Eggnog

Have seen eggnog mentioned on several blogs…some people have even been accused of drinking too much of the ‘adult’ variety…*snicker*…so thought I would share some recipes.  Yes Ami...it is served chilled. LOL

Many people buy their eggnog in cartons from the grocery store.

 They either don’t have time to make their own or they think it is too difficult.  I prefer to make mine and it really is not difficult.   And of course, if you don't like eggnog but have only had the store-bought kind, 'purists' will say you really haven't had eggnog!  Just sayin'...

Traditional Eggnog
This is the recipe I have used for years...


Ingredients

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups milk
• 2 egg whites
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Brandy or Rum to taste
• 1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped
• Ground nutmeg

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk 1/3 cup sugar into egg yolks.
2. Add salt.
3. Stir in milk.
4. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture coats spoon.
5. Cool.
6. Beat egg whites until foamy.
7. Gradually add 3 tablespoons sugar, beating to soft peaks.
8. Add egg whites to cooled custard and mix thoroughly.
9. Add vanilla and Brandy or Rum.
10. Chill 3 to 4 hours.

To Serve:
There are several ways to serve:

• Pour into punch bowl and dot with “islands” of whipped cream, dash with nutmeg. Let people dip their own into cups.
• Pour into individual cups and dot with whipped cream, dash with nutmeg.

 

• Pour into a pitcher with a bowl on the side of nutmeg topped whipped cream.  Let people pour their own and top.

Serves 6-8

Notes:

• To see if “…mixture coats spoon”, dip a metal spoon into the mixture and see if it ‘coats’ the entire spoon.  If it is splotchy, it needs to cook a bit longer.
• The custard mixture will cool quicker if you pour it out of the pan and into a bowl.
• You can use Brandy or Rum flavoring if you prefer non-alcoholic or simply omit.
• Since my children loved eggnog, I omitted the Rum and flavoring…just went with vanilla.
• When I make this for adults, I prefer a good light Rum…but it is a matter of taste.

A friend who knows I really enjoy cooking with coconut milk sent me the following recipe and blurb…not sure where she got them and she has not replied to my email asking for that info!

Dairy Free Coconut Eggnog

The coconut eggnog is not the original high-fat Puerto Rican Coquito version, but a special holiday treat for those who are lactose intolerant.  Also did you know that although coconut milk has a high fat content, it's unique fatty acids may aid weight loss, improve immune function, reduce heart disease risk, and improve skin and hair health?  Wow sounds good!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups coconut milk
• 6 tablespoons honey
• 8 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• white rum (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat, but do not boil coconut milk and honey.
2. Beat egg yolks with vanilla extract.
3. Slowly add in about half of the coconut mixture to the egg yolks to temper them.
4. Add the whole mixture back into the saucepan.
5. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until eggnog thickens.
6. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg.
7. Allow to cool to room temperature, add rum now if you choose.
8. Then cover and refrigerate 3 hours before serving.

To Serve:
I would say that you could serve this the same way as the traditional but since the nutmeg is added in to the eggnog here, I would be careful adding any more.

Notes:
I made one correction to this recipe...as it had the instructions for adding half the coconut mixture to the egg yolks to 'temper' them but never showed adding the other half. 

I have not actually tried this recipe so have no notes to offer.
 



As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask and if you try the recipe, I would love any feedback you would care to give.

Hope you enjoy!

Thoughts for Parents

And it’s always in the absolutely loudest voice!



I informed my boys that those people they called grandparents…were NOT the same people that raised me.  Yes…same bodies but definitely not the same people.




When I turned about 14 years old, my father lost every brain he ever had.  That man got pure D stupid!  By the time I was 21, he had gained some of his brains back and by the time I was 25, he gained back all his brains and became one of the smartest people I knew!

So as my boys hit about 14 years of age, I warned them that I was gonna lose every brain I ever had and get downright ignorant on them but not to worry, I should regain all my intelligence by the time they hit 25 or so.  

But…even though I was going to be stupid, I was still the parent and they were still the child which means they still have to live by house rules (made by the stupid mother). LOL


For Rogue’s Smart A$$ Marine!
Even though you are a Marine, when you come home your mom can still take your gun from you!






Parents…REMEMBER THIS!



Been there…done that!





Wise man!





ROFLMBO…I survived and so did both my boys!  You and yours will also.

A Few Giggles

Just a few giggles…not too many as I’m sure that for many of you, your tummy is quite full!  



Of course it does!  And I save lives every day!




Yup…don’t step on scales, avert my eyes as I walk by mirrors and hide from cameras!   Works for me!




