Thursday, May 23, 2013

What can I bring?

My personal code states that I can't go to a party without bringing something. I don't want to push food on someone who already has a menu planned out, so I always ask first. The first words out of my mouth when I accept an invitation are, "What can I bring?" If they say nothing, I tuck a bottle of wine in my big ass bag and I'm on my merry way.

If they do want something, I pray it's an appetizer. I love dip, and I love to share my love of dips with others. Gone are the high school and college days, when there was no food to be found in the house let alone set out for a party.

With Memorial Day Weekend ushering in the summer season, here are my top three go to cold dips to serve or bring somewhere. Everyone always loves them and they're easy like Sunday morning. We'll look at some hot dips this fall!

Hoagie Dip
1/2 lb cooked ham, 1/2 lb genoa salami, 3/4 lb american cheese, shredded lettuce, two tomatoes seeded and chopped, one onion chopped, oregano/S&P to taste, and 1-2 cups mayo

The key to good hoagie dip is to cut everything super small. I do the lunch meat and cheese in the food processor (thanks for the tip a few years ago Julie!). Mix it all together and serve with hoagie rolls cut into small pieces.

I usually do the prep the day before, store it all separately, and mix it on the day I'm serving it. 

Corn Dip
Two cans of mexicorn or fiesta corn (in mid-summer I use fresh), a small can of diced green chiles, a bunch of green onion, 2C of shredded cheddar, 1C mayo, 1C sour cream, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/8 tsp garlic powder. Mix and chill before serving with tortilla chips.



Spinach Dip
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
16 oz sour cream
1C mayo
1 package Knorr Veggie soup, dip & recipe mix
A bunch of green onions, chopped

Combine all, cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Stir before serving with rye bread or Utz special dark pretzels. 

Are you attending or hosting any parties this weekend? What's on the menu? What's your go to dish to bring?




p.s.I miss Thursday Thoughts. I might bring it back.







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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

You are the music while the music lasts. ~T.S. Eliot

One of the things MFD hates about me the most: I am a skipper. I skip songs at the beginning, at the end, in the middle. When I'm done, I'm done. I just go on to the next. If I'm flipping through radio stations and hear something I like, I will check every other station to ensure nothing I love more is on. I skip through my ipod, and MFD is always saying "This is YOUR iPod. Why is it on here if you don't like it?" I like it...I just don't feel like listening to it right then. 

My taste in music is eclectic. I tend to fall in love with the story the lyrics tell. As a musician, MFD will declare a song crap if the music is crap because he doesn't really pay attention to or retain lyrics. So you can see why he sometimes freaks about songs I skip. We have music in common, but also music in opposition.

Some songs have spoken to me since I first heard them, some grew on me through the years, some  remind me of a person or an experience. There are songs I only like to listen to in winter, spring, summer, fall - I call it seasonal listening. 

But then there are some songs that I will just not ever turn off regardless of my mood, what season it is, or if the people around me like it or not. I had to severely limit myself to get this list down to 25. There are so many more that I love but that I'll turn off if I'm not in the mood for. These I don't turn off. 
  • Soon Forget - Pearl Jam
  • Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
  • Til it Shines - Bob Seger
  • Gypsy - Fleetwood Mac
  • Into the Mystic - Van Morrison
  • Keep on Lovin' You - REO Speedwagon
  • My Old School - Steely Dan
  • Picture - Kid Rock / Sheryl Crow (I will also usually send Michelle a text when I hear this song)
  • Oh Darling - Supertramp
  • Read My Mind - The Killers
  • Hallelujah - I prefer the kd lang version, but I'll leave any version on
  • Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
  • Shama Lama Ding Dong - Otis Day & the Knights
  • Ain't Even Done With the Night - John Mellencamp
  • Drops of Jupiter - Train
  • Harvest Moon - Neil Young
  • Hey Jealousy - Gin Blossoms
  • I Write Sins Not Tragedies - Panic at the Disco
  • Mrs. Potter's Lullaby - The Counting Crows
  • Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
  • Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
  • Overkill - Men at Work
  • Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel
  • Someone Saved My Life Tonight - Elton John
  • Miami 2017 - Billy Joel
What are your never turn off songs?







