 Sunday was beautiful this past weekend and the sun was shining, providing warm temps and a soft breeze. I heard the garden calling my name about 2:00 – well, actually, it was Mr. Fix-It beckoning me to the leaf removal/weed pulling – and so, I trundled to the rows of beds with hoe, rake and shovel in hand. I tackled the first bed (asparagus, blueberries and raspberries). Did you know that gardening is the best way to tell that you are totally out of shape and have been eating bon-bons in front of the tv all winter? OK, so I don’t eat bon-bons, but I dream about eating them and that is just as bad. Now I have sore thighs, achey joints and a twinge in my back and I only have three more beds to go! I should be in traction by the middle of March and I will be sure to let you know where to send the cards and flowers!! But in the meantime, I think we’ll have a new giveaway which will go through St. Patrick’s Day with a name being drawn that evening. This time, a winner will receive a set of awesome bread pans that are very unusual. One is a stainless steel number specifically for baking two loaves of French or Italian bread and the other is a perforated, non-stick pan for baking bagettes. Every bread-maker should have one!! So enter as many times as you like by commenting on this post and all following posts through the 17th.  Also, I’d like to ask you to take a trip over to the shopping page to see some of the new things that have been added. I’ll give you a taste here, but you’ll have to run over there to see the rest. First, our Kierston has graduated with a degree in art from the University of Oklahoma and has put up a few of her paintings to be purchased. She is presently doing album covers for a variety of musicians and has been nominated for “Best Album Cover” at one of the country music awards celebrations. You can see her work by clicking on the “original artwork” tab.  Next, a spectacular monogramming and seamstress company called Stitching Designs has created the most gorgeous tea cozies you ever saw. Heavy-weight, they keep tea hot in the tea pot for a really long time. The vibrant colors just make a tea service stand out. What a lovely addition to tea time!! There are two sizes available. Hop over to see the whole collection!   And finally, another addition to the tea gifts section is an exquisite, porcelain tea cup complete with porcelain tea infuser that fits inside the cup and a matching porcelain lid for steeping and keeping tea hot for a single serving. Embossed with a floral motif, each cup is edged in gold and nestled in the satin bed of a beautiful, decorative box. Each cup comes with a free tin of one of our signature teas and is the perfect and unusual gift for your special person.  These items will make great Mother’s Day gifts or birthday or graduation gifts. So take a look at the shopping page and don’t forget to comment below to enter the giveaway!! And join the blog at the right to follow and keep up with all of the giveaways coming up!  |
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Archive for the ‘A Day In the Life Of An Okie’ Category
Bread Makers’ Giveaway and Other Cool Stuff
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
The Mundane Things in Life
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
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My car died. It didn’t just stop. It bled to death, a pool of oil tracing its way across the driveway and into the grass. I had just driven in from shipping orders and Mr. Fix-It asked me if I had checked the oil lately. Are you kidding? Am I my auto’s keeper? Ok, so I had to admit that I had not. The car needed to cool down after its trip and so it was forgotten for a couple of hours. It was then that Mr. Fix-It came in, rather stern-looking, and informed me that there was no oil in my car. Oh no!! How could that be?!! Like most women, I feigned horror, not really sure that having no oil in the car was all that big a deal. I followed Mr. Fix-It to my vehicle and watched as he poured 5 quarts of 10W-40, through a funnel, into the oil reservoir, while schooling me of its importance. He checked the dipstick and still there was no oil. What? But under the car, there was a bucketful!!  