Weekly Roll

Junk Journal Tribute

 Deep Thoughts

On Tuesday we had our author meeting for Book Club.  We read "The Lion Women of Tehran."  Of course this was right after the announcement of Dolly Patron's passing.  We all decided that Dolly was a Lion Woman.  A Lion Women is a woman who is comfortable in their own skin, courageous, generosity of spirit, true to their selves. It was wonderful hearing from Marjan Kamali.  My book review is here.

I made 2 Persian dishes for dinner before book club. In the book Homa and Ellie are taught to make Shirazi Salad. The recipe can be found on Marjan Kamali's website.

The sweet treat I made was Ghorabiah Tabriz which is an almond macaroon with chopped pistachio. This recipe was a challenge with egg whites and lots of whipping.  Glad I gave it a try. 

Weekly Roll

 

Son like Mother - Always sticking our head in these things.

Linky Love

Orange Bundt Cake My son told me it looked worse after I put the glaze on. I should of used baking spray.  It stuck a bit to the pan. I made the glaze with 2 tablespoons of orange juice, 1 cup of powdered sugar, and some orange zest. They are big fans of pistachio bundt cake

Inappropriate Thoughts

Went to the Generation X Takeover at the Route 66 Casino.  Perhaps the most inappropriate appropriate thing we did last Saturday It was an experience.  We laughed a lot and jammed to Generation X toons.

 

Weekly Roll

 

The heat vibes are no bueno

Escaped Giraffe in Texas Gracie the Giraffe was just living her best life. 

2 Giraffes Recovered after Missing for a Year I have questions.

College Common Reads for 2026 - I just thought this interesting.

Inappropriate Thoughts

Former President Biden photo bombed his wife, Dr Jill Biden's, zoom with our book club. We were having a discussion about her book, View from the East Wing. This zoom cracked me up. I enjoyed listening to the zoom.  The book was meh for me.  Book review is coming in July.

Recipe from Real Simple 2023

We had this for our book club dinner.  The only change I made was to use coleslaw and double the sauce.The mint in here was surprisingly good. Plus we made mojitos later in the week with the leftover mint. 

Weekly Roll

Linky Love

Chocolate Pistachio Loaf Cake - I might make this for our author meet for book club

Spicy Older Ladies Blazer Fan Club Update 

In case you haven't heard the Blazers are the 7th seed in the playoff and play the San Antonio Spurs tonight. The Spicy Older Ladies Blazer Fan Club is really excited.  We might have squealed when they won the play in. 

Why the Blazers Won't Get Swept by the Spurs

Deep Thoughts

Weekly Roll

 

Cake, I made for Nonna's Birthday

Yummy and Easy

Recipe from Senior Center Newsletter

Linky Love

Librarians 45 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time- Some that I have read - Everything is Tuberculosis and Boys in the Boat

Cece Moore and Genetic Genealogy and Nancy Guthrie Case (youtube.com)

Roots Tech 2026 - online and in person genealogy conference is coming up 

Weekly Roll - Basketball Adjacent

 

Former Blazers player and now retired from the NBA, Meyers Leonard has a country song - Good in Goodbye.

***This post was supposed to be for last week but never posted. However, it ties better into March Madness, right

Linky Love

Running Point - Watch this on Netflix.  I thoroughly enjoyed this series. 

There was a request for M&M cookies - Robbi's M&M cookies fit the bill

Inappropriate Thoughts

Well my son was contacted by the Pharmacy Experience Team. It made me laugh. The one medication is hard to obtain due to lack of supply. Insurance has been extremely unhelpful and challenging to obtain the proper medication. The thought that the insurance cares one wit about his customer experience is laughable.

Trash Talk

I won at the trash game last Sunday. I found panties. Thank the lord for tongs. My friend said my band name is "Park Panties".  Don't think about it too much.

Surprise I made REAL Sourdough Bread

I rarely make real sourdough bread. I find it really time consuming to make.  I do make a lot of discard sourdough bread.  However, I thought what the heck and last week I made Venison for Dinner's Sourdough Sandwich Bread. Kate's straightforward approach and easily followed directions make this less complicated.

Venison for Dinner Sourdough Sandwich Bread- I made two loaves, so I made two separate batches. I had to scale up my sourdough starter a few days before. The bread is delicious. I am not a fan of a super dark crust. I think I would have baked for less time. I like to bake in loaves and the crumb was nice and tight perfect for sandwich making.

