Rant and Rave Wednesday

Wednesday, June 30, 2010....




Any readers following me on a regular basis know if it's Wednesday, it's time to Rant and Rave about the past week. I have to admit, being away for over a month has you overlook the negatives and only remember the positives. Without further adieu, here are my Rants and Raves from the past several weeks:


Rave: Friend from Egypt in town. Can't wait to catch up with her.

Rant: Insomnia still in full swing.

Rant: Wally Watch 2010. Us against the woodchuck eating my parsley, peppers and cucumbers. I've gone through a lot of cayenne pepper (bunnies and woodchucks hate cayenne pepper) and am now trying to trap him/her with watermelon. Once we capture Woody safely, s/he will be relocated to a location far away from here and I will enjoy a Woody free zone. Wait....that may have sounded wrong.

Rave: Haven't gone grocery shopping in 2 weeks. Hubby's gone and I'm happy. I hate grocery shopping because no matter what time of the day I go, it's jammed packed.

Rave: Weather is going to cool down for long July 4th holiday weekend.

Rave: Scottish festival is this weekend. Nothing like a good adult heavyweight caber toss to make me amused. Seriously. Ever see one? I haven't a clue why, but totally fascinated with it.

Okay, that's it for me. I would love to read any Rants and Raves you want to share? Just click on the linky thing for anyone that wants to participate in Rant and Rave Wednesday -- or leave them in the comments section here. Please, please be respectful and do not use the linky thing if you are just promoting your blog (yes, this is another Rant of mine).

I never thought I'd utter these words...

Tuesday, June 29, 2010....


I found my go-to tuna tartare recipe!

Why would anyone make this statement? Maybe a restaurant owner. But, I'm not that. My hubby would tell me I'm nuts because tuna tartare is glorified bait. (Hubby fishes and he considers sushi to be bait).

Last year, I started really using my cookbooks and found out that the best rice recipe is in the Martha Stewart Cooking School book and Sheila Lukins found the best cooking technique for roasting asparagus which can be applied to other veggies and
I can state, without hesitation, Eric Ripert has my go-to tuna tartare recipe.

It's simple, elegant with perfect flavoring.

If interested, the recipe is in his A Return to Cooking cookbook.

Please sign me up for the 12 Step Insomnia Program....

Monday, June 28, 2010.....

Is there one? If so, sign me up. I want to kick my habit of Insomnia! It's horrible, debilitating and I believe an intervention is in order.

Isn't that people do for loved ones when a habit is causing havoc on their lives? Insomnia is doing just that. To me. I want it to stop without sleeping aids.

Why can't I just take 12 steps from the door of the bedroom to the bed and automatically fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow? This was the question racing through my head Friday night/Saturday morning. I mean, some people make it look easy. Natural. I don't think I can remember the last time I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Ahhhhhh.....now that would be heavenly.

Some people dream of lavish homes, cars, winning lotto, but for me.....it is getting a good night's sleep on a daily basis.

Question of the Week....

Thursday, June 24, 2010....



I've decided to make Thursdays my "Question of the Week" day because I always have questions and am always interested in people's answers.


This Week's Question is NOT from my husband. I know I gave him permission for the entire month to give me questions, but he choked. Today's question is: Would you rather date a person who only brushes their teeth once daily or borrows your toothbrush to brush their teeth?

While out to dinner last week with some single girlfriends, one was telling us some of the questions she answered on a dating site. One of the questions was: Would you date someone who only brushes his teeth one time per day?

She said no, but I couldn't let it rest and asked her if she'd rather date a guy who brushes once daily or borrows your toothbrush to clean his teeth.

Personally, borrowing my toothbrush is a deal breaker for me.

I've been asked and if my eyes had darts, I'd would have shot the individual with my eye darts.

Seriously? Can you say yuck.

I pride myself on being very middle of the road on most subjects, but some topics I will NEVER budge on.

If you forget your toothbrush, not my issue. My solution is to use your finger if you can't get to a drug store.

Rant and Rave Wednesday

Wednesday, June 23, 2010....




Any readers following me on a regular basis know if it's Wednesday, it's time to Rant and Rave about the past week. I have to admit, being away for over a month has you overlook the negatives and only remember the positives. Without further adieu, here are my Rants and Raves from the past several weeks:


Rave: Had a very successful food pantry dinner party last week. I made a lot of different dishes and YogaGirl was able to come to it.

Rave: I really hate people who text while driving. It has now happened on several occasions where I pull up behind someone and they're so obsessed with their wireless device they forget to make the left turn when the green arrow appears.

Rave: Went to a book reading given by one of my favorite, fun authors...Jane Green. Bought her latest novel, Promises to Keep, and have added it to my summer reading collection.

Rave: Got to meet my first blogger IRL - Will Work for Shoes. It was nice to finally see the person behind the words.

Rave: I went to my first WNBA game last night with my gf. She had tickets and asked me to go to Mohegan Sun. The whole night was great. We got to catch up during our car ride there and back. Win a little at the slots ($0.01 and 1/4 $0.01 - which I didn't know existed), eat at Bobby Flay's burger joint and see a great game. Connecticut lost, but the seats were great.

Rave: I love when I hear bloggers get discovered. Years ago, Jen Lencaster and Julie Powell got discovered through their blogs and now, LiLu (go vote for her)is up for the MTV twitterer (is that even a word?) contest. She can make a living by tweeting all things MTV. LiLu has a great sense of humor. Sure she's much younger than me, but her writing is about her and she's never malicious. She's just really very funny and humor is ageless.

Rant: YogaGirl and I spent some time with the eldercare attorney to discuss my parents. Let's just say, there is a tremendous amount of paperwork, counter intuitive thinking all rolled in with a touch of sadness.

Rant: People who don't know the expression "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say a word". Do I really need to hear for the zillionth time you hate my house and I should take a wrecking ball to it. Seriously? I thought we cleared the air several years ago about how caustic your comments can be and to stop it. I'm sorry this person has some stuff going on that makes them unhappy, but I AM NOT YOUR WHIPPING POST!

It's Carnival Week for New England Bloggers....

Monday, June 21, 2010.....






Does that mean I've run away and become a Carny? Nah.... It means that I'm introducing a fellow New England Blogger to my readers. Elizabeth at Thoughts from an Evil Overlord created a community for New England bloggers.

For one week, New England Bloggers will have cotton candy, livestock and games....oh wait, there is none of that in virtual land, but imagine eating while reading some really fun bloggers I've discovered through the New England Bloggers.


Months and months ago, I discovered New England Girl who writes about her everyday life in Western MA and Vodka Logic who, at the moment, is combating a weight loss challenge with humor.

However, the carnival challenge is to meet and greet someone new, someone I can relate to and I have to admit, this person found me and I really like her style.

Cheryl at Deckside Thoughts wrote a piece that spoke to me about a morning dove Freakin Morning Dove which struck a cord with me because she too had problems with a bird. And her take on squirrels, Squirrels cracks me up.

I think what I like most about Cheryl is her writing style -- capturing humor in mundane stuff can be difficult. But, she does it.

If you get a chance, check her out.

Greatest Sight While Driving ......

Tuesday, June 18, 2010.....



Yesterday, driving to the gym, I pass this minivan at a stop sign. I noticed the driver is female and the front seat passenger is an older yellow lab. S/he was sitting perfectly still with a seat belt across the front of its doggie chest.

I've never seen this before and it made me smile.

I have to admit, most dogs I see in cars hang their head out the window and never have the appearance of being a human being to me.