Good day, sir ... I said good day

You know what I can’t stand? No, I guess you don’t so I will tell you.

Store greeters.  I don’tdislike them on a personal level.  I’msure that they are quite lovely and pleasant people.  I just have an aversion to what they do.  You see, I don’t particularly like talking topeople . . . especially strangers. Perhaps it was my upbringing . . . stranger danger!  stranger danger!   I don’t know but . . . with the exception ofmy beloved hubby and my angsty teenager . . . on any given day I would be happynot to have to talk to anyone . . . at all. 

So, when I walk into a store and am practically forced tospeak to someone . . . someone I don’t know . . .  it goads me somewhat.  Since . . . again because of how I was raised  . . . I can’t bring myself to be rude andignore them.  I feel compelled . . . nay. . . obligated to respond in kind . . . andkindly.   That makes irks me.

I just want to go about my business, collect my items to purchase,pay for them and leave . . . without having to say a word to anyone.  Is that too much to ask?

What’s worse is that I can’t avoid them.  They’re right there . . . standing there . .. waiting to welcome me (or any otherperson who strolls through the door).    Andwhen I leave . . . they’re right there . . . standing there . . . waiting to wishme (or any other person who isdeparting the store) a pleasant day.  

And that’s they’re job. They get paid to do this.

That is all I have to say about that.

And don't even get me started on the people hanging around malls and store trying to ask people survey questions . . . 

Sausage Stuffing Casserole Recipe

1 Pound PorkSausage

1/2 Cup Onion,Chopped

2 Stalks Celery,Chopped

2 TablespoonsMelted Butter Or Margarine

3 Cups HerbSeasoned Stuffing Mix

2 Cans (15 OunceSize) Cream Style Corn

   or one recipe Creamed Corn

1 Teaspoon ParsleyFlakes

Cut sausage into 1 inch pieces. 

In a skillet, cooksausage, onion and celery till vegetables are tender and meat no longer ispink. Drain off excess fat.

Stir melted butteror margarine into 1 cup of the stuffing mix; set aside to use as a topper.

In a bowl, combinethe cream-style corn with sausage, onion, celery and parsley. Stir in remainingstuffing mix.

Spoon into a2-quart casserole. Spoon the 1 cup reserved stuffing mix over top.

Bake thecasserole, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for about 35 minutes or till bubbly andbrowned.

He that byteth his nose off, shameth his face

"Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" is a warning not to pursue revenge in such a way as to damage yourself more than the object of your anger.

My husband will be the first to admit the he will knowingly and willfully cut off his nose to spite his face. 

Hmmmm . . . I wonder where this phrase came from . . .

There is some indication, however unverified, that this phrase originated in the 9^th century with the legend of nuns disfiguring themselves in order to protect their virginity.   In the late 9^th century, Viking pirates invaded Scotland.  Their reputation of raping and pillaging preceded them.  As the raiders neared the monastery of Coldingham, the Mother Superior gathered her nuns together and encouraged them to mutilate their features, so that the Vikings would leave them unmolested.  Leading by example, she cut off her nose and upper lip and the others followed suit.  The Viking raiders were so disgusted that they burned the entire building to the ground.

Several hundred years later in history . . . Henry IV, king of England and France, wanted to burn Paris because of France’s general low opinion of him and objection to his rule.  Supposedly a subject of the royal court, in an attempt to deter him from destroying the city, told him to do that would be to “cut off his nose to spite his face”.   It’s interesting to note that when the English kings lost France they were exiled to a bunch of dreary, damp islands off the coast of Europe.

