Nothing Better than Poppers and Margaritas

As much as I complain sometimes that I am in charge of meals through the workweek, and I'm tired of having to plan evening meals, buy what I need and then cook it all, I do love to cook.  I like to try new recipes, although I wonder how many "new" recipes I'm going to find - I have a bookcase full of recipe books, magazines and binders of clippings.

My favourite time to cook is on the weekend, when Jim and I plan the meal, work on it together and then enjoy it together.  Tonight is just such a night.  It's a beautiful, still night and Jim is standing at the barbecue, taking care of what's going into our "Mexican" meal.

It all started on Thursday, when I made chicken posole for dinner.  There were leftovers, and neither of us was in a position to take them for lunch on Friday.  We decided that we'd work out something Mexican to go with it for tonight.  What we eventually ended up with was margaritas and jalapeno poppers for nibblies, leftover chicken posole for the starter and barbecued steak fajitas for dinner.  Jim's out doing the steak and veggie mixture right now.

I have to say that the jalapeno poppers and margaritas were outstanding.  We make both of them from scratch, and you can really tell.  So ... as much as I never intended this blog to be a foodie blog, I'm going to pass on the recipe for both the poppers and the margaritas, as they really are the best.

Jalapeno Poppers
 10 medium-to-large jalapeno peppers
1/4 cup softened cream cheese
1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup fresh salsa
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs (although slightly a less amount of dried breadcrumbs works just as well)

Slice the peppers lengthwise in half, slicing right the stem so that the stem is still attached.  Scrape out the seeds and membranes.

Mix together the cream cheese, cheddar cheese,salsa and breadcrumbs.  Stuff the mixture into the jalapeno halves.  Top with fresh breadcrumbs mixed with butter and parsley.  (I usually use dried breadcrumbs).  Bake for 20 minutes in 375-degree oven.

I have also made the recipe with 2 sliced green onions and a tin of crab, drained - it fills 12-15 peppers.  The results are so outstanding that I'll never go back to the frozen poppers filled with just cream cheese.

Now for the margaritas ...

For each margarita:

1 1/2 oz., gold tequila
1/2 oz. triple sec or other orange liqueur
1 - 1 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice, according to how tart you like your margaritas.  Serve in a salt-rimmed glass (salt on the outside of the glass only).

The poppers are good, too, with frozen margaritas made with a can of limeade, 1/2 can of tequila, 1/4 can of triple sec and 2 cans of ice, blended, but are best, I think, with the first recipe.

Jim is bringing in the steak and veggies from the barbecue, so it's time to get the condiments together.  Another wonderful meal ...

A Short Walk for a Better Future

This weekend I am participating in a walk for breast cancer. 

As a general rule, I am not a joiner into causes, however great the causes are.  I will make a donation, but I do not participate.  I don’t have any particular reason that I don’t participate, beyond laziness or lack of information or … well, I’m sure whatever else I come up with will just be an excuse.

This cause is different.  I am walking this year because I know too many women with breast cancer.  I know too many people whose lives are affected by breast cancer.  I don’t want to know any more, but statistically that’s not going to happen unless something changes.  And things won’t change until people like me start getting involved and are part of the solution.

So … my first-ever walk for breast cancer.  It’s not a long walk and I’m not raising a ton of money, but if I can contribute just a bit toward to a cure, I’ll gladly put my excuses aside this Sunday

A Little Quiet Time

It's a quiet Easter morning.  Apart from the dog, I'm the only one in the house who has made it out of bed.  It's quiet outside, too - there is virtually no wind, and no one else was out in the streets when I took the dog for a walk just awhile ago.

As much as I resent waking up early even on a weekend morning, there is something wonderful about the quiet and the chance to sit quietly by myself.  I'm waiting for the warmer weather to arrive so I can take my coffee outside and enjoy the warmth and quiet noises of nature.  I am lucky enough that, when the air is just right, I can't hear the noise from the not-so-far-off highway that bisects the city where I live.  When it's just right, it's like I live in the country.  I can close my eyes and hear the squirrels chatter to each other; I can listen to the sounds of the birds singing whatever song it is they sing, and I can pretend I'm not surrounded by highways and often-busy streets.

