Monthly Archives: November 2010

>Daisy’s Turkey Impossible Pot Pie

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>Perhaps you’ve heard of the faux- pot pie trick, using biscuit mix instead of a pie crust. I’d heard it, but never used it. With a refrigerator full of turkey and other random turkey-related ingredients, I decided to try this. Here’s the resulting formula, Daisy style.

Filling (a.k.a. “crust”)
1 1/3 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup Bisquick or other biscuit mix
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp herbs (I used fresh thyme & rosemary, growing in pots on top of the piano)
Main Ingredients
1 cups turkey, cooked & chopped (I used dark meat)
1 1/2 cup vegetables (I used corn with a little broccoli & cauliflower)
1 cup mushroom pieces (optional; I left this out)
1/2 cup onions, diced (we had pearl onions leftover from soup; they were delicious in this)
1/2 cup diced bell peppers, red & green
1 cup shredded cheese (I used a mix of Swiss and mild cheddar)
Preheat oven to 400. Spray two pie pans or 8 inch round cake pans with nonstick spray. Thaw and drain vegetables. Mix meat, vegetables, and cheese in pie plates. Beat filling (crust) ingredients until smooth. Pour into pie pans over meat mixture. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes; serve warm.
According to the original, one pie pan serves two people. We found that one was almost enough to serve our family of four. 2/3 of the second pan was left over. Leftover leftovers! Delicious. Next time I make this, I’ll add gravy because the end result was a little dry. Chuck poured a little gravy over his second helping and pronounced it good, so I’ll take that under advisement.
For the original recipe, look to Healthy Home Recipes’ web site. They have more options and ideas for this one, and the link might just lead you to something else that you like.

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>May all your holiday photos be lovely – Adobe Photoshop Elements can help

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I’m fortunate to live with an aspiring professional photographer. She does more than take pictures; she makes pictures. She uses her artist’s eye, knowledge, and experience to set up the photo and edits it, crops it, makes it work. I learn from watching her, even though I know I’ll never be at her level.

I do take pictures for my blog(s) and for the school slide show. If I ever give in and open a Facebook page, I’m sure I’ll post pictures there, too. But anyway, back to the topic at hand: here’s my list of five tips for making a good digital photograph.
1. Set up the photo before taking it. Look at the background and the lighting. A clean photo setting in the first place is easier than editing out clutter later.
2. Know your camera and its settings. I’m still learning mine. When I think it through and set it up thoughtfully, the pictures turn out much better.
3. Know your editing software. I’m looking into Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 for myself. I do not need the professional level Photoshop software, but I do want my end result to look good. La Petite uses a professional version of Photoshop, and she does wonderful work.
4. Keep the camera charged. I know, that’s a “Doh!” piece of advice. I turned up at the Homecoming parade ready to take pictures only to find I had enough charge for one. One picture of my students in their school colors. I haven’t made that mistake again.
5. Organize. My photos are in file folders by date and by topic. I delete those I no longer need, such as photos intended for the blog but never used. I also save them in compre
ssed size for blog use; if a photo might be needed in its full resolution, I save it twice: once compressed, once not.
One summer evening, Amigo and I were sitting outside reading in the backyard swing. La Petite hovered with her camera, making pictures of Amigo’s graceful hands reading Braille. She eventually left us alone with our Harry Potter and went inside to download and edit her work. The final result was a contest winner titled “Touching Words.” The photo is lovely, but my favorite part is the back story. Amigo had a spot of marinara sauce on his hand from the lasagna we’d had for supper. She had to edit out the sauce with Photoshop before printing and displaying the picture.
Was it worth it? I think so, but I’ll let you be the judge. Here it is: La Petite’s photo of her brother, titled “Touching Words.”
For more information on Adobe Photoshop Elements 9, click on the Photoshop Home Page, follow AdobeElements on Twitter, or follow Photoshop Elements on Facebook.
I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Adobe blogging program, making me eligible to receive a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

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>Lulu.com Custom Photo Books

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>Making gifts personal is a special and important part of Christmas. When Lulu asked me to try out their site by making a photo book, I thought of Christmas gifts right away. With La Petite’s photos and editing assistance, I put together a lovely book of her work.

