T-Shirt Making & Brunch at the Alley

Hello and happy middle of the week at the end of April in the first few months of the year! Yeah, I know…odd way to start but I was stressed for an entry opener. That’s quite literally what fell out of my head.

I finally got around to making a t-shirt as the winning entry from my New This Weekend contest. I am sad to say that it didn’t go exactly as I had planned and because of that, I felt it necessary to include another new thing I did this weekend. It’s a double post. Woo!

Anyhow, on Sunday morning I set up my supplies outside. I had my t-shirt, wax paper, exact-o knife, markers, iron (inside), and lastly, paint. I even had a big piece of tile to lie the wax paper flat on so that when I started cutting, it wouldn’t scratch the new patio table Kevin just bought us. I put the design down, taped it to the tile, and then put the wax paper on top of the design for easy tracing.


Tracing Not Optional.

Like the design? I got that off the web though I don’t remember where. I just wanted to put that out there so no one thinks I did it myself and am trying to pass it off as my own. It’s probably a company logo or something. I just thought it was funny. Chicken with iPod. Hyst-TER-ical. (wee!)

So anyhow, I started tracing with a pencil and realized immediately that I was screwed. Essentially, I didn’t read the instructions well enough and got wax paper instead of FREEZER paper. I didn’t know that there was a difference. To those out there who didn’t know there was a difference either, let me enlighten you. What am I here for but to make the mistakes so you don’t have to?

• Wax Paper: Wax paper is tissue paper that’s been coated with paraffin on both sides, making it resistant (but not impervious) to grease and moisture. Wax paper is easily compromised by liquid, it is prone to tearing, and it is not heatproof (the wax begins to melt at relatively low temperatures).
  
• Freezer (Parchment) Paper: Parchment is effectively teflon coated (on one side). It can withstand high temperature heat. According to the Orb (Internet), it is usually best to use parchment paper over wax paper in most situations.

In layman terms, I couldn’t trace anything because pencil lead and marker will not write on wax. I am grateful that they don’t write on wax because if I had forged ahead I would have ended up having to buy a new iron as the wax would have ruined it. Whew! If there’s anything this blog is teaching me, it’s not to forge ahead and use my brain for a moment or two.

Free hand sucks.

Without the stencil I was forced to free hand it. Thankfully the fabric markers turned out to be relatively easy to use and I was quite pleased with the results.

…until I decided that it looked a little boring and that I should frame the design with the 3-D fabric paint I got.

Maybe I got overconfident. Maybe I my hand slipped a bit. Regardless, I ended up with a t-shirt that at first looked like I might have bought it to a t-shirt a 4-year old could make.

Sigh.

After the framing mishap, I was done. I put the t-shirt on the dishwasher to dry and got myself ready for brunch; which is the 2nd new thing I did this weekend.

The Alley, Newport Beach

Well, not brunch….I’ve certainly done brunch before. And the Alley where we went for brunch? Yep, I’ve been there before too. But I’ve never had brunch AT the Alley. And really, it was kind of crap.

Jeff had to point out that my meal looked like boobs.

I shouldn’t say that brunch at the Alley was crap. It just wasn’t as good as other places I’ve been to for brunch. For example, the never ending Mimosas were $8.50 per person. The Village Inn (not the chain, but the little hole in the wall on Balboa Island) only charges $3.00 per person and Woody’s Wharf doesn’t charge at all (they make it up on their food prices). The brunch choices in the breakfast area were minimal, and not very good. Both Kevin and Jeff were disappointed in their lunch choices as well. We did enjoy hanging out on the patio of the Alley to make our $8.50 worth it. The waitresses were excellent at refilling our drinks which is leagues above having to almost beg the busboy to refill your drink at Woody’s.

Mimosas make every brunch that much better.

Wow. I just went in full restaurant review mode there. Sorry about that. Have a great week!

Friday. YAY!

Hi Everyone! No, I haven’t died or given up on the blog, I swear. Last weekend Kevin and I got a surprise visitor in the form of Kevin’s Old College Buddy and I got sidetracked. I bought all the supplies for the T-shirt making, t-shirts included, but never got around to putting supplies to creations. For that I am deeply sorry. In my defense of the new thing resolution, I did go to a place in Balboa that I have never been before (which is an odd statement in itself as Balboa is tiny and there are very few places there I haven’t at least walked into). Sadly it wasn’t exciting enough to make a whole entry about it. However, if you are ever in Balboa having Blue Drinks at the place formally known as Studio Café, stop in to the Shorehouse down the block. They have really nice pool tables.


