Wow ...

It's been a while since I've last blogged!! Been busy with all these projects going on at school. And now, a few days before I leave for Chicago I've managed to almost catch up with homework. Of course, I've got a bunch of papers to study on the train trip there and back ... got smart and copied the pages I need to study. I am so not lugging a heavy text book around!!

Not a lot going on otherwise. Same ol', same ol', really.

Just thought I'd drop in and say HI to ya'll!! Miss you ... been keeping up ... just not commenting much. Seems all this writing in class has taken away my ability to come up with a comment or two for ya'lls blogs. Sorry 'bout that. Next semester I promise to take an easier course load, one that allows me the use of some of my brain cells.

Gross Grub - Day Old Bathwater

Description:
This is the last entry for Gross Grub recipes. It's been fun!! Watch for a new recipe category starting soon.

Gross Grub by Cheryl Porter
Random House
ISBN 0-679-86693-0

Ingredients:
12 ounces Can frozen lemonade
12 ounces Can frozen pink lemonade
12 ounces Can frozen limeade
1/2 gallon Rainbow sherbert

Directions:
About 45 minutes before serving time, set cans of lemon and limeade and the container of sherbert out to thaw. After 15 minutes, scoop out half of the sherbert's containers contents and place it into a brownish color. Place the remaining sherbert back in. Prepare lemon and limeades according to the package directions and pour into the punch bowl.

Carefully float spoonfuls of the brown blended sherbert on top of the lemonade mixture, spreading it around to look like dirty brown suds. Do not stir. Use a ladle to serve punch in cups. Serves about 30 dirty, nonbathing buddies.

Sicko serving suggestion: Float a handful of green, yellow and white tiny after dinner mints (tiny bars of soap), on top of your scummy punch.

Gross Grub - Green Grassy Cow Patties

Description:
Gross Grub by Cheryl Porter
Random House
ISBN 0-679-86693-0

Ingredients:
3 ounces Package lime jello
1 cup Hot water
1 cup Sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 pound Butter -- softened
2/3 cup Firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tablespoons Milk
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 3/4 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 1/2 cups Old fashioned oats
1 cup Chopped walnuts
1 cup Currants

Directions:
With an adult's help, preheat oven to 375F. Mix jello and hot water in a small bowl. Stir until jello is dissolved. Add the shredded coconut, stir and set the bowl aside.

Beat the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla and beat again. Set aside.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Add this to the big bowl and stir well. Stir in oats, nuts and currants and mix.

With a slotted spoon, separate the shredded coconut from the gelatin and set the coconut on a few paper towels to drain. Place another 2 paper towels on top of the coconut and press, squeezing out any liquid. The leftover jello is not needed. Add a cup of Spoon out tablespoon sized lumps of dough and place them 1-2″ apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9-10 minutes until golden brown. Allow lumps (which should now be shaped like steaming patties) to cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Then, put on wire rack to cool.

Gross Grub - Glycol Punch

Description:
Recipe source unknown.

Ingredients:
Ingredients:
2 liters of Diet Mountain Dew
1 pkg. Blue Kool-Aide prepared

Directions:
Notes:
This punch has a fantastic color. The punch also tastes pretty good. If you want an excellent effect for punch this is the one to go for. Diet Mountain Dew produces the best color.

Preparation:
In a large punch bowl add the Diet Mountain Dew. Add in enough of the prepared Blue Kool-Aide to obtain the Glycol color. We obtained our color with about 3 cups of Kool-Aide.

