Our Newest Obsession October 29, 2007

This is true love cioppino in a bowl steaming hot, spicy with toasted baguettes with olive oil! this is a expensive dish to make but so worth every penny, I love love love cioppino, I made it last night for dinner

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Ingredients
1/4 cup (3 turns around the pan in a slow stream)
extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 to 3 flat fillets of anchovies, drained
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup good quality dry white wine
1 (14-ounce) container chicken stock
1 (32-ounce) can chunky style crushed tomatoes

4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed (about 1 tablespoon)
1 handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 1/2 pounds cod, cut into 2-inch chunks
Salt and pepper
8 large shrimp, ask for deveined easy-peel or peel and devein
8 sea scallops
16 to 20 raw mussels, scrubbed
A loaf of fresh, crusty bread, for mopping

Directions
In a large pot over moderate heat combine oil, crushed
pepper, anchovies, garlic, and bay. Let anchovies melt into oil. The anchovies act
as a natural salt, the pepper flakes will infuse the oil, providing heat.
Chop celery and onion near stove and add to the pot as you work. Saute vegetables
for a few minutes to begin to soften and add wine to the pot. Reduce wine a
minute, then add chicken stock, tomatoes, thyme, and parsley. Bring sauce to a
bubble and reduce heat to medium low.

Season fish chunks with salt and pepper. Add fish and simmer 5 minutes, giving the
pot a shake now and then. Do not stir your soup with a spoon after the addition of
fish or you will break it up. Add shrimp, scallops, and mussels and cover pot.
Cook 10 minutes, giving the pot a good shake now and again.

Remove the lid and discard any mussels that do not open. Carefully ladle stew into
shallow bowls and pass bread at the table.

Street people are super nice October 27, 2007

Lately I’ve noticed that street people are some of the nicest people you will ever meet, they are honest they will just ask you for money, and take no for an answer, People don’t usually say hi on the street even if we say hi to them, street people always say hi back, street people give good advice, a woman told me today to watch my kids, lock my car and turn off my headlights, they will ask you were you are from and tell you their names, they constantly tell me how cute and beautiful my family is, a group of three street men were sitting on the side of the road yesterday and when I passed them with all five kids they yelled out to me that I had a beautiful family and wished me many many more children.
One street guy in our town sits on a park-bench all day he wears a teal and white winter coat with a cowboy hat and tight shorts he’s like 225lbs, and he jogs in place all day, I have no idea why he still weighs that much, he also does periodic stretching, he is a true small town landmark, another one that lived in woods by our house had bleach blond hair that stood straight up he walked like 100 miles per hour and went out of the woods to the road to shake his door mat to his tent.
One thing I have noticed is even if you give a street person a small amount of money they always ask a blessing on you.

Cheezy pumkin day slide show October 22, 2007

I miss YOU October 17, 2007

You read this thing what’s your name, you make the best old lady in the whole world, even though your arthritis is killing you and you need yard work. I wish I had a grandmother like you and not one with alzheimer’s who thinks my husband is hot, stop working so much and call me you old hag!!