Tattoos and Pizza

Reading: I will be reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by the Swedish guy who wrote it (can't think of his name right now... I am sure it will come to me eventually, or I will actually look it up because it will bug me.  Anyway...).  I have resisted reading this book for a couple of reasons.  First off, it is popular and everywhere.  That almost always turns me off a book.  Ask me if I have ever read some of the other books that "everyone" has read.  Unless it was chosen for a bookclub selection, the answer will nearly always be "no". 
Secondly, it is not my style of book.  Nothing I have heard about it has endeared me to it or made me want to read it.  Mystery/thriller kind of genre, graphic sexual violence, long descriptions and lots of character
Third of all, I don't like tattoos.  And the title always gets the Fountains of Wayne song, 'Red Dragon Tattto" in my head and then I call the book "The Girl with the Red Dragon Tattoo".  Look up the song.  It cracks me up.

Stieg Larsson.  That is his name. So anyway...

Why am I reading it?  Because one of the bookclubs wants to.  And bookclub is not all about reading only what I want to (as much as I try to sway people away from certain books...).  Maybe it will be a treasured read.  I didn't want to read Harry Potter and I ADORED that and became obsessed with the series.  I also did not want to read Twilight and HATED that and did not read any more after the first one.
We'll see.  I'll keep you posted.

Eating: When last we saw Hallie going off to cook, it was Aloha Chicken Pizza on the menu.  Did she make the pizza?  Did they enjoy it?  Will she share the recipe?  The answers are all "yes".
Aloha Chicken Pizza was truly delicious.  It may have bumped the previous favorite off the top of the list (though I must admit the top two are quite similar - the former #1 was BBQ chicken pizza).  It is a Pampered Chef recipe, though I have made my own tweaks (of course!).  First off, I made my own crust.  Second, I used rotisserie chicken instead of cooking and chopping chicken.  Thirdly, I made my own BBQ sauce.  And finally, we used green peppers instead of red, mostly because our red pepper plants barely produced one fruit, we haven't seen any at the farmers market, and the grocery store feels the need to charge up the wazoo for red peppers.  But I digress...  Here is the recipe.  Feel free to buy your own crust and BBQ sauce, and to cook your own chicken.
Aloha Chicken Pizza

Crust (from Betty Crocker, aka "Big Red") >>>>If you are using refrigerated pizza crust, it takes 2 of them.
1 package yeast (or about 2 1/4 tsp)
1 C warm water
2 1/2 C flour
2 Tbls olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt (Note: when I am making for a red sauce pizza, I add a sprinkling of Italian seasoning into the crust mixture)
Combine yeast and warm water in a medium bowl and mix until yeast dissolves.  Add remaining ingredients and beat 20 strokes (don't ask me why 20).  Let rest 5 minutes.  Roll out onto warmed pizza stone (or of course you can use another type of pizza pan or other flat pan - I always use my stone and I always preheat it with the oven when making this crust). 

BBQ Sauce (from Pampered Chef Casual Cooking)
Cook 1/4 C finely chopped onion in 2 tsp vegetable oil over medium heat (I always skip this step because someone doesn't like onions - the sauce turns out fine without onions).
Stir together in medium saucepan:
1 1/2 C ketchup
3 Tbls Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbls cider vinegar
1/2 C honey
2 Tbls BBQ seasoning mix (I use the Pampered Chef BBQ rub)
1 tsp prepared mustard
(You will end up with about 2 1/3 C BBQ sauce - you only need about 3/4 C for the pizza.  The rest will refrigerate, covered, for up to 2 weeks.)

To make the pizza (as I made it - we like a thicker crust so we use the pizza stone instead of a larger pan like a cookie sheet)
Preheat oven to 425F.  Roll crust onto warmed pizza stone.  Spread 1/2 to 3/4 C BBQ sauce onto crust.  Sprinkle 2 C shredded rotisserie chicken, and 2 C well-drained pineapple tidbits over pizza (you can of course use fresh pineapple instead - it calls for 1 medium pineapple).  Top with 2 C grated mozzarella and 1/2 of a red (or yellow or green) pepper, chopped.  Bake 20minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is to your desired melted-ness and color (I like mine to be golden brown.).  YUM!  We served with Blue Hawaii drinks but would also work with Mai Tais!