Gross Grub - Gory Gorilla Tonsils

Description:
Recipe by: Creepy Cuisine, Lucy Munroe

Ingredients:
2 Brussel sprouts
1/4 ts Salt
4 oz American cheese -- grated
2 tb Milk
10 Iceberg lettuce leaves
1/4 ts Paprika

Directions:
Wash the Brussels sprouts and remove any discolored leaves. Trim off the stem ends and cut an X into the bottom of each sprout to make sure your tonsils cook nice and tender. Place the sprouts in a pot containing about 2 inches of water and sprinkle with the salt. Cover the pot and cook over medium heat until boiling. After 8 to 10 minutes, carefully stab a few sprouts with a fork to see if they're tender. When you can easily pierce them through to their centers, remove the pot from the heat and carefully drain the sprouts in a colander. Place the grated cheese in a small saucepan and add the milk. Simmer over low heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon until the cheese melts. Remove the saucepan from the heat as soon as the cheese melts. Arrange a bed of washed lettuce leaves on a platter. Place the gorilla tonsils ~ in pairs, of course - on the leaves. Drizzle the melted cheese (pus) over the tonsils. Sprinkle with paprika (blood specks) and serve.

Not so Saturday Six ...

It's been a while since I've even signed on to Multiply ... got a lot of catching up to do!

So ... let's see ... my week ...

Wednesday was Alien's 17th birthday. What a day! We were going to go to Rain Forest Cafe for her birthday dinner. My mom had given her $25 to pick out her own present with. She decides she wants a hoodie she had seen in the Maul when she and Married Son were there earlier this month. Only, she didn't know the name of the store! So ... we start looking for the store. Our starting point was a store call Bass Pro Shop. We walked the entire 1.2 mile length of the Maul (Great Lakes Crossing for you who know where I'm talking). It's a HUGE Maul ... anyway ... we walked the entire length of the darned maul before we found the store we were looking for. Four stores away from our starting point. Only we went in the wrong direction. She found her hoodie and she bought it with the birthday money Grandma gave her. Wonder what my mom's going to say when she sees the gray hoodie with crosses and skull bones all over it. Hmmmm. LOL!

While walking we decided that Chinese sounded better and went to the food court instead of Rain Forest Cafe. Alien figured we'd save money ... BUT ... what money we saved at the food court (vs. Rain Forest Cafe) was soon spent at her favorite store - Hot Topics. More goth stuff ... fingerless gloves and a "HIM" necklace. So much for the money we'd saved by eating cheaper. She more than made up for the savings. LOL. But hey, she's only 17 once and damn did we have fun. Ya, fun at the Maul, who'da thunk it?

Thursday was a stressful day. I'm really hating that Professional Communication class with a passion. The instructor does NOT communicate what he wants out of assignments or homework, he's highly disorganized and he loses papers all the time (2 of the assignments I've turned in he says he doesn't have). And I'm not the only student who feels this way - I hear complaints all the time about this guy. After the *formal* part of class (lectures, presentations, etc) we had one on one meetings with the teacher. I asked him what I could do to make up for the fact I'll be in Chicago for a major assignment (a presentation using power point). He tells me absolutely not, but if I play my cards right I may be able to do a private presentation for him, that he's not going to waste class time on make up presentations. I asked him something else that I thought was important and was interupted with "are you done? You're wasting my time" as he turns his back to me and walks away. So much for professionalism, so much for giving a damn about your students. And yes I have a meeting on Monday with the campus Dean to discuss this treatment I received, and the way he's done similar with other students. Three students who witnessed the whole exchange came to me afterwards and told me they have my back and will be happy to act as witnesses to the rude behaviors they and I have recieved in this class. I just pray there's no repercussions for me or my fellow classmates complaining!

Friday was uneventful. Yay!!

Had a great Small Business class today ... well, we do every time this class meets, the teacher is great! There was also a campus open house today. Lots of goodies and give aways, so I asked Married Son to bring Alien up to the campus to partake in the freebies. They got there earlier than I had anticipated but I had warned my instructor that if he sees a weird looking bunch of kids hanging outside the class room to ignore them, that it's just my kids. LOL. When they showed up Teacher nodded to me, got his "I'm gonna make trouble" grin ... and invited them all into the room for the last fifteen minutes of the lecture. He even had Married Son involved in questions and answers. LOL! Grandson was with them. He sat quietly at the desk in front of me, writing "notes" in the notebook I had given to him. Weird to have my kids and grandkid invited into the classroom. After my class was over we did the open house thingie. Grandson came away like a little bandit. A story book, t-shirt and visor ... and he got to make ice cream and eat it and got to gawk over the skelton of "Elmer" a mastadon that was discovered locally during roadway construction excavation. Married Son and I had free massages. Ahhhhhhh ... I feel like a million bucks now. LOL!! Fun was had by all.

