#10....Friends, Okra and Southern Kitchens

I've made some lifetime friends in the past (now) five years. I am on a message board. I joined it just to get information about a particular area of the country that I like to visit. I lurked for a long time, finally got up the nerve to post and the rest is history. This particular area of the country I like to visit is very picturesque, scenic and just downright funky and fun. I started posting on this board along with a lot of other live there wannabe's and some live there's in reality. We formed bonds online and eventually we made plans to meet in this magical place for a bonfire soiree. I met instant lifetime friends. That was in 2006, and I'm still grateful every day that I met these wonderful people. They make me laugh, they make me think, they make me mad (not really), they make my life better. I know I can go to them with any question or problem and they'll help me solve it. They have broadened my horizons in immeasurable ways. If it weren't for them, I would never have known about the latest fashions, decorating trends, food trends, travel tips, household tips and countless other tidbits of information that I couldn't have lived without. I'll talk about them from time to time I'm sure--and you'll get to know and love them too.

I still have other lifetime friends that I don't see as much as I'd like. See Post #3. There will be more stories about them later on.

Today, I went with my darling husband to the Farmer's Market in Dallas. We bought tomatoes from East Texas, peaches from Parker County and okra. OMG, how I love me some fried okra. He hates it, it makes him gag. Fine with me...more for me. I don't make it often, but I am so looking forward to fryin' up a big mess of it tomorrow. I was gonna do it tonight, but WTF--I'm out of corn meal!! How can that happen in a southern kitchen? Blasphemy!! Which brings me to my real topic of the night...

Things you should NEVER run out of in the kitchen.................

1. Butter. Enough said.
2. Corn Meal. How can you fry okra and make cornbread with no corn meal? It must also be yellow.
3. Mayonnaise. Not Miracle Whip. MAYONNAISE. The glue that holds the southern kitchen together. And the best thing ever on tomato sandwiches.
4. Sugar. Sweet tea. Period.
5. Potatoes. To be fried with onions.
6. Cheese. Put it on everything along with bacon.
7. Shortening. To make biscuits and pie crust.
8. Flour. To make cream gravy.
9. Butter Beans.
10. Pecans. Freeze them for the summer. Always have them ready in case you need a pecan pie.

I'll be going now. Off to have a tomato sandwich and some sweet tea.
How much is it to join Weight Watcher's?

#8 & 9.. Ain't Life Grand?

I've never been to the Grand Canyon. Something inside me tells me I should go. Considering I hate heights, it could be interesting. Maybe I will go and just take a quick pic and be on my way. Maybe I'll hike to the bottom.....nah. But, I would love to see it early in the morning and at sunset. I'm sure it will surpass my every expectation.
Lately, I've been percolating a little plan, maybe for next year. I'd like to drive Route 66 and stop off at the Canyon along the way. I'm looking for a traveling companion since my husband absolutely refuses to be in the car that long, my daughter can't take that much vacation, and most of my friends can't either. I wonder if I call Oprah if she'd want to go? Maybe going alone wouldn't be so bad, but I'd probably be talking to myself after about 50 miles. There's some people along the Route that I could stop and see. I could blog the trip. That could really be interesting. I will think more about this..............

#7...The witch is in

For most of my adult life, I wanted to go to New England. Finally, I got the chance back in 1988. I was 35. Man, that sounds so young. Anyway, I went with two very dear and crazy friends. We stayed with some other friends that lived in a suburb of Boston and we had the time of our lives. I swear to this day that some of the places actually looked familiar. I've never really been "into" former lives and all that crap, but in this case, I think there might be something to it. I really felt connected to the whole area in some strange way. I used to tell my ex-husband that I had this feeling and he always used to tell me, "that's because you probably did live there in a former life...in Salem." Fucker. I laugh now, but he really pissed me off when he said that. In fact, he really pissed me off most of the time. Hence, our ultimate division.
If you've never been to New England in the fall....GO. It's stunning. Go to Vermont, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire. Go to the Cape. Go to Martha's Vineyard. See the whales. I'm not sure quite how it happened, but when I got on the whale watching boat, I had on a Luckenbach t-shirt. When I got off, the first mate had my t-shirt on and I had his t-shirt on. Hmmmmmmm.....he WAS making us drinks the whole time.
I just met someone from Maine and she has a family cabin there. She may be my new BFF.

#6..........Smoke 'em if you got 'em

I hate smoking. I love smoking. I hate that it is so bad. I love that it's so good. Hate the smell of stale smoke. Love the smell of a just lit cig. Hate that some people can just put them down and never smoke again. Love that some people can just be social smokers and only smoke when they drink. Hate that they cost almost EIGHT fucking dollars a pack. Love that if I quit, I could go to Paris.
Ok..I am about to convince myself it might be worth it to quit, mais, je ne veux jamais cesser de fumer dans un million d'années.

#5

5. I cuss more than I should. I try not to, but it just rolls off the tongue. Can't help it. Don't care....really. I try not to do it around people I know would be offended. One friend in particular that chooses not to cuss uses me as her surrogate cusser. I never use the GD word, but I can roll off a string of F's, MF's and SOB's as easy as you please. I find that F is applicable in sooo many situations. In fact, I belong to a group online that just likes to say the word Fuck. I find I use the word Motherfucker(s) to describe many companies like BP, the electric company, the phone company, etc. Sonofabitch! is often used when excited OR pissed off--as in..."Well, sonofabitch!!!!" I also like the plural, "sonsabitches" which is often used to describe companies as well.
So, I guess those are my three faves, and generally one or all will cover any situation or topic. I do know that if my grandmother were alive, my mouth would taste of soap right now.
Peace, motherfuckers!

