For Pete’s Sake

For the past two weeks or so, my exclamation of non-choice has been “For Pete’s Sake”. I don’t want to say it, I don’t like it, but out it comes!

For the first week I just said it in my head, but it was already starting to bother me when it started coming out vocally. “Oh, for Pete’s Sake!” Eyeroll!!

I may have even snuck in a “for the love of Pete” here and there. Ugh!

Luckliy I say it at appropriate times, in frustration, annoyance or dismay, not (yet) say in greeting!

Microfiber Cloths and Homemade Cleaners

I mentioned the dirty rag bin that Sammy was napping in yesterday. I thought that I might elaborate a bit:

Microfiber cloths are one of my favorite things. I bought a pack of about 25 for less than $10 in the automotive department at Sam’s Club.

I wanted to try them, I wanted to like them. I didn’t expect to love them. I love them. I use them dry or damp, depending on the job I am attacking. I love the streak-free finish on windows and glass.

It is important to wash them in a load of microfiber cloths alone. If you wash them with other clothing or towels, particles and fibers from those items will cling to the microfiber and make them less effective. Also, don’t use fabric softener as the oils will attach to the fibers of the cloths taking away some of their awesomeness. I designated a bucket for clean cloths and one for dirty ones, once the dirty pile is large enough to make a decent load for the washer, I do a load. Simple as that.

With these microfiber cloths, I also use my homemade non-toxic cleaners:

All Purpose Cleaning Spray

32 oz water in a clean spray bottle

2 T natural dish soap, I used Mrs. Meyers Lemon Verbena

20 drops Grapefruit Seed Extract (which can be found in vitamin and supplement section of your local health food store) to disinfect

Optional: add 5-10 drops of essential oil for fragrance. I found that the Mrs. Meyers was fragrant enough, I don’t need to add any additional fragrance.

Give the bottle a shake and you are ready to roll!

Window Cleaner

1/2 t natural liquid detergent, I use Mrs. Meyers again

3 t white vinegar

2 c water

Mix in spray bottle and use! I really like it.

I like the way they work and they are inexpensive to make. I found the spray bottles at Sam’s Club too.

Monday Monday Sammy Sammy

Sammy is always finding a new place to nap. This weekend I found him in my dirty cleaning rag bin. He looks cozy and cute, but ick!! I might have to find a lid for this box and use it! I guess that I need to cover the clean rag bin too…cleaning with cat hair coated rags seems counterproductive!

The other day I heard Sammy crying for help. I was having trouble locating him, but finally narrowed it down to the laundry room. I thought maybe he had jumped behind the washing machine and started pulling out the little cart that lives between the machines so that he could walk out. He wasn’t there. Looking up, I found him distressed and DUSTY!!! on top of the cabinets. Silly. You can’t see the dust in this picture, but apparently I have never dusted up there because the dust bunnies were enormous!!

Yes, we painted the laundry room red several years ago, but never finished!! Someday.

What’s for Dinner: Butter Burgers

Starr has made a special request for dinner.

Butter Burgers.

They are a guilty pleasure so we don’t have them very often.

For our Butter Burgers, I take compound butter (recipe below) and cut it into smallish chunks (1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces–it won’t really matter in the end!!) and then mix it with the ground beef…you should see chunks of butter pretty evenly distributed throughout the meat. We tried wrapping the meat around and/or sticking a large piece of butter into the center of the burgers, but we like our way better, it spreads the flavor throughout the burger!! Divide into burgers and grill or pan fry until they are done like you like ‘em. Serve on your favorite buns with cheese. I will add mayo because I am weak like that!

Dragonfly’s Compound Butter

1 pound butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon chopped chives

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 clove garlic minced

fresh ground pepper

Mix the herbs into the butter. Shape the butter into a log and stick it in the freezer. After a little while, I cut it into smaller chunks to make storage easier. It will keep in the freezer for a long time. Use in butter burgers, on top of salmon, chicken, steak or where ever you want. Feel free to play with your favorite herbs and flavors.

Yum!

Stop Freaking Out

Last night I had an ocular migraine. I don’t get them often, maybe 2 to 3 times a year. It’s not painful, but it is unsettling. What I see is similar to the painting below, but the circle was closer to being complete and it was more colorful/prismatic.

I was trying to tell Starr what I was seeing and how it was frustrating me when she interrupted me and said “stop freaking out”…I wasn’t freaking out, I was talking!! Rude. Okay, maybe I was going on about it, but–dude!–I couldn’t see normally!!

*At some point this morning, I had a decent transition/connection planned for these two things, but I lost it! : ) Oh well.*

Now. This morning, Starr woke up with a swollen puffy face. It looks like fluid retention. We’ve both experienced similar before, but it has been happening more and more often lately and she is not happy. Today was the worst it’s been so far, her cheeks, eyes and lips were all puffy. She did not look like herself, she looked sick. Our morning consisted of ice packs, whining and Googling. She has been drinking water, her diet hasn’t changed, she hasn’t been sick. She has increased her workouts.

She asked me to post the problem to the blog (no pictures were allowed!) and see if anyone has any ideas or help for her.

We will keep an eye on it and if it continues I will make sure that she goes to the doctor.

It’s Josie’s Fault

Josie @ Yum Yucky‘s glowing review of Pillsbury’s Simply Buttermilk Biscuits the other day. It’s all your fault, because my mind was instantly all “oh yeah!! Biscuits and Gravy!!” Which aren’t good for me, but they taste so darn good!

