Ballpark Inspirations

Take me out to the ballpark! I'm so excited to see my son's team playing again.

On that note, I found ballpark-inspired recipes from Delish. There are Chicago-Style Hot Dogs, Illinois Caramel Corn, Texas Corn Dogs, Beer-Battered Onion Rings, Pigs in a Blanket, and eleven other recipes! Check them out!

I found out last year that chocolate-covered protein bars that have been in your purse make for messy ballpark meals...and make you look like a large three-year-old. (Note to self--never forget hand wipes!) What's your favorite ballpark snack?

Best Deal of the Week!

McDonald's new blueberry pomegranate smoothie is only $1 (for a small) until May 23! Hurry and get yours. My girls and I got some last night, and they were good! Great for breakfast, snack, or dessert.   

How To Make Iced Tea

Or ice tea. Or, as we pronounce it around here, ass tea. I'm sorry, but we do. Sometimes we have a slass of paa with it. Blueberry paa is nass.

Everybody thinks they know how to make iced tea, but they differ in their methods, and they can't all be right, now can they?

No. Only I am right.

So you bring four cups of water and 1/4 cup of sugar to a boil. YES, THAT MAKES IT SWEET TEA! I SAID IT WAS TEA, DIDN'T I? Okay, take it off the heat and put in 3-5 regular tea bags. If you want it flavory, put in some herbs or herbal tea, too (mint, raspberry, orange).

Let it steep for 3-5 minutes. Take the teabags out. DON'T PRESS THEM TO GET ALL THE "GOOD" OUT OF THEM. I think that makes the tea bitter. On the other hand, if you like bitter tea, press away.

Put some ice cubes in the tea to cool it down. Pour it into a 2-quart pitcher and top it up with ice and cold water. Put it in the refrigerator to get nice and cold. Serve it over ice.

If you don't like sweet tea, don't come to my house don't put the sugar in.

The end.

Oh, p.s. I'm still doing the Story A Day in May. The Wednesday stories have food in them.

Marian Allen
Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes

Growing your own tea by Joyce Lavene

Growing your own tea

by Joyce Lavene

From the Peggy Lee Garden Mysteries

www.peggyleegardenmysteries.com 

People around the world have enjoyed tea for thousands of years. The aroma, color and taste have been hotly debated (excuse the pun) and have been the cause of more than one duel!

Tea is made from the leaves of camellia sinensis. This is an evergreen that is cousin to our camellia japonica which produces such beautiful, showy flowers and shiny green leaves.  Camellia sinensis doesn’t have great flowers, but it has something much better.

Legends say that Chinese Emperor Shen Nung made a fire below a tree to heat water one day. Some leaves from the tree fell into his pot. The drink was both bitter and refreshing.  He realized that he had discovered a wonderful new herb  which he called “ch’a” which is the Chinese word for ‘check or investigate’.

Tea plant

Tea became known as the drink that could bring peace and equilibrium to mankind. It became prized throughout the world, demanding fortunes for some blends, until it was imported to Europe where everyone could partake.

Camellia sinensis is still a nice plant with small but pretty flowers. The best part is that you can cut your own tea leaves - green, oolong or black – and create your own special blends.

By Joyce Lavene
www.joyceandjimlavene.com

Tawnya Rush's "Munch in a Crunch" from The Doctors

Receipes are available from The Doctors website.

Clean out the Fridge! Raid the Freezer! Empty the Cupboards!

Our family vacation is soon approaching. A couple of years ago, I adopted a practice that I enact before going out of town. This practice saves money, time and keeps me from having to pull unidentifiable items out of the fridge when we return from vacation.
Two or three weeks before leaving, I minimize the amount of new food I bring into the house by using up what I already have. This process forces me to use what is good, throw out what is bad and create new recipes.
With summer vacations coming up, you may want to do this too!

Memories Are Made of Wood

Not a Monty Python reference. Well, okay, yeah, obviously it is a Monty Python reference, but I didn't mean for it to be.

I'm talking about toothpicks.

Shut up! It is not a boring subject!

Actually, it is a boring subject, but I don't care, I'm going to talk about toothpicks anyway. But just a little bit.

My husband and I went to a restaurant the other day, and saw this box of toothpicks, and it gave me such a nostalgia rush, I thought a tornado had come through.

When I was little, I thought mint-flavored toothpicks were the greatest thing ever. Even a bad meal out (and I was a picky eater, so most meals were bad meals) was redeemed by a mint toothpick.

Now, although I grant you that I lead a dead boring life, a mint toothpick doesn't ring any chimes for me in and of itself. But I was tickled to discover how big a kick I got out of remembering how big a kick Little Marian used to get out of pointy bits of wood treated with mint oil.

If you want to spread the delight, you can buy a box of 1000 individually wrapped mint-flavored toothpicks for $1.99, and cheap at the price. Or, if you have more free time than you know what to do with, you can buy plain toothpicks and flavor them yourself.

You're welcome.

p.s. I'm still doing the Story A Day May challenge. Almost half-way there, and I've done a story a day so far. Pop in and read a few, if you're so inclined. So far, none of them are about toothpicks. But I could probably be persuaded, if you ask me nicely.

Marian Allen
Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes