ITALIAN SAUSAGE BREAD

Frozen bread dough
1 lb. pkg. Italian sausage
Shredded Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk

Let bread dough thaw and rise at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours. Roll out to rectangular shape. Brown and crumble Italian sausage. Drain excess grease, let cool slightly. Spread sausage evenly over rolled out dough, spread Parmesan cheese evenly, followed by Mozzarella. Roll up as you would a jelly roll and pinch the ends closed. Rub raw egg yolk all over loaf. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

RETARDED GRANDPARENTS

(this was actually reported by a teacher)

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school. One child wrote the following:

We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Florida. Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass.
They ride around on their bicycles and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.
They go to a building called a wrecked center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, and do exercises there, but they don't do them very well.
There is a swimming pool too, but in it, they all jump up and down with hats on.
At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape.
Sometimes they sneak out.
They go cruising in their golf carts!
Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And they eat the same thing every night --- early birds.
Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.
My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too.
When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out so they can visit their grandchildren.

A day to remember

Yesterday I was at work, sitting at my desk, when I happened to glance up, looking through the double glass doors which look out over Saratoga Passage towards Camano Island. I saw the spray, I believe called spume, from a gray whale as it surfaced for air. I immediately rushed outside to see this wonderful sight.
At first there was only one whale and it was quite a distance out so it was no use taking any pictures as my little camera would just record a small black dot in the middle of the picture.

We have been watching gray whales pass by the spa for the last couple of weeks and have always been delighted to catch a view of these magnificent animals, but today was so fantastic.
I had to go back into the spa for a while to take care of business and thought the whale would probably be gone by the time I went outdoors again, but to my absolute delight they were very close in, but further along in front of The inn. Again they were too far away for good pictures.

I stood there for probably half an hour in awe, watching two whales now, as they twisted and turned in the sands dislodging shrimp for their meal. It was a huge WOW!! to see all this.

I had to return indoors to close for the night and after I had locked up, and turned along the boardwalk towards the five flights of steps to take me back up to the parking lot, I was amazed to see the two whales just about 50 yards from the shore and just along from the front of the spa.
I can tell you, my heart raced to see two whales feeding, and in so close to shore.
I did take the pictures below, but they still are not the best quality, but you can tell I am telling you the truth, they were close in. These pictures were taken from the Inn's office balcony, on the third floor up from the boardwalk.

Here they are churning the sands, to scare up shrimp for dinner.

Up for a breath of air before going down again for more shrimp. The seabirds were eagerly snatching up shrimp the whales dislodged.

These guys are HUGE I sure wish I could have taken better pictures for you to see.

And he is only about half way (lengthwise) out of the water.

This is a day I will always remember. How special to see these magnificent creatures so close. Perhaps I may see more today.

Muffins That Taste Like Donuts

1-3/4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp.salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar (first amount)
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar (second amount)
1 tsp cinnamon

In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
In another bowl, combine thoroughly, oil, 3/4 c. sugar, egg, and milk.
Add liquids to dry ingredients and stir only to combine.
Fill greased muffin cups, bake 350F for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Shake muffins out immediately, and while hot dip in melted butter, then sugar mixed with cinnamon.

NOTE: today Sunday 15th, I am going to play with this recipe to lighten it up a little. I will use applesauce instead of the oil, some Splendor instead of all the sugar, and some whole wheat white flour (for extra fiber) in the donuts. And after they are cooked, I will try Weight Watchers buttery spray to coat the donuts before dipping them in the sugar and cinnamon mixture, perhaps just dipping the tops in the mixture, thus reducing the calories.

I will post results later on today, so stop by to read my verdict.

THE VERDICT IS IN:

I replaced the All purpose flour with white whole wheat: The texture of the donuts was a little heavier, but the flavor was good, and of course whole wheat is better for us.

Replaced all of the oil with apple sauce: they were still moist.

Filled the 3/4 cup with about half regular sugar, and topped it off with Splendor: they were sweet enough.

When I pulled them from the oven: I spritzed the tops with buttery spray, turned them out onto a tray, spritzed the bottoms, them tossed them in a bag of cinnamon sugar.

Even though they are a little heavier in texture, than muffins made with all purpose flour, they are still good, and a whole lot lighter in calories and butter.

I polished off three for my breakfast.

