Unhappy kitty

Shorty tolerates the puppies and all the other canine members of our family pretty well ...until they get on HER bed! She looks really miffed, I think.

Blurry little sweetie

These little things are so cute I can hardly stand it. They are almost ready to open their eyes, in fact, this one, " Angie" has hers cracked open a little today. The black ones are near impossible to take pictures of, but it will get easier when they are up and moving!

Hot Stuff!

This may be the hottest stuff ever made in my kitchen. Nanny gave me a little baggie of peppers today, and I mixed them with some of my backyard jalapenos and covered with

vinegar. I did make the mistake of touching my finger to my tongue after I finished....

whoooooo weeeeeee! I may never have to buy "Clearly Crazy" again. I'll be sure to share in small aliquots if it turns out. I bet it will be mean on some turnip greens!!!!!

Even if it is too hot to use on food, it is really pretty!

Pictures of "The Drawing"

The drawing took place in the garage because that is where the Easter basket was.

Close up of the card so that you can see that it indeed did say, "ThatKat".

Congradulations Kat! See ya Thursday!

And the winner is.................

ThatKat!!!!!!!!

She will be gifted with a hand delivered tray of goodies from The Big Top Bakery ( aka my kitchen) at some point in the very near future. ThatKat will need to email me privately and let me know what days she works, etc. I will deliver the goods and I promise it won't be diet or low carb or contain any meat. I sure hope she will do butter, because I can't do much without butter!

The names were written in crayon on some old business cards and put into an old Easter basket and then the winner was selected by my able and eager assistant, Coco. I have pictures of the drawing taking place, but there is trouble afoot with my camera card and I will have to work on that and post them later!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all of you who braved the cyber world in order to enter. The rest of you will just have to see pics of ThatKat and her co-workers chowing down. Betya enter the next one after you see that!!!!!

Praise Fest 2008

It was a great day to have a festival..............

I actually manned ( or clowned I should say) the Palmer Home booth for a while when the guy who was running it had to go change clothes. I tried to sell some cookbooks, but when that didn't happen, I just gave out candy.

The Chik-fil-A cow came by and we snagged her for a photo-op.

DarthVader couldn't wait to get his picture made with Flutterby and Tutti. Actually I we grabbed him by the arms and dragged him over to where someone could use my camera and take the picture.

And finally the two cutest kids in the world showed up and were so surprised to see their own personal mama clown at the festival. I had told them I was at work, so they were thrilled to see me, but that wore off pretty quick when they saw that Flutterby was making balloon swords.

All in all, it was a great day. I was starting to melt by noon, so I knocked off and came home about 12:30. Then it took about 30 minutes to get all the grease-paint out of my hair and off my face. It was so much fun!

Call me Imelda

Kindergarden is great because kids learn to "match" and "count" and "sort" items.
Look at the happy face of the gullable kindergarden student as she takes on the challenge of
"matching" and "counting" and "sorting" all of MY shoes!

Please do not notice the spots on the carpet or the cat litter on that bathmat. "Bob" is not so neat when he exits the loo.

Notice the expression. The fun wore off after about 25 pairs. I think it ended up being 32 pairs, including slippers and flip flops. I love shoes.

New Kicks......

I finally found some clown shoes......at "Shoe Carnival" of all places.

I especially liked the lady bug tongue. I never knew that Chuck Taylors have two tongues.

They are gonna look good with my striped socks..........

( I got CoCo some too!!!)

Good News, and Bad News.....

First the GOOD news. BigDaddy got a part time teaching position with Belhaven College. One night a week, 8 week terms. The money is good and it really isn't a big inconvenience to the family child-hauling schedule.

Now, the BAD news. He has to enroll in a course towards his PhD to be able to teach it. To make matters worse, he is going to have to do it at OL' Miss!

I don't personally know of any blood relative of mine who went to Ol' Miss. If I ever did know of one, I probably blocked the memory out. I have a Christmas ornament with Bully choking Col Reb. Kroger had some 9 foot tall inflatable Colonel's for sale -I sure hope "the student" doesn't decide to go insane and buy one.

Somehow I will get over this. It may require some retail therapy. Maybe some shoes?????

Giveaway.......

Ok.....here's a way to MAKE y'all comment. I'll have a giveaway. Like P-dub does. Only mine won't be expensive stuff like hers. In fact, this time it is going to be a SECRET giveaway. I will give you all until NOON on Sunday to comment. All you gotta do is tell me what you had for dinner tonight(9/26) and what you think would make a great prize.