That's when it's warm and lovely, of course.  Today is overcast and cool and just a little drizzly.  It's still, though, and I enjoyed one of those quiet walks.

Does everyone who lives in a city - no matter how large or small - dream about the quiet that lies just beyond the boundaries of their everyday lives?  I do.  I'm not sure where the yearning for quiet comes from - I don't live in a noisy household and the noise that surrounds me is often the noise of my choice - music, for the most part.  I don't live a busy life, either.  Gone are the days when I was ferrying my son here and there for lessons or practices, and trying to fit it other things around his schedule.  I am very much a homebody, and enjoy puttering around the house.  I am not pulled in all directions and am pretty much free to spend my time as I choose.  My life is not noisy.  So why the desire for the stillness and quiet?

I don't have an answer, at least not for myself.  I would understand it more it I had a house full of kids, or lived in the middle of a busy neighbourhood, or found myself running from my full-time job to a part-time job to help make ends meet.  None of those apply to me.  I have one of the quietest lives of anyone I know, and yet I long for more quiet.  Perhaps I've idealized something about the stillness and silence that can be, or that I think can be.  Maybe it doesn't really exist - maybe the brief moments that I savour on a quiet weekend morning are as good as it gets.  And, truthfully, maybe that's really all I need.

I hear movement upstairs, and my quiet time is coming to an end.  My husband will come down the stairs and we'll chat for awhile, and enjoy a different kind of quiet time together.  And that's just fine, too. 

It's (New) Music to My Ears

I am discovering new music.  At least I think it’s new; if it’s not brand new, it is at least new to me.

I have spent the last 10 or more years listening to classic rock.  I love classic rock and find that I appreciate a lot of artists and songs more now than when I was first listening to them back in the 70’s and 80’s.  AC/DC, Aerosmith, David Bowie, Van Halen, Ozzie Osbourne all sound better to me now than they did back then.  Not everything is more appealing now, though - I can’t say that ZZ Top and the Grateful Dead have improved as I age, and I still don’t see the point of the Rolling Stones.

Even while I love my classic rock, I have wondered what the new music is all about.  I tried to listening to a classic rock/new rock station and, while I liked the music, I couldn’t stand the sophomoric show hosts, so went back to my regular classic rock station. 

When I wasn’t listening to the radio I was listening to CDs that we’ve accumulated over the years.  It’s not all classic rock – we actually have a fairly decent collection of music that includes rock, folk, Celtic, jazz, alternative, blues, country and bluegrass, classical and things we can’t even classify.   Rarely, however, did we add new artists unless we heard them elsewhere and noted who they were and then made a point to buy a CD.  Newer finds were Harry Manx and Adele.

Because he listened to our fairly decent range of music, it turns out that our son enjoys listening to all kinds of music (country and bluegrass excepted – it drives him crazy when I put on the Dixie Chicks or Allison Krause).  He actually liked what we played when we sat quietly reading the paper, or blasted from the car stereo when we were on a road trip.

He started adding his music into the mix.  At first it was kid pop like Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls.  We listened with him and added his CDs to our collection.  He added Oxygen to our stash of CDs on one road trip and we listened to them as we drove through five or six states and provinces to get back home.  After a camping trip with some friends, he brought home Staggered Crossing, and it too went onto the shelf with the rest of our CDs.  We listened and liked it reasonably well, and it occasionally makes it onto the disc player.

And then our son brought home two CDs that had me changing the station I listen to at work.  Hey, Rosetta! and Mumford and Sons made their way onto our CD player last time our son was home.  What fantastic music!  Mumford and Sons particularly spoke to me, and I couldn’t help comparing them to Hothouse Flowers – not because their music is similar, but because of the intensity of the lyrics and their energy.

