Sweet Things
On our recent trip to Savannah, we ate at Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House. Uncle Bubba is the brother of the well-known Paula Dean of The Lady and Sons Restaurant. She even has her own show on the Food Network. I wanted to eat at her restaurant, but Doug didn’t want to wait in line and pay good money for “just plain country cooking.” So we compromised and went to Uncle Bubba’s. I highly recommend it. The corn muffins with honey butter were a great appetizer. We ordered the seafood platter. Everything was perfectly battered and fried to a nice golden brown. The slaw and tartar sauce were great, too. For dessert, I ordered the key lime pie, which competes with coconut cream for my favorite kind of pie. Well, this was the best key lime pie I ever put in my mouth! It was creamy with just the right degree of tartness, and it was cooked in a graham cracker crust with almonds. I enjoyed every last bite as I slowly savored each one. Then I got to thinking about other sweet things I love. (Unfortunately, I have a sweet tooth that just won’t quit and is the downfall of every diet I attempt.) So here is a rundown of my favorite desserts and treats.
While in Savannah, I had to have a praline, well, actually two pralines. They make chocolate ones now, and I couldn’t decide between that and the original.
A local restaurant called the Barbeque Shack has the best banana pudding, second only to my mother-in-law’s. She is one of the best cooks I’ve ever met, and I also love her German Chocolate cake, lemon meringue pie, peach cobbler, and sweet potato pie. Oh, and her pecan pie is yummy, too. I love banana pudding hot or cold, as long as it is the real, homemade-from-scratch kind.
Rafferty’s has an apple crisp dessert that is wonderful on a cold winter’s day. The Cheesecake Factory makes a chocolate mousse cheesecake that is sold at our local Barnes and Noble, and it is to die for. Probably my favorite restaurant dessert is tiramisu, which I love at either Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, or Carraba’s.
I love strawberries, and the best strawberry shortcake I ever had was at a Calhoun’s Restaurant, which specializes in barbeque ribs. (They were great, too!) The homemade shortcake was covered with lots of strawberries and whipped cream and was enough for four people to share.
Anyone living in this area knows about Cecilia’s cakes. While many of them are too rich for my taste, I absolutely love her Bailey’s Irish Cream chocolate cake.
My sister makes a chocolate dream pie that all of us like. My other sister makes her mother-in-law’s cheesecake which we eat with strawberries. My mom bakes a sour cream coffee cake that we often eat for breakfast during the holidays. My own specialty is a strawberry-banana pudding trifle that is a wonderful spring or summertime dessert.
The traditional birthday cake for my sisters and I is an icebox cake. The recipe was my grandmother’s. It consists of an angel food cake sliced into layers separated by a fluffy chocolate filling. Then the whole thing is covered in whipped cream. After it sits in the fridge for a couple of days, it is out-of-this-world good.
I happen to believe I have the best recipe for carrot cake, and I don’t give it out. It is a favorite at Thanksgiving. At Christmas, I have made delicious rum balls, coconut-orange balls, and homemade chocolate-covered cherries that are filled with a sweet ground pecan paste surrounding the cherry.
Almost nothing beats homemade chocolate chip cookies warm out of the oven with a glass of cold milk. Molten chocolate cake topped with ice cream is also great.
Speaking of ice cream, Eddy’s light slow-churned ice cream is so rich and creamy, it’s hard to believe it is low in calories and fat. Starbucks makes a mocha ice cream that is definitely NOT low in calories, but it is a real treat. On hot summer days, it sure is good to make our own ice cream with fresh Georgia peaches. Plain ole vanilla ice cream is delicious topped with hot fudge sauce.
I love the Dairy Queen. My favorite treat there is the Mocha Moolatte. Also good is the old standard dipped ice cream cone. The blizzards are delicious; I love the Georgia Mud Fudge and the banana pudding ones the best.
Arby’s has their Jamocha shake, which I just love, and Mel’s Diner makes a wonderful strawberry-banana shake. Even Chik-Fil-A has started selling really good milkshakes.
