New Year's Resolutions

Haven't blogged since February. Well, I guess not a lot has changed. I'm still in the same crappy job, only it's worse now than ever. But that is not what this blog is about. Some one on Facebook asked what New Year's resolutions we'll be making this year. And since my response is long and probably not family friendly, I decided to blog it.

I always say that I am going to be a better person. Well, fuck that, I am already a decent person, but always end the year cranky and frustrated. So, I am going to just start out that way. 2012 is going to be the year of crankipuss. I am going to be Scroogette from day 1.

I vow to get more done. Hah! I am not going to do more. I'm lazy and winter makes me even more so. I'm not going to put in a garden this year. I'm not going to finish a novel this year and I'm sure as hell not going to ever find the perfect job.

I'm not going to win the lottery or fall into a pot of gold. I'm going to work at a shitty job with shitty hours and that's what 2012 looks like to me right now. See me again in the spring, when I will most likely have a better attitude.

Where do you want to be in 5 years?

I used to have a friend that would ask me that question every time I'd get stuck in a rut or start feeling really down about what I was doing with my life. That person is no longer in my circle of friends(for other reasons). However, I am asking myself that question a lot lately. I am staring down the barrell of a probably lay off and the big 4-0. Both are making me realize that I need to make some damn decisions and make them fast. I am where I wanted to be 5 years ago. I am married to a wonderful man and we are living a comfortable life. We travel when we want and have everything we need. But I also think I could do more with my life. I just don't know what it is. If/when I lose my job, I am not sure what my next move should be. Of course, I will get another job. But it most likely will be just that - a job. I doubt it will be my dream job and most likely it will be a huge pay cut. I could get a technical certificate, like medical transcriptions or some such. Supposedly, I could work at home. That would be nice, but I think it would be a boring, lonely job. I could stay home for a while and try to finish a novel or two and see if I can't make a miracle happen and get it published. Well, lots of people are published, but they are making a living out of it. But I just don't have enough confidence in myself to believe that I could even get published. I know, I know - negative, negative.

But mostly when I ask myself that question, the answer is alive and healthy. It's a boring answer and doesn't help me make my next move. But it's the only answer I've got right now.

Dried Pears with Kosher salt

Okay, I know the first thing you thought was "eww". But trust me this is good stuff.

2 pears
kosher salt

Easy ingredients, huh? Preheat oven to 225 F. Slice pears 1/4 inch thick or thin or whatever. Place evenly on a cookie sheet. Put in oven for 2 hours. Now most recipes will tell you to add sugar to this recipe. Trust me, unless you really, really like super sweet- do not do this. I pulled these out and tried one. They were so sweet, it made my teeth hurt. And I didn't even add sugar. But I didn't want to waste them. So I put them in a bag with some kosher salt. You can use sea salt as well. I wanted to use it, but seem to have lost my sea salt in the madness that is my kitchen. Anyway, don't use too much. Just a little in the bag. Shake the bag so that the pears are evenly covered. Put back in the oven for about 10 minutes. Perfecto. An easy, healthy snack. These are good on their own. Or on toast with some goat cheese spread.

Pickled Green Tomatoes

For some reason this year, the tomato plants produced like mad after it started to cool down. So we had a plethora of green tomatoes. I didn't want them to go to waste, so we decided to pickle them. We prefer garlic pickles as opposed to the more pickly flavor so we left out pickling salk and used sea salt instead. There is no sugar in this recipe. That's hubby working hard above.

Pickled Green Tomatoes

about 1 pound small, green tomatoes (washed, stems removed)
2 quarts water
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup canning & sea salt or kosher salt

2 teaspoons celery salt
2 cloves minced garlic (I used 3 tablespoons of already diced garlic)
chili flakes or fresh peppers

glass containers for pickling

1. In a large enough saucepan, add water, vinegar, kosher/sea salt bring to a strong simmer, stirring until the salt has all dissolved.

2. Sterilize your glass containers by submerging them in a pot of boiling water.

3. Place tomatoes in glass containers and add hot bring until the tomatoes are completely covers.
4. You can finish by boiling the jars until the lids seal or just store them in the fridge.

Please note that after you are finished and all the lovely jars are filled, your kitchen will be a mess of vinegar and garlic and whatnot. It will probably smell like pickles for awhile, too. But oh, so worth it.

The Sugar Queen - Sarah Addison Allen

I loved this book. This book is so sweet, it'll make your teeth hurt. But it felt good to read this after the last uber depressing book that I read. It's a love story with a little magic mixed in. Of course, I think love always has a little magic. That's sappy, isn't it? Anyway, quick disclaimer, if you don't want to know what happens, stop here.



Josey Cirrini is a 27 year old woman, who lives with her mother in Bald Slope, NC. Josey loves 3 things: winter, candy, and her mailman, Adam. The mailman, of course, barely notices her. But she waits for him everyday and hides in her closet reading travel magazines and eating candy. One day Della Lee Baker, a tough talking waitress, shows up in Josey's closet. Della Lee sees that Josey needs a change and helps her get out of the closet and into life, so to speak. She sends her to Chloe Finley for a sandwich. Chloe has a gift of her own, books magically appear whenever she needs them, not always when she wants them, but always when she needs them. Josey and Chloe become close and Josey ends up having to save Chloe from herself. So, Della Lee saves Josey, Josey saves Chloe, but who saves Della Lee? You'll have to read it to find out. It's a quick, easy read and lots of fun.

