Slowing our fat rolls - It's All Greek to Me Salad

Here we sit, poised on the precipice of a big weekend of shoving our faces. I'm already gleefully thinking of succulent turkey and pie pie pie. I figured a salad recipe might be good for today since we might collectively need to slow our rolls after this weekend. So my Mom is here today with this recipe for her It's All Greek to Me Salad.

It's All Greek to Me Salad
We had this salad at a friend's house and I made a few tweaks and made up the name, because of the Feta cheese. It is a salty/sweet combo.You can add chicken, too, if you choose to make it a main course.

Ingredients
Baby Greens (I get these from Sam's Club)
Craisins
Pecans (could use walnuts)
Sunflower seeds
Feta Cheese
EVOO
Balsamic Vinegar
Sea Salt in a grinder - I love this salt. It tastes great & does not bloat me up like a balloon! A miracle.

Directions
The base is baby greens- using the entire container pictured would serve 6 good sized side salads.

I then add the craisins, the nuts and seeds, the feta (use the amounts you desire) and then the EVOO and Balsamic and the salt as desired.

I only use a tiny bit (maybe 3-4 shakes) of the Balsamic and I have my EVOO in a dispenser and use 5-6 drops of EVOO.

I am now toasting my nuts and sunflower seeds in a little saute pan with a few drops of EVOO, since it really brings out the flavor of the nuts.

I used to say now I "toss the salad" but Steph told me never to say that again and then told me why- who makes up this stuff? So "mix" the salad  and enjoy!

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Haikuesday

Terminology...

Please don't make me explain it.

Google carefully.

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Thanks to my mom for the recipe - how do you slow your holiday eating roll between Thanksgiving and Christmas?

TWTW - the one with the cleaning ladies

I believe your life is only as good as the people in it. Mine is pretty damn good with these people who have been there for over 20 years plus their people we've picked up along the way. Friendsgiving at Zorba's in Fairmount on Friday. Missing: MFD, who was being head boss at the shore.

I drove to the shore from there, fell out around 12:45 and was up for the sunrise. I met Lori down at the beach.

Lori is so good that she folded my sheets and wiped down my baths and vacuumed my house at home before transporting my dogs to the shore with my mom. At the shore, her and my mom were my cleaning ladies and cleaned the whole house. They were also in charge of the dogs all weekend.  I drug them on a mission outside of town to buy a cheap dresser (completed) and pillows for the remaining bedrooms plus some other odds and ends. I was in search of some shore decor so we hit Asbury Avenue and they were having a big small business thing.

I got half priced paperbacks for the house in a discount bookstore I could live in and we ate lunch at Bennie's Bread. SO GOOD.

We even saw Santa. Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving is on my naughty list but one does not pass up the opportunity to get a photo with Santa in a row boat.

I largely struck out in the decor department but Lori bought me a so bright it hurts pink sweatshirt and a tie dye tee because I can't and won't quit tie dye clothing. Back at the house I put shit away and did some kitchen organizing and brought the dogs up to the main house while MFD, Joe, and Dan put the tedious dresser together down in the efficiency. Apparently if you want to score a very cheap dresser the assembly is going to be a bitch.

This weekend was mostly a finishing touch weekend. I hung valances on the main floor and curtains in the powder room - imagine these actually on a rod, which will happen next weekend so they don't look like someone with hair too long. When that's done, the powder room will be done.

Something that has been vexing me: where to store books for our future renters to peruse and take to the beach? Since I was a little girl the beach has been synonymous with worn paperback books. I couldn't own a home there and not have some to share with others. There is no room even for a skinny bookcase anywhere other than the third floor or the bathroom so I'm storing them under the coffee table. Not ideal but better than nothing! And yes, of course I bought a used copy of Jane Eyre. My mom and Lori contributed some books from the discount bookstore too. The rest will be coming from my house. I also happened upon this Jack Vettriano wall tile in the thrift shop. We modeled one of our wedding photos after one of his beach scenes so I had to have it.

