My mother made a lovely Sunday dinner last night. She was inspired by a show she saw on the Food Network, Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. Sandra showed how to make an entire Indian dinner.
Chicken Masala
Naan-Style Flatbread (using Pillbury Pizza dough!)
Cucumber and Red Bell Pepper Raita
It was delish!
I have done it! Practically a year ago, I loaded an MT plugin that turns off comments and trackbacks on old posts. Although I had no problem installing it, I had a very bad feeling that if I ran it, donnaville would implode. That’s it. I never used it and everyday I struggled with comment and trackback spam attacks. This morning was the last straw. 105 trackbacks for old lady porn. I took a deep breath and ran the script. I rebuilt the site. All works fine. Tomorrow morning will be the true test. If I check my Inbox and it is practically empty, then I know it worked.
I made the Spicy Ginger Mound cookies this afternoon. They are very nearly perfect. The only change I will make to future batches is to cut the amount of clove. They are crunchy and sweet and perfect with a cup of tea. Here is the recipe:
Spicy Ginger Mounds
Sift together in one bowl:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt
Cream together in separate bowl:
3/4 cup shortening OR margarine OR butter
1 cup sugar
Beat into creamed mixture:
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
Beat until light and fluffy. Stir in dry ingredients. Shape into small balls, roll in sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
UPDATE: The cloves were only strong in the first couple of cookies. After sitting overnight, the clove taste went away. I am keeping the cloves at 1 tsp.
I like to use an Elvis mug for my Sunday morning coffee since I am usually listening to Rockin’ Ron Cade’s Elvis and Friends radio show. This morning, all my Elvis mugs were dirty so I had to use my Roger Moore mug instead. That’s okay. I shook my new Elvis snow-globe that John Beck gave me on Friday and watched the glitter settle over Vegas Elvis. I felt whole.
Last night Lisa and I watched Der Krieger und de Kaiserin starring my favorite German actor next to Til Schweiger, Joachim Król. It was a very interesting movie. I especially liked the tracheotomy sequence.
I had a nice evening. John came over and I made him and Lisa dinner. John requested 3 cheese tortellini with prosciutto and peas in a white cream sauce. He even told me there was a recipe on the Food Channel’s Web site. I found the recipe. It was pretty ridiculous, making your own sauce and sauteing garlic, etc… After work, I went to Acme and bought a jar of Ragu Alfredo sauce. When I heated the sauce I threw in a handful of frozen peas and some Bacos. Nice homemade touch, I thought.
After dinner we lit a fire. You should have seen Bo! He was mesmerized by the flames. Lisa said she was pretty sure he would howl if we howled all together. And so we howled. And Lisa was right! Little Bo started howling too! I think John was pretty impressed.
Now I need to clean up. Ugh!
The compressor is shot. And the whole unit is over 10 years old. Don’t just replace the compressor or the outdoor unit, little missy, replace the whole darn thing! Outdoor and indoor. Trust me, you don’t want to know what this is going to cost. My stomach hurts.
Ahhhhhhh, the joys of home ownership!
I can feel the money being slowly squeezed out of me. The weather has become cooler and I noticed the heater wasn’t turning on. So I placed a call to the number that was on a sticker on the heating apparatus that sits in my sister’s closet. The repair man is here and he’s been here for hours! 95.00 for the visit. 55.00 to service the humidifier. 255.00 for the new thermostat. Once he got it working the darn thing began to make noise so loud that the house shook. He’s now outside looking at the heat pump. I am scared at what he is going to find. Heck, I am scared to think of the final bill. To top it all off, Bobo peed in my office. My fault. I am so overwhelmed, I forgot to take him out.
Is the coffee working? I don’t think so. I feel like I’m at the bottom of a bowl of jello. The caffeine will kick in. Eventually.
Powerball
721434449
Powerball: 29 Power Play: 5
Yesterday afternoon, I was at my desk when I heard barking. It was Bobo! I was immediately concerned. You see, Bobo never barks. A few weeks ago he was at my parents’ house guarding their deck and he saw a cat. Little Bobo let loose with a tirade of little arfs. We were all shocked since this was the first time we had ever heard him utter a noise other than his little growls when we rub his tummy. Hearing him bark, I got up to see what was wrong. I opened the door and I had to hold Bobo back! He wanted to take off down the street; Bo was in attack mode! There didn’t seem to be anything unusual outside. I carried him back to my office and I kept him on my lap until he calmed down. About an hour later I took him for a walk. I walked out the door and noticed that attached to the door knob there was a menu for the local Chinese restaurant. So that is what incited Bo! Japanese Chins don’t like Chinese Restaurants.
Last night I bought 5.00 worth of Powerball tickets. I didn’t stay awake to see if I won or not. So there is a possibility I am holding the winning ticket. 340 MILLION DOLLARS! Wouldn’t that be nice? I have a feeling that even if I did strike it rich, I would still go garage sale-ing and shop at TJMaxx.