She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb

This is the first of several book reviews that I will be posting. I requested that people recommend books for me to read and I would read each of them and do a review. I should have laid out better rules. Like nothing so depressing that I might have a strong desire to jump off of a bridge or cry for 24 hours. However, I did not make that rule, so I live with the consequences.



Also, I will be discussing this book in detail, so if you do not want to know what happens, do not read this review.



This is the story of Dolores Price, a girl who starts out like the rest of us, our parents love her and one another. Then things go from bad to worse for poor Dolores. Her dad is basically prostituting himself and her mother knows it. He eventually leaves his wife for some one else, causing Dolores' mother to go into a tailspin and end up in the mental ward at the hospital. Dolores goes to live with her overly serious, prickly grandmother. Who doesn't seem to understand that women aren't just maids for men. Dolores' mother eventually gets out of the hospital and comes to live with them. Her mother is trying to find her place in the world. She has no skills or education, but has to find a way to support herself and her daughter. She also realizes that she is a woman with needs and isn't afraid to fulfill those needs. Dolores does not understand any of this. Of course, she blames her mother for her father's bad behavior. And her father is too involved with his new woman to worry about Dolores.

The grandmother has a multi-family home. She rents the upstairs to a young couple. Everyone loves them. They are cute and sweet and the guy is a real charmer. He ends up raping poor Dolores. Eventually, we find out that Dolores' mother was screwing him. The couple moves away in the night. He walks away to most likely go rape some other poor kid. The mother, feeling guilty, allows Dolores to sit on her ass, watch TV and eat anything and everything. Of course, Dolores is also suffering from severe depression and doesn't want to do anything else. She graduates from high school at 257 pounds. She has a fight with her mother and that night, mom gets killed. What are the freaking odds of all of this happening to 1 person? Christ, Dolores is like a lightning rod of bad luck. I read another review of this book and some one called it a hilarious coming of age story. WTF?! It had a few dark jokes, but mostly it made me sad. If you have never suffered from depression, you might view this book differently than someone who has. Anyone who has ever suffered from depression could relate to Dolores and her need for food, TV and a nice comfy chair. Dolores ends up attempting suicide her first semester of college and ends up in a mental institution for years and then a half-way house. Her psychiatrist actually does rebirth therapy on her, which seems to work. Remember this from the 80s? Someone told me they remember seeing it on Oprah. Of course, he doesn't use the mattress like they did on Oprah, but a swimming pool, which seems less crazy to me.

Dolores is obsessed with her college roommate's old boyfriend, who she hunts down and manages to marry. In the end, she was obsessed with the person she thought he was. And possibly the person he should make her. He ends up being a shithead, too. Poor Dolores can't seem to meet any people that don't want to use and abuse her. Anyway, her grandmother dies and she moves back into her house. At this point Dolores has lost weight and gotten her shit mostly together. But after leaving the hubby and moving into grandma's house, she goes back to her old ways. The TV becomes her best friend again. Until, the neighbor lady, who has Parkinson's forces her to wake the hell up and get out of the house. Eventually, Dolores meets a nice guy and has a mostly good ending. At the end of this book, Dolores is almost 40. I have to admit that while it seems a lot of stuff happens to Dolores, she faces what most of us face growing up. We realize that our parents are human, that they have needs and desires just like we do. Most importantly, that we all need hope. We expect others to make us happy, but eventually we have to face the fact that we have to create our own happiness.

Let me just say that Wally Lamb climbed into a woman's head like I have never seen a man do. There were a few times that I had to remind myself that this was not an autobiography. It was a book that definitely made me stop and think more than once. So, read it. Even if you now know how it ends, it's worth a read. Just don't read it if you are already depressed.

Italian Sausage Subs

Time for my once a month home cooked meal. The husband is sick, so doesn't want to go out. So, I have to cook or order in. I actually have the food to cook, so decide I'll do it.



1 pack Hot Italian Sausages - Boiled and sliced. Mild is always an option here, as well

1 jar tomato sauce - We use Ragu Traditional, you can use whatever you like, if you are feeling real frisky, make your own.

2 tsp diced garlic - I use the kind that comes already chopped. You can use fresh.

Lots and lots of shredded mozzarella cheese

6 pack of buns - I use french bread rolls from the bakery because they have a nice crusty crust. Also please note that in my house at least 4 of these will be thrown away eventually.



Boil sausages. You can pull the skin and brown this like you would ground beef, but that's a lot like work to me, so I just boil them and then slice them. This process can also be done a day or two before if necessary. I don't like to do too much cooking in one day, it ruins my chi.
Okay, take a large pot, mix tomato sauce, garlic and sausage. Cover, go break up cat fight, that for some reason husband can't break up. Even though, he's just sitting there, staring at the TV. Separate cats, put bad cat in room by himself until he can calm down. Check on sausage mixture, stir, recover, go to fridge get beer. Husband wants to know what happened with the cats, that was 10 minutes ago and every body is fine. Allow bad cat to come out of time-out. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once mixture is nice and bubbly, slice rolls open, scoop out some of the bread - you need a well for your mixture. Put plenty of sausage mixture onto buns. Cover with lots and lots of shredded cheese. Place in oven until cheese is bubbly and melted. Remove from oven. Place on plates and put chopped banana peppers (courtesy of sister) or if you are like me, you can use jalapeno's. Tell husband, who for some reason just called his mother, that dinner is ready. Wait a minute to see if he is going to get off the phone. He is not. So get your plate, your beer and go sit outside. The leftovers of this mixture make one badass pizza.