The sofas also got new pillows - all of them are washable with cases that unzip and can be swapped out and washed as well because who wants to lay on the spit of hundreds of other people? No one. I got a cushion for the bench from Kohl's and the last two coral boat cleats were hung, one on the stairs and one over the powder room door (hanging sign coming for that).

MFD went down Wednesday night to receive appliance delivery and to pick up and install new bottom cabinets on the one wall in the kitchen. He totally kicked ass down there. The top photo is updated canvas art in one of the bedrooms. As with downstairs, I used my pics and put them on Canvas when I found a sale online. Boom. The bottom is appliances. Counters get measured this Friday. I was initially reluctant to replace the appliances but it is nice to know going into our first rental season that everything is solid and they look nice. So I have to concede that MFD was right on this one. Plus the kitchen is the easiest area to update and in a 115 year old house, a little update is good. The rest can stay old beachy. 

While he was down there alone with no cable or wifi MFD also laid area rugs and pads in the bedrooms and built the remaining nightstand in the blue room. Target storage pieces rock for cheap nightstands. That room got updated canvases too and is now complete. 

I was hot to get out of there on Sunday since we'll be back for an extended time next weekend. I dropped the dogs off at home and hit Marburn Curtain for my missing curtains. Of course one of them was out of stock, so I put it in a bubble, blew it away, and got a mismatched one because I was not driving an hour to another store. I survived Trader Joe's  on a Sunday with a trip for a turkey and some other things. Why are Trader Joe's parking lots always like hell on earth?

No real food prep this week. I rarely do any the weekend before Thanksgiving. Breakfast is breakfast burritos I made last weekend, lunch is a veggie burger over baby spinach, and dinners are scrambled eggs and salmon with steamed veggies. Snacks are granny smith apples, cucumbers, and orange bell peppers.

In lieu of winterizing the yard and raking leaves, I got a manicure/pedicure/brow wax (OPI Bogota Blackberry on the feet and Baguette Me Not on the nails), put a new duvet cover on in the spare room at home since the quilt that's been on that bed for five years is making its way down the shore, and made roasted brussels sprouts that I served with some garlic parmesan bread topped with mozzarella and a side of olives. I also started this book of short stories by Nickolas Butler. His writing is just incredible to me. When I read it I feel it inside.

I would be remiss in leaving you for the day without wishing my fabulous friend Gwen (Confessions of a Gila Monster) a happy happy birthday today. You'll be seeing more of her here on Wednesday for this month's recommendations. I had to borrow her facebook profile pic for this because I just love it. Happy birthday my friend!

Short week. Hallelujah and amen! Are you working this week or off? 

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending

Currently...November

D Y I N G  O V E R ... Ingrid Thoft, author of the new series I'm into, tweeting me. Check out the Fina Ludlow books my friends! I immediately sent a text to Jana as I knew she would geek out with me.

F O R G E T T I N G ... Every freaking thing. Last Monday it was my car keys on the hood of my car. This Monday it was my train pass, which I left at work. That's why it pays to be very nice to your conductors. I rode home and back to work the next morning without my pass. Today? I forgot my phone at home. 

A N N O Y E D ... That the setup process for my new iPhone6s was a total clusterfuck that took forever. FWP yo. A funny of it all was that the guy I talked to at Apple Support sounded exactly like Nick Burns except he was nice. I was like hey, sorry, don't take this wrong, but do you know Nick Burns from SNL? He was like yes, I know. I know. 

A M A Z E D ...  that Thanksgiving is a week from today. Say what now?

W O N D E R I N G ... When everyone started drawing a line in the sand / when the general tone became one of condescension / when we stopped being able to disagree respectfully / when we were more concerned about being right than having an open dialogue / when we became an expert on who is and who isn't a terrorist / when we became unable to distinguish between Muslims or Syrians or whoever else in the Middle East that are running from terrorists versus the actual members of the terrorist organizations.