Oh yes…I know some ladies that this applies to!   *snicker* 




And just how many of you feel like this if you have spent the day with your family?




And as you are driving home from any gathering, please remember…




Hope you had a lovely day!

Day After Turkey Soup

 
I promised Minelle I would post this recipe for her before Thanksgiving.  This is a lovely way to use up leftovers.  It is quick and easy so if you have spent the day shopping, you don't have too much work to have a tasty supper ready. 

Please make sure you read all the directions including the notes section before you begin.

Broth

• Turkey carcass
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• Enough water to cover

 
Dumplings

• Leftover stuffing (aka dressing)

For each cup of leftover stuffing used:

• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1/8 cup broth

Depending on how many you are trying to feed, I normally use 2 or 3 cups of stuffing.

Soup

• Leftover turkey
• Leftover gravy
• 3 carrot, sliced
• 3 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

For Broth

1. Place turkey carcass and rosemary in pot
2. Bring to boil
3. Simmer approximately one hour
4. Remove carcass
5. Either proceed to making soup or cool broth for later.

 For Soup

1. Saute celery, carrots, onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes.
2. Add to broth.
3. Stir in gravy.
4. Add turkey.
5. Bring to slow rolling boil. 

 For Dumplings

1. Mix ingredients into a dough
2. Drop by spoonful into slow boiling broth.
3. Simmer for approximately 7 minutes.
4. When the dumplings rise to the top they are done.

 Notes:

• You could make the broth while you are cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, cool, then refrigerate and make the dumplings the next day.
• If you have leftover corn, green beans or peas, add them to broth after dumplings are done.
• There is no right or wrong as to what you add to this soup.
• Many times I make a chicken with stuffing and then make this soup with the leftovers.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask and if you try the recipe, I would love any feedback you would care to give.

Hope you enjoy!

Wishing a wonderful Thanksgiving for those of you who are celebrating. For the rest of you...have a wonderful day also!!!  LOL 

Ponder These!

 

Birds of a feather flock together . .

And then crap on your car.

 

 

A penny saved is a..

Government oversight.

 

 

The older you get,

The tougher it is to lose weight,

Because by then your body and your fat…

Have gotten to be really good friends.

 

 

The easiest way to find

Something lost around the house

Is to buy a replacement …

 

 

He who hesitates is probably right.

 

 

Did you ever notice:

The Roman numerals for forty (40)

Are 'XL'.

 

 

The sole purpose of a child's middle name is

So he can tell when he's really in trouble.

 

 

Did you ever notice:

When you put the 'The' and 'IRS' together…

It spells 'Theirs!'

 

 

Aging:

Eventually you will

Reach a point when you stop

Lying about your age and

Start bragging about it.

 

 

Some people try to turn back their odometers. 

Not me, I want people to know 'why' I look this way.

I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.

 

 

 

Lord,

Keep your arm around my shoulder

And your hand over my mouth . . .

AMEN!

Bacon, Bacon, oh and Bacon!

UPDATE:  I apologize...I forgot to add the link for creating bacon roses.  Click here to get the instructions.

A friend of mine who knows how much I love bacon sent me these recipes last year. They are both very easy and crowd pleasingly delicious! You just have to be careful that you don't eat it all before serving! LOL

 
Spiced Bacon Twists
Ingredients

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons dry mustard powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound sliced bacon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place a rack in a baking pan or edged baking sheet deep enough to catch the grease.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, mustard powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper.
4. Coat each slice of bacon well with the mixture.
5. Twist each coated slice into a spiral and place on rack making sure not to crowd or overlap
6. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until bacon is crisp and holds it shape.
7. Serve at room temperature.

Bacon Candy Yes, you read this right…Candy!
Ingredients

1 pound sliced bacon
¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place a rack in a baking pan or edged baking sheet deep enough to catch the grease.
3. Place the sugar in a small bowl
4. Cut bacon slices into 1 inch pieces
5. Coat pieces well in brown sugar
6. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until bacon is crispy.
7. Let cool and harden.
8. Serve at room temperature.

Notes:

• Can change up the candy by adding ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon to the brown sugar.

 
Just a reminder…for those of you that want a dinner with bacon, take a look at my Colcannon recipe…

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask and if you try the recipe, I would love any feedback you would care to give.

Hope you enjoy!

Bubble Wrap

I so love this idea!







LOL…a more festive mood?  



No way…couldn’t do it!






If the day starts getting’ to ya…pull out the bubble wrap! 

They Said What!

This video was recently shared on Facebook and is so funny that I had to share. 

