One hot mummy

Wow, it's snowing outside. Fall is passing me by, and I haven't even blogged about it yet! So much has happened, Trey got braces, Paisley found her smile, Kayla got a boyfriend...and all the while I'm bogged down in computer purgatory (that's a nice word for the 'H' word).

Ladies, thought you would want to know, nagging still works. Last night my sweet husband finally consented, and we went out and bought a NEW computer! It's so sweet. Now I'm in blog heaven.

So much to talk about, where do I start? In honor of my new computer, I'm going to do something I've never attempted before. I'm going to do a...dah dah dah...tutorial.

We have a tradition in our family, it's fairly recent. In 2005 my Holiday edition of Taste of Home had a recipe for Mummy Calzones. Ever since, we've had a special Halloween dinner, full of body parts and creepy food. I thought I would pass along the recipe so you can make mummies of your own.

You will need:

2 loaves frozen bread dough, thawed

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup pizza sauce

pepperoni slices

1 egg, beaten

olives

Roll out each piece of dough into a rounded triangle shape about 14 inches long and 11 inches wide at the base of the triangle. Place each on a parchment lined baking sheet with the tip of the triangle toward you. Lightly score a 4" wide rectangle in the center of the triangle 2" in from the top and bottom. On each long side, cut 1" wide strips at an angle up to the score line, leaving a trianglein the top center of the wide end for the head.

(sorry, this picture is misplaced. Pretend it's at the bottom)

Inside the scored rectangle in the center, layer pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni and olives. Shape the top center triangle into a head. Starting at the head, fold alternating strips of dough at an angle across filling, stopping at the last strip on each side. Fold the bottom dough tip up over the filling, then fold the remaining two strips over the top; press down firmly.

Brush dough with egg. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes. For eyes, press a sliced, cut in half, olive pieces into head. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing. Makes 8-10 servings. See pictures above.

Enjoy!

(More blogs to come...stay tuned!)

Hutch

I am not one of those people who love to wake up at the crack of dawn on a saturday morning and drive all over the valley hitting every garage sale at every corner in hopes I'll score big with some $2 antique hiding behind a layer of dust, that when polished is worth $2000. Nope, not me. I have enough problems trying to figure out where to store my own stuff without adding other peoples junk into the mix. Don't get me wrong, I love a good bargain. I didn't earn the title "Clearance Queen" for no reason, let's just say I prefer to do my bargain hunting in a air-conditioned store and buy things that don't have dried boogies and cobwebs clinging on to them. But when my neighbor across the street announced she was sorting out her closets in hopes to make a few bucks, I was elated!

My neighbor doesn't do junk...she does Macy's, and Village Quilt shop, and Tai-Pan. In other words, she has good taste. (and no boogies)

I must admit, I held off till almost noon. I had just bought a new quilt for my bed, new clearance clothes for my closet, and Tai-Pan and I are on a first name basis I go there so much. So I didn't think there would be anything I really needed. Yes, I know there's a difference between wants and needs, so when my husband told me I needed to go see what Mary had, I didn't hesitate to take him up on it. ( I later learned those were Mary's words, not my husbands)

Oh, books. I love books. She just happened to have one of my all time favorites of Dean Koontz, Life Expectancy. I highly recommend it to anyone, and if you'd like to borrow a copy, one just happened to come in to my possession lately.

Pillows...I love pillows. A cute little christmas pillow will look so good on my bench at Christmastime. Shoes. How convenient that she is just my size, a pair of red, pair of white, pair of blue (looks just like the red one), how patriotic of me, yes I am. Just doing my part america.

But when Mary said she had just the 'thing' for me, I was slightly disappointed to see her standing beside an old 1950 something secretary (not the person type, a desk type). Eh, not interested, but not wanting to hurt her feelings, I gave it a looksy. Solid wood...maple...(I like to eat maple, not look at it)...not really my style...kinda old fashioned...kinda antiquish...antiques can be cool...it is real wood....and then it hit me! What would Vanessa do? She would refinish it, paint it, scuff it, antique it, restore it! SOLD! 35 bucks...what a steal!

