Three Recipes For Holiday Happiness

Dinner was a rousing success! As it turns out, I didn't dine alone. Hard Working Man came over and we shared Thanksgiving Dinner together. It went really well. There was no drama, no stress, and best of all...no cell phones blowing up. It was the first time in at least 4 weeks where things were just good. There was no talk of what the future holds between us and when he started to get that "tryptophan and carbohydrate" fog, he went back to his parent's house. All in all, it was a big thumbs up.

And in honor of this "coming together in goodness", I am sharing three holiday dish recipes that were both easy and beyond yummy...that is my favorite combination when cooking. You know, I never steer you wrong.

Butterscotch Sweet Potato Puree
3 sweet potatoes or 1 Large Can and 1 small can Sweet Potatoes
1 1/2 C. sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 stick (1/4 C.) butter
1/2 C. milk
1 3 oz. box instant butterscotch pudding
Directions
Boil, drain and mash sweet potatoes. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients well. Place in buttered casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees until nearly firm in center. (approximately 40 minutes)

Note: Different from the usual marshmallow dish and OH MY YUM, was it ever good.

Corn Casserole

2 c. whole kernel corn; drained

1/2 white or yellow onion; chopped

salt

pepper

1/4 c. milk

2 tbsp. butter

1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

Combine corn, onion, milk, butter, spices, and cream cheese in saucepan. Cook 20 minutes on medium heat until cream cheese is melted. Place mixture in a prepared casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until slightly brown and firm.

I can eat this whole dish by myself, but I didn't. I also thought about adding chopped jalapeno and covering the top with some shredded pepper jack cheese, but will save that idea for a Super Bowl Party or for New Year's.

Cranberry Fluffy Wuffy Puffy Salad or Dessert in a Bowl

1 small package Cranberry Jello

1 can Whole Cranberries

2 tablespoons sugar

1 can pineapple chunks

1 tub whipped topping

2 cups mini-marshmallows

Make the day before serving for best results. Mix everything up (really...it's that easy). You can also add other fruits such as mandarin orange slices, grapes, diced apple, chopped nuts, etc. Hard Working Man has been known to eat a whole tub of this stuff in a single sitting. My arteries gagged at that thought, so I just had a spoonful.

Hope you Enjoy! Happy Shopping or long weekend or whatever...love your family and friends...or if you are me...your sewing machine. It's gonna get a work out over the next three days and I am so excited!!!

Disclaimer: Photos are NOT my own, google image credit. I was asked to protect the confidentiality of HWM's whereabouts least "the other woman" find out where he was yesterday. I highly doubt she is the kind of person who reads blogs or material with words bigger than 3 letters, so I am sure he's safe. Gah!!!

Thanksgiving Menu

Herb Roasted Young Turkey

Gravy

Cajun Dressing

Butterscotch Sweet Potato Puree

Corn Souffle

Green Bean Casserole

Cranberry Fluff Salad

Deviled Eggs

Parker House Rolls

Fresh Farm Butter

Creme Brulee Pumpkin Pie with Cinnamon Whipping Cream

Southern Iced Tea, Coffee

Dinner will be served at 4pm...Who's Coming?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

How Marlene Got Her Groove Back

Okay...so I needed medication. Why didn't you guys tell me this a few weeks ago? Um...it's not like I would have hunted you down and admonished any of you. Really...stalker is sooooo not me. (Although I will admit to cutting off Hard Working Man's cell phone and THE ONE HE GOT HIS...ummm, I want to say whore so bad, but I will go with "other woman".) Wait...I just said whore...oh well, she is what she is.

Anyway, after being provided a wonderful combination of both "happy" pills and "happier than heck" pills...I am able to process better and function on a higher level than a slug.

Heck, I may even sew in the next few days which is a WONDERFUL improvement over my slightly off base wanting to sell all my fabric and move to Siberia.

