My Mom Wins

I got home last night and there was a small, padded envelope from my mother. Well, it's close to Valentine's Day, but I couldn't imagine what she would be sending me. Maybe it was a card and a whole bunch of newspaper clippings. She'll do that, clip things of interest to me, set them aside, and 4 months later, I'll get an envelop filled with news.

I ripped it open and out fell this.

I laughed so hard, I scared the cats. I had to call her.

"Well, I read your blog post that yours broke. The next day, I opened my utensil drawer and saw I had 5 of these. I'm not going to use 5 of them, I barely use one, so I thought you could use it."

We both marveled that the head on mine would break so cleanly since it appears they are one solid piece of plastic. But, whatever, I now have a brand new citrus opener. Beware oranges. Here I come!

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Horrible Crisis of the Humorous Variety

It broke!

If you have no idea what this is, it's a tool you use to start a seam to peel citrus fruits. The little piece at the upper right is a "hook" which, when dragged along the outside of an orange, for instance, Makes a groove in which you can slide the flat left end and get under the skin. This helps peel just the skin and pith off the orange, reducing the loss of pulp and juice.

I was attempting to score an orange and couldn't understand why nothing was happening. I set the orange down and used a spoon to peel back the skin. Then I saw it. Oh man. I have no idea how long I have had this tool, decades wouldn't be too far off of a guess. I don't know what this is called or whether I can get another. The flat end wasn't all that useful to me, but I used the heck out of the other end.

For now, I'll use a spoon but I'll be on the look out for orange openers or whatever might come close to describing this. If oranges just came with zippers...

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast tea

Deb

For a Crappy Night

We are in the midst of a winter storm. It hit Iowa overnight and this morning, coming up from the southwest, spreading pink across the radar like a bad dye job. We're under the storm warning until midnight. The air temperature hovers around the freezing point but the ground is cold so we're getting sleet which is freezing on contact. The salt truck has been by at least 3 times this afternoon.

It's not a night fit for man or beast, to paraphrase W.C. Fields. I spent the afternoon in bliss; a large black cat asleep in my lap, a brown cat asleep next to me, and "The Lord of the Rings:  Two Towers" on TV. I had plans but the need to have my lap all afternoon shattered those. Now night approaches, a soggy, cold, icy night and I'm a bit hungry. What to eat?

I had intended to finish dishes today. A batch here, let another batch soak, maybe blog or maybe crochet, but Pilchard had other ideas. So, technically, my window of 'wanting' to do dishes has evaporated. I really don't like doing them at night, which is why there are sometimes a couple days worth in the sink. It gets late and I'm not inclined and they won't get up and wash themselves so I'll just leave them. But I'm rather loathe to make more dishes. What can I eat to satisfy the hunger but not make a lot of dishes?

I went to the store on Friday after work. We had a big event planned for the evening in my WOW guild and those events always go much better when there is a snack and a beverage along for the ride. Ever since Christmas, when my mom's husband gave me some of his oranges, I've been wanting more. He buys the fruit boxes from the 4H kids who sell them as fund raisers. The oranges he shared with me were incredibly sweet and juicy and so tasty. A bowl of orange slices, now that's an unconventional raid snack but far better than nachos or white cheddar popcorn.

So, I head into the produce section and, what's this? Oh goodness! Tangelos. Tangelos are a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit. You won't get me to eat a grapefruit but a tangelo, absolutely.

You can see they are more red-orange and bigger than an orange. They have a sweet tart flavor. The oranges I got are deliciously sweet while the tangelos are more tart. Tangelos peel like a dream. I really wish oranges had zippers. I know people who feel that peeling an orange is akin to a zen moment. It just frustrates me. Both contain a lot of vitamin C in a fashion that's better for you than juice. You won't find any high fructose corn syrup in these babies.

Tonight is citrus night. I might make a peanut butter sandwich later but for a crappy night, the intoxicating smell of citrus is in my kitchen and home office. It may be zen for some friends to peel these. It is zen for me to eat them.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Sunday baking

April and Perry are coming this weekend! I think it's been a year since we were last together. Perry was getting some training and was in Downers Grove and we got together with he and his friend, Richard, for food and games.

April has a convention in Lincolnshire and Perry gets to tag along.

On Saturday, Jon, April, Perry, Richard and his wife, Lifcha, will come to my house for games and food or food and games or food and food. I'm excited. I haven't had a reason to cook more than tuna melts. The menu is slated to be hobo suppers, raspberry applesauce salad, cole slaw, potato salad, chips and warm blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream. We'll have soda and Perry is bringing bottles of his homemade mead.

I got started on Sunday with chocolate chip orange muffins. I had a bag of mini chocolate chips. The recipe was an old one I had never made and, as I really need a grocery visit, one for which I had all the ingredients on hand. They are good but they need more orange for my tastes.

I also made Fresh Strawberry Muffins. This recipe is, essentially, coarsely chopped strawberries held together with batter. There is a hint of nutmeg in them which makes them so good.

April is allergic to chocolate so I think, once I finish washing the muffin tins tonight, I'll make some Cinnamon Topped Muffins for Saturday.

I love muffins. I love to have lots in the freezer. They make excellent breakfasts and two is plenty to have with your morning juice or milk. And they freeze so well.

Now if someone would answer me this, why is it that when I make muffins, I always get more than the recipe says it makes? I stir just until moistened. The batter is still lumpy. Yet, invariably, the amount of muffin batter can be 1/2 to 2 times greater than what the recipe says it makes. The chocolate chip recipe said it made 18. I got 30. The strawberry one made the dozen listed only because I made sure the cups were filled to the brink.

Technically, I'm not complaining because it means I have more muffins than expressed in the recipe. It's just that on days when I go on a muffin baking binge, I run out of muffin tins before I run out of batter.

MMMMMMMMMMMM. I think couple of warmed muffins with butter would be good tonight.

Beverage: Pepsi

Deb