Weeding: Today is the day of my plant swap and garden party.  So of course it is raining.  Sprinkling on and off, in the 60s and cloudy.  Good thing we cleaned out the garage and picked up the house too!  When I started planning this, it was August, hot and sunny.  I was thinking of summery snacks and dessert, summery drinks.  Now we are baking apple crisp and warming some cider.  We'll swap in the garage if we need to and retire to house for refreshments.  I am still looking forward to it and already thinking how I will do it differently in the spring.  Ready to swap monarda, black-eyed Susans, lambs ear, and ajuga.  And could be persuaded to dig up a few others on request.

Until we weed again,
Hallie

Reading: I finished Harry Potter over the weekend. Oh my gosh! I loved it! I can't wait for the next one. I think I will go back and re-read the others because there is a lot I have forgotten (for example, is Wingardium Leviosa the spell for opening doors or for making things float?). Anyway, my recommendation is for everyone to read this series! Run now and get started!

Other than another book for work (trying to squeeze one last exam in before I get laid off), I do not have anything new started. I may re-read The Cliff Walk which we read for bookclub a few years back. It is the memoir of an English professor who is not granted tenure (laid off) and how, after 100 rejections, he gets a job helping build houses, something that he never would have considered before. The full title is The Cliff Walk: A Memoir of a Job Lost and a Life Found.

Eating: We had lots of wonderful food for the Fourth. As soon as I get the recipes, I will share.

Gardening: We have a duck who has made a nest and laid at least 8 eggs in our new landscaping! We have named her Mrs. Quackers and are now learning more about ducks. I found this site about the reproduction of ducks (see the section titled "April and May"). We discovered the nest last week when Eric scared the duck (and she scared him) while turning on the spigot to water the shrubs. We called the Humane Society because we were afraid we had scared her off while she was incubating the eggs (there were 7 eggs at the time). We learned that they can only lay 1 egg per day (so she had been there a week without us knowing!) and that they do not starting incubating until they have a full "clutch" which is 8 to 13 eggs and at that time she will sit there until they hatch (29-31 days!). We thought it was a little late in the season to be laying eggs but the Humane Society guy said that maybe her previous nest got disturbed or destroyed. I will keep you updated on Mrs. Quackers and her family.

"When we lack proper time for the simple pleasures of life, for the enjoyment of eating, drinking, playing, creating, visiting friends, and watching children at play, then we have missed the purpose of life. Not on bread alone do we live but on all these human and heart-hungry luxuries."

I found this quote on someone else's Blog and either forgot to copy who said it or it was not there. I apologize for not giving proper credit, though I suspect I am not the only person to do so on-line. Anyway, I love this quote and think it applies to everyone of us, but especially those of us who get caught up in all the stuff we think we have to do and forget to take the time to do that which we would like to do. Take time right now (yes, I am talking to you!) for the simple pleasures. Don't put it off until you have finished cleaning the kitchen. I seriously doubt there is a person alive who, when reflecting on her life at age 99, says, "I really wish I had kept my house cleaner. I would like to have mopped more often."

And now, a quote from the all-too-quotable Mark Twain: "A classic is something that everyone wants to have read and nobody wants to read." Wuthering Heights, anyone?

Reading: I am reading Harry Potter at work. Is that illegal or something? Does it matter that there is nothing to do?

Harry is so cool. Everyone thinks that I may be Hermione but I don't think I was ever that bad, was I?. Ron Weasley is quite possibly my favorite. Apparently I go for dorky and a little clueless. No, E, this does not apply to real life--I do not think you are dorky or clueless. Anymore.

Eating: We had Pasta Salad last night. I am addicted to those flavored sliced almonds you can get (check the produce department, near the bagged salads). I could munch the whole bag... But then the Husband makes me share. Phfffffffftt!

Gardening: I watered everything very thoroughly yesterday evening, only to have it pour holy buckets of rain.

Reading: I love Harry Potter! The big buzz with this latest book is that "somebody dies". When I pointed out that somebody died in Goblet of Fire, and somebody died in Sorcerer's Stone, and somebody died in Chamber of Secrets, and probably, somebody died in Prisoner of Azkaban, I was told that this time it is one of the main characters. That is a somewhat bigger deal, though we know that it will not be Harry, Hermione or Ron. I'm predicting maybe Cho, maybe Dumbledore, maybe Hagrid.

