Random Wednesday

I think I am in a mood. I seriously cannot deal with some of those preschool moms anymore. I walked in today to pick up Eli, and I was carrying Georgia on my hip as usual. I passed by one of the moms and she looked and Georgia and said, “Look at her. She’s just holding on like a little monkey.” WTF?!! This is the same woman who once told me I hold Georgia like a sack of potatoes. And now she just compared my daughter to a monkey. I am about to throw down with this b*tch! One more comment out of her, and I’m going to punch her in her perfectly made-up little face. *deep breath deep breath*

Maybe that’s not in the spirit of the season, but considering how stressed I get around the holidays, it fits quite well with my mood.

Moving on . . .

I can’t let the George Michael thing die. I just can’t. I was wondering today how I thought he was so freaking hot back in the 80’s. Then I came across this YouTube video. It’s him live in concert in Sydney singing (and dancing his ass off to) I Want Your Sex. 15 seconds into this video, and I remembered vividly why I wanted to jump his bones when I was 16. For my fellow 80’s children (men and women alike), enjoy!

And today’s recipe.

Today, I am posting the recipe for the stuffing I am making on Thursday. Once again, I am stealing from Rachael Ray. I seriously can’t wait to try this recipe!!

Pumpkin Muffin Stuffin!

Ingredients
1 stick butter
2 to 3 Macintosh apples, cored and chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
3 small ribs celery, chopped
1 bay leaf
Sat and freshly ground pepper
6 store-bought pumpkin muffins
½ cup shelled pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, toasted
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
3 cups chicken broth

Directions
1. In a large, deep skillet, melt 5 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the apples, three quarters of the onions, the zucchini, celery and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper and cook until softened, 10 minutes.

2. Preheat the broiler. Crumble the muffins into the skillet. Add the pumpkin seeds and poultry seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour in up to 2 cups broth (depending on how moist you like it). Spoon the stuffing into a heatproof dish and broil until crisp, 5 minutes.

Manchego Smashed Potatoes

In honor of Thanksgiving, which is realistically all about food, I am going to be posting the recipes I am making this week. Today’s recipe comes to us courtesy of Rachael Ray. (I’m a fan of hers, in case you haven’t noticed.) This year, instead of my usual whipped potatoes, I will be making Rachael’s Manchego Smashed Potatoes. Yum-o!

4 pounds baby red or baby Yukon gold potatoes, large ones halved
Salt
4 T. butter, cut into small pieces
½ cup milk or cream
12 oz. Manchego cheese, shredded (2 ½ cups)
Freshly ground pepper

In a deep pot, cover the potatoes with water. Cover the pot with a lid and bring to a boil. Uncover, salt the water and cook until tender when pierced with a fork, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Add the butter, milk and cheese and smash. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Celebrations!

I actually did not blog yesterday, and I was kicking myself for it. I started blogging for the creative writer buried somewhere inside of me, and I try to do it every day. Unfortunately, I think I was a member of corporate America for way too long. I forget that there’s no one around to give me a negative annual review if I miss a day of blogging. (At least I hope not.)

Last night, I took a much-needed break and went out with Amy and Heather. We went to Johnny Carino’s, where I enjoyed a few Bellinis, to celebrate Heather’s 30th birthday. I used to be great at getting awesome birthday gifts for people. But this week, I don’t think my brain was functioning properly due to lack of sleep. I got Heather a box of picture frames. A big box with 10 picture frames. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Heather and BL just got married and they have tons of photos, so it’s a functional gift. Right? Okay, fine. I’m slipping. I will have to work on my gift-giving powers before Christmas. I knew I was in trouble when she unwrapped it and thought there was something else in the box (because surely I didn’t get her a box of picture frames). Oh, but I did. I just sunk down in my chair and nursed my second Bellini at that point.

Now, to my blog celebration. My goal was to break into the top 100,000 at Technorati by the end of the year. I thought that was a daunting task since I started out at 542,000. So, I went to Technorati yesterday to do my weekly check. I am 33,000. Oh yeah! I rock! I still don’t see my parade anywhere! Jeez, what is up with that? No parade when I got bestest blog, and no parade for being 33,000 at Technorati! Oh well, I shall have another Bellini and celebrate.

I actually woke up this morning to make bread, because honestly, I need more carbs. Plus, it’s raining. For some reason, I want to bake when it’s raining. I am making beer bread. My husband walked into the kitchen as I was popping open a bottle of beer at 8 a.m. He looked slightly worried. I think he’s concerned that more and more of my recipes take alcohol. The other day, I made this awesome ravioli lasagna recipe that I got from Rachael Ray. It took 1 cup of red wine. What was I supposed to do with the rest of the bottle? You can’t have left over wine, right? So, I drank that. At least I wasn’t sipping the beer at 8 a.m. this morning.

Tonight, the celebration continues. We are going to a party. An actual real-life adult party at Eric’s friend’s. They said children are welcome, so we’re bringing the kids. They said this last time, and we were the only ones who brought our kids, but considering I have no family here and no one to watch my children, everyone can deal. I am not missing a party!

Now, enjoy my simple, but extremely yummy recipe for beer bread:

3 cups self-rising flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 12 oz. bottle beer (whatever you like - I use Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat)

Mix together and pour into a greased (or sprayed with Pam) 9x5 bread pan. Batter will be very sticky. Top with ½ stick of melted butter. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Let set 10 minutes in pan and then invert onto cooling rack. Best when served warm or toasted topped with butter or cheese spread. Yum-o!!