Photo by Phillip Toledano

Still feeling bad about not having a real entry for you right now, I figured I could somewhat entertain you if you are still stuck at work waiting for that clock to strike ‘Friday Going Home or at least to Happy Hour’ time. Here are a few things off the web that can amuse you…at least for a few minutes:

300 Movie Trailer, PG Version:



The Love Connection’s Worst Named Guest:



Oddly wonderful Cakes


Actual cake, completely edible...this isn't even the best one.

Plumber Burns down house first day of the job:


D'oh!

Because I'm wonderfully lazy, all sites above were directed to me by Neatorama.com. Thank you Neatorama!

Anyhow, hope that gets you though the next 10 minutes. Have a great weekend!

Winners Announced!

Before I announce the winners (but if you simply can’t be patient while I widdle away at this narrative, just scroll down), choosing the winner was really, really, hard. I must be honest when I say that I will most definitely do all the finalist selections at some point. I only did get four entries, but those four people submitted a hell of a lot of great ideas.

Here were the finalist choices:

• Go out and take some photos to enter into the O.C. Fair photo competition.
  
• How about birdwatching?
  
• Griffith Observatory: http://www.griffithobs.org/
  
• Skeet shooting! Go to a gun club and shoot at some clay discs.
  
• Make a freezer paper T-shirt
  
• Go see a Roller Derby bout!
  
• Host a chili dump. Have your friends make a small batch of their favorite chili, dump it into one big pot, and enjoy!

I know! What would you choose? If only I could go to the Roller Derby while skeet shooting while all my friends made t-shirts and chili with birds on their shoulders!


Just some cool artwork I found on the web. Ell-a-phants!

So without further ado, here are the winners. Or as I like to say, the Big Wieners (trust me when I say this phrase is used in a good way):

GRAND PRIZE WINNER of a T-Shirt and a mug goes to: Natalie for her Freezer Paper T-shirt idea. CONGRATULATIONS NATALIE!

FIRST PLACE WINNER of a mug goes to Beth for her Skeet Shooting idea. If I picked the winner off of what make me laugh the most, you would definitely be taking home the grand prize.

RUNNER UP Prizes go to Robert and Ed. Both of your ideas will be used, trust me.

Happy Friday everyone, see you next week!

Tandoori Chicken - Home Entry!

I love Indian food. Well, most of it anyways. I especially love the Chicken Mahkani at Mother India in Costa Mesa. I love Mother India’s Chicken Mahkani so much that not only do I eat it at least once a month but I also subject any visitors that may come and visit me to eat at Mother India as well. I become a little bit defensive if the person I brought to Mother India doesn’t fall in love with it like I have (Hi Mom, yes, I mean you…spicy my ass) (Actually she doesn’t know about this blog…mainly because she considers ‘shut up’ to be a swear word). I love their Chicken Mahkani so deeply that even though I tell myself I will one-day order something from Mother India that isn’t Chicken Mahkani I never do. It’s really just that good. As is their daal…and garlic naan…and samosas…I hear other things are good too but I have never tried them. Oh, but their lunch buffet kinda bites. I know; it’s weird.

This weekend Kevin and I were broke. Like really broke. Like almost considered selling off the CD collection and breaking into change jar for groceries broke. But I was really in the mood for some Chicken Mahkani, which is pretty common of me to want something right at the time when I can least afford it. So I decided that I would make my own Chicken Mahkani, which I have done before but never the proper way, which is to use Tandoori Chicken. Now granted, I still couldn’t make Tandoori Chicken the way one is suppose to do it (clay oven), but I do have a BBQ grill. Clay Oven, BBQ Grill…close enough (there’s a country in Asia right now fainting at the thought).

Surprisingly, we already had most of the ingredients in the house from the last time I tried (and ‘tried’ really is the appropriate word here) so all I had to buy was the world’s most expensive chicken breasts, some yogurt, bit of ginger, and a lemon which I didn’t even use.



I first cut up the chicken into bits and soak it in a bit of lemon juice and salt. Meanwhile, Kevin mixed together all the other marinade things, except for the food coloring, which I insisted that I do just because it would be fun. Yes, I have a weird sense of the word ‘fun’.



After applying the marinade to the chicken bits, I left it in the refrigerator for what seemed like eternity. But in real life time, it was 24 hours. Believe me when I say, when you want Chicken Mahkani, 24 hours IS eternity.


My fridge, in case 'Cribs' ever wants to come to my house.

