BLEU CHEESE

I LOVE bleu cheese dressing. I always have, and in fact, was 8 years old before I knew that there was a whole shelf at the commissary of different salad dressings! There are several that I've come to like on some level over the years, but my favorite creamy dressing will always be bleu cheese. My earliest memories of salad dressing were Kraft's Roka Blue Cheese, which my father called Roquefort, instead of Blue Cheese. I learned later that not all bleu cheese is Roquefort, as only cheese produced in the Roquefort region of France is actually called that. As I understand it, it's rather expensive as well.

I've tried virtually all of the brands available at the major grocery stores in the Tarrant County area, I think.  As far as store-bought, in a bottle or jar, Litehouse (Walmart) and Marie's are my go-to quick & easy to get choices. *don't bother with the "low fat" versions of commercially prepared ones, they just don't have the rich flavor. Central Market has a wonderful version in their bulk refrigerated bar, though I doctor it a bit to add a little more black pepper, and more crumbled cheese.

My absolute favorite though, is the homemade version that I make:
1 pkg softened cream cheese (I've also used reduced fat or neufchatel cheese to reduce some of the fat)
6 oz buttermilk
Garlic powder ~1/2tsp
Basil flakes ~ 1/2-3/4tsp
Black pepper ~ 1/2 tsp
8oz blue cheese crumbles

Mix the softened cream cheese to and buttermilk on low speed in deep bowl (a shallow bowl will splatter EVERYWHERE, trust me on this), adding seasonings to blend well, then add blue cheese crumbles until all mixed in.  Makes about 2 & 1/2 cups of dip.

This recipe makes more of a dip than a dressing, which is my preference, however if you want actual dressing consistency, add more buttermilk a quarter of a cup at a time until you achieve your desired consistency.  This will also mellow your blue cheese flavor out some as well, so if I am making actual dressing, instead of dip, I add more buttermilk and more blue cheese crumbles because I so love the rich tang of the cheese.

Independence Day

Seeing as today is the 4^th of July, this should probably be some sort of patriotic post, and it might turn out to be. It's been sort of a trying few weeks around here, and I've mostly been pretty quiet about it. A couple of weeks ago, my inability to make the payments on my 2004 Escape caught up to me. I knew that it would, eventually, and wasn't totally surprised when it did. The repo man was VERY nice about the whole thing, and I still don't know how they managed to track me down here, as all of my bills, etc. go to my PO Box in Arlington, but they did. And then they sent me the nastygram to the PO Box "We have your 2004 Ford Escape. We will auction it off on July something or other (clearly this is not an important detail to me), and if you want to get it back before then, you need to call this number to find out how much it will cost you to do so." Yeah, whatever… Even after nearly 3 years of payments, because of the way that they applied them, even when I sent extra payments specifically marked "APPLY TO PRINCIPAL", on a 4 year note, I still owed more than HALF of the original price of the car, the last time I was told what my balance was, and at this point, it's worth perhaps HALF of that last known balance. I'm so far upside down on it now that it's not worth the payments that they want. I had a plan, which, as it turns out, will likely be more expensive up front than finding something at a tote-the-note lot here in town that will let me make payments locally. My biggest wants are AIR CONDITIONING, and reasonable gas mileage. As much as I'd like to be in another small SUV, I realize that may just not be possible, I'll have to see what's available when I go look, and what kind of $ they want, as well as what sort of payment plan they offer.
For the last 19 months I've been renting a room from some awesome friends, which has been both fun, and trying. I'd lived on my own since I last moved out of my mom's house back in 2001, and hadn't shared space with more than 1 person since my little brother died in 1988. Moving into a house with 2 other adults and 2 teenagers was an adjustment to say the least. We don't always see eye to eye, and we had our share of disagreements, as does any family, but we muddled our way through, and I think we've all come out stronger and better for it. Yep, in this old house, until today, we had 4 adults, 1 teenager, occasionally 2 little girls, more cats than I can count, 2 pigs, a dog, a bunch of fish, and a couple of turtles. As of today, it's me, one other adult (for another week or so until he finds a new place to move with his girlfriend), my 4 cats, the fish, the turtles, and 2 cats that I'm catsitting until the new landlord moves in, sometime in August. The original roomies were offered the opportunity to move closer to family, into a house that while it needs some immediate attention, will ultimately be easier to keep up than this one, and will give them more flexibility in their work schedules, and better attention to the children's needs. When I initially moved in here, I expected it to be a year, at most… unfortunately, it took most of that year to even find work, and was beyond that year before I was earning enough to even consider moving somewhere else. Now I have 4 cats, and well, good luck finding a landlord willing to let me take them in somewhere else. Fortunately, the one I'll be getting is friends with the ones who just moved, and agreed to let me continue living here. I'm truly waiting to see where my company's office moves, as it is rumored to be, and where the next project will be, before I make a decision about where to go, and when. I would LOVE to be able to truly be independent again, but I also know that the first step is making sure that my financial affairs are in order, and renting a room, for a fixed amount every month, which, in all honesty, I believe what I've been paying HAS covered my share of the costs that my presence incurs (utilities & groceries), is NOT the same as being responsible for rent, plus a share of the utilities and groceries. The utility bill for July into August will be telling, because it will be representative of MY costs. The next few weeks are a tiny baby step, and I'm good with that. I would like to say that by this time next year, I won't be sharing my space with anyone else, unless it's someone I'm involved in an intimate relationship, but I'll refrain from saying that's the case, though I'll call it a goal.
As much as I like fireworks displays, I'm absolutely content to be comfortable and cozy in my bedroom, watching TV and hanging with my cats. I don't have to fight crowds, I don't have to be hot, and I don't have to sit on the ground! I am grateful for my cool bedroom, and a working shower that washed away the heat and dirt of the day! I am grateful that I live in a country where I can choose to attend festivities, or not, and I am grateful for all of those who have given their lives, both in generations past, and those who currently serve so that I can continue to enjoy the freedoms that I take for granted. Once upon a time, I took for granted that I was able to know my father, even though he was in Vietnam when I was born, and didn't retire from active duty until I was more than 10 years old. That changed one day, back when the Vietnam Memorial Wall came to Fair Park, in Dallas, in December 1986. I was 19, and having lived my half my life as an Army brat, I never considered that I could just tell Mom that I wasn't going to go. By then, my parents had been divorced almost 6 years, and I hadn't seen or heard directly from my father in almost 2 years, to the best of my recollection. So we loaded up my little brother, who was 17 at the time, my mother, and I think my grandmother went as well. It was the second time in my life that I remember being truly humbled. The number of notes written by children, most of them less than 10 years younger than I, saying things like "I miss you daddy" or "I love you daddy" was incredible to me. That's when I realized that while I thought my friends were lucky because they had "Dads", fathers were active and involved in their lives, and always had been, I was luckier than the children of thousands of men. Sure, mine's a twerp, and I've made a conscious decision to not have a relationship for him, but at least I was blessed enough to be able to develop an informed opinion of him, because he did come home. I don't know if that makes my outlook on the impact that military service has on families different than someone who has no direct connection to the service, but I suspect that it does. I appreciate every single service member, but I also have a huge amount of love and respect for the family members they leave behind, never knowing if they'll return. I am so very grateful that this generation's soldiers are welcomed home with joy, love and support. If you're so inspired, checkout Monkey Skull Craft Works, one of my Rogue friends, who is also a USN Submariner, makes beautiful things on his lathe as well as survival bracelets.