Mr. Fix-It declared my lovely, champagne-colored Toyota Camry a dead duck. Of course, most cars become dead ducks after they have been driven for 210,000 miles, but I had been sure that this one would live to another 100,000!! As it was, I no longer had wheels. That’s bad. Trust me. Mr. Fix-It drives a big, honkin’ Ford and I have always had the small cars in which to tootle around and save gas. But now, I was seriously short on tootlin’ machinery and didn’t need gas! I think that I have written about the Afghanistan truck before. It is a small Toyota pickup exactly like the ones used by the Taliban to bomb buildings. Ours looked like one of those trucks AFTER the bombing. We got it for $100 and Mr. Fix-It made it work like new. However, the body looked like someone had hit a tree with the front hood and then had backed into another one with the rear bumper. Two opposing ‘V’s’ would be an apt description. And somewhere in there, a bomb may have crunched the tailgate. I had driven that truck on occasion as have most of the children when they were in-between vehicles, but the Afghanistan truck was finally given to our son-in-law for him to use with his projects.  In its place, we received a little 1988 Nissan truck, with a camper on the back and only 73,000 miles on it, from my mom and dad when they moved from Tennessee to their retirement community. It has a 5-speed manual transmission and is the very basic package that includes no radio, no cup-holders and no place to hang your cell-phone. Oh wait. Did they even HAVE cell phones in 1988?? But it has the most comfortable seats and shifting is pretty smooth….that is….unless you are in downtown Oklahoma City or Edmond and you are me. Oh my. Talk about stress and a headache. Today, I was the little ol’ lady with the gray hair, holding up traffic as I attempted to pull forward at a green light, and killed the engine twice until I finally figured out I was in third gear. Traffic does that to me. My mind turns to mush. And other drivers’ hands turn to shaking fists. And so, Mr. Fix-It and I have embarked on the fun and enlightening pastime of car shopping. Yes, that is an activity that is sure to leave you with the immediate need to hit the shower and remove the slime that has been sent your way by car salesmen. We even had the made-for-tv experience of the salesman seating us in his office, disappearing and then hauling in the “manager” to see if he could “get us into the car of our dreams.” I mean, how cliché is that? One dealer asked me what I do and I tried very hard to explain my business. He is still convinced that the Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ helps you slice onions and cucumbers. Don’t ask me why. I gave up after his fiftieth interruption to correct me about its use. Yep, cars are a necessity but car dealerships are not. It is with that realization that I have hit Craigslist. I will keep you posted on the outcome. |
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Merry Christmas!!
Saturday, December 24th, 2011
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It’s a little nippy in Okie Land and the wood stove is keeping us toasty warm….actually, it’s running us out of the house…the tree is decorated, stockings are hung and the tables are swathed in red damask. I love this time of year. It has been so gratifying to see the smiling faces and hear the laughter, this year, that I have experienced while shopping. Everyone has been so pleasant. No grinching or growling. It’s been good.  And so, from our house to yours, “Merry Christmas and may this next year be blessed for you and your loved ones.” Love on your family and friends and cook like there’s no tomorrow!! You know that cold temps make you lose all those calories anyway, right?! Yeah, I thought so. Stay safe all!!   |
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Laughter IS The Best Medicine
Monday, December 12th, 2011
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Well, it’s Monday and I can sure tell you that I’m glad it is today and not last Monday. A whole lot can happen in just 7 days!! As you know, the spectre of Toxic Shock Syndrome in our daughter overshadowed the bliss of having a first grandchild. All of a sudden, marveling over perfect, tiny toes and fingers of the baby turned into a fearful dread over a sunburn-like rash, high fever and excruciating joint pain in Momma. 
