Rod....

I have not been feeling well but it did not stop my friends from inviting me to see the lengendary ROD STEWART at caesers palace! Yeah, they both scored tickets on houseseats, so I was in either way...Well, I can only hope...
Wow, so glad I went...he sang all his old classics, songs I love from the 70's & 80's...he rocked the house...it was one of the best I have seen!
Thank you Tanya and Colleen!!
Here are two of my favorites....I love them both!!
Way ahead of it's time..The killing of Georgie...about gay bashing...so awful, I think if people love each other it should not matter if you are black, white, man, woman, woman, man, man... as long as there is love.....I think this song taught me that long, long before I was even old enough to know what it all meant...thanks Rod!


And this one...Old flames burn bright and burn long....

A Happy Homemaker Hint

I got a couple emails full of useful tips around the house and I also see lots of good tips and tricks on Pinterest. I finally remembered to try one this morning!
I make my own roast chickens to use for chicken salad or chicken tacos, etc. I used to buy the rotisserie chickens already done at the store, but they had started to be too dry and overcooked, they have to over cook everything now days, so I taught myself how to roast my own, it is not cheaper, precooked 5.99, raw is approx. 7-9.00 but mine comes out juicy and delicious every time!! I'll take it!

So getting back to the household tip, it is the one about peeling garlic in 10 seconds by shaking them in 2 metal bowls. I use about 6-8 garlic cloves when I roast my chicken so I needed to get them peeled. I did not have two metal bowls so I looked around the kitchen and found a canning ball jar, hmmm, I wonder if that will work. I dropped my 8 unpeeled cloves in and put the lid on and shook the dickens out of them! Opened the lid and waa-laa, peeled cloves!!! Yahoo! that was quick and easy! I popped 3 in the bird and the rest around the bird, rubbed him with olive oil and covered with lots of spices, onion powder, lemon pepper, celery salt, salt and pepper, poured some chicken stock in the bottom of the deep dish roaster and shoved him in the oven. cook 1 hour, remove lid, cook 1/2 hour more and you have your own chicken meat for what ever you need it for! I am making chicken tacos tonight!
I hope you remember to use some of the helpful handy tips, if you have any to share, leave a comment!
Watch here:

My life....

I woke up to a wicked head cold, the sneezing, coughing, achy head, fever, can't sleep kind!
So this will be my life for the next week! UGH!!!!!
Be back after my head explodes or implodes...either way I would be better off!!!

KWS BAND!

I am so lucky! My friend Tanya called me yesterday afternoon and offered me 2 tickets to go to see Kenny Wayne Shepherd with her! She knows Charlie and I have been sitting home pinching pennies and trying to save money. I have an upcoming surgery in December, (Gotta get a handle on some pesky fibroid's) and work is slow so getting to go out was a real treat!
We met at the Orleans and grabbed some burgers for dinner, then headed in to see the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band! I have been a big fan of his since his idol is Stevie Ray Vaughan, his guitar playing is wonderful! He is self taught and been playing since he was 3!
And I love Noah Hunt's vocals, he could sing the dictionary and I would be mesmerized by that voice!
It was a great concert and thanks again to Tanya for letting us tag along!

Fall foods!

Fall Fox!

The one thing I do love about fall is the food. I love making comfort food, mac and cheese, homemade of course, did you know once you make homemade mac and cheese you will never go back to a box, Thanks Colleen Myler for teaching me that! Yes, homemade mac and cheese is just as fast and easy, try it!
I also love making casseroles, chicken pot pies, etc....

Today I decided to try Salisbury steak and mash potatoes with gravy and green beans.
I know my hubby grew up eating Salisbury steak probably from a TV dinner but he still loved it, I never really tried it or knew about it, but it sounded like a good fall meal.
Wow, it was fabulous!
I made the recipe from Pioneer woman's site:
Salisbury-steak

I made mash potatoes and green beans to go with it, those are no brainers. But the best tip I have learned with mash potatoes is to heat a stick of butter and a cup of milk in a pan while the potatoes boil, drain the potatoes and then add the warm butter and milk and mash. The perfect pan of mash potatoes and they stay warm with the warm butter and milk added!! So there you go, a nice comforting fall meal! Enjoy!!

November!

Made this wonderful pumpkin bread today, it is very good, very moist and pumpkinny!

I also put some chicken and white bean soup in the crock pot this morning. It is very fallish in this house today! Nothing can beat soup and bread! Enjoy!

(Chefs catalog sent it to me this morning in an email)

Coffee House Pumpkin Bread

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cooking Instructions
Grease and flour a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

MY NOTES: I DID NOT HAVE CARDAMOM NOT SURE IF I MISS IT, AND I DID NOT PUT SEEDS IN OR ON MY BREAD. ok carry on....

In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Stir in sugar. In a small bowl beat together eggs, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Be careful not to over mix batter

Immediately pour batter into prepared pan. If desired, sprinkle top of loaf with a 1/2 cup of salted roasted pumpkin seeds. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool, in the pan, on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Turn out bread onto cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.

Awesome for Boston!

Oh I am so so so HAPPY for Boston!!

Those boys gave all they had, every bat, every catch, they wanted this so bad for Boston and to prove to the world they were not just a bunch of bearded misfits! From worst to first, they did it!!

Yes! They were walking on air!

I cried happy tears last night as I am sure much of Boston did!!

I was watching the pre game interviews each night
and got to know a little of the men behind the beards.

Gomes, Pedroia, I already know about Napoli.

Gomes suffered a heart attack in 2002, only to come back and become "The Grinder" for his style of play!

Pedroia was told he was to short (he is 5'7) by a scout early in his start, guess that scout had no idea dynamite comes in small packages, what a bunch of amazing catches he made during the series, oh, and he took a huge pay cut just to stay with Boston, because he says  "it is not about the money, it is all about getting to play baseball in a town you love and that loves you!!

And Victorino and Big Papi! What a great group of guys that play hard and give even harder of themselves, together they created a team that surely will go down in the history books not just for winning the world series in 2013 but for being who they are and what they stand for!

BOSTON STRONG!!!