That ought to be easy. I will use that random generator thing to determine the winner. Either that or we will draw a number out of a hat. I think the generator will only work when you have a LOT of entries. I am thinking I might end up with three.



So......do we have it? Comment ON THE BLOG. DO NOT respond to email ( if you get this thru a direct e-mail from me). Yes, you can do comments on the blog even if you are not a gmail or blogger user. Oh......and please only comment once, but if you see that there are NO comments coming in, go ahead and do it again so that I at least feel like someone is out there!



Remember now......sunday at noon. Big Giveaway. Winner and prize announced sometime later Sunday.

BTW...this is my 200'th post.....thanks for reading!

New Recipe

No Sugar Added Peach Cobbler

1 stick butter ( or margarine - just don't use that promise stuff)
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder ( omit if you want to use self rising flour)
1 cup splenda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 16 oz bag of frozen peaches, thawed
1 cup of no sugar added apple juice

preheat oven to 350.
Melt butter in 2 quart casserole dish
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, splenda.
Stir in milk to make a thin, somewhat lumpy batter.
Pour into the casserole on top of the melted butter. Don't stir.
Drop the thawed peaches into the casserole on top of the batter. Spread 'em out - not all in one spot.
Drizzle with the apple juice. Use it all - don't worry.

Pop in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until the crusty top feels firm.

It tasted pretty good. I still think the color was a bit off.....again it was an orange food that had splenda and then turned a little grey-ish after it was baked.

This one is worth keeping. Actually, with fresh peaches it might be really excellent.

Uh-Oh! I forgot!!!

Hi Katy!!!!!

And speaking of elephants.....

That would make me really look forward to quittin' time.

Reader request......

Ok, here is your elephant. The balloons I am using are only 30 inch, and the ele requires a 60 incher. So, you only get the front half. The back end of him is same as the dog, so you have seen that already.

See....ask and ye shall reieive. ( notice how I just put two "i"s in that so that I would be right about where the I should be in that incredibly silly word)

Can I do it? Yes I can! ( But I really need to practice!)

Here is my new dachshund dog, "Gimpy". Note the foreshortened right front leg.

I almost didn't put up the rear view. ( Don't start, you filthy- minded people)

Ta-Da!!!! The finsihed product. Actually, he has a little tail fatness issue. Here, I'll fix it.

Ok, now he is a Poo-weenie.

Ok, now that the demonstration is over, I'll go to the discussion. I had to go to the store anyway for some stuff, so I decided to check out the party goods. They had the balloons, so I figured that since I was going to be here doing laundry until time to go to dance, why not teach myself to twist balloons? Why not? Ok, I could have been doing other productive things, but why? We are not having any company in the next couple of days, so the house can wait.

This is going to be a great day!

FINALLY! I weighed in this am and I have started losing again, I think. Today I am 1.2 lbs less than I was on Sunday. It has been WEEKS since I lost an ounce, so I am pumped that there is any difference in the negative direction. ( FYI- that is not my scale and not my feet - I would NEVER put my own scale up for anyone to see. That number is between me and the nurse at the doctors office and she knows I'll have to kill her if she divulges it)

Now I gotta get the kids on the bus and come back and clean out the freezer!

Sorry - no new pictures today.

I apologize. No new pictures because I didn't stop to get new batteries on the way home because I was listening to talk radio and completely got wrapped up in it and just forgot to stop. You'll just have to be content with an older one for today. Here ya go.

Ain't she sweet? I had embroidered her nickname on the back of that jacket with my own two hands. And appliqued a big poodle on it. She wore it for two years and now it hangs in the closet, outgrown. They do that don't they?

In other news, I came home and made another sugar-free pumpkin pie tonight while the rest of the family was at church. It was my intention to go to church as well, but by the time I got the dogs in the house and the puppies in the pen and did all the lettin' out and cleanin' up, I just stayed here.

Me being me, I had to change the pie a little this time. I added 1 tablespoon of molasses to it ( only 15 g carb added to the whole pie) to give it some color and a bit more body. It is cooling now, so I can't vouch for the flavor change, but it looks and smells marvelous. You know, this pie is pretty forgiving. As long as you get two eggs in it, it will set up fine. I don't even know how much pie spice went in this time because I was shaking it through the little hole onto a spoon over the bowl and the big hole popped open and it dumped in. I just stirred it in. Oh well......the big guy will try it first and if he don't die, I guess it will be fine.

