365

Here's my pic o' the week:



I took a better one last night but don't have it on this drive- doh!
I'll be back after the weekend, but I wanted to send you to a delicious recipe which can be found here Yumm!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!

I got 5 whole comments on my giveaway- damn, I'm hot- and I will be announcing the winner in one moment. But first, I need to tell you about a very good cookbook that is out on the web. This cookbook's free ebook can be found here. Some of the delightful recipes (with pictures) are testicle pizza, testicle pie, and barbecued testicles and giblets. Sounds delicious right?? There are even video how-to's in the ebook. I know that this is the cookbook that you have been waiting for so I wanted to make sure to let you get the info 1st.:)

The winner is.....drum roll.......comment #2, Mrs. Showers!!! I will be contacting you shortly about how to send this gift card to you. Oh and I want to thank y'all for commenting!! I feel like I am in an empty room with my voice echoing so despite the fact that I tried to promote (weakly) my blog, I appreciate y'all taking the time out to comment.

FYI I used Random Number Generator to pick the winner, I wanted to stay impartial.

One last day

to win free shit. Go here and write a comment. I don't give a shit what you say, just do it!!.

Here's a pic of B-dog doing what she does best- looking pretty!

One of my fave petsits

This is Zac. He is one of my favorite clients. He is super fluffy, loves to lie on my belly and stare at me, and he loves to be brushed- thank god. He also likes to tell me about his day and how bored he has been since I have been there last.



This is the look he gave me when I told him I was going to profile him on my blog.



And this is the main picture he didn't want me to post of him. He thought it might be considered innapropriate.

365 days are here again and a GIVEAWAY!!!!

Okay so about a year ago, June 22, 2009, I decided to try and take one self portrait a day for a year. Not sure if I mentioned on this blog- probably, but I am not checking.. I lied, I did- but I failed miserably. I only took 58 photos (out of 365) in 63 days (I missed 5- whoopsie). What a lame-O right?? I know you're thinking it. Actually it goes with my typical modus operandi of saying I am gonna do something and never following through... sort of like this blog (giggle). So once again I am going to pre-insert my foot in mouth and say I am trying to take a photo (of me) a day for a whole entire year. Let's hope I actually follow through. No, seriously, pray to your pagan god for me; I'll take unpagan gods as well. "Do do that voodoo that you do so well(Cole Porter)."

So now that I am doing this whole 365 thang (whose album can be found here).. I am gonna try and post my fave shot or 2 on here a week. I wont bore you with 365 pictures of me, but I will bore you with 52 weeks filled with glorious me-ness starting with my shot from yesterday.



*Click on the picture to see it in its full glory and please don't judge the state of my floors


Oh and speaking of me not following through.. it has been over a year since I started this blog and I am still going strong (semi). I started it in March 2009 and here it is May 2010. Since I missed my year anniversary of me talking to myself on the internet I am going to do a giveaway. I have a $50 gift card to JCPenny that I will give away to one lucky reader (I think there probably is only one LOL) who comments on this post. All you need to do is write something/anything in the comments and I will pick the random person on May 27th...if there is a random person. Please comment people, if there is any one out there reading this (I feel so alone;). Make sure to leave your email addie so i can get your mailing addie if you win!!

Not long

So I never gave you a weekend recap and I am sure you want to know just what went down this past weekend. Well in one long run on sentence I will go ahead and tell you:


Came home from work, took Remi and Bella to the park, threw the ball for the Remster, drank some beer with T, took the dogs home, went to the Porter with T for food (fried pickle, pimento cheese, salt and vinegar popcorn, buffalo shrimp sandwich) and beer (great divide imperial stout- deeelicious), shared food with a cute guy couple who wasn't really a couple (T said they are, I say not), did a pet sit, went to Northside Tavern washed my hands 1 foot away from random chick peeing on community toilet, listened to The Hollidays, danced with the 2 T's, danced with random old guy who flung me everywhere, went for second dinner at the majestic, fed the homeless, slept, pet sat, went to taste of the highlands with LoBe, ate food from every vendor, met some nice smokers, drank a shit ton of iced coffee, went to a BBQ with Charles-in-Charge, Nathaniel, and Lind, pet sat, worked on photos, slept, pet sat, made cookies (potato chip with choco chip and rosemary pine nut), pet sat, went to yelp UYE cookie swap, my potato chip cookie won as fave by one of too chef judges, same cookie also won the ugly but yummy category, pet sat, finished my book, slept.