I don’t know about you, but Toxic Shock Syndrome is something I had only read about in boxes of feminine products. I’d never heard of anyone having it and I wasn’t really sure that it wasn’t made up by some pharmaceutical company to promote a drug and give us something else to worry about besides restless legs or dry eyes. But it is real and it is bad. It is deadly. It can be caused by staph or strep bacteria (in this case it was staph caught at the hospital) and within a matter of a couple of days, can be fatal to its victim. General flu-like symptoms with fever are the initial signs, but the tell-tale bright, bright red rash over the entire body (that looks like the victim has been blow-torched) is the warning that a hospital admission had better be in the very, very immediate future. We feel very fortunate that dear daughter’s case was caught early and that the worst thing she had to experience was lots of drawn blood and IV megadoses of antibiotics that nipped it in the budding staph rampage. The pseudo-HAZMAT suited personnel were a little disconcerting, but heh, it was staph! I have to say, though, as for me, a battle with a recliner and the ensuing laugher healed my angst and stress I was feeling, better than any medicine could do. The nurses were very generous in trying to find a comfortable way for me to stay with my daughter each night so that Daddy could take Baby home away from all germs. When they mentioned a recliner would be more comfortable than a cot, I envisioned overstuffed and soft and readily agreed. I was not prepared for the ’70’s era, straightbacked, minimalist black monster that appeared while I was in the cafeteria.  That evening, after making sure that daughter was as comfortable as one can be with tubes attached from arm to a stand of hanging bags with the inability to move freely, I fluffed pillows and a blanket into the recliner and positioned it to leave a pathway for the nurses whom I knew would be appearing every hour on the hour. I sat down, leaned slightly for the foot rest to pop up and then used every ounce of my upper body strength to force the back of the chair into a reclining position. It was then that I realized that it was the kind of recliner that makes an “ab buster” passe. The only way that this piece of furniture would stay reclined was for me to remain rigid, using stomach and thigh muscles as springs. I figured I could do it.  I turned my head on the pillow, closed my eyes and was hit with a beam of light that flashed through my closed eyelids and made it impossible to sleep. A square light was positioned on the opposite wall and I think it was illuminated with a 200 watt bulb. I sat up and removed blankets, slipped on shoes since we were told not to touch the floor or put anything onto the floor, found the light switch, turned it off, squirted sanitizer on my hands and trotted back to the chair. I sighed with pleasure as I reclined again and fell asleep with tight stomach muscles holding the recliner in place. As soon as I fell asleep, I relaxed, and as soon as I relaxed the chair shot back into position and I was rudely awaken to sitting straight up in the chair that was about two feet back from where I had started. It was on rollers and my abrupt upright snap sent it backwards a few feet. I slipped shoes back on and instead of getting out and postitioning the recliner, I placed both feet to either side of the foot rest and walked the chair, ala Fred Flinstone, into place. I reclined again and settled myself to sleep and did fall asleep, only to be awakened again in an upright position and further back toward the door. The nurse walked in and I greeted her as if the chair and I were best buds. She said nothing about my blocking the doorway or about my tennis shoes sticking out from under the sheet. She did her blood-letting and disappeared. I made an effort at getting some sleep and again woke up, sitting up and had to walk the chair back into place. It was then that I started to giggle. I didn’t want to wake my daughter but my situation was feeling pretty hillarious. I finally figured out that sleep was not an option, trundled back to the light switch for the wall light, switched it on, slapped some sanitizer on my hands and read a book until the sun peeked through the blinds at the window.  The next day, I requested a cot which was comfortable as all get out for each hour that I was allowed to sleep between nurses’ visits. As it turned out, my daughter had the most positive outlook of us all and pointed out to me on her final night there, that we were at a 5 star hotel in a room with a view. She had me open the shades and I was astounded at what I saw. It was just breathtaking. Lights glittered over the city of Oklahoma City and the Devon Tower rose above everything with glistening lights like a nighttime ride at an amusement park. The view made me so thankful to be an Oklahoman with praying friends and family. Life is good!!  So thank you again for your prayers, thoughts and notes. God has blessed my family with His healing hand and we are all very grateful. |
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Update
Thursday, December 8th, 2011