Tomorrow my plans include the same stuff as always - cleaning and washing. I had big daddy go to the store after church and get me some essentials, namely cat litter ( desperate times there) and detergent. I already had to do the kitty boxes because it was near the red zone, but the laundry is just going to have to wait til tomorrow.

We are always running out of batteries

I am so tired of NEVER having enough AA batteries to fuel both of my cameras at one time. I'm also tired of the batteries being run down in the smoke detectors so that the things beep about every 12 seconds. There is NEVER an extra nine-volt around. I finally just took them down and put up the kind that don't need batteries . ( see above) This way, the house can burn and we can have a snack whilst we watch it go from the other side of the street. I have an inside line as to where to get these if you want some.

Our Christmas list : batteries , all sizes.

TKD.....I was impressed!

This was the first time I had been to TKD since the first lesson......WOW! They have really learned a LOT in a short time. I was so proud. My boy was following directions and doing all sorts of things. It moves really fast and they never stop going, so he keeps his focus.

I would really recommend that anyone with an ADD kid do this for them. It has made a lot of difference for Porkchop already.

Sometimes there just are no words.......

I can't believe that we don't have a table that will go up and down so that I don't have to stand on a cage grate and a relief mat to be able to reach the top of a big dog. Notice the beautiful white grout? I don't know how it stays clean. ( just pretend that you didn't notice the socks......I know you did though. )

Katy, use a crate. It will work. Eventually. If not, I 'll send you a chihuahua.

Beauty tip.......

Don't go buy expensive, spa- recommended exfoliants. Just go to the theater store and buy some clown white. I got up this morning and my cheeks were rosy and my forehead smooth. I think it took off my freckles! After a big coat of vaseline and about 300 kleenex, I got the most of it off.

It took about 30 minutes to get it all off, and there is still some in my hairline. If you see me today, I am NOT turning grey overnight. It is just the white stuff. I have a hot oil treatment penciled in for tonight, so that will probably get the rest of it out. There was a little left around my eyes too, but it sort of disguises the dark circles, so I am not at all concerned about that.

I may have to wear clown socks today with my jumper to divert attention from my hair. Dogs don't care what kind of socks you wear.

My apologies

I didn't get a picture of the chicken legs because the phone rang......and.....it was a REAL CLOWN!!!!!!!! I forgot all about dinner and my rabid family devoured them before I got a chance to snap a shot.

I am so excited.....now I have a clown friend! She said she would do the festival with me Saturday. I do hope we really get some interest so that we can do some skits and other fun things.

Oh shoot....I gotta go watch Horatio........he is NOT dead and we all know it.

Chicken Leg Experiment

I went to put the chicken legs together and discovered that I only had TWO sticks of butter in the house, no lemon juice, and an empty can of Crazy Creola. Ok, I am thinking in a hurry and decide that I can use 1 stick of butter ( never use your last stick- save for emergency) and some bacon grease ( I know...don't start), apple juice, and Cholula.

Cholula is a pretty awesome seasoning mix - not too salty, not too hot. A little bit smokey from the chipotle.

Here are the little darlin's before they went into the oven. We love this so much, I have dedicated one rack and one pan to chicken legs only.

I'll post a "done " picture later. It takes about 45 minutes for them to cook.

First try

Here's my first attempt at white face. I did it pretty quick, because the people were temporarily occupied with some blow pops and I only had a few minutes before they were going to ask to horn in on my action. The girl was my photographer, so I apologize for not having taught her to hold the camera still.

I think I did ok...maybe a little heavy handed with the rouge, but it was so pretty I just kept going with it. It is actually a little shimmery and quite hypnotic. The only thing I didn't put on were the false eyelashes. I didn't want to risk messing them up.

The shock value of the faces is wearing off on the kids. I walked in Porkchop's room as soon as I finished putting it on and he looked straight at me and said , "Mom, tell her to get out of my room." No laugh...not even a smile. I guess they are just used to it.

I just finished putting dinner together with the face still on. Seems a shame to take it off so soon since I just put it on. I guess I'll keep it on until Daddy gets home and see what he thinks.

Next post will be about the chicken legs.

One step closer!!!