Color by the Yard

Roozengaarde, at LaConnor Washington, the home of acres and acres of the most breathtaking tulips, is where my friend Joyce and I spent the better part of today. The weather was a balmy 60F or more, making for a pleasant stroll through the garden like setting of all the display bulbs.

As we strolled past the plantings outside the gardens I knew I was in for a treat when we went inside.
The colors and different varieties of tulips are fabulous, I did not realize how many there were.
There are a 1/4 million bulbs planted in the garden to delight visitors.

Now doesn't this look like a little slice of Holland?

Joyce

Wow! I'm in love, add this to my shopping basket.

Stunning, simply stunning.

I want this one too.

Ohhh lookee there, I want some of the yellow ones too.
By this time I thought I was going to get whiplash turning this way and that, to see all these beauties.

And just when I thought I had seen it all, I discovered these four blooms on one stem.
Please add this one to the shopping basket.

Color, color, every where.

Every time I turned around there was another delicious variety and color I could visualize in my garden

I took 86 pictures and I am sure I could have taken many more. I figure 86 should be good for a post or two or three.
Mentally I spent hundreds of dollars, but settled for spending less than one hundred once I arrived home and had a chance to sit down and drool over the catalog. I ordered the tulips I really, really want, and next year I will order my second choice. To tell you the whole truth, I think planting the 160 bulbs I ordered, will be enough work this fall when the bulbs are delivered.

"Dogs Welcome"

A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a Midwest town he planned to visit on his vacation. He wrote: I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well-groomed and very well behaved. Would you be willing to permit me to keep him in my room with me at night?"

An immediate reply came from the hotel owner, who wrote: "I've been operating this hotel for many years. In all that time, I've never had a dog steal towels, bedclothes, silverware or pictures off the walls. I've never
had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly. And I've never had a dog run out on a hotel bill. Yes, indeed, your dog is welcome at my hotel. And, if your dog will vouch for you, you're welcome to stay here, too."

Another great day at the range

Here are the steel plates we are shooting at and HERE, on Mr. Completely's blog you can read more about the setup, and how the matches are run

Larry, at 89 years young, is one of our most senior shooters

Tony, who is almost 18 years old, is our youngest shooter

Mr.C always has a wonderful report, on the matches so click this BUTTON to take you to yesterday's glowing report.
When the scores are reported, I will update this post. As far as I can remember I was fairly near the top of the pack.

The results are in:

1st Group
Al L. 27
Kim G 24.5 Custer
Bruce L. 23.5 Custer
Jan S 19.5 Custer
Lou G 15
Mike F 14.5
Johan D 13.5
Rainy L 13.5
Steve M 5
Wayne F 3.5
Randy N. ?

2nd Group
Mikee G 32 (alias MrC. )
Tony C. 27
Jim Pfiefer 25.5
Jennifer K 21 ( Kiwi )
Joe L 17
Chris C 17
Jim R 15
Larrie F 14.5
Dean H 14
Al S. 13.5
Brandi D. 5
Larry W. ~

Happy Easter Weekend

Today MrC and I are heading up to CWSA range for a falling plate match. This event is one of my favorites. I may have photos for you later on today, if I don't get all excited shooting, and forget to take some. You all have a wonderful day.

Marble Pound Cake

A lighter version for those of you counting calories

2-1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
8 oz. whole milk vanilla yogurt
4 large egg whites
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350F Coat a bundt pan with cooking spray.

Sift together, flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, beat well.

Add about 1/3 of flour and 1/3 yogurt , fold in until just blended, repeat until all flour and yogurt is incorporated. Whip egg whites until stiff, (I like to whip the egg whites first, so they will be ready to use) fold into batter until blended. Divide mixture into 2 bowls.

Melt chocolate over double boiler over extremely low heat. (the chocolate can be melting as you are making the batter) pour into one of the bowls of batter, blend well. Add almond extract to the other bowl and blend.

Pour half of the chocolate batter, then half of the almond batter into the prepared pan. Repeat with remaining batter. Run a knife through the batter creating more swirls.

Bake until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. About 45 minutes. (I found it cooked in about 40 minutes, so it depends on your oven)
Remove cake from oven and leave to cool in pan before carefully flipping onto a wire rack.

Drizzle a frosting over top.