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The good news is that the CAT scan that they did on my daughter yesterday showed no abscesses which means no surgery. The bad news is that it appears that she has pneumonia to top everything. She is on 4 different antibiotics intravenously and on fluid, still has a horrible rash that is indicating Toxic Shock Syndrome, but she is much more chipper, is better able to get around and is even joking. That’s a definite improvement!! So thank you, thank you all for your treasured prayers and thoughts. It looks like it will be awhile before she gets to go home but I think she is improving. |
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Prayers Would Be Appreciated
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
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Having the new baby in our lives has been wonderful, but there has been a hitch in our giddy-up. Momma has been taken to the hospital with a systemic staph infection and I am heading that way now. I would just appreciate your prayers for our dear daughter. She is quite sick and I am struggling not to worry. God is in control, I know. Thank you dear readers for your thoughts. I’ll let you know what happens. |
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Repopulating the Earth
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011
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Boy has this been a wild, wild week. No sleep has been the order of the days with the accompanying red, weepy eyes that feel like sandpaper, but it has been worth it because my very first grandbaby entered the world to take it by storm! I got to be a present during the whole time, sticking around in the birthing room until things got too painful for me to stand by objectively!! I found out that I can’t abide hearing my children in pain. And so, we two grandmothers-to-be twiddled our thumbs, paced and solved all of the problems of the universe until Daddy came out to present his jewel to family on both sides and we all immediately fell in love with Claire Margaret.  Isn’t it amazing how a little baby makes things all right with the world? The dollar could crash, the Fed could decide to close shop and hand out monopoly money (oh wait – they already are doing that) or Oklahoma could have another earthquake (did I mention that we had one on Thanksgiving Day? Ok – another story) and I’d just be grinning from ear to ear looking at a head of hair that rivals our long-haired miniature dachshund and little rosebud lips. At that moment, I know that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made because God’s works are wonderful” (Psalm 139) and that we are a miracle. Baby’s incredible parents opted for Natural Childbirth using the Bradley Method. I knew all about Lamaze, but had never heard of this old-new way of doing things. Absolutely unbelieveable how amazing this program is. Yes, there was pain but oh my how Mommy handled the pain. It was something to behold. Daddy had been instructed for 12 weeks on every single little detail about what to expect and how to deal with it. He had a book that he had practically memorized with pages to fill out as labor progressed. At one point during transition , Mommy made a typical, textbook statement, “Who thought that doing it this way was a good idea????? This was stupid!!! I can’t do it anymore. I quit.” whereupon Daddy massaged her back and calmly assured, “You’re doing great!! You are amazing. You are right at page 78!” The doctor and the nurse were very impressed. Most amazing of all was that the doctor stayed with them through most of the long labor. I had never known a doctor to do that. There were no drugs, no epidurals and no episiotomy – just soft, kind and encouraging words and true excitement at the results. The end product was a very alert and active baby and a mom who looked fresh as flowers. Truly a testimony to a simpler form of delivery. And so, I am back home with all my pictures and memories that will be with me forever. The other grandmother and I had such a bonding experience and things will never be the same again. There just simply isn’t anything more miraculous than a newborn baby.   |
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Just A Reminder
Monday, November 14th, 2011
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I noticed this weekend that starting Wednesday here in Okieland that celery, sweet potatoes, turkeys, etc are all going on sale for dirt cheap prices. So now is the time to grab and can or dehydrate for the rest of the year. For example:  Celery is 3 bags for $1 here. Guess what I am going to be dehydrating. The step-by-step tutorial is here  Sweet potatoes are on sale for 3 lbs for 99¢ so I will be dehydrating those too for wonderful sweet potato casseroles and candied yams. You’ll find my step-by-step directions here. And get extra turkeys if you can. Put them in the freezer for later. After Thanksgiving, I’ll be showing you how to can the meat for wonderful pot pies, casseroles and turkey and dressing. |
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If God Meant Man To Fly….