Fun times right??? Just kidding, it was fun times. I hung out with good friends, ate good food, and made a bit of money, in between the spending of it. Now to my vent of the week (actually the month, this shit pisses me off that bad):

The motherfucking Mulberry tree
YOU POS!!! This damn tree sits in my neighbors yard (barely), but overhangs my miniature front yard/sidewalk/porch. This biatch has been dumping what look like blackberries all over my yard. Somehow these little bitches have even been making it under my front porch and have landed on my doorstep. Every time I walk out of the house I step on loads of these bitches and dark purple juice spews everywhere. I can't walk barefoot (boo), nor can I even wear my shoes inside the house since I will track in smooshed mullberries and their juices all over my hardwoods and rug. Damn, it pisses me off. Pictures below so you can see what I am talking about. The unfortunate thing is that no one even lives there for me to bitch at. The other unfortunate thing is that mulberries don't even taste good. Blackberries I could deal with- I love them. They taste good, all tart, and make awesome fillers for cobblers and pies. Mullberries don't taste good, they just taste like bland nothingness that stains my Effing porch. Damn the little beasties to hell and back. Tirade over.

The Dancing Outlaw

Jesco White, the dancing outlaw, was on point about how he likes his eggs cooked. Agreed Jesco, agreed.

Dude is an interesting cat who is from the mou'nins of Appalachia. His dad was a big time tap dancing dude and he has followed in his pops footsteps. Some guys from PBS were gonna do a documentary on his dad, but after they interviewed Jesco they found that there was too much going on with him not to give him his own documentary. The documentary in its shittly remastered entierity can be found here

White Bean, Chicken Sausage, and Kale Stew Recipe

The deliciousness that is an easy and healthy weeknight meal:
**I should preface this by saying I hate any type of cooked greens, but love this dish for some reason.

White Bean, Chicken Sausage, and Kale Stew

-1 can white beans (sometimes I want it thicker and I throw in 2 cans of white beans. If that is the case I use both northern beans (large) and navy beans (small)).
- 1 pkg of chicken sausage- you can use fresh (remove liner) or links (I use Applegate Farms chicken andouille sausage which you can get at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's- it adds some great spice which is great)
- 1 lb kale, chopped with thick stems removed (I normally just buy a bag of pre-chopped, use 1/2 and make sure to remove the stems from the pre-chopped)
-1 tbsp olive oil
-2 cups chicken broth
-2 cups water
-2 hefty pinches of red pepper flakes
-2 chopped garlic cloves
-salt and pepper to taste

*Heat olive oil in a large pot. Once hot, throw in sausage and cook until browned
*Throw in garlic and cook for a minute- don't burn it
*Add white beans, chicken broth, water, red pepper flakes, some salt, pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes
*Add kale, making sure it all gets pushed under the liquid. Simmer for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper more if needed.

Now EAT!

Sorry there are no pictures- I always dig in before the thought of taking pictures crosses my mind.

Shake It

So all week I have had the line "Oh baby, I like it rawwww" stuck in my head. Shit is driving me fucking batty, yet every time I try and think about anything that random line from ODB (Ol' Dirty Bastard in case you don't remember circa 1990's) pops in between my thoughts. Arg!! It is really annoying.

Last night was the weekly potluck hosted at Beth's. I love how weekly potluck moves. It almost makes you feel like you are going out to eat only you are saving money by combining forces with other cooks. Last nights menu consits of potroast (couldn't eat), spinach, strawberry, blue cheese, and almond salad (yum), some grilled chicken (tasty), scalloped potatoes (tastier), Irish car bombs (creamy), and my bad ass white bean, chicken andouille sausage, and kale stew. That shit is bad ass and so semi-healthy:) I'll give you the recipe sometime later. You know I like to keep you on your toes. Make sure you buy Applegate Farms chicken andouille sausage though; it's rocks.

ON to the Shake It infomercial. Any one see this??? It will make you giggle for maybe a hot second or so. Still we all need more humor in our lives. I think it would be funny for some man to use it at work below their desk. Then you walk in on them- it might look bit inappropriate. or double up and do to shake its at a time. Below the first is the WII SNL shake it video. Mucho funnier.