So far today I haven't accomplished much except to get the children off to school, wash the dog beds, take a shower and drive into "big town" and get my clowning makeup. It was SO FUN to shop for it. The lady showed me all kinds of stuff andhow to use it. They didn't have any noses small enough for me, so I guess I will have to paint one on this weekend , then order a ProNose for the next event. I really enjoyed the shopping for the stuff. I got it in jumbo sizes so I'd have enough to share if anyone decides to clown with me.

Now I am back home at the foot of Mount Washmore, having a sandwich and a Coke Zero. I have about 5 more loads to do and clean bird and hamster cages. Then off to collect the youngsters from school. It is going to be a great night because:

1. we are going to do makeup

2. we find out who shot Horatio. I know he isn't dead because the name of ep is "Resurrection."

3. We are having Pioneer Woman's roasted chicken legs for dinner.

Oh, and Hello to Sarah's cousin from Illinois. I didn't know that real people read this stuff....in fact, I thought NO ONE was reading it because NO ONE leaves comments. BTW- if you are reading Pioneer Woman, be sure to scan her archives for posts about her retarded brother, Mike. They are hysterical!!!!!

The Verdict

The verdict is in on the sugar-free pumpkin pie. Yes! It is good and we can make it again.
That straight from the man of the house. Of course, I have to say, his palate is not THAT discerning. He will eat most anything that doesn't contain squash. ( He doesn't know that a pumpkin is actually a squash/gourd kind of thing. )

In my opinion, this is a pretty good substitute for "real" pumpkin pie. The texture is a little less smooth, and it is not as dense as the sugar version, but the flavor is pretty much the same. I tasted it first without the whipper cream, and I could tell it was sugar-free, but not bad even so. With the sugar free cream, it was much better. The color is not as orangy brown as the pie I usually make. Not sure why that is since the only thing different is the splenda.

Overall, I think I will surely make this again, but I can see it staying in the fridge longer than a "regular one".

Oops...gotta go....dog is eating some sunglasses!

Addendum to review of the Russel Stover Caramel drops...

I was just sitting here eating the other 7 Russell Stover sugar-free caramel drops and decided that the reason they aren't exactly like Milk Duds is that they really have texture and taste more like Raisinets. Honestly. I don't know why I didn't realize this yesterday. Guess I was eating them too fast. I like Raisinets, so this is a good thing.

Today you should hang close because I have the Sugar-Free Pumpkin Pie in the oven. I'm going nutty trying to calculate the carbs in it. To do that, you have to add up all the carbs for the whole amount of every ingredient, then divide by 6 or 8, depending how big the slice is. Back in the old days, I might have just cut it in 4. Or in 8 and then eat two! I even have whipped cream with splenda. It looks pretty much like the regular pumpkin pie right now...guess we'll see how it turns out later!!!!

Product review -

Today at work, one of the "kids" was talking about how she used to eat a theater box of Milk Duds for breakfast every morning and about how much she loves Mild Duds and about how Milk Duds make everything better in her world. She should be in marketing because by the time she was finished talking, I NEEDED some Milk Duds. Now, we all know that Milk Duds do not fit into my life plan, so don't even jump to the conclusion that I ran out and pigged out on them and this is my confession.

Actually, I went to Walgreen's to get some Coffee Mate because I was out of half-n-half and canned milk, and I had entered PW's contest to win an espresso maker. The whole process of writing the entry made me need some really creamy coffee, so I had to go on an emergency run.

I found the Russell Stover Sugar-free Caramel drops ( milk duds) when I was looking for some safety suckers for the Praise Fest.

They taste ok, not really chewy like a real milk dud, but passable. It did the trick for me. The serving size is 7 balls with a net carb per serving of 1. The total carb is 24, but 3 are fiber and 20 are from sugar alcohols. The sugar alcohols are really slowly metabolized, so they really don't increase blood sugar noticably for MOST people. So, 24- 3-20 = 1. The down side of sugar alcohols is that in some people they have a laxative effect ( yeah!) which might not be a welcome thing if you eat them on the way to church. If I were a first time consumer, I think I would have them as a special treat on an evening when I knew I had no plans.

They are on sale at Walgreen's 2/$3.00 right now, so go getusome.

Friday night Mayhem

Just look what happens when Daddy and the girl go out for a father-daughter date night.

The mother and son get into mischief!!!!!!!

Pork Rind Chicken

Ok, so I rushed home tonight and made the pork rind encrusted chicken. It was actually pretty easy.