Uploading the pictures was easy, although it took time. La Petite uses a professional quality camera, so her photos were quite high resolution. The time was worthwhile to make sure the book was good quality in the end.
Placing the photos in the book was a mixed success. The drop and drag function was simple, but many of the layouts were odd sizes that required cropping of the original photos. I would have appreciated the option to resize the space on the page rather than resizing the photos themselves.
I recommend choosing a theme right away. I made the mistake of placing photos in the book and then choosing a theme with the end result of changing photo dimensions. Had I chosen the theme first, I might have avoided some of the problem mentioned above. Themes are varied and can compliment any photo set from any occasion.
When the demo book arrives, we’re going to consider ordering more for gifts. Some people are hard to buy for; personal photo books are a great way to handle the gift dilemma.
Lulu.com will offer one reader a free photo book: a 8.5 X 8.5 in. 20 page hardcover book. If you’re interested, leave a comment and make sure I can contact you by email! I’ll put all the comments in a hat and pick one winner. Contest will close Friday, December 3, to give the winner a fighting chance and completing the book and getting it by Christmas.
Full disclosure: Lulu.com gave me one free photo book so I could experience the service and write a candid review. We’re considering buying a second copy if we’re pleased with the end result. There was no other compensation. Frankly, making the book was fun; it was enough compensation in itself!

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>Thanksgiving Preparations at Chez O.K.: Reprise

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>Thanksgiving Dinner? No problem! I’ll call in the fairies. They’ll do everything.

The laundry fairy washes, dries, and presses the table linens, including the cloth napkins. If she’s feeling generous, the sheets and towels might get folded, too.
The turkey fairy will practice her specialty and make sure the bird is cooked and carved just in time for dinner. White meat and dark, it’ll all be moist and savory and leave just enough leftovers for sandwiches and a turkey noodle soup.
The baker fairy will take care of pies, pumpkin and otherwise. He’s an expert on flaky crust, selected spices, and the perfect portion of whipped cream. Don’t let that Simple Simon guy get in the way; the kitchen’s too small for anyone who begs to taste the wares.
The brownie — the cunning little house elf — will clean the home thoroughly, put the leaf in the big table, and get the extra chairs out of the basement.
I wouldn’t dream of neglecting the wine fairy: the sommelier so tiny she only recommends, never lifts, a bottle. Her taste is impeccable. Now if we could stop her before she over-imbibes and falls asleep on top of the piano…
Did I mention the decorator fairy? She’ll fix the fireplace mantel with something tasteful and seasonal before she makes sure the couch and rocker are properly arranged for the annual holiday gladiator contests known as NFL football.
The ambiance fairy keeps the wood fire crackling in the fireplace, the aromas wafting deliciously through the home, and the family discussions neutral.
The kitchen fairies: really, there must be a whole crew of these talented sprites. One to do the shopping early and avoid the crowds, another to make sure the cranberries are perfect (and local, of course), and a magical maestro with the potato masher. Then we’ll need a feisty fairy, one with attitude — yes, you, Tinkerbell, you can make the coffees.

Mom, you can send the fairies over to my house now that we’re hosting the annual family Thanksgiving dinner. Let them know that I’ll have their room ready and their favorite cookies baked. If they arrive on Sunday there should be enough time to get everything done.

Wait. What do you mean…they’re…not….real?

Originally posted in November of 2008. I’m still hoping these little helpers will make a stop at my house – they haven’t yet. Sniff. Sigh.