Mary's son who was selling his stuff and just happens to be a woodworker, got all excited when I said I wanted to refinish it. He started telling me how to sand it, use some type of goop to remove the varnish before I re-stained it.

"Do I have to do all that if I'm going to paint it?"

"Paint it? Why would you paint it? Don't you know that's real maple? You don't want to paint over maple!"

"Uh, yes I do"

I think I just got eye rolled at, and I'm pretty sure he would have refused the sale and refunded my money if he had his way. He was a little disgusted with my plans. But I could see it in my minds eye. Black...no, too dark. It would stick out like a sore thumb. Barn Red? No, that's a fad color. I don't want to have to repaint it in a few more years. Off-white, sanded edges, antiqued finish. Yes! I can't wait to get started...and started I did. I sanded that very day. The next weekend I painted, that thursday I stained. Two weeks, a lot of work and a little love, I now have a beautiful secretary sitting in my kitchen.

Well, that doesn't sound right...

Maybe I'll call it "Hutch". Sounds manly. It will be nice having a 'hutch' hanging around the kitchen.

The long and winding road

Into every life...a little road construction will follow.

I'm beginning to think there's a conspiracy to keep me from where I need to go. Every street I turn down it's either blocked, closed, detoured, or overly crowded because it's the only street left for people to travel.

Every morning I leave at 7:10 am just to make sure Trey isn't late for school by 7:30. After we wind around 3 different sub-divisions, a quarter tank of gas and 10 minutes later, I finally drop him off where he walks the last little bit because again, I can't get across the street to actually drop him off at the school.

My work route wasn't immune either. I take the back road to avoid the rush hour backed up 90th south street. One not so fine day, the little men in orange closed my secretive escape route home. Ugh! It took me 30 minutes to travel the 6 miles to my home! This went on for some time, as most road closures do. Then one miraculous day, the road blocks were gone! I could take the road less traveled once more. Not only was my little back road open, but it was beautiful! Black, smooth road topped with brightly yellow lines showing me the way. Wide pavement with charming street lamps adorning the curbs. My drive home was actually a pleasant experience, and it made me reflect on how our lives are much like road construction.

Sometimes we have pot-holes in our lives, created by sin. Little spots that mostly go unnoticed, caused by thoughtless actions, unkind words, mischievious deeds. Other times, we have big potholes, caused by greater sin; sin that if left unrepentant, grows bigger and wider, and harder to repair. Most often, the holes start out innocently enough, but because we don't take care of them right away, they grow bigger as we journey down the same path, over and over again, making the same mistakes, until we realize too late that unless we swerve around the hole, we could fall in and get stuck. Stuck in the rut that we've made for ourselves; our road broken and damaged from unwise choices that we've neglected to fix.

Until one day, we start down the path, and realize it's not a road we want to take anymore. We don't like where it leads; the bumpy road is too painful and a sore reminder of what it used to be.

So we call on the one person who can help repair our road.

The process won't always be easy; there will be detours along the way, leading us down safe roads of those who can also help us. Our road might be closed for awhile during repair, causing us sorrow for missed opportunities. But with His help, we slowly begin to fill in the gaps and holes. With each prayer we offer, each tear we shed, each scripture we read, each sacrifice we make, the holes fill up with hope, with faith, with love and gratitude. The process may seem slow, the results at times unseen. But one fine day, you'll arrive at your path, and replacing the bumps and holes and gaps, the ugly faded and scarred surface, lies before you a beautiful, smooth road. All blemishes gone. All reminders of the rough road eraced. What lies before you now, are the clear yellow and white lines, keeping you in the straight and narrow way, guiding you to your eternal home.

And if we're smart, we'll upkeep our road...filling the potholes as we go along, so we'll never have need of major road repair again.

Now if you'll excuse me, my shovel and pail are waiting.