Anything chocolate is good. I love those chocolate oranges you see in the stores at Christmas. The rest of the year, we buy Dove’s Promises, individually wrapped pieces of dark chocolate, my favorite kind.
I’m not that big on candy, but I do love Peanut M&M’s. They’re great at the movie theatre or on the road.
Of course, none of these things do much for my waistline. In my next post, I’ll write about the lower calorie sweets I enjoy when trying to lose weight.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Saturday, June 17, 2006
What is boredom?
Retired people tend to fall into one of two categories. Some are bored to death and drive their spouses crazy by intruding on their lives every waking moment. Others wonder how they ever had time to work. I fall into the second group.
I really don’t understand why anyone would be bored; in fact, I agree with the old adage that the only people who are bored are boring people! There are exceptions to that, I suppose. I think of the infirmed who are physically unable to do anything, or the poor soul stuck in a boring job for eight hours a day. ( The last time I remember being bored, I was working as a cashier in a discount store. I was required to do nothing but stand at the cash register waiting for customers who were few and far between. I remember counting the holes in the ceiling panels just to have something to do!) Anyone who has control over their use of time simply shouldn’t be bored. There are too many good books to be read, to many places to explore, too many subjects to learn, to ever be bored.
Having said quite often that the word ‘bored” is not in my vocabulary, I decided to look it up in the dictionary. Here is how Webster defines the word bore: to weary by being dull, uninteresting, or monotonous. Boredom is then defined as the condition of being bored. To me, the world is such a diverse and fascinating place, that one should never have to look far to find something to do that is not “dull, uninteresting, or monotonous.”
It is interesting to hear the responses of people when they learn that I am retired at a relatively early age. The most frequent remark is “It must be nice!” To that, I smile and say, “It is.” Some people will say, “I could never do that. I couldn’t stand sitting at home all day.” I used to get defensive at that remark - it seemed to imply that that is what I must be doing, and therefore I must be lazy. I would then launch into a long recital of all my many activities to prove otherwise. Then I realized I really didn’t need to defend myself. I had made my choice after much thought and prayer and was happy with it, and it really didn’t matter what anyone else thought about it. Now I tell people that if sitting around the house all day is what THEY would do, then they really shouldn’t retire! They would be bored.
My problem is actually the opposite of boredom. There are too many things I want to do. It’s been a year now, since I left teaching, and my greatest disappointment is that I haven’t accomplished near as much as I thought I would in that time. I guess I thought that if I wasn’t working, there would be time to do everything I had always wanted to do. I’m slowly beginning to realize that there isn’t enough time in a whole life to do all I want to do. That is a painful realization, but an important one. It means I must really think about my time and how I use it. In other words, prioritize. Worst of all, it means giving up some of my dreams.
Here is a list of some of the things I hoped to do (not in any particular order):
have a beautiful yard
grow a vegetable garden
spend more time with family, friends, and neighbors
have more time for spiritual growth (prayer and Bible study)
become more involved at church
do some volunteer work
relearn the guitar
take up painting again
read my stack of unread books
cook good, nutritious meals
keep up with the laundry
keep the house looking good enough inside that I would welcome drop-ins
scrapbook my extensive collection of photos
learn how to use my photo editing software
learn more about the computer and organize its files
completely organize the whole house, including the garage and shed
stamp greeting cards
make a stained-glass painting for the screened-in porch
paint a faux window for the screened-in porch
other home improvement projects
sell stuff on eBay
make crafts to sell
possibly start my own professional organizer business
take better care of my health
exercise
write
travel; go with Doug on business trips
There, that is all I can think of for now, though I’m sure I forgot a few things. Now it’s report card time. How have I done so far?
The yard looks great, if I do say so myself, but it has worked me to death and taken far more of my precious time than I anticipated it would. Still, I have enjoyed it.
We’re already eating squash, zucchini, and cucumbers from the garden and the tomatoes are getting ripe.