And in between all the fun and excitement it's been hit the books. Mid term already. Big assignments due  ... studying for tests ... working on group presentations ... all that stuff that goes with school. I barely come up for air these days. I so swear that next semester I'm going to better plan my course-load and balance easy and hard courses. This all hard course (heavy workload) is for the birds.

As usual, I've been keeping up with ya'll through email updates. Gotta love those. Even though I am not signing on, I can at least lurk and keep up with what's going on in the lives of my friends.

BLONDE JOKE

A trucker came into a truck stop cafe and placed his order. He said, 'I want three flat tires, a pair of headlights and a pair of running boards..'

The brand new blonde waitress, not wanting to appear stupid, went to the kitchen and said to the cook, 'This guy out there just ordered three flat tires, a pair of headlights and a pair of running Boards. What does he think this place is, an auto parts store?'

No,' the cook said. 'Three flat tires mean three pancakes, a pair of headlights is two eggs sunny side up, and running boards are 2 slices of crisp bacon.'

Oh, OK!' said the blonde. She thought about it for a moment and then spooned up a bowl of beans and gave it to the customer.

The trucker asked, 'What are the beans for Blondie?'

She replied, 'I thought while you were waiting for the flat tires, headlights and running boards, you might as well gas up!'

FOR ONCE THE BLONDE GETS EVEN!!!!!

Saturday Six ... On Sunday ...

1) Had a scare last night with the cat Ringo. He was sitting on the laundry hamper in the bathroom while I was getting ready for bed. For no reason other than he's not coordinated to begin with, he fell off the hamper. It would have been hysterically funny had he not gone into a seizure almost as soon as he hit the floor. He's never had a seizure before ... so the two minute ordeal pretty much freaked me out. He seemed a little wobbly for a few minutes afterwards, but seems to be fine today.

2) Speaking of laundry hampers ... in an effort to get the kids to stop abandoning their clothes in the middle of the bathroom floor I went out and bought two hampers - one for each of the ones that still live at home. So ... the hampers weren't in the bathroom for ten minutes before Ringo had *moved* into Alien's hamper. Poor Alien, has to check to make sure she's not burying the cat before she throws her dirty laundry into it!! What's really odd is that when I first adopted Ringo I also bought him a fancy cat bed. He never once set paw into it!! Yet, every cardboard box I bring in - or new hampers, laundry baskets and other storage devices he moves into until the next new item is brought into the house. Weird cat? Or is that normal? I've never before had a cat do the things that this one does.

3) Married Son decided last week to get back into long haul truck driving. He is presently *stuck* in Nebraska, waiting on a load to bring back toward Michigan. He's been stuck there since Thursday. Can't make money if he and his truck are sitting idle. Thank heaven for WiFi cards and WiFi enabled truck stops or we'd not have a clue as to where he is.

4) And speaking of Married Son ... he's changed business plans yet again. He's so frustrated with the state of the economy and how hard it is to get a decent job up here in Michigan (estimated 11% unemployment here right now) ... that he's decided that he's moving to Kentucky ASAP and will start the Pilot Car company the first of next year. We'll see what happens. Plans seem to really change (almost daily sometimes) with Married Son. He's a good man, but he gets impatient when it comes to getting the business going.

5) I really like my Small Business instructor. Not only does he make class fun, but he makes himself available to his students for any reason. I talked to him today after class about Married Son's timing on possibly moving, especially with the current economic situation. He put my mind at ease ... yeah, it's a gamble (maybe even more so in this economy) to start your own business, BUT if the economy is to improve, those risk takers need to initiate growth and the sooner the better. Teacher also helped me to see that what's bothering me most is not the risk he's taking, but that Grandson won't be 5 minutes away anymore. He'll be six hours away. Makes sense. The kids moving away won't be too hard. Yeah, I'll miss them but we've had a lifetime to bond. And now here's Grandson - who I'm still in the beginning of a lifetime of bonding with ... and now he's gonna be moving so far away. It's going to be a long year and a half before I can join them.