Resurrected Starter and Ugly Buns

I neglected my starter for all of December and a few days into January. There was a lot of hooch on the top. I am pleased to say after a couple of feedings, "The Beast" (what I am calling my starter unofficially) came right back to her perky bubbly self. I have been making discard bread but yet no sourdough bread. Maybe the time is soon.

I tried my hand at Swedish Rolls, and I am officially calling them Ugly Buns.  They are very delicious though. I have to say this dough is sticky. The recipe is from Farmhouse on Boone - Sourdough Cinnamon Swedish Buns.

Book Club Sidequest

My project this year was to write about all the little side quests I take. These are adventures I do that aren't really part of my everyday routine. I thought I would share this one.  We read in Governerds Book Club, "Be Ready When the Luck Happens" by Ina Garten. There was a recipe in there for Coconut Cupcakes. I decided for our Author zoom I would make these for Nonna and my family.  I realize this is very extra. This was my first time making any of Ina's recipes. My youngest helped me as he was off of work.  

The naked cupcake was mine as I can't do the cream cheese frosting. I thought these were delicious. Ina likes her butter and eggs though. I am not much of a cupcake fan, and this was a bit labor intensive but worthy of its 5-star rating.

My review of Ina's book 

Ina's Coconut Cupcake Recipe

Weekly Roll

 

My kids favorite Cornbread recipe is Poppy Seed Cornbread. The poppy seeds add a little something to it. It has been cold so there has been a lot of soup and cornbread action.

The Surprising Link between Soda Water and Metabolism and Weight Loss - I am a fan of the soda water

Inappropriate Thoughts

That box didn't have anything awesome for me.  But it cracked me up, so I am sharing. I am sure when people see me, they say, Awesome is here.  LOL

Deep Thoughts

I am regretting picking EASY as my word of the year. Things have not been easy. I have had a double ear infection plus sinus infection and January has been one of naps and pretty much not getting much accomplished. I am ready to see January out the door.

December Happenings - Cookie Stockpile Shortage

 I am well known to have a cookie stockpile in my freezer normally at all times. I like to be prepared for a cookie emergency. However, there wasn't a single frozen cookie cooked or raw frozen in my freezer this month. This was a real emergency according to my family. I even tried to convince them we should have a family cookie exchange. I only had one taker, and my husband had the audacity to say he would bring Oreos. I don't know what is wrong with my family.

I spent the last week trying to remedy that problem. Below are some of the new recipes I tried

Chocolate Snowflake Cookies - Lakeside table recipe from Lakeside Table. I ended up making a second batch because first disappeared. This recipe used cocoa instead of semi sweet baking chocolate. 

I made a double batch of Andes Mint cookies this is Becky Higgins Recipe. This was easy and very good.

I also made a double batch of my World's Best Cookies - Chocolate Chip/Butterscotch.

My son made ugly cowboy cookies - Recipe Cider Press Lane

My husband did come through with 2 loaves of snickerdoodle bread with cinnamon chips

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BAKE COOKIES!

except if you don't have the ingredients 

Weekly Roll

Photo by CRR

My son was gifted like 4 lbs. of pecans. Our area of New Mexico is known for Pecan groves. He has been making batches of Candied pecans for us. RECIPE.  Maybe we should try these spiced nuts.

Rare Wildflower found in New Mexico Granted Protected Status

 Inappropriate Thoughts

Anybody else look at their Spotify wrapped. I spent the majority of my 5000 plus minutes about 4, 000 listening to podcasts. I use mainly Spotify for podcast listening when google podcast went away. I only use music on Spotify when driving on road trips. I have a road trip playlist.

Deep Thoughts

This is the week I start freaking out a bit about what gifts I haven't bought and things that need to done before Christmas. Does anyone else fee that way?  

December Happenings - Mistakes Were Made

Does anyone else watch Jennifer Gardner's Pretend Cooking Show on Instagram. She made leftover cranberry sauce muffins.  I gave it the good Monday Morning attempt. Problem was I didn't have enough coffee. I might have accidentally mixed-up cumin and cinnamon. 

I was able to dig out most of the cummin out but not all. I added the correct amount of cinnamon. I felt like I was to far in so I continued baking.  Mistakes were made. My husband said they were a bit on the savory side according to my husband. They disappeared quickly.