3 a day!

I think, know I don't take time often enough to count my blessings. This past week could have been a hugely upsetting and disappointing one, and in the past, it WOULD have probably totally thrown me for a loop, caused a major fibro flare, and put me to bed for a couple of days. Fortunately, the way that the cards fell, I am able to adjust, make a couple of changes, and move past the "problem". My life is absolutely not where I thought I would be 14 years after I got my Bachelor's degree, but while I'm not in an ideal place, I'm in a good place, and trying to embrace the lessons I'm supposed to learn, so that I don't have to keep repeating them.
A friend was recently told, as part of a recovery process, to keep a journal of positive things in her life. I realized that I could benefit from doing the same, and it will provide me with both motivation to write and a topic on which I can write, especially when I don't think of anything really awesome to write about. I enjoy writing, and I know that my only hope for improving my writing is to actually DO IT!
Amusing to me night before last was that my Li'lcat, who is still unneutered, (until we know that his brother, who is the standard Dwelf in the family isn't shooting blanks) decided that he is a STUD, much to the chagrin of his adopted sister Girlcat, who was spayed almost 14 years ago, when she was a kitten. She was totally NOT thrilled with his amorous intent… and since his body is about 2 inches shorter (from shoulders to hips) than hers, well, he just couldn't get his aim quite right, so she just had this little short cat with her scruff in his mouth pinning her down! It truly was HILARIOUS to see, though I know that she didn't see any humor to it. I've no idea what has caused him to suddenly decide he's a big stud… there's nobody in the house in season, though there are a couple that could be getting ready to come into season, and his sisters CAN'T come into season.
And today I saw the funniest NASCAR commercial EVER!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJV487KmR_4

Today's 3 blessings are:

*I have a comfortable, relatively climate-controlled place to live

*I have a lot of people in my world that I truly enjoy and can count on

*my cats, bladder, brain & fibro all let me get 10 hours of sleep uninterrupted last night

And tonight I'm going to make myself go lie down before 10:30, in the hopes of 7 hours tonight!

Power

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent. – Eleanor Roosevelt

This is one of the things I struggle with, on a regular basis. I know that it is true, and that I am the one in control of my self-esteem, but sometimes I have an off day, or several off days, and I lose sight of the truth in it. I am a good person, I try to do the right thing, and I know that Karma is a bitch, so I do try to not put out an excessive amount of negativity, but there have been a couple of incidents of late that, at least temporarily, caused me to roll back into that insecure little girl. This time around, I'm kind of attributing it to still getting back into the groove of faire being over and some of the other changes that have happened at work and at home. I don't do change particularly well, and I know this, and there is more change afoot, at least at home, that, quite frankly, I'm not sure where it will land me, though I'm fairly certain that I have at least a few months to make my own changes if I end up having to move.