#'s 2, 3 & 4

2. True. Enough said.
3. There are some people I miss. Some I'll never see again in this lifetime, and some I see occasionally that I still miss in my every day life. Enough said.
4. I don't drink nearly as much as I'd like. I don't really know why, maybe it has to do with #21. I would like to remedy this by pledging to drink at least one drink every day. I love me some summer beer, I love vodka and I love Corona. The vodka has to be the good shit though. I do love a really dirty martini made with the good stuff. I was watching a show about cocktails the other night and they made a martini and put tarragon in it. FTLOG, tarragon is some potent, nasty stuff and I would never ruin good vodka with it. To each his own, I suppose.
How can you go wrong with Corona? Tasty. I can do the lime or not, but I especially like those cute little Coronitas.  The other Mexican beers (Dos Equis, Tecate, etc) are good enough, and there's probably some better than Corona, but the taste of Corona always brings back good memories. Some... of those people I really miss.
So, I'm off to have a little Coronita before bed.
Buenas noches!

Menopause, Boyfriends and Heat

First, let me just say that menopause sucks. Worse than traffic. Just when did I get so freakin' old that it happened to me? Actually, it happened about 10 years ago and yes, my friends, it's still going strong. First, I was really happy that I didn't have to deal with my monthly gift, but lately, it's just starting to piss me off. Weight gain and hairs growing where they absolutely shouldn't are just two of the lovely gifts I get to deal with now. I never really had a belly before, but boy, I can't say that now. The less I eat, the bigger it gets. WTF is up with that? Chin hairs...good GOD! I saw on Real Housewives of New Jersey (one of my all time favorite shows--and another post) that Caroline SHAVES her FACE in the shower every day! Yikes! Is this my destiny? I am considering laser, but would rather spend my money on liquor and cheese biscuits at Red Lobster (also another post). I have elected not to take hormones for personal reasons, but if this keeps up, I may be up for a sex change.
Then, I'm looking at FB and I see one of my old boyfriends has posted some new pics. Crap! He's freakin' OLD too!! I like to think he looks older than me. His wife looks like my mother. I hope he's not looking at my pics and saying, "Crap! She's freakin' OLD! She looks like my mother!"
If you've ever been to Texas in July, you know it's hot. The heat is not my friend these days. I've always been partial to summer, but I think I may have to give way to winter. No...that will never happen. Winter will never be my friend. I do like snow though..it's pretty. Ok, back to summer. I can only hope that this little recipe will help you make it through your summer, wherever you are.

With thanks to my friend Donna.

Summer Beer


6 bottles beer (I use Corona)
12 oz. can frozen limeade (you can use lemonade if you prefer)
12 oz. can vodka
12 oz. can water, sprite, or my favorite, club soda

yum yum--drink up!!

Traffic

Sucks.

Therapy

I kinda forgot about this thing for a little while. Every day, I think of stuff I should write down, if for no other reason than to help me remember later on, but somehow, I never seem to get around to it. I'm giving this another go.
It occurs to me if you ever read this, you might want to know a little about me other than what it says on my profile. I mean, ask yourself...do you want to spend time reading the ramblings of a middle-aged, pissed off, wrinkling, expanding, smoking, drinking, cussing, woman from Texas with nothing better to do than write about her thoughts, recipes and crazy life? Aw, sure you do................
Straight from the pages of Facebook..here we go...

1. I love old people. Go figure.
2. I love my children and grandchildren more than life itself.
3. There's some people I really miss.
4. I don't drink nearly as much as I'd like to.
5. I cuss more than I should.
6. I definitely smoke more than anyone should. Maybe someday, I'll quit.
7. I think that I lived in New England in a former life.
8. I have a burning desire to visit the Grand Canyon.
9. I hate heights.
10. I've made some lifetime friends in the past three years.
11. I have one friend I've known since 5th grade.
12. I don't like getting up in the morning. But, I look forward to that first cup of coffee.
13. If I won the lottery, I'd give a big old hunk of the $$ to help the homeless--that's people and animals.
14. I love road trips.
15. I hate liars.
16. I'm addicted to all things fried. This must stop.
17. I love the color black. You just can't mess it up.
18. I used to have red hair.
19. I love Jackson Browne. Who knew?
20. The ocean makes me cry sometimes.
21. I hate the feeling of being out of control. Does that make me a control freak?
22. Eggs make me nauseous.
23. If I lived in Vegas, I'd have to join Gamblers Anonymous.
24. Gardening makes me happy.
25. I love containers. Any kind of containers. The Container Store is a magical place.

So, I also figured I'd sort of take some of this stuff and explain it as a way of introduction.

1. I love old people. I do. I can't help it. I remember as a child being frightened of some of them. The ones who had dementia, even though I didn't know what that was, really scared me. I lived with my grandparents all my life. They might have had some mild dementia, but I never noticed. They died relatively young, by today's standards, so I don't think they ever got really bad dementia. Somehow, I ended up working in a nursing home for most of my adult life. Could this be God's way of getting his point across that old people are to be treasured? Anyhoo, I can honestly say that every day, in some way, they enrich my life. They make me think, make me laugh, cry and want to cuss sometimes, but they always make it worth it. I think too that maybe they don't like being old, but take the cards they're dealt. I don't particularly like it myself, which is a whole other post. I guess my message to you, dear reader, is if you've got an older person in your life, treasure every moment with them. If you don't know one, find one to make your friend.
I promise all my posts won't be so sappy. Most will probably be about crappy days, fun times and people I know that are truly unforgettable characters. The names might or might not be changed to protect the guilty/innocent.