Yes, it is 15 minutes long but since it is a number of short funnies, it is easy to start/stop it as you have time.

Try to find the chance to watch…you will definitely enjoy!  Also, with the holidays coming up, you might need a few more giggles than usual!  

Yes Ami, I know you can't listen to these on your computer.  Hijack Dan's for 15 minutes.  If he's there, tell him that Cat said he should watch them also...he can use the giggles. LOL

Here is the link to YouTube if you are unable to view the video here or if you want to share it with vanilla friends/family:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7ghDhpCLKM

Enjoy!

Special Meme

I am delighted, I think ,  to share a special Meme written by our darling Ana from governingana just for me and for all you to enjoy!
 
Good gravy…took long enough to answer these questions! 
 
All the blue text was written by Ana while the purple text was written by me!

Trouble Notes: The World According to Cat
 
You may know Cat as the lady with the giggle, grins, and cute photos on her blog, but how well do you really know her?  This is one woman you don’t want on your bad side, let me tell you.  Don’t believe me?  Read on!  Hmpf...I never claimed to be nice!

 
What would you do if someone tried to hurt your loved ones?
As a kid, my brother was only 13 months younger than me but according to my mother, he was my responsibility. Until 15 years of age, he was smaller than me…and I was small for my age!.  When the neighborhood bully who was younger than us but twice my size picked on my brother, I put him on the ground, tore his shirt off him and pushed his face in a pile of dog poo! 

As an adult? 

Are you serious? 

I have a lot of guns! 

All kinds!  

You want a more specific answer?

I. Would. Hurt. Them! 
Absolutely no TRY to it…they WOULD be in a world of pain!  

Depending on if they managed to hurt my loved one and how much would determine exactly how much pain and how long. 

Oh…you want an example? 

Hmmm…ok…I might get out one of the shotguns and load it with rock salt and shoot the offender in the buns and thighs…they won’t be sittin’ for a super long time!  That’s the nicest thing I would do.  Yes…this is one of my milder revenges.

How many unique ways can you curse?
ROFL…not sure exactly what you’re asking here…I was raised around truck drivers so I can curse well enough to make a sailor blush.   Had to get creative with my curses once I had children…those little turkeys just love to parrot everything you say…as long as it is something you really don’t want them to!

List your favorite cursing phrases.
Guess my all time favorite curse is a word I said throughout labor…never screamed, hollered, cried, etc.  Just kept repeating this same word over and over.  This word probably should have been the first word for both my children…in fact it was one of the first ones of my oldest son…”Oh sh*t!”
 
Now, my favorite cursing phrases are “son of a biscuit eater”, '”motor trucking firetrucker”, “son of a bunny rabbit”, and “egg sucking dawg”.  
 
And of course, when I’m in a lot of pain, such as when my doctor stuck a needle in my shoulder and dug around (with no anesthetic I might add!) I ran them together  and he learned that he was “a moronic motor trucking son of a biscuit eater!”
 
I might also call people idiots, morons, clowns and of course, my favorite…itch with a capital B!
 
Then there are the insults…my favorites are “go suck an egg”, “bite me”, “go to H E double hockey sticks” and “kiss my tushie!”
 
When you were a child, what did you do to your sibling who annoyed you?
Ana…you stinker!  Annoyed me?!?  That boy did more than annoy me!  He made a mud pie and tried to get me to eat it by telling me it was a chocolate pie…I simply did get him to eat a mud pie. …you can read all about how he TORTURED me and the small revenge I got here. 
 
Just what is the difference between a “barn burner” and a “coming to Jesus meeting?”
A “barn burner” sets your bottom on fire…you think it is NEVER gonna be over and when it FINALLY is, you don’t even want to THINK about sittin’ down for a loooong time…like DAYS!!!!

A “Come to Jesus meetin' “ (get it right Ana ) is an ear chewin’ (aka lecture) to beat all.  By the time it is done, you feel low enough to belly crawl under a snake.  You certainly understand exactly what it is that you did wrong and never, ever want to do it again!  It is separate from a “barn burner” but if you are in a lot of trouble, they can be, combined!  Lord help you if they are!   Shhh Ana…yes, I was on the receiving end of the combination more than once!   

Now do you believe me? However, Cat’s bark is much worse than her bite, truly. She’s really a softie at heart. LOL got her fooled don’t I?
 
What did you think when you held your baby for the first time?
Oh what a beautiful miracle! Neither one of my children was planned but lord have mercy, they were both wanted! I make absolutely beautiful babies…if I do say so myself!  And I do!!!
 