Friday, November 11th, 2011
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Apple Time Giveaway What is it about men and airplanes? I remember little boys in my elementary school classes bragging that they were going to be pilots someday while we poor little girls swooned at the thought of just being “stewardesses” who wore short skirts, high heels and met rich pilots. Flying has been a part of my family as long as I can remember. My uncle is a retired Eastern Airline pilot, my cousin flies for Northwest, my cousin-in-law is retired from Delta and another cousin has a bush pilot company in Alaska. I think part of us have Wilbur or Orville’s DNA in there somewhere. Not I, though. Oh no. My feet are planted squarely on Terra Firma (when it isn’t shaking of course) and I just really don’t get all that excited about getting any higher than our four foot ladder to pick apples. In my world, a flight on a commercial airline only occurs when all other options, including hitching a ride on a McDonald’s semi, run out and I have to get 900 miles from point A to point B in a matter of hours. I do grit my teeth, board a plane and take stock of all exits and oxygen masks within range. But a small plane? Puh-leeeeee-zzzz. I grew up with Sky King and Penny and I saw how those little planes would nearly crash in pursuit of villains and spies. And then, in college, some tall, relatively handsome upperclassman who thought he was God’s gift to us freshman females decided to impress me with the fact that he had his very own airplane. No Camaro for this dude. Nope. He gave new meaning to, “slept late and flew to class”. So, like the dumb kid that I was, I bounced into the front passenger seat of his tin-can-of-death and cheerfully watched as the grounds of Middle Tennessee State University disappeared from view. All was going great until Mr. Macho put a piece of paper in my lap and told me to watch it. I stared at the scrap as this nerd dropped the plane so fast that the paper lifted off of my lap – with my stomach. Taught that guy never to take a freshman girl up in his plane again. It is with this personal background that you might understand my trepidation when my son, Sir Flying Ace, informed me that he had bought an airplane – an older Cessna 172. No, he’s too old to take freshman girls up into the wild-blue-yonder – short of a prison sentence – but as far as I’m concerned, he’s still too young to drive a car, let alone fly a hunk of metal with an engine that by all rights shouldn’t be able to get 10 feet off the ground. I mean, think about it. Does it seem logical to you that a 150 lb human being can jump off a balcony, flapping his arms and end up in the emergency room with broken limbs, but a 2000 lb airplane can travel for hundreds of miles way up in the clouds? Just doesn’t make sense. Well, this weekend Mr. Fix-It and I made a trip to northwest Oklahoma to see Sir Flying Ace and his airplane. Of course, I had already told him that the Kardashians would reunite before I would get into a small plane, but I have been known to eat my words.  Sir Flying Ace was rather sneaky. As he pulled his plane out of the hangar, he coaxed us to hop in just to taxi down the strip to the gas tank to fill up his winged buggy.  As he fueled the tanks, his friend and fellow pilot, Master Charlie Bravo, decided to help check things over and join in the fun. At this point, Mr. Fix-It and I realized that we were trapped with no way to get back to the hangar unless we wanted to look like idiots walking down an airstrip. We reluctantly climbed into the two back seats of the plane and it was then that I realized that Mr. Fix-It does not have those Orville and Wilber genes and is more afraid of flying than I am! I can’t quite describe the look that he gave me, but it was kind of a combination of, “If I live through this, you are making me blueberry pancakes every morning for a month!” and “Would I look stupid if I fall down on the tarmac and play dead?”  As it was, we both managed to stay seat-belted and calm as our two pilots deftly lifted us into a beautiful, clear sky and over the town.   A grid of wheat and cotton pastures stretched as far as we could see, bordered by miles of white crystals on the Great Salt Plains.  Terrace farming is used in Western Oklahoma to avoid the catastrophe of the dust storms like in the 1930’s Dust Bowl.  We landed without a hitch, taxied back to the hangar and Mr. Fix-It and I were able to unload from our ride without dropping to our knees and kissing the ground like airsick fools. We toured the area with Sir Flying Ace and marveled at the planes that he was working on and putting back together as part of his position at Vantage Plane Plastics. I am very proud of the careful and meticulous job he does replacing interiors, working on engines and doing required FAA inspections. Aviation has been in his blood since he was two years old and running out into the yard everytime a helicopter or plane flew overhead.  And so, after our lovely visit, amazing flight and good company, Mr. Fix-It and I headed home smiling because we had made a memory and lived to tell about it! And Sir Flying Ace had performed a miracle. He had gotten us into his plane and into the air! I guess he’s feeling pretty smart. We are feeing mighty blessed!  |
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Homestead Revival
Paratus Familia
Rural Revolution
Wings of Champions
Friday, February 17th, 2012Here in Okie Land, there is only one thing that we Okies would rather do than eat…and that’s watch sports. Sports is the one way that we can bring our large neighbors to the south – Texas – down a notch. There is a reason that the OU Sooners vs the UT Longhorns is called the Red River Rivalry. Sports is the way that we little southwest nobodies can whoop up on some northerners like the Boston Celtics or some west coast smarty-pants like the Lakers. It looks like we have the number one pro basketball team both in the Western Conference and the nation, you know! And even here in Prairie Country where winter lasts all of a month, we have a professional hockey team with its own ice arena. Shoot, on the Oklahoma River in downtown Oklahoma City, we have boat houses where teams from all over the country suit up to compete with rowing teams on those long, skinny boats that look like something out of the Middle Ages powered by chained prisoners!