Wine Storage

Found this wine rack at the Senior Thrift store and could not resist buying it. The wine was not part of the deal, sighhhhh!
I suppose now I have brought these six bottles upstairs, they are in plain view, and I don't have to trek downstairs every time I want a bottle of wine, I will be knocking back a glass or two of wine every night. *grin*

Monster

A fishin' story from the local newspaper, where I grew up in
New Zealand

Manawatu Standard | Wednesday, 4 April 2007

WHAT A WHOPPER: Steve Pedley and his unlucky fish, and top, a lucky black toby lure.

Sorry...experienced anglers who have prowled the Manawatu River for decades trying to land a big one will gag on this story. EWAN SARGENT reports.

``When I cast in, I thought I'd snagged. I started walking out deeper [to free it] and once it realised it was hooked, man it took me a long time to get it in. I don't have a landing net. When I got it on the stones it broke the line, so I had to run and grab it to get it away from the water.''

Ever since he's caught the trophy trout which is on its way to being mounted he's been greeted by amazement at his luck. And it's pretty good luck.

Here's the stuff that will make experienced anglers suffer.

Pedley's only been fishing for six months.

He's a spin fisher, not a fly fisher. He only uses 7gm black toby lures, probably the most common lure chucked in the Manawatu River.

He doesn't sharpen his hooks, in fact the lucky lure was pulled out of his wooden wine rack in the spare room as he headed out the door on the fishing trip.

By this time of year, trout who have seen black tobys flash past them over and over should be ignoring them.

A trout as big as the one Pedley caught (66cm long) should be too old and wise to ever bite at a black toby.

Pedley was fishing in what he calls ``a nondescript spot in the Maxwell Line area'' and it was 3pm.

This should be a dead time of the day to fish compared to the golden hours at first light and dusk.

And he was fishing in an area that gets flogged by throughout the year by city anglers too lazy to travel to better waters and kids on bikes.

``My dad's been trout fishing for over 50 years and he says he's never ever seen a trout that big in the Manawatu. He was blown away,'' Pedley says.

He realises he may have peaked early. He faces season after season of being disappointed with mere six and seven pound trout a bit like the novice golfer who gets a hole in one and quits.

But the trophy on the wall will always be there to remind him of the day the big one didn't get away.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! ! !

Yes folks, that is ice on the window of my car. We had quite a heavy frost this morning and I am hoping it has not damaged the tulips which are coming into full bloom.

I think the Hummingbirds are happy that I have another three feeders hanging in the yard which were sheltered from Jack frost's fingers, and are not covered in ice as this one is.

We are in for a beautiful sunny day, as you can see, by the sun shining on the pasture in the distance. The temperatures, as reported by the weather station, will be in the 60'sF Bring it on!

Yo Yoes

Another wonderfully rich recipe from my Mother's Kiwi kitchen.

12 oz. butter
4 oz. powdered sugar
12 oz. flour
1 (4.6 oz.) pkt JELL-O Vanilla Cook & Serve Pudding & Pie Filling (remove 2tbsp of mix and set aside)
vanilla essence

Cream butter and sugar, add essence, then dry ingredients.

Roll dough into walnut size balls (oil your hands and the dough will not stick) Or use a small scoop. Place on a cold greased cookie sheet and flatten with a fork dipped in flour.

Bake about 15 minutes at 350F or until light golden brown.

When cold, sandwich together with butter filling, or frosting of your choice. (I have used jam as a filling)

Filling: soften 2tbs. butter, add about 12 tbsp. powdered sugar and the 2 tbsp. pudding mix and 1 tsp. vanilla. Stir until smooth.

You could substitute any flavor pudding mix you like. Chocolate would be good.

At long Last

The warmth of the sun today, encouraged the tulips to open.
To see more click HERE

I have decided

In my previous post I was complaining about not knowing what colors to redo the kitchen.
I have now made a decision.

These were the original curtains in the kitchen, and had been here since the 50's YUK! The walls are a pale yellow.

A couple of months ago I replaced those 1950's drapes with these blue roman blinds.

The red is a sample color I thought may be nice below a chair rail I am going to have installed. Well, I thought the color would be nice, until I put it on the wall. It was too intense and made the small space seem smaller. I also painted a small patch of a brighter yellow above the red and to the left of the small roman blind.
I was trying to use colors which would accent the collection of blue and white Royal Copenhagen plates above the windows, but have decided to take the plates down and display them elsewhere.