Every religion has had a loon pop up five to 50 times over the course of history, claiming their work is God's work and the people they're trying to destroy are heathens. It does not mean that everyone who looks like a Muslim is a terrorist. Are some of them? Absolutely. Just like some people that look like us are terrorists. One of our most well known domestic terrorists looks a lot like about 50 people I know. I'm not going to stop associating with those people or say I don't care about them and if they die and try to push them out because they look like a terrorist. I'm not saying don't be afraid or don't take action...but I am saying try not to react from a place of fear.

R E F U S I N G ... to lose my humanity and give in to xenophobia. That is not the American way and if we allow terrorists to change the fabric of our nation, then what's left to defend? We are more than land and people - we are an ideal. Americans are not cowards or overly cautious - we are fierce and bold and we step in to help those who can't help themselves but above all else we protect what is ours. I don't care if you hate the President. Good for you and I hope you thank God for the freedom you have to openly hate your President. But I also hope you don't forget what this country is about and how it was born and built and why it has succeeded - on the backs of immigrants that are a generation or three above you. Some of nationalities that were at various times considered dangerous, unseemly, and overall unwelcome (Irish need not apply, how can a Catholic be president the country will be ruined, etc etc). How different things would be today...some of us might find ourselves banging on the golden door now begging to be let in.

D E V O U R I N G ... The newest Tawni O'Dell novel, Angels Burning. I really loved Backroads by her so when I saw this I jumped on it. I'm glad I did. This is one I just want to toss life aside for and finish. And I did, on the train this morning. 

C O O K I N G ... For the freezer. I made breakfast burritos on Sunday. Monday night was power breakfast muffins. 

T O G G L I N G  ... back and forth between shore house things and general life things. Something's bound to slip through the cracks. We're reaching the end of the dining room table looking like this though, packed with stuff that needs to go down to the shore house. We can't have it delivered there, so it all comes to our house to be transported. We also have linens that needed to be washed and stuff we're taking from our own house, etc. etc. 

O B S E S S E D   W I T H ... The Random Crap bag above that holds a ton of stuff and these socks, both from ModCloth. I have other pug socks from ModCloth too. I had to have these seasonal babies.

F E E L I N G ... like I've finally got the hang of the time change. I said to myself, Self...it's going to be dark most of the time for many months. Get over it. And I have. My productivity is up at night again and I don't feel like I want to sleep all the time. 

P H O T O G R A P H I N G ... my dogs. Duh.

L A U G H I N G   A T ... this. I love your mom jokes.

via

I don't know why text is randomly blue, I've changed it like five times and it keeps coming back. No desire to comb through code to find out why so...multi-colored thoughts!

Fill me in...what's going on with you this month?

Linking up with Kristin and Joey

I'm too old for this shit

Like most people, in some areas of life I act older than I am. When I do this, my coworkers call me a yoldie - a young old person - and I don't mind a bit. You are as young as you feel and all that, and my sense of humor is certainly age 10 and will still be age 10 when I'm 85. Will fart noises always be funny? Yes. Yes they will. But there are certain things I feel too old for and I'm fine with feeling too old for them. Thanks to Kristen at See You in a Porridge for the post idea.

I'm too old for...

Women who don't support other women. We have enough people trying to keep us down. We don't need to do it to each other. Few things piss me off more than women who don't support other women.

Arguing with people who are ignorant. They're miserable and there is no opportunity for spirited debate or discussion. I'm totally down with spirited debate or discussion. I believe you can disagree on things in a respectful matter, and go back and forth about an issue in the same way. But you can't do that with people who are ignorant or incendiary. It's like talking to a brick wall or a person who will set fire to a house just so you can't live there.

Staying out late. Honestly? I would like to be home by 10 no matter what night of the week it is - and more honestly, sometimes 10 is pushing it. Hanging out during the day is fun too.

Living in fear of bad things happening. Bad things *will* happen. And when they do I will deal with them. I'm not going to be afraid to walk out my front door every day because of something that could happen. It's okay to be afraid of things. It is not okay to let fear rule how I live my life.