The next day I started the grill. I am embarrassed to say that after two and a half years of living in California I have become accustomed to always being able to grill outside (without freezing my ass off). It’s a luxury I take for granted. This is the round about way of me saying I’m sorry it snowed on your Easter. If it makes you feel any better, we’re in a drought which means that this summer the entire state of California will burn down to the ground that will also mean it will be uncomfortably hot (fire=hot) and we don’t have an air conditioner…or a hose big enough to handle a fire that size.


Grill and the tomato plants that can't grow fast enough.

Where was I? OH YES, the grill. So I threw the marinade pieces of chicken on there and once they were properly cooked, I began calling it Tandoori.


My name is Earl, uh, I mean 'tandoori chicken'.

From there I made the Mahkani sauce.


Ah! How many of you have Kasoori Methi in your house? OK, how about know what it is?

As you can see from the picture below, includes Asia’s ration of butter. I understand that Mahkani can also called ‘Butter Chicken’ but DAMN.


Asia's going to be pissed.

After the butter melted, I threw in everything else and let it simmer awhile. I did come to the realization that a wok probably wasn’t the best instrument to use for this as simmering Mahkani means splattered Mahkani all over stove, countertop, floor, Moe, glass of wine besides stove, cat, and I think even one of the smaller countries in Asia.



So this is the finished product. I was a bit disappointed in the sauce (which means I’m STILL in the mood for Mother India) but the Tandoori Chicken was fantastic.

No Mother India, but not bad.

CONTEST UPDATE: I will be announcing the winners of the New This Weekend Contest on Friday, April 13th. Make sure to check in and if you haven’t already, send in those entries!

Send in those entries!

I'm sorry to say that the contest will be delayed for another week as I only have 4 entries right now. I want to thank the four people who have submitted already as your ideas are very very good. Some I admit I have already done before (though not written about) and some just plain made me laugh out loud. It makes me think I should hire a creative team for this blog.

Anyhow, this weekend's new thing will be of my own creation-which at this point will be a home entry most likely. I will, without a doubt, pick the winner next Friday, April 13th even if there is still only 4 entries. But I hope to get more (hint, hint).

In case I don't write out this week's entry before then, Happy Easter!

New This Weekend Contest!

Happy April Fool’s Day! While I could say the following is an April Fool’s joke, it is not. Kevin did suggest that I come up with an elaborate story for my new thing and make you all think I jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge this weekend (and I’m sure I could have scored the convincing photos somewhere off the web for it) meanwhile doing absolute nothing and finally tell you on Friday that it was all just a joke; but that just wouldn’t be right. So in lieu of the fact that I have never held a contest and truthfully I really am running out of ideas of new things to do, I present to you the first ever New This Weekend Contest.

• TO ENTER: Submit an email (link is on the side panel) to scrabblemoe@gmail.com with your suggestion for what you would like to see me do new next weekend. Please include your name and email address (if different from the one you’re sending it from).
  
  
• PRIZES: (1) Grand Prize Winner will win a New This Weekend mug and their choice of one New This Weekend t-shirt (up to $25.00).
  (1) First Prize Winner will win a New This Weekend mug.
  (2) Runner up winners will win a New This Weekend bumper sticker.
  
  
• The Grand Prize Winner and First Prize Winner will be chosen by the best idea. Runner-up winners will be drawn from a hat (literally).
  
  
• Grand Prize Winner’s idea will be used for an entry. Most likely the First Place winners too and even more likely, ever frickin’ idea submitted unless it’s completely silly.
  
  
• RULES FOR SUBMISSION: To have your idea considered, please keep in mind that the cost of the idea cannot exceed $50.00. Ideas must be able to be done within 60 miles of Costa Mesa, CA. Please keep your ideas clean as my sister reads this site. Lastly, I’m terrified of heights so jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge just wouldn’t be done. Otherwise, I’m open for suggestions. Looking forward to what you all have in mind.
  
  
• Winners will be chosen on Friday, April 6th 2007 unless I don’t have enough valid submissions to give all the prizes too. If that is the case, then I will extend the contest a week.

OH! And feel free to enter as often as you like. And I would enter…I mean, as far as contests go, you have an excellent chance of winning…how many people really read this site? 12?

Have a great week!