I have to say that I get pretty engaged in a good game if I have an interest in one of the teams. The Thunder’s games have become a regular show at our home and during the Fall with football weather, OU, OSU and Baylor (my niece attends Baylor) grab my attention. I am known to jump up and down and scream on occasion and Mr. Fix-It seems not to mind. He’ll let go with a shout every so often, but he is such a patient man.
One of my favorite pastimes concerning sports, however, is to write down the really stupid things that sports casters say. It’s like they have to be yammering throughout an entire game and don’t even realize that they sound really ridiculous. Here are some that I have heard in the past and also caught just recently at the Super Bowl and a few basketball games:
• “He’s not a normal human being!! Normal human beings don’t make a living of trying to get killed.” (I’ll second that)
• “He’s gonna fall off and drop back.” (Sounds like a recipe for injury to me!)
• “I wanna know what’s going on in that locker room!” (And then proceeds to tell us exactly what the coach is saying as if the sports announcer is really there!)
• “We can move the football.” (Doesn’t look like it so far, buddy!)
• “We have to move the football.” (That’s the object of the game!)
• “Look!! Look! He passed with his left hand!! He’s amphibious, you know!!” (Somebody hand him a dictionary!!)
• We’re going to get a double crack (That sounds painful)
• “It’s all about getting the ball down the court.” (Well, duh)
• “It’s about making points. If they don’t make those points, they don’t win.” (Another, “well, duh”)
Get out your pencil and pad and keep track of your own “Stupid Sports Comments” and you’ll get double the entertainment watching any particular contest! But as I said, second to sports in Oklahoma is eating, and so I thought I’d show you how I fix hot wings for Mr. Fix-It to munch on while he quietly holds in the normal male urge to jump up and scream as his OU quarterback races down the field for a touchdown. Someday, he’s just gonna let go and be just like me!!
Brine
3 cups water
1 tbsp salt
Coating
1 1/2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
Milk
2 to 3 dozen chicken wing portions
In a large container, mix salt into water to make a brine. Place the chicken wing portions into the brine and soak in the refrigerator for several hours.
Meanwhile mix flour with spices and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Drain the chicken (but do not dry) and place into flour mixture.
Toss to coat all chicken wing pieces
Fry pieces in oil that is about 1/4″ deep. You can use canola oil, olive oil or coconut oil for healthier oils.
Turn pieces and brown on the other side. Don’t worry if the chicken is not totally cooked when browned.
Place wing pieces on a rack (I am using old cookie racks) over a cookie sheet. Place in a 350º oven and bake for 35 minutes. This is a very important step. It helps to take out a lot of the grease from frying, cooks the chicken all the way through so that it just falls off the bone and seals the crust.
Remove wings from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes. Place into a large bowl.
Pour your favorite hot wing sauce over the wing pieces. Put just enough that when you toss the chicken, it will be covered but not saturated. I am using “Wing Time” brand Buffalo Wing Sauce (medium heat).
Toss the wing sections in the sauce, gently, with a large spoon or spatula
Place the coated wing sections back onto the rack and place back into the 350º oven for 15 more minutes.
Serve the chicken with blue cheese dressing and celery as a game snack. Or serve for dinner with mashed potatoes and the works!
Tags: basketball, commentators, football, hot wings, sports, tasty snack, Wing Time Sauce
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