July « 2010 « Too Much To Do; So Little Time…

Lost most of my readers when I moved sites

By Stef, on July 30, 2010

Thought of the Day…Moves can be difficult. ~Unknown

I lost almost all my readers when my blog moved to this new site. To follow this new site you need to update your RSS feed. This can be done by clicking here to follow via feedburner.

I have temporarily switched the http://www.TooMuchToDoSoLittleTime.com to point back to Blogger/Blogspot so I can post an update and hopefully get my readers switched to this new site.

The best way to not miss out on any posts is to follow via RSS feed. Click here to update your RSS feed.

You can use the address http://www.TooMuchToDoSoLittleTime.com to get to my site, but for now it will be the blogger site, it will eventually switch over to this site.
In the meantime, you can reach the new site by going to http://tmtdslt.com/.

So very sorry for the inconvenience!

Missing you already, Erin!

By Stef, on July 29, 2010

Thought of the Day…When a new friend moves away before you really have a chance to get to know her… it’s sad. ~Me

We have two receptionists at work… Melissa and Erin. They are both super nice. Erin knows how to crack me up! She’s so fun!

As you recall, I worked some really long days not too long ago (remember 18-20 hour days for four weeks). Well, since I was working such long days, I was at home… I didn’t get to see Melissa and Erin much because… well… I was at home…

A week ago human resources made an announcement that there was a new receptionist position open. I grabbed my phone and called the front desk. Erin answered.

Me: You’re not leaving are you? You just got here! (both Melissa and Erin were hired in January)

Erin: Wow, word gets around fast.

Me: Well.. yeah… HR just sent the announcement. I replied.

Erin: Yeah, Bobbie got a job in Santa Barbara…

Me: California! NO! You can’t go to California! It’s too far! I’m only just getting to know you! I was so sad.

Well… the week went WAY TO FAST!

Yesterday was Erin’s last day… I threatened to chain her to the front desk. I told her boss and a lady in HR I was going to do it. I got an email this morning from the lady in HR telling me that it didn’t work… Erin wasn’t chained to the front desk. I laughed…

…Then I got sad again… Erin’s no longer working there….

…At least I have this! (forgive the quality and the other extra items… I was playing with an iPhone app)

I crack up when I see it… we were laughing so hard trying to do a self-portrait… had to have someone else take it…

…at least we still have email… my blog… Facebook (except I’m not on Facebook much)… and she has my cell number…Hey wait… I forgot to get her cell number!:(

COME BACK, Erin!!!

Nervous Wreck, Part 4

By Stef, on July 28, 2010

Thought of the Day…Nerves and butterflies are fine – they’re a physical sign that you’re mentally ready and eager. You have to get the butterflies to fly in formation, that’s the trick. ~Steve Bull

…Continued from Nervous Wreck, Part 3…

As I mentioned in Part 3, it was SO intense! As I sit here a few weeks later writing about it my tummy is turning in knots again!! Go figure! If you recall The Offspring was playing in a softball tournament and was now going to face the team she played on for the previous six years….

There was a short 15-minute break… just enough time for our anxiety to increase. I kept praying, “God, there has to be a reason that you’re allowing this to happen… I don’t know what it is, but I believe there is a reason…”

As I walked around the complex trying to relax, I saw this sign…

…I love how there’s a warning about bunnies. Now does that cute little thing look nearly as menacing as the coyote in the first photo? LOL!

Game time… this will sound kind of crazy, but I texted a friend during the game and the following is from those texts…

Oh my gosh! We’re visitor and top of 1, bases loaded 1 out. The Offspring is up.

WOW! Great sacrifice bunt, Offspring, for an RBI. We scored!

…Oh my this is nerve wracking!

…End of first inning, 2-0 US! YIPPEE!

Top of second… SCORE! Now 3-0 US!

Mid of second… score remains 3-0 us.

…The have a runner on base who advanced on errors…

…UGH! They scored on an error. OH NO! The runner took out The Offspring who was catching. Oh!!!!!! Is she hurt?!?!? NO… she’s MAD!

…The Offspring is on the ground! She’s up and getting the ball!!

My stomach is turning… I chewing off my nails… SERIOUSLY…

Oh NO… another runner is coming in…. UGH!!!

The Offspring gets her OUT!

