Seasonal Treats!

So, I finally roasted the pumpkin seeds. In case any one would like to make their own, first clean off the seeds pretty well by rinsing them. Then let them dry out for a couple of days. 

Here they are drying out. I start out with a paper towel, then remove the towel after the first little bit. Once they are dried up enough, then take the seeds and toss them with olive oil and salt. Just enough to coat. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Then lay them out on cookie sheets and cook until golden brown (about 45 minutes). I usually add a bit of salt afterwards because I'm a salt fiend.


Here's a bit of the finished product. They are really tasty and the shells have been softened up enough that you just chomp them up with the inner seeds.


Turns out they are pretty good for you too! They are rich in fiber and vitamins B and E. You can also play around with different seasonings. Here's some suggestions: Garlic powder/salt; seasoning salt, black pepper; cayenne pepper; Cajun seasonings; Italian seasonings; chili powder; and grated hard cheese (such as Parmesan). I haven't tried any of these because I'm a purist and I love just plain salt.

Good luck if you try it and I know they will be delicious! Happy seasonal treating! 

Belinda

Laughing my tatas off

First there was this: 


Now...there's this:


Heh.

Belinda

America?

First, check this out.

This is absolutely not a joke. Check out these stories:

VA Administration

Alabama Prisoners

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Michigan

North Carolina

Virginia

Wisconsin

New Mexico

Expats around the world

Starting to get the picture? This is frightening and horrible. I cannot believe they are going to get away with this crap. I'm pretty sure this isn't a true democracy if the right to vote can be stolen from an American citizen who can BY LAW vote. Guess Sarah Palin might be right about some parts of the country not really being "American". I can't even tell you how frightening these reports are. Check these guys out to see what is going on around the country. Or if the ACLU is more to your liking, they are also trying to fight for Americans right to vote.

I can't even believe that this is an issue in this day and age. I am absolutely flummoxed by actually typing the phrase "fight for Americans right to vote." It's disgusting. That's my rant for today! Good luck for those of you voting, especially in those pesky swing states!

Belinda

Pumpkins Galore!

Because I'm STILL off work, I get random ideas in my head cuz I'm bored. I decided to buy pumpkins to carve the other day. I ended up with four pumpkins with very little thought in my head of actually having to do all the work of carving them. I just thought four would look good. Driving on the way home, I had a thunderstruck idea (does that sentence even make sense?). I then called on the cavalry to help. Fortunately, my friends are super awesome and came to my rescue. Nikki and CJ brought their two pumpkins and each of us carved two. Nikki had a white pumpkin which was pretty awesome. Here's us...


It took Nikki forever to carve the intricate spiderweb on one side of the pumpkin. It wouldn't stand up on it's butt-end, so she got all creative (show-off). On the "face" of it, there's a spiderweb and on the upper top is a spider. When it's lit, the spider shows up in back. It's pretty sweet.


CJ all done with her pirate extravaganza. It was cool. To the right is one of mine. I like creepy pumpkins ;)

Woohoo. We are too awesome. These are lit. Then I figured out how to shut off the flash on the camera. It only takes me, like, a million tries to get something right.


Ohhhh....super awesome. I LOVE carving pumpkins. In case you weren't paying attention, CJ's in on the left, mine is on the right.

Here's Nikki's. This picture doesn't remotely do it justice. You can't see the spider in the back at all. Hopefully, Nikki will post something on her blog with a picture where you can see her spider.

Me, lighting with Nikki's assistance.

Here's my four. Nikki, me, CJ, me from left to right. The one on the far right is the creepiest one of the bunch. It was actually hilarious because CJ didn't realize it was a clown until it was light. Then she decided she hated it and it freaked her out. That means it was successful. If I can't make someone cry with fear at least once around Halloween, then my life is not complete.

Close-ups of the awesome-ness.

Another close-up of the other two.

Here's the four in place for Halloween.

And all ready to go. Woooooo...creeepppyyyyy!!!