What did you think when you held your grandchild for the first time?
 Oh my…as beautiful as my babies were, my grands were even more beautiful…downright gorgeous!  Basically, just pure D PERFECT!  They sure can make me smile! Even when they are being stinkers.

 
How did you get the nickname “Trouble?”
 LOL  Okay…one of my middle names (yes, I have 2) begins with a T but my daddy said it should be Trouble rather than what it was so…he renamed me.  
 
When you were a child, how many children did you have to play with in your neighborhood?
 Dang…don’t have enough fingers and toes to count that high!  6 + 9 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 3 +  2 + 4 = 37 kids on our street (one block) so we always had someone to play with.
 
Cat has had a great deal of experience with DD, and she has neat thoughts about the topic.
 Not sure how “neat” they are…but I always have thoughts!  LOL 
 
What advice would you like to give couples who hit rough patches while learning DD?
 TTWD/DD is nothing more than a tool to enhance your relationship.  Just as in any relationship (parent/child, friendship, employer/employee, etc.), there are going to be ups and downs.

One of the worst things you can do is to stop communicating which seems to be the default for many of us…talk, write, draw pictures, send up smoke signals, anything…but DO NOT stop communicating.

The other thing I would say, especially for those who have brought TTWD to their spouse/partner…you have done a lot of research and decided this is what you want.  Your partner might go along with it out of love for you and might even see the benefits but that dos not mean they are going to be invested like you are.
 
There is no right or wrong way to incorporate TTWD/DD into your relationship…only what works best for you!    
 
What was your biggest challenge as a DD/ttwd wife/fiancée/girlfriend?
Actually, there were three challenges…
Of course, these really have nothing to do with TTWD/DD…just my personal idiosyncrasies but they sure challenged Matthew at times.

First, I do have a tendency to play word games.  For example, Matthew told me do something on Tuesday and I forgot…when he called me on it, my answer was “oh, you meant today?  You didn’t specify which Tuesday! *giggle*

Second, once you harm (mentally, physically, emotionally) someone I love, I have a tendency to become EXTREMELY angry and have a very hard time reigning in my temper…even when I know I’m not going to be sitting comfortably if I don’t. *sigh* 
 

Yup…Ron says it all!

Third sorta goes along with the second one…As I’ve said before (and I do believe I have posted this pic)…

Along with…


Bottom line?



You’ve seen many negative sides of a spanking relationship. Why do you still believe in DD?
Because I’ve seen and experienced all the positive sides also.   It’s just like with any relationship, just because it ended badly doesn’t mean you don’t want another relationship.

No, TTWD/DD is not for everyone.  Yes, vanilla relationships can be awesome also!  I have been in DD and vanilla relationships and for me…DD is best.  Is it perfect?  H E Double Hockey Sticks…NO!!! Of course, no relationship is perfect. Why?  Because we are human and definitely NOT perfect! LOL  
 
Do you think reading spanking fiction stories can help or hurt a DD relationship? Why?
They can help and hurt…how’s that for an answer? LOL 

Okay…it mainly depends on the reader…

If you are simply enjoying a book, even if you get lost in it, it can help give you ideas you can bring to your relationship so it can help.  Or at least not hurt.   BUT…if you are unhappy in your current relationship and start comparing the hero/heroine, their actions and/or the relationship to your current spouse/partner, their actions and/or your relationship…you are in deep S H * T! 
 
This applies to blogs as well.  If you are reading blogs to make friends and/or get information to discuss with your spouse/partner…no problem.  BUT AGAIN…if you start the comparison BS…you and your spouse/partner will more than likely just end up very unhappy.
 
In your opinion, what is the worst (most painful) implement for a spanking?
Anything wood!  As I keep saying…wood is no good, leather is better and feathers are best!
 
And last but not least…

What will you say to Mrs. Claus this year?
Hey Mrs. C…so happy to see you!  Would you please go spank Ana, Minelle, and Ami…they all need TBB barn burners…do you want to borrow my wooden spoon? 

Oh and Mrs. C...Ana said to tell you that she really did mean to be good this year, but there were a lot of extenuating circumstances that need explanation.
 
BTW…For those who don’t know what TBB is…it stands for “Too Bloody Bad” in Scotsman-speak when Minelle says she doesn’t want or need a spanking.

 
Ooh, I have two more questions for you:
Ha!  Ya see how she is…look above the previous question…she did say “And last but not least…”

How many times have you had to rescue Minelle from her tech-no mistakes?
Oops…was I supposed to be counting?
 
Why doesn't Cat run?

Because Cat doesn’t wanna!

Any questions?