Scottsdale, Arizona

Hello Everyone! I want to thank everyone for being so patient while I work up the energy to write this entry out. As I said to Beth earlier this week, after our vacation, it took all my strength just to drag myself back to work much less compose an entry and do other important things…like laundry. I think part of my delay was trying to figure out how to describe last weekend; or more importantly, how to make complete and utter relaxation sound exciting. I guess the best I can hope for is if you don’t find this entry amusing that you at least come away with the sense of wanting to go to Scottsdale yourself. Just so you know, the washing machine is pleasantly churning away right now, and here I am again, writing to you.

Most of you already know how Kevin and I ended up in Scottsdale, but for those who don’t, let me explain. I entered a contest on the greater Phoenix tourist board’s website sometime last spring. They had four prizes, all of which were two night stays at some fancy resort in the Phoenix\Scottsdale area. In July I was notified via mail that I had won one of the prizes:

• Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch package: two-bedroom casita accommodations for a two-night stay for four; Camp Hyatt for two children for one day; 60-minute Avania massage or facial for two; dinner for four; and a round of golf for two.

Not bad for a piece of mail I almost threw away, huh?

I made the reservations right away for March 2007. Kevin and I were celebrating our 5-year anniversary (of dating) and figured what better way to do so then at a 5-star resort. Unfortunately we couldn’t book the room for Saturday\Sunday so we ended up getting a cheap hotel in Phoenix on Saturday and went to the resort on Sunday\Monday.

We got into Phoenix at 6 PM St. Patrick’s Day. We soon realized that the cheap hotel I had booked was an understatement in ‘cheap’. We were quite literally in the bad part of town, complete with two hookers hanging outside the hotel. I can’t verify for sure whether or not they were hookers as I didn’t ask them or anything, I just assumed that when a 300 lb woman is wearing a lacra dress so tight her cottage cheese butt is completely exposed revealing a g-string she’s barely wearing, she might be a hooker. The hotel itself was…well, cheap. The bed was a board with two pieces of tissues for a pillow. I was a bit shocked not to see cockroaches. We quickly changed into some fresh clothes and grabbed a cab downtown.

I had found an Irish bar to go to online before we left but when we got there I realized how stupid that choice was as well. The place was packed and had a $10 cover charge. After the disappointment in the hotel, I didn’t want to deal with it. Thankfully there was this great little basement bar, Monroe’s, directly across the street that not only wasn’t crowded, but it had cheap drinks and terrific food. I want to take time right now to personally thank Monroe’s on 3 W. Monroe St. for turning our St. Patrick’s Day around. You guys are awesome.

On the cab ride back to the hotel, our cab driver looked at us cockeyed when we gave the address. “Oh man, that’s the ghetto!” Yes sir, I think we already gathered that. After a bad nights sleep on an awful bed, we left first thing in the morning. It might be the only time Kevin and I have left a hotel room before checkout time EVER.

We headed straight to Scottsdale, which is about 20 minutes northeast of Phoenix. We had a while before we could check into the resort so we bummed around the entertainment district and got some food. Unfortunately we had already ate breakfast when we stumbled upon Giligan’s (4251 North Winfield Scott Plaza) where we learned they had amazing cheap Sunday breakfast. They also apparently have Goldfish Races but we missed that too. I did, however, spin the big wheel of drinks for $2.00 (I’ve watched too much Price is Right not to!) and had to do a shot of Peach Pucker. Ew.

We finally checked into the resort at 2 PM. I was a bit worried at first that they would look at my gift certificate and say “Yeah, right”, but they just smiled and handed me the keys to the room; or, as it turns out, the little house.

Walking through the resort to the casita was breath taking enough. First thing you see is the cacti and waterfalls lining the pathway to the swimming pool(s) and golf course. The air smells sweet from the flowers, the birds are chirping, and you hear laughter from the kids careening down the water slide. They could have told me I was sleeping on the benches in the veranda and I’d be happy. But no, our key opened the door to a little cottage that is literally as big as our apartment.

Veranda

Kevin and I looked inside, looked at each other, looked inside and began bouncing and cheering. Then we started running from room to room shouting, “KEVIN! Lookatthis!! Lookatthis!!” “MOE! C’mereandseethis!!!!” Think two 8-year olds let loose in Toys R Us with a fistful of money and no parents. Everything we came across (three TVs!) we began giggling (a stocked FREE refrigerator!) like we had just committed a crime (two rooftop patios!) and had gotten away with it (THREE bathrooms!). We quickly unpacked and went to the adult pool (adult pool! No screaming splashing kids allowed! I’m in heaven!) for a swim and a cocktail.

Let the relaxing ensue.

Living room in the casita

Later on, we had the Hyatt driver (leather seat Lincoln!) take us back to the entertainment district. We had seen an ad for a tiki bar\restaurant called Drift (4341 N 75th St) in the local newspaper and decided to check it out. While it was a bit more upscale than I had hoped for (I’m still going to marry Tiki Ti in Hollywood), the food was fantastic and the drinks were really cool. I had the Spicy Peanut Chicken bowl and the Lava Flow. The bowl was indeed spicy (I went through 3 glasses of water and pulled an American Dave when I ate it) but damn was it good. I wasn’t feeling too great after dinner, most likely due to the heat of Scottsdale and the heat of the food, so we just went back to the resort. Not that going back to the resort was hard to do.

Drift and the Lave Flow

The next day was more relaxing at the pool, late lunch, a massage at the spa, more relaxing at the pool, hot tub, lounging on the rooftop deck, etc. etc. ahhhhhhh. We met up with Kevin’s friend, Kim, for dinner that night and tried as desperately as we could to use all $200 of the gift certificate we had. After three appetizers, two filet migons, one fish special of the day, salads, and a tiramisu dessert, we only managed to spend $137. Booze was not included or else we might have been able to pull it off. The food was delicious but I was so full by the time the steak got there that I only had three bites and ended up taking the rest back for breakfast the next day. After Kim left, we went on our free gondola ride and hung out by the fire pit on the veranda.

Toes at the Adult Swimming Pool

I was already starting to get depressed that we had to leave the next day.

No baby ducks were harmed in my leaving the resort depression.

I woke up early on Tuesday morning and spent an hour sitting on the patio drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and watching the bunnies bounce around. I was truly sad to have to go and tried as best as I could to take it all in to memory. Once Kevin woke up I took the below video. Obviously I will never ever become a filmmaker but if you can suffer through, you can see the casita and the resort a little bit.





As this is already a really long entry, I will end it here. Thank you again for waiting so long for me to un-relax to actually write it out.

Mini Roadside America Road Trip - Orange County\Long Beach, CA

In the early 1990’s, when everyone I knew around my age smartly went off to college, I began what I like to call my Wander Years. One could argue that I still am in my Wander Years, but it surely wouldn’t be the move-every-3-months craziness as it was before; for awhile I was doing a tri-state move-fest between Wisconsin, Colorado, and oddly enough, Missouri. Both during and between moves, I would visit other states to either check out a potential new place to move, or just for stupid teen-twenties parties (the Anarchist Picnic in Indiana springs to mind). During this time frame I bought this book, the new Roadside America Handbook.

I used to spend hours at the Denny’s on 6th and Wadsworth in Lakewood, CO pouring over that book, dreaming of the road trip across America I would one day take in my 1963 convertible something - once I could afford it. Think Tom Cochran’s ‘Life is a Highway’ video minus Tom Cochran. I’d see the giant peach in Gaffney, South Carolina! I leave a deposit at the 3-story outhouse in Bryant Pond, ME! I’d defy gravity in Santa Cruz, CA! I had that book dog-eared and highlighted with notes in the margins. And for a while you couldn’t even see me without seeing that book in tow.

Sadly, the book, as well as the Denny’s on 6th and Wadsworth is long gone. I never did make that road trip though I’d be a damn liar if I said it still wasn’t one of my dreams.

Recently I ran into the Roadside America website. Looking through the entries for the Muffler Man and the Giant Egg brought me back to those early Denny’s Days. I decided that although I don’t have the fortune or vacation time to do my cross-country trip the way I meant it to be, I could certainly do a mini Roadside America road trip on Saturday afternoon. So that’s exactly what I did.

Checking out the site map, I decided that quantity would have to rule over quality in my mini trip. I grabbed a map, a soda, a full pack of smokes, kissed the boyfriend good-bye, and off I went.


When traffic was actually light.

The first stop was White House Doll Museum in Anaheim. The description was, “Hobby City is a street packed with a variety of hobby stores. One building that jumps out is a half-size version of the White House. It contains a 4,000+ item toy and doll museum and a large Barbie and Ken collection.” I found traffic getting to this wayside was a pain in the ass. I found the half-sized version of the White House just as disappointing. I would like to point out, however, that if I ever decide to build a model again, I’m coming here. I didn’t have the $2.00 in cash to look at the actual doll museum, so after taking a picture, I was on to my next destination.

Radical Reptiles was unfortunately not open

…which was the giant donut! Of the three wayside attractions I wanted to see the most, the giant donut was the highest on my list. This may stem from fond childhood memories of the giant cows in both South Dakota and Wisconsin (Dad: “Look! Giant Cow! Moo! MOO!”). I just love giant … whatevers. That sounded dirty so we’re going to move on.

As you can see from the picture, the sign obviously say ‘bagel’. I happen to know that it’s actually a donut that got converted to a bagel at some point in time, so donut I will call it, ‘bagel’ be damned. And I obviously had to have a donut there or else I’d just be cheating. It wasn’t half bad.

Mmmmm....donut.

After the donut and the picture taking, I moved on to Long Beach where the World’s Largest Flag is kept. I wasn’t sure what to expect – would the flag be on display in a museum? Would it be wrapped in one of those flag triangles? I had no idea, nor did I have an exact address. The website said it was on 4th and Lime. When I got to 4th Street, I made a right turn thinking that Lime would soon come up. I passed Orange Ave, Walnut Ave, and Cherry Ave before I realized I was going in the wrong direction. I made a u-turn a low and behold, world’s largest flag. I’m such a dumbass. If I had simply looked left instead of right at 4th I wouldn’t have been able to miss it. It’s the world’s largest flag after all.

I pulled over and over compensated my dumbass-ness by taking 20 different pictures. I must have looked really patriotic.

Deceased Flag Owner...and bird.

After the giant flag I headed home. I was a bit disappointed as the three attractions didn’t take more than an hour or so to see (including driving). I wish I had known or else I would have fit in Hitler's Beer Steins and Richard Nixon’s Birthplace and Library.

*Sigh*. Maybe next time.

Well kids, next week’s update is going to be a bit late. Kevin and I are cruising out of state for a few days. I don’t want to give too much away, but I do promise multiple updates when we return.

Orange Picking Party -Riverside, CA

Hey! Check me out! I got out of the house this weekend. AND, to even further my greatness (ahem) I stayed away from the water and went INLAND*! And to think I almost ended up with another home entry. I have to thank the text message from my very funny Irish friend, Patrick, who asked, “Moe, new this w/e, an Orange Picking Party, Interested?”

Which I responded, “As long as I don’t have to get up at the butt crack of morning, Totally!”**

I really didn’t know what to expect from the Orange Picking Party. Was it at a huge orange grove? What kind of people would be there? Should I bring anything? What should I wear? Will I get dirty? Is it far? What time? What’s blue? When a teacher picks his nose during a student’s exam, will he fling that booger far? *** I limited my questions to Patrick as I didn’t want him to un-invite me.


Oranges silly.

We arrived in Riverside around 2:30 PM. The band (there was a band!) was already playing and the oranges that were in arms reach were already picked off. There were plenty of oranges higher up so I grabbed a bag and an orange-picking pokey stick**** and began collecting. I also had to finish my beer really quickly as attempting to maintain balance on a slopie hill while trying to pull an orange from a tree using the orange-picking pokey stick and holding an increasingly heavy bag of oranges all the while holding a beer just wasn’t working. Kevin and I had to ask for advice from Michele’s son, Baron:



I ended up picking two large grocery bags worth. After the first bag I mentally told myself there would be no way I would need so many oranges even if I made orange juice and orange pie and orange muffins and orange fruitcake loaf for the next week. But I couldn’t stop picking those damn oranges. I’ve never picked my own food before. ***** It was awesome.


I don't know who this kid is but he cracks me up.

After I exhausted my orange picking efforts (Kevin had long since deserted me for food that didn’t come from a tree), I grabbed another beer and joined Kevin on the feasting. We then sat down and watched Patrick’s band play. In the below video, the girl singing is all of 13 years old, and I am apparently fascinated by Kevin’s chicken:



If you noticed from the video, this was a family party. Which is why it was very surprising that the cops came around at 6:30 PM to shut us down for noise violations. Apparently a neighbor complained that her windows were rattling. When I asked the hostess of the party if she invited everyone in the neighborhood she said, “Well I normally do but this year I didn’t.” D’oh! There must have been one angry neighbor who wanted to get her oranges picked. (hee)


Very Inland Riverside

Not wanting to have ‘the man’ bring us down, we stuck around for another hour or so. Take that ‘man’!


Patrick, the very funny drum-playing Irish man.

When we said good-bye to Patrick and Michele, I thanked them for inviting us. Patrick just smiled and mentioned that I must get a kick out of writing about things like this to make the people back home in the cold and snow jealous. I smiled back and said, “Yeah, yeah I do.”

*In California standards, going 5 miles east of the Pacific Ocean is considered ‘inland’. I know it’s absurd but I don’t make the rules I just Roman it (as in, ‘when in Rome’…I just made that up by the way; I wonder if it will stick).

**Not exact text message back, I am simply paraphrasing.

***And the answers are: Not a very big grove, maybe 15 trees. A buncha different types of people, mostly families. Bring beer. Wear anything you damn well please. If you want to get dirty. About 40 minutes away. ‘Round 1 PM. A color, dumb ass. Yes, it will fling farther than the further galaxy.

****Not actual name. Duh.

*****OK, OK, save for a couple raspberries on hiking trips, tomatoes from my small garden, and apples from my grandmother’s back yard. But I’m telling a STORY here.

Sidenote: I don't know what YouTube does to videos to make them look so grainy...the real video is much better. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

Crock-Pot Jambalaya - Home Entry!

I’m going to pre-warn you that this is going to be a pretty piss poor entry this week. I’m saying that mostly because I almost didn’t have an entry for you at all this week due to pure unadulterated laziness. I was going to claim a sabbatical or something similar. Truth be told, I felt like being a homebody this weekend and a homebody I was, as I didn’t manage to make it a ½ mile from my house all weekend long. At the very last minute (read: Sunday afternoon) I got a bit of an inspiration (read: pulled from my ass) that lead me to this.

My inspiration came from two things really; which may or may not be related in this little head of mine. First off, it was Fat Tuesday last week (aka: Mardi Gras), which makes me miss the great food I had in my all too short trip to New Orleans back in 2002. Secondly the inspiration came from trying to convince Kevin Saturday night that maybe we should consider moving to New Orleans in a couple of years.

His response? “No.”

His reason? “Heat, Humidity and Hurricanes.”

Which beat my reason of, “you can drink booze in the streets.”

While my reason doesn’t really hold up real well to his reasons, it still doesn’t quench the desire to do it. Not to mention I have a couple of years to wear him down to the idea (Wah HA HA (evil laugh)).

SO YES! This does bring us down to the entry itself, which is Jambalaya via crock-pot (told you I was lazy!).

Here are the ingredients to make Jambalaya via crock-pot. The recipe also calls for shrimp but since I don’t eat anything that comes from the sea, it was omitted. Feel free to add as many of the poop-shoot crustaceans as your heart’s desire if you make this yourself.


No poop-shoot crustaceans needed.

First thing first was to cut up the chicken and sausage. Except for the sausage was fresh from the butcher so slicing wasn’t an option. For those who are vegetarians, please look at the below picture NOW. The rest of you…man, did the meat and fat and whatever else they shove in sausage just ooze out. Even I, who loves red meat more than I really should, had trouble stomaching the bloody red sausage boogers that were inside. I ended up throwing in the sausage whole with the thought that I would just cut them up later.



Hi Vegetarians! Welcome back.


Salmonella anyone?

Oh sorry vegetarians. Here’s another picture to get over the last one.



After the meat was cut up, in went the green pepper and onions. Yes, (to those who know me well) I also detest onions. Which is why I cut the onions so huge that there would be no problems whatsoever in picking them out. I also added the stewed tomatoes, white wine, chicken broth and spices.



After that….well, it was the crock pots turn.


Crock-pot in kitchen 2 PM

Since we have 5 hours to kill until the crock-pot is done, let me tell you about our crock-pot. Kevin and I got our crock-pot at Kohl’s last year for $25. I was excited to use the crock-pot so we went to the store right away and got some meat, potatoes, and carrots to make a pot roast. I hurried through cutting up all the veggies and meat and turned on my ‘crock’ for the very first time. I burned my fingers, as I didn’t know the outside got so freakin’ hot. I watched the ‘crock’ cook for at least 15 minutes thinking that maybe I had a magical crock-pot that actually cooked a 6-hour roast in 20 minutes. I was excited. I was thrilled. I was…really not in the mood for pot roast.

After cooking and smelling the pot roast for 6 hours it was time to eat it. Except I didn’t want to. In fact, I don’t think there was anything I would LEAST want to eat (except onions and things from the sea)(and maybe mushrooms and mustard)(and eggplant)(yes, I’m impossible). But I forced myself to eat my crock-pot pot roast. And I forced myself to eat it the next day too. After that, I put away the crock-pot in disgust and haven’t taken it back out again until…now.

…OH HEY! The jambalaya is done! Fast 5 hours, huh?


Crock-pot in kitchen 7 PM

A little rice and viola! Jambalaya!


It really does taste better than it looks.

The jambalaya turned out pretty good and it was a heck of a lot easier to do than the gumbo I tried making last year. Little word to the wise, if you do try crock-pot jambalaya, make sure to remove the food from the crock-pot when it’s done. We failed to do this and ended up with over-cooked mush for leftovers the next day; though at least the mush was better than the pot roast that I never wanted.

Sea World - San Diego, CA

Growing up in Wisconsin it was pretty common for a lot of families to go down to Florida over Spring Break. My family was no exception. Every other year we would pack up the minivan with cold sodas, tanning lotion and funny hats and take a two-day car trip down to Tampa, Florida. After a couple of days there we would then drive over to Sanibel Island for the rest of the week. Being as fascinated with palm trees and Miami Vice as I was, I loved our Florida trips more than anything. I didn’t even mind the drive down (and my little brother throwing up all over the place before we realized he has chronic motion sickness). I would sit in the very back row of the van listening to Duran Duran tapes on my boom box (with headphones) while I mouthed the words of ‘Rio’ and ‘Planet Earth’ for 1,273 miles. I honestly only had about 3-4 cassette tapes for the entire trip so it doesn’t phase me at all that I can still sing-along with the entire ‘Notorious’ album.

While we were in Tampa for the couple days at the beginning of the trip, we would always either go to Busch Gardens or Disney World, never Sea World.


"Why don't you ever come and see me?"

On the drive down to Sea World on Sunday, I called up my folks.

“Hey Mom, how come we never went to Sea World?”

“We’ve been to Sea World.”

“I haven’t been to Sea World.”

“Yes you have.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Oh, well, we probably went after you stopped going to Florida with us.”

“Why didn’t we ever go to Sea World though? Busch Gardens bites*.”

(snicker)”Oh yes! You poor unfortunate child who never got to go to Sea World!”

“I know! That’s what I’m saying!”

We got to Sea World San Diego at about 11 AM Sunday morning. By 11:45, we were actually parking. 45 minutes line-standing later, we were actually inside the park. Unfortunately, at that point we were really hungry, so we stood in yet another line for 20 minutes to get a crummy $7 sandwich. We were beginning to wonder if we had made a mistake coming here. This was only intensified after I lost my digital camera after an hour of walking around.

I am pleased to tell you that someone did turn in my camera and that the park got a lot more fun from there. The fun actually started at the dolphin show. We sat in the ‘Soak Zone’ but purchased $6 ponchos. Pretty freakin’ expensive for a piece of plastic but well worth it; the only thing that got wet were our sandals. The ponchos also came in handy for the Shamu show, the Atlantis ride, and as general warmth when it started to get cold later in the day.


Believe it or not...Not the gay-est man at Sea World.

"Weeeee!"

After the dolphin show we saw Shamu. Or the orca who is now claiming to be the original Shamu. We also pet the bat rays, feed the ducks, went through the aquariums, saw the 3-D movie and other amusement park related things. It was a really good time. 15 minutes before the park closed we rode the Atlantis log ride\roller coaster…twice. Does everyone know what a log ride is? My only reference to the log ride is from Six Flags Great America in Chicago. They have the log ride there…. and a boat ride. The only difference is that the one is shaped like a boat and the other a log. I always preferred the log ride to the boat ride. Maybe it was the whole looking like a big piece of crap floating along.

Orca formally known as 'Tim'. You can call him Shamu.

Anyhow, most people have been to Sea World before so I’m hesitant to describe it that much. I will however, mention the Platinum Passport.

On Thursday when I bought the tickets, I debated with myself for awhile whether or not I was going to get the regular $56.00 one day ticket (with free Fun Pass upgrade) or if I would just go balls out and get the Platinum Passport at $164. I ended up getting the Platinum Passport and it was awesome.

Bat Ray

Not only was parking free and the guest pass for Kevin was free, but we got a 20% discount on everything else in the park, including the gift shop and beer. Not only that but anytime there was a line for a ride or show, all we had to do was show the passport and we got to skip everyone in line and walk right in. There is some debate on the ethical nature of paying more to get line-jumping privileges. I believe I have complained about it myself when I wasn’t the one who got to line jump. But now that I’ve experienced it, I’m all for it. Just saying.

Hey, has anyone else realized how many boat\sea\water related things I’ve done for this blog? I need to go inland I think.

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*By the way, I don't actually think Busch Gardens bites. In fact, it's pretty neat. I just said that to be difficult.