Eating: Try the Turkey Noodle Stew! It is so good, so good you see. Tonight we were supposed to have the Enchilada Casserole but I forgot it needs to defrost (thaw?) for 24 hours before. So pasta salad it is.

We are making burgers for our 4th of July party and I have a request for Spinach Dip, from The Spinach Dip Addict. So here is my Spinach Dip recipe, which actually is my aunt Julie's recipe. It is equally delightful with vegetables or bread. 2 C. sour cream or plain yogurt, 1 package Knorr's Leak Soup mix, 1 C. chopped cooked and drained spinach, and, if desired, 1 small can water chestnuts, chopped (the water chestnuts, not the can). Mix together and let chill for a few hours to soften the dry soup mix and let the flavors marry (I feel like Martha when I say that).

Gardening: I picked a strawberry off my new strawberry plants last night! Yahoo! It was pretty good, too. I think I have a couple more berries coming but not many. The plants are doing well and spreading, as I assume they should. The sunflowers are growing, though I wish I had some of that Insta-Gro stuff they always had on Tom and Jerry or Woody Woodpecker cartoons. I want them tall and I want them tall NOW!

The Rudbekia (black-eyed Susan) is about to bloom, though the leaves look a little chewed up. The Coreopsis is blooming and sprouting new growth all over the place. I may regret my wish for this to get big and full quickly. The impatiens are all a-bloomin' so that I can see them from the path behind the yard now. The zinnias are back from the near-death they were hanging around at a couple of weeks ago. Not sure how their situation changed but glad to see they are back.

Reading: This weekend, I finished Undaunted Courage and A Painted House. Part of what I really enjoyed about Undaunted Courage is how the author portrayed Merriwether Lewis (and Thomas Jefferson, too). It was very balanced. Obviously, Stephen Ambrose really admires Lewis and what he did but the book is not merely a rave review of all Lewis did. Ambrose points out the mistakes Lewis made, both on the journey and in his life. He never tries to soften or pass over character flaws. These are very real people with very real flaws--alcoholism, bipolar disorder, racist attitudes. And yet, Ambrose doesn't dwell on those things. He gives the perspective of the time they are living in and also shows their vision and drive.

I enjoyed A Painted House. It never seemed far-fetched, always very real. The day-to-day struggles of cotton farmers in Arkansas--their struggles with the land and the weather, their relationships with the hill people and Mexicans who come to help with the harvest, their worry about Ricky, Luke's uncle, who is in the army in Korea, their worry that the people of the little town might find out that the poor sharecropper neighbor's daughter just had a baby she says is Ricky's, the secrets Luke is forced to keep about a death he witnessed, Luke's mother's dreams that they won't have to farm forever, that her son can have a better life.

I have now started Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Eric got it and the 2nd Harry Potter movie for me the other day. I am about 200 pages into the nearly 900-page novel and like it a lot! I am a big Harry Potter geek, though.

Eating: Nothing new. I need to work on this.

Gardening: It sometimes pays to procrastinate--the hanging pots at Lynde greenhouse, which originally were about $15, are now only $6.99! I bought 2 gorgeous red ivy geraniums. The annuals are now only 79 cents so I can replace the plants that have not survived.

Reading: I am almost done reading Undauted Courage. It is excellent and I would highly recommend it. Also, I have almost finished A Painted House. Also very good and recommended. The story really clips along and I don't even mind all the baseball details (Luke is a huge Cardinals fan). I am plugging along in the Foundations of Customer Service and will take my test next Thursday morning. This isn't a big test like the underwriting exam I took in April (and passed!) so is not a big deal.

I am very much looking forward to reading the new Harry Potter book!! Brian, a guy who rides my bus, is reading and says it is really good. He didn't even want to talk today, which is very unusual for him.

Eating: Check out the Pampered Chef website. You can use recipe search to find recipes by type (desserts, appetizers, etc.), by ingredient (if, for example, you have a huge bunch of zucchini and need some ideas what to use it for), by tool (if you have some Pampered Chef products you have never used and can't remember why you purchased) or by specific recipe name (if you tried something at a Pampered Chef party and want to duplicate it yourself).

Gardening: Some of my mulch in the backyard washed into a pile with the storms the other night so tomorrow I get to push it back where it belongs. All the plants survived, though, and my sunflowers are coming up! How long does it take for them to get tall?

One note about the comments--it make take more than one attempt for your comment to post. If at first it doesn't post, try and try again. Thanks for reading!