The biggest improvement I have seen in the past twenty four hours...I cleaned...and cleaned...and cleaned till I ran out of trash bags. I de-junked...stream-lined...and just had a "cleaning out my closet" session that would make Marshall Mathers (AKA Eminem) proud.

I feel soooooo much better. Really, I do.

Wanna know something else? I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner with all the wonderful trimmings that I usually make. Who cares that it will be just for me and Thomas Jefferson? Not me. I will have leftovers for weeks and no one would be disappointed in that. Sammies...mmmmm.

I am thankful today. I am grateful. I am who I am, despite who I may or may not be with...and today...that's a grand thought. Another person can not define who I am or what success or failure I might experience in life. I am the governess of my own happiness. He may have left, but, unlike him...I have my self respect.

And that Pumpkin-Praline/Double Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting I made last night...oooo baby. Must go run a mile now.

Thomas Jefferson Speaks

Tis' Thomas Jefferson and I is a wonderful boy. I took my Momma's blog over cuz' I needs to talk too. I sad. Wery, wery sad. My Daddy not heres and I don't know why. I don't understandz.

He comez to see me and I gets happy. He leaves and I gets so sad. I cryz and cryz for him, but him can't hear me. I sits in da window to waits for his car untils I so tired.

I waz my Daddy'z wittle buddy since I were 4 weeks old. I followed himz round like puppies do and I sleeps on his chest, but now he not here and I so confused. My Daddyz and I would play in da morn'in before he goes to work. My Daddyz would give mez treats a specials way and Momma just don't do it rights. Momma gaves me a shirt of my Daddyz to sleeps with, but I still so sad. I gots mad and peed on it. I not wants to eats...I just cryz. Where my Daddyz go?

(This is Thomas J's Mommy. I hope this writing experience helps him, but I doubt it very much. Sometimes in our grief of experiencing a break-up or divorce, we often overlook the innocent victims and how this affects them. Even though we got our wonderful Thomas as a birthday gift for myself, Thomas Jefferson has always been and will forever be his Daddy's boy and it breaks my heart that he misses him so.)

The Destruction of a Life

There's a lot on my mind this morning that I need to expunge and I have decided that I need to do it here....on my blog. I am not a huge fan of blog posts that go into this realm, so I will understand should you choose not to comment. I never write for comments anyway...that is and never was the original purpose of this blog...it was just a small place where I could write freely and be creative with my words and experiences.

For the past several months I have veered away from becoming too open, too free with what I have been going through. I have been feeling beat up and destroyed. I did not want to share that with anyone, to bring anyone else down into my sadness, but the time has come for me to say a few things.

The recent storm caused major destruction to a place that I love with all my heart. A place I have learned to call home and because of the recent break-up of my relationship with Hard Working Man that may be changing very quickly. We had a life together that is no longer and may not ever be again...I am now okay with that thought. What I am not "so okay" with is his inability to act responsibly in regards to our mutual financial requirements...and that leaves me in a dangerous situation of being homeless...by Thanksgiving.

This is not something I or anyone else deserves. If you want to leave a relationship, then have the common decency to do it correctly and humanly.

Speaking of decency and acting humanly, I read some blogs after Internet was restored and I was hit with another very low blow. How could a human being wish for me to have a miscarriage in the midst of a powerful storm? I really do not care of your opinion of me as a person, but to wish that on anyone is the lowest of form of decorum and only shows an obvious lack of class...to which I have much. My pregnancy with Hard Working Man was none of your business and your hurtful suggestion that I miscarry is unforgivable. It was made even worse with the decision that he and I had to make together.

Yesterday, I had procedure that goes against everything I stand for and believe in...something that destroyed me to my core. It proved to be greatly painful for both Hard Working Man, myself, and Hard Working Man's Mother, but it was the best decision for us and our situation. I know and understand this...I destroyed a life. I will live with that forever...so as your having a great time joking and laughing at my expense, grieve for the CHILD that we destroyed.