However, the phrase seems to have taken on a more literal translation involving the plastic surgery of certain unnamed, though pictorialized,  celebrities.

~~~~

Sausage, Peppers and Onions

• 1/4 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil


• 1 Pound Italian Sausage


• 2 Bell Peppers, Sliced


• 2 Yellow Onions, Sliced


• 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt


• 1 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper


• 1/2 Teaspoon Dried Oregano


• 1/2 Cup Chopped Fresh Basil Leaves


• 4 Garlic Cloves, Chopped


• 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste


• 1 Cup Cooking Sherry


• 1 (15-Ounce) Can Diced Tomatoes


• Provolone Cheese


• 1/4 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes, Optional


• 4 To 6 Fresh Italian Sandwich Rolls, Optional

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausages and cook until brown on both sides, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain.

Keeping the pan over medium heat, add the peppers, onions, salt, and pepper and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the oregano, basil, and garlic and cook 2 more minutes.

Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the sherry, tomatoes, and chili flakes, if using. Stir to combine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the browned bits. Bring to a simmer.

Cut the sausages into 4 to 6 pieces each, about 1-inch cubes. Add the sausage back to the pan and stir to combine. Cook until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes.

Serve in bowls. Or, if serving as a sandwich, split the rolls in half lengthwise. Hollow out the bread from the bottom side of each roll, being careful not to puncture the crust. Fill the bottom half of the roll with sausage mixture. Top with cheese and serve sandwiches immediately.

I can sympathize with everything, except suffering

I was an unsympathetic child.  If a playmate skinned a knee, I would giggle.  If a friend bumped their head, I would chuckle.  If they fell off a swing, I would snicker.  The worse the pain the harder I would laugh.  I couldn’t help it.  I don’t know why but I thought it was funny when other people got hurt.   Pretty f^cked up, huh?

Yeah, it was. 

Then one day I fell down and landed on a rock.  Bone was busting through my skin and blood was spurting everywhere.  No, not really but that’s what it felt like.  I was crying and hollering out my pain.   And standing over me was my bestest friend in the whole wide world . . . and she was laughing . . . laughing and pointing . . . laughing and pointing at ME!!  I cried harder and she laughed harder.  Then I just got mad . . . it was a long time ago but I remember exactly how I felt.  I yelled at her . . . why was she laughing when I was hurt?  That was just mean.   She looked at me and said, “well, now you know what it feels like.”

Lesson learned.  

Compassion understood.  

Sympathy acquired.

The Flies and the Honey-Pot 

A number of Flies were attracted to a jar of honey which had been overturned in a housekeeper's room, and placing their feet in it, ate greedily. Their feet, however, became so smeared with the honey that they could not use their wings, nor release themselves, and were suffocated. Just as they were expiring, they exclaimed, "O foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves." 

Pleasure bought with pains, hurts. 






Pasta E Fagioli with Italian Sausage  (A Crockpot Recipe)

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Onions, Chopped

2 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped

1 Carrots, Peeled & Chopped

1 Stalk Celery, Chopped

1 Lb Hot or Sweet Bulk Italian Sausage

2 Teaspoons Dry Oregano

1 Tablespoon Dry Basil

1 -2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes, To Taste

1 1/2 Cups Canned Chopped Tomatoes With Juice

3 -4 Cups Chicken Stock

2 Can Cannellini Beans With Juice

1 Lb Cup Ditalini, cooked according to package directions

Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium high heat.  Cook onion in oil 2 minutes. Stir in garlic, celery and carrots and cook for 3 minutes. 

Add and brown crumbled sausage.

Add mixture to crock pot and stir in basil, oregano, red pepper and tomatoes.

Stir in beans and stock.

Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Serve over pasta. Top with grated parmesan cheese.

Note:  I undercook the pasta then add it and add the soup to containers and freeze for lunches.  That way the pasta is not overcooked.

People who snore always fall asleep first

Every couple knows how precious mattress real estate is.  Although it should obviously be an invisible line straight down the middle of the bed, it seems that the line of demarcation between equitable sides is vague at best.   And when there’s a pet, or multitudes thereof, property value is at an even higher premium.  Thankfully, our kitty is a non-issue.  Her spot is mostly on my butt or sometimes on his hip . . . basically she’s double parked.  Which is good . . . more room for us!

It only took my husband and me 7 years to lay down . . . and agree upon . . . the property lines.  Of course, at first there was the inevitable struggle every night at bedtime.   The disagreement over who was hogging more of the bed, the butt bumping when someone’s posterior strayed into the other’s territory, an elbow to the rib or nose and the all out shoving of the other person to their side.  Now and again even combat tactics have been employed to gain precious ground . . . biological warfare . . . farting is an effective approach to relocating serial bed hoggers . . . needless to say girls don’t fart, the blow kisses.  Whatever works, right?

Now the laptop and two cell phones are a different story . . . they take up space that makes HIM infringe on MY space.    However, I generally can’t complain for a two reasons.