WHAT?!?! Their coach (The Offspring’s former coach, remember? From the previous six years) challenges the Ryan’s play at home. ARGH!!!

…We wait for the umpires to discuss the play…

…and we wait… and my tummy is churning even more….

…and we wait…

…and the call stands! She’s OUT!

End of second inning, 3-1 us! WHEW!

Middle of the third inning… remains 3-1…

…End of the third inning… still 3-1…

…Bottom of the fourth…they get a runner on base due to an error at first… UGH! Watch out… this next girl can bunt really well…

…YEP! She lays down a great bunt to move the runner… the runner advances and …. SCORES! Now it’s 3-2… They still have a runner on base…

…OH NO! She’s heading into home and The Offspring was ready for her. She’s OUT!! The runner tries to wiggle and waggle and fumble and crawl back to home and calls to her dad (the coach) “Daddy, obstruction! Daddy, it’s obstruction!”

…The Offspring yells back, “It’s not obstruction when I have the ball!”

…The umps agreed… she’s OUT! End of the fourth… 3-2.

My stomach is seriously in knots and worse of all… I need to go to the little girl’s room… but there is NO WAY I am leaving the game!

…but I am leaving you hanging [again] …To be continued… [again]

Poor Offspring, Part 3

By admin, on July 26, 2010

Thought of the Day…Love is staying up all night with a sick child — or a healthy adult. ~David Frost

If you recall from last week. The Offspring has early pneumonia. Fortunately, her fever has been gone for a week, but poor Offspring… her coughing has been going on for almost two weeks.

I took her to the doctor today. More X-rays. UGH! (again)… More antibiotics… He said she had “significant” pneumonia. My friend Chris said, “Bummer she didn’t get the insignificant kind.” LOL! The Offspring cracked up… then she started coughing… I felt terrible!

The doctor said that she should be feeling more normal by next Monday. I sure hope so!!!

For now, enjoy this “painting” I did on my iPhone using the Brushes app.

Kitchen equipment vices

By Stef, on July 23, 2010

Thought of the Day…My name is Stef and I’m a Le Creuset addict and I need your help…

…OK, I’m not an addict, but I sure LOVE IT!

…actually, I’m done purchasing for a while… That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! (I sound like Ree from PioneerWoman.com, don’t I?)

If you recall from my Something I’ve wanted for a long time… I bought a red 2 quart multi-function set and 7.25 quart round French oven. Then in I couldn’t resist, I bought a yellow 5.25 quart round French oven and Caribbean 11.75 inch skillet. I still wanted either a 3.5 quart or 4.5 quart, but couldn’t decide.

I talked with Stacy, my sister-in-law, and we decided that a 3.5 quart was the right size. I just needed another sale.

When I was offline a couple of weeks ago, we were in Colorado and Utah for a softball tournament and mini-vacation (more on that later). We stopped at an outlet mall in Silverthorne, CO and they had a Le Creuset Outlet! YIPPEEE for me!!!

To my surprise, they had TWO SIZES of multi-function sets! (Our local Outlet only had one size.) They had the 2 quart and a 3.75 quart! I literally stopped in my tracks and stared at it. It was the solution. As I said, Stacy and I had decided that the 3.5 quart was perfect… but we were wrong! 3.75 quart is perfect!

When I had walked in the door, they told me that everything in the store was 25% off if purchases were over $100. I told them I knew about the sale and that I had a coupon at home for 35%. They looked me up in the computer and said they could honor my coupon and I could get free shipping! To top it all off, because it was being shipped to Oregon I didn’t have to pay sales tax (we don’t have sales tax in Oregon)!!

Can I hear a “YEA TEAM!” ???

I had really liked the blue, but they didn’t have the 3.75 quart multi-function in blue; only red and orange. As you can see, I went with the orange since my other one is red.

…Well… Nancy from our local Outlet had talked with me about the buffet casserole…

I couldn’t stop myself… Isn’t this a pretty blue 3.5 quart buffet casserole???

Wanna know something cool? My Caribbean skillet didn’t come with a lid. This store didn’t have one (they’re hard to keep in stock), but the saleswoman told me that the lid for this casserole fits my skillet.