Shake It Infomercial



SNL Shake It

Betty White on SNL

So this weekend I was pretty busy. Friday night I decided to get all gussied up (I would never actually say this word in real life but since this is virtual I will use it to the best of my abilities) and go out with the girls for a night of dancing. A friend said that 80's night was kicking at East Andrews so despite my reservations I dragged my ladies along to the meat market known as East Andrews. I had been here one time before, long ago, and all I remember was being wasted, standing in a huge room, with loads of people eyeing each other up and down like we were all pieces of grade A through D steak. Surely 80's night would be better, right?

We go straight to the bar and order. Bartender, who looks to be about 20 or so, tries to some bad ass flipping maneuver with the bottle opener and my beer bottle. Um, just give me my fucking beer dude. We walk to the other end of the bar, during which we pass a group of men in collared shirts and tasseled loafers who yell out "Hey, Layyyydies". Um, yeah no. We decide to go out in to the atrium and listen to some hopefully 80's music. Queen..Beastie Boys..Jay Z.... what??? Yep Queen and Beastie Boys were the only 80's songs that actually made it 80's night. Damn people, playing with my mind. As we danced to random 90's music my body image started getting worse and worse. Every girl, I say girl b/c they were all about 21, pushing 22, who walked in was wearing tiny cootchie dresses. Like Brittney Spears-esque short dresses. Let's just say that even if I wanted to wear a dress like that, which I don't, I wouldn't because my body is not quite cut for a dress that is 7 inches above the knee. After watching the quality of people, we decided to try another bar in the vicinity with a slightly higher age bracket of people. We went to 2 more bars only to feel like at 28, 29, and 31 we were the old bitches at the bar. Back to the house for dance party 2010.

Saturday afternoon I hung out with a group of good friends and grilled out. This group consists of a lot of beer connoisseurs so we had lots of different beer to taste. The best thing to come out was a delicious beer by Hopping Frog brewery- the Oatmeal Imperial Stout. Very tasty. It was a fairly early night since I had to pet sit, but when I got home I made a concerted effort to stay awake long enough to watch some of SNL. I don't often watch it, since it's on Saturday night and if I don't go out, which I normally do, then I am either having a movie night or passing out at 10 pm. Well I decided to stay up for this bad boy and it was worth it. Betty White was pretty fun, even though every sketch was based upon an old woman cussing and saying dirty things, not that I mind that type of humor much, it just gets old after awhile. The best thing to come out of Betty White's SNL venture is the skit below. While schweddy balls takes the NPR cake, Dusty Muffin is a close second. Go to the link below to watch. mmmkkkkay.

Betty White's NPR Dusty Muffin Video Link

Sunday Morning I hosted my parents, grandma (aka bubbie), and aunt over for a home cooked mothers day brunch. ON the menu:
*Strawberry Panzanella (2 thumbs way up)
*Carmelized Onion Quiche (good)
*Fruit Salad (how can you go wrong)
*My bad ass Chicken Salad ( always a show stopper- haha)




Sunday night- Shake on the Lake. The best thing to come out of this was apricocks. I do love me some apricocks.

Telephone by Lady Gaga

Crafty outfits, synchronized choreographed dance moves - apparently these soldiers have a little bit too much time on their hands. Just kidding. If I had to go to work every day in a foreign country, eating shitty food, and staying in scary places, fearing for my life, and taking other peoples lives I would definitely want to let off some steam and come up with any diversion I could to forget about where I am at. I appreciate what y'all do and am glad that you had the opportunity to have some fun in the midst of warfare and violence.

Youtube has got some wierd shit

What the fuck is this about?? The baby and her weird movements freak me the fuck out!

Healed

I am no longer sick. Hip Hip Hooray!! Despite the lingering sickness all weekend I managed to pull my act together and go out. Friday night I met up with a circa 2004 former college roomie. She was in town for the weekend and in my area so I decided I needed to go hang. It was great to see her and despite my lack of effort keeping in touch with former college friends all was gravy. Speaking of that night, despite being twenty errr... eight years old I have never had an irish car bomb so I broke my irish cherry and chugged one down. You know what... that drink was mighty tasty. Probably one of the easiest "shots" I have ever had. I put shot in quotations because, unless you are me, you probably know it is actually a mostly full pint glass filled with guiness in which you drop a shot glass that contains both irish cream and irish whiskey. Easiest "shot" ever. Probably because I love dark beer, guiness included, and baileys is yummy, though a bit cloying. The most impressive thing is that it has whiskey in it and as some of my friends know, I don't do whiskey well. I actually don't drink any dark liquors due to my odd upchuck reflex the second that nasty shit settles in my stomache. You think I am lying? Not so much.