In the meantime, I am taking each day as it comes, getting faire packed back up again, getting winter clothes packed up, and reclaiming my bedroom and closet from the wreck that it's become in the last few months.

TIIIIRED

After 68 days of getting up before 7 a.m., and working all but one of those days, at least part of the day, the ability to sleep in, at least a bit, AND have a nap in the middle of the day has been an absolute blessing! Also a blessing is the fact that I didn't totally crash and burn before this. I had high hopes of getting much accomplished today, but alas, my body & my brain were having no part of it. I did manage to get a load of towels done, and a run to WalMart, but other than that, I've spent most of the day on the couch with a headache and a stopped up head, so nothing tastes particularly good. I'm not sure why I'm suddenly all congested, but I'll just start taking the allergy meds again and hope it clears up quickly. 
Scarby was weird this year, for a variety of reasons, but overall it was a good enough season. I had lots of fun working at Majikah Perfumery, mixing new scents, and trying things I'd never thought to try. I've already been offered a job working for them next year as well, which makes me happy and saves me the cost of a pass next year. It seems to me that attendance was down, except perhaps for Closing Day, and I suspect that much of that is because of the cost of passes increased so much that many people chose not to afford it, and instead came only one or two days all year. 
I'm hoping to make it to church tomorrow morning, but considering how tired I am right this minute, that may not happen, because I HAVE to be rested to go to work Monday morning!


 

CRASH

I knew going into the season working Scarby that it would be a long road, and that I would need to be extra careful to get appropriate rest, since I was going to be on the go for 75 days in a row, with no days off.  As it turned out, my schedule at faire the last 2 weekends of the season (this past one, and the coming one) are "breaks only" schedules, because my boss's sister-in-law is helping her with breakdown and hauling everything back home on Monday or Tuesday. This is excellent, as it gives me closing weekend to play with my bestie, assuming that she makes it out, at least Saturday & Sunday, plus part of Monday, and it gives me a chance to go run amok with Angela as she's  planning to be out & kiddo free on Monday. 
Throughout the season I've been trying and adding to my yes/no list various scents.  I've found several wonderful new things, and a lot that I LOVE in the bottle, but they just aren't wonderful on me. I've tended to have one on my left wrist and one on my right.  One day a couple of weekends ago, I had on Sun and Thunderstorm, and my boss suggested I mix them together. I wasn't crazy about it, but it did give me the idea to find a water scent to mix with the Sun, and I started sniffing the scents until I found the right one, and Liquid Sunshine was born. It's sweeter and more floral than I've been wearing, but it's garnered compliments from all but one person, and she's not a fan of the floral scents to begin with. The first weekend, we sold 8 drams of it, so this past weekend I got to mix up a vial sized bottle of it for sale. I know that at least 4 drams sold, but beyond that I have no idea.
On Sunday morning when I woke up, I knew I was going to have to choose between lasting a whole day out there, or going to work Monday morning (yeah, like there's actually a choice there). When the boss told me that there wasn't enough business for them to need me, even for breaks, I packed up my cooler, and headed home. Yeah, it was bad, I was POOPED, and by the time I got home, I fell into bed for a short nap before I got up and did as much of my household chore for the week (cat cages) as I physically could.  I slept another 9 hours and managed to drag myself up and to work, only to discover that my computer is DEAD. Yeah, it was a rough couple of days, but today's severe weather has completely missed us, and it doesn't look like anymore is on its way, so we're all safe, dry, a comfortable temperature, and ready to face another day!

Taco Ring

I originally got this recipe at a Pampered Chef party more years ago than I want to count, but it's yummy, and it can be adjusted to your personal tastes.

1 pkg crescent rolls
1lb ground meat, browned & seasoned with taco seasoning
1 can refried beans, warmed in microwave
1 tomato, diced
1 small onion, diced (may be cooked in with meat if you want)
shredded cheese to taste
1 bell pepper, diced, then mixed in with cooked & seasoned meat

Preheat oven according to crescent roll instructions
Spray round pan (like an 8 inch cake pan) with non-stick spray
unroll crescent rolls and arrange in a ring in pan, with points lapping up over the edge, wide ends will overlap in the pan, kind of pinch them together to seal it
Spread refried beans in a layer on dough
Sprinkle some cheese over the beans
Spread the meat/onion/pepper mixture over the beans & cheese
Sprinkle cheese over meat
Top with diced tomato
gently pull points of crescent dough to center & tuck under wide end

Bake for about 20 minutes, until dough is cooked and golden

Cut apart and serve with tortilla chips

***notes***

• doesn't have to be ground beef, leaner meats, even shredded turkey, chicken or pork could also be used
• crescent rolls, cheese, & refried beans are available as well
• other kinds of beans can also be used in place of the refried, but I would suggest mixing them into the meat mixture and just layering it in that way
• I've found that the stuffing gets hotter if it's warmed before it goes into the oven, so I preheat my beans, or warm them in the meat mixture while I'm letting the taco seasoning simmer into it