Super fun times right there. CJ and Nikki also helped me deal with the pumpkin seeds from the six pumpkins. We have an over-abundance now, as you can see. The seeds have to be laid out to dry for a couple of days, then I will sprinkle a bit of salt on them and roast them in the oven. Since Nikki and CJ helped out so much, I suppose I will have to share with them. Sigh.

Well, that's pretty much it for now! I am hoping to be back at work soon, although I have a few more projects to get done at the other house and around here that I need to get off my duff and do. But I'm getting lazier and lazier!

Belinda

Pee, Elks and Prison Shanks (OH MY!)

I've been slacking on adding pics from Arizona. In my defense, I haven't yet actually finished the rest of the disposable camera that I have those pics on. In my prosecution (heh), Dad sent me some pics AGES ago from the night that Mom and Dad rented a cabin up in the mountains by their house. It says it's "rustic". Mom did not know what "rustic" meant. The look on her face was pretty much priceless when we walked in.

No. Mom is NOT picking out my fleas. She is NOT GROOMING ME. It only looks like it. We're sitting on the front "porch" of the cabin and she's trying to help me dislodge a pesky barrette. She may have saved my life. Seriously. People have DIED by barrettes. Okay. Not DIED. But really, really sprained their ankles.

Seriously. It took like FOREVER to free me. But bonus shot! Front of the cabin and Dad's back end. OF HIS TRUCK. Sickos.

The cabin is basically two rooms. This is room number one. The living area, bedrooms and kitchen. Dude. It has electricity, running water and a fridge. It was totally awesome. The second room is the bathroom with a for-reals toilet, sink and shower. I am a person who refuses to pee outside. Ask my friend Tracy about road-tripping with me in the hills of Garland and me making them drive back to town so I can pee. I'm pretty sure that peeing outside is detrimental to your health. Maybe I should have invested in this. God love the internet.


The top bunk is where I got the best night's sleep of my life. Or I didn't hardly sleep at all since I was pretty terrified I was gonna fall out. The mattresses are this super plastic from NASA that was really loud. Dad was sleeping on the bottom bunk and Mom had the bed in the corner. She's pretty freaked by little spaces, so she called the bed immediately. Every single time I moved, the sleeping bag I was in made this awful noise and I KNEW I was waking up Dad every time I moved. Getting into it was okay, but getting out of it in the morning was a comedy of errors. It took Mom, me and a crack team of extrication specialists to get my butt out of bed. But really, that's not that different from every single morning of my life.


Dad had only to make one trip down the mountain to their house for something. Pretty remarkable, although we did pack 3/4 of the house. So after he got back and we were getting ready for food, we had a little friend stop by. Yeah. It was an elk. Kick ass. Read more about them here. Mom was very excited. Until he decided he REALLY, REALLY liked us. Then he named us George and petted us.

This is her supremely uncomfortable look. The elk obviously wasn't too concerned about us shooting him. Dumb elk. Dad totally has a carry and conceal license. And if that elk would have made a move on us, Dad would have shot it and Mom would have shanked it.

Yeah. He was super close. The possessed ELK FROM HELL!!! I think we probably could have just fed him bread out of our hands, but fortunately we're not idiots.

Dad is pretty brave here. But again, he is totally packing heat. The elk is literally raising it's back leg to scratch an itch on it's head. Pretty much never seen a hoofed animal do that one, so that was cool. He did eventually leave once dusk hit, but Mom was thinking he as about to bunk down and since the only available bed space was with her, she was freaked.

End of magical cabin trip. It was fun and thanks goes to the padres for hooking me up. I'm still on my sabbatical from work as I'm awaiting a new contract to come through. Luckily, I have things to do (and yet, still find myself being a lazy bum). I've been spending a little time painting the old house so that we can put that BIATICH up for sale. Anyone needing a house in beautiful Wyandotte county? Let me know and we'll talk.

Love,
Belinda