When I returned to work the following week, I decided to see where I could find more music like Hey, Rosetta! and Mumford and Sons, and was turned on to the adult alternative station on the internet radio station I regularly stream.  I discovered even more great music – Florence and the Machine, Kings of Leon, Decemberists, Amos Lee, Snow Patrol …lots of artists who were new to me and who produced wonderful music.

Our CD collection now includes many of my new finds.  I listen to the alternative station all the time when I’m at work and I listen to classic rock only on the drive to and from work.  I still enjoy it, but I enjoy much more the new artists I’m discovering.

Treats!

Treats.  What would life be like without them?  I’ve had a number of treats already this year, and the most recent is about to end tonight. 

My definition of treats is those little or big things that take me out of my ordinary day-to-day routine and give me something new to do, to see, to hear or just plain make me feel good.  They are everything from my monthly pedicure to an unexpected getaway with one or some of my favourite people in the world.

This has already been a banner year for treats:  three concerts, regular visits to my aesthetician (just had a pedicure last night!), a week’s vacation with my husband in February, a quickly-arranged getaway with my two best Buds and, ending tonight, time alone at home while my husband is away at a conference. 

While I was rhyming off my list of recent treats, I realized that my favourites were the things I did on my own or with girlfriends.  This isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy the concerts or vacations with my husband – far from it, as a matter of fact.  I love spending time with him and he is one of my favourite people in the world.  He is, however, a part of my day-to-day life, and doing fun things with him doesn’t rank as high on the treat-o-metre.

I have found that treats become more numerous as I get older.  I no longer have a child at home, around whom I have to arrange my own schedule.  My husband is able to take care of himself and the dog.   I am more willing to be more selfish and say “this is what I want or need to do” instead of feeling like I’m taking something away from my family if I go away or spend money that might go to a family event or purchase.  I will say that it helps that I’m working full-time again; treats are no longer the same strain on the family budget that they once were.

What would my life be like without all these little goodies?  I’m sure I’d survive; millions of women do.  I do recognize that I am privileged to be in a position to take advantage of these opportunities as they come along, and I also recognize that I sometimes pout when I can’t – usually for financial reasons – take up an especially appealing opportunity.  Have I come to regard treats as the norm?  Something that should be there for me?  Doesn’t that make them … well … ordinary?

I don’t want treats to be ordinary.  I want to anticipate them, savour them and remember them with fondness when I’m back in the day-to-day of my life.  I want the right balance so that I never lose the enjoyment of my treats.

Spring!

Today was the sort of day that makes you believe that spring may really have come to the Golden Horseshoe.  The air was warm, the breeze not so cool ... absolutely beautiful. 

While many people chose to go out and rake the lawn or take a walk or wash their car, I chose to take a drive.  I know - it seems like a waste of a nice day.  Not to my way of thinking.  A sunny day, some nice back roads, an interesting destination ... there's nothing better.  I love to drive, and I'm certainly living in the right part of the country to find a lot of wonderful roads and some lovely destinations.

There were a lot of other people on the roads today, too.  Motorcylists roared up and down the same roads I took.   Convertibles were numerous - have you ever noticed how many of them are driven by middle-aged - or older - men?  I passed numerous bicyclists and joggers ... there are so many ways to 'hit the road' and enjoy the spring weather.

Here's hoping the spring continues to unfold as it did today.  If I feel like it's here to stay, perhaps the raking might get done and the dust from some of those back roads might get washed off the car.

Grouchy old lady vs the new media

Given my previous post and my prized Luddite status, it should come as a bit of a surprise that I am responsible for drafting a social media policy for my employer.   I can tell you I wasn’t chosen because of my know-how or regular use of any kind of social media; in fact, I am probably the person in my office who is least likely to be found on Facebook or LinkedIn or Twitter or any of the others I don’t even know about.  I was chosen simply because it’s part of my ever-evolving job description.

Luckily writing policy is more an academic endeavour, and I’m good at that.  I have a committee and co-workers who tell me how they like to use all the various social media and I have access to other similar organizations’ policies, so it’s simply a matter of listening, reading, adapting and – voila – a made-to-order social media policy. 

