Fun Stuff
Random topics that don't fit in other categories.
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Happy Valentine’s Day!
My husband and I aren’t mushy people. In fact, we’re the people who make fun of mushy people. So we almost didn’t bother to celebrate Valentine’s Day but then I found out my friend, KB, was hosting a Valentine’s Day Dinner at her coffee shop. Once I saw the menu, I knew I had to buck tradition and make reservations. In fact, I was so excited about the meal that I told my sister~in~law and she and her husband joined us. So what was on the menu? Appetizer ~ Shrimp Cocktail with Jumbo Lump Crab Salad ~ A wonderful blend of greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, apples, celery and balsamic dressing Main…
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Black History Month Recommended Reads: Women in the Civil Rights Movement
February is Black History Month and I’m never really quite sure how to handle it. Should I write a post dedicated to some aspect of Black history? Should I write a month long series? Should I just ignore it and move on? I think my attitude reflects the conflicted world in which I was raised. We weren’t raised with Black consciousness. In fact, I remember back in the day when Roots would come on the television my mother would get a little upset because Blacks were being shown as slaves. I never viewed slavery as my shame, I viewed it as the shame of a people who thought the subjugation…
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Product Review: POM Wonderful
I’m a big fan of the exotic ~ be it person, place or thing. If it’s different I’m drawn to it (just ask my poor children who have to go through life with names like Anjuli, Jazmine and Arkese). But I especially love exotic foods (seriously, there is almost nothing I won’t try once). I think this comes from living with my father and stepfather, both of whom loved to experiment in the kitchen. Recently I was given the opportunity to try pomegranate juice by a company called POM Wonderful. Now I’ve had some experience with the pomegranate, you know, cutting it open, sucking on the seeds til the meat…
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Product Review: Tuna Creations by StarKist
I’m a busy married mother of four who is always on the lookout for quick and easy meals that my family will love, so when I was offered the chance to try Tuna Creations by StarKist, I jumped. I mean, really, who wouldn’t want to try something new and different (my family and I are always joking that someone needs to invent a new animal ’cause we’re tired of pig, cow and chicken). Well, this comes pretty darned close to a new animal ~ tuna marinated in a zesty sauce! When I went to the store to select my Tuna Creations flavors, I was torn between the Lemon Pepper Tuna…
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Sometimes a Fly is Just a Fly
I remember many years ago during my undergraduate studies I was taking a religion course with a wonderful instructor who had a pretty good knowledge of various religious backgrounds. During the course of the class, he discovered that I had been raised Church of God in Christ and, for whatever reason, this amused him greatly. So whenever something weird happened in class, he would look pointedly at me and say “It’s the devil.” One day during class, there was a fly buzzing around and being generally disruptive as flies tend to do. The fly made it’s way over to where I was sitting and I swatted at the fly unusually…
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Meatloaf Mice
On Wednesday afternoon, I received an email from my husband asking if I could come up with something to cook for a Halloween themed party he was having at work. Hmmmm….interesting request, especially since I hate Halloween (chalk it up to my upbringing, those who know my parents understand). Anyway, I sat up all night Wednesday trying to come up with something delicious and Halloweeny. The best I could come up with was Meatloaf Mice. (/sarcasm) What you’ll need: Ground beef to make mouse shaped meatloaf (you can make mini ones like I did or big ones) Cooked spaghetti noodles for the tails…
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Book Review: Sweetsmoke by David Fuller
Sweetsmoke is the story of Cassius Howard, a secretly literate slave, and his desire to find justice for his murdered friend, Emoline Justice. Emoline was a free black woman who served as surrogate mother and mentor to Cassius while he was recovering from a severe beating. Using his cunning and the limited freedoms granted to him as a favored slave, Cassius is able to gather clues to the identity of Emoline’s murderer. These clues take him from his plantation, Sweetsmoke, to the campgrounds of Confederate and Union soldiers to the middle of a battlefield during the Civil War. Along the way, Cassius meets a host of characters who alternately move…