I have spent more time with family, and that has been good. I would really like for my sisters and families to come for Sunday dinner once a month, but we all stay so busy! I would also like to go to Mama’s on a more regular basis. I still don’t see my friends as much as I would like, but at least I am relaxed when I do see them. I had lunch with two good friends this week, but I would like to have lunch with someone EVERY week.
As far as church is concerned, we still don’t go to Sunday School because Doug doesn’t really want to. But we are involved in a small group, and now we are starting this Angel Food Ministries in our church, and Doug is in charge of that. I will be helping him.
Prayer and Bible reading have been inconsistent to say the least, but I’ve done better than in the past.
I haven’t done any volunteer work. Nor have I picked up my guitar. I did take painting lessons and have one painting to show for it. It is basically finished and I have a frame for it, but I keep thinking I need to fix a few things and haven’t gotten around to doing that so it still sits on its easel.
I’ve been reading, but the stack remains high. I’ve had time to try some new recipes and enjoy cooking again. Laundry doesn’t pile up quite as bad as it once did, and the house is presentable most of the time, though there is still some deep cleaning that needs to be done.
I’ve spent much of the past few weeks scrapbooking the wedding pictures and learning to use the photo editing program in the process. It is almost finished. I also want to make a Christmas scrapbook, a 2005 scrapbook, and a “friends” scrapbook.
My computer is still bogged down and disorganized and I haven’t learned yet how to prevent that.
The home organization is a work in progress. The stained glass project, the faux window, greeting cards, and other projects are still just dreams. I sold my first item on eBay at a rather disappointing price and haven’t yet tried to sell anything else. I haven’t sold any crafts and can’t get up the courage to try starting a business.
I have been taking better care of my health and exercising, and I feel much better because of it. A definite success. Thank goodness for jazzercise!
We have traveled more, and I’ve enjoyed going with Doug on his trips.
My only writing has been this blog which I do when I can’t sleep. It really is a great creative outlet.
So, looking back over the past year, I give myself a “B.” I still don’t have a plan for getting things done; I just plan one day or week at a time. The problem with doing that is feeling so unfocused. I really need to set goals and make long-term plans for achieving them.
One thing for sure – I am definitely not bored!
I really don’t understand why anyone would be bored; in fact, I agree with the old adage that the only people who are bored are boring people! There are exceptions to that, I suppose. I think of the infirmed who are physically unable to do anything, or the poor soul stuck in a boring job for eight hours a day. ( The last time I remember being bored, I was working as a cashier in a discount store. I was required to do nothing but stand at the cash register waiting for customers who were few and far between. I remember counting the holes in the ceiling panels just to have something to do!) Anyone who has control over their use of time simply shouldn’t be bored. There are too many good books to be read, to many places to explore, too many subjects to learn, to ever be bored.
Having said quite often that the word ‘bored” is not in my vocabulary, I decided to look it up in the dictionary. Here is how Webster defines the word bore: to weary by being dull, uninteresting, or monotonous. Boredom is then defined as the condition of being bored. To me, the world is such a diverse and fascinating place, that one should never have to look far to find something to do that is not “dull, uninteresting, or monotonous.”
It is interesting to hear the responses of people when they learn that I am retired at a relatively early age. The most frequent remark is “It must be nice!” To that, I smile and say, “It is.” Some people will say, “I could never do that. I couldn’t stand sitting at home all day.” I used to get defensive at that remark - it seemed to imply that that is what I must be doing, and therefore I must be lazy. I would then launch into a long recital of all my many activities to prove otherwise. Then I realized I really didn’t need to defend myself. I had made my choice after much thought and prayer and was happy with it, and it really didn’t matter what anyone else thought about it. Now I tell people that if sitting around the house all day is what THEY would do, then they really shouldn’t retire! They would be bored.
My problem is actually the opposite of boredom. There are too many things I want to do. It’s been a year now, since I left teaching, and my greatest disappointment is that I haven’t accomplished near as much as I thought I would in that time. I guess I thought that if I wasn’t working, there would be time to do everything I had always wanted to do. I’m slowly beginning to realize that there isn’t enough time in a whole life to do all I want to do. That is a painful realization, but an important one. It means I must really think about my time and how I use it. In other words, prioritize. Worst of all, it means giving up some of my dreams.
Here is a list of some of the things I hoped to do (not in any particular order):
have a beautiful yard
grow a vegetable garden
spend more time with family, friends, and neighbors
have more time for spiritual growth (prayer and Bible study)
become more involved at church
do some volunteer work
relearn the guitar
take up painting again
read my stack of unread books
cook good, nutritious meals
keep up with the laundry
keep the house looking good enough inside that I would welcome drop-ins
scrapbook my extensive collection of photos
learn how to use my photo editing software
learn more about the computer and organize its files
completely organize the whole house, including the garage and shed
stamp greeting cards
make a stained-glass painting for the screened-in porch
paint a faux window for the screened-in porch
other home improvement projects
sell stuff on eBay
make crafts to sell
possibly start my own professional organizer business
take better care of my health
exercise
write
travel; go with Doug on business trips
There, that is all I can think of for now, though I’m sure I forgot a few things. Now it’s report card time. How have I done so far?
The yard looks great, if I do say so myself, but it has worked me to death and taken far more of my precious time than I anticipated it would. Still, I have enjoyed it.
We’re already eating squash, zucchini, and cucumbers from the garden and the tomatoes are getting ripe.
I have spent more time with family, and that has been good. I would really like for my sisters and families to come for Sunday dinner once a month, but we all stay so busy! I would also like to go to Mama’s on a more regular basis. I still don’t see my friends as much as I would like, but at least I am relaxed when I do see them. I had lunch with two good friends this week, but I would like to have lunch with someone EVERY week.
As far as church is concerned, we still don’t go to Sunday School because Doug doesn’t really want to. But we are involved in a small group, and now we are starting this Angel Food Ministries in our church, and Doug is in charge of that. I will be helping him.
Prayer and Bible reading have been inconsistent to say the least, but I’ve done better than in the past.
I haven’t done any volunteer work. Nor have I picked up my guitar. I did take painting lessons and have one painting to show for it. It is basically finished and I have a frame for it, but I keep thinking I need to fix a few things and haven’t gotten around to doing that so it still sits on its easel.
I’ve been reading, but the stack remains high. I’ve had time to try some new recipes and enjoy cooking again. Laundry doesn’t pile up quite as bad as it once did, and the house is presentable most of the time, though there is still some deep cleaning that needs to be done.
I’ve spent much of the past few weeks scrapbooking the wedding pictures and learning to use the photo editing program in the process. It is almost finished. I also want to make a Christmas scrapbook, a 2005 scrapbook, and a “friends” scrapbook.
My computer is still bogged down and disorganized and I haven’t learned yet how to prevent that.
The home organization is a work in progress. The stained glass project, the faux window, greeting cards, and other projects are still just dreams. I sold my first item on eBay at a rather disappointing price and haven’t yet tried to sell anything else. I haven’t sold any crafts and can’t get up the courage to try starting a business.
I have been taking better care of my health and exercising, and I feel much better because of it. A definite success. Thank goodness for jazzercise!
We have traveled more, and I’ve enjoyed going with Doug on his trips.
My only writing has been this blog which I do when I can’t sleep. It really is a great creative outlet.
So, looking back over the past year, I give myself a “B.” I still don’t have a plan for getting things done; I just plan one day or week at a time. The problem with doing that is feeling so unfocused. I really need to set goals and make long-term plans for achieving them.
One thing for sure – I am definitely not bored!
