Last week was a really bad week both in my personal life and at work. A very good friend got laid off and I will miss him. I hope his wife sticks around. I’d be lost without her.
The worst part of my week was in the “family” arena. My step mom has been really sick and in a lot of pain for quite some time. Last she took a turn for the worse. It was an especially difficult time for me because my dad, step mom and my sister live in southwest Missouri and I’m half a continent away in Oregon. My heart ached for Dad and Sis; I felt helpless. Sis and I talked every day, she tried to sound “OK”, but I know she was just trying to be strong for Dad and her kids. When I talked with Dad he sounded so vulnerable.
Sis called on Sunday morning; my step mom had passed away. I felt sadness, but yet relief because she’d been in so much pain.
Life is more nuts right now and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to write this week, so my friend Nicole asked if she could help and she wrote a guest post for me. I have a few simple things that I can post, but nothing like what I had planned.
Nicole told me that her friends LOVED this dip and I plan on trying it [soon].
Thanks so much, Nicole, for helping out!!
Hot Corn Dip Recipe by Emeril Lagasse
2 tablespoons butter
3 1/2 cups corn kernels (from 4 ears fresh white or yellow corn, or frozen fresh corn)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup finely chopped yellow onions
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell peppers – I used roasted red bell peppers from a jar.
1/4 cup chopped green onions (green and white parts)
1/2 to 1 cup mayonnaise – 1/2 C was plenty for mine
4 ounces monterey jack or cheddar, shredded- I used monterey jack
4 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Tortilla chips, for dipping
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the corn, salt, and black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the kernels turn deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Note that if you’re using frozen corn it probably won’t get golden brown. Just cook for about 5 minutes as the recipe states.
Transfer to a bowl.
Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the skillet. Add the onions and bell peppers and cook, stirring often, until the onions are wilted, about 2 minutes.
Add the green onions, jalapeno, and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened.
Transfer to the bowl with the corn.
Add 1/2 C mayo,
cayenne pepper,
half of the Monterrey jack and half of the cheddar
and mix well.
If you need more mayo to hold the mixture together then add it, but I found that 1/2 C was plenty.
Pour into an 8-inch square baking dish, or something equivalent and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake until bubbly and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot with tortilla chips or Fritos.
**Just so you know, this went like hotcakes! In fact, if I make it again, I’ll have to make a double batch!
I saw a link to this on Twitter. OMGOSH!!! I can’t stop laughing. There is some mild language so little ones should not be around when you’re viewing this.
At least the violence was against a laptop. I would love to know how his daughter reacted to her shot-up laptop and the fact that over nearly FOUR MILLION people have seen the video as of this posting!
Update: My subconscious picked this picture last night. I totally forgot that Stars Wars Episode 1 in 3D was opening this weekend. The mind is a powerful thing!
Have you ever felt so overwhelmed you don’t know which end is up or that there just isn’t enough time for everything? You know I feel that way … hence the name of my blog.
I have fairly successfully learned to limit my Facebook time. More because I hate all the flipping changes. Sometimes I get on Twitter and get lose track of time, but I can’t read everything. Now I have started using Pinterest.
For those of you who don’t know what Pinterest is or have heard of it and don’t know what they heck it is… you are not alone.
Pinterest, commonly pronounced Pin + terest … as in PINning something inTERESTing to an electronic (virtual) pin board. You remember pin boards? Back in the day we called them “bulletin boards” or “tack boards”. Pinterest is another social networking site. You can have followers and you can follow someone or neither.
What I really like about Pinterest is that when you “pin” something to one of your boards it puts a link to the original source. So the author or creator still gets credit. I love this.
For example, Jules from A Little Bite of Life pinned my Homemade Vanilla and Apple Pie in an Apple blog posts to her pin board. She has followers who then liked the idea and re-pinned her pin to their pin boards. Within 30 minutes I had two other people re-pin.
Did you know I have a Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ link beneath any post so you can share on other social networking sites?
When you pin something it puts in on one of your boards. If you “Like” someone else’s pin; instead of putting it on your pin board it adds it to your “Liked” section.
I am using it as a place to keep my “pictorial” bookmarks in different categories (ie. Desserts, Drinks, Photography, etc.).
Pinterest has a “button” in which you can install on your browser’s link bar (found under Help). So when you’re on a site you click “Pin It’ and you are prompted to select a pin board or create a new one. I LOVE this feature!!!
You can even link your account to Facebook or Twitter so you can share your pins/likes across other social networking sites.
Now I think you’re wondering where does the title of this post (Newest Addiction) fit in… As you start to follow people and their pins show up when you login… then you start looking at their pins and so on and you get lost at looking at some interesting things. These are all the things I pinned at last night. Some of them I cannot wait to try. Like Salad in a Jar, Memory Jar and cookies and bread and…
Be careful when you join because if you select “things you’re interested in” Pinterest starts you following people you have no idea who they are. Maybe you want this. If not, do like I did and go to your profile by clicking on your name in the top right corner. Then click on the “following link” above your profile picture on the left and then you can Unfollow people.
Pinterest is still in “beta” which it is not totally mainstream and you have to apply for an account or be invited. It doesn’t take long for a request for an account to be accepted, but if you’d like me to “invite” you, leave a comment and use your correct email address – only I will see it. I will then invite you to join in the fun. Be sure to read the Pinterest Help.
Sometimes I can be a real B-I-T-C-H bitch. I know and I often hate it and regret it even more. (Evil Gypsy, feel free to sling the comments my way!)
I recently REALLY blew it. I tried not to. I even had my voice of reason on my shoulder (aka my dear friend Kim) asking me, “Stef, are your really sure you want to do this?” I tried to hold back, but just couldn’t do it. I know this sounds really vague to just about everyone on the planet, but I feel I must publicly apologize… I’m sorry, you know who!!!
When I shared some of the details of my out of body rantings with Kim, I told her that she was sitting on my shoulder. I even demonstrated her mouth movements with my hand. She cracked up. That part was funny… the rest wasn’t.
If you recall, back in October I wrote about making Homemade Vanilla. I had full intentions on posting weekly updates. As you have surmised, I didn’t get that done.
Remember Day One?
Here is after a week. It’s much darker than on Day One…
…and after seven weeks you can see it has gotten darker…
If you look closely, after I gently shook the bottle, you can see the floating vanilla caviar.
I bought some labels at Office Depot and created a front and back label…
Then I finished the bottle off with some ribbon I found at Michaels.
It was a fun project. Not a ton of work and turned out really well.
Did you try making your own vanilla? How did yours turn out?
Be sure to read the Pinterest 
Sometimes I can be a real B-I-T-C-H bitch. I know and I often hate it and regret it even more. (Evil Gypsy, feel free to sling the comments my way!)
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