I resisted a whole five days before giving in to those greedy thoughts and finally made Biscuits and Gravy for lunch today. We did not have the Simply Buttermilk Biscuits in our store, but did that stop me?? NO! I went for the usual Grands because by then, I was on a mission!

Here is my basic sausage gravy “recipe” (I don’t use a recipe, I just make…and eat!!):

Dragonfly’s Sausage Gravy

• 1 12 ounce package of your favorite “hot” bulk breakfast sausage. I generally use Jimmy Dean or Owens (whichever I have a coupon for!)
• 3 tablespoons butter (the basic idea is to have about the same amount of fat and flour)
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 to 3 cups or so of milk. Don’t use skim! I prefer to use some heavy cream…the more fat the better, this is not diet food. (Maybe 1 cup cream, and the balance 2% milk?)
• Fresh cracked pepper to taste…I use quite a bit.
• Salt to taste.
• Cayenne pepper for extra heat.
• Optional: maple syrup

Brown sausage in saucepan, breaking apart with spoon as it browns. After sausage is completely cooked, add butter and flour. Stir and cook for a few minutes, or just until flour starts to brown…just slightly. Slowly stir in milk (cream!) and as the sauce begins to thicken, add pepper and salt.

If gravy is too thick add more milk, or if after 5 to 10 minutes it is still too thin, add a tablespoon of butter mixed well with a tablespoon of flour, repeat or adjust until it is perfect for you. We like ours on the thicker side.

At this point I add a sprinkle of ground cayenne pepper and a tablespoon or two of maple syrup. Yum. If you don’t add too much, this adds a great additional layer of flavor and does not make the gravy sweet. Add a little, and taste it.

Serve hot with your favorite biscuits.

Serves 4ish

The Muppets: Pöpcørn

The Muppets: Pöpcørn
With subtitles!!!

Found on Neatorama….just when I needed it!!

What Would Jesus Do?

I don’t talk about it much because is it not the focus of my life, but I am not Christian. As I am talking a bit about religion here, I thought it best to clear the air first. I do consider myself spiritual and embrace the teachings of Jesus along with those of Buddha, the Dalai Lama and other great teachers. I believe that there is some truth to all (okay, most) World religions, but I don’t think that any one has all the answers for me.

That said, I know that there are many many wonderful Christians out there who bear the brunt of the fewer vocal haters who spew hate instead of love. All of that hate never made sense to me. If they are truly working towards the ideals that Jesus set down for them, why hate? Jesus didn’t.

The other morning, I woke up with the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” stuck in my head. I was feeling frustrated with some of the so-called Christians and their anti-gay (anti-equal rights) stance. The anti-GLBT Westboro Baptist Church were recently planning a visit to my town, not for the first time, to protest at several locations. And I probably still had Dan Savage’s marriage video on my mind.

My thoughts were clear. If Jesus were living today, would he carry a “God Hates Fags”sign? Would he protest at a fallen soldiers funeral? Would he hate just to hate? Would he despise the differences in people? Color, sexual identity, height, weight, hair color…even religion?

Or would he celebrate and embrace those differences? Would he love everyone equally? Would he try to spread the love? Spread the tolerance? Encourage togetherness and empathy? Every fiber of my being says that he would do just that. That he did. That this was a major component of his message.

I kept these thoughts to myself, because I don’t think they are special or truly unique. Plus who am I to say…non-religious but spiritual person that I am?

However, I ran across an article last night that brought me back to that morning and those thoughts: A Different Kind of Christian Demonstration at Gay Pride

I almost cried. Heck, I’m still a little misty. : ) Read it if you have time, I think it’s worth it.

From the article (actually from this blog and included in the article: It Seems to Me….):

My favorite though was a gentleman who was dancing on a float. He was dressed solely in white underwear and had a pack of abs like no one else. As he was dancing on the float, he noticed us and jokingly yelled, “What are you sorry for? It’s pride!” I pointed to our signs and watched him read them.

Then it clicked.

Then he got it.

He stopped dancing. He looked at all of us standing there. A look of utter seriousness came across his face. And as the float passed us he jumped off of it and ran towards us. He hugged me and whispered, “thank you.”

And:

However, I think Jesus would have hugged him too. It’s exactly what I read throughout scripture: Jesus hanging out with people that religious people would flee from. Correlation between then and now? I think so.

This is what people of all religions (or non-religions)—make that “people of the world”—should be working towards. Peace, love, understanding. Just look at the positive energy in this photo…it’s beautiful.

It’s amazing what a little love can do!

Bebalance…Again

Bill Dan “Bebalance” – Balancing Rocks again at Sausalito waterfront.

Bill Dan was one of my first friends on Flickr and even though I never really used Flickr, I am glad that I know Bill and his balancing skills.

Makes me happy.

Cabin Retreat

I went with friends again this summer on a “girl’s weekend” get away. A few of my favorite faces from previous years weren’t able to make it this year and I missed them…a lot. However, there were a couple new faces and I really enjoyed meeting and getting to know them.

I took these pictures with my cell phone in a rare private moment on the patio.

I am still recovering a bit from all the food, wine, chocolate and late nights. I am so glad that I went!!

Starr stayed home with Sammy (the cat). She did manage to feed and water him, but refused to touch the litter box. Not that I blame her. Though it’s just one more reason that he is and will always be MY cat!!