All posts by Nichole

Writing (elsewhere)

Elsewhere: I tell you how to make a showy, glowy picture pumpkin

The Photojojo showy glowy picture pumpkinI don’t think I’ve carved a pumpkin since early in Rockford’s graduate school days, when he worked for a gentleman who was very enthusiastic about Halloween, but I’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks thinking about things to do with pumpkins. (Besides turning them into pies or smashing them, obviously.)

Why the sudden gourd obsession? Because the fine folks at Photojojo wanted a post about a Cool Thing to Do with a Pumpkin.

I’m pretty pleased with the final result.

You can read all about it at — and be a witness to the launch of Rockford’s career as a hand model — at Picture Pumpkins: Give Your Halloween Memories a Gourdy Glow. Let me know if you give it a try! I’d love to see your fancy photo pumpkin.

(Related: “Gourd” never, ever looks like its spelled correctly. Especially after you type it multiple times. Gourd gourd gourd.)

menu plan Monday, recipes

Nothing like pancakes to kick off the week

Disclaimer: eMeals.com has provided Nichole with a free subscription in exchange for a review. Because of the nature of the product and the fact that Nichole writes/thinks about food a lot, you can expect to read at least a little bit about eMeals every week for the next month or so. Nichole’s opinions remain her own, and she remains very opinionated about food.

On Saturday we got to see Missouri beat Georgia in person, and it was uncomfortably hot and the QB got injured, but it was mostly awesome.

We’re continuing the eMeals.com experiment this week, and once again I only have two of the week’s seven recipes on the roster. My goal for next week is to try three of them!

Monday: Orange Pancakes
This is one of this week’s eMeals picks, and it calls for a side of bacon. Sold.

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie
It’s October. It’s supposed to be pot pie weather, but it’s been pretty warm here lately. Maybe putting pot pie on the menu will bring in a little cool weather.

Wednesday: Tortellini
It’s easy, and the kids love it.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Chinese Barbecue Pork
This is another of the eMeals recipes. It sounds pretty tasty, and I’m always happy to find a reliable CrockPot meal.

Friday: Pizza
Yay pizza!

Last week the only eMeals recipe we ended up trying was the Philly Cheese Steak Stromboli. It was really good, but it called for far more roast beef than I actually ended up using.

Philly Cheese Steak Stromboli
Author: eMeals.com
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 green bell pepper, sliced
  • 2 (11 oz) cans refrigerated thin-crust pizza dough
  • 2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard, divided
  • 2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise, divided
  • 13 oz package deli sliced roast beef
  • 8 oz package sliced provolone cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until tender. Unroll dough, and spread each with 1 tablespoon mustard and 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, leaving a 1-inch border. Top evenly with vegetables, beef and cheese.
  3. Roll up dough, jellyroll style, beginning with long side, pinching ends to seal. Place seam side down on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
  4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

 

Kids are weird

Achy necks and buttery ears

4 Comments

Robert S. Donovan photo
Poppy has a muscle strain (or something) in her neck, so I was setting her up on my bed with the heating pad and an audiobook. Meanwhile, Pete was at the head of the bed, trying to fish out a Leapster cartridge he’d spied.

In such a situation, I would advise not blithely saying, “Don’t get your head stuck.”

Because he did. And he panicked, as one naturally does when one’s head is stuck between two metal bars.

I tried to smoosh his ears down and ease his head out.

“I want Daddy!” he screamed, as one naturally does when one’s mother attempts to smoosh one’s ears.

“Shhhhh,” I implored, “shhhhhh. Try to relax. I’m going to get some butter for your ears.”

He wailed. Naturally.

Then he lowered his head a little, and with a swift twist he’d freed himself. His ears were pink, his nose was runny and his face was tear-stained, but at least he was free and sans butter.

“Don’t stick your head in things!” I called as he romped out of the room.

I turned back to Poppy, nestled on her pillow with her Twilight Sparkle snug in her arms. She glared at me.

“So now you don’t even care about me,” she said.

The moral of the story: I can’t win.