wrap.

Read, Watch, Listen ...... October and November in Review

What I Was Reading in October and November

Expletive Deleted a good look at bad language by Ruth Wajnryb
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Stitch 'N Bitch by Debbie Stoller







Juvenile/Young Adult books
Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
Siberia by Ann Halem
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

For October our book club selection was a Jasper Fforde novel of our choice. I had read The Eyre Affair ages ago and started Lost in a Good Book but never finished it... Just for fun, I started over and read the first three novels featuring Thursday Next. I think they are delightful. The author's website is cool too. Our November selection was Gilead. I managed to get about halfway through the book. I'm still reading... I do like it, but it's slow going. The young adult books were mostly ones I read aloud at school or in order to recommend them to students. The Expletive Deleted is a book for another book group that doesn't meet again until December 15, so I'll likely finish that a bit closer to the date. It's f*cking great!

What I Was Watching in October and November

Rented
Beauty Shop
Kicking and Screaming
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
A Clockwork Orange
Bob Dylan No Direction Home
Will and Grace Season Two
The Wedding Date
The Perfect Man
Happy Endings
Millions
Melinda and Melinda
Me and You and Everyone We Know

Theatre
Elizabethtown
RENT

My first week of October was filled with movie rentals and then I got a copy of the Bob Dylan documentary (which I loved) but never managed to find time to watch. Weeks slipped by and other than occasional episodes of That 70's Show, Seinfeld and NFL football games, I found myself simply not even bothering with the TV. Then Hollywood Video sent out their 99 cent coupons and by some miracle I got my hands on 6 of them... Ahhh... Thanksgiving weekend was movie madness! I watched a lot of mediocre movies.... and I expected more from the Woody Allen film Melinda and Melinda but I think the fact that I didn't care for the actress who played Melinda got in the way. I'd really looked forward to Millions and while I did like it, I am not sure I loved it like I thought I might. Instead, a movie I nearly skipped because I was running out of time took me completely by surprise... Me and You and Everyone We Know was simply wonderful. Weird. Fascinating. Read the Charlie Chan imdb review.... he says it well.

What I Was Listening to in October and November

Mamma Mia! The Musical Based on the Songs of ABBA: The Original 1999 London Cast
Juice Newton Greatest Hits
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young Deja Vu
Nic Armstrong and the Thieves The Greatest White Liar
The Who Who's Next
The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan, White Blood Cells, Elephant
The Guess Who Greatest Hits
Harry Nisson All Time Greatest Hits

I was still a little hooked on the Mamma Mia /ABBA music as October kicked in. But I also pulled out the White Stripes and The Who again. I listened to much greater variety of music than this but these were my "music kicks" these past couple months. My cd purchases were the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young CD and the Guess Who and the Harry Nilsson greatest hits cds.
Juice Newton is one I acquired from my sister Lori and it brought back fond memories of the LP we used to have of her music. I heard an interview with Susan Tedeschi on NPR the other day on the way to work... She has a new album, Hope and Desire and I guess it's all covers . I am thinking I might need to pick this up soon.... or maybe I should just get her new "Best of" cd (that does seem to be my trend, eh?).