It Only Hurts When I Blog

Greetings, gentle readers - or is that 'gentle feeders'?

We've all been on the Chinese food kick at times. There are a couple of Chinese Buffets near (former) work where you can indulge in high sodium and high fat deliciousness for reasonable amounts of payola. AND receive that all-important fortune cookie at the end of your meal. My favorite items - crab rangoons, pot stickers, hot and sour and wonton soup, and anything with shrimp in it. ;-)

If you've been reading my blog, you will note that I've been on an Asian food marathon! I love Chinese food, the healthy and the unhealthy. ;-)

I've had homemade wonton soup for breakfast - homemade egg rolls for lunch - and now (ta daaa!) homemade hot and sour soup. Here's a photo, (taken just for you bloggies out there) of my hot and sour soup. I was just sitting down to eat it last night and jumped back up to get the camera. By the way, Charlie liked it too! I had the hot and sour soup for a meal, though, and he had it for an appetizer before dinner. ;-) I have 4 (large) servings left over for lunches and/or dinners. I might try freezing one just to see if it freezes and thaws OK.

Homemade hot and sour soup is really not difficult to make, and it's quite healthy except for the sodium in the chicken stock. I found all the ingredients I needed without too much trouble, except for lily buds - golden needles. It's fine without them as a lot of places don't put them in anyway, but I'll be looking for them at an International Market soon or I'll order them off the web. By the way - I used ONE QUARTER of the hot chili paste the recipe called for and it still had Charlie getting out his handkerchief. My vegetarian sisters (all three of them) will be proud of me for actually buying tofu for the first time in my life. Thankfully, you can't taste the stuff. ;-)

Heather - please note the presence of wood-ear mushrooms - your favorite in Moo shi pork.

When the kids were younger, we had a great local Chinese food place (I think it was called the China Palace) in East Providence, Rhode Island. It was owned by a family that went to our church. They made wonderful Moo Shi Pork and Shrimp Foon Shee (with rice vermicelli). My daughter and I would eat all the Chinese dishes, and I'd bring in McDonalds for my son Evan or he'd eat chicken wings! Over time he learned to enjoy Chinese food. ;-)

Speaking of food - I do remember a really strange dream I had last night. I was on a property that had pathways next to tree-lined areas where squirrels and cats-that-thought-they-were-squirrels were feeding together on nuts! The cats didn't eat the squirrels, they ate nuts just as though they were squirrels. Strange!! Visitors walked the grounds with long wooden sticks with flat pieces on the ends to gently push (read that shovel) the animals away from you if need-be. Now, Dr. Phil - what the heck does that mean??? Comments and theories are welcomed.

That's enough for now, my coffee's getting cold and I think I'll nuke it back into shape...

I'm back...

I forgot to say one thing about this morning - and PLEASE tell me (reassure me) if this happens at your house...

I was sitting at the computer around 6:15am, writing on the blog, and heard these NOISES outside. What could it be? No, it wasn't the truant woodpecker that pecks on the roof, even though it did stop by a little later.

Why, it's the love of my life - trying to arouse a turkey in the field across the road by yelling strange noises at the top of his lungs out in the driveway before leaving for work... (what will the neighbors think?)

In case you don't know, this weekend starts turkey hunting season and Charlie is limbering up his vocal cords. Need a turkey call? Not necessary. I have Charlie. ;-)

He'll dress up in camos (be still, my heart) and lie in wait for that monster bird to come along...

Tune in next week for an update on turkey hunting weekend in Columbia, TN.