6) I've decided I totally *hate* working in groups. Not that I don't like working with others, but in group projects it always seems to end up that one or two carry the weight of the entire group. Case in point ... my Saturday Small Business/Entrepreneurship class. Started out with four in the group ... now it's three of us. Only ... I'm the only one who ever shows up for class and does ALL of the assignments. This teacher warned us that if we didn't like working in groups already, we would by the time this class was over. Boy did he hit that nail on the head. Nice thing is that he deducts points from absent teammates and gives them to the ones that actually do the work or show up for class every week.

Gross Grub - Blood Cake

Description:
Recipe source unknown.

Ingredients:
1 Sponge cake mix
1 large bar white chocolate (500g at least)
1 Bottle red food coloring
A large number of red smarties (or M&M's if you can't get those)
1 tub of White Icing
1 tub strawberry ice cream
A set of plastic vampire teeth

Directions:
Dead simple this.
Make up the sponge cake mix but add lots of red food coloring to get the mixture nice and blood like. Next, add about 400g of the chocolate (melted of course) to the sponge cake mix, adding more food coloring if the mixture seems to be getting too pinky. Allow to cook for the normal length of time. Make up quite a bit of icing in the meantime (adding the final 100g of chocolate to this) and color this red also.

When the cake has cooked, allow to cool for about 1 hour and then cut in 1/2. Taking the top half, pour the icing over and allow to set pretty randomly, but place the vampire teeth in the icing where they will cause maximum effect (in the centre is usually a good bet). Before you serve this cake, place a generous layer of the ice-cream on top of the bottom layer and replace the top. serve with extra scoops of the ice cream and strawberry sauce.

Mix the smarties into the cake mix, and stick a few more in the icing. And remember use RED ones (you can really freak people out by telling them they are blood clots!)

Enjoy!

Gross Grub - Hairball Salad With Saliva Dressing

Description:
Gross Grub by Cheryl Porter
Random House
ISBN 0-679-86693-0

Ingredients:
2 Avacados
2 cups Alfalfa sprouts
5 large To 6 carrots -- washed peeled and grated
Italian dressing

Directions:
With an adults help, cut avocado in half. Use a spoon to scopp out the pit.

Scoop avocado out of the shell and put in the bowl. Add sprouts to the avocado meat. Mash with a fork. It is ok to leave some lumps. Set the mixture aside.

Divide the grated carrots among the four salad bowls.

Using your clean fingers and a spoon, make walnut size hairballs from the avocado mixture and arrange them on top of the grated carrots. Pour Italian “saliva” dressing over hairballs and serve. Serves 4 cat fanciers.

Sicko serving suggestion: Squeeze ribbons of chocolate icing “hairball” medicine out of a paper cone onto the backs of your guests hands to be licked off for dessert.

Friday Five ...

I've decided to come out of lurking (or was that a blogging break, LOL) to do this week's Friday Five. With everything going on in my life right now, dreaming a little is a nice change. So without further adieu here's the Friday Five ...

Quoting our moderator: "I want to thank Gramato7 her suggestions.  One of her suggestions  was chosen for this weeks Friday Five:

You just won the lottery, what 5 things would you like to buy... just for you... not for anyone else.

Don't forget to post your link below and link your blog back here:  Friday Five Group

Have fun out there and Happy Fiving!!"

My Friday Five. I guess it would depend on how big the lottery prize was ... I'm assuming at least a million bucks ...

1) A new vehicle. I'm thinking a Vibe ... easy on gas consumption, cute and a bit sassy. Just like me.