The colors don’t “match”, but who cares? The do complement one another though…

The two newest pieces fit together…

My most recent purchases complete my collection…

…for now…

…for a while…

…OK, at least until the pretty purple colored one shows up at the Le Creuset Outlet!!

…If I were an addict, I’d have every piece. I don’t… so I am not an “addict”… right?

Do you have any cooking equipment vices?

Basil Bouquet

By admin, on July 23, 2010

Thought of the Day…Ah me! love can not be cured by herbs. ~Ovid

I have said it many times… I love basil…

…I love it with garlic…

…especially in my pesto…

…you’ve seen it in a jar…

…you’ve seen it on my counter…

….you’ve seen it on my window sill…

…you’ve seen two varieties in my garden…

…NOW I have a basil bouquet! Look how big it is!! The ruler is 12 inches.

Hmmmmm…. it smells sooooo goooooood! Trader Joe’s had it on sale for $1.99 for a 6-inch pot. I couldn’t resist! I bought FOUR!

Do you have a favorite herb?

What’s for dinner?

By admin, on July 21, 2010

Thought of the Day…When you you’re fixing dinner and the little voice inside says, ‘Does this really make sense?’ LISTEN! ~me

My day doesn’t feel complete unless I’ve read my favorite blogs… I’ve been incomplete a lot recently… I’m still trying to get caught up from working long days and vacation…

…I’m closer each day… But I am cheating and reading current entries along with older ones… This morning’s The Pioneer Woman’s Cooking feature was Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil. It made my mouth water…

I didn’t follow Ree’s recipe to the letter… She marinated her chicken, I didn’t have time – I wanted to fix it for dinner tonight, before I was asked What’s for dinner?

I stopped at the store on my way home from work and bought fresh chicken breasts, lemons, half-and-half and heavy cream. As I was driving home, I called and asked for someone to light the grill so that it would be ready when I got home. Fortunately, I made perfect timing and got the chicken on the grill literally as I walked in the door.

If you recall from my Coleslaw recipe post, I mentioned the slicer/shredder attachment for my mixer. I also have a juicer attachment and you wouldn’t believe all the juice a lemon has in it!

Remember that voice mentioned in the Thought of the Day quote above? Well, I knew better when I was juicing the lemons that I had too much juice. I make a great Lemon Loaf recipe at Christmas. The first time I used my juicer attachment, I had sooooo much juice the lemon loaf was WAY-WAY lemony…. almost to the point of too much (can you have too much lemon?)…

Well, although I quickly read Ree’s recipe this morning, I only printed the recipe in full-page using her link… it was missing the pictures…

…I usually do OK making other people’s recipes, well….

The printed recipe read “Squeeze in the juice of 4 lemons.”***… So as I said, I juiced my lemons with my juice attachment…. OOOOPS! BIG OOOOOPS! If you look at Ree’s full post with pictures you’ll see she HAND squeezed the lemons into the pot! OOOOOOPS!

Hubby said, “Did you taste this?” I stopped and said, “Dang it! NO! Chef Ramsay (Hell’s Kitchen) would yell at me for not tasting!” I then said, “It’s too lemony, right?” The Offspring said, “Yep.” I tasted it and it wasn’t too bad… LOL! It was REALLY lemony. Not terrible, but not really palatable… actually… yeah… it was not good enough to eat …

So, my instincts kicked in… I still had half-and-half, cream, butter and cheese… I dumped it all in and tried to dilute the sauce… it worked, well… it was better, but not perfect. The Offspring and I thought it was good. As I was eating dinner I exclaimed, “You donkey!” The Offspring and Hubby chuckled… (it’s another Chef Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen quote) The Chef calls people that when they make stupid mistakes, especially when they don’t taste their food before serving it.

Note to self… when that voice is in your head saying… this is toooooo much lemon…. it IS too much lemon!

Do you ever hear that voice, too, when you’re cooking? If so, what does it say to you?

***UPDATE: Ree’s blog post (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/grilled-chicken-with-lemon-basil-pasta/) listed FOUR lemons, the TastyKitchen recipe lists THREE (http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/main-courses/grilled-chicken-with-lemon-basil-pasta/). I made this from her BLOG POST. It’s possible that at some point the blog post will be updated. I noticed that someone had made the comment that she only used 3 lemons. Leads me to believe that the recipe was updated on TastyKitchen.

Too Much To Do; So Little Time…

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