This is the new color scheme.

For above the windows,I plan on making valances or padded pelmets with a nice braid along the lower edge using the fabric on the right. The colors of the walls will be painted the darker gold color below a blue chair rail, a paler shade of the gold above the chair rail, as per the paint samples. The camera flash washed out the lovely gold shades. (you will just have to wait to see the finished project)
I will probably use the rust brown shade in the fabric as an accent in another part of the kitchen.

All I need now, is the time and energy and MrC's help to get the project finished.

To Blog Or Not To Blog, That Is The Question

I am sure all of you have had times, when either finding the time, searching out material, or wanting to post on your blog has almost become a chore. The last few days I have other things to do, one of which is deciding what colors to paint the kitchen. The decision is getting to be more difficult as I really cannot make up my mind what colors to paint the walls. I think I will take pictures and have you, my readers give me some ideas.

I have spent very little time in the garden as it has been too cold to be outdoors for any length of time.
I took this photo at 6:30am this morning. As you see the Tulips are almost open and are teasing me with their promise of color. This is the first year forTulips in this garden, so I am excited to see what colors they will be. I am sure if we have a couple of warm days the petals will open showing me their velvety splendor.

Analysis of a Woman

ANALYSIS

Element: Woman

Symbol: Wo

Discoverer: Adam

Atomic Mass: Accepted as 55kg, but known to vary from 15kg to 225kg.

Occurrence: Large quantities in urban areas, with trace elements found in most other areas.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Surface normally covered in powder and paint film.

Boils at nothing, freezes for no apparent reason.

Melts if given special treatment.

Bitter if used incorrectly.

Found in various grades, ranging from virgin material to common ore.

Yields if pressure is applied in correct places.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

Affinity to gold, silver, platinum and all precious stones.

Absorbs great quantities of expensive substances.

Explodes spontaneously, without warning or reason.

Softens and takes on a rosy glow when soaked in hot water.

Greatly increased activity when saturated in alcohol.

The most powerful money reducing agent known to man.

COMMON USES

Highly ornamental - especially in sports cars.

Can be a great aid to relaxation.

Very effective cleaning agent.

TESTS

Pure specimens turn bright pink when discovered in the natural state.

Turns green when placed alongside a superior specimen.

HAZARDS

Highly dangerous except in experienced hands.

Illegal to possess more than one specimen, although several can be maintained at different locations provided they DO NOT come into direct contact with each other.

found here http://www.stevenwillingale.com/fun/women.htm

Like Maxine Says...........

I worked Monday and Tuesday, spent most of yesterday up in Oak Harbor getting the oil changed in my car, having lunch with the girls and doing some shopping.

Today I need to catch up on house chores, sighhhhhhh! Though I am going to take the time to go and enjoy a 90 minute massage. Life is not ALL work you know!

My garden has been calling my name the last few days, but it has been too cold to spend any length of time pulling weeds, I know the weeds will still be there, and just be a little larger when I finally get to them. I hope to get a few pictures of the flowers blooming in Keewee's Garden and post them later on today.

Kiwi Talk

BRASSED OFF : disappointed, annoyed


I am feeling a little "brassed off" with the weather. One day it is 60F the next day it is 40F Today it is the first day of spring, and it is cold, wet, and windy.

So, come on Mother Nature GET WITH THE PROGRAM.

First Falling Plate Shoot

Today was the first ever Falling Plate match for Central Whidbey Sportman's Association. Oh My! I had so much fun, in fact, I like this event more than any of the others, including hanging plates and bowling pin top matches. My final score was 17.5 the winner's 27, so I did quite well for a first time Falling Plate match.
Al AKA "Evil Al" won the match, MrC came in second.

Range Master "Evil Al" (left) giving us a few instructions before we started the match.

MrC has leveled the first two plates, ( on the right) the third, almost onto the table and he is getting ready to swing far right, to knock those two plates down before hitting the smaller stop plate, third from right. All in all, I think everyone there had a great time, and is looking forward to the next match and some warmer weather with a little less rain, in fact, no rain at all would be excellent.
MrC will have a more in depth coverage of the event in the next couple of days.
MRC'S REPORT HERE