2) A smaller house. I love my house but it's too big for the empty nest I'm anticipating in the next year or so. Something on Lake Huron so I can wake up to sunrises over the water. While I'm dreaming ... I'd make it a *green* home. And since I love lighthouses it would have to be near Old Presque Isle Lighthouse (my fave!).

3) A housekeeper. And if I'm living in a smaller house, she won't have to do as much, so contracting her on a once a week basis ... yup, I could have a housekeeper for the rest of my life.

4) A small store. I'd love to own a theme type store - lighthouse souvenirs and goodies that are made by local artists and craftspeople.

5) A motor home (just big enough for me and my cat to travel in). I've always wanted to travel and see the country. And IF I'm going to live in my dream house and own my dream store in the northern Lower Pennisula of Michigan - a place that sees pretty harsh winters (and little tourism in the winter) than it only seems rational that winters would be the perfect time to travel.

Ten Thoughts Tuesday ...

1) Procrastination seems to be the word of the day ... I can't seem to find a whole lot of motivation. Not sure why. Maybe I can blame it on the overcast autumn day?

2) So long my beloved friend ... my microwave took a fatal dump the other day. Seems Single Son was cooking some bacon in it when it exploded. Well, not entirely exploded, but the door blew open. Followed by a grease fire - and the charred remains of the paper plate and paper towels being all that was left (the bacon disintegrated) ... the house stunk for two days!! What's sadder than losing my dear friend was the fact that no one - and I mean *no one* (besides Single Son) heard the BOOM of the explosion! What I wouldn't have given to see him jump out of his skin!

3) What makes this funny is that years ago I was ticked off at one of the kids and said something about "you're out of my will". Their comeback was "oh no!! That means I won't get the microwave". It's turned into a family joke, that the only thing I have of value *was* my microwave. And was is obviously the operative word here.

4) Guess I ask Santa for a new microwave? I have some extra money floating around, but it's reserved for my upcoming mini-vacation to Chicago at the end of the month.

5) My car is still running, LOL. It's a miracle if you ask me. Now that gas is almost affordable again I'm only putting about a half tank worth of gas in it. Guess I just don't wanna waste a tank full in the event the car finally dies? Then again, I guess Married Son could always syphon the tank for me.

6) Had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I'm NOT happy with myself. I've gained four pounds in the three months since I last saw him. Grrrrrrrr.

7) Is it bad karma to laugh at someone who is falling flat on his face? Even if the person stabbed you and your family in the back and deserves what he's getting? Yeah, my latest ex ... I was curious as to how his life was going since we split so I went to his myspace page. Couldn't help but actually smile and say out loud "poor baby" (insert sarcasm here) when I read of his woes. And no, I don't feel bad. Which in some odd way makes me feel bad that I don't feel bad for him.

8) Nothing to report on the Polly front. Haven't seen her since class on Saturday but then, I refuse to give her my email addy or phone numbers. I learned THAT lesson early on!

9) Guess I should find something for dinner. Something healthy and low calorie. Not too messy, as I'll be dining over the text books once again. I'm thinking salad ... chicken salad sounds good.

10) Oh geesh, I just had a thought. With the microwave having died what am I going to do with all of those microwave meals we have. Hmmmmm.

Alright, on that I'm outta here. Dinner and homework are calling me. 

Gross Grub - Bone Cookies

Description:
Recipe source unknown.

Ingredients:
5 egg whites at room temperature
pinch of cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp. extract of almond, vanilla, orange, or lemon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Line 1 or 2 cookies sheets with parchment paper. Prepare a piping bag with a round #10 tip (about 3/8 inch in diameter).

2. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar-salt mixture, beating constantly, mixing well after each addition. Beat to stiff peaks, until meringue is shiny and smooth. Add flavoring and beat just until combined.

3. Fill piping bag with meringue. Pipe a log 3 or 4 inches. Pipe 2 balls on both sides of the ends of the log. Smooth any peaks that may occur with your wet finger. Repeat with remaining meringue.

