Make a small motivational poster of pictures and quotes that you like. It can be as small or big as you like.
I ammended this one and instead made a poster of what I wanted to do during the Christmas holidays… I’ll blog more about it next week, complete with picture of said professionally made collage. I also discovered that I am a wizard with the scissor… aka I managed to cut things that don’t require cutting (aka my shirt), and nothing on my collage has an even edge. Sue me… I wasn’t good at scissoring in Kindergarten either!
Look up recipes that you might not like and try one anyway. You might be surprised.
In honor of Thanksgiving and despite the fact that I’ve tried them every year and hated them each time I tried them, I’m going to give Yams another go. Maybe I’ll like them better not mashed, but baked. For some reason that gritty texture makes me gag a maggot. And then you go in figuring it’s going to taste like an orange potato, but no… it’s all sweet and gritty and you can put marshmallows and brown sugar on the top. Ain’t nothing wrong with marshmallows and brown sugar, but I save my marshmallows for nose shooting contests… you know the ones where you stick a marshey-mallow up the ole nostril and then see who can shoot it out the furthest!?!? Okay… forget I ever said that, nor have I ever attempted to do it… I just dry heaved a little bit at that thought. That is plain nastified!
Take a full body picture of yourself and see the progress you’ve made.
Oh goodie gumdrops in a puddle of Wonka sweat… my least favorite pastime. I’m counting the fact that I took full length pictures a couple of months ago… no need to have to put me through that twice in the same year. Though, I am making progress as I find my side view easier to notice differences… the front view… not so much!!
*****
You all remember the kitty I was trying to hawk on this blog earlier this summer? The little bitty kitty silver tabby kitten with the high-pitched mew and the love of climbing up tall trees and not being able to get down? The one that hung out at the house in the garage for 2 months? We finally did find a home for her in approximately mid August of this year… and that was that or so I thought.
Two months later in October, I got word that the new owners were going to have to give it back because it did not get along with their existing cat. Oh lawsy. We had worked so hard to find a home for it and it kept coming back to me. Lindsay jumped on that opportunity to keep reminding me that it must be meant to be… only a few weeks after my sweet 22-year-old cat passes away and another one is falling into my lap yet again. How many times are you going to ignore that, Lindsay kept saying. Personally, I was still working on getting Lindsay to take it home to add to her collection of cats.
Meet, my new kitty, Lucy…
She does a lot of this… and she wreaks havoc on the Christmas tree Madre is putting up. She also found out how to be my personal heater/back rest on those frigid days:
She also STILL climbs up tall things and then can’t get down:
Such is the life of a spoiled brat kitty. Lucy, you got some ‘splainin’ to do!!
Question of the Day: What is your favorite way to eat a yam/sweet potater? Any toppings besides brown sugar and marshmallows?
HAPPY THANKSGIVING tomorrow, y’all Americans! I hope you all have a fabulous time hanging with your families and waiting in line for the Black Fridee sales so you can play tug of war with a slightly psychotic woman/man over the last Cabbage Patch doll. As a heads up, I won’t be blogging Thursday or Friday, but I’ll be back at it come Mondee, so hope to see you all then.
craving a life 
I believe I saw it all comin’ with Lucy. I swear I’m not in cahoots with the original adoptees!
Sweet potatoes… Yum! I usually cook them in boiling water and then peel off the skin… mash them up really well and then put some brown sugar on them and shovel ’em in my mouth! Yum! Some sweet potatoes are better than others… believe it or not I actually prefer the store ones to home-grown ones.
Your difficulty with scissors is more proof that you were supposed to be left handed. We left handed folk have a love-hate relationship with scissors- generally it’s a HATE relationship. Mine is so bad that my boss purchased a pair of left handed scissors so that I would stop bugging co-workers to open things for me. :b
So now my excuse to not being able to get something open is that the scissors are on the other side of the room. 😉
I’ll try to make it through Thursdee and Fridee without the morning’s first ray of light… :s
Have a nice Thanksgiving, Whit! I assure you I have no Thanksgiving songs to sing to you.
I am way surprised that you are a fan of sweet taters… what is the world coming to! Of course, my next most logical question is have you ever melted a thing of Peeps on the top of your sweet tater casserole? Enquiring minds!
As for the scissors… THANK YOU!! Them things are overrated anyway, I tell you what. They should really invent a new kind of fool proof cutting tool!