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>Cranberry Sauce with Lime and Ginger

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>Our traditional cranberry sauce recipe reads like this:

1 cup water
2 cups sugar
3 cups cranberries
Bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes or until all berries have popped. Add cinnamon to taste.
I found a new one this year.
Cranberry Sauce with Lime and Ginger
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup or maple flavored syrup (we’ll go for the real thing)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons finely shredded lime peel
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 12 oz. bag fresh or frozen cranberries
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
In a medium heavy saucepan, stir together sugar, maple syrup, water, lime peel, and lime juice. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.
Stir in cranberries. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in ginger. Simmer, uncovered, about 6 minutes more or until berries have popped and mixture starts to thicken, stirring occasionally. Cool.
Recipe found on Better Homes and Gardens Recipes web site – there may be more! Search them yourself.

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>The continuing saga of UVerse

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>Actual email from Chuck: the subject line was “Erg!”

I didn’t get any housework done because I’ve spent the remainder of the morning on the phone trying to clear up AT&T’s confusions. Here’s the gist of 4 phone conversations, one of which was interrupted because the call was dropped because of the bad wires.

They called to ask if the technician that came earlier this week (Monday) resolved our problems.

No, the problems continue. What work did he perform?

He tested the outside wires, found that there are some problems with the wires. Nothing else.

Didn’t replace them?

No.

He was supposed to as per the previous technicians who tested the wires, identified specific bad spots, and put in an order for new cable. So now three technicians have troubleshot my problems to bad outside wires.

We’ve no information about that, just that the inside technician reduced the speed of your service when he was there earlier.

What! I’m paying for the higher speed and did not authorize him to do that, nor did he tell me he was doing that. Why did he do that?

To reduce the number of interruptions to your service.

(Aha, he’s masking the problem.) Well I want my speed restored and I think I should get a refund.

We can do that once the problems are corrected and we know how much to refund.

When are the problems going to be corrected? When are you going to replace the wires outside?

We’ll dispatch a technician to check it out.

(Erg!)

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>Donors Choose Update: oh, yes.

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>I was honestly thinking of writing about compassion fatigue: generous people who just can’t give any more. With so many free-lunch students I can’t even count them, families who have trouble buying pencils, and my own budget shrinking, I have a hard time coming up with a few pennies no matter how worthy the cause.

And then I got the benchmark reading levels for my class. Seven fourth graders, only one with a diagnosed learning disability, all reading at a first grade level. Kids reading at the level of Frog and Toad, Henry and Mudge, Little Bear. But they didn’t want to be caught reading Little Bear in front of their peers.
So I went to work. Research: where can I find high -interest, low-reading level books for these students? All want to read. They want to read cool books, fun books. So I found cool, fun, and easy books. And oh, my, were they pricey. Buying any quantity for teaching purposes would require a significant investment.
I wrote to several civic groups. I had missed the fall deadline for one. One turned me down saying we didn’t “fit their mission,” but referred me to another source. Yet another funded some more glamorous projects. Face it; books aren’t sexy, no matter how necessary.
Then along came DonorsChoose.org. I found them after writing a post for MomCentral Consulting, a PR post announcing their Bing “Our School Needs” project. One of the perks of writing a post was a donation credit code for DonorsChoose.org. You guessed it; I wrote my own project so I could keep my donation code at home, er, at my own school.
I shamelessly promoted this project through Plurk, Twitter, and my own blog. Other bloggers promoted it, too, and even donated. Yesterday I got the exciting news: my project was closed. Funded completely. Done.
Oh. My. Goodness. I could hardly sit still. Even though I’ve verified the orders and downloaded the thank you package, I’m still in a bit of happy shock.
The biggest and happiest surprise was the speed at which the project finished. Several donors ate away very quickly at the first hundred. Then a large donor, a foundation new to me, stepped in and finished the job.
Douglas and Maria Bayer Foundation, I applaud you. My students will thank you, too – as soon as I get their photo releases and help them write the letters. Seeing the project fully funded so soon and with a major generous donor really knocked my socks off. It’s wonderful to see that despite all the needs in our world, compassion and generosity still thrive.
Now, about those donor codes? The school down the road has a project, too. It’s time to Pay it Forward.