**I know some of you do not like donating to large organizations but are interested in helping in any way you can when disaster strikes. One of my blog friends, Kimmy, coaches baseball in Moore, Oklahoma. One of her players, Jules, lost his home yesterday. Jules has a little brother, Tytus, and an older brother, Devin, who has special needs.Their mom, Terminy, told Kimmy that the boys are just so upset that their baseball stuff is gone. Kids being kids, they don't realize that everything else is gone too, including their home, all of their clothes, toys, etc. Kimmy has set up a PayPal account for Jules and his family. She's actually talking to CNN this morning about the donations that have been pouring in. You can donate directly through the PayPal address: rangersmoore@gmail.com 
Terminy and her boys


Linking up for Random Wednesday and Whatever Wednesday

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

And the award for toilet bowl cleaning goes to...

In the midst of a life are the things that must be done: the cleaning, meal planning, cooking, bill paying, yard work. Sometimes we find solace in these things - I like a clean home and I am tickled pink when I've organized the shit out of something - but the fact of the matter is that these are typically the things that must be done that no one really wants to do.

Traditional gender roles have women doing the cooking, cleaning, and shopping, while men do the yard work, bill paying, and auto maintenance. The fact is that gender roles have changed tremendously over the past few decades. When both people are working full time, no one can take full responsibility for running the home. Even stay at home moms or dads should not be expected to bear all of the responsibilities of the household.  It's too much. It has to be shared. 

In our house, I do the hausfrauing, shopping, cooking, scheduling, and bill paying. MFD does the yard work, takes out the trash, and does some chores. I will sometimes hear him yell up from the basement, "Powder room is cleaned!" Or down from the top floor, "I cleaned up the green room!" My typical response is always, "Do you want an award?" Then he laughs or gets huffy. I know other husbands do this too, the grand announcements. And I often see women praising their partners for doing ordinary tasks or for taking care of the kids. I find myself doing it sometimes. 


Then I ask myself, why are we giving people accolades for doing housework in houses that they live in and dirty up, or for taking care of kids that they helped create? I neither expect nor ask for recognition when I clean a toilet.

Don't get me wrong, I am all about showing appreciation for my spouse and what he does in our household and life to make things better. That's important in any relationship. I'm grateful for his contributions and he's very appreciative of mine, and we pat each other on the back for various things, especially when the other one goes above and beyond. But I also expect his contributions. He lives here. He is responsible for maintaining this house just as much as I am. Similarly, if we had kids, he'd be responsible for raising and entertaining them just as much as I would be. I do not get all that thrown on me just because I have boobs. So there are no trophies for toilet cleaning in this house. It needs to be done so it gets done. 
I think the men and women of my generation are further along in the sharing of duties than previous generations. i know many men who are the cooks or who handle the child care. With that being said, I think we have a long way to go. We're all complicit in this, me included. MFD is a good cook, but I've made the kitchen my arena. I'm sure he'd cook more often if I didn't box him out in there. Likewise, sometimes there's a mountain of trash and I'm sure he'd like me to help him put it out, but I can get prissy about trash removal because I don't consider it my job.

The important thing is to find the balance in your home - no one wants to feel like they're responsible for everything. You have to share the load in a way that makes sense to you. 

No person should feel put upon - if you need your partner to do more, you have to ask them to do more. If you don't ask, then that's your fault. I think women are guilty of complaining about doing everything, but they don't actually work out a better plan for their partner to share the load. You can't just say, "I need you to do more," and not be specific. What do you need? Make a list. Communicate.

I can't discuss gender roles without touching on the most hated word in all the land. For the record, asking someone to do something is not nagging. Nag is a total asshole word, and you can't find an image of it on the googles that's not inferring that all women are nags. It's a word men fall back on when they're pissed off about being reminded of something they said they would do and did not do. No one asks me to do my daily chores - I know they need to get done so I do them. Here's a tip - don't make someone ask you to do something ever, let alone 10 times. Then you won't feel nagged. Problem solved! Boom.

How do you deal with the division of labor in your home?


My thoughts are with the people of Oklahoma. Go to www.redcross.org to donate.

p.s. Tuesday sucks.
p.p.s. Thanks to Angi at Into the Forest Dim for my new sidebar button! Now you can take me with you. Just don't put me in your pocket, I'm claustrophobic.