4. Bake 30 minutes and turn off heat. Leave cookie in oven overnight; do not open oven door.

Gross Grub - Green Slime with Skeleton Bread

Description:
Recipe source unknown.

Ingredients:
GREEN SLIME
10 oz Frozen Spinach, Thawed
4 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 c Sour Cream
1/3 c Mild Salsa
2 Green Onions, Chopped
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper

Directions:
Drain spinach; squeeze dry. In food processor, pure spinach, cheese, sour cream, salsa, onions, garlic,
salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until thickened slightly. Let stand at room
temperature for 30 minutes.
Serve with Skeleton Bread ...


SKELETON BREAD
1/2 pkg Frozen Bread Dough (1/2 of 1lb pkg (8oz)
1 ea Egg, Beaten
1 tbsp Water
1 tbsp Poppy Seeds

Thaw and let bread rise according to manufacturer's instructions. Punch down dough; divide in half. Set 1 half aside.
Cut remaining half into thirds. With 1 of the thirds, form head shaped like a light bulb. With scissors, cut eyes, nose and mouth. Place heat at end of greased 17x11-inch rimmed baking sheet. Shape second third into 3-inch long triangle; place, point down, below heat to form body. Divide remaining third of dough into 7 pieces; roll into sausages. Arrange 3 on each side of upper body for ribs. Use remaining piece for neck.
Halve reserved dough. With 1 half, make 4 logs for upper and lower legs; attach to body. With two-thirds of the remaining dough, make 4 logs for upper and lower arms; attach at shoulders.
With remaining dough, make 2 small and 2 large triangles for hands and feet. With scissors, make 4 cuts at broad ends of triangles for fingers and toes; attach to arms and legs. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
Whisk egg with water; brush some over joints, pressing to seal. Brush entire skeleton with remaining egg wash; sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake in 375F 190C oven for about 15 minutes or until golden.

Saturday Six ...

1) Yay! I survived another week. The Business test last week didn't go as bad as I thought, I managed to pull a B on it. However, the all essay question test in my Small Business and Entrepreneurship class today didn't go near as well as I would have liked. That's a test that if I get a D on it I'll be amazed. I don't know why I froze on the essay test, but damned if I didn't sit down and go totally blank. Thankfully the teacher has a crazy sense of humor - he gave us silly little bonus phrases like "dirty dozen" and "chitty chitty bang bang" to add in certain places on the paper for bonus points AND we got an extra point if we got our names spelled right and the correct date on the test paper. So just with the bonus points I'll get at least a D on the test, LOL!

2) Feeling a lot better after my fall last Saturday. Had to laugh when we were leaving today, *Polly* (yes, I've nicknamed her Polly ... as in Polly want a cracker) my pain in the butt *friend* wouldn't let me walk on the lower side of the sidewalk, said she didn't think she could handle so much hysterical laughter again. She was a little easier to tolerate today, still a pain with her uncertainties about a relationship she's in, but didn't seem so needy this time around. What is it with me finding these types anyway? The sorts of questions she asks reminds me of two little girls talking about boys on a playground in elementary school.

3) Went grocery shopping with Alien after school. I know, thrilling!! We had a good laugh or two, nice having her back to normal, well as normal as a teen possessed by aliens can be. She really caught me off guard when I said "shit" ... she added "shit flames. save matches". I thought I was gonna lose it.

4) Don't tell anyone but I'm taking the evening off from homework. I need it. I deserve it. COPS is on tonight, you know where I'll be!! Snuggled up under my fuzzy blankey keeping warm and watching COPS. I'm still waiting for the show to shadow my cop son ... like that'll ever happen. Wouldn't that be cool, though? Have a kid on COPS and I don't mean in handcuffs in the back of the squad car!!

5) Can you believe the price of gas lately? Seems it took an economic disaster to bring it back under control. It's still got a ways to drop before I can afford a fill up, but it's a lot better than the dollar more we were paying for gas just a few short months ago .

6) 25 days and counting until I'm in Chicago to meet Helen!! I can't wait ...