Weekly Roll

 

I can't think of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies without thinking of my Niece and her Ecuadorian adventure. I made this last week and I chuckle every time.

The drama that my younger brings to photo ops. Stop by the best Dam Store outside of Loveland, Colorado.

Inappropriate Thoughts

Yes, I got a 12-passenger van with party lights inside and the nickname Fluffy with my internet friends. I enjoyed hearing Sharon McMahon on her book tour "The Small and The Mighty". She is now a NY Times Best Selling Author!  CONGRATULATIONS!  It is not every author who has a DJ on their tour.  It was a really fun night and very uplifting.

Sourdough Summer - How to Wreck Your Kitchen

There is something about sourdough that wrecks your kitchen. You learn real quick to clean up your mess. Sourdough doesn't mess around. I have washed SO many dishes.

I think I might have killed my KitchenAid with kneading discard bread. It has been a workhorse in my kitchen for about 18 years. I got a strong electrical smell kneading.

We also made a double batch of waffles this week too. I have too much discard.

Sourdough Summer the New Hot Girl Summer

 Just kidding but I was at the sourdough discard again. I made pizza dough, and it turned out delicious.

I used this King Arthur Recipe. 

Yes, I have a problem. The more the merrier with Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread. Emergency bread is a need right.

Finally, a baked Sourdough Round.  My son made this one. It lasted a few hours. Recipe is found in the book below.

Artisan Sourdough Made Simple

Weekly Roll

 

Got the above song officially stuck in my head. Yes, I am one of those people.

Linky Love

Hunt for Genie Lamp in New Mexico and win a Million Dollars

Nick Offerman Paddles a Badass Canoe He built Down the LA River

Sheet Pan Pancakes - where have you been my whole life - this one has blueberries and cherries

Inappropriate Thoughts

It is hard being a Trail Blazers fan. Though they have won 2 in a row. Through the years, they have traded away a lot of talent. It seems like every year is a rebuild. I play a little game of spot the former Blazer on the other team.  They have spread their discarded talent throughout the league.

Dame - The Bucks

CJ McCollum - Pelicans

Trendon Watford - Nets

Nurkic aka Bosnian Beast - Suns

Drew Eubanks - Suns

Little - Suns

Kevin Knox- Pistons

(the list goes on and on)

Weekly Roll

Lunch Lady Brownies - I made this for a work party for my husband. He said they were delicious. He managed to save me one.

maraschino cherry quick bread - I tried making something similar at the farmers market. This is close. It was delicious.

Inappropriate Thoughts

Giving a cat a pill sucks. Try giving the cat 2 pills. It is a horror flick.  I have been helping Nonna dose her cat, Puss. That cat is plotting my death. The cat is 15 years old. 

 Deep Thoughts

A Different Kind of Worry

This worry or these worries have me frozen. Usually, my stress propels towards action. These worries have me stuck in my head and staring off into space. I feel like I could use some verbal spillage. However, one of these worries is a secret. I hate secrets.  It is worse than the thing someone is trying to keep secret.

Weekly Roll

Photo by KGR

Linky Love

Pork and Cherry Rice Bowls - this was a little experimental cooking from Budgetbytes. This was okay. There were some substitutions and omissions because of my husband's food intolerances. I think doubling the sauce would have helped.

Virtual Cookie Exchange - This is a Modern Mrs Darcy Invention.  I had discovered some new recipes. Check it out. I would bring my cookie called The World's Best (chocolate chip/butterscotch)

Good Cheap Eats came up with an Advent Calendar Meal Plan - It is a bit genuis.

The Christmas Cookies You Should Bake Based on Your Zodiac Sign - mine is grinch cookies. I don't think I have ever had or made.

2023 Christmas Cookies Trends to Try This Year - Do you Remember No Bake Cereal Wreaths. I think I made these in Girl Scouts one year. Snickerdoodles are a must.

Red Tin Treats Ebook - I think I might splurge on this from Kelly Welk. Kelly runs a cottage kitchen and makes red tin treats.

Inappropriate Thoughts

It was a full moon last week and it showed.  People were a bit cray.  The washer died. We had just replaced the pump. Not what I wanted to do on Friday date night was go purchase and install a washer.  Luckily our Lowes 40 minutes away had the machine in stock. Literally put in the back of our Traverse. That thing can haul some stuff. It was quite the date.