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>Sorry, no food in the house.

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>I’ve been sick lately. It’s not influenza, but it’s a nasty upper respiratory thing that’s just knocked me out cold. I haven’t been eating, so I haven’t been thinking about posting a recipe, either. My only “meals” have been chicken soup, crackers, and scrambled eggs. I haven’t even been drinking coffee.

Yes, it’s that serious.
So instead of leaving you with nothing, I’ll leave you with an old favorite comfort food: Chicken soup.
Chicken Soup with Rice
It’s the ultimate comfort food; keep chicken stock and chicken scraps in the freezer for soups or stews, and it’ll be easy to put together a soup when you’re not feeling well. Here are the ingredients that went into mine.

6 cups chicken stock
2 cups chicken scraps (from freezer, labelled “chicken for soup”)
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup red pepper and yellow pepper, also from the freezer: last summer’s garden yield
1/4 cup frozen corn
1 potato, diced
1 carrot, diced (bunnies enjoyed the leftover peelings)
1 stalk of celery, diced (see above: bunnies handled the ends)

The entire mix simmers in the crockpot most of the day while I rest and heal. About 4:00, I add 1/2 cup wild rice and 1/2 cup barley.

By the way – “eating the opponent” takes Green Bay to Minnesota. We’re considering, in honor of Brett Favre, serving turnovers for breakfast.

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>Money Management and Teens

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My “kids” are growing up and handling their own money, when they have it. The recession and its credit bust, especially the sub-prime mortgage crisis, made me think again about the importance of growing up money-smart.

La Petite had to manage her budget as soon as she moved into a college apartment. We paid the rent, she split the utilities with her roommate, and she and her roommate handled the daily expenses such as food, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies. Oh, yes, I almost forgot – and bunny food and litter box refills.

La Petite had a summer job when she was in high school, babysitting a young girl during the parents’ workday. She worked at a big box store’s garden center when she was home from college. These jobs provided a chance to develop a work ethic and a chance to handle a bank account. Her checking account is held jointly with me – mainly so I could handle deposits and withdrawals while she was gone to college in a different city.

Amigo’s situation is a little different. Teens on the autism spectrum sometimes have a hard time understanding the value of money. He has a bank account (again, jointly held with me, the mom-type person), and uses his own money for a few things. He doesn’t have rent or food expenses because he lives in a dorm weekdays, so we parents have to give serious thought to finding ways to help him learn to handle money.

Money management practice needs to be authentic. Playing games, holding discussions, and teaching him scripted money lessons are not very useful. He needs to plan the shopping trip, load his wallet, and go. Last weekend he took his girlfriend to McDonald’s. Simple, yes, but a perfect way to find out how much a fast food meal costs and decide if it’s a worthwhile use of his dollars.

Debit cards and especially credit cards can strike fear into the hearts of parents of teens. American Express PASS program can help. A PASS card is a reloadable prepaid card that parents can obtain for their teens. It looks like a credit or debit card, so teens won’t stick out socially by having a “different” card in their wallet. Since it’s prepaid, there is no danger of overspending. The Amex PASS card is accepted anywhere that takes American Express. Parents have control over loading funds, monitoring spending, and even disabling/ enabling the use of ATMs if necessary. Gradually weaning teens from the parental control, letting them make small but correctable mistakes, can be part of the learning process.

My teen is 18 going on 19, older than the target age, but this kind of card would be a useful tool for him. He could learn to keep track of his money online, a more accessible option than a print statement (he’s blind). He couldn’t overspend, so we’d need to talk over budgets and priorities before hitting the stores. Timing is good right now, too; Amigo loves Christmas and everything involved, including gift shopping.

American Express PASS card has made me think. And when it comes to teaching money management, thinking is an important first step.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of American Express and received a gift code to thank me for taking the time to participate. I did not receive an American Express PASS card as part of the review process; they provided the information and the link to their web site. Check out the site; it’s easy to navigate and full of useful information.

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