Sleeping the day away. I don't want to waste my days off sleeping. I actually love the mornings now. Every once in a while, sure, it's nice to sleep in...but now my sleeping in is like 9 a.m., not 11 or noon.

Finishing a book I don't click with. Life is too short and my list of books to read is too long.

Spending time with draining motherfuckers. If someone is a drain on my energy, I push them to the outskirts of my life or off of the cliff of it entirely regardless of who they are in relation to me and make zero excuses or apologies for doing it. Undesirables include: lying liars who lie, shit stirrers, consistent whiners/negative nellies, Needy McNeedersons who require constant reassurance, passive aggressive people who post weird long facebook statuses about people instead of just confronting said people, petty grudge holders, adults who refuse to be responsible for their actions and words, blame shifters, manipulative bastards, people with more issues than Time Magazine, and people who can't grow the fuck up. None of you can sit with me.

Improving my application of eyeliner. I'm terrible at it and that's okay. I'm done trying all the eyeliners in the world. The problem lies with the applier, and that is me. If it's important, someone else can expertly apply it.

Heels. I don't care what the occasion is, where I am concerned it no longer calls for heels. I got rid of all the heels I own and I will be the one at the function in old lady shoes eating my passed hors d'oeuvres with nary a care in the world.

Pretending I might one day become a woman who crafts. I've never been and while you never say never, I am pretty sure I'm not going down the crafting lane. I'll gladly admire something you've crafted or purchase something you've crafted to my specifications, but I won't wish I could be crafty.

Guilty pleasures. If I like it, I don't feel guilty about it because why would I? If it's not illegal and it's not harming me or anyone else, there's nothing to feel guilty about because adults can do what they want to do.

Waiting to...do anything. If I can do it now, I'm doing it now. I don't really get the sense in waiting to enjoy life. Waiting for what? Life is about the daily living. Go for it.

Caring about what other people think of what I do or say. I have to be honest, I've never really cared what people think about me. I was blessed to largely skip that anxiety and fear while growing up. But the older I get, the less I care. I didn't think that was possible, but it is.

What are you too old for?

To brine or not to brine? Let's talk turkey.

Every year my Grandmom made Thanksgiving turkey. No brine. Every turkey my mom made, no brine. So for the early part of my adult cooking life, I was firmly entrenched in the no brine camp. Then I decided to try brine, and I'm not going back.

It brings a flavorful succulence to the turkey that is sometimes missing otherwise. When you roast a beastly bird for a few hours, it's bound to lose some moisture. When you brine before roasting, it counteracts that. I now brine other poultry and meats too, using this same basic recipe that I got from Savory Sweet Life.

Note: You do NOT want to brine a kosher or self-basting turkey. It will be like a giant salt lick, your Thanksgiving will be ruined, and everyone will cry because you will be eating hotdogs out of the freezer instead of the much anticipated turkey. Pre-seasoned turkeys? Meh. You can still brine. Just cut the brine time down by half or more.

Ingredients 
12 cups water (four up front and eight later)
1 cup kosher salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh sage (chopped)
3 tablespoons of rosemary (I typically toss in a bunch of sprigs)
3 tablespoons thyme (I typically toss in a bunch)
1 tablespoon white pepper
4 cups of ice

Directions

Bring four cups of water to a simmering boil. Add salt and sugar. Stir until totally dissolved.

Remove from heat. Stir in eight cups cold water and the rest of the ingredients. Set aside.

Make sure turkey is totally thawed. I usually thaw it for a day longer than the directions suggest. Remove giblets and neck and rinse the bird thoroughly, inside and out. Pat that baby dry with paper towels.

Place the turkey in a large bag - once I used a trash bag, but now I use those large ziploc bags because they are food grade and trash bags are not. Whoops.

Pour brine into the bag and put it in the fridge. The minimum amount of time is one hour per pound, turning it halfway so both sides get good and brined. You can go longer than that if you want or need to.

When it's time, rinse the turkey inside and out. Pat it with paper towels. From there I like to lather mine with seasoned butter and roast that sucker.

What about you? Briner? Not a briner? Brawler? Shot caller?