Monday, May 20, 2013

the weekend that was

F  R  I  D  A  Y 
Q: Where can you get the best storage bins?
A: The Dollar Store, foolio.

Friday night I did a major kitchen reorg: I pulled everything out of all cabinets, purged, and incorporated new items.
MFD and I ran some errands in Center City, then we met friends at Curran's in Tacony. Good times and home in bed around midnight.

S  A  T  U  R  D  A  Y
A stellar morning: Produce Junction and Sam's were ghost towns, and I found a $25 Home Depot gift card at a stop sign. Say what!
Nashville and The Vampire Diaries. Holy shitskies, next week's Nashville looks amazing. BUT enough about that. I made strawberry ice cream and cinnamon swirl bread from SCRATCH. First time for both. Both were good, particularly the ice cream.
My cousin Tiffany's baby shower.
Tiffany and her sisters / I love those clothesline things / wine is necessary at baby showers / Favors a la Maria / Me and Mom / Family ladies 
Lori and I headed to HomeGoods, Target, and Red Robin after the shower. We had a great time. I love when I get time with Lori! And when I get to have a bleu ribbon burger at Red Robin.
Some of my haul:
New summer quilt, I like how it picks up the blue in the rug /Someone please stage an intervention for my mug addiction / Switching out my plastic tupperware and measuring cups to glass / My new "I'm reading don't bother me" hat (and Yuengling tee - PA represent)
Evan and Griffin stopped by. I had a photo of Evan kissing a photo of new baby Quinn, who came home Sunday, but I inadvertently deleted in. Photos to come when we meet Quinn this week!

S  U  N  D  A  Y
Weekly food prep was simple this week, since I'm having leftovers and PB&J for lunches. Breakfasts: some eggs baked with ground turkey taco meat, tomatoes and green onions. Snacks: veggies and fruit. Dinner: chicken cacciatore in the crockpot over white rice and Maglio's italian sausage sandwiches.
Kit Kat D's third birthday party. It's always good seeing the Danfords and Bozzones!
That creeper Dora was there, and the adults naturally had to get creepy with her.
Typical Sunday night feeling:













End scene.

Have you entered the beauty giveaway? Magic 8 Ball says you should.










Linking up with Join the Gossip for Monday Morning Gossip, Sami's Shenanigans for Weekend Shenanigans, Lipgloss & Crayons and Still Being Molly for YOLO Mondays, and Northern Belle Diaries and Postcards from Rachel for I Love Bloglovin'.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Friday: the Golden Child of the weekdays and the day of a Beauty Giveaway


1. My view of Center City, Philadelphia, on Wednesday from Pennsylvania Hospital. I love my city. So much history. Birth place of a nation, mofos! Pennsylvania Hospital is the first hospital in the United States, founded by Ben Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond in 1751.
2. MFD was a trooper for his second surgery to remove the screws that were inserted during his first surgery at the end of February. Two more weeks in a boot while the wound heals and then hopefully, 95 freaking days after this all started, MFD will be walking on his own again. It's been a long haul. Mobility - don't take it for granted!
3. Monday I was home sick with sinus assiness and my sleep was all screwy. Wednesday we got up at 4:20 a.m. I was up until after 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday night. I need to spend some serious quality time here this weekend.
4. The above sleep pattern meant extra iced coffee on Thursday. Thank you gift cards.
5. I freaking love Urban Decay 24/7 glide-on eye pencil. They're pricey but worth it. The colors rock. I got these two at Sephora yesterday.

I'm giving away a bunch of beauty products I received in gifts with purchase, Ipsy/Birchbox deliveries, etc., that I have no interest in. Products are full, mini, and sample sized. Winner takes all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Today is Put on Purple Day for Lupus Awareness Month. I've got mine on! Do you read Luck Fupus by Marla? Check her out!

In the fabulous news category, my BFF Kim and Steve got engaged and I'm ecstatic for them. And Evan, Jenny and Griffin welcomed a new family member yesterday - Quinn Brooks! Can't wait to meet you, baby. Good things all around for my people. Hopefully for you and yours as well.

I hope your weekend is stellar. And I hope you win beauty products from me. And I hope you dance. If you want to.











Linking up with Joy for The Friday Five and Lauren for High Five For Friday.




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