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Tough lesson
I guess lessons learned the hard way or the ones learned best. I just spent thirty minutes composing a blog and them clicked "publish post." Well, the blog failed to publish, probably because of a poor Internet connection, and now I've lost it. I don't see a way to navigate back to it and can't find it anywhere. Here is what I have learned - always save my blog as a draft BEFORE I attempt to publish it. Since it is now 1:30 am, I don't think I will stay up to rewrite my post, even though I thought it was a good one!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
A Plague of Frogs?
This morning I was rushing around frantically trying to get ready for the members of my book club to arrive. I hurried into the hall bathroom to clean the sink and commode. When I lifted the lid of the toilet, there inside the bowl was a good-sized frog! It scared the living daylights out of me! My first instinct was to flush it away so that is what I TRIED to do. However, the frog hung on for dear life and managed to escape the sucking whirlpool. He was a rather grotesque-looking frog, not cute at all, but I felt a little guilty for trying to flush him, and since he fought so valiantly, I decided to spare his life. Grabbing some paper towels, I fished him out of the toilet and took him outside and released him. All day I have wondered how he got in there. Had he been living in the sewer? Is that why he looked like some kind of mutant frog? And if a frog could get in there, maybe a snake could, too. What a horrible thought that is! Are there lots more frogs where that one came from? I haven't been holding any Hebrew slaves, so I hope there isn't going to be a plague of frogs. No one else I know ever had this happen to them. Oh, well.
Book club was fun, as usual. Only five of us showed up, but we enjoyed eating breakfast and talking for two hours. I'm really quite pleased that we have managed to keep this going about three years now. My ideas are seldom that successful long-term.
The wedding scrapbook is coming along nicely. It really is fun to work on. I need to go buy a few more supplies for it tomorrow. Yesterday was a nice day. I took my in-laws shopping at an outlet mall. The weather was beautiful, and we had a pretty good time together. The day before I went to jazzercise, ate lunch downtown with Doug, and we both went to a training meeting for a new ministry we are starting in our church. It was a busy day. Monday was all yard work. That evening we got to play, however, because Sean got us tickets to a Georgia baseball game. It was a great evening for baseball with a gentle breeze blowing. Our seats were behind home plate, and best of all, we won to go on to the super regional playoff.
Sunday we went to church and afterwards had lunch with a couple in our small group. We rested that afternoon and went back to church that evening so Doug could introduce the new ministry to the church body. I was proud of him. He made an excellent presentation. He has had a busy week starting his new position at work.
My principal told me today that I definitely will be teaching one class next year that only meets twice a week. That way I will make a little money but still enjoy being mostly retired. That will probably be a good compromise for me. The class is Government and Economics which has been really interesting to teach in the past.
Well, this was a boring post, but I'm not feeling very philosophical tonight!
Book club was fun, as usual. Only five of us showed up, but we enjoyed eating breakfast and talking for two hours. I'm really quite pleased that we have managed to keep this going about three years now. My ideas are seldom that successful long-term.
The wedding scrapbook is coming along nicely. It really is fun to work on. I need to go buy a few more supplies for it tomorrow. Yesterday was a nice day. I took my in-laws shopping at an outlet mall. The weather was beautiful, and we had a pretty good time together. The day before I went to jazzercise, ate lunch downtown with Doug, and we both went to a training meeting for a new ministry we are starting in our church. It was a busy day. Monday was all yard work. That evening we got to play, however, because Sean got us tickets to a Georgia baseball game. It was a great evening for baseball with a gentle breeze blowing. Our seats were behind home plate, and best of all, we won to go on to the super regional playoff.
Sunday we went to church and afterwards had lunch with a couple in our small group. We rested that afternoon and went back to church that evening so Doug could introduce the new ministry to the church body. I was proud of him. He made an excellent presentation. He has had a busy week starting his new position at work.
My principal told me today that I definitely will be teaching one class next year that only meets twice a week. That way I will make a little money but still enjoy being mostly retired. That will probably be a good compromise for me. The class is Government and Economics which has been really interesting to teach in the past.
Well, this was a boring post, but I'm not feeling very philosophical tonight!
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