Archives for September 2008

Children of the Corn….errrr…Cat of the Carrots.

September 30, 2008 by Maren 6 Comments

~~Children of the Corn~~ Err…..my Cat of Carrots.

Two Sundays ago, I decided to make a personal favorite–split pea soup. I have a terrific crock pot recipe that makes this favorite dish so easy to create. One ingredient that goes in the soup is carrots, and it just so happens that we grew carrots in our garden this spring. I traipsed out to our little garden area, and pulled some carrots for the soup. I took them back inside where I proceeded to cut off the leaves and peel the carrots. The smell of the carrot plant itself really intrigued my cat. I think if he wasn’t as fat as he is, he’d have tried to jump up on the cabinet. Thankfully, he really has never tried because he’s about the size of 12 Zippys. Instead, He put his paws to the near top of the cabinet and tried to sniff the leaves. I figured that if it was that interesting to him, I’d humor him a little and throw the plants on the ground and let him sniff away. You know the saying, “Throw the Dog a bone?” In this case, it’s been revised to “Give the cat a carrot…”

Here’s my cat of the carrots.

I went about my business and chopped all the carrots up & threw them in the crockpot. I started cleaning up my mess, when I stopped dead in my track with this little wonder eating on carrot peels on the ledge of my sink. My mind instantly reverted to a joke I would tell as a kid: Question: What is worse than finding a worm in your apple? Answer: Finding half a worm. This is exactly how I felt. Had I chopped up its brother and put it in my soup?

Eww. I scooped him up along with all of the carrot plant leaves, and in disgust, whisked this little critter back outside to his proper home. While on my way, I saw 2 other of these little guys on the leaves itself. So, I just assumed that they fed on the plant leaves, not on the carrots and forgot about the what ifs. I truly don’t think I chopped up one of these suckers, because I would think I would have seen it as I chopped. However if I did, I suppose a little protein never hurt anyone–maybe that’s why my soup tasted a little funny. KIDDING.

These are a few of my favorite things…

September 25, 2008 by Maren 7 Comments

If you aren’t acquainted with the following things, you must drop what you are doing at once and acquaint yourself. It is of utmost importance. Go NOW and ACQUAINT, I tell you!

Recently, I was in the mood for something sweet and something minty, and sauntered on up to our vending machine at work. Don’t judge. There, I bought the most delicious candy bar EVER. I crave one every day, but have only allowed myself a total of 3 because I don’t want to be like Augustus Gloop from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. So, if you’ve never tried one of these little do-goods, Drop what you are doing and go NOW.

Michael & I stopped this weekend at the whole foods store to buy some carob covered raisins. While there, Michael introduced me to my #2 favorite item of today. It’s 100% of Naked wonder. The label claims that it is Mighty Mango, 100% Pure Juice Smoothie. Even though it’s supposed to be “All Natural,” I definitely won’t be gulping one of these down every day. The calories alone are enough to sabotage everything else I want to eat for an entire week. You can better believe, though, when I’m looking for a tasty treat, I’ll be scoring one of these suckers.

My friend brought me in some homemade empanadas to work that her husband had cooked for her 30th birthday. Let me tell you, it’s been a LONG time since something that delectable has reached my taste buds. Every bite reminded me of a beach vacation…or camping on a mountain near a fishing stream…or a cruise to lalaland… you get the point…It was FABULOUS. The inside filling is composed of beef, potato, and hard boiled egg. I can’t even begin to explain how wonderful the combination is. Pardon me– I’m mopping up my drool as I type.

Now, even though I’ve only shared food, it does NOT ALL have to be about food, eh? Even though I often find myself dwelling and centered on the food that I eat, this particular favorite does not relate to food. This favorite is a family of people in my life of whom I simply adore. I love them for being silly, for being childlike, for being sincere in their love for me, for being ornery, for being my friends, for wanting me to read books, for not sitting still, for having the wiggles (and I don’t mean the video guys), and for being great kids. (Not to mention, their parents are doing a terrific job, too.) And for these reasons and more, I share my very favorites…

My name is Maren and I approve this message.

Associations

September 22, 2008 by Maren 8 Comments

This past week was definitely uneventful…our lights were out for 4 days; our church people grilled up 400 hotdogs to give out at a parade; I locked Michael, Zippy, & me out of the house at 11:30 one night; & we found out on FRIDAY that our church couldn’t meet yesterday at the school building where we regularly meet… Definitely uneventful, so I’m going a different route with my blog today.

Associations are funny. Do you have random associations in your life that whenever a situation happens, it triggers your thoughts to something or someone else?

*When I see an old school mechanical pencil (with the silver tip & the skinny eraser), I think of my junior high youth pastor who would always write in his day planners with just that.

*When I see the time and the numbers are all the same (1:11, 2:22, 3:33, etc.), I think about and pray for my brother, who once found that phenomenon to be cool and shared it with my mom.

*When I hear the spoken word “nickel,” I think of my roommate in college who had a goofy rhyme that she would sing anytime someone would say “nickel.” My mom gave me a nickel to buy a pickle, I didn’t buy a pickle, I bought some chewing gum. Chewing gum, Chewing gum, I love chewing gum.

*When I get $.41 in change, I am reminded of working at a drug store in high school. That’s my favorite amount of change to give a customer because it’s one of every coin: A Quarter, A Dime, A Nickel, and Penny.

*When I see a Geo Tracker, I’m instantly reminded of a lady I once knew who was the frequent culprit of T.M.I. (Unless you’re one who considers The reason she refused to wear pantyhose “pertinent information.”

*When I ride in a canoe, I think of an exaggeratory, hillbilly of a tour guide from Arkansas who told our junior high/high school youth group that if we fell out of the boat, we were going to get hypothermia and DIE (though he pronounced it more like “DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”) and told us that to prevent this, we should all wear plastic garbage bags under our clothing. He also told us that if we fell in the water and the canoe were to come at us, we should move out of the way (thanks, Captain Obvious…) because the force of “One HUNDRED THOUUUUUUUUUUSAND POUNDS OF PRESSURE” would impale and kill us. We ignored him. We all lived.

*When I use the bathroom at a library, I think of the time that I locked myself in the bathroom at our public library and yelled until my mom came to rescue me. I can still remember the feeling of terror as I naturally assumed that my life was endangered and would be ending momentarily. I was 19. Okay, not really… I was maybe 5?

*When I see one librarian in particular, I try to avoid him because I’m plagued with guilt. I paid my library fine to this librarian once with all pennies because I was irritated and felt wronged about the fine that I had incurred. (I was wrong, I confess.)

*When I make a flop of a dish in the kitchen, I am reminded of what my mom told me to do when this happens… just rename it to something so no one will know it’s a flop. Turn a bad looking chocolate cake into “AVALANCHE Chocolate Cake.” Turn soupy enchiladas into “Enchilada Casserole Au Jus.” Usually this little secret does wonders… except this week, I renamed a dish to “My name is Hurl.” I fed some to the dog and threw the rest away. Sometimes you can’t even pretend to salvage a disaster disguised as cooked ‘Hurl’. Sigh.

So, I’m dying to hear some of YOUR associations. Fill in the blanks. When I _____________________, I think of ______________________________.

A day to celebrate!

September 19, 2008 by Maren 3 Comments

Besides the fact that my electricity came back last night, there are many other reasons to celebrate today. After all, it’s an important day in the life of our country. It’s National Talk Like a Pirate Day. What are you waiting for, Matey? Let’s get going………RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr