Suzanne Calling

Dole contacted me recently to see if I wanted to host a smoothie party and create some recipes using their frozen fruit products. I jumped at the chance, one because who doesn't love smoothies? and 2. I really like Dole's fruit products. Tonight, the boys and I planned to take a test run of one of the ideas I had. Insert a public service announcement here: do not, I repeat, DO NOT, store your blender in a hot garage in Florida. The piece that spins the blade in my KA blender MELTED in the heat of the garage. Fall back plan: Make them in the food processor. That worked nicely. See? So the recipe: 1 bag DOLE frozen Mango chunks 1 6 oz Yoplait custard style Strawberry yogurt 8 oz ginger ale 8-12 oz water It was smooth, it was creamy and both boys inhaled these glasses of goodness so quick I was worried they would get a brain freeze. If you're following Weight Watchers (as a friend is), each serving, using regular ginger ale, is 3.7 points. There will be more recipes an...

The plan for today was to make some chicken. Was. I got a text from Meghan, asking if we wanted to meet up with her family over at Romeo's. Heck, you don't have to ask me twice. Chef and I shared a Romeo's salad, which is a lot like our current ABC salad (walnuts instead of pecans). I'd told the boys we were splitting a pizza as soon as I knew we were going-Game Teen lobbied for Hawaiian, Chef for pepperoni. Then we got there, Chef looked on the menu and found the White Rustica. Ricotta, ham, meatballs, pepperoni, garlic, olive oil and scrumptious. We came home with half a pie-Ed got a nice late dinner out of it, too.

A big part of moving to Florida six years ago was because it brought us closer to family. Recently, family members moved to Florida so that they could be closer to family, too. Ed's sister by proxy, Betsy, husband Tod and son Michael moved a half hour away. (Betsy's brother lives an hour in another direction, too.) Tonight, we got to see their new place and enjoy a meal and companionship. It was so nice to actually sit and shoot the breeze, laugh about the things we all find amusing and share what we know about their new town (it's minutes from scouts and our old stomping grounds.) They found a wonderful house in a quiet neighborhood that backs onto a lake. Chef's favorite part was probably the treehouse, and he took these pictures from his bird's eye vantage point. For next visit, I need to brush up on pinocle rules, because they apparently are a couple of card sharks!

The show opens at the house Aarti worried about being on the bottom. Tom, says six people left makes things very intense. Food Star Kitchens, Giada is standing in front of a table of six Kellogg’s cereals. Breakfast time? Not quite. To assist Giada, in explaining the challenge, out comes Melissa D’Arabian, winner of last season’s competition. Melissa tells the challengers that her life has changed so much since she’s won NFNS, she’s now a working mom and doesn’t always have the time to shop. This means she has to fashion a meal out of what’s in the pantry and the Camera Challenge today is to make dinner with breakfast. Aria- Crispix-Hopple Popple Frittata with Crispix Potato Pancakes Brad-Rice Krispies Rice Crispies Encrusted Tuna with Cucumber Salad Aarti-All Bran-Quinoa pilaf Tom-Rice Crispies-Corn Flakes and Pecan Crusted Pork Chops Serena-Cocoa Krispies-Pork Meatloaf with Cocoa Crispes Herb-Froot Loops- Froot Loop Encrusted French Toast with Latin Sausage The challenge is tig...

I deleted a post that wasn't supposed to be deleted. In it's place, the half constructed post, still in draft mode. I hate when I do that!

One of our favorite family restaurants over in Brandon closed the other day. Cody's Roadhouse is a Tampa based chain that caters to families and a bar clientele, serving up decent food at a decent price. There aren't many mid-tier restaurants that you can expect to spend 40 bucks for a family of four, but this was one of them. When we lived locally, the rallying cry in our house was 'Fajita Wednesday,' because that was the night you could buy one platter and get another free. Yes, there are others in the area, but it's still a little disappointing to lose one of the places that was a treat on scout nights (when kids ate free).

44. Not young not old, just in the middle. Two years ago, I got the idea about 88 lines for a birthday post and decided to save it for this year. Of course, I forgot about it until last night. There wasn't any preparation put into this, meaning this isn't anything like the song that inspired it. Rather, it is some ramblings about what memories I carry from the past 44 years that don't quite add up to 88 lines. The title was too good not to keep. Year one involved spitting up on Alfred Hitchcock* He probably found that scarier than those birds in his movie My siblings probably liked the fact that finally, someone had a summer birthday to spread out the cake distribution Year three was the last as the youngest Giggles arrived the following February Four was the year that I decided I was going to drive mom's convertible out of the driveway into the street For my fifth birthday, a party and a gift of a Hoppity Hop that my sister popped about an hour after the party was...

Yes, this is VERY late. I started writing it last Monday with plans to come back to it when I got a moment. The moment did not come. Academic pursuits come first, and the efforts on that front paid off. It's not like you were all blog stalking for what I had to say, right? This week, the contestants comment on their highs and lows before we see them enter into Food Star Kitchens. On the tables, picnic baskets. Bobby explains that before them is a party in a basket. The six find that they'll be making party bites for the event with the ingredients contained in the basket, and they find various events, such as a Bachelorette party, New Year's Eve, A Sweet Sixteen, A child's Birthday party, Poker night, and a Tea party. (Herb's will be added in to this when I review the DVR) Brianna was excited to get a Birthday party, until it was explained that the cheese, mustard and apple juice were for a FIVE year old's birthday. The look on her face would have curdled milk. S...

Chef has returned from camp. It was a very quiet week around here, and he's back and singing, whistling and merrily playing video games. I think he grew two inches while he was gone. He definitely looks older-maybe because he celebrated his birthday at camp. I'm convinced he wants to keep the dirt he collected at camp, because he's been home almost 8 hours and still hasn't showered. The trip was full of memorable moments. He earned four merit badges, got to use a diving board for the first time, made a troll face in pottery and found a bear cub in his tent. Yes, a bear cub. He said he'd left his tent early this morning to take a whizz (his words). It was very, very quiet, so quiet that all he heard was his pee. He goes back into his tent and there's the cub, sniffing his cot. He backed out and went over to the pavillion where one of the leaders was resting. He ended up sleeping on one of the benches in there. In the morning, the sleeping bag he'd b...

Semester break. A time for relaxing and catching up on house cleaning, maybe heading to one of the three Busch properties with the kids and enjoying days with the family after the ten week boot camp. Maybe getting the damn knot out of my neck and the other health issues under control. A phone call today instead means I need to go get some answers, because what was said was confusing. The questions I asked were answered in tangents. The main statement "I need to stay out of the hospital for 90 days" is probably an exercise in futility. Especially when the person has spent about 400 of the past 1,800 in the hospital. In the last two weeks, one in, one out and one in again. The bad part is that this last one involved getting lost and passing out in the 95 degree heat and coming to in the hospital emergency room. (Which is why the phone call was a little surprising, since I am usually notified of hospital admissions) Instead of taking it easy, it looks like the next few w...

Greetings, programs! If you do remember the MCP, and understand the first two words of the post, you probably enjoyed the groundbreaking film for computer animation, Tron. In San Diego last year, at ComiCon, lucky attendees got to experience Flynn's Arcade once again AND were treated to a trailer for the then recently announced Tron Legacy. This year, Flynn's Arcade is open for business for those who travel the San Diego downtown area. Apparently, Encom International has a big press conference scheduled for the convention tomorrow. (You'll want to poke around that site, programs.) It makes me want to go and dig a pair of light cycles out of the toy bins in one of the kid's closets. Who knew when I bought those things almost 10 years ago that we'd be seeing such a huge announcement-or find things on the Internet like this ? The best part is probably that come November, Game Teen will have a new soundtrack to play over and over. Flynn Lives!

And the first test of the week wasn't a final. It was my Spanish test, and it was clear that all my efforts were spent studying for the other two exams. Even with a couple of hours today and 4-5 hours of study in the past week, I bombed it (by my standards). I probably got an 80. At least there's two more tests and I had either a 92 or 93 overall heading into that one...

It's said that to truly master a language, you have to be able to think in it. It's not good enough to be able to translate your native language into another in your head, you've got to know what manzana is without stopping to thing "Oh yeah, that's an apple." It's the biggest stumbling block for the student. While I'm not 100% there, after two semesters, I'm seeing signs. A few weeks ago, a restless night's sleep. Every time I woke up, the dream I'd left behind was in Spanish. I was natacíon en la piscina con mis hijos, montar a caballo and yo hablabo solamente en español. While the lack of sleep was annoying, the fact that when I left the conscious behind, I could do that felt pretty good. Little words here and there just roll off the tongue in the new language. Si. Salud, lo siento, descuple, no más and yo estudio. Now, I'm noticing that when I leave class, or a charlas (the extra credit sessions where we converse en españ...

Check out the word in the bottom! Now look at my tiles. I'd like to buy a vowel, please?

The house will be quiet this week. Chef is sleeping at a Boy Scout camp a few hours away. It should be a lot of fun for him, with swimming, pottery, hiking, and a bunch of other activities on tap. For the kid who complains that his troop doesn't camp enough (despite going every month), this should be an amazing week. Of course, Game Teen is home. The agreement is that he does not go camping unless Ed or I join him. That was before the Chiari diagnosis, so now I really don't see it happening. I think he prefers this, because he gets his pick of the video games all week. The only strange part will be that Chef spends his 11th birthday away from home. That's okay, we'll celebrate when he gets home...

If you've ever commented on my blog, you may have noticed some Chinese text in the box that comes up. It states that 'comments that are not written in English will not be posted." Before you point out the obvious, yes, I have published comments in French and Spanish. My main issue is that all of those comments have hyperlinks and text in a language that the vast majority of us do not read. I don't want to be responsible for someone being sent to an Asian porn site, thanks to Vista's 'hover' feature. The message in Chinese has not slowed them down from submitting comments. I'll just keep rejecting them. Tonight, though, there was a comment in English with the same stuff. Too bad the English didn't have anything to do with the post Rejected.

In the various pictures of food on the blog, this one is a first. A grilled meal. It does not mean we do not care for grilled items, rather, the lack speaks to the lack of ability to do so. We had a nice, simple gas grill, but the ignitor bar rusted out of it-twice. The first time, the manufacturer was still in business, so Ed ordered a replacement. The second time, we were SOL. Despite being the strange people who grilled in the winter up north, we were without the means to do so in a place where it can be enjoyed year round. When we moved in here, Jane had left behind the Smokey Joe. It's small, so it won't do the whole meal, but there's nothing like a good char on a burger to make a meal great. Heck, you don't even need fine china! Alas, one of our plans didn't pan out-the cheese filled burgers on the grill didn't cook quickly, so they were finished in the pan-but the flavor was there. That was good enough for me.

This semester, two of my classes have presentations as a component of the grade. In one, we're going to do something akin to "Lifestyles of the Worthless and Exploited" or "MTV cribs" for the Spanish class. I think that one will be interesting, because we've been asked to prepare a video of our home in which we describe each room to the camera OR we complete a power point presentation and speak about our house en frente del clase. I'm making the video, so next weekend's project is to unpack the boxes I've been ignoring. Meanwhile, in the other class, we had to do a presentation and write a paper about some aspect of learning. Over the course of three weeks, members of the class got up and spoke about their topic. Some were compelling, many were not. I think mine fell into the competent range, but then, I've had no trouble speaking in front of an audience. My friends in the class told me they enjoyed it, so I'll take that as a good s...

I lied. I forgot that I have a paper due tomorrow, a test that opens Monday, a test Wednesday and a test Thursday. I'm not worried about two, but one (Psych of Learning) needs a lot of study time to keep the B I am getting in that class. Yes, two B's this semester. Most people would be thrilled with 2 A's and two B's. I'm disappointed, because I know it's the worst semester I've turned in. Then again, my biology professor said that 4 classes in the summer is the same workload as six classes during the fall and spring semesters. After Thursday, I'll just have two weeks of the Spanish class and nothing else. It will seem like a breeze in comparison!

After a week off, NFNS returned with a 90 minute episode. In it, my favorites shone (except for Aria) and the contestants I don't like displayed more of what was unappealing and there were a few surprises in the mix. More details tomorrow morning when I get time to write it all out!

For that biology grade. Oh well, can't have instant gratification on everything. Tomorrow is full of studying and running errands. We're sending one of the boys off to camp next week and I'm thankful that this week's school schedule isn't too bad, so I can get him all situated.

They are the best thing ever. Although someone else's alarm (coughEDcough) went off at 11am and woke me up. Still, it beats the norm lately. The past six weeks have been all about getting up no later than 8 am and studying. While the kids have been sleeping in, I've been taking advantage of the quiet and playing a few games of Lexulous and Farkle studying without a break. Yesterday's exam marked the end of the insanity. Over the next few weeks, there have been a few major things due one on top of another. Now, there are NO tests this week, only a paper that has been well fleshed out, no tests next week, two exams that are spaced out the following week and two tests in Spanish the final week-but one is a video I have to make of my house. Friday afternoon, I met up with the biology prof during office hours to find out what I should focus my efforts on for the test. In conversation, it came up that I'd had tests in three of my four classes. He told me four summer cl...

This week was full of schoolwork. As I took the last exam this morning (and totally rocked it!), I decided to make a meal that two of the menfolk love, but is really time consuming. Empanadas. More pictures later. But it was nice to take a needed nap and not feel like it was keeping me from the books, to take time making dinner and now, take a nice dip in a warm pool.

I guess it is a good thing I decided to text a friend a picture, because I'd forgotten about a food post. My friend Meghan is a huge fan of the Summer Salad at Crispers . She got me hooked on them, too. Only I don't get them 5 days a week. You could probably cut Meghan and she'd bleed this delicious concoction. A good salad is always appealing. Until recently, my number one all time favorite was the Fuji Apple Chicken at Panera Bread , but this one is better. So is the kickin' Crab Chowder. Enough so that when I finished up my visit at the Genius bar today, I walked past the Panera in the mall and drove up the block and got this: You really don't want to see the soup bowl, because I pretty much inhaled it. If ever I got my hands on that recipe, I'd be in serious trouble...

Last night was a shining example of some of the advances we've made in the past 25 26 years since I entered college. Some highlights: We went from taking tests and waiting 2 to 3 weeks for the professor to grade them all (in blue books) before we got them back to grade stalking the college website because the instructor used Scantrons. Back then, you waited for the college to mail you your grades at the end of the semester (again, a 2 to 3 week wait) to finding out before they are officially submitted. Instead of getting a poster sized paper with 10 point typeface that listed every class the college offered that semester, then waiting in a long line in the gym to register for your classes-then finding out the section was filled now we are able to look at most of NEXT SPRING'S grad school offerings online and knowing exactly how many seats are available. All 2,000 or so offerings each semester are populated 3-6 months early, and you can start planning schedules-you just can...

One test down, two to go. Ed and the kids are going to enjoy Kennedy Space Center without me. If I wasn't so engrossed in the studying, I'd be miffed that I won't experience with them. Now, I'm like "Meh, I'll go next time," because I know my kids-there WILL be a next time. If you get a free printer with your new laptop, donating the old all in one to a non profit organization (the Boy Scout troop) is a big hit. Really big hit. Extra points for emailing them the link to the printer drivers because the church where the meetings are held does not have Internet access, so they have to get those drivers before they use it. (It paid for itself in the first six months we had it, because we faxed something like 500 pages with the darn thing.) Facebook has a warped sense of humor. They keep putting up ads for me to become a Biology teacher, to take my students (WTF?) to Europe for free, or to get my PhD online with a school I've never heard of in my life...

Yo necesito estudiar para tres examenes, A noche, yo tengo un examen in español. Jueves por la tarde, el examen de anormal psícologia debe ser de completé. Este sábado, alli un examen en mi clase de biología. A consecuencia, yo no escribe mucho durante las proxima dias. ¡Yo quiero buenas notas!

I always loved playing Scrabble. In my house growing up, I was an avid reader, and my Dad capitalized on it. I was given a bunch of books about lexography and a deluxe edition of Scrabble. No one would play against me. Mind you, my siblings were at least five years older than me-they said they didn't want to get creamed. I still have that deluxe set, which has been used maybe a dozen or so times. Ed won't play, but then again, I've never asked him because he's not into board games. Thanks goes to Facebook, because now I can play. Friends, random strangers, anyone else who wants to play. One of my profs and a friend who writes professionally were willing to play against me-and promptly started wiping the floor with me. All those two letter and three letter combos? I knew they were at the front of my scrabble dictionary, but I never bothered to learn them. I'm a quick study, though. There have been a couple of wins, a draw and I've even gotten within a f...

This axolotl, a salamander that keeps its gills and still looks like a tadpole, even as an adult. Gotta love biology, at least there are cute pictures in the text.

Last week, I mentioned making Arroz con Crema, based on the recipe from Zarela's in Now York. The guys fought over the leftovers, but it was easy to make, so I made plans to do it again soon. Tonight, I made a double batch, along with some stuffed chicken breasts from our favorite butcher. Mine was the yummy zorba (sun dried tomatoes, feta and cream cheese). To balance out all that dairy, a salad. I'm stuffed.

For the humorous things they write. Lost in translation can surely apply to the things in my inbox lately and the item that arrived in the mail yesterday. I got a picture, but I need to crop it to post. See, I bought an Otter Box for my iPhone last month. After cracking the screen, I wanted something sturdy to protect mine. I found a better deal on eBay. Who wants to pay 25 bucks for packaging, anyway? Well, a long time ago, Ed and I determined that having the same case on our phones is a baaaad idea. I cop to this one-I thought his phone was mine and tossed it into my bag, right before I flew to Florida with the kids. He drove down here by himself with a Jeep packed to the gills and no phone. So I went looking for an Otter Box in another color and found some knock offs and got one in a preferred color (yellow) sent from Singapore. It arrived in some curious packaging. But the better one was on the back. The picture is blurry, but the product was "Designed in Somewhere b...