First, I poked a little hole in the bag of pork rinds. Then I used a mallet to beat the tar out of them until they were pulverized. Then, in a big bowl I mixed the rinds with some spice stuff out of the cabinet ( no salt stuff) and set it aside.
Next, I broke two eggs ( they were only large ones - might have only needed one had they been jumbo) in a bowl and added 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise. Mayonnaise makes everything better. Beat the eggs and mayo up really well until it looks like vanilla pudding.
For the sake of testing, I used boneless, skinless thighs because I didn't want to have to feed 7.00 worth of chicken breast meat to the dogs if it flopped.
Anyway, you dip the chicken in the egg mixture, then plop it in the pork rinds and roll it around, then drop into 350-360 degree oil in a deep skillet. I used a dutch oven. It gets brown pretty quickly, and in my case, I used HOT pork rinds which already had a little color.
When you think they are done, remove from oil and drain on paper towels.
Here they are after being "breaded."

For some reason the oil was way more bubbly than usual. Not sure about the chemistry of that.

It turned out looking like fried chicken, and I have to say that the taste was fair. I think there is definately room for improvement, but it was worth doing. Of course, there is no real substitute for skin on, bone in, big fat , Sunday dinner, Grandmaw fried chicken. It is one of those things that we sort of take for granted in the South because it is everywhere, but when you can't have it whenever you want anymore, it hurts your feelings really bad.

I think I'll save this idea for those times when I just HAVE to have some fried chicken and just stick with grilled or baked the rest of the time.

Hey, PW's roasted chicken legs are really good.....maybe we can have those tomorrow!

A Smile

A Smile

It costs nothing, but creates much.
It enriches those who receive it, without improverishing those who give it.
It happens in a flash and the memory sometimes lasts forever.
It creates happiness in the home, fosters Good Will in business, and is the countersign of friends.
It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged,

sunshine to the sad, and Nature’s best antidote for trouble.
It cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen, for it is something that is no

earthly good to any one till it is given away.
And if, you meet someone who is too weary to give you a smile—leave one of yours.
For no one needs a smile quite so much as he who has none left to give.

....... Felix Adler

Friday

The Country Wood yard sale is this weekend.........I can't wait to go after wook tomorrow! Maybe we will find some treasure !!

I might have to try this next time I want some fried chicken.

Flavored Pork Rind Crumbs for Breading

1 - 6 ounce bag of Pork rinds

2 Tbsp Mrs Dash Seasoning Blend (one Tbsp per cup of crumbs)*

Process pork rinds in food processor (or crush with a rolling pin in a zippered bag). If processed, pour into plastic zipper bag.

Add 2 Tbsp Mrs Dash (or your favorite seasoning to taste). Shake bag to distribute seasoning.

One 6-ounce bag makes approx. 2 cups of crumbs.

Note: If you wish to make a large batch, 5 bags of pork rinds, processed, uses one entire bottle of Mrs. Dash (roughly 8 Tbsp).

Use with chicken, fish, shrimp, mozzarella sticks or other items which take to breading. Dip chicken or chop in wither buttermilk or egg wash, then coat with the crumbs. Bake in moderate oven until done. For shrimp, I think I would dip in egg and then roll in crumbs and fry.

Nutritional Information per recipe (2 cups): Calories: 466, Carbohydrates: 4 g, Fiber: 0 g, Net Carbohydrates: 4 g, Protein: 52g, Fat: 27 g*Note: there is fructose in the Mrs. Dash Tomato Basil Garlic, but the impact is so minimal that I only allot one carb per Tbsp (or cup of rinds).

Cravings....Make it STOP!!!!!

I really think that becoming diabetic has been a good thing overall for me because it has made me get my act together and start doing something about my attitude towards diet and health in general, but dang......I do miss having chips and snacks! There are just times when a gal wants something to CRUNCH, and I am sorry....most low carb stuff don't crunch.

When the demon craving hit me this week, I bought a bag of pork rinds - which do crunch a LOT. The BBQ ones only have one carb per serving, so I figure that if I only have them once or twice a week, I can stand the extremely high fat and sodium if it keeps me from a Dorito binge.

Now normally, rendered pork skin wouldn't be just real high on my favs list, but I have to say that 1/2 ounce serving of BBQ rinds was pretty darned satisfying. Yeah, I am pretty put off by the origin of it, but I used to eat hotdogs without a thought. I still would if I could have the buns.

Oh well....guess you gotta do what you gotta do. FYI- they make them in HOT BBQ too, so I may try those next.