In some ways, doing all this research has made me think about getting more involved in at least one of the two social media platforms that I already (reluctantly) participate in – LinkedIn and Facebook.  The former I like because it’s business-oriented, and the people I hear from are there for business purposes.  I am part of two industry-related groups, and the one I find more interesting is a group of my peers, and I get some great ideas from them.  I do try to participate where I can, as I believe that I should give ideas and information as well as receive. 

Facebook is harder for me to understand.  I know it’s the preeminent social networking site (at least for the next few seconds until something new comes along) and millions can’t get through the day without logging on to Facebook at least once.  Some people have hundreds of “friends” (many of whom they have never met) and enjoy posting photos and family events and whatever else they wish to share.  And that is precisely what makes Facebook, to my mind, UN-social.  Just because someone shares their photos, events and ideas doesn’t mean they are social; it means they can’t take the time to get in touch with their real friends and have a conversation or send a personal email.

That, I realize, is a grouchy-old-lady kind of statement.  I have wondered if I’m taking this all too seriously and should just enjoy getting in touch with people, catching up on their lives and being open to new connections.  But I keep coming back to the idea that if I really wanted to be friends with someone from my past, or with someone who’s a “friend” of a friend, I’d just give them a call and see if they want to go out for a drink.

A Luddite's Lament

I am not what you call an early adopter of any new technology, and it doesn’t really matter what the technology is.  I believe I am holding my husband back in this area – we still don’t own a large screen TV and all our computer monitors are the big clunky old ones.  I don’t know if this is an embarrassment to him or not – he works with computers and technology – but he seems to go along with me.  I think he was pleased last weekend when we (finally!) bought a Slap Chop.  (See?  Hardly the newest technology … but how long did that take?)

All this new stuff seems to be no-brainers for most people, but I’ve started to question the purpose behind some of it.  (Okay, the Slap Chop I get – no more tears, making a quick job of dicing and mincing and all those good things.)   Big screen TVs – I’m sorry:  I don’t really see the point.  LED?  LCD?  Will I actually see the difference?  Faster computer?  Really?  Faster by milliseconds – like I’ll notice.  Electronic gadgets and digital this and that?  How is it all improving my life? 

Taking a look back on things we already take for granted, I really wonder if they are blessings they are made out to be.  Take email for example.  While email makes it easier, faster and more direct to correspond with friends and family, it can also be a curse in the workplace.  I receive an email, and then get a follow-up email or call if I don’t respond within one-half hour.  Since when does every question require an immediate response?  Just because the subject is higher on someone else’s agenda than it is on mine, I am expected to respond immediately.

I was reading the other day that the concept of time management in the workplace is dead.  We can’t plan our own days anymore because we have these constant interruptions that must be dealt with as they are received.  And they are interruptions.  We are all at the mercy of someone else’s agenda.  This goes both ways, of course – I impose my agenda on other people as well and have come to show as little patience for their slow response as they have for mine.  It doesn’t take long to get sucked in to the idea that once you hit the “send” button, you can expect and are entitled to an immediate response.  And it doesn’t stop with email – it’s an attitude that has gone into everything we do.

I don’t like it.  I’m trying really hard not to sound like one of those people who keep saying “back in the day …”, but really, back in day, you sent a letter, knew (hoped?) it would reach its destination in two days, it would be opened and sit in the inbox for a day or two, be dealt with and you’d receive your answer a few days later.  And if it was really important, you’d phone and have a conversation.

Imagine that – a real phone conversation.  I’ve found that even within our office, we will send emails to co-workers who are across the hallway, or around the corner.  No one phones; no one gets up and walks over to talk.  Everything is done by email.  It’s ridiculous.

I have described myself in conversations as a Luddite, and I take a bit of pride in that.  I like the personal touch; I like having conversations with real people rather than listening to an automated voice give me the balance on my credit card.  I like looking in a book for information rather than heading for Wikipedia.  I like watching an unobtrusive television that fits behind a cabinet door when I’m not watching. I like to dice onions and mince garlic.  The Slap Chop is for my husband.