Hope you have a grand T-day too, Avy! I know some Thanksgivingy songs, but most of them don’t have a thing about snow in them… thank all that be holy!
Keep that kitty. I meet her at your door one day and thought she was special. I really have enjoyed having a cat for so many years. They are much easier than a dog. Happy thanksgiving to you and keep up the great blogs. I start my day checking on you.
I agree that cats are much easier than dogs… self-cleaning, self-bathroom trained, and self-entertained. Yes, please! Take care, Karen!
Cute kitty! I love to bake yams (cut like chips) on a baking sheet sprayed with olive oil flavored pan and sprinkled with Mr. Stubbs (brand name) ginger rub. I cook them at 400 until tender, but some folks cook longer to make chips. They are tasty!
And we have a winner… those chip-like things actually sound deevine! I will keep an eye out for the Mr. Stubbs ginger rub! Thank you, Randy!
My grandma used to layer sliced yams and apples together in a baking dish, sprinkle with cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter, and bake them in the oven. It’s really delicious, and a nice change from the old marshmallow topped standard. (which I love, also).
Mmmm… apples with yams sounds mighty tastee. Thank you for the tip, Jaana! I think easing into the world of grit with half apple in there might make it a winner!
Good for you for trying yams. I should do the same thing too, and push myself out of my comfort zone and picky eating. I love your cat Lucy too! She is so cute. I hope she doesn’t get stuck at the top of your Christmas tree.
I forgot if you like yams or not. We will conquer our picking eating, Pen! She has tried to climb up the Christmas tree on several occasions, but hasn’t made it far yet. That kitty is gong to electrocute herself… mark my words!
Lucy is still a cutie and by the looks of it…a keeper…LOL
Found this recipe in a magazine from the grocery store.
Now my most favorite way to eat sweet potatoes!! You really have to try this.
I made this for Thanksgiving and only a half of this original recipe. The kids & I tried a bite as it was still warm and we each LOVED it. That is saying something!!! SUCCESS!!
Keep in mind that I do not like sweet potatoes in that sweet brown sugar, sticky marshmallow-ie mess. BLECH! Never have. ICK!
Roasted Maple Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onion and Bacon
Prep:30 min
Cook/Roast: 40 min.
Serves: 12 people
5 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
8 slices smoked bacon ( about 1/2 lb ), each cut crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium onions, each cut in half and thinly sliced
3/4 cup maple syrup
1-1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss sweet potatoes, oil, salt, pepper and cinnamon until combined. Evenly spread potato mixture on 2 rimmed baking pans. Roast 45 min or until potatoes are browned, stirring once halfway through cooking.
2. Meanwhile, in large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat 8- 10 mins. or until crisp, stirring occasionally. With slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel lined plate to drain.
3. Drain all but 3 tablespoons bacon drippings from skillet. Add onions and cook over medium heat 8- 10 mins or until tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to med- low and cook 15 – 20 min longer or until onions are very soft and evenly browned, stirring frequently. Stir in maple syrup, lemon juice and thyme, and cook 5- 7 min or until syrup is reduced by half and slightly thickened.
4. In large bowl, toss potatoes, bacon and onion mixture until well combined.
Enjoy
Louisa
Thank you so much for the recipe, Louisa… even if I don’t use bacon, there seems to be a lot of different flavors going on, so hopefully I won’t miss it. Maybe I can just add a bit more salt since bacon is salty. Hope your turkey day is stupendous, Lady! Travel safe!
AWW! I have to agree, I think you should keep the kitty. It definitely seems like it’s meant to be. If you send her away, she’s just going to come back to you again Whitney. 🙂 Besides, she IS adorable.
I love yams/sweet potatoes! I eat them any way. I just peel them, boil them and mash them like a regular mashed potato. Otherwise, the marshmallow/brown sugar recipe is good too.
You are totally right, Deanna. I just need to settle in with the kitty… she is a sweet little thing and I have to laugh at her kittyness every day… laughing is a good thing, right?
You have to watch this one, Whitney…makes me think of Lucy and your Christmas tree..LOL
Oh my goodness… how adorable was that? And yes, it totally reminded me of Lucy and her fascination with the Christmas decorations. She’s never seen these things before and they are just fascinating to her! THanks for the laugh, Louisa!