Today brings a new day...a new light...a new perspective. I am stronger than I ever thought I was before. I will rebuild. I will go on and I will continue to love...just differently. There is still beauty after total devastation and while I may stumble and falter along the way, there is nothing I can not get through.

I am a survivor of the storm.

Water, Water Everywhere

After spending Thursday afternoon holed up in the house watching conditions continue to go down hill rapidly on the local news which broad cast live all day long, I ventured out to watch the highest tide come in. The high tide combined with the storm surge was expected to be at about 7.6 feet. It did not disappoint. Add to this tidal surge, 9 inches of rain and winds whipping up to 75 mphs and suddenly it becomes quite the party. The party that lasted three days.

I had survived Isabel...I could do this Nor'easter called Ida. The jury is still out as to whether this was an actual Nor'easter. It sure did feel like a hurricane to me.

I walked outside at the beginning of the tide cycle to be greeted with water surrounding the property...heck...it was surrounding the entire spit of Willoughby. The news reports were now calling this ground zero. I was beginning to understand why.

I made my way over to the bay once again...through the rushing flood waters. Hey...it was kinda fun at that point...I won't lie.

Furious and powerful does not even begin to describe the sights I saw, felt, smelled, and sensed deep into my toes. There was an electrical charge in the air. The little hairs on my arms were standing on end. You had to push your way out to where the waves were breaking upon the land. I wrapped my leg around some wooden brackets and quickly snapped a few shots. I stood there in complete awe of the sight I had a front row seat for. I honestly have never felt more alive then I did at that moment. Then fear took ahold of me and sent me packing...quickly. I was being pushed by sustained 65 mph winds like a child being dragged by a parent.

Looking back towards my place, I could see the flood waters were now rushing with power. A guy on a kayak floated past. This was the only mode of transportation getting through now. I will admit, I did get knocked down by the strength of the water, but I was smart enough to remember the camera in my hand and held it high. I even laughed at myself now completely soaked.

Making it back up my landing, I turned and looked out into the parking lot. All the cars were going to be completely flooded. Eventually a neighbor measured the water inside the cars at 17 inches. Ouch.

From the safety of my home, I continued to watch the water rise and hear it rush for the next four hours. There's a big problem living on a spit...there's a bay to the North and a bay to the South. When they meet...there is no where for the water to go...for a long time.

Power went out.

Internet went out.

Water and sewage went out.

Thomas Jefferson, my boo boo kitty...ran and hid in the closet. I remained calm through my fear. It did me good. It was cathartic. I was able to process at a deeper level the recent events in my life. Come back tomorrow for day after destruction photos...you will understand why the fear was warranted.

The Storm Called "Norida"

or Atlantic Assault 2009 as our local news station dubbed it was quite the adventure. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this was not the kind of storm I was talking about weathering, but I strapped on the safety belt and did it...on my own.

On Wednesday evening, the reports started to warn everyone of it's impending doom and gloom. I got everything ready as I knew it would be a long couple of days. Candles, batteries, weather radio, flashlights, and took some bean soup out of the freezer. I was hunkered down and ready.

The wind started howling and rain bands similar to those of a hurricane came in waves throughout the night. I slept sporadically due to debris hitting either the house or the fence, which would wake me up with a terrible fright. I gave up on the idea of sleeping around 5am and watched some of the news. We still had power...still had Internet, so I was hopeful that things just might not be as bad as they were stating.

Winds were at 55 mph steady with higher gusts to 65-70 mph. At noon time on Thursday, my neighbor who has a super-duty truck was running out to another property, so I jumped a ride with him to see what was going on. The streets were already starting to flood...it was low tide.

When I got out to a sheltered location where I could see the bay...my heart started to race, fear was taking hold, and I stood there braced against the strong hold in total disbelief. The Chesapeake Bay had already rose to level of the banks and was pushing up and over the dunes. In a matter of minutes, I was completely soaked.

I came home, got dried off and waited...the worst of the scenario was suppose to begin later in the evening. Things progressed rapidly from bad to worse. Little did I know then, just how bad they would get.