One, the laptop is on the bed for one reason . . . I’m a morning person and my husband is a night person.  That means that I like to go to bed way earlier than he does.  But because he likes to spend time with me . . . even if I’m snoring away . . . he will come to bed with me and do whatever it is he does on his computer while I’m snoozing.

Two, the presence of the electronic devices smooshes him closer to me which encourages snuggling which I can’t say that I mind.  And, being that he’s such a good cuddler, it actually makes it an optimal arrangement.

With the exception of the occasional scuffles over a stray foot or arm, the skirmishes over the equitable distribution of the mattress assets has been settled comfortably. 

________________________

Hot Sausage and Pepper Cornbread

Sweet, crusty cornbread baked over a layer of spicy sausage, onions and peppers . . . a killer good combination!

  

1 1/2 Pound Hot Sausage

1 Chopped Onion

2 Bell Peppers, Diced

1 1/2 Cup Grated Cheddar Cheese

1 Recipe Southern Cornbread (See Below)

Lightly brown sausage in 10-inch skillet. 

Add onion and peppers to skillet and cook until tender.

Southern Cornbread

1 1/2 Cup Stone Ground Corn Meal (Yellow Or White)

1 1/2 Cup Flour

1 1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 1/2 Tablespoon Baking Powder

3 Tablespoons Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Oil Or Bacon Drippings

1 1/2 Cup Milk

Combine the ingredients and stir briefly. 

Sprinkle shredded cheese over meat mixture. Pour cornbread batter on top. 

Bake in 450 degree F oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Safety doesn't happen by accident.

Safety pins are so versatile . . . they keep your clothes from falling off, they can be used as jewelry, and they can make a fashion statement.  The safety pin as we know it was invented in 1849 for a rather practical reason.  But probably not the purpose you might think.  The creator, Walter Hunt, was good at thinking up all kinds of things . . . sewing machines, flax spinners, coal stove.  Unfortunately, he failed to patent many of his ideas and didn’t make money off of them.  However, he owed a friend a sum of $15 dollars and needed to come up with a way to pay him back.  So he decided to invent something new.  He decided to come up with a way to make straight pins safe.  So, in 1894, from a piece of brass wire he made the first safety pin, by coiling the center and shielding the end.  For this invention he took out a patent and sold the rights to it for four hundred dollars.  He paid his friend back and had three hundred eighty-five dollars to spare.            Of course, that’s nothing compared to the millions he could have made on his many other inventions.

 

Pins, regular straight pins, not safety pins were so rare in 12th century England that they were only sold on January 1st and 2nd. Since they were so expensive, a separate sum for this luxury was granted to the ladies by their husbands. That’s how the expression "pin-money” came to be.

Nearly one hundred years later in the 1980’s, safety pins became an accessory to punkers.  Among many other things . . . purposely-ripped clothes were held together by safety pins and safety pins were used as jewelry and as body piercings.

“The Safety Dance" was a popular single in the 1980’s.  Punk band, Men Without Hats, wrote the song as a protest against bouncers stopping dancers pogoing to music in clubs.  In a time when disco was dying a well deserved death, pogoing was new and strange.  It was done by holding the torso rigid and thrashing about. Bouncers, unfamiliar with this new style of dance, thought it could be dangerous and kicked pogoers out of many clubs.  Dangerous dance, hence . . . safety Dance. One misconception, in the era of a growing epidemic of AIDS infections, was that the song was a call for safe sex and the use of condoms. 

The use of condoms was, indeed, growing exponentially in the 1980 and beyond.   However, these penile protectors have been around for millennia.  Egyptian, Chinese and Roman society uses various materials to keep winkies safe from bugs and disease.    During the

The 16^th century experienced an epidemic of syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease.  Coverings of linen, silk and pieces of animal intestine slipped onto a love wand and secured at the base with a piece of ribbon.  Latex wasn’t invented until the mid-1800’s . . . those very early rubbers had a seam and were as thick as an inner tube . . . yikes!  Soon after it became safe and practical condoms became widely available.   It wasn’t until much later that it was discovered that condoms prevented not only unwanted diseases but also unwanted babies.  Hence making it safe to dance if you wanna.

________________________________

Italian Sausage & Steak Chili (A Crock Pot Recipe)

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Pounds Eye of Round, Cut Into Small Cubes

1 Pound Hot or Sweet Bulk Italian Sausage

Salt And Pepper  

3 Jalapeño Peppers, Chopped

1 Onion, Chopped

3 To 4 Cloves Garlic, Chopped

1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano

2 28-Ounce Cans Cannellini Beans With Juice

1/2 Cup Tomato Paste

1 Can or Bottle Beer – I Used A Lager

3 Cups Beef Stock

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, add steak and brown.  When steak is browned transfer to crock pot.  Brown to sausage in same pan used for the beef then transfer to crock pot.

Combine the peppers, onion, garlic, oregano, beans, tomato paste, beer and stock in the slow-cooker crock pot, and then close the lid. 

Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours.

Serve in bowls topped with shredded cheese.